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By B. I. Pålsson, H-Å. Häggblad, J. F. Stener, P. Jonsén

"Understanding mill charge motion is important. In the charge, the center of gravity is shifted from the rotational center of the mill system, and its motion is induced by rotation of the mill. At the same time, the charge creates a torque in the mill system. Breakage of ore particles and wear of liners/ball media are closely linked to this motion. To study these phenomena in a physically correct manner, numerical models for different parts of the mill system are needed. Validations of such models are scarce, because of the difficulty of measuring inside a tumbling mill. Experimental measurements in a lab mill were done for a number of load cases: varying feed material, mill filling, mill speed and pulp liquid. The mill is set up to measure the charge-induced torque. The accuracy is good, with relative uncertainty less than ± 2% for relevant load cases. A full three-dimensional numerical model of the whole mill is used to predict induced torque. Agreement between predicted and measured torque at steady-state is good. In addition, the model can accurately predict the mill startup behavior for torque and mill power. This proves that the model is physically correct, and can be used for modeling large-scale mills.IntroductionUnderstanding of the charge motion within the mill is of importance in mill optimization. The breakage of ore particles and the wear of liners/ball media are closely linked to the charge motion. To study these phenomena in a physically correct manner, appropriate numerical models for different parts of the mill system must be used. Validation of these models is of major importance. This has led to an increased interest in obtaining an accurate and direct measurement of mill load and the behavior of the mill charge.For structural analysis, the finite element method (FEM) is the most developed and most frequently used numerical method. FEM is a numerical solution method based on continuum mechanics modeling. A constitutive relation for the actual material is described, and the governing equations are solved in Zienkiewicz and Taylor (2000). Varieties of different constitutive models for a large number of materials are implemented in modern FEM code. The computability of nonlinear problems in solid mechanics is investigated in Belytschko and Mish (2001), among others."

Jan 1, 2015

By W. A. Stickney, J. W. Town

Studies on continuous - circuit leach - aluminum precipitation and leachelectrodeposition of mercury were made by the Bureau of Mines to determine optimum conditions and cost estimates for recovering mercury from mercury sulfide flotation concentrates . With 150 grams of sodium sulfide and 50 grams of sodium hydroxide per liter , from 98 to 99.8 percent of the mercury was extracted from flotation concentrates , with about 0.5 pound of sodium hydroxide used per pound of mercury produced . Precipitation of mercury from the caustic - sulfide solution with minus 8 - mesh aluminum shot required about 0.2 pound of aluminum per pound of mercury produced at a cost of $ 0.05 per pound of mercury . Electrodeposition cost with 7 mill power , based on 50 percent current efficiency , was below 2 mills per pound of metal deposited . Feed solutions ranged from 10 to 130 grams of mercury per liter , and current densities , from 2 to 70 amperes per square foot . The cost of open- pit mining 250 tons per day was estimated at $ 1.75 per ton , and flotation - leachingelectrodeposition of the ore , at $ 3.54 , resulting in a cutoff grade of about 0.1 percent mercury . The cost of underground mining 50 tons per day was estimated at $ 20.00 per ton , and the cost of milling the ore was estimated at $ 13.33 , which resulted in a cutoff grade of 0.6 percent mercury .

Jan 1, 1964

By James P. Bennett

The U.S. Bureau of Mines investigated the role of imported natural flake graphites in dolomite-carbon refractories used in steelmaking processes and evaluated carbon fibers as a potential substitute. Varying quantities (1.5-30 pct) of natural flake graphite and carbon fibers were added to test samples. The effect of the additions on modulus of rupture (75°-2,750° F), deformation under load (2,750° F), and air-slag-metal resistance (3,000° F) was studied. Carbon purity of natural flake graphite additions did not influence hot strength, deformation under load, or air-slag-metal resistance. When the quantity of 90-pct-carbon graphite addition varied between o and 30 wt pct, hot strength was highest, deformation under load lowest, and air-slag-metal wear the least at 10 wt pct. As test temperature increased from 500° to 2,750° F, the hot strength difference became less. Carbon fiber additions were limited to 1.5 pct in dolomite-carbon brick. At this level, physical properties were generally comparable to those obtained with natural flake graphite, but were below values obtained with 10-pet-f1ake graphite additions. Carbon fibers are not considered a satisfactory substitute for natural flake graphite.

Jan 1, 1989

By T. Grewar

"South Africa is a water-scarce country, rated as one of the 30 driest countries in the world. Worryingly, government expects water demand to outstrip supply as early as 2025. The South African government believes that substantial volumes of water can be made available through the reuse of treated mining-impacted water. Currently, however, large volumes of treated mining-impacted water are produced, often with no end use in mind other than discharge or disposal, when these treated effluents may have further uses in applications which are currently and unnecessarily using high-quality water. Treating the wastewaters to levels that meet ’fitness-for-use’ guidelines for alternative applications such as agriculture, sanitation, or industrial processes will reduce the treatment cost burden compared to potable water production. The primary conclusion of this review is that the most suitable option for re-using treated mine-impacted water is in agriculture, for irrigation of crops (food, forage, or energy crops), which currently and unnecessarily makes use of the majority of South Africa’s high-quality resources or potable water. Other findings include the realization that although guidelines and legislation for water re-use in South Africa exist and are readily available, they tend to be contradictory and confusing in many cases. It is imperative that these ambiguities and incongruities in the available guidelines and legislation for water re-use be clarified and updated swiftly IntroductionSouth Africa is a water-scarce country and is currently rated as one of the 30 driest countries in the world, with an average rainfall of 490 mm/a, approximately half of the global average. As an indicator of the degree of regional variability in South Africa’s water supply, it has been shown that 70% of all runoff is from approximately 20% of the land area. Regardless of the water scarcity faced in South Africa, our water conservation track record is poor, with an average consumption of 280 L/d per person, almost 60% more than the global average of 175 L/d per person. Around 40% of this allocation is utilized in watering lawns and gardens (Zhuwakinyu, 2017).The South African government predicts water demand to outstrip supply as early as 2025. On an international scale, the situation appears just as dire, with the United Nations High Level Panel on Water (HLPW) expecting a 40% water shortfall by 2030, which may affect up to 1.8 billion people based on current water demand trajectories (Zhuwakinyu, 2017)."

Mar 1, 2019

By David, Levinger

THESE observations of the metal-working industries of Europe are based on a three months' tour of eight countries of Europe, in which 75 industrial establishments were visited in England, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Austria and Switzerland during the summer of 1927. Since the Western Electric Co. is a large consumer of copper and brass, these industries were of particular interest and differences in practices were of keen interest to us.

Jan 1, 1928

By W. M. Merritts

A joint investigation by the Bureau of Mines and the Christopher Coal Co. at the Humphrey No. 7 mine, operating in the Pittsburgh coalbed in northern West Virginia, was undertaken to gain more insight concerning the hazardous emission of methane gas in mining, This report describes the equipment, procedure, and results. Horizontal bleeder holes drilled in the faces drained large quantities of methane, eliminating downtime of mining equipment. Also, larger quantities of methane were removed by forcing 14 to 25 g.p.m. water at 25 to 200 p.s.i. 5 pressure into the bleeder holes, In one infusion test a fluorescein dye was added to the infusion water; in later mining operations, the infusion water was traced for a distance of 1,500 feet. With vacuum pump applied to the horizontal hole the gas-flow rate increased, and the methane content decreased.

Jan 1, 1962

By F. Chevarin

The reaction of O2 with the carbon anode is considered as the main parasitic chemical reaction affecting Hall-Heroult process anodes. The current study aims at investigating the influence of the microstructure of baked anode on its overconsumption. Samples were removed from different positions of an industrial anode. Density, porosity, Lc and BET specific surface area were measured. The anode reactivity was evaluated based on the weight losses for the samples resulting from the reaction of anode with air at 550°C after 7h. The essential parameters determined to control the air reactivity are closed porosity, Lc and pores with a pore entrance radius of 1.5, 8.5 and 12 p.m. The knowledge of effects of these parameters allows better understanding of the reactivity of anodes and consequently reduction of their overconsumption in electrolysis bath.

Jan 1, 2011

By S MacKinnon, J Kok

Potential areas for improvement in flotation performance were identified during JKTech model development surveys in October 2003. Subsequent implementation of the JKTech recommendations in consultation with flotation cell manufacturer Outokumpu have resulted in gold flotation recovery increases of more than four per cent over a two-year period. One of these recommendations was the installation of High Shear Stators in the Cleaner and Recleaner flotation cells. The High Shear Stator installation project was justified based on simulations completed using JKSimFloat. Bubble size measurements completed before and after installation of High Shear Stators showed a reduction in mean bubble size of approximately 50 per cent in the Cleaner cells. Both Cleaner and Recleaner banks showed a significant narrowing of the bubble size distributions following the installation. Plant gold recovery increase resulting from the installation of High Shear Stators was 1.1 per cent, with a 1.9 per cent increase in flotation gold recovery and 5.4 per cent increase in flotation sulfur recovery. Based on the 1.1 per cent recovery increase and total project cost of less than $200 000, the High Shear Stator Project NPV was $8 200 000 with a 0.25 year payback period.

Jan 1, 2006

By D. W. Frommer

Laboratory mineral-dressing investigations were conducted on talc-bearing samples from Arkansas and Texas under the Bureau of Mines program of examinations and surveys, which is concerned, in part, with the improvement of conservation and utilization of domestic mineral resources. Two of the soapstones in question were successfully upgraded by flotation, utilizing stage additions of a frother and an amine to promote their talc content. The process could enable the producers to meet more rigid specifications of higher priced talc commodities. INTRODUCTION Talc is an industrial mineral with distinctive properties, such as softness, smoothness, large surface area in relation to mass, chemical inertness, and good retention as a filler, that make it particularly valuable to a number of industries. Sales to 6 industries -ceramics, paint, insecticide, rubber, roofing, and paper -consumed 84 percent of the domestic production of talc, pyrophyllite, and ground soapstone in 1952. Mine production in that year totaled 600,908 tons. Sales of crude and ground material were 593,147 tons valued at $11,347,317.2/

Jan 1, 1956

By Ashish Ranjan Kumar, Barbara Arnold, Luis Sanchez Gonzalez

The health and safety of miners is critical in the industry. Prolonged exposure to dust-laden air results in irreversible ailments like pneumoconiosis that have a severe impact on their lives. Operations use various personal protective devices (PPEs) to alleviate their exposure to respirable dust. Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) is one such device that uses high- efficiency filters and positive pressure masks to shield miners from airborne contaminants. Used in the medical and other industries, these respirators efficiently protected healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, the mining industry has shown a growing interest in adopting this PPE to ensure safe working conditions for the miners. We present an introduction to the PAPRs and discuss their dust capture efficacy in this manuscript.

Feb 1, 2025

By P. E. Phillips

INTRODUCTION Rocky Mountain Energy is the mining subsidiary of the Union Pacific Corporation, and has been active m uranium exploration since 1966. Since 1970, RME's uranium activities have been funded 50% by Mono Power, the fuels supply division of Southern California Edision. RME and Mono recognized the need for development of new methods for recovering low grade uranium deposits, and contacted Halliburton Services in regard to in situ leaching, because of Halliburton oil industry experience. As a result, a joint venture between the three parties was formed in 1974. BEAR CREEK The first ISL test was at the Bear Creek deposit in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, about 60 miles north of Douglas. The mineralized sand is the tertiary Wasatch formation, which is an arkosic sandstone. The sand typically contains about 10% clay. The predominant clay being montmorillonite with some kaolin and illite. The roll front type trends occur along the flanks of old stream channels. This deposit was being considered for exploitation as an open pit mine. Routine amenability testing indicated it was quite amenable to a conventional acid leach, consuming about 50 lbs. of sulfuric acid per ton of ore in an agitation leach, while recovering more than 95% of the uranium. Hydrology testing indicated a permeability of about 1 darcy. The groundwater has a pH of about 8. 0 and TDS of about 1200. Test Facility The Bear Creek test was a summer-only operation, with no effort towards weather-proofing. Uranium was removed from the recovered leach solution by fixed bed ion-exchange columns. Loaded resin was eluted with strong sulfuric acid. The recovery plant was designed for simplicity of operation, with little concern for the grade or form of the yellowcake product. The plant was constructed of PVC piping and valves, fiberglass reinforced tanks, and stainless steel pumps. All waste streams were directed toward a lined evaporation pond. Wellfield The test pattern was a 30 foot radius 5 spot, with wells fully penetrating the 30 foot ore sand to a total depth of about 165 feet. The injection wells were three-inch PVC with slotted casing, while the producer was eight-inch I. D. , with a stainless steel screen. The eight-inch well was necessary in order to accommodate a six-inch stainless steel pump. Wells were cemented using cement baskets, at the top of the sand, to contain a latex acid resistant cement. Leach Conditions The lixiviant generally contained from five to seven gpl sulfuric acid, and about 0. 5 gpl hydrogen peroxide. The pH was generally 1.4 and EMF was usually -550 millivolts. Injection rates were rather variable from well to well, with a total injection rate between 12 and 25 GPM. Production rate was set at 25 GPM, since the production pump could not be throttled more than that. Approximately two pore volumes of solution were injected during the three-month test. Leach Results Injectivity was quite variable, but was generally rather poor, because of poor completion techniques. The problem stemmed from injecting before the injection wells had been completely cleaned of drilling mud. Pregnant solutions averaged about 50 ppm U308, with groundwater dilution varying from 10 to 50%, depending on the injection rate. Injectivity did decline with time, probably as a result of contamination of the well faces. A total of 1000 lbs U308 had been recovered when the test was shut down. This probably represented about 10% of the mineral under leach.

Jan 1, 1979

By D J. Kilkenny

Work practices involved in shaft construction can be aligned with current industry standard operating practices. However, the working environment during conventional shaft construction introduces unique conditions which can not always be overcome by hard engineering controls. To provide an improved working environment, future shaft diameters will generally be greater than has historically been the case for the Australian hard rock mining industry. This paper aims to explore both what can be constructed from the contractors perspective, and how does an owner extract maximum business efficiency from an asset that in many ways is likely to be larger, more complex and more expensive than initially envisaged.Newcrest Mining Limited, or an associated company, has constructed two major shafts over the last seven years. In both cases, Byrnecut Mining, or an associated company, was the contractor engaged for the shaft sinking activity. The first is the 1127 m deep, 7.0 m diameter production and intake airway at the Telfer Gold Mine, the second is a 295 m deep, 5.5 m diameter split shaft at the Gosowong Gold Project in Indonesia that was primarily designed as both an intake and exhaust airway. Importantly both shafts are designed to provide emergency egress from the respective underground operations.From an Australian shaft sinking perspective, the construction of these two shafts resulted in the following learnings: •constructability is of equal importance to desired functionality;•allow six months of interactive design between the owner/engineer/contractor/regulator to get it right;•shaft sinking and equipping are intimately entwined, therefore engineering of both needs to be complete prior to any activity commencing; and•the mobilisation of both equipment and experienced personnel to a new shaft sink takes up to eight months.Shaft sinking is not extinct in the Australian hard rock mining industry. But, if you are considering constructing a shaft, approach it as a long life asset, front end planning to a high level of detail is required to unlock its full value. Think – plan – think and remember it’s going to take 12 months to get from the whiteboard to firing the first cut.

Mar 21, 2011

By J. W. Thompson

RIGHT OF LIFE TENAN1' TO OPEN MINES. The common-law rule that a life tenant was not permitted to open or share in mines does not prevail in Michigan; but a life tenant by dower right is permitted to share in the royalties, as the strict common- law rule is not in harmony with the spirit of our institutions and the policy of our law and would often result in defeating the purposes of dower statutes. Poole v. Union Trust Co. (Michigan), 157 Northwestern 430, p. 432, March, 1916. SALE AND CONVEYANCE. PURCHASE OF ENTIRE ESTATE--FRAUD. A purchase of land where no exceptions or reservations of minerals were made and the land was bought as property, when nothing is excepted and no qualifications or reservations are embodied in the agreement, was presumptively and by common understanding a purchase of the property in its entirety; and the insertion in the deed of a reservation of mineral rights in violation of the contract of purchase and without the grantee's knowledge or consent was fraudulent. Mtynarczyk v Zyskowski (Michigan), 157 Northwestern 566, p. 569, March, 1916. RESERVATION OF MINERALS--EXTENT AND EFFECL A reservation in a conveyance of land excepting and reserving to the grantor all coals and mines beneath the surface with the sole right and privilege to remove the same, is not as broad as the grant itself. A contract for the purchase of a mine recited that a deed had been executed by the owner and placed in escrow to so remain until the sum of $30,000 should be paid. The contract provided that $1,200 of the purchase price was to be paid in cash, $800 in 60 days, and the remainder out of 20 per cent of the gross output of the mine, such per cent to be paid in five years unless the vein and value of ore should not continue in depth, in which event the purchaser was to have two years longer to complete the payment of the purchase price. The contract contained other covenants to the effect that the purchasing corporation would fit up a certain specified mill and would continue development work at such rate as to keep the mill in operation if ores sufficiently valuable should be found and in the absence of unavoidable accident. The contract also provided 1/ that abandonment of work for a period of six months at anyone time, except as above, on said property," should operate as a forfeiture of the purchaser's right. In an action by the vendor to quiet the title to the land and to have the contract declared void, the court found that the purchaser failed to perform the work on the property and failed to place thereon the improvements as required by the contract and permitted debts to accumulate against the property, taxes to be levied thereon, and that for more than a year the purchaser had not done any work or labor of any sort upon the mine or premises, and that the contract contemplated development work from the time the purchaser took possession of the property, or at least promptly thereafter, and the fact that no machinery was in place for a year or more after the execution of the contract was a breach of the covenant of continued development, and that the clause in the contract" except as above" does not contemplate a delay in the development resulting from a failure to install machinery, but it means that unless prevented by unavoidable accidents the purchaser shouLdhave no valid excuses for neglecting the work for a period of six months or more.

Jan 1, 1917

By Tzung-mow Yao, S Ki, J Word, J Vinson

Properly designed evapotranspirative (ET) cover systems can greatly reduce the amount of infiltration and groundwater recharge (deep percolation) into potential acid generating mine waste. In arid and semi-arid environments, infrequent precipitation, low measurable subsurface fluxes, spatial variability within mine waste and cover material, and evapotranspiration from below the cover system create challenges to monitoring moisture flux in these systems. Sloped ET single-layer (monolayer) cover depths and a variety of reclamation treatments are being studied at a copper tailing impoundment in Arizona, USA. To monitor the performance of different ET cover systems in response to precipitation patterns, four different test plots consisting of two different cover depths and two different vegetation densities were instrumented with heat dissipation sensor nests. The sensors measure the soil water pressure potential and allow hydraulic gradients to be determined within and below the cover systems to depths of 180 cm. Three replicate sensor nests were installed in each test plot to account for variability in materials and test plot treatments. Data collection occurs twice daily and is ongoing. Weather during the 26-month monitoring period was characterised by two months of greater than normal precipitation followed by nine months of normal precipitation and 15 months of abnormally dry conditions. Monitoring data indicate that deep percolation occurs in response to periods of extended precipitation, however, drying was observed to depths of six feet below the surface in all test plots. Using conservative assumptions regarding tailing hydraulic properties, one-dimensional downward flux predictions based on the monitoring data indicate very low (Additional long-term monitoring and installation of deeper and replicate monitoring sensors into tailings without cover systems are recommended to evaluate the long-term ET cover system performance and develop a better understanding of deep percolation rates at the sites.

Jan 1, 2003

By P. Wanjara, M. Xiao, M. Jahazi, C. Poon

Using a robotic 4kW Nd:YAG-laser system, Inconel 718 (1 mm sheet) was welded with and without filler wire to investigate the effect of processing parameters, including power input and welding speed, on the weld geometry, microstructure and mechanical properties. By means of both nondestructive testing and microscopic examination, the weld quality was studied to determine the nature of the welding defects (porosity, cracking and bead shape) over the processing range of 3-3.5 kW for the power input and 4.5-6 m-min-1 for the welding speed. Application of the design of experiment methodology permitted the examination of the relationship between the process parameters and mechanical properties, from which the optimized laser welding conditions could be determined for joining Inconel 718. In particular, the research results indicate that Nd:YAG-laser welding technology can achieve defects free, mechanically sound welds with narrow fusion and heat effected zones.

Jan 1, 2006

By Kain Petterson, P D. Katsabanis

Blast fragmentation, determined using image analysis was correlated to drill monitoring parameters in an open pit operation. Average fragment size and 80% passing size showed strong correlation with specific energy of drilling as well as with torque, while the same passing sizes did not correlate well with the rate of penetration. It was also determined that the uniformity of fragmentation decreases with the specific energy of drilling. Thus drilling monitoring parameters appear to be valuable in determining the blastability of the rock mass, enabling adjustment of blast loading to respond to changing conditions in the rock mass.

Jan 1, 2013

By A. Melkumyan, K. Silversides

Chemical assays collected from blast holes have the potential to greatly improve the local accuracy of grade models. Assays must be assigned to the correct domain or they will introduce errors. Boundary surfaces created from the widely spaced exploration holes (~50m) do not provide sufficient resolution to correctly delineate domain boundaries between closely spaced (3-5m) blast holes. This paper demonstrates a probabilistic method for classifying production blast holes near domain boundaries. Gaussian processes models are applied to identify the assays and assay ratios most suited to distinguishing particular domains. These models are combined with the exploration based surfaces to classify the blast holes that can be confidently assigned to a particular domain. A reiterative method is used, where information from the blast holes closest to the exploration holes is used to label blast holes further away. This is tested on two domain boundaries in a banded iron formation-hosted iron ore mine.

Sep 1, 2021

By Ananda Moreira Vaz Ourique de Avila

Ferritic stainless steels have been used in the making of high and intermediate temperature operation solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) interconnects, replacing the ceramic materials. However, at high temperatures, on the order of 700-850 0C, these steels can present significant oxidation and degradation processes, promoting increased electrical resistivity and corrosion losses that result in contamination of the electrodes and reducing the performance and the useful life of the SOFC. Thus, the knowledge on kinetics of oxidation/corrosion of these steels and their relationship with the microstructural transformations are of great importance. In this study, samples of ferritic stainless steels AISI 430, AISI 441 and Crofer22APU® were tested for oxidation at high temperature (800 0C) for long periods of time (up to 3,600 hours) and mass gains were monitored allowing the determination of the oxidation behaviors of these steels. Additionally, the microstructural characteristics of the samples before aging (corrosion-oxidation test) and after various oxidation times were evaluated by optical (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), as well as by micro chemical elemental analysis (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) phase analysis. Electrical characterization allowed determination of electrical area-specific resistances (ASR) characteristics of the systems studied, thus relating the electrical and oxidative behaviors of steels evaluated.

Aug 7, 2018

VOLUME III The objective of Volume III of this report is to provide a concise review of six major types of legal constraints, controls, and regulations on surface coal mining in the United States, as of January, 1976. At the same time, an attempt is made to format the details of federal and state exploration, mining, and reclamation regulations such that point-by-point comparisons can be made and updated as revisions occur. Thus, Volume III should provide both an executive overview and a user's manual of legal controls of surface coal mining.

Jan 1, 1976

By Steve Kral

The Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration’s origins can be traced back to 1871. This was when 22 Pennsylvania coal mining engineers founded the American Institute of Mining Engineers (AIME). The organization’s objective was to “promote the arts and sciences connected with economic production of the useful minerals and metals, and the welfare of those employed in those industries by all lawful means.” Metallurgy and Petroleum were added to the AIME name in 1919 and 1956, respectively. Divisions of AIME were formed throughout the following years in recognition of the increasing trend toward specialization among mineral industry engineers. At the time, SME’s divisions consisted of the Coal Division (1930, now known as the Coal and Energy Division), the Industrial Minerals Division (1935), the Mineral and Metallurgical Processing Division (1948) and the Mining and Exploration Division (1949). The Environmental Division was created in 1997.

Jan 1, 2007