Search Documents

By F. D. Everett

Thermoelectric and metal alloying applications have changed the status of tellurium from oversupply to under supply . In a search for new sources of this element in Arizona , Colorado , New Mexico , Utah , and neighboring states , the Bureau of Mines analyzed more than 200 samples and obtained the results of tellurium determinations by private companies on more than 500 samples from a wide variety of mineral - bearing deposits . The About 40 minerals containing tellurium have been reported , mainly tellu- rides of gold , silver , bismuth , mercury , lead , copper , iron , and nickel . minerals usually occur in small quantities and identification in ores is extremely difficult . Samples containing more than 0.1 percent tellurium were taken from the Hilltop and Memphis properties in Dona Ana County , N. Mex . , and the Silver King property in White Pine County , Nev . , where development was chiefly for base metals . The Lone Pine mine in Catron County , N. Mex . , and the Bambolla mine near Moctezuma , Sonora , Mexico are potential sources of native tellurium occurring in small but high- grade pods . Much of the production of tellurium has come as a byproduct of electro- lytic refining of copper and lead- zinc ores in Arizona , Colorado , New Mexico , and Utah . Base -metal ore deposits will continue to be the most important pri- mary source of tellurium , although the concentration in ores is nearly always less than 10 parts per million . Any significant increase in output of tellu- rium probably will be related to production and improved efficiency in smelt- ing and refining base - metal ores .

Jan 1, 1964

By R Strand, L Reading, G Keir

A major challenge in managing coal seam gas (CSG) water is predicting how much water will be produced as the industry develops. Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd (KCB) was commissioned by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM) to develop a tool to forecast where, when and how much CSG water will be produced in the Surat and Southern Bowen Basins under various industry expansion scenarios.The water production tool (WPT) uses the Theis equation, a non-equilibrium groundwater flow equation that accounts for the effect of pumping time on well yield in confined aquifers, to predict water production volumes. Where multiple pumping wells are in close proximity, the required pumping rates for coal seam depressurisation are reduced. Therefore, pumping effects are projected spatially to assess interference effects between wells. Water production is then upscaled to the projected scale of the CSG industry within the Surat and Southern Bowen Basins.Two modifications were made to address the dual phase nature of CSG extraction (a transmissivity reduction factor) and the impact of weathering at the eastern margin of the Surat Basin (a ænear edge effectÆ factor). These factors modify relevant hydrogeological parameters in a consistent and defensible manner to more closely match observed water production.The WPT was verified by comparing results to equivalent Theis equation calculations and to type curves provided by CSG proponents. Calibration was achieved by varying the spatial distribution and intensity of the near edge effect factor in conjunction with a chi-squared analysis of residuals.The tool, which is now being maintained and further developed by the Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry (CWiMI), was built to balance numerical complexity against relative flexibility and simulation speed. The result is a tool that can produce statistically relevant results of prescribed scenarios to plan water handling and treatment requirements in discrete zones of operation.CITATION:Strand, R, Reading, L and Keir, G, 2013. Water production simulation tool for coal seam gas operations in Bowen and Surat basins, in Proceedings Water in Mining 2013 , pp 311-320 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 26, 2013

By R Ahola, M D. Henschel, M A. McParland

With the introduction in recent years of third-generation interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) techniques, monitoring of mine slopes, benches and surrounding areas has benefitted from increased accuracy and coverage. Fundamental research into point and distributed scattering techniques has pushed the use of InSAR to provide higher spatial and height resolution. In this paper we discuss the operationalisation of third-generation InSAR techniques and show its application to active mining operations.This paper will discuss the use of multiple independent measurements of ground movement obtained from operationally-derived InSAR products over a wide variety of deformation areas within an active open pit mining operation (ie pit slopes, dewatering depressions, tailings containment and waste dumps). A technique that shortens the time between observations (increased observation frequency) and provides ongoing estimates of measurement accuracy will be described. The methodology exploits available satellite data by using multiple satellites and multiple beams. The paper will also examine factors in the design of a mine survey with third-generation InSAR and illustrate some of the necessary engineering trade-offs to efficiently monitor a mine from space.Overall, this paper aims to demonstrate the capabilities and advantages of operational third-generation InSAR techniques for ground movement monitoring of mining operations and provide a framework for proper design of a mine InSAR survey.CITATION:Henschel, M D, Sato, S, Ahola, R and McParland, M A, 2014. Designing interferometric synthetic aperture radar surveys for mine monitoring with accuracy assessment, in Proceedings AusRock 2014: Third Australasian Ground Control in Mining Conference , pp 233–238 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 5, 2014

By Travis A. Davidson, Ralph E. Burnham, Cathy Aimone-Martin, J. Kelly Ratliff

Blasters face a long list of tasks to execute daily—from vehicle inspections to blast design and layout, hole loading and tie-in, securing the site, and finally, safely executing the blast. Good practices and, in most cases, regulations and requirements necessitate documenting their work, specifically their blast report. While some blasters use paper forms, others use electronic means to streamline the process. The authors have served as attorneys and expert witnesses in representing companies and individual blasters in numerous administrative and legal matters in which documentation of the blaster’s work was both critical and detrimental to the effectiveness of defending their work. This paper discusses in a case-study manner the authors' observations concerning good blast report format, specific observations around electronic and paper report completion, record-keeping, seismograph setup and recordkeeping, video and photo documentation, internal auditing, and other topics related to documenting the blast. The paper aims to serve as a discussion guide for blasters to improve their blast record-keeping process, develop better practices that effectively document their work, and allow them to defend their work should a claim arise concerning their operations.

Jan 21, 2025

By A. S. Block-Bolten

Two innovations in nickel-arsenic separation have been studied on a laboratory scale. The first requires only a nitric acid atmospheric leach without preliminary roasting and leads to favorable final conditions for precipitation of arsenic as highly stable FeAsO4, The second is an NaOH-H2O2 pressure leach which is an alternative to the known NaOH-O2 pressure leach. Either method offers the possibility of rapid and efficient separation of nickel from arsenic and is applicable, for example to the high grade niccolite deposits in the Great Slave Lake area of northern Canada.

Jan 1, 1982

By Charles H. Shapiro

[In July, 1924, the Bureau of Mines, through its Petroleum Experiment Station, undertook a field study of methods used in oil-field shops for dressing and tempering fishtail bits. The purpose of this work was to suggest chances that would be helpful to the bit-dresser in turning out better treated, harder, and tougher bits, and thus cut down the excessive loss of time caused by too frequent changing of bits. It was the intention to eliminate as much as possible the guess work connected with dressing and tempering bits under the method of judging temperature by eye, by developing; practical methods of controlling temperature. If there were some possible means of accurate temperature control, then it would be an easy matter to bring all bits to the proper temperature for maximum hardness rued toughness, thus doing away with the source of most of the trouble experienced in the present method of bit tempering. Shortly after the Bureau of Mines began its study, a chop In the Stroud, Oklahoma, oil field announced method for tempering fishtail bits that Would increase the drilling footage of each bit treated. The method accurately regulates, by the use of a bath of molten salt, the temperature to which a bit is heated before being quenched to produce hardness. There is nothing new in using silt baths for the, heat treatment of steel, but this was the first attempt to introduce it into the oil fields for use in hardening bits, and for this purpose it proved to be admirably adapted. In tempering, by the old system it is not possible to measure the temperature of the heated bit by means of an electrical instrument for that purpose, whereas this is an easy matter with the now method. If heating steel to slightly above the critical point rind quenching suddenly will bring out its best properties, their here is a method of accurately bringing the steel to that point.]

Jan 1, 1925

By Robert E. Barieau

General expressions for evaluating practically all the thermodynamic properties of a fluid from a single equation of state are derived. Most of the formulas are expressed in terms of the compressibility factor, with this factor being an explicit function of the temperature and the molal density. Similar expressions are given using reduced variables.

Jan 1, 1967

By AIME AIME

COMMITTEES. CANAL ZONE.-Col. George W. Goethals, U. S. A., Chairman; Lt.-Col. H. F. Hodges, U. S. A. ; Lt.: Col. D. D. Gaillard, U. S. A. ; Lt.-Col. William L. Sibert, IT. S. A. ; H. H. Rousseau, U. S. N.; Col. W. C. Gorgas, U. S. A.; Maurice H. Thatcher ; Joseph Bucklin Bishop ; Lt.-Col. Charles F. Mason, U. S. A.; S. B. Williamson ; Major Eugene T. Wilson, U. S. A. ; Edward Schildhauer ; Henry Goldmark ; Edward C. Sherman ; W. G. Comber ; W. B. Corse ; J. A. Walker; Joseph A. Le Prince; J. A. Smith ; Lt. Frederick Mears, U. S. A. HAVANA.-V. T. Polledo, Chairman; Diego Lombillo Clark, Jose Primelles, J. R. Villalon, Jose Artola, J. Ducassi, Luis Morales, Enrique Montonlieu. ENTERTAINMENT ON SHIPBOARD.-William L. Saunders, Chairman; Mr. and Mrs. S. D. Warriner, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Robins, Mr. and Mrs. George.D. Barron, Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Watson, W. E. Greene. GENERAL MANAGEMENT. .Joseph Struthers, Chairman; Albert E. Vaughan. There were ten sessions of the Institute held for the presentation and discussion of, technical or professional papers. Eight of these sessions were held on the steamer while en route, and two in the ball-room of the Hotel Tivoli, at Ancon, C. Z. Mr. David W- Brunton, President of the Council, presided at all the sessions, except the sixth, at which Mr. Charles Kirchhoff, past President, occupied the chair. The following list includes the papers presented in oral abstract by the authors: First Session., October 24. The Summit Hill Mine-Fire, by W. A. Lathrop, Philadelphia, Pa. Mine-Fire at the Calumet and Hecla Mine, No. 8 Shaft., by S. D. Warriner, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Fire in the Big Lick Stope, Lykens Valley and Williamstown Colliery, by R. V. Norris, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Mine-Fire in the Hecksherville Valley, Schuylkill Field, Pa., by W. J. Richards, Pottsville, Pa.. Fire in the Monarch Mine, near Rock Springs, Wyo., by S. A. Taylor, Pittsburg, Pa.

Dec 1, 1910

By Miles B. Royer

The experimental blast furnace has attracted increasing interest during the past decade as a practical means for investigating a broad range of blast-furnace smelting problems. Under experimental-furnace conditions, information can be obtained with less expenditure of time and raw materials and, therefore, at lower cost than comparable information could be obtained under industrial operating conditions. Furthermore, the experimental furnace may be operated beyond the range of smooth operation, even to failure, to delineate the limits of operability. Such deviation from normal operating practice would be economically intolerable in industrial operations where production and operating stability might be disrupted. The Federal Bureau of Mines experimental blast furnace at Bruceton, Pa., near Pittsburgh, has been operated and under development since 1951. However, the usefulness of this experimental data to industrial practice was somewhat nebulous in early experiments, and the correlation of the experimental blast furnace with the industrial blast furnace was not known.

Jan 1, 1961

By G. Richard Dreese

Most coal mining states have passed or amended laws restricting strip ruining in the past two years. In light of this and in anticipation of further restrictions by the states and the federal government on strip mining this paper attempts to show the Impact of these new laws on the structure of the coal mining industry in Ohio and specifically on one small stripping firm in Ohio. The implications of the study are applicable to other states under similar circumstances and to other industries which are being caught up in the ecological-economic struggle.

Jan 1, 1973

By Clebson Joel Mendes de Oliveira

Sulfur control in steel have been challenging process experts since the discovering of it deleterious effect on most of steel product properties. To separate this slag from hot metal is mandatory to complete desulfurization process. The preferred method is to skim hot metal surface physically removing the contaminated slag, attributing to the operator the evaluation of skimming efficiency. Thus, we present a new lower cost system using image processing methods foreseeing a future full automation skimming process.

Aug 16, 2017

By G. Reed Marchant

In 1967 the US Congress passed the "Clean Air Act." This act was amended in 1970. As a result it soon became obvious that American industries were going to have to make significant changes in their methods of operation to be able to comply with quickly developing federal regulations. One of the first regulations developed was on sulfur dioxide. For this reason, the nonferrous smelting industry was immediately affected by these new regulations. This is true because the smelting process produces sulfur dioxide as a natural product of combustion when the sulfur-bearing ore is oxidized to purify the metal. The federal government's approach for setting standards included public hearings at which government, industry, and private citizens were allowed to make comments. For this reason, it was apparent to Kennecott's Metal Mining Div. that it was desirable to make a maximum effort in working with the agency to see that correct input was provided at the hearings to assist the government in setting fair and realistic standards. It was also obvious that more complete monitoring would be required. It soon became apparent that the efforts required input from many levels of the corporation from the chief executive to the plant operators. In order to accomplish both the administrative and the technical needs, an organization was needed that could respond quickly to these needs, obtain information from diverse sources, and bring it to focus in an organized approach to the problem.

Jan 1, 1979

By M. N. Collison

"In 1960, with the opening of the Chisel Lake mine near Snow Lake, Manitoba, the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., Limited, commenced a new phase in their mining operation -that of bringing ore to Flin Flon over 100 miles of railroad.The schedule of operations required to accomplish this, together with an outline of some of the problems of handling ore at 40° and 50,0 below zero, are discussed. The facilities required to thaw and unload from twenty to fifty cars per working day are also described."

Jan 1, 1966

By R. B. Paine, B. M. Wright

"Syncrude has entered a new era involving the use of pipeline slurries to convey oil sand to the extraction plant. Hydrotransport operations and base plant operations encounter vast performance differences when processing different types of oil sand. This paper describes the hydrotransport process, its history at Syncrude, methods of describing the source ore characteristic and plant performance. The use of this information within Syncrude and how it will be managed on an ongoing basis will also be described. IntroductionThe Syncrude Canada Ltd. site is located 43 km north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, on the Athabasca oil sand deposit. The Syncrude operation consists of mining, extraction, upgrading, utilities and other support facilities. The mined ore is sent to the extraction plant where water and solids are removed from the bitumen. The bitumen is then sent to the upgrading plants to be further processed into Syncrude Sweet Blend (a light sweet crude oil). Syncrude produced 73.5 Mbbls of Syncrude Sweet Blend in 1996 and produced 75.7 Mbbls in 1997. Prior to 1993, Syncrude moved ore from the pit to the extraction plant via four dragline / bucketwheel/ conveyor systems. These systems, supplemented by auxiliary ore crushers, satisfied the feed requirements of the extraction plant. Ore was conveyed to the control tower area and placed in the dump pocket via four radial stackers. Various blending scenarios occurred at this point, using feed from the four mining quadrants and from auxiliary feed crushers. Upon entering the extraction plant from the base mine, the oil sand passed through a series of tumblers where it was mixed with hot water and caustic. It then proceeded to one of four primary separation vessels where bitumen froth was floated off and the middlings and coarse fractions were recombined and sent to the tail oil recovery vessels, or TORs, for further processing."

Jan 1, 1999

By William R. Wayment, David E. Nicholson

The Bureau of Mines studied some physical properties of hydraulic backfills and their paramount characteristics , and made preliminary attempts to compact this type of material . The in- place density of hydraulic backfills affects the properties of strength , consolidation , and water percolation . Dense fills give better support than loose fills . In - place density properties themselves are affected by grain size , grain size distribution , and the particular conditions of sedimentation in a stope ( the amount of work the slurry water does to compact the material ) . Field sampling of in - place densities of fills presently used in four different mines and laboratory and underground compaction tests using a standard concrete vibrator show that the initial in - place density of the cohesionless fill material tested can be significantly increased by vibratory compaction .

Jan 1, 1964

By K. H. Concannon, K. I. Hindle

"The use of simulation modeling in the primary metals industry (including mining, smelting, and metals processing) is expanding as significant cost-benefits can be realized by companies employing capital intensive processes. The economic scale and complexity of operations found in this industry is well-suited to applications using this ""what-if' computer modeling technique, ranging from proof-of-concept projects to testing facility design or configuration, and determining resource requirements. More recently this technique is being used to support on-going planning and scheduling for operations using the simulation as the engine to derive the best schedule. With increased computer processing capability, deterministic models are now being developed to capture the workings of a production system or conversion process, allowing real-time monitoring and scheduling of these operations. This paper presents a sample of some recent discrete-event simulation modeling applications that demonstrate the capability and benefits of this technique in the primary metals industry. These include the use of simulation to support the long-range planning of underground mining operations; the modeling of a metals supply chain network that employs a multi-modal distribution system; the scheduling of a metals coil finishing process using a deterministic simulation model; and a more detailed description of the use of simulation to model furnace and converter aisle activities within a smelter operation in Northern Canada."

Jan 1, 2007

By Erwin Stötzer, Renato Fiorotto, Wolfgang G. Brunner, Manfred Schöpf

"Deep mixing methods can be used economically for the construction of cut-off or excavation support walls where other systems such as traditional soldier beams and lagging walls would yie ld unsatisfactory performance, where the installation of vibrated or driven sheet piles could cause vibration induced settlements and where concrete diaphragm walls would be time consuming and expensive. The new CSM method can largely replace the more conventional single or multiple auger methods of soil mixing or jet grouting. The cutter tool is similar to a cutter used in diaphragm walls or cut-off walls and is operated with a Kelly mounted on a drill rig. With this system much deeper walls can be installed and even hard soil layers can be penetrated. CONVENTIONAL SOIL MIXINGIn 1962 Norman Liver patented an auger-based soil mixing technique that has become the basis for the world's current technology.The deep mixing method (DMM), as it is known today, is an in situ soil treatment and improvement technology where the soil is blended with binders and/or other materials that are introduced in a slurry or dry form.Typically one or more hollow, rotating mixing shafts tipped with some type of cutting tool are mounted vertically to the mast of a base carrier and are driven into the ground by hydraulic or electrically powered rotary heads. The shafts above the cutting tool may be further equipped with discontinuous auger flights and/or mixing paddles. The binder is injected through the hollow shafts to nozzles located near the cutting tool where it is mixed with the ground to form columns of treated soil.Individual column diameters range from 0,6m to 1,5m and may extend to 40 m in depth. They can be arranged individually or in contiguous or secant patterns to produce a wide range of treated soil structures on both land and marine projects. Typical configurations are: Single elements, rows of overlapping (secant) elements, grids, lattices and blocks (Fig. 1 )."

Jan 1, 2005

By J. J. Mather

NEPHELINE SYENITE is a feldspathic rock resembling granite in texture and hardness but it is white in colour and contains appreciable quantities of the mineral nepheline, the result of a silica deficiency. It is relatively common, with known occurrences in Russia, Scandinavia, India, Canada, United States, and other parts of the world. However, the particular deposit being mined at Nephton, Ontario, by American Nepheline Limited is unique in its remarkable uniformity and low content of iron bearing minerals, both qualities essential in a ceramic raw material. The orebody is a pear-shaped mass over five miles in length, up to a mile in width, rising in three prominent ridges as much as 300 feet above the surrounding lakestudded terrain. American Nepheline holdings, consisting of 2,200 acres, comprise some 85 per cent of the total mass.

Jan 1, 1957

By John R. Hoskins

Uniaxial compressive strength of rock is usually determined in the laboratory from cylindrical samples that vary in diameter from 5/8 to 8 inches, using a spherically seated compression head of unspecified size. The Bureau of Mines conducted a series of tests on limestone, marble, sand-stone, granite, and plaster of paris to determine the influence of the spherical head sizes and the specimen diameters themselves on the uniaxial compressive strength. Cylindrical samples of several different diameters of each rock type, all having a length of twice their diameter, were prepared and broken using at least three different diameter spherical heads. Analysis of the data shows that spherical head size does not significantly affect the uniaxial compressive strength of cylindrical rock samples. However, the diameter of the rock specimens does significantly affect the uniaxial compressive strength. Within the range of specimen diameters tested, a coefficient of variation of 6.4 percent for plaster of paris can be attributed to the selection of specimen diameter alone. Similarly, a maximum coefficient of variation of 4.7 percent for the rock types tested can be attributed to the specimen diameter alone.

Jan 1, 1969

By P Vaikkattil, K Li, J Bullock

Unlocking maximum value is essential when designing a stope and the associated drill and blast packets. This is becoming increasingly important at Olympic Dam as the operation continues to expand south into the new mining areas away from existing infrastructure, increasing operating costs and required capital investment; into areas with less competent ground conditions, requiring smaller stopes and increased interactions. The introduction of Orica’s WebGenTM system is one way in which Olympic Dam can continue to unlock value into the future by decoupling traditional drill and blast limitations. The Lime 390 stope was the first stope at Olympic Dam to trial the new technology on the last blast packet. This paper reviews the drill and blast design of the Lime 390 stope, including the technical and operational challenges associated with the stope and the trial of the Orica’s WebGenTM system for the firing of the last blast packet.

Mar 15, 2021