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By AIME AIME

MINING men in general- are a roving lot but not so Selwyn G. Blaylock. Immediately after graduation from McGill in 1899 he went to the Trail smelter and he is there today though he spent three or four years of his early professional life at other British Columbia mining centers. Either he sensed the great possibilities of the company of which he is now vice-president and general manager, or it sensed his; more probably both. Certainly the association was a happy and fortunate one.

Jan 1, 1937

By J. Ritchey

This report describes the engineering feasibility and economic advantages of using a mobile bridge-type cross-pit belt conveyor system in conjunction with a large dragline to excavate and transport spoils in a typical Western surface coal mine. The studies show that such a system could be built to survive operational and climatic mining conditions, and that its implementation would offer a reduction in both acquisition and operating costs versus conventional mining units of comparable capacity. Reclamation costs can also be significantly reduced, and the total reclamation process accelerated, making the cross-pit conveyor system attractive to mine owners and environmentalists alike.

Jan 1, 1976

By Hansheinz Portisch, Harold Margolin

A surface expansion was found to occur sometime after etching in Ti-A1 alloys containing 9.5 to 12.5 wt pct Al. The structure formed, grew, and disappeared with tzrrze. The surface expansion was followed by microscope observations and interferometric and lattice parameter measurements. Activation energy measurements for the growth of the "expansion structure" and chemical analysis indicated that the phenomenon occurred as a result of hydrogen pzckup during etching. It is proposed that hydrogen initially enters octahedral sites of Ti3Al coherent with a Ti and later shifts to the tetrahedral sites. It is postulated that expansion occurs when hydrogen enters the tetrahedral sites. The expansion structure disappeared, it is proposed, because of diffusion of hydrogen from the surface into the body of the alloy and because of loss of coherency of Ti3Al. In examining Ti-A1 alloys, Ence and arolinl observed markings on the surface of specimens. These markings did not appear after electropolishing only, but rather appeared only after etching. The markings appeared to grow as a function of time after etching and later seemed to disappear. Although the markings had some similarity to precipitates, showing, frequently, a Widmanstatten type of arrangement, the observation that other microstructural markings continue to be seen within the new structure suggested that it was actually not a precipitate. The source of this structure was unknown and an attempt was made in the present investigation to develop some understanding of its nature. It has been labeled expansion structure. 1) EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE A) Alloys. Alloys in the range 6.5 to 14.5 wt. pct A1 were studied. Bars, 4 in. sq, forged from Bureau of Mines (73 Bhn) titanium consumably arc-melted 4-lb ingots,' as well as 50-g arc-melted buttons of desired aluminum contents were used. The 50-g buttons also used Bureau of Mines titanium (73 Bhn) and aluminum of 99.99 pct purity. Buttons containing up to 8.5 wt pct A1 were hot-rolled from a furnace at 900' . Those with higher aluminum contents were hand-forged on a titanium anvil, and heated with an oxygen-hydrogen torch in the region of 1200" to 1300°c. Frequent reheating kept the samples at the desired temperature range. After a reduction of about 30 pct, the samples were water-quenched. To eliminate any contamination picked up either during hot rolling or forging, at least 1 mil of the surface of the sample was taken off. B) Heat Treatment. Prior to heat treatment all alloys were vacuum-annealed to remove hydrogen. Samples were annealed at 900' until a vacuum of 10'5 mm Hg was established. After this treatment, the samples were wrapped in molybdenum sheet and heat-treated in argon-filled quartz capsules, which were broken under water or iced brine at the conclusion of the heat treatment. All heat treatments under dynamic vacuum were performed in a rapid-quench furnace. This consisted of a molybdenum-lined quartz tube attached to a vacuum system and through a stopcock to a beaker of water. At the completion of the heat treatment the vacuum stopcock was closed, the furnace shut off, and dropped below the quartz tube. Then immediately the inlet stopcock was opened and water admitted until the tube was filled. The steam formed was allowed to escape through the inlet stopcock. This method was used in heat treatments up to llOO°C. C) Metallography. Specimens for metallographic examination were ground, then electropolished using a Disa Electropol machine with a perchloric acid electr01te. Specimens were etched with R-etch.3 A standard etching time of 3 min was used, with the specimen being agitated during immersion. D) Sample Preparation for X-ray Analysis. Samples 0.2 to 0.5 mm in diam were produced from heat-treated rods which were turned to 2 mm diam on a lathe and then rotation-etched. An etchant consisting of 1 pt HF, 7 pt HN03, and 12 pt HzO was satisfactory. With the rod rotating in a vertical position at 50 to 100 rpm, a needle with uniform dimensions could be obtained. Care had to be taken to insure that the rod was at the center of rotation, otherwise cavitation developed. If a small unevenness developed, it was possible to grind it off with a fine emery paper. E) X-ray Diffraction. All X-ray work was done on a North American Phillips X-ray diffraction apparatus and a Jarrell Ash microfocus X-ray unit. The Phillips unit was used with a copper target and nickel filter. The Jarrell Ash unit was fitted with a cobalt target and iron filter. For the Phillips unit 35 kva and 20 ma were used, whereas for the microfocus unit with the 100-p fixed-focus gun 40 kv and 1.5 ma were used. It was found that alignment of cameras on the Jarre11 Ash unit was very critical. The X-ray beam contains an intense area which is not the beam center. The cameras were aligned with the intense region by monitoring the beam coming out of the camera with a Geiger counter. Adjustments were made until a maximum intensity was obtained. A Phillips diffractometer with a Brown chart recorder furnished some of the lattice parameter data. The divergence slit up to 80 deg 28 was I deg; above 80 deg, a 4-deg opening was used, while the scatter slit was1 deg and the receiving slit had a 0.003-in. opening. The general scanning rate was 1 deg per min, while peaks of special interest were rescanned at -j deg per min. For elevated-temperature X-ray diffraction a Uni-cam High Temperature Camera with a film diameter

Jan 1, 1969

By W. J. Wenger

Oil fields in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming have produced 731 million barrels of petroleum through 1959. Production in 1959 was 32 million barrels, the highest production since 1924. The record production was in 1923, when the Basin produced 38 million barrels of oil and the Salt Creek field, then at its peak, produced 35 million barrels. In this report, the characteristics of crude oils found in the Basin are used as a basis for determining the best re-fining uses for the oils and for predicting the characteristics of oils that may be discovered in the Basin in the future. Analyses of 108 oils sampled over a period of 30 years are presented Crude oils of two major types are produced from the Powder River Basin. One has a low sulfur content and occurs in younger formations, and the other has a high sulfur content and occurs in older formations. The oils with low sulfur contents are generally light colored and waxy, and may be either paraffinic or naphthenic. The oils with high sulfur contents are usually dark colored and asphaltic; only their low boiling fractions are paraffinic. Alteration appears to account for the anomalous properties of some oils found at shallow depths. Shapes and slopes of correlation index curves classify the oils into the same two groups as their sulfur contents, with gently sloping curves representing the low-sulfur oils and steep curves representing high-sulfur, asphaltic oils,

Jan 1, 1961

By Steve Kral

The timing was right for SME to celebrate its 50th anniversary in February as a member society of AIME. The mining industry is in the midst of a commodities boom that appears to have legs. Not only is the demand for metals, construction materials and the like increasing in developing nations, but developed nations have also seen the demand for those materials increase at impressive rates. So, in addition to networking and seeing old friends, attendees at the SME Annual Meeting and Exhibit in Denver, CO. Feb. 25-28, had several reasons to enjoy the week — a healthy industry and their society’s landmark anniversary. This annual meeting was held jointly with the Colorado Mining Association’s (CMA) 109th National Western Mining Conference.

Jan 1, 2007

By M. Asghari, R. Amiri, A. Haratian, M. Noue Parast, S. Haji

Today the roller screen has a wide range of applications in the steel-making industry. It is used for screening of green pellets before using the kiln. Since the appropriate size of a green pellet is -16+9 mm, there are different gaps between rollers that make green pellets classified in three categories: -9 mm (undersize), -16+9 mm (onsize) and +16mm (oversize). The efficiency of a roller screen is specified according to the weight percent of undersize in onsize as a fine material, and weight percent of onsize in oversize (loss). This efficiency is influenced by different operational parameters such as roller diameter, roller speed, and roller gap, material type of rollers and inclination of roller screen. This study investigates the effect of different material types of rollers in efficiency of Ardakan roller screens, located in the Yazd province of Iran. The rollers of the existing roller screens in this pelletising plant are made of polyurethane which according to this investigation, has a maximum lifetime of about six months. Operating the polyurethane rollers beyond its lifetime generates serious problems such as high wear of rollers, and consequently, material buildup on the roller surface which then significantly decreases the roller screen efficiency. So, after examining different roller materials, stainless steel 304 with higher surface roughness to help pellets move properly on the roller screen surface was selected as a solution to this problem. The new roller screen was constructed by Fakoor Meghnatis Spadana (FMS) and replaced the previous one. In this way, the maximum capacity of the roller screen was increased about 17% and the roller screen efficiency was increased about 15%. Keywords: Roller screen, green pellets, efficiency, onsize, operational parameters

Jan 1, 2020

By G. M. Brownell

A DEPOSIT of hematite occurs on Black island, lake Winnipeg, at a point known locally as Red Rock, on the south shore of the island directly across from Clements point. The mail boat from the Canadian Pacific Railway terminus at Riverton, crossing the lake to Manigotogan twice weekly, passes near Red Rock and provides a convenient means of transportation to this part of Black island (Figure 1). HISTORICAL The occurrence of hematite on Black island has been known for a long time. Dowling's report of 1898 states(1): "An iron-ore deposit on the south side has been known' for many years, and on Jeffrey's map of 1762, showing Canada and northern part of Louisiana, Iron island is shown a short distance south of the narrows, evidently the same as the Black island of today".

Jan 1, 1945

The Year Book of the Institute is mailed with this Bulletin. Its membership lists, both alphabetic and geographic, are corrected to Jan. 1, 1918, but its list of officers is revised inn accordance with the elections in February, 1918. The amendment to the Constitution, relating, to qualifications for membership, adopted at the same time, is also inserted in its proper place. We would call attention to the Honor Roll, heading the list of membership. This includes the names of those whom we know (in February, 1918) to be on active military duty, as well as those who are rendering emergency service to the Government in other branches. We are aware that the list is not complete, and shall be grateful for information as to any omissions or corrections. Because of the rapid movement of the military members, their addresses have been omitted from the alphabetic list. Mail addressed to such members, and sent to the office of the Institute, will be forwarded to the best of our information at the time.

Jan 3, 1918

The AusIMM came into being to foster the spread of professional knowledge within its client industry. It has evolved along with the Australian mining industry for more than a century. If the AusIMM is to become the world's premier mining professional body (whether by design, or by default), then draw up a strategic plan to get there. Define your strengths and market them Define the priority areas for professional competence which we most need, Target the groups within Australia who can produce the people, Create an industry peer group to speed technology transfer.

Jan 1, 1994

By D. D. Munro

Finsch Mine is a kimberlite diamond mine located at Lime Acres in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The mine was founded in 1961 and started surface mining in 1964. Underground production commenced in 1990 using a modified blast-hole open stoping method for the mining of Blocks 1, 2 and 3. Block 4 is currently being mined as a block cave. The process of identifying and optimizing a method to mine the Block 5 orebody started in 1991, and in 2006 incline caving was identified as being technically feasible. This paper aims to document the process employed in developing this method by the Block 5 prefeasibility team as well as discuss the technical challenges encountered during this process. The paper commences with a history of Finsch Mine and highlights the complex geology and threat of sidewall failure that prompted the decision to use block caving as the mining method for Block 4. A literature study of mines that implemented mining methods upon which the incline cave was conceptualized is then presented. These practices were then used to form the basis for the designs on which the initial geotechnical modelling was done and built upon through an iterative process of modelling and design changes. The ventilation of the mining area, initial productivity simulation results, and the applicability of automation and comminution processes in the incline cave are also presented. The paper concludes with an investigation into some of the challenges of the mining method, and shows that that incline caving is a technical option available for further investigation in determining the optimal mining method to be employed at Block 5, Finsch Diamond Mine. Keywords massive mining, incline caving, geotechnical modelling.

Jul 1, 2013

By L. K. Smith, E. M. de Kock, J. van der Walt

A systematic approach to the analysis of alternative methods of ventilating and cooling large hot mines is presented. The important factors that have a bearing on ventilation and cooling requirements and practices, such as air flow through the mine, geographical distribution of eat loads, and micro-ventilation considerations, are dealt with. The analysis of these factors leads to definitive ventilation and cooling strategies, air and water process design, specifications of details, and designs of the associated plant and equipment.

Jan 1, 1983

By W. N. Hamilton

British Columbia is geologically favourable for a rich variety of industrial mineral occurrences. Some have been produced for years, others overlooked until recently. Major production occurs for asbestos, gypsum, limestone, magnesite, silica and sulfur; lesser production for a dozen others. For several of the minerals, potential is much greater than existing production. New production opportunities exist also for diamonds, niobium and REE minerals, fluorspar, kyanite, nepheline syenite, talc, and several others. Alberta, though geologically less diverse, also has many industrial minerals. Limestone, salt and sulfur have the major production; clay and shale, silica, sodium sulfate and a few others lesser production. Opportunities exist for expanded production, and for new production in heavy (Ti -Zr) minerals, formation brines (Ca-Mg-I-Li), and gypsum.

Jan 1, 1987

By C. A. Mitke

In the Southwest, mcchanical ventilation of metal mines has been receiving consideration for many years. The United Verde Copper Co., in Jerome, has used large mine fans for ventilation and fire-fighting purposes for at lcast 15 years, while the Copper Qucen Branch of the Phelps Dodge Corpn. commenced installing mechanical ventilation in its various divisions 10 years ago.' Since then, with few exceptions, every large mine in this part of the country has installed and put in operation a mechanical ventilating system. The properties of some of these companies consist of from two to six divisions, or separate mines, each of which requires an independent ventilating system. In other words, thirteen copper mining companies, with an aggregate tonnage, when operating at capacity, of approximately 50,000 tons a day, have installed mechanical ventilating systems in their mines. All these mines are within a radius of approximately 200 miles, which constitutes the largest copper-producing area in the world. The capacities of mechanical ventilating installations in these mines range from 100,000 to 300,000 cu. ft. of air per minute, depending on the size of the mine, character of the workings, tonnage produced, etc. The latter varies from 300 to 20,000 tons per day. The mines include both high- and low-grade deposits, the greatest depth of the former, at present, being approximately 2500 ft.; and of the latter, 1200 ft. The volumes of air at present being coursed through the mines are from 60,000 up to 225,000 cu. ft. of air per minute,which, in their relation to the undcrground working force, range from 200 to 800 cu. ft. of air per man, per minute. While not to be taken as criteria, these figures are indicative of the character of the ventilation furnished.

Jan 1, 1923

By C. A. Mitke

In the Southwest, mcchanical ventilation of metal mines has been receiving consideration for many years. The United Verde Copper Co., in Jerome, has used large mine fans for ventilation and fire-fighting purposes for at lcast 15 years, while the Copper Qucen Branch of the Phelps Dodge Corpn. commenced installing mechanical ventilation in its various divisions 10 years ago.' Since then, with few exceptions, every large mine in this part of the country has installed and put in operation a mechanical ventilating system. The properties of some of these companies consist of from two to six divisions, or separate mines, each of which requires an independent ventilating system. In other words, thirteen copper mining companies, with an aggregate tonnage, when operating at capacity, of approximately 50,000 tons a day, have installed mechanical ventilating systems in their mines. All these mines are within a radius of approximately 200 miles, which constitutes the largest copper-producing area in the world. The capacities of mechanical ventilating installations in these mines range from 100,000 to 300,000 cu. ft. of air per minute, depending on the size of the mine, character of the workings, tonnage produced, etc. The latter varies from 300 to 20,000 tons per day. The mines include both high- and low-grade deposits, the greatest depth of the former, at present, being approximately 2500 ft.; and of the latter, 1200 ft. The volumes of air at present being coursed through the mines are from 60,000 up to 225,000 cu. ft. of air per minute,which, in their relation to the undcrground working force, range from 200 to 800 cu. ft. of air per man, per minute. While not to be taken as criteria, these figures are indicative of the character of the ventilation furnished.

Jan 1, 1923

By Maycon Athayde

Samarco produces high quality iron ore pellets processed in straight grate furnaces. This process is essential in order to obtain adequate mechanical strength to the pellet transportation and operation in the reduction reactors. All mechanical properties of the agglomerates are obtained during the stage of firing where the slag and sintering bond happens, thus it is a decisive step to improve the pellet quality. Therefore, the velocity distribution of gas flow within this zone must have homogeneous and even velocity distribution. Hence, it was developed a mathematical CFD model to characterize the gas flow in the burning zone, applying the equations of conservation of momentum, mass and energy and an uneven flow distribution was identified and the gas velocity analyzed and validated through experimental data. On the other hand, on the present paper, an improved firing zone burner were developed and industrially implemented in a way to mitigate the uneven flow pattern detected aided by CFD. Different burner designs, based on CFD analysis, were experimented in order to succeed on the aggressive condition. The combustion was investigated and burner efficiency evaluated and compared with the simulation purposed.

Aug 2, 2018

By Yagmur Sirinyurt, Ayhan Ali Sirkeci, Gülay Bulut, Mustafa Özer, Tuncer Acar

"The basic requirement of glass industry for the silica sand is at least 99% SiO2 content. On the other hand, coloring impurities such as Fe and Ti, must be removed. Flotation is the most widely used method for the purification of silica sands from impurities. In this study experimental studies were carried out to reduce Fe content of Mersin (Turkey) district silica sands by flotation. Silica sand sample with a d80 particle size of 1.85 mm was reduced below 0.5 mm in size. Then the size fraction -0.5 +0.106 mm was subjected to flotation tests. In flotation tests, sulfonate-type R801-R825, fatty acid based DER NA 7 (Produced by a Turkish company) and HA110-HA150 a blend of various chemicals produced by Mersin Cam-Is Mining Company (producer of glass raw materials) were used as collectors. Flotation tests showed that sulfonate type R801-R825 collectors provided much better results in acidic medium (pH: 3). The optimum pH value for DER NA, HA150 and HA110 collectors was found to be 7. It was observed that the addition of collector at once caused an increase in the amount of floated product that resulted in a loss of silica to the tailings. In the case of multistage addition of the collector much better selectivity was achieved. As a result of flotation tests conducted under best conditions, a concentrate assaying 0.046% Fe was obtained with a weight percentage of 93.4 when DER NA 7 was used as a collector. In the case of R801-R825 a concentrate was produced with 0.058% Fe content with a yield of 98.4%. On the use of HA150-HA110 the concentrate was produced with 96% weight recovery and 0.052% Fe content."

Jan 1, 2014

By Marlene Olivares Cruz

The particles that make up the deep-sea sediments have two main sources: 1) those that are created in situ from dissolved components and 2) those that are washed into the ocean in solid phases from the continents, atmosphere, space and interior of the Earth. Many particles as they sink through the water column reaches the seabed and are known as pelagic sediments with terrigenous, biogenic, authigenic, and cosmogenic components. Among the minerals found in the terrigenous fraction of pelagic sediments are quartz, clay minerals, feldspar, micas, ferromagnesians, and the biogenic fraction with remains of siliceous organisms, such as, radiolarian and diatoms. The chemical nature of marine sediments is controlled by the contribution of particulate matter derived from various sources with varying compositions for the fixing of elements during deposition and the compositional changes carried out within the sediments during diagenesis. In the last decade there have been several studies on the mineralogical composition of seabed sediments, suspended particulate materials and cores, together with paleontological and geochemical data are used for paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions, analyze changes in sea level, stratigraphic correlations and identify past and present sources of sediment and terrigenous input pathways and to describe the current ocean mass (Martins et al., 2001, Oliveira et al., 1998). There is also a scientific and economic interest in the authigenic fraction of pelagic sediments formed from other materials for polymetallic nodules. The study of sediments associated with polymetallic nodules helps to know the genesis, evolution and occurrence of these deposits (De Koven et al., 2003, Dubinin et al., 2008).

Jan 1, 2011

By Krishna R. Reddy, Jyoti K. Chetri, Girish Kumar

Geotechnical engineering encompasses a major portion of the civil and infrastructure projects. The large amounts of energy and resources typically used in these projects leads to undesirable emissions and wastes which contribute substantially towards global environmental impacts (e.g., global climate change). This could further include secondary economic and societal issues which are often unaccounted in traditional engineering design of the geotechnical projects. In order to address this issue, it is imperative to integrate the broader environmental, economic and social implications into decisions of a geotechnical project. Recent years have seen a major impetus on life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental sustainability of the geotechnical designs. However, there are no tools that can quantify the life cycle triple bottom line sustainability of potential design alternatives in a project with holistic considerations towards broader economic (indirect costs and benefits) and social impacts (stakeholder preferences, socio-environmental and socio-economic impacts). This study presents a new framework for quantitative assessment of life-cycle sustainability (QUALICS) for alternative designs in engineering projects. The framework integrates two multi-criteria decision analysis methods namely, the Integrated Value Model for Sustainable Assessment (MIVES) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), to support decision making on the potential design alternatives. In this study, a brief overview of the framework is presented. A case study demonstrating the use of QUALICS framework is discussed with its application to the sustainability assessment of two deep foundation systems, caissons and piles, over their design life. The technical designs of both systems are developed based on bearing capacity, both primary and secondary settlements, and structural integrity. The results from the sustainability assessment of the two deep foundation systems are discussed, and the most sustainable option based on different stakeholder preferences and site-specific conditions are identified.

Jan 1, 2019

By C Young

The identification of Critical Risks, their associated Critical Controls, and the implementation of processes to ensure their ongoing management can be difficult and resource intensive. Answering the following Critical Risk Management related questions can be challenging: • What is a Critical Risk? • What is a Bow-tie Analysis and when should it be used? • What is Critical Control? • How is the effectiveness of a Critical Control assured, and how is this measured? • Who is responsible for managing Critical Controls? • What are the implications if a Critical Control is not effective? It appears that in the mining industry’s efforts to implement the Critical Control Management Process outlined by the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), instead of embedding an integrated, well understood, value adding process, we have instead created a resource hungry monster that is poorly understood by numerous layers of the organisation.

May 5, 2022

By Xiaochun Xiao, Xin Ding, Yishan Pan, DI WU, Xiangfeng Lv

Rockburst is a sudden disastrous instability of coal mass that poses a serious threat to underground exploitation of coal resources; therefore, approaches of prediction and control methods are valuable for improving mining environments. The mechanical properties and bursting liability of coal with drying, under-saturated, and saturated moisture content under uniaxial compression are investigated, and the charge induction signal during coal deformation both in the laboratory and on-site is recorded in this study. The presence of water reduces the cohesion and increases the internal stress caused by non-uniform deformation of minerals, resulting in the strength, elastic modulus, and bursting liability being weakened. The charge induction precursor main frequency band is 1–100 Hz and belongs to the very-low-frequency signal regime, and it indeed varies with the loading stage, leading to specimen failure owing to changes in amplitude and continuity of the charge pulse in both the time and frequency domains. Water inhibits the richness of charge induction and reduces the bursting liability, and the earlier the precursor appears, the more total charge emerges. Moreover, measurement results indicate that the amplitude and continuity of the charge pulse decrease over a longer time, as recorded in a coal seam with water injection, further verifying the weakening of the coal dynamic characteristics. Charge induction can be a valuable tool with which to obtain the precursors for rockburst and to aid the evaluation of water injection.

Dec 26, 2022