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By Leonard D. Jarrard, Ernest E. Thurlow

THE Boulder batholith of western Montana may be considered a uranium province: a regional geologic environment within which uranium is found in uncommon amounts. Reconnaissance examinations indicated that the Atomic Energy Commission should undertake an evaluation of the potential of this area for uranium production. The AEC has been assisted by the U. S. Geological Survey which has given priority to selected uranium-bearing areas in overall studies of the mineral deposits of the batholith and adjacent regions. Although no out- standing uranium deposits have been discovered, uranium ore has been produced from three widely separated deposits upon which most of the exploration to date has been directed. The intrusive mass referred to as the Boulder batholith occupies a strip of mountainous country about 18 miles wide between Butte and Helena, Mont., covering an area of approximately 1000 sq miles. Elevations range from 3500 ft along Prickly Pear Creek to nearly 9000 ft near Elkhorn Peak a few miles to the east. Except for a few flat-lying valley lands, the region is wooded with lodgepole pine and fir. Though mainly dependent upon mining ventures in the past, the area now is supported, outside of the Butte district, almost wholly by agriculture and some lumbering.

Jan 7, 1954

By K. Koizumf, A. A. Cram, K. Whitchurch

The Expert Scheduling is a new, exciting method for scheduling underground and open-cut coal mines. A key feature of the Expert Scheduler is the adoption of an expert or artificial intelligence system. The expert system makes decisions regarding the schedule, such as which area should be mined. With existing scheduling systems these choices are made by the scheduling engineer. Developing one area may be better than another if it offers better quality or lower costs. Information the engineer considers in these decisions could be; • coal tonnage and quality targets, • equipment utilisation, • mining cost, • and other practical constraints. In expert scheduling a number of experts are appointed to make these decisions. A number of mining strategies are examined for each period. Information for each strategy is evaluated by "experts" and the "best" solution adopted. The method is based on the Blackboard Techniques. With this technique information is presented to "knowledge sources” or "experts" by the Blackboard Controller for their "opinions". These "opinions" are examined by the Blackboard Controller to select the best strategy. Engineers can readily add experts to the system, and modify the weighting of experts to suit mining conditions. Using an Expert Scheduler means that many schedule op- tions can be analysed quickly with full repeatability.

Jan 1, 1996

MONTANA SECTION FREDERICK LAIST, Chairman F. W. BACORN, Vice-chairman E. B. YOUNG, Secretary-Treasurer, 52G Hennesy Building, Butte, Mont. C. H. CLAPP C. D. DEMOND The Montana Section held its annual meeting at the Silver Bow Club, Butte, Mont., on Friday, Feb. 7. The technical session was preceded by a dinner at which 54 members and guests were seated. N. B. Braly presided at the dinner and the, business and technical sessions. The officers whose names are noted above were elected for the ensuing year. H. B. Pulsifer presented a paper on The Metallurgy of Aluminum and Magnesium; it was discussed by C. H. Clapp and F. A. Linforth. J. C: Horgan presented a paper on The Manufacture of High Explosives and their Use in Metal Mines; it was discussed by C. W. Morse, J. J. Carrigan, and C. W. Goodale. The matter of reformed spelling as proposed in a circular letter coming from Palo Alto, Calif., was discussed, after which the Secretary was instructed to write to Secretary Stoughton and ask that when the matter is opened for discussion in New York he present the emphatic protest of the Montana Section against the alleged reforms in spelling. E. B. YOUNG, Secretary.

Jan 4, 1919

By W. Jack Wilkes, Gilbert L. Butler

TRANSPORTATION TUNNELING The use of tunnels for transportation, namely rapid rail transit systems and highways is on the increase. How much that increase might be through the 1980's is the question that is discussed in this paper. In 1975, there were 218 route miles of subway tunnels for rapid rail transit and 154 lane-miles of highway tunnel. From the viewpoint of many transportation planners and designers, the tunnel is one of the tools which may be used to by-pass many types of obstacles: a mountain, a body of water, or a Central Business District (CBD). Therefore, the transportation tunnel is a rural as well as an urban solution with major emphasis on the latter because of the current transportation needs of our cities. In the case of rural locations, tunnels are usually constructed through mountains in order to eliminate miles of steep grades and dangerous curves, such as the Eisenhower Tunnel which cuts through the Continental Divide in Colorado along 1-70 and saves 10 miles and 40 minutes of driving time. Tunnels also provide an excellent transportation link across bodies of water in order not to interfere with shipping lanes. The Chesapeake Bay Tunnel and Bay Tubes of the BART system are excellent examples of this type of tunnel.

Jan 1, 1976

By Mohammad Irshad, Larry H. Heflin

INTRODUCTION The planned 166 kilometer (103 mile) Metro rapid rail transit system in Washington, D.C. is being designed and constructed by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. At the present time, 112.6 kilometers (70 miles) of this system is in operation and contains 21 route-kilometers (13 miles) of rock tunneling, and 14.5 route-kilometers (9 miles) of soft ground tunneling. An additional 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) of single track tunnels in rock are planned and 6 additional contracts will consist of some 8 kilometers (5 miles) of twin tunnel, resulting in 16 additional linear kilometers (10 miles) of single track tunnel in soft ground. The Authority plans, upon its evaluation and the recommendation of the General Engineering Consultant, to include an alternative design incorporating the convergence confinement method of construction known as the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), for Sections E-5, E-6e and E-8a of the E-Route. The Metro system is constructed in a variety of geological conditions and crosses the boundary of two major geographic provinces. Rock tunneling is to the west of this "fall-line" boundary, soft ground tunneling to the east. The soft ground tunneling portions of Metro construction lie in the coastal plain which consist of a

Jan 1, 1987

• Phelps-Dodge Corp. signed an agreement with the Defense Materials Procurement Agency to increase copper production from the east ore deposit of the company's Copper Queen branch at Bisbee, Ariz. The company agreed to undertake a $25 million expansion program, including construction of a concentrating and leaching plant at the Bisbee mine and enlargement of the Douglas smelter. The Government agreed to buy the first 112,500 tons of the first 150,000 tons produced at 22e per lb if the company could not sell at a higher price. The new facilities will have a yearly capacity of 38,000 tons and should be in production by late 1954 or early 1955. • American Smelting & Refining Co. has started construction of a new building to house the Central Research laboratory at South Plainfield, N. J. It will have approximately 75 individual laboratories and an equal number of offices and shops. Modern apparatus to be installed will include electron microscopes, electric and fuelfired furnaces, miniature copper refineries and zinc plants, wire drawing machinery, and large pilot plant laboratory. In the new building scientists study the base metals, and the development of new uses for a number of Asarco by-products, arsenic, and little

Jan 11, 1951

By L. John Minnick

Current developments in using lime and limestone slurries to remove sulfur oxide gases from the stacks of coal- and oil-burning furnaces have established an important need for treatment systems which include adequate disposal of resulting waste materials. The paper briefly outlines the classes of scrubbers which are using lime and limestone and describes the characteristics of the by-product material being produced. Some discussion is also included relating to methods of disposal of the scrubber underflow. Since coal-burning plants also produce fly ash as a waste material, one system developed by the author's company combines this material with the sulfur oxide by-products. The mixture is processed in a manner which converts the waste products into usable materials with acceptable structural and environmental properties. Recent interest in protection of ground waters from heavy-metal leachates has made the fly ash-sulfur oxide system an acceptable means of disposal, because the conversion products have very low permeability and adequately encapsulate soluble salts within the hardened mass. Although only limited information is available on the types and chemical requirements of limestone used in these processes, a few guidelines are presented to indicate the range of materials that can be used with good results.

Jan 1, 1974

By T. W. Healy, W. J. Trahar

INTRODUCTION The flotation of minerals from their ores in flotation cells involves understanding many chemical and physical processes ranging from electronic events in the bulk mineral and in the mineral surface regime. molecular events at interfaces, the statics and dynamics of thinning and rupture of microscopic to molecular intefacial films, the fluid mechanics of bubble- particle events, the dynamics of air-water-solid colloid states in a flotation machine, etc. etc. D.W. Fuerstenau, whom we honour in this symposium has made unique contributions to many of these diverse physico-chemical and technological sub-processes. The present paper is concerned with a number of observations of the behaviour of minerals in flotation cells and the surface science of some mineral sulfide-water systems. We do not intend to be comprehensive in our analysis, but rather to highlight the challenges that face the scientific masochist who chooses to understand "froth flotationn. In what follows, emphasis is placed quite deliberately on technologically relevant, dynamic or realistic flotation processes i.e. the recovery in a froth of a given sulfide mineral particle of a given size and history from synthetic or actual ores in a flotation cell. The paper also attempts to use the understanding that is emerging from the area of photoelectrochemistry of colloidal

Jan 1, 1989

By Ahmet Unal

Inexpensive and effective means of delivering courses to mining engineers who live at remote and scattered locations remains to be a challenging issue. Computer-based instructorless but interactive multimedia delivery is a good substitute to traditional short courses and one-way broadcasts. Such a system, enhanced with a wide area network, is an inexpensive alternative to two-way broadcasts and even to a traditional university. Course material can either be delivered on compact disks (CDs) or on-line from the host servers over the phone lines using a personal computer and a modem. Although technically not feasible using ordinary telephone service lines at the present time without further modification, advances in this field indicate that this up and coming medium may dominate the competition in the future. This paper investigates the present and the future of this technology and discusses the experiences gained in creating and disseminating a prototype multimedia CD which was created at the Rock Mechanics and Explosives Research Institute of the University of Missouri-Rolla to teach a portion of a course in Ground Control. The hardware and software used in creating the audio, 3-0 graphics, animation dips, video clips, and movies are listed. The structure of the program and the way how interactivity was achieved is explained in detail.

Jan 1, 1996

By E. D. Leavitt

I desire to state briefly my views respecting the great practical value of the Watertown testing-machine, and the necessity that exists, for an able permanent commission to supervise its operations, in order that the results of all tests made thereon may be properly worked out and rendered available for public use. It is doubtless known to the Institute that this machine has, for the past two years, been placed at the service of the public upon payment of a per diem charge. It was my privilege to be among the first to use the testing-machine, and the results of my first experiments were of such importance, owing to the great capacity and extreme accuracy of the machine, that it has since become my practice to have tests of all materials used in constructions that came under my charge, made at Watertown. As a conseqnence, nearly one hundred tests have been made on my account directly, and some two hundred and forty additional for work built from my designs. It may be confidently affirmed, that the factor of anxiety on all these structures is exceedingly small .m far as the quality of material is concerned, and it is undoubtedly a very great advantage for parties interested in construction to have

Jan 1, 1882

By A Ruotsalainen

Mining industry sees a comprehensive future in optimisation and process control. High resource utilisation is a starting platform when lower operational costs with higher rate of return are the target. Simulation is quickly penetrating the mining industry as a planning tool. A discrete event simulation helps to visualise the reality of a mine and the various mining processes, which typically include a fair degree of complexity. What-if scenarios can help to determine the impact of occurring changes to production. Understanding of critical points in the layout and resource allocation at an early stage can help to optimise the material flow. The obtained information may then be used as proposal or confirmation of the system applicability and economy. Simulation is a way to fine-tune and optimise the resources within. It helps to predict system sensitivity to various aspects. Although simulation today is used typically in a feasibility stage, there is an opportunity to continue using simulation for further process enhancement. In the future simulation will without doubt be used increasingly as a dynamic simulation and continuous improvement tool. This paper discusses the use of OptimineÖ simulation tool in resource optimisation. Some examples describe the way the tool operates and how it helps to view the technology, mine layout and operational data.

Jan 1, 2003

By Paul Sainato, J. Steven Gardner

Sustainable development is defined as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’1 There has been considerable debate of late between environmentalists and mining operators concerning the current regulation and operation of mountaintop mining. To those not familiar with the practice, it essentially applies an area mining method to a mountaintop, removing all overburden above coal seams, resulting in full recovery of the resource with the excess or swell spoil material - (rock and dirt) being deposited in engineered fills in hollows to the side (known as hollow fills or valley fills - very similar to highway fills). Because most of the dialogue has been adversarial and mining’s response is perceived to be primarily reactive instead of proactive, a rift in communication and value systems between the two sides has widened. Since 1999, the global mining community has been concerned that there is a disconnect between mining practices and the values of today’s society.3 Working through the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) was created to review mining practices in a project entitled Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) driven by the following four goals:

Jan 1, 2005

By David A. Monaghan, Kenneth R. Maser, Adi R. Gurdar, D. Randolph Berry

4. Preliminary Study - Remote Seal Checker 4.1 Introduction Determination of the completeness of each individual seal at the time of its emplacement is essential for an effective remote sealing system. A satisfactory seal checking technique should provide a signal which: (1) indicates percentage completion as the seal is emplaced (2) provides a definite indication of a complete seal (3) indicates the size of the unsealed area if a complete seal is not feasible This information is required to establish the need for additional seal material, the need for additional seals, and the risk likely involved in entering the mine., In many situations it is as important to know the quality of a seal as it is to build an effective one. It is likely that with repeated use the remote sealing technique developed by Foster-Miller Associates will be sufficiently reliable and predictable to preclude the seal checking requirement. It is recommended, however, that each seal be checked during construction to insure its completeness and increase the level of confidence so necessary in reopening the mine. 4.2 Description of General Problem Several characteristics of remote mine seals are important in considering techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of these seals. These include:

Jan 1, 1973

By S. H. Brockunier

During the examination of a gold-property in Georgia, last summer, I had occasion to study the effect of different chemicals upon the ore; the object being to find a more economical method of extraction than chlorination, as practiced there, had proved to be. Some of my notes and results may be of interest to others. The country-rock consists of mica-schist, hornblende-schist and black slate. The vein-matter is quartzite and schist, containing some stringers of quartz, the whole forming a body from 20 to 50 ft. wide. All of the rocks in the vicinity have become disintegrated to a depth of from 50 to 75 ft., forming the so-called saprolite. I found the workings to represent two distinct classes : I. Open-cut surface-ore: very soft,oxidized and disintegrated; containing much alumina, silica and iron. Average value, $4 per ton. 11. Ore from lower levels : quartzites and schist; very hard ; containing much silica and manganese, some alumina, and from 2 to 10 per cent. of pyrites. Average value, $8 per ton. Class I. was soon dismissed. The only way to make it pay would have been by the use of steam-shovels and a large crushing-plant. The tendency to slime would be the principal difficulty.

Jan 1, 1902

By B. L. Thane

Within the past few years, the mining industry has taken a new impetus in all its branches. New mines are being opened every day, while old ones, which have been either working at a loss, or have been compelled to shut down, are now gradually being reopened and placed on a paying basis. This growth and new life is due, in a measure, to the discovery of new mining districts, but the most important cause of the progress is the wonderful advance that has been made in all branches of mine-engineering. By means of the important inventions and discoveries that have been made in mechanics, chemistry, and electricity, we are now able to work ores which, only a short time ago, would have been regarded as worthless. We find, for instance, the electrician eliminating two of our greatest difficulties, those of distance and superior elevation, while the mechanic has brought to the highest degree of perfection, not only ore-crushing and hoisting machinery, but all such devices as pertain to the mechanical handling of ores, and, at the same time, the metallurgist, with his combined chemical and mechanical skill, has helped us to extract the precious metals from the most refractory of ores. But when we turn to examine methods in actual use for

Jan 1, 1900

By W. H. Chang

The phase identification results on several Mg-base alloys are presented. These results have been correlated with strength data and microstructural studies to indicate that carbide dispersion may contribute significantly to raising the recrystallization temperature and strength of Mo alloys. Evidence is presented to show that the degree of carbide dispersion, and hence the extent of strengthening, is governed by the "metal/carbon" ratio which, in turn, depends on both the carbon content and the presence of stable -carbide-forming alloying elements. IN recent years, Mo-base alloys containing small additions of C, Ti, and/or Zr have been developed, which exhibit much higher recrystallization temperature and strength than those of unalloyed Mo. The superiority of these alloys undoubtedly results from simultaneous operation of more than one strengthening mechanism. In the present paper, the strengthening effect of carbide dispersion will be discussed. Although the role of carbide dispersion is being increasingly recognized, the nature of the carbides has, to the author's knowledge, not been well es- tablished. In Table I are presented some of the phase identification results on representative Mo alloys. These results have been obtained by X-ray diffraction of residues electrolytically extracted from an ethyl alcohol solution containing 7 pct HC1.

Jan 1, 1961

By Amos P. Brown

PYRITE, the bisulphide of iron, FeS2, is found more or less in all coal-beds: but, as a rule, in certain definite forms. More than any other impurity, it detracts from the commercial value of a coal-deposit, and yet its presence is so universal that it might almost be said that there is no coal entirely free from pyrite. My observation has been confined to the Pennsylvania bituminous and semi-bituminous coals, and to them, therefore, my remarks will be confined. Certain generalizations which I may make, however, will be found of universsl application. The lowest members of the coal-formation, No. XIII. of the Pennsylvania bituminous region, are nearly always pyritiferous, and in many cases highly so. In Cambria county, for instance, coalbed A, the Brookville, is locally known as the " Sulphur seam." The Lower Kittanning, in parts of Clearfield county, is so sulphury as to be almost unmarketable, though otherwise it is a strong locomohive coal. In Mercer county the Pardoe bed, so extensively mined there, carries great quantities of sulphur in the form of pyrite, though usually this can be separated in such a way as to detract little from the market-value of the coal. The other coal-beds of the Lower

Jan 1, 1888

'Nothing happens until something is sold' This statement is not original - it is a necessary orientation for marketing industrial minerals. The most important single philosophy of marketing is that it recognises the consumer as the starting point. Production orientation is concerned with producing products that the customer might buy. Market orientation is concerned with finding the needs of the customer and how they can be satisfied. The difference between the two approaches can be recognised in company structures but the most tangible difference is in the approach by a company to selling and development. In other words, it is the market that decides what can be done with a mineral. The markets requirements dictate what mineral, what grade and what price will be paid. Therefore it follows that when pricing a product we should avoid taking the basic cost and arriving at a final selling price through a series of standard markups (unless government insists on it). We should start with the price the market can stand and work backwards to find out whether you have a profitable product or one that will fail because it is too dear. Naturally a thorough understanding of production costs is necessary particularly when marginal markets are concerned.

Jan 1, 1978

By Barbara Maren Winkler

For mine production problems in mines with varying qualities, both open pit and underground, the linear programming method (LP) has been used successfully. By this method it is possible to keep the total production blend for each period within a required range of qualities while optimizing objectives like production costs, net return, ore grades, other qualities, or a combination of these. Technical restrictions like constrained capacities can be added to the model. This makes LP a flexible and powerful tool for mine production planning. Practical experiences have shown the major influence fix costs have on the actual economic result of a planning decision. It can be proven that fix costs cannot be included in LP models. We describe a way to address this fix cost problem by using mixed integer linear programming (MILP) as an extension to LP in the optimization of a mine planning problem. This raises the issue of complexity. We discuss the computational complexity of the resulting models and the enhancement of model flexibility for the user of a planning system. We demonstrate the method embedded in a practicable everyday planning system for a complex underground coal mine. By computational examples we show how the method improves the economical results of the planning.

Jan 1, 1996

By R Farana

The future challenges in mining instrumentation, mainly on future intelligent mines, are to continue providing instruments with the highest level of reliability at the lowest possible cost, and also to take advantage of technology existing in other industries and to adapt it to the mining context. New wireless instruments (smart sensors, smart actuators, smart controllers) would also be very useful, as well as instruments fully adapted to the monitoring of large movements that are observed, in both underground and open pit mines. Mining instrumentation is found to various degrees in most mines, both open pit and underground. Smart mining instruments present a certain number of aspects specific to the environment in which the instruments are installed. Namely, the instruments can be installed either for short-term or long-term purposes. The mining industry is always looking for useful instruments that can provide relevant information on ground behaviour adjacent to mining stopes or permanent infrastructure. The instruments must meet the various criteria, and must also evolve with the new mining technologies that are continuously being implemented. A strong collaboration between the mining industry, research organisations, and instrument manufacturers is the key to meeting these objectives. This contribution describes the current trends on smart sensors and smart instrumentation with Wireless LAN support.

Jan 1, 2003