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By A. T. Iannacchione, D. G. Puglio

The Bureau of Mines established geologic factors affecting the mining of the Lower Kittanning coalbed to aid in coalbed minability studies and examined the occurrence of "wants" (places where coal is missing) and types of unstable roof rock strata. Trends established from mapping, including prediction of areas of high methane emissions, were extrapolated to unmined areas. "Wants" in the coalbed are of two types: Erosional and depositional. Erosional features occur where north-south-trending sand-filled channels cut into the coalbed. Variations in depositional environments have caused the coalbed to "split" into several thinner units. Slickensides, commonly indicative of unstable roof, are adjacent to and on the underside of sandstone channels; they were caused by differential compaction and by soft sediment sliding along the contact between the sandstone and adjacent shale. The frequency of unstable roof also increases where the interval between the Middle and Lower Kittanning coalbed is less than 30 feet. The zones of weakness at the contacts above and below the Middle Kittanning coalbed are the controlling factors for unstable roof in these strata. Methane emissions from the coalbed are controlled primarily by depth, fracture permeability, and rank of coal. Local geologic factors are coalbed thickness, associated rock strata, structure, and proximity to outcrop.

Jan 1, 1979

By Yi-Chun Lin

Mechanical/Electrical/Piping (MEP) systems, due to their complexity and diversity, are the most intricate part of building construction. This being the case, Combined Services Drawings (CSD) and Structure, Electric and Mechanic(SEM) drawings can ensure that all coordination issues are resolved prior to construction. Construction companies attempt to apply Building Information Modeling (BIM) to manage and integrate engineering information and solutions efficiently into the CSD and SEM processes to enhance the accuracy of design and the efficiency of review. There are several powerful commercial tools, such as Bentley Navigator, Autodesk Navisworks, and Tekla BIMsight, that can review the integrated BIM model and detect conflicts in systems, and allow planners to correct the conflict issues one at a time. However, for increasing numbers of conflicts, this may be inefficient, and requires them to be arranged in a list according to impact and seriousness before solving them. For this reason, this research implements a module for conflict impact assessment based on rule-based reasoning to classify and weigh conflict impact and seriousness, and highlight the conflicted objects in the BIM system in different colors depending on their conflict type and seriousness during the analysis. This system not only detects and lists possible conflicts and errors, but also sorts them according to the severity of impact and conflict type. Planners can effectively modify the BIM models according to these conflicts as they are listed and visualized in the BIM system. If these conflicts, such as pipeline interference and problems of insufficient space, can be avoided in the early stages of planning, it facilitates the achievement of project objectives in quality, scheduling, and cost.

Aug 1, 2013

By V. F. Parry

[Approximatel~r 7-1/2 illion tOlls of subb1tnminous coals are mined an-nuall in Colorado, Wyo~ing, and Montana, of which 50 percent probably reaches dome ,-tic conswno:os. r:L'he moi s t'_re of the se subbi t1.Uninous coal sis high, averae;:t.:ug about 25 :!,)ercent \-Then they are :nined. T'ne coals are non-caking d ~~ack to a vari ble degree when exposed to nornal atmospheric conditions. ~hey a~e gpod domestic fuels, are considered to be smokeless in most furn~ces, and have been used. f, r f!1an: y ars in hand-fired domestic furnaces in hich tnc practice i~ to e~ploy large lureps for efficient com-]

Jan 1, 1941

Rest potential, cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry measurements were made to study the effects of cathodic polarization of chalcopyrite simulating the mineral contacted with grinding media under a nitrogen atmosphere. The reaction products on the chalcopyrite surface were identified by XPS and the mechanism of the cathodic reaction was proposed. Micro-flotation tests were performed to investigate the effects of surface changes on the floatability of chalcopyrite.

Jan 1, 1991

By James Paone

This report shows the feasibility of predicting drillability, analytically, by using regression analysis techniques. The approach is new in diamond-drilling research. Further, the study shows that this technique may be of value to drill manufacturers and others in mathematically delineating performance characteristics of new drills in specific rock types. Another application might be the prediction of penetration speeds in extraterrestrial material based on the physical properties of the materials as samples become available. Prediction equations for penetration rates are presented for 9 rocks drilled in the laboratory and for 20 rocks drilled under field conditions. The prediction equations are based on drill operating parameters and on characteristics of the rock penetrated. No single physical property appeared consistently in the best predictor equations, and all the physical properties were found to be highly correlated with each other.

Jan 1, 1966

"The method of conveying ore from the ore-pocket at the shaft collar to the railroad ore bins, whence it is transported to the reduction works, is by cars with electric haulage.The cut shows the car coupled to the electric locomotive at the moment of dumping into the railroad ore bins.The locomotives used are of several makes, usually having two 12 ½ h-p. motors of a rated draw-bar pull of about 1,200 lbs., using 500 volts D. C. Track gauge is 30 inches, and speed is six miles per hour.The car holds two skip loads-10 tons—and has sides opening outwards the full length of the car, for rapid side-dumping. One man operates car and motor, and loads and unloads the car. The trolley pole runs in both directions without reversing.Loading is clone by operating a valve connected to a compressed air lift, which raises and lowers a gate in the ore-pocket chute, the ore running by gravity into the ore car spotted under the gate of the chute. Dogs hold the sides of the car in place at the bottom, the tops of the sides being hinged, and a hand lever releases the dogs, permitting the sides by the pressure of the ore against them to open at the bottom.With little manual effort one man does the work which was formerly done, when hoisting ore with cars and cage, by 10 men under laborious conditions."

Jan 1, 1913

By Yongqi Sun, Zuotai Zhang

Hot slags, at the temperatures of 1450-1650 oC, carry a substantial amount of high quality thermal energy, which represents the largest undeveloped energy source in the steel industry. However, the waste heat recovery rate in China is less than 2%; thus there is a great potential of waste heat recovery. In this study, we investigated a chemical method to extract the waste heat from high temperature blast furnace slags, i.e., sludge gasification. Sewage sludge, another substantial waste produced in the municipal system, need to be timely disposed, the organics of which could be gasified using the waste heat in the slags for the purpose of syngas production. Both the kinetics and thermodynamics of the sludge gasification process were clarified here. Most importantly, an integrated system composed of multiple systems such as the steel industry, the cement industry, the municipal system and the chemical engineering industry, was analyzed in this study.

Jan 1, 2016

By A. Dadgar

The adsorption kinetics of AuBr4 on Dowex ® -21K ion-exchange resin were studied and found to be independent of the initial gold, bromine, and base metals concentrations. A commercially-available undivided hypochlorite generating cell was used to generate bromine from simulated mixed halide (Br-/CI-) solutions. Electrolyses were performed with solutions containing very low Br' ion concentrations. The current efficiencies were 80-90%, and Br- ion utilization was maximized. A detailed economic assessment was made considering the capital and the operating costs for a 1000 mtpd gold ore processing plant. The toxicity and discharge levels of bromide, bromine, and cyanide were compared from a detailed analysis of the published literature data. Comparing bromine vapor with hydrogen cyanide gas for a given length of exposure, the lethal concentration of bromine is about 3 times less than hydrogen cyanide. The toxicity of sodium bromide is similar to that of sodium chloride. Acute poisoning to bromides and chlorides is rare because of their low toxicities. The allowed discharge levels of Br-, Br2, and CN- in fresh water are 250, 0.1, and 0.005 mg dm-3, respectively.

Jan 1, 1992

The objective of this paper is, firstly, to summarize several field developments utilizing the art of hydraulic fracturing as it has been extended into various mining applications. Secondly, to summarize the understanding of the hydraulic fracturing processes; and lastly to discuss researchable areas and possible future applications. Hydraulic fracturing was developed as a method of stimulating production of oil from oil producing formations. The primary paper by Clark (1) in 1949, describes the process of placing a hydrostatic pressure of sufficient strength on the producing formation of an oil well that the rock apparently cracked, and then, on allowing the well to flow back, a higher rate of recovery of oil was enjoyed. The interpretation of the process mechanism was that the formation rock was cracked to a considerable distance from the well bore, increasing the drainage area; thus, the productivity of the well was measurably improved. Figure 1 is illustrative of this process. This development was of major significance to the oil producing community and considerable research and development ensued. Improvements in method, engineering development of equipment, and research to ascertain the optimum application of fracturing practice led to a highly sophisticated, but specialized technology. The Production Research Division, Continental Oil Company, vigorously pursued research in this area in the 1950's with a resulting number of process improve¬ments. The research group, published a significant number of technical papers on these various researches. One of the developments was the process aimed at controlled orientation of the fractures, either in the vertical (2) or horizontal (3) orientation.

Jan 1, 1969

By R. S. Moehlman

IN recent years, exploration and development by diamond drilling has become a popular attack on the problem of finding new ore shoots and developing extensions of known shoots. Diamond drilling has been used in recent years in extensive sampling of disseminated copper deposits, in preference to churn drilling. At the Harvard gold mine, near Jamestown, California, Philip R. Bradley, Jr., general superintendent, reports that: "The Harvard work was a singular example of the reliance that can be placed on diamond drilling in evaluating an ore body." Drilling at the Harvard mine will be discussed in a subsequent section of the paper. So popular has diamond drilling become, indeed, that many who have had slight experience with drilling are inclined to regard it as a cheap cure-all. This paper proposes to show some of the limitations on the application of drilling and some of the steps that should be followed in drilling programs to obtain reliable results. COST OF DRILLING Drilling has the advantage, over shaft sinking and drifting, of lower cost and greater speed. As compared with churn drilling, the advantage of bringing up a coherent sample instead of fine cuttings for a sample is obvious. Diamond drilling is generally more expensive, however, and more engineering effort is required in combining the average of core and sludge samples. Exploration of drift walls by hammer drills to a depth of less than 50 ft. is generally cheaper than diamond drilling, but beyond this depth the diamond drill is cheaper and more efficient. The principal factor in determining cost of drilling is the character of the ground drilled. Broken ground with many fissures is most expensive to drill. Hard ground is less of a problem with diamond drills than with ordinary machine drills. Hardness or softness affects only the speed of drilling. Caving, easily washed, sandy or clayey ground requires continual cementing and casing, which is the greatest cost problem. Thus, soft, incompetent ground is more costly to drill than hard, massive ground. Cost of drilling per foot in good to fair ground varies from less than $1 per foot, achieved in some districts in Ontario, the Mother Lode, and Missouri, to $5 per foot in many western states. In bad drilling ground, costs may range from $5 to $15 or more per foot, thus approaching the cost of drifting. Other factors that increase the cost per foot are: I. Short total length of hole drilled, so that the cost of moving in crews and equipment must be spread over a relatively few feet. 2. Cost of drilling per foot increases with depth beyond about 500 ft., as more time is consumed in pulling rods. 3. Cost of preparing drilling stations, getting air underground to stations, etc. 4. Inaccessibility and lack of water on the job make for higher costs.

Jan 1, 1946

By Ryan G. Wade, Mark K. Larson

Researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are studying the time-dependent response of rock stressed along weakness planes. The objective is to improve mine safety by reducing the number of roof falls that cause injuries and fatalities to miners. Researchers conducted direct-shear tests on mudstone overcored from a coal mine roof. Results showed frictional strength weakens with displacement along the shearing planes. Results of direct-shear creep tests also showed time-dependent deformation. Test measurements were compared to classical analytical models. Results suggest that risk of roof collapse may be decreased through layout and support design to reduce creep rates and thus slow progression toward failure.

By Russell Frith

A review of published literature reveals case histories whereby the entire periphery of a coal pillar has “burst” out as a single event during first workings, the associated energy and material release causing significant damage to adjacent roadways and any equipment/infrastructure located within said roadways. Such events are distinct from coal burst events during first workings such as that at the Austar Mine in 2014, or those linked to overburden bumps related to either horizontal stress-driven slip along major faults and/or thick, massive strata units in the overburden or floor of the coal seam.

By Peter J. Maxworthy

INTRODUCTION There is no hard and fast rule on whether functions within a company, diversified or otherwise, should be strongly centralized or decentralized. In all diverse organizations, there are certain basic functions which remain common (or central) to each element of the business, viz: Personnel Management Cash Management Taxation Management Legal Planning Accounting Standards It would follow that each of these common factors requires some supervision at a central level to ensure that overall group objectives are met. It is true that other functions including: Industrial Relations Marketing and Distribution Production Research and Development Purchasing Management Accounting may also be common to each element of the organization. However, there is far less commonality in the degree to which these functions are central to the efficient performance and financial well-being of the business. Role of Operating Units The resources of operating centers may be viewed as a bank of funds, the nature of which can be changed from time to time, but the employment of which must provide for ongoing increases in the net worth of the total enterprise expressed in terms of market values. Operating units are required to continually review products, methods, and opportunities and to monitor avenues for incremental investment--all with a view to attaining the necessary additive net present value of future cash flows of the enterprise. Operating units should be permitted sufficient autonomy to enable the best use to be made of the skills and experience of the people it employs in order to produce a return appropriate to the value of assets employed. Role of Head Office The head office will typically comprise a specialist group--the leaner the better if one strongly adopts the decentralist approach--often acting as Service Centers but also performing a control function in the corporate sense. The head office function is a cost center. It may be instrumental in developing strategies for increasing revenues or reducing costs on a group scale, but it does not generate revenue. Every dollar spent on this function is an extra dollar to be generated by the operating centers in order to achieve an increase in corporate wealth. TREASURY MANAGEMENT Treasury management is concerned with the provision of finance, cash-flow management, and risk analysis. Each decision taken within the enterprise has a cash implication. It follows that a well-integrated central Treasury function can, in all likelihood, produce economic benefits. The degree to which the function should be centralized depends largely upon the unique nature of the operating units it is servicing. Levels of ownership, the calibre of unit operating managers, and the nature and geographic distribution of the business are all factors determining the degree to which the Treasury function is centralized. In the case of Peko-Wallsend, the Treasury Department is small, comprising four people. While divisional cash-flow management is largely decentralized, Treasury is responsible for the daily management of funds surplus to the immediate needs of operating units. Treasury also operates as central banker and provides funds to

Jan 1, 1985

By S. A. Ford

I would like to call the attention of our Bessemer steel manufacturers to a few facts in regard to the action of the manganese in the spiegel with the oxide of iron in the blown iron. The oxygen is united with the iron as a magnetic oxide, as Gautier asserts, and this oxide is reduced to a protoxide by one atom of the manganese uniting with one atom of the oxygen of the magnetic oxide of iron. This oxide of manganese and the protoxide of iron thus formed unite with the silica which has been formed by the oxidation of the silicon in the pig iron. Mr. Snelus and others

Jan 1, 1881

By H. W. Russell, Paul D. MILLER

IT is known that austenitic chromium-nickel steels that have free carbide in the grain boundaries are subject to intergranular corrosion. It is difficult to detect such a susceptible condition in a fabricated article because present test methods require a sample section for examination and in most cases this is difficult to obtain. The question of the nature and prevention of intergranular corrosion in austenitic stainless steels have been ably discussed by Bain and co-workers1-3 and by other investigators.4-10 The present methods of study subject samples to corrosive conditions in such reagents as the Strauss solution, a. mixture of copper sulphate and sulphuric acid. Such tests usually require at least 72 hr. to run. Various methods of measuring the degree of sensitization have been employed, such as the measurement of electrical resistivity, magnetic measurements, measurement of the degree of cracking produced on bending over a mandrel, and microscopic studies. The detection of carbides at the grain boundaries by metallographic polishing and etching methods is tedious and requires a skilled operator. A recent report on such methods of carbide detection is given by the American Society for Testing Materials Subcommittee VI of Committee A-10 11 and by Arness.12 The present investigation was undertaken to develop a simple test procedure for detecting carbide precipitation or susceptibility to intergranular corrosion. The test is designed for use in the plant and for the testing of fabricated structures. Carbide precipitation, the factor leading to susceptibility to corrosion, is produced by heating the alloy in the temperature range 800° to 1600°F., as in welding, in improper annealing or in service where such temperatures are met. The connection between such precipitation and susceptibility to corrosion has been thoroughly discussed, as has been the use of stabilizing addition elements to prevent precipitation. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD A small area of the steel under test is subjected to an anodic treatment in a cell that can be clamped onto a sample or an actual structure. The cell and electrical circuit used are illustrated in Fig. I. The cell C is lead, joined to the steel plate D and insulated from it by a short piece of rubber tubing E. The cell is forced tightly against the steel plate by a spring or clamping device. The seal formed by the rubber against the steel plate is sufficient to retain the liquid bath inside the cell. The spot treated can be made any shape desired, depending on the shape of the rubber gasket. The cell illustrated polishes a circular spot about 3/8-in. diameter. The bath consists of 60 per cent (by weight) sulphuric acid to which is added 5 ml. per liter of Glycyrrhiza extract (U.S.P.). The cell requires about 2 to 2.5

Jan 1, 1941

By David Ziegler

Rough sketches, field notes, an on-site conference or a phone call may no longer suffice to establish your blast plan at a job site. More and more, general contractors, site supervisors, owner re p resentatives, or the owners themselves want to know details about proposed drill and blast operations at their site, in advance. We are seeing more contracts that re q u i re a blasting plan to be submitted in writing. The purpose of this session is to discuss items that you might want to include and address in a written blast plan, and some ideas about how to present them. This is not intended to be a complete list of items that could be included in a blast plan. Contracts may list specific items that need to be addressed. Only a few of the more common elements will be covered here. The bro a der purpose of this discussion is to get you thinking, about what you might want to include in your own “standard ” blast plan.

Jan 1, 2004

By Abani R. Samal

The Fe assay values from the diamond drill-holes within a magnetite deposit of magmatic origin are utilized in this study. Only assay data from the unoxidized magnetite mineralization was utilized. The data from the overlying hematite mineralization zone was not used. A threedimensional block model estimated using ordinary kriging (OK) is used for analysis purposes. To estimate the non-linear standard deviations (s) and the confidence intervals (CI) of block estimates a discrete Gaussian variogram model is used in this project. The change-of support coefficient (rv) and the block-support correction are used in the ?block-anamorphosis?. A new calculated value of rv is 0.7283, implies that its influence in the block-anamorphosis is not significant. The CIs are calculated from the block-gaussian variables; then back transformed to the raw values. At 95% probability, the CI for the kriged block estimates of Fe values are calculated using Gaussian kriged estimates of the Fe and the corresponding standard deviations (Gaussian). The results indicate that the block estimates with a high influence from relatively small amount of samples can be identified as high-risk estimates.

Oct 1, 2009

By Ferdinand S. Ruttmann

There is now in use at the mines of the Chateaugay Ore and Iron Co., at Lyon Mountain, New York, an ore-concentrating machine or jig, which, in view of the increasing attention given to the subject of concentrating lean ores of iron, seems worthy of notice. This Conkling Jig, as it is called, is not entirely unknown, having been used at several places with more or less success; but as yet, I believe, no drawings of it or records of its work have found a place in print. Although the jig will be found to be merely an adaptation of old forms, there are several points which deserve attention, particularly the method of central discharge, of freeing the bearings from grit, and the rotation of the sieve or screen. The ore-body at Lyon Mountain consists of a bed of rather compact, granular magnetite, occurring in a gueiss formation. The side walls of the ore-body are not sharply defined, the ore 011 either side becoming gradually poorer as the distance from the central point of the body increases. It is this lean ore, which, before the introduction of the jigs, was thrown away as waste, that is now concentrated. The material treated conseqnently consists of magnetite, intermixed with the component parts of gneiss, viz. quartz, felspar, hornblende, and mica. Grains of trap also form part of this material. These come from dykes of trap, which cross the ore-body at intervals. The ore which is to be concentrated usually contains from 30 to 40 per cent. of metallic iron. It is first crushed to the size of two inches, or less, by two large Blake crushers. The material from these crushers passes by a shute lined with screens, having holes 2 inches in diameter, to a second set of four crushers, set so as to close to one inch. The product from this set of crushers, together with that which passes through the screens in the shute, is then taken by an elevator to the top of the mill, and passed through a revolving screen, perforated with ) inch holes. The ore which passes through the screen goes to the jig-hoppers ; that which passes over goes to a third

Jan 1, 1888

By M. G. Pelipetz

High-pressure, high-temperature hydrogenation of coal has been known and practiced for many years. A full' understanding of the mechanism in this process by which coal is converted to oil and gas must rest on a critical interpretation of the manner in which external variables influence the rate and the course of the coal-hydrogenation reactions. Same Bureau of Mines studies on the effect of temperature, catalyst, and rank of coal on these reactions have been published. The effect of pressure was not studied in this earlier work, and the effect of reaction time was complicated by the interruption of long reaction periods in order to refill the autoclave with hydrogen. It is the purpose of this paper to present data from more recent autoclave experiments that extend the results of Storch, et al, on the kinetics of coal hydrogenation. These data must be explained by any comprehensive theory of coal hydrogenation; their detailed evaluation, however, will be deferred until a later publication.

Jan 1, 1949

By C. G. Albert

The clay particles of 2 microns or less required for modern paper coating are predominantly flat plates, lying smoothly on the sheet and producing a high gloss. Operating speeds of today's coating machines necessitate a clay composition of 60 and sometimes 70 pct solids as against the 35 to 40 pct required in the past. Since clays in suspension may solidify in flow, only those of intrinsically low viscosity can be used as high coating solids. THE literature of paper technology contains a number of articles having reference to developments in the field of coating and filler clays for use in paper manufacture. Much of this information has not been included in mining publications and has therefore not been readily available to all in the mineral industry. Recent developments in this field, including spray drying of clays, are presented here. U. S. Bureau of Mines figures for 1952 indicate that the paper industry consumes more than 50 pct of all kaolin produced and sold in the U. S. As most of the kaolin used by the industry comes from Georgia producers, the fraction of their output destined for paper use is thus appreciably higher than 50 pct. Small wonder that the kaolin industry, especially in Georgia, is highly sensitive to the quality requirements of paper mills and must respond promptly to technological developments in paper manufacturing. The paper industry itself is not the ultimate consumer. For the greater portion of the clay the end product is the printed page, and the demands of printing and publishing have sparked some of the technological advances in paper making which have, in turn, brought about methods employed in the kaolin industry. As compared with the product of 20 or 25 years ago, one of the most striking characteristics of the graphic arts today is the mass production of quality printing of fine pictorial work, much of it in full color. During this time periodicals with printing standards close to those of yesterday's slick-paper publications that were printed on a slow schedule and for a limited circulation have grown to the point where they go out to many millions of readers, often at weekly intervals. The complexity of technological improvements brought about by this increased circulation is probably not appreciated even by technical people, unless they have had reasonably close contact with the industry. The advance has come about through developments not only in the art of printing, but also in the field of paper making and even at the level of clay mining and processing. The smoothness required for faithful reproduction of the kind of printed matter under consideration is attained with a clay-coated paper. Since the distribution expense of the publication will depend to a great extent on its weight, the paper used must not be too heavy. This means a lower basis weight than was normal for conventional clay-coated papers some 25 years ago. And for this mass production market it becomes necessary to provide a paper having these and all the other required characteristics at a very moderate price—not the premium price conventional clay-coated papers formerly demanded. This challenge has been met by a new method of producing coated paper. In the past, application of clay coating to paper was a conversion operation, performed separately from the making of the base sheet. The newer development is called machine coating. Here application of the coating is an integral step in a continuous process by which wood pulp, clay, and other ingredients are manufactured into a sheet of coated paper. Many more problems are involved in this procedural change than are apparent at a casual glance. The coating operation, for example, must function at much higher linear speed than could be obtained with coating mechanisms previously employed. The application machinery developed to meet this requirement necessitated changes in composition of the coating color.* This created new requirements, summarized below, for the clay employed as coating pigment. In addition to smoothness, a relatively glossy printing surface is needed, and to a large measure it is the function of the coating clay to make possible the development of both these surface characteristics. Traditionally, pigments such as satin-white, prepared by reacting lime with paper-makers' alum, were used to assist in producing a high finish. However, economic considerations and others preclude large-scale use of such material in the new processes. In the 1930's Maloney' discovered that a certain particle size fraction of kaolin, consisting

Jan 1, 1956