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By Mike O'Shea

Industrial minerals are extremely important to downstream industries and in our everyday lives. Their ontribution to the UK economy and to society as a whole is greatly underestimated. The industrial minerals sector is lacing increased pressures - environmental and competitive - both at home and abroad. These pressures are likely to increase. The Government, working in conjunction with the industry, can help the industry to meet these challenges. The role of Government is to establish a dialogue w ith the industry, to find out what its concerns are.and to ensure that these are taken into account in the draw ing up of policies that affect it. There is also a role for it in exploring, with industry, the linkages between environmental improvement and competitive advantage, and giving, w herever possible, early warning about regulatory developments. In order to maximise the effectiveness of links, industry needs to be coherently organised and represented both in the UK and in the European Union (EU).

Jan 12, 1997

By Maxim Martel, Karolan Tremblay

Westwood Mine has experienced several episodes of increased seismic activity. While current geotechnical characterizations such as RMR, GSI, and Q' index can identify the general rock quality and zones at risk of convergence, they fail in identifying zones at risk of seismic activity. Previous research at Westwood Mine has shown a correlation between seismicity and areas with strong rheology contrasts. To characterize this contrast, 300 UCS tests were analyzed with their associated geochemical data, and statistical analysis and regression were performed using IOGAS software to establish a relationship between resistance and geochemistry. UCS-generated data with XRF results were transferred to Leapfrog Geo to create a block model of intact rock strength. This block model dataset was used to perform a competency contrast block model, and back-analysis of specific seismic sectors at Westwood Mine were conducted to validate the model. The purpose is to develop an established geomechanical tool capable in identifying areas with greater seismic risk associated to a change in the rock strength characteristics. By identifying those areas, mitigation measures can be implemented to minimize impact of seismicity on the operation.

Jan 1, 2023

By J. G. Thompson

IRON, iron everywhere, but hardly a particle of pure unadulterated iron for the metallurgist to use as a base for the protean characteristics that he develops in the alloys of iron-the modern steels. Iron, next to aluminum the most abundant metal in the crust of the earth; one of the oldest metals known to man and serving him as the most indispensable metal in both war and peace; yet man's knowledge of its properties is based on specimens that are not pure and hence probably differ considerably in their properties from the truly pure metal. Purification of iron has brought about startling changes in its electrical and magnetic properties and has modified its behavior in changing its crystal form with temperature, the basis of the heat-treatment of iron. So both the research metallurgist and the metallurgist of the steel plant are intrigued by the possibilities that might unfold were 100 per cent pure iron available in sufficient quantities to determine its properties.

Jan 1, 1940

By F. G. Clapp

IT is to be hoped that no casual reader will erroneously refer to the latest publication' of the Division of Public Relations of the American Petroleum Institute, as being "Petroleum Facts and Fancies." The facts are so faithfully derived and the figures are so authentically sponsored by the highest sources that no person can read this valuable volume (287 pages and numerous tables) without being convinced that every- thing therein set forth is "the truth and nothing but the truth." Yet, having read the volume from the perspective of the world's petroleum industry and with a critical attitude that comes from years of study of the subjects discussed, I find myself tempted to cogitate and to envisage a few of the fancies that come to mind as a fitting sequel.

Jan 1, 1929

By WILLIAM BOWIE

IN most human endeavors a knowledge of the terrain is essential to the effective carrying out of projects, but no line of work is more dependent on maps than theoretical and applied geology. Maps of a kind do exist for all of the area of the United States, but most of them are crude affairs and of little use in engineering, planning, and scientific research. Topographic mapping in the United States was initiated on a national scale by the U. S. Geological Survey and the organizations that were merged in its creation to make base maps for geologists. Their work could not be effectively done then and cannot be effectively done now without maps that accurately delineate the earth's surface. The distribution of the rock masses that contain valuable mineral bodies, or that by their intrusion brought them into existence, is the first step in a study of the mineral resources of the nation. This work requires three-dimensional maps, that is, topographic maps on which the land forms are shown by contours.

Jan 1, 1938

By S. K. Kawatra

In order to meet federal air pollution guidelines, it is necessary to remove a considerable quantity of sulfur from many North American coals. This may be accomplished by oxidizing the sulfur to water soluble forms, followed by washing the coal. Selective oxidation of the various sulfur forms can be accomplished through the use of a variety of types of bacteria. In this paper, the various bacteria and their requirements are described, and processes using bacteria to remove coal sulfur are discussed.

Jan 1, 1987

By Frederick G. Clapp

SINCE oil journals commenced to feature the progress of Iraq pipe-line developments and since newspapers undertook to follow the discussions between a certain large oil company and an Asiatic nation, I have repeatedly been asked questions that are only answerable by setting forth the essential geographic and historical facts of concessions in that part of the world. In so doing effort will be made to correct erroneous statements made in various quarters: and mistakes herein are being kept as low in number as possible. Perhaps the best-known concession in the Middle East is the one of the Iraq Petroleum Co., covering the greater part of the portion of the kingdom of that name- lying east of the Tigris River. West of the stream is the concession of the British Oil Development Co., which takes in all presumed petroliferous areas in western Iraq. No other important oil concessions exist in that country, except for the lands of the Khanikin Oil Co., which operates in "Transferred Territories" on the border of Persia. East of and continuous with the Iraq fields are those of Persia where the Anglo-Persian Oil Co. holds the well-known D'Arcy concession comprising three-quarters of the country, omitting the five northern provinces. This is the only valid existing concession in Persia, so far as known, except certain old firmans that permit development at Semnan in central Persia and possibly also certain regional grants to a French banking syndicate in eastern Mazanderan Province.

Jan 1, 1933

By Lyon F. Terry

IN contemplating the prospects of natural gas being transported from the fields where it is produced to such distant points as Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York City, and New England, let us review the advance that natural gas has made and the projects currently scheduled for construction. This may give us a perspective of the point in the long-range development of the natural gas business in which we now find ourselves, and some basis for judging the further expansion of the industry. Authentic statistics of the total marketed production of natural gas in the United States have been compiled by the Bureau of Mines since the year 1906. The growth of the business is indicated by the following data on marketed production for each ten-year interval since 1906:

Jan 1, 1947

By Travis Coleman, Elvis Ishimwe

Currently, more than 400 drilled shafts have been constructed by various contractors at the I-90/94 and I-290 Jane Byrne (Circle) Interchange, located near downtown Chicago, Illinois. Cross-Hole Sonic Logging (CSL) and Thermal Integrity Profiling (TIP) tests were performed to evaluate the integrity and concrete quality of the drilled shafts installed at this project. For Phase I of the project the shafts were tested using CSL methods, and the shaft integrity was identified by analyzing the First Arrival Time (FAT) and the signal strength (energy) measurements. For the major portion of Phase II, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) accepted TIP testing as a substitute for CSL at the request of the contractors. The CSL testing results indicated 54 percent of the tested shafts had anomalies, and 78 percent of these anomalies were located within the lower three diameters of the shafts. To date, TIP testing results indicated the shaft integrity was as expected and acceptable for the all 34 tested shafts. A review of the testing results and a discussion of the detected anomalies are presented. In addition, a comparison of both TIP and CSL measurements is presented in this paper.

By M. N. Mathabathe, A. S. Bolokang, C. W. Siyasiya, R. J. Mostert, G. Govender

The b-solidifying g-TiAl intermetallic alloys of nominal composition Ti-48Al (binary alloy), Ti-48Al-2Nb (ternary alloy), Ti-48Al-2Nb-0.7Cr (quaternary alloy), and Ti-48Al-2Nb-0.7Cr-0.3Si (quinary alloy) (in at.%) were developed. The materials produced were tensile tested at room temperature. The as-cast microstructures and fracture surfaces of the tensile tested specimens were examined using conventional metallographic methods. Microstructural examination indicated that the alloys were comprised of lamellar structures (a2+g) embedded in columnar dendritic cores in the as-cast condition. However, the quinary alloy contained a Ti5Si3 second phase. The alloys exhibited no detectable ductility during tensile deformation, indicating the brittleness of all the materials. The fracture surfaces revealed that the alloys failed by translamellar fracture with correspondingly few cleavage facets.

Apr 1, 2021

By Jean Igor Margem

Nestes dias materiais ecológicos como compósitos com fibras naturais em matriz polimérica estão chamando a atenção de pesquisadores científicos, devido ao seu bom desempenho na substituição de materiais como madeira, polímeros à base de petróleo e outros. Neste trabalho foram avaliadas as propriedades de tração de compósitos de matriz epóxi reforçados com diferentes espécimes de fibras lignocelulósicas. Compósitos reforçados com até 30% em volume de fibras longas, contínuas e alinhadas de malva, sisal e bambu foram testados em uma máquina Instron a temperatura ambiente. A fratura foi analisada por SEM. Os resultados mostraram alterações significativas nas propriedades mecânicas com a quantidade dessas fibras. Estas propriedades mecânicas foram comparados com outros resultados em compósitos testados em ensaio de tração. A análise da fratura revelou uma fraca interação da interface fibra / matriz, o que poderia ser responsável por um maior desempenho de algumas propriedades.

Aug 17, 2017

By Richard J. Mainiero

Traditional techniques for the experimental determination of toxic fumes produced by the detonation of high explosives are not applicable to blasting agents. To detonate properly, blasting agents require confinement, a significant booster, charge diameters of 3 inches (7.5 cm) or greater, and charge lengths greater than two-times the charge diameter. Without these conditions, blasting agents will not detonate at full order, leading to a misrepresentation of the gaseous products. A facility for detonating large, confined charges in a controlled volume has been constructed at the Pittsburgh Research Center’s Experimental Mine. The facility consists of a portion of mine entry (once used for full-scale mine explosion research and demonstrations) enclosed between two explosion proof bulkheads. Total volume of the chamber is 9,666 ft (274 m). The chamber is equipped with an air circulating system and is3 3vented using the mine's airflow. Up to 10-pound (4.5-kg) charges can be detonated in the chamber using a variety of confinements. For a typical test, the blasting agent is confined in a 4-inch (10-cm) schedule 80 steel pipe and initiated by a 3-inch (7.5-cm) diameter, 1-inch (2.5-cm) thick Pentolite booster. This combination of confinement and initiation yields a detonation velocity of about 4,000 m/sec for ANFO. This velocity is in line with that measured for blasting in the field. Twenty four 2-inch thick steel plates are suspended around the pipe bomb to stop shrapnel that would otherwise seriously damage the chamber. Following detonation of an explosive in the chamber, a circulating fan is run for about 10 minutes to uniformly mix the chamber atmosphere. Fumes samples are taken out of the chamber through 1/4-inch (0.6-cm) Teflon or polyethylene2tubes for analysis. The fumes are analyzed using bubblers or Vacutainers to collect samples for analysis by the analytical chemistry lab. The technique described here has been employed to determine the fumes produced by the detonation of a variety of ANFO formulations and commercial explosives. This technique may be developed as a standard test to measure fumes produced by blasting agents or may be used to provide data with which to develop a computer model that will reliably predict the expected fumes production based on chemical composition.

By H Arvidson, A Walker, N Pollock

Following the recent tailings tragedy in Brumadinho, the Investor Mining and Tailings Safety Initiative was formed representing institutional investors in the mining industry. This Initiative, led by The Church of England (CoE), requested data from 726 mining companies on each of their Tailings Storage Facilities (TSFs). What this exercise confirmed was that there was no public database of TSFs, and that there was a clear gap in tailings management systems within the disclosing companies. We present an approach using technology to support best practice TSF management, governance and disclosure which was originally submitted as part of University of Cambridge Post-graduate studies in Sustainability Leadership in January 2020. The aim of the paper is to discuss how technology could be used to deliver a Tailings Management Solution (TMS) that is aligned with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM), and supports rigorous governance leading to disclosure. Subsequently the goals of the plan are aligned with that of the co-conveners of the GISTM (the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)) which is to facilitate operators’ trajectory towards zero harm to people and the environment. Most of the focus to date around tailings management post Brumadinho has been on monitoring technologies, of which there are many. It is obviously important to acknowledge the critical role of monitoring technologies; however, our approach is agnostic to monitoring technologies and assumes that all of them are relevant. Our focus is on the data management, reporting and governance leading to disclosure of the information. Critical components of developing the TMS include adapting existing software products and solutions, recognising a system thinking approach is needed, strategic partnerships to deliver an accessible solution faster and more cost effectively, and, new ways of collaborating. The TMS should also accommodate relevant regional geotechnical codes and standards. The industry need for a TMS is well established and urgent, with significant pressure from regulators and civil society for the industry to address this significant issue.

Jul 1, 2021

By James W. Reeves

DuPont was the titanium metal pioneer who put the greatest effort into both R&D and commercial sponge and powder metallurgy production. This was concentrated in the period 1945 through 1963. The commercial results were development of the chloride process for TiCl4 using ilmenite, development and improvement of the Kroll process, development of a modified Hunter process to make titanium powder and commercial development of a direct powder process. The powder metallurgical process failed because of the inability to meet powder chloride specifications. All this work remained a trade secret until published in NMAB -392 by Mahla in 1983. There were other processes explored by DuPont, both improved sponge and powder processes. Much of this work has been continued by others but none, as of yet, resulting in new improved titanium metal capacity.

Jan 1, 2001

By P. C. Clark

This paper is an overview of the requirements and concerns for minerals and pigments used in papermaking. The first part of this paper deals with mineral or pigment filling in the actual papermaking process. The second part deals with the pigment or mineral properties that are important in today's coating processes.

Jan 1, 1993

By Steven Townend, Don Wadden

In today's global economy the need to stay competitive is essential for commercial survival and growth. To this end Inco is committed to continuous improvement in its operations. Various aspects of the mining process have been examined to find ways of improvement.

Jan 1, 1994

By Xie Longshui

INTRODUCTION The gold production is from the state-owned gold mines, the local gold mines and the by-product of metal mines. Since 1975, the small gold mines have developed in rapid strides. Currently, there are about 3000 small gold mines in China. Most of them are operated by the local, and the production is about 50% of China's gold output. In the small gold mines, the normalized mining equipments are employed at most of mines, but some mines still use such backward tunnelling and mining tools as pick, shovel and hand hammer etc.. The mining techniques have developed from the primitive to the advanced, especially the methods of open stope, shrinkage and filling have been widely used. Such new mining techniques as bolting, vibrating draw, non-electric ignition and diamond drilling etc. are also introduced in the wall gold mines. In recent years, the development of small gold mines is very fast under the guidance of new mining policy which is ' rapid and great development of large-sized mines, helping small mines to develop, and quick mining for the existing mines; and encouraging the collective and the individual to operate a mine.' GEOLOGICAL FEATURES The gold veins are dominant, which are divided into two types, ie. the mesothermal deposit with altered rock in a crushed zone and the hypothermal deposit with quartz veins. The orebody distribution is not centralized, and the size of deposit and single minable orebody is small respectively. Most of deposit dip at 30° to 50°, characterized by expansion and shrinkage, ramification and compound, thinning out and reappearance, separation and composite at the parallel veins etc.. The ore grade is variable, and the factor of grade change is above 100%. The waste zones with lean or submarginal ore usually exist in deposits. As for the gold deposits with altered rock, the ore boundary is indistinct. Most of gold deposits, particularly the gold deposits with altered rock, are intruded by the late structural rock, thus the faults and joints are developed, and the rock and ore are crushed, especially the host rock of roof wall is very crushed. It ie obvious that the conditions of both formation of deposit and mining are considerably complicated. HISTORY With a long mining history and rich experiences, the local gold sectors are small, but they play an important role in China's gold mining industry. Dated from Xia and Shang Dynasty, the gold goods was made. In the Tang Dynasty, the development of gold mining industry was very fast. A Chinese poem , written by Liu Yuxi -- one of famous poets in the Tang Dynasty, says: As sun is shining over Dengzhou land, The fog on river slowly goes away, The panning girls together meet at bay, The beauty's jewels and stamps of king are gold from river sand. This poem shows the local gold mining was flourishing at that time. In 1888, the local gold mining sectors were all the rage at the moment, and the annual output of gold was as high as 21.5 tons. Since the founding of New China, the development of local gold mining was subjected to several back- sets, but certain advances are made on the whole, especially since 1970. Round about 1970,the simple, backward and indigenous mining was dominant in the small gold mines; for instance, the hand-hammer drilling, the hand-operated winch hoisting and the hand haulage etc.were main methods of gold mining . Up until the late 1970s,great changes took place in stoping, haulage and so on. Currently, some advanced technology and large-sized equipments are adopted in the local gold mines. Generally, the local small gold mining sectors play an important role in development of China's gold mining industry, and are important and attractive sectors. PRESENT DEVELOPMENT

Jan 1, 1987

By E. Benguerel, G. Monteith, L. Centomo, S. Pelletier

In early 2007, it became apparent that with changing concentrate feeds, the magnesium (Mg) load projected for CEZinc starting in 2009 and beyond would quadruple and overwhelm the current Mg process bleed capacity. A project was started, following design for six sigma (DFSS) standards, to select both the optimal process and to evaluate its target capacity for the Mg bleed circuit. The economic and process risks of under or over-designing while Mg reduction efforts were underway at the mines also needed to be evaluated. This paper describes the project methodology, the impact on the plant, and some potential optimizations for CEZinc's basic zinc sulphate (BZS) Mg bleed process.

Jan 1, 2008

By J. H. E. Jeffes, C. Diaz

The heat balance and chemical equilibria involved in the production of blister copper from a chalcopyrite concentrate in a single operation are examined. It appears that two stages—one oxidising and one reducing—will be required. The analysis indicates that on thermal grounds the process is possible with a dry, high-grade chalcopyrite concentrate, if oxygen enrichment to about 30 per cent is used, but that copper losses in the slag will be serious and will require a secondary recovery operation. More extensive data on the activities of copper oxide in slags are required to elucidate this point more effectively

Dec 1, 1971

By Thomas B. Douglas

INSTRUMENTATION in the process industries can no longer be regarded as a convenience, but rather an absolute necessity. Although many chemical processes must already be conducted with instruments, every properly designed application of automatic process control will improve operation: 1) the product will be more uniform and of higher quality; 2) the manual labor saved will reduce cost; 3) uniformity of flow and uniform control of process will increase production; and 4) surges will be eliminated, making it possible to operate equipment near ultimate capacity at all times. Industrial instruments fall into two general classifications—those that measure and those that measure and control. The cement industry has been using instruments for a number of years, particularly in the burning process, primarily for indicatlng and recording. Automatic process control makes additional use of these instruments, and others, to control variables. Assisted by the instrument manufacturers, engineers at Ideal Cement Co. achieved considerable progress in determining how well the usual recording instruments could be made to control various phases of cement-making. The results of these experiments were used to make the new plant at Houston as wholly automatic as possible. The original Houston plant, built in 1937 by Gulf Portland Cement Co., consisted of only one 8 x 220-ft kiln and the necessary grinding mills and accessory equipment and had a capacity of 900 bbl per day (300,000 bbl annually). Ideal Cement Co. purchased this plant in 1940 and almost immediately started plans to increase its production. In 1941 a 9 x 220-ft kiln was installed and grinding and storage capacity were increased. The growing demand for cement in the Houston area necessitated a third kiln (9 ft 6 in. x 250 ft) in 1947. This brought the plant up to its present capacity of about 1.3 million bbl per year. Calcium silicates in cement are produced in a burning operation at high temperatures from raw mix of argillaceous and calcareous materials that have been crushed, mixed, and ground to a fine powder. The composition of this mixture must be kept consistent within narrow limits. Raw mixing and grinding may be done either wet or dry, but in both instances the materials must be correctly proportioned, finely ground, and thoroughly intermixed before entering the kiln. As the raw mix passes through a long horizontal rotary

Jan 1, 1959