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I. N. KNAPP, Ardmore, Pa. (written discussion*).-Captain Lucas has made an important contribution to our, knowledge of Belle Isle, especially as to the outline of the sulphur deposit, and the pronounced irregularity of the salt surface. I agree with his view, that the elevation or mound that constitutes Belle Isle may consist of several salt domes formed at different periods. It may be interesting to note the high gas pressure encountered in pockets in the salt by my No. 1 Belle-Isle well. While drilling a dry hole with cable tools, we sometimes struck. pockets of gas which would float the tools, so that drilling had to be suspended sometimes for several hours at a time, until the head of gas was exhausted, and this with a string of tools, 5-in. (127 mm.) stem 36 ft. (10.9 m.) long, that weighed complete about 3500 lb. (1587 kg.). At about 1800 ft. (548 m.), we struck the largest gas pocket and the string of tools was thrown up and nearly out of the hole. When it dropped back it made several loops

Jan 1, 1918

By Robert H. Richards

IT will hardly be worth while to spend time over the discovery of this mine, how lumps of galena, were picked up and brought to town, and how legends were told of an old mine from which Revolutionary bullets were made. This is an entirely new mine, with no evidences of former or ancient workings in its immediate vicinity to guide or attract the prospector. The first pit was opened in May, 1874. In August I made a visit to this pit, which was 6 feet wide in the northwest direction, 12 feet long north 80° east, and 6 feet deep. About 4 tons of a galena carrying gray copper, siderite, and quartz, had been taken fron this pit. The lumps were all of them evidently float specimens, and varied from 8 to 12 inches thick, and showed very distinct indica- * An abstract of this paper was kindly presented by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt at the February meeting of the Institute, but as it was not fully written out until the following December, it will describe the mine in a little more advanced stage than when the paper was originally presented.

Jan 1, 1875

SASOL Synthetic Fuels has recently completed the design of sampling systems for raw and blended coal feeding the gasifiers at Secunda, South Africa. The new systems will replace manual, stopped belt sampling and have been designed to achieve specific accuracy targets on a daily basis. The sampling system is unusual in the coal industry in that the fines content (-5.5 mm nominal) of the coal is very critical and is to be determined with high accuracy.The sampling system was designed to meet carefully considered target accuracies using methods of modern sampling theory. The heterogeneity of the coal streams involved with respect to the critical analytes was determined by appropriate sampling and sample analysis. The statistical characterisation of the time variation of analytes in the process streams was based on variograms derived from on-line ash gauges. From this point, the design was completed using fundamental statistical sampling theory and some simulation studies. The paper discusses the development of the sampling system design in detail as well as the plans to use the data stream to provide timely alarms when the coal quality deviates from the target specification.

Jan 1, 2002

By E. J. Hammer

Crushing and grinding of gypsum demands con- trolled processing to a fineness suitable for further treatment of the mineral into end products, and into various sizes of material which are themselves saleable products. The majority of gypsum tonnage ultimately ends up in stucco for wallboard. Therefore, mineral reduction is normally designed toward this end, but it is done in a manner that permits drawing off intermediate products to meet various customer requirements. This forces companies into compromises at times in equipment installations. Normally, 5 to 6 different sizes intermediate to the end product are marketed and these are generally the fineness of material to be used as stucco for wallboard. These sizes are produced by controlled crushing, grinding and sizing. How Ore Characteristics Guide Processing First, gypsum as a mineral (CaS0;2H,O) is number two on the Mohs scale two of hardness; only talc is softer, Despite being soft, gypsum is tough, a factor which is of critical importance when developing equipment specifications. In addition, of the increasing volumes of rock handled, the associated and included impurities such as anhydrite, silica or lime- stones are found to be relatively abrasive.

Jan 1, 1970

By C. H. Benedict

1. Shaking Tables 2. Fine Grinding 3. Hydraulic Classification 4. Mechanical Thickeners 5. Flotation ENTERING the profession of minerals beneficiation (it was plain garden variety "ore dressing" . in those days) I was fortunate that at that time the first major innovation in modern ore dressing practice was being introduced. I refer to the Wilfley table. You youngsters that came into the game only 30 years ago or even more recently, with flotation machines and reagents as your very ready tool in time of trouble, do not realize what the invention of the Wilfley table meant to us. We had but one physical property of ores to reckon with-specific gravity- and when there was but little difference in specific gravity between the mineral and the gangue, we were in trouble. The jig and the revolving table were our only mechanical equipment for recovering values and so that we might make even a reasonably satisfactory extraction, we had to classify and reclassify, and jig and rejig, and worry about the laws and advantages of free settling vs hindered settling and just tire the minerals out.

Jan 10, 1954

By R. Sun, R. G. Gillies, R. S. Sanders, J. Schaan

The pipeline transport of paste, backfill or thickened tailings slurries is an important component of the tailings disposal process in many mines around the world. These mixtures contain significant fractions of fine (clay) and coarse (sand) particles, causing them to exhibit non-Newtonian flow behaviour and high frictional pressure gradients. There is often economic incentive to operate these pipelines in the laminar flow regime. Irrefutable evidence has shown that coarse particle settling can occur during the laminar flow of these slurries even when static settling tests show no indication of such behaviour. Previously, a ?rule-of-thumb? minimum frictional pressure gradient of ~1.5 to 2 kPa/m was suggested to ensure effective sand transport, based on the results of tests conducted using viscous Newtonian oils. In this paper, we examine the results of laminar flow tests of non-Newtonian, coarse-particle laden slurries conducted with pipeline loops of 50, 100, 150 and 250 mm in diameter. The results indicate that the ratio of the mean wall shear stress to the mean surficial particle stress is abetter indicator of laminar flow settling tendency than frictional pressure gradient.

Jan 1, 2007

George B. Brennan, Secretary-Treasurer, Imperial. Coal Company, Denver, Colorado, opened the third session of. the Sixtieth Regular Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Coal Mining Institute at 8:30 a.m., and introduced the first speaker of the morning with the following remarks: It is a pleasure to welcome you here this morning. We are indeed fortunate to have such excellent speakers this morning, some of the outstanding people in the mining industry. I know I express the feelings of the entire RMCMI when I say thanks to these excellent speakers for all of the time and trouble they have taken to prepare such talks and come here to give these presentations of some of the more modern developments with which we in the coal mining industry are concerned. The first speaker this morning is going to give a paper on a subject which has only recently caused one or two of unfortunate accidents. It hadn't, prior to this, been considered such a serious problem. However, the. Bureau of Mines is hot on the trail to insure there will be answers to this previously somewhat unrecognized difficulty.

Jan 1, 1964

By J. H. Lalor

The Olympic Dam deposit was discovered in July 1975 with the intersection of 38 m (125 ft) of 1.05% copper in diamond drill hole RD 1. A further eight holes were drilled with only marginal encouragement to November 1976 when RD 10 cored 170 m (558 ft) at 2.12% copper and an economic discovery was confirmed. The discovery of Olympic Dam is an excellent example of the application of broad-scale scientifically based conceptual studies to area selection combined with the backing of an exploration management willing to support its exploration scientists in testing their ideas with stratigraphic drilling. It also illustrates the persistence required in mineral exploration. The project began in 1969-1972 with the development of a conceptual model for the formation of sediment-hosted copper deposits. This model suggested that the alteration of continental-type basaltic rocks could release copper into solution from which it could be concentrated in favorable stratigraphic positions. In mid-1972, this concept was applied to a review of the Proterozoic and Lower Paleozoic rocks in South Australia aimed at defining targets for stratigraphic copper deposits.

Jan 1, 1991

The scope, pace and depth of mining is creating a need for improved ground control strategies to meet mine safety standards. Ground control and associated conservation problems relating to subsidence and the disposal of mining and metallurgical wastes can be resolved by mine filling with selected reject materials. The lack of suitable criteria to evaluate the applicability of such materials and especially cemented forms of fill is considered. Sulphide wastes, which are prone to oxidize, and cement are inexpensive mine fills, but their incorrect use can give rise to problems which are briefly described. Research work concerned with the utilization of sulphide wastes such as mill tailings, to produce fill with self-cementing properties has shown that the development of cohesion and strength is attributable to natural oxidation processes controlled by the physical and chemical composition of the fill mass. The cementing is caused by a number of oxidation products, and is most effective when the mineral pyrrhotite is present. The concepts of fill design are outlined and various criteria for assessing durability and deformational properties are proposed. Specimens prepared in the laboratory are capable of attaining unconfined compressive strengths up to 28 MN/m2.

Jan 1, 1973

LIEUTENANT MARTIN F. BOWLES Martin F. Bowles, born Apr. 25, 1893, at Bonne Terre, Mo., and graduated from the Neodesha, Kans., High School, had finished all but one month of a four-year course in metallurgical engineering at the Missouri School of Mines, Rolla, Mo., when on May 12, 1917, he entered LIEUTENANT MARTIN F. BOWLES. the first Officers' Training Camp at Fort Riley, Kans. At the close of the training period, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and as¬signed to Co. B, 355th Infantry, 89th Division, and stationed at Camp Funston. He left this camp with his company on May 21, 1918, and sailed from an eastern port on June 4, arriving in England on June 15, 1918. After a short stay at a rest camp there, he proceeded to France. On August 14, he wrote that he was with Battalion Headquarters as Scout Officer, 1st Battalion, 355th Infantry, 89th Division. The last letter received from him, dated September 2, was written in his dugout and contained the following: "Here it is 2.45A. M. Sitting in a dugout

Jan 1, 1919

By Svenson D

Most exploratory drilling in the N.S.W. coal fields has been conducted using convent- ional diamond drill rigs of modern design, us- ually truck or trailer mounted. Conventional diamond drill rigs have also been used exten- sively by the Queensland Department of Mines for coal exploration. However almost all of the exploratory drilling of surface mine coal prospects throughout Queensland has been conducted using rotary rigs typified by the Mayhew 1000 truck mounted unit. The rotary rig has proved capable of both rapid non-core drilling and core drilling with high core recoveries when modern core barrels have been used by experienced drillers. For deep or continuous core drilling, wire-line equipment is now in general use. Both wire-line and conventional coring is effected using stationary split inner tube barrels, for minimum core disturbance, maximum core recovery, ease and accuracy of logging and sub-sectional sampling. Diamond core bits are generally required in N.S.W., with water circu- lation. In Queensland, the generally softer coal measures strata can be successfully cored using tungsten carbide bits and air circulation is the preferred method where possible.

Jan 1, 1977

By Russell K. McFarland, Eugene L. Foster

INTRODUCTION The U. S. Department of Transportation has underway an important new program which will have a major impact on rapid excavation technology. The Transportation Tunneling Program, as it is called, is a coordinated, multi-modal research and development effort. Its goals, if realized, will significantly improve our ability to build the underground structures needed for transportation. This, in turn, will improve transport efficiency, environmental impact, and the energy consumption associated with the movement of people and goods. Tunneling technology research and development had its beginning at the Department of Transportation in the Office of High Speed Ground Transportation (OHSGT). The OHSGT developed and implemented a program in 1965 to provide the technology for underground construction needed to support future high speed ground transportation. In 1967, when the OHSGT was transferred from the Department of Commerce to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the program accompanied that office. The thrust of the FRA program has been cost reduction through the development of new materials, innovative designs, and better construction methods. During the late 1960's and early 1970's, other developments were underway which would influence the future of tunneling research at the Department of Transportation. An ad hoc

Jan 1, 1974

Solution mining got back in the news recently when Kalium Chemicals, Ltd., a joint subsidiary of Pittsburgh Plate Glass and Armour & Co. announced its plans to go full speed ahead in mining potash by the solution method in its vast holdings 30 miles west of Regina, Saskatchewan. The company is keeping the technical details of this mining technique under wraps for competitive reasons, but company officials insist that the major difficulties in solution mining of potash have been overcome and that the final product will have definite competitive advantages on the open market. Kalium's holdings in the Regina area total about 500 sq mi. The ore-primarily sylvite mixed with appreciable quantities of halite-occurs in the Prairie Evaporite formation at a depth of 5300 ft. The ore zone averages about 100 ft in thickness. Too deep to be economically mined by conventional underground methods, such as is being done at International Minerals & Chemical Corp.'s Esterhazy mine (depth about 3100 ft), Kalium gambled that it could develop a successful method of solution mining even though earlier attempts in Germany, the U.S., and Canada had failed.

Jan 6, 1964

By K. Takahashi, G. Dodbiba, T. Fujita, N. Sato, S. Matsuo, K. Okaya

Different materials are used for manufacturing various parts of a cellular phone. Considering that a great number of mobile phones are being discarded every year, it is important to recover these materials and then recycle them in order to save resources. The primary objective of this work is therefore to find and suggest ways on how to recover various materials from discarded cellular phones for recycling. Much effort, for example, has been put in recovering and recycling tin oxide (ITO), a mixture of indium (III) oxide, (UI2O3) and tin(IV) oxide from the discarded liquid crystal displays (LCDs). Here we report a simple and cost-effective process, which includes a HC1 treatment process for altering the structure of the indium (III) compound into a chlorideinduced indium compound, in order to facilitate the vaporization of indium at a relatively low temperature. The experimental results indicated that 96.2 % of indium can be recovered from ITO, when the sample was heated at 973 K for 90 minutes. In addition, some thermodynamic calculations were also carried out in order to better understand the mechanism for chlorideinduced vaporization of indium.

Jan 1, 2011

By Player WP

The legislative operating environment, or the mineral regime, that a country has to offer is one of the key determinants that a company wanting to invest in an area takes into account in formulating its investment decision. The New Zealand Government recognises this and the importance of getting the regime right in order to provide for continuing investment in mineral exploration and mining in New Zealand. In recent years, the Government has given considerable attention to developing legislation which provides for investment to take place; for those making the investments to have a stable, fair and open investment environment with government intervention only when considered absolutely necessary because other approaches are not working; and for the people of New Zealand to know that investment must meet acceptable health and safety standards and have acceptable impact on the environment. Also of key importance is having a clearly defined mining regime which includes rules on how to obtain a permit and rules in respect of ongoing permit compliance, rights to develop a mineral resource and permit conditions (in particular, the royalty regime). In New Zealand, these matters will all be addressed in what are referred to as "minerals programmes".

Jan 1, 1995

By Dexter Kimball

THE ease and promptness with which the public as a whole becomes accustomed to and takes advantage of the work of the engineer, using the term in a broad sense, is almost startling. Surprise at, and fear of radical innovations in transportation and private service quickly give way to blasé indifference, followed instantly by all manner of criticism that these things are not better constructed and managed. Does the street car stop a few minutes on a switch?-summon the State Commission. Is the Overland Express fifteen minutes late on a three thousand mile run?-Congress is memorialized to make the great railroad companies attend to their business. Does central not respond instantly when we take down the telephone receiver?-anathema!! Do the electric lights go out for a minute or so?-the darkness is illuminated by caustic sarcasm and other kinds of spoken English consigning all engineering and engineers to perdition; everyone apparently forgetting how steep the hills were before the days of street cars, how far away San Francisco was before the days of the locomotive, the telegraph and telephone, and how difficult it must have been to study by the light of a tallow candle.

Jan 9, 1922

By B. B. Mamba, J Ndalamo

The existence of an impressive reserve of oxidized cobalt-copper bearing ores in the African copper belt area lead the GECAMINES (DRC) to develop specific and adapted mineral processing routes (Mulaba-Bafubiandi, 2001). During the conventional diluted sulphuric acid leaching of oxidized cobalt-copper bearing ores commonly referred to as ?heterogenite?, more than 10% cobalt dissolution yield increase was observed in a plant situation (Mwema et al., 2002) when SO2(g) was flushed into the acidified cobalt leaching solution. The present paper attempts to elucidate mechanisms involved which lead to the increase of total cobalt as SO2 is flushed during the leaching of oxidized cobalt bearing minerals. The kinetics of cobalt dissolution as SO2 is flushed into the acidic solution as well as a full characterization, using UV-Visible spectroscopy, of Co2+ and Co3+ species present in the collected leachate are presented while possible effects of the presence of Cu and Fe on the leachability of cobalt bearing minerals present in the oxidised ore will be discussed. In the view of speeding up the leaching process, the mixed cobalt-copper oxidised ores were microwaves pre-processed. Preliminary results were also discussed.

Jan 1, 2007

By S. O. Reichert

The nuclear industry has made a considerable effort to reduce environmental pollution with the result that knowledge in the field of radioactive waste management is well advanced. An example of the methods used for radioactive waste disposal is provided by the Savannah River Plant (SRP) operated by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. for the AEC. It occupies an area of 320 sq mi along the Savannah River downstream from Augusta Ga., and has production facilities that include a fuel preparation area, three reactor areas, two chemical separation areas (F and H), and a heavy water plant. Gaseous, Liquid and Solid Radioactive Wastes Are Handled During Disposal The primary sources of radioactive waste are the reactor and chemical separation facilities. The reactors are cooled and moderated by heavy water which, in turn, is cooled by river water in heat exchangers. This arrangement prevents irradiation of the river water so that radioactivity is not discharged into the river water except when small quantities of moderator are lost by heat exchanger leaks. Because of the high cost of heavy water, these losses must be kept to a minimum.

Jan 9, 1968

By Jack E. Fraley, Robert E. Simpson

INTRODUCTION Spokane Mining Research Center (BuMines) is researching sealants for underground coal mines to: 1. Reduce sloughing of shale roofs. 2. Reduce sloughing of coal ribs. 3. Seal block stoppings against air losses. 4. Construct stoppings by spraying over jute cloth or metal lath. 5. Render incombustible in-place polyurethane foam. Originally the work was directed towards reducing sloughing of shale roofs. Many underground coal mines have shale directly over the coal which weathers severely after exposure to the mine atmosphere. Lab investigations(l, 2, 3, 4) have shown that many shales separate into layers when immersed in water or stored in a high relative humidity environment. Upon drying or after removal from high humidity, the shales continue to separate. Underground coal mines become wet in the warmer months from condensation of the ventilating air. Conversely, the mines become dry in the cooler months from evaporation. The mines experience severe shale break-up during the summer and much less break-up during the winter. Figs. 1, 2 and 3 show weathered shale roofs. in underground coal mines. Fig. 4 shows fallen shale on the entry floor. Sealing the shale reduces this sloughing problem.

Jan 1, 1974

ALTHOUGH it might seem more fitting to discuss this subject in the Ninth Book in connection with the smelting of iron where I had thought to treat of it in detail, this process of making steel appears to be almost a branch of the above chapter on iron itself; hence I did not wish to separate these two so far that they might seem to be [18v] different things. Therefore I wish to write of it here and to tell you that steel is nothing other than iron, well purified by means of art and given a more perfect elemental mixture and quality by the great decoction of the fire than it had before. By the attraction of some suitable substances in the things that are added to it, its natural dryness is mollified by a certain amount of moisture and it becomes whiter and more dense so that it seems almost to have been removed from its original nature. Finally, when its pores have been well dilated and softened by the strong fire and the heat has been driven out of them by the violence of the coldness of the

Jan 1, 1942