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By Howard N. Eavenson

From the Pittsburgh coal bed in the four states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia has been produced an output that, at mine prices, represents a greater value than any other single mineral deposit in the world has yielded.12 While this distinction may in a few years pass to the gold reef of the Witwatersrand, it is possible that eventually, owing to the tremendous reserves still remaining, the ultimate yield of the Pittsburgh bed will be greater than that of any other known single deposit. Considering its importance, not a great deal has been written of its early history and development as a whole; most of the accounts have been of limited localities, or, at the most, of the area within a single state. In "Coal through the Ages" the writer mentioned some references to its early history, but this study will deal not only with its history but with the character of the bed, where and why it was first developed, and its effect upon the states in which it is found. It has not been the intention to write a detailed history of the development of the seam in each locality, as neither time nor inclination were available for doing such work, but only to show the influences that tended to hasten or retard such development. In general the historical matter ends about 1830, when geological surveys began to be made. Some of the maps show data available only since that time, and the sections about coal preparation and coking have been extended to the present time to show the changing conditions. It is believed that the early history includes all published records, and many more sources than those shown in the bibliography were consulted. It is quite likely that some references to coal in this area may be found in the unpublished papers of some of our early soldiers and colonizers, which exist in several libraries, and it is hoped that some future * Dedicated to Dr. Thomas S. Baker, President Emeritus, Carnegie Institute of Technology, whose labors in promoting the International Coal Conferences and in establishing the Coal Research Laboratory have done much in showing the industry how science can be of help to it. Manuscript received at the office of the Institute Feb. 15, 1938.

Jan 1, 1938

By Howard N. Eavenson

From the Pittsburgh coal bed in the four states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia has been produced an output that, at mine prices, represents a greater value than any other single mineral deposit in the world has yielded.12 While this distinction may in a few years pass to the gold reef of the Witwatersrand, it is possible that eventually, owing to the tremendous reserves still remaining, the ultimate yield of the Pittsburgh bed will be greater than that of any other known single deposit. Considering its importance, not a great deal has been written of its early history and development as a whole; most of the accounts have been of limited localities, or, at the most, of the area within a single state. In "Coal through the Ages" the writer mentioned some references to its early history, but this study will deal not only with its history but with the character of the bed, where and why it was first developed, and its effect upon the states in which it is found. It has not been the intention to write a detailed history of the development of the seam in each locality, as neither time nor inclination were available for doing such work, but only to show the influences that tended to hasten or retard such development. In general the historical matter ends about 1830, when geological surveys began to be made. Some of the maps show data available only since that time, and the sections about coal preparation and coking have been extended to the present time to show the changing conditions. It is believed that the early history includes all published records, and many more sources than those shown in the bibliography were consulted. It is quite likely that some references to coal in this area may be found in the unpublished papers of some of our early soldiers and colonizers, which exist in several libraries, and it is hoped that some future * Dedicated to Dr. Thomas S. Baker, President Emeritus, Carnegie Institute of Technology, whose labors in promoting the International Coal Conferences and in establishing the Coal Research Laboratory have done much in showing the industry how science can be of help to it. Manuscript received at the office of the Institute Feb. 15, 1938.

Jan 1, 1938

By Alphonce Wikedzi, Mussa D. Budeba, Samwel V. Manyele, Sospeter P. Maganga

The present study provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities in processing complex gold-copper ores. The systematic literature review was conducted using Scopus database and seven-step methodological approach. The study indicates that the major challenges in processing complex gold-copper ores through the conventional cyanidation method include (1) increase in cyanide consumption; (2) increase in cyanide destruction cost; (3) low gold recovery; (4) decrease in adsorption efficiency; (5) decrease in electrowinning efficiency, and (6) difficulties in the measurement of free cyanide concentration in the leaching system. Moreover, the study indicates that several methods have been developed and some have been implemented in the mining industry for processing complex gold-copper ores. This includes ore segregation, pre-aeration, pre-treatment methods (e.g., ammonia), alternative lixiviants (e.g., thiosulfate, thiocyanate, glycine), cyanide destruction methods, and cyanide and copper recovery technologies. The study concluded that using lixiviant mixtures (e.g., cyanide-glycine), pre-treatment with environmentally friendly reagents (e.g., glycine) and the integrated membrane-based process (SuCy process) are new directions in processing complex gold-copper ores. However, more investigations are required to advance these processes to a commercial scale.

Sep 30, 2023

By Thomas Varley

"During the past few years, since flotation has become the paramount treatment method for most all kinds of ores, the Bureau has gathered the data on consumption of reagents used in the flotation treatment. The first report was issued in 1916. A brief review of such reports shows the progress made in the art of flotation, and each year brings forth development of new reagents or combinations of reagents that seem sure to survive, but research and progress spell their defeat, if not by entire elimination, at least subjects them to considerable modification. Fortunately, close cooperation between the Bureau and the operators has been the means of an exchange of ideas in research work, and the development, in plant practice, of such research work on a commercial basis, is one of the outstanding features in milling today.In past years flotation has been referred to generally as ""oil flotation""— today it might be more properly called ""chemical flotatioin"" Minerals can be floated today without oil. Chemicals alone will do the work, showing how little was truly known about the process heretofore. The term ""regents as used herein, includes both chemicals and oils. The total pounds of oils and reagents consumed during the year was greater than shown in the 1925 report. The 1926 total was 201,711,795 pounds as compared with 81,688,967 pounds for 1925. The equivalent in pounds of reagent use& per ton of ore for 1926 was 3.933 as compared with 1.7972 for 1925. This increase is due largely to the amount of lime which is added in the alkaline circuits particularly in the mills treating coppers ores, which accounts for the larger tonnages."

Jan 1, 1928

By Shoukun Wei, Cong Wang, Lin Cheng, Zhiyu Qiao, Jingkui Liang, Weidong Zhuang

"The subsolidus phase relations in the Sm2O3-CeO2-CuO ternary system sintered at 1000°C in air have been investigated by X-ray powder diffraction. The system can be divided into two ternary phase regions and three binary phase regions. Solid solution Sm2-xCexCuO4-y is the only ternary phase in the system. The maximum solid solubility was confirmed to be x = 0.2. The crystal structure, oxygen content and superconductivity of the solid solution Sm2-xCexCuO4-y have been investigated.I. INTRODUCTIONAfter the first discovery of the superconducting ceramic system La-Ba -Cu-O[l] with Tc = 30 to 40K, other families of cuprate-based ceramics have been synthesized with higher critical temperature. These oxides include the R-Ba-Cu-O (R: rare earth) systems (Tc=90K or so)[2,3], the Pb-Sr-(R,Ca)-Cu-O systems (T c = 50 to 100K), the Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O systems (Tc=80 to 105K)[4], the T1-Ba-Ca-Cu-O systems (Tc=85 to 125K)[5], the Hg-Ba-Ca-Cu-O systems (Tc=90 to 150K)[6,7], and some others. The improvement of Tc is very rapid. The measurement of the Hall and Seebeck coefficients shows that they all are p-type superconductors. In 1989, Tokura et al.[8] discovered the superconductors R2_XCexCU04_y(R = Nd, Pr, Sm) with Tc=20 to 24K (onset) and found that the charge carrier is electron in contrast to their hole doped counterparts. This discovery increases the fundamental understanding of the cuprate-based superconductors by comparing their characteristics and mechanisms to those of the p-type superconductors.One of the outstanding features of these n-type superconductors is the difficulty in obtaining samples in good charactors, such as the difficulty in obtaining zero resistivity state in single crystal or bulk samples; the semi-conductivity of bulk samples in ordinary state (opposite to the superconducting state) and a reducing reaction involved before the superconductivity has been found[9]. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the sample preparation of the n-type superconductors. All the n-type superconductors have been found· considerable solid solubility. The compositional variations play a governing role in the carrier doping of the superconducting phases. Also, it is vital to the ceramic processing of superconductors to identify the compatible phases in the phase diagram. Finally, there is always the possibility of finding additional compounds, both superconducting and non-superconducting, in an unexplored system."

Jan 1, 1996

By E. Poiate, P. R. Cabral, A. V. N. Santos, P. V. M. Costa, C. S. Amaral, A. M. Costa

This paper discusses the design of underground salt caverns, opened by solution mining, for the production of brine and storage of natural gas under high pressures. The caverns are located in the salt basin in Maceio City, Alagoas State, at the northeast region of Brazil. Special attention is given to the geomechanical structural design of the caverns using computer codes specially developed for the simulation of excavations in salt rock formations, considering validated constitutive creep laws under different initial stress states and temperatures. The behavior of sedimentary rocks intercalations presented in the salt layer is simulated using elastic-plastic models. The excavation of the caverns by solution mining is also simulated starting from a geostatic initial equilibrium state of stresses, with a unique formulation only implemented in these computer codes, without the need of the application of boundary stresses to the model in order to develop the initial state of stresses. These computer codes have being used in the design of several clusters of caverns for brine production used as raw material of Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) of the Chemical Industryin Brazil. These computer codes and methodology were also applied to the design of the underground conventional potash mine in the state of Sergipe, overlying tachyhydrite and carnallite with very high creep strain rate. They have also been used in the design of the pre-salt oil wells through thick layers of stratified salt rock in Santos Basin, for the exploration and production of the pre-salt reservoirs in Brazil. The constitutive creep equations implemented in the codes are based on a double mechanism creep law. The creep constants adopted in the simulation are taken from a previous investigation carried out on an experimental panel of the potash mine, considering the stratified geology with different salt rocks of the basin where the mine is located. These constants were also obtained by lab tests under different confined and differential stresses and temperatures.

Jan 1, 2015

By D. D. Harbuck

The U.S. Bureau of Mines investigated germanium and gallium extraction from an ore containing 0.089% Ge and 0.036% Ga. While previous researchers concluded that a reducing agent such as 502 is needed to extract germanium and gallium from such ore, this research showed that high extractions (87% Ge, 97% Ga) were possible using sulfuric acid alone, if the acid concentration were properly controlled. This control was achieved using a two-stage counter-current leach circuit. Microprobe analyses revealed that the non-extracted germanium is in solid solution with quartz, and therefore cannot be leached with 502 or sulfuric acid.

Jan 1, 1991

By T. J. Langan, M. Ramajayam, T. Dorin

"6xxx-series Al alloys are the most commonly used alloys in the automotive industry as they have an appropriate balance of strength, corrosion resistance and formability. The main strengthening phase in these alloys is the ß’-Mg2Si precipitates. One opportunity to achieve stronger 6xxx-series Al alloys, without affecting corrosion and formability, is the use of Sc. The main challenge of using Sc in 6xxx-series lies in the heat treatment, which must be designed to allow for a fine precipitation of both Al3Sc and ß’-Mg2Si. In this work, two model alloys are used, an Al-Sc-Zr and an Al-Mg-Si-Cu-Sc-Zr, to explore the impact of the 6xxx-series key elements (Mg, Si and Cu) on the Al3Sc precipitates. Transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography are used to investigate the precipitates present in the microstructure after casting. We find that higher Si content results in the formation of dispersoids upon casting. The average composition of these dispersoids is (Al0.8,Si0.2)3 (Sc0.888,Zr0.024,Mg0.08,Cu0.008). A closer look at the solid solution reveals that most of the Sc and Zr is supersaturated after casting even in the presence of Mg, Si and Cu. We discuss the impact of these results on the design of a suitable heat treatment for 6xxx-series alloys with Sc.INTRODUCTION The most common strategy to strengthen aluminum (Al) alloys is by micro-alloying to form a fine distribution of precipitates (Gladman, 1999). Whilst precipitates enhance the strength, this is often done to the detriment of ductility and corrosion performance (Davis, 1999). The 6xxx-series Al alloys are heavily used in the automotive industry as they offer an appropriate balance of strength, ductility and corrosion resistance (W. S. Miller et al., 2000). The strength increment in these alloys comes from the formation of the ß’–Mg2Si and the quaternary Q’ phase (Chakrabarti & Laughlin, 2004; Polmear, St. John, Nie, & Qian, 2017). One opportunity to achieve stronger 6xxx-series alloys, whilst keeping good balance of corrosion resistance and formability, is the use of small additions of scandium (Sc). Sc is one of the most potent strengtheners in Al alloys (Dorin, Ramajayam, Vahid, & Langan, 2018; Røyset & Ryum, 2005). Most of the strengthening benefits from Sc come from the formation of fine Al3Sc dispersoids. The following strengthening mechanisms apply to Sc: 1) Solid solution strengthening, 2) precipitation hardening, 3) inhibiting recrystallization, 4) assisting nucleation of other strengthening phases (Dorin, Ramajayam, Lamb, & Langan, 2017). As compared to other dispersoid phases, Al3Sc dispersoids have good electrochemical compatibility with Al alloys and hence do not affect their corrosion resistance (Cavanaugh, Birbilis, Buchheit, & Bovard, 2007). The coarsening resistance of Al3Sc is often improved by adding zirconium (Zr), as it forms a Zr rich shell around Al3Sc which prevents Sc from moving across the interface."

Jan 1, 2018

By R. Masse, J. Chameaud, J. Lafuma, R. Perraud

Estimating the risk of lung cancers for workers in uranium mines and defining the resulting dose equivalent limits have been made possible thanks to work carried out in two scientific fields : physics and epidemiology. Theoretical calculations on the basis of physical models for the former and epidemiological surveys on the mortality of uranium miners from lung cancer for the latter. However, even though considerable work has been done in these two areas, the results obtained still remain controversial on several points. The radioactive and physical instability of the aerosols present in the atmosphere of the mines and the biological complexity of the human lung which even the most sophisticated physical models can reproduce only very schematically have often proved to be insurmountable difficulties for physicists, explaining the uncertainties which subsist concerning the dose delivered to the various parts of the respiratory tract from the air breathed by miners during their work. Epidemiological investigations on the other hand, in spite of the high quality of the surveys carried out, remain open to criticism, essentially because of the very approximative estimation of the individual occupational exposure to radon daughters. This is due to the fact that uncertainties arise from the measurement of radon gas if the state of equilibrium with the daughters is not accurately known or, if the active deposit is measured, to the fact that these measurements are insufficient in number. The controversies and discrepancies which subsist with regard to the evaluation of the level of risk, and in particular for low doses, can thus be understood. In addition, epidemiological surveys cannot dissociate the carcinogenic action of radon from the synergistic or potentiating actions of tabacco and of other pollutants present in uranium mine air. Animal experiments have been largely taken into account for evaluating the toxicity of various radionuclides. This type of experiment is necessary when human data do not exist and has provided us with much information. For instance, the relative biological effectiveness of the various types of radiation, the metabolism of radionuclides and the mechanisms of cancer induction have been approached and satisfactorily resolved in this way. Concerning radon and its daughters, however, animal experiments have been used very little even though it seems apparent that they should complement epidemiological studies. For instance, whereas doubt can be cast on the data obtained from human epidemiology because of the uncertainty concerning the individual exposure of miners, those drawn from experiments are indisputable because in this case the dose is as perfectly known as the effect. In addition, the effects of radon can experimentally be appreciated separately whereas in the surveys, they cannot be dissociated from the effects of the other pollutants in the mine. Finally, there are no other means of dealing with the mechanisms of cancer induction. In order to gain any useful knowledge from this method however, the experimental model must necessarily present certain methodological guarantees and the effects seen in the animals must enable a comparison with those which appear in man. For this reason we will present here the animal model we have been using for 15 years, and will give the results obtained and compare them with human data and made a synthesis. Finally the conclusions which can be drawn will be discussed as well as their limitations with respect to the protection of uranium miners. I - MATERIAL AND METHODS Male SPF Sprague-Dawley rats were used. At the onset of the inhalations they were around 3 months old. Their small size makes it possible to expose a large number of animals at the same time. Their life-span is long enough to be able to follow the evolution of the cancers and to estimate the latency time. Finally, they present the advantage of having a very low rate of spontaneous lung cancers (SANDERS, 1979). I.1 - Three inhalation techniques were used. 1.1.1. – [Inhalation of radon decay products.] The inhalation apparatus has been described previously (CHAMEAUD et al. 1971). The first experiments utilized a room of a half cubic meter linked to a source made up of high grade uranium ore. Later on, a large installation was built with a 10 m3 inhalation chamber making it possible to expose up to 500 rats at one time at radon concentrations ranging from 100 to 10 000 WL for variable lengths of time (1 to 10 hours per day). These concentrations are higher than those to which the miners are generally exposed, but in order for the cumulated doses in man and in animal to be similar and delivered for the same fraction of their respective life-spans, the ratio of the concentrations should be approximately that of the life-spans. The concentrations of radon and its daughters during the experiments were carefully controlled thanks to multiple samplings of radon gas associated with measurements of radon decay products. I.1.2 – [ The dust inhalation chamber] has already been described : it is a dust-loading chamber where the dust content remains constant during the experiment and can hold over 20 - 30 animals (PERRAUD et al, 1970). I.1.3 – [Tobacco inhalations] take place in a smoke box

Jan 1, 1981

This surveillance report summarizes data on work-related fatal and nonfatal injuries, illnesses, and hazardous exposures in the mining industry for the 10-year period 1986-1995. The term "surveillance," as used in public health, may be new to many readers of this report. With regard to occupational safety and health, the goal of surveillance is to describe the occurrence of work-related injuries, illnesses, and known hazardous exposures; to identify new hazards that may occur due to the introduction of new technology or other factors; and to assess the effects of preventive measures designed to improve worker safety and health. Surveillance provides an overall picture, which can be used to focus resources on areas most in need of prevention programs or further research. Surveillance generally requires the use of multiple sources of data, all of which have their own strengths and limitations. Surveillance in the U. S. mining industry is complicated by the fact that U.S. national data systems that provide information on mining are based on two different definitions of the mining industry. One is established by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the other by the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System [Office of Management and Budget 1987] and the 1980 U. S. Bureau of the Census (BOC) Classification System [U.S. Bureau of the Census 1982]. The mining industry as defined by MSHA is based on the regulatory jurisdiction of that agency. Reporting requirements for injuries, illnesses, and workplace exposures are stipulated under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977. Of note is that the oil and gas extraction industry falls outside of MSHA jurisdiction. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was charged with enforcement in the oil and gas industry under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Under the SIC, the definition of mining covers the extraction of naturally occurring minerals, including liquids (petroleum), gases (natural gas) and solids (coal, metal, and nonmetallic minerals). Exploration and development of mineral properties are also included in the SIC definition of the mining industry. The SIC was developed by the Office of Management and Budget for use in classifying establishments based on the type of economic activity in which they are engaged and serves as the industry classification standard for all establishment based Federal economic statistics. This classification is important for occupational safety and health surveillance because it also serves as the industry classification system for all data on work-related injuries and illnesses collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The U.S. Bureau of the Census uses an industry coding scheme similar to that used by the SIC. For the mining industry, the categorization is identical in both systems. Death certificate data made available by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) are categorized under this system. Death certificate data are particularly important for surveillance of mortality from work-related illnesses. Key differences between the SIC/BOC categorization system and the MSHA system can be summarized as follows: • MSHA excludes the oil and gas industry, which is classified as part of the mining industry under SIC/BOC. • MSHA excludes work that is done off of mine property; work off of mine property is included under SIC/BOC if it is performed by an establishment falling into one of the SIC/BOC mining industry codes. • MSHA includes mine-associated mills and processing plants; these are classified under the manufacturing industry, rather than mining, according to the SIC/BOC coding structure. Since the data collected by MSHA and the data collected by BLS and NCHS using the SIC/BOC classification system are both important sources of information on the mining industry and in many cases serve different purposes, data from both systems are presented in this report. In general, data using the SIC/BOC system are comparable across U.S. industries and should be used when comparing mining to other U.S. industries. Much of the data in this report are presented in the form of frequencies or rates. A frequency provides only a count of the number of cases without providing any information about the risk of occurrence. Rates provide an estimate of the risk of injury or illness. The reader is cautioned, however, that rates based on small numbers can be unstable; thus, any inferences should be drawn with care. In this report, no rates are presented for groups in which there were fewer than three cases. The incidence of most injury and illness conditions differs by age, sex, and race. For this reason, data in many surveillance reports are adjusted for these demographic factors. It was not possible to do this for most of the rates in this report because information on demographics was not available. With the exception of the proportionate mortality ratios (PMRs), all data presented are unadjusted. A detailed account of the sources of data is in appendix A. The methods used in data selection and analysis are described in appendix B.

Jan 5, 2000

By Michael A. Linkous, Mark J. Zdunczyk

Silica in the form of sand and sandstone is one of the most common, and at the same time, unique industrial minerals. Found in every rock type of every geologic age and virtually everywhere in the world, silica is used in products that touch just about every aspect of daily life. Imagine a world in the 1990s without computer chips, fiber optics, or glass, and you have just begun to understand how important silica is to the quality of life we enjoy. The elements silicon (Si) and oxygen (0) comprise roughly 60% of the earth's lithosphere to a depth of about 16 km. The crystal structure of silicon dioxide consists of one atom of silicon bonded to four surrounding atoms of oxygen to form a three-dimensional network of SiO, tetrahedra. This network makes up the mineral quartz (Murphy and Henderson, 1983), the most common detrital mineral in most sandstones. Quartz is also a major constituent of many igneous and metamorphic rocks and is widespread as a siliceous cementing agent in various rock types. Although quartz is common, sandstones, quartzites, and pegmatites and the unconsolidated sediments derived from them that have a silica content high enough and pure enough to meet today's market demands for quality and consistency are not common. USES AND SPECIFICATIONS Silica sand that is mined and processed for industrial uses must conform to the chemical and physical specifications set by customers. In the United States almost half of the silica sand produced is used in the manufacture of glass. Other important products include foundry sand, ground silica, blasting sand, and fracturing sand. Glass Sand Silica is the principal glass-forming oxide in a glass batch. Glass manufacturers develop model specifications for each source of silica sand used. These specifications broadly define the limits and ranges for chemical and physical properties of the sand and are used by the manufacturer in calculating the desired batch mix or formula. Some specifications may be critical to a glassmaker and require very stringent limits on the quantity of impurities in the sand. For example, the total iron oxide content of a batch is extremely crucial when making white or flint glasses (Mills, 1983). Iron is present in almost every raw material used in a glass batch and must be carefully controlled in order to obtain a consistent color in the finished product. It is difficult, however, for a raw material supplier to tightly control the chemistry of a naturally occurring material such as silica sand. To a great extent the commercial quality of a sand is determined by its geologic history. Realizing this, glass producers tailor their model specifications to each source of approved material. In general, a glass company is concerned most about the consistency of raw materials on a day-to-day basis. Soda-lime-silica glass was the earliest type of manmade glass (Baker-Can, 1967) and still accounts for most of the glass manufactured for commercial use today (Mills, 1983). It is relatively easy to melt and shape and is less expensive per ton to produce than most other types of glass (Baker-Can, 1967). Soda-lime-silica glass is used in fabricating containers, flat glass products, incandescent and fluorescent lamps, glass fiber, and many other products. Heavy minerals such as ilmenite, leucoxene, kyanite, and zircon are impurities on which strict limits are placed for a glass batch. Because of their refractory nature they either do not melt or only partially melt, which results in stones or feathers in finished glass. Aluminosilicates such as kyanite also contribute unwanted alumina to the batch as they partially melt. Limits are especially rigid for refractory mineral grains coarser than 0.60 to 0.425 mm (30 to 40 mesh). [Tables 1 and 2] present typical specifications for silica sand used in flat glass and container glass products. The percentages shown represent an average of many companies7 specifications.

Jan 1, 1994

By L Semenyna, W Douglas

Gold is often present in solid solution with pyrite in the Carlin Trend. The presence of organic carbon along with gold hosted in sulfide, referred to as double refractory ore, requires that ore with high carbon-in-leach (CIL) preg-robbing potential and poor leach recovery is routed to a roaster. During roasting, the pyrite is oxidised to (ideally) form hematite (Fe2O3), and the gold that was present as solid solution in the pyrite forms colloids within the hematite. The ideal texture of the produced hematite is porous to allow for the penetration of cyanide for gold dissolution. Temperature and other conditions of roasting, as well as ore characteristics (pyrite mineral associations, arsenic) can affect the texture and the type of iron oxide formed. Many of these alternate iron oxide minerals result in incomplete leaching. Comprehensive gold deportment studies have proven that the majority of the gold losses in Barrick GoldstrikeÆs roaster leach tailings occur within the iron oxides created through the roasting process.The iron oxide phase that hosts the majority of the gold in tailings is in the form of by-product maghemite (?Fe2O3), which is highly magnetic. Barrick Goldstrike has designed a magnetic recovery circuit to capture these iron oxides, and with subsequent reprocessing, recover the lost gold. Pilot plant results and analysis using scanning electron microscope mineral liberation analyser (SEM MLA) shows that up to 30 per cent of the gold in tailings can be recovered with a three per cent overall mass pull to magnetic concentrate. This magnetic concentrate can be economically reprocessed, resulting in a three per cent improvement in roaster recovery.CITATION:Douglas, W and Semenyna, L, 2013. Magnetic recovery of gold-bearing iron oxides at Barrick GoldstrikeÆs roaster, in Proceedings World Gold 2013 , pp 79-86 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 26, 2013

By Kazutoshi Haga, Ariunbolor Narankhuu, Ariuntuya Battsengel, Yasushi Watanabe, Altansukh Batnasan, Akita University

"Rare earth minerals are usually concentrated by flotation, magnetic or gravity separation methods to produce concentrates that are subsequently leached with hydrochloric (HCl), sulfuric acid (H2SO4) or nitric acid (HNO3). About 75 % REEs are lost in gypsum by-product when apatite is dissolved in H2SO4, whereas more than 80% of REE can be extracted from the apatite using HCl and HNO3 leaching processes, respectively. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to find an efficient process of dissolution of rare earth elements (REEs) from apatite ore by sulfuric acid solution due to its lower cost. In order to optimize the dissolution process, effects of different parameters, namely, concentration of H2SO4 (0.05 – 6 M), solid/liquid phase ratio (1:50 – 1:100), temperature (20 – 80 ºC), agitation speed (300 – 900 rpm), and leaching time (0.5 - 6 h) on the dissolution of REEs from apatite ore were examined in various intervals. The contents of main REEs in the apatite ore used in this study were (as % wt): 3 % La, 6 % Ce, 0.6 % Pr, 2.1 % Nd, 0.2 % Sm and 0.3 % Y. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis identified fluorapatite and phlogopite as main minerals in the ore. The results obtained from leaching experiments showed that more than 85% of REEs were dissolved from the apatite ore under the optimized conditions, which were: 1 M H2SO4, particle size of -150 + 100 µm, S:L phase ratio of 1:50, agitation speed of 500 rpm at 20 ºC for 1h. The XRD analysis revealed that main mineral compositions of the residues from 1M and 6 M H2SO4 leaching are gypsum (CaSO42H2O) and hemigypsum (CaSO40.5H2O), respectively.INTRODUCTIONThe term rare earth elements (REEs) denote the group of 17 chemically similar metallic elements consisting of the 15 lanthanides, plus yttrium (Y) and scandium (Sc) in the periodic table. These metallic elements are generally divided into two sub-groups; (1) the cerium sub-group, which is called “light rare earth elements” (LREEs), includes the elements from lanthanum (La) to europium (Eu), and (2) the yttrium (Y) sub-group elements, which are known as “heavy rare earth elements” (HREEs), are the remaining lanthanides from gadolinium (Gd) to lutetium (Lu) plus yttrium (Gupta and Krishnamurthy, 2005). The REEs occur together in the minerals due to their chemical and physical similarities, which cause problems of separating them from one another (Abreu and Morais, 2014). Although REEs are relatively abundant in the earth’s crust, they are typically dispersed and rarely occur in concentrated forms, making them economically challenging to obtain. There are a wide variety of rare earth minerals, however economic deposits of REEs in mining are bastnasite (La, Ce) FCO3, monazite (Ce, La, Y, Th) PO4, and xenotime YPO4 (Binnemans, 2013; Xie, et al, 2014). Due to the unique physical, chemical, catalytic, electrical, magnetic and optical properties of REEs, demand of these elements has increased dramatically with the advent of new technologies in electronics, communication, construction, energy and medicine (Jordens, et al, 2013). Since 1990, China has provided about 90 % of REEs worldwide. Japan and United States are the largest consumers of China’s REEs. In 2010, China announced to reduce REEs exports to Japan, as it tended to increase prices of REEs and to reduce a stable supply of REEs in the world market (Humphries, 2013). Therefore, there has been an increase in recent exploration activities intended to reveal new commercial sources of REEs and to bring them into production (Antico, et al, 1996). Apatite is an important host mineral for REEs in igneous and metamorphic rocks and can be used as an ore for those metals (Kanazawa and Kamitani, 2006). Apatite is also the main source of phosphate fertilizers and phosphoric acid (Habashi, 2013; Emsbo, 2015)."

Jan 1, 2016

By C. Widham

Introduction It is generally accepted as dogma that sampling contributes most of the error in gold fire assays. Differences in assay results on pulps from the same sample interval are frequently regarded as evidence of the presence of the so called "nugget effect" of relatively coarse gold particles. It is true that coarse gold particles can contribute to substantial sampling fluctuations. But, while the process of sampling is probably the major source of error, the analytical process cannot be completely ignored as a possible contributor to erratic assay results. To maintain a stable assay process, the analytic part of the system must also be kept in control. One method of monitoring the performance of the analytic system is to systematically assay standard materials, whose sampling characteristics are carefully controlled. Gold assay standards are not prepared, nor can they be prepared, to account for both sampling and analytical errors. It is not possible to send coarse material to a lab for both preparation (i.e., comminution and splitting) and fire assaying and then come to conclusions only about the fire-assay process. Because most gold ores are very heterogeneous, sampling errors would, in most cases, completely mask the contribution of the analytical errors. Assay-standard material is prepared only to assess the accuracy and variability in the fire assay process. Because the objective of the assay standard is to provide information about the fire assaying, it is necessary to control the sampling error of the standard material, so that it is only a minor constituent of the discrepancies observed in any assay results. To do this requires that the particle size of the standard material be reduced to a point where the relative standard deviation of the sampling error (i.e... the standard deviation of the errors divided by the average gold content of the material) is 2% or less. For all but very homogeneous mineralization, this means that the material must be reduced to 100% -150 mesh before the sampling errors are adequately controlled. However, even reducing the particle size can contribute to sampling problems. The liberation of gold may cause segregation that can cause large sampling fluctuations that are not easily controlled while maintaining the desired grade. Because, in most cases, the standard material would already be in the "pulp" state when it is submitted to a lab for assay, it is not possible to entirely conceal the nature of the sample from the lab. This is a problem inherent in using assay standard material. Because of the contribution of sampling to error generation in the assay process, the use of "coarse" material does not solve the problem of submitting a totally "blind" standard to the lab. In the sections that follow, the selection, preparation, testing and use of gold fire assay standard material is discussed. While some may dismiss the production of standard material as folly, it is possible to produce and utilize standard material to stabilize and improve the fire-assay process to produce more reliable assay results. Material selection It is desirable to use material that has as nearly the same metallurgical characteristics as the samples with which the standards will be included. However, this is usually difficult. For many reasons, including the particle size at which a significant amount of the gold mineral is liberated, the sampling characteristics of even -150-mesh material may preclude the use of geologically and metallurgically similar ore as a standard. It is usually easier to get material having desirable grade characteristics with the necessary sampling properties than it is to find geologically and metallurgically similar material with the required sampling characteristics. High-grade standards are especially difficult to find and prepare. This is because, as grade increases, the size of the gold particles usually increases. Larger gold particles are liberated and tend to segregate during comminution, and the homogeneity of the material cannot be maintained. For grades much above 3 g/t (0.088 oz/ton), it is very difficult to find material that has the proper sampling properties. Old mill tailings are likely candidates for assay standards. Some of these have sufficiently homogeneous mineral contents, so that the sampling errors can be effectively controlled. Where mill tailings are either not available or are not acceptable, mineralization that has exhibited homogeneous results in reassays of the pulp material is also a good candidate for the standard. Finally, the mineralized rock being sampled may (and should) be used if adequate homogeneity in the -150mesh material exists. "Adequate" ("acceptable") homogeneity is defined below.) It is important to use standards having a wide range of grades. This alone may preclude the material being

Jan 1, 1997

By D. W. Bridges

Solvent extraction has become important in recent years as a unit process in extractive metallurgy. The flexibility and simplicity of the technique have attracted widespread attention, and numerous papers describing actual and projected metallurgical applications have been published. However, differences in terminology, procedure, objectives, and standards, as reflected in reports by different operators and investigators, have sometimes made appraisals and comparisons difficult. Consequently, a need appeared for n series of basic reports on the subject. This Bureau of Mines Information Circular is the first of such a series. It deals with the status of solvent extraction in metallurgy, as well as with the rudiments and terminology of the unit operation. In analytical chemistry, extraction of molecular species from aqueous media by immiscible organic solvents has been used for many years to separate and determine chemical elements (61).4 Complex chlorides of iron and other metals are readily soluble in ethers and ketones, as are the nitrates of uranium and thorium. Most metals are extractable as complex salts of some organic reagent, such as dithizone, 8-hydroxyquinoline, or cupferron.

Jan 1, 1962

P. L. Pratt (University of Birmingham, Birmingham, England)—The author has measured the hardening effect of isolated edge and screw dislocation boundaries in a remarkably elegant manner, and he proposes that the detailed structure of the boundary determines its effectiveness as a barrier to slip although "there are still unknown details of the distribution which may be extremely important." On p. 678 the author states "that for a good crystal (one having a yield of about 30 psi) a change in annealing temperature from 300" to 400 °C resulted in a negligible shift in the level of the stress-strain curve." Is this in agreement with the results of the earlier paper by Li, Washburn, and Parker8 in which such a change of temperature produced notable hardening in crystals with a yield of about 30 psi? Or were these earlier crystals, of the same nominal purity, less perfect than those used in this work? The experiment illustrated in Fig. 15, p. 681, shows that the boundary has sharpened after annealing at 400 °C, the temperature at which the hardening effect first becomes apparent. Did the author verify that no sharpening of the boundary occurred at, say, 300 °C where no hardening was found? This would seem to be an important check on the proposed mechanism, especially since zinc of this purity should polygonize at temperatures well below 400 °C within the annealing times used here. There seem to be at least two alternative explanations which could fit these facts: 1—The boundary may sharpen at 300 °C or even lower temperatures but be unable to contribute greatly to the hardening until jogged by thermal vacancies and other impurity atoms after 400 °C anneal. This mechan- ism, discussed in the earlier paper,' is believed to account for the thermal hardening observed by Blank'" in NaCl, as stated elsewhere: and by results from recent experiments which tend to confirm this view. 2—The dislocations in the diffuse boundary may be locked by impurity atoms at 300 °C and thus only sharpen the boundary at 400 °C with the aid of thermal vacancies. In this case it would be difficult to distinguish between the two sources of hardening (sharpening or jogging), using metal of this purity. Jack Washburn (author's reply)—The author wishes to thank Dr. Pratt for his discussion. In connection with his first comment, it should be pointed out that the temperature of testing in the present series of experiments was —196°C, whereas, in the earlier experiments he referred to,' it was 20°C. Therefore, the yield values should not be directly compared. It is likely that the crystals used in the present work were initially more perfect macroscopically than the large shear specimens used previously. The small size of the test section in the kink specimens made it possible to select regions of the large crystals, from which they were acid-cut, that were free of observable small angle boundaries. The sharpening of a microscopically diffuse boundary such as that in Fig. 15 begins in zinc of this purity well below 300°C. However, it is probably not justified to conclude that because a boundary looks sharp under the microscope it has attained the ideal structure. The author agrees with Dr. Pratt that jogging of dislocation lines is one of the structural features of a small angle boundary that should be important in determining its strengthening effect. More detailed information concerning the changes in boundary structure as a

Jan 1, 1956

By E. L. Tucker

IN THE metallurgy of precious metals, it has been standard practice for years to use cyanogen compounds, so it was but natural that early investigators in the field of flotation should consider these compounds as possible flotation reagents. In Australian Patent 9508, of 1913, alkali cyanides were described as suitable reagents for the separation of heavy sulfide minerals, the reagents being employed either in an alka-line or neutral circuit. In U. S. Patent 1236501, of 1917, to John M. Tibbet, the use of cyanide in conjunction with soda ash or lime is described. One of the claims of this patent reads, "An improvement in the cyanide process for the treatment of ores comprising, mixing the ore with cyanide solution and oil and alkali: emulsifying the oil in the presence of the ore, the alkali and the cyanide solution, floating a portion of the values in the pulp by producing gas bubbles in the mixture-and removing the values floated." More recently, Sheridan and Griswold, in U. S. Patents 1421585 and 1427235, describe a somewhat similar process and have, successfully introduced it in. the mill of the Timber Butte Milling Co. U. S. Patent 1429544, of 1922, to Stevens, describes the use of double cyanides of copper, zinc, and lead. The success of cyanide as a reagent in the differential flotation of lead and zinc sulfides in highly complex ores is proof that these patents have a solid foundation.. Although the technique of their application to particular ores has been worked out in many cases, no one, so far as is known, has attempted to describe the nature of the action of the cyanide or to determine the ideal conditions for its, application. It was the purpose of the present investigation to gather information on these points. Naturally this would have been an exceedingly ambitious.

Jan 8, 1925

By T. D. Murphy, G. V. Henderson

The element silicon, with its usual partner, oxygen, plays the same role relative to inorganic materials as carbon and hydrogen play with respect to living organisms. The crystallographic structure of silicon dioxide (SiO2) consists of one atom of silicon well-nigh inseparably bonded to four contiguous atoms of oxygen, a gas of but slightly more than half its atomic weight, forming a three-dimensional network of SiO4 tetrahedra (Dietz, 1968). This wispy arrangement is the fabric of the mineral quartz which is one of the harder, more abrasive, and chemically stable raw materials to be found in Mother Nature's cupboard. Most of us are vaguely familiar with the observation that nearly 60% of the lithosphere to an approximate depth of 10 miles is composed of these two elements, which proportion actually rises to about 75% if the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere are included (Parker, 1967). Elemental silicon is a brittle steel-gray metalloid with a density of 2.42 and does not occur in nature. In its limited commercial form, which is still brittle and metallic in appearance, its density drops to 2.33. It combines with oxygen to form the gaseous oxide SiO, or the solid dioxide Si02 (analogous to its congener carbon in CO and CO2); a tetrachloride SiCI4 (analogous to CC14); or, combining with oxygen and one or more metal ions, forms the largest rock-making family of all, the silicates. Further, next to the feldspars, quartz is the most abundant known mineral and, in some form or another, accounts for roughly 12% of surficial terrestrial rock. It is this so-called "free silica" to which your attention is chiefly directed in this chapter. In any such consideration of silica, its several crystalline phases with their attendant differing physical properties appear worthy of delineation. Alpha quartz is the only one of this interesting polymorphic family that is thermodynamically stable at normal pressures and temperatures up to about 573°C. The low phases of tridymite and cristobalite can exist in the so-called metastable state below 117° to 200ºC but seldom occur in nature in these two different crystal forms (Sosman, 1965). Opaline silica, now considered by most researchers to be a variety of cristobalite, occurs in abundance and is the only exception. The three remaining polymorphs, keatite, coesite, and stishovite, also are metastable under ambient conditions. Keatite, however, is not known to occur naturally and has only been synthesized in the laboratory. The other two have been identified in submicron sizes and in microscopic amounts, occurring naturally as a result of high order shock-wave pressures generating quite elevated temperatures --such as might accompany the impact of a large meteorite on a hard sandstone terrain (Chao et al., 1962). An intriguing characteristic of these silica minerals, and one which has very practical applications, is their extremely variable densities. The classic 2.65 specific gravity of alpha quartz drops to 2.20 in tridymite, cristobalite, and lechatelierite (natural silica glass), as well as in many man-made glasses of commerce which are merely noncrystalline or amorphous solids in the form of super-cooled liquids which can no longer change their shapes (Pauling, 1950). It rises again to 2.50 and 2.93 for keatite and coesite, respectively, and finally becomes a reported 4.35 for stishovite-nearly a 50% range in density for the known physical combinations that silica naturally assumes (Frondel, 1962; Konnert et al., 1973; Pecora, 1960). Pursuing its esthetic aspects, briefly, silica is well-represented among gem stones which, to qualify as such, must have the attributes of beauty, durability, and rarity (Jahns, 1983). As quartzose gems usually have but one or, at

Jan 1, 1983

By D. J. MacDonald

The Bureau of Mines investigated two alternative methods for treating a zirconium-bearing chloride-sulfate strip liquor to obtain reactor-grade Zr02. One method involves neutralization with NH3 and the other hydrothermal precipitation. The strip liquor was derived from zircon sand by a Bureau of Mines method for separating zirconium and hafnium via solvent extraction with a tertiary amine. Neutralization with NH3 to precipitate hydrous zirconium oxide required 0.9 to 1.1 g NH3 per gram of zirconium. The NH3 can be recovered for recycle. Zr02 that met reactor-grade specifications was produced by precipitation with NH3? Hydrothermal precipitation of Zr02 from strip liquor required that the solution be maintained at 2600 C and 680 psi for 10 min and in a non-corrodible pressure vessel. In bench-scale experiments both methods gave-zirconium recoveries greater than 99 pct.

Jan 1, 1984

William Kelly, Vulcan, Mich.:—In the northern part of Bedford county, Pa., the county immediately south of Huntingdon, the Clinton measures appear along the eastern slope of Tussey mountain near its base. The only iron-ore bed that has been worked is in the upper part of the formation. Along the mountain this seam has a dip of more than 60°. At the outcrop the ore is soft and rich, but with depth it passes often abruptly into an almost pure limestone similar to that described by Dr. Rutledge. The soft ore extends deeper in the cross-gullies than it does under the higher gound between the depressions. The slates adjoining the rich ore have been weathered, but where in juxtaposition to lean ore and limestone they are hard. The alteration of the ore-bed is evidently the result of the conditions of drainage in quite recent geo-

Jan 1, 1910