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By Luther B. Eames

J. V. N. DORR, New York, N. Y.-I have read Mr. Eames' excellent paper on this' subject with great interest, for besides being connected with the design and installation of the first modern countercurrent decantation plant, he was associated with me in the development of the thickener in the Black Hills some years earlier, and has now been operating the largest plant that has used this method of treatment. His, discussion, of the influence of different factors on the results obtained is quite thorough, but several features I think may not be apparent to the reader who has not studied the subject carefully. 1. Grade of Ore That Can Be Treated.-Mr. Eames has shown graphically that' the assay of all solutions increases directly as the grade of the ore treated. He has not emphasized, however, the fact that, as most operators prefer to keep the assay of pregnant solutions down below a certain figure in order to insure complete precipitation, an increase in ore value beyond a certain point means a proportional increase in solution precipitated and therefore not only an increase in the percentage of dissolved gold recovered, but an actual descrease in tailing loss. The importance of the influence of the percentage of moisture in the underflow on loss is made clear, and I. may add that unless it is quite evident that pulp can be safely settled to 50 per cent. solids, or more, it is usually advisable to use a continuous filter at the end of. a decantation plant to reduce losses in cyanide and gold. Dissolution in Thickeners.-The influence of a change of solution on silver dissolution has long been emphasized and most gold operators have. recognized the annoying way in which a gold ore after being agitated until nothing more can be dissolved will loosen up again when almost ready for the dump after the dissolved metal has been removed by decantation or filtration. Continuous decantation gives favorable conditions for this additional dissolution and a chance to recover most of what is thus dissolved. This is especially true if an extra tank is used in the series and barren solution added at the second tank from the end instead, of the first, as shown in Mr. Eames' Fig. 1. It can be calculated that the use of this tank will reduce the mechanical loss of cyanide by one-third and cut the gold loss as well; but the saving in gold or silver that may dissolve when the pulp is first diluted with weak solution may be as important.

Jan 4, 1917

By lves Matiolo, Jorge Rubio, Carlos Perez Guerrero, Denise G. Nunes, Fabiano Capponi

The problem (very old) of processing by flotation, the fine (“F”, 38-13 µm) and ultrafines (“UF”, < 13 µm) mineral particles continues to be a major technical challenge in the area of mineral processing. Many different processes have been proposed over the last three decades but, unfortunately, most of them have not found practical applications yet. This paper describes some advances in flotation research in fines (“F”, 38-13 µm) and ultrafines (“UF”, < 13 µm) mineral recovery by two different techniques. Extender flotation (EF) and flotation with bubbles with a wide size distribution-SB of copper sulphide ore fines (1 % Cu) were compared with a “standardised” (STD) mill laboratory procedure. Comparative evaluation was made through concentrate grade and recovery (size by size results included), “true” flotation recoveries and process kinetics. Copper porphyry samples, containing about 1/3 of the mass and about 37 % of the total copper content in the fines and ultrafines fractions were used. In the EF tests diesel-in-water emulsions were used as an extra reagent, added after the collector and frother addition. In SB tests, drawing air through an aspiration nozzle, directly in the pulp, generated bubbles sized about 50-200 µm. Both techniques yielded higher metallurgical efficiencies than the mill standard but better results were obtained with the extender flotation, with emulsified diesel oil (90 gt-1). Concentrate recoveries were of the order of 85-90 % (84 % in standard conditions), 14-17 % Cu grade (15 % Cu in the standard) and 3.5-4.5 min-1 for the Klimpel rate constant (3 min-1 in the standard). Size by size and true flotation results proved that metallurgical and kinetic gains, obtained with the two techniques, might be attributed to fines and ultrafines enhancement. Data obtained are discussed in terms of physical and physicochemical parameters related to aggregation and capture (of particles by bubbles) phenomena and the practical potential of these techniques are envisaged. The following figure shows size-by-size copper recoveries results, after classification of produced concentrates and tailings using micro-sieves. Results clearly show that flotation of the F and UF fractions is highly improved with injection of small bubbles (SB) and with the addition of an extender collector. It is believed that the techniques presented here will establish shortly a new basis for the flotation enhancement of the F and UF, aimed at solving a very old problem. This work is being continued, now at pilot plant scale, and results will be published en the near future.

Jan 1, 2003

By V. Léveillé

As new legislation drives metallurgical plants to lower SO2 emissions, plant managers face the challenge of keeping their costs under control. The Cansolv® SO2 Scrubbing System has been broadly adopted in the non-ferrous industry as a cost-effective solution for smelter operators to meet the new SO2 emissions targets. The Cansolv® SO2 Scrubbing System is an a mine-based regenerable process that selectively absorbs SO2 from a variety of gases, including dilute smelter gases, such as furnace and converter gases. The system produces a pure, water-saturated SO2 by-product stream, which can then be directed to the front end of a sulphuric acid plant for conversion to sulphuric acid. When deployed in a smelter complex, the Cansolv® SO2 Scrubbing System may also be used to process acid plant tail gas, allowing single absorption sulphuric acid plants to achieve emissions an order of magnitude lower than that of a double absorption acid plant with a lower capital investment. Depending on inlet gas temperature, SO2 emissions in the treated gas can be controlled to as low as 55mg/Nm3. This paper will describe some of the applications where customers have or are planning to use the Cansolv® SO2 Scrubbing System, as well as which features and cost advantages for the treatment of smelter gases were important in the technology choice.

Jan 1, 2009

By T. G. Chapman

The writer has carried on experimental work for several years with respect to the simultaneous dissolution of gold by cyanide and the adsorption of the dissolved gold on activated charcoal in ore pulps, followed by the recovery of the charcoal by flotation. The results of this experimental work have been sufficiently encouraging to suggest a new process based on the principle of simultaneous dissolution and adsorption of gold, applicable to certain ores and tailings that cannot be treated to advantage by countercurrent decantation or filtration. Applications for patents have been filed and The Dorr Company, Inc. has the exclusive right to license the use of the process. The purpose of this paper is to describe such a process, state its possible advantages and immediate field, and give some results obtained on a laboratory scale. Early Experimental Work In the early stages of the experimental work attempts were made to precipitate soluble gold from cyanide solutions with zinc and aluminum in ore pulps followed by flotation of the precipitated gold, but since the results were not promising enough to continue with these precipitants attention was directed to carbon. The first experiments with carbon comprised the addition of cyanide and alkali to the ore pulp, the addition of carbon at or near the end of the dissolving period, and the recovery of the carbon by flotation. With this method of procedure the assumption was made that carbon functioned as a precipitant of gold from cyanide solutions and as such should be added as are other precipitants, including zinc and aluminum; namely, at the end of the dissolution period. The assumption was then made that carbon functioned as an adsorbent, and that if such assumption proved to be correct, it could be added with success to the ore pulp at the time of adding the cyanide. The first experiment along this line was successful in that the feasibility of the dissolution of gold by cyanide and the simultaneous extraction of the dissolved gold by carbon in ore pulps was demonstrated, at least with respect to such treatment on a laboratory scale.

Jan 1, 1939

By H. W. Hitzrot

The new 4800-ton fine-grinding plant at the Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mines property at Timmins, in the Porcupine district of northern Ontario, went into operation in November 1937, and represents the culmination of an experimental program. The plant is a moderately low rectangular building of hollow tile on a steel frame, large enough to house four 7 by 15-ft. ball mills, with a 12 by 27-ft. classifier beside each mill. At one end is space for the addition of another mill and classifier or a mill and classifier for the regrinding of table concentrates. This regrinding is now done in the old grinding department of the main mill building. Also within the new building are the four 6-in. sand pumps for lifting the product from the low-dis-charge ball mills up to the classifier feed launders and the containers and appurtenances of a complete dust-collecting system. Together with the usual overhead crane, these constitute the major units of equipment within the new plant. The location is at the lower end of the main mill buildings toward the old tailings pond, now so neatly leveled off and sodded to rival the very best of our own W.P.A. projects. Close by the new grinding plant is a large dome-shaped structure—the new fine-ore bin designed and built by Mr. Longmore and the Hollinger milling and engineering staffs. There are four separate automatically loaded inclined belt conveyors leading up from the bottom of the bin to the grinding plant. Each belt is equipped with a recording weightometer, in the grinding building. The whole structure and the machinery within it give the impression of permanence and a carefully integrated design with close attention to details, giving the operators every advantage for consistently good work. The many ideas and opinions behind this achievement were all ably organized and executed by the Hollinger milling and engineering staffs, and not a few were directly initiated by them. Excellent cooperation was afforded by the Hollinger staff to the engineers helping to conduct

Jan 1, 1939

By Paul M. Tyler

Fully a decade ago, demand for ground mica began to exceed supplies of scrap mica from manufacturing operations and of waste block from feldspar and sheet mica mining in the United States, with the result that in recent years the market has absorbed larger and larger quantities of mica recovered as a by-product from clay washing,1 as a joint product with kyanite12 and by grinding schists. So far, only schists that contain a large percentage of mica have been utilized for making ground mica, but already there has been a good deal of wishful thinking with regard to recovering mica as an aid to the prospective working of low-grade gold ores and ores of certain base metals. With wet-ground mica selling at $60 to $100 a ton and even dry-ground mica worth over $20 a ton, many ores that could not be considered as otherwise workable under present conditions will show commercial possibilities if they can be made to yield even a relatively small percentage of salable mica. An interesting paper might be written on the coming role of industrial minerals as joint products of metal mines. It is largely a matter of markets. Many years ago I watched the mess left behind the gold dredges in the mountains of Colorado and thought of the Denver sand and gravel operators who prided themselves upon their canniness in providing devices for catching gold merely as an incident to their regular business of selling what we miners classed as "tailings." Nowadays almost every milling or mining operation near settled communities finds use for at least part of its waste for road material or concrete aggregate and several eastern iron mines have gone into the crushed-stone business. Promoters now mention fertilizer "filler" as potentially salable at all the way from $1 to $10 a ton, or whatever is needed to cover costs of mining and treating the "ore" and leave the metal values as "clear profit." In emulating the pork packers in their efforts to utilize "everything but the squeal," mining engineers may go too far; on the other hand, they should not let

Jan 1, 1942

By W. E. Crawford

The Fresnillo Company&apos;s mill at Fresnillo, State of Zacatecas, Mexico, treats oxide ores from the Fresnillo mine, dump ores and underground ores from the Plateros district, company leases and custom ores from the Zacatecas district, custom ores from other districts and tailings from old dumps at Fresnillo. The normal capacity of the mill is approximately 2600 dry short tons per 24 hours (a ton of 2000 lb.). The final product of the mill is a precipitate containing gold and silver, which is smelted and shipped as doré bullion to the refinery of the Compania Minera de Penoles, S.A., at Monterrey, State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The geology of the district was described in 1923, by T. C. Baker,&apos; from whose paper the following data have been taken: The mineralization of the district was effected in the Tertiary period, following the intrusions and preceding the appearance of the flows. The area within which productive veins have been found is 1 mile long by 1/2 mile wide. The important units of each of the four general fracture systems meet in the central portion of Proano hill, which is an outcrop of graywacke, and where the rock was also intensely fractured by subsidiary movements, resulting in a shattered zone 1200 ft. long by 400 ft. wide. The mineralization was more intense in the immediate vicinity of the principal channels through which the solutions rose. The valuable metals are silver and gold, the ratio by weight of the former to the latter being 1000 to 1.5. Argentite is the predominant silver mineral, and is associated with pyrite and manganese mineral. The sulfides are primary throughout. A slight secondary action is represented by small quantities of native silver and silver halides, principally cerargyrite, which are found in the upper part of the mine. Oxidation has penetrated with great thoroughness to the lowest horizon so far exposed, this being 420 ft. below the present ground-water level. The shattered mass within the central portion of the hill and near the surface was sufficiently mineralized to produce a large stockwork

Jan 1, 1935

By Andrew B. Cecala, Edward D. Thimons

"The Bureau of Mines has recorded a number of different background dust sources that significantly contaminated the air breathed by bag machine operators. These background sources, observed at five different plants over the past 2 years, can expose bag machine operators to more significant dust concentrations than the filling process itself. To keep bag operator exposure within acceptable dust levels established by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, the significance of these background sources must be realized, and the sources must be identified and controlled. The purpose of this work is to identify common background dust sources and show the significant effects that they have on the bag operator's overall dust exposure. INTRODUCTIONThe purpose of this report is to identify some common background dust sources in and around the bag-filling area. Although these background dust sources are of ten unrecognized, they can be more significant sources of contamination than the dust generated from the bagging process.The bagging of mineral products into 50- and 100-lb paper bags is common throughout the entire mineral processing industry. Bagging is performed by a bag operator who sits in front of a two- or four-station fill machine. The bagger's function is to attach empty bags to the fill nozzles as filled bags are ejected from the machine. If the product being bagged is extremely fine (smaller than 200 mesh), the bag operator's dust exposure is usually one of the highest in the plant.The bag operator is exposed to two primary dust sources. The first is product blowback during the bag-filling cycle. This occurs as excess pressure is released from around the fill nozzle during filling. As the excess air forces its way out of the bag, product is forced out with it. This blowback of product leaving the bag creates a considerable amount of dust. The second major source is the ""rooster tail"" of product thrown from the bag valve and fill nozzle as the bag is ejected from the fill machine. Since the bag is pressurized as it leaves the machine, product spews out of the valve for a few seconds."

Jan 1, 1986

By Clyde E. Williams

Estimates indicate a life of known Lake Superior iron ore reserves of 20 to 30 years. Although some believe the future ore supply will come from foreign sources and will be brought to interior points via the projected Great Lakes-St. Lawrence waterway, and others fear a displacement of the interior steel-producing districts to the Atlantic seaboard, the author has faith that American engineering skill will make possible the use of lean ores from the Lake Superior district. Three general types of Lake Superior ores and ore formations, that represent possible reserves and require beneficiation, are: (1) the wash ores of the western Mesabi range, (2) the partly leached hematitic formations, and (3) the oxidized but largely unleached iron formations. The total tonnage represented by (1) and (2) is not large, but the recovery of iron from present washery tailings would bring on the market the equivalent of nearly one million tons of wash ore, annually. Group 3 comprises the magnetic iron formation of the eastern Mesabi range, the hematitic formations including the taconites of the Mesabi range, and the iron formations of all the other ranges. These formations represent our future supply of iron ore. Their treatment requires intensive research because the bulk of the iron oxide and silica minerals exist in a finely disseminated condition. The possibilities of the adaptation of tables, oil flotation, and other processes warrant extensive study. Cheaper method of agglomeration of the concentrate is essential. Recent developments in better preparation and sizing of blast-furnace charges indicate that substitution of agglomerated ore for fines will increase furnace efficiency and output. If agglomerated beneficiated ore can be shown to rate a per-unit premium for iron contents over the base rate or a premium for structure, the payment of these would greatly assist in enlarging our iron ore supply. Since present methods of taxation of ore reserves, which encourage the rapid depletion of rich ores, will result in using up our rich ores and later on putting domestic producers at a disadvantage in competing with&apos; foreign producers, it would seem highly provident to conserve our rich ores and to increase the use of beneficiated ores as soon as possible.

Jan 1, 1931

By Rudolph Gahl

RUDOLF GAIL, Miami, Ariz.-Since I wrote the paper on flotation which is in your hands, important developments have taken place, and, for this reason, I will try in a few words to bring it nearer up to date as far as the Inspiration plant is concerned. You, may have noticed that in the Inspiration concentrator, flotation is not solely relied upon for the recovery of the coarser material, but that flotation tailings are split into a sand and a slime product on drag classifiers. The sand product is treated on tables which thus supplement the work of the flotation machines. Extensive tests have shown, us that, if we wanted to, we could leave out these tables and substitute additional flotation machines, as they will make fully as good, if not a better recovery than tables on the deslimed feed, but the treatment would be more expensive, especially in view of the fact that oils are required which cost more than those which we are now using in our main flotation plant. We have, however, decided to apply flotation treatment to our table middlings. I would also like to add a few words regarding the treatment of oxidized copper ores. Although our experience shows that the addition of hydrogen sulphide and other soluble sulphides effects a very good recovery of copper carbonates with certain ores, we have not been able to prove that we could use it advantageously for the ore mixture which we are treating in our concentrator, and for this reason, have looked toward leaching for extracting the carbonate and silicate copper that we are losing now. Experiments in this direction are going on and are giving very encouraging results. It may interest you to hear that we intend to use limestone for the precipitation of the copper which goes into solution, as electrolytic precipitation seems to be out of the question on account of the diluteness of the resulting solutions, and precipitation by iron was rightly objected to on account of the unavoidable contamination of the water supply. We feel very hopeful about the success of our limestone precipitation which, if it holds what it seems to promise, will develop into a novel feature of copper metallurgy.

Jan 10, 1916

By H. W. Hitzrot

THE new 4800-ton fine-grinding plant at the Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mines property at Timmins, in the Porcupine district of northern Ontario, went into operation in November 1937, and represents the culmination of an experimental program. The plant is a moderately low rectangular building of hollow tile on a steel frame, large enough to house four 7 by 15-ft. ball mills, with a 12 by 27-ft. classifier beside each mill. At one end is space for the addition of another mill and classifier or a mill and classifier for the regrinding of table concentrates. This regrinding is now done in the old grinding department of the main mill building. Also within the new building are the four 6-in. sand pumps for lifting the product from the low-dis- charge ball mills up to the classifier feed launders and the containers and appurtenances of a complete dust-collecting system. Together with the usual overhead crane, these constitute the major units of equipment within the new plant. The location is at the lower end of the main mill buildings toward the old tailings pond, now so neatly leveled off and sodded to rival the very best of our own W.P.A. projects. Close by the new grinding plant is a large dome-shaped structure-the new fine-ore bin designed arid built by Mr. Longmore and the Hollinger milling and engineering staffs. There are four separate automatically loaded inclined belt conveyors leading up from the bottom of the bin to the grinding plant. Each belt is equipped with a recording weightometer, in the grinding building. The whole structure and the machinery within it give the impression of permanence and a carefully integrated design with close attention to details, giving the operators every advantage for consistently good work. The many ideas and opinions behind this achievement were all ably organized and executed by the Hollinger milling and engineering staffs, anti not a few were directly initiated by them. Excellent cooperation was afforded by the Hollinger staff to the engineers helping to conduct the grinding and classification test program. It was the author&apos;s privilege

Jan 1, 1939

By Song (Bruce) Li

This paper presents a three-tier web-based GIS application that uses Java Server Page (JSP), Java Servlet and relational database to manage performance monitoring and reporting in the oil sands mining industry. It is a real-time Earth Structure Performance Monitoring System (ESPMS), which allows the user to record and store instrumentation monitoring readings as well as technical observations and instrumentation installation documentations into a complete relational database. The ESPMS introduces the advantages of precise field record keeping, due diligence, security, consistency and completeness while at the same time simplifying the task of reporting. ESPMS combines web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping and data management to facilitate the collection, organization, retrieval, reporting and communication of the vast amounts of monitoring data related to mining and tailings engineering associated with site investigation and construction information. ESPMS utilizes web-based GIS technology to incorporate referenced aerial photographs, Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR) maps or AutoCAD drawings as a base map for the monitoring site. It dynamically creates and administers all instrumentation monitoring locations and reading frequencies. It enables the user to collect and manage the data associated with an unlimited number of reading events. It provides the designer with real-time monitoring data (what, why, when, how), thereby allowing them to make early adjustments to design protocols or procedures, or to take remedial action(s) regarding the subject earth structure under construction or after completion. It provides more cost-effective reporting and data sharing through the Internet. It improves security on data entry and eliminates unauthorized data changes. It allows better integration of graphics and illustrations with numerical data files. It is capable of managing the continually expanding workload resulting from new and larger structures in the oil sands or other mineral mining industries. The ESPMS facilitates easier data gathering for preparation of as-built and after-built or regulatory reports, etc. It enables quick location of the interested instruments and summarization of the performance of the instruments. It enables one to visualize performance data and QA/QC construction test results spatially on any given cross-section. Data can be exported to MS Excel for detailed analysis and to evaluate the stability of the earth structures.

May 1, 2004

By Paul Tyler

FULLY a decade ago, demand for ground mica began to exceed supplies of scrap mica from manufacturing operations and of waste block from feldspar and sheet mica mining in the United States, with the result that in recent years the market has absorbed larger and larger quantities of mica recovered as a by-product from clay washing,1 as a joint product with kyanite,2 and by grinding schists. So far, only schists that contain a large percentage of mica have been utilized for making ground mica, but already there has been a good deal of wishful thinking with regard to recovering mica as an aid to the prospective working of low-grade gold ores and ores of certain base metals. With wet-ground mica selling at $60 to $100 a ton and even dry-ground mica worth over $20 a ton, many ores that could not be considered as otherwise workable under present conditions will show commercial possibilities if they can be made to yield even a relatively small percentage of salable mica. An interesting paper might be written on the coming role of industrial minerals as joint products of metal mines, It is largely a matter of mar-kets. Many years ago I watched the mess left behind the gold dredges in the mountains of Colorado and thought of the Denver sand and gravel operators who prided themselves upon their canniness in providing devices for catching gold merely as an incident to their regular business of selling what we miners classed as "tailings." Nowadays almost every milling or mining operation near settled communities finds use for at least part of its waste for road material or concrete aggregate and several eastern iron mines have gone into the crushed-stone business. Promoters now mention fertilizer "filler" as potentially salable at all the way from $1 to $10 a ton, or whatever is needed to cover costs of mining and treating the "ore" and leave the metal values as "clear profit." In emulating the pork packers in their efforts to utilize "everything but the squeal,"

Jan 1, 1938

By H. W. Hitzrot

The new 4800-ton fine-grinding plant at the Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mines property at Timmins, in the Porcupine district of northern Ontario, went into operation in November 1937, and represents the culmination of an experimental program. The plant is a moderately low rectangular building of hollow tile on a steel frame, large enough to house four 7 by 15-ft. ball mills, with a 12 by 27-ft. classifier beside each mill. At one end is space for the addition of another mill and classifier or a mill and classifier for the regrinding of table concentrates. This regrinding is now done in the old grinding department of the main mill building. Also within the new building are the four 6-in. sand pumps for lifting the product from the low-dis-charge ball mills up to the classifier feed launders and the containers and appurtenances of a complete dust-collecting system. Together with the usual overhead crane, these constitute the major units of equipment within the new plant. The location is at the lower end of the main mill buildings toward the old tailings pond, now so neatly leveled off and sodded to rival the very best of our own W.P.A. projects. Close by the new grinding plant is a large dome-shaped structure—the new fine-ore bin designed and built by Mr. Longmore and the Hollinger milling and engineering staffs. There are four separate automatically loaded inclined belt conveyors leading up from the bottom of the bin to the grinding plant. Each belt is equipped with a recording weightometer, in the grinding building. The whole structure and the machinery within it give the impression of permanence and a carefully integrated design with close attention to details, giving the operators every advantage for consistently good work. The many ideas and opinions behind this achievement were all ably organized and executed by the Hollinger milling and engineering staffs, and not a few were directly initiated by them. Excellent cooperation was afforded by the Hollinger staff to the engineers helping to conduct

Jan 1, 1939

By Paul M. Tyler

Fully a decade ago, demand for ground mica began to exceed supplies of scrap mica from manufacturing operations and of waste block from feldspar and sheet mica mining in the United States, with the result that in recent years the market has absorbed larger and larger quantities of mica recovered as a by-product from clay washing,1 as a joint product with kyanite12 and by grinding schists. So far, only schists that contain a large percentage of mica have been utilized for making ground mica, but already there has been a good deal of wishful thinking with regard to recovering mica as an aid to the prospective working of low-grade gold ores and ores of certain base metals. With wet-ground mica selling at $60 to $100 a ton and even dry-ground mica worth over $20 a ton, many ores that could not be considered as otherwise workable under present conditions will show commercial possibilities if they can be made to yield even a relatively small percentage of salable mica. An interesting paper might be written on the coming role of industrial minerals as joint products of metal mines. It is largely a matter of markets. Many years ago I watched the mess left behind the gold dredges in the mountains of Colorado and thought of the Denver sand and gravel operators who prided themselves upon their canniness in providing devices for catching gold merely as an incident to their regular business of selling what we miners classed as "tailings." Nowadays almost every milling or mining operation near settled communities finds use for at least part of its waste for road material or concrete aggregate and several eastern iron mines have gone into the crushed-stone business. Promoters now mention fertilizer "filler" as potentially salable at all the way from $1 to $10 a ton, or whatever is needed to cover costs of mining and treating the "ore" and leave the metal values as "clear profit." In emulating the pork packers in their efforts to utilize "everything but the squeal," mining engineers may go too far; on the other hand, they should not let

Jan 1, 1942

Develop an environmentally feasible method of mining shallow oil sands without removing overburden. Approach Oil sands are extracted through a single borehole by cutting into the sands around the borehole with a high pressure water jet, and pumping the resulting slurry to the surface. Although oil can be extracted from shallow fields by open-pit mining methods, this type of mining may create significant environmental impacts, including; (1) disruption of the surface, (2) accumulation of waste rock piles, (3) accumulation of tailings, (4) damage to the ground water quality, and (5) surface water pollution. The borehole mining system developed and successfully field tested by the Bureau of Mines offers a method for extracting oil from oil sand with minimal disturbance to environmental quality. (For examples of other applications of borehole mining, see Technology News Nos. 95, 63 56, and 48.) How It Works Prior to the start of mining operations, baseline conditions for ground subsidence and ground water quality are established at the test site so that the degree of subsidence and changes in ground water quality can later be determined. Oil sands mining is conducted using the Bureau of Mines borehole mining system. The borehole mining tool consists of a 12-inch-diameter pipe string and accessories capped with a three passage swivel terminated with a mining section. The mining section has an auger at the bottom. Four slurry inlet holes and an eductor are located above the auger, and a single cutting nozzle is located near the top of the mining section. The tool generates a high velocity water jet that erodes and slurrifies ores. The slurry is drawn into the inlet of the eductor which lifts the slurry to the surface where it is deposited into a slurry discharge sump. To detect evidence of subsidence, surveys of the land surface are made at regular intervals during, and until 30 days after, the termination of the mining operations. Samples of ground water from the borehole and two adjacent monitor holes are taken on alternate days during the mining operations, and are later analyzed to determine if any ground water contamination has occurred.

Jan 1, 1981

By T. G. Chapman

The writer has carried on experimental work for several years with respect to the simultaneous dissolution of gold by cyanide and the adsorption of the dissolved gold on activated charcoal in ore pulps, followed by the recovery of the charcoal by flotation. The results of this experimental work have been sufficiently encouraging to suggest a new process based on the principle of simultaneous dissolution and adsorption of gold, applicable to certain ores and tailings that cannot be treated to advantage by countercurrent decantation or filtration. Applications for patents have been filed and The Dorr Company, Inc. has the exclusive right to license the use of the process. The purpose of this paper is to describe such a process, state its possible advantages and immediate field, and give some results obtained on a laboratory scale. Early Experimental Work In the early stages of the experimental work attempts were made to precipitate soluble gold from cyanide solutions with zinc and aluminum in ore pulps followed by flotation of the precipitated gold, but since the results were not promising enough to continue with these precipitants attention was directed to carbon. The first experiments with carbon comprised the addition of cyanide and alkali to the ore pulp, the addition of carbon at or near the end of the dissolving period, and the recovery of the carbon by flotation. With this method of procedure the assumption was made that carbon functioned as a precipitant of gold from cyanide solutions and as such should be added as are other precipitants, including zinc and aluminum; namely, at the end of the dissolution period. The assumption was then made that carbon functioned as an adsorbent, and that if such assumption proved to be correct, it could be added with success to the ore pulp at the time of adding the cyanide. The first experiment along this line was successful in that the feasibility of the dissolution of gold by cyanide and the simultaneous extraction of the dissolved gold by carbon in ore pulps was demonstrated, at least with respect to such treatment on a laboratory scale.

Jan 1, 1939

J. J. MCLELLAN, Webb City, Mo.-The Media mill, at the time it was built, was the largest mill that had been designed in the Joplin district. It was put up in a hurry, to take advantage of the high prices for zinc ore in 1915, by the owners of an adjacent plant, which had been very profitable. They owned a compound Corliss engine, and to take advantage of a single-unit drive it was necessary to build the mill in the form chosen, which involved making the hopper feed directly through the breakers and rolls, the undersize from the screen passing at once to the jigs, the oversize going through the rolls and returning to the original trommels. The mill was built in fairly good proportion; crushing was done by jaw breakers, Webb City pattern,&apos; and three sets of 42-in. (106.7-cm.) Cornish rolls for reducing the oversize. The jigs were larger than the usual practice. The roughers were two six-cell jigs, with 42 by 48-in. cells. The cleaner jig was the largest ever constructed in the district up to that time, having seven 36 by 48-in. cells, for treating the rougher jigs. There was also a chat rougher. "Smittem," as used in our district, is the partly concentrated product from the rougher, which is finished on the cleaner jigs. "Chats" are the middlings proper, that is, they are the grains of chert with included particles of sulphide; the very low-grade smittem is sometimes included among the chats. When drawing chats from a jig, we also draw about ten times greater quantity of barren chert in order to insure complete recovery of mineral. This mixture of middlings and tailings is taken to a set of 30-in. rolls, the crushed product then going to a chat rougher, a comparatively small jig, with 26 by 36-in. cells. The principal departure of the Media mill from the usual practice was to build a hopper sufficiently high to give gravity feed to the jigs, without using elevators. The sludge plant, for table treatment of sand and slime, also contained several innovations in the manner of distributing the feed. The tables were arranged in two rows and the feed ran around the outside in a launder having two or three cone classifiers

Jan 1, 1918

By Fred H. Kan

The production of petroleum in Venezuela during 1931 was approximately 118,767,000 bbl., a decrease of 18,904,000 bbl., or 13.7 per cent, compared with the previous year. This is the first break in production, which has risen steadily since 1920, and is attributable to restriction of output and drilling operations, in harmony with lessened demand, rather than to any real decline in potential production. Venezuela ranked third among the world&apos;s producers, having lost second place to Russia. The Bolivar coastal fields, which were extended approximately 14 miles southward during the year, continued to supply most of the oil. La Concepcion, Los Manueles and Quiriquire all showed marked increases. A new field of light oil was discovered on the north coast near Puerto Cumarebo, State of Falcon. Exports declined 15.7 per cent, from 137,377,000 bbl. in 1930 to about 115,800,000 bbl. in 1931. Crude oil in storage at the end of the year amounted to 7,450,000 bbl., a decrease of 2,150,000 as compared with 1930. Tankage utilized is about 40 per cent of the available space. A drastic decline in drilling activity reduced the number of wells completed in producing areas from 401 in 1930 to 116 in 1931. Only three wells were drilled in the Lagunillas field proper, but, the amount of closed-in production and proven acreage gave assurance of a satisfactory potential output. Of the 1580 wells drilled to the close of 1931 in the producing areas of the Bolivar Coast, 631 were active and 853 were closed in; 96 had been abandoned. The status of the active wells at the end of 1931 was as follows: flowing, 331; pumping, 99; gas-air lift, 201. Producing wells closed in numbered 452; workovers, 8; totally inactive, 393. Lago Petroleum Corp. and Venezuela Gulf Oil Co. placed in operation the first units of their electric power plants, the former at Punta Gorda and the latter at Las Morochas, and are replacing steam power in their operations as rapidly as possible. Compressor stations were also installed for use in connection with air-gas lift operations. A considerable volume of gas was treated in gasoline extraction plants, the tail gas being recom-pressed and utilized together with natural high-pressure gas, for stimulation of production.

Jan 1, 1932

By B. G. Zambre, G. A. Parks, J. N. Roco

Automatic controls have long been a fact of technological life. Some understanding of control systems is rapidly becoming essential to the competence of mineral engineers. Students in undergraduate mineral engineering curricula, however, should not be expected to develop proficiency in the design and interpretation of control systems. They should be provided the opportunity to absorb some of the fundamental concepts and cant of such highly specialized peripheral fields as automatic controls. The present paper describes the components of a simple, flexible and relatively inexpensive control system designed primarily for the use of students in independent study projects. The control system is based on a continuous on-stream optical analyzer analogous to commercially available systems using X-Ray fluorescence analysis. The components can be easily adapted to control other separators and separations. As described here, they have been arranged to control the magnetic separation of a magnetite bearing specular hematite from quartz to produce a quartz product of fixed hematite content using a minimum of power. The control system consists of the magnetic separator* with a vibrating feeder, † a sampler, an optical scanner, a differential amplifier, a millivolt recorder ‡ and a motor driven, metered variable DC power supply for the separator electromagnet. An optional magnet current recorder is useful. The system as arranged for closed loop control is illustrated in Fig. 1. The elements of the loop are identified in automatic control jargon in Table I. The same components can be easily adapted for use in other control modes.§.1 * A Carpco Induced Roll High Intensity Magnetic Separator (Carpco Manufacturing, Inc., Jacksonville, Fla.); modified for external magnet power supply. A Jeffrey-Traylor Vibrating Feeder Type 1B (Jeffrey Manufacturing Co., Columbus, 0.). A Beckman Laboratory Potentiometric Recorder (Beckman Instruments, Inc., 619-A) fitted with adjustable limit switches for external circuit control (Beckman Instruments, Inc.. 71980). Terminology is taken from ref. 1. CLOSED LOOP OPERATION The separation is monitored through the optical reflectivity of the tailings stream which is proportional to the hematite content, THA. The difference, A, between the measured analysis (actually a proportional voltage) and a reference analysis (also a proportional voltage) is continuously recorded. The separation is controlled through changes in the electromagnet current, I, supplied from a motor driven variable source. The two primary variables, ? and I, are linked through adjustable limit switches on the

Jan 1, 1965