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Research personnel from the Bureau of Mines, representatives of the Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration (MESA), and members of the mining industry met with other Government and Industry representatives at three seminars held in Pittsburgh, Pa., November 4, 1975; St. Louis, Mo., November 6, 1975; and Denver, Colo., November L1, 1975, to discuss the results of Bureau-sponsored research on coal mine illumination. The program, aimed at developing suitable illumination systems fur the working; places of underground coal mines, covered hardware development and field evaluation and the status of proposed MESA standards and proposed MESA enforcement procedures. These proceedings contain the opening remarks to the seminars and eight technical presentations an various aspects of coal mine illumination.

Jan 1, 1976

By F. F. Netzeband

This report relates to the sulfur industry of seven States--Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas--and is part of a national study of the sulfur industry by the Bureau of Mines. Markets as used 1n this report are divided into two components for individual analysis--(1) supplier markets which include regional Frasch and byproduct sulfur producers and (2) consumer markets which include processors and manufacturers requiring sulfur in their operations. The term sulfur as used in this report includes brimstone, native sulfur, elemental sulfur, or sulfur equivalents.

Jan 1, 1964

By Tony Lipiec, Chris Fleming, Larry Urbanoski

In 2009, the Canadian Mineral Processors (CMP) became aware that Canadian securities regulators were amending the contents of National Instrument 43-101. NI 43-101 is a set of regulations which establish how ore resources and reserves are presented to the investing public. The documents produced under NI 43-101 are central to the ability of many companies to raise financing for their projects. With the increase of metallurgical complexity, and decrease of head grades encountered in new deposits, the role of the Qualified Person (QP) in determining process performance has become increasingly critical in determining the classification category of resources and reserves. Given the challenges confronted by those involved in defining the concentration and extraction of minerals and metals, there is a need to provide support to these QPs. To address these concerns, the CMP established a sub-committee in 2010 to create a set of guideline documents to assist the QP involved in process matters as to what should be included at the various levels of study supporting the establishment of resources and reserves in NI 43- 101. The results of the sub-committee work are presented and the considerations in the writing of the documents are discussed.

Jan 1, 2011

Geophysical Abstracts 1 - 86 were issued in mimeographed form by the Bureau of Mines; Abstracts 87 - 111 were published in bulletins of the Geological Survey; Abstracts 112 - 120 were issued in mimeographed form by the Bureau of Mines as Information Circulars 7256, 7257; 7267,`7273; 7285, 7292, 7303, 7310, and 7324. 1. GRAVITATIONAL METHODS 7933. Ansel, E. A Eine Untersuchung zum Problem der Isostasie (An Investigation Regarding the Problem of Isostasy). Gerlands Beitr. Geophys., Leipzig, vol. 59, 1942, pp. 16-26.

Jan 1, 1945

To develop a conceptual design for an automated longwall mining system, one should know what has been done, what is being done today and what is being planned for tomorrow. The bibliography referenced and discussed in this report provides a good source for that knowledge. To scientifically determine where attention should be focused to up-grade a system, the system must be quantized as far as possible. The Mechanization Profile of Appendix A-I is discussed in this report and has been used to analyze and determine the degree of mechanization currently in use and/or described in the literature for all three major elements of the long-wall system, namely, Winning, Roof Support and Haulage. The charted profiles make it self-evident where attention and design effort is needed to remove human operators from the face of the mine.

Jan 1, 1975

These proceedings consist of papers presented at two Bureau of Mines Technology Transfer Seminars in early 1980 for the purpose of disseminating recent advances in mining technology related to surface coal mining reclamation.

Jan 1, 1980

By N. Dixon

This report summarizes all work performed under U.S. Bureau of Mines Contract J0377014, "Development and Evaluation of Noise Control Techniques for Taconite Processing Equipment." Three areas of taconite processing equipment, grinding mills, fine screens, and crusher screens have been investigated. Extensive noise and vibration measurements have been made on grinding mills in which the process parameters that affect mill noise have been identified, and the level of shell impact noise around the mill defined. A multiplexing telemetry system was used to obtain shell vibration measurements from a rotating mill. Mill noise control methods were investigated and a partial mill barrier was built and tested on a semi-autogeneous mill. A noise reduction of approximately 3 to 6 dBA was achieved on the falling side of the mill. The use of rubber mill liners on autogenous mills has been evaluated. The noise sources on fine screens have been quantified, and noise control treatments developed. Noise reductions of 11 to 13 dBA were achieved at positions around the fine screen and some in-service testing has been done. Noise measurents of crusher screens were obtained and noise control through resilient screen decks appears to hold the most promise. Additional benefits might be lower life-cycle cost, since the service life of resilient decks is claimed to be longer than steel.

Jan 1, 1983

By J. Robitaille, P. Cousin

"Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd, Laronde Division, is a gold operation processing ore containing copper and zinc. Copper is recovered as a concentrate prior to gold cyanidation.Copper concentrate grade was improved with the implementation of an on-stream analyzer. Further improvements to the copper concentrate grade could be achieved throughefficient zinc depression.High cyanide cost linked to the copper content in the flotation circuit tails, prompted some modifications to the flotation circuit. Economics and environmental issues were considered. A Maxwell cell was retrofitted with an Outokumpu HG cell mechanism stabilizing it's operation. Secondly a flotation column was added to increase circuit capacity.This paper will address flotation circuit operation difficulties, successes and results achieved before and after modifications.RESUMELes Mines Agnico-Eagle division Laronde sont considéré comme étant un producteur d'or. Le minerai révèle toutefois des teneurs appréciables en cuivre et zinc. Un circuit de traitement combinant des étapes de flottation du cuivre et de cyanuration de l'or a été adopte. Le rejet de la flottation est lixivie pour son contenu en or.La teneur moyenne en cuivre du concentre final fut augmentée suite a l'implantation d'un système d'analyse en continu. Une séparation plus efficace de la sphalérite se devra d'être obtenue afin d'améliorer davantage la qualité du concentre produit.Le contenu en cuivre au rejet du circuit de flottation influence directement la consommation en cyanure. Pour cette raison, certaines modifications à la flottation sont devenues nécessaires. Des facteurs d'ordre économique et environnemental ont été considérées. Une cellule existante fut transformée en cellule HG d'Outokumpu, stabilisant son opération, et une colonne de flottation fut ajoutée au circuit afin d'accroitre sa capacité.Le présent document se veut une rétrospective des problèmes d'opération vécus, des solutions apportées ainsi que des résultats obtenus et de leurs implications suite aux améliorationseffectuees."

Jan 1, 1995

By James R. Arnold, John G. Mansanti

BACKGROUND Gold Fields Mining Corporation started their Chimney Creek operation in late 1987. The dump leaching operations commenced in October and the mill startup took place during the last half of November. The milling process at Chimney Creek is almost a conventional CIP plant with the major exception being the installation of a second thickener as a washing stage prior to CIP12 ' A simplified flow sheet is shown in FIGURE 1. Most of the gold in the mill is liberated by grinding in cyanide. After grinding in a conventional SAGball sill circuit, the cyclone overflow reports to the thickeners. The thickener overflow from the first thickener is pumped through 5 stages of carbon columns for gold adsorption. Slurry from the thickener underflow is leached, washed, re-thickened and pumped to CIP. After approximately 6 hours of retention time in CIP, the slurry is pumped to tailings for final deposition. The carbon from CIP is transferred to the third stage of carbon adsorption and then advanced as normal through the columns and strip circuit. Loaded carbon is stripped at approximately 1500C (3000 F) and 55 kPa (80 psi). After 4-5 hours of stripping, the grade of four tons of carbon is reduced from 5,140-6,860 g/t (150¬200 oz/ton) to typically 17 g/t (0.5 oz/ton). Zinc precipitation is used to recover the gold from the pregnant solution. After a water wash, the stripped carbon is transferred to acid wash or to the kiln feed tank for reactivation. All strip lots are acid washed in 3.0% HC1 and all stripped carbon passes through the kiln for thermal reactivation. Then the carbon is quenched, sized and stored in tanks or bins for transferral to CIP or to the carbon columns. Loaded carbon from the dump leach circuit is treated in a circuit consisting of five carbon columns which are parallel to the mill circuit. No distinction is made between the mill or dump leach carbon once the gold has been stripped from them. CARBON FINES HANDLING Once the carbon has been transferred from the carbon columns, every effort is made to minimize carbon attrition and to recover the carbon fines that have been generated in the process. Wemco Hidrostall pumps are used for transferring all carbon in

Jan 1, 1990

By J. H. Hamilton, J. R. Lewis, J. C. Nixon, C. L. Graverson

Recently there has been much speculation concerning the advantages of using oxygen enriched air or pure oxygen in pyrometallurgical processes. The advantage of using oxygen in the iron blast furnace and elsewhere in ferrous production metallurgy has been given careful consideration and, as a result, several experiments have been tried and a number of papers have recently appeared on this subject.1,2 The use of oxygen in nonferrous smelting likewise poses interesting problems, therefore any experimental data obtained in this area should likewise be of general interest.3 Ashcroft4 in 1933 claimed to have obtained improved results when copper concentrates were roasted in pure oxygen. However, his paper gives neither data nor experimental details. A few years ago a research program was started in this laboratory which had for its objective the determination of the mechanism of oxidation of metallic sulphides under varying conditions. To date we have studied the oxidation of galena,5 sphalerite, and chalcocite. It is a well known fact that copper sul-phde minerals are oxidized slowly by weathering agents, so that the sulphides of copper which find their way into a tailing pond are gradually changed into water-soluble and acid-soluble compounds. Commercially, the oxidation of copper sulphide minerals is accomplished by roasting them at elevated temperatures in air using a suitable (usually multiple hearth) roaster. Most copper smelters are equipped with such roasters. In this phase of the study we were especially interested in determining the effect of temperature on: (I) the air oxidation of chalcocite and (2) the oxidation of chalcocite using commercial oxygen. The amount of sulphur removed as sulphur dioxide, the percentages of water-soluble copper, and of acid-soluble copper were determined for the air oxidation tests. In the tests using commercial oxygen, the percentages of sulphur dioxide, water-soluble copper, acid-soluble copper, water-soluble sulphur and acid-soluble sulphur were determined. For these experiments the temperature was varied from 250 to 700°C. Experimental Preparalion of Chalcocite (Cu2S) Natural chalcocite is not pure, Minerals such as bornite, covellite, and chalcopy-rite may be present. It was decided, therefore, to prepare some chalcocite in our own laboratory. An intimate mixture of sulphur and hool divided metallic copper in the ratio of 4 g of copper to I g of sulphur was prepared. TO this was added a slight excess of

Jan 1, 1949

By John W. Rozelle, David S. Bolin

INTRODUCTION During the normal course of a mining project, a feasibility study will be prepared that addresses all the aspects of the project including geology and mineral inventories, mining and geo- technical, metallurgical processing, infrastructure, environmental considerations and economic analyses. These studies are prepared for various reasons. Occasionally, a feasibility study will be prepared solely for use within a company as justification for development expenditures, however, these documents are frequently submitted outside the company either to raise funds from financial institutions or from public financing on one of the various securities exchanges. Mineral industry consultants are often called upon to participate in the preparation of feasibility studies or to conduct an independent audit and review of an internally prepared study. As the recoverable mineral resources form the foundation upon which the balance of a feasibility study is based, including the economic analysis of the project, the resource aspect of the study is examined very carefully by financial and securities organizations. The balance of this discussion is directed toward the various geological and resource estimation aspects of feasibility studies that experience has shown to be of particular importance. Much of this discussion will be directed toward open pit gold operations, although the principles are applicable to any type of deposit. 2.0 GEOLOGIC RESPONSIBILITIES IN FEASIBILITY STUDIES The principal geological effort in the preparation of a feasibility study is generally dedicated to the following areas: - Preparation of Geologic Reserve/Resource Estimates - Condemnation of Sites for Facilities, Access Roads, Leach Pads, Waste Dumps and Tailings Disposal - Collection of Geotechnical Data - Provision of Mineralogical and Petrological Data Pertinent to Metallurgical Processing - Selection of Appropriate Bulk Sampling Sites for Collection of Metallurgical Samples Each of these items will be addressed in detail in the following sections. 3.0 RESERVE/RESOURCE ESTIMATION An ore reserve estimate consists of the determination of a volume, or tonnage, and a grade for the deposit. There are numerous cases in the mining industry of projects that have experienced severe difficulties when operational ore grade, tonnage or metallurgical amenability have proven to be deficient compared to predicted estimates. An error in estimation of tonnage generally leads to more long term problems affecting mine life and production schedules. However, a significant error in the estimation of grade, particularly if mined grade is lower than anticipated, can have an immediate, and often disastrous, effect upon a project. The geologic preparation leading to an ore reserve estimate generally follows a logical sequence familiar to

Jan 1, 1987

By R. L. Beatty

Bond International Gold's Colosseum gold mine was discovered in 1865. No recorded production occurred, however, until the 1930s, with production of about 19 kg (615 oz) of gold. The mine was closed in 1942 as a nonessential industry during World War II. The property was acquired by Dallhold Resources in mid-1986. Construction of a 1.1-million Mt (1.2-million st), carbon-in-pulp (CIP), cyanide mill began in November 1986 and was completed in September 1987. Minable reserves are estimated to be 9.5 Mt (10.5 million st), with an average grade of 2.1 g/t (0.061 oz per st). This article describes the general process flow and plant equipment. And it looks at the maintenance and operational problems encountered in the first six months of operation. Process description Ore is direct hauled from the open-pit mine 1.5 km (1 mile) to the crushing facility. There it is crushed to -152 mm (-6 in.) with a single- stage, 1.5-m x 1.2-m (60-in. x 48-in.), 186.5-kW (250-hp), Fuller-Traylor jaw crusher. The ore is then stockpiled in a 31.7-kt (35,000-st) reclaim ore pile. Lime is added to the crushed product as it is conveyed to a single 6.4-m x 4-m (21-ft x 13-ft), Hardinge semiautogenous grinding (SAG) mill, followed by a single 4.3-m x 7.3-m (14-ft x 24-ft) Hardinge overflow ball mill. After grinding, the slurry is thickened and then preaereated for three hours. Following preaereation, the pulp is leached with NaCN at a pH of 11, also for three hours. The slurry then goes through a seven-stage CIP circuit for 21 hours. Then the tailings slurry is preaereated for three hours before cyanide destruction using the Inco process. Loaded carbon is eluted using an Anglo American strip, followed by electrowinning on stainless steel wire. The stainless steel wire is transferred to refinery cells where the gold and silver is plated on stainless steel plates. Following electrore-fining, the gold-silver foil is removed, melted, and poured into dore bars for shipment. The crushing, milling, refining, and maintenance processes require 37 people. Crushing The crushing area required changes and modifications following start-up. Several areas are of specific note. Structural failures Rubber support cushion blocks located under the coarse ore bin failed. These were replaced with heavier, more durable blocks and have since appeared to be satisfactory. A severe structural vibration was encountered in the entire crushing facility. A mechanical engineer, brought in by the contractor, determined the structure needed more support and cross-bracing.

Jan 1, 1989

By H. P. Allen

The Achotla mill of the Cia. Minera de Penoles is of special interest in that it is one of the few still employing the chloridization process. The ore milled comes from the Suriana mine and consists of both oxide and sulphide, from neither of which can the gold or silver be extracted by a simple cyanide treatment. The mill was built in 1927, after several years of study in the development of the process1, and operated from December of that year until October 1930. Operations were resumed in February 1935, and have been continuous since, treating approximately 5000 tons per month, while the mine is getting up to full tonnage of 6500 tons per month. Transportation of Supplies The property is in Guerrero, Mexico, some 175 km. by airline southwest of Mexico City. The mill site is at Temisco (Fig. I), 8 km. from the Balsas River and 4.8 km. by aerial tram from the mine. At Temisco are the general office, shops, warehouses and laboratory serving both mine and mill. Here sufficient water is available either from a small creek running through the property or from the Balsas River, also convenient and ample storage space for the tailings. With the exception of the mine timber and a few native building materials which may be obtained locally, all supplies for both mine and mill are brought down the Balsas River from Balsas, the terminal of a Mexican National Railway line out of Mexico City. The method of transportation on the river is interesting. Rapids with very fast water are numerous, prohibiting the use of mechanically propelled boats. Those used resemble large, flat-bottomed rowboats some 22 ft. long by 8 ft. wide (Fig. 2). They are manned by two oarsmen sitting in the bow, each handling one large oar, and usually another man in the stern who, with his oar, assists in steering the boat, especially when the rapids are run. From 3 to 7 tons of freight are carried on each boat, depending upon the stage of the water, which governs also the time

Jan 1, 1939

By H. P. Allen

THE Achotla mill of the Cia. Minera de Pe[n]oles is of special interest in that it is one of the few still employing the chloridization process. The ore milled comes from the Suriana mine and consists of both oxide and sulphide, from neither of which can the gold or silver be extracted by a simple cyanide treatment. The mill was built in 1927, after several years of study in the development of the process1, and operated from December of that year until October 1930. Operations were resumed in February 1935, and have been continuous since, treating approximately 5000 tons per month, while the mine is getting up to full tonnage of 6500 tons per month. Transportation Of Supplies The property is in Guerrero, Mexico, some 175 km. by airline southwest of Mexico City. The mill site is at Temisco (Fig. I), 8 km. from the Balsas River and 4.8 km. by aerial tram from the mine. At Temisco are the general office, shops, warehouses and laboratory serving both mine and mill. Here sufficient water is available either from a small creek running through the property or from the Balsas River, also convenient and ample storage space for the tailings. With the exception of the mine timber and a few native building materials which may be obtained locally, all supplies for both mine and mill are brought down the Balsas River from Balsas, the terminal of a Mexican National Railway line out of Mexico City. The method of transportation on the river is interesting. Rapids with very fast water are numerous, prohibiting the use of mechanically propelled boats. Those used resemble large, flat-bottomed rowboats some 22 ft. long by 8 ft. wide (Fig. 2). They are manned by two oarsmen sitting in the bow, each handling one large oar, and usually another man in the stern who, with his oar, assists in steering the boat, especially when the rapids are run. From 3 to 7 tons of freight are carried on each boat, depending upon the stage of the water, which governs also the time

Jan 1, 1937

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,"

Jan 1, 1938

By H. P. Allen

The Achotla mill of the Cia. Minera de Penoles is of special interest in that it is one of the few still employing the chloridization process. The ore milled comes from the Suriana mine and consists of both oxide and sulphide, from neither of which can the gold or silver be extracted by a simple cyanide treatment. The mill was built in 1927, after several years of study in the development of the process1, and operated from December of that year until October 1930. Operations were resumed in February 1935, and have been continuous since, treating approximately 5000 tons per month, while the mine is getting up to full tonnage of 6500 tons per month. Transportation of Supplies The property is in Guerrero, Mexico, some 175 km. by airline southwest of Mexico City. The mill site is at Temisco (Fig. I), 8 km. from the Balsas River and 4.8 km. by aerial tram from the mine. At Temisco are the general office, shops, warehouses and laboratory serving both mine and mill. Here sufficient water is available either from a small creek running through the property or from the Balsas River, also convenient and ample storage space for the tailings. With the exception of the mine timber and a few native building materials which may be obtained locally, all supplies for both mine and mill are brought down the Balsas River from Balsas, the terminal of a Mexican National Railway line out of Mexico City. The method of transportation on the river is interesting. Rapids with very fast water are numerous, prohibiting the use of mechanically propelled boats. Those used resemble large, flat-bottomed rowboats some 22 ft. long by 8 ft. wide (Fig. 2). They are manned by two oarsmen sitting in the bow, each handling one large oar, and usually another man in the stern who, with his oar, assists in steering the boat, especially when the rapids are run. From 3 to 7 tons of freight are carried on each boat, depending upon the stage of the water, which governs also the time

Jan 1, 1939

By Clarence Thom

This chapter presents, in summarized form, standard procedures for making separations of minerals from their ores by the froth flotation process to produce marketable concentrates. These are typical mineral separations which are being made commercially with the reagents and conditions generally used in the mining industry. Typical separations are presented for 17 metallic and 11 nonmetallic ores. The review of each includes a brief description of the mineral and the particular problem presented, general market specifications for its concentrates, an outline of treatment method, and kinds and quantities of reagents usually employed. This chapter does not include de- tails about ore preparation (crushing, grinding, and classification), elements of ore and pulp transportation (conveying and pumping), or concentrate preparation for market (thickening, filtering, and drying). In each presentation it is assumed, if not detailed further, that the ore is ground to the economical point of liberation of the minerals to be separated. Specific information, such as ratio of concentration and recovery, that depends upon the grade of ore being treated is considered beyond the scope of this chapter. Effective flotation separations that produce marketable concentrates may produce widely varying results in terms of percent recovery and still be economically profitable operations. Details of plant practice on specific ores are presented in Chapters 16 and 17. In this chapter the chemical names of the reagents are given. The extent to which different reagents are used in flotation plants in the U. S. is presented in Chapter 4. A compilation of the various flotation reagents, their trade names, manufacturers, and use has been prepared by H. T. Spedden. ANTIMONY The principal ore mineral of antimony, stibnite (Sb2 S3), is generally found in the U. S. in ore bodies in association with other valuable minerals such as galena (Pbs), sphalerite (ZnS), chalcopyrite (CuFeS2), or tetrahedrite (3Cu2 S – Sb2 S3), The sulfo-salt minerals of antimony, such as tetrahedrite or pyrargyrite, are often associated with high silver values, so that the presence of antimony may indicate economic importance even though the actual antimony content is low. Antimony is also significant to the mineral economy because of its occurrence in some ores where lead, gold, and silver are the

Jan 1, 1962

By Richard F. McFarlin

INTRODUCTION Phosphate, one of the three major elements essential for all living plants and animals, has been mined in Florida for over a hundred years. Comprising roughly 80% of the U.S. total and 25% of the world's supply, the bulk of the 35 to 40 million annual ton output is converted to chemical fertilizers. With the exception of one mine in north Florida near the Georgia state line, today's mining activities are centered in the middle of the peninsula just east/southeast of Tampa in Polk, Hillsborough and Hardee counties. These "bone valley" deposits extend into Manatee and DeSoto counties, but there is little active mining there as yet. Because strip mining is, perhaps, the ultimate environmental insult and because Florida has a proactive environmental community, it is not surprising that the mining of phosphate rock has become increasingly controversial. This paper describes how phosphate rock is currently mined, the environmental problems presented by mining and processing the rock, and some mitigating technologies being employed to answer such problems. THE PHOSPHATE DEPOSIT AND ITS EXTRACTION Florida's phosphate deposits containing the calcium phosphate mineral, carbonate-fluorapatite, are between ten and fifteen million years old. The typical "bone valley" matrix is 15 feet thick and lies under 20 to 30 feet of overburden.(Fig. 1) Both the sandy overburden and matrix are unconsolidated and can be removed with standard 45 to 65 cubic yard, walking electric draglines. After removing the overburden, which is windrowed nearby, the dragline operator casts the matrix into a "slurry" pit where it is broken up by high pressure water monitors. Pit pumps (with boosters where necessary) transport the matrix slurry through 16 to 20 inch pipelines to a washer where the three components of the matrix (sand, clay and apatite) are separated. The phosphates contained in central Florida matrix are approximately half pebble/half flotation feed, through the pebble ratio decreases as the industry mines southward. Again, the matrix is roughly equally divided among sand, clays and apatite. The phosphatic clays, 75% of which are less than one micron in size, leave the washer as a 3 to 5% colloidal suspension. The impoundment of these waste clays is one of the environmental challenges to be discussed later. The sand (silica) is separated from the similarly sized phosphate particles by a double float process (fatty acid followed by a reverse mine or cleaner float), and the sand tailings are then pumped to disposal or reclamation sites. The apatite flotation product is combined with the screened phosphate pebbles and stacked to dewater before shipping.

Jan 1, 1992

By C. W. Wark, Fred Wise

The Getchell mine, a comparatively recent gold discovery, is in the old Potosi mining district, Humboldt County, Nevada. All ore is mined from open pits using Diesel shovels and gasoline trucks. Two types of ore are mined, oxide and sulphide. Oxide ores are siliceous or shaly; sulphide ores either gougy, siliceous or shaly. In mining, the sulphide ore is segregated into hard and gougy ore, because the gouge must be dried before it can be crushed. The oxide ore is not segregated. General Metallurgy The oxide ore is the leached outcrop that overlies the sulphide ore body. All of the iron and arsenic sulphides found in the sulphide ores have been thoroughly oxidized. The sulphur and arsenic have been leached out while the iron is present as hematite and limonite. The oxide ore is amenable to direct cyanidation, and although no visible free gold is present it is released at a comparatively coarse grind. The sulphide ore is more refractory, since the gold is all of micron size and some of it is locked in fine sulphides. It has been established microscopically that the free gold is coated with an impervious shell, which is probably some form of iron compound. The sulphide ores contain from 1.5 to 2 per cent of arsenic, which is present as orpiment and realgar with minor amounts of arsenopyrite. The orpiment and realgar are of a later mineralization than the gold and are barren. Roasting and washing of the sulphide ore prior to cyanidation is necessary to eliminate , the arsenic, to alter the gold coating from an insoluble form to a soluble form, and to release the gold associated with the fine sulphides. Washing the ground calcine in weak sulphuric acid, trona, or hot water are beneficial in the order named, but to date the water is the best from an economic standpoint. Metallurgical tests as well as plant practice indicate that a certain amount of gold cannot be recovered even by going beyond economic practices. On this basis metallurgical results are viewed in the light of an optimum tailing rather than a percentage of extraction. Milling Practice Crushing (Fig. I).—There are three primary ore bins, one each for oxide ore, gougy sulphide ore, and hard sulphide ore. In front of each bin a substantial yard is maintained, which makes it possible to Stockpile 2500 tons of oxidized ore, 1000 tons of hard sulphide ore, and 1000 tons of gougy sulphide ore. The bins are fed by a 60-hp. caterpillar bulldozer from the stockpiles. Fig. I shows the method and

Jan 1, 1943

By F. M. Lewis, J. F. Meyers

This second progress report of grinding presents comments regarding ball consumption and data pertaining to the hydroscillator, which is closed circuited with the tricone mill. A study and postulate of how balls function is presented. The paper summarizes cost reduction obtained by the method of "grinding for the tail race" rather than for "mesh tons." AT the Regional meeting in Columbus, Ohio, in September 1949, the authors presented a progress report of the first year's operation with a Hardinge tricone mill in closed circuit with a Dorr hydroscillator. The present report covers our findings on this grinding circuit to January, 1950. In order to clarify our position, the authors wish to state that no invention or discovery is claimed. The Tennessee grinding circuit is simply an engineered arrangement of known equipment arranged to incorporate all of the recognized efficiency factors of comminution as they are known today. As we concluded our first report, it was not clear how effective the Tennessee mode of operation would be on harder ores. The only information we had at that time was that the Bond grindability test at 48-mesh gave 6.04 g of undersize per revolution. A later test on the same sample at 100-mesh reduced this to 2.04 g, which is definitely in the harder ore class, and which makes the reported 8.80 kw-hr per ton of —200-mesh produced a very creditable figure. Hydroscillator Operation The machine as now developed has proved dependable and easy to operate. It starts easily under full load and responds quickly to operating adjustments. The hydraulic holes in the oscillating plate do not plug when shut down under full load. Absolutely clean hydraulic water is essential. An Elliott water screen or similar device should be an essential part of the machine to keep all scale and trash of all kinds from the hydraulic compartment. The shift operators have expressed approval of the machine. In table I we show a typical screen analysis of the hydroscillator rake sand as compared to conventional classifier rake sand on our ore. We have previously reported that of the 28.7 pct reduction in power, the hydroscillator contributed 6 pct, on a —200-mesh basis. This is a conservative figure. Some of our test runs indicated that the saving was as high as 10 pct. Laboratory studies by the Dorr Co. engineers indicate that still greater efficiency is possible. Nevertheless, the 10-ft plate is overflowing 2100 tons per day at 3 to 4 pct + 65-mesh, which is a very creditable performance by

Jan 1, 1951