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By JOHN W. KOSTER, JAMES R. FLEMING

The following report is made through the Bureau of Mines as a result of the work under the cooperative agreement with the State geological survey and the engineering experiment station of the University of Illinois. It deals with the use of permissible explosives in the coal mines of Illinois, and is intended primarily to present to mining men the possibility of assuring safer conditions in mining through the use of these explosives. Twenty coal mines in Illinois were using these relatively safe explosives at the time this report was prepared. Of these, seventeen were in Franklin County, two were in Saline County, and one in Montgomery County. In these various fields experience had shown that although black blasting powder was a useful agent in breaking down the coal at the working face, yet it had given such conclusive evidence of its danger to life and property in causing explosions and mine fires that a substitute was sought and has been found in permissible explosives. Each coal mine in Illinois in which permissible explosives are used was visited and a study made of the problems involved. The report deals briefly with the dangers of black blasting powder now in such common use in coal mining. It discusses the development of permissible explosives and their introduction into Illinois coal mines and points out the characteristic differences between permissible explosives and black blasting powder. The present system of blasting and the most approved methods of using permissible explosives are described. Data are given to show that not only has safety and efficiency in these mines been greatly improved, but that the cost of explosives to the miner per ton of coal has been reduced, and that sizes of coal produced from permissible explosives compare favorably with those previously obtained at the same mines with black blasting powder. The successful use of permissible explosives in these Illinois mines as well as in many other mines throughout the country should aid in their introduction into a larger number of mines and bring about that degree of freedom from explosions and fires which should be attained in mining.

Jan 1, 1917

By Michael Mancuso

This report summarizes the problems of topsail handling as related to present requirements of law and current equipment availability. The most prevalent topsoiling systems are reviewed along with a listing of advantages/disadvantages and best features of each system. Seven mining regions are included, along with an analysis of prevailing land use, types of soils and attendant physical, chemical am biological characteristics. There are several probable areas of future research "lined which can benefit mining, minimize the social impact of mined lands and speed the return of mined lands to more productive long-term use.

Jan 1, 1981

By Mario Samamé Boggio

El presente trabajo describe el período de la Colonia dentro de la historia minera peruana. Dentro de esta época no se utilizó método alguno para su explotación y no hubo un adecuado manejo de recursos y energías. Posteriormente se describe la mita, expansión (Huancavelica, Huantajaya, Laicacota, Hualyacoc), así como se describe las minas de plata, oro, metalurgia colonial y la misión Nordenflicht.

Sep 1, 1983

Our mission is help ensure our country has an adequate, dependable supply of minerals and mate al to meet its national security and economic needs at acceptable social, environmental, and economi[c] costs. We do this by promoting and encouraging private enterprise in the development of viable and stable mineral industries through the transfer of innovative extraction, processing, recycling, an environmental technologies; our use of cooperative partnerships with industry, academia, an government; our timely, authoritative worldwide mineral intelligence; our advocacy of public policies based on good science and sound economics.

Jan 1, 1994

By Dirk Bergmann

During the spray forming process, a continuous molten metal stream is atomized by impinging high speed inert gas jets. In the generated spray cone, the resulting metal droplets are rapidly cooled by the huge temperature difference to the surrounding gas phase and thereby partly solidified during flight. After a certain flight and residence time inside the spray cone, the droplets impinge onto the solid substrate and form the product (deposit) by compaction. Material properties of this preform strongly depend on several process parameters and especially on the thermal and kinetic state of the deposited droplets at the point of impingement. Smaller droplets may cool very fast due to their low mass and impinge onto the product in a completely solidified state as solid metal powder particles. Larger droplets with big mass contain a higher amount of thermal energy and impact during the state of phase change or still as completely liquid. It is obvious, that a certain amount of liquid content in the droplets is needed for forming a homogeneous deposit. Therefore, the thermal history of metal droplets during flight in the spray cone is of great importance for overall process modelling and control. Modelling the effects of the impinging droplet mass on the formation and heat balance of the deposit, the thermal conditions of the droplet stream need to be temporary and spatially averaged at different locations. Averaging may be achieved in different ways, giving alternative results. A first method is averaging over the droplets total enthalpy which consists of the thermal content and the remaining latent heat of fusion within the droplets. A second method may yield the average over the heat content and the solid fraction separately. Results of these two methods depend on the application and the kind of information which one wants to achieve and show some deviations, which will be discussed in terms of consolidation and energy conservation of the deposit.

Jan 1, 1999

By Mike Perkins

The Summitville Au-Ag-Cu district in the southeastern part of the San Juan volcanic field has been a major gold producer in Colorado. Mineralization is hosted by the composite South Mountain quartz latite porphyry volcanic dome, which is believed to have been localized by the intersection of the northwest margin of the Platoro-Summitville caldera complex and the northwest-trending Platoro fracture zone. K-Ar age dates indicate that alteration and mineralization were nearly contemporaneous with emplacement of the dome at 23-20 m.y. ago, 6-7 m.y. after collapse of the Platoroo-Summitville caldera complex. The dome consists of at least four major phases including strongly altered quartz latite porphyry; a late-mineral, coarse-grained sanidine quartz latite porphyry; and postmineral quartz latite dikes. The dome was emplaced into intracaldera rhyodacite and andesite. Gold-silver-copper mineralization is concentrated near the top of the dome and is associated with pods, pipes and steeply dipping tabular zones of silicification and advanced argillic alteration. Alteration is zoned outwards from the center of mineralization through argillically and propylitically altered rocks, and is largely confined to the area of the dome. Trace element geochemical patterns for the deposit indicate a central zone of anomalous As-Au-Pb-Ag and low Mn within an exterior zone of anomalous Ag-Au-Pb-Hg and high Mn. The chief ore mineral is native gold which is associated with goethitic iron oxide in the oxide zone. In the sulfide zone, native gold is associated with copper sulfide-sulfosalt mineralization. A genetic model for the Summitville deposit is based on recent models of modern geothermal systems, with which it shows similarities in alteration, ore mineralogy, zoning, and structural patterns.

Jan 1, 2013

By S. Kariyawasam, R. McNealy

Pipelines are subject to multiple threats often requiring quantification of pipeline risk and engineering evaluation of in-line inspection and other data to effect discovery of conditions defined by the regulation. Public concern and pressure from regulatory bodies are accelerating the need for pipeline operators to formalize and intensify their approach to integrity management. Most operators need a phased approach to progressively adopt the most relevant and needed assessments. The organized and relevant assessment steps need to be introduced according to data available and maturity of the integrity management program. Each refinement to the quantification offers distinct advantages to the user. In this paper, the progressive integrity assessment solutions using quantitative methods are presented. Methodologies for engineering evaluation of integrity in-line inspection data for immediate and future integrity are summarized. Corrosion is used as an example, but the approach is applicable to any time-dependent defect based hazard. Strategies for pipeline integrity management are discussed.

Jan 1, 2005

By H. C. George

This bulletin deals with prime movers, power-transmitting machinery, and the surface equipment and methods used to pump oil wells. It does not discuss geological problems nor the methods and equipment used in drilling or at flowing oil wells. Much of the presentation is by photographs and drawings which are described in the text. Underground equipment and methods for pumping oil wells will be discussed in a later publication of the Bureau of Mines.

Jan 1, 1925

By Jos. R. Guiteras

This paper describes the operations of the St. Joe Mining & Milling Co. in Boulder County, Colo., as of June 1936. Later a brief visit was made to the mine in September 1936; information obtained at that time has also been recorded. The company operates a gold mine, the Grand Republic, in the Sugar Loaf mining district; a 100-ton flotation mill in Lefthand Canyon near Gold Hill; and a custom sampling punt, the Boulder Ore Sampling Works, at Boulder, Colo.

Jan 1, 1937

By Costa

The fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) mining model has significant implications for the industry as it plays an important role in fulfilling the economic, social and workforce needs of the contemporary mining industry. It has increasingly been adopted in countries such as Canada and Australia, but is the current nature of the FIFO model challenging the place women have achieved in the mining workforce? Research in the mining and oil and gas industries reveals that major sources of stress for fly-in-fly-out mining workers are the times of parting and of reunion, the challenges in defining roles within the family, parenting, and conflict between spouses over the use of the leave time and money. So how are women in the industry coping with the FIFO schedules and consequent intermittent relationship with families and partners? How is the mining industry adapting to recruit and maintain female employees in FIFO operations? This paper describes an exploratory study conducted in Canada, which intended to provide some initial insights that might help us answer the questions above. There are several inferences made from this exploratory study. It is clear that FIFO poses significant challenges for both female and male workers. It is largely seen as rigid, extremely challenging for employees with young families and workers who are single mothers, and it is generally incompatible with starting a family and caring for small children. FIFO creates severe stress on relationships and on workers psychological well-being. It seems to be indeed harder for women, since they are often in lower paying positions and therefore have less financial reward for the FIFO lifestyle. On the other hand, FIFO creates the opportunity for young women, including Aboriginal women, to jump-start their careers, as well as opportunities for mature women to work while pursuing other personal interests during their time off. This paper concludes with recommendations to improve the FIFO system in order to increase the ability of mining companies to hire and retain women

May 1, 2006

By Bruce F. Grant

"INTRODUCTION The future of oil production in the part of the Appalachian region included in southwestern Pennsylvania; West Virginia, and southeastern Ohio is directly dependent on the maintenance of existing wells. This report presents an analytical study of the methods used in oil-well reconditioning in this area. The study is part of a research program designed to evaluate those means of stimulating oil production that can effectively and economically maintain present oil-production rates and make it possible to keep existing wells in operation. Well-reconditioning work was curtailed during the war; therefore, an abnormally large number of wells in the Appalachian Region is now in need of repair. Because the lubricant content of Appalachian crude: oils is high and the refined lubricating oils an; particularly suited to use in high speed, high-temperature engines, the demand for these crude oils during the war exceeds, the maximum rate of production obtainable under wartime operating conditions. Increases in operating, expenses, inability to meet war-time reconditioning costs, and inflexible price structures caused the abandonment of an alarming number of wells during the past 4 or 5 years.As a means of increasing regional oil-production rates, new drilling in the older fields for primary production generally is uneconomical because reservoir pressures in most of the fields have virtually been depleted and the production rates of newly drilled wells are small."

Feb 1, 1948

By T. A. Rickard

The dictionary defines 'jargon' as "barbarous or debased language". This description does not suffice. Quiller-Couch has said, it is "a kind of writing which, from a superficial likeness, commonly passes for prose in these days, and by lazy folk is commonly written for prose, yet actually is not prose at all ". The two main vices of jargon, he says, are "that it uses circumlocution rather than short straight speech", like the Babu who reported his mother's death by saying: "Regret to inform you, the hand that rocked the cradle has kicked the bucket ". Its other chief' vice is that "it habitually chooses vague woolly abstract nouns rather than concrete ones", like the newspaper statement; "He was conveyed to his place of residence in an intoxicated condition", instead of saying, "He was carried home drunk ". Jargon is "an infirmity of speech", it is not journalese, but akin to it. "Like respect- ability in Chicago, jargo4 stalks unchecked in our midst" and renders much technical writing ridiculous. It deals in periphrasis instead of going straight to the point, it loves the abstract rather than the concrete, it dabbles in words of sound rather than of meaning. Avoid it, despise it., if you purpose earnestly to write well. "III literature as in life he makes himself felt who not only calls 4 spade a spade but has the pluck to double spades and re-double." * Jargon is rampant in technical publications. Catalogues and other advertisements are conspicuous offenders, but with these the critic is not concerned, except in so far as such 'write-

Jan 1, 1931

By J. H. East, D. Harrington

"INTRODUCTION The tremendous expansion of industry during the war and the unprecedented demands for metals and minerals are reflected in the production and use of explosives during that period. The increased use of explosives brought added safety problems to industry because of the necessity of using men as blasters who were not entirely familiar with and some who were totally unfamiliar with the characteristics of some or all of the various explosives. A discussion of the characteristics of the ordinary types of explosives used in: industry should assist in giving a better understanding of the hazards attending their use. Explosives are compounded so they may be used with reasonable safety provided the user understands and follows the procedure recognized as standard safety practice. Short cuts and the failure to understand and use recognized safe practices, as well as the selection of explosives unstited for the work at hand, are all part of the safety problem,The extent to which explosives are used in the United States is shown by a study of the statistics compiled by the Bureau of Mines 4/ regarding them. Some of these statistics are shown below and serve as an indicator of the tremendous number of men engaged in the transportation, storage, and use of explosives. Theme men are exposed to the inherent hazards attending this occupation and they should be familiar with the recognized safe practices relative to explosives."

Sep 1, 1946

By D A. Kepert, I J. Tehnas, M A. Pudovsk

BHP Billiton (BHPB) was the first company to start iron ore mining in the Pilbara at Mt Goldsworthy in 1966 through Goldsworthy Mining Limited (GML - then Consolidated Goldfields Australia, Cyprus Mines and Utah). Operations later started at Newman on Mt Whaleback in 1969 with the Mt Newman Mining Joint Venture (MNM û then comprising American Metals Climax û AMAX, Colonial Sugar Refineries û CSR and BHP). In 1986 it acquired majority ownership of MNM, and at the same time the previously 100 per cent BHPB owned but undeveloped Yandi property came on board. Purchase of Jimblebar (formerly McCameyÆs Monster) occurred in 1990 and full ownership of Goldsworthy followed in 1991. With the exception of Jimblebar (100 per cent owned), all mines are now 85 per cent BHPB and the balance with Itochu and Mitsui. This evolution of the company resulted in an eclectic mix of mines/ores, each with their varied exploration and evaluation histories. Discussion of some aspects of these histories, and reflections on changes in exploration-related activities with particular reference to discussion of advances in geological understanding since the 1960s forms the basis of this paper. BHPB presently has open cut mines at four main centres û Newman, Jimblebar, Marillana Creek (Yandi) and Yarrie û and is currently developing the former GML Area C near Yandi. With the exception of NewmanÆs Mt Whaleback mine and immediate satellites, all are contract operated. Ore is carried on BHPB railroads (696 km total) for export through the companyÆs Nelson Point or Finucane Island shipping facilities at Port Hedland. Some is directed to the BHPB Boodarie Iron hot briquetted iron plant near Finucane Island. Over 73 Mt of ore was produced by BHPB in calendar 2001, and the company has now mined over 1500 Mt in Western Australia since their operations at Yampi Sound first started in 1956.

Jan 1, 2002

By C. O. Aksoy, G. G. U. Aksoy, A. Fisne, I. Alagoz, E. Kaya

Coal produced in underground mines is transported to the surface by means of conveyor belts throughout long roadways. The combustion of belts puts a large number of employees at great risk. Underground collieries differ from other underground mines -due to the combustible nature of the product. The most prevalent cause of belt fires in underground coal mine is spontaneous combustion due to oxidation of the coal, which also enables the conveyor belt to burn over time. In 2014, a belt fire in an underground coal mine in Manisa-Soma, Turkey caused 301 fatalities. A study has been conducted on this accident for approximately 3 years, consisting of combustion tests in a purpose-built research gallery, comparison of the test results with mine records of the accident, and CFD modelling of the mine environment. The intensity of the fire was sufficient to redirect the air flow underground, causin large amounts of toxic gases to fill almost the entire mine in approximately 15 minutes. It is recommended that CFD analysis be used in planning emergency action strategies in underground mines.

Dec 13, 2023

By T Horberry

This paper describes work conducted as part of an overall research project that aims to identify current and emerging trends in the development of automation and remote mining technologies, and to provide an operator-centred perspective to the design and deployment of such systems. More specifically, this paper outlines a research and development process being constructed to examine the issues of the human skills and capabilities required to operate or maintain automated/remote controlled mobile mining equipment. A human factors approach presented here, where the focus is upon designing equipment interfaces to fit operators, rather than purely designing and deploying the equipment based on a technology-centred approach. However, the importance of training to help develop the required skills and capabilities is also emphasised.The work built on a full review of the literature about the effects of automation in mining and elsewhere, extensive interviews with different stakeholders in mining automation and recognised best practice regarding designing for the human element in automated systems. The human element research and development process proposed is in four stages, ranging from understanding the tasks involved in both manual and automated equipment operation through to user trials to ensure that the automated systems are acceptable to operators and are fit for purpose.It is outside the scope of the current paper to present the full data collection described by this four stage process, but an overview of what will be collected is presented. As such, this paper focuses on the broad methods being developed, rather than the specific results to be obtained. The ultimate objective is to apply a broad ‘technology assessment’ approach to the design, deployment and evaluation of automated mining technologies, in particular by considering the user-centred design implications of these technologies.

Nov 22, 2011

By W. L. Zeigler

THE year 1930 in the Ceur d? Alene district was one of curtailment in production. Many of the small properties were closed entirely and only three large. producers, the Bunker Hill & Sullivan, Hecla, and the Morning mines were left producing at capacity. No innovations in milling were evident, but progress was made in reducing costs as is always necessary in times of low metal prices. One new concentrator was constructed, a 500-ton daily capacity selective flotation plant for, the Jack Waite Mining Co. This mill uses coarse crushing, followed by hand sorting, for both a high-grade ship- ping ore and waste. The remainder of the ore leaving the sorting belt is crushed in a new type Traylor reduction crusher to %-in. size and stored in large capacity mill ore-bins. The grinding is done with ball mills, in closed circuit with a Dorr classifier to 75 per cent - 200 mesh. Minerals Separation 24-in. flotation machines are used both for a lead and a zinc concentrate, with double cleaning in each case. The concentrates are dewatered in Dorr thickeners and filtered on Oliver late-type filters.

Jan 1, 1931

By N. A. Stockett

SOUTHEAST Missouri is the largest and oldest lead-producing district in the United States. For the year 1941, the statistical picture of pig-lead production, stated in short tons (partly estimated by the Engineering and Mining Journal) is as follows. [Tons World production 2,000,000 United States production 460.000 Southeast Missouri production 242,000] The consumption of primary lead in the United States in 1941 was approximately 900,000 tons, or almost double the country's production. The largest previous year's consumption in the United States was 718,000 tons, in 1926. The largest quantities of lead are used for cable sheathing, storage batteries and white lead. During 1941 tetraethyl lead for auto and aviation gasoline consumed 50,000 tons of lead. The entire lead production of Southeast Missouri is now mined by the St. Joseph Lead Co., whose dominant position as the largest producer in the United States of lead directly from ores is best shown by the fact that in 1941 it produced approximately 31 per cent of the lead production of the United States from its mines in southeast Missouri, where 22,000 tons of ore, averag¬ing over 3.00 per cent lead, is mined per working day. It is known that lead was mined at Mine La Motte, Madison County, Missouri, by Renault in 1723. Other white men and Indians probably did some mining prior to that time. Since 1865, the recorded production to Jan. 1, 1942, shows that the St. Joseph Lead Co. and the various other companies that have operated in St. Francois County mined lead ore, which, after milling and smelting losses produced 5,00,000 short tons of pig lead. About 95 per cent of the present lead production of Southeast Missouri is mined in St. Francois County. The northern part of this area is 60 miles south of St. Louis. The remainder of the lead is obtained at Mine La Motte, about 25 miles southeast from the center of the producing area in St. Francois County. PROSPECTING In this district, most of the ore is discovered by surface and underground diamond drills and by prospect drilling underground with rock drills. Each 2-ft. length of the cuttings from these Jackhamer prospect holes is assayed for lead. These holes are marked and the records are entered on maps. It has been found that close drilling--100-ft. centers of holes, and sometimes less-is necessary in order to locate most of the smaller commercial ore bodies, many of which previously had been missed by drilling the areas with holes spaced 200-ft. centers or more.

Jan 1, 1943

By Jr. Hazen

This report documents 653 sets of sample data involving 78,366 assays obtained from past exploration for various minerals and metals. Most of these data have been taken from published reports describing exploration projects, conducted jointly by the Bureau of Mines and the Geological Survey, for the Strategic Minerals Program from 1940 through 1949. Means and standard deviations have been computed for the exploration assay data and have been plotted on graphs for 22 minerals and metals. A mathematical model, based on the binomial distribution, has been developed to explain the configuration of the plots of the exploration means and standard deviations. The two statistics, mean and standard deviation, which describe assay data, have been used for simulating probability models. These probability models then have been combined with the binomial model of the exploration assays and related to the sequential decision process associated with exploration drilling for mineral deposits. These probability regions can be used to form the basis for sequentially predicting the probable range of the average grade of mineral or metal that may be expected as an exploration drilling program is continued after the initial discovery of mineralization has been made.

Jan 1, 1966

By Zoë Dugdale, Gerald Poplin, Tim Bauerle

"Fatigue presents several challenges for the mining industry. Depending on the specific occupation, daily work or operational setup on any given mine site, mining jobs can have a fair amount of labor-intensive tasks mixed with monotonous and repetitive duties. Combined with the long working hours and shift-work schedules of mining work, the prevalence of fatigue in mine workers may seem rather unsurprising.Mining is certainly not alone in facing the challenge of addressing worker fatigue. Indeed, many of the characteristics above mirror the similarities of fatigue in other industries, such as health care, aviation and security. To the extent that fatigue in mining acts like fatigue in any other industry, then any fatigue management applications, trainings, or interventions in existence can be borrowed from other industries and applied to mining in a cookie-cutter approach. However, some have argued that mining in particular is especially susceptible to increases in the prevalence of fatigue beyond the characteristics listed above due to the multifaceted combination of factors in mining environments associated with fatigue: dim lighting; limited visual acuity; hot temperatures; loud noise; highly repetitive, sustained, and monotonous tasks; shiftwork; long work hours; long commute times due to mine site remoteness; early morning awakenings; and generally poor sleep habits (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, 2012; Legault, 2011). Legault (2011) in particular argues that it is the combination of these factors simultaneously that can make mineworkers particularly susceptible to sleep deprivation and fatigue in comparison to other industries where these factors are often not present all together. If fatigue looks and acts different in mining, as others have argued, more research is needed to determine if, how, and why worker fatigue might need to be managed differently in mining.While the burden of fatigue on the mining population has not yet been evaluated thoroughly, methods and measures of fatigue management remain a popular point of discussion. Many commercial suppliers and consultancy groups have begun to develop technologically based fatigue monitoring systems (McMillian, 2013). Some technologies can monitor vehicle operators for indicators of wakefulness, such as percent eyelid"

Jan 3, 2018