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H. H. Stoek, Scranton, Pa. (communication to the Secretary): Mr. Rothwell's condemnation of my paper on the International Correspondence Schools as not giving an impartial view of the whole field of such enterprises, because it was confined to the description of a single one, might be legitimate if I had undertaken or professed to do anything else than that which I was requested by the Secretary of the Institute to do—namely, to give an account of this particular institution. This is a sufficient answer to all his direct or implied criticisms upon my omission to mention either persons or organizations outside of the special limits set for me. Recognizing fully that personalities have no place whatever in the Transactions, I regret the necessity of making the following statement in answer to Mr. Rothwell's charge that I omitted to give due credit to Mr. Ewald, a former principal of the International Correspondence Schools. The Colliery Engineer School of Mines was started in 1891, and its first student was enrolled October 16, 1891. During the fall of the same year the mine-mechanical course was laid out along the same general line that had already been followed in the mining course. This mine-mechanical course was the foundation from which sprung the later developments of the several mechanical courses. The latest circulars of information of the International Correspondence Schools give the following as their distinctive features: (1) courses of instruction for particular occupations,

Jan 1, 1900

By Luttrell. G.

The profitability of coal mining operations is highly dependent on the performance of the coal blending and processing facilities. Many companies have recognized this fact and have instituted optimization programs that require large amounts of coal characterization data, extensive operational information and complex costing models. Unfortunately, this brute force approach to optimization is often overwhelming in terms of time and cost and is generally too inaccurate to be of value in day-to-day field operations. A simpler and more practical approach involves the use of ?micro-price? optimization throughout the coal supply chain. This fundamental concept assigns unit values to each type product (particle or groups of particles) passing through the production units. True optimization occurs whenever all particles with positive worth are recovered and passed to market, while all particles with negative worth are rejected. This paper describes the fundamental workings of the micro-price concept as applied to coal blending and processing operations. Several examples are also included to demonstrate the economic gains that can be realized via the application of this concept.

Feb 23, 2014

By E Deucker, A White

Gold Fields Australia (Gold Fields) has identified that improving productivity through more detailed shift planning and operational control of mining activities is a key driver to the success of their business. The Hamlet mine was chosen as a pilot site to trial a system that would allow production engineers and shift bosses to align the execution of short-term activities with the longer-term goals of the organisation.Gold Fields partnered with Deswik to introduce an on-site, collaborative, web-based system to allow mine planners to quickly build-up a detailed, activity-based, shift schedule for the coming week from the 13-week plan. Multiple stakeholders could then review and alter the plan, and then track and manage the execution of the activities.The system is designed to be integrated with production data capture systems to allow tracking of progress towards completion for each activity, as well as to plan and monitor the equipment operating in the mine. Integration of systems allowed engineers to use the large quantities of production data being captured to make informed decisions in the operations environment.The system replaced a complex set of spreadsheets that required expert users in Gold Fields to maintain. By capturing the data in a central database, the planning process is transparent and historic data from the execution of activities is available for analysis to improve productivity in the future.The system has ensured that the highest priority and critical path activities for the business are completed at the right time, improving the efficiency of operations.CITATION:Deucker, E and White, A, 2017. Productivity improvement through collaborative shift planning and tracking, in Proceedings 13th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2017, pp 225–234 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Oct 16, 2017

By V. P. Mehrotra, D. W. Fuerstenau, A. -Z. M. Abouzeid

The use of pulverized coal for electric power generation results in the production of vast amounts of fly ash. One potential use for waste fly ash is the production of pellets for lightweight aggregates. This paper is concerned with the role of the physical and chemical characteristics of two different fly ashes in governing their agglomeration or pelletization behavior and their strength characteristics. In batch balling experiments, fly ash pellet growth was found to be extremely sensitive to the amount of moisture added. One ash (Mohave) exhibits marked pozzolanic activity whereas the other (Jim Bridger) does not. The pozzolanic activity has a very pronounced effect on pellet growth kinetics, moisture requirements, and the effect of various additives on growth kinetics. Slow drying under ambient conditions produces strong pellets from Mohave ash whereas Jim Bridger ash pellets lacking in pozzolanic activity are weak. Rapid drying at high temperatures results in weak pellets because water necessary for hardening is driven out of the pellet. Steam curing enhances pellet strength. Locked-cycle pelletizing experiments exhibit expected oscillation in pellet production rates and attendant fluctuations in pellet green strength.

Jan 1, 2004

By III Basham

As environmental laws and regulations become more complex and the economic cost of non-compliance becomes greater, periodic assessment of environmental compliance, identification of potential liability and implementation of any necessary remedial action should be a standard part of the operational methods of any successful business. The title of this paper "Environmental Audits, A Shield, A Sword or A Trojan Horse?" is intended to draw attention to the fact that environmental audits can be used positively to shield a business operations from actual or potential environmental liability; can be used proactively as a 'sword" in both a marketing context ("do business with us because we conduct our business safely and professionally?) and as a mechanism for developing positive relationships with environmental regulators; and, used negatively, as a "Trojan horse", by developing information which those same environmental regulators (or the public) use in an enforcement context against your business or that of your clients. This paper will discuss the concept of environmental audits in general; the pros and cons of conducting the same; and the role of the attorney, as part of the "audit" team, to insure, to the greatest extent possible, that the audit process is productive from both a managerial and legal perspective.

Jan 1, 1992

By R. T. Langland

The U.S. Bureau of Mines has conducted underground tests and computer analyses to study coal mine roof behavior. Southern Ohio Coal Company provided test sites it) their Heigs mines located near Athens, Ohio. Testing apparatus was adapted for monitoring roof behavior at the face of mining from a remote surface location. Finite element analyses were applied to study the structural conditions present. Test sites were located at three different intersections of entries and crosscuts of the room-and-pillar mine. Electrical read-out instruments were used to record roof bolt loads, roof sag, and roof-floor convergence. They were installed during the roof bolting cycle of a conventional mining section and data was recorded for several months. Normal mining operations continued throughout the test period with minimal interruptions due to the installation and monitoring of the instruments. A computerized data acquisition system, partly underground, partly on surface, permitted continuous monitoring of data and its retrieval, display, manipulation, and storage. The finite element code used to model the test sites accounted for three-dimensional geometry, nonlinear material behavior, and the mining excavation and bolt installation sequences. Results of the test are highly variable. Comparable values between test and analysis results were obtained by applying statistical averaging of. roof test data. Results of the analyses indicate that bolts have a lesser effect on the gross behavior of mine roofs than has been indicated and that bolt load changes are strongly influenced by mining excavation sequence, bolt-placement sequence, and face distance

Jan 1, 1977

By George A. Miller

THE outstanding characteristic of the American business man is that he likes to run his own business his own way, without any interference from his wife, his friends, his bankers, and least of all from his government. The oil man, like the miner, is an American business man in which this special characteristic is even more pronounced. It may be because he has been an explorer and is more nearly like those pioneering Americans who explored, developed, and built these United States.

Jan 1, 1944

By W. J. Sharwood

The assay or estimation of the total gold content of an ore presents little difficulty, when circumstances permit of securing a thoroughly representative sample. The general practice has been fairly standardized, and such errors as occur in the results obtained are for the most part attributable to the methods of sampling rather than to those of assaying, while duplicate assays made by skilled workers usually agree closely. When it is a question of estimating the "free" or amalgamable gold of an ore, as opposed to the total gold, there is but little uniformity in the methods employed by different workers, and often equally little in the results obtained when duplicate determinations are attempted, no satisfactory standard method having been generally adopted. The methods in use are of two general types—"panning" and "amalgamation." Panning For the estimation of the value of the visible gold by panning or washing, a weighed sample may be taken, ranging from an ounce to several pounds; a kilogram or 2 lb. is a favorite quantity for laboratory tests, while a prospector often uses a full miners' pan, say nearly 20 lb. or 10 kg. In the case of rich quartz, ground to about 30 or 40 mesh, a Mexican horn is convenient, using 1 to 8 02;. of material, and a 6-in. frying pan is favored by many prospectors in dry districts. Bateas, plaques, and dishes of various patterns are used for the same purpose. With these, fairly close results may be obtained by using for ocular comparison standards consisting of weighed amounts of gold of similar character as regards purity, fineness of division, and the general shape of the particles, which standards are preferably obtained from gold of the same locality, or the same deposit, as the ore or gravel being tested. Men working in one particular district sometimes become surprisingly expert in thus judging the value of an ore by the eye, the weights of both ore and gold being guessed. On the other hand, many have been led to overestimate the value of ore and gravel from unfamiliar localities, where the gold has been very finely divided or of unusually high silver content, and a novice may

Jan 1, 1916

By George J. Young

The nature of slimes handled in the treatment of gold- and silver-ores has been discussed in technical literature to a considerable extent. The subject of slime-filtration from the practical worker's stand-point has also received much comment, arid scattered through the literature of the subject are descriptions of many slime-filtration installations. Articles of this nature serve a valuable purpose and assist materially in the design of new and the improvement of old plants. The subject of the physics of slime-filtration has been touched upon to only a slight extent. The underlying principles are worthy of niore intensive study and experimeritation than they have received, and the main purpose of this paper is to present the results of such study and experimental work as will serve to make clear in part at least many of the principles which control the filtration of slime. Nature of Slime. Much has been written concerning an accurate definition of the term "slime," but no comprehensive definition seems to be gcnerally accepted. The reason for this is clear. A slime consists of at least three different substances, each, when separated, possessing distinctly different physical and to a certain extent chemical properties. These substances are extremely fine sand, a colloidal material which may bc and generally is in a coagulated condition, and a colloidal material which is in a non-coagulated condition. Suspending a slime in a relatively large volume of water by shaking and allowing sedimentation to take place, results in the fine sand settling out with comparative rapidity, followed by the coagulated material, which settles niuch more slowly and finally a certain portion remains

Jan 1, 1912

By Jon C. Volkwein

The U.S. Bureau of Mines investigated a method of using inert gas to prevent the formation of explosive gas mixtures in auger highwall mining of coal. A combination of gasoline and diesel engine exhaust gases was introduced into the auger drill hole using a short section of pipe located at the collar. Gas samples were taken and analyzed on-site with infrared detectors for oxygen, carbon dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide. Evacuated bottle samples were also taken and analyzed by gas chromatography in the laboratory. These gas results were analyzed for explosibility. Coal samples from various depths were used to obtain the gas content of the coal using the modified direct method. Personal expo- sure to carbon monoxide was also monitored. The highest methane level observed was 9.55%. The levels of inert gas (carbon dioxide and nitrogen) were sufficiently high to prevent any ignition of the methane. Results showed that for all conditions during mining, gas concentrations were nonexplosive. The gas content of the coal was about 0.30 cm3/g. The maximum personal time-weighted average Sample for carbon monoxide was 20 ppm. This system provides a safe, inexpensive, simple method for preventing explosions during auger mining.

Jan 1, 2010

When the Middle Ages were drawing to an end and Rotterdam, then still a small fishing port, began to extend its trade relations to continental ports handling general cargo, a development was initiated which was to give Rotterdam a predominant position in maritime traffic in Europe 300 years later. Despite many setbacks and the silting up of the mouths of the Rhine and Meuse rivers, the port experienced a new rise towards the end of the previous century after the dunes at Hook of Holland had been cut through as planned by Dutch engineer Caland. With its favourable location in the mouth area of the Rhine and a hinterland opened up by waterways it was merely a matter of the city council pursuing a far-sighted policy to make the best of these natural advantages. Thus new port installations were erected on the southern bank of the Meuse in the first quarter of this century, which were expanded in the course of the subsequent decades. The New Waterway became the main artery for industrial enterprises, in particular oil industries, which sprang up along its banks (picture 1). Whereas 30 years ago Rotterdam's Waalhaven, with its new jettees for general cargo and mainly bulk goods, was still one of the most modern terminals, the growing size of ships, which increased by leaps and bounds for tankers, in particular towards the end of the 'fifties, necessitated much larger harbour facilities built further and further towards deep water.

Jan 1, 1972

By Gaifeng Xue, Xiaohong Xu, Meng Liu, Yijie Song, Guotao Xu, Jixiong Liu

BN (Boron Nitride) based composites were prepared with hot-pressing by using h-BN as main material in ceramic preparation process. The relative density, bending strength, vickers’ hardness, thermal shock resistance, thermal expansion coefficient, thermal conductivity, phase composition and microstructure were tested and analyzed by using modern testing technology. The results indicate that the best formula is B, the relative density is 97%, the bending strength is 260 MPa, the hardness is HV5 343kg/mm2, the thermal expansion coefficient is 2.8×10-6℃-1, the thermal conductivity is 22 W/(m.K) and have no crack after thermal shock for 20 times by water cool. XRD analysis indicates that the main phase compositions are h-BN, β-Si3N4 and sialon. SEM studies show that the grains wrapped up by solid solution.

Jan 1, 2015

By Norman C. Stines

Russia's mineral potential is a secret that has been effectively kept by the Iron Curtain. There is no conclusive data and because of its extreme importance to the Free World, the subject is greatly discussed. Opinions range from those presented by Paul Tyler in his article "Russia's Mineral Potential," June issue of MINING ENGINEERING to those of Norman C. Stines, presented herewith. Mr. Stines is a consulting mining engineer of Los Gatos, Calif. He was in Russia, China, and Manchuria from 1909 to 1918 as a mining executive. From 1917 to 1919 he served as assistant military attache Intelligence Branch U. S. Army in Petrograd, Russia.

Jan 11, 1951

By E. P. Carman

1. DAVENPORT, S. J. Bibliography of Bureau of Mines Publications Dealing With Health and Safety in the Mineral and Allied Industries, 1910--46. Tech. Paper 705, 1948, 154 pp. 30 cents. 2. FJELDNER, A. C., FISHER, P. L., AND POLLOCK, M. B. Bibliography of Bureau of Mines Investigations of Coal and Its Products, 1940 to 1945. Tech. Paper 698, 1947, 53 pp. 15 cents. 3. GOOD, J. E., ABREU, ALVARO, AND FRASER, THOMAS. The Coal Industry of Brazil. Part 1. General Economy, Production, and Marketing. Tech. Paper 713, 1949, 38 pp. 20 cents.

Jan 1, 1954

By C. H. Lee

The world-famous Sang Dong Mine in the Republic of Korea has long been one of the world's greatest tungsten ore deposits. Over the years, the development of the Sang Dong deposit has steadily increased to a point where it now exerts a great influence on the world tungsten market. The mine is located in the mountains of the province of Kang Won Do, approximately 150 miles by road due east of Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea. In recent years the transportation system in Korea has greatly improved and the mine is now serviced by an excellent secondary type road from the new railroad line which is 20 miles away. The Sang Dong operation is made up of the underground mining, beneficiation mill, chemical refinery, tungsten metal plant, bismuth refinery, acid plant, foundry and machine shops. The bismuthinite production from the Sang Dong Mine is also of considerable importance, The output accounts for nearly 10 per cent of the world production of bismuth. A small amount of molybdenite concentrate is also recovered from the flotation operation.

Jan 1, 1962

By Gary H. Higgins

The paper by Lewis and Braun l presents experimental and calculational evidence that primary chalcopyrite ores are rapidly oxidized by warm oxygen-bearing water. Resulting solutions contained copper sulfate products of the matrix rock decomposition such as magnesium sulfate and sulphuric acid. Iron was oxidized to insoluble hematite and hydrous iron sulfates. Oxygen injection near the base of a broken and permeable flooded ore deposit was calculated to cause circulation of oxidizing solutions to the entire permeable region. The rate of dissolution of copper and degree of oxygen saturation for given oxygen injection rates were presented. Their work suggests that in-situ recovery of deep, disseminate primary copper deposits is technically feasible. The actual feasibility depends on economics and environmental safety as well, and it is the purpose of this paper to address these two aspects.

Jan 1, 1972

By T. R. Ellis

"In August 2013, the Appraisal Practices Board of the U.S. Appraisal Foundation issued its “APB Valuation Advisory #4 - Identifying Comparable Properties,” which contains analysis and examples that may suggest a broader meaning of the term “comparable properties” than is current convention in real property value appraisal in the United States and internationally. The advisory is directed at the appraisal of real property of all kinds, including interests in mineral properties, as indicated by the inclusion of two mineral property appraisal papers in the appendix that lists suggestions for further reading.This paper firstly reviews as background the historical meaning of a comparable property, with its perceived constraints, against real-world examples of transacted mineral properties that are adjusted to subject properties to provide market value indications. The advisory’s findings are then examined and evaluated as to whether they may influence and benefit the work of mineral property appraisers, particularly in situations where their sales comparison analyses may be challenged. The conclusion is that the combination of constraints that the advisory’s findings specify for use of the term “comparable” will for mineral properties be met infrequently or rarely. As a result, mineral property appraisers are advised to avoid using the terms comparable or “comp” when referring to transactions of mineral properties that they analyze to derive data for appraising the value of their subject mineral properties. IntroductionA mineral property appraiser rarely finds a sale of a mineral property that meets the literal meaning of the term “comparable sale,” by being directly comparable to the subject property of the appraisal in all factors of significance in the determination of the value of the property interest being appraised. Real estate appraisers have long used a more liberal interpretation of the meaning of comparable sale and its commonly used abbreviation, “comp.” Real estate appraisers compare sales to their subject property on the basis of price per hectare or acre of land and price per square meter or square foot of building floor area. Adjustments totaling to within the range of +30 to -30 percent from the sale property to the subject, before factoring in the property area, have generally been viewed as appropriate for the sale to be considered a comparable sale."

May 1, 2016

By D Kent

"There has been a revolution occurring in underground mining over the last several years, where big headline items such as the Internet of Things (IoT), optimisation, managing data, data mining etc – the list of current catchphrases, goes on. In the end these are nothing new; but the ‘things’ (sensors) are becoming smaller, cheaper and easier to deploy, and the analysis much more powerful as computer processing speeds increase. However, to take advantage of the myriad of devices out there and gain the processing power to analyse and use the data, a reliable ‘conduit’ is needed for that information to be delivered where it can actually be used. That is, a high quality data network.Modern mining is like any other industry in the information age: the access to reliable data is the first, critical step in improving productivity (Stevens, 2015). The convergence of communications onto an IP (Internet Protocol) backbone has been the driving force in enabling the productivity gains in general industry over the last two decades.This paper overviews how this technology has developed as an enabler in accessing productivity and safety benefits, and how it has used access to large amounts of data to manage mining processes underground. Reams of data are useless, but with the reliable receipt, analysis, processing and feedback system in place to use that data, benefits can be realised.Automated mining systems are increasingly being seen as a key requirement for a productive mining operation, and the importance of an integrated communication network infrastructure to support such systems is growing. Another emerging driver is the much talked about IoT and data analytics, both dependant on reliable, accurate, high volume data.The author will outline how communication infrastructure is fundamental to the operation of such systems, and explain why the resultant communication networks require much more than just increased bandwidth (data capacity) to properly support the automation and other data hungry systems within the overall mine operation.Mining operations embarking down this road are discovering that the required network must be based on a true enterprise level architecture to, not only enable the mine’s current plans for remote or automated mining, but also to provide a scalable and integrated platform for future developments. The emerging issues for the communication network to truly support automation systems include: increased complexities of operating and maintaining multiple networks integration issues with disparate systems problems with reporting, particularly as demands for corporate reporting and compatibility with enterprise systems become the norm ongoing management challenges, which will only increase with the proliferation of new technologies.How certain mining operations lay the necessary foundations to meet their current requirements, while supporting their visions for a more automated and proactively managed mine, will be explored.CITATION:Kent, D, 2017. Modern mining – why bandwidth matters, in Proceedings 13th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2017, pp 123–128 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

Oct 16, 2017

By Ballard H. Clemmons

THE future of the steelmaking industry of the Birmingham, Ala., district is closely related to and, in a large measure, dependent on the development of workable, economic processes of ore concentration. Operations thus far in the area have been possible only because of the fortuitous occurrence of iron ore, fluxing stone, and coking coal-all the primary iron-making materials- within a 25-mile radius of the blast furnaces. Commercial ore of the district consists mainly of a 10 to 20-ft hematite-calcite-silica bed locally known as the "Big Seam," a component of the Clinton formation of Silurian Age. At present mining rates, this ore will be available for a number of years. It is largely mined under 1000 to 2000 ft of cover and transported on 15 to 20" slopes that, in some instances, are as much as 10,000 ft long. Under these conditions, particularly with increasing distances from face to portal, mining costs are gradually becoming disproportionately high. Although not a major factor thus far, it should also be noted that the average annual ore output of the district is gradually be- coming more siliceous.

Jan 1, 1950

By B. N. Everett

The growing role of Colombia as a major supplier of internationally traded steam coal has been widely discussed in the industry. Although Colombian coal has been produced and exported in small quantities for a number of years, Colombia's position as a major coal exporter began in earnest in 1985 with the first commercial exports from the Cerrejon North Block Project. By way of background: ? The mine is located on the Guajira peninsula in Northeast Colombia, about 90 miles from the coast, as shown in Figure 1. ? In addition to the mine itself, the project involves construction of a dedicated railroad and port, which form a modern, efficient and integrated system. ? The Project is embodied in a 50/50 Association Contract between International Colombia Resources (Intercor), a wholly owned subsidiary of Exxon, and Carbocol, the Colombian state coal company. Intercor and Carbocol share investment and operating expenses equally and Intercor has the additional responsibility of managing operations on behalf of both partners. Each partner is entitled to 50% of the coal produced, and each markets its share separately. ? The project is a multi-seam, truck and shovel operation, based on large reserves (2-3 billion tonnes') of high quality bituminous coal. ? Exports began in the first quarter of 1985 at modest levels through what we call Early Coal Facilities, designed and constructed apart from the permanent coal handling system. ? Production will increase rapidly in each of the next few years, reaching the design capacity of 15 Mt per year in 1939. Based on available resources, however, the resource will support expansion, and continued growth n production into the 1990s appears feasible.

Jan 1, 1986