Search Documents

By Theodore A. Blake

At the Chicago meeting of the Institute, May, 1884,I had the pleasure of announcing the introduction of a new machine for fine crushing, or The Blake multiple-jaw crusher, which, in combina tion with the ordinary Blake breaker, could be used in the reduc tion of ores or any hard and brittle substance to almost any degree of fineness. I am now able to give some practical results derived from its use on an extensive scale, on the gold ores of South Caro lina and the iron ores of Lake Champlain, together with some accurate and detailed statistics of the cost of crushing over one hundred thousand long tons of magnetic iron ores of the Chateaugay Ore and Iron Company at Lyon Mountain, Clinton County, N. Y., about thirty miles west of Plattsburgh. The construction of the multiple jaw-crusher, since the date of my first paper, is the same, except in the substitution of main swinging, instead of main sliding, or toggle jaw,—thus doing away with the upward thrust on the tension rods and the wear incident thereunto. (See Fig. 1.) It has also been found, in case of the fine crusher, that is, in machines of not over 4 inch width of opening, that the use of several small machines with a series of jaw openings, say 15 inches by 4 inch, is better than one large machine with a series of openings 24 by 4 inch, or 36 inches by 4 inch, as at first constructed. Many details of the method of holding in jaw-plates, etc., have been perfected. Without giving any details with respect to the different mills built upon the Blake 'system, let me state that, although it has proved possible to carry any hard and brittle material with crushers alone to a fineness such that all particles will pass a 30-mesh wire screen, still the economical limit of such crushing will be found somewhere between 14 and 20. If it is necessary to carry all the material to a fineness greater than this, the system must be supple

Jan 1, 1888

By John A. Church

EARLY in the month of August, 1877, a miner in Gold Hill, Nevada, made the unlucky remark that, according to his observation, that month was usually quite free from accidents in the mines. Never was presage wider from the truth. When the month closed twelve mishaps had occurred, killing six and wounding nine persons, and for the rest of that year the Comstock mining communities were kept in a ferment by the frequent occurrence of appalling disasters. There was a real tidal wave of calamity sweeping over the mines, which has not been repeated since, and according to common report was never known before on the Comstock. I was much interested in studying the character of these misfortunes, which also aroused concerted action on the part of the miners, and I have collected a list of the accidents which took place from July, 1877, to May, 1879. The number in this period of twenty-two months

Jan 1, 1880

By W. P. Haynes

DuRing 1939. there were no discoveries of oil and gas in Rumania worthy of mention. and the only important extension was the anticipated

Jan 1, 1940

By Donald E. Freshcorn

The minimum sulphur level which can be attained during fluid bed roasting of zinc sulfide concentrates is largely determined by the residual sulfates of calcium, magnesium, and zinc. The fractional conversion of these elements to their respective sulfates is derived from semi- empirical relationships, and multiple regression analysis is used to fit the relationships to experimental data from a commercial fluidized bed roaster. The resulting equation shows that the calcine leaving the roaster contains almost no zinc sulfate, nearly all of the calcium is present as calcium sulfate, and the amount of magnesium sulfate formed is primarily dependent upon the roaster temperatures.

Jan 1, 1976

By Harvey P. Knudsen, Young C. Kim

This paper illustrates the application of geostatistics to a roll front type uranium deposit located in Wyoming. The steps involved in calculation of experimental variograms, variogram modeling, and verification of the resulting models are described in detail. The resulting spherical variogram models for grade thickness and thickness show strong geometrical anisotropies. The major axis of anisotropy for both variables is approximately parallel to the axis of the roll front and the minor axis perpendicular to the roll. This model confirms the technique of drilling "fences" across the roll front, where the drilling is much closer together than the fences along the roll.

Jan 8, 1979

By J. E. Lawver, G. L. Samsel

The success of many mineral dressing processes, including froth flotation and electrical concentration, depends largely on knowledge of physical and chemical structures of the mineral surfaces involved. As a general rule solids have surface layers, usually invisible by optical tests, that differ from the substratum. To the mineral engineer, therefore, a knowledge of the surface structures of minerals is of paramount importance. During the past decade one of the most powerful tools in the study of froth flotation mechanisms has been the use of radioactive tracers, but this technique usually cannot give definite information regarding the chemical changes that may or may not have occurred at the surface. The electron microscope and electron diffraction camera can be particularly useful instruments in surface studies.. An election microscope permits much closer examination of surfaces than can be obtained with a petrographic microscope. In certain cases, it is possible to identify trace quantities formed by chemical reaction between flotation agents and mineral surfaces by the use of a single-crystal, reflection electron diffraction camera. This article describes several instances in which these instruments have been valuable guides in mineral dressing research at International Minerals & Chemical Corp. One of the first applications of these techniques employed by International Minerals was in conjunction with the study of electrical concentration of potash ore. The first reasonably successful separation of potash ore was made by subjecting a sample of the ore to a methanol wash. Subsequent tests using tagged 6C14 methanol showed that only a minute quantity of radioactivity was detectable after the methanol-washed sample had been dried and heated to about 300°F. It was concluded that although some methanol had been held to the surface by adsorption, this could not account for the improved electrification because there was no evidence of methanol selectivity with respect to NaCl or KCl. Consequently there must have been some other change in the surface. Carbon replicas* of the mineral grains were made before and after the methanol wash. The replicas were separated from the minerals by dissolving in water. This extraction replica technique is particularly attractive because the specimen can first be used with the electron microscope to observe the general structure of the surface and can be re-used as a specimen for electron-diffraction studies to identify any solvent insoluble material present on the mineral surface." Fig. 1 shows the general

Jan 1, 1960

By G. W. Tracy, R. D. Carter

A method based on an approach by Hurst' is developed for calculating water influx behavior. Using this method, superposition calculations may be eliminated. The principal diflerence between this method and that of Hurst is that, over finite intervals of time, constant oil-productton rates are assumed by Hurst whereas constant water influx rates are assumed in the presently described method. By adopting the assumption of constant water influx rate for finite time periods, a method is developed for calculating water influx behavior which lends itself to convenient combination with the material balance equation in the Schilthuis form. Above the bubble point, an equation is given for the explicit step-wise calculation of pressure history for a prescribed oil-production history. Use of this method of calculating water influx behavior should result in a considerable saving of time as compared to superposition calculations when the calculations must be made without using a digital computer. The connection is shown between the method described herein and the method developed by van Ever-dingen and Hursr2 (which requires superposition cal-culations). Also, results obtained using the two methods are compared.

By Rossiter W. Raymond

The most important event in the history of mining in the United States was the discovery of gold in California, which led to the rapid development, not only of a new industry, but of a new empire. The settlement of the Pacific slope was making but slow progress under the inducements of a scanty commerce in furs and hides. The liberal grants offered by the government to agricultural pioneers in Oregon had attracted to the Willamette valley and other favored points in that territory a limited population; hot the government of the Mexicans in California was positively unfavorable to enterprise. It is true that gold was known to exist in the country. Rumors of it were current among the trappers, and placers had actually been worked in what is now Los Angeles County; but the padres of the neighboring mission of San Fernando had discouraged the business as demoralizing to their flocks; and the existence of the precious metal was not widely known; still less was its distribution northward suspected. The discovery of gold, January 19th) 1848, at Sutter's saw-mill, on the south fork of the American River, afterward famous as Coloma, in Eldorado County, was the beginning of the new epoch. This discovery was made by James Wilson Marshall, a partner in the mill, who observed in the debris washed down by the tail-race a glittering fragment of a mineral unknown to him. Suspecting it to be gold, he sought for further specimens, and obtained, in the course of a few days, several ounces of it. Tests subsequently

By D. L. King

The San Francisco Chemical Co. has been actively interested in phosphate mining since 1908. It was, in fact, the first company to make claims on properties in the western phosphate belt. From the period of 1908 to 1947, the company's phosphate operations were centered at their Waterloo property, five miles east of Montpelier, Idaho. A small tonnage of phosphate rock was shipped annually from their underground mines in that area. In 1945, the company started the first western open-pit phosphate mine on the slopes of Waterloo Hill. In 1947, they obtained an option and lease on the Beckwith Hills' deposits in southwestern Wyoming, some 25 miles south of Cokeville. While the operations at Montpelier and the Beckwith Hills are both open pit, there are many differences which suggest separate treatment in this paper. Structurally, the Waterloo Hill is the west slope of an anticline. The beddings dip from 20" to 35" to the west. Erosion has caused the footwall exposures (Well's formation) to appear in the upper areas as a series of apices, giving the outcrops a festooned arrangement. Dip faulting with subsequent erosion has induced gullies normal to the strike and resulted in eroded areas which separate the remnants of the

Jan 1, 1950

By Frederick Forscher

Frederick Forscher (Nuclear Materials and Equipment Gorp.)—It is gratifying to see another series of experimental results that essentially reconfirms our reported observations of "Strain-Induced Hydrogen Embrittlement in Zirconium" (F. Forscher: AIME Trans., 1956, vol. 206, p. 536, noted as Ref. 3 of paper). However, several important considerations may have been overlooked, or—at least—have not been specifically pointed out. It is the purpose of this discussion to present some of these considerations. The statement is made that "the equilibrium concentration of hydrogen in solution at 20°C in zirconium is approximately 10 ppm; i.e., no zirconium hydride precipitates are formed at or below this hydrogen content." This is perhaps the case in the unstressed condition. In the presence of triaxial (plastic) strain however, even as little as 1.4 ppm H2 (Forscher's Figs. 6 and 11) will cause porosity near fracture in 20°C tests. The necked-down region that develops during a tensile test provides the triaxiality necessary for these pores to open. Both Beevers' and Forscher's micrographs show that porosity is concentrated in the necked region. So-called "pure zirconium" containing about 10 ppm H2 also shows pronounced porosity near fracture (Beevers' Fig. 3). Since it is generally agreed that such porosity is

Jan 1, 1965

By G. P. Sewell

Callow-Type flotation cells, with various modifications, have been employed at the Hayden concentrator since 1917. Other flotation machines, such as matless-air and mechanically agitated types, which have been tested in competition, have failed to handle tonnages or give metallurgical results equal to the modified Callow-type cells on the Ray ores. The original type consisted of wide, deep launders with a relatively flat bottom constructed of porous concrete, through which the air was introduced into the flotation pulp. These cells were constructed to handle the tailings from the gravity concentrating process and no special attention was given to pre- conditioning the pulp ahead of flotation.

Nov 1, 1955

By H. T. Byck

The plastering properties of six representative California drilling muds were studied over a temperature range of 70 to 175 F. at several mud weights, using a high-pressure circulating filter press with full size consolidated cores. In all tests, with untreated as well as with chemically treated muds, the filtration rates at elevated temperature were higher than at low temperatures and in nearly every case this increased filtration rate was notably larger than could be attributed alone to the decreased viscosity of water—the flowing medium—at elevated temperatures. It is concluded that no existing method will permit even an approximate determination of the filtration rate at high temperature from data at room temperature. It is necessary to measure filtration at the temperature actually anticipated in the well, or to make a sufficient number of tests at various lower temperatures so that a small extrapolation of these data to the anticipated well temperature may be applied. Such tests should be carried out on the mud as actually used in the well. The viscosity of each of the muds was determined over the same temperature range. While no relationship was observed between mud viscosity and plastering properties, it was found that chemical treatment of the muds for viscosity reduction shifted the temperature of minimum viscosity to appreciably higher values than for untreated muds. Importance of Plastering Properties A survey of the literature on rotary drilling muds clearly shows the growing realization of the importance of plastering properties,'-5 not only from the point of view of the successful completion of the mechanical operation of drilling the well but also from the point of view of minimum impairment of the natural flow possibilities of a given well. Poor plastering properties with attendant high filtration rate (large water loss to the formation) and thick mud sheath, lead to stuck drill

Jan 1, 1940

By H. T. Byck

The plastering properties of six representative California drilling muds were studied over a temperature range of 70 to 175 F. at several mud weights, using a high-pressure circulating filter press with full size consolidated cores. In all tests, with untreated as well as with chemically treated muds, the filtration rates at elevated temperature were higher than at low temperatures and in nearly every case this increased filtration rate was notably larger than could be attributed alone to the decreased viscosity of water—the flowing medium—at elevated temperatures. It is concluded that no existing method will permit even an approximate determination of the filtration rate at high temperature from data at room temperature. It is necessary to measure filtration at the temperature actually anticipated in the well, or to make a sufficient number of tests at various lower temperatures so that a small extrapolation of these data to the anticipated well temperature may be applied. Such tests should be carried out on the mud as actually used in the well. The viscosity of each of the muds was determined over the same temperature range. While no relationship was observed between mud viscosity and plastering properties, it was found that chemical treatment of the muds for viscosity reduction shifted the temperature of minimum viscosity to appreciably higher values than for untreated muds. Importance of Plastering Properties A survey of the literature on rotary drilling muds clearly shows the growing realization of the importance of plastering properties,'-5 not only from the point of view of the successful completion of the mechanical operation of drilling the well but also from the point of view of minimum impairment of the natural flow possibilities of a given well. Poor plastering properties with attendant high filtration rate (large water loss to the formation) and thick mud sheath, lead to stuck drill

Jan 1, 1940

By R. P. King

Flotation plant simulation, a relatively recent methodology in mineral processing, is defined and corresponding uses are discussed. Typical simulation structures are compared. Current problem areas exist although these are not insurmountable. Following a brief state of the art discussion, the N. I. M. simulation program is reviewed. In general, digital plant simulation is expected to be of substantial benefit in the near future.

Jan 1, 1976

By Milton H. Fies

THE Alabama Power Co. operates its Gorgas mine in Walker County, Ala., immediately adjacent to its steam plant. The coal mine property consists of some 19,000 acres of fee and mineral ownership lands, and all of the production from the mine-approximately 2500 tons per day-is utilized at the company's adjoining steam plant. The company is presently considering the purchase of additional acreage adjoining its present holdings which acquisition will almost double its reserves. The coal is transported from the mine over a short railroad spur in the company's own equipment, either directly to one of the large plants at Gorgas or to a storage pile. The longest haul is about 1 1/4 miles.

Jan 12, 1950

By Jennifer Drake, Edward T. Moriuchi, Jennifer A. Hill

SEAMSYS and CSD/SMP are sets of computer programs that assist geologists and mine engineers in modeling and evaluating coal properties. The systems are tailored for treatment of waste and coal quality data, including metallurgical coal product capabilities. The gridded SEAMSYS model honors all drillhole data and incorporates user- defined mining parameters, losses and dilutions, and operational constraints. A variety of reserve reports and graphic displays are available from the model. Preliminary mine planning is accomplished through automatic cut generation and production targeting. CSD/SMP refines the preliminary plans to help anticipate the consequences of various mine schedules and evaluate equipment capacity requirements.

Jan 1, 1983

By William Buell

As used in connection with open-hearth or other high-temperature operations, "insulation" refers to a multitude of substances, natural or manufactured, that have the one principal property of preventing the flow of heat by conduction to a greater degree than refractories can prevent it, the principal properties of the latter being resistance to tem-perature and/or chemical action. The term "control" as commonly applied to the mechanization of management functions is inappropriate without qualification, for without some degree of control of every operation we could produce no steel worthy of the name. Although grouped together in this paper, insulation and control in open-hearth furnaces have little, if any, interrelationship, therefore the paper is made up of two distinct parts.

Jan 1, 1935

By Ferid Kromer

This paper is the first in a series which will describe geology, mining methods, and production costs of some of Turkey's more important minerals. In this paper the economically significant minerals-chromite, meerschaum, and magnesite-of the Tastepe district are described. The cost data presented are believed by the author to be the first made public on Turkish chromite mining.

Jan 1, 1950

By H. L. Gilbert, C. Travis Anderson, W. J. Kroll

IN a previous paper,1 the use of a split graphite tube resistor as a heater element for high-temperature furnaces has been described. The principal advantages of this type of construction are: I. The quadruple resistance or voltage compared with the top-bottom clamp resistor furnace. 2. Free expansion of the resistor. 3. The ease of protection from oxidation by air. 4. The firmness by which it may be held in the compact split clamp. This construction appeared to be well adapted for the fusion of high melting metals which require fusion in a vacuum. Zirconium metal had previously been melted at the Albany Laboratory of the Bureau of Mines in a vacuum arc furnace on a water-cooled plate, using a movable tungsten top electrode.2 When larger furnace capacities were desired, this type of construction proved to have its limitations as the largest tungsten rods available were about 7/8in. in diameter. The supply of direct current of high amperage for producing the . desired arc characteristics was also not available. Considerable difficulty was also found in compensating the atmospheric pressure on the flexible tubing of the movable electrode, at the same time keeping its movement sufficiently free to enable the striking of an arc on any part of the metal briquet. Among the various materials used for the electrodes in conducting experiments in the vacuum arc furnace was graphite. It was found that zirconium fused in a graphite cup with a carbon arc was contaminated to only 0.2 pct carbon. It was therefore decided to melt zirconium directly in graphite crucibles. A high-frequency furnace was first used in the attempt to melt the zirconium in graphite crucibles. The high-frequency heating coil was placed outside a silica tube which was evacuated by means of an oil diffusion pump backed up by a mechanical pump. The graphite crucible was thoroughly degassed at 1900°C before use. Considerable difficulty was experienced in operating at such temperatures in vacuo because, as shown by Zintl,3 carbon vapor formed and reacted with silica according to the reaction: Si02 + C = SiO + CO. The silicon monoxide which is volatile at these high temperatures reacted with the zirconium, thereby contaminating it with silicon and oxygen. The presence of carbon monoxide was detected by means of a gas discharge tube placed in the vacuum system as indicated by the pale blue glow of the tube as soon as carbon vapor started to react with the hot silica. The reaction between the carbon vapor and hot silica was avoided by the use of split cylindrical molybdenum shields which were inserted between the graphite crucible

Jan 1, 1948

By W. B. Triplett, H. I. Aaronson, G. M. Andes

A detailed morphological study has been made of the pro-eutectoid TiCr, and the eutectoid reactions in a Ti-17.42 pct Cr alloy isothermally transformed at temperatures from 775° through 5561°C. The morphologies of proeute,ctoid TiCr2 were found to be subject to description by the Dube morphological classification system. Grain boundary allotriomo.lphs are the dominant plpoeutectoid morphology throughout the temperature range investigated. lntragranular plates, and especially Widmanstatten sideplates, form only in small numbers. This morphological pattern differs markedly from that of the proeutectoid a reaction in hypoeutectoid Ti-Cr alloys (AIME Trans., 1957, vol. 209, p. 1227; 1958, vol. 212, p. 624), in which plates form prolifically throughout wide ranges of temperature. The eutectoid reaction is nonlamellar in character at 675°C. An increasingly prominent lamellar component develops at lower temperatures. The proeutectoid TiCr 2 and the eutectoid transformations have been studied metallographically in a hypereutectoid titanium-chromium alloy. This investigation was undertaken with the immediate objective of comparing these transformations with their counterparts in hypoeutectoid titanium-chromium alloys, studies of which have been recently completed.1,2 It was also intended, however, to contribute to the general literature on transformations of these types. Especially in the proeutectoid case, this literature is still sufficiently sparse to make difficult the testing of generalizations on the mechanisms of these transformations. TiCr, is the only intermetallic compound in the titanium-chromium system.3-5 The TiCr2 phase field extends to a maximum temperature of 1350°C) and encompasses the approximate composition range of 62 to 68 pct Cr at lower temperatures.3'4 At temperatures below 1000°C, TiCr2 has a MgCu,-type fcc structure, with 24 atoms comprising a unit cell.6,7 Only fragmentary observations on the morphology of proeutectoid TiCr2 have been previously reported. An observation which is of considerable importance with respect to the results obtained during the present investigation was made, however, on anisother-mally transformed alloys with high chromium (48 to 70 pct Cr) contents.3"8 Despite the occurrence of extensive impingement, it is apparent that a substantial proportion of the proeutectoid TiCr, which precipitated in these alloys grew in the form of Widmanstatten plates. Several observations have been made on the eutectoid reaction in hypereutectoid alloys during investigations of the titanium-chromium phase di-

Jan 1, 1961