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By Harry H. Power

WHILE the attention of all engineering branches is focused today on changes and improvements in the several curricula, we are concerned here with the many questions arising in industry and college concerning the preparation for the petroleum engineering profession. The succession of problems confronting the petroleum engineer demands a degree of versatility not ordinarily encountered in other professions. As a consequence, the student cannot acquire mastery of all the several engineering branches represented in field practice, and as an alternative, he has learned to appreciate the value of thorough training in the basic or fundamental sciences as a preliminary foundation for professional work. While our attention is directed primarily to the training of engineers in educational institutions, it is necessary that the ultimate education of the professional engineer be kept in mind. It is apparent that his success as an engineer is limited not only by his educational and job experience, but by his native endowments: mentality, personality and health. The engineer's lack of job experiences often proves as much a handicap as the lack of adequate college training. If the final product proves to be satisfactory, both industry and technical institutions are to be congratulated. However, if the product is found wanting, the one most responsible should be apprehended. FITNESS FOR PROFESSION For the most part, students of engineering colleges have had their interests in applied science awakened at a relatively early age. Many of them entered college as a convenient means of acquiring a technical education, but undoubtedly would have had better prospects in a shorter program offered by institutions of noncollege grade. The activating motive of practical interest is also strong in students suitable for college training, but in many cases an intellectual interest must be awakened in order that it may survive graduation. Numerous engineers believe that this progressive process of selection and determination of career aims is one of the essential services rendered by the engineering colleges. Industrialists, who are more interested in quality than quantity of petroleum engineering graduates, have pointed out the good that should result if more emphasis were given to the work of eliminating the misfits. They also point out the protective measures that have been taken by other professions for the betterment of professional standards. Mention has been made of the beneficial results to be obtained by collective determination of the market for the products of engineering schools, particularly in that the students unsuited to the profession would have an opportunity to prepare themselves for employment more suited to their personalities and other qualifications. In the event that such a system of coordinated personnel direction is developed by the

Jan 1, 1941

Oil sands processing generates huge volumes of slurry, known as tailings, that is being stored in tailings ponds. The volume of produced tailings is a very important factor in oil sands surface mine planning, because the available area for dam construction is limited to the lease areas. On the other hand, oil sands operators cannot leave mine sites without reclaiming the tailings ponds. Since most of the reclamation material is generated in either oil sands mining or processing, it is reasonable to include reclamation material requirement as part of long-term mine planning. In this paper, an integrated optimization framework is proposed to maximize the net present value (NPV) of the produced oil sands, with respect to tailings capacity constraints and reclamation material requirements. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is developed to find the optimal solution for long-term mine planning problem. A sample bitumen processing flow sheet is used to formulate the volume of produced tailings, based on Clark hot water extraction method. To verify the proposed model, it is coded in Matlab and run using CPLEX. Run results for real-case oil sands dataset show that the optimal production schedule meets material requirements for reclamation, tailings volume is within tailings capacity range in all periods and the production schedule follows the predetermined horizontal direction.

Feb 27, 2013

By Harry H. Power

WHILE the attention of all engineering branches is focused today on changes and improvements in the several curricula, we are concerned here with the many questions arising in industry and college concerning the preparation for the petroleum engineering profession. The succession of problems confronting the petroleum engineer demands a degree of versatility not ordinarily encountered in other professions. As a consequence, the student cannot acquire mastery of all the several engineering branches represented in field practice, and as an alternative, he has learned to appreciate the value of thorough training in the basic or fundamental sciences as a preliminary foundation for professional work. While our attention is directed primarily to the training of engineers in educational institutions, it is necessary that the ultimate education of the professional engineer be kept in mind. It is apparent that his success as an engineer is limited not only by his educational and job experience, but by his native endowments: mentality, personality and health. The engineer's lack of job experiences often proves as much a handicap as the lack of adequate college training. If the final product proves to be satisfactory, both industry and technical institutions are to be congratulated. However, if the product is found wanting, the one most responsible should be apprehended. FITNESS FOR PROFESSION For the most part, students of engineering colleges have had their interests in applied science awakened at a relatively early age. Many of them entered college as a convenient means of acquiring a technical education, but undoubtedly would have had better prospects in a shorter program offered by institutions of noncollege grade. The activating motive of practical interest is also strong in students suitable for college training, but in many cases an intellectual interest must be awakened in order that it may survive graduation. Numerous engineers believe that this progressive process of selection and determination of career aims is one of the essential services rendered by the engineering colleges. Industrialists, who are more interested in quality than quantity of petroleum engineering graduates, have pointed out the good that should result if more empha¬sis were given to the work of eliminating the misfits. They also point out the protective measures that have been taken by other professions for the betterment of professional standards. Mention has been made of the beneficial results to be obtained by collective determination of the market for the products of engineering schools, particularly in that the students unsuited to the profession would have an opportunity to prepare themselves for employment more suited to their personalities and other qualifications. In the event that such a system of coordinated personnel direction is developed by the

Jan 1, 1941

By E. Vascotto, S. M. Rupprecht, H. C. Grobler

Shaft sinking survey practices in Southern African mining operations have been refined over many decades to meet the stringent accuracy, safety, and productivity demands of deep vertical excavation. However, much of this specialised knowledge remains poorly documented, and the decline in new shaft sinking projects presents a risk that these proven practices may be lost to future generations of mine surveyors. This paper reviews and synthesises current survey control methodologies employed during shaft sinking operations, with particular emphasis on the establishment and maintenance of surface and underground control networks, shaft verticality control, and elevation transfer. Traditional techniques, such as plumb-wire plumbing systems, steady brackets, and calibrated steel shaft tapes, are discussed in detail, alongside quality control principles and common sources of error affecting coordinate transfer. The paper further examines the integration of modern technologies, including total station resections and LiDARbased laser scanning, highlighting their benefits, limitations, and practical constraints in active shaft environments. By documenting both established and emerging practices, this review aimsto preserve critical institutional knowledge, support consistent survey standards, and provide guidance for accurate spatial control throughout the shaft sinking lifecycle.

Mar 30, 2026

By R. H. Schutz

This publication lists the respiratory protective devices approved by the Bureau of Mines as of December 31, 1968, and the names and addresses of their manufacturers. The purpose of this publication is to inform the public about approved equipment for safe use in mines and mineral and allied industries.

Jan 1, 1969

By McKinnon R. L

Laboratory and field work on the use of wetting agents for suppression of colliery dust is described. Although the results were inconclusive they were not discouraging and further investigation is required. The use of certain wetting agents may constitute a healthhazard.INTRODUCTIONCoal dust presents explosion and health hazards to the coal mining industry. The problem of dust suppression is particularly acute where water alone is unsatisfactory for this purpose. The addition of a surface active agent (wetting agent) to the water should enable the dust particles to be more easily wetted and thus more easily prevented from entering and spreading through the mine atmosphere.Investigations into this effect carried out at The University of Sydney mainly under research grants from The Joint Coal Board (Dawson and Hargraves, 1955; Charlton and Curnow, 1957) are summarized, and information on the possible harmful effects of certain wetting agents is given.Twelve local manufacturers and five importers supplied 52 wetting agents in liquid, solid, powder, and paste form.The active material content varied from approximately 10 per cent to 100 per cent and the cost per pound from 8d. to 14/3.LABORATORY TESTINGPossible test methodsThree methods of laboratory testing were considered.1. The standard method for comparing wetting agents is the Draves test, used in the textile industry on cotton...

Jan 1, 1961

By P. M. Ambrose, C. Travis Anderson, Cresap Moss, R. S. Dean

"MANGANESE METALMethods of PreparationMethods of preparing the manganese metal that has been used in chemical and metallurgical investigations have passed through a cycle. Most of the investigations made before the turn of the century used Moissan's pyrophoric manganese. 5/ This material was made by electrolysis into a mercury cathode and distillation in vacuo. It was essentially a pure material, and investigations in which it was employed (with proper precautions against oxida¬tion) led to accurate results concerning the intrinsic behavior of metallic manganese.An early investigation of the properties of ""Manganese-by-Mercury"" was made by M. Guntz. 6/ He prepared manganese by electrolysis of a concentrated MnCl2 solution with a mercury cathode. The manganese amalgam was pressed through chamois and distilled in vacuo (2 to 3 cm. of mercury) at 200°0., slowly rising to 250°0. Guntz recognized especially the decreased reactivity of manganese with increased temperature of mercury distillation. The most careful and com¬prehensive study of manganese made by this method is that of Kuh 7/ whose work unfortunately was never published in an accessible journal.Royce and Kahlenberg 8/ studied the electrode potential of manganese made by this method."

Nov 1, 1939

By W. E. Falck, A. Usubiaga, J. Spangenberg, P. Schepelmann, S. Šolar, D. Wittmer, F. Blanchard

The extraction and processing of mineral resources may be accompanied by environmental impacts. In spite of technological advancements, the enormous increase in production volumes within the last decades has induced sizeable environmental impacts along the life-cycle of products. Beside environmental impacts, social issues associated with mining need to be considered to ensure the social acceptability of mining activities. The project EO-MINERS aims at deploying Earth Observation (EO) tools to inform best practices in mining and to thus assist the global mineral resources industries in their transition to sustainable development. In order to facilitate the handling of complex sets of information requirements from a wide variety of stakeholders, a set of indicators was developed that will inform the process of EO tool and services development. The project strives to enable stakeholders outside the industry to meaningfully participate in decision-finding processes on mining-related issues by developing and providing EO products and services that fit the information requirements. The project has identified a wide range of such information requirements by stakeholders that could be potentially provided by EO tools. The applicability of the EO tools on the local level is tested on three mining sites.

Jan 1, 2011

By D. A. Douglass

This report describes the tri-n-butyl phosphate extraction of cerium (IV) from a sulfate leach liquor prepared from a bastnaesite concentrate as well as from pure eerie nitrate solutions. The work was done on a laboratory scale using separatory funnels. Extraction from pure cerium solutions entailed no great difficulties; however, extraction from the bastnaesite solution proved more difficult, mainly because of the inhibiting effect of the sulfate ion. Despite this, procedures were developed for obtaining good single-state cerium extraction (95+ percent) and a high-purity product (99+ percent), although the maximization of both cannot be achieved simultaneously. This necessitates a compromise in any extraction scheme.

Jan 1, 1959

By Yuanyuan Wang, Yuhao Ding, Hao Bai, Kang Zhou, Guangwei Du

"In this paper, the list analysis of GHG emissions of aluminum industry was conducted based on the data from typical electrolytic aluminum plants of a China’s northwest province. The results show that under the conditions of average anode effect coefficient as 0.16 times/(cell• day) and anode duration as 5 minutes per day, equivalent emissions of CO2 reached 1.23 ton per ton of aluminum, in which PFC emissions accounted for about 71%. Compared with foreign advanced level, which is 0.87 ton per ton of aluminum under the conditions of average anode effect coefficient as 0.01 times/(cell•day) and anode duration as 0.46 minutes per day, there is much room for China’s aluminum industry to reduce GHG emissions. Since anode effect plays an important role on PFCs generation in electrolytic aluminum process, how to control anode effect strictly becomes the key factor for remarkable reduction of GHG emissions in China’s aluminum industry.IntroductionTechnology of aluminum electrolysis is a mature and efficient process of aluminum production. Due to the huge demand on aluminum worldwide, so resource consumption, energy consumption and pollutant emissions in the process of aluminum production are still large. The global output of aluminum reached 45193 kt in 2012. A large amount of CO2 and PFCs are produced in the process of aluminum production, and the greenhouse effect and environmental pollution caused by emissions of them is a concern. PFCs belong to a powerful greenhouse gas, thus emission reduction of PFCs is very important for aluminum electrolysis industry. At present, China's aluminum production accounts for about 33% of the world's aluminum production, and controlling PFCs emission has become the key point of pollution control of aluminum electrolysis industry in China [1].Taking the case of a typical electrolytic aluminum plant of a China’s northwest province, this paper studies the list analysis of GHG emissions of aluminum industry in China. GHG emissions of a China’s northwest province were calculated through investigating existing situation of aluminum electrolysis industry in the province, knowing capacity, output, main production technology and equipment level of aluminum electrolysis industry, and using the calculation framework and methods of GHG emissions of aluminum electrolysis industry, which were put forward by the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC), the international aluminum association and other organizations at home and abroad. The list analysis of GHG emissions of aluminum electrolysis industry will offer useful information in promoting emission reduction of GHG in aluminum electrolysis industry, improve the efficiency of energy utilization."

Jan 1, 2014

For all the attention given to mining activities in Central and South America, Mexico, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, it is sometimes easy to forget the activities taking place in one of North America's most important and largely untapped regions -Alaska. The Alaskan minerals industry employed about 3,406 people during 1995. That is a 23% increase from - - 1994. It also contributed about $719.8 million to the state's economy during 1995, a 10% increase. During the past few years, Alaska has seen significant increases in exploration and mining activity. Fairbanks Mining, an arm of Cyprus Amax, began producing gold during 1996 at its Fort Knox Mine, as did Nevada Goldfields' Nixon Fork gold mine. Kennecott's Greens Creek lead-silver-gold mine also reopened and USMX began operations at its Illinois Creek gold mine. In addition, several impressive exploration projects were under way in Alaska. Placer Dome reported good results at Donlin Creek project in southwest Alaska. Likewise, Newmont Exploration is getting serious about its True North gold project. And Nerox is nearing production at its Jonesville coal project in Alaska's interior. In November, about 400 miners gathered in Anchor- age for the Alaska Miners Convention. Throughout the conference and exhibition, attendees listened to updates on these precious- and base-metal and coal exploration and mining operations. They also learned that the state wants more miners to head north and help develop its natural resources. Alaska is ripe for a smelter The mining industry -Alaska's miners in particular - has a powerful ally in Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK). He is the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. During his luncheon address, Murkowski said it appears that it is economically feasible to extend the Alaska Railroad to northwest Alaska, taking advantage of the large coal and hard-rock mineral tracts in the Ambler mining district. He also renewed his push for building a major smelter in Alaska to process ore that would come from the Ambler mining district. Murkowski believes that Alaska's economy can be expanded by extending the railroad from Nenana to the Point Lay coal fields to open coal development. Along the way, the railroad would pass through the Ambler district, helping to develop the hard-rock deposits. An outgrowth of this additional mineral development, Murkowski said, could be a new smelter in Alaska. It could use power from the Tyee hydroelectric facility near Wrangell or from the Makushin geothermal project near Unalaska. Either site, he added, offers access to plentiful, relatively low-cost power, at tidewater to facilitate ore deliveries to the Pacific Rim. The Congressional Research Service has determined that there are enough mineral deposits and coal beds to make it possible to finance the extended railroad, he said. The 1,200-km (744- mile) rail extension would cost about $4.2 billion. The North Slope of Alaska contains up to 3.6 Tt (4 trillion st) of coal, Murkowski said, that contains less than 0.25% of sulfur and less than 4% moisture. It aver- ages 12,300 Btu in heat content. "That is a tremendous resource," he said. The Ambler mining district, meanwhile, has at least eight identifiable hard-rock deposits, Murkowski continued. These contain zinc, lead, copper, nickel, chromium, tin, barite, gold and silver. "All eight of these can generate ore concentrates at rates similar to Red Dog's cur- rent 725 ktla (800,000 stpy)" of zinc, he said.

Jan 1, 1997

By A. H. Shoemaker

This paper describing the mining practices at the Old Dominion mine, Globe, Ariz., is one of a series being prepared by the United States Bureau of Mines on mining practices, methods, and costs in the various minim districts in the United States. The Old Dominion mine is situated in the eastern port of the Globe-Miami district, about 1-1/2 miles north from the center of the town of Globe. An average of nearly: 1,200 tons per day was mined during 1928. The prevent production is about 1,500 tons per day; of this amount,, approximately 100 tons is direct-smelting ore that is shipped to the smelter at Miami and 1,400 tons milling ore which is treated in the company?s concentrator at Globe. About 600 men are employed at the mine.

Jan 1, 1930

By J. Y. Tian

In view of the fact that many domestic iron ore-dressing plant applying flotation cells in the re-verse flotation, to improve the technical level of magnetite reverse flotation, we apply such a technological process of one stage rougher and two stages scavenger flotation column respectively. The middling from the two stage scavenger process are returned to magnetic separation for condensing. By contrast, the technological process of one stage rougher and one stage cleaning flotation cells is made up of by multi-magnetic separation and magnetic middling regrinding separations. It has been proved that the flotation column we offer can simplify the technological process structure, obtain advanced technical indexes, run the system smoothly, reduce energy consumption, and be environ-mental friendly.

Jan 1, 2014

By O N. Savassi

A rigorous methodology for prediction of flotation plant performance is presented, which is based on a standardised batch flotation test called the MFT. The work is part of the FLEET program, developed by MinnovEX with the support of seven large mining firms. The methodology is divided into three key steps: direct measurement of the kinetics of true flotation in the pulp, independent of hydraulic entrainment and other froth effects in the batch cell; benchmarking of the industrial plant over a broad range of ore types and operation conditions; and model calibration to describe froth effects in the plant, with a minimal number of parameters. To date, the methodology has been applied with success at several industrial plants, encompassing copper, gold, nickel, iron, lead, zinc and coal operations. This paper includes a description of the laboratory testwork procedure and scale-up to full industrial circuits. Examples of industrial application are also presented.

Jan 1, 2005

By R. Carson Dalzell

The use of nuclear fission for chemical process heat offers the special advantage of high temperature, limited only by materials of construction. The process heat may be supplied economically at elevated pressures, since no compression of combustion air is required. For the initial effort in developing a high-temperature reactor, the indirect cycle, using helium as the heat-transfer medium, was chosen. The major problems are the design of high-temperature fuel elements, construction of an exchanger to transfer heat to process streams in the range of 2,500° F., and development of compressors capable of recycling helium at 1,000° F. and above. A conceptual design of a nuclear reactor to furnish process heat for coal gasification has been made. Spherical fuel elements utilizing a graphite structure, impregnated with uranium carbide fuel, were chosen, as spheres offer the possibility of easier loading and unloading of the reactor. Calculations of pressure drop and gas-pumping power for the system are included.

Jan 1, 1959

By W. B. Gallup

"The Athabasca Bituminous Sands have been subject to sporadic investigations since the beginning of the century. It is probable, however, that much of what has been learned and achieved concerning the deposit has been accomplished in the last few years.Current exploratory techniques, generally speaking, involve a moderate amount of coring. Electrologs and often radioactive logs are run on most holes and certain types of these archieved excellent qualitative analysis when backed up by some core analysis for calibration. Exploration - is moving back from the river and consequently a permanent network of access roads has been developed within the last few years. Most of the operations take place in the winter time. There are about 90 permit holders at the present time.Some exploratory techniques are set up to go into recovery experiments where rich tar beds are found. It is probable that in the final analysis there will be several successful methods of extraction and that both mining and various in situ techniques will be applicable depending upon the problem locally."

Jan 1, 1960

By T. A. Sullivan

The use of sulfur combined with either sand or waste copper tailings was investigated by the Bureau of Mines as a substitute for a good graded aggregate in asphalt paving materials. The research was part of a utilization program to develop meaningful uses for a projected oversupply of sulfur. Many sections of the country lack good aggregate for paving but do have available sources of sands and sulfur. The development of paving mixtures of desert sands or tailings with sulfur and asphalt was accomplished in the laboratory and tested by laying small paving test sections. Three types of material were studied for use with the sulfur and asphalt. They were (1) a concrete sand similar in gradation to river or beach sands, (2) desert blow sand, and (3) waste copper tailings. Desert blow sand and waste copper tailings are much finer than concrete sand. Mix designs were established for the three types of materials, sulfur, and asphalt used in the paving materials. The best mix designs were as follows, in weight-percent: 80.5 concrete sand, 13.5 sulfur, and 6 asphalt; and 77 either blow sand or tailings, 17 sulfur, and 6 asphalt. Small-scale testing showed that these mixtures were suitable paving materials but would require specialized equipment for transporting and laying. The chemical modification of sulfur to obtain properties that would allow placement of these materials with normal asphalt paving equipment was studied. Results indicate that reacting sulfur with dicyclopentadiene before adding it to the paving mixture was effective in modifying the sand-sulfur-asphalt paving so it could be placed and rolled with conventional equipment.

Jan 1, 1975

By Robert E. Kirby

The potash mine and refinery of AMAX Chemical Corporation is located 26 miles east of Carlsbad on the north end of the potash producing areas. This property was developed between 1949-1952 and production of muriate began in August 1952. Two shafts, located 400 feet apart, were sunk to the ore zone 900 feet below the surface. A 15-foot diameter ore hoisting shaft equipped with a 1000-ton ore pocket, crusher and automatic skip loading equipment plus a 20-foot diameter service shaft with a curtain wall for exhausting air were provided. Sylvinite production to date has been from the first ore zone, stratigraphically, the lowest of ten identified mineralized zones in the salt section. This first ore zone has been the top producer of Muriate of Potash over the years. In our area we do have some very marginal mineralization in the third ore zone some 35 feet above the first. We have not mined from this seam as yet but we are investigating the economics very closely with access slopes and an experimental mining panel. Our ore seam is generally flat lying but does have local gentle rolling with grades from 2% to 5%. The mine was designed and developed from the beginning with conventional mining practices and rail haulage from the mining section to the ore pocket. As mining progressed in the early years, production increased from less than one million tons annually to a maximum of 3,935,000 tons in 1964. Efficiency also kept pace with the increasing production and continually improved until the efficiency of the production crews reached an average of 100.3 tons per manshift in 1964.

Jan 1, 1974

By Eduardo Pimenta de Melo, Rambabu Pothina, Rajive Ganguli

Sensors are everywhere in the mining industry, with sensor information being used to monitor and operate processes. Therefore, when sensor information is wrong, economic losses can occur. Unfortunately, sensor errors are usually not detected till they become large. This is problematic as most calibrate their sensors no more than once a year (Beamex, n.d.). Using principles of data mining, where all relevant information is tapped to glean hidden information, Pothina [8] designed an algorithm to detect errors in temperature sensors in gold stripping circuit in Pogo mine, Alaska. This paper continued his work by analyzing the behavior of the algorithm on baseline data and testing the algorithm in new data and under more rigorous conditions. It also made a change to the algorithm. The modified algorithm performed very well in the new data. It also worked well under the new error conditions. Three types of errors were seeded, a fixed additive error (+ 2%), a fixed subtractive error (− 2%), and a noisy, normally distributed error, with a mean value of + 2%. Artificially seeded errors were detected within about 20 gold stripping cycles. Inherent bias in operation impacted algorithm performance by increasing the number of cycles needed to detect errors. This paper reinforced Pothina’s [8] conclusion that when data mining approach is used, sensor errors can be detected even when they are pretty low. Significant economic losses can thus be minimized.

By A. Kapoor, L. Morin, S. Mortazavi, P. Béedard, Gould. W. D., A. Kuiper

The degradation of thiocyanate in a simulated gold mill effluent was studied using a laboratory scale rotating biological contactor (RBC). Complete SCN- removal was obtained at temperatures of 8 and 12°C, and a hydraulic retention time of approximately 3.3 h. The NH4+ produced by thiocyanate hydrolysis was oxidized by nitrifying bacteria to NO2 and NO3-. The HS- produced by thiocyanate hydrolysis was chemically and biologically oxidized to elemental S, which was subsequently biologically oxidized to sulfate. Incomplete sulfur oxidation occurred in the RBC, particularly at 8°C and elemental sulfur deposition was observed on the RBC disks. The RBC feed exhibited toxicity to rainbow trout but the RBC was effective in removing the acute toxicity of thiocyanate.

Jan 1, 2005