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By J. R. Long, A. H. Roberson, T. R. Graham, R. S. Dean

EXPERIMENTAL work on the properties of high-purity alloys of the copper-manganese-zinc system has necessarily required extensive metallographic work to determine the equilibrium conditions in this system. Previous work on these alloys is fragmentary and, unfortunately, based on alloys made with impure grades of manganese, thus introducing significant amounts of iron, silicon, aluminum and carbon. Since these elements are known to affect equilibrium conditions, it became desirable to re-examine these alloys made from the pure metals. The alpha solid solution field was of particular interest and, therefore, was chosen for the initial work, which was outlined to determine the composition limits of this field. PREVIOUS WORK Heusler1 conducted an extensive survey of the liquid-solid regions of this system and also made an estimate of the solid-phase boundaries at 340°C. The pertinent part of his diagram is given in Fig. I, but it is of limited usefulness, since it applied to a single temperature only and is based on impure alloys under admittedly nonequilibrium conditions. Bauer and Hansen,2 likewise working with impure alloys, have determined the phase boundaries for alphabeta brasses containing small amounts of manganese and indicate an increase in the extent of the alpha field with increasing manganese. This is not in accordance with Heusler or with data obtained on pure alloys.3 They also described a third constituent precipitating in the alpha plus beta field below 350° to 400°C. but did not identify this constituent. Guillet4 and Heike and Ledibur5 have also noted this precipitate Each of these investigators recognized that impurities present in the manganese could and did have an effect on the structure and properties of their alloys. Corson6 in particular pointed out the hardening effects of silicon, aluminum, and carbon in copper-manganese alloys and Heusler reported that his alloys containing more than 25 per cent manganese were extremely brittle. In all probability this brittleness was due to the impurities present. This early work, therefore, should be taken as a general guide for preliminary studies only, and high-purity alloys may be expected to produce different results. The work of the Bureau of Mines laboratories with electrolytic manganese has been briefly summarized by Dean7 but includes only a short section on this system. Later work3 outlined a limited portion of the alpha field in the neighborhood of 65 per cent copper, 10 per cent manganese, and 25 per cent zinc. The present work was under-

Jan 1, 1945

In dealing with the pulverization and treatment of auriferous ores, it may be stated that there is not one system of treatment applicable to all classes. In the southern portion of New Zealand the ores generally contain free gold, with scarcely any impurity that is, it is found in an almost pure state, without any alloy, and its dissemination amongst the matrix is generally in tolerably coarse particles. The only difficulties the mill man has to contend with, are the economical concentration of pyrites, which in some of the lodes are rich in gold, and the extraction of the gold the pyrites contain. In some of the lodes there is what may be termed float gold, that is, the particles of the precious metal are so finely divided that it passes over the quicksilver tables, and, unless there are other appliances for saving it, this class of gold is entirely lost.Indeed it is only within the last five years that any attention has been given, in the southern portion of the colony, to saving the fine gold that has passed the amalgamating tables. In the North Island the ores are very complex there are scarcely two mines, although they may be adjoining each other, where the bullion is of the same character. On every field the gold is alloyed with silver', and in combination with other metals and mineral substances, such as copper, zinc, antimony, galenfl, iron, sulphur, arsenic, etc., and, in some instaaces, cinnabar, as in the case of the Champion lode at Tui Creek, Te Aroha. Ores of this class are extremly difficult to treat satisfactorily.

Jan 1, 1903

By W. David Tyler

Any mining or engineering-construction excavation that extends below the water table must be dewatered. In many situations, the ground is of low permeability or the workings extend only a short distance below the water table. So water removal can be handled easily and economically by using mobile centrifugal pumps. However, there is an increasing number of mines that have a continuous high flow of water into the workings. Controlling this flow can significantly increase the cost of ore production. Successful implementation of any major dewatering scheme will ultimately rely on a clear understanding of the local geology. This understanding is necessary before an interpretation of ground water conditions can be made. It will dictate which dewatering methods are feasible. Once the geology and the ground water system are known, the scope and timing of the dewatering measures can be varied with the mine plan. Ground water modeling can assist in optimizing the dewatering system, though the precise objective of each model should be clearly defined. Production wells must be sited and drilled so that individual well efficiencies are high. Any lost efficiencies will translate into higher operating costs. Each well must be designed for maximum long-term control of the water table, and pumps sized to operate under continually changing heads. Finally, the investment in each production well must be protected during the mining process.

Jan 1, 1991

By B. H. Caudle, L. G. Loncarie

Pilot flooding is one method of evaluating a proposed secondary recovery project. However, the amount and rate of oil recovery from an unconfined pilot area is not usually the same as from an equal area in a large-scale flood. This is true because fluids are free to move across the boundary of a pilot area. The result is that some of the oil produced in a pilot flood may come from outside the designated area and some of the displaced oil may leave the pilot area completely. This paper presents the results of fluid-flow model studies on a five-spot pilot flood. Mobility ratios between 0.1 and to have been studied. The effects of changing the ratio of injection to withdrawal rates are shown. INTRODUCTION A small-scale field test, or pilot flood, is an accepted method for evaluating the applicability of a secondary recovery operation and the economic potential of that operation for a reservoir. The pilot flood is carried on in the same manner, with the same injected materials and at the same pressures as would be used were the secondary recovery program to be expanded to a larger area of the field or to the entire field. If the reservoir fluid and reservoir rock properties are the same in the pilot area as in the rest of the reservoir, the production, injection and other pertinent data associated with the pilot test will represent and measure what should be expected from a full-scale development of this secondary recovery program. There is one major exception which, unfortunately, has been overlooked by many and which has been awaiting quantitative definition. This is the sweep-out pattern the reservoir engineer must use in interpreting the pilot flood and in extrapolating it to the full-scale development. The sweep-out area in a pilot flood is not contained within the five-spot pattern. Further, there is oil flow into and/or out of the five-spot during a pilot test. Thus, production data from pilots must be interpreted with this different flow system and sweep pattern in mind. We have studied the sweep-out pattern that will exist for some conditions of operation of pilot flooding a single five-spot (four injection wells and one producer). In our study, reported here, we have assumed that the reservoir is relatively homogeneous and of uniform thickness in the pilot area. The results of this study en-able the engineer to predict the recovery, injection requirements and project life for a full-scale operation from the pilot flooding data. The effects of various injection to withdrawal-rate ratios and mobility ratios in a relatively gas-free (10 per cent pore volume or less) system are shown. Experimental Method The technique used in this study was the same as that for the X-ray shadowgraph studies of sweep-out pattern efficiencies.' The model of the pilot and surrounding area was made from a uniform packing of round-grain sand consolidated with an epoxy resin. Fig. 1 shows the relation between the model and the pilot area. Only one-eighth of the pilot area had to be represented in the model because we assumed equal injec-

By Y. Bai, J. J. Liu, D. Q. Li, S. Z. Liu, X. T. Wang

"This paper presents the results of an industrial test using 8 t/d of Baotou concentrate (50% REO) of a clean metallurgical process, which includes: 1. Roasting with H2SO4 at low temperature (220~260 0C) in a batch roasting furnace followed by water leaching to obtain a leach liquor as feed with a yield of >95% RE and Th, recovering F as fluoride, producing a leach residue amounting to 1/3 of an equivalent high temperature residue and containing <0.03% Th and radioactivity < 3×104 Bq/kg compared to the normal high temperature residue containing 0.2-0.3% Th and 1×105 Bq/kg. 2. Separating Th with N1923 and extracting RE by P507 has been completed in mixer-settlers. Test results indicate that the ThO2 product has a purity of > 95% with a yield of 99%, and the RE has a yield of >95%, in which ThO2/REO <5×10-6, and that P507 loaded RE connect straight with separating RE using P507-HCl system. 3. Treatment and multipurpose use of "three wastes" (water, gas and solids) are discussed in some detail."

Jan 1, 2014

By É. Roberge, S. Makni, G. Gagnon, F. Lavoie, A. Faucher

"Feed particle size is an important variable for the primary grinding mill operation. Several commercial vision systems have proven to successfully measure online many types of ores and are used for automatic control. However, due to limitations associated with segmentation algorithms, these systems fail to provide good measurements when the feed is composed of a specific bimodal particle size distribution: very big rocks and a large amount of fine particles. This is typically the case for crushed iron ore. This paper presents a technique to overcome the limitations of existing vision systems by using 3D cameras and appropriate processing methods. It provides online particle size distribution indicators and bulk volume flow rate measurement. It is designed to be very cost-effective, robust, precise, easy to install and to maintain. The 3D system was validated in two iron ore processing plants and the results clearly show that it can be used to optimize primary grinding mill operation where 2D segmentation vision systems fail.INTRODUCTIONFragmentation measurement using digital image processing has successfully been applied in mining and mineral processing operations. Several maintenance and operating applications are already deployed in the industry: Measurement of rock fragmentation after blasting (Maerz, 1999; Palangio, 1999) (Pragyan, 2012) Truck inventory (Palangio, 2005) Monitoring of crusher mantle wear Automatic control of crushers and SAG mills (Bouajila, 2000) (Bartolacci, 2001)Commercial technologies like WipFrag (Maerz, 1999), VisioRock and others proved to be very efficient to precisely measure the particle size distribution of many types of materials. These products are mainly composed of a camera, a lighting system and an image processing system based on a segmentation algorithm. By controlling adequately the lighting conditions and with periodic maintenance on the segmentation algorithm calibration parameters, it is almost always possible to achieve reliable measurements.However, the segmentation algorithm is not adequate when the particle size distribution contains big rocks and a large amount of fine particles. In this case, the area containing the fine particles is accounted as a big rock while big rocks get segmented as multiple smaller sized particles, leading globally to a wrong measurement. This situation prevails for crushed iron ore and coke, among other materials. Figure 1 shows a picture of a material which is typically very difficult to process through segmentation techniques."

Jan 1, 2015

By C J. de Beer

The Kwaggashoek East pit is one of the four production areas of Thabazimbi Iron Ore Mine. The Kwaggashoek East Open pit mines through the abandoned sublevel caving operations of the Kwaggashoek East underground workings. A risk assessment indicated that the primary risk is the occurrence of surface subsidence. Based on local knowledge, a hypothesis, that most of the cavities were filled with broken rock as a result of roof collapse and bulking of failed material was formulated. To test the hypothesis a number of geophysical methods as well as probe drilling was utilized. The results of the resistivity, gravity and ground penetrating radar surveys were inconclusive in determining the position of voids. Either there were no voids present or the resolution of the surveys was not high enough to pick it up. It is accepted that only small voids remained, and that the supported roof hypothesis is valid. As a precautionary measure all the production blast holes within the caving area were over-drilled by forty percent. This would collapse the roof of any small voids or tunnels immediately below the block. This operation proved to be successful as two of the three underground levels have been mined out with no subsidence occurring in the pit floor.

Jan 1, 2006

By A. K. Mukherjee

The roles of pulsating mechanisms such as the amplitude and frequency of the jig cycle are well established in jigging. Also well established are the roles of the size ratio and the volume fraction of the feed. In iron ore beneficiation plants, these process parameters are optimized to achieve the highest efficiency. However, the role of one of the more important feed characteristics, the liberation characteristic of the feed, has not been studied in detail. Evaluation of the liberation characteristics is difficult because the required washability test is not viable for iron ore feed. In this paper, a new method is proposed in which the liberation characteristics are measured through a separation efficiency value. In the new evaluation method, jigging parameters such as amplitude and frequency of the jig cycle are optimized from the fundamental understanding of the process dynamics and feed characteristics such as size distribution. Then, feeds with different liberation characteristics are tested to evaluate the liberation characteristics of feed in jigging.

Jan 1, 2008

By Oliver Bowles

"Simple systematic accounting that adequately records all transactions has long been regarded as essential to the welfare of any business enterprise. Some of the defects that detract from the prosperity of the slate industry are attributable to a lack of effectiveness in cost keeping. This condition has prompted the United States Bureau of Mines to make a detailed study of accounting methods for the slate industry, and to present for consideration a system of accounts, which it is believed would enable the industry to attain more economical management and operation if accepted by a fair proportion of its important units.The method of accounting presented herein has been worked out with the assistance of leading slate producers and the recommendation are tentative and are submitted in this form as a means of developing constructive criticism. Believing that cooperative effort in this, as in many other problems, will bring the most enduring benefits to the industry as a whole, the writer urges that the most earnest consideration be given to this vital problem now facing the slate industry.Grateful acknowledgment is made of the helpful assistance rendered by R. E. Eckert of the accounting firm of Eckert, Degan, and Palmer of Easton, Pa., in compiling the charts and the explanatory text. He has brought to this work a wide knowledge of accountancy, supplemented by a background of direct contact with the slate industry, and his presence at the various conferences has been of great advantage in clearing up difficulties. The National Slate Association sponsored the cost study and chiefly through the efforts of President W. H. Smith and Secretary W. S. Hays, has aided greatly in conducting it. Acknowledgment is also made of assistance rendered by William F. Marsh of the United States Bureau of Mines."

Nov 1, 1929

By J J. Boshoff

This iron ore mine site, located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, commenced operations in 1998, with ore derived by mining of open-cut pits in Channel Iron Deposits (CIDs). A portion of the ore extracted at the mine is processed at wet processing plants that produce both ore saleable product and waste fines (i.e. tailings) slurry. The waste fines produced at the wet plants are presently stored within Waste Fines Cells (WFCs).Waste fines cells A (WFCA) and B (WFCB) are located within an Autonomous Haul System (AHS) area and consist of embankments that span the width of the pit in east-west alignments. Technical studies and design analyses were carried out to support embankment raises and ongoing development of the WFCs. During operation and development of the WFCs, a multitude of simultaneous activities took place to the immediate north and south of WFCA respectively. These activities included the construction of the embankment raises using the AHS fleet, mining of the CID to not only mine the ore but to also create future deposition space for WFCB, blasting next to the WFC embankments as part of the mining activities, seepage collection and dewatering of the pit in the vicinity of the WFC.This paper discusses the material characteristics, design approach, construction staging and equipment requirements, blasting near embankments, water management, facility consequence category and closure concept.CITATION:Boshoff, J J, 2018. A waste fines cell with a multitude of concurrent activities, in Proceedings Mine Waste and Tailings Stewardship Conference 2018, pp 39–49 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 23, 2018

By Clifford S. Gibson

THESE troubled times suggest three reasons for maximum effort to control silicosis: (1) To keep to a minimum the ever-increasing burden occasioned by past deficiencies in this respect. (2) To effect the greatest production with maximum efficiency, which means at the least cost. (3) To preserve man-power in every way. Good control of the silicosis problem aids these aims. Inadequate control hampers all three. Insofar as our knowledge goes, silicosis in Ontario mines is caused by the inhalation of finely particulate quartz. It follows, therefore, that removal of dust containing this mineral automatically erases the cause. The achievement of this ideal is the aim of the mine operator. His best tool to this end is ventilation. This paper discusses mine ventilation from the viewpoint of dust control and it is hoped that in so doing there may result a better understanding of the part played by air in silicosis prevention. No attempt will be made to treat the subject fully. Instead, there will be presented certain salient aspects culled from field observations, the data in all cases referring to gold mines, unless mention to the contrary is made.

Jan 1, 1942

These proceedings consist of an introduction, nine descriptive papers, and a summary. The first paper is an overview of the respirable dust research program, the second paper describes the Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration&apos;s proposed changes in the respirable dust enforcement program, and the third paper describes respirable dust measurement. The remaining papers, by Bureau and contractor personnel, describes methods of reducing the amount of respirable dust to which coal miners are exposed. Of the six methods of reducing exposure to respirable dust described, two are methods of preventing or reducing the amount of respirable dust raised during mining operations, two are methods of collecting or removing dust after it has been released into the mine atmosphere, 2nd two describe methods that are combinations of prevention and collecting .

Jan 1, 1977

By M. Courchesne, C. Barbery, D. Hodouin, C. Carrier

"The carbon-in-pulp process for recovery of gold dissolved in dilute cyanide solutions, in the presence of solids, has now replaced the convedntional processes of pregnant liquid/barren solids separation followed by Merrill-Crowe precipitation. Most plants built over the past ten years incorporate a CIP section. The process is described as cheaper in capital and operating costs, and few major start-up or operational difficulties are reported. For the purpose of the present paper, the CIP process will be assumed to consist of the following sequence of operations (Figure 1):- the slurry stream coming out of the cyanidation circuit is first screened to remove any tramp oversize material. Gold dissolution is assumed to be complete before entering the CIP circuit.- the slurry is sent into a series of agitated tanks in which it is mixed with activated carbon. The carbon particles size is much coarser than the top size of the ground ore. The tanks are fitted with screens that allows the slurry to overflow continuously into the next tank, while retaining the carbon in the tank. Slurry dilution is adjusted to prevent carbon from settling in the tanks. Agitation intensity is kept low in order to minimize carbon abrasion.- carbon is transfered from tank to tank in a discontinuous manner. According to a specific schedule, the carbon from tank one is removed, then carbon from tank two is sent to tank one, and so on, till the last tank, which is filled with regenerated carbon corning from the elutionregeneration section. The amount of carbon removed, the transfer from tank to tank, the sequence of transfer, the carbon inventory in the various tanks are parameters which are, up to a point, at th2 discretion of the operators, as long as they remove, batch wise, an amount of loaded carbon containing a similar quantity of gold to the one that has entered the circuit since the last transfer."

Jan 1, 1987

By Lloyd Robert Nelson

The historical progression in installed electric furnace smelting capacity of some 1650 calcium, chromium, manganese, nickel and silicon ferro-alloys furnaces is reviewed. Key increases in the inherent installed electrical capacity, often achieved through uprating furnaces, are identified. Possible factors facilitating such advances are explored, including: specific process engineering and pyrometallurgical enhancements (e.g., improved control over the consistency, size and chemical form of raw materials, extents of preheating and pre-reduction delivered into the furnace; and patterns of feed distribution); furnace electrical configuration (AC or DC; immersed, submerged-, shielded- or open-arc); form of electrode (graphite, self-baking or composite); furnace configuration (circular or rectangular; closed or open and 1-, 3- or 6- electrodes); better engineering and equipment designs (e.g., high-intensity cooling) and state of furnace electrical and metallurgical control systems. A view is presented on the prevailing state of evolution of the Mega-scale in ferro-alloy smelting and opportunities for still further improvements.

Jan 1, 2014

By S. P. Mishra, G. R. Chaudhury

The adsorption of Cu2+ ions by Penicillium sp. displayed a dual rate, with an initial faster phase followed by a slower one. The adsorption rate increased with increasing pH due to chemical and biochemical reactions. The Cu-loading capacity of the biomass increased at higher initial Cu2+ concentrations. Above 40 degrees C the adsorption rate decreased which may be due to partial hydrolysis of biopolymers which are essential constituents of the cell wall. Adsorption kinetics followed the Freundlich isotherm and the equilibrium concentration that was calculated on the basis of the isotherm matched the observed value well. A series of theoretical adsorption curves were produced using mathematical correlations between the mass transfer coefficient, the Cu2+ ion concentration at equilibrium and at time t. The correlation between the theoretical and observed adsorption rates for different experimental conditions was good. It was concluded that the results from the study were best explained using a mass-transfer adsorption model

Aug 1, 1995

By S. F. Diehl

Drill cores from uranium roll-front deposits, hosted in lower Cretaceous strata, were examined from the proposed Dewey Burdock in-situ uranium recovery site in the northern part of the Edgemont uranium district, South Dakota. Uraninite (UO2), coffinite U(SiO4)0.9(OH)0.4, and doloresite (H8V6O16) occur as pore-occluding cements within the Fall River Formation in the Dewey area. In contrast, within the Lakota Formation in the Burdock area, uranium (with very little vanadium) is absorbed onto woody fragments and amorphous carbonaceous material in pressure-solution seams. Both areas have typical uranium roll-front mineralogy with 0.5 wt. % pyrite in the reduced solid phase and no pyrite in the oxidized solid phase. The groundwater at the ore zone is not oxygenated, so the uranium is relatively insoluble. Uranium in solution in ground waters is <10µg/L at Dewey and <22 µg/L at Burdock. Micromineralogic and geochemical data are being used to understand water/rock interactions, uranium distribution and movement, and as input factors for predictive reactive transport models.

Feb 27, 2013

By Theodore M. Katz, W. Stephen Brightwell, David E. LeGrande, Joseph J. Hurrell, Jane A. Lipscomb, Nancy Lessin, Lawrence R. Murphy, Michael J. Colligan, Steven L. Sauter, Richard A. Lippin

Revolutionary changes in the organization of work have far outpaced our knowledge about the implications of these changes for the quality of working life and for safety and health on the job. This gap in knowledge is one of the 21 priority areas for research under the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA)—a framework crafted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and its partners to guide research into the next decade. This report was developed under NORA as the first attempt to develop a comprehensive research agenda for investigating and reducing occupational safety and health risks associated with the changing organization of work. Research and development needs identified in the agenda include (1) improved surveillance mechanisms to better track how the organization of work is changing, (2) accelerated research on safety and health implications of the changing organization of work, (3) increased research focus on organizational interventions to protect safety and health, and (4) steps to formalize and nurture organization of work as a distinctive field in occupational safety and health.

Jan 4, 2002

By Dave M. Jakelski, Gerhard W. Heinrich, Peter F. Wells, Daniel F. Suarez, Jamie B. Beauchamp

"A need for increased copper concentrate production and for less nickel contamination in that concentrate at Falconbridge's Strathcona Concentrator during 1993 required the installation of a third flotation column and improvements in the operation of the existing circuit. Innovations in wash water distributor and launder design were fundamental in achieving objectives on a new 3 meter diameter column. Minnovex plug-type spargers were tested on a 2.1 meter diameter column in order to reduce maintenance requirements. The paper details the measures taken to enhance column flotation circuit performance and the results obtained.IntroductionFalconbridge's Strathcona Mill receives 10% of the ore feed from a rich copper zone in the Strathcona mine. This ore typically grades 7% copper and 1 % nickel and, because of its high copper content, it is processed in a separate circuit ('C' circuit) which consists of conventional grinding, rougher flotation with the concentrate being treated with lime to pH 12.3 and cyanide followed by column flotation. The columns are operated with mechanical flotation scavengers and the scavenger concentrate is returned to the column feed. Testwork conducted in 1991 showed that the original flotation column (Column 2) could only produce 5.5 mtph of concentrate with less than 0.5% nickel (Figure 1).Between 1991 and spring of 1993, production was increased at times by open circuiting the scavengers. Metallurgical improvements were obtained by improving the wash water distributor of Column 2 and by wash water sprays in conventional cells (1 ). However, the scavenger concentrate assayed 0. 7 -0.8% nickel and was not acceptable for long term operation. When Copper ore production targets were significantly increased for 1993, it became clear that an additional flotation column was required. The new flowsheet employs mechanical scavenger cells on the column tails as in Column 2 circuit (Figure 2). A -parallel configuration was chosen as pulp solids fraction has been shown to be a critical variable and the second column in series would receive a lower density feed."

Jan 1, 1994

By R. E. Salvoti

IN underground coal mining, the increasing trend towards mechanical methods is ever apparent. Figures for 1939 showed that 28 per cent of the total bituminous coal production was mined mechanically 1940 statistic will reveal an even higher figure. Factors causing this trend are varied, but the important are the following;

Jan 1, 1941

By O. Naiker, T. Riley

Keywords: Pyrometallurgy, furnace, Xstrata, ferrochromium, Premus Technology The presentation will give a basic overview of Xstrata Alloys. Included will be a brief history of the Alloys division as well as of each plant within the division. The Xstrata chrome plants utilise a wide variety of production processes, including Xstrata&apos;s Premus process, the Outokumpu process, and the conventional process. Xstrata?s Lion Project is underway, with commissioning expected in the third quarter of 2006. The new smelter will utilize Xstrata?s patented Premus process, and the competitiveness of the Premus process is discussed.

Jan 1, 2006