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By Ronald J. Roman, Craig Olsen

Alterations were performed on a previously developed heap leaching model representing sulfuric acid solution leaching of a malachite sandstone ore. The alterations were made in order to approach a more realistic solution to the leaching equations used in the model and to provide a means of obtaining a constant acid con- centration in the model' s simulated heap effluent solutions. This constant acid concentration is desired if the effluent solutions are to be treated in a solvent extraction-electrowinning plant. An economic study was made showing a use of the leaching model for an imaginary heap leach operation. The example illustrates a method of selecting heap leaching parameters if data are available on mining costs, dump costs, capital cost, etc. This was achieved using an incremental investment technique.

Jan 1, 1974

By S. A. Braley

THE first commercial production of bituminous coal in the United States was in 1820, and formation of acid in the areas from which the coal was removed began at that time. Thus it is 130 years since the development of mine acid began. The coal operator has had to deal with the acid water produced in his mines, and his losses from corrosion of pumps and equipment have been tremendous. Other industries and the public have been forced to spend large amounts for their water requirements because of the acid discharge from the mines. There are many contradictions in the literature on this subject probably because of variations in the analytical procedures followed and differences in the methods of calculation and reporting. The opinions previously expressed may be summarized as follows:

Jan 8, 1951

By C. W. Merrill

The cyanide process in the United States, notwithstanding numerous failures made under the direction of the owners of the patent-rights, and others, has now passed its experimeiital stage, and can, undoubtedly, be made successful when intelligently applied to suitable material. Much, however, remains to be known as to the exact conditions under which this process is applicable to the treatment of gold-bearing ores. If the owners of the patent-rights in this country have ever scientifically investigated the matter, they have never published any valuable informatioil on the subject. Other parties who are now using the process (often independently of the patentees), have nothing to gain by publishing their experience; and, moreover, many of the chemical reactions described in the text-books refer to the use of solutions of potassium cyanide many times stronger than are used in the metallurgical process.

Jan 1, 1896

NOTHING makes the run-of-the-hall Congressman feel quite so secure as to be on an investigating committee. It's sure fire publicity for one thing and is a convenient excuse for absence from Congressional sessions when controversial issues are being balloted. The minerals procurement program has just had a thorough investigation by Congressmen of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee who heard valuable testimony from men like John D. Morgan, director of materials procurement, DPA. He listed over 40 government agencies concerned with mineral affairs. Testimony disclosed the justification for many of the agencies but Congressmen and mine operators have been regarding the defense minerals program in the same light as did the mining student who remarked to the descriptive geometry prof "it's not the intrinsic difficulty of the problem which gives me trouble; it's the multiplicity of detail."

Jan 9, 1951

By S. C. Termes, P. E. Richardson, R. L. Wilfong

This paper discusses recent Federal Bureau of Mines research on the selective flocculation of various minerals with insoluble cross-linked starch xanthate (ISX). ISX is insoluble, has a shelf life of more than a year when kept cold, and has a higher molecular weight due to cross-linking than the soluble, non-cross-linked starch xanthate used in previous flocculation studies on nonsulfide minerals. ISX readily flocculates a number of sulfide mineral fines, but no silicious gangue. Floc formation, floc size, and settling rate are dependent on pH. The pH dependence, however, differs for each mineral. Bornite has been selectively flocculated from bornite-quartz mixtures, and the bornite-containing flocs were separated from the unflocculated quartz using decantation and washing procedures.

Jan 1, 1984

By J. Redstone, A. R. Laplante

Sidbec-Normines operates six large iron ore concentrate regrinding mills in parallel and open circuit at its Port-Cartier pelletizing plant. Grinding kinetics in these mills were characterized for slurry densities varying between 70 and 89% solids, using a lumped parameter size discrete model. Optimum grinding conditions were encountered at 83.5 to 84% solids. Higher densities decreased the normalized selection function and increased slurry short-circuiting, yielding a sharply coarser mill discharge. At lower slurry densities, the normalized selection function decreased and the mill discharge coarsened slightly. The grinding kinetic model predicted particle size distributions within the mill. These were found to vary significantly from the feed to the discharge end. This is likely to cause nonlinear breakage kinetics.

Jan 1, 1985

By F. R. Morral

In 1964, mining education in the United States will celebrate a 100th anniversary-that of the founding of our first school of mines at Columbia University. Prior to that, curricula leading to degrees in mining and metallurgical engineering were offered in 1853 by the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. But the New World's earliest achievements in mining and metallurgical education were those of the Spanish in what is now Mexico. American metallurgy probably goes back to Father Jose de Acosta, who in 1590 described the metallurgy of silver and mercury in the New World.' The Spanish priest and metallurgist Don Alvaro Alonso Barba Toscano (1569-1662), in his hook The Art of Metals, published in 1640, stated a need for a school of mining and metallurgical education in the New World. (The latest translation of this book was made by R. E. Douglas and E. P. Mathewson and published by J. Wiley & Sons, New York, in 1923.)

Jan 1, 1963

WE the undersigned, being all persons of full age and citizens of the United States, and a majority residents of the State of New York, desiring to form a corporation pursuant to the provisions of the Membership Corporations Law for the purpose of incorporating, as provided in Section 5 of Article I. of said law, the existing unincorporated association known as American Institute of Mining Engineers, do hereby make, acknowledge and file this Certificate for that purpose, and do Certify as follows I. That the American Institute of Mining Engineers is an unincorporated association organized and existing with the object of promoting the arts and sciences connected with the economic production of the useful minerals and metals and the welfare of those employed in these industries by means of meetings for social intercourse and the reading and discussion of professional papers, and to circulate by means of publications among its members and associates the information thus obtained.

Jan 1, 1923

WE the undersigned, being all persons of full age and citizens of the United States, and a majority residents of the State of New York, desiring to form a corporation pursuant to the provisions of the Membership Corporations Law for the purpose of incorporating, as provided in Section 5 of Article I. of said law, the existing unincorporated association known as American Institute of Mining Engineers, do hereby make, acknowledge and file this Certificate for that purpose, and do Certify as follows I. That the American Institute of Mining Engineers is an unincorporated association organized and existing with the object of promoting the arts and sciences connected with the economic production of the useful minerals and metals and the welfare of those employed in these industries by means of meetings for social intercourse and the reading and discussion of professional papers, and to circulate by means of publications among its members and associates the information thus obtained.

Jan 1, 1917

WE the undersigned, being all persons of full age and citizens of the United States and a majority residents of the State of New York, desiring to form a corporation pursuant to the provisions of the Membership Corporations Law for the purpose of incorporating, as provided in Section 5 of Article I. of said law, the existing unincorporated association known as American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, Incorporated, do hereby make, acknowledge and file this Certificate for that purpose, and do Certify as follows: I. That the American Institute of Mining Engineers is an unincorporated association organized and existing with the object of promoting the arts and sciences connected with the economic production of the useful minerals and metals and the welfare of those employed in these industries by means of meetings for social intercourse and the reading and discussion of professional papers, and to circulate by means of publications among its members and associates the information thus obtained.

Jan 1, 1937

WE the undersigned, being all persons of full age and citizens of the United States, and a majority residents of the State of New York, desiring to form a corporation pursuant to the provisions of the Membership Corporations Law for the purpose of incorporating, as provided in Section 5 of Article I. of said law, the existing unincorporated association known as American Institute of Mining Engineers, do hereby make, acknowledge and file this Certificate for that purpose, and do Certify as follows I. That the American Institute of Mining Engineers is an unincorporated association organized and existing with the object of promoting the arts and sciences connected with the economic production of the useful minerals and metals and the welfare of those employed in these industries by means of meetings for social intercourse and the reading and discussion of professional papers, and to circulate by means of publications among its members and associates the information thus obtained.

Jan 1, 1923

One Hundred Sixteenth Meeting of the Institute, Monday, Feb. 18, to Thursday, Feb. 21, inclusive, 1918 A preliminary program, for the New York Meeting was printed in the January Bulletin, and a more detailed program was mailed to all members early in January. The following schedule is the outcome, of sundry committee meetings up to the middle of January. Committee on Arrangements J.` E. JOHNSON, JR., Chairman BRADLEY STOUGHTON, Vice-Chairman RALPH W. DEACON MRS. S. J. JENNINGS E. M. SHIPP J. V. N. DOER A. R. LEDOUX G. D. VAN ARSDALE L. `V. FRANCIS . . F. T. RUBIDGE ARTHUR L. WALKER Summarized Program MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18 9 a. m. to 5. p. m. Registration at Institute Headquarters. 10 a. m. Sessions on Coal and Non-Ferrous Metallurgy. 12.30 p. m. Luncheon at Engineering Societies'. Building. 2 p. m. Visit to Subway Workings.

Jan 2, 1918

By D. A. Dahlstrom

(A. C. Richardson and Charles C. Boley, presiding) W. E. BROWN*—In the operation of the cyclone, what factors have you found that will affect its results as far as efficiency goes; for example, if you have coming through the cyclone a pulp of 20 gpm, that has, say, 25 or 30 pct solids, and then from operational characteristics this pulp changes to 35 pct solids but it is still maintaining the same ratio of flow. HOW does that affect the cyclone;) D. A. DAHLSTHOM (author's reply) —It has a definite effect, as you know from Mr. Sutherland's paper,l3 in that as you increase the solid concerltration of your inlet slurry, you will naturally have an according effect on the overflow concell-

Jan 1, 1950

A. W. AMBROSE, Washington, D. C.-Did you make any analysis of the amount of emulsion at the well and after you flowed it through a lead line to the storage tank? E. A. TRAGER.-B. S. can be formed in passing through a lead line by the friction due to the roughness of the pipe and the irregularities at the joints. R. W. MOORE.-Did you find the percentage of water to be limited to the percentage of oil in the emulsion which formed? E. A. TRAGER.- Yes, the percentage is about 67 percent. water and 23, per cent. oil. R. W. MOORE.-If you added more water would the emulsion be permanent? E. A. TRAGER.-Yes, it would be permanent, but the excess water would separate out. THE CHAIRMAN. (C. W. WASHBURNE, New York, N. Y.).-Did you use hot or cold water in these experiments?

Jan 12, 1919

By J. Kostuik, M. J. de Bastiani

Located in the Elliot Lake mining district of Canada, the Denison mine lies between Sudbury to the east and Sault Ste. Marie to the west. This area is overlain by Huronian sediments filling a basin in the Keewatin basement complex. Subsequent folding of these sediments developed a synclinal structure, known locally as the Quirke Lake Trough, which forms the northern portion of the now famous big Z structure, the geological trademark of this region. Plunging to the west and extending nine miles from the granite outcropping in the north to the Keewatin lava contact to the south, the syncline has dips of 10° to 45° on the north limb and 10° to 20° on the south limb.

Jan 12, 1960

By Roswell Johnson

A CANVASS of the various institutions known or suspected to be giving courses dealing with petroleum and gas revealed the courses listed in the accompanying table, which includes a summary of the number of class hours, as a whole, of the courses listed. It will be observed that the situation is grati-fying. Courses are presented in different institutions in the main geographic sections of the country, so that students have no difficulty in obtaining education in this field. The committee believes that the courses that are offered in many institutions are so inadequate in amount as to make it unwise for students who have not had additional work to consider themselves trained in this field. We strongly urge the few schools now presenting the most adequate courses to develop these more fully, bringing their work up at least to 300 hours, and let other schools concentrate their energies in other fields.

Jan 6, 1922

By I. A. Violic, L. D. Cruz, M. A. Solari

In Exxon's Los Bronces Expansion Project in Chile, a stochastic simulation is performed to resolve the complex decision problem of matching the mine to mill system capacities from both technical and economic standpoints. The unique combination of weather conditions at the mine and the 30-km (18.6 mile) belt conveyor network for ore transport to the mill necessitates this analysis in the planning phase to optimize the design capacity of the system. Appropriate statistical distributions of major equipment performance, snow storm duration, power outage, etc., are developed from actual mine local records and manufacturers' specifications. The interactions of operational constraints including ore storage capacities, number and sizes of individual equipment, ore variations, and mine and mill production rates are studied more realistically than in a traditional planning approach. Details of the computer modeling and typical results of simulation studies are discussed.

Jan 1, 1984

By T. M. Anderson

From the start of production in 1915 until 1948, underground block caving operations accounted for all of the ore production of Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co. Open pit development work began in 1947, and ore production from the open pit commenced in March 1948. Thus began the transition from underground to open pit mining which continued until August 1954. Since then, open pit mining has accounted for all ore production which presently averages 105,000 tons of ore and 75,000 tons of waste rock each week. Open pit mining operations at Inspiration is carried on in two separate pits-the Live Oak Pit and the Thornton Pit. The Live Oak Pit covers an area of approximately 1500x3000 ft and the Thornton Pit, 2500x2000 ft. The geographic centers of the two pits are 4000 ft apart and, at their nearest point, the surface slopes are 500 ft apart.

Jan 1, 1961

By John D. Kalasky

Continuous mining has revolutionized the coal industry but intensified the problems of earlier mechanization. From the installation of the first miner, it was recognized that face ventilation would be one of these problems. To establish an efficient work cycle for the equipment being used, conventional mechanized mining provides four or more development faces. Continuous mining, relying on a single machine, requires only one face, although more than one can be driven alternately by the same machine. In gaseous areas mined by the older methods, the intermittent rate of exposure allows time for the face to bleed off or be cleared, and the width obtained with conventional units makes it possible to hang a brattice line almost to the face. Continuous mining increases the ventilation hazards; there is no margin of time, and very limited space.

Jan 9, 1959

By B. J. Scheiner, A. G. Smelley

The Bureau of Mines, US Department of the Interior, is conducting research on a dewatering technique for fine particles generated during the mineral beneficiation process that will recover a portion of the water now being lost using conventional waste disposal methods and significantly reduce the time required for land reclamation. The technique utilizes a flocculant, polyethylene oxide (PEO), that forms strong stable flocs that can be dewatered rapidly on static and/or rotary screens. Infield tests, phosphate clay waste has been dewatered from a nominal 2.5% solids to greater than 20% solids. In other field tests, coal-clay waste has been dewatered from a nominal 3% solids to greater than 55% solids. In addition, small-scale continuous tests have shown that bentonitic clays can be dewatered from 12% solids to 40% solids.

Jan 1, 1985