Search Documents

By J. E. Lonergan

The in-pit placement of crushing and conveying equipment results in a flattening of the pit slope of a multiple-bench open pit mine. To maximize the economic benefit of lower haulage costs associated with in-pit conveying, one must minimize the cost of the flatter slope which is expressed in terms of additional stripping or tied up ore. A computer program that compares the tonnage aspects of various conveyor layouts will be discussed.

Jan 1, 1985

By L. F. McHugh

Molybdenum conversion operations discussed in this paper encompass all major operations commercially used to upgrade molybdenite concentrates to various refined products. More emphasis is placed on discussion of key pyrometallurgical unit operations. These operations conducted at Metec include roasting, sublimation, and hydrogen reduction

Jan 1, 1986

By Robert P. Larkin

The necessity for mineral extraction and its impact on man and the natural environment is a subject of increasing concern to Americans. Rising living standards and new demands for energy require increased mineral extraction, whereas the "new environmentalism" and concern over social well-being warn of the dangers to both the environment and the social system. This dilemma can only be solved by a complete understanding and analysis of all the factors relevant to human welfare which include environmental considerations, economic implications, and the social and psychological dimensions. A decision-making framework is therefore necessary which will encompass all relevant views of the problem.

Jan 1, 1975

By Ronald R. Hartman

I can recall a time 10 or 12 years ago when I spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon driving to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania to see a carnotite deposit that had recently been discovered. The announcement of the discovery stated that it was in the Pottsville conglomerate in a road cut along the highway. To my surprise, the highway was lined with cars and every weekend prospector for 100 miles had come to see the ?big uranium deposit of the east?. I literally had to stand in line to make a measurement with the scintillation counter I had with me. The thought at first occurred to me that this is evidence of how thoroughly the surface of the United States must have been prospected, more likely, perhaps it points out quite the opposite. A lot of time and energy was being spent in tracing the footsteps of others and a lot of time was spent looking for the obvious occurrences. The point is, that in the early days a tremendous amount of uranium exploration was carried out but few systematic surveys were made. Thorium anomalies were usually discounted after cursory surface field checks. Conversely, in airborne surveys - anomalies due to elevation changes or thin over- burden on hilltops were often investigated more thoroughly than smaller indications on hillsides and valleys. An adequate supply of uranium was nevertheless found due to the ingenuity and persistence of the geological profession and the public in general. This ?adequate? supply, like so many estimates for raw materials turned out to be far too low.

Jan 1, 1967

By Raj K. Rajamani

In ball milling the rates of breakage vary primarily with the size distribution of powder in the mill. In wet grinding viscosity of the slurry varies continually as size distribution changes and hence the breakage rates change. In this study a simpler estimation scheme is used to determine breakage rates in batch grinding. Using an approximate solution to the batch grinding equation, acceleration and deceleration of breakage rates of all individual size classes is determined when the grinding environment is varied. Experimental results with limestone and copper ore show time-dependent breakage rates under both dry and wet grinding conditions. In general the breakage rates increase for coarse sizes and decrease for fine sizes with increase in the fines present in the mill. Such variations have strong implications in closed-circuit grinding.

Jan 1, 1991

By J. B. Mitchell

Comminution methods for base metal and precious metal ores have had considerable attention from mine operators, equipment suppliers and design engineers for many years and much of their work has been well reported. This interest derives from a healthy concern with the costs of comminution, often the largest single cost factor in ore dressing of hard ores. Many imaginative innovations have resulted. One notices a trend toward autogenous and semi-autogenous methods, combined with a trend toward very large equipment. Unfortunately, there has been less obvious cost incentive to experiment with softer ores. This is unfortunate because the consequences of inappropriate comminution methods can have an important effect on overall economics by influencing down stream processing and salability of final products. This paper concerns some of the factors to be considered in the selection of comminution methods for potash ores, and gives some specific examples to illustrate some of the principles involved.

Jan 1, 1969

By S. J. Jung

In recent years, the use of shotcrete, a practice familiar to the mining industry, has been on the increase. This research has come about because of the recognized need for a safe, easy way to line small diameter bored raises (less then 150cm). Up until now, an operator has gone down the raise and applied the concrete lining manually, using the shotcrete method of application. With an automated system, there would be no man positioned in the bore itself. All control functions could be commanded from a central location. Shotcreting in the confined space of a small diameter bored raise presents problems that can be overcome by the application of shotcrete using a remote system.

Jan 1, 1994

By David C. Grant

During in situ uranium mining using ammonium bicarbonate lixiviant, the ammonium exchanges with cations on the ore's clay. Mter mining is complete, the ammonium may desorb into post-leach ground water. For the particular ore studied, other chemicals (i.e., uranium and selenium) which are mobilized during the leach process, have also been found in the post-leach ground water. Laboratory column tests, used to simulate the leaching process, have shown that aluminum chloride can rapidly remove ammonium from the ore and thus greatly reduce the subsequent ammonium leakage level into ground water. The aluminum chloride has also been found to reduce the leakage levels of uranium and selenium. In addition, the aluminum chloride treatment produces a rapid improvement in permeability.

Jan 1, 1982

By George H. Tousley

As a member of the vast fraternity of those that supply and service the mining industry, I can assure you that we are amused, amazed, and horrified at the poor drilling and blasting practices of a great number of operations. Yes, ?horrified?. After all, that is our product you are using and abusing. We all know that drilling and blasting is expensive. In some operations D & B costs may exceed excavating or hauling costs, or both. At any rate, it is the only portion of the whole operation that could be said to directly affect other costs. There is no argument that it affects excavating costs. If the overburden and/or product is drilled and hauled, it affects haulage costs. It can easily affect milling costs, if more or less fines is important. And poor fragmentation affects crushing costs. If scalping is done ahead of the primary crusher it can affect production. As has been pointed out, the D & B operation itself is costly, and therefore should lend itself to close scrutiny. Anyone that could immediately decrease haulage costs by 10% would be a hero with any mining company.

Jan 1, 1976

By V. K. Gupta

A detailed laboratory study was carried out to investigate the effect of the particle size distribution on the grinding rate parameters, Si, for the dry ball milling of quartz and limestone. Contrary to the present belief, the Si values were found to vary strongly with the particle size distribution. In particular it was observed that: (i) the Si values increased with the fineness of the particulate charge - the increase being more pronounced in the case of the coarser sizes, (ii) the next finer size class had the maximum effect on the breakage of the particles of a given size class, while the coarser size classes had only a slight effect, (iii) the effect of two or more size classes was non-additive, and significant higher order inter-size interactions were indicated. The importance of these results in the context of the analysis, design and scale-up of the comminution systems is discussed.

Jan 1, 1987

By Gregory R. Wessel

Sulfur is a nonmetallic element widely distributed in nature and of great physical and economic importance. It is the 14th most abundant element in the Earth's crust (0.06%) and an important constituent of animal and plant life. Sulfur has been known and used since ancient times for a number of medicinal and industrial uses. At present, most sulfur is used to generate sulfuric acid that is used in a wide variety of industrial processes, particularly the production of fertilizer. Because of this, sulfuric acid (and hence sulfur) consumption is often regarded as a good index of a nation's industrial development. In the past, sulfur was mined from surface occurrences in several geologic environments, and was used in relatively small amounts. With time, the uses of sulfur and sulfuric acid expanded, as has the need for larger quantities of these commodities. Sulfur is now mined from both surface and underground deposits, and is recovered as a byproduct from a number of industrial processes. Despite valiant efforts and years of work by sulfur explorationists and others, many aspects of sulfur mineralization remain controversial. Almost as controversial is the spelling of the word sulfur. The English spelling sulphur commonly is used outside America and in the American sulfur mining industry, but sulfur is the correct American spelling as approved by the American Chemical Society, the American Geological Institute, and many others. Those new to the American sulfur industry often find it puzzling to be reprimanded for using the correct American spelling. Sulfur resources are abundant and widespread, but the extent to which they can be classified as reserves is constrained by pre- vailing prices and extraction technologies. At present, sulfur can be economically mined from very few deposits. The sulfur industry is roughly divisible into two sectors: voluntary (or discretionary) and involuntary (or nondiscretionary). In voluntary production, the mining of sulfur or pyrites is the sole objective, and the recovery of the resource is as complete as economic conditions will allow. During involuntary production, sulfur or sulfuric acid (termed recovered sulfur) are produced as byproducts, and the quantity of the output is dictated by the demand for the primary product. Voluntary sulfur now accounts for only about 35% of the elemental sulfur produced worldwide, and most inves- tigators believe that voluntary sulfur will be less important in the future. Sulfur sources and products are described as follows (after Barker, 1983): Sulfur Sources: Combined sulfur-sulfur that occurs in nature combined with other elements, commonly referring to sulfides and sulfates. Cupriferous pyrites-pyrite containing minor amounts of cop- per sulfides. Hydrogen sulfide-a toxic gas that occurs in petroleum and natural gas. Involuntary sulfur-sulfur produced as a byproduct in response to legislative or process mandates. Native sulfur-naturally occurring elemental sulfur. Nonferrous metal sulfides-opper, lead, zinc, nickel, and molybdenum sulfides that are processed for their metal content. Organic sulfur complex organic sulfur compounds that occur in petroleum, coal, oil shale, and tar sands. Pyrites-iron sulfide minerals that include pyrite, marcasite, and pyrrhotite. Sulfate sulfur-sulfur contained in anhydrite and gypsum. Voluntary sulfur-sulfur produced in response to market demand. Basic Sulfur Products: Acid sludge-contaminated sulfuric acid usually returned to acid plants for reconstitution. Brimstone-synonymous with crude sulfur. Bright sulfur-crude sulfur free of discoloring impurities and bright yellow in color. Broken sulfur-solid crude sulfur crushed to -8 in. Byproduct sulfuric acid-sulfuric acid produced as a byproduct of a metallurgical or industrial process, generally relating to combined sulfur sources. Crude sulfur-commercial nomenclature for elemental sulfur. Dark sulfur-crude sulfur discolored by minor quantities of hydrocarbons, ranging up to 0.3% carbon content. Elemental sulfur-processed sulfur in the elemental form produced from native sulfur or combined sulfur sources, generally with a minimum sulfur content of 99.5%. Formed sulfur-elemental sulfur cast or pressed into particular shapes to enhance handling and to suppress dust generation and moisture retention. Frasch sulfur-elemental sulfur produced from native sulfur sources by the Frasch mining process. Liquid sulfur-synonymous with molten sulfur. Liquid sulfur dioxide-purified sulfur dioxide compressed to the liquid phase. Molten sulfur-crude sulfur in the molten state. Prilled sulfur-solid crude sulfur in the form of pellets produced by cooling molten sulfur in air or water. Recovered sulfur-elemental sulfur produced from combined sulfur sources (including byproduct hydrogen sulfide, but sometimes referring only to sulfur from fossil fuels) by any method. Slated sulfur-solid crude sulfur in the form of slate-like lumps, produced by allowing molten sulfur to solidify on a moving belt. Specialty sulfur-prepared or refined grades of elemental sulfur that include amorphous, colloidal, flowers, precipitated, wettable, flour, and paste sulfur. Sulfur ore-unprocessed ore containing native sulfur.

Jan 1, 1994

By R. W. Smith, J. Dubel, M. Misra

The bacterium Mycobacterium phlei is highly hydrophobic and negatively charged. It has specificity for selective adhesion to fine coal particles, mainly due to hydrophobic interaction. However, it does not attach to pyrite and ash forming minerals present in the coal matrix. Results have shown that this bacterium is an excellent flocculant for fine coal. Not only, are the coal particles visibly aggregated, but the optical micrograph has shown that the coal particles are held in the aggregate by adhesion and bacterial bridging. With Mycobacterium phlei, the flocculation characteristic of coal is markedly different from that usually observed with synthetic polymeric flocculants. In particular, the entwining characteristics of the long chain molecules of synthetic flocculants are absent in the case of Mycobacterium phlei. Since the hydrophobic interactions between the adhering particles are of greater importance in the formation of particle aggregation, the flocculation process is very selective.

Jan 1, 1994

By Andy B. Wallace

Veins in the Pyramid district of northwestern Nevada occur along steep fractures in Oligocene and Miocene quartz latite tuffs. The vein mineralization is zoned from a central enargite-pyrite zone outward through a complex polymetallic intermediate zone and an outer zone of galena and pyrite. Wall rock alteration includes advanced argillic and sericitic envelopes along veins superimposed on district-wide propylitization. The ore distribution and alteration patterns were probably produced by an increase in pH, a decrease in sulfur fugacity, along with cooling of the migrating hydrothermal fluid.

Jan 1, 1978

By L. Adler

To properly analyze and apply mining equipment, a systematic, current, inclusive, and simple classification scheme is required. This paper provides such a classification for Roadheaders. This Roadheader classification is based on factors, such as the rock cutterhead, the boom type, and the chassis configuration. It first assigns Roadheaders as an equipment type within the larger group of Integrated Excavators. The Roadheader type is then delineated into the following subtypes: the standard, the extended boom, the tunnelers, and the miscellaneous. Next, these subtypes are devolved into kinds, and finally variants and attachments are considered. To resolve inconsistencies in characterizing the Roadheader, cross-referencing is employed within the classification scheme.

Jan 1, 1996

By John T. Cantwell

INTRODUCTION The process engineer usually is responsible for the design operating philosophy and/or day-to-day operations of a process. Since instrumentation is an integral part of the operation, it is essential that engineers understand the general capabilities of the different types of control equipment available. Many "noncontrol" engineers have become involved with instrumentation for machinery monitoring and control as well as other plant applications. The advent of the microprocessor has led to significant changes in control, both in systems configurations and man-machine interfaces. Today's concept is called simply "distributed control." What is distributed control? Distributed control is exactly what the name implies; the control system is divided into several functional segments and spread out to cover a process. The systems are distributed for physical, functional, and risk reasons. Before delving further into the specifics of distributed control, let's look at the evolution of control systems to see how we got here. Instruments initially were located near measurement and control points in the field. Operators physically had to go to the instrument to change setpoints or take measurements. As processes became more complex, it became evident that a central control area was required. This allowed an operator to monitor and control many variables. The operator's effectiveness was increased dramatically, which resulted in greater efficiency, better quality control, and lower personnel requirements. At the same time, plants became much larger, control applications became more complex, energy became expensive, and the industry became more competitive. All of these factors placed pressure on process and production engineers to get the most for the money. The result was a continuing push to put more instrumentation into a central control room to maximize efficiency and productivity and minimize manpower. This chapter deals in some detail with devices for measuring physical and chemical properties of coal; devices for measuring the weight and weight-rate of flow of coal; devices for the monitoring and control of conveyor systems, solids inventory, fluid flow, liquid level, density, and specific gravity. These instruments have a multitude of uses throughout a coal preparation plant. The discussions cover advancements in "on-line analysis," nuclear control devices, and distributed control using microprocessors, mainframes, and soft-

Jan 1, 1991

By C. C. Huang

Rare earth compounds, such as samarium-cobalt compounds and neodymium-icon compounds, are being used more often for the manufacture of permanent magnets, because these materials permit the production of permanent magnets with higher magnetic energy potential than the conventional ferrite magnets. Especially, the recent rapid developments in the field of electronics and electro-technology have demanded an increased production of rare earth magnets. Unlike ferrite, which is typically produced by a wet process, rare earths can be ground and classified either in a wet or dry process. In the past, batch ball mills, through-pass ball mills in circuit with air classifiers, and conventional jet mills were primarily employed for the dry processing. These methods, however, have suffered from the problems, for example, wear and contamination, low product quality In particle size distribution, difficult to adopt inert-gas operation, and high specific energy consumption. In this report, dry processing of rare earth powders will be presented, especially ultrafine grinding with fluidized bed jet mill.

Jan 1, 1993

By W. N. Brown

One of the seemingly eternal problems with which we are frequently faced is that of providing adequate and economical warehousing facilities to store large quantities of bulk product. Seasonal consumption, transportation, marketing, and other factors very often dictate extensive product warehousing requirements for an operation geared for steady, year-around production of a material requiring weather protection during storage. Fertilizers such as potash and urea are examples of such products; the consumption of these materials is extremely heavy in the early spring at which time the materials must be placed in the soil, whereas, for obvious operating efficiencies, production is more or less constant for a given operation throughout the year.

Jan 1, 1961

By Anthony Edey

It is a generally accepted and widely discussed fact that the world in general, and the United States in particular, face a shortage of energy at the present time which will become worse in the future. There is, however, no sign of a similar concensus as to the actions which would prevent or overcome this expected shortage. An immense variety of solutions has, however, been put forward, ranging from the purely political to the outer fringes of sophisticated technology. One resource which surprisingly is often only cursorily included in this discussion is the immense known petroleum reserve lying within the United States. When this subject is discussed, indeed, it is usually in the context of the improvements in production or new discovery rate that could be expected to result from possible politico-economic actions that would raise the real price obtained for domestic crude. This interest in the potential for improved domestic production is undoubtedly justified, but very little attention is normally drawn to the fact that even under the most favorable policy framework the majority of the oil that has been, or will be, discovered will remain in the ground due to the inherent limitations of production through surface wells.

Jan 1, 1979

By Christian F. Baiz

Industrial minerals can have similar financing requirements to those needs of metaliferrous and coal mining projects. Although, one may see many similarities in the fundamentals of the various risks that must be evaluated in lending to any specific project, one of the outstanding differences is the understanding of the many different markets that these industrial minerals represent. There are in excess of 30 principal industrial minerals ranging in terms of annual production from the largest quantity such as sand and gravel, to possibly the smallest quantity of production of a legitimate industrial mineral which may be defined as industrial and rough gem diamond. If we assume that it is necessary to finance independent projects of ore bodies of industrial minerals for development, the financing techniques are similar to the fundamentals that we would use for financing coal projects or metaliferrous deposits. Therefore, let's begin by redefining project financing in the traditional banking or private sector area, and then in the later development of this paper, we will apply these techniques to industrial minerals in general and cite it with several specific examples.

Jan 1, 1982

By E. Sabah

A series of adsorption tests are carried out to understand the ability of cationic surfactants and metal ions to adsorb onto sepiolite. Adsorption tests conducted as a function of heat treatment reveal that sepiolite is rather conducive to the uptake of both organic and inorganic ions. An ion exchange mechanism between surfactant or metal cation and magnesium ion followed by chain-chain association is proposed to explain the incorporation of cationic surfactants into the structure of sepiolite.

Jan 1, 1998