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By Daniel L. Ng

This Bureau of Mines report describes the results of scanning electron microscopic (SEM) studies of the combustion residues of carbonaceous dust particles resulting from explosions and thermal ignitions in laboratory and full-scale mine tests. The dusts studied varied widely in rank and volatility: Pittsburgh seam bituminous coal (35% volatility), Pocahontas seam bituminous coal (16% volatility), anthracite (7% volatility), graphite, and diamond. The most systematic explosion studies were performed in an 8-L chamber with narrow size distributions of Pittsburgh coal dust with surface mean diameters of 2, 22, and 84 pm. Experiments were conducted mainly in air, with some data obtained in 50% 02. Observations of the bituminous coal explosion residues showed particles with rounded edges, particles with blowholes, and some cenospheres. The lower volatility dust residues showed fewer changes from the original, unburned dust. In addition to the experimental studies, results of SEM observations of residues from a mine explosion disaster are reported. Comparison of such residues with those from the laboratory and experimental mine explosions can help investigators determine the extent of dust participation in the disaster and in identifying the possible ignition sources.

Jan 1, 1983

This section presents highlights of world economic and mineral industry performance in 1982, a year characterized by continued recession, and selected 1983 forecasts of economic indicators of importance to the mineral industry, some of which indicate a modest improvement in the economies of the United States and Western Europe. The U.S. Economy in 1982 In 1982 U.S. gross national product (GNP) in current dollars increased at a rate of 4 percent, but GNP adjusted for inflation (real GNP) declined at a rate of 1.8 percent. Yearend 1982 real GNP was at roughly the same level as in 1980 (table 1). Thus no growth in real terms had taken place in the United States during the 1980-82 period.

Jan 1, 1983

By Robert L. Bates

Definition An industrial mineral, says the Glossary of Geology, is "any rock, mineral, or other naturally occurring substance of economic value, exclusive of metallic ores, mineral fuels, and gemstones; one of the nonmetallics." Probably most geologists and engineers would accept this simple and straightforward definition, at least as a general statement. On analysis, however, certain anomalies crop up. For example, it may be considered arbitrary to include industrial diamond and corundum and to exclude their precious varieties, gem diamond and sapphire. So the present volume has a section on gems and gem materials, in spite of the definition. Another problem arises when we try to define precisely what is metallic and what is nonmetallic. Bauxite and ilmenite certainly qualify as metallic ores, but both are also raw materials of important nonmetallic substances; hence they are included in the book, A third anomaly is that, by common consent of geologists, engineers, mineral economists, and others concerned, the term industrial minerals may include not only rocks and minerals but also certain manufactured products like cement and lime, and even mixed groups of natural and artificial products, such as abrasives and refractories. Thus the central realm of the industrial minerals is clear enough, but its boundaries tend to be indefinable. Since a definition that allowed for every irregularity in the outer fringes would be excessively unwieldy, the one quoted above may be considered satisfactory. The expression industrial minerals is commonly equated with nonmetallics, and with the somewhat more precise phrase industrial minerals and rocks as in the title of this book. Characteristics of the Field The industrial minerals as broadly interpreted are a highly diverse group of materials; indeed, we may say paradoxically that diversity is about all they have in common. At one end of the spectrum are ordinary earth materials such as gravel and crushed stone, with a value of perhaps $3 per st; at the opposite end are industrial diamonds, which sell (by the carat) at the rate of roughly $18,000,000 per st. Neither the metals nor the fuels, and few if any categories of manufactured products, include items that differ in value by more than six orders of magnitude. Most gravel and stone are of no value unless close to a market; diamonds and other exotic substances possess such unique and desirable properties that their occurrence in remote corners of the earth is no deterrent to their use. The broad range of industrial minerals falls between these extremes of unit value and place value. The industrial minerals penetrate the entire fabric of modern industrialized society, from such fundamental operations as drilling for oil and smelting iron ore to the manufacture of virtually the whole array of consumer products. There is no industrial-minerals industry; there are many industries. The simple term field is convenient as an all-inclusive expression. An industry is considered to belong in the industrial-minerals field if its operations consist of extraction and processing, but not manufacturing. Thus the mining and beneficiation of feldspar is a mineral industry, but the manufacture of ceramic products is not. In the cement and lime industries, processing merges into manufacture, and the line is less distinct. It disappears altogether in a plant that extracts salt as artificial brines, and makes sodium and chlorine chemicals, all under the same roof. An aspect of some industrial minerals that differentiates them from the metals is that their physical properties carry over into ultimate use of the product. Such minerals as mica, asbes-

Jan 1, 1983

By Sidney V. Gold

Should Gold Producers Hedge Their Positions Through : Sales on Forward Markets? Purchases of Put Options? Sales on Spot Market? Forward Markets Assumptions 1. Producer has a known amount of Gold to sell in year ahead. 2. Effect on price is the same whether sold Forward or Spot Market. 3. None of us have knowledge of Future Price Trend. 4. Contange Market prevails in which Forward price premium is approximately equal to rate of interest.

Jan 1, 1983

By Leonard J. Friedman

Modern smelting systems using continuous, flash and/or oxygen smelting processes have a significant effect on the choice of sulfur dioxide control processes and system arrangements. Based on gases from an enriched air or oxygen smelting furnace and copper converters the paper reviews and analyzes alternate processes and system arrangements for recovery of sulfur dioxide. The work indicates the choice system to include a conventional sulfuric acid plant for converter gas and a liquid SO2 plant to handle the high strength smelting fur¬nace gas. The liquid SO2 plant would be used as a fly-wheel to damper the flow and SO2 concentration variations of the con-verter acid plant. Potential energy recovery alternates and product flexibility are also reviewed.

Jan 1, 1983

By J. Réal Cloutier

[Options are a natural extension of the forward and futures markets as they offer fexible method of hedging exposure. -An organized options market is preferable to the "over the counter forward markets since EGCC (EOE, ME, VSE) assumes responsibility for contract fulfillment minimizing credit risks by guaranteeing transactions. -Options ante considerably more "fexible" than the futures and forward markets, permitting prompt, precise and respected adjustment of one's exposure risk position. -The risk to the buyer of the options market is limited to the initial premium paid.]

Jan 1, 1983

By W. R. Byrnes

This project was initiated on October 1, 1980 and will be completed on December 31, 1983. The project was Initially approved and funded by the Office of Surface Mining and subsequently was moved to the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Mines. It was administered through the Indiana Mining and Mineral Resources Research Institute. The research was done to assess reforestation success and ultimate productivity for areas reclaimed under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (P.L. 95-87). The Permanent Regulatory Program for implementation of P.L. 95-87 Includes provisions for revegetation that require seeding of ground cover plants to control erosion until permanent vegetation such as tree species Is established, and restoration of mined land to its original or better productivity. Much of the land to be surface-mined presently supports forest cover and it is anticipated that reconstructed minesoils will exhibit high productive potential for hardwood tree species. Hence, information was needed on compatibility of ground cover and tree seedlings when established concurrently as well as on revegetation success under postmining versus premining conditions.

Jan 1, 1983

By Catherine C. Kilgore

The Bureau of Mines investigated the availability of lead and zinc from 104 domestic mines and deposits. Fourteen primary lead and fifty-three primary zinc operations with in situ demonstrated resources containing 27.3 million metric tons (t) of lead and 53 million t of zinc were subsequently evaluated. Potentially 17.5 million t of lead and 2.4 million t of byproduct zinc could be recovered from 14 primary lead operations. Economic evaluations performed in constant January 1982 dollars determined a long-run total cost per pound of recoverable commodity. Including a 15-pct discounted-cash-flow rate of return (DCFROR), 59 pct of primary lead was potentially available at or below $0.32 per pound of lead. Potentially 40 million t of zinc and 5.6 million t of byproduct lead could be recovered from 53 primary zinc operations. Ninety percent of the recoverable zinc is potentially available from currently nonproducing mines and deposits, and a weighted average of their long-run total costs was determined at $0.98 per pound of zinc. At a breakeven (0-pct) DCFROR, these non producing operations had a weighted average long-run total cost of $0.58 per pound of zinc. Sensitivity analyses illustrated that operations that recover byproducts were most sensitive to fluctuating metal prices, producing operations were more sensitive to increased smelter treatment charges, and nonproducing operations were impacted most by the DCFROR.

Jan 1, 1983

By Leon E. Laforest

An early commitment by Kidd Creek Mines Ltd. (formerly Texasgulf Canada) to follow a stringent environmental control programme from the initial stages of design and development of its metallurgical facilities in Timmins, Ontario, has resulted in the on-going attainment of extremely low levels of industrial waste emissions. This paper outlines the monitoring programme initiated and maintained by the company's environmental control section. Comparative results of environmental sampling for the periods before and after the copper smelter start-up are highlighted.

Jan 1, 1983

Confidence in the strength of the U.S. economic recovery was considerably enhanced by third quarter 1983 profits, which showed a 12.8-percent increase over those in the second quarter (table I). Although the increases were not as great as between the first and second quarter of 1983, profits have grown each quarter since fourth quarter 1982. Both total profits and profits per unit of output increased, which the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) attributes to decreases in labor and nonlabor costs (per unit of output), as well as to moderate price increases. [ ] A number of durable goods sectors, however, continue to show profit declines, especially electrical and non-electrical machinery. Profits in the primary metal industry are still negative, but the economic picture of this industry is improving. Between the second and third quarters of 1983, capacity utilization increased somewhat in primary metal manufacturing and stone and earth mineral mining but did not change at all in metal mining. Capacity utilization in metal materials increased from 47.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 1982 to 64.2 percent in the third quarter of 1983 (table 2).

Jan 1, 1983

By Brian J. Gorva

The key objective of forming a cartel is to increase profits to members of the cartel by taking the following action: a) control output; and b) control price. However, while attempting to obtain monopoly profits the cartel members have to contend with costs associated with cartelization and such costs include the following: political costs; the cost of coordinating output and price; organizational costs (such as cheating); and administrative costs (such as the cost of attending cartel meetings). The objective of commodity exchanges is to provide an open, free market where buyers and sellers may openly complete transactions and pricing information can be immediately disseminated. These transactions include the following: a) to provide facilities for "hedging", or transferring price risk from buyers and sellers of physical commodities to "speculators" through the medium of buying and selling futures contracts, and b) taking physical delivery of metal on due dates.

Jan 1, 1983

By G. R. Peterson

To determine the availability of aluminum from world bauxite resources, the Bureau of Mines investigated 139 bauxite deposits worldwide and evaluated the potential production of aluminum based on the demonstrated resources of bauxite ore from 91 mines and deposits in 22 market economy countries. The demonstrated resources of the bauxite mines and deposits included in this study represent an in situ resource of 20.2 billion metric tons of bauxite. Total identified bauxite resources in market economy countries amount to roughly 31.9 billion tons. Of the demonstrated resource, some 18.8 billion tons of bauxite considered minable provide a production potential of 3.6 billion tons of primary aluminum. Given the wide geographic distribution of bauxite deposits, stable supplies of bauxite for aluminum production seem assured well into the next century. However, a tight market situation could develop during the 1990's unless the real price of aluminum increases enough to stimulate massive new investments in production capacity, particularly in refining and smelting. This study indicates that a real price of at least $0.85 per pound (in January 1980 dollars) would be necessary to stimulate the required investments and provide a sufficient rate of return on invested capital.

Jan 1, 1983

By Robert B. Parsons

"The junior mining company's bank account is depleted, but there are high hopes for the company's property. Where to get the necessary development funds is a common problem facing many juniors.This month, Tax Notes discusses briefly the principal income tax implications of several alternative development plans that are typically available to the junior mining company and its shareholders.IntroductionAt some point in time, many junior exploration companies face a common dilemma-a promising prospect has been proven up and is read y for further development, but alas, the company is flat broke! In this situation, a number of alternatives is available to the company, including the possibility of ""going it alone"" by raising capital through a public offering, or by striking a deal with a ""major"" or some other substantial investor.This article focuses on the latter possibility, and discusses in broad term s the main income tax implications of various arrangements between a typical junior exploration company and a larger public company for the development of a particular property. It will be appreciated that a discussion of other important considerations, such as those pertaining to securities exchange regulation s and company law requirements, is beyond the scope of this article.Jointly Owned CorporationPerhaps the simplest way of dealing with the problem of financing the development of a property is to sell the property outright, pocket the proceeds, and run! Clearly, though, this alternative is unacceptable to most prospectors and developers, who are predictably reluctant to completely relinquish their equity interest in a promising property. An additional strike against such an outright sale is that the sale could trigger an income tax liability. Generally speaking, in the case of a simple sale of a mineral property, for income tax purposes the proceeds are applied to reduce the taxpayer' s unclaimed balance of Canadian development expense (""CDE""), with any unapplied excess being brought into income and taxed at ordinary corporate tax rates."

Jan 1, 1983

By D. Houghton

"I am very pleased to be a member on this panel today because abrasion and wear in mills has been part of my life over the past forty years. My presentation will deal with the role Ni-Hard has played in combating wear and abrasion in mills. Before Ni-Hard came along, unalloyed white iron was used in ball mills and one of the most popular types of white iron liners was the pocket liner. Slide #1 illustrates the design of the pocket liner used at Dome Mines in their 5' x 22' pebble mills. The pockets filled with grinding media and it was on this that the wear took place. The concept is not unlike the new magnetic liner which utilizes the ore and grinding media to form the wearing surface. In this slide please note the tapered pocket type of cored bolt holes. If cored bolt holes do not fill with grinding media there could be excessive grooving or wear at that area. Therefore all cored bolt holes should be tapered in this manner.Before Inco patented the name Ni-Hard several foundries were making the alloy iron under different brand names such as Diamond Alloy, Mitchelloy and Specialloy. In the early days some of the Ni-Hard was poor quality. Inco provided foundries with technical knowhow and provided assistance to licence them to sell under the name of Ni-Hard. This was in the late 1920's. The material we are discussing is Ni-Hard type I with the following analysis (slide #2). It is a martensitic white iron with BHN of 550 - 600 and is a relatively easy alloy to produce in either a cupola or electric furnace. The annual average production of Ni-Hard in North America is 90,000 tons with mill liners making up 25,000 tons and grinding media 30,000 tons, according to Warren Spear of Inco."

Jan 1, 1983

By Betty L. Gibbs

A company must have an organized approach to effectively sort through the profusion of available software and hardware and find the programs and equipment which fit defined needs. The selection process must build a complete compatible system which includes hardware and software. The methodology presented in this paper helps identify some of the more important considerations. The steps needed for an organized approach to software/hardware selection are: •All involved staff should contribute to an assessment of current computer capabilities and projection of future needs. •Alternatives are analyzed to determine what software and hardware is available and how selections may possibly be merged into the existing computer system. The evaluation process focuses on details of program capability and hardware compatibility. Analysis must be done to determine how closely individual programs fit the established requirements. The final decision is often a balance of needs between program capabilities and hardware availability. Any programs selected must be able to run on existing and newly purchased hardware. Any additional hardware selected must be capable of meshing with the available computer system.

Jan 1, 1983

By William G. Pariseau

The research reported here concerns ground control in multi-seam mining and relates mainly to the analysis of stress about multi-seam room and pillar mines. The two variables of most concern are distance between seams and alignment of pillars between seams. The first year results of the two year investigation apply to the development phase of mining when the extraction is typically less than 50 percent. The second year effort is concentrated on retreat mining and barrier pillar safety when the extraction is typically greater than 50%. The procedures in both cases are readily applicable to more than two seams. Although two seam mines are the most frequent type of multi-seam operations, because of the potential for three seam operations in the Western United States, a number of three seam development analyses are also presented. The results enable one to make a rapid assessment of stability of rooms and pillars during production and barrier pillar size during extraction of adjacent panels. In the event of low safety factors, more site-specific analyses can be undertaken.

Jan 1, 1983

By James E. Lawver

Part I describes the general geology of the Florida deposits. As the lucrative Bone Valley Formation is depleted, replacement production will move progressively into areas of total Hawthorn production. The reserves of the immediate future are a mixture of two distinct ore types referred to as the upper (high grade) zone and the lower (low grade) zone. The upper zone is somewhat similar to the Bone Valley Formation that has been Florida's source of production for the past 100 years and will respond favorably to present beneficiation practices. By contrast, the lower zone ore contains significant quantities of dolomite that must be removed in order to produce an acceptable grade pebble or flotation sized product. Part II reviews past practice and describes future trends in mining and ore transportation. This presentation (Part III) is confined to the problems of beneficiation, waste disposal, and environmental regulation.

Jan 1, 1983

By R. D. Rosenkranz

The Bureau of Mines has investigated the availability of copper from 272 deposits in market economy countries. The deposits studied have demonstrated resources totaling 413 million metric tons of contained copper and account for more than 90 pct of the reserve base for market economy countries. Using data gathered as part of its Minerals Availability Program, the Bureau performed geologic, engineering, and economic evaluations in order to determine the copper production potential of each deposit. At the 1981 copper market price of $0.85/lb, the deposits studied could economically produce an estimated 88 million metric tons of copper (allowing for profit computed at a 15-pct rate of return), primarily from mines operating at the time of the study (1981). At this price, producing mines in market economy countries could economically produce only 2.1 million metric tons of refined copper per year. However, actual 1981 production was 6.2 million metric tons, indicating that many mines continued to operate even though they were unable to cover all production costs. For U.S. producing mines, the estimated average cost of production per pound (including profit at a 15-pct rate of return) was $0.15 higher than the average cost in other market economy countries.

Jan 1, 1983

By D. G. Feuerbacher

Maximizing production of oil from sandstone petroleum reservoirs is aided by use of non-damaging drilling and workover/completion fluids. Various tests, such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microsccpy, petrographic microscopy, porosity and permeability are conducted on core samples. Several fluids are selected, on the basis of these results, for return permeability tests. A report is then written giving the results of all tests, potential reservoir problems, and recommended practices for exploiting the reservoir.

Jan 1, 1983

By Dennis R. Twining

Recently a mining analyst for a major bank called me to say that during his travels he had encountered an electric utility interested in a new uranium supply. Since we produce uranium as a by-product of phosphate operations rather than as a primary product, he assumed we simply sold our output in the spot market and that a new prospective purchaser would be of interest to us. This assumption was incorrect; the uranium had already been sold on a long term basis at terms more favorable than the currently depressed spot market. From the outset our approach to the marketing of uranium was based on the principle that by-product marketing is not unlike primary product marketing. This was particularly appropriate in the case of uranium, as we were planning a considerable technical and capital commitment to a new business. This illustrates: that the fundamental principle in by-product marketing is to follow a primary product strategy; that the terms "by-product" or "co-product" are creations of accountants; that they have no place in marketing decisions! Traditionally, the term "by-product" has implied that only a secondary marketing effort is required. Recent history has contradicted that view by demonstrating that by-product values can have marked impact on a mine's revenues and costs. In fact, by-product values can spell the difference between success and failure.

Jan 1, 1983