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By LeRoy Scharon, P. Uhley

TEST gravity surveys were made in the Washington County barite district of Missouri on properly owned by the Baroid Sales Division of the National Lead Co. This property is located just northeast of Richwoods in the northeastern corner of Washington County, Fig. 1. The area to which the surveys were confined comprised approximately 5000 acres, of which some 525 acres were surveyed gravitationally. Gravity observations were made at 2600 points within the area, observations being confined to relatively clear and gently sloping ground. Part of the area was heavily wooded, and the terrain too rugged for either the occurrence of a commercial barite deposit or a feasible gravity survey. The relief along the central drainage, Ditch Creek, was about 140 ft, the maximum difference in elevation being 400 ft in a distance of 3½ miles. The purpose of the test gravity survey was to determine whether the gravity method of geophysical prospecting might be applied in the exploration for barite deposits in the Washington County barite district, since a satisfactory systematic procedure had not been devised to explore and ultimately determine barite ore reserves with desired accuracy. No previous geophysical work with respect to barite is known to have been done in this area. Stratigraphy: The formations over which the barite deposits occur' are Paleozoic in age, representing rocks involving sandstones and dolomites unconformably underlain by pre-Cambrain granites and rhyolite porphyries. The areas covered by the granite survey were directly underlain by almost

Jan 1, 1955

By Andrew Ritter, Victor I. Montenyohl, Stephen R. Winzer

Thirty-seven open pit production blasting operations have been monitored using high-speed cameras running between 500 and 7000 frames per second. Analysis of the resulting films reveals irregularities in timing including sequencing errors and crowding (holes firing less than 8 ms apart), confirming results of laboratory testing of ms delay blasting caps (Winzer, 1978). Where blasting parameters are otherwise constant and within recommended guidelines (stemming, spacing, burden, etc.), timing problems dominate the overall performance of the blasting operation. Model tests in layered Homalite 100, designed to simulate joint or bedding planes in rock, indicate the importance of the stress waves generated by the explosive in developing the crack network which is ultimately responsible for the fragmentation seen in the resulting muckpile. These mechanisms are strongly supported by high-speed film studies at Pinesburg, Maryland. Experiments in controlling relief in deep shots (where depth approaches the lateral extent of the bench blasted) using borehole geometry and hybrid initiation systems (electronic timer and pyrotechnic delays) were carried out. The results suggest that the 1 me/ft. of burden guideline developed by Bergmann et aI., 1974 is too short, and that much longer times are necessary to optimize fragmentation and muck digability. Longer times are found to reduce noise, vibration, and flyrock.

Jan 1, 1979

By E. I. Larsen, A. S. Doty, F. R. Hensel

The alloy under discussion is a Pig. I shows results of heat-treating tests nickel-silicon bronze and is one of many on two typical nickel-silicon bronze castings age-hardening or precipitation-hardening of the type on which the observations were copper-base alloys. The hardening constituent is a nickel-silicon compound.l The quenching temperature necessary to produce hardening by a subsequent aging treatment is a function of the composition and extends from about 700°C. to 950°C.; the aging temperature range extends from 4000 to 600°C. The work carried out by the authors of this paper was confined to cast alloys having compositions within the ranges of: 1.5 to 3.00 per cent Ni; 0.4 to 0.75 per cent Sj: balance. comer. made. A quenching temperature of 750°C. produces almost as high a hardness on subsequent aging as do quenching temperatures of 850' and 900°C. Several foundries have spent years of active and intelligent effort in trying to control the casting and heat-treating variables of nickel-silicon bronzes and finally gave up the attempts because of the inconsistencies of results.2 This undesirable characteristic was not manifest in the ultimate hardness or conductivity but primarily in tensile strength and ductility, as shown in Table I. The variation in tensile properties was often much greater than that existing on the alloys

Jan 1, 1941

By James A. Roberson

THE mechanical behavior of molybdenum has become a matter of considerable interest in recent years because it has a reasonably high strength at high temperatures. Various aspects of its fatigue behavior have been investigated previously,1-3 and the results can be summarized as follows. Recrys-tallized molybdenum exhibits a fatigue limit which decreases continuously with increasing temperature. The ratio of fatigue-limit stress to ultimate tensile stress is high (0.6 to 0.8) and reasonably constant. The present work was undertaken to determine the effect of variations in environment on the fatigue of molybdenum stressed in fully reversed axial tension compression. In order to provide a basis to which these data could be compared, a complementary series of fatigue tests were made in vacuum. All of the specimens used were made from one mill lot of unalloyed molybdenum which had been vacuum-arc melted, worked down to 1-in.-diam bar, re-crystallized, then warm-worked to 5/8 in. diam. The interstitial content by weight was as follows: C—0.022 pet, 02-0.0026 pet, Hz-0.0001 pet, and N20.0002 pct. The average grain diameter in the transverse direction was about 0.035 mm, and the average grain length was about 0.15 mm. Typical tensile-test data are shown in Table I. None of the specimens tested exhibited an upper yield point.

Jan 1, 1965

By E. Gybbon Spilsbury

In the course of the persistent and rapid advance of our country towards the goal she has set for herself, of commercial and manufacturing supremacy, there stand out certain periods or cycles of prosperity or depression, succeeding one another with a comparative regularity as to their ultimate trend, but of varying lengths and intensities. I might compare this course to that of a railroad between two points at different levels, with intervening mountain ranges and valleys, the up-grades climbing towards the final upper terminal of prosperity, while the down-grades retard the ascent, and tend to return to the valleys below. Just at the present time we are evidently at the bottom of one of these valleys, and, before starting to climb the next divide, it may be prudent for us to look into the condition of our rolling-stock, and especially into that of our brakes, and see what the experience of our downward journey has taught us, and whether we are properly equipped for the new upward advance which now lies before us. Probably no previous period of the same duration has produced in all branches of mining and metallurgy improvements SO many and so various as have the last ten or twelve years. Not that they have brought forth any such startling and revo-

Jan 1, 1898

By R. Gurung, S. Asokan, Ch. V. G. K. Murty, R. Upadhyay

Tata Steel Limited which is Asia?s first and India?s largest integrated private sector steel company, as part of its vision to grow in related industries is also undertaking the Titania project. The project will involve mining, separation of ilmenite and other valuable minerals from the inland heavy mineral sands deposit in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The raw material will be beneficiated to synthetic rutile, titanium dioxide pigment and ultimately to titanium metal. The recently concluded feasibility study revealed that the deposit under consideration has 10.4%of total heavy mineral content and 15.2% slimes of the size below 63 µm, over an average sand thickness of 6.9 metres. The presence of about 15% slimes in ROM sand coupled with scarcity of water at the project site complicates the slimes handling/disposal system, requiring the development of an innovative, efficient and effective system for disposal of slimes. Mineral characteristics of slimes revealed the presence of kaolinite clay, which poses its own challenges in thickening/dewatering of slimes. This paper outlines the detailed studies conducted, including slime characterization, settling and thickening characteristics, and ge-technical studies to arrive at an efficient and effective slime handling/disposal system, with a view to plant saplings on the mined-out reclaimed land with species typically suitable to that environment.

Jan 1, 2007

By I Gipps

The mining industry has come through a period of major change in community expectations regarding safety and environmental impact and these changes can be expected to continue in the future. These changes are ultimately reflected in Government regulations and industry safety standards and form the basis of the ælicense to operateÆ. Equally, advances in technology have made possible new equipment and processes either available now, or close to completion, that will allow mines to meet these more stringent expectations if properly introduced. Changes in technology provide opportunities for mine management to introduce new systems that will remove people from hazardous areas and lead to improvements in the ætriple bottom lineÆ. In a longer time frame of five to ten years, novel and advanced technologies that are currently being developed will deliver new mining methods and conversion of presently uneconomic resources to ore. This is consistent with the time frame required to develop a new mine from discovery. Strategic decisions can be taken now by mine designers to enable the introduction of these major technology changes. Examples of both practical and strategic opportunities are drawn from the integration of rock cutting/blasting, automation, electronic communications and new mining methods. This paper discusses emerging industry trends, changes to legislative framework and some practical choices for existing and imminent technology.

Jan 1, 2003

By A. S. Doty, E. I. Larsen, F. R. Hensel

The alloy under discussion is a Pig. I shows results of heat-treating tests nickel-silicon bronze and is one of many on two typical nickel-silicon bronze castings age-hardening or precipitation-hardening of the type on which the observations were copper-base alloys. The hardening constituent is a nickel-silicon compound.l The quenching temperature necessary to produce hardening by a subsequent aging treatment is a function of the composition and extends from about 700°C. to 950°C.; the aging temperature range extends from 4000 to 600°C. The work carried out by the authors of this paper was confined to cast alloys having compositions within the ranges of: 1.5 to 3.00 per cent Ni; 0.4 to 0.75 per cent Sj: balance. comer. made. A quenching temperature of 750°C. produces almost as high a hardness on subsequent aging as do quenching temperatures of 850' and 900°C. Several foundries have spent years of active and intelligent effort in trying to control the casting and heat-treating variables of nickel-silicon bronzes and finally gave up the attempts because of the inconsistencies of results.2 This undesirable characteristic was not manifest in the ultimate hardness or conductivity but primarily in tensile strength and ductility, as shown in Table I. The variation in tensile properties was often much greater than that existing on the alloys

Jan 1, 1941

By Donald E. Crowell

In the fall of 1969, ASARCO and Newmont Mining Co. began the design of the 700tpd concentrator at their Black Cloud shaft located near Leadville, Colo. The concentractor would treat by flotation a Pb-Zn-Ag ore containing minor gold values. Flowsheet design was based on laboratory test work performed at the Minerals Research Testing Laboratory of ASARCO. Since the concentrator is located at an elevation of 11,000 ft, cold weather was a major factor in design considerations. The original capacity was designed as 700 tpd but for various reasons an ultimate capacity of 1,000 tpd was desired. This necessitated special consideration in the design of several areas, particularly the grinding circuit. The grinding circuit chosen was a single 9 X 12 ball mill operating in closed circuit with one 20-in. cyclone. The ball mill will operate at low speed and as an overflow type originally. The mill can be speeded up and converted to grate type for handling the larger tonnage when required. Thickeners and filters were oversized and space was left for additional flotation cells in order to handle the increased tonnage in these areas. Pumps were sized so that they could handle the increased tonnage by increasing their speed. Construction began in May 1970; the Black Cloud concentrator went on-stream in April 1791.

Jan 1, 1974

By John F. Shea

When tunnel boring machines were first developed, the J. F. Shea Company elected not to use them until some of the bugs were worked out. When we did take the plunge, we learned a great many lessons in tunneling; amongst others, that tunneling with a TBM is more an art than a science. One of the most important factors that contributes to a successful TBM tunnel is the geology. A machine can be designed to handle almost any type of ground; however, if the ground is not uniform, compromises in design must be made to enable the machine to handle the various ground conditions. Even when the geologic formations are well defined, it is still impossible to predict how the formations will react when it is penetrated by a tunnel. This is where the design and performance of a tunnel boring machine runs into trouble. When the reactions are adverse, the contractor is left with three alternatives; park or pull the machine and drive conventional, fight through the formation with no changes, or modify the machine. We have made all three of these choices. The first, on the Tonner Tunnel in Southern California, we encountered an extremely tough sandstone where progress was measured in inches per day. Ultimately, we pulled the machine and drove conventional tunnel. The second, on the Vat Tunnel in Central Utah, another element was added to the geology - water, which we encountered in excess of 1,000 gpm at the heading. It was impossible to adapt the machine to handle this much water, so we have been carrying out a program of grouting ahead of the machine and then driving tunnel with the tunnel boring machine.

Jan 1, 1981

Accident prevention in industry is a task as important to the ultimate result of an undertaking as efficient machines, good tools or trained operatives. In fact, like many qther phases of industry today, "Accident Prevention" or "Safety Organisation" has developed in this century, to a degree that is now acknowledged as an integral part of industrial thought and planning. This has not always been the case, as the following snap-shot picture of the past illustrates.The Broken Hill Proprietary Company recently celebrated at Whyalla the Jubilee of the opening of the Iron Knob Tramway. On that occasion a dinner was tendered to the pioneers, and in talking to the Writer of the early days one of the old gentlemen present could not refrain from recounting some of the accidents he had seen or experienced.Several such incidents were recounted at length, after each, the old fellow would say, "An' there weren't no safety officers or compensation in them days".The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited was a pioneer of safety in Australian industry and considerable success has followed its activity in this connection; the accident rate of the steel industry now compares satisfactorily with that of any other industrial undertaking. A measure of 'the success of the safety organisation, is, that in recent years, despite extensive construction programmes at various centres, and despite a heavy labour turnover, a decreasing accident rate has been maintained. This success, in the Writer's opinion, arises from the fact that by its early attention to plant protection, the introduction of safety standards and further through the interest and energy of departmental superintendents and foremen, the...

Jan 1, 1951

By D. J. Kennedy, W. G. Klinowski

Over the past few years the Cape Breton Coal Research Laboratory's staff designed, built, tested and proved the necessary hardware, software and methodology of tracer gas based surveying techniques applied in the field of mine ventilation. These methods are now used routinely in a variety of applications where traditional anemometric methods do not provide the required accuracies or cannot be effectively employed. Irregular or highly turbulent flows, leakages, geometrically complicated or highly obstructed airways are just a few examples where traditional anemometry can produce unacceptable errors in calculated ventilation parameters. Tracer gas based ventilation techniques have been used in many problematic situations where the standard ventilation methods are inadequate. One such problem, faced by many mine operators, is the emergency imposed by the ever present threat of a mine fire. An understanding of the propagation of smoke contaminants and the demonstrated integrity of appointed escape routes can save lives and property during a fire. That knowledge can be gained quickly and inexpensively by the application of tracer gas smoke simulation methods. The concept of controlled air recirculation has recently gained considerable attention in the mining industry. While mathematical models can be used to predict performance, the ultimate proof of a ventilation system's performance can best be provided by a tracer gas based simulation of contaminant levels. Fan performance tests and assessment of auxiliary ventilation systems are highly dependent on accurate definition of airflows; precise data can be easily obtained by tracer gas based volumetric surveys. This paper contains a brief description of the equipment and the methodology of tracer gas based ventilation techniques and presents typical examples of their use

Jan 1, 1991

By Edward Thomas

THE late George S. Rice was active in the investigation of bumps, particularly in the last ten years of his career as chief mining engineer of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. Since most of his investigation was carried out in Great Britain, continental Europe, and-to a lesser extent-Canada, his thinking on prevention was influenced considerably by the experience of those countries. It is not surprising, therefore, that when he was called upon a few years before his retirement to investigate bumps in the U. S. and suggest ways to prevent them, he turned to longwall mining. A longwall method had been most successful in combating the bump hazard in mining coal under deep cover, especially in Great Britain, but the prevailing method there at the time was advancing longwall mining, which he knew was uneconomical under U. S. mining conditions. For this reason he proposed a modified retreating longwall system that he believed included the best features of the advancing method. As brought out by Rice,1 if the cover is 2000 ft and 50 pct of the coal is extracted, the static load on the remaining pillars will be about 4000 psi, which exceeds the ultimate crushing strength2 in most instances. If the pillar coal is overloaded before a pillar line is established, then the abutment zone preceding a line of extraction is no place to split pillars or extract them by any method other than an open-end system. Rice therefore advocated open-end mining, preferably by longwall, but he was willing to compromise with long-face mining if the longwall method was not acceptable.

Jan 8, 1958

By Timothy J. Haddon

For the mining industry in general and gold mining in particular, the past few years have been difficult. Economic conditions, coupled with growing regulatory restrictions, have led to increasingly important reasons for managing assets wisely. From a public company perspective, such asset management makes sense because it ultimately provides for an increase in shareholder wealth, and that is why we are in business. Regardless of whether a company is public or not, assets must be managed effectively to remain a player in today's competitive environment. So, as the chief executive officer of a gold mining company, how do we manage our assets to ensure that we are satisfying our obligations to our customer-the Amax Gold shareholder? The gold industry has been under siege. We have just completed the third year with average prices below $12.85/ g ($400/oz). When finding, and/or acquisition costs and development costs to operating costs are added, there isn't much of a profit margin left. What this environment provides, however, is opportunities for growth. In the gold business, you either grow or you die. Today, most North American gold producers have, at most, a 10-year mine life. We are all scrambling to add reserves so we do not become extinct. As prices remain low, opportunities abound for increasing diminishing reserves. This is the time for the opportunistic company to take advantage of market conditions and that is precisely what Amax Gold has done. There are six components to running a successful gold business: • finding reserves through exploration, acquisition or joint venture, • financing the project, • permitting and constructing the project, • operating the project, • cash management and • communication.

Jan 1, 1992

By Brunella Recinto

Pile loading tests are carried out with two main objectives: 1) evaluating the ultimate resistance; 2) checking the behaviour of the pile under live load. In the first case and particularly for large diameter bored piles the cost of a loading test may be very high. In the late '80s, a new method to perform static loading tests was proposed. It is based on the use of a sacrificial hydraulic jack placed at the pile toe. The device, internally pressurized, expanding applies an upward force on the pile shaft and an equal but opposite downward force on the soil beneath the pile toe. This device is well known as Osterberg's load cell, shortly O-cell. The obtained results are typically summarized in two separate load-movement curves: one for the shaft side shear resistance and another for the toe resistance. The two curves are used to build what is generally named the "equivalent head load-movement curve" relying upon two hypotheses: - the pile is rigid; - the load movement relationship for the shaft is not affected by the direction of movement. The former assumption can be easily removed, while it is not possible to remove the latter. On the validity of this latter hypothesis, comparisons between conventional head loading tests and toe loading tests could be very helpful. Unfortunately in the literature there are only a few case histories and most of them are also poorly documented. In order to explore limitations and potentialities of the new testing method, a finite element model has been set up. Results of simulations of conventional head loading tests and of O-cell tests are analyzed, discussed and compared.

Jan 1, 2003

By J S. Moema, R Paton, J Zimba

Today, most organisations are familiar with the pressure to increase their effectiveness and efficiency, regardless of the nature of their business. Cost cutting and increased productivity are the main themes of many initiatives to ensure the profitability of operations and, ultimately, shareholder satisfaction. It is well known that the cost of comminution to liberate minerals such as gold from their respective ores is a major expense for mines. Comminution costs consist predominantly of grinding balls and electricity. However, there are no national or international standard specifications for grinding balls û on which a single mine may spend several million dollars per month. In addition, in the past mines generally did not specify the minimum requirements when purchasing grinding balls from suppliers. The result is that every supplier has its own grinding ball recipe (regarding chemistry and heat treatment), and is under no pressure to implement a quality assurance plan to ensure that a consistent product is delivered. The resulting variation in the quality of grinding balls leads to increased steel consumption rates and hence increased milling costs. A more stringent quality plan will generally not be welcomed by suppliers since this may entail further investments and/or reduce the production rate. In a sense, suppliers benefit from poor quality grinding balls as this leads to increased sales. Perhaps the main problem is a lack of understanding of the factors that influence grinding ball performance. This paper will describe the factors that influence the wear rate of grinding balls from both a microstructural perspective and a mill perspective. In addition, some insights are provided on the different grinding balls available and ways that users can verify their quality.

Jan 1, 2007

By E. M. Wise

IT is known qualitatively that the recrystallization behavior of platinum is dependent upon the amount and particularly the nature of impurities present, the amount of prior cold-work and the annealing time and temperature, but published data are limited. A study of the effects of cold-work and annealing temperature on the hardness of a sample of very pure platinum was undertaken to supply part of this information. CONCLUSIONS 1. The platinum used in the experiments had a probable platinum content of 99.99+ per cent, and had the following mechanical properties in the completely softened condition: Vickers hardness number, 39.4; ultimate tensile strength, 19,340 lb. per sq. in.; proportional limit, very low; elongation, 37.5 per cent in 2 inches. 2. The effect of cold-rolling on the hardness is shown in Fig. 1. The hardness increases rapidly up to 10 to 15 per cent reduction and more slowly up to about 75 per cent reduction, beyond which it increases more rapidly. 3. The recrystallization temperatures for a 15-min. anneal, after cold-rolling 19, 39.5, 50.8, 66, 80.5 and 89.5 per cent reduction in thickness, are approximately 765°, 700°, 635°, 600°, 545° and 425°C., respectively. 4. The recrystallized grain size of this platinum is a function of the percentage of cold reduction, being larger the lower the percentage of cold-work. 5. Little or no grain growth resulted from subjecting recrystallized samples to higher temperatures or annealing for longer times.

Jan 1, 1940

By M. L. Fuller

OWING to the nature of the die-casting process, freshly cast alloys are undoubtedly not at equilibrium from the standpoint of alloy phase relationships. After casting, therefore, they tend to undergo phase changes, with the ultimate effect of reaching a state of equilibrium at the aging temperature, beyond which no further change takes place. This phase alteration undoubtedly is one of the primary causes of the changes in dimensions and physical properties that zinc-alloy die castings undergo during aging. It is planned to report on this problem in a series of papers of which this is the first. The writers have made a study of commercial zinc die-casting alloys over a period of several years, utilizing the X-ray diffraction technic of determining the phase composition changes in the alloys. Up to the present, two principal phase changes have been observed which are capable of causing dimensional changes: (1) the segregation of secondary constituents from the zinc-base solid solution and (2) the beta aluminum-zinc decomposition. The latter is the subject of the present paper and studies on the former will be reported upon at a future time.

Jan 1, 1934

By R. U. Jackson

FACED with rising costs, the mining industry is looking to new methods and equipment to supply the relief necessary for profitable operation. Conveyor transportation is rapidly taking a superior position to motor tramming in underground mines because of lower installation, maintenance, and operating costs. Haulage is always a critical problem in underground mining. The ease of operation and flexibility of a haulage system can have an important effect on ultimate mining cost. With the average tenor of ores on the downgrade, larger tonnages are required for the same metal recovery. This selection of a tramming system can be the key to a successful, paying plant. Because this shift is being made at an ever advancing rate, it may become necessary to tailor mining operations to the transportation system, rather than to select a haulage system fitting set mining methods. In choosing a haulage system, the relative costs of the various methods are of the greatest importance. Adapting the mine to one or the other type of tramming is not considered in the cost analysis, and very likely would make little difference, outside of location of drifts and raises. In the cost sheet, the problem presents recommendations for a conveyor installation and a comparison of equipment, installation, operation, maintenance, and power costs are made. Under the track haulage estimate, no allowance was made for dumping equipment at the shaft pocket or bin. If this equipment was added to the balance sheet, the additional

Jan 1, 1952

A co-operative research project, combining Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) research scientists findings and company iron ore geologists' expertise, resulted in new concepts about the origins, distribution and complexitie of iron ores and their parent rocks (banded iron-formation or BIF) in the Hamersley Iron Province of Western Australia. Understanding these problems was important to the efficiency of exploration, development and ultimate mining of iron ores. This genetic model, based on a detailed mineralogic background, was modified by Mt Newman geologists to obtain a user oriented classification for practical application in the field.The proposed Pilbara Iron Ore Classification (PIOC) gives iron ore geologists a basis from which to understand, identify and record the various mineralogic and physical characteristics of the many genetically different ore types occurring within and between orebodies in the Pilbara. More definitive quality control over ore products can be achieved based on the detailed understanding of ore types which the PIOC allows, compared to current classifications which deal only with the physical nature of ores. Of equal importance, the classification remains sufficiently simple to enable owners, operators and buyers to achieve a basic appreciation of ore type variations.With little modification, it is believed the classification has applications beyond the Pilbara, to iron ore worldwide.

Jan 1, 1984