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By J. A. Bowersmith

The environment in which the surface mining industry operates today is considerably different than that of a few years ago. Increased pressure from the public, government, labor and internal industry factors calling for the fulfillment of rapidly changing expectations is especially intense in the surface coal mining industry. Such things as requirements for increased production, the Mine Health and Safety Act, environmental concerns and land reclamation, shortages of qualified and enthusiastic employees and market cycles coupled with price competition are but some of the specific items that are requiring the surface mining industry to better utilize equipment, materials, and labor resources available, There is one technical tool available which will assist management to increase productivity, improve cost control and assist in planning, organizing and operating surface mines. Industrial Engineering is that tool. Before a discussion of specific applications of Industrial Engineering to surface mining is conducted, it is worthwhile to review a definition of Industrial Engineering and the history of its development. The following definition has been adopted by the American Institute of Industrial Engineers: "Industrial Engineering is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of men, materials and equipment. It draws upon specialized know- ledge and skill in the mathematical, physical and social sciences, together with the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design, to specify, predict and evaluate the results to be obtained from such systems."

Jan 1, 1976

By William C. McBee

A sulfur concrete technology has been developed by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, in which chemically modified sulfur is utilized with suitable mineral aggregates to produce construction materials which are resistant to corrosion by acids and salts. This report presents a summary of the basic technology and results of testing the materials under actual operating conditions in 50 corrosive environments in 40 commercial plants. After 4 years of testing, there was essentially no evidence of material degradation or loss of strength. Regular concrete materials were attacked and in some cases completely destroyed under the same conditions. Testing is continuing to establish ultimate longevity and durability of the sulfur concretes. The materials are finding widespread applications in metallurgical, chemical, and fertilizer processing plants.

Jan 1, 1983

By Richard R. Klimpel

During the last 28 years, I have had the very challenging and rewarding experience of working as an engineering professional in a large multinational company, both as a manager of engineers and engineering projects as well as an inventor and generator of new engineering processes and products. Due to the diversified geographic and tech¬nical nature of my employer's business, my responsibilities have taken me all over the world. This has included interactions with people in different industries including minerals, coal, chemicals, petroleum, pulp and paper, agriculture and pharmaceuticals. As diverse as my experience may seem, it has always amazed me how common the basic underlying technology and economic trends are that shape the working environment that any given engineer in any given geographic loca¬tion will experience. I would like to discuss the industrial evolution from micro to macro engineering. One of the basic truths behind how industry must and will operate is "change," including: • the creation of conditions for change, • the anticipation of change, • the resistance to change, • the rewards that being part of a change can bring and • the destruction that change can bring to the unprepared. This fact was well stated by Heractitus around 500 BC.: "There is nothing permanent except change." This simple truth has been valid since the dawn of time and, if anything, is accelerating in nature every decade.

Jan 1, 1993

By E. McCarthy

"INTRODUCTION Talc is a hydrous magnesium silicate with the approximate elemental composition 4MgO.3SiO2.H2O. It is one of the layered phyllosilicates (like kaolin and mica) but it differs from these in that it is relatively hydrophobic. This is due to its unique crystalline structure whereby a brucite inner layer is sandwiched between silica layers and the adjacent silica layers have no interlayer bonding other than van der Waals forces. This allows talc to be sheared easily along this basal plane, and the surface is covalent not ionic. Talc occurs both as a relatively pure material (>90% talc content) and in conjunction with many other minerals in proportions all the way from 1% to 90%. At lower concentrations, it is often considered a nuisance mineral when it occurs with base metals like copper, molybdenum or nickel or with precious metals like platinum or palladium. It floats readily with these materials and often is suppressed using guar gum or carboxy methyl cellulose which will absorb along the basal surface and make it hydrophilic. Alternately if the reduced ore is hydrophobic, like MoS2, then a partial oxidation of the sulfide will convert the surface to a hydrophilic oxide and the talc can be floated away in a separate step. Talc in grades from 20 to 90% has been commercially exploited in a wide range of pigment (paint and paper), material (ceramic, construction and cosmetic), reinforcing (polymers and composites) and functional (pitch adsorbent, lubricating agent) applications. Initially these tended to be local or regional markets, but eventually with certain higher purity grades, cosmetic, polymer and ceramic applications became valuable enough to be national and trans ocean markets. TALC FLOATATION PLANTS This drove the need for higher purity grades of talc and initially this need was met primarily by ore sorting. This works well for certain deposits with well crystallized talc lenses, but for ores, such as those from widely available ultramafic deposits, where the liberation size is closer to 100 microns, sorting is not effective. That drove the need for floatation and the first investigations were published by Clemmer and Cooke of the US Bureau of Mines in 19362. The first commercial floatation plant was installed in Johnson, VT by the Eastern Magnesia Talc Co in 1937. The circuit is shown in the schematic (Figure 1). The ore was an ultramafic, serpentine derived talc; mineralogy was about 55% talc, 40% ferroan magnesite and 5% oxides, sulfides and other silicates. The oxides include hematite and chromite, sulfides pyrite and gerstorffite and silicates chlorite, serpentine and mica. After crushing, the ore was dry ball milled and then air classified to remove minus 325 mesh fines. The coarse fraction was further classified to cut at about 100 mesh and the fines from this were the feed to floatation. The -325 mesh (about 15% of the ore) was sold as a paint grade and the plus 100 mesh (about 25% of the ore) was screened to make an asphalt backsurfacing grade."

Jan 1, 2018

By R. R. Klimpel

This paper is a summary of the author's industrial experiences on the selection and optimization of flotation reagent schemes for the recovery of gold species. The trends given are a composite of data and experiences gained on 24 different gold ores from around the globe. The primary emphasis is on the benefits of matching the associated gold mineralogy to a reagent scheme most appropriate for that mineralogy. Two general categories are discussed: the flotation of free or native gold species and the flotation of gold associated with a variety of sulfide minerals. Important plant operating factors influencing each of these two categories are presented with supporting examples. Carefully matching reagent chemistry and appropriate operating conditions to any given gold-bearing ore will not only lower the total reagent cost but, more importantly, can lead to measurable increases in gold recovery.

Jan 1, 2000

By R. R. Klimpel

The industrial processing of ores containing precious metals such as gold is generally very mining site specific, e. g. McQuiston and Shoemaker (1985), vanZyl et. a1. (1988), Fuerstenau and Hendrix (1990), and Hausen et. a1. (1990). The variety of various mineral processing techniques employed is extensive and includes size reduction, size classification, gravity separation, roasting, cyanidation, chemical and/or bacterial leaching, ion exchange and/or solvent extraction, and froth flotation. Gold occurs in the earth's crust on the average in very low concentration estimated by various sources to be between two and five parts per billion. For a specific ore deposit to be considered as an economic source of gold, generally a concentration of near one part-per million (one gram / Mton) or more is required. From a mineralogical viewpoint, gold often occurs in its native or free form. However, it can also occur as gold compounds of telluride, antimony, and selenium contained within either sulfide minerals such as pyrite, arsenopyrite. and pyrrhotite or, to a less extent, within silicate, oxide, and carbonate minerals. In many locations, alloying of gold with silver is found. The optimal processing method for recovering gold is determined by many factors such as the mineralogy of the gold bearing minerals as well as the associated mineralogy of the gangue minerals, the type of liberation profile of the gold bearing minerals upon' size reduction, and the particle size of the gold itself. Free or native gold particles can vary in size from the extreme of large nuggets to very finely disseminated gold associated in a complex sulfide mineral matrix. Typically free gold particles of several hundred microns or larger are efficiently recovered by one or more of a number of gravity based techniques due to the large specific gravity differential of gold (19.3 to 15) versus typical gangue minerals (5 to 2.7). When gold is associated with a sulfide (usually pyrite) matrix, historically most industrial plants involving size reduction and subsequent liberation have operated in a size range of 50 to 80 percent less than 75 microns. Grinding finer than this has been normally not economical unless the ore has a high gold content in the feed ore.

Jan 1, 1998

By J. Harrison Daniel

Increasing concerns of industrial hygiene and worker health issues and resulting regulatory actions, coupled with continuing advances in mining systems, are placing new burdens on the industry and Federal Government; particularly, mine ventilation departments. More encompassing worker health programs are required to respond to Federal promulgation of regulations and to keep abreast of techno- logical advances in the mining industry. The relationship between the mining industry and Federal agencies involved in rulemaking is presented, along with the rationale of an Industrial Hygiene Management Plan. This plan or strategy focuses on developing partnerships and collaborative research groups to address the controversial health issues facing not only the mining workforce, but our society.

Jan 1, 1993

By N. Damiano, C. Zhou, B. Whisner, M. Reyes

"The industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)—a concept that combines sensor networks and control systems—has been employed in several industries to improve productivity and safety. NIOSH researchers are investigating IIoT applications to identify challenges of and potential solutions for transferability of IIoT from other industries to the mining industry. Specifically, NIOSH has reviewed existing sensors and communications network systems used in U.S. underground coal mines to determine whether they are capable of supporting IIoT systems. The results show that about 40% of the installed post-accident communication systems as of 2014 require minimal or no modification to support IIoT applications. NIOSH researchers also developed an IIoT monitoring and control prototype system based on low-cost microcontroller Wi-Fi boards, to detect a door opening on a refuge alternative, activate fans located inside the Pittsburgh Experimental Mine, and actuate an alarm beacon on the surface. The results of this feasibility study can be used to explore IIoT applications in underground coal mines based on existing communications and tracking infrastructure. INTRODUCTION The nation’s approach to health and safety in mining has historically been reactive in the sense that health and safety regulations and mandates have traditionally been passed as a result of tragic mining accidents. An example of this is the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (MINER Act) of 2006, which was passed as a result of several mining accidents where tracking of and communications with underground personnel were severely limited. While this reactive approach has led to the development and implementation of highly impactful safety interventions and safety practices, there currently exists a technological revolution that can shift the paradigm toward a proactive approach based on preventative methods: Internet of Things (IoT). IoT is the network of physical objects or ""things"" embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and connectivity to enable that network to achieve greater value and service by exchanging data with the manufacturer, operator, and/or other connected devices [1, 2]. It should be noted that IoT has been defined from various perspectives, and hence numerous definitions exist in the literature. The apparent ambiguity of the IoT definition might be due to the fact that IoT is syntactically composed of two terms: internet and things. The first one pushes towards a network-oriented vision, while the second tends to put the focus on generic objects. The traditional internet can be viewed as an internet of computers —i.e., “things” connected to the internet are computers only. IoT “extends” the internet by allowing other generic things that are commonly found in our daily life, such as refrigerators and cars, to be interconnected via the internet, and thus creates a bridge between the virtual word and the physical world."

Jan 1, 2017

By N. Damiano, C. Zhou, B. Whisner, M. Reyes

"The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), a concept that combines sensor networks and control systems, has been employed in several industries to improve productivity and safety. U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) researchers are investigating IIoT applications to identify the challenges of and potential solutions for transferring IIoT from other industries to the mining industry. Specifically, NIOSH has reviewed existing sensors and communications network systems used in U.S. underground coal mines to determine whether they are capable of supporting IIoT systems. The results show that about 40 percent of the installed post-accident communication systems as of 2014 require minimal or no modification to support IIoT applications. NIOSH researchers also developed an IIoT monitoring and control prototype system using low-cost microcontroller Wi-Fi boards to detect a door opening on a refuge alternative, activate fans located inside the Pittsburgh Experimental Mine and actuate an alarm beacon on the surface. The results of this feasibility study can be used to explore IIoT applications in underground coal mines based on existing communication and tracking infrastructure.IntroductionThe U.S. approach to health and safety in mining has historically been reactive in the sense that health and safety regulations and mandates have traditionally been passed as a result of tragic mining accidents. An example of this is the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (MINER Act) of 2006, which was passed as a result of several mining accidents where tracking of and communication with underground personnel were severely limited. While this reactive approach has led to the development and implementation of highly impactful safety interventions and safety practices, there exists a technological revolution that can shift the paradigm toward a proactive approach based on preventative methods: Internet of Things (IoT).IoT is the network of physical objects, or “things,” embedded with electronics, sensors and connectivity to enable that network to achieve greater value and service by exchanging data with the manufacturer, operator and/or other connected devices (Atzori, Iera and Morabito, 2010; Gubbi et al. 2013). It should be noted that IoT has been defined from various perspectives, and hence numerous definitions exist in the literature. The apparent ambiguity of the IoT definition might be due to the fact that IoT is syntactically composed of two terms: the Internet and things. The first word pushes toward a network-oriented vision, while the second tends to put the focus on generic objects. The traditional Internet can be viewed as an internet of computers, so things connected to the Internet are computers only. IoT extends the internet by allowing other generic things that are commonly found in daily life, such as refrigerators and cars, to be interconnected through the Internet, thus creating a bridge between the virtual world and the physical world"

Jan 12, 2017

By C. C. Harvey

Asia is experiencing a growth market for industrial kaolins for use in ceramics, paper, plastics and other market sectors. Export and import data for the Asian countries reflects this growth with the Peoples Republic of China as the major exporter of clays and Japan the major importer. The growth in tonnage and product sophistication of kaolins produced on Belitung in Indonesia is typical of developments that are taking place in many locations in Asia. This region therefore presents opportunities for mineral processors and a challenge for the exploration geologist, the mineral processing engineer, the mineral economist and the marketing specialist.

Jan 1, 1996

By Garland R. Dever

Limestone resources for industrial, constructional, and agricultural uses occur on the surface and at minable depths in several areas along the Ohio River and its navigable tributaries in Kentucky. Operable thicknesses of high-calcium and high-carbonate limestones suitable for use in cement and lime production, steel manufacture, environmental-control measures, and other special uses are documented in Ordovician and Mississippian formations by analysis of 0.3-meter (foot-by-foot) samples. Active and potential mine and quarry sites afford access to water transportation and proximity to a number of industrial and metropolitan centers. Geologic factors affecting the distribution of deposits include the Cincinnati arch, regional dip into the Appalachian and Eastern Interior basins, complex faulting in and near the Western Kentucky fluorspar mining district, and late Paleozoic erosional unconformities in northeastern Kentucky.

Jan 1, 1977

By J. I. Adetunji

Mining activities usually affect the soil, subsurface layers, water resources, the atmosphere and in general the lives of the people. The effects can be mechanical, biological, ecological and economical in nature and these effects can be characterized by their intensity, frequency, duration and scale. In Oyo State, Southwestern Nigeria efforts are being made to employ a sustainable method in the exploration and exploitation of abundant industrial minerals present in the state. The minerals exploited include talc, clay, marble, sillimanite, tantalite, niobium, beryl, tourmaline aquamarine, rock aggregates, etc. Results of this sustainable approach show that the environmental impacts of surface and underground mining of industrial minerals are not spread far beyond the mines site acreage. More lands are being reclaimed, the amount of dust released into the air has been minimized, the quality of sewage waters produced during operations are minimized, top soils removed during subsurface mining are preserved, the tonnages of minerals exploited are being monitored and controlled. All these point to a positive development in practicing sustainable methods in mineral exploitation to meet the developmental needs of the Oyo State at present and to conserve for the future.

Jan 1, 2003

By Robert M. Dreyer

In an industrialized nation, as the process of industrialization continues, the ratio of the value of production of non-metallic to metallic minerals normally increases gradually over a period of years. For example, in the United States, the ratio of the value of production of non-metals to metals now is approximately two-to-one. Those of us who come from California like to think that we inherit the mantle of the old hard-rock miner, but the truth of the matter is that, in California, of the total value of mineral production exclusive of fuels, 97% comes from non-metallic - industrial - minerals. Since the industrial minerals furnish a principal source of raw materials for the construction and chemical processing industries and since these two industries, in industrialized nations, generally increase directly with increasing population, the future of industrial mineral production both in the United States and throughout the world is indeed bright. Because of the importance of industrial mineral production, it often surprises those of us in the industrial mineral industry to find that industrial minerals are poorly understood by many of our colleagues in the mining industry. I think that one reason for this comprehension of the industrial mineral industry is that the education of both geologists and mining engineers still markedly emphasizes exploitation of the metals.

Jan 1, 1964

By Hal McVey

The logic and importance of marketing in the industrial minerals industry is generally recognized by those of us intimately involved in this industry. The illogical instances where marketing is ignored in evaluating projects or poorly implemented in operations are also well known. The interplay between these two extremes is interesting territory and is explored commencing with a logical progression of a metal mine that became an industrial minerals mine and ending with the most illogical and failure-prone decision common to the minerals industry today. This paper will demonstrate how: 1. A logical progression of marketing expertise can result in previously unseen benefits to a minerals venture. 2. Logic can turn to illogic due to market conditions and price fluctuations. 3. How operations can turn marketing logic into illogical results. 4. Short term "logic" is often illogical.

Jan 1, 1981

By W. N. Hamilton

British Columbia is geologically favourable for a rich variety of industrial mineral occurrences. Some have been produced for years, others overlooked until recently. Major production occurs for asbestos, gypsum, limestone, magnesite, silica and sulfur; lesser production for a dozen others. For several of the minerals, potential is much greater than existing production. New production opportunities exist also for diamonds, niobium and REE minerals, fluorspar, kyanite, nepheline syenite, talc, and several others. Alberta, though geologically less diverse, also has many industrial minerals. Limestone, salt and sulfur have the major production; clay and shale, silica, sodium sulfate and a few others lesser production. Opportunities exist for expanded production, and for new production in heavy (Ti -Zr) minerals, formation brines (Ca-Mg-I-Li), and gypsum.

Jan 1, 1987

By J. S. Rapp

This report is based on existing reports and recently gathered field data. It discusses mineral resource potential of Tertiary playas in the Fort Irwin region. An estimated 1.3 million tons of measured salt "reserves", and 20 million tons of indicated salt resources, have been identified north of the fort. Other indicated resources include 300,000 tons of celestite, 800,000 tons of gypsum, and 10 million tons of selenite. Zeolitic tuff was mined south of Fort Irwin from 1978 to 1984, and unexplored occurrences are widespread. Calcium-bentonite is mined near Barstow, and more may exist, including valuable sodium-and lithium-based bentonites.

Jan 1, 1992

By F. G. Heivilin

There will be 3 billion people moving into cities by 2050. Permitting is both the biggest obstacle and the biggest opportunity for mining. The problem is not if we have the right minerals, but how we can permit and produce it in a ?Sustainable? manner. A ?Permit? and a ?Sustainable Development Plan? may soon be the same thing. How do we produce the minerals we need with: 1. The lowest possible carbon footprint. 2. Social license from community outreach by being a catalyst and not a problem in a ?Green World.? 3. Enhanced water supply during all stages of production. 4. Meeting requirements of our customers for service, quality, & cost. How important is it to have a complete ?Sustainable Development Program?? First, no plan is complete!!! It is a work in progress subject to continuous improvement. We need to work together to get the results we want. The goal of the world communities is to become carbon neutral by 2050. What is the mining community?s goal? Do we have one???? When a Clorox, Colgate Palmolive, Wal-Mart, Toyota, or Caterpillar buys a product, what are your chances of getting an order without a good program in place? The answer is it will be difficult or impossible shortly and you will be requiring the same thing with your suppliers. This is an opportunity if you are in the lead and it soon will be a necessity for most mining and processing companies requiring much extra effort to catch up. For some mines it was a necessity to get most of the SD plan to get permitted. The number of companies in the extractive industries with a full Sustainable Development Programs is expanding rapidly as shareholder demands for transparency continue to grow.

Feb 27, 2013

By H. A. Taylor

Bismuth, one of the heavier chemical elements, is a pinkish metalloid that is chemically related to antimony. It is a byproduct of lead and tungsten extraction and, to a lesser extent, of copper and tin extraction. Antimony is a metalloid and less heavy chemical element, an extraction coproduct of metals such as lead, silver and gold. While both bismuth and antimony are metalloids, their major uses are as chemical compounds. The most frequently updated resources that always cover bismuth and antimony are the Bismuth Advocate News (BAN) and link at www.basicsmines/bismuth and the frequently updated Basics Mines Update blog at http://basicsmines-update.blogspot.com. The Bismuth wiki on Wikipedia also can be very helpful.

Jan 1, 2010

By Todd S. Harris

Industrial minerals or non-metallic minerals are loosely used terms applied to a diverse assortment of materials which, in many cases, have nothing more in common other than the fact that they are neither metals nor fuel minerals. To help bring order to this otherwise random assortment of minerals, we have grouped these materials into two main categories; chemical and physical minerals, and nine sub-categories based on end-use applications as shown in Table 1. Chemical minerals are products which are principally used for the specific chemical elements they contain, whereas physical minerals are products which are used to meet specific performance specifications. The latter part of the 1970?s, in particular 1978, were considered peak years in terms of production and sales for many industries, By using 1978 as a base year, we can evaluate wherethese markets stand today after the recession of the early 1980's and the recovery which began several years ago. From this historical overview and appraisal of the current situation, various assumptions can be drawn as to which markets are expected to perform well into the 1990's.

Jan 1, 1987

By R. C. Richardson

Barite Worldwide barite production for 1985 decreased 1.3%, while US barite production increased 1.4%, according to US Bureau of Mines statistics. The increase in US production is attributed to heavy demand for oil and gas drilling during the first quarter and an unrealized heavy expected demand in oil and gas markets for the last quarter. Nevada accounted for 82.1% of the 807 kt (890,000 st) of barite produced in the US last year, according to the Bureau. Other producing states were California, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, and Washington. In 1985, the US imported 1.8 Mt (2 million st) of crude barite and 64 kt (71,000 st) of ground barite. China led the way with 43.3% of the total. Imports from India accounted for 21.6%; Morocco, 15.5%; and Thailand, 5.6%. The 1.8 Mt (2 million st) of crude barite imported is an 18.8% increase over 1984. Apparent consumption of barite for 1985 was about 2.6 Mt (2.9 million st), a 15.7% increase from 1984. Due to very low drilling rig activity during the last quarter of 1985, actual consumption is probably less as crude barite inventories at mines and plants increased. According to the Bureau, 90% of barite consumed in 1985 was for the oil and gas market. Paints, rubber, glass, and other chemical uses consumed the other 10%. With the price of oil falling dramatically early in 1986, the outlook for oil and gas drilling looks to be significantly lower than 1985. This lower demand for barite, coupled with the high year-end inventories, should lower both imports and domestic production. Significant lower prices on imported barite are expected, especially from China, Morocco, and India. This also could further lower US production of barite this year.

Jan 5, 1986