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By L. A. Morley, W. T. Parry

Laboratory prepared clay-quartz sand samples and fault gouge from an open pit slope undergoing plane-type failure were tested in the laboratory to determine potential mining applications of electroosmotic stabilization and to provide a better understanding of electrochemical hardening. Experiments with very low current densities and free access of electrolytes to both anode and cathode showed an increase in cohesion. Cohesion in a fault gouge increased by 9.3 to 113%, depending on location with respect to the electrodes. For this, power consumption was equivalent to 0.727 watt-hr per cu ft (25.69 watt-hr per cu m). Regions of electrochemical hardening were determined by pH and the anolyte used. Electroosmotic stabilization appears as a reasonable solution to some types of mining problems.

Jan 1, 1975

Electrowinning U.S. 4,066,520 - Recovery of copper from copper sulfide ore. Finely divided ore concentrate is leached with moderately strong sulfurous acid to solubilize copper ions, the leach solution treated with calcium sulfite to reduce the copper ion concentration by forming copper-precipitate solids therein, the solids filtered off, and and the filter cake dewatered to obtain a slurry of copper-precipitate solids amenable to direct electrowinning of copper therefrom using a described electrolysis apparatus which utilizes high current flow with a minimum of mechanical agitation. R. C. Emmett, Jr., J. K. Dicksa. B. C. Wojcik and F. A. Baczek, assigned to Envirotech Corp. Jan. 3, 1978. 14 pp. (204- 108). Filed: 9- 1-76 (7 19,867).

Jan 1, 1979

By Strathmore R. B. Cooke, Iwao Iwasaki, C. S. Chang

PYRRHOTITE has long been considered a gangue mineral to be eliminated as tailing in the treatment of various sulphide ores. However, in recent years the world-wide lack of sulphur resources has called attention to this mineral as a potential source of both sulphur and iron. Its importance as an economic mineral, however, has not been particularly emphasized. For this reason very little is known about its response to flotation, except that it can be depressed easily in alkaline circuit, by long aeration,1,2 addition of oxidizing agents3 or by starch.4 The object of this work was to study the floatability of pyrrhotite. This includes the effect of oxidation by aeration, of copper activation, and of change in pH.

Jan 2, 1954

By Fred D. DeVaney

Probably no ferrous metallurgical process has ever found such ready acceptance and rapid expansion as the pelletizing of iron ores. The process was first commercialized in the early 1950's and since then it has grown to the point where the amount of material pelletized worldwide will approach 100 million tons in 1971. The term agglomeration is used to describe any process by which fine material is formed into larger shapes or agglomerates and includes, in addition to pelletizing, such processes as sintering and briquetting. Sintering cannot be used to efficiently agglomerate iron materials containing a high percentage of 100-mesh fines but the method has been widely used over many decades for agglomerating flue dust, mill scale and iron ore finer than 3/8 in.

Jan 1, 1971

By D. A. Dahlstrom

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

Jan 1, 1950

By C. J. Leith

A study of the effect of rock composition, rock structure and degree of weathering on the stability of cut slopes is being sponsored jointly by the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads and the North Carolina Highway Commission. In 58 mountain and piedmont counties of North Carolina the percentage of failed cut slopes is greatest in micaceous metasediments, gneisses, and schists, and in saprolite and soil derived from these rock types. Soil slope failures outnumber rock slope failures by two to one. Joints and similar planes of separation exert a strong influence on size and shape of the sliding mass. They may or may not act as failure surfaces, depending on their orientation with respect to the active forces. Climatological data, though indicative of weathering conditions, do not correlate well with slope failure frequency. Because of the presence of joints and similar planes of weakness in soil and rock materials, conventional methods for analyzing slope stabilities are not directly applicable. Empirically derived modifications of these methods are being investigated. A study of the stability of highway cut slopes, sponsored by the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads and the North Carolina State Highway Commission, began in 1962 at North Carolina State of the University of North Carolina at Raleigh. As part of this study all slides, rockfalls and other types of cut slope failures on Federal and State highways in the 58 mountain and piedmont counties in North Carolina were located and described, and the data catalogued in a punched card file system. A major objective of the project is to relate slope failures to properties and physical conditions of the geological units in which the slopes were constructed, and to correlate soil type and/or geological unit with type and frequency of slope failure. The complexities of the problem of slope stability and the limitations which these complexities impose on methods for analyzing slopes have been recognized for many years. A great variety of factors and processes may lead to slides, often making it almost impossible to analyze theoretically the conditions required for stability of slopes. One of the principal factors determining maximum safe slopes is the shear strength of the material in which the slopes are cut, but unfortunately there are very few data available concerning shear strengths of residual soils. Vargasl tested clay derived from gneiss and granite in southern Brazil; the properties of decomposed granite occurring near Hong Kong were determined by Lumb.2 These data are being used, when applicable, to supplement the test data obtained in the present study by Yorke.3 The locations of the North Carolina slope failures, more than 400 in number, are shown on Fig. 1. This map, adapted from the Geological Map of North Carolina,4 suggests the possibility of a relationship between frequency of slide occurrence and rock type. However, the evaluation of this possibility requires consideration not only of the type of rock, but also of its large and small scale structural features, its susceptibility to and degree of weathering, and the composition and structure of the weathering products. Soil slope failures in thoroughly weathered soil material and saprolite outnumber rock slope failures two to one. INFLUENCE OF ROCK TYPE The agricultural soil type involved in each soil slope failure was identified and each failure was catalogued in terms of the parent material from which the soil was derived. These data indicate that most of the slope failures, whether in the rock or in the derived soil, are associated with metamorphic rocks (see Fig. 2a). The data may be skewed somewhat because of the relative sizes of the total areas underlain by the various rock types, but Leith and Gupton5 have demonstrated that the preponderance of failures in metamorphic rocks is of much greater magnitude than could be accounted for by the areal factor alone. The dominance of metamorphic rocks is emphasized when soil slope failures are considered in terms of the specific rock types from which the soils were derived (see Fig. 2b). In particular, mica schists and mica gneisses account for more slides

Jan 1, 1965

By John P. Weir

Coal's participation in the domestic energy market depends to a very large extent upon the cost of coal delivered to consumers. Today the principal use of coal in the U.S. is in steam-electric generating stations. Generally, it is the delivered cost per million Btu's that is given the greatest weight in choosing either oil, natural gas or coal as the fuel used in these power plants. There are three major cost components of generating electric energy in steam-electric plants. These expenses expressed in terms of "dollars per kilowatt year" are: (1) operation and maintenance of necessary facilities, (2) fixed charges of necessary capital investment, and (3) fuel. For a modern large plant, the first two items would be approximately as follows:

Jan 9, 1962

By AIME AIME

DESPITE the meetings and discussions on over- production the situation still continues to grow worse instead of better. The demand for oil has dropped to 2,700,000 bbl. per day. On the other hand domestic production has risen to 2,700,000 bbl. with prospects of further increases, and if imports and natural gas-gasoline be added to this the current supply is about 3,100,000 bbl. per day. Though during the summer and early fall the demand may exceed this figure for a few months the prospects are that 'the average demand during 1929 will be at least 200,000 bbl. per day less than the present current supply, meaning additions to stocks over the year of about 75,000,000 bbl.

Jan 1, 1929

By AIME AIME

THIS year the Petroleum Division holds its fall meeting at Houston, Texas, Oct. 2 and 3, with head- quarters at the Lamar Hotel. Technical sessions will be held in the morning and afternoon of both days. A smoker on Friday afternoon will afford an opportunity to get together socially. Saturday evening is left free for private parties to the beach at Galveston, where a wide variety of entertainment is available. On Oct. 4 there will be an excursion to Sugarland oil field, with luncheon at Boling and a visit to Boling sulfur mine and plant in the afternoon. There are nine technical papers on the program for Friday. Saturday morning will be devoted to oil production control and it is planned to make the discussion more

Jan 1, 1931

By WALDEMAR T. SCHALLER, EDWARD P. HENDERSON

THE material available for mineralogic study, consisted of drill cores, 2 to 3 in. thick, supplemented by small well cuttings. Such study has added no essential new information regarding the minerals, though the refractive indices, used for determinative purposes, have been determined more accurately than before, permitting the development of a scheme for the rapid identification of these minerals. The essential points brought out by the investigation are two: (1) that certain mineral associations evidently point the way to an understanding of the geologic history and (2) that a definite sequence of mineral formation has taken place so that the original minerals formed have been in part-reacted on producing new compounds and associations; Twenty minerals have been found. The most important are :

Jan 1, 1929

By Mario L. Villa

During the year 1941, there was another increase in the production of oil in Argentina, to which the fields in the Comodoro Rivadavia zone in the Territory of Chubut and those of the Provinces of Salta and Mendoza all contributed. The total production for this period reached 22,013,472 bbl., which represents an increase of 6.8 per cent over that of 20,609,538 bbl. in the preceding year. This result is again attributable to the Government oil company, the Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales, which had a total production of 14,006,559 bbl. representing an increase of 1,531,904 bbl., or 12.3 per cent over that of the 12,474,655 bbl. of the year before. The other companies

Jan 1, 1942

By Mario L. Villa

During the year 1941, there was another increase in the production of oil in Argentina, to which the fields in the Comodoro Rivadavia zone in the Territory of Chubut and those of the Provinces of Salta and Mendoza all contributed. The total production for this period reached 22,013,472 bbl., which represents an increase of 6.8 per cent over that of 20,609,538 bbl. in the preceding year. This result is again attributable to the Government oil company, the Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales, which had a total production of 14,006,559 bbl. representing an increase of 1,531,904 bbl., or 12.3 per cent over that of the 12,474,655 bbl. of the year before. The other companies

Jan 1, 1942

By T. P. Oxford, G. Y. Onoda, E. D. Whitney

Disposal of phosphatic clay waste slurry has been a problem since the advent of hydraulic processing of phosphate rock in Florida. Alternatives to the present practice of storing slimes behind earthen dikes have been earnestly sought for more than a quarter of a century. Seepage dewatering is a promising technique intended to increase waste clay solids content to a level sufficiently high to permit clay disposal in mine cuts, in lieu of above-grade impoundment. An experimental array of vertical seepage columns containing mine tailings sand was constructed. Significant improvement in waste clay dewatering relative to that occurring in a control test was observed when approximately 1800 m3 of waste clay was disposed of in the presence of the seepage aids.

Jan 1, 1983

By Earl A. Gulbransen, Kenneth F. Andrew

DRY oxidation of zirconium has been studied by several groups.'" The present work extends our early study1 to the high-temperature studies of Cubicciotti2 and Belle and Mallett.8 ulbransen and Andrew1 showed that the parabolic rate law fitted the 2-hr experiments between 200" and 425°C after an initial deviation. An energy of activation of 18,200 cal per mol was calculated. Cubicciotti,' in a study between 593" and 880°C, showed that the parabolic rate law fitted the data and an energy of activation of 32,000 cal per mol was calculated. In contrast to these studies on sheet specimens, Belle and Mallett3 studied the oxidation reaction on rod specimens and found a cubic rate law to fit the data.

Jan 1, 1958

By Bruce A. Kennedy

The place of the young engineer in the mining industry has been the subject of a large number of keynote addresses, magazine articles, and papers in the past year. One of the best of these was the keynote address given by Mr. J. C. Kinnear, Jr. at the Fifth Annual Intermountain Minerals Conference in Vail. Colorado. Mr. Kinnear presented as part of his address the statistics of a Canadian survey Instigated to find out why young engineers and geologists are leaving the mining industry. The results of the survey showed four main reasons for leaving: 1) insufficient money 2) slow promotion 3) lack of association with senior engineers, as well as insufficient opportunity to keep abreast of technological development 4) geographic isolation

Jan 1, 1970

By Irving B. Cadoff, Ernest Levine

The fracture path in a Cu-4 pct Ag alloy wet with mercury was found to he dependent on the heat treatment used prior to tensile testing. Both quenched and slow-cooled alloys were embrittled by the mercury.. For quenched alloys, which were single -phase, the crack path was intergranular. Slowly cooled alloys, which contained precipitate platelets, exhibited transgranular fracture. By comparing stress-strain data for these alloys with similar data on mercury -embyittled solid-solution alloys, it was found that the role of the precipitate and that of the grain boundary in the fracture process were equivalent . THE fracture path which results when metals are strained in a liquid environment appears to be dependent upon the nature of the specific system. Mixed transgranular and intergranular cracking has been observed in the 2024 T4 aluminum alloy when wet with a Hg-Zn amalgam.' Transgranular fracture was induced in an A1-4 pct Cu alloy by masking off the grain boundaries from the liquid Hg-Zn amalgam.' The embrittlement of solid-solution alloys of copper in mercury results in intergranular fracture.' The effect of a precipitated phase on the fracture path in copper alloys is the subject of the present investigation. Cu-4 pct Ag was chosen so that its behavior could be compared with previous work on embrittlement of copper alloys. PROCEDURE High-purity copper (99.999 pct) was used as a base metal, along with 99.999 pct purity silver. Melting was carried out in graphite crucibles with manual agitation to get adequate mixing. The ingots were homogenized by means of vacuum annealing, chemically cleaned, and cold-rolled with intermediate vacuum anneals, to the desired thickness of 0.025 in. The rolled sheets were sheared to the final specimen size of 1 by 0.025 by 0.1 in. The specimens were then electropolished in phosphoric acid (concentrated) and heat-treated in an evacuated capsule at the solution temperature of 770°C. One batch was slow-cooled and the other quenched in water. The thermal etching which occurred during heat treatment was sufficient to permit grain boundary and precipitate delineation. Tensile tests were carried out in air and in mercury on a Table-Model Instron at a pulling speed of 0.2 in. per min. Wetting was accomplished by electro-polishing in phosphoric acid, rinsing in alcohol, and immersing in a pool of mercury. Once wet the coating was stable throughout the mechanical tests. In our studies it was found that wetting the surface or total immersion in mercury produced identical results. For convenience, the wetting technique was used for the experiments described. The crack pattern was observed directly on the surface by removing the mercury after testing. De-wetting was accomplished by flame heating the samples in a vacuum after testing and before observation of the surface. No etchant or polishing was used so as not to obscure the crack pattern on the surface. The mercury removal, however, resulted in a pitted surface but otherwise left the pertinent features visible. Photomicrographs were taken in this condition so as not to disturb the structure associated with the crack pattern. The average precipitate spacing was measured previous to coating the sample with mercury by use of an optical eyepiece micrometer. RESULTS The microstructure of the quenched specimens was single-phase while that of the slow-cooled specimens contained thin platelets of a second

Jan 1, 1964

• "This country eventually may have to rely on foreign sources for some metals, not because it does not have them here but because it may have difficulty getting the labor to mine them. Few people realize the extent to which the 'old timers' are still the backlog of the important districts." --Fred Searls, Jr. • A new filter has been developed by Arthur D. Little, Inc., for the ABC which will remove all dust from the air. Submicroscopic asbestos fibers are used as filter media and are claimed to stop all dust and pollen while passing suitable quantities of air. •Out in front public relationswise is the Peabody Coal Co. which has launched a 15-min television news program on WNBQ at 10:30 C.S.T., Tuesday and Thursday nights. Clifton Utley, news commentator, will tell how coal is mined today and indicate, with pictures, the improvement in efficiency and safety which has resulted from today's mechanized operations. •Two hundred coal mining companies are using roof bolts as a means of supporting about 14 million sq ft of roof surface, Edward Thomas of the Bureau of Mines reported. Various types of metal and wooden pins can be used. The method was first used by the St. Joseph Lead Co. over 20 years ago, but is now being studied and adopted widely in metal, nonmetallic, and coal mines. * The first ten technical graduates have reported at Hanford Works in the state of Washington, to begin the newly installed General Electric rotational training program, believed to be the first of its kind at any U.S. atomic energy plant. The program is to provide suitably trained personnel for the nation's atomic energy program. •The need for top-notch scientists and engineers to stimulate mining programs in British colonies is acute. About 60 American experts are being sought for the ECA sponsored program. Positions for mining engineers, geologists, assayers, topographers, and petrologists are open. •Production of primary aluminum for the first quarter of 1950 was 322,4250008 lb which is 6 1/2 million lb more than was produced in the first quarter of 1949. Shipments of aluminum sheet, plate, and strip amounted to 259.772,1571b for the first quarter. •Policy on manganese procurement for the stockpile is being studied by a House Armed Services Subcommittee with the possibility of lowering specifications. The U. S. Bureau of Mines is drafting a bill to encourage domestic production for stockpiling through producer subsidies. 'It will have to be cleared by the Bureau of the Budget and other agencies before going to Congress. •Oil men consider dry holes a necessary evil in their search for oil. Last year 34 out of every 100 wells drilled were dry holes. Yet Texas Technological College is attempting to drill a dry hole on its campus at Lubbock, taking every precaution to make sure it is a "duster" so its petroleum engineering students can play around with experiments without being bothered by any messy crude oil. --Natural Resources Notes. •A portable alertness indicator which signals lethargy in persons doing monotonous jobs has been developed for the Navy's Special Devices Center. A possible application to hoistmen is indicated but broaching the matter to them would be tricky.

Jan 6, 1950

By Charles R. Wilson, Thomas W. Doe, Jane C. S Long, Howard K. Endo

An approach to treating flow through fractured rocks is presented which involves (1) determining statistical distributions for fracture area, density, orientation, and aperture from field data, (2) computer generation of fracture systems from the statistical distributions, and (3) analysis of the permeability and porosity of the fracture systems. The fracture density and orientation data my come from core logging or mapping. The hydraulically appropriate apertures and areas of the fractures come from transient flow analyses of single fracture well tests. These tests my also yield information on fracture deformability. Analysis of flow through computer generated fracture systems shows that an equivalent porous medium permeability can be defined for some fracture systems if a large number of fractures is taken into account.

Jan 1, 1982

By W. R. Phibbs

THE blast furnace of the Columbia Steel Corpn., at Ironton; Utah, was put in blast April 30, 1924, and its operation has presented some interesting problems. The coke for the furnace is furnished by 33 Koppers Becker type ovens of 15 tons capacity each. The coal is shipped from the company's mine at Columbia, Utah, which is approximately 123 miles from Ironton, and is probably the highest volatile coal that is being coked for blast furnace use in this country. The analysis of the coal is: PER CENT. Moisture 3.90 Volatile 39.00 Fixed carbon 51.10 Ash.... 6.00 Sulfur : 1.07 The analysis of the coke is: PER CENT. Volatile 0.55 Fixed carbon :...:.::: :..:.:: 89.70 Ash 9.75 Sulfur 1.05

Jan 1, 1928

By Alten F. Grandt

What is prime farmland? Can such land, once it has been surface mined for coal, be restored so that it will produce corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa? What methods or practices are necessary to bring about restoration within a reasonable time so that crop yields will be equivalent to or higher than those of unmined prime farmland under high levels of management? These questions concerned land use researchers in Illinois as early as 1948 when the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station experimented with growing cultivated crops on surface mined land in St. Clair County (Grandt, 1949). This research was done almost thirty years before requirements of Public Law 95-87 were passed by the US Congress and signed August 3, 1977.

Jan 1, 1982