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By U. Oko

The cause and the effect of disposing of tailings water from sulfide ore milling operation were examined. Dissolved metallic ions as well as dissolved sulfur-oxygen compounds (polythionates) can prove injurious to life in water streams. Polythionates originate in alkaline flotation circuits and may cause a severe drop in the pH of stream waters. It is proposed that a suitable "aging" period be allotted to tailings water to ensure complete conversion of polythionates to sulfate prior to neutralization and clarification treatment. Discharging alkaline solid-free tailings water without aging will cause downstream acidification. Artificial oxidation of tailings water can be economical only if the concentration of thiosulfate in solution is low. When the concentration is high, it is possible to reduce the concentration greatly by first acidifying the solution, because at a pH below 4 thiosulfate in water reacts to produce a precipitate of elemental sulfur and higher order polythionates. The residual polythionates can then be oxidized at great savings by natural aging or by chemicals such as ozone, chlorine, or peroxide. Chlorine may be an economical reagent for converting polythionates to sulfuric acid but the residual organo-chlorinated compounds can prove to be toxic to aquatic life. Ozone and hydrogen peroxide which do not leave a residue are preferred oxidizers.

Jan 1, 1976

By John Chipman, Daniel Dutilloy

The equilibrium of gaseolis H2O-H2 mixtures with liquid iron-phosphorus alloys in the range 0 to 3 pct P is used to establish the increuse of the activity coefficient of oxygen, in the presence of phosphorus. Two different sampling techniques are used. THE importance of oxygen as a refining agent in steelmaking operations makes it desirable to improve our understanding of its behavior. Phosphorus which is always present in the ores has adverse effects on steel properties and its removal is necessary. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the interaction of oxygen and phosphorus in molten iron. Bookey, Richardson, and welch1 have studied the phosphorus-oxygen equilibria in liquid iron in the presence of lime. They used a mixture of hydrogen and water vapor to control the oxygen potential and worked with crucibles made of tetracalcium phosphate and lime. At low phosphorus concentration, i.e., at high oxygen, they observed a marked deviation in their results. They tentatively ascribed this to a large negative effect of oxygen on the activity of phosphorus. This was then included by chipman2 in his review of interactions in liquid iron. Pearson and Turkdogan 3 have later reported an interaction parameter They equilibrated a mixture of hydrogen and water vapor with an iron-phosphorus alloy contained in an alumina crucible and sampled the melt by suction in a silica tube. The solubility of oxygen in iron-phosphorus alloys has been studied by Levenets and Samarin.4 They reported an interaction parameter

Jan 1, 1961

By E. S. Bardwell

TWENTY years ago, W. T. Burns, in his paper presented at the Butte Meeting of the Institute, discussed the general scheme then in use in the electrolytic copper refinery of the Anaconda Copper Mining. Co. at Great Falls, Mont., for removing impurities from tank-room electrolyte and controlling its acid content. Since then marked changes have taken place in copper-refinery practice at Great Falls. The electrolytic copper refinery in use in 1913 has been replaced by a new and entirely modern plant capable of producing up to 27,000,000 lb. of cathode copper per month. With the building of the new plant in 1916, the treatment of converter anodes was discontinued. At first the substitution of refined anodes for converter anodes resulted in a decrease in the impurity content of the anodes, but as time went on, changes in metallurgical practices at the smelter resulted in substantial increases in the impurity content of the anodes. The leaching of the silver slime to remove copper before shipment to Raritan for treatment further added to the purification problem. The fact that the scheme of purifying electrolyte which Mr. Burns described in his paper' has proved adequate for our needs under a wide variation of conditions speaks well for its essential soundness.

Jan 1, 1933

By A. Azis

The problem of expressing a nation's mineral resources in terms that convey a sense of economic reality poses a great challenge to those charged with keeping government policymakers informed. A model is presented that can be used to simulate and examine the effects of, for instance, differences in levels of output, transportation costs, mining costs or selling prices on the exploitability and expected order of development of new mineral deposits. The model in its present form can be used to screen, as a first cut, the economic from uneconomic deposits in cases where little or nothing is known about them in detail. To date, this has generally been done - reluctantly - by subjective judgments. This model provides an improvement on the "informed opinion" approach, as it forces those who use the model to be both systematic and explicit in their assumptions. Moreover, the procedure is repeat- able and each step can be defended and justified. Implications can be examined of the uncertainty associated with many of the variables. The model is entirely too general to be of use for actual feasibility studies. It is not useful, in the case of speculative or little-known deposits, to provide a model that has an input format more detailed than the information that is likely to be available. Should the user see a need for it, the model can easily be expanded to allow for the input of more detail or more variables.

Jan 1, 1977

Mark Twain once observed that "Everyone complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it." Not too long ago, the same observation held true for the problem of air pollution. During the past 25 years, however, the mounting concern over air pollution has spurred industrial and governmental research to find ways and means to combat the menacing situation. But for all the time and money spent in recent years to fight it, air pollution is still a major problem in most industrialized communities in America. At the SME Fall Meeting last September, coal's responsibility for such pollution was aired at an informative panel discussion moderated by Ernst Hall. The many-sided problem of air pollution became readily apparent as five experts, representing industry and government, parlayed over the task of cleaning up dirty air. Their opening comments are reprinted here.

Jan 11, 1964

By P. Barnes

The object of this paper is to make a brief comparison of the outlines of several forms of ports for steel-melting turnaces, in reference chiefly to the proper mixture; of the gas and air, and to the direction in which the flame is thrown down into the interior of the furnace. In the illustrations on the accompanying plate, Fig. 1 shows a form of port designed by M, Pernot, of St Chamond, France. This is used with the dome roof preferred by him fur the revolving bottom that bears his name. From No. 1 has been derived No. 2. This is shown on the plans of Mr. A. L. Holley, and from them three large furnaces have been built and put into operation by the Springfield Iron Company. Fig. 3 shows an outline proposed by Messrs. Richmond & Potts for the Pernot furnace. In this the ports are brought in under an arched roof of nearly the ordinary form, instead of over the top of the roof, as with the dome of M Pernot, Fig. 4 shows a furnace as built by Krupp of Essen, Prussia, for fluid refining, or " washing "-—to use the briefer French term. in this the gas and air come into contact in broad sheets one above the other, Fig. 5 shows the form used by Messrs. Richmond & Potts

Jan 1, 1881

By P. Barnes

THE object of this paper is to make a brief comparison of the out-lines of several forms of ports for steel-melting furnaces, in reference chiefly to the proper mixture of the gas and air, and to the direction in which the flame is thrown down into. the interior of the furnace. In the illustrations on the accompanying plate, Fig. 1 shows a form of port designed by M. Pernot, of St Chamond, France. This is used with the dome roof preferred by him for the revolving bottom that bears his name. From No. I has been derived No. 2. This is shown on the plans of Mr., A. L. Holley, and from them three large furnaces have been built and put into operation by the Springfield Iron Company. Fig. 3 shows an outline proposed by Messrs. Richmond & Potts for the Pernot furnace. In this the ports are brought in under an arched. roof of nearly the ordinary form., instead of over the top of the roof, as with the done of M Pernot, Fig. 4 shows a furnace as built by Krupp of Essen, Prussia, for fluid refining, or “washing” -to use the briefer French term. In this the gas and air come into contact in broad sheets one above the. other. Fig. 5 shows the form used by Messrs, Richmond & Potts

Jan 1, 1881

By Harold J. Bennett

A comprehensive knowledge of the availability of mineral resources to evaluate and assure a dependable supply is a prerequisite in establishing and maintaining a viable national economy. Since no nation is self-sufficient in all its mineral needs, its prosperity depends to a great degree upon its developing and maintaining an effective national minerals policy. This must be preceded by a systematic inventory of mineral resources that may be available to that nation. The U.S. Bureau of Mines is implementing a mineral deposit inventory program of domestic and foreign mineral occurrences, with initial emphasis on the domestic. In order to provide an in-depth appraisal of minerals availability, the approach includes not only realistic estimates of quantity and quality, but other essential factors such as costs, technology, environmental constraints, and development-time requirements. Analysis of this information provides usable relationships of quantity, price, time, and associated degrees of confidence of the occurrence of identifiable mineral resources. Keeping pace with a changing minerals industry and handling the large volume of information required in this undertaking demands that computer methods be employed.

Jan 1, 1977

By Francis Laur

BAUXITE, at first considered as a mineralogical curiosity without importance, now attracts daily increased attention from mineralogists, geologists, and manufacturers. The metallurgy of aluminum, which has entered with the advent of electrolysis upon a new phase within the last few years, requires every day larger quantities of pure alumina, and this can only be obtained from bauxite, which is, of known substances, the richest in free alumina. Bauxite has been mined since 1872 in France, whereabout 200,000 tons have been produced, and where, as a natural consequence, its deposits, qualities, and applications have become known. Within a few years past, discoveries of important deposits of bauxite have been made in the United States and Canada, and this almost entirely new subject has thus acquired an additional interest for the mining engineers and metallurgists of the American continent. A brief summary of the available data concerning it appears likely, therefore, to be appropriate and valuable.* I.—HISTORICAL. It was in 1821 that the famous chemist Berthier discovered at Baux (Bouches du Rhône) a hydrate of alumina (varying from 66 to 79 per cent. in its contents of the oxide) mixed with silica and

Jan 1, 1895

By Frederick Prime

At the last meeting of the Institute, Mr. A. L. Holley read a paper on "Steel," in which he proposes for it a definition so opposed to the one generally received, as to call for some remarks. Until within the last five or six years there has been no dispute on the subject, and it seems worth while to investigate the matter. For not only does a proper tax on all importations depend on a proper appreciation of the term steel, but it is necessary to know whether steel, or wroughtiron, or homogeneous iron are requisite in all processes of manufacture in which malleable iron is employed, on accouut of cost, strength, etc. Karsten* says: "Iron may be obtained, either as an unforgeable, unweldable metal, which melts at a high heat, termed cast-iron ; or as a ductile, weldable, soft, metal, which can only be melted at the

By G. L. Oldright

DURING 1919, in the face of high cost for labor and supplies and a rapidly dropping copper market, the management of the Ohio Copper Co. of Utah was left with an orebody that had been shown to be very low grade, and a mill that could not make a satisfactory recovery, even by flotation, because a considerable proportion of the copper minerals was oxidized. About seven million tons had been mined by the use of a caving system, the best of the broken ore extracted and milled, and the nature and copper content of the rest of the orebody fairly well determined. The rock of the whole mine was shown to run between 0.3 and 1.3 per cent. in. copper. As, the Ohio Copper orebody lies at the contact of the original sandstone (now altered to quartzite) with the quartz monzonite intru-sion that was the source of the mineralization at Bingham Canon, the rock was thoroughly shattered. It was shown further that the rock was mostly quart-zite, with a few quartz-monzonite "fingers" projecting into it. Although some of the old cleavage planes had been healed by resilicification so as to leave some of the copper minerals disseminated in the rock, a large proportion of these minerals was distributed along the cleavage planes.

Jan 10, 1923

By A. M. Crawford

INTRODUCTION Grouting is an engineering operation which has been practiced for many years and a considerable amount of experience and skill has been developed in this field. However, a review of the current literature (Houlsby, 1982) reveals that the theoretical background and experimental observations that are necessary to adequately predict or describe the performance of a particulate grout (e.g. cement based) in a jointed geologic media are somewhat inadequate. In the near future it is envisaged that the use of grout and grouting techiques will be used to tackle even more difficult problems than have been considered in the past. One problem that is currently being faced by the rock mechanics engineer is the development of geologic repositories for the disposal and containment of high level radioactive waste. In such structures there will be only one opportunity to ensure the success of the containment system. This success will depend to a large extent on the adequate and successful performance of the grout curtains to be utilized around the shafts and shaft liners. Regrouting will not be possible. There are other problems in rock mechanics in which it is frequently necessary to inject particulate media into passages of small dimensions, and where typically the size of fracture being injected is of the same order of magnitude as the particle dimension. For example, in the oil industry in hydraulic fracturing the enhancement of fracture conductivity is maintained by means of proppants introduced into the fracture.

Jan 1, 1984

By Henry S. Brown, Jean E. Tilden

Pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite from deposits distributed within the Piedmont and Blue Ridge provinces of North Carolina and adjacent areas were examined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry for cobalt, nickel, manganese, lead, tin, chromium, molybdenum, and gold. The ore samples were also examined petrographically. Cobalt and nickel, in general, enter pyrite and pyrrhotite rather than chalcopyrite and sphalerite. Manganese generally enters sphalerite rather than the other phases where an alternative is possible. The presence of tin in sulfide minerals was noted in a group of deposits east of the known occurrences of tin oxide (cassiterite) in the Kings Mountain belt, which may indicate the presence of a more extensive tin belt in the southeastern Piedmont than was previously recognized. Pyrrhotite from a group of four deposits in Jackson and Clay Counties, North Carolina, differs from pyrrhotite from other Ducktown-type deposits in having cobalt/ nickel ratios less than one, finer grain sizes, and colloform texture. These differences suggest that that this group of deposits has had a history different from that of the other Ducktown-type deposits studied. No significant conclusions could be made based on the distribution of lead, chromium, molybdenum, or gold.

Jan 1, 1975

By J. A. Faucher

The mining industry has undergone significant technological advances in metallurgical process methods in recent years. The 1000 tpd concentrator of St. Lawrence Colum-bium Metals Corp. portrays the continuing effort made by the industry to achieve economical concentration of new and difficult ores. During the active search for sources of uranium in the early fifties, radioactive minerals were found in the Oka district near Montreal. The compatatively small quantities of uranium which were found occurred in association with widespread columbium (niobium) mineralization which included perovskite, a calcium titanate containing roughly 40% Cb2O5; niocalite, a silicate containing some 20% Cb2O5; and pyrochlore, a calcium niobate containing 45 -70% Cb2O5 as well as fluorine and some water. An idealized formula for one type of pyrochlore is: A typical chemical analysis of pyrochlore is shown in Table I. An important feature of this analysis is the lack of tin, lead, sulphur and P2O5 which conforms with the requirements of most consumers. In general the cerium content varies with sodium content and any increase in Ta2O5 lowers the Cb2O5 content of the concentrate. However, Ta2O5 rarely exceeds 0.5%. The carbonatite host rock of the columbium mineralization has the average mineral composition shown in Table 11. In Table 11, the term "diopside" is used to cover all silicates except mica which is shown separately because of the problems involved with its separation during the concentration process. In some ore zones, small quantities of rare earth minerals, such as monazite are present.

Jan 1, 1964

By Robert C. Emmett, Donald A. Dahlstrom

FOR many years gravitational classification has been employed as a basic tool in beneficiation of minerals and coal. While improvements have been made to increase efficiency and fields of application, the basic flow pattern has remained relatively unchanged in most gravitational classifiers. Feed slurry is introduced into a settling pool wherein the coarser solids settle against either an upward or horizontal fluid current, or a combination of both, and are withdrawn in a concentrated underflow stream. The finer solids below the classification point possess too low a settling velocity and thus are primarily swept out through a weir overflow by the bulk of the fluid. Because of its simplicity, efficiency, and low power and maintenance costs, gravitational classification finds a wide acceptance for separations in the range of 20 to 325 mesh.

Jan 10, 1953

By Samuel Taylor

IF I LIVE another fourteen months and am still con-nected with the coal industry, I shall then have com-pleted a half century with it. Since May, 1874, when .I first entered the bituminous workings as a miner, I think I have held almost every position connected with a mine except possibly that of mule driver, for which I was unfitted by reason of my religious upbringing. We are all agreed, at least I have not heard it contra-dicted, that there is serious over-production in the bituminous industry. This has come about in various ways and is easily explained. During the Fuel Admin-istration, I recall making an estimate of the possible output of the bituminous mines of the country provided they were given a full force of men and a full-car supply; my estimate was a little over a billion tons a year. A few months ago, the late Francis H. Peabody, of Chicago, made a practically identical estimate. If, however, both of these conditions should happen con-currently, there would very soon be no market for the coal, and many of the mines would close down. Even today, if 10 per cent. more cars were furnished, to the bituminous mines, market prices would drop very seriously.

Jan 4, 1923

By G. A. Koenig, Moritz Stockder

Locality and Geological Occurrence. The Alpine region of Southwest Colorado, comprising the San Juan and Uncompaghre Mountains, is composed of a deeply eroded sheet of acid eruptive rocks, overlying in part gneissic sehists, and in part limestones and sandstones, including portions of the Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous systems. The section is clearly and beautifully exposed along the Uncompaghre River from its headwaters to its exit from the mountains. The river's course from the town of Ouray towards the Los Pinos agency is due north, and four miles from Ouray, in this direction, the Uncompaghre receives from the east the Red Cafion Creek. Following up the narrow caftan we find the section through white.. sandstone in strata dipping to the north and west, and belonging either to the lower or middle Devonian system. Presently the steep cafion-liko character of the ravine gives place to more gentle slopes, and we have entered crystalline rock-porphyry. The contact is well marked, for the sandstone, to a depth of from six to ten feet, resembles quartzite, i. e., is semifused. Ascending still higher, a small

Jan 1, 1881

By Earle E. Schumacher

THE elements silicon and germanium are not metals within the usual, intuitive association of the word, nor are they so within a stricter definition based on the electronic binding. Two properties associated with metals are plasticity and high electrical conductivity. These elements crystallize in the diamond cubic structure, an arrangement apparently not very favorable to slip, and are therefore brittle rather than ductile. Their electrical conductivity is not like that of metals the atoms are locked together by the covalent bond, which in pure and perfectly arranged material leaves but few electrons free to act as electrical carriers.† In further contrast to metals, their electrical conductivity can be greatly increased by raising the temperature. Yet silicon and germanium are not ideally nonmetallic. They are hard, solid, and possess a metallic luster. They exhibit that peculiar brand of electrical conductivity conveniently termed "semi- conduction," wherein, as shall be seen, lies much of their importance. Both, but silicon in particular, are important components in real metallic alloys and the methods of their reduction and preparation lie clearly in the province of the metallurgist. From their duality of physical and chemical properties, silicon and germanium, along with such elements as boron, diamond, gray tin, selenium, antimony, and arsenic, are considered semimetals or metalloids. Because of their importance to metallurgy and the im-

Jan 1, 1953

By William G. Pariseau

A design procedure for the quantitative estimation of support load requirements in underground mines is presented. The central problem in the design of mine support is one of es¬timating a maximum load that the ground will exert on the support in the coarse of mining. The distribution of stress around mine openings changes as mining progresses. At the time of support installation, the support load is essentially zero. With the passage of time and advance of the face, ground motion loads the support. The finite element method of analysis provides a simple quantitative technique for simulating the effects of mining and face advance on support load requirements. In particular, the maximum support load can be estimated by the proposed design procedure.

Jan 1, 1978

By A. J. Opinsky

THE purpose of this note is to indicate the locations and sizes of various interstitial holes in the orthorhombic uranium lattice based on a hard-sphere model. First, plane configurations of three and four atoms will be examined, and then the true interstices surrounded by four atoms in space and by five atoms in space will be obtained. The data and notation contained in a report by Tucker' will be used. Plane Configurations Fig. 1 presents the orthorhombic uranium lattice made of spheres touching at the closest interatomic distance. The three light-colored spheres in the ab plane are illustrative of the first type of configuration to be examined. If one edge of the unit cell is taken as the origin, the three atoms can be represented by the vectors [Oi + Oj + Ok], [ai + Oj + Ok] and [(a/2)i + (b/2)j + Ok] where i, j, and k are respectively parallel to a, b, and c. In the future, this notation will be shortened to [000], [a00] and [a/2 b/2 0], respectively. A vector R = [r s t] de-scribes the position of the hole surrounded by the atoms. Since the center of the hole must be equidistant from the three atoms R2 = r2 + s2 + t2 = (r-a)2 + s2 + t2 = (r-a/2)2 + (s-b/2)2 + t2. R = [a/2 (b/4) - (a2/4b) 0] is the solution of these

Jan 1, 1955