Search Documents

By Eduardo Rojas, Pedro Landeros

El Teniente Mine expansion plans are currently under development and construction stages through an integrated project strategy that will allow the continuity of future mining. The deepest sector corresponds to Andes Norte Project that faced rockburst risks during tunneling in a completely different manner, implementing different actions for the mitigation of seismic hazard and seismic risk management, based on the following main aspects: rock mass preconditioning techniques such as destress blasting and hydraulic fracturing, improvement of rock support design with the inclusion of elements with higher energy dissipation capacities, use of mechanized equipment for the most critical activities in addition to re-entry protocols and improvements in geological, geomechanical and seismic data collection procedures to reduce the uncertainty of rock mass behavior. The current seismic risk management strategy integrates all of these elements and is the basis of construction methodologies in use, supporting the technical feasibility of tunneling in high-stress environments.

Apr 26, 2022

By William H. Mount

Since the late 19405, St. Joe has operated rubber-tired, trackless mining equipment underground in its Southeast Missouri Lead Belt operations. At first, the trackless equipment was operated in conjunction with rail haulage equipment in the room-and-pillar operations, but was to later replace rail haulage completely. The first pieces of equipment to travel on pneumatic rubber tires were short-haul shuttle cars of 12-ton capacity hauling rock from the heading to the mainline railroad. Early-model drill jumbos were the next pieces of production equipment to be carried on rubber, along with mobile slusher ramps. Mobile diesel equipment, in the form of conventional rear-dump trucks, made its appearance underground in the early 1950s, introducing the era of relatively high-speed mobile equipment as compared to the electrically powered shuttle cars. Haulage distances for rubber-tired vehicles were no longer dictated by trolley lines and trailing cables and tires were subjected to increasingly severe applications. St. Joe's first completely trackless mine, the Hayden Creek Mine, was opened in 1952, employing rubber-tired drill jumbos, electric shuttle cars, and for the first time, an articulated diesel truck consisting of the tractor unit of a conventional earthmoving scraper and a rear-dump rock wagon. Those machines rolled on the first true earthmover tires to be used underground by St. Joe. The articulated truck concept proved to be very successful, and constitutes an In- creasing portion of the underground haulage today.

Jan 1, 1975

By B. Ballard

Engineers at a West Virginia coal preparation plant owned by one of the nation's largest coal producers sought a fire suppression system for the plant's MCC and cable spreading rooms. Officials considered the traditional options of water-based sprinklers, dry chemical, and clean agent systems; however, each of those options presented challenges. Sprinklers can damage electrical equipment, proper delivery of the agent and adequate coverage/protection can be an issue with dry chemical systems, and clean agent systems require room integrity. An alternative to traditional systems was discovered in the Victaulic Vortex Fire Suppression System. The first hybrid inert gas/water mist system (FM 5580), Vortex adequately addressed these concerns. The system, which deploys a high-velocity, low-pressure mixture of water and nitrogen, is not damaging to electrical equipment and extinguishes fires in open, ventilated areas. This is one of the first installations of the Vortex system in a prep plant, and is a compelling example of how new technology can overcome the challenges of traditional technologies. The paper will detail plant specs, situation, and system evaluation, selection, and configuration.

Feb 23, 2014

By N. Dashbold, E. Rudnik

"Waste electric and electronic equipment currently comprises the fastest-growing waste stream in the world, but at the same time it is seen as an important source of metals for the recycling industry. E-waste is usually treated pyrometallurgically, with hydrometallurgical methods used to a lesser extent. This paper reports the results of research on the selective recovery of copper from smelted low-value electronic waste. Pyrometallurgical pretreatment of the scrap allowed the removal of plastics and the increase of metal content in the material. The obtained alloy of copper, zinc, tin and silver was a multiphase solid consisting of two brass phases and inclusions rich in iron, lead and silver. Copper alloy was further anodically dissolved in ammoniacal chloride solution. It resulted in high degradation of the material and accumulation of the metals mainly in the slime. The slime was then leached in acid or ammoniacal chloride and sulfate solutions followed by selective copper electrowinning. Hydrochloric acid was the most efficient solvent for the slime, but ammoniacal solutions were more selective for copper. Copper could be leached with 96 to 100 percent and 87 percent efficiency from the slime by the chloride and sulfate solutions, respectively. Copper with 90 to 99 percent purity at current efficiency of 42 to 76 percent was obtained from the acid solutions, while copper with 98 to 99 percent purity at current efficiency of 60 to 86 percent was deposited from the ammoniacal baths. IntroductionObsolete electrical and electronic equipment makes up the fastest-growing waste stream in the world (Baldé et al., 2015), due not only to the introduction of wider ranges of new types and models of a variety of electronic products but also to the shortening of their life-spans, sometimes referred to as planned obsolescence by producers (Keeble, 2013). About 42 million tons of electronic waste, or e-waste, are estimated to have been generated globally in 2014 (Baldé et al., 2015), and it is expected that in the European Union alone the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) stream will reach more than 12 million tons by 2020 (European Commission, 2015). Accurate evaluation of e-waste generation (Wang et al., 2013) and its global transport (Breivik et al., 2014) is difficult, mainly due to a lack of high-quality data related to its market and socio-economic dynamics.Many countries introduced legislation to control e-waste flow, collection and recycling. For example, Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, 2012) obliges all E.U. members from 2016 to maintain a minimum collection rate of 45 percent of the total weight of WEEE collected. From 2019, the minimum collection rate to be achieved annually shall be 65 percent of the average weight of electronics placed on the domestic market in the three preceding years, or alternatively 85 percent of WEEE generated in the territory of the particular member."

Jan 1, 2017

This paper examines the feasibility of combining network modeling and computational fluid dynamics for modeling of underground mine ventilation systems. Both simulation methods have specific advantages and disadvantages for analysis of mine systems. Network modeling is widely utilized by many operations and allows for assessment of current systems and simulation for planning purposes. Alternatively, CFD has been utilized only marginally by operations and is typically a research tool, requiring considerable computational power, complex models, and careful analysis and calibration of results. Network modeling allows for a holistic approach to the ventilation system, giving quantity, velocity and pressure in every branch, but CFD modeling can resolve the flow regime in 2-D or 3-D, which is idea when examination of an area on a more detailed basis is useful, such as dust and gas control. Integration of the two can allow for more flexible systems analysis. The feasibility of integration, along with application to limited underground mine data are examined.

Feb 23, 2014

By Theodore H. Eyde

In 1971, the Minerals Division of The Superior Oil Company acquired exploration rights to an unpatented claim group in the Superior (Pioneer), Arizona mining district, lying west of the Concentrator fault. This major post-mineral fault displaces the Magma vein-fault, which is mined in the Magma Mine at Superior, Arizona. The Magma vein-fault and the enclosing section of pre-mineral rocks consisting of Paleozoic and younger Precambrian sediments and diabase, is overlain by a thick section of post-mineral rocks, consisting of the Gila conglomerate, the Apache Leap dacite, and the Whitetail conglomerate. Geologic information on the thickness and attitudes of the rocks obtained from previous diamond drilling indicated that the section of post-mineral rocks might be from 3,000 to over 4,010 feet thick in the target area. (Figure 1) The Magma vein-fault is a steeply dipping vein which has produced nearly a billion dollars of copper, zinc, silver, and gold. It has been mined continuously for nearly 10,000 feet along the strike and nearly 5,000, feet vertically down the dip. It ranges from less than a foot to over 50 feet wide and contains sulfide mineralization con¬sisting of pyrite, chalcopyrite, bornite, and chalcocite.

Jan 1, 1973

By C. Xiao, R. Chi

In recent years, the biosolubilization of rock phosphates by phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms has become a major topic of research studies. However, the microorganisms used in previous studies were mostly single and known species, and studies seldom focused on mixed communities of microorganisms or microbial consortia from natural environments. In this study, a microbial consortium from rhizospheric soil was used to solubilize two different compositions of medium- to low-grade rock phosphates — designated as ore samples 1 and 2 — in a laboratory-scale bioreactor. The microbial consortium showed good growth in the bioreactor, reduced the suspension pH and released soluble phosphates from the ores. Scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed the action of the microbial consortium on the ore surface. There was considerable corrosion on the ore surface, and 3.42 and 4.93 percent of the element phosphorus was removed from ore samples 1 and 2, respectively. Microorganisms were sampled from the bioreactor for the analysis of their community structures by Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing. The analysis show that the suspensions added with different ore samples had different microbial diversities and richness. This study provides new insight into the biosolubilization of rock phosphates by a microbial consortium directly taken from rhizospheric soils.

By Mehdi Noori, Atefeh Azizitorghabeh, Fereshteh Rashchi, Ataollah Babakhani, Sarah Mahmoudi

The focus of this research was to evaluate the synergistic effect of bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinic acid (CYANEX 272) and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA), diluted in kerosene, on the extraction and separation of Co(II) and Li(I) from synthetic sulfate solution. The results indicated that using a mixture of CYANEX 272 and D2EHPA was efficient in extracting and separating Co(II) from Li(I). The optimum ratio of CYANEX 272/D2EHPA was found to be 5:1, in which the highest separation factor was obtained (5973.23), and ΔpH0.5 was 4.10. Adding tributyl phosphate (TBP) as a modifier and increasing the temperature improved the metals’ separation rate and extraction efficiency. Thermodynamic studies were also carried out, and ΔH, ΔS, and ΔG values were computed, revealing the endothermic nature of Co(II) and Li(I) extraction by CYANEX 272/D2EHPA mixture. The conducted experiments for the McCabe–Thiele diagram showed the possibility of using two stages to extract over 99% of Co(II) and Li(I). Slope analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were employed to comprehend the Co(II) and Li(I) extraction mechanism using a mixture of CYANEX 272 and D2EHPA.

Jan 17, 2022

By A. Bruynesteyn

The results of a 2 phase evaluation program designed to determine the amenability of an oxide ore from the Butte, Montana mine of the Anaconda Company to a sulfuric acid leach is presented. In the phase 1 preliminary evaluation, using roll tests and percolation leaching in small columns, it is shown that the ore is highly extractable at low acid consumption ratios. In the phase 2 confirmatory tests in large columns on l-l.5 tons of material, the amenability of the ore to the leaching process is proven and pregnant solution grade profiles from planned commercial heaps established.

Jan 1, 1978

By X. Wang, Y. Luo

The propensity of coal spontaneous combustion can be evaluated using various laboratory testing methods, such as R70 adiabatic tests, thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA) tests and critical self-heating temperature (CSHT) methods. Each of the methods has its unique characteristics and index for classifying the propensity of self-ignition of coals. Accountable relationships among the propensity indices of different methods should be established. Using the newly established R70 and TGA testing setups in our ventilation laboratory, samples from U.S. coal mines have been collected and tested. The TGA is a relatively new quantitative method. A test can be conducted in a relatively short time, within about one and a half hours, compared to the adiabatic tests. The temperature and weight of the sample can be measured with high precision and then used to determine the activation energy of the coal, which is a good indicator of the potential for self-heating. Under a specific experimental design, the TGA technique could perform the proximate analysis for determining coal quality parameters (e.g., moisture, volatile matter, fixed carbon and ash content). These parameters can be used in an empirical equation for assessing the potential for coal self-ignition. The trend of activation energies determined using TGA techniques is reasonably consistent with the trend of activation energies determined using adiabatic tests. As a case study, a comparative analysis of these two methods for determining activation energy was made on coal samples collected from Indiana. The kinetics of the spontaneous combustion mechanism has been explained. If the functional groups of a coal such as hydroxyl (-OH), carboxyl (-COOH), methyl (-CH3), etc., activate more easily with a small amount of activation energy at a relatively low temperature, the coal will have a higher potential for self-heating. With the kinetic and coal quality parameters determined by the TGA setup, it has been found that the coal with a low potential for self-ignition has low self-heating rate, a high activation energy and a high minimum self-heating temperature.

Jan 1, 2012

By H. C. Harrell

The Tennessee Valley Authority began employing geophysical well logging for foundation investigations in October 1973. Since that time more than 3,000 holes have been evaluated for engineering purposes. The Tennessee Valley Authority has not actively used geo-physical well logging for exploration of construction materials, but we feel that much of the information derived from geophysical logs for foundation exploration is applicable to the construction materials industry. This paper will then discuss geophysical logging as applied to foundation engineering and, by implication, the feasibility of use in construction materials exploration. The use of geophysical logging and percussion drilling instead of coring has greatly expanded TVA's data acquisition capabilities and has also resulted in substantial savings in time and money. Economical boreholes are obtained through the use of large percussion track drills (Figure 1). This equipment is capable of drilling through the overburden, setting steel casing on the top of rock, and drilling the rock beneath the casing. Holes as deep as 400 feet (121.9 m) have been drilled by this method.

Jan 1, 1977

By T. Gupta, T. Ghosh

"In recent years, the demand for Rare Earth Elements (REE) have grown rapidly due to increasing demand and global supply shortage. The supply deficit of these critical elements has encouraged the search for new sources of REEs, possibly Coal and Coal byproducts. Coals from certain parts of the world can be rich in REEs, and can approach a total concentration of 1000 ppm. Two Alaskan coal samples were investigated for the effect of size and density on the concentration of REEs on three selected size fractions. Flotation tests were conducted for finer fractions. Additionally Bottom ash and Fly Ash samples from a power plant have been examined for REE concentration. The results show that the upgrade potential for REEs on ash basis from whole coal basis ranges from 2:1 to 4:1 for Wishbone Hill and Healy coal samples respectively. Flotation of the finer fraction for both coal samples, conducted under similar conditions, reveal higher concentration of REE’s in the tailings. Both coal samples have a comparatively higher LREE content than HREE. Trends of REE content of the power plant products on ash basis revealed that Fly Ash has a slightly higher concentration of both LREE and HREE than Bottom Ash. Keywords: Rare Earth Elements, Coal, Coal Ash INTRODUCTION Rare Earth Elements (REEs) and their compounds are vital components in industrial, automotive, petrochemical, defense and medical applications. Dysprosium in combination with other elements is used in laser materials and nuclear control applications. Neodymium is present in magnets that are used in green power generation such as the manufacture of wind turbines and also in hybrid cars. Europium, Terbium and Yttrium are used for devices that have visual displays such as computer screens and laptops [1, 2]. REEs pose fewer environmental problems of disposal and recycling than conventional heavy metal counterparts [1]. Rare-earth metals are key ingredients for radar systems, avionics, modern national defense and satellites [2-8]. In the last 25 years China has been mining, processing and refining Rare Earth elements at affordable prices thus gaining a virtual monopoly in the market. The many fold rise of the prices of REE elements over the last few years and frequent disruptions in supply has forced various nations to invest in indigenous extraction of REEs by increasing production from previously productive sites and to expand the production from new alternate sources including coal and coal byproducts [9]. Coal and Coal beds have been found to be significantly enriched with certain critical metals and can be a potential source for both Light Rare Earth Elements (LREE) and Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREE) [10]. Moreover, coals with high REE concentrations have been discovered in Pavlovka and Rakovka coal deposits in Russia, Appalachian deposits in USA, Sichuan Basin deposits in China and others across the globe [10-13]. A recent study from China looked at how different trace elements (including numerous REEs) partition in various size fractions of Antaibao coal from China. The finding indicates that the REEs, phosphorous, and thorium all have their high concentrations in the particle sizes 0.5 to 3 mm, and 6 to 25 mm. REEs are also often present in the form of phosphates such as monazite in coal [13, 14]. The objective of the study is to identify the concentration of REEs in Alaskan coals and to investigate the effect of density and size in the distribution of REEs in coal and coal byproducts."

Jan 1, 2016

By W. L. Freyberger

In many papers concerned with fundamentals of the froth flotation process, authors have considered the contents of a flotation cell to be comprised of two immiscible phases, the froth and the pulp. I (Of course, each of these phases is in turn made up of several solid phases plus air and water.) This generalized concept of the flotation system can be extended by considering the cell contents to include two phases: an extracting phase, the air bubbles plus the collector, which removes a selected mineral component from the second phase, the ore pulp. Thus, there is an analogy between a flotation system on the one hand, and chemical extracting systems, such a solvent extraction system or a leaching system, on the other hand. Such extracting systems may be operated in cocurrent or countercurrent fashion. This paper includes first a brief discussion on the general nature of cocurrent and countercurrent operation as applied to froth flotation, and then presents the experimental results of flotation of a specular hematite ore by each method, using a tall oil fatty acid as collector. Cocurrent Flotation A conventional flotation circuit involving roughing, scavenging, and cleaning flotation is illustrated schematically in Figure 1. In such a circuit the col¬lector, or extractant, and new feed ore enter together at the head of the rougher circuit, and flow cocurrently to the scavenger circuit where more collector is added. According to this practice, sufficient collector is added to the head of the rougher (and scavenger) so that the final tailings are of low enough grade to be discarded. Since the flow of collector and ore is cocurrent, the process consists of single stage contact between the extracting phase and the ore pulp. If the scavenger concentrate is recycled to the head of rougher, the overall circuit has some of the characteristics of countercurrent flow. In such a case part of the extractant (collector) is added at the discharge end of the circuit, and may

Jan 1, 1971

By D. Seneviratne

Iron transfer from the pregnant leach solution (PLS) to the electrolyte can have a major economic impact on solvent extraction (SX) operations. High iron transfer will lead to greater operational costs, due to increased reagent consumption through electrolyte bleed and make up, or increased power costs due to decreased electrowinning current efficiency. Bioleaching of low-grade copper sulfide ore from the Kennecott Utah Copper Mine was investigated in a large scale piloting program including SX and electrowinning. Plant data and lab test work conducted throughout the course of operation, show that the unique containing PLS high ferric iron with high pH can lead to lower Cu: Fe selectivity than is typically seen in traditional copper SX operations. The impact of high ferric iron on the plant operation, and methods to reduce iron transfer will be discussed. Special considerations need to be taken for plant operating conditions and selection of SX reagents (including both extractant and aromatic content of diluent) based on the feed PLS characteristics.

Feb 23, 2014

By Zhiguo Chang, QINGXIANG CAI, Ebelia Manda, IZHAR MITHAL JISKANI, XIANG LU, Wei Zhou, Saleem Raza Chalgri

The concept of mine safety is highlighted in the literature of sustainable mining but not extensively discussed. This study analyzes various aspects of underground and surface mine safety and emphasizes its importance in the context of sustainable mining. More specifically, this research attempts to find the relationship between mine hazards and demographic characteristics, examine and compare the perceptual difference among miners, and determine the impact of mine hazards on workplace safety and safety climate. Descriptive analysis, chi-square test, independent samples t test, and linear regression modeling were conducted to achieve study objectives. Results confirmed that mine hazards were significantly associated with age and experience. Miners perceived lower levels of management safety practices, followed by supervisor safety, coworker safety, and job safety. The analysis showed that underground miners reported lower safety scores than surface miners. There was a statistically significant difference between miners’ perception of safety climate (p < 0.05). The results showed that the higher prevalence of mine hazards predicts poor workplace safety and a low safety climate. The regression models revealed that mine hazards have a significant effect on workplace safety (p < 0.05) and safety climate (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the distinctive model of mine safety presented here contributes to the monitoring and design of comprehensive safety interventions and helps to better understand how certain factors interact on multiple levels to influence the overall safety of the industry. In this study, some suggestions are put forward to provide directions to develop a sustainable mine safety system.

Mar 27, 2020

By A. Halim, A. Martikainen, S. GYAMFI

This paper outlines a unique case of the development of strategies to reduce ventilation and heating costs in Konsuln iron ore mine in northern Sweden. The mine, located just south of Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag’s Kiruna iron ore mine, was developed as a test mine from 2018-2020 for the Sustainable Underground Mining (SUM) project. Besides functioning as a test mine, Konsuln also contributes to ore production. The existing mine ventilation system was designed for the current production rate of 0.8 million tons per annum (Mtpa). There is a plan to increase this rate to between 1.8 and 2.0 Mtpa.

Sep 30, 2021

By g. Caproni

The main constituent of the feed to the "Sulphide Section" (31 t/h), in the F. Sartori Plant (6000 tid) of the Miniere di Mon)eponi(Sardinia), is the ore of the Campo Pisano -Funtanaperda Mine (1 ? Difficulties have always been experienced in the treatment of this ore, owing to the extramely fine Pyrite-Sphalerite intergrowth and to the high Pyrite and soluble salts contents. The first mentioned difficulty was overcome with a rather complex flowsheet (see fig.1A and lB)(2); the others with a reagent combination that required a pH of 11 in a pulp loaded with soluble salts. This meant high consumption of alkalizer, and also of the other reagents; furthermore the alkalizer had to be mainly NaOH with only minor amounts of lime, because the latter tended to depress not only the pyrite but also the middlings, which were supposed to float. With dialchylditiophosphate alone as a collector, a lower pH could have been used, but a certain amount of amylxanthate was indispensable to promote flotation of the middlings. On the other hand, a bulk-flotation of sphalerite and pyrite at low pH could not be very advantageous on account of the high pyrite content in the feed(3).

Jan 1, 1971

By Lynn Huntsman

INTRODUCTION The Sunnyside mines of Kaiser Steel Corp. are lo¬cated on the west flank of the Book Cliff Range, a tongue of the Wasatch mountain range in Utah. The mines are 193.12 air km (120 air miles) southeast of Salt Lake City and 40.23 km (25 miles) east of the town of Price. The area has a semiarid climate with an an¬nual rainfall of 304.8 to 381 mm (12 to 15 in.) and a temperature range of -23.3 to 32.2°C (-10 to 90°F). The base of the Book Cliff Range is approximately 1981 m (6500 ft) in elevation with some mountain peaks in excess of 3048 m (10,000 ft) (Fig. 1). The Sunnyside mines were opened in the late 1890s and have been operated continuously since that time. Kaiser Steel leased the No. 2 mine in 1942 and pur¬chased the entire property in 1950. There are three mines adjacent to one another, each with its separate access, ventilation, and haulage. The three mines en¬compass an area extending 12.87 km (8 miles) along the outcrop and dipping northeasterly 2.41 to 3.22 km (11/z to 2 miles) into the Book Cliffs. During 1975, only the No. I and No. 3 mines were operating to sup¬ply 908 184.7 t/a (1,000,000+ stpy) of clean coal to the Kaiser Steel mill at Fontana, CA. Sunnyside coal is blended with coal from the Kaiser Steel mine near Raton, NM, and with purchased coal from noncompany sources to form the mix for the coke ovens. At that time, Sunnyside operated three longwall units and five to seven continuous miner units. Typical production for that time came from one miner unit pillaring an area not conducive to longwall mining; one or two miner units on construction or modernization projects, and the remaining units used to develop future longwall panels. Longwall mining has been a part of the Sunnyside scene since 1961 when the first panel was set up in the lower Sunnyside seam of the No. 3 mine. Through 1975, 27 longwall panels were mined (Fig. 2). Of the more than 47 173 604 t (52,000,000 st) of clean coal that were taken from the property through 1975, 6 350 292.9 t (7,000,000 st) were mined by longwall methods. Coal was brought to the surface in 4.5-t (5-st) mine cars and crushed to -152.4 mm (-6 in.) before entering the preparation plant. Coarse coal is cleaned by Baum jigs and fine coal (-28 mesh) is cleaned in flotation cells. The coal is reduced to 50.8 x 0 mm (2 x 0 in.) and belted to an aboveground storage pile with a ca¬pacity of approximately 113 398.1 t (125,000 st). The coal is gravity fed through two 1.52-m (5-ft) diam culverts directly into railroad cars, which pass beneath the storage pile through an arched excavation. Eighty-four 90.7-t (100-st) cars make up a unit train which makes the round trip to the steel mill in four days. Additional trains are scheduled in as demands dictate. Loading rates in excess of 13 607.8 t/h (15,000 stph) have been attained. Geology The coal seams of this area are of Cretaceous age and are classed as a medium volatile bituminous coal. coal, with a sulfur content less than 1 % and 6 to (20-mile) zone of the Book Cliffs, and this area is owned or under lease by either Kaiser Steel or US Steel. Coal in adjacent areas is noncoking but an excellent steam coal, with a sulfur content of less than 1 % and 6 to 7% ash. Sunnyside coal contains 40% volatile, 53% carbon, less than 1 % sulfur, and 51/2 to 61/2 % ash after washing. There are two minable seams throughout most of the Sunnyside property known locally as the upper and lower Sunnyside. Separation between the seams varies from less than 300 mm (1 ft) near the southern boundary adjacent to the US Steel Columbia mine, to over 12.19 m (40 ft) in areas of the No. 3 mine in the center of the Sunnyside property. The upper seam varies in height from 1.2 to 1.98 m (4 to 61/2 ft) while the lower seam varies in height from 1.52 to 4.28 m (5 to 14 ft) in areas of No. I mine where the two seams apparently come together. The majority of early work was con¬centrated in the upper seam which has a stronger roof and a lower sulfur content. When Kaiser Steel began mining the No. 3 mine in the early 1950s, it mined in the lower seam beneath the old workings with conven¬tional and continuous mining equipment. Numerous bounces and pressure points created by unextracted pillars and barriers in the upper seam made this a low¬production, high-cost mine and brought about the ad¬vent of the first longwall system. The first unit, while small by today&apos;s standards, successfully mined panels that had been all but given up and saved the mine from closure. There were areas that could not even be mined by longwall because of the erratic extraction in the upper seam. The system was successful enough to allow operations to gain access to and develop virgin areas of the upper seam. Development of longwall mining in the No. 3 mine has been confined to the upper seam since late 1964. With the almost complete extraction afforded by the longwall system, it is felt the lower seam can be successfully worked in future years (Fig. 3). In most of No. 1 mine, only the lower seam (or lower seam and upper seam combined) is minable, except in the northwest portion where a rock split has again separated the seam into two 1.83 to 2.13-m (6 to 7-ft) thick beds. In this area, the upper seam or upper split is being mined. The separation between seams at the present workings in this area varies from 0.609 to 6.1 m (2 to 20 ft). It is hoped that most of the lower split can be mined using shield supports and/or what¬ever new technology is developed in the coming years. The coal seams in this area dip to the northeast at an average grade of 10%. The dip near the outcrop reaches 22% and gradually decreases downdip. Over¬burden ranges from a few meters at the outcrop to 762 m (2500 ft) over some of the deeper workings. In the next several years, some overburden will be in excess of 914 m (3000 ft) as the lower mine workings extend ever deeper under the Book Cliffs. To cope with the

Jan 1, 1982

By Jian Liu

The study aims to leach copper from a low-grade flotation middling by optimizing the leaching process using response surface methodology. The effect of key parameters, i.e., sulfuric acid concentration, nitric acid concentration and leaching time, on the leaching efficiency was investigated and a quadratic model was suggested by the methodology to correlate the variables to the efficiency. The results indicate that the model is in good agreement with the experimental data at a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.97 and the most influential parameter on efficiency was identified as sulfuric acid concentration. The optimum conditions for copper leaching from the middling were identified as sulfuric acid concentration at 103.74 g/L, nitric acid concentration at 12.50 g/L and leaching time of 30.98 min; under such a condition, an average leaching efficiency of 93.16% was achieved from the middling.

Jan 1, 2011

By Howard M. Wells

Portfolio theory and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (Modigliani and Pogue, 1974) provides an investment decision rationale which takes account of the benefits of diversification in reducing effective risk, but this theory does not consider the financial capability of the firm to survive large losses if they should occur. The LL-curve theory (Wells, 1976) takes the latter consideration into account, but it does not provide for the effects of diversification. This paper pro- poses a general theory to account for both diversification and the financial capacity of the firm to underwrite the investment risks.

Jan 1, 1983