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By Filipe Sathler

Mediante efeitos de sazonalidades do mercado Siderúrgico, períodos de crise, aliados às necessidades de reparos de equipamentos, os Altos Fornos são, eventualmente, submetidos ao desligamento. O procedimento específico mais utilizado é o Blowdown, com o abaixamento de carga até nível de ventaneiras, facilitando posterior limpeza e reparo. Para sucesso deste procedimento, é essencial um planejamento adequado das atividades. Informações técnicas e experiências operacionais permitiram o embasamento teórico e a execução do Blowdown do Alto Forno 03 da ArcelorMittal FCSA (Tubarão). Como preparação, foi efetuado o aumento do fluxo periférico (remoção de cascão) e o aumento da permeabilidade do Cadinho (maior circulação de líquidos, limpeza e drenagem). Realizou-se também a preparação de equipamentos específicos e controle dos parâmetros operacionais. O abaixamento de carga foi devidamente realizado conforme planejado, até o nível de ventaneiras e permitindo paredes internas livres de cascões.

Aug 16, 2017

By A. U. Seybolt

A FEW copper-zinc-base alloys meet die-casting requirements reason- ably well, although improvements are desired. Aluminum bronzes, high-tinbronzes and some copper-nickel-zinc alloys can be die-cast, accordingto Herb,1 but seldom are because of such factors as higher melting ranges and greater cost than certain of the brasses. Fox2 has summarized the copper-base die-casting alloys that were in commercial use in 1937 and has given the effects of different alloying constituents. Table 1 gives some of the properties of these alloys as reported by Fox. TABLE 1. Commercial Die-casting Brasses a Constituent Yellow Brass Low-silicon High-siliconb Brass Brass Nickel Silver Composition, Per Cent Cu 57-59 63-65 80 -81.5 42.0 Zn 40-42 33-35 13.5-16.0 41.0 Sn 0.5-1.5 Si 0.75-1.25 3.75-4.25 Pb 1.0 Ni 16.0 Properties Tensile, lb. per sq. in.. 55,000-60,000 65,000-70,000 85,000-95,000 85,000-95,000 Yield, lb. per sq. in.d.. 30,000-35,000 35,000-40,000 65,000-70,000 65,000-72,000 Elong., per cent in 2 in . 15-20 20-30 8-12 10-20 Brinell hardness 120-130 120-130 160-180 160 Specific gravity 8.47 8.50 8.15 8.45 Properties reported by Fox.2 b Trade name of Brastil, Doehler Die Casting Co., similar to Webert Alloy, 3,4 American Brass Co., and Tombasil Alloy,5 Ajax Metal Co. c Trade name Tinicosil, Titan Metal Manufacturing Co. Melting point (liquidus) of the yellow brass is given by Herb' as 1650° F., of the high-silicon Brastil (with 4.5 to 5 per cent Si) as 1600° F., and of the nickel silver as 1675° F. d Criterion not stated.

Jan 1, 1939

By Charles R. Keyes

I. INTRODUCTORY. IN the dry regions of the globe many silver-deposits display certain remarkable features which at the same time are so totally unlike anything met with among ore-bodies elsewhere, that they have long presented exceptional difficulties not only to a satisfactory explanation of their origin, but to economical milling. A most striking peculiarity of these ores is the haloid character of many of their bonanzas. To this fact more than to any other may be ascribed most of the unusual uncertainties of mining-operations in desert countries-the marvelous local richness of the ores under certain conditions and the often abrupt transition, to utter poverty; the inadequacy of ordinary prospecting customs and the constant devising of new exploratory methods; the unaccountable losses in smelting and the continual change in treatment-practice. For these anomalies certain climatic conditions seem to be chiefly responsible.

Jul 1, 1911

By Doug Smith, Ross MacFarlane

"The Star Lake Mill was commissioned by Cameco (formerly Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation) in 1986 to process a small high grade gold deposit in a remote location of Northern Saskatchewan. The lean approach to the 200 t. p. d. CIP mill to minimize capital and operating costs employs a number of unique features which are described along with highlights from the initial two years of operation.1.0 INTRODUCTIONThe Star Lake Mine is located 520 kilometers north of the City of Saskatoon (Fig. l) with the nearest population centre in La Ronge 130 km to the south. Gold showings were first discovered in the area in the 1940's with the Star Lake ""21 Zone"" ore body discovered in 1983. The Star Lake Mine started operations in 1986 becoming the first primary gold producer in Saskatchewan in over 40 years. The mine is operated by Cameco (formerly SMOC) with 50\ ownership in a joint venture with starrex Mining Corporation (35\) and Uranerz Exploration and Mining (15%).The limited reserves coupled with the remote location and the price of gold ($300-$350 u.s./oz) at the time the project feasibility was being assessed required a lean approach to make the short term operation successful. This paper describes the approach taken in the design and construction of the Star Lake Mill and describes the mill operation with highlights of the initial two years of operation."

Jan 1, 1989

By David S. Yang, Osamu Taki

The innovative Soil-Cement Mixing Wall Technique, developed independently in Japan, consists of mixing in-place soils with cement grout using multi-axis augers and mixing paddles to construct overlapping soil-cement columns. The applications of overlapped soil-cement columns include cutoff walls for groundwater control and structural diaphragm walls for excavation support. The special features of this technique include water tightness, versatile strength design, and efficient installation in subsurface materials varying from clayey soils to cobbles or soft rocks. Through the introduction of two recent subway projects in Japan, this paper presents the design parameters, construction procedure, quality control and performance of soil-cement wall for excavation support and groundwater control.

Jan 1, 1989

By Steve Kral

Reducing the cost per ton and increasing productivity are key factors in a mine’s profitability. Mining companies can do little about commodity prices. So to keep a mine operating at a profit, management must reduce costs and improve worker and equipment productivity in every facet of a mining operation. From mining to crushing to processing, mine management is constantly seeking new methods and technologies to improve the way it mines minerals. And it is willing to borrow techniques used by other operators.

Jan 1, 2002

By H. C. Miller

Several agencies of the Federal Government are engaged in research and fact finding relative to petroleum and natural gas, and others are concerned with carrying out the provisions of specific laws that affect these natural resources in their broad aspects. The Bureau of Mines, however, is the only Federal agency designated by law to engage in research in oil and natures gas production, chemistry, refining, and

Jan 1, 1941

By Mary Stewart, Jim G. Petrie, Geoff Brent

"Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is gaining increasing acceptance as a decision-support tool by which to evaluate the environmental performance of a product, process or service. This is evidenced by its inclusion in international policy documents (for example in the European Union’s Integrated Product Policy) and in environmental management standards (the ISO 14 040 series of environmental management codes relate to LCA). In response to this, the minerals industry has conducted a number of commodity-specific LCAs. These include studies for global production of a number of commodities including copper, nickel, aluminium and steel. In addition, a number of minerals companies profess to use LCA as part of their suite of project and technology assessment tools. Often, this collected use represents more a situation of “we do this because we’re told it’s good for business” rather than from any demonstrable evidence of this fact. This has led to a situation of much confusion and disillusionment within the industry, exacerbated by the obvious current limitations of LCA to accurately reflect the environmental performance of minerals and metals.Our point of departure here is that LCA, conforming as it does to the tenets of environmental systems analysis, is a valuable starting point, and that there is merit in exploring to what extent the methodology can be enhanced to better reflect the environmental performance of minerals and metals. Specifically, we explore here the further development of LCA to address the following:• Land Use issues• Consumption of Abiotic Resources including metallic and non-metallic minerals, water and soil)• Human and Eco-toxicity issues relating to mobility and bio-availability of metals• Salinityand address these through selected experimental and simulation case studies relating to energy- and base minerals production. Advances resulting from the United Nations Environment Programme/Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Life Cycle Initiative are presented in that they directly affect the application of LCA to mining, minerals and metals. Comments are offered on how best the mining and minerals industry might interface with future developments resulting from this Initiative in order that the Initiative can deliver outcomes which render LCA a useful tool for decision making in mining and minerals processing."

Jan 1, 2003

By A. J. Williams, T. N. Croft, M. Cross

"The computational modelling of extrusion and forging processes is now well established. In this work a novel approach is described which utilises finite volume methods on unstructured meshes. This technique can be used to solve simultaneously for fluid flow, heat transfer and non-linear solid mechanics and their interactions. The approach involves the solution of free surface non-Newtonian fluid flow equations in an Eulerian context to track the behaviour of the workpiece and its extrusion/forging, and the solution of the solid mechanics equations in the Lagrangian context to predict the deformation/stress behaviour of the die. Some preliminary examples of this approach will be discussed.IntroductionThe computational modelling of extrusion and forging processes is now well established. Within the last 20 years the finite element method has become the most commonly used technique to simulate metal forming processes [1]-[4]. The Lagrangian and Eulerian type of formulation have been the two major approaches to this problem.Lagrangian methods are efficient and suitable for handling non-linear problems in which small strains prevail, boundary conditions do not change with the course of deformation, and where mesh distortion is not a critical factor in the analysis. Unfortunately, the above points are essential to any accurate metal forming analysis. The problems of mesh distortion and element entanglement pose a serious drawback on the use of such methods. Some automatic remeshing techniques have been developed for Lagrangian finite element analyses of metal forming problems [5]-[7]. However, these methods are not robust and efficient enough to remedy the mesh distortion problems in general. An alternative is to update the mesh manually but this is not always possible, and even when it is feasible it involves major interaction by the user. In addition, remeshing is usually applied to the whole domain which is not necessary and increases CPU time. The complexities associated with remeshing also affect the ability to parallelise the code."

Jan 1, 2001

By Paul Worsey, Larry Frost, Braden Lusk, Seok Bin Lim

For certification of blast resistant windows, current tests consist of arena tests or large air gun tests. Arena tests involve the detonation of more than 1000 pounds of explosives with windows placed in the range of hundreds of feet. The result of an arena test is a loading on a window consistent with an expected industrial or terrorist blast. Due to the nature of this type of test, only a limited number of facilities are available and operational costs can be extremely high. Air gun tests involve the use of compressed air and a failing diaphragm fired through a large tube. Although this test is more cost effective and easier to administer with lower environmental impacts, it is not an explosive loading and does not create a negative phase on the tail of the pressure pulse. Simply using a small charge in close proximity to the window is not a viable option either. The pressure peak can be reached using this method, but the duration of the pressure pulse is such that the positive phase impulse is on the order of ten times less than that for an arena test.

Jan 1, 2006

By John R. Benham

The Bureau of Mines examined the Bear Canyon RARE II area in 1982. The area has no identified mineral deposits. The few claims that were located in the study area are devoid of any workings. No concentrations of economic minerals were found in the samples taken. There are no mineral, geothermal, or oil and gas leases in the area; the nearest oil well is 10 mi (16 km) east. The nearest mining operation was the Ruby Gold Placer worked in 1914, 7 mi (11 km) southeast (Hart, 1966, p. 45); the Pliocene Paso Robles Formation which contained the gold does not extend into the area. SETTING The Bear Canyon RARE II area covers 19.7 sq mi (51 sq km) or 12,600 acres (1500 ha) in west-central California. It lies in the Santa Lucia Range 10 mi (16 km) southwest of King City and adjoins the southeast side of the Ventana Wilderness. It is 10 mi (16 km) from the Pacific Ocean. Primary access is by the San Antonio River road on the Hunter Liggett Military Reservation, which parallels the area's southern border. Further access to the area's interior is by jeep and foot trails.

Jan 1, 1983

By D. W. Bridges

Solvent extraction has become important in recent years as a unit process in extractive metallurgy. The flexibility and simplicity of the technique have attracted widespread attention, and numerous papers describing actual and projected metallurgical applications have been published. However, differences in terminology, procedure, objectives, and standards, as reflected in reports by different operators and investigators, have sometimes made appraisals and comparisons difficult. Consequently, a need appeared for n series of basic reports on the subject. This Bureau of Mines Information Circular is the first of such a series. It deals with the status of solvent extraction in metallurgy, as well as with the rudiments and terminology of the unit operation. In analytical chemistry, extraction of molecular species from aqueous media by immiscible organic solvents has been used for many years to separate and determine chemical elements (61).4 Complex chlorides of iron and other metals are readily soluble in ethers and ketones, as are the nitrates of uranium and thorium. Most metals are extractable as complex salts of some organic reagent, such as dithizone, 8-hydroxyquinoline, or cupferron.

Jan 1, 1962

By A. C. Johnson, es Hol, E. O. Binyon

"INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARYThe tungsten properties of Lincoln Mines, Inc., and North Tem Flute Mining and Development Co. were first explored by the Bureau of Mines in 1942. Work on the project comprised trenching, sampling, a small amount of road and trail construction, and a small amount of core drilling. From April 13 to December 10, 1944, additional diamond drilling was done by the Bureau of Mines to test the lateral and downward extensions of the various tactite zones along the contact south of the Lincoln mine, including the property of the North Tem Piute Mining & Development Co.Claims leased by the Lincoln Mines, Inc., are in secs. 25 and 36, T. 3 S., R. 56 E.; secs. 30 and 31, T. 3 S., R. 57 E.: and sec. 1, T. 4 S., R 56 E., M. D. B. & M., in the Tem Piute Mining District, near the north end of the Timpahute Range in west central Lincoln County, Nev. D. B. Fegles is president of Lincoln Mines, Inc. and general offices are in the Wesley Temple Building, Minneapolis, Minn.In June 1945, the Atolia Mining Co. leased the property and purchased the mill and mining equipment from Lincoln Mines, Inc. P. R. Bradley is president of the Atolia Mining Co., whose offices are in the Crocker Building, San Francisco, Calif. This company surrendered the lease on the property on September 30, 1948. The property owners are continuing operations and are now engaged in building a 20-ton mill.The claims of the North Tern Flute Mining & Development Cc. are in sec. 1, T. 4 S., R. 56 E., M. D. B. & M. Merle F. Schofield is president of the company and maintains an office at Hike, Nev. These claims were leased by H. P. Laslett, of the Utah Nevada Mining Co., in 1945 and by the Atolia Mining Co. in 1946. The owners are now doing some exploratory work."

Jan 1, 1950

By Walter Nelson

Considerable thought and discussion had been devoted toward provision for increased milling capacity at the Allenby concentrator of The Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Company operations as early as 1940. During the war, plans for the installation of an additional grindi.ng unit were formulated but were not carried out. It took considerable time after the war to prepare the mine again for its highest rate of production since, with the scarcity of men, development work had been sacrificed in favour of maximum ore shipments. In order to prepare for the expected competitive market in copper, the matter of increasing the capacity of the concentrator was again given serious attention. As ore became available in the mine and the output of the mill was increased, limitations for a satisfactory recovery were observed, due to the overloaded condition of the classifier units at the higher tonnages. From a metallurgical standpoint, the ore from the Copper Mountain mine had always been difficult to treat on account of the finely disseminated character of much of the mineralization and the difficulty of grinding to the desired fineness. This trouble has become aggravated with time as an increasing amount of wall-rock has diluted the ore and lower grade orebodies have been mined. It therefore has been, and is, the practice at the concentrator to maintain the maximum amount of reduction in size of material fed to the flotation units as is possible for the daily tonnage to be milled. This means that all the grinding units are operated for the maximum possible time, and that the classifiers are regulated to return as much feed ?as possible to the mills. The number of tons to be milled for ?the day is determined by the concentrator superintendent after ascertaining the availability of ore from the mine, the condition of the concentrator ore bins, and the need for repairs in the rolls plant. In order to maintain the tonnage des1red, hourly estimates are made of the rate of grinding by weighing the amount of ore contained on one foot of each of the belts conveying the feed to the various ball-mills, and adjustments are made accordingly.

Jan 1, 1950

By Anna Paula Littig Berger

A remoção do fosfóro através do processo de desfosforação do ferro-gusa tem sido cada vez mais relevante, devido a influência que exerce de forma prejudicial as propriedades do aço e devido a extensão do cenário de escassez de minérios com menor teores de fosfóro. Este trabalho tem como objetivo a avaliação termodinâmica de misturas à base de dolomita e finos de minério utilizadas no processo de desfosforação realizado em panela para o refino do ferro-gusa. Verificou-se uma tendência de maiores valores de eficiência para o processo de desfosforação quando aumenta-se a razão de massa de desfosforante e massa de gusa.

Aug 17, 2017

By Mark C. L. Patterson

Hydrothermal brines are extracted from significant depths below the surface of the earth and arrive at the surface at elevated pressure and temperature. The exact chemistry and conditions of these brines depends upon the rock formations through which the water travels, but many of the brines are rich in dissolved minerals especially silica which is often saturated in the brine. At pressure and temperature the minerals remain in solution but in order to extract heat from the brines, they need to be cooled and during which many of the minerals precipitate causing problems. Where precipitation is a problem in the downstream processing, the brines are maintained at a high enough temperature and pressure so as to avoid precipitation and injected back into the geothermal formation. This results in a significant loss in potential energy that could be recovered from the geothermal brines. If left to precipitate in an uncontrolled manner, many of the minerals will precipitate as gels, in a high surface area form which is difficult to extract from the liquor and which can causes problems. Precipitation in this manner often builds up on the inside of pipes, reducing the pipe cross-section available for fluid flow and reducing the overall efficiency of the plant. If the brines are seeded at the appropriate time or the precipitation conditions are changed, mineral particles can be grown and separated more easily from the brine. During this precipitation and growth phase the chemistry of the local environment can also be altered to grow more valuable particulates. Some of the specific chemistries will be discussed with reference to known geothermal brines and what needs to be done to precipitate value added products. A theoretical approach to the complete extraction of minerals from geothermal brines is also discussed with the goal of extracting more heat from the brine prior to reinjection into the well.

Jan 1, 2006

By I Thomson, L D. Black, R G. Boutilier

The social license to operate (SLO) began as a metaphor for the ability of communities to stop mining projects. Soon people began to speak of levels of social license and the ability of communities to raise costs without completely stopping exploration or mining activities. Today the concept has spread to other industries and is evolving towards becoming a general management perspective on the socio-political rights and responsibilities of the corporation. The business case underpinning the SLO perspective on management is the need to assess and manage socio-political risk. For mining companies, socio-political risk has been steadily rising for several reasons, including the efforts of non-government organisations (NGOs) to pre-empt government policy options; the entry of mining companies into jurisdictions weak in the rule of law; and the weakness of global economic and financial regulation. In this perilous world beyond the comfort zone of effective government, mining companies must build their own socio-political stability by engaging directly with stakeholders to develop a strong SLO. In order to become a practical management perspective, the SLO needs to be measurable, which amounts to measuring the socio-political risks and opportunities presented by stakeholders. We present the results of efforts since 2009 to develop a globally reliable and valid measurement tool at the project and industry levels, validated in studies in Australia, Bolivia, Mexico and the USA. A factor analysis suggested four factors that mine management can address to raise their SLO level. The most chronically neglected factor involves the political right of the corporation to foster more equitable social contracts locally and regionally in both developed and developing countries. We conclude with recommended steps to earn and maintain the social license at the project and industry levels.CITATION:Boutilier, R G, Black, L D and Thomson, I, 2012. From metaphor to management tool - How the social license to operate can stabilise the socio-political environment for business, in Proceedings International Mine Management 2012, pp 227-238 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Nov 20, 2012

By R. M. Kuralt

CONCESSION from the Chilean government granting the company use of the Rio Salado water stipulates that a minimum of 35,000 metric tons of such salty water must be diverted from the Salado daily, and be disposed of in a manner not to contaminate the Rio Loa to the east of its confluence with the Rio San Salvador at Chacance, Fig. 1. Consequently, the selection of a suitable site for the sulphide plant tailing disposal had the additional problem of the disposal of excess brackish waters. Studies of the terrain in the area directly to the south of the plant indicated that construction of tailing ponds would be costly, and generally unsatisfactory due to excessive slope of the ground, lack of flanking hills, danger of raising the groundwater level thus causing springs along the Antofagasta-Bolivia railroad; and the possibility of creating a dust nuisance at the plant site or at Calama due to blowing sands. Further to the southwest the San Salvador river canyon offered some possibilities and surveys were made at sites A to D, inclusive, Fig. 1. Here again costly dams would have been necessary to impound the tremendous quantity of tailing produced by the new plant, and provision would have to be made to handle a considerable flow of water through the disposal area to the west of the Rio Opache. Additional surveys were made in the area to the southeast of the plant which brought to light the existence of a natural basin of about 14 1/2 square miles, flanked by low-lying hills, and requiring only the most rudimentary dams to close the outlets at the western end. It has been estimated that the Salar de Talabre, as this basin is called, has the ultimate storage capacity of 1 billion tons of tailing with dam heights of only 60 ft. Pipe Line Layout After the decision had been reached to use the Salar de Talabre for the main disposal area various methods were considered for transporting the tailing from the 300 ft diam thickeners to the disposal site, 17.7 miles away. The first plan was to construct a. concrete launder on a 11 pct grade but a survey of this grade line indicated it would not lead directly into the Salar but would terminate somewhat to the north, and from that point on the slope would be considerably less than 1 pct along a natural watercourse. A slope of 2 pct or even 2 ¼ pct in such a rough watercourse or ditch is the ideal, judging from the success of operations at Cananea. Since a simple ditch is the most economical vehicle for the transportation of tailing, it was decided to use one with a 2 ¼ pct grade for as much of the distance as was possible with the existing terrain and to construct a concrete headbox, or forebay, at the terminus of the ditch to supply a steel pipe line leading the rest of the way into the Salar. Referring to the maps of the Chuquicamata area outlining the tailing disposal system, Figs. 1 and 2, one can trace the flow of the tailing from the thickeners to the Salar as follows: The 8-in. spigot pipes from the thickeners (1) discharge into a concrete sump feeding a concrete launder with a 2 pct slope. The launder carries the tailing into a concrete junction box (2) located south of the sulphide plant. The purpose of the junction box is to provide emergency facilities for diverting the tailing flow from the main disposal area to the emergency area. It also provides a junction point for the launder from the sulphide plant's future east extension. The box is fitted with a pair of radial gates controlling flow into the main tailing ditch (6) or the emergency ditch (3) which terminates on the pampa. All ditches are of the same cross section, namely 4 ft wide at the bottom with 1 : 1 side slopes and with a minimum depth of 21/2 ft. Where the nature of the ground demands it, the ditches are lined with stone rubble. The overflow from the plant's 10 million gal reservoir (4) is led into the main tailing ditch by way of a spillway ditch (5). The main ditch terminates in a trashscreen fitted, concrete forebay (7) which serves as a headbox for a 24 in. O.D. x 3/8 in. wall, Dresser coupled, steel pipe (10) and a 12 in. x 8-gage spiral welded, wedge-lock coupled, steel pipe (8). The forebay is fitted with two compartments, one for each pipe, and flow into each is controlled by radial gates. Each compartment is fitted with a 6-in. drain pipe controlled by a rubber pinch valve. To protect the forebay from the abrasive effects of the tailing, the sides of the compartments will be lined with old

Jan 1, 1952

By E. H. Bentzen

The purpose of this paper is to explain the production of sand for glass manufacturing and the reasoning behind the sand specifications set by the glass industry. In order to discuss the production of glass sand, there is a need to understand what glass is and how it is made. Therefore this paper discusses glass, as well as sand beneficiation.

Jan 1, 1977

NASA has received direction for lunar habitation beginning in 2024. Prior to then, it will be necessary to learn about how lunar soil can be used to promote civilization on the moon. Questions must be answered: ?Will it support plant life?,? ?Can it be used as a construction material?,? ?What is needed to maximize health and safety?,? and ?Will it affect equipment, tools, machinery, and clothes?? The only samples available for study came from the Apollo Missions. Because the expense of bringing more material back to Earth is prohibitive, there is not enough available to perform studies to answer the above questions. Hence, there is a great need for its synthesis. Most efforts to date have concentrated on making ?simulant? from single natural resources of volcanic rock. However, another possibility is to use resources here on Earth to extract the minerals of interest into concentrates or so-called ?separates? using traditional mineral processing techniques, and then mix the separates in appropriate ratios to simulate the lunar soil. In this paper, results from a study in which dry Road Norite outcrop and wet mill tailings from the Stillwater Mining Company?s Concentrator located near Nye, MT were examined. Of course, the in-side challenge is to make ?separates? from gangue minerals.

Jan 1, 2012