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By Clark Harrison

It is not uncommon for overall quality of coal from a mine to deteriorate as the mine is developed or for an improved-quality coal specification to be imposed during the life of the mine. Either of these conditions typically results in management pressuring mine personnel to take greater care in delineating the seam from top and bottom rock. When mining and seam conditions require a portion of the seam to be removed to ensure sufficient rock is removed to meet the quality specification, physical-coal cleaning may become economically competitive with in-pit seam grooming. The additional cost of coal cleaning may, in some cases, be justified by permitting higher recovery of the coal seam than is possible when cleaning the seam with excavators in the pit. This paper compares projected coal cleaning results with present in-pit grooming techniques and reports the economic results.

Jan 1, 1987

By Thomas A. Mekelburg

Due to a tight ash constraint on the clean coal product and difficult middlings washability characteristics, a considerable amount of coal was being lost in the jig middlings at the Monterey No. 2 Mine. An investigation was conducted into circuitry to recover this lost coal with minimal effect on the total clean coal ash. A reverse two-stage hydrocyclone system cleaning at low specific gravities was selected. This system is currently recovering approximately 5.8 kg/s (23 tph) of 11.5% to 12.5% ash coal. The specific gravity of separation for the system is about 1.5 and the probable error is 0.13.

Jan 1, 1984

In recent years, coal beneficiation has gotten considerable attention. Selective oil agglomeration has been accepted as the best method to produce clean coal with a high removal of pyrite sulphur. In this study, spherical oil agglomeration of Datong coal fines was carried out using diesel oil as a bridging liquid. The oil agglomeration has a surface properties based on coal cleaning technique. The effects of fundamental parameters have been investigated including the concentration of bridging liquid, the size of coal particle, the solid content of slurry, the agitation time and rate, pH, surfactants on the agglomeration performance and various salts on the ash rejection and removal of pyrite of the agglomerated products. The optimum conditions of particle size, diesel concentration, solid content, agitation speed and time, pH and the dosage of active agent have been determined as less than 8µm, 20wt%, 1200r/min and 10 minutes, 7.5g/t and 100g/t, respectively. Under these conditions the ash content in the products can be achieved 1.5% below, the ash rejection was up to 92%. It has been observed that ionic strength of the aqueous medium affects the agglomeration performance. The precombustion coal cleaning process based on improved selective agglomeration results in high ash and pyrite sulphur removals. Over 80% removal of pyrite sulphur can be achieved from run-of-mine coals by offering a more cost-effective sulphur reduction solution rather than any other SO2 removal technology. In addition, the removal of pyrite sulphur is very necessary for not only the prevention of environmental pollution but also economical reasons.

Jan 1, 2014

By R. E. Zimmerman

Wide attention is being placed upon various methods for cleaning the fine sizes of bituminous coals. The author describes and analyzes the results achieved on wet concentrating .tables of modern design on unclassified feeds of - 1/2 in. particle sizes, including tests on high-sulphur coals.

Jan 1, 1950

By M. R. Geer

THE increase in the number of coal-cleaning plants employing dense-medium processes occurring since 1946 is especially interesting when viewed historically. Both sand and magnetite were introduced as material for heavy mediums at about the same time, sand in the Chance process in 1921 and magnetite in the Conklin process in 1922, but from that point on their records diverge. The Chance process enjoyed a steady growth from its inception, whereas no additional magnetite plants were built in the United States for over 20 years. Then, following the close of the World War 11, magnetite was again introduced, this time with marked success. During the following years some 47 plants employing magnetite medium were built.

Jan 7, 1953

By J. R. Campbell

THE need for standardizing methods of arriving at definite conclusions regarding the cleanability of a given coal, and for measuring the performance of coal-cleaning equipment, is constantly increasing. Earlier notes by the author on this subject are amplified in this paper, because he believes that better preparation of bituminous coal is a partial solution of the coal operators' troubles. WASHABILITY STUDIES The term "washability" of coal was coined when washing was the universal method of separating coal from its impurities by utilizing their difference in specific gravity. This and analogous terms are still used in their broad sense although pneumatic or air separation is now used to clean coal. These terms are so used in this paper. Too much time or money, can hardly be spent on "feed surveys" to get a "picture" of the coal that is to be cleaned. There have been too many "rule of thumb" methods used. Screen analyses and "sink-and-float" tests on the raw coal enable the coal operator and washery man to predict within reasonable limits the results that may be expected from any efficient cleaning apparatus.

Jan 1, 1928

By Donald J. Reining

The California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA) is the nation's first legislation establishing a statewide mineral resource policy governing mining activities that recognizes regional needs and retains local autonomy. The Southern California Rock Products Association supported this proposed legislation. It was through our efforts that SMARA was passed in 1975. The local planning and zoning processes, which are so critical to the mining industry, have been significantly improved with implementation of SMARA. Recognition of the importance of the mining industry is now being developed by the State Mining and Geology Board and the California Division of Mines and Geology (CDMG).

Jan 1, 1984

By T. A. Rickard

The notion prevails that writing is a knack, that the skilful use of the pen is a gift of nature. This is an error. Dogberry may be responsible for it; he said: "To be a well-informed man is the gift of fortune, but to write and read comes by nature". Because Dogberry said it, we may be sure that Shakespeare thought otherwise. Ability of any sort may be partly innate, but my own observation and experience lead me to conclude that most of the easy writers have become so by constant practice. As I recall the names of men successful with the pen, I remember that most of them have written a great deal and have taken particular pains to improve their style. The suggestion that proficiency in the difficult art is a happy accident provokes a sardonic smile. The larger part of the great writing in our literature is the result of persistent effort. An easy fluency has been the undoing of many; their flamboyant and fantastic scribbling has proved as perishable as froth. This criticism applies to technical writing also; in order that a technical description or discussion may hold the interest of the reader, at least long enough to cause him to read it to the end, the writing must be done carefully and systematically; otherwise it will fail in its purpose of conveying information. Clearness is absolutely essential. "It is not enough to use language that may be understood; it is necessary to use language that must be understood."* The purpose of writing, at least of that which is meant to be read by others, is not only to express ideas but to communicate them. Lack of perspicuity may prove as %ad as

Jan 1, 1931

By Ray Mason, Damien Label, Howard Bernier, Kevin McDermott, Kevin Coombs

"GeneralWabush Mines is an unincorporated joint venture of seven steel companies and Pickands Mather & Co. The mining and concentrating facilities are located in southwestern Labrador and the pelletizing and shiploading facilities are at Pointe Noire, 200 miles south, near the town of Sept-lies.The operation is based on a 5 ½ sq. mi. specular hematite deposit with a reserve of 375 million tons of concentrate. Annual production capacity is rated at 6 million tons of pellets per year. The final upgrading process utilizes high-tension separation of silica following wet autogenous grinding, spiral gravity separation and fluo-solids drying. The concentrate is railed in closed cars to Pointe Noire. The concentrate is reground dry and pelletized on Dravo Lurgi travelling grate machines to produce an oxide pellet with 65.5% Fe, 3.0% Si02, 1.95% Mn and 93.5% Tumble Index.HistoryPlant operations commenced in 1965 with a concentrator capacity of 5.3 million tons per year and a pelletizing capacity of 4.8 million tons per year. The original facilities for classifying the crude ore into fine and coarse fractions for storage purposes before reblending as autogenous mill feed were found to be unnecessary and were by-passed after plant startup. Capacity of the operation was increased to 6.0 million tons of pellets per year in 1968. This increased capacity required the installation of an additional160 cleaner spirals in the ore dressing plant, a new 5000 hp ball mill, three balling circuits and increased cooling air capacity in the pellet plant.In 1970, the regrind circuit in the pellet plant was converted to dry grinding and a significant reduction in grinding media consumption and maintenance costs was realized. A ninth grinding mill of 5000 hp capacity was installed to compensate for the reduced capacity in going from wet to dry grinding."

Jan 1, 2000

THE sessions of the Institute were opened on Tuesday evening, October 26th, at Garrett's Hall, by Mr. Charles A. Otis, Chairman of the Local Committee of Arrangements, who welcomed the Institute to Cleveland, and introduced Col. Charles Whittlesey, who ad¬dressed the Institute briefly on the coal deposits of Ohio. Col. Whittlesey described the situation and character of the coal-beds of the State, and gave a short history of the use of raw coal in the manufacture of pig-iron, and spoke of the excellent quality of metal produced. The aid that a body of scientific miners and metal¬lurgists were capable of giving in the development of coal and other mineral resources was dwelt upon, and the hope expressed that the visit of the Institute to Cleveland might be profitable as, well to its members as to the citizens of the State. The President, Mr. A. L. Holley, responded to the welcome of Mr. Otis and of Col. Whittlesey, and read an introductory address on Some Pressing Needs in the Iron and Steel Manufacture. The following members and associates, duly proposed and indorsed by the Council, were then elected MEMBERS. Alfred S. Bertolet, - Youngstown, Ohio. Henry Binnse, - Chicago, Ill. John Birkinbine, - Philadelphia. Andrew A. Blair, - Watertown Arsenal, Mass. Ogden Bolton, - Canton, Ohio. Lloyd Booth, - Youngstown, Ohio. E. Borda, - Philadelphia. N. P. Bowler, - Cleveland, Ohio. Alexander E. Brown, - Cleveland, Ohio. C. F. Brush, - Cleveland, Ohio. S. M. Carpenter, - Cleveland, Ohio. James Cartwright, - Youngstown, Ohio. Henry Chisbolm, - Cleveland, Ohio. Wilson B. Chisbolm, - Newburgh, Ohio. W. H. Clarke, - Millertown, Pa. James E. Clayton, - Ore Knob, N. C.

Jan 1, 1876

The sessions of the Institute were opened on Tuesday evening, October 26th, at Garrett's Hall, by Mr. Charles A. Otis, Chairman of the Local Committee of Arrangements, who welcomed the Institute to Cleveland, and introduced Col. Charles Whittlesey, who addressed the Institute briefly on the coal deposits of Ohio. Col. Whittlesey described the situation and character of the coalbeds of the State, and gave a short history of the use of raw coal in the manufacture of pig-iron, and spoke of the excellent quality of metal produced. The aid that a body of scientific miners and metallurgists were capable of giving in the development of coal and other mineral resources was dwelt upon, and the hope expressed that the visit of the Institute to Cleveland might be profitable as well to its members as to the citizens of the State. The President, Mr. A. L. Holley, responded to the welcome of Mr. Otis and of Col. Whittlesey, and read an introductory address on Some Pressing Needs in the Iron and Steel Manufacture. The following members and associates, duly proposed and indorsed by the Council, were then elected MEMBERS. Alfred S. Bertolet,.. .. . Youngstown, Ohio. Henry Binnse,. Chicago, Ill. John Birkinbine,.. .. . Philadelphia. Andrew A. Blair,. .. .. Watertown Arsenal, Mass. Ogden Bolton,. .. .. Canton, Ohio. Lloyd Booth,..Youngstown, Ohio. E. Borda,..Philadelphia. N. P. Bowler,.. .. . Cleveland, Ohio. Alexander E. Brown,.... Cleveland, Ohio. C. F. Brush,.. .. .Cleveland, Ohio. S. M. Carpenter,.. .. . Cleveland, Ohio. James Cartwright,.. .. . Youngstown, Ohio. Henry Chisholm,.. .. . Cleveland, Ohio. Wilson B. Chisholm,.. .. . Newburgh, Ohio. W. H. Clarke,.. .. . Millertown, Pa. James E. Clayton,. .. .. Ore Knob, N..C.

By John C. Smock

The rich deposits of magnetic iron-ore in the Highlands of northern New Jersey attracted the attention of iron-workers at the time of the earliest settlements in that region. The outcrops of the oreshoots at the Dickerson mine, at Mount Hope, and at Hibernia, in Morris county, and at Ringwood, in Passaic count,y, which were doubtless such as would lead to discovery, location and development of nearly all the large iron-mines in that part of the State, appear to have had their beginnings where the ore cropped out on the surface or where it was scarcely concealed by a thin mantle of earth. In the early history of New Jersey iron-mining, the careful explorations and surveys made by the agents of the famous London Com-

Jan 1, 1892

By E. P. Jennings

Large deposits of titaniferous iron-ore occur at Caribou, an old silver-mining camp in Boulder county, Colo., 17 miles west by south of Boulder, and a few miles northwest of the tungsten-mines. Professor Regis Chauvenet1 published a part analysis of the ore many years ago, but gave no description of the wall-rock. Caribou hill, which contains both the silver-bearing veins and the iron-ore deposits, is a low dome of gabbro surrounded by the Archæan schists and gneisses of the Front range of the Rocky mountains, the peaks of which, a few miles west of Caribou, attain an elevation exceeding 12,000 ft. The gabbro stock is roughly elliptical in outline, with approximate diameters of 1 and 3 miles. The crest of the dome is 10,500 ft. above sea-level, and the town and ore-cleposits are 500 ft. lower. Outcrops of the iron-ore occur in the town and extend NW. for 2,000 ft., where they disappear under the swampy meadows of Caribou park. Portions of the deposit are covered by drift, but one continuous outcrop is 900 ft. long and from 200 to 250 ft. wide. A second deposit is 0.25 mile south of the town along the eastern slope of the hill. It is not as well defined as the north bed, but is approximately 1,000 ft. long and from 100 to 200 ft. wide. The easily disintegrated ore does not form prominent outcrops, but the outlines of the deposits are readily traced by the large amount of ore fragments that cover the ground. Trenches and pits sunk on the outcrop expose a roughly banded magnetic iron-ore, with pyroxene as the principal gangue-mineral. The Gabbro. This rock was classified in the field as a gabbro from the presence of pyroxene and striated feldspars, and for convenience the field-name will be retained.

Jan 1, 1913

By Ernst F. Eurich

Alexander Parkes patented in England in 1851-52-53 a process for desilvering lead by means of zinc, making use of the greater affinity of silver for zinc than for lead, discovered by Karsten in 1842. The efforts in England to develop it commercially were not particularly successful, nor was the attempted introduction into the United States. This last was not surprising, as it was about the beginning of our Civil War, and at that period there was very little lead-bullion produced in the United States and there was no field for the process here. There was at that time on Staten Island an establishment that pattisonized lead, probably from Rossie, N. Y., and Chester, Pa., and possibly some Spanish lead, but the production of lead-bullion in the Far West had not yet begun. In 1864, Edward Balbach, of Newark, N. J., patented in this country a process for desilvering lead by means of zinc, and in 1867 Edward Balbach, Jr., patented a " movable black-lead retort with a neck, placed in a furnace," for the purpose of distilling the alloy of zinc, lead, and the precious metals. A brief comparison of the Parkes and the Balbach processes is interesting. The Parkes process as practiced in England consisted in stirring into silver-bearing lead, melted in a kettle, from 1 to 2 per cent. of zinc, cooling, skimming the alloy of lead, zinc, and silver that rose to the surface, liquating it in an iron retort, distilling the residual rich alloy in fire-clay retorts, thus regaining the zinc, and refining the desilvered lead at a low heat in a shallow cast-iron pan that formed the hearth of a reverbera-tory furnace. If the lead was too impure, it was first softened

Jan 1, 1913

By J. B. Nau

A short time ago some interesting experiments concerning a new steel-making process in the open-hearth furnace were made by the writer at the Croton magnetic mine, N. Y.

Jan 1, 1892

By J. E. Johnson

The general construction of blast-furnaces has undergone no radical change in more than a generation. When the old style of masonry construction was replaced by the steel shell, the masonry piers were simultaneously replaced by columns, never lese than 6 and frequently 12 or 16 in number, set under the mantle-ring. These columns were at first unvaryingly made of cast-iron, but in more recent years have frequently been made of structural steel. The furnace itself has recently been the subject of radical changes; in some cases the thin-lined construction has been adopted for the whole furnace, and in other cases it has been adopted for a zone immediately above the bosh, raising the mantle several feet to make this possible, but still the style of construction with columns set immediately under the mantle has been universally followed. In spite of the apparent fixity of this type of construction it is open to grave disadvantages from the operating point of view, which may be briefly outlined as follows: The slope of the bosh and size of the crucible are such as to leave scant room inside the columns for the necessary water-piping, etc. The bustle-pipe must necessarily be outside the columns and the penstocks have to pass between them, with the result that the columns are frequently much in the way when changing the tuyeres or otherwise handling the penstocks. Moreover, the hearth-jacket requires a diameter but little smaller than the circle of the inside of the columns, and as a result the cooling-water ditch for protection against breakouts is exceedingly limited in width. As a consequence of these conditions, when any work requires to be done around the furnace, such as changing a tuyere or working on the cooling-water pipes, the amount of room left between the columns, pen-

Jan 1, 1913

By G. A. Reinhardt, Albert Sauveur

Although many metallurgists know that some pearlitic special steels can be made troostitic, martensitic, and even austenitic, without quenching, and, therefore, without exposing them to the dangers of the quenching-bath, the practical significance of such possibility does not seem to have received the attention it deserves. Let us recall briefly the mechanism of the transformation alluded to. In Fig. 1 (after Guillet) is shown the constitutional diagram of nickel-steel; that is, of alloys of iron, carbon, and nickel. Any steel the composition of which falls within the area LPO is pearlitic after slow cooling; any steel the composition of which is represented by a point within the area MLO is martensitic, and any steel within the area MNO is austenitic. Starting with pearlitic steel, then by increasing the carbon-content or the nickel-content, or both, the metal becomes marten-sitic and eventually austenitic; that is, its composition crosses first the boundary-line LO and then the line MO—and it remains martensitic or austenitic after slow (air) cooling.' We have in this way imparted to the metal without quenching it the properties of hardened carbon-steel. In other words, the steel is now self-hardening; Nickel cannot be introduced into solid steel, but by the well-known process of case-hardening it

Jan 1, 1913

By A. Eilers

The use of the bag-house for filtering out fumes produced in certain metallurgical operations is not new in America. There are no patents in force at this time, to my knowledge, which might hinder such use. Up to about 25 years ago the bag-house was only employed in connection with either zinc-works, which produced the oxides, to be sold for paint, or as an auxiliary in extracting lead from high-grade oxidized ores and from galena-concentrates in the Missouri and neighboring lead-regions; this work being then done in the Scotch or American hearths and in very low slag-furnaces, in all of which was produced an excessive amount of oxides which were also finally sold as paints. The literature1 on the above is abundant in text-books and periodical publications. The first large bag-house to be used permanently in connection with lead blast-furnaces was erected, as far as I am aware, about 1887 at the Globe smelting Co.'s works at Denver, Colo., under the Lewis-Bartlett patents. The brick flue, running from the blast-furnaces to the bag-house, was only a few

Jan 1, 1913

By Henry M. Rowe

Professor Ruff's most illuminating paper' describing his extremely valuable investigation of the carbon-iron equilibrium diagram assigns definite temperatures to certain very important lines in the diagram, viz.: the eutectic temperature EB (Fig. 1) and the " near-eutectic " temperature E'B', but without indicating clearly enough the reasoning which warrants these assignments. These temperatures are of such primary importance that it is well to indicate the apparent gaps in the reasoning, in the hope that they may be filled in. In his diagram, Fig. 1, the point X and the liues B'D'lII represent the experimental results reached by Ruff and Goecke;a AB, AEB, and SE represent the liquidus, the solidus, and the solubility of the carbon in solid austenite in the absence of graphite according to Gutowsky,3 AB being also in accordance with Spiecker's data; S'E' the solubility of carbon in solid austenite in the presence of graphite according to Ruer and Iljin;5 GS the line A3 after Ooerens and Meyer; 6 and EBC the true eutectic line as inferred by Prof. Ruff from Gutowsky's data. B'D' is the carbon content found in cast-iron which had apparently saturated itself with carbon in the presence of the graphite of the enclosing graphite crucibles in which the determinations were made. From its straightiiess and its sharp inflection near 6.67 per cent. of carbon, the carbon content of

Jan 1, 1913

By Bradley Stoughton

[Secretary's Note.—TO avoid repetition of foot-notes, references to authorities are made in this paper by means of figures, referring to a numbered list in the appendix.—J. S. 1 Introduction. This paper gives the results: first,, of a research into the somewhat extensive literature of titanium; and second, of a series of original tests upon the effect of titanium on iron castr ings. New investigations have also been made upon the effect of titanium on steel, but I hope to treat this subject in an independent paper at some later date, and, therefore, will not discuss the experiments in detail here. The combined results of this study, which extended over a period of more than two years, can be briefly summarized as follows : 1. Steel or cast-iron, in which the titanium is properly proportioned, and which has been properly treated, is improved in strength, toughness, and durability against wear, such 'as, for example, the wear of railroad-rails, of steel and chilled-iron rolls, car-wheels, etc. 2. These improvemerits seem to be caused, not so much by the direct effect of titanium on the metal, as by its cleansing influence in removing harmful impurities, such as oxygen and oxides, nitrogen, occluded slags, and perhaps also sulphur. It appears also to reduce segregation, which would contribute to the same end. 3. In order that its effects may be fully realized, the treatment of steel or iron with titanium must be correctly performed. There are a few simple, but essential, details to be observed; if they are neglected, the best results cannot be expected. To illustrate by an example: A series of tests on cast-iron

Jan 1, 1913