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By M. C. Van Camp, J. D. Miller

Preliminary results are reported regarding the design and development of a pilot scale air sparged hydrocyclone for cleaning fine coal 590 pm (- 28 mesh) containing 24% ash and 1.6% sulfur. The principle of separation is the flotation of hydrophobic coal particles in the centnjugal field generated by the fluid flow in the air sparged hydrocyclone as discussed in another publication. This 152-mm (6-in.) hydrocyclone has a nominal capacity of 0.9 t/h (1 tph) and experimental results suggest that separations vastly superior to a water-only cyclone are possible. In addition the separation efficiency is as good, if not better, than that achieved with conventional flotation cells. For example, typical results indicate that 75% clean coal can be recovered at 15% ash leaving a tailing product of almost 50% ash. These experimental results coupled with the high capacity of the air sparged hydrocyclone (imagine a retention time for flotation of only two seconds compared to two minutes for conventional flotation) may represent a significant breakthrough, not only in coal preparation technology, but in the flotation of fine particles in general.

Jan 1, 1983

By John D. Morgan

Prior to World War I there was no Government stockpiling program. Prior to World War I1 relatively few items were included in Government stockpiling and the start of that war found most objectives for even these few materials far from complete. Profiting from the experience of materials shortages in two wars, Congress in 1946 passed the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act, which stated that it is the policy to decrease and prevent wherever possible a dangerous and costly dependence of the U. S. upon foreign nations for supplies of strategic and critical materials in times of national emergency. However, as of mid-1950 few stockpile objectives had been achieved. Shortly after the start of the Korean War it was obvious that in the absence of adequate stockpiles, the defense program could not be successfully carried out without broad authority to expand supplies of strategic and critical metals and minerals and at the same time to channel limited supplies of these materials to essential defense purposes. Accordingly, in September 1950 Congress passed the Defense Production Act, which provided broad powers for allocating materials and for making arrangements, including financial, to expand supplies.

Nov 1, 1955

By R. A. Mosser

Production control of aluminum content of low carbon aluminum killed open hearth steels is being achieved by using an oxygen probe unit. Based on the free oxygen content of the bath after block, a preliminary chart for aluminum additions has been established. The aluminum aim is .040%. Controlled aluminum contents will result in eliminating coarse grain heats, high aluminum contents, and a reduction in aluminum costs. By reducing the frequency of high aluminum contents both cleaner and better rolling heats will be obtained. The savings in aluminum costs is an added benefit of lesser importance in comparison to the quality improvements gained by controlled aluminum contents. Although the main goal for the oxygen probe at Republic Steel has been to adapt it for production control of aluminum contents, future usage could be extensive. Immediate plans for using the probe are on degassed material, on fully blocked open hearth heats to improve manganese recoveries and ranges, and on machining grades to control oxygen content. Also by controlling the oxygen content of the steel to as close to equilibrium conditions as possible, cleaner steel will result.

Jan 1, 1972

By A. M. Gaudin, W. D. Charles

IN flotation lime is used to depress pyrite. For this purpose it is preferred to caustic soda. The low cost of lime and the widespread availability largely account for this preference. However, there is some evidence' that pyrite is more readily depressed by calcium than by sodium ions at the same pH. To measure the difference in adsorption of calcium and sodium, which is thought to lie at the basis of the differences in depressing action, radionuclides of calcium and sodium have been used. The experimental work has included an evaluation of the effect of dissolved oxygen, of the concentration of calcium or sodium, of the concentration of hydrogen ion, and of the anions present. Preliminary work in the investigation entailed preparation of the pyrite, development of a technique for counting pyrite coated with Ca and Na, the radionuclides used, and development of an apparatus to study the adsorption of calcium and sodium on pyrite. The main experimental work included calcium adsorption and sodium adsorption studies detailed below. The following are the most salient observations made during these experiments. Oxygen in solution increases the adsorptive power of pyrite for calcium

Jan 1, 1954

By Rajaraman V. Ramani, K. Sinha Atmesh, Robert Stefanko

Use of electrical power in the bituminous mining industry has increased many fold during the last few decades. Rapid changes have also occurred in mine electrical power systems in order to meet the demands from highly mechanized mines. Fires, explosions, and deaths due to electrocutions are the primary hazards due to the underground use of electricity, although there has been a marked decrease in the fatality rate from electrical accidents. However, efforts to eliminate electrical hazards and to insure trained manpower for better distribution, utilization, and protection of the electrical systems cannot be relaxed. In this article, 200 fatal accidents that occurred during the period from 1955 to 1970 have been analyzed. Accident frequency has been correlated with the size of the mine and of the work force, and with age and work and task experience. A strong negative correlation has been established between task experience and accident frequency. Though the available data permitted only a limited analysis, need for improvements in electrical power technology and for better education and training has been identified and discussed. Missing information in accident statistics is outlined and suggestions for better hazard analysis are presented.

Jan 1, 1975

By A. G. Willard

Quantification of size, shape and composition has been one of the more difficult areas for those concerned with fine particle processing of coal.' Image analysers fed by optical microscopes and by scanning electron microscopes possessing backscatter detectors and energy dispersive facilities now offer techniques to improve the speed and precision of previous methods. This paper discusses the methodology and procedural difficulties associated with the microanalysis of coal. Photographs show display quality on the image analyser monitor and the equipment mentioned. Data illustrating several of the procedures are included. The major portion of data for design and operation of plant for fine particle processing depends on information regarding size, shape and composition of granular material. The lower limits of particle sizes become more important as lower grade deposits are mined. Because of the trends towards treatment of finer materials, the use of image analysis offers advantages in time, effort and accuracy. As energy becomes more critical, the above applies especially to coal processing. The Zeiss Microvideomat 2, a leading member of the second generation instruments, is now available for image analysis. There is a precision television scanning system with monochrome camera, display, control panel and central processor (see Figure 1).

Jan 1, 1980

By D. O. Ehrenburg

DURING the earlier period of electrical prospecting, the search for orebodies was by far the most important application of this method of geophysical prospecting. In the past few years, however, increasing attention has been paid to the possibilities of this method in the investigation of subsurface structures. Not only have fault zones been located, but attempts have been made to determine the depth to certain strata and thus contouring on some bed which proves to be a good "electrical marker." Many workers have published the results of field tests showing how their particular interpretations have agreed with the actual field conditions, but very few have stated their method of interpretation. Weaver, Hummel and Stefanesco and Schlumberger1 have given a more theoretical discussion of the resistivity methods. Hummel and Stefanesco and Schlumberger have published mathematical solutions for the flow of electricity in a medium involving four layers. In this paper the authors present a solution for the flow of electricity in a medium of any number of horizontal strata. By means of this solution, curves showing the relationship between the apparent resistivity and the electrode spacing can be computed for ideal cases.

Jan 1, 1931

By Shiou-Chuan Sun

THE effects of oxidation on the flotation behavior of sulphide minerals have been extensively studied,1-3 but no similar study has been made of coals. Coals of bituminous and lower rank undergo atmospheric oxidation during mining and storage, and their degree of oxidizing increases with temperature4,5 and time of exposure.6 The problem of recovering fine oxidized coal from culm piles, rivers, and streams by froth flotation has become increasingly important to the coal industry as well as to those concerned with air and stream pollution. This paper describes the flotation behavior of oxidized and unoxidized coals and carbons in the presence of oily collectors and presents the reagents found effective in the flotation of oxidized coals and carbons. Except where otherwise stated, flotation tests were performed in a 50-g Denver flotation cell. Solid feed for each test was 30 g, and the pulp dilution was kept at 8.5. The -65 mesh coal sample was wetted by agitation with water in the flotation cell for 6 min, then conditioned with a predetermined amount of collector for 2 min, and finally floated with pine oil as frother for 3 min.

Jan 4, 1954

By Fred P. Dewey

The iron ores of Canada have attracted more or less attention in this country for a number of years ; and having had an opportunity this past summer to examine some of them, especially the magnetic ores, I have thought it might be of sufficient interest to the members of the Institute to put on record some of my observations. The region examined contains, for the most part, only the rocks of the Laurentian system. Much of it was originally covered with a dense growth of pine, which interfered with successful prospecting for ores. However, after the best of the timber had been cut off, fire generally got into the bush and cleared it up pretty well. This, besides making travelling about easier, exposed large surfaces of rock, and rendered the work of the prospector far more liable to be rewarded with success, while removing many of its hardships. The general appearance and productiveness of the land have, however, been far from improved by this process. It would be difficult to find a more desolate-appearing country than some of these pine woods after fire has been through them. The country examined may be, for convenience, divided into two

Jan 1, 1884

By Thomas B. Dellinger

Since 1950, rotary-drilled, large-diameter holes, "big holes", with depths to over 300 ft and diameters of over 30 in., have become numerous and widespread. 50 such holes have been drilled for access shafts to LPG mined caverns. Over 70 holes have been drilled for various other commercial activities. Over 150 holes have been drilled by the AEC for atomic testing purposes. These holes have ranged up to 300-in. diam with 1600-ft depths, 120- in. diam with 570-ft depths, and 72-in. diam with 4800-ft depths. Equipment is now available to drill a wide range of big holes for varied requirements. At least a dozen drilling contractors are participating or have participated in the drilling of big holes. The accompanying tables show pertinent historical, technical and economic data on over 250 holes. The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the big hole drilling equipment available, a compilation of the available data on large-diameter holes, to show the experience obtained to date and to show that big hole drilling is feasible and available to the industry.

Jan 12, 1965

By James L. Sweeney

The Project Independence Evaluation System (PIES) is a complex evaluation, forecasting, and analysis system which represents the U.S. energy production, conversion, transportation and consumption activities. The system includes various models: An econometrically estimated energy demand model, used to evaluate the final demand functions for energy commodities ; A collection of supply models, used to evaluate the cost curves or supply curves for domestic crude oil, natural gas, coal ; An integrating model used to describe energy conversion and transportation activities and to calculate prices which equate energy supply and demand in each market. PIES has been used to generate conditional forecasts of the 1980, 1985, and 1990 states of the energy system--forecasts conditional upon the world oil prices, the energy policy environment, and other uncertainties. Scenarios have been structured to separately examine conservation initiatives, domestic energy supply enhancements, an extensive electrification strategy, and oil and natural gas well -head price regulation. This paper presents the basic model, discusses its use for examining policy options, and describes several forecast results. The paper draws heavily upon work completed for the 1976 National Energy Outlook, published by the Federal Energy Administration.

Jan 1, 1977

By Grover J. Holt

Open-pit mining on the iron range has been in a stage of transition for several years from the standpoint of mechanization. The most radical change in open-pit mining methods was started in open-pit haulage in 1937 with the departure from the then standard system of locomotive and car transportation and the advent of the heavy duty truck as a replacement. The initial use of trucks was followed shortly by the first installation of a conveyor belt for open-pit ore haulage. The growth of the combination of trucks for gathering units delivering to a conveyor system for transportation out of the pit, has been rapid and this transition appears to have reached a peak in 1949 with locomotives and cars now being used in only a few of the largest open pits. One point which must be considered, if we assume that the maximum equipment change- over point has been reached, is that the largest pits have probably passed their peak of production. Future ore replacement must come from smaller pits wherein the truck conveyor system has done an outstanding job.

Jan 1, 1950

By John A. Oberteuffer, James E. Lawver, Ionel Wechsler, Bo Arvidson

INTRODUCTION The demand for aluminum metal and thus for alumina and bauxite (the primary sources), is expected to increase at an annual rate of about 6% through the year 1980. It appears that about 90% of the future aluminum metal requirements could be produced at domestic plants but the production would remain dependent on the use of imported bauxite and alumina. The U.S. dependence on foreign bauxite and alumina is of considerable economic and strategic concern because availability and prices are very sensitive to changes in the political climate in the exporting countries. Dependence of the United States on foreign sources of bauxite closely parallels its dependence on foreign sources of oil, particularly since ten countries, including most of the world's major bauxite exporting countries, recently have formed the Inter- national Bauxite Association (IBA) for the specific purpose of increasing revenue for the participating countries. Although it is clear that long-term aluminum requirements cannot be fulfilled by domestic resources of bauxite,; the U.S. has an almost unlimited supply of aluminous resources such as Kaolinite (38% Al203), Alunite (37% Al203), Dawsonite (35% A1203), and Anorthosite (29% A1203)

Jan 1, 1976

By Laurence Delisle

The aim of this paper is the description of a technique to be applied to the study of sections of metal powder particles, less than 20 microns in diam. with the electron microscope, by the replica method, using for replica a material such as formvar or parlodion. This work originated with the study of particles of tungsten powders. Such particles were too small to be examined in sufficient detail with the light microscope. On the other hand, examination with the electron microscope of the powders dispersed in the supporting film was not found satisfactory because: 1. It did not permit differentiating between single particles and aggregates. 2. It did not show the true outlines of the particles but only the projection of a whole surface. 3. No details appeared. For that reason it was attempted to make replicas of sections of the particles imbedded in a mounting material suitable for polishing and etching. The method proved satisfactory for the examination of tungsten powder and was then extended to car-bonyl nickel and carbonyl iron powders. Procedure Several mounting materials commonly used in ordinary metallography were investigated. The problem consisted in finding a mounting material

Jan 1, 1950

By Turno De Michelis

The Porto Marghera plant was erected in 1936 for the production of 10,000 tons of electrolytic zinc annually. Since then it has been continuously enlarged until annual production of the metal reached 40,000 tons in 1969. At the same time the processing cycle was modified bringing it up to date with modern techniques, and was completed by installations for the recovery of by-products in the minerals treated and subsequent processing of the base metal. 90% of the zinc produced is of 99.993% purity . At present the plant comprises, first of all, the zinc blende desulphuration department which has a single modern fluid bed furnace capable of processing 220 - 250 tons of dry crude mineral daily; it is connected to the sulphuric acid plant with its three catalysis sections each capable of producing 60-70 tons of sul9huri.c acid monohydrate daily. The roasted blende is conveyed pneumatically to plants for leaching of the zinc and purification of the resulting solution. During recent years this department has been completely transformed from the discontinuous cycle, for which it was built, to the continuous cycle, paying great attention to

Jan 1, 1970

By E. P. Mathewson

W. W. (Pop) Adams' contribution is short and to the point. "I went to Pueblo about March, 1881, and started working for the Pueblo Smelting & Refining Co. in the sampling room, going from there to the assay and chemical departments, and ending in charge of the lead refinery on the night shift. I was there about two years, returning to California in 1883. The plant was under the management of Mather and Geist, plus Charley Ballard; Herman Schlapp was the metallurgist. Herman Schlapp's name remains prominently in my recollection of Pueblo for his never-failing kindness and charity to the young men who were trying to learn the Pb. game. John Allen, Walter Koehler, George Westcott, Charley Molson, and Alfred de Ropp were there with me. Schlapp and Koehler I have never seen since I left Pueblo; the others I have met often. , Alfred de Ropp I have often met-here, as he was manager of the Selby Smelting & Lead Co. of San Francisco, for years. 'He tells me that I gave him the rudiments. of American profanity at Pueblo; an apt pupil, for since then, by his own efforts, he has added largely to his vocabulary..

Jan 12, 1923

By Alfred Boyles

THE experiments described below are a continuation of work on the graphitization of cast iron conducted as part of the program of funda-mental research at Battelle Memorial Institute. In previous work it was found that melting in hydrogen increased the amount of eutectic and in others i produced al marked changes in the size of the graphite flakes. These effects seemed to be III sulphur and manganese present in the material studied. Iron-carbon- respond silicon alloys did same manner as mg cast iron and there was no evidence to show that hydrogen was able to stabilize the carbide in such alloys unless additions of sulphur were made. The two alloys examined contained about 2 per cent of FIG. 1.-APPARATUS FOR MELTING UNDER PRESSURE. silicon. The present paper is con- A, inlet for gas. cerned with alloys of lower silicon B, outlet for evacuation. content and describes the structural C, power lead. D thermocouple changes produced by melting in E, plug for access to furnace. various atmospheres at pressures F, crucible. ranging from a partial vacuum up to 300 lb. per sq. inch.

Jan 1, 1939

By Robert D. Lonqyear

SOMEWHAT biased by pride in twentieth century achievements, most of us mining engineers and diamond-drill operators look upon core drilling as a relatively modern practice. The invention of the diamond drill is generally ascribed to Rudolf Leschot, who made use of diamonds in 1846 in drilling blast holes in the Mont Cenis tunnel in Switzerland. In vain we search Agricola and other early writers on mining for signs of diamond drilling. We have, therefore, concluded that it was unknown until the middle of the last century. The trouble with this conclusion, as most prospectors will tell us, is that we "don't dig deep enough"; for it now appears that the archeologists have been putting one over on us for the last fifty years.

Jan 1, 1936

POSITIONS VACANT No. 255. A company manufacturing malleable iron fittings in Connecticut needs a manager for its steel department. Experience with converter is essential. No. 256. A prominent mining company in Central America wishes a shift boss for its mill and cyanide plant, who is technically trained, experienced, and can speak Spanish. He should he sufficiently expert to be able to take entire charge of the mill in case of emergency. Salary $150 per month on a two years' contract, with additional allowance for board, lodging and transportation expenses. No. 257. A Mexican copper mining company in the State of Puebla needs an engineer on surveying and mapping and drafting in connection with field construction. Healthy locality. Salary $150 per month.

Jan 1, 1918

G. M. TAYLOR,* Colorado Springs, Colo.-I do not think the plan outlined in this paper would work at Cripple Creek. Most of our men have had a pretty good education. The Cripple Creek district is a lessee district-I do not think there is one urine operating in Cripple Creek to-day that does not have the leasing system. We have as many men leasing on our property as we have mining and every man who is working for wages is looking for a lease-every man has mined for him-self, he has been his own boss on a lease, either on our own property or on some of the other properties, and it makes a different class of employees.

Jan 12, 1919