Search Documents

By Duane A. Smith

Introduction From the days of the Spanish in the eighteenth century, Colorado's San Juan mining district has attracted miners and public interest. The Spanish left behind names - San Juans, La Plata, Animas, legends of lost mines, and the remains of a few scattered mining operations. They came, but did not stay. Again in 1860-61, as a spinoff of the Pike's Peak gold rush, prospectors climbed the mountains and descended into the canyons searching for gold. They found some, not enough to convince them to remain and confront the isolation, often hostile environment and the Utes, who rightfully felt this to be their home. Not until the 1870s did miners come to stay. In their wake little camps grew in the high valleys and squeezed into narrow canyons. Nowhere else in Colorado were there more rugged mountains, a higher average elevation, nor a climate that one old Swede said was "three months of mighty late fall and nine months of winter." The San Juans proved eventually to be a mineral treasure chest. At the moment, however, the prospectors sought gold. Then they discovered silver deposits and the first rush was on. It got started just in time to be completely overcome by the Leadville excitement. At Leadville, investors almost fell over themselves to buy claims and stock in the hopes of becoming another millionaire like Leadville's own Horace Tabor. The San Juaners could only look from the sidelines and speculate how it might have been had fate been kinder. Fate was seldom kind, as these pioneers quickly discovered. From the mid-1870s on, the San Juaners wrestled with some major problems. And the fate of their district rode in the balance. The problems they faced were similar to those of other Colorado districts, compounded by their geographic isolation. Every mining district needed the best transportation system available, experienced investors combined with sound investment, and mineral reserves to develop. The San Juans offered the last in abundance. It was hoped the first two would appear. Railroads - much needed transportation link Nothing was more desired than railroad connections, the penultimate nineteenth century form of transportation. Colorado's own, the Denver & Rio Grande, resolved the issue with its mountain-hugging narrow gauge. As early as the mid-1870s, the D&RG dreamed of tapping this potentially lucrative market in southwestern Colorado. A national economic depression and then the Leadville silver excitement prevented immediate construction. Not until 1879-80 did survey crews start work.

Jan 2, 1988

By George W. Heunisch

The properties of Neutra-Fix® and Neutra-Ment® , two new lime substitutes for the treatment of acid mine drainage (Arm), have been compared with lime and Alkament®, two products presently in use for AMD treatment. The two new products are basically dolomitic byproducts and produce sludges that are more compact than those from lime. Sludge settling rates are faster than lime with iron concentrations after 24 hours that comply with EPA regulations. Material utilization and optimum pit are reported.

Jan 1, 1984

By Volkmar Niemitz

Approximately 30 miles east of Chicago on the southern shores of Lake Michigan stands Bethlehem Steel's newest fully integrated steelmaking facility - the billion dollar Burns Harbor plant. The initial phase of "green field" construction that began in 1963 was directed to the creation of high quality finishing facilities. In late 1964 the 160" plate mill came "on stream" followed closely by Sheet and Tin and Hot Strip facilities. Unit train shipments of slabs primarily from the Lackawanna plant located near Buffalo constituted the input materials for the new mills. In 1967 a hot metal facilities program was announced for Burns Harbor that at its completion would make the plant fully integrated. Incorporated within the program were: 1. A new high performance 50" x 96" slabbing mill complete with a battery of soaking pits. 2. A two vessel Basic Oxygen Furnace Shop. 3. (1) battery of 6 meter high Coke Ovens with attendant coal handling facilities. 4. A 3800 feet long vessel loading & unloading dock. 5. The first conveyor belt fed Blast Furnace in the United States. 6. An extensive materials handling system for receiving, stocking and reclaiming from storage the raw materials for the Blast Furnace and Coke Ovens operation. The intent of this paper is to provide a detailed description of the functions and components of the materials handling system noted above.

Jan 1, 1970

By Scott Ellenbecker

Mining has evolved in recent years, taking steps forward in the way that the industry is considerate of the environment and the communities in which it operates. Technology plays a major role in that evolution. Osisko Mining?s Osisko Mine near Malartic, Quebec is developing a new way of doing business. One manager said, ?We are building the Osisko culture,? but the company is doing many things that could become industry changers. Much of the change is driven by mine ownership and management to offer a better workplace and better community relations. Mining equipment manufacturers are changing, too, by engineering products with more operator comfort, fuel economy, ease of maintenance and more cleanly designed machines. And for those drills working close to communities, smaller bore sizes and sound retention are just two changes for the better.

Jan 1, 2012

By P. Somasundaran, H. S. Hanna

The separation of minerals such as apatite and scheelite by flotation from other salt-type minerals such as calcite is extremely complex owing to the close similarity between their physicochemical properties. In this paper, properties relevant to flotation such as crystal structure, solubility, surface charge and adsorption behavior of important salt-type minerals are examined along with the role of inorganic modifying agents such as silicates and polyphosphates and organic modifying agents such as starch and tannin. Flotation characteristics of these minerals are then reviewed and selected separation problems involving salt-type minerals are discussed.

Jan 1, 1976

By W. J. Atkinson

Since the inception of the Ashton (formerly Kalumburu) Joint Venture in 1972 the parties have expended 524 million in exploration for diamonds in the Kimberley region. This has resulted in the discovery of the currently subeconomic Ellendale deposits in 1976/77 and the economic Argyle - Smoke Creek Deposits in 1979/80. In addition to Argyle and Ellendale some 90 kimberlitic and lamproitic bodies have been discovered grouped broadly into three provinces, on the west, east and north margins of the Kimberley block. These bodies range in size from dyke-like features less than one metre in width to pipes with a surface area of 128ha. The bodies with larger surface area are volcanic crater deposits, infilled with air-fall and water deposited tuffs and epiclastic sediments.

Jan 1, 1984

By L. E. Murr

Solution flow in leach dumps and heaps or in columns of representative rock has been the subject of only limited studies. This is a regime involving unsaturated flow in semiconsolidated rock with a wide size distribution. Even the concepts of continuous flow systems are fairly recent, and have evolved from the search for better methods of operating industrial chemical reactors. (1-3) Waste rock consolidation and permeability play a key role in solution flow characteristics. Harris (4) suggested that bulk density variations in a leach dump could alter the particle-to-particle contact, and that large particle aggregates could act like single, large particles . In the limiting case where the bulk density approaches that of the undisturbed, consolidated rock, the entire waste unit would behave as a single particle. Roman (5) treated the phenomenon of bulk density and its effect on consolidation in terms of lixiviant flow paths or solution channeling in leach dumps. Like Harris, he assumed that no solution moved through particles or particle aggregates associated with zones of high bulk density. Solution flow paths are thus effectively separated by particle regimes, creating solution channels in the waste body. While some attempts have been made to describe solution flow in leach dumps and related systems by utilizing computer model approaches and laboratory- scale simulations (5,6), there have been no direct, large-scale observations of solution movement in channels or of the actual channel sizes and distributions within a waste body. This paper describes a series of experiments involving large-scale, controlled waste leaching tests, conducted over a period of several years, and aimed at providing some direct observation of the changes in waste consolidation and permeability, the size and distribution of solution channels, the movement of such channels with continued solution application, and other features relating to solution flow during the leaching of low-grade waste. These results are then combined with mineralogical information to explain observed leach behavior.

Jan 1, 1981

By F. G. Miller

In mid-1972 we determined that a fresh approach to coal mining research was needed for the industry as well as for Bethlehem. The reasons to us were obvious: Productivity was in the throes of a steady decline, and labor and maintenance costs were spiraling upward. Yet, despite this predicament, nowhere in the U.S. at that time was there a comprehensive and coordinated research and development plan in the offing. The Bureau of Mines had not yet been charged with such a responsibility, and industry was content to rely on machinery manufacturers for innovations. After studying our own mining practices, the state-of-the-art of mining research elsewhere, and development work by manufacturers, we presented a comprehensive research package to our management at the end of 1972. The ideas and experience of many operating and management personnel in our Corporation contributed to the formulation of the final plan as approved.

Jan 1, 1976

By R. S. Shoemaker

It is said that there is nothing new under the sun and this is certainly true about refractory gold Ores. Ores which have been refractory to treatment have been the bane of the Metallurgist's life ever since gold has been recognized as a metal valued for its indestructability, malleability and beauty. Webster's Dictionary defines "Refractory" as; "Resisting control or authority, stubborn, resistant to treatment or cure, unresponsive to stimuli, difficult to corrode or draw out," And gives as a synonym the word "unruly." I don't think any metallurgist would disagree with these definitions as they quite accurately describe refractory gold ores as we know them and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if many of you in this room today had applied far stonger language to your own refractory ores in the course of your metallurgical test programs. Pliny the elder put it very well when he wrote in 79 A.D., Gold is the first of man's follies, Silver the second." Perhaps Pliny was speaking of "unassayable gold" or "incipient gold." These are truly refrac tory ores which probably existed before Pliny's time and although many people have claimed to have solved their metallurgy the untold wealth that lies within them has never been bankable. On the other hand, Virgil is his Aenead, could very well have been speaking of refractory ores when he wrote; "Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, auri sacra fames!" which translates as, Accursed thirst for gold! What doest thou not compel mortals to do. Certainly, gold was extremely rare at that time because it had to be recovered by much labor from the then refractory ores and their refractoriness caused the early metallurgists (or alchemists if you will) to seek an easier way to produce it; thus the long and fruitless search for the "philosopher 's stone" which would aid in turn-

Jan 1, 1990

By John V. Beall

The Mining Engineering Handbook is written primarily for persons interested in the economic extraction of minerals. Not everyone referring to this book will be knowledgeable about mining and, therefore, this section is intended to explain to interested persons the scope of mining as well as fulfilling the title of "Mining's Place and Contribution" among the industries of society. 1.1-MINERALS, ROCKS AND ORE In the year 1971, the number of known elements amounted to 104. Fifteen of these have been made only in the laboratory, others may have persisted from the primitive atmosphere, but, by and large, elements originated from magmas or igneous rocks of the outer rocky shell of the earth. Only eight elements constitute 98% by weight of the earth's crust. These are oxygen, 47%; silicon. 28%; aluminum, 8%; iron, 5%; and sodium, magnesium, potassium and calcium, less than 4% each. These common elements and the other less common ones are the building blocks of minerals, of which there are over 2,000 varieties. According to Webster: "A mineral is an inorganic substance occul.ring natura!ly in the earth and having a consistent and distinctive set of physical properties and a composition that can be expressed by a chemical formula. The term is sometimes applied to organic substances, such as coal." Thus, minerals are precise combinations of elements. Rocks, as distinct from minerals, are composed of assemblages of minerals. When minerals are found in sufficient concentration to warrant extraction by mining, the mineralized area is considered an ore deposit. The definition of ore is mineral that can be extracted from the ground at a profit. The economic connotation is implicit in the word ore. Since most of the useful elements compose such a small percentage of the earth's crust, the occurrence of ore deposits as we know them would not have transpired had not geologic processes concentrated the elements (see Sec. 4). 1.2-DEFINITIONS OF MINING TERMS Extensive coverage of the many descriptive terms used in mining may be found in a good mining glossary, such as is available from the Superintendent of Documents (see Sec. 35), but for convenience a number of the more common definitions are given here. Mining may be defined, as by A. B. Cummins, as the act, process or work of extracting minerals or coal from their natural environment and transporting them to the point of processing or use. Mining techniques are applied to extracting metallic minerals, such as ores of gold, copper, lead or zinc; to fuels, such as coal, anthracite, lignite and tar sands; and to nonmetallic minerals, such as lime-

Jan 1, 1973

By Raymond F. Moran

The history and development of the FMC Coke process has been reported in numerous presentations over the past 10 years (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) but a short review is desirable, especially regarding the aspects that are influenced by the coal to be used. F'MC has been developing this process in pilot facilities since 1956 and in a modest sized plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming since 1960 (Figure I). This plant produces strong uniformly sized coke briquettes from a completely non-coking coal, namely Elkol, a sub-bituminous coal of the Adaville seam. Since operating commercially, over 300,000 tons have been produced, 90% of which has been used in electric phosphorus furnaces and some 10% of which went for trials in iron blast furnaces. We believe that this commercial use of non-coking coals is a unique experience in the history of coke manufacture.

Jan 1, 1975

By D. M. S. Bhatia

Five sulfide minerals from the Magiwnt mine, southeast Missouri were analyzed for 31 trace elements in over 300 samples by laser microprobe spectrographic analysis of polished sections. The concentration of several trace elements shows a pattern of progressive variation with depth (space) and variation with different paragenetic stages (time) of each mineral. Factor analysis of the geochemical data shows sympathetic correlation both in space and in time of Bi, Cd, Ge, and Sn in galena and sphalerite, and Ni and Co in sphalerite and marcasite.

Jan 1, 1979

By R. Fred Pena

The Tower Mill has proven to be a grinding machine with a demonstrated application flexibility. Variations in applications have proven to be numerous. This mill was originally intended for fine grinding applications. Subsequent testwork and installations have demonstrated the mill can be utilized in place of ball mills as secondary mills. The following lists a few of the circuits tested: 1. Tower Mill secondary receiving feed from a primary SAG mill grinding stage. 2. Tower Mill as tertiary grind unit following a rod mill/ball mill. 3. Tower Mill as secondary grind unit following a primary ball mill. 4. Tower Mill as a limeslaker. 5. Tower Mill grinding as a primary unit taking limestone crusher discharge. Applications demonstrate the mill is energy efficient and is sensitive to the following consideration: 1. Circuit chosen. 2. Top size of feed. 3. Product size required. 4. Classification equipment performance. 5. Media size required. 6. Media type required.

Jan 1, 1986

By Richard E. Sabaski

The demand placed on the mining industry in the past 15 years for increased production, coupled with lower grade ore and higher cost capital, has resulted in a noticeable increase in grinding mill sizes. The pressure to increase mill size continues. During the mid sixty's and early seventy's, ?larger? conventional ball mills were in the range of 13 - 16-1/2 f t. diameter (4 - 5 m) increasing by the mid 70's to 18 ft. (5.5 m) diameter. At the same time, autogenous mills expanded from 24 - 32 ft. (7.3 - 9.1 m) to the present 34 and 36 ft. (10.b and 11.0 m) diameters. These size pioneers of 16-1/2, 18, and 36 ft. diameter mills from Allis-Chalmers have been free from structural problems, because they were analyzed, modeled, designed, and field tested to meet the challenge.

Jan 1, 1981

By John Hardy

The performance of five dense-medium washers was evaluated in four preparation plants. Three of the plants were making a two-product separation that produced a clean coal and a refuse; one plant employed dense-medium vessels in series to effect a primary and a secondary separation. The secondary drum-type washer produced a low-ash metallurgical coal and an intermediate-ash product suitable for plant fuel or steam generation. The sharpness-of-separation was excellent for all four primary separations and the secondary separation.

Jan 1, 1966

By S. C. Termes

As part of an effort to provide basic data on the fundamental scientific and engineering principles of minerals beneficiation, the Bureau of Mines is conducting research on the flocculation of mineral fines. This paper presents results of studies using crosslinked starches containing carboxyl, diethanolamine, iminodiacetic acid, and xanthate groups to flocculate hematite, goethite, chromite, manganrte, pyrolusite, cuprite, and cassiterite fines. The carboxyl and xanthate derivatives flocculated all minerals except cassiterite; the latter was flocculated by only the diethanolamine derivative. The iminodiacetic acid derivative flocculated hematite, goethite, chromite, cuprite, and pryolusite fines. Zeta potential measurements were made to help define the reaction mechanism responsible for flocculation. These measurements indicate that electrostatic attraction probably is not involved, except possibly in the case of the diethano lamine derivative. The separation of hematite from quartz by selective flocculation with chelating cross- linked starches under two pH conditions and with two dispersing agents is described. Best recoveries and grades were found when either the carboxyl or xanthate derivatives was added at the natural pH of the pulp in the absence of a dupersing agent.

Jan 1, 1983

By John W. Barnes

In seeking cost reductions, control methods are a fertile field because they significantly affect labor and other costs. While process control in uranium mills is excellent by the evidence of high recovery, the costs seem high to those familiar with extractive operations for other metals. To some extent this high cost is inevitable, because of exacting quality control-, the technically complicated recovery processes; poor control over grade and nature of mill feed- special problems arising out of the radioactive property of the material. Practices used in uranium mills and the limitations indicated for instrumentation and automation are discussed. It is concluded that any large investment in automatic controls should be preceded by a careful study of their reliability and maintainability, and an estimate of the net income after taxes smaller plants my find it more profitable, or at least less risky, to concentrate their efforts on the possible reduction of some control problems and to development of a stable force of skilled employees. The observed experience does not inspire optimism that ore-dressing plants can be extensively automated although certain unit operations offer a challenge for improvements in instrumentation and machine design.

Jan 1, 1960

By B. T. Stanley

Traditional methods of creating a water tight shaft liner involve the use of segmented or welded steel. When shafts are located in ground that exhibits extremely difficult conditions of high water inflow and hydraulic pressure, composite liners are often combined with ground freezing during construction. The authors were searching for a cost effective and more flexible solution to hydrostatic liners design than the traditional concrete/steel composite design used so far. Searching through new technologies developed for tunneling applications, sprayed on membranes systems seemed very promising but were not developed for the specific circumstances encountered in shaft sinking applications where ground freezing is involved. Even though freezing is a very effective technique, it creates adverse temperature conditions for the application of spray on membranes. In addition, application and hydrating cure times for those membranes products ranged between six to twenty-four hours under ideal conditions (usually temperatures well above freezing point), which eliminated them from consideration in a shaft sinking cycle. While researching different spray on membrane materials, it was discovered that Stirling Lloyd Polychem Ltd. has developed and proven a different membrane material for waterproofing liners in different tunneling applications. The characteristics of the membrane exceeds the pressure parameters encountered in frozen shaft sinking operations, and the chemical cure times were reduced to one hour per layer which worked well into the shaft sinking cycle times. More over their system included a quality control procedure that allowed insuring integrity of the membrane at application time, a very desirable feature for shaft liner construction. However, the frozen rock surface still presented an unknown in the cure time and stability equation. As all membrane products a shotcrete substrate is usually required prior to application. The hypothesis used by the author was to use this shotcrete layer, not only as a substrate, but also as a thermal insulation against the frozen rock and the membrane during both application and curing time. The authors knew from experience that shotcrete could be applied successfully over frozen rock. But the shotcrete temperature curve over time was unknown and no information were found in the available literature. Testing was required to determine whether a suitable mix of shotcrete could be applied to the frozen shaft wall to provide enough heat of hydration for a suitable period of time to create conditions suitable for membrane application and curing.

Jan 1, 2012

By Om P. Garg

The purpose of this paper is: 1) To summarize the capabilities and some of the limitations of the existing mine planning software. 2) To provide some guidelines for acquiring the software. 3) To identify problems and challenges in terms of how to justify increased use of computers (particularly the 32-bit microprocessor based super micro computers), for various activities related to a mining operation No attempt has been made to review the contents of available software packages in detail. Also the scope of this paper is limited to mine planning related computer applications. Applications related to accounting, inventory control, preventive maintenance, equipment scheduling, etc. have not been covered.

Jan 1, 1983

By E. Wm. Heinrich

Glass sands fall into that extremely select category of mineral deposits that requires a fantastic degree of natural concentration (95% +) of a single component before they can even be considered as ores suitable for further refinement. The combination of geological factors that has produced such an environment of "mineralogical single-mindedness" has appeared only rarely. Factors that require consideration in the economic evaluation of a potential glass-sand deposit can be grouped into three categories: 1) geological (e.g., size, shape, structure); 2) petrographic (e.g., grain size, accessory minerals, nature of iron contaminants); 3) geographic - political (e.g., proximity to consumer, size of market, zoning restrictions). Of particular con ern is the nature of the iron contamination. Iron-bearing species appear as 1) accessory mineral grains, either detrital or authigenic, 2) cements, 3) grain coatings, and 4) quartz-grain inclusions. Selection of the cheapest form of beneficiation requires precise information on the mineralogy of the iron species and their detailed petrography. Because of the antipathetic relationships, in many parts of the United States and Canada between the geographical locations of glass plants and the geological distribution of glass sands, the selection of ac suitable source for a particular glass plant may be dichotomous. One may seek either an exceedingly pure "classic" type glass sand that is relatively distant and whose cost includes a major transportation charge or a relatively proximate and somewhat "impure" source whose cost includes a substantial fee for beneficiation.

Jan 1, 1974