The manufacture of stainless steel results in a variety of wastes; the number, quantity, and composition are dependent on the manufacturing method used, the alloys produced, and the manner and degree of finishing of the metal products. A single domestic plant using conventional electric arc furnaces in conjunction with the argon-oxygen process, and producing finished … Read more
The Bureau of Mines has developed and tested countercurrent fluidized bed, multiple-compartment ion-exchange columns (MCIX) to recover uranium from mine water, clear solutions, and slime slurries. A 14-inch-diameter MCIX absorption column and a 4-inch-diameter fixed-bed upflow elution column were field tested on uranium-bearing mine water at Bingham Canyon, Utah, and Grants, N. Mex. The same … Read more
As part of a program on mine safety directed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) studied radiographic techniques on specimens of stressed rock. This phase of the program on mine safety is related to the structural integrity of the roof of the mine. A common practice for roof support … Read more
Most of the mines with large openings in the United States today are salt and limestone mines. Some potash and trona mines also have moderately large openings. Moreover, it is expected that in the near future numerous underground oil shale mines will be developed in the oil shale regions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. These … Read more
Cost is a major criterion in decision making for selecting operational methods in mining. Knowledge of the operating cost, therefore, provides a sound basis for evaluating the feasibility of plans and for selecting alternative operational procedures. In production drilling, the choice of a drilling method is primarily based on several factors such as working condition, … Read more
Leaching is defined as a form of extraction in which a valuable constituent is removed from a solid body by mass transfer to a solution which, for the purpose of this discussion, is considered to be an aqueous medium. Historically, leaching has been applied to the recovery and purification of many elements. The leaching of copper … Read more
Sublevel caving has created through its possibilities of standardizing and mechanizing operations and equipment. Other advantages are that the method can be adapted to orebodies of different shape, size, strength etc., and especially that working conditions can be made safe and relatively comfortable since all work is carried out in drifts. As is well known, the … Read more
The problem is typified in the tailings of the uranium operations of Elliot Lake, Ontario, where mining started some 20 years ago. The approach to tailings disposal paralleled the practice for other hydrometallurgical plants treating gold and base metal ores. Impoundment areas were designed to retain solids, and a clear and neutral overflow was considered … Read more
Solvent extraction is widely used in hydrometallurgical processing of uranium for purification and upgrading leach solutions prior to recovery of metal values. Conventional solvent extraction processing utilizes mixer-settler units to achieve mixing of the aqueous and organic phases. Use of mixer-settlers permits continuous treatment of feed, but the processing rate is restricted by the time … Read more
Success has been achieved in developing mathematical models of rod mills, ball mills and recently to a limited extent autogenous grinding mills. There is also considerable activity in the development of mathematical models of various mineral concentration operations, such as flotation, magnetic separation and electrostatic concentration. However, at present there is a technological gap which hinders … Read more