Objective Provide the U.S. mining industry with technology for designing environmentally sound, low- cost in situ leach mining operations to produce copper from small, deep, and/or low-grade copper oxide deposits. Approach Investigate the feasibility of a new mining method-in situ leach mining-as an alternative to conventional mining for copper. Study fundamental leaching technology that will … Read more
Objective Provide an environmentally compatible means of producing lead from galena concentrates that replaces the current high-temperature pyrometallurgical primary lead smelting process and supplies pure lead metal within present and proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) lead emission standards. Approach The U.S. Bureau of Mines developed an energy efficient … Read more
A novel technique has been employed by the U. S. Bureau of Mines to determine the zeta potential of particles for a far-reaching series of material types in a wide variety of baseline waters, both alone and with many different chemical additives. The materials tested ranged from naturally occurring Sioux Quartzite and Tennessee marble to … Read more
Objective Develop new technolgies and techniques which enable recovery of strategic and critical minerals such as cobalt from domestic resources, thereby easing the U.S. dependence upon foreign producers for these valuable commodities. Approach The Bureau of Mines, through research, developed a process which uses mineral beneficiation techniques to recover cobalt-rich products from Missouri lead ores. … Read more
A system capable of monitoring a mine electrical power system to detect incipient electrical component failure could significantly improve power system safety and availability. The U.S. Bureau of Mines funded a contract with The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) to establish the theoretical and technical framework for such a system. This report briefly outlines the … Read more