Competitiveness of the U.S. Minerals and Metals Industry (1990) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
4. Resources for Research and Development
4. Resources for Research and Development
Pages 79-99
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 79... ...
The U.S. minerals and metals industry includes activities ranging from exploration and primary mining to the manufacture and sale of consumer goods.
|
From page 80... ...
With a growing share of the steel production capacity in electric furnaces that process scrap and the decreasing tendency for primary producers to own their own ores, there is a decline in the emphasis on industry research for the mining and processing of iron ore. The domestic base metals (copper, lead, and zinc)
|
From page 81... ...
At the same time, companies that sell goods and services to gold miners have brought forth a steady stream of innovative products, ranging from hydraulic shovels to analytical equipment, which have helped the producers to improve efficiency and lower costs. However, the gold mining industry overall is probably spending less than $7 million annually on R&D, with most of that amount devoted to work on only two problems: gold-bearing refractory sulfide ores and ores containing natural carbonaceous materials.
|
From page 82... ...
The Division of Materials Research supports a program of research in metallurgy; however, the program focuses on basic scientific research in physical rather than extractive metallurgy. NSF research in related topics, such as tunneling technology, could benefit the mining industry, but the lack of an infrastructure for the transfer of research results to the mining industry limits the opportunity to apply research from other fields to the needs of the mining industry.
|
From page 83... ...
The Committee on Mining and Mineral Resources Research also advises the Secretary of the Interior on a number of matters relating to minerals research, particularly in the Mineral Institutes program. A fourth group, the Committee on Materials (COMAT)
|
From page 84... ...
Geological Survey Development of Assessment Techniques Strategic and Critical Minerals National Mineral Resource Assessment TOTAL National Science Foundation Department of Energy National Institute of Standards and Technology National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sea Grant Program: Marine Geological Resources Deep Seabed Mining Research TOTAL FEDERAL TOTAL 51,672a 24,643a 1 4,S74a 10,012b 100,901 10,000 3,70oc 9,300C 23,000 669d,e 12,186f 350 571d 7SOa 14,526 1 38,427C aIncludes Bureau of Mines in-house laboratories ($66.3 million in nine labs) plus a variety of externally funded projects in industry and universities.
|
From page 85... ...
~3 External Research ~ Internal Research FIGURE 4-1 Bureau of Mines research budgets, 1980-1989. Source: Bureau of Mines.
|
From page 86... ...
nyorometa~urgy; precious metals; microwave technol ogy; rare earths; superalloy scrap recycling; complex sulfide treatment; magnets; catalysts; bioleaching Electro-, hydra-, and pyrometallurgy Hydrometallurgy; beneficiation; super critical fluid solvent systems; waste treatment; brine chemistry; column flotation; advanced materials extrac tion; in situ mining solution treatment Rock and soil mechanics; hydrogeology and geochemistry; mining methods; waste management; subsidence con trol; deep mine design 3,383,000 Beneficiation; hydrometallurgy; miner9,275,000 als waste treatment; comminution/ turbomilling; expert systems for processing In situ mining technology; blasting and drilling technology; equipment safety; seabed mining; mechanical and thermal fragmentation; subsidence; fire protection; hydrology SOURCE: Data provided by Bureau of Mines.
|
From page 87... ...
Argonne also supports the DOE Steel Initiative through research in continuous casting and chill casting using magnetic confinement. Similarly, Los Alamos National Laboratory conducts some research in hot-rock boring that has relevance for in situ fragmentation and solution mining; the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory performs some $3 million/year in Bureau of Mines research; and other laboratories, such as Pacific Northwest Laboratory, carry out small amounts of research in this field.
|
From page 88... ...
TABLE 4-4 Academic Programs and Faculty by Fields, 1989 Field Programs Faculty Geological engineering Geophysical engineering (Extractive) metallurgical engineering 9 Mineral processing engineering Mining engineering Mineral economics TOTALS 19 6 20 6 150 17 30 22 108 20 63 347 SOURCE: E
|
From page 90... ...
9o A · o of .
|
From page 91... ...
Computer science applications have led to a wealth of technology for operations research, modeling, and mine design, and mineral economics research has greatly improved the forecasting of supply and demand, commodity prices, and other business factors. In the health and safety area, academic research has led to important advances in respirable dust control technology and electromechanical technology in the mine; in the environmental area, academic research has led to substantial advances in mine hydrology, acid mine drainage, sediment control, and vegetation/ revegetation.
|
From page 92... ...
Under its Mineral Institutes Program, BOM sponsors a number of State Mining and Mineral Resources Research Institutes (referred to as Mineral Institutes) and Generic Mineral Technology Centers (GMTCs)
|
From page 93... ...
Research in undersea minerals is conducted under the National Sea Grant TABLE 4-7 Bureau of Mines Generic Mineral Technology Centers Mine Systems Design and Ground Control Lead institution: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Covers conditions from permafrost to tropics; fuels, nonmetallics, metals, brines, and open pit and underground mines Comminution Lead institution: University of Utah Crushing and grinding Mineral Industry Waste Treatment and Recovery Lead institution: University of Nevada, Reno Fumes, dusts, liquid and solid wastes Pyrometallurgy Lead institution: University of Missouri, Rolla Applies high temperatures to mineral processes such as smelting, refining, and alloying Respirable Dust Lead institution: Pennsylvania State University Concerned with particles causing diseases Marine Mineral Technology Lead institution: University of Mississipp: Manganese and phosphate crust mining; sampling and measurement SOURCE: Information provided by Bureau of Mines.
|
From page 94... ...
Twelve Sea Grant institutions conduct research in areas relevant to mining and minerals, such as undersea minerals characterization and surveys. As with the Mineral Institutes program, the administration has recommended that funding for the Sea Grant program be ended, but the funds have been restored by Congress.
|
From page 95... ...
Weaknesses and Limitations of Academic Research The limited funding for the Mineral Institutes program, distributed across many institutions, results in a large number of small uncoordinated projects. The research projects funded through the Mineral Institutes program represent an average of less than three projects at each institute and far less than $30,000 per project.
|
From page 96... ...
The mining industry in general sees them as pursuing more immediately relevant research than do the Mineral Institutes. But there are obvious gaps in coverage; for example, there are no GMTCs covering hydrometallurgy, mining technology, or fine particle processing.
|
From page 97... ...
Research results are communicated to industrial laboratories through frequent and substantive technical contacts between academic researchers and their industry counterparts, who then carry the process forward with advanced R&D of competitive processes and products. This pattern is not evident in the minerals and metals field.
|
From page 98... ...
Perhaps the most serious decline has been seen in mining engineering. In 1978 there were 3,117 undergraduate students enrolled in mining engineering nationwide, of whom 850 were freshmen; in 1988 there were 560 undergraduates,
|
From page 99... ...
Figure 4-2 compares the number of mining engineering graduates and the number of entry-level jobs since 1972. It appears that a turnaround has just begun in mining engineering enrollments, but the increase is not yet reflected in the number of graduates, and, given attrition rates and the current low output of B.S.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.