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the product sold. The production data for langbeinite are held confidential to protect the
privacy of the two producers, IMC Fertilizer, Inc. and Western Ag-Minerals Company.
Therefore the annual production of "product" given in column B of Table 1 is an
aggregate of sylvite, langbeinite, and manufacrured arcanite. However, the tons of ore
required to make a ton of product are not the same. To illustrate, it takes about 5.2 tons
of sylvite ore to make one ton of product. Whereas, for langbeinite it takes only about
3.2 tons to make one ton of product. But mining and processing costs are higher for
langbeinite than for sylvite. Therefore the end result is that the price to cost ratio remains
about the same for sylvite and langbeinite. What has changec: 's the ability of the mines
to continuously increase the tons of product per man-year.
Note that worker productivity for both ore and product appears to have increased
steadily from 1940 to the present. There are occasional bumps in the data, but they
exhibit a relatively consistent growth. A combination of improvements in technology
accounts for the productivity increases, among which are:
For mining:
1. Conversion from track haulage to conveyors.
2. Use of mechanical-arm loaders and undercut machines.
3. Use of shuttle buggies and ram cars to move ore from the face to conveyors.
4. Utilization of diesel and diesel-over-hydraulic for equipment to enhance
mobility.
5. Use of rock bolts for ground control.
6. Usage of higher voltages and larger electric motors underground.
7. Use of ammonium nitrate-fuel oil explosive (ANFO) along with non-electric
and consumable detonation systems.
8. The advent fIrSt of boring machines then drum mining machines.
9. Continuous improvements in belt conveyors including new extendible types.
For processing:
1. Flotation of non-metallic minerals.
2. Contimuod improvement in flotation reagents.
3. Improvement in flotation-cell design and operation.
4. Use of cyclones and centrifuges for separation of slimes.
5. Compaciing of tines to produce coarser products.
6. Improvement in screening and sizing techniques.
7. Application of non-caking agents to products.
8. Continued improvement in handling, storage, and loading of products.
This listing is neither comprehensive nor chronological. Instead it is meant to
illustrate that many improvements have been made over the years, none of which are
called revolutionary, but in combination they result in a steady increase in efficiency of
the overall process starting with the taking of raw ore from the underground mining face
and ending with a salable product loaded into a rail car or truck.