Search Documents

By J. W. MacDonald

Review of equipment, performance, and shaft design plans including head-frames for sinking and forms for lining are given. Also included are comparative data for shafts of 11 x20 ft and 193/4 x 30 ft with 756 and 666-ft depths, respectively. Advantage from curtain wall installation with "slip forms" which warrant consideration for normal lining are outlined. A preliminary review is also made of "chemical grouting" to stop water inflow leakage with Halliburton equipment and service. Two coal mine shafts recently completed in Franklin County, Ill., afford experience and accomplishment to warrant review. These shafts provide access to a tract with a potential recovery of one hundred million tons. This work provided the initial sinking by other than a contractor's organization since 1918. Four additional shafts required during the interim were sunk under contract arrangement with others. Supervisory contact and inspection afforded experience to govern planning and conduct of the recent work. TEST DRILLING Core test holes were drilled within each of the two shaft locations. Four additional cable tool holes were drilled on a radius of 700 ft from the shaft bottom to determine the coal seam elevations and govern the underground layout plans for each shaft. A graphic log of the hoist shaft test drillhole is shown by Fig. 1. A very soft sandstone was found at a depth of 16 ft. Cored recovery of the sandstone proved much weaker than the overlying compacted sand secured with coring facilities for soil recovery. Gradation from the very soft sandstone to fairly hard material occurred with the next 14 ft, extending to a depth of 30 ft. The weak character within the upper portion entailed need of adequate protection when sinking as described later. A part of the sandstone provided sufficient porosity and permeability to warrant further investigation. Adjacent cable tool drilling for temporary water supply disclosed inflow was limited to 2 gpm with a depth of 40 ft. It was increased to 12 gpm during the next 50 ft of drilling and occasioned subsequent precaution when sinking. General arrangement of facilities for sinking the hoist shaft is shown by Fig. 2. An available steel frame building was used to accommodate the hoist, compressor, shop, and shower or change room. The stiff leg derrick with 90-ft length of boom permitted removal of forms from the wood shop to the storage area or delivery within the shaft. Reinforcing steel and other needs were similarly handled, in addition to headframe erection. The headframe was placed over one end of the shaft to enable passage of forms for lining through the adjacent half next to the stiff leg derrick. The steel headframe as shown by Fig. 3 was fabricated locally. Side anchored cables from the

Jan 1, 1961

"WELFARE…Welfare endeavor in connection with both the metal and the coal mines of Utah has shown gratifying progress during recent years and both the operators and their employees are deserving of much credit for the efforts put forth to better living, working, educational and receational conditions in most of the mining camps of the state.In the older metal mining camps of Utah, where the towns are incorporated and independent of the mining properties operating in the vicinity, less opportunity is pre¬sented for the companies to exercise efforts looking towards improved welfare conditions than is the case of camps located on company ground and under the full control of operators.Even in such camps, however, as illustrated in Bingham, the companies can do much to better welfare conditions. In this camp the Utah Copper Company has spent $800,000 since 1 920 in the erection of modern brick cottages, apartment houses and the Gemmell Memorial Club. The cottages and apartments have every convenience to be found in up-to-date city homes. The Gemmell Memorial Club, erected and equipped at a cost of $1 75,000, was provided by the company for the benefit of the Utah Copper Company employees living in the canyon and has been made the recreational center for the camp."

Jan 1, 1925

By J. D. Hanawalt

Significant strides were made in the year 1948 leading to further recognition of the place of magnesium as a common commercial metal, rather than as just a premium aircraft material. One of the factors contributing to this recognition was the price stability and, in many cases, price reduction of magnesium products in 1948. In contrast to most other metals, manufacturing advances in magnesium outweighed the effects of increased labor and other costs. At the present time, many magnesium extrusions, die castings, and permanent mold castings can be purchased as cheaply as their aluminum counterparts in these forums, though competitive prices for sheet still await the inauguration of a modern tandem rolling mill for magnesium, such as has already been demonstrated.

Jan 1, 1949

By B. F. Tillson, C. M. Haight

I. General Remarks..........................723 1. Location............................723 2. Characteristics of the Orebody..................725 (a) Mineralogical (b) Shape, Strike, Dip, Size, Etc. (1) Ore (2) Country Rock 3. Historical Sketch........................725 11. Mining Method..........................726 1. Outline of Methods Now in Operation............... 726 (a) Stopes (b) Fill . (c) Pillars (d) Slices (e) Transportation (f) Miscellaneous 111. Mining Operations........................727 1. Shaft..............................727 (a) Sinking (b) Dimensions and Equipment, Sketches (1) Size, Inclination. Direction, Etc. (2) Timbering (3) Stations (4) Track (5) Hoisting Equipment (a) Skips (b) Engines and Ropes (c) Idlers (d) Man Cars (6) Loading Pockets (a) Operating Figures (7) Headframe

Jan 1, 1918

• Phelps-Dodge Corp. signed an agreement with the Defense Materials Procurement Agency to increase copper production from the east ore deposit of the company's Copper Queen branch at Bisbee, Ariz. The company agreed to undertake a $25 million expansion program, including construction of a concentrating and leaching plant at the Bisbee mine and enlargement of the Douglas smelter. The Government agreed to buy the first 112,500 tons of the first 150,000 tons produced at 22e per lb if the company could not sell at a higher price. The new facilities will have a yearly capacity of 38,000 tons and should be in production by late 1954 or early 1955. • American Smelting & Refining Co. has started construction of a new building to house the Central Research laboratory at South Plainfield, N. J. It will have approximately 75 individual laboratories and an equal number of offices and shops. Modern apparatus to be installed will include electron microscopes, electric and fuelfired furnaces, miniature copper refineries and zinc plants, wire drawing machinery, and large pilot plant laboratory. In the new building scientists study the base metals, and the development of new uses for a number of Asarco by-products, arsenic, and little

Jan 11, 1951

By Louis R. Hodell

WHEN the drilling of an oil well is completed a permanent opening from the reservoir to the surface must be provided. This is done by lining the hole with pipe, commonly known as casing. In the past, all but a small amount of casing has been run in the hole and joined by threads and couplings. Recently, however, in California, Texas, and Oklahoma, there has been a definite tendency 'to adopt -the welded joint for the following reasons: (1) Plain end casing for welding may be bought for 15 per cent less than thread-and-coupled casing; some of this is offset by the cost of welding the pipe in the hole but a respectable net profit remains.

Jan 1, 1937

By Douglas Bunting

In the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania, mine fires occur with more or less regularity and their existence is an ever-present hazard in coal mining. In all probability 90 per cent. of the mine fires can be ascribed directly or indirectly to the ordinary miner's open lamp. Other causes may be smoking, electrical installations, gas explosions, gas feeders, and the communication of fire to the outcrops from ash dumps, culm banks, timber and brush fires. Fires in pump rooms, engine rooms, and barns have been largely eliminated as a result of the Act of Assembly, approved June 15, 1911, which provides that all inside buildings, including engine rooms, pump rooms, barns, etc., shall be constructed of incombustible materials. Smoking of pipes, cigars, and cigarettes should be prohibited in the mines and too much care cannot be exercised in preventing fires by enforcing all rules designed for that purpose. Mine fires that involve underground fighting are invariably dangerous, and all fires, irrespective of the method pursued in extinguishing them, involve property loss and expense. Each fire generally presents a more or less original problem, dependent on the particular conditions. Generally mine fires may be divided into two classes: Those occurring in inaccessible workings and those occurring in accessible workings. The methods pursued in extinguishing or controlling mine fires are as follows: (I) direct attack, (2) smothering by sealing, (3) flushing with silt or other solids, (4) flooding with water, (5) cutting off, (6) surrounding with incombustible materials, (7) digging out by stripping from the surface. Most fires arc extinguished in their incipiency by direct attack and failure to extinguish by this method is due to late discovery, lack of water, and facilities for fighting, or improper procedure in the initial attack. Should the method first pursued be unsuccessful, careful consideration should be given in determining next the method to be adopted; then the work should be carried on as rapidly as possible and under the supervision of the most competent persons. Materials and supplies should be furnished without delay and in sufficient quantities for the work to be accomplished.

Jan 1, 1922

By T. Egleston

The materials containing copper which are refined in the United Statrs, are, for the most part, the natiye noppers of Lake Superior. IJntil quite recently but little pig copper Was made for sale, and that came principally from the pure sulphorous ores of New England and the Sonth, and was generally sdd to reSneries not far from the ore filrnaceu. A stnall aiuoiint found its way into the'niarket which was produced either as the by-product of the treatment of gold and silver ores, or as the result of the treatment of impure copper ores; but both these grades, on account of the impurities they contained, were loolced on with stlspicion, and were not sought for. A11 the grtlGis of pig coppcr are sold by the unit of oopper contents, a great redtiction being made in the price when impurities are present. There are at the present time only three works which treat native copper, the two of the Detroit and Lake Superior copper Company, and the works of C:G. Hussey & Co., in Pittsburgh. There are a few works ivhich smelt sulphuroris ores and refine their pig; bo sides these t1le1-e arc a few siuall works where gig copper is refined uuly. Some of these purcIlase blscir copper, refine scrap, or simply refine such grades of ingot copper as are found in the market, but nlostly that from Lake Superior, for the purpose of getting it into swh shapes that can be handled cpmtriercially to advantage, such as in making large plates or high grades of wire fir electrical purposes. A nomher of such works are situated in the Xaugaturk Vatley aud elsewhcre in New England. The recent discoveryof vnlt~sblc ores in Ariarona makm it probable that within a few year8 the refining of capper In the United States will make great develupments. Up to the time of the discovery of the mines on Lake Superior, only a very small quantity of native copper had ever been foond, not sufficient to justify the erection of worlrs fbr its special treatment. It had, besides, never been found in very large maweq so that the discovery of greabblocks of it presented serious difficulties, not oolp in mining it,-I- but in bringing it into a merchantable condit'ion. It seemed a very simple process to melt these large maws,

Jan 1, 1881

By P. H. Mell

THE little village, from which this formation receives its name, is situated on a bluff of the Alabama River, 175 feet above water level. This bluff is a portion of high table land that begins in the western portion of Choctaw and extends through Clarke and Monroe counties. We find points on this ridge more than 100 feet higher than Tuscaloosa, and nearly as high as the Tennessee River at Tuscumbia. Through this the Alabama River cuts its way, exposing a beautiful cross-section of the strata, of which the accompanying sketch may give some idea. The fossils are found about 75 feet below the surface and 100 feet above the level of the river. There are seven distinct strata. 1. The lowest, extending from the water's edge up the bluff 80 feet, is a soft calcareous rock containing about 15 per cent. of carbonate of lime, with occasional specks of mica. In this a few Ostrea, Turritellce, and Flustrce were found, but so friable as to fall to pieces when handled. 2. Next comes a stratum varying from 2 to 8 feet, consisting of

Jan 1, 1880

By AIME AIME

THE MODEL LAW previously referred to', in these columns several times, prepared by Engineering Council, to be o ered in any state where legislation is introduced for licensing engineers, is given in abstract below. , Mining engineers throughout the country should watch legislation of this sort and see that the draft prepared by Engineering Council is in the hands of any state legislative committee which proposes to frame a licensing law. So far as this office is informed, the mining engineers are a unit against licensing, but if we must be licensed the most innocuous law that has been submitted is the draft prepared by Engineering Council. ABSTRACT OF MODEL LAW -FOR REGISTRATION OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS, ARCHITECTS, AND LAND SURVEYORS

Jan 1, 1920

By C. H. Mathewson

CONSIDERABLE progress has been made during the last few years in analyzing the action of plastic deformation in metallic crystals. This is due largely to the development of X-ray spectrographic methods for studying changes in the orientation of single crystals, or of conglomerates, as they occur during the process of plastic deformation, but partly to the widespread knowledge of suitable technique for preparing large (single or variously combined) crystals for direct crystallographic observation under stress or in various conditions of strain. These two methods of studying changes in the crystalline structure of metals may of course be used in conjunction with features of mutual support, but unfortunately the advantage of direct crystallographic observation is lost when we proceed to the study of severely cold-worked structures, owing to the occurrence of real or apparent crystalline discontinuities which become more and more complicated as the amount of plastic action increases. Furthermore, the X-ray methods do not appear to be adequate, at least in their present stage of development, to fix definitely the character of structural alteration in the parent crystal lattice by plastic deformation. The principal question at issue concerns the nature of the crystalline particles that remain after plastic deformation. These are generally known in our American metallurgical literature as crystalline fragments,' and they seem, indeed, to diffract as individuals causing the Hull pattern of a severely cold-worked metal to resemble the pattern of a fine powder,2 with certain features of preferred orientation among the particles deter- mined by the manner and intensity of cold working. We must freely concede that there are conceptions of lattice alteration, apart from that of simple fragmentation, which would account for an increasing number of lattice positions according to X-ray spectrographic observation as the degree of deformation increased.

Jan 1, 1927

By Howard Eavenson

SOME time ago, in a conference considering the mechanizing of a group of mines, I was asked if I knew of any data showing the relative frequency of accidents due to the use of 275 or 550-volt current inside mines and having a recollection of seeing some in print, the answer was made that I would find what was available. Subsequent search failed to find any pub-lished records of any kind giving such figures and none of the compensation agencies of whom inquiry was made were able to supply any, excepting the Pennsyl-vania Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau, which had some data covering a few months for some companies in that State. The inquiry was confined to the three largest producing States, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Illinois. The inspection departments of neither of the first two had any such records, and in Illinois, only 275 volts has been allowed inside the mines for many years. A laborious inquiry has resulted in the data, shown in Table 1, which on this account was confined to the years 1921 and 1925, the latter being the latest figures available. In each State, to find the mines using 275 and 550-volt current respectively, it was necessary to list the mines from the Coal Catalog, and then to complete the list by inquiries from the companies directly, from Operators' Associations and from Inspection Depart-ments. As the mines not electrified, and those using

Jan 5, 1928

In the Bowen Basin of central Queensland, coal production has gone from virtually nothing in 1961 to more than 24 million tons today4ut there's a cloud over this success.

Jan 1, 1977

By E. C. Potter

It is not the purpose of this paper to enter into the minutiae of a subject so vast, upon which volumes have already been written and volumes more might still be written, but simply to pass in review the characteristic features of that practice, which, dating from the blowing-in of the Edgar Thomson "A" furnace in 1879 and continuing down to the present day, has given to American blast-furnace operations a new significance. The blowing-in of " A" furnace marked the beginning of a new era in the science of iron-smelting if, indeed, it was not the very birth of science as applied to this industry in the United States. American blast-furnace practice in its generic sense and world-wide significance dates from that day, and really all that is valuable, all that is remarkable or worthy of discussion, is embraced in the experiences and achievements of the past fifteen years. Back of that we find only the dead level of mediocrity, or worse, a dispoition to " let well enough alone;" a general, almost universal, employment of " rule of thumb " methods. The application of scientific principles and methods was rare and, indeed, previous to the introduction of the Bessemer process in the early seventies, science had no place in controlling the operations of the American blast-furnace. The old practice consisted mainly in dumping raw materials in at the top of the furnace and tapping out iron and slag at the bottom, for the successful consummation of which the furnace-manager directed his best energies toward keeping the furnace as free as possible from "gobbing" with, alas ! but indifferent success. The burdening of the furnace was based largely on Mark Twain's receipt for " Johnny-cake," altered to suit the circumstances, viz.: a lot of ore, a lot of fuel and about a quarter of a lot of flux. The possible capacities of furnace-plants were not nearly realized. Enormous wastes were permitted, unheeded because not understood. In the use of fuel quantum suff. was always the rule. Increase of product was not thought of because it was not deemed wise or safe to attempt

Jan 1, 1894

By S. Frederick Ravitz

IN most applied sciences there are two distinct methods of carrying out research and development work. One of these, the theoretical, attempts to solve problems that may arise and to predict facts of practical importance by the application of the various laws of science, the other, the experimental method, attempts to each the 'same goal by obtaining data and trying out various processes in the laboratory. Since individuals frequently find themselves better adapted for one or the other type of procedure, it is natural that -two groups should 'arise, both working toward the sane objective but with somewhat different points of view, although many in each group are thoroughly competent in both fields. Metallurgy, in particular, offers an excellent opportunity for a comparison of the two methods.

Jan 1, 1935

By Arthur Knapp

THE economics of fuel oil must be considered in two aspects; viz., fuel oil as one of a number of competitive fuels and fuel oil as a refined product of petroleum. "Fuel Oil" is usually defined as that product of petroleum which is used in furnaces for the generation of heat by simple combustion. It is true that any product of petroleum used in an internal combustion engine is essentially a fuel oil, but such oils are not included in the class known as "Fuel Oil." FUEL OIL AS ONE OF SEVERAL FUELS For a number of years, the petroleum industry has believed that the petroleum reserves were very limited and that petroleum products would begin to become scarce within a few years. The industry has believed FIG. 1.-DAILY AVERAGE CONSUMPTION OF FUELS BY PUBLIC UTILITY POWER PLANTS. that there would be a gradual but continual rise in prices as a result of this impending scarcity.

Jan 1, 1928

The Ural Mountains, which were formerly the dividing line between Asia and Siberia, area chain of low mountains, the highest peaks reaching only a little over 5000 ft. The country has been much eroded and the mountains now appear as rounded hills. In the central and northern parts turf swamps abound. The range is covered with forests except at the extreme southern end. The trees are mostly pine. Birch grows on cut-over areas, but never to large size. The rivers are small or the fall is slight, so no large water powers are available. A series of rivers with a north and south course, and which are navigable for long distances, furnish cheap transportation during the summer months. Railroad communications are very insufficient. The first active exploitation of the mineral wealth was initiated by Peter the Great, who sought iron and copper for use in his wars against the Swedes. He selected a blacksmith named Demidoff to supervise operations and gave him rights to most of the Ural and to the Altai. The Nijni Tagil Estates are still in the possession of the Demidoff family. The original large grant was subsequently subdivided through inheritance and marriage, but the Ural is still a country of very large estates, some of them held as leases only and some of them by actual ownership.

Jan 6, 1919

By Arthur Clark, Terrill

THE Tri-State field is now believed to be the largest zinc district in the world. It has a potential production sufficient to supply the entire zinc demands of the country. It is estimated that a train 70 miles long would be required to haul the district's 1919 output of 60 per cent. zinc concentrates. For many years,, including 1917, Missouri surpassed Oklahoma in zinc production. In 1918, however, Oklahoma led by a wide margin and, in 1919, Missouri produced less than one-sixth of the total for the three states, when Kansas replaced Missouri in second place in the production. The district is now producing one-third of the zinc of the world and twice as much as ever before at the present price.

Jan 1, 1920

By Douglas L. Gerner

In the early 1950's fishermen and their families around Minamata Bay in Japan were stricken with a mysterious neurological illness. The Minamata disease, as it came to be called, produced progressive weakening of the muscles, loss of vision, impairment of other cerebral functions, eventual paralysis and in some cases coma and death. The victims suffered structural injury to the brain. Minamata seabirds and household cats which, like the fishermen, subsist mainly on fish, showed signs of the same disease. This led to the discovery of high concentrations of mercury compounds in fish and shellfish taken from the bay, and the source of the mercury was traced to the effluent from a factory. Since then there have been other alarming incidents. In 1956 and 1960 outbreaks of mercurial poisoning involving hundreds of persons took place in Iraq, where farmers who had received grain seed treated with mercurial fungicides ate the seed instead of planting it. Similar outbreaks occurred in Pakistan and in Guatemala. In Sweden, game birds and other wildlife, apparently poisoned by mercury-treated seeds, began to be noticed in 1960. The Swedish Medical Board in 1967 banned the sale of fish from 40 lakes and rivers after it was found that fish caught in those waters contained high concentrations of methyl mercury. In 1970 alarm rose in North America. Following the discovery of mercury concentrations in fish in Lake Saint Clair by an investigator working in Canada, restrictions on fishing and the sale of fish were imposed in many areas in the U.S. and Canada. Government agencies in both countries began to take action to control the discharge of mercury-containing wastes into lakes and streams.

Jan 6, 1973

By A. G. Raine

For the technological age in which we live, with the constant goal of further improvement in the efficiency of mechanized systems, the need for a replacement of the antiquated drill and blast method of shaft construction has been recognized. For over a decade now; the trend in shaft construction has been toward large diameter bored shafts using either raise boring methods or more flexible, rodless "down the hole" boring machine. The limits of conventional shaft sinking have been reached, the mining regulations are more stringent, and the environmental agencies more aggressive, all contributing to the growing need for development of the rodless shaft boring machine. In the last three years in the United States, world shaft construction records have been achieved using a V-Mole machine, designed by Mirth GmbH of West Germany, using American electrics and hydraulics. Shafts of 7.0 meters (23 feet) diameter, totaling 2,255 meters (7,400 feet) in depth have been constructed at high advance rates, yet with unusually low accident rates. Bearing in mind the high cost of today's mining labor and the inherent danger associated with conventional shaft sinking, this alternative method of shaft construction achieves a fast, competitive, low manpower requirement, whilst enhancing a safer environment for the labor force. Recent results have proven that program time savings of 50 percent over conventional shaft sinking can be achieved which can be directly translated into improved client cash flow projections and more accurate project budgeting.

Jan 1, 1984