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By John J. Schanz

THE highly publicized shortage of students enrolled in engineering curricula has brought about a rapid increase in the enrollment in engineering schools in many parts of the country. Though most of the various curricula in the mineral industries field have participated in this increase, the experience at Pennsylvania State University has been that the nonmineral types of engineering have been increasing at a much more rapid rate than those in the College of Mineral Industries. [ ] It has been a matter of some concern to the staff of the College of Mineral Industries that enrollment in the curricula of the school has not been increasing at a rate commensurate with that experienced in the College of Engineering. If the lack of trained young graduates for our vital mineral industries is to be overcome, this situation must be remedied.

Jan 8, 1954

By Donald B. Gillies

The fundamentals of human nature don't change much from generation to generation, or even from century to century. Except for the spur of necessity and the lure of reward and ad venture, few of us would bestir ourselves unduly. The general welfare has little appeal to the average individual. Its promotion comes about mainly as a by-product to individual efforts directed at more personal benefits and satisfactions. In discussing incentives for the mining industry, we really are talking about incentives for people who devote their energies and resources to mining. The vigorous and productive mining industry as we have known it was the product of the varied incentives we have known in the past: the lure of great financial reward if you struck it rich; the thrill of romance and adventure in the search for mineral wealth, usually along the frontiers 'of civilization; the satisfaction of developing a great, productive enterprise by the application of skill, courage, and determination in the face of obstacles. Back of the prospector and engineer were other venturesome persons willing to take a flyer with their savings in a grubstake, or in stock in a promising mining venture, hoping for large returns, but reconciled to take a loss and try again with the next opportunity. It is free enterprise-a chance for high profits, but a chance also of total loss-that created the great mining industry of this country and of the world. Free enterprise has given us, in the United States, the greatest productive system in the world, the highest standard of living, the most abundant life. The lure of gold-whether from the ground or merely incidental to the discovery and development of our mineral resources-pushed our frontiers westward across the country and northward into Canada and Alaska far in advance of the staid course of agriculture and commerce. No one guaranteed success to our forebears as they risked life and fortune in developing a new country. Self-reliance was the backbone of our economic and spiritual Progress and achievements. Our neighbors had little time to spare from their own problems. And though there was a willingness among the pioneers to help one another, they didn't lean too much on one another.

Jan 5, 1950

By J. R. Thoenen

THE consensus of opinion in the published literature on. Grecian magnesite is that it has been formed by alteration of the serpentine, which in turn was itself a product, of metamorphism from the original olivine intrusion. The general opinion seems to be that the magnesite was formed by descending waters heavily charged with CO2. Inasmuch as this opinion is held by engineers far better qualified than I to speak authoritatively on this subject, I hesitate to dispute that theory. However, certain occurrences coming under my observation do not, to me at least, seem to-entirely substantiate this theory. LOCATION Most of the Grecian magnesite comes from the Island of Euboea, although more recently some deposits have been opened on the mainland near the City of Saloniki, which prior to the war was Turkish. The island, comprising a state or province in the Greek political structure, is roughly 110 miles long and varies from 10 to 30 miles in width. It lies off the east coast of the Greek peninsula in the AEgean Sea with its long axis extending in a northwest-southeast direction. It is separated from the mainland by a long narrow arm of the sea known as the Atalanti Canal. Chalkis (Halkis), the capital on the west coast of the island, is the northern terminus of a branch of the state-owned railway and is connected with the mainland by a single-span, movable, highway bridge, roughly 150 ft. long.

Jan 1, 1928

The regular meeting of the Trustees of United Engineering Society was called to order at 4 P. M. Thursday, Feb. 27, 1919, in the Board Room of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Engineering Societies' Building, New York. Minutes of a joint meeting of the Finance Committee of United Engineering Society with finance committees of Founder Societies on Feb. 14, were presented. The President called attention to actions relating to the recataloging of the Library and the support of Engineering Societies Employment Bureau of Engineering Council. The activity of the Employment Bureau was approved and support by the Societies informally assured. In response to a communication from the Fifth Avenue Association, the Secretary was instructed to write favoring the continuance of the daylight saving law. As to recataloging of Engineering Societies Library, it was announced that the Mining, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineers had voted appropriations, as requested, and the action of the Civil Engineers was awaited. A list of applications for offices in Engineering Societies' Building, revised to Feb. 27, was read, showing requests for a total of 29 rooms. The President stated that a decision must be reached soon as to what reply shall he made to these applications. Charles F. Scott, one of the original trustees, who was present, remarked upon the growth of United Engineering Society and his satisfaction at its success. ALFRED D. FLINN, Secretary.

Jan 4, 1919

By W. F. Boericke

WORLD production of silver in 1929 totaled 256 million ounces. In 1928 production was 258 million ounces, and in 1927, 254 million ounces. With an actual decrease in the amount of silver produced last year, as compared with 1928, and an increase over 1927 of less than one per cent, obviously there has been no overproduction of the metal in the popular sense. But the price of silver tells a different story. For 1927, the average quotation was 56.37 cents; it was 58.17 in 1928, and 53.0 in 1929. During the last year it reached a high point of 57 cents in January, and fell steadily, without interruption to the downward trend, to a low of 47 cents in December. Since then it has dropped to an all time low of 43 cents on February 6.

Jan 1, 1930

Feb. 5, 1917. To the President, Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C. We, the presidents of the national societies of Civil, Mining, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers and of the United Engineering Society, with a membership of thirty thousand, cordially unite in supporting Congress and the Administration in its stand for freedom and safety on the seas, and we are confident that we represent the membership of the four societies in offering to assist toward the organization of engineers for service to our Country in case of war. GEORGE H. PEGRAM, President of the American Society of Civil Engineers. L. D. RICKETTS, President of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. IRA N. HOLLIS, President of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. H. W. BUCK, President of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. CHARLES F. RAND, President of the United Engineering Society.

Jan 3, 1917

By A. P. Boller

In the victories of peace as well as of war, the science of engineering has played a prominent, if, indeed, not the leading part. While it might be interesting, and food for profitable thought, to trace the development of engineering from early times in its bearings upon the social betterment of mankind, it will be sufficient on the present occasion to suggest a few thoughts that it is hoped will aid the unprofessional listener to an appreciative consideration of the subject-matter laid down for to-day's discussion, and possibly lead the professional brother to a higher conception of the profession to which he belongs. Since the advent of the railway era, it is difficult to grasp the sequence of historic events that have led to the wondrous derelopment of mechanical science, making possible the civilization that is our daily boast, and opening up a vista of future intellectual and moral advancement among the nations of the earth, 'before which the imagination becomes hopelessly lost. Even now, looking back over a period of only half a century, we often fail to realize the vast change in the relations of individuals and nations to each other., brought about by the results of those mechanical discoveries which, having made the whole world kin, exercise a resistless levelling influence that bears fruit politically in the spread of republican ideas, and morally in the elevation of the individual through the facilities given to the dissemination of Christian ideas and general intelligence. In this view, it seems almost like a work of supererogation for a body of representative men of one department of that science to which the whole world owe. so much, to meet here at the centre of our national life to plead not only for a practical recognition of the national importance of the work to which their lives are devoted, but also for national aid, on a scale beyond that of private effort, to the end that mechanical science may be carried to a higher plane than ever yet attained, each step on the way being of material benefit to every man, woman, and child in the community. Possibly this is strong language, but none too strong when we consider that the work for which we plead is one affecting not only vast scientific and commercial interests, but also human life, to a degree little ap

Jan 1, 1882

By M. R. Pickus, I. W. Pickus

ORDINARILY age-hardening is thought of as being associated with a limited solubility of one metal in another. Much less has been written about the type of age-hardening that attends the formation of superstructures. Solid solutions generally have a disordered or random arrangement of atoms; that is to say, in a unit cell, such as that of the face-centered cubic lattice, there is no distinction between atomic sites. Atoms of a given metal may occupy cube corners or face centers. Under certain conditions, however, some alloys develop what is known as an ordered structure. In this case, cube corners would be occupied by only one type of atom and face centers by another type, Associated with this ordering process are many interesting changes in physical and electrical properties. Moreover, in many instances the alloys become susceptible to age-hardening. From the evidence now to be described, it appears that age-hardening in 14-carat gold alloys is due to the formation of both a super-structure and a precipitate. Alloys of the metals gold, silver and copper were known in antiquity. The available knowledge regarding their constitution has been ably summarized and extended by Sterner-Rainer,1 Janecke,2 Carter,3 Wise,4 and Coleman.5 Despite the long familiarity with these alloys and the numerous investigations of their properties that have been made, there is still much that remains unexplained. It has been known for a long time that the hardness of these alloys is closely related to the rate of cooling, Similar changes have been observed in the binary gold-copper system,6 one alloy of which corresponding to the formula Cu3Au, has been the subject of a careful and competent report by the English investigators, Sykes and Evans.7 They have established the fact that the shift of atoms from the ordered to the disordered condition takes place in some critical temperature range. At temperatures above the critical range the structure is random, and at temperatures below it the structure is ordered. No difference between these two structures is revealed by the microscope. Both have a face-centered cubic lattice and complete solubility, so that there is no evidence to suggest that the changes in properties are associated with a phase change, The more slowly the alloy is cooled, the higher is the degree to which the ordering process proceeds and the more marked is the increase in hardness. As experimental data were accumulated on 14-carat gold alloys, several contradictions arose. Certain observations tended to confirm the existence of a superstructure, while other observations seemed to be inconsistent with such a transformation. PRESENT INVESTIGATION As a focal point about which to develop this subject, it is expedient to consider first

Jan 1, 1943

By Jack Fox

Although this is going to appear in the December Issue of &E, it is being written long before the end of the year. December, of course, is the time for a summing up of the year's activities. Perhaps, the best way to begin is to report on what went on at the SME Board of Directors Meeting in St. Louis on October 20. This won't be a chronological report, and I shall take time to comment on some of the items we cover as we go along. You should be encouraged to know that your Directors take their duties seriously. Of the 21 current Directors, 19 were present, and three of the new 1971 Directors came to observe what goes on at an SME Board Meeting.

Jan 1, 1970

By Robert M. Weidenhammer

For years before the war, Coal had the reputation of being a sick industry. Currently it is operating at peak production and succeeding pretty well in keeping out of the red. But, says Mr. Weidenhammer, it will have a relapse as soon as the war ends unless (1) working capital can be built up; (2) it gets the support of the people and Congress; and (3) a truly long-range national fuel policy is formulated.

Jan 1, 1943

By L. R. Raymond, G. G. Binder

One primary purpose of hydraulic fracturing as a well stimulation technique is to overcome formation damage. The literature provides ways of designing fracture treatments and evaluating their results but not of incorporating formation damage in vertically fractured wells. Results of an investigation of this problem are presented in this paper. Prediction of stimulation ratios in vertically fractured, damaged wells is accomplished with a mathematical model relating stimulation ratio to relative conductivity of fractures whose lengths are not more than about half the drainage radius of the well. Comparison of results from the new model to results in published predictions verify its utility; these results also show that the range of stimulation ratios that can be predicted for undamaged wells is extended to include relative conductivities of less than 300. This extension is important when using fracturing to stimulate wells with high production rates and high native formation permeabilities. For example, large increases in daily oil production rate can be obtained with stimulation ratio increases as low as 1.25. The importance of complete fracture fill-up (uniform proppant packing) is shown through use of the mathematical model. If, at the mouth of a fracture, only a small fraction (1/2 percent) of the total fracture length is not packed with proppant, nearly all the polential stimulation increase is lost. Proppant crushing, compaction and embedment have been shown in laboratory studies to be responsible for low fracture conductivities in wells producing from highly stressed formations. Equipment and methods for testing the effect of stress (overburden) on conductivity of fructures in consolidated and unconsolidated sands are discussed in this paper. Laboratory tests with simlilated fractures in cores from both types of formations showed that crushing, compaction and embedment seriously affect conductivity. Results indicate that similar laboratory tests should be made when accurate knowledge of fracture conductivity is needed to assure good stimulation results for important wells. The chief factor in stimulation ratio reduction was found to be overburden pressure, but the size and type of proppant and the hardness of the formation have significant effects. Fracture conductivity reductions of up to 50 percent were observed with sand propping fractures in consolidated cores; a reduction of 83 percent was measured for an unconsolidated core. The range of effective overburden pressures for which conductivities were measured was from 100 to 5,000 psi. An example fracture design and evaluation problem indicates the usefulness of considering formation damage in planning well stimulation jobs. When damage exists, but its extent and the degree of permeability reduction are not estimated from diagnostic tests, the formation permeability used in planning the job may lead to under-designing. As the example shows, too low a target stimulation ratio can lead to much lower production rates (by half) than could be attained otherwise. Solutions of equations representing several special cases of the mathematical model are presented in graphical form and details of the derivations of the equations are given in the Appendix. INTRODUCTION Since its inception in 1947, hydraulic fracturing has proven to be an effective and widely accepted stimulation technique. In the past 18 years the ability to execute a successful hydraulic fracturing treatment has been substantially increased. The development of design and evaluation procedures1,2 has been one of the major contributions to this increased skill. However, as the art of hydraulic fracturing has moved closer to a science, new problems concerning the design and evaluation of the optimal hydraulic fracturing treatment have arisen. Three questions are pertinent to these problems. I. How is a fracturing job evaluated in a damaged well? 2. What is the effect on the stimulation ratio of not filling the fracture in the vicinity of the wellbore? 3. What is the effect of overburden pressure on fracture conductivity and, consequently, the stimulation ratio? A primary objective of fracturing a well is to stimulate production by overcoming wellbore damage. Presently. however, there is no rational basis for designing or evaluating the optimal fracturing treatment in a damaged well. All present fracture design and evaluation techniques assume that proppants can be uniformly placed in fractures. This assumption may be in serious error, particularly for the portion of a fracture directly adjacent to the wellbore. In this area, turbulence of the injected fluid can cause the proppant to be swept farther into the fracture. Also, loss of fluid from the fracture to the

By H. C. Fowler

No exact demarcation can be made between producfion engineering and engineering research projects which interest production engineers because the results of today's engineering research make possible many of the applied production engineering methods of tomorrow. A corollary of the development of fundamental research is that so-called practical research becomes necessary. Assuming engineering research to include all subjects related to oil and gas production on which knowledge is being increased through experimentation and through analyses of data obtained from both the laboratory and the field, a review of the work of 1932 shows that the fundamental concepts of at least three major problems have become better understood—bottom-hole pressures, solubility of gas in oil, and fluid movement—and that the established data on the relationships of oil and gas have been applied to obtain more efficient and more economic production of both. Engineers no longer are concerned primarily with the initial development of devices for obtaining the pressures at the bottom of wells. Advancement in the technique of obtaining reliable pressure readings in wells has been rapid. One of the first public suggestions regarding apparatus for obtaining precise information at the bottom of oil wells was made before the Petroleum Division of the A.I.M.E. in 1928. Even during the early development stages in East Texas, reservoir pressures were estimated from well-head observations. Soon, however, a number of proved devices and methods were available, and today bottom-hole pressures in many fields are being recorded and studied as an essential part of the production programs. The research now turns to interpretations of data, obtained with these devices, in terms of reservoir energy and to the development of methods whereby the oil and gas will be withdrawn in accordance with rational and equitable programs based on oil-gas-energy relationships. The term ((bottom-hole pressures" should not be interpreted as indicating the full scope of all research on this problem. By using pressure (and temperature) data obtained in related vertical-flow studies,

Jan 1, 1933

By W. A. Burns

Vertical flow is an important mechanism in many petroleum reservoirs. Yet no adequate method has heretofore been proposed for determining the in-situ vertical permeability in a reasonable length of time. Core measurements of vertical permeability do not necessarily represent effective in-situ values. Cores may be representative of only localized pockets of high or low permeability, and total reliance on cores might cause one to overlook the presence of vertical fractures altogether. Conventional single-well tests, interference tests, and pulse tests commonly are used to determine horizontal transmissibility, khh/u, but generally are not designed to measure vertical trans-missibility or other groups containing vertical permeability, ku. A new well test described here provides a measure of in-situ vertical permeability as well as the previously measurable horizontal permeability. This "vertical test" determines the vertical diffusivity, kv/gcu, and horizontal transmissibility, khd1/u (where dl is the length of injection or production perforations). The test is basically a short-term interference or pulse test normally lasting less than a day. Conventional down-hole equipment is used between two isolated sets of perforations in the same well, as shown in Fig. 1. A "layer-cake" description of a reservoir can be obtained by running two or more vertical tests in the same well, each over different vertical intervals. Each test can be analyzed for the effective vertical and horizontal properties of the interval tested. In addition, a vertical well test can determine the effective- ness of a shale barrier or tight zone by testing across it. Field use to date of vertical testing has confirmed its utility in reservoir description. Mathematical Basis Interpretation of vertical tests for ku and kh is based on comparison of measured pressure response with computer-generated response. Pressure behavior during a vertical test in a homogeneous, anisotropic, infinite-acting reservoir (infinite in radial extent and bounded in both directions vertically) is given by the diffusion equation for slightly compressible fluids with negligible gravity effects.l A schematic diagram of the problem is presented in Fig. 2, and an analytic solution, based on the image

Jan 1, 1970

By Rztssell H. Bennett

A SURVEY of the Mesabi Range iron-ore industry demonstrates that a satisfactory degree of technical progress has been achieved in the last fifteen years. This advance has not been made over a uniform front, but, by salients and bays, according to the different initial positions, economic and technical, of the component producing companies. The producers endowed with rich ore have in general, because of natural advantages, progressed more slowly than their neighbors with leaner properties. The advance has been made step by step all along the line -blasting, loading, hauling and concentrating-and without the benefit of radical innovation. There have been, for instance, no such parallel discoveries in iron ore as leaching and flotation in copper. The much lower unit price of iron operates, of course, to bar the application of these and other practices developed for the higher-priced metals. There exists, however, a radically new concentration process whose technology is well worked out and which may become economically operative in the not too distant future; this, as so often happens in engineering advance, because of recent developments in an entirely unrelated field. First, however, let me devote a paragraph or two to the more important economies effected in mining.

Jan 1, 1932

By George A. Roberts

The development of an alloy system, high-speed steel, is used as an example of the progress of physical metallurgy. Tracing the history of men and their thoughts as they studied and invented and modified these materials, the story of high-speed steel since the 1890's is seen to be a long, slow, but steady progression of achievements. Today's multiplicity of high-speed steels are the result. Data are presented on quantitative metallography of carbides in high-speed steel with high vanadium content using the QTM instrument. Grindability as well as mechanical properties are related to the content of excess MC and M6C carbides in a series of high-speed steels and the newer matrix steels. These emphasize the present state of knowledge and show the current stages of thought that may affect the development in succeeding years. It is a great thrill for me, an ex-research metallurgist and ex-practicing metallurgical engineer, to speak to an audience currently engaged in both pursuits on the occasion of the 43rd Howe Memorial Lecture before the Iron and Steel Division of the AIME. I shall not review Henry Marion Howe's distinguished career, so adequately reviewed in Maxwell Gensamer's contribution in the 1965 AIME History of Metallurgy, except to point out that, while leading the life of an intellectual, he worked as a practicing research metallurgist and a practicing metallurgical engineer for significant periods of time and contributed greatly in both areas. For those of you who believe, as I do, that in the intellectual activity of metallurgy we are blessed with an intimate mixture of science and engineering (see Mehl's 1960 Howe Lecture), we might recall that Howe, while pursuing a life of writing and teaching in later years, served as the first Chairman of the Division of Engineering of the National Academy of Sciences. That metallurgists were called upon then to lead an engineering recognition movement is perhaps related to the strong part played by the AIME and its members in the recent establishment of a National Academy of Engineering and to the fact that a metallurgist is its head, 47 years after Howe served. I stress these engineering aspects for I wish to talk about a metallurgical engineering subject today. Alloy systems, physical metallurgy, and steel blended with an historical perspective and a report on new techniques to improve the old will, I trust, be of sufficient interest to bring these lectures back to the physical-metallurgy banner from which they have departed for 4 years. Those process metallurgists, open-hearth fiends, and physical chemists among you will just have to be patient. The development of an alloy system is the engineering application of scientific thought and fact. There are many interesting alloy systems, developed to a high degree of technology and sophistication over the past 40 to 70 years. These systems are bound together and related by a similar set of characteristics. For example, stainless steels are a system in which the members are related by a high chromium content which gives a corrosion-resistant characteristic. A subfamily in this system would be austenitic steels

Jan 1, 1967

By Jack Fox

It is some time since these columns have contained a report to the members on just what is doing in the Society of Mining Engineers. Accordingly, even though it is now a month and a half after the Annual Meeting in Denver, it seems that a report on what transpired at the SME Board Meeting there is in order. First off, I'd like to say that the Members of the Society of Mining Engineers can be justly proud of their representatives on the SME Board of Directors. Of 21 members and officers on the "Old" Board of Directors, 19 were present. President Brower Dellinger chaired the "Old" Board Meeting. Of the 21 members on the "New" Board of Directors, every single one was present. James Boyd, the outgoing AIME President, attended and expressed his appreciation of the support that the Society of Mining Engineers had given him during his year as President of AIME. Members Multiply Robert S. Shoemaker, Chairman of the SME Membership Committee, pointed out that based on figures available, the Society of Mining Engineers had a net gain of 523 members during 1969 while SPE had a 490 net gain and The Metallurgical Society a net loss of 159. This is probably the first time in the last 20 years that anyone has exceeded the SPE net gain in membership. While SME still has a way to go to surpass the Society of Petroleum Engineers in number of members, we did have, on December 1, 1969, 16,369 members. However, 419 were dropped at the end of that month leaving us with a net for the year of 15,950.

Jan 1, 1970

The Institute maintains for the use of members (and especially for the use of out-of-town members) a reading and writing room, where all usual office facilities are available, including telephone, telegraph, receipt, forwarding and care of mail and express packages, etc. A file of current magazines is also maintained in this room, and the Institute's staff will lend its best efforts to serving the members in connection therewith. The Institute also maintains for the use of its members free dressing rooms, library research department, etc. Attention is called to these facilities at the present time in the belief. that they may be especially useful to out-of-town members in connection with the Meeting.

Jan 5, 1918

By John J. Reed

The mines of southeast Missouri's Lead Belt have been in operation since 1864, almost 100 years. During this period about 10 pct of the total ore available has been left in place as pillars, and this now represents the best ore reserve left to the older mines. St. Joseph Lead Co. has been investigating various plans of pillar recovery for several years. The example to be described is only one possible approach under a specific set of conditions. Conditions vary greatly in the different areas within the Lead Belt, and the same approach would be entirely in- adequate in certain other areas, but there are important sections where this system is clearly applicable.

Jan 7, 1959

By A. C. Butterworth

M OST operators of open-pit mines in the Lake Superior iron ore district are quite familiar with the use of fuel oil in the heavy-duty Diesel engines commonly used in truck-haulage service but some operators, including my own company, Pickands Mather, have had butane-engine trucks in service for several years, and less is known of their operation. One of the first installations of trucks for iron-ore haulage was in 1939 at a deep open-pit mine on the Cuyuna Range. These superseded standard-gauge steam haulage. Trucks then obtainable were equipped with 150-hp Diesel engines, and the speed of these units on an 8 % grade would have been so slow, considering the depth of the pit, that plans for an all-truck haul out of the pit were rejected. About this time one of the engine manufacturers brought out an auto-

Jan 1, 1948

By Robert H. Richards

OF the several professions-the chemist, the civil engineer, the mining engineer, the mechanical engineer-the courses of instruction, as arranged at the scientific schools, differ considerably as to the amount of practical information which the student is able to gain. The analytical chemist has facility for a very thorough review of the processes which he will be called upon to perform. The student in civil engineering by his field practical learns the use of his tools and the art of taking field-notes. The mechanical engineering student is in the vicinity of machine-shops, which he can visit, and at which . he can work. The student in mining engineering has no such advantages. The mines are at a distance, and the railroad fare to get to them is oftentimes an insuperable difficulty. The aim of these laboratories is essentially to give to the student in mining and metallurgy a chance to study on a small scale the practical parts of his profession. We cannot, in a small laboratory, build a mine to timber, to work, and to survey; we cannot make artificial quicksands and other impediments to mining. In short, we cannot study exploration; but we can study the mechanical preparation and the subsequent smelting of ores. Before presenting the plan of these laboratories it may be interesting to indicate the progress of the idea from its beginning. During the summer of 1870 President Runkle visited the mines of Colorado, and while there, conceived the idea of making an expedition with the mining students to some of the Western mining regions. He talked over the scheme with many railroad and mining men, and everywhere received encouragement. In the summer of 1871 the Institute party visited the mines of Colorado, and spent six weeks in taking notes of them. President Runkle here conceived the idea of building up a mining and metallurgical laboratory ; and by the aid of Booth & Co. of San Francisco, a stamp-mill was obtained, with the Washoe silver-working apparatus. During the year