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By W. H. Caruthers

ECONOMIC utilization of all by-products has long been the goal of American industry. One of the first groups that was popularly supposed to have achieved its aim was the meat-packing industry, which reputedly found a use for everything except the squeal of the hog. To the metallurgist, slag has always been the principal wasted by-product, representing a loss not only of material, but of heat. Slag does not possess many qualities that appeal to man's imagination or suggest a romantic influence on the daily life and progress of a community or nation. It is a bulky product, and space for its disposal within reasonable hauling distance of a smelter is not always available; the iron-ore smelter especially has been wont to find space for slag disposal at a premium. Therefore, the success that has been attained in recent years in finding a use for iron blast-furnace slag is notable. It has become a vital economic factor in the construction industry in areas where it is available. Its use may suggest further possibilities of an economic outlet for the slags from nonferrous smelting as well.

Jan 1, 1940

By AIME

DURING the happy and peaceful years between the Treaty of Versailles and the third New Deal, metallurgy became one of the most cosmopolitan of the sciences. Any metallurgist can name some twenty or thirty scientists whose work, in this country, in England, in Germany, or in France, Sweden, Italy, or Japan was as well known in other parts of the metal-producing and metal using world as it was locally, despite the fact that many of these men never left their native land. One of these metallurgical cosmopolites is Augustus Braun Kinzel, former Chairman of the Iron and Steel Division, A.I.M.E., and now a Director of the Institute. Gus Kinzel, however, is not only a cosmopolite by reputation; he is also a cosmopolite in fact. For many years he commuted at least twice a year between New York and the rest of the world; he is, therefore, not only an expert on the art and science of metallurgy but is equally expert in world travel and can expound with authority on the comparative quality and especially on the cuisine of the great prewar steamship lines; and being a true cosmopolite, he knows, as well as he knows the iron-chromium diagram, the best vintage years in the Gironde, Cote d'Or, and Saone-et-Loire departments in France and along the banks of the Moselle and Rhine in Germany.

Jan 1, 1946

By Bauer, Alan

In considering blasting it is necessary to consider the drilling and explosives since one is generally concerned with the total cost of muck of a certain size in the pit or through the crusher. To get a current idea of the drilling situation in open pit mines plotted in Fig. 1 are the drilling costs per ton of material vs. hole diameter for rotary drill holes in large limestone, iron ore and taconite operations. The exception is the 2-in. diam hole which was drilled with a percussion drill in limestone.

Jan 1, 1968

By Ralph H. Sweetser

MUCH progress in -blast-furnace construction and in the manufacture of firebrick for furnace linings has been made since the publication of Bulletin 130 of the U. S. Bureau of Mines on "Blast-Furnace Breakouts, Explosions and Slips, and Methods of Prevention," by F. H. Willcox in 1917. At the time of publishing this report comparatively little information was available to blast-furnace men as to the fundamental facts relating to the character of blast-furnace refractories. Some of the accepted theories of only a few years ago have been completely reversed. The mortality of blast-furnace linings used to be so great that nearly every furnace plant had one or more complete linings in the brick shed ready for use in case of a lining suddenly "going out"; it was generally accepted that a furnace could not "keep her lines" more than two or three years at best, and often a hot spot in the shell would develop, or a breakout occur in the hearth or bosh within a year or two after blowing in on a new lining. In some respects these frequent relinings were not so detrimental as to he a complete loss because they afforded opportunities to take advantage of advances in blast-furnace practice. At present the cost of relining has greatly increased, but the life of a lining has also increased. Anything less than five years on a lining is now considered a short blast.

Jan 1, 1932

By E. L. Oliver

IN OFFERING a few comments and suggestions on trends in mining practice, and the methods and tools of tomorrow's mining, perhaps it will be appropriate to start with the subject of education. Charles Kettering, one of the best-known scientists and experimentalists in the automotive industry once said, in effect, that tech- 111ca1 schools have to be carefid not to teach a lot of hard and fast rules that may have been true once, but aren't so any more, or won't be presently. Possibly the mining school of the future will concern itself less with what has happened and more with what is going to happen. It will be built about or around problems. Such a school will be judged, not by the number of its students but by the quality of its improvements. To such a school the industry will send for men to solve particular problems. The industry will doubtless at some time sup- port such a school financially though a lot of hard work will be required to organize miners to undertake such financing, primarily because the mining industry, other than that concerned with iron and steel, is too loosely knit. Each company tends to its own knitting too closely for its own good. Wouldn't it be splendid if the mining industry would finance a "problem school" as suggested by Mr. Kettering and others.

Jan 1, 1939

By Neville J. Price

In order that the reader may not be misled, I feel it necessary to comment upon the title of this paper. "Laws of Rock Behavior," one may take as being part of the all-embracing "Law of Nature" and this, according to the Oxford Dictionary, relates to the principles of conduct recognized as being pleasing to God. I feel it would be presumptuous to erect a code of rock behavior on this basis, so turn to a secondary definition, namely that a "Law" is that which is intrinsically reasonable. It is extremely unlikely that any group of geologists, or workers in rock mechanics would be in complete agreement about what could be taken to be "intrinsically reasonable." Therefore, this paper does not present any deified utterances, but rather deals with a few aspects of rock behavior which I consider to be intrinsically reasonable and with which I hope the reader will concur. The mode of behavior of rocks in the Earth's crust covers the range from wholly brittle to completely ductile ; with a deformation time scale which may be measured in milliseconds, for some events such as meteoritic impact, or in millions of years for the tectonic deformation involved in mountain building. A complete survey is, of course, outside the scope of an introductory paper, so I must be both brief and selective in my treatment. Any attempt to establish the mode of rock behavior in the Earth's crust should take into account data and relationships established in laboratory experiments and correlate these with field evidence. Consequently, the first section of this paper presents a brief discussion of the experimental aspects of rock mechanics which are pertinent to the subsequent discussion.

Jan 1, 1970

By Noel Cunningham

MANY excellent descriptions of the mills of the, Porcupine district have been written, but no discussion exclusively devoted to the metallurgical technology has been given. These notes are intended to cover this feature briefly. They are based upon 2 ½ years' mill operation in the district-i.e., practically since the beginning of metallurgical operations. Character of the Porcupine Ore.-There is no oxidized ore in the district, the surface having been deeply planed by glacial action in recent geologic time. The precious-metal content is about in the proportion of 85 of gold to 15? of silver by weight; hence, the silver is practically negligible. There are two classes of Porcupine ore, having very different characteristics; these will be referred to throughout this paper as Class A and Class B. Class A ore is a pure quartz with inclusions of schist. Generally it is heavily fractured .and breaks down readily to sharp, hard grains, about minus 10 plus 20 mesh, requiring further comminution to release the gold. It carries very little pyrite; the gold is entirely free and apt to be coarse, but often spongy, going into solution readily on that account. This gold is 60 per cent. to 85 per cent. free milling, depending on the grade of ore. Class B ore is an iron silicate schist, strongly laminated, carrying 4 to 5 per cent. pyrite; its specific gravity is 2.8 to 3.0, depending upon the amount of mineralization. In breaking the ore in the mine, generally over 25 per cent. of material through a ½ -in. ring is made; the ore readily breaks down in milling and makes a comparatively large amount of non-crystalline slime; owing to its high specific gravity, however, it is quick settling.' In my opinion, the gold in this ore is free, but so finely divided that it will neither pan nor amalgamate; it appears to be disseminated through the rock and not chiefly associated with the pyrite. Veins of Class A ore occur with or without side walls of Class B, and veins of Class B occur unassociated with Class A; more often the veins are closely banded, Class A and Class B alternating, generally with Class B in excess. Both classes of ore are more-or less blocky at times, and with ref¬erence to Class B this is indicative or low gold content.

Jan 3, 1915

By PALMER H. TYLER

WHEN the Mid-Continent Section of the A. I. M. E. met at the roof garden dining room of the Tulsa Club on Monday evening, May 13, most of the members present came prepared with a credulity-stretching yarn of some sort or other, gathered from actual experience. Perhaps it was not realized at the time that such anecdotes would eventually burst into print, but while the excellent dinner was appeasing the inner man the word was passed around that informality and spontaneity of expression would characterize the meeting, with the result that the shackles of convention were eventually cast aside and the meeting waxed better and better until the hour grew ,late, and the chairman, L. G. E. Bignell, originator of the idea, brought to a close what was agreed to be a profitable and entertaining evening. The ball was started rolling by Paul Ruedemann of the program committee, who offered the following:

Jan 1, 1929

By W. B. Mather

R. G. Wuerker (University of Illinois, Urbana)—Mr. Mather is to be congratulated for stressing the most urgent need for a program of testing the physical properties of rocks, as they are encountered by the petroleum engineers on their drilling jobs and by the miners on their excavating, roof control and mineral preparation tasks. Another valuable source of information is the Handbook of Physical Constants.22 It stresses the physicist's approach rather than the engineer's procedure. The study of hardness, and rock hardness in particular, is beset with many difficulties. There is no satisfactory definition of hardness yet, and the term hardness is used to describe a number of quite dif- ferent properties. Hardness tests are grouped into static and dynamic determinations. They should be expressed with reference to the mechanical action of the applied force, like indentation hardness, scratch hardness, abrasion hardness, rebound hardness. A discussion of all these various hardness tests and of the special difficulties encountered in hardness testing of such heterogeneous material as rocks is given in the U. S. Bureau of Mines' standard proposal. The more critical student may be referred to the book by D. Landau: Hardness, which is in my opinion the best existing treatise on this subject.

Jan 1, 1952

By N. H. MacMillan, W. M. Mularie, R. E. Jackson, A. R. C. Westwood

The initial results of a study of the environment-sensitive microhardness and diamond rotary drilling behavior of granite and its constituent minerals quartz and feldspar (microcline)1 have established that many similarities exist between the environment-sensitive mechanical (chemomechanical) behavior of these materials and that of the simpler solids such as periclase, soda-lime glass, and alumina4 studied previously, at least as far as n-alcohol (straight-chain alcohol) environments are concerned. The results of this study (hereafter designated study I) also suggested that the rate of drilling of granite in these environments is controlled by the chemomechanical behavior of its quartz constituent, and is greatest in those environments which impart a zero l-potential to this phase, thereby maximizing its hardness. Now, cationic surface-active species strongly influence the l-potentials of silicate minerals. For this reason they are widely used in mineral separation operations. In particular, dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB) was found in study I to produce f 0 for quartz at a concentration in water of 107 to 10-4 moles per 1. Accordingly, the influence of dilute aqueous solutions of this surfactant on the drilling behavior of granite also was examined in study I. This revealed that granite could be drilled three to four times faster in 10-° molar aqueous DTAB than in water, and confirmed by experiment the suggestion that granite is most effectively drilled with a diamond core bit in environments which impart a zero l-potential to quartz. According to O'Connor and Buchanan' however, the isoelectric point for quartz in aqueous DTAB solutions occurs at a concentration of .•.•2 x 10-° moles per 1, rather than [101 to 10-1] moles per 1. To confirm the results of study I, therefore, a more comprehensive investigation of the [ ]-potentials of quartz, microcline, and Westerly granite in aqueous DTAB environments has now been undertaken. At the same time an examination has been made of one of the basic assumptions of the current conceptual understanding of chemomechanical effects. In this view, although hardness changes occur essentially instantaneously following wetting of the solid, they are confined to a surface layer at most a few micrometers (µm) deep. Hence, to maximize the influence of chemomechanical effects on bit penetration rate only shallow cuts should be taken. Practical penetration rates are then obtained by increasing bit rotation speed. Experimental l-potentials were determined by the streaming potential technique using an automated rapid-cycling apparatus recently developed by Martin Marietta Laboratory from a design by Somasundaran and Kulkarni. The drilling studies employed 3.2-mm-OD 120-grit diamond-loaded core bits with a wall thickness of ~0.7 mm, and bit rotation speeds of 2200 and 25,000 rpm. The load applied to the bit was independent of the depth drilled in both cases. The 2200 rpm measurements employed the same drill press and puddle drilling technique as used in study I. The higher rotation speed was obtained using a water-driven dental turbine drill. In the case, the surface active fluid was pumped down the axis of the bit to ensure efficient wetting and flushing of the drilling debris from the hole. In both cases drilling rate was measured by the parameter D(200), defined as the average rate of bit penetration during the interval from 150 to 250 sec after drilling commenced.

Jan 1, 1976

By Joseph A. Holmes

(Pittsburg Meeting, March, 1910.) AT the Mining Experiment Station of the U. S. Geological Survey, in Pittsburg, an investigation of the process of combustion is being carried on in a specially-designed furnace having an unusually long combustion-chamber. This work is conducted by a committee consisting of H. Kreisinger, mechanical engineer; Dr. J. C. W. Frazer, chemist; and Dr. J. K. Clement, physicist. The problem, essentially one of physical chemistry, is extremely interesting to all who are concerned in the burning of coal or the construction of furnaces. The main object of these experiments is to ascertain the relation between the amount of the volatile combustible driven from the coal and the combustion-spaces necessary to burn it completely. Our best steam-coals vary from 15 to 45 per cent. of fixed combustible. The greater part of the latter is burned on the grate; but the volatile combustible leaves the freshly-charged coal and must be burned in the combustion-space. If this space is not large enough, the volatile combustible will leave the furnace only partly burned, and the result will be a considerable heat-loss and a smoky stack. Strictly speaking, the factor which determines the completeness of combustion of the volatile matter, after it has been mixed with a certain amount of air, is the length of time the mixture is allowed to remain in the combustion-space; but this length of time depends on the extent of the space itself. Let us suppose, for instance, that, when a given coal is burned at a certain standard rate, the volume of the volatile combustible driven off per second is 10 cu. ft. Adding, say, 10 cu. ft. of air, the volume of the resulting burning mixture is increased to 20 cu. ft. If the combustion-space is 20 cu. ft., the burning mixture will stay in it,

May 1, 1910

By William J. Robinson

What is the cumulative rate of recovery of copper from a sulfide leach dump? The technical answers to this frequently asked question may vary from "I don't know" to "quite good" from people of the same company. Management also poses this question because it plays a vital role in planning future production. The answer is difficult because of the many variables between different operations such as physical construction of the dump, topography of the original site, characteristics of dump material, mineralization, and water application. Each of these factors and others have a bearing on the rate of recovery. Anaconda's method of water distribution at Butte is unique in that each dump is drilled to allow physical injection of water into the dump. The injection holes are drilled vertically on 25-ft centers from the surface of the dump [(Figs. 1 and 2)]. Normally, the holes are drilled 40 ft deep and cased with 4-in. PVC perforated pipe. The pipe is perforated at 1-ft intervals with four 1 -in.-diam holes at 90° spacing on the pipe circumference. Formerly, shallow holes (20-40 ft) were alternated with deep holes (80-180 ft) in an effort to cover the entire dump and hasten oxidation. The shallow hole depth varied according to the compaction thickness. The deep hole depth varied according to the height of the dump and the original ground profile. It is preferable to have the deep holes end 20-30 ft above the original ground level. This generally allows penetration of the coarse material at the bottom of the dump. Deep holes had to be discontinued in order to cover more

Jan 1, 1974

By E. R. Kaiser

COAL research during 1942 was directed in an important degree toward the solution of problems of wartime importance. A wider selection of coals for carbonization to meet the increased demand for coke, and the improved utilization of lower-grade coals for boiler fuel were made possible by fundamental studies on cod and ash behavior that had been started several years ago. The coal industry's interest in the work of the various laboratories brightened significantly as results were demonstrated on smokeless combustion in stoves, on stokers without coke trees, and on pulverized firing of forge furnaces. Despite the limitations of priorities and scarcity of materials, the mineral industries building of the West Virginia University was completed and equipped with facilities for research on coal min

Jan 1, 1943

By Albert L. Toenges

COAL mining technique progressed slowly until the advent of mechanized mining. The cutting machine was a forward step, but had only a limited effect upon improving the percentage of coal recovery. Previously, the physical fitness of the loaders and the total output of the miners fixed mine production. The miner was an independent contractor and supervision over his working place was superficial. Rising costs and the inroads of substitute fuels demanded increased output per man to lower the unit production cost. Therefore, the amount of coal loaded mechanically in underground bituminous mines has risen from 0.3 per-cent in 1923 to 7.4 in 1929, to 20.2 in 1937, and to 48.9 percent in 1943. When loading devices were introduced it became necessary to adapt them to existing systems of mining, or to alter the mining system to fit the machine. An increased amount of supervision was required as output depended upon proper operation of the machine rather than on the physical fitness of the individual.

Jan 1, 1946

By C. M. Fellman

THE over-all picture of safety in mining has been encouraging during the past few years, and in mining activities as a whole the trend in accident occurrence is downward. This is the more noteworthy when the type of labor used in mines during the war period is taken into consideration. The drafting of young mining employees into the armed services and the departure of others for work in other war industries took a heavy toll of young, husky, active men. Their places were taken in large part by older men who returned to the mines, or by inexperienced men with little if any knowledge of mining. Despite the lack of labor and especially of skilled labor, and the difficulty of obtaining new equipment as well as maintaining and replacing worn or broken equipment, and numerous other difficulties the mining industry not only reached and maintained maximum production but made the increase with little if any sacrifice of safety. In fact, in many instances better safety records were. established than in normal

Jan 1, 1946

By John G. Baragwanath

THE September issue of the Engineering and Mining Journal carried an item regarding the Cercapuquio Mining Co. which was mentioned as a large producer of lead, zinc, and cadmium, situated near Huancayo, Peru. The paragraph caught my eye because I had not heard of the property in thirty years and I recollect all too well the circumstances of its accouchement. In 1916 1 was making my headquarters in the town of Huancayo, then the terminus of the Central Railway of Peru, and was examining mines and prospects in that general area for Cerro de Pasco. In the course of my work I became acquainted with an engaging and energetic "practical" miner named Balarin, a Dalmatian living in Huan¬cayo, and made numerous trips in his excellent company. One day Balarin came to the down-at-heels hostelry where I stopped and told me that a Cholo prospector, a character by the name of Jose, had just reached town and claimed to have made a discovery in a little known locality called Cercapuquio. Lead-silver, Balarin said, and showed me a sample of galena about the size of his fist. "Fine," I remarked. "When do we leave?"

Jan 1, 1947

By D. L. Pentz

The use of "probability" methods in slope stability analysis has been practised by geotechnical engineers for some time. This paper questions whether the term probability has been properly used since in many cases the term is used in a classical statistical manner only to describe frequency distributions of data. This paper proposes a definition of the term probability which includes the engineers' subjective state of confidence for all critical parameters. Such parameters may include the slope stability model, undetected structural features, strength, groundwater pressure distribution, and geological framework. This process does not make a "better" analysis but it does force the geotechnical engineer to state his opinion in such a manner that others can understand and if necessary, criticize the assumptions. Further, this technique forces the question, "What impact would failure of a slope have on the production schedule or costs of a mine?" The level of risk taken in adopting a particular slope design strategy in a mine is not a question of what Factor of Safety should be selected but, rather, what trade-offs result from steeper slopes and the associated costs of failure. This paper also presents several simple probabilistic techniques which, though widely used in other fields have been all but ignored in geotechnical slope stability analyses. These include the use of stratified sampling to optimize Monte Carlo uncertainty approaches, and the use of simple functional approximations rather than complex stability models in probabilistic analysis. The author presents a case example of this technique and discusses the results in comparison with more traditional methods.

Jan 1, 1983

By Roger L. Beals, George A. Tweedy

I. INTRODUCTION. THE results of the cyanide-operations, given in detail in the following paper, show the progress that is being made at the Minas del Tajo. The old pan-amalgamation process, in operation up to and including 1905, while paying a profit on high-grade ores, was no longer able to treat profitably the ores in sight at that time, hence an alteration in the process was imperative. The success of this alteration is eloquently expressed by the following data Pan- Amalgamation. Cyanidation. 1905. 1907. 1903. Tons treated, . . 51,387 53,983 69,300 Value per ton (U. S. currency),. $10.75 $8.39 $8.28 Extraction, per cent., 65.00 88.50 S7.45 Extraction, per ton. .- $7.00 $7.4.; $7.24 Total cost, per ton treated, 6.50 4.311 4.01 Profit, per ton treated, . . 0.50 3.07 3.23.;

Feb 1, 1910

By EDWARAD A. SIVEDENBORMG

REPORTS have been made at different times on the progress of water encroachment in the Frontier sands in the Salt. Creek oil field, Natrona county, Wyoming. All previous reports have, -however, been largely based on the position of water in the sands as determined by various physical tests. Subsequent information has been secured through a preliminary investigation of the porosity, grain size and degree of saturation of the Frontier sands. Also, a closer differentiation has been made between the waters encountered incident to the production of oil by means of chemical analysis. In view of the more recent developments there has been a need of a water encroachment map of the first Wall Creek based on a field survey and additional information acquired since the water encroachment map of the sand of 1926, by J. S. Ross and E. W. Henderson, petroleum engineers of the U. S. Geological Survey. The present report is confined to a study of the first Wall Creek sand and was written in connection with the preparation of the map, showing water encroachment in this sand. The first Wall Creek sand was the discovery sand in the field, the first well having been drilled in 1908. Its thickness averages 120 ft. and, varies between 90 and 160 ft. The sand is in the Colorado group of the Upper Cretaceous series and is further considered as a part of the Frontier formation found in other parts of Wyoming.

Jan 1, 1930

(Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of, the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Development and production. Member open for engagement. Past year in war mineral field work, operation and production. Ten years' thorough experience in both subordinate and executive positions, gold, silver and copper in the United States, Mexico, and South America. Age 37, married. Minimum salary $3600. Interview. South or East. A-577. Engineer and executive. Captain U. S. Army, age 36, expects discharge before July 1. Seven years' mining and metallurgical experience. Six years with large technical college as assistant professor of mining and directing extensive experimental work. Desires position as executive or research engineer with reliable company or as professor of mining with first-class college. A-909. Mining engineer. Twenty-five years' experience including mine and works operation, construction, plant installation, and mine examination. Speaks Spanish. A-1173. Metallurgical engineer. Twelve years' laboratory and operating experience, covering copper blast furnace, roasting, reverberatory smelting and latest Cottrell treater practice on copper dust and zinc dust. Technical graduate. 36 years of age, married. Highest recommendations. Open for immediate engagement. A-2354. Mining engineer. Junior Associate. At liberty about July 1. Captain Heavy Artillery. Single, age 24. Go anywhere. Best refer-ences. A-2843. Engineer. Age 26, single, graduate Missouri School of Mines, B. S. in Mis. Met. E. Desires position with oil or metal company in any capacity. Location immaterial. At present engaged, desires change. A-2844.

Jan 7, 1919