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By F. C. Smyers, E. W. Merrick

ALTHOUGH the zinc and pyrite concentrates produced at Midvale go to other companies, the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company smelts and refines its own lead. Refining is the first step of the process that is done at some distance from the mining operations, the plant being at East Chicago, Ind., an industrial center about 25 miles southeast of Chicago. For years it has been notable as being the only lead refinery in the country using the Betts electrolytic process. The original buildings, many of which are still in use, were erected in 1906 when the plant was known as the United States Metals Refining Co. In 1920 the parent company sold its copper refinery at Chrome, N. J., and since the copper refinery was also known as the U. S.

Jan 1, 1948

By Arthur Connolly

WHEN scientific literature was lacking or meager, research necessarily meant laboratory investigation above all else. Today, scientific literature has attained tremendous proportions, and the volume increases at a much faster rate than it is digested and efficiently utilized. For that reason the present-day research worker should spend much more time in the library, and correspondingly less in the laboratory, than is the general custom. Library research would overcome two serious errors often made by scientists: duplication of work described completely and failure to appreciate inventions described almost verbatim in the literature. To emphasize these failings that often occur in present-day research, consider a hypothetical scientist as he conducts his search from inception to the stage where it is made available to the public by patent or other publication.

Jan 1, 1942

By GILBERT E. SEIL

GREAT advances in the preparation of ores for reduction to ferro-alloys have been made, although standard methods of reduction have been continued at most plants. Efficiencies, yields per furnace, and energy requirements per ton are generally better than previously attained. The advantages of sizing and conditioning of ore, fluxing stone, and coke have been realized. Conditioning varies from drying the furnace burden to chemical rearrangements to facilitate reduction reactions and sometimes to furnish some of the energy required for the reaction before the burden reaches the furnace. During the war period it is impossible to discuss in detail many of the advances made. They are subjects for postwar papers. However, the new procedures mentioned in the following paragraphs are indicative of the work already done and in progress.

Jan 1, 1944

By AIME AIME

THE initial meeting on Mining Methods* opened at 10 o'clock Monday morning with Scott Turner as chairman and W. Spencer Hutchinson as vice- chairman; about 60 attending. After preliminary announcements Theodore Marvin was called on for his paper,, entitled "Rock Tunnel Methods," which has been appearing serially in The Explosives Engineer. Marvin read the introduction and called attention to the account of one or' two particularly' interesting projects, such as the. Brooklyn water supply tunnel. E. D. 'Gardner, Char1e.s S. Hurter, L. D. Lamont and Spencer P. Howell took part in the discussion, Howell commenting on the fact that, in one case cited, misfires had occurred through detonator wires 'coming in contact with the case of an unapproved flashlight, .,: and that all flashlights should be approved.

Jan 1, 1931

By AIME AIME

WITHOUT frills, but with an admirable program of technical papers and discussion, many opportunities for social contact, and all New York for a playground, the 142d Meeting of the Institute will make the Engineering Societies Building a lively place from Feb. 20 to 23. Prices are down, even in New York. Come and forget the depression listening to the stories of old friends. Hear at first hand what is going on in your professional world. The fare is varied, of wide appeal. The program on the opposite page has been arranged carefully to minimize conflicts between the subjects in which you are interested. If it is not possible to come for all four days, check over the sessions that are most important to you. No changes in the scheduling are likely.

Jan 1, 1933

By AIME AIME

THE coal classification session* on Monday morning, Feb. 17, was opened by a paper by M. R. Campbell, entitled "Natural Groups of Coal and Allied Fuels," in which he pointed out, by means of graphical presentation of selected proximate analyses of coal, that coals can be classified on the basis of their moisture content. He proposes four groups of coal, brown coal, hydrobituminous, bituminous, and anthracite, each subdivided into two or three sub-groups. In a written discussion of this G. H. Cady, of the Illinois Geological Survey, showed that there is, in general, a progressive decrease in the moisture of Illinois coals from north to south, and that it would be very difficult to draw any arbitrary line dividing the coals of the State into two groups on the basis of moisture content.

Jan 1, 1930

By G. F. Olsen

ON superficial consideration a technical library might be considered a luxury to the business institution that possesses one. After all, public libraries and research institutions probably contain all the data that would be found in a private technical library, and able consultants are available both within and without a company. In all probability the technical men of a company have in their combined personal libraries sufficient information to answer most inquiries. Nevertheless, possession of such a department is of real economic benefit because of the time it saves its users, because it prevents expensive duplication of technical literature in a company, and lastly, but most important, be- cause it makes readily available a central storehouse of technical facts classified and indexed to meet the demands of the industry or industries concerned.

Jan 1, 1940

By AIME

THE history of the Mine La Motte area covers a greater period of time than any other mining operation west of the Mississippi, for it was almost exactly four centuries ago that the white man first visited the region. In May 1541 a few men from the party of Fernando de Soto traversed the place looking for silver which they understood the Indians had found in the vicinity. Some historians say that De Soto himself visited the place sometime later. No other white man came through again until the early 1700's. In 1712 King Louis XIV of France granted to Antoine Crozat a charter for transacting all business and government in the vast domain of the New Continent stretching from the Gulf of Mexico northward indefinitely. This

Jan 1, 1947

By RAY J. CORFIELD

IN a previous paper, "Electric Shovel Operation at Utah Copper Mine," which was read before the Western Division of the American Mining Congress, the problem of electrifying a fleet of steam shovels was described. This paper deals with the electrification of the haulage system which, when completed, will make the mining operation completely electric, with the exception of drilling operations which will continue to be performed by air. The general layout of the haulage system involves the use of heavy curves in addition to heavy grades of between 4 and 5 per cent. In a mining operation of this kind no trackage can be called permanent; this complicates the overhead construction somewhat and makes it necessary to design special forms of trolley construction, some of which will be described in detail below.

Jan 1, 1929

By AIME AIME

FOUK fields of activity are now recognized by the A.I.M.E. in its award of medals for conspicuous achievement: the Saunders medal for mining, the Douglas medal for non- ferrous metallurgy the Lucai medal for petroleum, and the Rand medal for distinguished achievement in the broad field of mining administration including the organization and development of enterprises in all branches of the mineral industry. This last is known officially as the Charles F. Rand Memorial Medal, and it award is made possible through funds supplied by the Charles F. Rand Foundation. Until this year money thus available was used for other special projects, so that the forthcoming presentation of the Rand medal to Robert C. Stanley is notable as being the first time that achievement in mining administration has been thus recognized.

Jan 1, 1940

By AIME AIME

T HE Mid-Continent Section of the Petroleum Division met on Mar. 11 in the engineer's room of the Tulsa Building, Tulsa, Okla., for the purpose of reviewing the papers presented at the annual meeting in New York. L. G. E. Pignell, chairman and delegate to New York for the Mid-Continent Section, read a brief report giving the outstanding features of the various papers that were presented. He expressed regret that more members of the Division could not be present in New York to hear the interesting papers and discussions. It was his opinion that the various remedies presented for overproduction seemed rather theoretical and impractical and he recommended that the engineers come to the aid of some of the economists in giving more practical consideration to the overproduction problem.

Jan 1, 1929

By S. H. Shepard

During the past year, a number of significant events have occurred in the nuclear industry. These include a surge in nuclear power plant orders, delays in nu- clear plant licensing and construction, increased environmental concern and the new Atomic Energy Commission nuclear fuel policy. These events, particularly the AEC stockpile release policy, have lead us to take this opportunity to update National Nuclear Corp.'s (NNC) appraisal of the outlook for the U.S. uranium industry.

Jan 10, 1972

By John Birkinbine

The iron industry of the United States, and, in fact, of the world, was established with charcoal as fuel. Long before the value of mineral coal was recognized, the carbonization of wood was carried on in connection with various metallurgical processes, but at the present time we look upon establishments using charcoal as the remnant of a former greatness, and are apt to sympathize with the operators because they have no other fuel to depend upon. In the iron

Jan 1, 1883

Time Now For Thinking In these turbulous times a natural restiveness is created among the younger men of the mining profession. Many of them are veterans of World War II and the question is raised in their minds as to whether or not to go back into military service. There is time to think about this question now and it is advisable to do so in order that snap decisions may be avoided if war is declared.

Jan 2, 1951

By B. H. Bergstrom

In reading this article, it was difficult to follow through the example given as a starting point in the derivation of the theoretical equation which relates ball size to feed size. A discussion with F. C. Bond led to the following clarification: Bond postulates that "the breaking force exerted by a ball varies . . . as the cube of its diameter . . ." and that the force in pounds per square inch required to break a particle varies . . . as its diameter squared."

Jan 5, 1959

By David L. Thompson

The Alumet Company, a partnership of National .Steel Corporation, the Southwire Company, and Earth Sciences, Inc., is in the final phase of its feasibility study for an alunite plant. To be located in southwestern Utah, it could be the first commercial-scale operation in the Western Hemisphere to recover alumina from an ore other than bauxite. Sulfuric acid and sulfate of potash are by-products of the process. Alumina production level will be set at 500,000 tons p

Jan 1, 1976

By C. W. Yang

In this paper, we discuss the possible impacts on market structure of imposing the pollution tax on coal producers in the Appalachian market. The consequence of such environmental restraints would (i) alter the trade and supply patterns, (ii) reduce consumptions of coal, and (iii) cause the Appalachian coal market to undergo a structural change. Simulations are then made to demonstrate that the model is rather sensitive to the pollution tax especially in terms of market boundaries.

Jan 1, 1983

By Marling J. Ankeny

MINING research in the U. S. today is indeed complex, whether it involves the Government, a small private concern, or a large one. And it promises to become more so, despite great advances already made in developing equipment and technology. The U. S. Bureau of Mines is committed to place greater emphasis on mining research as expressed in a recent policy statement to Congress on the "Long Range Minerals Program," by Secretary Fred A. Seaton, quoted above.

Jan 1, 1958

By D. H. Davis

Coal operators have been justified in spending most of their efforts and capital expenditures on improvements in productivity at the working face, on better transportation facilities, and on surface plants for improvement of the product by means of modern cleaning and drying equipment. Although the above subjects will continue to receive close study for further technological advances, there are other operations involved in the production of coal, which can be improved by the application of ingenuity and modern equipment.

Jan 3, 1961

J. S. UNGER,* Pittsburgh, Pa. (written discussion ?).-There is a common impression in the minds of many that forging or rolling apiece of steel not alone increases the strength but makes the steel more dense, or causes it to become heavier. I believe it is the author's aim in the paper to show that cast steel is almost as dense as forged steel. The average results obtained by him show very little difference in density, being

Jan 5, 1919