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By Hubert O. DeBeck

The following descriptions and explanations apply specifically to the use of the Hotchkiss Superdip, but there are no apparent reasons why they should not apply to any magnetometer. This paper is a product of work in the practical field for several years with the Hotchkiss magnetometer, mostly on mineral deposits in the southeastern United States. The paper describes the result of an attempt to develop a practical and economical field method that approaches, as nearly as possible, the utmost accuracy of which the magnetometer is capable. As there are many published descriptions of various magnetometers and magnetic methods, it would be superfluous to describe such instruments here, but a limited bibliography on the Hotchkiss and Askania magnetometers is appended. The Hotchkiss and the vertical Askania magnetometers have, respectively, maximum sensitivities of approximately 5 and 30 gamma per instrument scale division. Purpose of New Method The purpose of the method described in the following paragraphs is to eliminate, as far as possible, all corrections of field data that cause complexities and inaccuracies in the results of magnetometer surveys. Magnetometer field observations must be corrected for periodic variations in the intensity of the earth's magnetic field, as well as for temperature variations, both of which take place during the course of a day. These variations do not seriously handicap magnetometer work on highly magnetic deposits, but it is impossible to obtain accurate results, by the conventional methods in use today, over weakly magnetic or diamagnetic deposits. This is due to the physical inability to obtain by such methods sufficiently accurate data in the field to make dependable corrections. The magnitude of the necessary corrections of field observations frequently exceeds the magnitude of local magnetic anomalies obtained over various types of mineral deposits. Therefore if these corrections are neglected or made on the basis of inaccurate data, the entire magnetic picture of the area concerned is at least distorted, and perhaps destroyed altogethcr.

Jan 1, 1934

By Edward A. Sayre

In shaft sinking for cod mines, the cost item greatly influences the method adopted. This holds true especially when soft material must be traversed. The average life of a coal mine is short. This is due either to the limited area of the coal basin or to the great expense of maintenance and haulage underground when the entries are extended a considerable distance from the hoisting shaft. Therefore, the engineer in opening a coal mine is confronted with the fact that the cost must be kept within certain bounds else the venture will prove unprofitable. For this reason he may be prohibited from adopting certain safe, but expensive, methods that are used in sinking caissons for foundations, driving transportation tunnels, or other work of permanent construction. A common method of sinking through difficult ground employs the aid of a steel shoe pushed ahead of the shaft timbers. Another is the drop-shaft method. These two methods were used in sinking the main shaft and the air shaft of the Eagle No. 3 mine, at Des Moines, Ia., and the following data show the relative success and cost of the two methods of sinking under the same conditions. A drill log of the material to be penetrated was as follows (see Plate 1, Fig. 1): Thickness, Total Depth, Ft. In. Ft. In. Drift................................... 38 38 Sand..................................... 2 40 Drift.................................... 2 6 42 6 Jointed clay.............................. 5 6 48 Drift, firm............................... 10 6 58 6 Clay, with sand streaks.................... 3 61 6 Sand.................................... 12 73 6 Shale, with two thin beds of coal and thin strata of rock......................... 86 6 160 Rock.................................... 5 165 Coal..................................... 3 9 168 9 Main Shaft Sunk by Steel-Shoe Method This record shows the first 73 ft. to bc of drift material, the lower 12 or 15 ft. of which was sand. The remaining 92 ft. to the coal was shale and rock, and offered no trouble in sinking.

Jan 1, 1917

By Edgar Newhouse

THE lead smeltery at East Helena, Mont., controlled by the American Smelting & Refining Co. since 1899, has been in continuous operation for the past 25 years. Most of the old smelting and roasting practices have been superseded by newer and more modern methods, but on account of the difficulties involved in changing the original construction, some of the methods in use of handling materials are not the most modern. This plant, however, is particularly interesting as being one of the few essentially lead smelteries in the United States. At Federal, Ill., Collinsville, Herculaneum, and possibly other places, similar work is being done, but it is doubtful whether any of them produces as' much lead as the East Helena plant, whose monthly production averages 6,500 tons. The situation, 5 miles east of Helena, is convenient to both the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads, while the electric power is obtained from Canyon Ferry, 12 miles east on the Missouri river. Local quarries supply the requisite amount of lime rock, Which the contracts require to be crushed to 5 in. Of the 450 men on the monthly pay roll, a census showed 200 Austrians, 110 Americans, and 30 Italians, the balance being made up of miscellaneous nationalities. The ore supply is mainly derived from the Coeur d'Alêne mines in Idaho, and consists of crude ore, coarse and fine concentrates, middlings, and slimes. About one-half of the total output of the Coeur d'Alêne camp is sent to East Helena. An average analysis of these ores gives approximately 40 per cent. lead and 11 per cent. sulphur. Local shipments, varying, from month to month, are mostly highly siliceous gold and silver ores carrying little lead. Small shippers, leasers of old mines, and prospectors are very numerous throughout Montana, and it is the policy of the company to encourage these men by every possible means, including the free sampling and analysis of their ores and aid in the development of their mines and prospects whenever their results show promise.

Jan 8, 1914

Officers of the Institute have been entertained by, members at nine meetings in different parts of the country during the months of March and April. Institute policies have been discussed by the officers and by members present at the different meetings, with the result of bringing about a better understanding of Institute policy among the members; it has also been made clear how various suggestions are viewed by members who are not all in close touch with Institute activities and with the policy of the Board of Directors. President Jennings devoted his remarks chiefly to an account of Institute activities in connection with Government service for the war, and presented an able address on the relations of labor and capital; with special relation to possible changes that may be necessary during the reconstruction period following the war. This carries forward the suggestion made by him in taking up the reins of government at the Annual Dinner on February 20, 1918, and makes available a paper which has aroused great interest at the different meetings; this address will be found on a following page. In referring to Institute activities in connection with the war, the President mentioned especially the Naval Consulting Board, the War Committee of Technical Societies, the War Minerals Committee, and the census of engineers prepared not only by the Institute in connection with the Bureau of Mines, but also by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. He announced also the appointment of two committees, one on ferrous and one on non-ferrous metals, advisory to the Tariff Commission, and the appointment of a member of the Committee on the Excess Profit Tax, having especially to do with the question of excess profit taxes on gold mines. He also announced the appointment of a new committee known as the Committee on Industrial Organization, which will devote its energies largely to the question of relations of capital and labor and of "human engineering."

Jan 5, 1918

By H. D. Hagen, C. E. Nelson

14.1-1. Coal Mining. CORPORATE STRUCTURE. Most coal companies that operate surface mines had their beginnings as basically one-man organizations, with all decisions and controls in the hands of the founder. At the early stage of the company development, it is usually quite possible for one man to handle all management functions as the mining operations generally are quite localized and the founder can have a first-hand knowledge of all facets of the operation. However, with continued growth, the entrepreneur finds that he must limit himself more and more to the top level of management and delegate the day-to-day operation to others. An organization must be developed that provides not only for current operations but also for continued growth of the company through acquisition of coal reserves in market areas that the company desires to serve. In general, a successful coal company engaged in surface mining must develop an organization consisting of the following departments or divisions: operations, sales, engineering, exploration, land, purchasing, financial, and legal. Of course, all of these departments are not required in the beginning. When the company is small, there is much overlapping of functions. For instance, the operating department will handle purchases and the engineering department will also handle exploration and land functions. A growing surface-mining company has generally evolved through the various stages of development into an organization that is typical of large mining companies. An examination of a typical company and its various departments and their functions should give an insight into the organizational trends of surface mining companies. Having begun as a typical one-man organization, a company of today can be highly centralized, with firm control of all phases of the company's operations in the executive offices. This is achieved by having all department heads (Fig. 14.1-I), as well as the senior management, based in central offices.

Jan 1, 1968

By Persifor Frazer

These properties, owned by Mr. William A. Butcher, of Philadelphia, are in the Panuco Mountain, which lies about thirty miles southwest of the town of Candela. It is a granite which penetrates the surrounding limestones and contains the famous copper-mine to which it gives its name. This mine, which is the property of a company in Philadelphia, has long been known to produce gold as well as copper from almost all its parts; and in corroboration of this be it said, that the undersigned has washed gold from a number of places where the works of the mine or natural sections had exposed the decomposed granite to view in the state of kaolin. It is well known that these junction- or contact-planes between two different formations are often the lodging-places of much freemilling gold, which through fissures are sometimes carried long distances perpendicular to the strata and into the interior of the formation. The structure of the Panuco Mountain, with its outlying spurs and adjacent foot-hills, forms a most instructive and unusual study. At a rough guess the area covered by this mountain will equal, perhaps, twenty-five to thirty square miles ; but its singular feature is the intimate welding together of two formations into one topographical unit. The lines of division between the granite and the calcareous sandstone are of such complicated character that they could not be mapped on a small scale. Unlike the majority of such contacts, the divisions between formations are not always marked in the Panuco Mountain by gulches, valleys, and streams (or the dry beds of the latter), but in the portion of the mountain which lies south of the Panuco copper mine, the lines of junction of these formations cross the gulches and promontories, and, in some instances, cannot be traced by any such topographical features. The house of the Panuco copper mine is 3742 feet above oceanlevel (by rough barometric observation), and the gold-mine about to be described is 235 feet above this, and about two miles distant,

Jan 1, 1886

By H. B. Menardi

The history, geology, ore deposits and current mining operations of the Huitzuco district have been described by C. W. Vaupelll and the current mill operations by David Segura.2 This paper completes the story of Huitzuco with a description of the reduction of the flotation concentrates. The predominant ore mineral in the Huitzuco deposit is livingstonite, a rare, mercury-antimony sulphide (HgS.2Sb2S3). Other associated minerals include cinnabar, stibnite and elemental sulphur. The gangue is largely limestone and gypsum. Former operators mined a selected grade of ore, from which the mercury was recovered by an expensive, inefficient operation. A considerable tonnage of rejects and fills, carrying mercury and antimony, was left in the mine. In order to recover both mercury and antimony from these fills and also from newly developed ore, a combination method has been developed, by means of which the livingstonite is concentrated by flotation and the flotation concentrates subsequently reduced to metallic mercury and antimony. An essential part of the flotation treatment, as developed by Segura, is the use of copper sulphate as an activating agent. A typical analysis of concentrates now being produced at the property is as follows: Hg, 7.73 per cent; Sb, 26.40; Fe, 1.20; S, 29.68; CaO, 11.50; MgO, 7.25; SiOz, 1.63; A1203, 0.65. PRocess foR Treatment op Concentrates In the development of a process for treatment of these concentrates, three different methods were investigated: (1) roasting in a Dwight-Lloyd sintering machine with an excess of air; (2) separation of mercury and antimony by distillation in a reducing atmosphere; (3) a third method, which ultimately developed into the present process. The third method involved a slow calcination at a closely regulated temperature with a limited admission of air, which separated the mercury and antimony, the raeroury passing out of the kiln with the furnace gases and the antimony remaining in the calcine or "sinter."

Jan 1, 1944

By R. E. Whippo, B. L. Murowchick

The commercially exploited sedimentary apatites exhibit a number of variable lattice substitutions which affect their chemical composition. Carbonate is a major diluent of phosphorus values in sedimentary apatites. Substantial amounts of water as hydroxyl, hydronium, and tetrahedral hydroxyl ions substitute for fluorine and oxygen, calcium, and phosphate, respectively. Calcium is also replaced by several other divalent and monovalent cations. The structural formula demonstrates the substitutions in the lattice of the sedimentary apatites studied in view of the crystal-chemical relationships which have been postulated for the isomorphous apatite series. The lattice constant a. varies from 9.29 to 9.40 A for the apatites studied. Quantitative relationships between this constant and lattice substitution are complicated by the interaction of multiple substitutions whose influence is non-additive. The mineral apatite, the principal raw material source of phosphorus for agricultural and industrial applications, offers a wide area for investigation. Considerable research effort has been expended in the study of apatite crystal-chemistry by medical, biological, and earth scientists. Few of these studies deal directly with the sedimentary apatites from the major occurrences which are widely exploited for commercial uses. It is the purpose here to present chemical analyses of several sedimentary apatites and discuss their chemical composition in relation to the structural and crystalchemical principles which have been postulated for the apatite isomorphous series. THE STRUCTURE OF FLUORAPATITE The atomic structure of fluorapatite was described, independently, by Ngray-Szabd and Mehmel in 1930 and has been accepted as presented, with only minor changes,4 since that time. The hexaogonal unit cell with dimensions of a = 9.37 0.01 A and c = 6.88 0.01 A contains two molecules of the composition "There are six (PO4) groups in the cell, four calcium ions on the trigonal axes, surrounded prismati-cally by six oxygen ions and six calcium ions surrounded by an irregular polyhedron of a fluorine and five oxygens. Fluorines are at the comers of the reflexion planes, touching three calcium ions each".l7

Jan 1, 1968

By Henry M. Howe

This paper is a discussion of the extremely valuable one of Mathewson and Phillips, The Recrystallization of Cold-Worked Alpha Brass on Annealing,1 which not only gives us a wealth of important data reached with great intelligence, but also shows both uncommon powers of imagination and a perfectly fair spirit. Let me try to analyze some of their results, and to enunciate some of the laws to which these results point. For brevity I refer to them as "The Authors." The page numbers in parentheses refer to their paper. 1. The Visible Aspects of Recrystallization.—Plastic deformation in a single direction, as in cold-rolling, draws the grains out in that direction, that is, inequiaxes them, without destroying their apparent individuality. Each grain seems to endure the drawing out without changing either its volume or its orientation materially, for the etching tint of each grain seems to be as uniform after as before the drawing out, save for the "etch bands,"2 shown in Figs. A to D of the Authors' Plate I. As the drawn-out metal is heated progressively, on reaching a certain "disintegration temperature" these old grains seem to break up, probably into submicroscopic fragments, and this apparent disintegration is followed by a coalescence of these fragments, so that their number decreases and their size increases, till they may become very much coarser than before the drawing out. Ruder3 coarsened the grains of silicon steel in this way till single grains reached an area of 50 cm. (7.75 sq. in.). The deformation itself probably breaks each grain up into many very small fragments, but the fact that each grain continues to have a uniform etching tint different from that of its neighbors indicates that these fragments retain the initial common orientation of the grain. The apparent disintegration which we observe, then, is rather an abandonment of community of orientation for individuality of orientation, by the fragments formed earlier during the deformation. Hence we

Jan 1, 1917

By Earl Oliver

THE term oil property, in this discussion, includes any type of easement or grant under which petroleum might be produced; it ranges from the mere right to drill on undeveloped wildcat acreage up to a fully developed oil property. The values of an oil property, as thus defined, vary widely according to the use for which it is intended, whether it is from the viewpoint of the speculator, the fraudulent stock promoter, the refiner and pipe-line owner, or the oil producer. The market value of a property is usually a combination of some two or more of these influences, and occasionally a combination of all of them, but we prefer to treat each viewpoint as distinct from the others, allowing the reader to make his own combination in such proportions as his inclination and property seem to require. This paper will treat the subject from the viewpoint of the oil producer. However, the other influences have such bearing on the cost of property to the producer and on the price he might obtain by its sale as to warrant brief discussion of them. Speculation, particularly lease speculation, is a parasitic growth on the oil industry, healthy enough, but of no economic value. The class of property usually dealt in for this purpose is the undeveloped lease. Its speculative value may have some relation to its probable productive value, but most frequently this value is the product of temporary excitement due to local development. The lease speculator, seeking out the trend of development or securing early information regarding a proposed test or a new discovery, immediately secures leases whose market value will be increased when the existence of such development becomes more widely known. His profits are purely unearned increment. Not proposing to spend money in exploration, he can afford to compete in purchase with the operator, who, in addition to bonus paid, must spend large sums in testing out his own acreage and that of the nearby speculator as well. It has a tendency to compel unduly high bonuses.

Jan 2, 1920

By J. J. Sense

10.2-1. Equipment Scheduling. In any earth-moving operation, more profit may be earned or lost by equipment scheduling than by any other single facet of the project. Many now-defunct earth movers would have survived the cost-profit squeeze had they followed an efficient, cost saving, equipment scheduling program. The ideal program would have every item of the equipment fleet working all of the time. In practice for many obvious reasons, principally mechanical conditions, operating conditions, and human nature-this ideal situation is not possible. The cost-conscious organization strives to keep as many pieces of equipment of the fleet working efficiently as much of the work day as possible. Operating efficiency requires the minimum equipment to move the predetermined tonnages in the prescribed period of time. In the case of a shovel-truck operation this would mean the scheduling of the minimum shovel and truck shifts to excavate and transport the necessary tonnage to the processing plant or waste dump. To accomplish this goal, the operator must work from the predetermined production established by the requirements of the plant, stripping ratio, mine plan, etc. This production schedule may be in terms of tons or yards per year, per month, or per hour, but must eventually be translated into tons or yards per ma- chine per unit of time. In this regard, the reader is referred to Sections 8.0, Excavation and Loading, and 9.0, Haulage and Transportation. The trend to larger and faster, and as a result more costly, equipment requires that the operator consider every possibility to keep the equipment operating around the clock, seven days per week. In some areas seven day operation may not be feasible economically, because of premium pay for Sunday work. Mine labor agreements are generally written without premium pay penalties for weekend work, and such scheduling is possible and most often desirable.

Jan 1, 1968

By A. W. Fahrenwald

The function of the c1assifier in modern fine-grinding practice is to remove a finished product from the grinding-mill discharge, leaving material that needs further comminution. The classifier, therefore, makes two products: (1) "finished" product, which overflows the rim of the classifier tank, sometimes referred to as "slimes" or as "classifier overflow," and (2) "unfinished" product, which settles to the sloping bottom of the classifier tank and is removed by dragging or raking. This product is generally referred to as "sands" or "oversize." One of the outstanding features of the closed-circuit classifier is its ability automatically to return the unfinished product of the ball-mill discharge to the feed end or scoop box of the ball mill. This is a distinct advantage because it avoids dilution of the ball-mill feed, and, furthermore, the particu1ar method of removing the settled sand, by raking it up the inclined bottom of the classifier, gives a classifier discharge containing a minimum of water. This leads to maximum classifier efficiency, in this type of classifier, because the maximum volume of water is displaced upward by the settling sands. The closed-circuit classifier is required to deliver a finished pulp of closely specified density requirements, therefore added hydraulic water generally is not permitted. Relation of Classifier Efficiency to Grinding Efficiency The energy of crushing, and therefore the cost, according to Rittinger's Law,l is proportional to the new surface exposed in crushing. Since the new surface produced in crushing is nearly proportional to the reciprocals of the diameters crushed to, it is obvious that the cost of crushing in the finer sizes is tremendously greater than in the coarser sizes for equal ratios of reduction. High circulating load of finished sand in the circuit of the classifier and grinding mill is therefore obviously expensive practice. It is the classifier's function to reduce this to a miniMum.

Jan 1, 1930

By J. B. Austin

IT is now well established, chiefly through the work of Davenport and Bain,1 that the influence of temperature upon the rate of transformation of austenite to ferrite at constant temperature is represented by a curve of the type shown in Fig. 5 of Tech. Pub. 589; and the reasons for this general shape have been discussed by them in a qualitative way. Thus, the upper part, or nose, of the curve is the resultant of two factors of which the rate of change with temperature is not the same, and by analogy with other like cases it is almost certain that these factors are: (1) the chemical potential, or driving force, of the transformation, which is zero at the equilibrium temperature and increases rapidly as the temperature falls below this point; and (2) a factor analogous to viscosity, or resistance of the crystal lattice to a change in structure, which also increases as the temperature is lowered. Just below the equilibrium temperature this virtual "viscosity" of the metal is relatively low-that is, the metal offers little resistance to a change in lattice-but the driving force is also small, and the net result is that the reaction proceeds slowly. As the temperature is lowered the magnitude of both factors increases; but at first the driving force increases more rapidly than the resistance and the reaction is observed to proceed more rapidly. At lower temperatures, however, the resistance begins to increase faster than the driving force, and eventually, at the nose of the curve, overbalances it, causing the reaction to proceed more and more slowly thereafter. This concept is somewhat, though not completely, analogous to that employed in certain electrical cases where the precise factors are known and are separately measurable. The current I (in amperes or coulombs per second) flowing through a given wire is proportional to the impressed potential, or driving force E, and is inversely proportional to the resistance R of the wire; that is, I = E/R. Stated in a slightly different way,

Jan 1, 1935

By T. S. Hutchinson, C. E. Kemp

The bottom water drive analysis presented by Muskat has been extended to include fields with wider well spacings. Curves are presented from which volumetric sweepout, water-oil ratio, and rate relations may be calculated. The effects of non-unity ratios on sweepout eficiency and productivity decline have been studied by an approximate method. Also, the effect of gravity on volumetric sweepout has been approximated for a particurlar geometry. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to report work done in applying the analysis of bottom water drive reservoirs given by Muskat1 to a larger class of reservoirs, to extend this analysis to include the effects of gravity and non-unity mobility ratios in an approximate manner, and to investigate the rate of decline of productive capacity. The bottom water drive type reservoir is one where the oil is underlain by a water zone of sufficient thickness that water movement is essentially vertical. This system is defined in more detail in the appendix and a one well element is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1. Muskat obtained solutions to the equations describing the volumetric displacement efficiency of idealized bottom water drive systems by assuming that gravity effects due to differences in density betwecn oil and water were negligible and that the mobilities of oil and water were the same. If either of these assumptions is not made, the complexity of the system makes an analytical solution well nigh impossible at the present stage of mathematical development. Coles and Stade' developed an approximation to consider these factors. The authors have refined approximations, starting with the same basic assumption, which should give a somewhat quantitative picture of bottom water drive performance when mobilities are not equal and the effects of gravity are not negligible. The results of these approximate calculations can then be used to obtain the decline in well productivity as the field is depleted.

Jan 1, 1957

By R. V. Wheeler, F. V. Tideswell

Coal being essentially a complex conglomerate of plant remains that have undergone decay and interaction in varying degree, it is understandable that attack on the problem of its chemical constitution by normal chemical methods should have been attended by but slight success. The obvious method of fractionation by means of selective solvents has yielded a few results of some value. Thus it is known that from many, if not all, bituminous coals organic solvents extract small percentages of oxygenated compounds, which are generally assumed to have been derived from the original plant resins, though a more probable source would appear to be the glycerides and waxes of the plants. Organic solvents also extract small proportions of hydrocarbons, the origin of which is doubtfill. Of more importance is the action of such pseudo solvents as pyridine, which, in addition to their specific solvent action, have the power of resolving and simplifying a portion of the coal substance in a manner analogous to that by which water can disperse a hydrogel. Early work with pyridine indicated that coals are composed of two main classes of compounds: the one soluble in organic solvents, the other capable of being partly dispersed in pyridine. Recent work has shown that the dispersion is colloidal in character and that it may be accomplished by the use of solvents less active than pyridine, such as benzene or chloroform, provided that the temperature of extraction is raised or the coal has been suitably preheated. The action of reagents on coal has proved of little value in the past, but some insight into the constitution of coal has been given by regulated destructive distillation. Thus, it has been shown that coals behave on distillation as though composed of two main classes of compounds: the one readily decomposable at moderate temperatures (yielding mainly the paraffins), the other undergoing a preliminary early decomposition (with evolution of oxides of carbon and water) and yielding a residue that at higher temperatures breaks down, yielding much hydrogen.

Jan 1, 1925

By Alvinus Brown Wood

The ancient copper-mines of Lake Superior, having been destroyed or covered by modern mining-dumps, are not accessible to the present inhabitants of that region, and, since no more are likely to be found, some account of those already discovered, from one who has seen them, may be acceptable to the Institute. Early in May, 1855, I took a party of men to open an ancient pit on the Quincy mine-location. Mr. C. C. Douglas was the " Agent," as mine-managers were then called on Lake Superior. The Quincy Co. had previously done work on a fissure-vein, several hundred feet west of the Amygdaloid lode (afterwards called the Pewabic lode), on which was the ancient pit herein described. 'It was at this pit that the Quincy main shaft was subsequently sunk. The ancient pit showed an apparent depth of about 4 R., but when cleaned out it was shown to he 14 ft. deep, having been filled up by the sliding-in of material composed largely of broken rock, taken out in sinking the ancient shaft, and left near its mouth. Midway of the shaft, and below water-level, was found a scaffolding of white-birch poles, which had been used as a landing, to assist in removing the excavated rock. The shaft was 7 ft. in diameter. The excavation had been done by first building fires in order to disintegrate the rock, as was proved by the abundance of charcoal found; then breaking the softencd rock with hammers of diorite, such as is found in the greenstone range on Keweenaw point. These hammers had about the size of large paving-stones. Only broken ones were found, the whole ones having been doubtless carried away for other work, such as could be traced on the lode for a hundred feet or more to the south. At the place where this shaft was sunk, barrel-copper (i.e.,

Jan 1, 1907

Discussion of the paper of PAUL BILLINGSLEY, presented at the New York meeting February, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 97, January, 1915, pp. 31 to 47. JAMES F. KEMP, New York, N. Y.-Mr. Billingsley has spoken so concisely that we may not realize the many important topics which he has passed in review and upon which lie has thrown much illumination. The exact determination of the age of the granite, itself, is one. If we were to look over a geological map containing the region of Butte and 25 years old, we would find this coarsely crystalline mass assigned, as were others of its kind, to the pre-Cambrian, or as we used to say, to the Archean. In the course of time it was found to be later. The Butte Special Folio, 1907, described it as post-Carboniferous and possibly post-Laramie. Mr. Weed in Professional Paper No. 74 of the U. S. Geological Survey (1912) placed it as probably Niocene because of its relations with the andesite, which was believed to be Eocene. Mr. Billingsley now by a very neat demonstration circumscribes it more definitely and we recognize that it must be latest Cretaceous or earliest Eocene. We see, however, that extensive field observations, ably correlated, were necessary to establish the conclusion. For some years all familiar with Butte have known that there was a central area the veins of which carried copper ores in a quartz gangue; and that outside this area there were veins carrying silver ores in a gangue of manganese minerals. Mr. Sales's able and detailed paper, read at the Montana meeting, August, 1913, not only corroborated these relations, but emphasized the transitional character of the intermediate or passage zone. Mr. Billingsley is now able to show from observations at increasing depths, the tendency of the copper ores to appear deep down in the veins

Jan 5, 1915

By Carl Zapffe

In ten years the manganiferous iron ores of the Cuyuna District have become impor-tant in the iron industry. By Dec. 31, 1923, 4,735,806 tons had been produced. Dur-ing the war, the low-phosphorus black ores were in demand; now the high-phosphorus low,-silica brown ores are favored. It is estimated that the reserves of these ores are ample for some time. A RISE in less than ten years from obscurity into great prominence economically, tersely summarizes the history and status of the Cuyuna manganiferous iron ores. The Cuyuna district produces and ships mostly high-phosphorus iron ore, but the annual production of manganiferous iron ore is increasing rapidly and productions from individual mines are becoming more regular and more dependable as to grades and tonnages. This ore bids fair to become, shortly, the principal product of the district and is responsible for the present economic prominence of this district. The iron ores of the district have been described, by the author and others, in many publications and will not be discussed here. Lately the manganiferous iron ores have been given some attention, but the range and variations of chemical composition of the ores, the principal physical characteristics of the ores and their deposits, the relative importance of the different ores and their possibilities in future developments, and the life of the respective reserves have not been discussed. It is impossible to give all of this information with the positiveness necessary for it to constitute a reliable guide for investment or even for future mine development. Each property and each party presents a special case and deserves critical consideration. We are dealing with special ores and always with a set of new conditions. Sufficient information of a general nature can be given, however, to indicate the reason for and the trend of the presently augmented developments in the district.

Jan 12, 1924

By George Scott

MANY requests for information as to the possibility of washing coals to some predetermined percentage of ash or sulfur have suggested that the producers aim to satisfy some degree of purity set by the user of the fuel, rather than to attain the greatest economic benefit to all concerned. This paper is written to show that the highest economic purity of washed coal can be determined from washability studies of the raw coal, costs of mining and washing coal, and data on the effect of ash and sulphur on the value of the coal for the particular use for which it is intended. COKE FOR BLAST-FURNACE USE For purposes of illustration, we take the case of coal washed for coke to be used in the iron blast furnace. The method outlined can be made general in its application by substituting for the figures used here the actual operating figures for the particular case under consideration. In general, it costs the blast-furnace operation from 8 to 25 c. per ton of pig iron to slag out each 1 per cent. of ash introduced into the blast furnace by the coke. This figure depends on which one per cent. of ash is removed, and decreases with decrease in ash: When blast furnaces and coal mines are considered as a whole, the figure decreases to zero and then becomes negative, on account of low recovery of washed coal. Various figures1 have been given by different investigators: These figures necessarily differ, not only on account of the differences in operating costs but on account of the difference in the respective fuels as well. For the purpose of this paper, which, as explained, is to point out a method of attacking a certain problem, the figures used in the exposition of the method are of secondary importance. It is apparent that no universally applicable figures can be used, because there are none. Each plant has its own coal,2 its own operating cost, and its own conditions.

Jan 1, 1929

By Edgar L. Newhouse

The lead smeltery at East Helena, Mont., controlled by the American Smelting & Refining Co. since 1899, has been in continuous operation for the past 25 years. Most of the old smelting and roasting practices have been superseded by newer and more modern methods, but on account of the difficulties involved in changing the original construction, some of the methods in use of handling materials are not the most modern. This plant, however, is particularly interesting as being one of the few essentially lead smelteries in the United States. At Federal, Ill., Collins-ville, Herculaneum, and possibly other places, similar work is being done, but it is doubtful whether any of them produces as much lead as the East Helena plant, whose monthly production averages 6,500 tons. The situation, 5 miles east of Helena, is convenient to both the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads, while the electric power is obtained from Canyon Ferry, 12 miles east on the Missouri river. Local quarries supply the requisite amount of lime rock, which the contracts require to be crushed to 5 in. Of the 450 men on the monthly pay roll, a census showed 200 Austrians, 110 Americans, and 30 Italians, the balance being made up of miscellaneous nationalities. The ore supply is mainly derived from the Coeur d'Alene mines in Idaho, and consists of crude ore, coarse and fine concentrates, middlings, and slimes. About one-half of the total output of the Coeur d'Alene camp is sent to East Helena. An average analysis of these ores gives approximately 40 per cent. lead and 11 per cent. sulphur. Local shipments, varying from month to month, are mostly highly siliceous gold and silver ores carrying little lead. Small shippers, leasers of old mines, and prospectors are very numerous throughout Montana, and it is the policy of the company to encourage these men by every possible means, including the free sampling and analysis of their ores and aid in the development of their mines and prospects, whenever their results show promise.

Jan 1, 1915