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By K. R. Y. Simha

Successful explosive gas well stimulation requires a thorough understanding of explosively driven cracks under confining in-situ stresses. In a previous paper (Simha, et a1 1983) the problem of explosively driven cracks was experimentally investigated to reveal the features of crack propagation. It was observed that the explosively driven crack propagation is the result of two different but overlapping phases. The first phase involving the initiation and early time crack propagation is entirely governed by the explosively generated stress transients. The rapidly decaying stress transients then lead to the second phase of crack propagation largely controlled by the in-situ stresses. The purpose of this paper is to more fully understand the characteristics of the first phase concerning the initiation and early time propagation of explosively driven cracks. Experiments are conducted with plastic models under biaxial compression and the dynamic event is observed with a high speed multiple spark gap camera of the Cranz-Schardin type. The experimental observations are utilized to propose analytical models of crack initiation under explosive loading to aid in the design of multiple fracturing necessary for successful application of modern well stimulation techniques.

Jan 1, 1984

By Alan U. Seybolt

In examination of some cold-rolled copper and cupronickel that contained a little columbium, it was discovered that these alloys were unusually resistant to annealing. This effect was suficiently pronounced to warrant some investigation of the annealing characteristics of such compositions. Experimental Procedure The alloys were made from cathode copper, electrolytic nickel, and a special copper-columbium hardener alloy furnished by the Electro Metallurgical Corporation. This hardener alloy contained 10 per cent columbium, with tantalum, aluminum and iron as major impurities. The melting was carried out in a clay-graphite crucible in a high-frequency induction furnace! under a charcoal or electrode carbon cover. No deoxidizing additions were made. The 7-lb. copper heats were poured into a steel mold, hot-rolled to 1/4-in. thickness, and annealed for 56 hr. at 760°C.; the cupronickels were annealed I hr. at 815°C. The material was then cold-rolled to a 50 per cent reduction in thickness and annealing tests were carried out on this 1/8-in. hard-rolled strip. A little silver was added to copper-columbium alloys 402 and 403 to find out

Jan 1, 1942

By G. K. N. S. Subasinghe

An attempt has been made to explain the behavior of a pinched sluice in terms of the established theories of fluid mechanics and mineral processing. A method has been developed to calculate the underflow discharge by assuming a logarithmic velocity distribution and free gravity fall through the discharge slot. The concentration profile of solids over the depth of flow has been shown to comply with Bagnold's theory of dispersive shear, rather than turbulent sediment transfer. Even although the results can be explained qualitatively by the Bagnold theory, their complete quantitative analysis will not be possible until more work is done. Consequently, an empirical equation has been developed to predict underflow pulp densities. It has been shown that the process of the segregation of the heavier mineral beneath the lighter can be described by a first order law. From the results obtained, a computer model of the pinched sluice has been developed. This predicts the underflow grade, pulp density and flow rate in terms of the feed and operating conditions. The model can also be used to determine the effect of a change in operating conditions, and for the optimization of rougher, cleaner, and scavenger circuits.

Jan 1, 1984

By G. A. Koenig, Moritz Stockder

Locality and Geological Occurrence.—The Atpine region of Southwest. Colorado. cort~prieiog the San Juan and Uncon~paghre Mountains, is con~posed of a deeply eroded sheet of acid eruptive rocks, overlying in part gneissic schiets, and in part limestones and sandstones, including portions of the Silurian, Devonian, arid Carboniferous systems. The section is clearly and beautifully exposed along the Uncompghre River from its headwaters to its exit from the mountains. The river's course from the town of Ouray towards the Los Pinos agency is due north, and four miles from Ouray, in this directiou, the Uocampaglire receives from the east the Red Casm Creek. Following up the narrow canon we find the section through white. sandotone in strata dipping to the north and west, and belonging either to the lower or middle Devonian system. Presently the steep cafion-like character of the ravine gives place to more gentle slopes, ad we have entered crysralline rock—porphyry. The contact is well marked, for the sandsbne, to a depth of from six to ten feet, resembles quartzite, i. e., is serui'fusd. Ascending still higher, a small

Jan 1, 1881

By K. N. Han, H. Lee, M. C. Fuerstenau

An investigation of the recovery of finely-divided cassiterite and silica particles less than 1 µm (1200 mesh) in size has been carried out using packed and fluidized beds. The bed particles used included cassiterite and silica particles ranging from 44 to 210 µm (325 to 70 mesh). Effects of various system parameters on the recovery and selectivity of cassiterite fines were investigated. System parameters included pH of the slurry solution, superficial velocity, slurry concentration, and bed particle sizes. High recoveries of cassiterite fines were obtained at pH 4.0 and slow slurry flow rates. In a packed bed system, recovery of cassiterite fines was greater than 95%, while that of silica fines under the same conditions was about 35%. Although the total recovery per pass is not as good as the packed bed, the fluidized bed system exhibits good recovery in general and an excellent selectivity of cassiterite fines. There is an optimum superficial velocity, vo, for the rate of fine particle uptake and the apparent rate constant has the form of Kvo1/2- K'vo, where K and K' are system constants.

Jan 1, 1985

By C. T. Young, J. L. Lytton

In recent investigations,1,2 the strength and thermal stability of dislocation substructures prepared by 5 to 25 pct room temperature tensile straining and recovery annealing at 120°, 160°, and 200°C have been studied in randomly oriented polycrystalline high purity aluminum. The techniques of transmission electron microscopy revealed that a major source of the strength and stability of dislocation substructures was the formation, during room temperature straining, of well-defined cells bounded by dislocation tangles which rearranged into nearly perfect dislocation networks during recovery, forming the boundaries of subgrains. The strength of such substructures increases with decreasing cell or subgrain size,2"6 and the formation of fine subgrain structures can provide thermally metastable strength at low temperatures and can favorably alter the course of primary creep at elevated temperatures.7'8 For maximum benefit, however, sub-grain growth should be reduced or eliminated. It was, therefore, decided to investigate the use of heterogeneous precipitation on dislocation networks as a means of imparting increased strength and thermal stability to subgrain structures through effective pinning. C.T. YOUNG, STUDENT MEMBER AIME, and J. L. LYTTON, Member

Jan 1, 1970

1910, hundreds of thousands of dollars of work and equipment in a 1500-foot shaft, crosscuts and pumping had found only copper-lean pyrite in two cross- cuts, and nothing in a third. Going aimlessly along the third crosscut one day, after looking at the barren face I happened to notice a dark spot in the white limestone, near the floor on one side. I picked, and found it was a little triangle of rich chalcopyrite. Next day I took Bill Gohring, then mine superintendent, in to see it. He said nothing else had succeeded so we might as well try that. The new drift broke into a full face of high grade copper ore in the first round, and continued in rich ore for 2200 feel broken only by a couple of short stretches of lean pyrite. The earlier crosscuts had happened to cut these lean areas. Q: Was there any single thing that called your attention to that little dark spot in the side of the Briggs crosscut, rather than to any other discolored spot? Joralemon: Nothing very definite. Maybe luck, maybe that indefinable subconscious thinking that

Jan 9, 1964

By E. A. Stevens

IT has been ascertained in recent years that certain rocktypes, geological formations and structural conditions may be used as fairly reliable guides, when prospecting in recognized mineral belts or mining districts, with a reasonable certainty of discovering "pay-ore;" and that such is considered as a practically established conclusion may be inferred from a perusal of the recent reports of the U. S. Geological Survey and the literature of the several scientific societies discussing minim, geology, and kindred subjects. Cripple Creek is no exception to this conclusion, and the rock-type or association, rather than the structural condition, is the most infallible guide.† These guides consist of four, possibly five, dike-rocks, three of which are extremely basic, while the fourth is an acid rock of an entirely dissimilar character. The basic rocks are nepheline-basalt, limburgite, feldspar-basalt and tephrite. There are grounds, however, for believing that the two latter are subdivisions of one type, and therefore will be described under one head. The acid rock is quartz-porphyry. Nepheline-basalt is-a rock encountered in but few localities elsewhere on this continent, and occurs in narrow dikes cutting various formations. When typical‡ it is composed of

Jan 1, 1913

By Regis Chauvenet

I have been requested to sketch the iron resources of the State of Colorado, with reference both to existing, i.e., working mines, and to prospects more or less developed, but not contributing anything as yet to actual shipments. I should mention, though disliking apologies, that there is one region of the State which I believe to be important, and which has been assigned to me (with reference to its iron-deposits particularly) in the field-work of the present year for the School of Mines, which has not been systematically explored, and whose data are not in such shape as to enable me to give them in this paper. The region in question is Pitkin county and part of the adjoining country. Regarding the geological positions of the veins or deposits, they are sufficiently varied. In Boulder county there is a well-defined vein of titaniferous magnetite in ancient granite or gneiss, while in Park county there may be seen a deposit now under construction, as will later be described; when finished it will belong, let us say, to the post-quaternary. Between these, in Cambrian, Silurian, and Lower Carboniferous formations, are various deposits, and even the

Jan 1, 1890

By Francis Laur

BAUXITE, at first considered as a mineralogical curiosity without importance, now attracts daily increased attention from mineralogists, geologists, and manufacturers. The metallurgy of aluminum, which has entered with the advent of electrolysis upon a new phase within the last few years, requires every day larger quantities of pure alumina, and this can only be obtained from bauxite, which is, of known substances, the richest in free alumina. Bauxite has been mined since 1872 in France, whereabout 200,000 tons have been produced, and where, as a natural consequence, its deposits, qualities, and applications have become known. Within a few years past, discoveries of important deposits of bauxite have been made in the United States and Canada, and this almost entirely new subject has thus acquired an additional interest for the mining engineers and metallurgists of the American continent. A brief summary of the available data concerning it appears likely, therefore, to be appropriate and valuable.* I.—HISTORICAL. It was in 1821 that the famous chemist Berthier discovered at Baux (Bouches du Rhône) a hydrate of alumina (varying from 66 to 79 per cent. in its contents of the oxide) mixed with silica and

Jan 1, 1895

By Henry S. Brown, Jean E. Tilden

Pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite from deposits distributed within the Piedmont and Blue Ridge provinces of North Carolina and adjacent areas were examined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry for cobalt, nickel, manganese, lead, tin, chromium, molybdenum, and gold. The ore samples were also examined petrographically. Cobalt and nickel, in general, enter pyrite and pyrrhotite rather than chalcopyrite and sphalerite. Manganese generally enters sphalerite rather than the other phases where an alternative is possible. The presence of tin in sulfide minerals was noted in a group of deposits east of the known occurrences of tin oxide (cassiterite) in the Kings Mountain belt, which may indicate the presence of a more extensive tin belt in the southeastern Piedmont than was previously recognized. Pyrrhotite from a group of four deposits in Jackson and Clay Counties, North Carolina, differs from pyrrhotite from other Ducktown-type deposits in having cobalt/ nickel ratios less than one, finer grain sizes, and colloform texture. These differences suggest that that this group of deposits has had a history different from that of the other Ducktown-type deposits studied. No significant conclusions could be made based on the distribution of lead, chromium, molybdenum, or gold.

Jan 1, 1975

By H. Reginald Hardy, Gary L. Mowrey

Field studies were conducted over a longwall coal mining operation to investigate the feasibility of using microseismic techniques to detect and to locate any areas of instability in the vicinity of the longwall. An array of geophones buried at depths of 3 to 8 m from surface were positioned approximately 130 m above the active area of the longwall panel. A mobile microseismic monitoring facility amplified, filtered, and recorded the microseismic activity sensed by the geophones. Microseismic events were detected at depths of at least 130 m and at horizontal distances in excess of 250 m from the source. Most events, which resembled decaying sinusoidal transients, had frequencies of 10 to 100 Hz, and particle velocities of 1 to 8 pm/s. Source locations for the 150 largest events were computed using a least-square travel-time-difference method. Both isotropic and unique wave propagation velocity models were considered when evaluating the source locations. Most of the events were computed to be within ± 30 m vertically of the coal seam and ± 15 m horizontally of the longwall face, when the unique velocity model was employed.

Jan 1, 1980

By N. E. Norman, R. Stier

The mining industry is continually seeking out new and better underground mining techniques. One of the most recent-also, perhaps, the most significant-of the new concepts in underground mining is the use of mechanical rock-boring machines. And one of the problems that concerns us all in this matter is the cost of mechanical rock tunneling. To help answer the oft-quoted question "What will it cost me?" the following pages deal with the operating costs of so-called "medium to medium hard rock" boring machines-i.e., those designed to meet the drilling requirements in 8000 psi to 25,000 psi rock. A few machines are capable of drilling hard rock above 25,000 psi, but the economics of mechanical tunneling in rock that hard is limited at the present time. [ ] For mechanical rock tunneling, there are five main cost factors influencing the expense: Capital Investment, Cutters, Labor, Power Requirements, and Maintenance. These factors give us a good basic picture of the cost of excavation, although muck handling, erecting supports, and other costs directly related to conventional tunneling and mechanical boring enter into the final picture.

Jan 6, 1967

By Daniel R. Shawe

Ore deposits of the western U.S. are divisible broadly into two genetic groups, a smaller one that fits the plate tectonic model of subduction and a larger one that appears unrelated to subduction. Some of the middle Paleozoic and lower-middle Mesozoic ore deposits in the western U.S. are associated with eugeosynclinal rocks and lie a few hundred kilometers west of reconstructed continent margins. These deposits probably formed as a result of subduction beneath oceanic or thin continental crust that was analogous to subduction predicated for the Kuroko massive sulfide deposits of Japan. Some middle Mesozoic porphyry copper deposits may have formed east of the continental margin when subduction-generated magmas were emplaced high in continental crust in a manner analogous to subduction-generated magmas that formed the Andean porphyry copper deposits. Most Cretaceous-Cenozoic ore deposits lie in a broad region extending many hundreds of kilometers east of the continent margin and characterized by conjugate tectonic zones, high terrestial heat flow, and low seismic velocity in the upper mantle. The deposits likely were formed in relation to magmas generated along the conjugate tectonic zones during differential northwestward drift and internal wrenching of the continental plate.

Jan 1, 1978

By Edwin H. McKee

Eruption of rhyolitic ash-flow tuffs in the area of the McDermitt (Cordero) caldera began about 17.4 million yr (m.y.) ago and continued for about 1.5 m.y. During this period of silicic eruptions, a circular area about 30 km in diameter collapsed to form a caldera that subsequently filled with sedimentary and volcanic rocks. A total of more than 200 km30f silicic rocks was erupted from the volcano. The final phase of igneous activity, about 15.0 m.y. ago, included resurgent doming and intrusion in the south-central part of the caldera. Three to 4 m.y. later (-1 2 m.y. ago), hydrothermal solutions using the northern part of the caldera ring fractures as conduits deposited silica, cinnabar, pyrite, alunite, and other minerals in tuffaceous lake beds and volcanic rocks accumulated within the caldera. The ore-forming solutions may have been a residuum from the silicic magma, or connate water, or ground water heated by the still-hot resurgent magma in the central part of the caldera. The source of the mercury and other elements has not been identified.

Jan 1, 1977

By J. Goldfield

Asbestos fiber, before it can be used commercially, is separated from the rock in which it is naturally found. Johns-Manville Corp. is currently constructing a 12-story fiber mill, of which the first half is completed and in operation. The mill will be the largest in the world, producing about 30 pct of the world's fiber. It was engineered and constructed by a cooperative effort of the engineers of the Canadian Johns-Manville Fibre Div. and the general plant engineering dept. Detailed design work on all phases of the job was done by Surveyer, Ninniger & Chenevert of Montreal. A series of crushing, screening, air aspirating and air separating processes will separate the fiber from 10 tons of rock per min. But to process this amount of ore about 90 tons of air per min will be handled in the aspirating and dust-collecting systems. To express this in more common units, 2.5 million cfm of air will be required. All this air will pass through a bag-type continuous automatic filter and will be expelled to atmosphere in summer or returned to the mill for heating during the winter months.

Nov 1, 1955

By Harry V. Warren

There are two topics which may be considered as opening gambits in any conversation in any part of the world, weather and health. Nothing much can be done about the former, and it would appear that no great changes can be anticipated in the immediate future. With respect to health, a great deal has been achieved in the past 150 years, curiously enough not all of it by medical men. It would appear that the time is now appropriate for geologists to come to the assistance of medical men. During the past few decades, medical science has mastered many of the diseases commonly associated with childhood. As a man tends to live longer, those diseases usually associated with middle and old age become more prominent. Thus we must realize when we say that today more people are dying of cancer and coronary disease, absolutely and relatively to other diseases, this should not suggest that these diseases did not exist a hundred years ago; it does suggest that more people are living to an age where death from these diseases is apt to become more common.

Jan 7, 1962

By Alan U. Seybolt

In examination of some cold-rolled copper and cupronickel that contained a little columbium, it was discovered that these alloys were unusually resistant to annealing. This effect was suficiently pronounced to warrant some investigation of the annealing characteristics of such compositions. Experimental Procedure The alloys were made from cathode copper, electrolytic nickel, and a special copper-columbium hardener alloy furnished by the Electro Metallurgical Corporation. This hardener alloy contained 10 per cent columbium, with tantalum, aluminum and iron as major impurities. The melting was carried out in a clay-graphite crucible in a high-frequency induction furnace! under a charcoal or electrode carbon cover. No deoxidizing additions were made. The 7-lb. copper heats were poured into a steel mold, hot-rolled to 1/4-in. thickness, and annealed for 56 hr. at 760°C.; the cupronickels were annealed I hr. at 815°C. The material was then cold-rolled to a 50 per cent reduction in thickness and annealing tests were carried out on this 1/8-in. hard-rolled strip. A little silver was added to copper-columbium alloys 402 and 403 to find out

Jan 1, 1942

By Olav Idelgeland

FROM indirect evidence point defects have been believed to influence the fatigue behavior of metals and alloys.1,2 Measurements of changes in resistivity made after cyclicstressing at low temperatures indicate that a very high density of defects is present, part of which may be removed by room-temperature annealing.3'4 These results are consistent with the generation of a high number of point defects at low temperatures. Corresponding measurements made after room-temperature stressing did not show any recovery effects.3 This was attributed to a stabilization of the dislocation network after a few thousand cycles without generation of vacancies. In this laboratory resistance measurements of copper single crystals, shaped as normal fatigue specimens ,5 have been made with a Kelvin double bridge at room temperature during and after cyclic stressing at 80 cps by comparing with a dummy at a close and constant temperature. Temperature differences were measured to ±0.025°C with fine thermocouples taped onto the gage lengths. Potential leads were tin-soldered into small holes in the gage length to give stable values. Corrections for differences in temperature and changes in mean length of the specimen were made according to the formula:

Jan 1, 1968

By A. W. Edelen

THE Teziutlan copper-zinc deposit is supposed to be of late Cambrian or early Paleozoic age. The country rocks are a series of schists or phyllites, flat lying and in the form of a plunging anticline. The ore deposit occupies a single horizon in the schist for a known horizontal extent of 1200 meters. Along its strike occur four large lenses or ore bodies. These ore bodies occupy positions along the flank and extend to the crest of the anticline. The primary mineralization is in the form of quartz, pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and galena, with a few scattered silver anti-monides. Quartz and pyrite form the mineralization between the ore lenses. In the ore lenses the sulphides appear as a massive, very fine-grained intergrowth of minerals. The intergrowth suggests a contemporaneous deposition of the heavy sulphides. The grain size, usually under 0.09 mm., makes the separation difficult and fine grinding important. The ore bodies were formed at great depth by solutions probably originating in the same basic magma that gave rise to the dolerite sills that are so common in their vicinity.

Jan 1, 1937