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By Jorge Munoz Reyes, Guillermo

The new entity, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos, created in 1936 for the development and exploitation of all petroliferous zones of Bolivia, including those formerly belonging to the Standard Oil Co., is doing its utmost to bring about rapid development and by this means to create a new source of revenue for the State. With this in view, Y.P.F.B. has opened a new field in the Samaipata region, on the main road between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. Installation of machinery has begun for the drilling of several wells on the five anticlines that occur in this region. Work has also begun in the Saipuru field, on the Santa Cruz-Charagua highway, which was discovered by the Standard Oil and temporarily abandoned. In this new field, a topping plant will be installed, to supply gasoline and kerosene to Santa Cruz. Explorations are also being made on the neighboring structures of Saipuru. At the end of 1937, the committee that is to study the region of the Chapare in the northeastern part of Cochabamba, was organized. The structures were studied 10 years ago by Kirtley Mather and other geologists. It is hoped that by March 1938 this camp will begin work, as this zone gives promise of being valuable. Development The capacity of the refinery at Camiri has been enlarged in order that it may supply all the needs of that region. In order that the supply of crude may be adequate, several wells that had been almost abandoned by the Standard Oil are being cleaned out. New wells have been located at this camp following the principal anticlinal structure, and during the first half of the year 1938 several wells will be drilled. The same program is being followed in Sanandita but on a greater scale, as the nearness of this district to the Argentine border, which is the best market for the Bolivian petroleum of the south, allows immediate sale of the petroleum. Possibly a new refinery will be installed at this camp, as the one now in existence is only a rudimentary distillery. At the Bermejo camp, which is farther south, intensive work is being done to bring the wells into production. The Standard Oil produced limited quantities several years ago, but since 1927 the wells of this dis-

Jan 1, 1938

Your esteemed favors transmitting my discharge as your representative on the War Minerals Committee have come duly to hand and the kind words of commendation contained are greatly appreciated. Like other war committees, The War Minerals Committee's business in Washington was to meet an emergency as best it could, and as soon as the emergency had passed pressure of personal responsibilities immediately scattered the individual members. A detailed report of the Committee's work is therefore impossible. But before the matter is closed I feel it incumbent on me to ask you to report to the Directors and the Council, and through them to the members of the Institute and of the Society, the inestimable value to our Committee of the unstinted support given by both your officers and members. The instant response to all requests for funds was of the greatest assistance in getting started with office force, stationery, etc., and led later to a regular organization in the Bureau of Mines, working under a special appropriation, which is still doing good work as the War Minerals Investigation under Dr. Spurr. The voluntary work of the special sulphur and manganese committees formed by the War Minerals Committee was of great value to the Government. Copies of private reports supplied were of much assistance. But the great service of engineers and geologists as a whole was rendered in connection with the passage of the War Minerals Bill by Congress. Though every assistance possible was rendered by the Bureau of Mines and the Geological Survey, by the close of 1917 our Committee had about reached the limit of its usefulness in the way of stimulating the various Government executive committees, bureaus and departments to a realization of the country's need of preparation for domestic production of "war minerals" and had found that special Congressional action was imperative if the war was to continue for anything like the time then generally feared. This was necessary not only 'to insure a. supply of war minerals but to make possible the appointment of some able mining administrator of large experience in the mineral industry who, with ample authority, could sit in the councils of the Government and see to it that the ever increasing autocratic powers the war was developing were used toward the mining industry so as to foster rather than crush the latter in its effort to produce sufficient raw material for war and essential civil requirements.

Jan 7, 1919

By F. R. Hewitt

The methods of mining talc are simple, and in western North Carolina are almost entirely by open cut and quarry. The larger part of the talc of this section lies in various-sized "veins''. inclosed in quartzitic walls, the majority of which have by folding been thrown into a perpendicular position, or nearly so, and the exposed edges of which have been covered by debris from erosion of the mountain above. This covering of loose rocks and earth is from 5 to 25 ft. thick, and in most cases has to be removed because it is difficult to support. Sometimes the covering is heavy enough to "catch" and timber successfully, and in this case the talc can be worked out by the usual method of following the "vein," using stulls for holding up the walk until the vein is worked out, and then allowing the cut or drift to fall in. In some cases it proves more convenient to sink shafts and run drifts, following the talc "veins" until exhausted. The talc deposits of this section are badly broken and faulted both laterally and perpendicularly, and in some cases are found many feet below the level of drainage, necessitating pumping at considerable expense. My own experience in mining talc has been that the chief point is to get a reliable "vein," and that then the mining is not as difficult, or any more so at least, than that of any common ore. If the "veins" are pure talc it is simple; if the talc is admixed with foreign matter, such as tre-molite in excess, or stains of iron or manganese, as is often the case, one had better abandon the deposit. Methods of Manufacture Talc, being a soft mineral, is not difficult to reduce to the condition desired by the trade. Powdered talc is admitted under low duty from France, Italy and Austria, and some is being imported from Asiatic points. Talc is usually ground and bolted in any simple reduction mill. That mined in this section is hand-sorted and the quality that will make good powdered talc is ground for use in the manufacture of talcum powder, cosmetics, etc., while all that is hard enough and has sufficient strength is used for crayons and blanks for gas burners and electrical work, being sawed into the shapes desired. The rest that is clean and pure is ground

Jan 1, 1917

Discussion of the paper of HOWLAND BANCROFT, presented at the Salt Lake meeting, August, 1914, and printed in Bulletin No. 91, July, 1914, pp. 1767 to 1769. THEODORE SIMONS, Butte, Mont. (communication to the Secretary*). -While preparing maps and models for use in mining litigations the writer was frequently confronted with the problem referred to in Mr. Bancroft's paper. His chart gives the apparent angle of dip with which a vein should be plotted on a vertical section not at right angles to the strike of the vein. For a quick determination of this apparent angle the writer has used an exceedingly simple graphical method, which he believes may prove helpful to engineers engaged in practical work. It is submitted, not as a criticism of Mr. Bancroft's paper, but as a means of solving the same problem when no chart is available and when calculations would consume too much time. The writer's method requires merely a few lines marked off on a piece of tracing cloth, as shown in Fig. 1: Draw line be on any convenient scale. At b erect a perpendicular, ba. By means of a protractor cut off on ba a number of angles within the probable range of variation of dip, so that a line connecting a and c, for instance, forms an angle of 60° with be, etc. With b as a center and be as a radius, draw a circle through c. This completes the tool for solving the problem. Fig. 2 represents the line of strike of the vein and db the trace of the vertical plane on which the vein is to be plotted with the apparent angle of dip. A° is the angle which this plane makes with the strike. Fig. 3 shows the application of the method: Place line cb of tracing over line db of Fig. 2 and move fore and back until line of strike becomes tangent to the circle. Connect d with the point (a) that marks the true angle of dip as found by measurement in the mine (60° in the case illustrated). The angle adb is the apparent angle of dip (C°) to be used in the vertical section. Proof.-As stated in Mr. Bancroft's paper, the apparent angle of dip is: tan C° = sin A° tan B° (1)

Jan 12, 1914

By William M. Agar

Now that both the national and state legislatures are seeking ways of reducing expenses, the appropriations for geological investigation and for the study of mineral resources have been greatly reduced and in some cases entirely stopped. Is this policy justified? The sums saved by these reductions are always small. If the work accomplished by these surveys has no intrinsic value to the community, but is only an interesting way of spending some of the people's money when that money is plentiful, there should be no surveys at any time. If, on the other hand, they perform a necessary function, it is indeed foolish and short-sighted to save these paltry sums to the detriment of the community. It is not my purpose to undertake a general justification of geological surveys. Rather, 1 wish to call attention to the work of one state survey that has been discontinued, and to indicate ways in which the work was valuable to the people, even though that state's mineral resources are not very important, and why it should be continued. Though at one time in Connecticut's history iron mining and smelting were important, and copper was mined in appreciable quantities in two localities, it is many years since it could be regarded as a mining state. At present Connecticut stands far down among the states in the value of its mineral products. Granite for architectural and structural purposes, trap rock, clay, agricultural lime, feldspar and quartz, together with a few other nonmetallic minerals, are produced in appreciable quantities, but the natural resources of the state consist at present much more largely in its attractive scenery, woods, lakes, shore line, and in the opportunities that these offer for rest and recreation. Is the prosecution of geological work in such a state a waste of the taxpayer's money? Or can it be that though it was formerly valuable, the work is now completed? The only way to answer these questions is to review the geological work done in the past and to consider the type of information the people want, as reflected in the requests that have been received by the director of the survey in the last few years. There have been two periods during which Connecticut has supported geological work within its borders. The first began in 1835 when Percival

Jan 1, 1935

By Porter W. Shimer

As is well known, cast-iron borings are a mixture of small particles of iron with more or less of finely divided graphite, separated from thc surfaces of these small particles during the process of boring. The amount of graphite thus mechanically mixed is, in all cases, quite large enough to cause serious difficulty when the problem is to obtain an average sample of a given lot of borings for carbon determination. This difficulty arises from the necessity of obtaining a uniform mixture of the heavy and comparatively coarse borings with the finely divided and light graphite, and of removing a sample for analysis without disturbing the uniformity of this mixture. It was first sought to overcome this difficulty by having the horings made very fine, so that they might have more nearly the size of the particles of graphite. It was not practicable, however, to secure this uniformity of size, since much of the graphite is in the form of the finest dust. At all events, the duplicate determinations of rarbon in these fine borings, made with every precaution by combustion in oxygen, frequently showed differences too large to be accounted for in arty other way than by imperfect sampling. Very coarse borings were also tried with the idea that the graphite separated from these large and heavy pieces would perhaps be inappreciable ; but it was found that quite enough was separated to vitiate the results. Various methods of mixing were tried, both in the bottle and on glazed paper ; but in all these mixtures it mas found that duplicate samples seldom colitained the same proportion of the mechanically mixed graphite; and when they did, there could be no certainty that it was the true proportion. All this was shown many times over by the failure of duplicates to agree closely, the differencheing sometimes so much as 0.20 per cent. It was finally clear that nothing was to be hoped from these methods. Even if we could secure a perfect mixture containing in every part its due proportion of graphite, it would run a great risk of being destroyed the moment a spatula was inserted to remove a sample: for the least agitation causes some of the graphite to fall through between the coarser borings.

Jan 1, 1886

By S. Shapiro, G. Krauss

We will reply to Dr. Pitsch's discussion by 1) presenting in greater detail the single surface trace analysis which we performed on the reversed austenite plates in a single parent plate of martensite of known orientation, 2) relating the results of our analysis to the conclusions which Dr. Pitsch makes on the basis of our data, and 3) examining the validity of our selection of twenty-nine individual traces from the over 200 austenite plates which were observed in a surface of this single martensite plate. Fig. 7 shows a standard (001) projection of the martensite plate from which the austenite-martensite interface traces were taken. The traces are plotted on the projection as the small solid circles, and the great circles corresponding to the loci of plane normals which could contain each trace or could intersect the surface plane along the measured directions are also plotted. It can be seen that these great circles intersect at a point which corresponds to the normal of the surface plane on which the traces were observed. Also rate which occurred only at particularly low heating rates, see Figs. 1 and 3 in the paper.2 Since in this case the interpretation of Jana and Wayman is plausible and since we have no alternative to this interpretation, we would like to state only that the existence of a diffusion-controlled reversal at low temperatures seems to be not yet proved beyond any doubt. The author wishes to thank Professor G. Krauss for making available his manuscript prior to publication. It is also a pleasure to acknowledge the lively written discussions, which the author has had with Professors G. Krauss and C. M. Wayman prior to this communication. The financial support of the Deutsche For-schungsgemeinschaft for the work on which this communication is based is also gratefully acknowledged. plotted within small dotted circles which represent a i3 deg scatter in each of the twenty-four unit stereo-graphic triangles are our A and B poles7 and the pole P determined by Kessler and itsch.' The data presented in Fig. 7 permit a direct association of the measured traces and the various proposed habit plane poles for the reversed austenite plates in the martensite crystal. If the sample measurements do in fact

Jan 1, 1969

By F. N. Lewis

HOPPERS may be divided into three classes accord-ing ing to type, namely; round, suspension, and square or rectangular. The round hopper is the most simple of the three and is the most easily understood by laymen. The bursting pressure in these hoppers is resisted by the shell as a round tank resists the pressure of water. They are perfectly stable as long as they retain their cylindrical shape. In holding water or other liquids the pressure on the sides is always the same, but with ore this is seldom true. These round hoppers for ore are usually filled from one side and frequently drawn off from the opposite side. A considerable amount of fine material is deposited on the side of filling, while the coarse particles run over to the far side. This con-dition of filling causes the ore to flow out unevenly, sometimes drawing out completely on one side. After a time the remaining ore breaks down and the shock of this falling ore, sometimes many tons, is very severe and has a tendency to distort the hopper from its true shape; consequently a round hopper holding ore should be stiffened to resist such shocks as this. For these reasons round hoppers have never been popular with engineers for holding ore. They also have a trait of welling. up worse than the square hoppers. I have known of round hoppers holding fine ore, 25 ft. diam-eter, that had a tendency to well up until there was ,only a round hole about 6 ft. diameter leading to the gate. The suspension or catenary type of hopper is well adapted to conditions requiring only small capacities. The selection of this type of hopper should be done with considerable care. The theory of the design is that the loads are carried entirely in tension in the bottom plate, just as a hammock carries a load, and it must be remembered that the bottoms of these hoppers are con-stantly changing form with the changing loads. Take a hammock, for example, if a person stands up in it, the bottom goes down and the sides approach a straight line; if the person lies down then the bottom comes up and the sides go down. It is this constant changing of the form that has a tendency to break the connections.

Jan 7, 1928

By A. Lee Barrett

THE Maintenance Committee of the Coal Division of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers is presenting as a part of this report the second of a series of maintenance cost comparisons. The committee's purpose is to assemble maintenance costs on all equipment connected with mechanical operations at the face of coal mining and to arrange these costs by districts so that comparisons can be made between districts and within districts. The committee, this year, sent 35 questionnaires to representative coal companies who either reported last year or had advised specifically of the inability to report to last year's questionnaire primarily because of limited time. The response to the questionnaire this year was not as good as last year, only 20 of the 35 selected companies returning a completed questionnaire. This year's data has been .compiled and combined with last year's data to present a comparison of the 1945 and 1946 costs of loading machines, shortwall cutting machines, universal cutting machines, service locomotives, shuttle cars, and mine cars. The same tabulation by districts is used as was used for 1945. As was indicated by last year's report there is considerable variation in the maintenance cost of mining machinery in the various coal mining districts and due to this high variability it was not felt practical to attempt to Arrive at weighted averages. Consequently, all average figures used in this report are straight averages. An analysis was made of companies reporting both this year and last year in an attempt to determine the trend in maintenance costs for different classes of equipment. Ten representative companies are used in this computation. Table I shows the average cost for 1945 and 1946. It is felt that the negative trend in the maintenance cost of universal cutting machines probably represents the effect of the purchase of a relatively large number o new machines in 1946 with little maintenance cost appearing during the first yeas of operation. The grand total figure indicates an upward trend amounting to plus 18.7 pct. However, this figure is viewer with some suspicion because of the effect of the universal cutters decreasing maintenance cost and it is concluded that direct application of percentage increase should be made to types of equipment. In Table 2 covering maintenance costs of various types of mining equipment for 1945 and 1946 the results, obtained in Table I indicating trends were applied to those

Jan 1, 1948

Discussion of the paper of Edward Keller, presented at the Butte meeting, August, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 80, August, 1913, pp. 2093 to 2115. GEORGE L. HEATH, Hubbell, Mich.:-In the admirable paper quoted, is mentioned the date when the 5-g. assay was first proposed is a standard for refined metal. The author omitted, however, to mention a later paper,1 which contains a proposal for the use of a single " stock solution " of mixed acids, which has been adopted by the American Brass Co. and others. The suggestion is made that such a scheme would save time and manipulation with converter metal. Unless the low current of 0.5 ampere and the large excess of nitric acid, recommended by Mr. Keller, have been proved necessary to hold up antimony-and selenium, the use of the mixed solution which we have adopted will permit the use of 1 ampere of current per square decimeter of cathode surface, until the solutions have become colorless. At this point, we wash the covers and reduce to 0.5 ampere to prevent oxidation or contamination. The ordinary split electrodes have been used. With strong current, at least, the use of an excess of nitric acid tends to the neutralization of the solution before the end of the period, from the formation of too much ammonia., and this is detrimental. Antimony deposits more easily than arsenic, and tends to drag the latter dorm with it. There must, be some such explanation for the fact. that we have made hundreds of deposits of pure cathodes from Lake material containing no antimony, but as. high as 0.5 per cent. of arsenic. By placing an assay beaker in the Frary solenoid, or rotary device, a cathode deposit with less than 0.01 per cent. of impurity is easily obtained in one operation from 3 g. of whitneyite, carrying from 7 to 10 per cent. of arsenic. In such a case, it is necessary to test several times for end point and remove the plate as soon as no brown tint appears (at once) when hydrogen sulphide water is added to the test portion on the spot plate. Edward Keller's proportion,, of solvent figure out as 14 cc. of strong nitric to 11.4 cc. of sulphuric acid (1.84).

Jan 11, 1913

By J. Jones-Parra

In previous Technical Notes, W. R. Rose' and W. Purcell have discussed the capillary pressure data presented by Welge.' Welge obtained capillary pressure curves of the imbibition type in which it was necessary to apply to the apparent wetting phase a greater pressure than that of the non-wetting phase to complete the cycle and reduce the non-wetting phase saturation to low values. Rose suggests in his Note that conditions of equilibrium could not have prevailed, since the. non-wetting phase pressure must always be the greater. Pur-cell in his Note, proceeds to postulate a pore system consisting. of a series of "holes in a doughnut," in which he contends that under equilibrium conditions it is necessary to resort to negative capillary pressures before significant wetting phase displacement can take place. There is a remarkable similarity between the shape of the capillary pressure curve calculated by Purcell and those measured by Welge. It is the purpose of this Note to show that, because Purcell neglected to account for the behavior of the residual wetting phase saturation, his system was not in equilibrium during imbibition; and, furthermore, that if his system had been in equilibrium, negative capillary pressures would not have been possible. In Purcell's pore system, the residual wetting phase will form pendular rings at the interstitial spaces existing somewhere within the system, for example, such as those spaces between "doughnuts" as shown in Fig. 1. The true capillary pressure is that across the pendular ring interface, and for the system to be in equilibrium the pressure drop across all interfaces must be the same, including that across the interface in the tight pores A of diaphragm B (Fig. 1). As the pressure across the cell is reduced, the advancing interface will move into the pore from the diaphragm, but at each pressure, the curvature of the pendular rings must be the same as that of the advancing interface if equilibrium is to prevail. Since equilibrium conditions are the basis for the entire argument, it follows that pendular rings must grow as wetting phase enters the pore, that is, as the pressure across the cell is lowered. In Purcell's calculated curve, the residual wetting phase saturation remains constant as the capillary pressure decreases. Thus, his curve does not represent an equilibrium process.

Jan 1, 1953

By S. E. Bretherton

(San Francisco Meeting, September, 1915) DURING the year 1878-79, Anton Eilers, who was then interested in the lead smelting and refining business near Salt Lake City, Utah, made a somewhat radical departure from the regular practice at that time, which was to use but little lime in the slag, with a high percentage of iron. Lime was not only a cheaper flux than iron, but it enabled the metallurgist to make a more siliceous slag, an economical advantage in smelting where the smelting companies had to purchase either iron or lime to neutralize the excess silica, and penalize the ore shippers accordingly. The larger amount of both lime and silica in the slag also made it of lighter specific gravity, and a better separation of the metals and mattes was secured. This change in the formation of slags for lead smelting was brought about by Anton Eilers, prior to the Leadville mining excitement of 1879. We must also give Mr. Eilers credit for the general introduction of the hollow water-cooled cast-iron jacket for the blast furnace. Again referring to the use of more lime and less iron in the formation of slags,. there is no doubt but that it prevents the formation of a great many so-called "sows" in the lead crucible, such as were made in the early history of lead smelting in the Rocky Mountains; these sows consisted of lead, iron, arsenic, sulphur, copper, and other metals, including gold and silver, mixed with unconsumed fuel, and often, after vain attempts to cut them up or melt them to a suitable size for handling, were buried in the slag clumps to get them out of-sight. Another advantage derived from the adoption of high-lime slags. when smelting ore containing arsenic is the production of less speiss (a by-product heavier than matte, resulting from careless operation of the furnace, the lead being driven out of the crucible and sows built up). This speiss, while usually not as rich in precious metals as matte made at the same time, is too valuable to be thrown away; but it is difficult to treat, and it was thrown away or piled on the slag clumps in the pioneer clays of lead smelting in this country.

Jan 8, 1915

By Will Mitchell, T. G. Kirkland, C. L. Sollenberger

R. S. Handy (Santa Rosa, Calif.)—It would be interesting to learn the comparative results of treating the Korean scheelite ore described in this paper according to the following procedure: I—Follow the procedure described in the paper to the recovery of the sulphides by flotation. 2—Dilute the residue from the sulphide flotation strongly with water and disperse the contained colloids by adding a mixture of 75 pct sodium silicate and 25 pct quebracho to dispersion point. 3— Settle the dispersed pulp and decant the supernatant colloids. 4—-Dilute, settle, and decant the pulp until the settled residue is crystalline. Not over 10 pct of the tungsten minerals should follow the colloids. 5—Treat the settled residue by flotation, having established the proper pH. Oleic acid homogenized with cresylic acid or kerosene is more selective for scheelite than is oleic acid alone. (The recovery of the contained tungsten minerals should be practically complete in this operation.) 6—Deflocculate the tungsten concentrate from step 5 with the same dispersion agents as in step 2 and treat the deflocculated pulp by gravity. The minerals that tend to float with scheelite are generally of low specific gravity and the separation is efficient. The heavier contaminants, such as pyrrhotite and magnetite can be removed magnetically, leaving a practically pure scheelite. E. J. Pryor (Imperial College of Science and Technology, London)—It occurred to me that instead of using temperature as a differentiating control, more precision might be obtained with a reagent of a type we developed here for the flotation of high grade fluorspar in cold pulps. This reagent, which is manufactured on a modest scale in England, is based on oleic acid, which has been modified by our patented process to ensure complete stable dispersion at any desired concentration in water. It thus becomes possible to utilise unimolecular layers with good selectivity. In the fluorspar flotation for which we developed it, it is possible to hold a tight control on depressing quebracho for the calcite without substantial loss of flu-orite, and recovery exceeding 99 pct is not uncommon in the mill where it is in use, even under wintry conditions. No attempt has been made yet to extend the use of the reagent, as we have not completely overcome

Jan 1, 1952

By W. H. Smith

IN the course of an investigation on chromium containing minor amounts of alloying elements, the information herein has been obtained on the crys-tallographic orientations resulting from arc melting, rolling, and annealing. The chromium used in this investigation was electrolytic flake obtained from the Electro Metallurgical Co. This material was heated for 20 hr at 1600°C in hydrogen with a dew point of about — 100°C. The oxygen and nitrogen content of the chromium after this treatment was 0.0003 pct 0 and 0.005 pct N. Five pounds of this chromium were arc melted in a water-cooled copper crucible. After arc melting, the oxygen and nitrogen contents were 0.002 and 0.025 pet, respectively. A section of this ingot is shown in Fig. 1. By means of a back-reflection Laue technique, the crystal habit of the cast ingot was determined. As expected, it was found that the [loo] was approximately the axis of the columnar grains. In this respect, chromium behaves like other body-centered-cubic metals in that a cubic axis is normal to the cold surface of the mold. A slab cut from this ingot was rolled at 600°C as follows: four 30 pct reductions were made with intermediate anneals at 1200°C for 15 min. Rolling was done with the [loo] of the columnar grains in the rolling direction. Following the final anneal, an 80 pct reduction was taken at 600 °C. The final sheet thickness was ten mils. By polishing and etching, the thickness was reduced to four mils and the grain orientation determined by the transmission Laue method using molybdenum radiation with a zirconium filter. Fig. 2 is the (110) pole figure for this material with the ideal (100) [011] and (111) [112] orientations indicated. The orientation is typical of most cold rolled body-centered-cubic metals having the [llO] of the grains approximately in the rolling direction and the (100) planes approximately in the plane of the rolled sheet. There is also evidence of some 10) [1 orientation. The grain orientation of sheet rolled 40 and 80 pct in the same direction as before at 600°C followed by recrystallization at 12000 C for 15 min was determined by a back-reflection Laue technique. A random texture was found in both cases. This 1200°C 15 min anneal was found to give complete recrystallization and some grain growth.

Jan 1, 1956

By George W. Sears

In preparing this symposium, our ambition was to elicit authoritative expression of opinion concerning important selected phases of the industry from men active in it. Responses to requests for contributions were gratifying, especially so in view of the short time available. The generous and cooperative spirit of the industry as a whole is amply evident. Responses were received from the following, who are therefore the true authors of the paper: W. G. Adamson, General Manager of the pershin; Quicksilver Co., Lovelock, Nev.; Dudley Baird, Vice President, Pacific Foundry Co., San Francisco; Walter W. Bradley, State Mineralogist of California; W. D. Burcham, General Manager of the Brewster Quicksilver Consolidated, Terlingua, Tex.; William Forstner, San Francisco; H. W. Gould, of H. W. Gould & Co., San Francisco; Marcus Hulings, General Manager of the Chisos Mining Co., Terlingua, Tex.; Frank J. Katz, Chief Engineer, Division Mineral Statistics, United States Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C.; Lloyd J. Lathrap, Superintendent, Nevada Quicksilver Mines, Inc., Lovelock, Nev.; W. R. Moorehead, General Manager, New Idria Quicksilver Mings, Inc., Idria, Calif.; F. W. Oakes, Jr., Terlingua, Tex.; C. N. Schuette, San Francisco. Brief Economic History of Quicksilver in the United States Quicksilver ore was first discovered in the United States at what was later the New Almaden mine in California, in the year 1824. Production also began here, but not until 1850, when it was stimulated by the active demand caused by gold-mining operations. Prospecting for quicksilver was active, high-grade ores were found and ample production lowered the price from $100 per flask in 1850 to about half that figure for the greater part of the next 10 years. During the succeeding decade, many new quicksilver mines were found; production increased at a time when the local demand diminished, so that most of the product was exported. The third decade of quicksilver mining in the United States witnessed the development of the pan amalgamation process, particularly in Com-stock silver-mining operations. A suddenly increased demand sent prices soaring, the all-time peak of quicksilver production followed, and the highest price was soon replaced by the lowest one on record. Huge quantities of quicksilver were exported between 1870 and 1880 and exports continued in decreasing measure for three decades to 1910. In

Jan 1, 1930

By A. L. Mowry, John T. Norton

Isothermal sections of the pseudo-ternary carbide systems TiC-VC-ZrC, TaC-VC-ZrC, and NbC-VC-ZrC have been examined. The sections contain an inverted U shaped two-phase field whose maximum extent is 77 molecular pct for Tic, 64 pct for TaC, and 51 pct for NbC. lsoparametric lines were determined which show the curvature of the single-phase field and the direction of tie lines in the two-phase field. It was not possible to show any relationship between atom size and the extent of the two-phase field. REVIOUS work' on the solubility relationship of several pairs of refractory cubic monocarbides from the group Tic, ZrC, VC, NbC, and TaC has shown that, with the exception of the system VC-ZrC, they all form continuous series of solid solutions. It was demonstrated that the limited solubility in the case of VC-ZrC system was primarily a question of the size factor, the size difference between vanadium and zirconium being greater than the limiting value of about 15 pet. It is interesting to consider the results of combining these isomorphous carbides in groups of three and to determine the isothermal section of the pseudo-ternary diagram at, for instance, 2000°C, a temperature that will assure an equilibrium structure in a reasonable length of time. In the ternary systems where the three pairs form complete solid solution series, it is probable that the isothermal ternary section would be a single- phase field, although this is not necessarily the case. However, if one pair of carbides has a very limited solubility, then there must be a two-phase field of some extent, and it is the purpose of the present work to examine the extension of this field and to determine if it can be related to the nature of the third carbide. This condition is fulfilled if the VC-ZrC pair, which has only limited solubility, is combined with Tic, TaC, or NbC. The relative sizes of the metal atoms undoubtedly play a role in the extent of the single-phase field, and the values obtained from the pure carbides, assuming close-packing between metal and carbon atoms and a carbon atom diameter of 1.54A, are

Jan 1, 1952

By Carville E. Sparks, Rollin Farmin

Edward Thomas (U.S. Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C.)—This excellent article on an ingenious and successful installation of wooden rock bolts loses much of its effectiveness through an attempt by the authors to establish the general adaptability of this type of support. Possibly because they have only local experience as a guide, they imply erroneously in the first paragraph that the Bureau of Mines has been opposed to wooden bolting, although later in the article reference is made to a Bureau publication on the subject. In 1947 the Bureau of Mines decided to sponsor experiments in roof bolting in coal mines because the experience of the St. Joseph Lead Co. had indicated that this type of roof support appeared to be a roof-fall accident-prevention measure that might be adopted and also effect economies in operating cost. Justification for this belief has been borne out, particularly in coal mining. This program has been carried out under the following general program: 1—The Roof Control Section of the Bureau of Mines has advocated and initiated underground experiments under controlled conditions with many different ideas related to rock bolting since 1947. In no instance has cooperation in developing an idea been refused, no matter how ridiculous it may have seemed at first glance, if it has been requested by a mining company. 2—The Bureau of Mines has no police powers over the selection of roof-support devices and seeks none. 3—At the request of an operator, the Bureau of Mines will make comparative tests on various types of bolts underground and will submit resultant data for the operator's consideration. 4—Wherever possible, the Bureau publicizes successful installations, so that others may benefit from this experience; however, it is careful not to discriminate between manufacturers of bolts or bolt-installation equipment. Unsuccessful experiments probably should also be publicized, but from a practical standpoint it is usually not feasible. In other words, the role of the Roof Control Section of the Bureau is in line with the original purpose for which the Bureau was first organized: to serve industry through gathering, analyzing, and disseminating factual data. It would seem to be logical that the starting point for any experimentation on roof bolts in coal mines should be the time-proved practice of the

Jan 1, 1955

By J. R. Campbell

In order to discuss the subject intelligently, it will be necessary to touch briefly on the forms in which sulphur is supposed to exist in coking coal to be carbonized in beehive or byproduct ovens. Sulphur is known to exist in coal as sulphides and sulphates, as can be determined experimentally. Then there is the so-called organic sulphur, i.e., sulphur in combination with the carbon, 'hydrogen, and oxygen of the coal, about which much has been written, but nothing definitely proven in an experimental way. In fact, so far. as we know, there never has been developed a satisfactory and conclusive method in the laboratory for the direct determination of organic sulphur. For most coking coals, it can be safely assumed that the preponderance of sulphur is in the form of pyrite (FeSz). When exposed to comparatively low temperatures during the coking process, it loses its sulphur according to the following chemical reaction: 7FeS2 = Fe7Ss + 6S. It will be seen, therefore, that six out of the 14 atoms of sulphur (or 42.8 per cent.) are expelled, or volatilized. FelSa remains in the coke as pyrrhotite, or magnetic sulphide of iron; this accounts for the highly magnetic properties of the powdered coke. A more commonly accepted reaction is FeS2 = FeS f S, in which the straight sulphide of iron is produced with 50 per cent. volatilization of sulphur. In the beehive methods of coke making, air is introduced in sufficient amounts to carry on the distilling and the coking processes, and the sulphur is oxidized along with the other volatile products: First, into sulphur dioxide (SO2), known by the pungent andsuffocating odoremitted from the trunnel head; second, into sulphuric anhydride (SOa); and, finally, into sulphuric acid, as it comes into contact with the air and moisture. In a properly regulated draft on a beehive oven, there is never complete combustion of the gases. In other words, the coking process should be carried on in a reducing atmosphere, and a low-grade producer gas kept issuing from the trunnel head. For coals of about 30 per cent. volatile matter, the ratio of air to gas is 3½ to 1. In complete combustion, the ratio is 6 to 1, producing an extremely high temperature

Jan 1, 1916

By A. Lee Barrett

The Maintenance Committee of the Coal Division of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers is presenting as a part of this report the second of a series of maintenance cost comparisons. The committee's purpose is to assemble maintenance costs on all equipment connected with mechanical operations at the face of coal mining and to arrange these costs by districts so that comparisons can be made between districts and within districts. The committee, this year, sent 35 questionnaires to representative coal companies who either reported last year or had advised specifically of the inability to report to last year's questionnaire primarily because of limited time. The response to the questionnaire this year as not as good as last year, only 20 of the 35 selected companies returning a completed questionnaire. This year's data have been compiled and combined with last year's data to present a comparison of the 1945 and 1946 costs of loading machines, shortwall cutting machines, universal cutting machines, service locomotives, shuttle cars, and mine cars. The same tabulation by districts is used as was used for 1945. As was indicated by last year's report there is considerable variation in the in cost of mining machinery in the various coal mining districts and due to this high variability it was not felt practical to attempt to arrive at weighted averages. Consequently, all average figures used in this report are straight averages. An analysis was made of companies reporting both this year and last year in an attempt to determine the trend in maintenance costs for different classes of equipment. Ten representative companies are used in this computation. Table I shows the average cost for 1945 and 1946. It is felt that the negative trend in the maintenance cost of universal cutting machines probably represents the effect of the purchase of a relatively large number of new machines in 1946 with little maintenance cost appearing during the first Year of operation. The grand total figure indicates an upward trend amounting to plus 18.7 pet. However, this figure is viewed with some suspicion because of the effect of the universal cutters decreasing maintenance cost and it is concluded that direct application of percentage increase should be made to types of equipment. In Table 2 covering maintenance costs of various types of mining equipment for 1945 and 1946 the results obtained in Table I indicating trends were applied to those

Jan 1, 1949

He took a great interest in technical matters and his inclination was strongly toward research investigations. At the same time he was effective in manual and mechanical work and was generally found working side by side with the men under his direction. His nature was unselfish and he was extremely popular socially. He was a member of the Coeur d'Alene Commandery, Knights Templar. Stanly A. Easton. Lieutenant.Louis Baird Louis Baird, a Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery of the British Army, died on the battlefield in 1915. Lieutenant Baird was born July 28, 1880, at Stirling, Scotland. His technical education was obtained at King's College, Melbourne, Australia, in 1893 to 1895, and at the Technical College at Glasgow, Scotland, in 1897 to 1900. After an apprenticeship with the Mexican J. & 8. Rec. Co. of Mexico, lasting from 1900 to 1903, he became mill superintendent for the Cia. Minera Benito, at Juarez, Zac. During the year 1905-6 he was assistant manager of the Caridelaria y Anexas, at Pinos, Zac., and from 1906 to 1907 was engineer with the Cia. Minera Jalisco, San Sebastian, Jalisco. At the time of his admission to the Institute, in 1908, he was practising as a mining engineer at Etzatlan, Jalisco, Mexico. For the next four years he practised his profession in the City of Guadalajara, Jalisco, removing, in 1913, to Ixtlan del Rio, in the State of Tepic. It was from here that he returned to England to put his services at the disposal of the British Government. The Institute is not definitely informed as to how, where, or when Lieutenant Baird met his death. iCaptain John H. Ballamy John H. Ballamy, Captain on the Regimental Staff of the 103d Engineers, was killed near Fismes, on Aug. 9, 1918. Captain Ballamy was born at Plvmouth. Pa.. in 1886 and graduated from' the High School of that town in 1903. In the following year he began work as a coal miner, and at the same time began the study of mining engineering in the evening and any other spare time. He continued this diligent and energetic practice for many years. For sixteen years he continued in the employment of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Rai1roa.d Company's coal mining

Jan 1, 1920