Search Documents

By Donald McLaughlin

INCREASING variety of interests among mining geologists is becoming more and more marked, as the frontier of their science and of its applications continues to expand. Each of the traditional lines of inquiry provides its crop of new and better defined problems, and answers to them are being found in far more precise terms than in the past as older uncertainties .are swept away with the sharper techniques and the even sharper ideas of modern geology. A glance over the assemblage of projects and publications in 1939 reveals conspicuous activity in many different parts of the front, such as the attack on the controversial question of the acid or alkaline character of ore-forming solutions, the place of mineral districts in the larger structural framework of continents, and the place of ore shoots in the local patterns of districts. Instructive comparisons are being made which cut across lines of older correlations or which reinforce them by pointing out heretofore ne-

Jan 1, 1940

By D. R. Parrish, F. F. Craig

In some respects, forward combustion (alias: fie-flooding, underground combustion, in-situ combustion, dry combustion) is an efficient oil recovery method. For example, its displacement efficiency (as much as 95 percent in reservoirs with high porosity and high oil saturation) is good. In its use of heat, however, forward combustion is grossly inefficient. Most of the heat generated during forward combustion is wasted. About one-fifth of the heat is picked up by the incoming air and re-used (regenerated); the remainder is left behind the combustion zone and ultimately is lost. Compressed air is expensive, and heat generated from compressed air via underground combustion is too valuable to be thrown away. Improvement is needed. Since the early 1950's, improvements in forward combustion by addition of water injection have been discussed, particularly in the patent literature, with increasing frequency.'-'' These concepts are based on the fact that relatively inexpensive water can be used to pick up much of the heat that is ordinarily wasted during forward combustion, and transport it forward to a more useful place, thereby reducing the amount of air required to move a heat front through the reservoir. Several approaches have been proposed. Merriam and Squires1 taught that a combustible (fuel) gas should be injected along with the air and water. This, however, would give at least a tendency toward reverse combustion instead of forward combustion, and would reduce the velocity of the heat bank, defeating the primary purpose of the water injection. Pelzer2 described primarily a batchwise method of forward combustion and water flooding. He advocated burning part way through a reservoir with forward combustion, then switching from air to water injection alone to push the heat toward the producing wells. Though possible, this method has serious disadvantages, the major one being that, by the time water injection is started, much of the heat has been irretrievably lost to the overlying and underlying formations. We have described what is considered a practical Combination Of Forward Combustion And Water-flooding (COFCAW).3,4 Air and water are injected simultaneously (or alternately) after a small heat bank has been formed by forward combustion. Some of the injected fluid fills up the region behind the heat bank; the rest enters the heat bank. Upon encountering heated rock, the water is converted into steam, which then flows ahead of the combustion zone and displaces much of the oil in place. Only enough air is injected to provide heat for vaporization of the water and to compensate for reservoir heat losses. Since the size of the heat bank is minimized, heat losses also are minimized. Because of more efficient oil displacement ahead of the combustion zone, fuel consumption is reduced. Too, unlike a forward combustion zone that cannot move until all fuel at a point has been consumed, COFCAW leaves some

Jan 1, 1970

By B. E. Grant

THE major metal mine operations of the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company in Utah are in the Bingham area. The Company also owns and operates metal mines in the Ophir district, twelve miles south of Bingham, and in the Tintic district, 28 miles south of Ophir. Operations of the Company in the Park City area have been idle since early in World War II. These mining camps, lying at moderate elevations, serviced by railroads, hard-surfaced highways, in close proximity to mills, smelters, cities and towns, fertile valleys, winter and summer vacation areas, and airports are probably as favorably situated as any mining camps in the world. The Bingham district, known principally for its copper production from

Jan 1, 1948

By John V. Beall

During the last quarter of 1948, two new machines, which may revolutionize the coal mining industry, made their first public appearance within two months of each other. Both are designed to mine and load coal continuously. On Oct. 27, the "Colmol," invented by C. H. Snyder and A. E. Lamm, president and executive vice-president, respectively, of the Sunnyhill Coal Co., was demonstrated at the No. 8 mine of that Company at New Lexington, Ohio. The "Joy Continuous Miner," invented by H. F. Silver, president of the Silver Engineering Works, Denver, and developed and manufactured by the Joy Manufacturing Co., was demonstrated at the Mathies mine, near Finleyville, Pa., in the Pittsburgh coal seam.

Jan 1, 1949

I. MCLAUGHLIN, R. P.-Protecting California Oil Fields from Damage by Infiltrating Water. Discussed by M. E. Lombardi, A. F. L. Bell, A. C. McLaughlin, R. P. McLaughlin, William A. Williams, Mark L. Requa, C. D. Keen 2413 BEST, W. N.-Petroleum as Fuel Under Boilers and in Furnaces. Discussed by William A. Williams, Hennen Jennings, David T. Day, Mark L. Requa, A. F. L. Bell, W. N. Best 2420 JOHNSON, ROSWELL H.-Sliding Royalties for Oil and Gas Wells. Discussed by William A. Williams, A. C. McLaughlin, A. F. L. Bell, Roswell H. Johnson 2423 BELL, ARTHUR F. L.-Important Topping Plants of California. Discussed by William A. Williams, David T. Day, A. F. L. Bell 2426 LOMBARDI, M. E.-The Cost of Maintaining Production in California Oil Fields. Discussed by C. D. Keen, Mark L. Requa, H. M. Bacon, M. E. Lombardi 2427 HUNTLEY, L. G.-Oil, Gas, and Water Contents of Dakota Sand in Canada and United States, Discussed by E. W. Shaw 2428

Jan 12, 1915

By Herbert H. Kellogg

Graphs representing the standard free-energy of formation as a function of temperature for 21 fluorides are presented, along with estimated values for the standard free-energy of formation of 20 atedadditional fluorides. A few of the many possible uses of these data in metallurgical calculations are discussed, including the fluorination of oxides, sulphides, metallurgicaland chlorides, and the reduction of metal fluorides. RECENT papers which have presented free-energy data for oxides, sulphides, chlorides, carbonates, sulphates, and silicates in the form of free energy vs. temperature plots,1-5 have found important uses in teaching and metallurgical development work. This method of presentation of thermo-dynamic data serves to make available in readily usable form thermodynamic constants which are scattered throughout the literature, and to show by graphical means the stability relations which exist between the compounds of a given type. It is certainly desirable to have these free-energy-temperature diagrams for as many types of compounds as are of present or potential use in metallurgical processes. Thus, even though there are but few uses of metallic fluorides in extractive metallurgy today, the potential uses of fluorine processes are of great importance and serve as the principal justification of this paper. Recent developments in the production of fluoro-carbons have resulted in vastly improved methods for the production and handling of fluorine and corrosive fluorides, with consequent reduction in costs.".' The extractive metallurgist should no longer overlook possible fluorine processes when development of a new process for a relatively high unit-price metal is being considered. In a previous paperv he author outlined in some detail the importance and use of free-energy data in metallurgical calculations and also discussed the properties of a standard free-energy vs. temperature diagram. The same method of presentation is adopted in this paper, and the reader is referred to the earlier work for explanations of the use of free-energy data. Thermodynamic Data This paper presents standard free-energy vs. temperature diagrams, Figs. 1 and 2, for those fluorides for which the major thermodynamic constants are known. In the calculations of the standard free-energy of formation (AGO), values of the enthalpy of formation at 298°K (?Ho,) were taken from "Selected Values of Thermodynamic Constants"8 most of the values of standard entropy at 298°K (S°298) were taken from "Selected Values"," but in a few cases the values given by Kelley9 ere preferred; data for the Phase changes came from "selected Values" and several of Kellley's publics- tions;0-12 and most of the specific-heat data were taken from Kelley.l0 The appendix gives a detailed list of the sources of the data. As explained in an earlier paper,6 he accuracy of some of the standard free-energy relationships is not high. An error of +1 kcal at 1000°C is expected in most of the curves of Figs. 1 and 2. The error may be as high as +3 kcal in some of the curves. Rather than attempt to estimate the reliability of each curve, the source of the data used is reported in the appendix, and the reader may compare these data with newer values as they become available. Figs. 1 and 2 fail to show values for the fluorides of many important metals. In most cases this is because the entropy of the metallic fluoride is unknown. For preliminary calculations it is often useful to have available the best estimate of an unknown datum, rather than no information at all. With this in mind, Table I lists estimated standard free-energy values for a number of important metallic fluorides not included in Figs. 1 and 2. The values reported in Table I were, calculated by Brewer et al.13 and are based on estimated entropy values. The estimated uncertainty of the values for each fluoride were calculated from the uncertainty values given by Brewer1' for ?H°, and the entropy function.

Jan 1, 1952

By Howard N. Eavenson

AN analysis of the bituminous coal situation by an authority who traces the production, mining, safety, markets and labor trends in comparison with other fuels. BEFORE 1918 the production of coal experienced a steady growth, with slight recessions in ouput in only twelve years (1837, 1841, 1852, 1855, 1861, 1874, 1876, 1889, 1894, 1905, 1909, 1914), and in each of these cases the loss was recovered in the following year and the increase continued. In each decade the output was doubled. Prices, while not high, allowed some profit. In 1918 during World War I, an output of 580 million tons was reached and with the exception of 1923 this total was not again reached until 1942, in World War 11. Losses of output in this period were much greater than ever before; in 1932 the total was 270 million tons less than in 1918 or 1923, and the loss after 1923 was not recovered until 1942. The greatest output was 631 million tons in 1947.

Jan 1, 1950

By G. C. McLachlan

Two papers dealing with Noranda's milling operations have already been presented. The first1 of these covered the initial metallurgical problems connected with the treatment of the ore, while the second2 described the development of the mill from a 500-ton unit in 1928 to one with a daily capacity of 3000 tons less than six years later. At the time the second paper was written the equipment whirh had been installed to bring the mill capacity up to 3000 tons was being tuned into production and for this reason, though each step had previously been tested by a large-scale pilot operation, it was thought advisable to withhold metallurgical data until any starting-up difficulties had been overcome and anticipated requirements fulfilled. These requirements called for an improvement in gold recovery without any lowering of the previous ratio of concentration, and the pages that follow deal with the methods by which this result was obtained. An idea of the character of Noranda concentrating ore will be gained from an inspection of the following mineralogical analysis of the ore treated by the mill during 1933: MineRal Content Mineral ConteNt Chalcopyrite, per cent..... 6.8 Silica and silicates, per cent............ 18.3 Pyrite, per cent........... 22.1 Gold, native and as telluride, oz. per ton 0.15 Pyrrhotite, per cent....... 51.5 Silver, probably as argentite, oz. per tou 0.35 Magnetite, per cent....... 0.5 Thesr figures, which are typical, show that over 73 per cent of the ore treated consists of pyrite and pyrrhotite. Determirnation of the proportion of unrecovered gold associated with each of these minerals was therefore of primary importance in developing a suitable method for improving gold recovery. As pyrrhotite is magnetic, this information was obtained by making magnetic sorting tests on samples of the mill tailing and screening the material thus segregated. This showed that the magnebtic material finer

Jan 1, 1935

By M. W. Lightner

IN 1947 the steel industry rebounded from its wartime effort and produced a record-breaking peacetime tonnage of steel ingots. During the first six months of the year the industry produced 42,000,000 tons of ingots and expected to produce 85,000,000 tons for the year. With a rated capacity of some 91,000,000 tons, production was at a rate of about 93 per cent of capacity. Credit must be extended to the steel producers who have maintained this steady state of operations while faced with many problems, not the least of which was a continued shortage of satisfactory scrap. Furthermore, the steel industry started a record-breaking peacetime expansion program at a total cost of more than $1,000,000,000. This program will increase the ingot-making capacity of the country by 2,500,000 tons and should be completed in 1948.

Jan 1, 1948

By Henry Fernald

THE accounting system or bookkeeping methods of any company are principally the concern of that company and of those who are in control of its affairs. Its published financial report is, however, primarily intended for those who are not already fully informed regarding its operations and finances. Whatever may be the advantages of standardization of accounting and bookkeeping methods, it must be admitted that a company has a certain right to handle its accounts and keep its books and records in whatever manner may seem to it best adapted to its affairs, even though such methods may differ materially from those generally adopted by others. In its financial reports it should not, however, either ask or expect that the statements it makes or the terms which it uses will be given in its case a meaning and interpretation different from that which they are ordinarily considered to have inn similar reports and statements of other companies. The particular form and arrangement of such reports is a matter concerning which there may be much difference of opinion. It is of little importance whether current assets come first or last in the Balance Sheet, but it is important that there should not be included under this designation any items which are not properly current assets within the generally accepted meaning of that term. The extent to which stockholders or others interested are to be made acquainted with the full details of a company's business is a question which the proper authorities must in each case decide. It should, however, be recognized that there are certain facts regarding a mining company which must be set forth in a financial statement if it is fully to cover the conditions and affairs of the company. For example, a financial statement which does not include or is not accompanied by a statement of the ore reserves of the company does not fully set forth its financial condition. This is true whether the absence of such a statement of ore reserves is because it is not desired to make public the figures or whether it is because the ore reserves themselves are not definitely known or accurately measured.

Jan 1, 1928

By B. DE MARE

THE No. 6 open-hearth furnace at the plant of the Worth Steel Co., Claymont, Del., is the first to be rebuilt according to the Kuehn system. This as well as the other five furnaces at Claymont, has a nominal capacity of 75 tons, but the actual charge is about 242,000 lb. No hot metal being available, the pig-iron is charged cold. Oil of low grade with an asphalt base is used as fuel. These two items have to be kept in mind when discussing the actual fuel consumption. Careful records have been kept covering a five weeks run and the following is a brief summary of them The time required to heat the furnace preparatory to charging from the time a wood fire was started until charging commenced was 36 hours. This, I understand, is much less than with furnaces of standard design. The draft of the furnace, as shown by a gage in the stack-flue, is 1.25 in. The maximum draft with new checkers on former runs was 1.50 in., this draft gradu¬ally decreasing as the checkers closed up. Both of the first helpers claim the present draft is all they need for the proper working of the furnace, and, as with the Kuehn regenerators the draft remains practically the same from beginning to end of a run, this is satisfactory.

Jan 1, 1929

Jan 1, 1924

Jan 1, 1924

By FRABK HERVEY PETTINGELL

THE stock exchange and its functions is about as well understood by the average individual as the fourth dimension. What is a stock exchange? Divested of the rules and regulations by which it is governed, and the facilities it provides for the convenient handling of securities, it would be in its nude state nothing more or less than a meeting place for brokers. The stock exchange in America dates back to 1752, when a group of merchants of New York established a meeting place at the foot of Broad Street for the purpose of dealing in meal and slaves. The first definite orgarization, however, had its beginning in 1792 when 24 New York brokers signed an agreement not to buy or sell public stock for less than one quarter per cent. commission. From this small group has grown by gradual degrees, the greatest organized security market in the world, namely, the New York Stock Exchange. At the present time there are 27 stock exchanges in the United States and 5 in Canada. Based on the volume of business transacted, the Los Angeles Stock Exchange ranks 6th among them. This is attributable to the fact that strictly speaking Los Angeles has never been a stock exchange town, like some other large cities. Take for instance San Francisco, which supported one stock exchange from 1862 to .1882 and has since supported two. No city, by the way, should tolerate two stock exchanges at the same time. It is an economic folly and a senseless duplication that can be compared with rival telephone companies or competing street railway systems, paralleling each other's lines and always leads to trouble and confusion, and sooner or later one or the other falls by the wayside. While Los Angeles has had stock exchanges of one kind or another since 1896, none of them attracted much attention until 1899 when the present exchange was organized and it did not get well under way until along in 1906.

Jan 1, 1925

By Samuel E. Doak

The utilization of rotary kilns, of the well-known cement type, for the preparation of iron ores for the blast furnace, has become of considerable economic importance within the past 10 years in certain localities, notably those where the native ores are lean. Such kilns may be used simply for the agglomeration of ores too fine to be charged into the blast furnace (i.e., ores whose, loss in the dust catchers is excessive, and whose fineness is detrimental to the working of the furnace), or for the desulphurization of lump and fine ores the sulphur content of which does not exceed 6 or 7 per cent. The desulphurizing action can be combined with that of agglomeration provided the kiln is sufficiently large. Other processes have been developed for the same purpose, but while I am not able to draw a comparison between them by reason of lack of sufficient data, it is safe to say that the kiln, if properly dimensioned for the character of ore to be treated, will compare favorably in its results, both as to economy and quality of product, with any other process. It is not, however, as well adapted for the treatment of flue dust as is a sintering operation, on account of the large percentage of fine coke contained therein. Any combustible entering the kiln at its feed end renders the process very much more expensive and unsatisfactory on account of the difficulty of controlling the temperature, also because of the rapidity with which long "rings" form, due to the increased heat at the cooler end of the kiln. The greatest value of the kiln at present is in the treatment of pyrites cinder; that is, the residue from pyrites ore after the extraction of the greater part of the sulphur. This cinder, while high in iron content, has too much sulphur remaining in it to be allowed to form a large part of the blast-furnace burden, without further treatment. It will range in metallic iron from 42 per cent., representing a very low-grade cinder from a domestic pyrites, to 64 per cent. of the residue from the best Spanish ore, and the corresponding silica content will vary from the maximum of about 25 per cent. to 11/2 per cent. The residual sulphur depends largely on the type of burner used in the original desulphurization. In general, the leanest original ores retain the greatest amounts of sulphur. In modern practice the percentage of sulphur in the cinder is rarely as great as six, and seldom lower than one and one-half. Average analyses for iron, silica, and sulphur of the cinders that have come under my personal observation are as follows:

Jan 1, 1916

WHEN Magma Copper Company in 1952 set about finding $100,000,000 to finance the project of developing and equipping the property of its lusty progeny, the San Manuel Copper Corporation, A. J. McNab, president and guiding genius for both companies (and incidentally a mining engineer by profession), determined that he would avoid the mistake frequently made in such circumstances, of underestimating the cost, and thereby running short of funds before the job was completed. The fear that this might happen was one of the reasons why insurance companies, one potent source of "big" money, were reluctant to finance the enterprise. How, they asked themselves, would Magma, a relatively small company, get additional money in such a contingency? Insurance officials' thumbs were turned down. Conditions Imposed by R.F.C. The upshot was the negotiation by Mr. McNab for San Manuel of a contract with the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, dated July 10, 1952, whereby needed monies in amount up to $94,000,000 would be advanced as a loan, bearing 5 per cent interest. Arrangements were made for the separate financing of the new $10,000,000 town, needed for the project, through the Del E. Webb Construction Company of Phoenix, Arizona, and M.O.W. Homes, Incorporated, of Los Angeles. Thus the $94,000,000 drawing account was believed ample to provide for building the railroad, the mine plant, the concentrator, and the smelter, as well as for the underground development of the mine needed to start production. As a matter of fact, only

Jan 1, 1957

By J. J. Foster

MOST of us will, I think, agree that never before in the history of the coal industry has the human side of our business been so important as today. Since, even in wholly mechanized mining, labor cost is such a large percentage of out total cost we are all deeply concerned not only about the present attitude of our employees but particularly about the future, when the industry returns to a "survival of the fittest" basis. Many things could and should be done about our employee relations in the coal business. Failure to recognize these obligations and do something about them may lead to serious consequences, the least serious of which will be the loss not only of many of our better employees but a large portion of our potential employees, as they graduate from our schools to other in¬dustries. Some of these things should be handled by the industry as a whole whereas others should be done by individual companies. Due to varying conditions and size of organizations it would, at best, be necessary to vary a program to meet the individual needs of each operator.

Jan 1, 1945

By Carl S. Westerberg

Coal preparation practice and trends follow, among other factors, production trends in any given area. Considering an area the size of a state, some broad predictions may be made after a review of the annual production records. As this paper is concerned with coal cleaning in Utah, data on its production record are pertinent. Table 1 shows the percentage relation of coal production in Utah to the national total as a single figure up to 1935 which includes all recorded production. From 1935 through 1947 these data are presented by years. It is evident from these data that the production of Utah coal is ascending. The reason for this trend is industrial growth in the West resulting in a population shift which accounts for more people than the normal increase would supply together with Utah's relatively fortunate geographical location and its abundance of good-quality coal. Utah is also hopeful of supplying more coal in the future for West Coast power generati0n.l

Jan 1, 1949

By CHARLES COURT

I must tell you at the outset that I come to this conference deeply disturbed at the 'role of Government in international dealings in mineral and energy resources'. I am disturbed by- the confusion that now passes for policy. I am disturbed by the short- range view of critical problems taken by a majority of Governments. I am equally disturbed by the even shorter range of view taken by a growing army of industries. Many of them clamour for Governments to solve their problems in a specific way, with little regard for any other sector but their own-and with even less regard for the fact that every time a Government takes over some of their responsibilities they surrender some of their freedom. I would not say that longer range views don't exist. But I would say that they don't prevail at the present time. Instead, we are seeing the constant development of many policies for individual problems which don't tackle the fundamental causes. We must get back to basics without delay.

Jan 1, 1978

By S. F. Shaw

In 1913, the Tiro General mine, at Charcas, S.L.P., Mexico, which had been making from 125 to 150 gal. of water per min., was allowed to become flooded, after all the pumps had been removed, and in 1918 the problem of unwatering it came up for solution. There are two vertical shafts, the Tiro General, 1390 ft., and the San Fernando, 1225 ft. in depth, with five connecting levels between them. The San Fernando shaft had been partly retimbered, while the Tiro General had been newly timbered from the collar to 1090 ft. in depth. It had been possible to place guides in only one compartment of the Tiro General, from the collar to the seventh or 850-ft. level, to which it was necessary to lower the water before station pumps could be installed. Soundings indicated that compartments in the Tiro General were open to 1082 and 428 ft., and in the San Fernando shaft to 471, 488, and 586 ft. The water had risen to a point 140 ft. below the collar of the Tiro General shaft.. Pumping Equipment The steam plant at the Tiro General shaft includes one 300-hp., one 150-hp. and one 100-hp. Erie City water-tube boiler, and two 160-hp. Heine water-tube boilers. All but one of these boilers were supposed to be in good shape, but it was soon discovered that six years of idleness in a climate that is foggy for several months of the year had left them in poor condition. The compressed-air plant comprises one Nordberg cross-compound compressor with piston displacement of approximately 2500 cu. ft.of free air compressed to 96 Ib. per sq. in.; and another Nordberg cross-compound with piston displacement of 1235 cu. ft. of free air, to the same pressure. The main pump station is on the seventh level where had been installed a Prescott pot-valve plunger pump with capacity of 200 gal. per min.; also a Gould triplex plunger pump with capacity of 135 gal. per min., driven by a 6 1/2 by 10 by 12 in. steam engine. From the lower levels, the water had been raised to the seventh level by small station pumps and sinking pumps.

Jan 1, 1920