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By W. A. Thomas

STEAM is, and doubtless always will be, the basic power in the anthracite industry, either directly applied through engines and pumps or electrically. The rapidity with which electric power is being applied to the mining and preparation of anthracite leaves little doubt as to its utility and economy. There is practically no operation, except possibly the drilling of hard rock, that has not been successfully electrified and the matter of drilling is handled economically with electrically driven compressors and the standard compressed-air drills. Conservation and the seemingly ever-increasing cost of production, justify careful consideration of the possible results of the more extensive use of electric power in the industry. It is not planned to discuss, herein, the relative economies of individual applications but to consider the relative economy and flexibility of steam and electric power. The reports available for the year 1920 indicate a production of slightly over 80,000,000 tons of anthracite, of which 8,843,500 tons were used for power and heating purposes; in other words, over 11 per cent. of the production was used at the mines. Some of this was used to generate electric power at the mines, about 160,000,000 kw-hr., while 150,000,000 kw.-hr. was purchased from the public utility companies. One large producer, who is buying some electric power and generating some, used over 13 per cent. of the production for power and heating at the mines. Another producer, where considerable electric power is generated on the properties, is using less than 9 per cent. of the output for power and heating. One of the largest producers has a fuel consumption of over 15 per cent. of the output, besides which considerable power is purchased. A careful study of the field indicates that steam-operated plants use upwards of 13 per cent. of the production for power and heating, while electrically operated plants use about 1 per cent. for heating; so that, for steam-power purposes at least 12 per cent., or 268.8 lb., are used for power out of each ton produced.

Jan 9, 1921

By E. J. Longyear

The rapid development of the Mesabi range has been a matter of much wonder to those familiar with ore-deposits elsewhere, and much skepticism was shown when " millions of tons of ore on the Mesabi" was first reported. Now, however, with over 8,000,000 tons to its credit at the close of 1896, a prospect of 3,000,000 more this year, and more ore " in sight" than ever before, it is evident that the first claims for the range were not so greatly exaggerated as perhaps even those who made them thought they were at that time. An explanation of the ease with which these deposits have been explored is found in their mode of occurrence. Lying in flat beds and near the surface, and only exceptionally occurring under a taconite " capping," the prospector had only to sink a few vertical test-pits on a fortyacre tract down to the rock to be reasonably sure whether his property contained ore or not. If he found ore in one or more of these preliminary pits, he would then fill in with more pits until the ore-area was entirely outlined by test-pits from 200 to 400 feet apart. In the early days of the range the testing was almost entirely done by digging pits with pick and shovel. When water was encountered, work had to be stopped, unless a steam pumping-plant was put in, resulting in greatly-increased expenses. Latterly, drills have been used with great success in continuing the exploration after water has been struck in the pit, rendering further progress with pick and shovel impracticable. There are several kinds of drills in use. The diamond-drill is largely used, and possesses the advantage of being in readiness to drill rock if thought advisable, the taconite being very hard and almost impossible to drill except by the use of diamonds. Some form of churn-drill has been much used. This may be either a steam- or a horse-power-drill. The principle is the same in each, the cutting being done by percussion instead of by rotation, as in the case of the diamond-drill. A churning motion is given by passing a rope from the top of the

Jan 1, 1898

By W. J. Millard

IT is well known that the excellent mica from Brazil played a most vital role in World War II. Increased production from Brazil was necessary and with the assent of the Brazilian Government engineers from the United States went down to study the problem. One of the means advocated by a former Chief of Metals and Minerals Branch of the Board of Economic Warfare, Mr. Carl Schwegler, was the use of stripping machinery. On a pegmatite dike favorable for stripping, a small number of miners could produce as much mica per day as an underground mine employing many times the same number of men. TYPE OF DEPOSIT FAVORABLE The most favorable type of pegmatite for stripping is that which lies more or less parallel to the surface of the slope of a hill. Pegmatite dikes that cut directly into a hill are not suitable for stripping except where a long outcrop extends along the slope. Then just the outcrop could be stripped to some advantage. The ratio at no time should be greater than I:3; i.e., I cu. m. of pegmatite to 3 cu. m. of waste, unless the pegmatite was extremely rich throughout the dike. THE ECONOMICS OF STRIPPING When a mineral is badly needed to win a war, not too much heed can be paid to costs. The object is to produce rapidly and in quantity. Again, a deposit containing a superior grade of mica may be worked although the pegmatite is more costly to work than another deposit containing a considerably greater amount of poor-grade mica. For example: one deposit may have a little mica that will run II per cent good stain and better when trimmed and contain 2 kg. of crude mica per cubic meter of pegmatite, while another may run 0.2 per cent of good stain and better, and have a mica content of 10 kg. per cubic meter. A number of stripping projects were found in the vicinity of Raul Soares, Minas Gerais. These were sampled in the various old workings by cutting out a cubic meter of pegmatite and saving the usable mica. Because of the proximity to the surface of most stripping projects, about 34 per cent only of the mica is good for trimming. The other 66 per cent is too badly weathered to be of use. In Table I are given data collected on five properties near Raul Soares. In Table I, "value per cubic meter of pegmatite" means the value of the qualified mica obtainable. This does not include the half trimmed and splittings. By "value per cubic meter of matter" is meant the value of the qualified mica per cubic meter of material excavated; i.e. both waste and pegmatite. This is the figure that should he used to determine whether the operation will be profitable or not, as the cost of stripping is about $0.I4 per cubic meter. With new machinery not subject to breakdowns, the cost per cubic meter should be around $0.10 to $0.I5. To this should be

Jan 1, 1946

By Eugene A. Thiers, William V. Morris

INTRODUCTION Direct reduction processes reduce the various commercial forms of iron oxide (pellets, concentrate, fines, etc.) to metallic iron at temperatures lower than that of molten iron. Thus, this technology includes practically, all iron reduction processes other than blast furnaces and electric pig iron furnaces (whose output in terms of world production is negligible). The product of these processes which is known as direct reduced iron (DRI), or sponge iron, is primarily used as a source of metallic iron in steel-making operations. Interest in DRI, which has been significant since the early 1960s, increased significantly in recent years with the rapid growth of DRI installed capacity throughout the world. The importance of the subject for the Circum-Pacific region stems directly from the influence that DRI has on iron ore consumption and on future steel development for this region. Although there is widespread agreement that electric furnaces will continue to increase their share of global steel output, and especially so in the countries of the Pacific Steel community, some doubts exist about future scrap supplies being adequate to support growth at past rates. The authors believe that such doubts are soundly based. As this paper points out, the total supply of all metallics used in electric furnaces may not be adequate to support the extrapolated rapid growth in electric furnace steel production. This paper seeks to provide perspective on the global and Circum-Pacific prospects for DRI in light of recent energy price developments and the current recession. In this regard, the demand for DRI within the context of recent evolutionary patterns in steel-making, the outlook of DRI supply in terms of prevailing production costs, and the prospects of new technology are discussed. THE DEMAND FOR DRI Although several reports published in the last 10 years predict high rates of growth in DRI, the subject remains a controversial one. Significant growth has indeed occurred, but not to the extent anticipated in the studies summarized in Table 1. The substantial difference between previous expectations and present reality can be ascribed primarily to: (1) lower growth in steel production than formerly anticipated; (2) numerous cancellations of DRI facilities that were previously announced; and (3) a fundamental and probably irreversible change in the economics of DRI production. Note that DRI capacity at the end of 1980 was about 16 million tonnes, a significantly lower figure than any of the projections above. In addition, DRI production was only about half of capacity, reflecting the abnormally low rates of capacity utilization in this industry. [ ] Before examining the current outlook in steel, it is pertinent to note that the market for DRI is usually different in the industrialized countries of the West from that in developing countries. In the former, the available infrastructure and industry's diversification extends DRI's potential markets to numerous steelmaking, foundry, and other industrial applications, although competition from scrap and other forms of metallic iron is constant. Scrap is generally available in these countries and, therefore, DRI competes with it in electric furnace steelmaking, basic oxygen steelmaking (as a coolant), cupola foundry operations, or as an additive in the metallic charge for open hearth and blast furnaces. On the other hand, DRI in developing countries is often allocated exclusively to domestic electric furnace steelmaking or, when capacity exceeds domestic captive requirements, to export. Notwithstanding quality considerations, DRI is being and is likely to continue to be used predominantly as a source of metallics in iron and steel-making. Other uses of DRI, such as in copper cementation represent a marginal market in terms of overall tonnage and can be ignored at this point. Therefore, DRI demand is-determined by the overall availability of metallic scrap in its various forms--a function of steel production and its probable evolution. The Global Steel Outlook Given the present recession, an objective appraisal of the long-term outlook for steel is particularly difficult. On the one hand, historical trends and, especially, the inertial forces associated with such a basic industry as steel must be recognized; such trends suggest that the current stagnation with

Jan 1, 1982

By Bruce Short

HIGH rock and surface temperatures combined H with small deep shafts create a difficult ventilation problem. At the Magma operation in Superior, Ariz., booster fans take air off the bottom levels, directing it first through cooling coils and then through the working places and out to the exhaust shafts. All air drawn from the intake shafts below the 3400 level is cooled before it goes to the stoping areas. Most of the ore mined at Magma has come from steep-dipping vein deposits developed for a maximum distance of 9000 ft along the strike of the vein. At present approximately one third of the tonnage is coming from a new section of the mine where the ore occurs as replacement deposits along a favorable horizon in limestone beds. The deepest mining level is now the 4800.

Jan 3, 1957

By Carle Hayward

SULPHUR has long been one of the banes of the steel manufacturer and often no effort and expense have been spared in order to reduce it to a small per cent. in the finished product. This condition is clue to a general conviction that in many cases where steels have failed in service, sulphur has been the cause. But there has been a growing feeling in recent years that the verdict against sulphur has been unnecessarily severe. In cases of segregation it was present in augmented amounts along with other impurities, but it had not caused the segregation. High sulphur in pig iron is caused by poor furnace conditions and the sulphur is merely one indication of an iron that has not been properly reduced. No amount of subsequent treatment under oxidizing conditions in the open-hearth furnace can remedy the defects, although the per cent. of sulphur may be considerably reduced. In other words, the causes of bad steel can frequently be traced back to bad pig iron, and sulphur is merely one indication that the pig iron is bad. The writer recently visited a steel plant where a mass of evidence had been accumulated which substantiated this fact, and the superintendent was .emphatic in stating that high sulphur was not harmful provided the steel was not otherwise poor due to insufficient reduction in the blast furnace. The presence of a moderate amount of sulphur is desirable from the standpoint of the man who machines the steel. The low-sulphur material drags and the production of a smooth surface is very difficult. A slight increase in sulphur enables the machinist to produce a smooth surface without difficulty. Since, therefore, such large quantities of steel are subjected to machining, it becomes highly important that the sulphur controversy should be settled, and if its presence is proved to be harmless the ban on it should be lifted.

Jan 10, 1916

By Arne Paus-Jenssen

Some aspects of the policies developed by Saskatchewan with respect to the provincial potash industry are discussed. The provincial potash policy was developed initially to deal with problems associated with an excess supply and consisted of output restrictions and floor prices. Changing market conditions led to a situation of rapidly increasing prices and revenues for the potash producers, and the nature of the policy problem switched from one of stabilizing the industry to one of levying increased taxes to enable the government to capture a portion of the revenues. The first part of the paper explains why a provincial potash policy was developed, the problems it attempted to deal with and how. The second part is an attempt to examine, from a public policy point of view, the impact of these policies on the potash industry.

Jan 1, 1977

By William Campbell

The structure of iron and steel, though the object of so much study and research for the past 25 years, is by no means thoroughly understood. In the first place, we have three or more distinct iron-carbon thermal diagrams, each with its own supporters, and each representing a theory of the structure and constitution of cast-iron. In the second place, by reason of the fact that austenite, the solid solution of carbon in iron, decomposes in the solid state into ferrite, or pure iron, and cementite (Fe3C), and that quenching from above this transition-range, no matter how rapid, cannot entirely prevent the change and thus preserve the austenite by itself at ordinary temperatures, it happens that under the microscope we find, in addition to the ferrite, Fe3C, and austenite, which the thermal diagram of steel requires, a series of transition-products with distinctive structures, to which have been given the names martensite, troostite, sorbite, etc. Now these transition-products, in addition to the solid solution, austenite, have been the source of much controversy, at times very bitter. One side would insist that, say, troostite was an entity, which the other side would deny, pointing out that it must be a transition-mixture, with a particular structure. That austenite was a solid solution of carbon in iron has been denied by one school; we have been told that Fe24C dissolved both Fe3C and Fe, and thus gave rise to a whole series of quenching-pro-ducts—all this in spite of the fact that no matter how the thermal diagrams differ in regard to cast-iron, they all agree in regard to the solid solution, austenite, for Fe24C finds no place on the diagram. Thus it happens that while the authorities fight both in regard to the iron carbon diagram and the structures met with in hard-

Jan 1, 1913

INTRODUCTION This chapter summarizes characteristics of porphyry copper deposits within the Cordilleran orogen east of the Coast Range plutonic complex of the Yukon and British Columbia and south to the Columbia River plateau and the Idaho batholith. Porphyry copper deposits in this area reflect a geologic environment different from that found for mineralized intrusions elsewhere in the Cordilleran orogen, both to the south in the United States and Mexico and to the west in Alaska. A section on the Tertiary Cascade porphyry copper province is included herein. The Cascade province is considered separately because its deposits display a unique mineralogy and age of mineralization. That portion of the Cordilleran orogen described in this chapter is shown in Fig. 32, with the Cascades shown in Fig. 39 (see p. 114). The regional geology of this area has been described by Monger, et al. (1972), Hollister (1974), Wolfhard and Ney (1974), Field, et al. (1974), and Stacey (1974). Each offer slightly differing views on the post-Mississippian evolution of the geology in this porphyry copper province. The descriptive geology in this chapter has benefited from many discussions with J. E. Armstrong and J. W. H. Monger. Two separate petrologic models have been used popularly to categorize porphyry copper deposits in this area, a diorite and a quartz monzonite model. The diorite model, which involves a mineralized quartz-free pluton, has also been called the alkalic type (CZM Special Volume 15, 1976, and Soregaroli, 1975) and the syenite suite (Sutherland Brown, et al., 1971). The quartz monzonite model has also been named the calcalkalic type (CZM Special Volume 15, 1976) and includes mineralized quartz-bearing plutons compositionally ranging from quartz diorite to granite, with the igneous phase closest to ore in time and space commonly being quartz monzonite.

Jan 1, 1978

By T. E. Ockershauser

The Southwest Antioch Oil Field located in T2&3N - R2&3W, Garvin County, Okla., was discovered in February, 1946, by The Globe Oil & Refining Co. and The Vickers Petroleum Co. at their Melinda Gibson No. 1. Oil production was encountered at a depth of 6,525 ft in 14 ft of lower Pennsyl-vanian sandstone. The producing sand, locally called the ."Gibson" or "Third Deese," is a sand bar deposit strung along the west flank of the Pauls Valley uplift in a northwest-southeast direction. The oil reservoir is defined to the east by the edge of sand deposition along the uplift and to the west by the gradation of sand into shale. Within the Antioch Unit, the sand dips from 150 to 400 ft per mile southwesterly and has a pay thickness varying from 10 to 55 ft and averaging 28 ft. Several areas of Gibson production have been developed, including the Katie pool on the south, the Elmore Area of the Southwest Antioch Gibson Sand pool. the Southwest Antioch Gibson Sand pool proper, the Southwest Maysville pool and the New Hope pool on the north. Production extends over a belt 22 miles long by about two miles wide and is continuous except into the Katie and New Hope pools. It appears that drilling will soon prove these intervening areas productive. To March 1, 1950, approximately 18,000 acres have been developed with 450 Gibson wells. It is likely this count will ultimately reach 32.000 acres with 800 wells. RESERVOIR The natural production of oil from the Gibson reservoir is primarily due to solution gas expansion though gravity also plays a part. There is no indication of water drive or evidence that an initial gas cap existed. Gibson oil has a stock tank gravity of 43" API and was saturated at the original reservoir pressure of 2.925 psi. It contained 1,3440 cu ft of gas per bbl in solution and had a high shrinkage of 70 per cent. Connate water amounts to 15 per cent. Reservoir temperature is 130°F. Porosity averages 15.5 per cent and permeability ranges from less than one md to over 1.000. Based on meacurement of 400 core plugs from 15 wells, 78 per cent of the permeabilities fell within the 10 to 1,000 md bracket and averaged l67. Primary oil recovery is estimated at 140 bbl per acre-ft or 22 million bbl for the present 137-tract unit. Due to unitization

Jan 1, 1951

By T. E. Ockershauser

The Southwest Antioch Oil Field located in T2&3N - R2&3W, Garvin County, Okla., was discovered in February, 1946, by The Globe Oil & Refining Co. and The Vickers Petroleum Co. at their Melinda Gibson No. 1. Oil production was encountered at a depth of 6,525 ft in 14 ft of lower Pennsyl-vanian sandstone. The producing sand, locally called the ."Gibson" or "Third Deese," is a sand bar deposit strung along the west flank of the Pauls Valley uplift in a northwest-southeast direction. The oil reservoir is defined to the east by the edge of sand deposition along the uplift and to the west by the gradation of sand into shale. Within the Antioch Unit, the sand dips from 150 to 400 ft per mile southwesterly and has a pay thickness varying from 10 to 55 ft and averaging 28 ft. Several areas of Gibson production have been developed, including the Katie pool on the south, the Elmore Area of the Southwest Antioch Gibson Sand pool. the Southwest Antioch Gibson Sand pool proper, the Southwest Maysville pool and the New Hope pool on the north. Production extends over a belt 22 miles long by about two miles wide and is continuous except into the Katie and New Hope pools. It appears that drilling will soon prove these intervening areas productive. To March 1, 1950, approximately 18,000 acres have been developed with 450 Gibson wells. It is likely this count will ultimately reach 32.000 acres with 800 wells. RESERVOIR The natural production of oil from the Gibson reservoir is primarily due to solution gas expansion though gravity also plays a part. There is no indication of water drive or evidence that an initial gas cap existed. Gibson oil has a stock tank gravity of 43" API and was saturated at the original reservoir pressure of 2.925 psi. It contained 1,3440 cu ft of gas per bbl in solution and had a high shrinkage of 70 per cent. Connate water amounts to 15 per cent. Reservoir temperature is 130°F. Porosity averages 15.5 per cent and permeability ranges from less than one md to over 1.000. Based on meacurement of 400 core plugs from 15 wells, 78 per cent of the permeabilities fell within the 10 to 1,000 md bracket and averaged l67. Primary oil recovery is estimated at 140 bbl per acre-ft or 22 million bbl for the present 137-tract unit. Due to unitization

Jan 1, 1951

Discussion of the papers of Messrs. Howe and Levy, Burgess, Crowe and Rawdon, and H. M. Howe, presented at the New York Meeting, October, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 78, June, 1913, pp. 1075 to 1136. ALFRED STANSFIELD, Montreal, Canada :-In Professor Howe's paper on the position of Ae3, he shows its industrial importance in determining the temperature to which steel should be heated. for "grain refining." Several years ago I carried out a research on the " burning " of steel and found that while hypo-eutectoid steel should be heated to Ae3, hyper-eutectoid steel that has been very much overheated must be reheated to the curve Sa on the carbon-iron diagram, in order to redissolve the pro-eutectoid cementite and thus, to obtain recrystallization and grain-refining. This treatment was necessarily only partly successful, and I should like to ask whether the conditions of heat treatment for refining overheated high-carbon steels have been ascertained. Speaking of the " Persistence of Solidificational Segregation " Professor Howe quotes an experiment made by Mr. Stead in which a bar of 1.2 per cent. carbon steel was immersed in a large mass of molten blast-furnace slag and allowed to cool with it. The steel was heated above the solidus (curve Aa on the carbon-iron diagram), but below the liquidus (curve AB). A drop of eutectic carbon-iron alloy, rich in carbon, had liquated out and hung below the bar. This agrees exactly with my own observations on the burning of steel, but my interpretation differs somewhat from that of Professor Howe. Professor Howe considers that the fusion of a part of the metal (rich in carbon) shows that the solidificational irregularities of composition had persisted through the rolling and heat treatment of the steel, as otherwise no part of the steel would have been sufficiently fusible to melt. It does not appear to me that such an explanation is necessary. A piece of steel represented in temperature and composition by any point within the area ABa will ultimately resolve itself into a solid phase and a liquid phase in equilibrium with each other. It may appear that if the steel were absolutely uniform no fusion could take place, but the smallest nucleus of high-carbon, fusible alloy would ultimately bring about this separation into liquid and solid phases, by diffusion of the carbon from the solid to the liquid areas. A nucleus sufficient for the purpose might be provided by an area of pro-eutectoid cementite which had not become diffused during the

Jan 12, 1913

By N. J. Grant, D. S. Bloom

THE development of high temperature, high stress alloys had proceeded with such rapidity during the war, and for a short time afterward, that our knowledge of the constitution of the alloys had become seriously inadequate. To interpret correctly alloy behavior it is not only necessary to recognize the phases present, but also to know the properties of the phases under all varieties of conditions and treatments. Chromium in these high temperature alloys holds the unique distinction of being the only one element which must be present when an oxidizing or generally corrosive atmosphere is present and when a long life is desired in service. Carbon and nitrogen must also be considered where chromium is present. Carbon is always present, either as an impurity in the raw alloying elements, or as a deliberate addition agent to increase the strength. Nitrogen is generally picked up from the atmosphere during melting or may be added as an alloying element. The effect of nitrogen additions is not too dissimilar to that of carbon additions. As such, chromium carbides and nitrides become of great interest since they are present in a very large number of alloys, including alloy steels, stainless steels, super alloys, and the like. In the chromium-carbon system there are three accepted, carbides: Cr,C, Cr7C8, and Cr3C2. The existence of one more carbide, a still higher carbon form CrC, has been advanced. The phase diagrams of chromium and carbon as published by Friemann and Sauerwald² and by Tofaute, Kuttner and But- tinghaus³ -do not extend beyond the carbide Cr3C2, which contains 13.3 pct carbon; but Hatsuta has extended the diagram up to 20 pct carbon, and in doing so hypothesized, with the use of some questionable experimental results, the compound CrC. This carbide would contain 18.75 pct carbon, 81.25 pct chromium, by weight. It is further known that as the chromium carbides increase in carbon the acid resistance increases but the oxidation resistance decreases4,5 This is of great importance in high temperature alloys where time-temperature stability, as well as oxidation resistance, is of prime importance. The possible existence of a carbide of the formula CrC thus becomes of prime importance and it was considered important to recheck the chromium-carbon binary constitutional diagram for such a compound. In view of the wide spread of values listed for the melting point of chromium (1500° to 1850°C) and 1930°C8, it was considered .that the liquidus temperatures might well be redetermined more ac-

Jan 1, 1951

By Thomas T. Read

ONE of the major purposes of the Institute is to "maintain ... a library of books relating to subjects cognate to the sciences and arts of mining and metallurgy." In conformance with this purpose the Institute maintained its own library for a number of years until 1912 when it was merged with the libraries of the other Founder Societies. At that time the A.I.M.E.'s share of operating expenses was wholly covered by the income from a $100,000 gift from James Douglas. But interest on the Douglas Library Fund has declined from 51/2 per cent to 31/4 per cent; the library has grown from some 50,000 volumes in 1913 to more than 170,000 in 1945, with consequently increased costs; and its costs nave otherwise risen. The Institute today contributes to the library annually about 65c per member, of which about 25c is income from the Douglas Fund, or a net charge, from regular income, of 40c per member. The annual library budget runs about

Jan 1, 1946

By Will Mitchell, Ford F. Miskell, C. L. Sollenberger

THE taconites in general are hard, tough ores, difficult to grind. Liberation of iron mineral constituents usually is accomplished by grinding the ore through at least 100 mesh, and often it has been found necessary to grind substantially through 325 mesh to achieve satisfactory recovery and grade in the concentration process. Because of the fineness of grind required and the enormous tonnages of material contemplated for treatment in the future, costs resulting from grinding media wear and power consumption, together with capital investment required for comminution, approach astronomical figures. Economy in any one of these elements per ton of material ground could very well reflect a considerable saving to the ferrous industry in yearly costs. With this in mind, the Research Laboratories of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. have launched a program to discover means of effecting this economy. The initial phase of the work as described here deals with a heat treatment of crushed raw ore, followed by thermal shock in cooling, for the preparation of rod mill feed. Several investigators 1-5 have noted an improvement in the grindabilities of ores treated in this manner. One investigator2 subjected low grade iron ores to heat treatment in an electric furnace. Basing his conclusions on screen analyses of crushed products, he observed that treated ore was more easily crushed than the untreated. He reported that observation of the treated and untreated ore through a microscope revealed cracks following the grain boundaries in treated ore, whereas no cracks were present in untreated ore. However, few if any have quantified the improvement in terms of total hp hours saved, reduction of wear of grinding media, or reduction of capital costs of grinding equipment involved. By means of Bond rod mill and ball mill grindabilities6 and by comparative wear tests, the conditions maintained during this investigation have been definitely evaluated. Heat treatment experiments have been made on a batch scale in a muffle furnace, followed by continuous scale experiments in a rotary kiln under various conditions of temperature, atmosphere, retention time, and quenching to determine the combination that would give the greatest improvement in the grindability of a taconite without affecting adversely the magnetic susceptibility of the magnetite. From these data, relative costs have been calculated for grinding both untreated and heat treated ore on a basis of plant capacity of 120 tons per hour. Heat requirements for a rotary kiln, as well as the kiln capacity required for the treatment, have been estimated. For these tests 50 tons of ore were obtained from the Aurora mine of the Erie Mining Co., Hibbing, Minn. The ore was reported' to have been selected from the magnetic portion of the lower chert horizons. An average chemical analysis of this portion is shown in Table I and an approximate mineralogical analysis is shown in Table II. No attempt was made to differentiate between the various silicates because the compositions vary widely on the different horizons and depend on the degree of oxidation. Minnesotite, however, is the predominant silicate. The siderite grains were dispersed throughout the ore but were essentially associated with the rock-forming minerals. In a series of preliminary tests in which batches of -6 mesh ore were heat-treated in a muffle fur-

Jan 1, 1952

By G. H. Billings

THERE exists an unconfirmed opinion among many ironmasters that the combination of a small quantity of manganese, chromium, titanium, tungsten, aluminium, nickel, and some of the metalloids with iron has a beneficial effect upon the quality. And the impression prevails in some localities that the excellence of steel greatly depends upon the influence of some of these elements. But as the recorded experiments are so meagrely described, and made under such various conditions, the student in search of information upon the subject is somewhat bewildered by the contradiction of the opinions expressed. Observing some interesting phenomena while experimenting with an alloy of iron, copper, and nickel, I was led to determine the effect of some of the metals upon iron as free from contamination by other elements as it is possible to procure in prac¬tice, in order that the result of an alloy of an individual metal with iron might be more closely studied ; for it is almost an impossibility to determine the influence of a small amount of one element upon a metal combined with a large amount of another, and the mere presence of another sometimes makes this difficult. And as most of the experiments recorded upon this subject have been made with iron containing sufficient carbon and other elements to interfere with the effect of that metal the influence of which it was desired to observe, I have endeavored to avoid these sources of error as far as practicable. In determining the specific gravity of the alloys in these ex-

Jan 1, 1877

By Philip Wilson

THE Province of British Columbia covers 382,000 sq. mi., about 250,000 sq. mi. of which have not been prospected. In fact, the coast country and the islands are so heavily timbered and the surface covered with so thick a mantle of soil, muskeg, and, over broad areas, glacial drift, that prospecting, and even trail breaking are extremely difficult. It is only along the coast or stream channels, or above the timber line, or where snow or rock slides have scoured the surface that rock outcrops can be found. Glaciers nestle in many of the cirques and fill the valleys in the higher ranges. Great ice sheets and perpetual snow persist in certain localities, thus reducing the exposed areas worth prospecting. Almost the entire country has been subjected to intense glaciation, so that the conspicuous oxidized outcrops of orebodies typical of the south-western United States and Mexico do not exist and surface bodies of enriched or oxidized ore are rare. With few exceptions, the mines1 of the Province are working primary ore. Developments have proved that some of these orebodies are large and important, although usually comparatively low in grade. Besides the few mines that have produced most of the minerals, there are many small mines, but their total output is unimportant. Considering the number of mines and prospects and the widespread mineralization, it is strange that no really great mines, comparable in size and richness with those in the western United States have been found.

Jan 8, 1922

By R. C. Philp, Allan Gibb

INTRODUCTION. THE term matte is applied to smelting-products so extremely diverse in composition and physical properties that it appears impossible to devise any generic formula to represent, chemically, the manner in which the varied proportions of the almost unlimited possible constituents combine with each other. Mattes produced in copper-smelting, in distinction from those produced in smelting-operations in which the recovery of copper is secondary to that of other metals, cover a narrower range in composition. The copper-content of such mattes vary from 20 to 80 per cent., and even this range is much smaller in general practice since it is found advantageous, when possible, to produce mattes with about. 50 per cent. of copper in the first operation. Further, it is unusual that arsenic or antimony occurs in copper-ores in sufficient proportions to form arsenides or antimonides in such quantities that they will separate out from the furnace-products, as is common in lead-smelting. Generally, the mattes produced in copper-smelting are composed mainly of copper (usually greater than 35 per cent.), iron and sulphur, the remaining elements being usually in proportions sufficiently small to allow of their treatment as impurities, rather than as essential constituents of the mattes. In modern practice of smelting copper-ores in blast-furnaces the tendency is to approach pyritic smelting as nearly as pos¬sible, the furnaces being low and the air supplied being largely in excess of that required for complete combustion of the carbonaceous fuel. Hence the atmosphere of the blast-furnace thus used is usually oxidizing or Dearly neutral? and, as a consequence, the reduction of metallic iron that was a necessary evil of former practice is of unusual occurrence in operations where the main object is the recovery of copper. Hearth-accre-

Nov 1, 1905

By Tong Guangxu

INTRODUCTION Throughout the world, the caving mining methods of ore-draw under the overlying waste rock are sublevel caving in Sweden, block caving in U.S.A. and forced block caving and sublevel caving with sill-pillar in U.S.S.R. These caving methods are of high efficiency, low cost and large production (especially the block caving method) when compared to opencast mining. From the ore production of all under- ground mines, the largest annual production of underground metalliferous mines in the world is caving methods. The sublevel caving in Kiruna Iron Mine of Sweden has reached annual ore production over 20 million tons in 1974. The block caving in Climax Molybdenum Mine and San Manuel Copper Mine of U.S.A. both have produced about 40 thou- sand tons of ore per day in 1971. At the same time, the productivity of Kiruna was 12 thousand tons of ore per man-year, Climax 42.8 tons (48.3 short tons) per man-shift and San Manuel 29.01 tons (32.1 short tons) per man-shift. The main feature of this group of mining methods is the underground extraction of ore from beneath overlying caveable waste rock. Since the loss and dilution of ore are inherent (sometimes to a great extent), the control of ore-draw in these methods as com- pared with other methods is very important. Consequently, concerned Universities and Research Institutes have devoted great amounts of research on ore-draw theory and control management which has provided positive results to mine production, and has apparently promoted the development of the caving methods. During 1979 in China, metalliferous underground mines accounted for 15.22% of the total iron ore produced, while also accounting for 56% of total non-ferrous production. According to the mining methods, sub level caving in the principal underground iron mines counted for about 56.74% of total principal underground iron mine production, but only about 1% of total non-ferrous underground mine production. Relative to forced block caving and sublevel caving with sill pillar, the Chinese non-ferrous under- ground mines estimated about 35% of total non-ferrous underground mine production from these two methods, mainly from the latter. From the trend of development of underground metalliferous mines in China, the percentage of production in caving will be increased in the future, especially in block caving and forced block caving which have already been given great attention in the mining circle. In these types of mining methods the ore is drawn from the stope under a large area of overlying waste rock, which complicates the basic regulation and control of ore-draw, but provides lower loss and dilution than sublevel caving. Because of these reasons, the Kiruna Iron Mine in Sweden is intending to change its sublevel caving by testing a sublevel shrinkage caving method and considering a large area of ore-draw beneath the stope as an advantage. Therefore, the basic regulation and control management of ore-draw under a large area, as practiced in China, will be discussed in this paper. BASIC REGULATION OF ORE- DRAW FROM CAVING STOPE The aim of studying ore-draw under a large area of overlying waste rock is to se- cure a planned draw schedule that guarantees a certain plane of interface between ore and waste rock, and controls the change of its shape in spatial position for reducing ore loss and dilution during the draw process. Presently, the ellipsoid theory is comparatively near the actual attitude of ore-draw from the cave. 1. Ore Drawn Out from Single Drawpoint Laboratory testing and practical experience all show that after a certain amount of ore has been drawn out from a drawpoint, its original shape in the stope before drawing is more or less similar to an ellipsoid, hence the name "draw ellipsoid." This draw ellipsoid is cut at the bottom by a horizontal plane corresponding to the raise of the drawpoint, and its volume can be calculated by the following formula:

Jan 1, 1981

By Lendall P. Warriner, Blandford C. Burgess

Jasper County lies just north of the geographical center of Georgia, bounded on the west and north by the Ocmulgee River. The county seat, Monticello, is approximately 65 miles east-southeast of Atlanta and 40 miles north of Macon. It is served by the Macon-Athens branch of the Central of Georgia Railway Co. and by five paved highways converging from adjoining county seats. Farming and lumbering are the principal local occupations. About half the county is covered with pine and mixed hardwoods; a large part of the forested land is owned by the Soil Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture in its Piedmont Land Utilization Project. The topography is one of gently rolling field and forest with occasional hills rising 100 ft or more above the creek beds. Though annual rainfall is in the neighborhood of 60 in., most of it falls in torrential downpours of short duration which tend rapidly to erode the red soil and convert the country roads to greasy tracks of red mud. History The pegmatites of Jasper County produced a small amount of mica in World War I. In World War 11, our Government's search for this strategic mineral brought to Georgia B. C. Burgess, then Southern Manager of Colonial Mica Corp., subdivision of Metals Reserve Corp., who noted on State Highway 83 the presence of pegmatitic material used as road metal. In 1944, after severing his Government connection and returning to private practice, Mr. Burgess investigated the source of the pegmatitic material noted on his previous visit and discovered that graphic granite pegmatite had been mined for the road metal. He secured mineral leases from the Soil Conservation Service and from private owners and began preliminary development work. By 1946 he had uncovered enough pegmatite to warrant an enterprise to undertake economic development of the feldspar. In March 1947, he conveyed his leases and interest to Appalachian Minerals Co., remaining with it as Vice President and General Manager. This company has carried on additional development, removing overburden by bulldozer and drilling the pegmatites uncovered. A modern and efficient feldspar grinding plant to produce 20 mesh feldspar for the glass industry was completed and placed in operation May 1, 1948. Geology GENERAL GEOLOGY OF ROCK TYPES OTHER THAN PEGMATITE Jasper County lies within the Appalachian Crystalline Complex and approximately 40 miles north of the "Fall Line," where the Upper Cretace-

Jan 1, 1950