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By T. Egleston

THE ores of mercury of North California are composed of metallic mercury and cinnabar. They are found in serpentine, and are very often associated with chalcedony, in masses more or less irregular, often concentrated enough, however, to furnish ores yielding from three to ten per cent., and sometimes richer. This deposit makes its appearance in Vallejo where it has been worked. North of here the mines are more developed. Most of the quicksilver mines, how¬ever, are situated in Sonoma and Napa Counties. On its outcrop the serpentine rocks have become decomposed, and have often been washed away to a considerable depth, so that in many cases in their neighborhood, what is apparently nothing but ordinary dirt, will frequently contain from two to three per cent. of metallic mercury, with but a trace of cinnabar, in which case, as at the Sonoma mine, it is made up into adobes and distilled. Such material does not require to be mixed with dirt to be made into adobes. Very often, also, the outcrop of the rock, where it is not decomposed, is filled with metallic mercury, so that by striking a pick into it, as at the Rattle-snake mine, a pound or more of mercury at a time will sometimes spurt out. Such rock as this is found in several localities in every stage of impregnation, and usually makes very rich ore. There is generally, however, very little of it, and it is found only in the first workings ; the ore in depth is always cinnabar. At the Rattlesnake mine near Pine Flat, where large quantities of metallic mercury are found, the rock contains so much petroleum that it has been necessary to make special arrangements to burn the carbides of hydrogen, since the distillation of the petroleum causes an extra quantity of poor soot to be formed in the condensation-chambers. At the Geysers the ore is associated with large quantities of sulphur and gypsum, so that in a hand specimen there is often more sulphur than cinnabar, which is a serious impediment to working, especially for the modern style of furnace with iron condensers, and causes so much soot to be formed that it has been known to penetrate as far as the blower, and to so completely clog it as to prevent its revolution. The ore coming from the mine is more or less hand-picked. In one or two cases attempts have been made to treat the poorest, and especially the very fine ores, mechanically as at the California works.

Jan 1, 1875

By Nicholas J. Grant, William H. Ferguson, Bill C. Giessen

Ta-lr alloys have been examined over the complete range of compositions using metallographic and X-ray techniques. The terminal solid-solubility limits, solidus temperatures, and intermediate phases were determined. There are four inter-mediate phases: o, tetragonal, analogous to a (Fe-Cr); 0,. orthorhombic; az, tetragonal; and a TaZr,, cubic, AuCu, structure. Of these, o and a, melt peritecticaLly, a, decomposes peritectoidally, and a TaIrs has a congruent melting point. Three peri-tectic and one eutectic reactions occur. 1 HE Ta-Ir phase diagram has not been treated in the literature. Intermetallic phases and terminal solid solubilities have been described and estimated.'-4 The previous findings have been confirmed in this work. A complete diagram with additional phases and solidus curves is presented. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS Starting materials were tantalum powder of 99.8 pct purity, supplied by the National Research Corp., Cambridge, Mass., and iridium powder of 99.9 pct purity, supplied by the Bishop Co., Malvern, Pa. Both powders were -200 mesh. Table I lists the analyses as given by the suppliers. A standard procedure was employed in making the alloy buttons, which was described in detail in Refs. 5 and 6, and which included repeated arc-melting of powder compacts and determination of the composition by the weight-balance method. This is especially justifiable due to the similar vapor pressures of tantalum and iridium. In the critical parts of the diagram, a spacing of 1/2 at. pct was used, based on premelted master alloy material. The observed structures and X-ray spectra were consistent with the composition sequence of the alloys. Table II lists the final alloy atomic percentages with the calculated percent error of composition. Cross sections representative in grain size and composition were selected for the study, as described in Ref. 5. Based on prior experience, no contamination from the tungsten electrode was considered. Temperature measurements were obtained using a Leeds and Northrup optical pyrometer and have been described extensively in Refs. 5 and 6. All heat treatments were made in the high-vacuum tantalum tube furnace mentioned in Ref. 5. Samples annealed in tantalum containers cooled from 1800" to 1000"~ in 5 sec; those annealed in ceramic crucibles cooled over the same range in 15 to 30 sec. The thermal treatments are listed in Table 111. All specimens were homogenized at 1735°C for 24 hr. Tantalum-rich compositions were treated in tantalum buckets. Iridium-rich compositions were annealed in tantalum buckets below the eutectic temperature of 1950°C; up to 2200°C, tungsten-lined tantalum baskets were used; and above 2200°C thoria crucibles were used. It was found that refractory oxides (in early stages of the investigation alumina crucibles were used up to 1800°C and thoria crucibles were used to 2400"~) give off minute amounts of oxygen and thereby influence the microstructure considerably, or react directly with the alloys.

Jan 1, 1963

By John V. Beall

They let the whole world know again that not only could we do it, but we make it look easy. The great crews before Scott, Irwin and Worden of Apollo 15 have all blended warm humor, informality and dexterity to put on a good show: but it keeps getting better and the last one was the best. Scott's rendition of Galileo's experiment using a hammer and a feather--not just any feather, but a falcon feather after the name of the LEM-was priceless. One generation of school kids will never forget that lesson. The final touch was in the "would-you-believe''" category, Now if English astronauts had been performing the mission, the sign-off would have been typically low key. Something like; "well its tea time, chaps; we'll have to toddle along." Apollo 15 surprised and thrilled spectators by blasting off to the Air Force song "Off we go into the wild blue yonder" and leaving a camera behind to photograph their own ascent. Now that is what we call showmanship. There is another aspect to our space show and that is that it cost billions of dollars to put on. With that kind of backing, the world for an audience and in the face of grave personal risk, one would expect the space explorers to be all business. Instead they did their jobs with limpid buoyancy. Our older readers will recall and contrast a movie of the thirties and the tense atmosphere when they had to talk that kid up there (Franchot Tone) down through the zero ceiling. A feat of considerably less difficulty than docking LEM. but nevertheless the gut tightening drama was absent in the latter event. In another example, few of us can visualize reporting back after a business mission to one of the old barons such as J. P. Morgan in any but the most sedate and business-like terms. In fact we don't have to go that far back, as we can think of a few pepper-pot bosses we have had to whom one always played it straight.

Jan 1, 1971

UNDER the same justification that I spoke to you in the preceding chapter on crystal and some other gems, I can now speak much better and with much greater reason of glass, since it is one of the effects and peculiar fruits of the art of fire. Every product that is found [41v] in the interior of the earth is either stone or metal or one of the semiminerals, and glass, as is seen, resembles them all, although in all respects it is dependent upon art. Therefore it seems to me that before coming to the discussion of the arts themselves, I must treat of this very beautiful composition created by art and number it with the semiminerals. Thus in this chapter I shall speak to you of glass, not as a proper semimineral, nor yet as a metal, but as a fusible material that is almost made mineral by art and by the power and virtue of fire, born from the speculation of good alchemistic savants, through whose efforts it imitates. the metals on one hand and the transparency and splendor of gems. on the other. Certainly it is a very beautiful thing and one that should not be left buried in silence, in consideration first of how great a thing art has been, able to discover, and then because its beauty makes it such a pleasing thing for making drinking. glasses and an infinite number of other ornamental things that satisfy the desires of man. I shall begin, then, by telling you, to the credit of the alchemists, how I believe that this thing was found through their desire to make gems; for when they could not bring them to perfection (as also happened with the metals) they made this beautiful and attractive product, glass. However, Pliny says that it was found by chance in Syria at the mouth of the Belus River by certain merchants who were driven there by the fortunes of the sea and forced to stop and disembark there for a time in order to eat. In cooking the food they saw the rocks of that place converted into a flowing, lustrous material. And as they thought about this, it seemed beautiful to them, and when they went away they carried some stones and plants with them. Thus they gave beginning to glass making. But now leaving this discussion it does not matter how it may have been discovered, whether by merchants or by ingenious alchemists. Art is that which has given it being, through many experiments and by addition

Jan 1, 1942

By Arthur Anderson

OUT of the depths of each business cycle we emerge with a stimulus for greater efficiency and a realization of progress in industrial technique. The recent years have not been an exception to this rule, and in retrospect we sense that significant advances have been made in mining practices on the Mesabi Range, with emphasis on speed of production and economy of operation. A survey of such changes does not reveal anything that is fundamentally or basically new, but it is apparent that ideas and machines that have found wide application in industry elsewhere, with necessary modifications, are being put to productive use in mining iron ore. Inno-vations in transporting and conveying ore from the open pits stand out with greatest prominence, so that, in the main, it will be with these fea-tures that this paper will treat, in the review of progress made to this date. The late years have witnessed the development of small deposits for open-pit operation, the cleaning up of pits nearing exhaustion, and in two large operations the approach to the limit for haulage by steam locomotives, owing to grades, making it necessary to recover the ore in slopes, track benches and below the power-shovel limit by a milling and scram operation. For several years small standard-type dump trucks have been used in clean-up or scram operations within the pits, but during the season of 1936 the first effort. was made to use heavy truck haulage in the trans-portation of stripping and iron ore. The new units in use today vary from 15 to 20 tons in capacity, and are equipped with powerful gasoline or Diesel engines and supplemented by trailers or wagons on rubber or crawler treads. The Diesel engine finds favor with most operators because of fuel economy. These units develop upward of 125 hp. in the 15-ton trucks. The speed of these trucks varies from 2 miles per hour in low gear to 35 in high gear. The transmission affords 12 speeds forward and 3 speeds in reverse.

Jan 1, 1938

By Foster Fraas

MOST commercial electrostatic separators utilize the electrical property of conductivity, but although based on the same principles, they are constructed in a variety of forms, a common one being the simple roll type. Some information obtained during an investigation of that type of separator, and which indirectly is applicable to other types, is presented here. NUMERICAL RELATIONSHIP In Fig. I material discharged from hopper 6 is fed onto grounded rotating roll 2. Electrode 3 is at a high electrical potential with respect to roll 2, and any conductive particle in contact with roll 2 therefore acquires an electrical charge of such polarity that, when present in the electrical field, the force on it is in the direction of electrode 3. A detailed description of the charging by conductance as utilized in electrostatic separators may be found in a previous publication.1 As a result of this force, the path of the projected particle is changed in increasing amounts in the direction toward region C as the magnitude of the charge is increased. With the dividing edge 4 the projected particles may be divided into two fractions -those in region C designated as "deflected" or " deflectant " and those in region B designated as "residue." [ ] When material is passed over the roll only once, a complete separation is seldom obtained, therefore most commercial separators contain several roll-separator units in series, and some practical machines use as many as 12. In this paper a "pass" means the passage of material over a single-roll unit. The procedure is to repass either residue B with a low potential on electrode 3 or deflectant C with a high potential on 3. Most electrostatic separations follow a flowsheet of roughing and cleaning either the concentrate or the tailing, on both. In a specific instance, a dry, heated mixture of wet cleaned chromite and garnet from an

Jan 1, 1942

By Frederick G. Bulkley

That portion of the geological structure of the Leadville district which rests upon the Archæan is made up of sedimentary beds of Silurian and Carboniferous formation, consisting of many conformable strata of limestones, quartzites, and shales, which have a total present thickness of about five thousand feet. Interbedded with these strata are found, under somewhat fixed lams of regularity, sheets of intrusive igneous rock,' varying in thickness from a foot or two to several hundred feet. These consist for the most part of various types of felsite rocks, classed, by the sanction of common and long-continued usage, under the general term of porphyries. Mr. S. F. Emmons, in the abstract of his " Report upon the Geology and Mining Industry of Leadville," says in this connection : In their mode of occurrence the type-feature is that of intrusive masses, which are developed on a scale of unprecedented magnitude, and follow certain horizons with remarkable regularity.... It is probable that this mode of occurrence of eruptive rocks, viz., as intrusive masses which originally did not reach the surface but were forced up to a certain horizon and then spread out bettween the beds, is far more common than has hitherto been suspected by geologists. It is difficult to conceive of the conditions under which a fused mass could pry open strata to a width of one thousand feet or more, overcoming the weight often thousand feet of superincumbent rocks, and spread itself out in a continuous sheet between the beds to a distance of ten miles beyond the point or line of eruption. That they did exist, however, can be clearly demonstrated in this region.... In one single section over fifteen sheets, many several hundred feet thick, were counted between the Blue Limestone and the top of the Carboniferous. The region here under discussion is made up of a series of great

Jan 1, 1885

By R. Ward Grosz

Reasonable and timely solutions to the complicated mathematical calculations involved in the mine planning, economic evaluation and slope stability studies related to the Ruth Mine would not have been feasible without the modern digital computers. The Ruth Mine was a prosperous underground copper operation in east central Nevada from 1915 to 1948, when rising mining costs finally exceeded the value of the ore. A substantial reserve of porphyry copper remained in the ground, but until recently all economic evaluations indicated that it was at best a marginal operation and a relatively poor risk of capital. There has been a steady progress in improving all aspects of surface mining since the first steam shovel started stripping overburden; however, developments in just two rather specialized areas proved to be critical in changing the Ruth Mine from a reserve of mineralized rock to an economically attractive orebody. One involved the progress made in recent years in the science of slope stability. Applying the latest techniques in this field to mine planning resulted in reducing the stripping ratio from 6.0:l to 4. 2:l. The other major factor was the efficiency and cost performance of large capacity haulage trucks which made it feasible to go down over 1100 ft. in an open pit and recover ore with a high stripping ratio economically.

Jan 1, 1969

By B. Das, V. Hucka

In light of the present energy crisis, coal appears now as the only reliable source of energy. The production of coal is expected to regain a rising trend after the latest slump. Aside from the competitive price with natural gas and oil, the other retarder of coal production is its environmental pollution effect. Gasification of coal has been advanced as the partial solution to the energy-ecology crisis. All the Advantages In situ gasification of coal may be considered a further step in this direction. It carries all the advantages of normal coal gasification as a stable source of energy; it is clean to handle and nonpolluting of the environment. It partially and sometimes fully does away with mining, makes uneconomical low grade coal and lignites economical and places some formerly unworkable seams within the scope of modern technology. The seams posing problems for mining due to tectonic disturbances may be converted into gas in situ. Low grade coals, such as lignites, which otherwise would be left in nature as uneconomic wealth, may be exploited by underground or in situ gasification. Thus, in situ gasification is likely to increase the exploitable reserves of coal and may reduce the cost of production. An additional merit of this method is that coal substance never reaches the surface and there is no problem of cinder disposal.

Jan 8, 1973

By W. R. Roser, F. E. Rizzo, Wu Hu

An insight into the mechanism of electrocrystallization of copper in simulated commercial acid electrolytes has been surmised from scanning electron microscope analysis of laboratory prepared specimens. The growth takes place in three overlapping stages. In he first, lasting approximately one hour at 200 amps/sq m, a propensity to epitaxial growth is observed. During the second stage a preferred orientation developed. The crystallography of the deposit showed a strong preferred orientation with the [111] direction normal to the surface. Triangular pyramids with (111) faces and (111) texture is a common result. In the third stage, occuring at longer deposition times, side growth, dendrite-like branching is common. The obsermtions have some elements in common with published results for highly purified electrolytes. Several significant differences were observed. The truncated pyramidal and block type growth discussed in he literature is suppressed under the conditions studied. The results are briefly discussed in terms of the screw dislocation, fault, and layer type growth mechanisms of crystal growth.

Jan 1, 1973

By Gardner F. Williams

These mines are situated in Griqualand West, which is now a part of the Cape Colony. The town of Kimberley is in latitude 28o40' South, longitude 25o10' East, about 640 miles northeast of Cape Town and 450 miles from Port Elizabeth on the east coast. It is connected with these towns by a railroad, which has been completed during the present year. The mines are located in a desert country, resembling the desert portion of Arizona. The elevation above sea-level is about 4000 feet. The climate is exceedingly hot during the summer months. Diamond Deposits.—There are four large diamond-bearing deposits at Kimberley, all lying within a radius of one and one-half miles, having the De Beers mine as the center. These are named the " Kimberley," " De Beers," " Du Toit's Pan," and " Bultfontein " mines. There is, also, directly west of the Kimberley mine, a small deposit, called " St. Augustiue," which has been prospected only, and

Jan 1, 1887

VARYING in thickness and in number from place to place, coal seams in the Canadian Rockies also range in pitch from nearly horizontal to vertical, sometimes with overturns. Over the entire coal-bearing area there are considerable differences of rank in coals of the same geological age, and there are marked differences in ash content and washability characteristics. Correlation of seams at mining operations within a few miles of each other has often proved impossible. These factors influence mining methods, and, of course, production results. The oldest coal formations of western Canada are of Lower Cretaceous age, as the carboniferous sediments are marine and contain no coal. Coal is also present in formations of Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary ages. The rank of coal varies from semianthracite in some operations in the Kootenay and Luscar formations of the Lower Cretaceous in the Rockies to lignite in the Tertiary fields of the Saskatchewan prairies. Fig. 1 shows the general extent of the formations.

Jan 8, 1954

By Reinhardt Thiessen

IN THE general study of coal, all evidence points in the one direction -that coals had their origin in a manner analogous to that of peat. The best method of studying coal, whether it concerns its chemistry, composition, or physical condition, is to study peat. The essentials in a study of peat are a knowledge of the chemistry of plants, knowledge of decay and of the transformation process of plant-substances into peat. A number of facts must be emphasized, namely, (1) peat is formed under wet conditions only; (2) plants grow in the place where peat is formed; (3) all the plant substances go into the bog; and (4) all the plant substances are subjected to a series of phases of decay which are (a) in the air completely above the water level but in relatively moist conditions; (b) above the water level, but covered by debris; and (c) completely submerged by both water and debris.

Jan 3, 1925

By Daniel R. Shawe

Large tabular beryllium deposits in waterlaid rhyolitic tuff at Spor Mountain, Utah, contain the world's largest known resources of beryllium (as bertrandite). The district also has produced fluorspar and uranium. The largest beryllium deposit is about 2.5 miles long, and known deposits contain many million tons of material with at least 0.5 per cent BeO. The beryllium-bearing tuff (Pliocene?) underlies topaz-bearing rhyolite ( Pliocene?) that contains unusually high amounts of beryllium, fluorine, and uranium, and overlies other volcanic rocks (Pliocene? or Micocene?) and marine carbonate and elastic rocks ( Paleozoic). The deposits occur in hydrothermally altered tuff only where it contains abundant carbonate pebbles eroded from the Paleozoic rocks and where the tuff was deposited as thick layers in now-buried paleovalleys. Basin and Range faults, thrust fa ults, and possibly strike-slip faults formed in this part of the Basin and Range province during the late Tertiary, and volcanic rocks were extruded. Beryllium mineralization probably occurred during this episode. Undoubtedly the beryllium deposits are related genetically to the topaz-bearing rhyolite, but the details of their genesis are not certain and probably are complex. Beryllium deposits are close to major faults, and locally the beryllium is concentrated at faults, indicating fault control of mineralization. Some elements in the deposits, such as lithium, however, are evenly distributed in certain Luff beds and perhaps were introduced prior to faulting. Still other elements, such as manganese and lead, were concentrated in the beryllium deposits and subsequently were leached along late fractures, indicating a period of metal redistribution following mineralization.

Jan 1, 1968

By C. R. Van Hise

Introduction.............29 The Three Zones of the Lithosphere ..30 Zone of fracture............31 Zone of flowage............ 31 Factors influencing depth at which flowage occurs.. 32 Zone of combined fracture and flowage.. 33 The Water-Content and Openings in Rocks....36 Condition of rater in the zone of fracture.. 36 The openings in rocks...........38 Size and number of openings..... 40 Ore-deposits derived from zone of fracture..45 The source of underground water......... . 47 The cause of the flowage of underground water..47 Belts of underground circulation.. 51 Upper belt of underground circulation.. 51 Lower belt of underground circulation.. .... .52 Capacity of water for work in the lower belt of underground circulation........... 53 Movementsof water in the lower belt of underground circulation. 54 The preferential use by water of large channels.. 60 Physico-Chemical Principles Controlling the Work of Under ground Waters..........62 Chemical action............63 Underground aqueous solutions..64 The relations of solution and temperature..... 65 The relations of solution and pressure..66 Precipitation........... 67 Precipitation by change in temperature..68 Precipitation by change in pressure..69 Precipitation by reactions between aqueous solutions.. . 69 Precipitation by reactions between liquid solutions and solids. 70 Precipitation by reactions between gases and solutions. and solids............71 The General Geological work of Underground Waters.. . 71 Division of the zone of fracture into a belt of weathering and a belt of cementation............72

Jan 1, 1901

By Sadao Maruyama

INTRODUCTION Since the big discovery of Kuroko deposits in Kosaka mine, Akita Pref., northeastern Japan in 1959, major Japanese mining companies have been engaged in extensive exploration for the deposits expending large amounts of money. Above all their exploration activities have been particularly fruitful in discovering new deposits in northern Akita Pref. It is estimated that the total ore reserves newly found in the area are at least 50 million tons. Kuroko deposits are the most important ore source of copper, lead and zinc in Japan and have been mined since last century in the said area. Kuroko (black ore) is fine, compact aggregates with sphalerite , glena and barite as principal constituents and chalco- pyrite, pyrite and tetrahedrite as subsequent constituents. The name Kuroko comes from its appearance. It is not rare that total grade of copper, lead and zinc reaches 20 - 30% and the gold and silver content is also fairly good. Accordingly the unit value of the ore is much higher than the ore from other types of deposits. Besides the Kuroko ore, the Kuroko deposits consists of Ohko (yellow ore, massive cupriferous pyritic ore), Keikoh (silicious ore, cupriferous network ore) and gypsum ore. This type of deposit is considered to be not only an important source of base metal but also a source of gypsum and barite. Although the importance of this type of deposit had been commonly recognized, sub-surface nature of the occurrence hampered exploration work. In recent years the improved exploration techniques and increased knowledge of the Kuroko deposits have met with remarkable success in the location of new deposits. This outburst of exploration and dis-

Jan 1, 1970

By E. T. Dumble

PROF. EDWARD ORTON, in his Report on the Occurrence of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Asphalt Rock in Western Kentucky, thus clearly states his ideas of the universal dissemination and rare accumulations of the bitumens:1 " We need to bear in mind that the various members of the bituminous series are abundantly and almost universally distributed among the unaltered sedimentary rocks of the earth's crust. The valuable accumulations of these substances are rare, it is true, but one can scarcely go amiss of petroleum, asphalt or gas, at least in small quantities, among the stratified rocks that retain their original structure." Speaking of the Ohio valley, he adds: "A fifth of one per cent. of petroleum, if distributed through a, thousand feet of rock, would make a total to the acre, or square mile far , beyond any production that has ever been realized from the richest oil field, and percentages of this amount are not only not rare to find, but are even hard to miss." Dr. F. W. Clarke in his Data of Geochemistry (Bulletin No. 491, U. S. Geological Survey, 1911), discussing these views of Orton with similar views of T. Sterry Hunt and Szajnocha, says that they "lead to the conviction that the formation of bitumens is a general process and by no means exceptional. Wherever sediments are laid down, inclosing either animal or vegetable matter, there bitumens may be produced."2 The organic origin of the bitumens, including petroleum, has long been an accepted fact with nearly all geologists, but the method, place, and time of the transformation into petroleum or other bitumen is still under discussion.

Jan 3, 1914

Discussion of the papers of Dorsey A. Lyon and Samuel S. Arentz, p. 789; S. E. Bretherton, p. 802; H. A. Wentworth, p. 809; and Richard D. Drvine, p. 814. GeoRge W. RiteR, Salt Lake City, Utah.—We have every reason to believe that oil flotation will soon come into general use as a final guard against slime losses in concentrating mills, not only in the case of zinc ores, but also in the case of other semi-precious ores. It also promises much as a primary process for the concentration of minerals that are not adapted to gravity methods. Moreover, modifications of the process involving selective or preferential flotation are gradually becoming understood, and will make it possible to eliminate pyrite and other minerals occurring as undesirable impurities in zinc concentrates. And what perhaps is of equal importance, further modifications promise an effective method of separating zinc blende from ores that are chiefly valuable for copper, lead, and precious metals, thereby making an asset out of zinc which has heretofore been a liability. The tendency of certain pulverized minerals to float on water, especially after having been in contact with grease, has been known to mill-men for a long time, and was formerly something to be deplored and to be striven against. All at once, this tendency has become a saving grace; and now, like tardy converts to a new faith, we are zealous advocates of something we once despised. I was once employed at a mine in the Tintic mining district of Utah— the old Eureka Hill property—where ores that were too low in value to warrant being sent to copper or lead smelters were treated in a combination mill. The ores contained gold, silver, lead, copper, zinc, manganese, arsenic, etc., in varying quantities and in varying mineral forms, mingled in a quartz and calcite gangue. The material was stamped fine and then concentrated on Frue vanners so as to make a smelting concentrate, after which the tailings were thickened and treated in amalgamating pans for the recovery of non-concentratable precious metals. In the amalgamating pans, under the influence of heat and agitation, a dark greasy froth or scum sometimes formed on the surface of the ore mixture. This froth or scum was composed mainly of mineral sulphides, and its occurrence might have meant only casual losses in the previous concentration, except that the phenomenon was accompanied by faulty amalgamation of the precious metals and by excessive losses in the mill tailings. Grease and oil, present by accident, were the cause of the trouble. Whether the intense vibration in the mill, due to the pounding of the heavy stamps, had caused small particles of grease to be shaken loose

Jan 1, 1915

By P. Lindstrom

Retreat mining, using yielding steel friction props, over a 7-year period has been successful at a uranium mine operated by Hecla Mining Co. in southeast Utah. The support system allows good roof control, maximum profit, complete extraction, and good ventilation. Unusual subsidence observations were made in that some of the surface was raised rather than lowered. Longwall mining, commonly practiced in European coal mines, has a potential of broader application because of mechanization possibilities and better roof control and ventilation at greater depths. The Radon mine was one of the first American metal mines to use yielding steel props for supporting the relaxed core of the pressure arch which is induced by retreating longwall mining. Full caving was induced. After more than 7 years of stoping experience, the method has proved very satisfactory for the conditions encountered. The mine and method have been described in references listed in the bibliography. U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 8004 by Wilbert Dare and Philip Lindstrom gives the most information. Stoping experience at this mine indicates that there are many advantages to be gained by using yielding supports; such as in safety, timber cost, roof control, ventilation, ore dilution, and low cost per pound of metal produced. Subsidence measurements show that the surface will rise rather than slump in some areas over the mine. This appears to be an unusual observation and is presented as a new development in subsidence studies. The Radon mine is located 35 miles southeast of Moab, Utah in the north end of the Big Indian mining district in San Juan County. Hecla Mining Co. operated the mine from early 1955 to early 1964 through an operating agreement with Federal Resources, Inc. Development consisted of a 3-compartment, 690-ft shaft, 4 main levels driven on the ore horizon and a haulage level below the ore. Evaluation of physical and economic factors showed that this flat-dipping ore occurrence could be mined by a low-cost coal mining method. The value of the deposit was high and unusual premiums were possible by clean mining. Complete extraction without loss of ore pillars, minimum ore dilution and high production per man were obtained by longwall mining. The principle of working under the relaxed core of

Jan 1, 1964

By M. J. Mullikin, J. B. Conway

for use in describing combined first- and second-stage creep data. In the above ?o represents the instantaneous strain on loading, ?t the limit of transient creep, ?S the steady-state creep rate, t the time, and ? a constant leading to the exhaustion rate of transient creep. It was noted that this equation was similar in form to that proposed originally2 by McVetty. This type of equation was also suggested by Andrade and Aboav3 in studies of the shear strain of cadmium. Calculation of the constants ?o, ?t, ?, and ?s, in Eq. [ l] is somewhat involved due to the slight complexity of this relationship. In the paper by Garofalo a computer approach based on a least-squares analysis was recommended. Such an approach involves a trial and error solution but when a computer facility is available the difficulties in this calculation are of little consequence. It does mean however that the evaluation of this type of equation would become quite tedious if computer facilities were not available. Some recent studies have identified a fairly straightforward method for calculating the constants in the Garofalo equation. While not leading to a least-squares evaluation the approach is accurate and is recom-

Jan 1, 1967