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By Hon. Tasker Oddie

DURING the closing days of the last Congress a resolution was passed, creating the Senate Com-mission of Gold and Silver Inquiry. The resolu-tion charges the Commission with the responsibility to investigate and report to the Congress on Jan. 1, 1924, upon the following subjects: 1. The causes of the continuing decrease in the production of gold and silver. 2. The causes of the depressed condition of the gold and silver industry in the United States. 3. The production, reduction, refining, transportation, mar-keting, sale, and uses of gold and silver in the United States and elsewhere. 4. The effect of the decreased production of gold and silver upon commerce, industry, exchange, and prices. The personnel of the Commission is as follows: Senators Pittman, Sterling, Goodling, Walsh and Oddie. At a meeting on May 8, H. N. Lawrie, a mining engi-neer and economist, was appointed as Assistant to the Commission. The present situation with respect to the gold and silver mining industries is well illustrated by the follow-ing data: The total world production of gold (in dollars) for 1915 was $468,724,918, and for 1921, $329,915,101; as shown by the reports of the U. S. Mint; and for the year 1922, $306,793,000, which is based oh a prelimi-nary estimate; this indicates a decrease of 34.5 per cent. between 1915 and 1922. The total world production of silver (in fine ounces) for 1915 was 178,850,000 oz.; for 1921, 175,268,234 oz., a decrease of 2 per cent.

Jan 6, 1923

By Ellsworth Daggett

The Berlin gold-quartz mine is situated in Nye county, Nevada, on the west flank of the Shoshone range, about 40 miles south and 30 miles west from the town of Austin, the county-seat of Lander county. The distance from Austin is about 60 miles by stage-road. The outcrop of the vein, at the top of the incline-shaft, is situated just at the base of the mountain proper, almost exactly at the intersection of the mountain-side with the gravelly bench that slopes for about three-quarters of a mile to the flatter sage-brush plain, or desert valley, below. The vein itself consists almost entirely of quartz, with perhaps 2 per cent. of sulphide of iron, copper, lead, zinc and antimony, and perhaps a trace of some of the compounds of tellurium with gold and silver, although none of the latter have been as yet positively identified. The relative proportion, by weight, of silver and gold in the ores, varies in different parts of the vein, from 12 silver for 1 of gold, to 7 silver for 1 of gold. The quartz vein-filling is usually frozen fast to the walls, and is very hard and compact, seldom showing the friable, fissured, or shelly structure often to be found in quartz-veins. Comparatively little evidence of relative motion of one wall of the vein upon the other is to be found—a fact indicating that during the formation of the vein, and prior to the extensive movements herein described, little disturbance had taken place. No evidence whatever of metasomatic origin has been observed. On the other hand, occasional occurrences of comby structure, in which the axes of the quartz-crystals are at right angles to the plane of the vein, rather indicate deposition from solution in a pre-existing fissure. Spurs, or branches, and small parallel veins, while not en-

Jan 1, 1908

By R. Dawson Hall

The stresses in the simplest structures are often those we find most difficult to analyze. The most complex condition in mine stresses is found in simple tunnels where the roof, the sides, and the floor are a monolith. The functions of the parts are like the parts themselves not distinct and spccialized, and the problems to be solved are like those in a metal structure with riveted joints or a redundancy of bars. This difficulty explains perhaps why the condition has not been treated. But just because it cannot be discussed in its entirety is no reason why it should be treated as an action of parts with spccialized functions as a roof beam with supports and a foundation. The problern cannot be ignored on the ground that it is not of sufficient importance to warrant careful consideration, because conditions of complete monolithism, of which the tunnel is the type, are found materially unchanged in room-and-pillar and in longwall work. This unity between roof, sides, and floor, which to the coal miner is a difficult conception, really deserves a scientific appellation, and perhaps holoid (from holos, whole, and eidos, form) will serve the purpose as well as any other. In a simple tunnel the roof, the sides, and the floor form integral parts of one and the same structure, and the distortion of one cannot be conceived without a consequent strain in the others. Thus when the roof of the tunnel droops by reason of its weight, the upper parts of the sides are drawn in becausc they are integrally connected with the roof and must approach each other whenever, by the sagging of the roof, the distance between any two points in it is diminished. (See Fig. 1.) Thc sides in their turn operate on the floor of the holoid structure, producing a tensile stress. The writer has always been impressed with the value of soap as a means of illustrating the action of mine stresses. With that idea in mind' a cake of naphtha soap measuring 43/8 by 2¼ by 19i in. was taken and a tunnel was made through it 13/4 in. long, 21/2 in. wide and 1¼ in. high. (See Fig. 2.) A load was then placed at the mid-span of the tunnel. Eventually, the upper bar, or "roof," broke at the

Jan 1, 1916

By B. Trafton, H. L. Hartman

An earlier paper1 introduced a rapid solution for mine ventilation network problems, employing the digital computer. In this paper, refinements and additions to the computer program which expand its scope of application and a solution to a ventilation network having a coal-mine configuration are presented. The revised program-written in FORTRAN for the IBM 7074 computer in Penn State's Computation Center-is applicable to any mine ventilation network employing natural splitting and having its fan located externally. It accomplishes the following: 1) Distributes an assumed total quantity of air flow among all airways of the network, performing iterations until an acceptable level of error is attained and the flow in each airway is known. 2) Computes the pressure drop (head loss) in all airways and the overall network and mine head losses. 3) Determines the operating point for the mine and a given fan, adjusting all air flows and head losses to the actual values. The basis of analysis used is the Hardy Cross method of successive approximation for solution of any fluid network, explained in detail in the earlier article. In brief, corrections to assumed air flows are computed for all the loops of a network; following distribution to the airways of each loop, the process is repeated until acceptable accuracy is attained. When a hand or desk-calculator solution is used, there is advantage to close approximation of the actual flows in the original assumption of air-flow distribution in the network. Since publication of the previous paper, in which assumption of initial quantities was also necessary in the computer solution, the program has been modified to make the first distribution itself, assigning the total quantity to one specified path in a split and then proceeding to correct the flows. The number of iterations required for a high-accuracy solution is little affected, at least in networks of few loops, 10 to 15 being sufficient to reduce the error to 1 pct or less. The principal limitation of the original program was that it contained no provision for handling a fan. Further, it did not determine the overall head loss in the network and was not designed for multiple parallel openings, such as occur in coal mines. The revised program was written to overcome these disadvantages and also to print out the adjusted flows for all airways, corrected for the system operating point. At the present time, the program can handle only an external fan. The procedure employed in solving a ventilation network is now as follows: 1) Input data consisting of airway characteristics and loop designation along with assumed direction of flow, for each branch of the network and any trunk airways, are fed into the computer. 2) Employing the resistance relationship, where R is resistance, K is friction factor, P is perimeter, L is length, A is area, and n is number of airways (where multiple intakes and returns are employed); values are computed for all airways. 3) An arbitrary, continuous route of flow through the circuit—from beginning to end—is selected and the path identified by airway numbers and read in. 4) Based on a total assumed quantity of flow Q (usually 100,000 cfm.) the computer employs the procedure described in the previous article in distributing quantities of flow among all the airways until a satisfactory level of accuracy has been attained (in the current program, the machine is turned off when the cumulative corrective error in cfm, is reduced to five times the number of airways). 5) Airway head losses H are calculated by the relation H = R Q2 and cumulated along the original designated flow route to find the overall head loss for the network. Trunk airways are then included to obtain the mine head.

Jan 1, 1964

By Eckley B. Coxe

IN the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania the custom has been to sight either at an open light (generally a mine-lamp), or at the string of a plumb-bob. If the station was intended to be a permanent one, a spud, as it is called, that is, a nail resembling a horseshoe nail with a hole in the head, is driven into the timbers over the station, or, if there be no timber, a hole is drilled in the coal or rock roof, into which a wooden plug is driven, which serves to hold the spud. The first operation in making a survey is to lay out the stations, that is, to mark the place where the holes are to be drilled for the plugs or the points on the timbers where the spuds are to be driven in. This should be done before any instrumental work is begun, as much labor can generally be spared, and the use of very short sights can often be avoided, by carefully laying out the stations beforehand. When the stations were laid out, a plumb-bob was hung from the innermost spud, which I will call No. 1, the instrument was put in position at No. 2, by plumbing down and putting a centre-pin under the spud, and then setting up over the centre-pin, and another plumb-bob was suspended from No. 3. If great accuracy was not required, a mine-lamp was set up under the plumb-bobs, at No. 1 and No. 3, and the engineer sighted at them. If great accuracy was required, a lamp or some white surface was held by an assistant behind the strings of the plumb-bobs. To work with any speed by the latter method (i. e., the accurate one), it was necessary for the engineer to have three assistants on whom he could rely even when the chaining was done afterwards; viz.: one to hold the light behind the string at No. 1, one at No. 3, and an assistant at the instrument to hold the light while levelling, reading the in-

Jan 1, 1873

By C. M. Young

THIS is an attempt to bring together some of the knowledge of the .coal-forming conditions obtaining during the Pennsylvanian period in the Western Interior Coal Province, to sketch briefly the present extent and character of the coals produced, and to show the beginning of cor-relation of beds over wide areas. Coals of later age than the Pennsyl-vanian are not included and, for reasons that will appear later, little attempt is made to cover the districts of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas, and northern Texas is omitted entirely. GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS The conditions that made possible the formation of large coal beds in the United States were most favorable in the Pennsylvanian period, formerly known as the Upper Carboniferous. The geological conditions can be determined from the records, but not the reasons for them. Preceding the Pennsylvanian was the Mississippian, formerly known as the lower Carboniferous and still later as the sub-Carboniferous. Dur-ing this time, large bodies of limestone were deposited and at the close f the Mississippian they were warped upward and for along period were eroded. Then there began a period of subsidence, more or less inter-rupted at times, during which the Pennsylvanian strata were deposited (see table on page 2). " These consist of sandstones, limestones and shales, with occasional coal beds: At the beginning of the Pennsylvanian there was subsidence, which allowed the sea to extend over the eroded Mississippian surface to the north and east, extending over eastern and central Texas, a large part of Oklahoma, with a projection into Arkansas, over Kansas and part of Nebraska, all the northern and western part of Missouri, a large part of Iowa except a strip in the north, most of Illinois, practically all of Ken-tucky, northern Tennessee, most of Indiana, all of the eastern part of Ohio, practically all of West Virginia, western Maryland, the west end of Virginia, and a large part of Pennsylvania. The Ozarks were already

Jan 1, 1935

By A. S. Richardson

AIR conditioning, or air cooling, for the improvement of ventilation in the Butte mines has come into increasing use during the past 10 years. In part, the methods practiced have been described in previous publications of the Institute, but some improvements on earlier methods have been made and a number of new features have been developed. This paper is presented as a record of progress made, and for the sake of completeness describes all general features of the work. The need for air conditioning in the ventilation of mines in the district arises from the fact that the temperature of the ground and mine water has shown a very great increase with increase in mining depth, and has now reached a maximum of slightly over 130ºF. The most difficult part of the ventilation problem is the maintenance of temperature and humidity of a satisfactory standard in the working places, especially on the lower levels. Although ordinary ventilation is adequate to maintain good conditions in most of the working places it is subject to a number of limitations at great depth. Most important among these limitations is that with increase in depth the air becomes heated before it reaches the working places, both by compression from increase in atmospheric pressure and by heat transferred to it from rock at high temperature, so that its capacity for lowering temperatures is greatly reduced before it reaches the operating zone. Increasing depth of mining also increases the distance traveled by the air in its passage through the mine, and this causes a corresponding increase in resistance to air flow, so that there is greater difficulty in maintaining even the same volume in circulation. Thus, in the face of a demand that the ventilating system have a very much greater capacity to remove heat from the mine, the tendency is for that capacity to diminish. The only evident alternatives were (I) the opening of additional air shafts to increase the volume of air in circulation, (2) an extension of the existing system that would be subject to the same limitations, or (3) the adoption of an entirely different method such as air cooling. Fortunately for an economic solution of the problem, the mean annual temperature of the surface atmosphere at Butte is about 40°F., with very low relative humidity in summer, so that there is unlimited natural cooling power at a temperature range adaptable to air-conditioning methods. METHODS Two similar methods of air conditioning are used, as necessitated by service requirements and dependent upon the equipment available. In one, which is the more important and has the greater cooling capacity, water is circulated in a closed circuit, and, alternately, first absorbs heat from warm mine air and then dissipates it in the surface atmosphere by cooling at a cooling tower. The second

Jan 1, 1941

By John C. Branner

Shales rich in oil are found at several places along the coast of Brazil. The material has been prospected at several places, and samples have been examined and reported upon by competent authorities. So far as I am acquainted with them, these oil-bearing beds are of Tertiary age. A glimpse at the distribution and character of the Tertiary rocks of the region should give us some idea of the possible distribution of these oil-bearing shales. Tertiary rocks skirt the northeast coast of Brazil from the northern part of the State of Espirito Santo almost or quite to the Amazon valley. Here and there this narrow strip is cut in two by the encroachment of the sea, and the underlying gneisses, granites or other crystalline rocks are exposed upon the beach. In other places, the Tertiary belt widens out until it is 80 kilometers or more in width. Fig. 1 is a sketch-map of a part of the coast-area referred to. Along the coast from Prado, in the State of Bahia, northward to Natal, there is a line of bluffs from 15 to 90 meters high, interrupted here and there by stream-valleys. As seen from the sea, these bluffs are rather conspicuous and highly colored yellow, brown, red, white, black, and purple. These colors are often so mingled as to give the beds a mottled or parti-colored appearance. Fig. 2 shows a characteristic bit of the coast in the State of Parahyba do Norte. In some places, especially in the southern part of the State of Sergipe, and in the northern part of Rio Grande do Norte, the immediate coast is covered with sand-dunes. Here and there these sanddunes have been carried inland over the top of the Tertiary beds, and the subsequent encroachment of the sea has exposed the Tertiary rocks again, where they form the bases of the bluffs. This is well shown in Fig. 3, from a photograph taken at Bahia Formosa, on the coast of Rio Grande do Norte.

Jan 1, 1901

By E. Gaujot

IN connection with the question of coal waste and economy in mining, we would call the attention of those interested to an apparatus invented by M. Dernencourt, Superintendent of the Anzin Division of the Anzin Coal Company, North of France. This apparatus is known in France and Belgium under the name of prop screw-jack (vis botte), and has been used with good results in the above-named countries for some years past. M. Ponson gives, in his " Trait6 de I'exploitation des Mines," a description of it (page 533), but as the description given is old, the work not widely known in this country, and as some valuable improvements have been made since, I thought it might be useful to give a description of it, having seen it in 'operation in 1867, while in Europe to attend the great Exposition, and on a scientific tour to the mining districts of France, Germany, Belgium, and Italy. The prop screw-jack is composed of the following pieces : I. The body or column B, Fig. 4 [Plate (I)], of oak or yellow pine, sawed square, the bark taken off, and any length, proportionate to the vein. The smallest are 10 inches diameter at the base, and 9 inches at the top, the height being from 12 to 15 inches less than the size of the vein. In the axis of this column, and at the top end, is a cylindrical opening or hole, C, 22 inches diameter, 10 inches deep, for the screw, S. II. Two wrought-iron rings, R R, to strengthen the two extremities of the column ; the rings must be put on hot. III. A cast,-iron washer, E, with hole in centre a little larger than the screw, to be put on the top of the column, and on which the nut is to rest; the top side of this washer must be faced on the lathe, also the bottom of the nut, to prevent friction. IV. The screw, S, having a total length of 12 inches and a diameter of 24 inches (for very high veins this diameter may be increased to 3 inches), and has on its top a wrought-iron plate, T,

By Carle R. Hayward

This work was first undertaken in the metallurgical laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1907 by L. A. Dickinson, E. Phelps, and V. S. Rood, under the author's direction. They attempted to determine the diagram for the system Cu2S-MiS, but several inexplicable results were obtained. The following year, P. H. Mayer with Mr. Dickinson carried on some experiments with nickel sulphide and found that the molten material slowly lost sulphur until it reached a composition corresponding to the compound Ni3S2, established by Bornemann.l At this point the composition remained stable. The freezing points of the mixtures gradually fell off with the loss of sulphur. Since the above facts seemed to explain the erratic results obtained in the first experiments, Mr. Mayer with F. Jaeger attempted in 1910 to establish a correct equilibrium diagram for the Cu2S-Ni3S2 series. They prepared pure Cu2S and Ni3S2 and determined the cooling curves for various mixtures. The fusions were made in a platinum resistance furnace and the temperatures were measured with a platinum-iridium thermocouple connected with a Sullivan galvanometer. The curve was established for mixtures containing more than 40 per cent. Cu2S, but they were unable to determine certainly the direction of the curve beyond that point. Nothing further was attempted with this series until the present year, when the work was carried to a successful conclusion with the assistance of A. Butts, Jr., and E. H. Weil. The results of this work are given in the following pages. Preparation of Cu2S.—A piece of cathode' copper from the Buffalo plant of the Calumet & Hecla Co. was cut into shavings by a shaper and converted into sulphide by heating in boiling sulphur. A porcelain casserole was used for the purpose, the heat being furnished by a Bunsen burner. It was found that after boiling in the sulphur for an hour the copper shavings were completely converted into sulphide. The liquid sulphur was then poured off, leaving the solid sulphide in the casserole in

Jan 1, 1915

By T. KIRKE ROSE

A Discussion of the paper by H. O. Hofman and M. G. Magnuson, read at the Lake Superior meeting, September, 1904. (British Columbia Meeting, July, 1905.) T. KIRKE ROSE, London, Eng. (communication to the Secretary*`) :-The authors have shown that, under certain conditions, the rate of dissolution of gold by chlorine and bromine is re¬duced by the addition of 10 per cent. of silver to the gold, and that the action is almost stopped when the silver amounts to 30 or 40 per cent. of the alloy. Even if full recognition is given to the practical way in which the work was done, how¬ever, it is to be regretted that Prof. Hofman and Mr. Magnuson did not determine the temperature at which the experiments were carried out. From the details given it may be inferred that the temperature was raised by chemical action by about 20° C. when 21 g. of sulphuric acid were added, and that the mixture was then slowly cooled down during the experiment. When bromine or very weak chlorine solutions were used, there could not have been any perceptible heating action. As the action of both chlorine and bromine is aided by heat, it follows that the stronger solutions of chlorine were given an unfair advantage over the weaker solutions and over bromine. If the temperature had been the same in each case, I do not think that the conclusions given oil p. 432 of the Bi-Monthly Bulletin, March, 1905, 1 would have been found to be justified. (This is speaking generally. In barrel-treatment the conditions are similar to those in the experiments.) The superior speed of bromine as compared with chlorine at equivalent strengths is not yet disproved, and the differences noted between strong and weak solutions of chlorine may have been largely a function of the temperature. Moreover, the authors used somewhat coarse particles of gold

Sep 1, 1905

By T. Egleston

THE direct process for the manufacture of iron which is principally used in the United States, in New York and New Jersey, is called the Jersey forge, the Champlain forge, the Catalan forge, the Bloomary forge or fire, and sometimes a Forge fire. Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, who has discussed the process as applied to the beach sands of Canada as well as to ores, in the Report of the Canadian Geological Survey for 1867-69, has shown that the name of Catalan forge is incorrect, as this process in no way resembles the Catalan, but is really the old German bloomary modified by long use in this country. Dr. Hunt gives the probable history of the introduction of the process into the United States, and a series of historic citations of great interest relating to it. Not¬withstanding the improvements which have been made in the construction of the furnace and its greater output, the process to-day, in all its essential features, is carried out as Karsten described it. It should now be known as the American Bloomary. The name of Jersey or Champlain forge or fire is not sufficiently distinctive. The name of Bloomary, by which the process is usually distinguished, is objectionable, not because it is incorrect but because it is indefinite, as the Knobbling fires, which are a very slight modification of the Walloon process, for making blooms either from pig iron or by sinking scrap, are also called Bloomaries, and although Knobbling fires are only used in a few localities where charcoal pig is made, and special grades of charcoal-refined blooms are required, one does not, without an explanation, know whether the blooms are being manufactured from ore or pig. The name Forge fire is equally indefinite, as it might just as well apply to any of the five direct methods of making blooms which have been in use in Europe, but which have now mostly gone out of date. The Dame of American Bloomary, however, is the one which most completely describes it, and is the one least open to objection. The names of German, Jersey, and Champlain bloomary are too local, and these adjectives are thought unnecessary by those who use the process, and we shall not therefore describe it under any of these names, but as the American Bloomary process. * Read at the Montreal meeting, September, 1879.

Jan 1, 1880

By R. P. Fischer

The Colorado Plateau region has been the principal domestic source of uranium, vanadium, and radium. The value of these commodities produced from the region through 1964 slightly exceeds $2 billion. Most of the deposits occur in streamlaid lenses of sandstone in the Chinle and Morrison Formations. The ore minerals below the zone of oxidation are low-valent oxides and silicates of uranium and vanadium; all of these, except the quite stable vanadium silicates, oxidize readily to a variety of high-valent uranium and vanadium minerals. The ore minerals partly replace fossil wood but mainly impregnate sandstone, typically forming tabular ore bodies that are nearly concordant to the bedding of the host rock. The deposits range in size from those containing only a few tons of ore to those containing more than 1 million tons. Stratigraphic, lithologic, and sedimentary structural factors obviously influenced the localization of these deposits, but igneous activity, hydrothermal mineralization, and tectonic structures show no similarly consistent influence on localization. The deposits are epigenetic, but the source of the ore metals, the nature of the ore-bearing solutions, and the time of ore emplacement are uncertain. A few uranium deposits in the region are dominantly discordant to bedding and occur in collapsed breccia pipes or along linear fractures. Their origins are also uncertain.

Jan 1, 1968

By J. R. Long, C. E. Armantrout, A. H. Roberson, T. R. Graham, R. S. Dean

THE general program of the Federal Bureau of Mines on the study of alloys made with electrolytic manganese has been extended to copper-manganese-aluminum alloys. The initial results of the work are presented in this report and concern a determination of the mutual solubilities of these three metals to form the alpha solid solution. The principal studies of this system, reported in the literature, have been focused on the Heusler alloys containing 10 to 30 per cent Mn with 9 to 15 per cent Al. These investigations concern the ferromagnetic properties and the determination of the crystallization contours, with little emphasis on the phases present in the solid state outside of this area. Heusler1 recognized a breakdown of the beta solid solution of the magnetic alloy, which he says decomposes into the alpha, beta, and gamma phases of the copper-aluminum system, somewhat modified by the presence of manganese. Rosenhain and Lantsberry2 examined alloys ranging up to 10 per cent Mn and io per cent Al but were unable to reach definite conclusions concerning the phase boundaries in that area. Krings and Ostmann3 made magnetic studies and examined the system by thermal analysis. They present contours of the liquidus surface but do not place any of the phase boundaries. Corson4 [ ] has drawn a hypothetical boundary for the alpha field with few data to support such construction. The binary systems involved have received considerable attention by numerous investigators, and their general features are well established. The hopper-aluminum system (Fig, I) has been thoroughly examined by Stockdale,5 who places the limit of solubility of aluminum in copper at 7.4 per cent at the liquidus and 9.5 per cent at room temperature. Smiths established the eutectoid temperature at 570°C. by a study of isothermal decomposition of the beta phase. The copper-manganese system (Fig. 2) has been recently reviewed by Dean and co-workers.7 Using high-purity alloys, they place the solubility of alpha man-

Jan 1, 1946

By William Hall

THE product obtained by roasting stibnite is likely to contain some unoxidized antimony trisulphide and a mixture of antimony trioxide and antimony tetroxide. It was desired to determine, as accurately as possible, the condition of the antimony as well as the total quantity present. Attempts were made to separate the trisulphide and the two oxides by methods based upon their varying solubilities in different solvents, but no satisfactory results were obtained in this way. It was found, however, that by determining the total antimony content, the antimony present as trioxide, and the antimony present as trisulphide, a good idea of the chemical composition of the roasted product could be obtained. The total antimony was determined by dissolving the sample in concentrated hydrochloric acid, reducing the antimony entirely to the trivalent condition by means of hydriodic acid and eventually titrating the antimony back to the pentavalent condition by means of iodine in the presence of sodium bicarbonate.' The details of the procedure are as follows: Weigh out 0.25 gram of the roasted product into a trapped flask (Fig. 1), add 4 grams of powdered tartaric acid, 2 grams of potassium iodide and 40 c.c. of concentrated hydrochloric acid. Boil the solution gently for 5 min. and then cool to room temperature by shaking the flask while holding it under running water. Then, very carefully discharge the iodine color by the cautious addition of 0.05-normal sodium thiosulphate solution, adding a little starch toward the last. Nearly neutralize the acid with ammonia solution, but leave the solution distinctly acid. Pour the slightly acid solution into 200 c.c. of water con-

Jan 1, 1916

By S. P. Kinney, A. J. Boynton

This paper states that progress in blast-furnace engineering during the past five years is unimportant except for the advent of the electric precipitator for gas cleaning. It describes improvements in certain furnace details and in materials of construction. The paper is largely given over to a discussion of difficulties in operation due to disproportion between the diameter of the present-day furnace at the bosh and at the stock line. It is proposed to remedy this disproportion, and to restore relations in the diameter of stock line and bosh as they formerly existed, by a new method of filling. This method requires a double bell arranged to discharge towards the periphery or towards the center of the furnace. Coke is classified into two sizes, the small size going to the middle of the furnace, and the larger to the periphery along with the ore. By this means the resistance of the center of the furnace is increased, and the stock line diameter may be greatly increased. The writer believes that these modifications will result in a somewhat improved fuel economy and regularity of operation and also in a very greatly reduced production of flue dust.

Jan 1, 1935

By S. P. Kinney, A. J. Boynton

This paper states that progress in blast-furnace engineering during the past five years is unimportant except for the advent of the electric precipitator for gas cleaning. It describes improvements in certain furnace details and in materials of construction. The paper is largely given over to a discussion of difficulties in operation due to disproportion between the diameter of the present-day furnace at the bosh and at the stock line. It is proposed to remedy this disproportion, and to restore relations in the diameter of stock line and bosh as they formerly existed, by a new method of filling. This method requires a double bell arranged to discharge towards the periphery or towards the center of the furnace. Coke is classified into two sizes, the small size going to the middle of the furnace, and the larger to the periphery along with the ore. By this means the resistance of the center of the furnace is increased, and the stock line diameter may be greatly increased. The writer believes that these modifications will result in a somewhat improved fuel economy and regularity of operation and also in a very greatly reduced production of flue dust.

Jan 1, 1935

By T. A. Rickard

INTRODUCTORY. THE presentation to the Institute, eight years ago, of the paper of Pošepny on " The Genesis of Ore-Deposits " has borne fruit in much fresh: investigation, as is evidenced, for example, by the group of very valuable papers, by distinguished members" of the United States Geological Survey, read at the Washington meeting-discussions of general principles particularly suggestive to those who are engaged in mining. Pošepny, in the discussion of his famous treatise, said that the present writer seemed to look at every new conception in ore-deposition" from the sole standpoint of its immediate usefulness in mining."* Protesting mildly against " sole " and "immediate," I accept the impeachment. It calls for no defence. THE DEVELOPMENT OF RECENT THEORIES. Given the idea of an underground water-circulation as the chief factor in the deposition of ore, the next step in the inquiry as to the genesis of such deposits is, the endeavor to determine which particular part of the general water-circulation is responsible for the results. Around this question have centered the controversies of a generation, and to these controversies we owe the gradual clarification of our ideas upon the processes of ore-formation. It is unnecessary to sketch here their progress from Werner to Le Conte, who combated in 1883 the extreme views of the lateral-seeretionists, and in 1893 opposed the narrow interpretation of the ascensionist-theory. The generally accepted opinions of to-day are a well-deserved tribute to his philosophic discrimination. Thanks to Prof. Van Hise and Mr. Slichter, whose work he utilizes, we have now arrived at a comprehensive conception

Jan 1, 1902

By Donald Barton

THIS paper outlines a time-saving graphical method of calculation for application to the interpretation of observations with the Eötvös torsion balance. Preliminary to the treatment of this short cut method which has been found practicable, the principal formu-las by which the student of interpretation can calculate the gradient and differential curvature produced by different types of bodies in different types of situa-tions are presented and discussed. It is necessary to split most geologic bodies into a series of simpler ones for which not too complicated formulas are avail-able. The gradient and differential curvature effects are calculated for each of the simple bodies and then summed to the total effect for the whole body. The calculations are considerable in number and, though more tedious than difficult, should be' entrusted to an experienced calculator. Considerable facility in qualitative interpretation can be acquired by the geophysicist from experience and from a thorough study of the types of gradient and differential curvature anomalies produced by the dif-ferent types of possible structural situations. How-ever, semi-quantitative calculations' of the probable structure bring out many relations that are not evident in a simple inspection of torsion balance results ; it throws out as impossible or improbable certain of the alternative structural possibilities that may seem equally probable under simple inspection of the results; it will determine more accurately the position of the crest of the structure; and reduce considerably the un-certainty in the interpretation and it is necessary to intelligent interpretations. The calculation of such cross-sections consists of a trial-and-error calculation of a body that will give gradient and differential curvature effects as closely as possible the same as those observed. From his knowledge of the gradient and differential curvature produced by different types of bodies, the geophysicist sketches a tentative cross-section of the structure as indicated-to him-by the observed results of the torsion balance survey, and the calculator then splits the struc-ture into blocks, and calculates the gradient and differ-ential curvature block by block. If, as rather usual, the calculated .gradient and differential curvature pro-files diverge considerably from, the respective observed ones, it is necessary to add and subtract blocks from the cross-section until a close agreement is obtained .between the calculated and observed profiles. The com-plete calculations have to be gone through for each block that is added or subtracted.

Jan 9, 1928

By C. W. Nicolson

THE Tri-State zinc and lead-mining district is in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, the southeast corner of Kansas and the southwest corner of Missouri. The area throughout which active mining has been conducted is about 45 miles long and about 5 miles wide, extending northeasterly from Commerce, Okla., to Alba, Missouri. Although the lead ores were mined on a very small scale in the vicinity of Joplin, Mo., as early as 1848, nothing of any importance was done in the district until 1870, since when both mining and smelting have been prosecuted with considerable vigor. In the beginning the lead ores only were exploited, but within a few years extensive deposits of zinc ores were found and since that time the production of zinc ore has far exceeded that of lead. Both the surface and mineral rights in Missouri and Kansas were under individual ownership by the time ore was discovered. Although some of these rights were purchased by mining companies, most of the mining has been done under leases covering small areas, usually 40 acres, although in the past many leases were given on much smaller tracts. In Oklahoma most of the mineral land had been alloted by the Government to various Indian tribes and although the title to some of these lands had been acquired by various white men before the discovery of the rich Picher field, the title to most of the land has remained with the Indian tribes and the leasing of the mineral rights has been done by the Federal Government for the benefit of the Indians. The Indian allotments were of 200 acres each and some of the mining leases covered entire allotments, although many leases were granted for only 40 acres or even less.

Jan 1, 1938