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By Pedro Beltrán

DURING the war South America attained a very important position in the production of metals and minerals, brought about by her strategic location near the "Arsenal of Democracy" and the loyalty of her peoples to the cause of freedom This seemingly miraculous achievement in the wartime delivery of the all-essential metals-copper, tin, lead, zinc and tungsten -as well as 35 other war-important minerals and metals, was not the simple result of orders received and of routine production It was the end result of pioneering, prospecting, developing, planning and plodding throughout the lifetime of your organization It was the introduction of new engineering principles, mining techniques, smelting procedures and refining practices, which presaged the entrance of the vast amount of venture capital essential to carry these promising mineral potentials through the dangerous stages of early development Many of those attending the meeting must in the past, as young engineers, have braved the untold hardships and discouragements that beset them at every turn Only they can really appreciate the true meaning of the overwhelming wartime demand on the mineral production of every one of the South American countries No one country has all of everything necessary to produce armaments on a scale imperative during an emergency Not even the United States, with its wealth of natural resources, could hope to meet the unprecedented de-

Jan 1, 1947

By George W. Maynard

In the biographical notice of Thomas F. Witherbee, published in.Bulletin NO. 32, August, 1909 (p. xxv), it is said that "he is believed to have been the first manager in America to use the chemical laboratory for the purpose of controlling the regular running of the blast-furnace." Since the year is not given, I cannot decide as to Mr. Witherbee's priority; but the statement leads me to contribute a bit of history, showing an early departure from the " rule-of-thumb " blast-furnace work to the employment of a chemist. In the autumn of 1868 the department of mining and metallurgy was established at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In connection with the assay-department a laboratory was equipped for making general commercial analyses. In January, 1869, Alexander L. Holley, the manager and builder of the Bessemer plant at the Rensselaer Works of John A. Griswold & Co., the first plant erected in the United States under the Bessemer patents, began to send me samples

Jan 1, 1911

By M. Karfakis, K. Kim, R. V. de la Cruz

The in situ deformability of a closely jointed basalt rock mass was determined by two different methods: the NX-borehole jack method where displacements of opposing curved platens were related to applied hydraulic pressures, and the modified Goodman jack method where tangential strains on the borehole walls were related to induced tangential stresses. The modulus obtained by the modified Goodman jack method were much higher than those obtained by the NX-borehole jack method. To explain the discrepancy, the influence of fractures and test variables, such as depth, orientation, hole location, and applied pressure on the calculated modulus of the rock mass, were analyzed by factorial analysis. It was found that the orientations and measurement depths have statistically significant effects. The in situ deformability values obtained by nonlinear regression analysis were also found comparable with other measurements and empirically predicted values for the basalt rock mass.

Jan 1, 1984

By E. H. Miller, E. J. Hall, M. J. Flak

It is well known that, with the exception of the so-called " niter-and-nails " method, all methods used for the fire-assay of salphide-ores,* especially those of iron, zinc, lead and copper, are very tedious and require the constant attention of the assayer. The objections to the niter-and-nails method are: The liability of the charge to boil over, due to the presence of the' niter; the low results in silver (uncorrected); and the frequently large discrepancy between the actual weight of the lead button and the calculated weight. In many cases the buttons are too small to collect all of the gold and silver contained in the sample, while in others they are too large for cupellation. It was thought that, if these objections to the niter method could be eliminated, it mould give a method for the crucible-assay of sulphide-ores, and especially the low-grade ores of zinc and copper, which would be superior to any method in use at the present time. The only similar methods of assay are those of Perkins,t Rhead and Sexton,$ and Mitchell. The method of Perkins requires too much litharge for it to be a commercial success; that of Rhead and Sexton, utilizing the prelimiilary assay we found to be the best;—the charge for the final assay, however, was modified by having borax-glass added to it; also, the oxidizing power of the niter mas determined by a charge which difters from either the preliminary or the

Jan 1, 1904

By Daryl R. Tweeton, Jerry R. Riding, Grant Buma, Frank J. Rosswog

In situ solution mining of uranium has environmental advantages over conventional mining. The leaching of uranium, however, alters the ground-water quality in the aquifer where the mining occurs. Currently, regulations require that the ground water be restored to approximately its original condition. This paper, a summary of a study funded by the Bureau of Mines, reviews the state of the art in restoring ground-water quality after in situ uranium leaching. Current restoration practices discussed include disposal of liquid wastes in deep disposal wells and evaporation ponds, producing from all wells during restoration, and recirculating water purified in surface plants. Methods for predicting the effectiveness and cost of current techniques are presented. Possible alternative techniques are also described. Two restoration operations are discussed.

Jan 1, 1979

By Ralph H. Sweetser

When a furnace-manager is '(blowing in," he generally has no time to consider the composition of the waste gas, and does not bother with it, except to take care that he does not get " gassed." Moreover, the analysis of the gases while the wood is still burning has not much to do with the economy of the normal working of the furnace; yet, on account of the deadly effects of the " blowing-in " gas when inhaled, and of its high explosive qualities, it is interesting to know its composition. In the Transactions there is no record of the analysis of the gas during an up-to-date " blowing-in." Even in Mr. Whiting's admirable paper (Trans., xx., 280) the reported analyses did

Jan 1, 1899

By Ellis Clark

Within the last ten years the progressive party of China, headed by Li Hung Chang, the Viceroy of Chi-Li, has been making great efforts to develop the mining resources of that country, and particularly those that are within reasonable distances of the sea-board. Attention was first paid to the coal-deposits, especially those at KaiPing, which have been placed on a profitable basis with an output of 1500 tons per day, under the energetic management of Mr. Claude Kinder, M.I.C.E., and the successful financiering of Tong King Sing. These coal-mines were described in a report by Kwong Yung Kwang, edited as a paper for the Institute (Duns., xvi., 95.) The attention of the leaders of the progressive party has for the past five years been turned also toward the development of the precious and related metals—gold, silver, copper and lead. De-

Jan 1, 1891

By Porter W. Shimer

The solution used in the following method for phosphorns-determination is the filtrate obtained in the nitric and sulphuric acid method for the determination of silicon (Transactions, vii., 346). This filtrate, being easily and quickly obtained, and always quite free from silica, is a desirable one for phosphorus-precipitation. IN order, however, to get all the phosphorus in a precipitable form the solution must be made under conditions more strongly oxidizing than simple solution in boiling nitric acid. In a solution thus

Jan 1, 1889

NEW MEMBERS The following list comprises the names of those persons who became members during the period Apr. 10 to May 10, 1914: Members ADAMS, HENRY H., JR., Merchant, Henry H. Adams & Co., and Colonial Iron Co., 149 Broadway, New York, N.Y. ADAMS, LELAND D., Mine Mgr., Supt., East Canada Smelting Co.,Weedon, Quebec, Canada. AGUILERA, EUGENIO, Chief Engr. Mining & Foresting Dept. of Santiago, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. ALFORD, NEWELL GILDER; Min. Engr., Asst. Chief Engr., St. Bernard Mining Co,. Earlington, KY.

Jan 6, 1914

By H. K. Shearer

There is little of importance to be added to the production record of south Arkansas, north Louisiana and Mississippi as a result of developrnents during 1931. No discoveries of any probable commercial value were made, and the only additions to proven acreage were extensions to the Zwolle producing area. " Includes 29 parishes: Avoyelles, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldacll, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, De Soto, East Carroll, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Rich-land, Sabine, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll and Winn. Tables I and 2 show the number of wells completed in 1931 in 25 counties of south Arkansas and 29 parishes of north Louisiana, with the

Jan 1, 1932

By Miroslaw Hajdasinski

Estimation of the economic effectiveness of industrial development projects including mining ones is generally made on the basis of the discrete model of the value changes in time, although the character of these changes is similar to the continuous model. In this paper an attempt has been undertaken to investigate the problem of the value equivalence of both models exemplified by a construction of an underground coal mine. An effort has been made to determine the errors which for different estimation criteria appear in result of the application of the discrete model. Theoretical considerations have been supplemented with practical conclusions.

Jan 1, 1977

William Metcalf, Pittsburg, Pa. (communication to the Secretary*): I am greatly pleased that some one has at last reached what I have long regarded as the only rational explanation yet given of the reasons why steel hardens. Mr. Field claims originality; and doubtless he is entitled to it, but not to priority, mhich must be granted to Prof. John W. Langley.' The difference between them is that Langley says " Tension, probably molecular," and Field says " Tension, probably atomic "; in either case the vital thing after solution is tension. Mr. Field's argument carries with it the idea of increase of density with hardness; if he mill study the facts farther he will observe that the case is just the reverse; that is, the greater the hardness the less the specific gravity; it was just this fact that led Langley to his conclusion, in mhich I have always concurred. Field agrees with Langley that the first requisite for perfect hardening is complete solution of the carbon, not combination; and all of the facts agree with this conclusion. The fact that increase of hardness causes reduction of density was first brought to my notice some 40 years ago, when Major William Wade was testing Jones & Laughlin's cold-rolled iron, and I mas his assistant. We found the well-known increase of tenacity, compressive strength, torsional resistance, and hardness. Specific-gravity tests showed that the cold-rolled iron was less dense than the hot-rolled bars. Major Wade was so surprised at this result that he gave me a lot of samples to weigh, saying that he was not satisfied with

Jan 1, 1904

By H. F. Yancey, M. R. Geer, C. L. Allyn, R. H. Eckhouse

W. M. Bertholf—This is an excellent report of a well-conducted investigation, of sufficient scope to provide generally useful information. Some years ago we had occasion to test the Humphreys spiral on the middling from our table plant. The conclusions reached in this investigation come as no surprise to us. In certain applications it is virtually impossible to improve on the spiral from the monetary returns point of view even though its "efficiency" may be low. We have noted that in all successful applications of the spiral the feed is "classified," hence we were somewhat disappointed in the showing the spiral made on the Poplar Ridge coal, the only one of the four which could really be considered the equivalent of a classified feed. As was noted in the paper, however, this coal contained a considerable amount of middle and high-gravity material, apparently more than enough to make up for the theoretical advantage of small particles in these categories. A comparison of particle size in the various specific gravity classes of the four coals is given in table XXV. Table XXV. Comparison of Particle Size in Various Specific Gravity Classes. (Unit size, 150 m to 0.105 mm) Black Eagle Clements Poplar Ridge Rosly,n 1.3 Float 7.47 10.60 8.68 9.66 1.3 x 1.4 7.89 7.96 7.58 8.20 1.4x1.6 7.24 8.36 5.58 6.85 1.6 x 1.8 7.98 8.31 3.42 7.33 Sink 1.8 7.85 7.13 5.09 7.41 Avg 7.69 10.08 7.15 8.38 This tabulation indicates that there was very little difference in the size of the various gravity fractions for three of the coals, Poplar Ridge varying the most. Examination of figs. 3, 6, 7, and 8 reveals a general similarity of behavior for all coals except Black Eagle. Would the authors care to speculate on the reasons for the difference in the distribution curve for the sink 1.60 material in the washed coal of fig. 3 as compared to the others? This difference is particularly noticeable in the 8xl4-mesh size. Was there a "shape effect"? J. D. Price and W. M. Bertholf—The performance data on three of the coals studied appear to be typical, but there are certain departures from the general pattern in the case of the Poplar Ridge coal which are large enough to deserve special consideration. For example: 1. Despite the high proportion of sink 1.60 material in the feed, it was not possible to make a corresponding proportion of high-ash reject. (See table XVI.) 2. Even though approximately 70 pct of the feed was 1.40 float with an ash content of 6.6 pct, and this

Jan 1, 1951

By R. H. Eckhouse, M. R. Geer, H. F. Yancey, C. L. Allyn

W. M. Bertholf—This is an excellent report of a well-conducted investigation, of sufficient scope to provide generally useful information. Some years ago we had occasion to test the Humphreys spiral on the middling from our table plant. The conclusions reached in this investigation come as no surprise to us. In certain applications it is virtually impossible to improve on the spiral from the monetary returns point of view even though its "efficiency" may be low. We have noted that in all successful applications of the spiral the feed is "classified," hence we were somewhat disappointed in the showing the spiral made on the Poplar Ridge coal, the only one of the four which could really be considered the equivalent of a classified feed. As was noted in the paper, however, this coal contained a considerable amount of middle and high-gravity material, apparently more than enough to make up for the theoretical advantage of small particles in these categories. A comparison of particle size in the various specific gravity classes of the four coals is given in table XXV. Table XXV. Comparison of Particle Size in Various Specific Gravity Classes. (Unit size, 150 m to 0.105 mm) Black Eagle Clements Poplar Ridge Rosly,n 1.3 Float 7.47 10.60 8.68 9.66 1.3 x 1.4 7.89 7.96 7.58 8.20 1.4x1.6 7.24 8.36 5.58 6.85 1.6 x 1.8 7.98 8.31 3.42 7.33 Sink 1.8 7.85 7.13 5.09 7.41 Avg 7.69 10.08 7.15 8.38 This tabulation indicates that there was very little difference in the size of the various gravity fractions for three of the coals, Poplar Ridge varying the most. Examination of figs. 3, 6, 7, and 8 reveals a general similarity of behavior for all coals except Black Eagle. Would the authors care to speculate on the reasons for the difference in the distribution curve for the sink 1.60 material in the washed coal of fig. 3 as compared to the others? This difference is particularly noticeable in the 8xl4-mesh size. Was there a "shape effect"? J. D. Price and W. M. Bertholf—The performance data on three of the coals studied appear to be typical, but there are certain departures from the general pattern in the case of the Poplar Ridge coal which are large enough to deserve special consideration. For example: 1. Despite the high proportion of sink 1.60 material in the feed, it was not possible to make a corresponding proportion of high-ash reject. (See table XVI.) 2. Even though approximately 70 pct of the feed was 1.40 float with an ash content of 6.6 pct, and this

Jan 1, 1951

By G. Wranglen

On account of the possibility of isolating carbides in steel it is generally assumed that the electrode potential of iron carbide is more noble than that of ferrite.1,2,3,4,5 Differences from 0.032 V1 to 0.4 V4 have been recorded. However, it is important to realize that the more noble behavior of cementite in relation to ferrite is not an issue of thermodynamics but of reaction kinetics. Theoretically, cementite is less noble than ferrite, which is a direct consequence of its thermo-dynamic instability. With the value ?F°298 = +4700 cal per mol for the free energy of formation of cementite6 it is easily calculated that the electrode

Jan 1, 1950

By Erik G:Son Odelstjerna

ALTHOUGH the Swedes have not taken as prominent a position in the open-hearth as in the Ressemer industry, the successful development of which in Sweden has been described by Prof. Åkerman, in a paper read before the Institute,? nevertheless our work with the Siemens-Martin method may possess some interest, even for countries outside our own, and especially for the United States, where the charcoaliron industry competes with that of Sweden for the first rank in extent and importance. I take the liberty therefore of giving in

Jan 1, 1895

By L. C. Noakes

In 1947, only a year after its own establishment, the Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics formed a Mineral Economics Section. Originally, this Section consisted of a mineral economist, four geologists and three auxiliary employees. Then, in 1954, it was reorganized into a professional body of six members, all mineral economists, one of whom was the chief mineral economist. At this time, a mining statistical officer from the Bureau of Census and Statistics was attached to the Section to bring about a closer liaison between these two agencies. The addition of another mineral economist in 1961 brought the Section's professional staff to its present strength of seven. In recent years, the Mineral Economics Section has gained considerable support by becoming part of the Mineral Resources Branch of the Bureau of Mineral Resources. This Branch, which has the general role of monitoring the performance of the mineral industry in Australia, has two other specialized sections- Mining Engineering and Petroleum Technology-which bolster and complement the Mineral Economics Section.

Jan 1, 1970

By George W. Maynard

At the Pittsburg meeting of the Institute, May, 1879, I made the first announcement in America of the results obtained by Sidney Gilchrist Thomas and Percy C. Gilchrist, in their efforts to eliminate phosphorus in the manufacture of steel in the Bessemer converter and the open-hearth furnace.' The first published statement in an American newspaper was a reprint of the first Thomas-Gilchrist paper,which I sent to J. C. Bayles, at that time the editor. At the suggestion of many friends who were present at the Pittsburg meeting, and others who are cognizant of the beginnings of the process in the United States, and for the information of the younger generation of the iron and steel fraternity, I have thought it eminently proper that the history of the process in detail should be given where I made the first announcement and where the process has had its largest development. During my residence in England, from April, 1873, to February, 1879, and as a member of the Iron and Steel Institute since 1874, I was present at many of its meetings during those years. At nearly every meeting the burden of discussion was the question of the use of pig-iron containing phosphorus in the manufacture of steel by the Bessemer or the open-hearth process. In my biographical notice of Thomas: read at the New york meeting of the Institute, February, 1885, I show. that the working-out of the process was not a hap-hazard or accidental inspiration, but the culmination of many years of investigation of experiments and theories which had been carried on aid advanced by chemists and metallurgists at home and abroad.

Jan 1, 1911

By Ralph Arnold

PERHAPS the most striking feature in the three newly discovered fields in the Los Angeles basin is the enormous thickness of oil sand. The total thickness is not yet known in any of the fields, since no well has as yet been drilled deep enough to pass through it. In the Signal Hill area a maximum of 1500 ft. or more of productive sand has been penetrated. In the other fields the interbedding of considerable shale members renders the total sand thickness somewhat less, but in all cases the depth of sand strata is enormous when compared with other California fields. For instance, in the Coalinga field the total thickness of sand on the average has been less than 100 ft., while in the Midway and Sunset fields not more than 250 ft. of actual productive sand has been encountered in any one place. This condition has so upset all previous ideas regard-ing the possible future production that but few of the engineers who have had to deal with the situation feel

Jan 5, 1923

By Luis Toron, Salvador Cortes-Obregon

THE Oaxaca coal fields, shown in Fig. 1, are located in the Alta Mixteca region in the states of Oaxaca, Puebla, and Guerrero. Known out crops are scattered over 3125 square miles. It is probable that further exploration will reveal a more extensive area of deposits. The region is of great importance to Mexico, as at present the only sources of coal are the fields near the U. S. border. Steel mills are also located in the North, and finished products must travel 600 to 800 miles to the area of consumption in central Mexico. The Oaxaca coal, only 120 miles south of Mexico, D.F., lies close to several iron ore deposits. If this coal can be used in steel production is will be possible for the Mexican steel industry to reach new dimensions, commensurate with the growing industry of the central region. Coal can be utilized in thermoelectric plants in this area, which lacks not only petroleum and natural gas but also electric power. It can be used as domestic fuel, replacing charcoal and firewood.

Jan 5, 1954