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By William P. Blake

THE phenomena of concentric arrangement of minerals in rock-masses, generally known as "orbicular structure," have of late received much attention from investigators. Lawson, of the University of California, has described the orbicular gabbro at Dehesa, San Diego county, Cal. Kessler and Hamilton, of Stanford University, working independently upon the same subject, published their descriptions,2 giving also a list of many other localities in Europe and America where orbicular rocks are found, adding copious references to the literature of the subject. The orbicular diorite of the type locality in Corsica., familiar to mineralogists and petrologists under the name "Napoleonite," was described by Vogelslang in 1862.3 Chrustschoff, of St. Petersburg, has also given much atten¬tion to the subject, and is the author of a classification of the various known forms of orbicular structure.4 No complete and satisfactory explanation of the origin of or¬bicular aggregations in rocks has yet been offered. The patent fact is generally recognized that the constituent minerals have crystallized from a more or less molten or plastic magma, but why these minerals should be arranged in concentric spheres or crusts has not been clearly shown. Vogelslang, for example,

Jul 1, 1905

It is doubtful if the far-reaching sociological influence and effects of the last few years will be fully appreciated within the present generation, but there are certain lessons and morals already apparent from which we should profit immediately. One of these has been an insistent, though vague, feeling among engineers and men of technical training and experience, that their worth as political and economic factors is not recognized by society. This feeling has found expression first in a tendency on the part of these men to organize for the purpose of securing recognition, or to demand greater activity in their interest on the part of societies already organized. However it may be accomplished, the demand for some means of binding engineers together for purposes of self-interest and public good is in the air and will not be denied. In other words, the time is' propitious for two things: vastly increasing the membership of engineering societies, and serving that membership according to its desires. There are particular reasons why every mining and metallurgical engineer, in the United States at least, should hold membership in the

Jan 6, 1919

Why should I pay $8.50 an hour for dealer repairs when my own mechanics work for $3.50?" The numbers vary, but that's the argument most contractors use to justify doing their own repairs. They don't realize it, but they're probably losing big money. For instance, it takes nearly a quarter of a million dollars in tools alone to equip a shop comparable to an average equipment dealer's facilities. A contractor must buy a lot of expensive, specialized tools he seldom uses, or else settle for the inefficiency of having repairs done by his mechanics with relatively unsophisticated tools. His building soaks up money in rent, maintenance insurance, taxes. His mechanics demand good wages. It even costs money when mechanics aren't repairing equipment. Mechanics get full wages for slack periods and cleanup time, too. This doesn't count as service manhours, but it's still part of the total repair cost. To help contractors uncover these hidden expenses and find out the true cost of owning a shop, some equipment dealers have devised a do-it-yourself "shop cost analysis form."

Jan 1, 1970

By T. V. Falkie, Robert Stefanko

Coal Mine Health and Safety Act in December 1969, the most comprehensive law in the history of the coal mining industry went into effect. Hardly anyone will quarrel with the philosophy that all miners in the United States should be afforded equal protection under the law irrespective of the state in which they reside. Furthermore, it appears contrary to any sound judgment that a competitive advantage should appear to accrue to a mine operator because his operations are located in a state with less stringent (and costly) health and safety laws Yet it is recognized that the quality of state mine laws and inspection agencies has been extremely variable. Why, then, should there be such resentments over the passage of the Act? The Act was written In the highly emotionally charged atmosphere following the Consol No. 9 disaster: the technical expertise within the industry was discredited and largely ignored; and those directly involved in the writing of the Act were non- technical and largely nonmining people. The result was that the law incorporated certain requirements that were impossible to meet (automatic brakes are the classical example) and certain parts that were too ambiguous and consequently open to interpretation.

Jan 1, 1971

J. A. Mathews,* Syracuse, N. Y. (written discussion?).-It is interesting to note how frequently we hear of some process that is going to revolutionize the tool-steel business. I don't know why it is, but every one seems to have it in for us poor tool-steel men. About 15 years ago, a good-sized plant was built in Syracuse for the manufacture of cast tools of malleable iron. The promoter of the scheme claimed to have a secret, process that had been given to him by a tramp to whom he gave a lift along a dusty road. The widows and orphans invested liberally in the securities of the company without consulting the men established in the machine-tool business in Syracuse. About two years later, when the sheriff's sale occurred, the secret, which was carried on the books of the company as an asset valued at $2,000,000, brought $15 at auction. A little later another concern started on the theory of replacing scrap high-speed steel with new high-speed steel tools made therefrom. All the tool-steel companies have made a practice of purchasing high-speed

Jan 5, 1919

Albert R. LEdoux, New York, N. Y.—I can add a little to the information which has been given, by saying that it has been our business for some years, among other things, to inspect outgoing copper from some of the works here in the East, and to find out why there are variations not only in the conductivity of the wire-bars, but also in the character of the cathode-copper shipped; and we have found two things: These impurities which have been mentioned are largely upon the surface of the cathode. Samples taken of the inside, even of the nodules or " berries " which grow on the outside of the cathode, show that they do not contain more impurities than the denser material in the interior. In other words, it is a superficial deposit or contamination. There is still another reason for impurity in some of the copper which finds its- way to the manufacturers, namely, carelessness in the handling of molds or in casting. We have found copper which was comparatively pure, as far as the copper itself was concerned, but contained, mechanically intruded in the interior of the ingots,

Jan 1, 1913

By H. J. Winters

Position of the Porphyries in US Copper Supply The United States continues to be the largest producer and consumer of copper in the world. [Table 1] shows several production statistics for 1974, the most recent year that the non-communist world copper industry might consider a good year, and for 1976 and 1977. In 1974 an estimated 24% of the non-communist world's newly mined copper was mined in the US, and 87.89% of that was from the western porphyry coppers. In 1976 US new mine production was down to 22% of the non-communist world's newly mined copper, and the percentage of US new mine production supplied by the porphyry coppers had risen to 89-91%. In 1977 the statistics remained the same as in 1976. US porphyry copper production represented about 65% of US refined copper consumption in 1974, rose to 75% in 1976, and dropped back to 61% in 1977 as imports of foreign copper into the US began to swell. The financial situation of the porphyry copper mining industry continues to be very unhealthy. To see why; we can take a quick look at costs and prices.

Jan 1, 1982

By Henry Knox

AMIDST the tumult and the shouting of the times, there are perceptible certain tendencies, quiet though serious, to take stock of the situation with a view to putting our house in order, and of these none is more encouraging than the awakening, interest in the higher education, and especially in technical education. Various committees of the professional organizations have cast much light on the matter and have pointed the way to progress and reform, but their scope is necessarily restricted by the requirements of precision and any excursion beyond these bounds must be undertaken by the unfettered individual who is free to rush in where responsible committees fear to tread. A discussion of the bearing of the higher education on character scarcely lends itself to objective treatment and yet, fraught as it is with imponderables and abstractions, the theme cannot be escaped in any com-prehensive scheme of education. The question is being pressed with growing insist-ence, why these United States, relatively to Europe, are deficient in intellectual output, and the ready reply, "Because America is a new country and Americans are too intent on developing their natural resources," is too facile and too false to carry conviction.

Jan 12, 1922

Visitors frequently put the question to Kalgoorlie gold miners; "Why don't you concentrate your mining operations?" A mine may be drawing ore from over a hundred different working places which are spread out over several thousand feet of strike and on many different levels. The answer to this question is that "finished" can rarely be written for a section of the mine. The intricate web of mineralization in faults, shears and fractures is an endless puzzle, each solution opens up new avenues to be explored. After the last ore is taken from a stope, a program of drilling may continue for several weeks on different possibilities. Perhaps no ore is discovered and drilling is abandoned, but it is not unusual for another search to begin later in that same area on a new theory with successful results. Wherever a slightly richer mineralization is found, it is needed to "sweeten" the mill heads. Over seventy years ago gold was discovered in the dry wastes of Western Australia. Rich deposits of alluvial gold were found at first and as these were worked out they led to the discovery of the lode ores, which were leaner and harder to extract.

Jan 10, 1964

By Walter Harvey Weed

introduction,.............715 "WHY ORE-DEPOSITS ARE Common about Igneous Contacts,. ..716 Outline of a Genetic Classification OF Ore-Deposits,.. .. 717 Ores of Igneous Origin.. .. .. .. .. 717 Igneous-Emanation Deposits........ 719 Fumarolic Deposits..........719 Gas-Aqueous Deposits.........719 Deposited by Meteoric Waters ........720 Contact Metamorphic Deposits.........720 Classes of Deposits......... 731 Contact Zones..........722 Character of Gangue..........722 Character of Ore-Deposit.........723 Literature...........724 Geographic Distribution.........724 Copper-Deposits—Cananea Type......725 British Columbia—Boundary District....725 Mexico..........727 Germany.......... 729 Gold.Deposits,...........731 Bannack Type.........732 Elkhorn..........733 Similkameen.........734 Changes in Rocks due to Contact Metamorphism....735 Changes in Mass. Volume. and Mineral Composition... 736 Genesis of Contact Metamorphic Deposits..738 Cause of Contact Metamorphism..738 Permanence in Depth............744 Mineral Veins near Igneous Contacts........745 Conclusions..............746 Introduction. This paper deals with certain ore-deposits whose structural features or mineral contents (or both) result. directly or indirectly. from igneous intrusions and their afier-effects. It is largely a discussion of contact metamorphic ore-deposits based upon the physical changes in rocks due to contact action. It involves a classification of ore-deposits only so far as is abso-

Jan 1, 1903

By Charles B. Dudley

DEAR SIR: It is now nearly three years since my first report to you on the subject of steel rails was written. That report, as you will remember, dealt principally with the question of the relation between the chemical composition and physical properties of steel rails end their power to resist crushing and fracture in actual service. Other matters were referred to or touched upon in that report, but the main question was, Why do some rails crush or break in service while others do not? Yon will doubtless remember that the principal conclusion arrived at was, that the softer rails are less liable to Crush or break in service than the hard ones. Or, in other words, so far as conclusions could be drawn from the chemical analysis and physical test of 25 samples of steel rails which had actually been in service, these conclusions were that those rails which have the smaller amounts of carbon, phosphorus, silicon, and manganese are less liable to crush or break in service than those which have larger amounts of these elements. Or, again, looked at in the light

Jan 1, 1881

By C. Richard Tinsley

INTRODUCTION Documentary complications arise from the risk apportionment in project financing which generally means that once the project is up and running and has satisfied the lender's completion test, the loan agreement specifically limits the lender's recourse to the project and its assets. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the special considerations which apply to industrial minerals projects and explore the reasons why so few project financings are negotiated in this industry. SIZE Small projects do not warrant the relatively high costs of negotiating and documenting project financing. The extent of the documentation is directly proportionate to either (a) the degree of risk apportionment, or (b) the amount of control given to lawyers to negotiate the documents. Although one would like to believe that project-finance documentation could be off-the-shelf, it is almost always necessary to tailor the documents to the mine development itself and the individual desires of the borrower. Accordingly, the documentation costs and initial expenses are seldom less than $40,000, and for complex projects can reach $400,000. In addition, banks often charge an up-front fee to partly compensate them for their staff time and partly to increase their yield on what is deemed to be a "riskier" loan asset. Another factor is the generally lower debt:equity ratio when bankers are uncertain of the accuracy of the cash flow projections. The ratio of the amount of cash flow left over after debt service to debt service itself is a key tool for project finance (debt service coverage). Bankers will require a higher coverage ratio for industrial minerals projects because of the relatively higher uncertainties in the following categories: Prices Markets Geology/Quality Transportation Environmental This, in turn, means that lower debt:equity ratios are the norm for new industrial minerals projects. INDUSTRY STRUCTURE It is hardly worthwhile to generalise about a field as diverse as industrial minerals, but there are four other structural reasons why project financing has not been widely applied. 1. The most obvious example is the predominance of small-sized operations, largely a function of transportation economics. Geological conditions also contribute to their dispersion. 2. Often, the product is only a small part of a company's business in contrast to many petroleum, metals, or coal companies whose sole business is the production of the raw material. The construction industry is a good example here for cement, gypsum, crushed stone, sand and gravel, and the drilling-mud services business for barite and bentonite. A company is unlikely to jeopardise its main business through the failure of a project financing on one of its key inputs. The corrollary is that the mined input is often regarded as a cost centre and not run on the sort of economic basis suitable for project financing. 3. There may be a reluctance to reveal key aspects of an industrial minerals venture to an outsider for purely competitive reasons. Unlike the other minerals industries which readily share technical information at plant visits and

Jan 1, 1985

By Harry M. Bendler, W. A. Wood

Electron metallography has been applied to the study of the torsional fatigue of polycrystalline OFHC* copper. The development of slip bands, fis- sures, and microcracks has been followed as a function of strain amplitude and number of cycles. Those factors that have been found to be relevant to a geometrical theory of the fatigue process are described. From the point of view of this theory it is important to distinguish between the effects of cycling at large amplitudes and at small amplitudes (true fatigue deformation). EARLY investigations showed metal fatigue cracking is caused by continued reversal of a small plastic strain. Fundamental study of fatigue, therefore, has been largely concerned with the cumulative effects of these plastic reversals on the metal structure. In particular, recent work has shown that the plastic reversals produce slip movements that are finer than the slip movements produced by unidirectional increments of plastic strain; individual slip movements in fatigue, for instance, are too fine to see by optical microscopy.2 It has also been shown that the fine slip movements of fatigue tend to concentrate in bands and that in this way they can build up, after enough cycles, a progressive surface disturbance. It is this disturbance which, in effect, makes the slip movement visible. It is also in this disturbance that the first cracks appear to form. From this point of view, therefore, the problem of fatigue becomes one of finding why the fine slip movements should concentrate in bands and why the. bands should finally open into cracks. Thus far, study of the slip bands has been limited to the changes they produce at the surface only. These studies have given interesting results. Ewing and Humfrey3 many years ago showed that the bands in iron could extrude debris. Forsyth found that bands in aluminum alloys could extrude thin tongues of material. Thompson showed that, after lightly dissolving away the surface of copper specimens, some bands persisted as superficial cracks might, and that the life of a specimen under fatigue deformation might be prolonged by dissolving away the surface at intervals. Thus these and related results have suggested that the metal structure in fatigue bands may disintegrate and that this may happen long before obvious cracking. These surface studies, however, have not shown definitely how cracking may begin, for they do not show sufficiently what is happening in depth. However, some advance in this direction has been made recently by a new approach, summarized later, which reveals slip bands and their surface disturbances in section. In the work done thus far, the sections have been studied by optical microscopy only. In the present work they have also been studied by electron microscopy with extended results. This paper also describes some observations on the surface disturbances prior to sectioning. These observations are relevant to a suggested theory of fatigue cracking. REVERSED SLIP MOVEMENTS Slip movements in fatigue deformation must reverse direction in each cycle. The question arises: DO the "backward" and "forward" movements take

Jan 1, 1962

By Arthur Lubinski, K. A. Blenkarn

It is explained why the bottom portion of freely suspended tubing in a pumping well buckles and straightens in succession during the pumping cycle. Field evidence of resulting rod-on-tubing wear, excessive polished rod load, and excessive horsepower are given. The possibility that buckling hastens pump wear is strongly suggested. Means for either prevention of buckling or for mini-mizing its effects are explained, their relative merits compared, and field results of their use given. These means are: tension anchors, tail pipe, sucker rod guides, and corrosion inhibitors. Charts and formulas for best use of tension anchors, tail pipe, and guides are given. Use of tension anchors, or compression anchors with a heavy tail pipe, prevents both buckling and breathing, thus improving volumetric efficiency. Without tail pipe, buckling above compression anchors precludes such improvement. INTRODUCTION It is well known that a column must be subjected to some compression in order to buckle; and also that a structural member does not buckle if subjected to a tension. When consideration is given to a tubular column, the question may be asked, "How is the buckling phenomenon affected by inside or outside pressure?' At first, it seemingly should not be affected. However, this is not so. In order to arrive at a correct deduction one should first understand the basic reasons for buckling of a column under loading*. Then he should add to the effect of that loading the effect of pressure. Following this procedure, one may discover quite unexpected phenomena. In some cases, when subjected to more pressure inside than outside, a pipe may buckle under tension. In other cases, a pipe may remain straight, although subjected to a very large compression. In 1950 and 1951 it was explained why the bottom portion of a string of pipe freely suspended in a well does not buckle even when subjected to a large compression due to buoy- ancy.2,3 It was shown that the com-monly used concept of a neutral point, as being a point in the string with neither compression nor tension, is inadequate, and a more relevant definition of the neutral point was introduced. The findings were also generalized to cases of different pressures inside and outside a pipe.3a Later, in a further generalization, allowance was made for variations of stress and pressure with depth.' The findings were applied to the new technique of hydrostatic high pressure testing of lengths of pipe in the mill.5 In 1952 it was observed that previous theoretical findings apply to tubing in pumping wells. The lower part of freely suspended tubing buckles during the upstroke portion of the pumping cycle. Later, it was ascertained that this phenomenon is responsible for wear and malfunctioning of the equipment. Various remedial measures were devised and successful field trials conducted. Only brief mentions on the subject have been published.6,7 In this paper, the phenomenon of tubing buckling is explained, field

Jan 1, 1958

By B. B. Gottsberger

A NOTABLE feature of the practice of the American mining engineer is the fact that 'his field has been world wide, and the results of his work may be found in all countries. For this reason, the mining engineer is particularly interested in any legislation tending to restrict his freedom in this respect. In their zeal to improve the status of the professional engineer, those responsible for the enactment of the registration laws now in effect in various of the United States may have introduced a practice that will result very much to the detriment of the American mining engineer. He is preeminently interested in the maintenance of the professional "open door," and fame may be the reward of him who calls the first "International Conference for the Limitation of Restrictive Legislation." There is no reason why these United States should be the only country to regulate the practice of professional engineering and, in fact, the movement is spreading beyond its borders. Already, it is necessary for the mining engineer to be thoroughly conversant with the various state laws in order to insure his right to pursue his calling. It may soon be necessary for him to make sure of his status in foreign countries before undertaking work in them.

Jan 1, 1921

By AIME

A present the colleges and universities are struggling to meet the responsibilities placed upon them by the return of the veterans from the armed forces to the educational institutions as well as the youth graduating from the high schools. The problems of meeting these responsibilities are complex and upon the shoulders of the educational administrators lies much of the burden. One of those educators who is in the midst of this situation is James Rowland Cudworth, dean of the College of Engineering of the University of Alabama and Chairman of the Mineral Industry Education Division, AIME, both for 1946 and 1947. He was born at Norwich, Conn., on Sept. 23, 1897, and like his father before him went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received his Bachelor's degree in 1921. His studies at MIT were mainly in the fields of geological and mining engineering. Why a New Englander studies mining is anybody's guess, but it may be due to a love of traveling to far places which so many New Englanders do. After graduating tinder the famed Waldemar Lindgren. Jim trekked to Mexico where he worked at Pachuca for the Cia. Real del Monte and at Charcas with the American Smelting and Refining Co.

Jan 1, 1946

E. C. Pechin, Buchanan, Va.: I am sorry to see the table appended to Mr. Chase's excellent paper. In the discussion at the same meeting, on "Notes on a Southern Coal-Washing Plant," Prof. Phillips very properly says: " There is no use in giving an analysis as representing a coal when it does not do so. It gives a wrong impression of the conditions under which business is conducted." The same may be said about ores. I have no personal knowledge of the ores in many of the localities given in Mr. Chase's table; but if these are to be judged by what is positively known of the Cranberry ores, the analyses are grossly misleading. The furnace-shipments from Cranberry have rarely reached 44 per cent. of iron, and any such percentage as 58 or 66 or 68 can only have come from hand-picked specimens. Indeed, with any such percentages, Mr. Chase's paper would have been superfluous, because concentration would be unnecessary. Besides, the paper itself (page 553) gives the fact that the Cranberry average is 42 to 43 per cent. Why should a table be appended, contradicting this statement of the text ? Let us always have the exact conditions under which business may be conducted. "Boom" and business analyses are widely different.

Jan 1, 1896

By Brian R. Castle, James J. Scott

INTRODUCTION Referring to a ground support system as a 'band-aid' borders on getting cute, but the application of cable slings in U.S. mining is somewhat analogous. Where problems in the roof or rib require additional support, the versatile cable sling is the answer in a variety of conditions. To fully understand how and why cable slings are used today we must briefly review their development history. Much of the thrust over the last five to seven years in ground support fixtures has been the development of hybrid systems. Taking the best of two or more existing roof bolt fixtures and marrying them into a new fixture which exhibits the good characteristics without the bad of the parent systems. Resin point anchored mechanical bolts, continuous threaded rebar bolts, and others have all be- come important fixtures in rock mass stabilization. HYBRID GROUND SUPPORT SYSTEM The cable sling system is also a hybrid, both in its parentage and in its ground support characteristics. See figure 1. Cable slings combine the techniques of cement. grouting high-strength cables, Friction Rock Stabilizers, and truss-like suspension into a versatile and high- strength ground support system. 1/2" high-strength cable is cement grouted in place in a manner similar to pre-

Jan 1, 1983

By Leo Ranney

ANY years ago a prospector came to a Nevada town and built himself a shack. Day after day he searched the hills for gold -but he found none. He closed his shack and hurried north, where a strike had been made. Next he tried to trap the flour gold that floats down the Snake River. He panned the black sands along the Oregon coast. He ranged over the mountains and up the gulches of far-off Alaska. At last, broken in health, six years ago he came back to his old home in Nevada. There his shack still stood-nobody wanted it. One day he started a garden in the rocky soil that he owned. His spade turned up a chunk of quartz, and in that quartz were stringers of gold. He had found a rich gold vein, running right under his own house. You gas producers who have hurried to Oklahoma, Louisiana, East Texas, South Texas, West Texas, even to California to drill wildcat holes a mile or two miles deep-why not, like the old gold prospector, have a look in your own back yard? Some of your coal seams contain 20,000,000 cu. ft. of natural gas per acre.

Jan 1, 1943

By L. S. Cates

THE war is now behind us. We in the mining industry feel a just pride in the part that our industry and our men and our products played in defeating the enemy on the fighting fronts around the world. In five years of mobilization and actual combat, our mines and oil wells produced over 3 billion tons of coal, a billion tons of petroleum, 500 million tons of iron ore, 21/4 million tons of lead, 31/2 million tons of zinc, 5 million tons of copper, 14 million tons of bauxite, 17 million tons of sulphur, 68 million tons of salt, and 3 million tons of potash. It was an unparalleled performance. But what of today? Why the present low production and high costs? Among the black clouds in the mining sky none are so black as that presented by the labor situation. We know it is the result of the legislation and the interpretation of that legislation in the past ten or fifteen years. Since the passage of the Norris-LaGuardia Act in 1932, we have had nothing but a succession of laws, regulations, and decisions that have intensified the strength of the unions and made the operators of the mines and the sources of their financing prartirally impotent

Jan 1, 1946