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By Harry Perry

In the United States the state mining laws enacted in the late 1800s were the first laws to recognize that an employer had a responsibility to provide the employee a place to work that met at least some minimum safety standards. The coal mining industry was also the first major industry in the United States to be regulated in 1952 by federal safety laws, although federal inspectors had the right-of-entry as early as 1941. Within recent years, however, the Congress has enacted a number of federal safety regulations for a variety of industries, such as the Aviation Act (1958), National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Act (1966), National Gas Pipeline Act (1968), and Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act (1968). The fatality and injury experiences of the mining industry in the United States, while at a significantly higher rate than for industry as a whole, showed a continuous improvement until the last decade or two-at which time the rate leveled off. Although fatality and injury rates in foreign countries have been generally lower than in the United States, further improvement in those countries also has been difficult to achieve in recent years. It appears, therefore, that some major change in mining laws, combined with a radical improvement in mining technology and a more effective labor-management safety program, will be needed if further reductions are to be achieved in fatality and injury rates. At the same time, there is a growing awareness by society that an employee's place of work, where he spends nearly half of his waking hours, should be made as safe as possible. As increased consideration is given to means for achieving greater safety in all industrial situations, it is becoming apparent that more is required than merely providing physical safeguards on tools and machines. Rigorous, strictly enforced safety standards are useful, but more important is the desire of labor and management to make certain that industrial accidents are prevented. The pressure to achieve increased productivity, and thus receive higher wages, can be a significant deterrent to safe working practices. The temptation can be great to "take a chance" or "cut a corner" in order to speed up production. Public concern over all types of industrial safety in the United States was reflected by the introduction of a number of general occupational health and safety bills in Congress for the first time in 1968. While no legislation resulted, the hearings revealed that, although there were differences in how standards should be set and who should administer them, there was agreement on the need for adequate laws. Since the mining industry has been subject to safety standards longer than other industries, it is not surprising that advanced safety concepts for mining are being explored by the industry and the enforcing agencies. More complete and sophisticated accident reporting is being planned that will reveal the

Jan 1, 1976

By O. W. Walvoord

ONE particular plant has been chosen to illustrate the various factors in mill design. The problems are general in nature and with various modifications are met in the design of most milling plants. Literature on modern mill design is not extensive and certainly has not kept pace with the rapid advancement in the art of ore beneficiation. Much remains to be investigated, and continued vigilance is required to give the operator and the metallurgist the best layout to meet the industry's changing requirements. The Humboldt project, a joint venture of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co. and the Ford Motor Co., involves an iron ore flotation plant near the town of Humboldt, on the Marquette range of the Michigan Upper Peninsula. A crushing plant, designed for an ultimate capacity of 720 long tons per hr, is followed by a first mill unit of 70 long tons per hr. Future mill units are planned to bring the total mill capacity to 5000 long tons per 24 hr.

Jan 1, 1954

By James P. Kimball

In a paper which I had the honor to present to the Institute at the Montreal meeting, September 1879,I took occasion to refer incidentally to certain practical difficulties in the sampling of coal-seams {Trans. Vol. VIII., p. 181-3). This reference was particularly to the unequal distribution of sulphur in the form of pyrite, and to the necessity of discriminating between the several members or " benches " of a coal seam as to their relative proportion of visible sulphur. What is a practically truthful estimation of the sulphur of a coal seam, is not necessarily the estimation of an average of sulphur in any given line of cross-section of the seam. Cornparatively speaking, the range of sulphur in quantity is generally so low that errors in its determination, arising from neglectful sampling or from slips in the laboratory, fall chiefly upon this single ingredient. Not so,

Jan 1, 1884

By Horace Porter

MOST of the bituminous and semibituminous coals of this country Will coke, and all of them yield, on carbonizing, more or less marketable gas and byproducts. We need, however, a finer distinction as between various grades of coking coals and between coals of different degrees of byproduct and gas-making possibilities. There is required by the consumer or the coal producer a dependable test to show whether a certain coal or mixture of coals will make coke of good commercial value for blast, furnace, foundry, water-gas, or domestic use; whether any difficulties in operation may arise from properties inherent in the coal; and whether gas and byproducts may be expected of good quality and in profitable quantity. For determining coke quality, the most dependable test is in actual run in an oven, but for byproducts a coal may better and more accurately be tested in the laboratory or in a miniature oven or retort. As to what are the most desirable qualities in blast-furnace coke, the furnace men themselves are not in complete agreement. Soiree desire a hard, well-burned, "hot" coke, and others get better results from a "greener," less hardened product that burns somewhat more readily in the furnace. But certain qualities of cell structure and porosity are commonly agreed upon as desirable. Information as to what kind of coke a certain coal may be made to yield is valuable in advance, whatever may be the consumer's ideas as to the particular kind most suitable to his needs. The question arises, Can we predict coking quality with any degree of satisfaction from a small-scale test? It used to be said that coals could not be tested satisfactorily on a laboratory scale either for the coke they would yield or-the byproducts. On account of the mystery with which the coking quality of -coal has been shrouded and the large determining influences that many believe are exerted by mass, pressure, and the passage of carbonaceous volatile matter through the coking material, it has seemed difficult to reproduce in the laboratory the exact conditions of commercial practice. Great progress, however, has been made in recent years

Jan 9, 1919

By Arthur Phillips, R. M. Brick, A. J. Smith

A previous publication1§ has described the effect of quenching stresses on the lattice parameter values of high-purity aluminum-copper alloys particularly with reference to the solution and precipitation of CuAl². A similar study has been made of the aluminum-rich aluminum-magnesium alloys. Attention has been directed in the present investigation to the magnitude of the quenching stresses as affected by the specimen size and shape, the number of solute atoms and the quenching rate. The effect of cooling stresses in causing plastic defomation or cracking has been considered in relation to the physical properties of the alloy On reheating alloys in the two-phase field, the time required for precipitation to occur has been observed in connection with the degrec of supersaturation, the rate of diffusion of the solute atoms as a function of the comparative atomic radii, degree of strain, temperature of reheating and grain size. A few qualitative comparisons on the relative effect of these factors have been drawn between the aluminum-copper alloys and the aluminum-magnesium alloys. Strain in Solid-solution Alloys A 10 per cent magnesium alloy ill the form of chill-cast bars was furnished by the Aluminum Company of America through the courtesy of L. W. Kempf. Additional alloys were prepared using alllminum (99.95 per cent Al) and high-grade magnesium. The alloys listed in Table 1 were melted in an Acheson graphite crucible under a flux of fused MgCl², CaC12, NaCI. Chill-cast rods were sealed under vacuum in Pyrex glass, homogenized several days at 450' C., air-cooled and machined to rods of from 1/8 to ¾-in. dia. Metal powders taken from these rods with a fine-toothed saw were again sealed under vacuum in

Jan 1, 1935

By R. M. Brick, Arthur Phillips, A. J. Smith

A previous publication1§ has described the effect of quenching stresses on the lattice parameter values of high-purity aluminum-copper alloys particularly with reference to the solution and precipitation of CuAl². A similar study has been made of the aluminum-rich aluminum-magnesium alloys. Attention has been directed in the present investigation to the magnitude of the quenching stresses as affected by the specimen size and shape, the number of solute atoms and the quenching rate. The effect of cooling stresses in causing plastic defomation or cracking has been considered in relation to the physical properties of the alloy On reheating alloys in the two-phase field, the time required for precipitation to occur has been observed in connection with the degrec of supersaturation, the rate of diffusion of the solute atoms as a function of the comparative atomic radii, degree of strain, temperature of reheating and grain size. A few qualitative comparisons on the relative effect of these factors have been drawn between the aluminum-copper alloys and the aluminum-magnesium alloys. Strain in Solid-solution Alloys A 10 per cent magnesium alloy ill the form of chill-cast bars was furnished by the Aluminum Company of America through the courtesy of L. W. Kempf. Additional alloys were prepared using alllminum (99.95 per cent Al) and high-grade magnesium. The alloys listed in Table 1 were melted in an Acheson graphite crucible under a flux of fused MgCl², CaC12, NaCI. Chill-cast rods were sealed under vacuum in Pyrex glass, homogenized several days at 450' C., air-cooled and machined to rods of from 1/8 to ¾-in. dia. Metal powders taken from these rods with a fine-toothed saw were again sealed under vacuum in

Jan 1, 1935

By A. D. Hodges

In May, 1850, the first gold from the Comstock lode was discovered in the sands near the Carson river. It had been washed down by natural agencies, through Gold Caflon, from the decomposed rock of the ledge above. Within a few weeks, the precious metal was traced more than three miles in shallow deposits along the bed of the canon, from the river to the Devil's Gate-—a narrow, rocky cleft, notable to the teamsters of a later day chiefly as the place where " Uncle Jimmy Fair" collected high tolls, and could not reduce the rates, because " this was all he had for the education of his poor children." From 1850 to 1857, a fluctuating band of miners, whose number varied from twenty to two hundred, washed the Gold Canon placers with rockers and long-toms, making four to five dollars a day each until the last-named year, when the deposits were in great measure exhausted. The chief settlement of these miners was at Johntown. During only a third of the year was the water-supply sufficient for their work. The remainder of the time they utilized in desultory prospecting of the hills and in occasional forays for supplies among the Mormons in Carson valley. In 1857, the Grosch brothers discovered the Comstock lode at some point, now unknown, in Gold Hill, but their discovery perished with them. Early in 1858, the " Pioneer Quartz Company," having located several of the small surface-veins around Silver City (whose connection with the main lode has never been definitely shown), built an arrastra, and worked some of their ore; but the returns were so small that they soon abandoned this business. The following winter, James Finney and his partners found gold in place in

Jan 1, 1891

By John J. Porter

Unusual problems have arisen at certain iron blast-furnaces in Virginia through the fact that the ore-supplies, derived from the Oriskany formation, contain from a trace up to 1 per cent, of zinc oxide. Since the technical literature bearing on this subject is very scant, the following notes, based on personal experience, will probably be of value to those of our members who are interested in iron blast-furnace practice. The course of zinc through the blast-furnace is readily traced. Entering the throat as zinc oxide, finely dissemiuated through the ore, it descends unchanged to the fusion-zone, since a temperature of 1,000" C. or more is required for its reduction. At the fusion-zone, the zinc oxide is reduced by solid carbon to metallic zinc, which is set free as vapor and rises with the ascending gases to the cooler zones of the furnace. In cooling through the range of temperature from 1,000" to 500° C. the zinc is re-oxidized according to the reaction Zn + CO2 = ZnO + CO, and the resulting zinc oxide, being in a very fine state of division, is readily carried along by the ascending gases. Portions, however, deposit on the descending stock and are carried down, again to pass through the same cycle of changes. Still other portions deposit on the lining of the stack, and gradually form hard masses of "cadmia." Of the remainder of the zinc oxide, the greater part passes out of the furnace, and is either deposited in the down-comer, dust-trap, stoves, boilers and flues, or passes through the chimney into the atmosphere. A small portion escapes reduction and enters the slag as zinc oxide, while still another portion is absorbed into the lining of the furnace.

Jan 1, 1908

By Stephen Royce

[PAGE Ground Movement Adjacent to a Caving Block in the Climax Molybdenum Mine (TP 2000 by JOHN W. VANDERWILT, Min. Tech., May 1946. Discussion by STEPHEN ROYCE and the Studies of the Design of Shaped Explosive Charges and Their Effect in Breaking Concrete Blocks (TP 2157 by GEORGE B. CLARK, Min. Tech. May 1947. Discussion by PHILIP B. BUCKY, V. H. CLARK, E. D. GARDNER, M. H. HAWKINS, H. L. WALKER, and the author) 2 See TP 2377, Min. Tech., May 1948 for discussion of San Manuel ProsPect (TP 2255 by H. J. STEELE and G. R. RUBLY, Min. Tech., Sept. 1947. Discussion by L. KENNETH WILSON, ELDRED D. WILSON and the authors)] Ground Movement Adjacent to a Caving Block in the Climax Molybdenum Mine STEPHEN ROYCE•-It is interesting to note from B, Fig 2, how closely the subsidence limits approximate to the 60° angle of draw, which is so commonly found to rule in large scale rock subsidence. The tension cracks shown at B are commonly found in the initial stages of subsidence movement and spread like a halo about subsidence limits as movement extends. These tension cracks usually grow into escarpments later on. Apparently from the illustrations and description given, a system of vertical fractures is the predominating weakness in the wall rock at Climax, and therefore both tension cracks and escarpments are prevailingly vertical in attitude. The illustrations in Mr. Vanderwilt's article seem to conform to the general rule that yield by subsidence is heralded by tension cracks which foreshadow the appearance of the subsidence scarps which are both described in the paper and shown in Fig 2. The difference between the B side and the A side of Fig 2 is apparently caused mainly by the vertical fracturing which controls subsidence at Climax as compared to the relatively homogeneous rock formation at A upon which the original figure in Peele's Handbook was based. The draw at B is exactly 60°, while the draw at A is a little flatter. The influence of the vertical fractures explains the difference. The surprising feature is the relatively small deviation from the general 60° draw line, which is about the average of rock subsidence experience. The influence of local fracture systems, faults and bedding in controlling subsidence all the way from extremely low angles of draw to vertical is rather fully discussed in the Peele's Handbook article referred to. The more illustrations of subsidence there are published the better will be our knowledge. The general principles are pretty well established. The wide local differences reflect the effect of local conditions. This paper is a very valuable contribution to the subject, and for the benefit of the mining industry, it is to be hoped that there will be many more such clear and concise presentations. Particularly block caving is apt to be of greatly increasing importance in the future of a mining industry that must meet high labor costs. More examples of block caving from small scale to large scale operations like those at Climax will serve a vital need. JOHN W. VANDERWILT (author's reply)-I would like to thank Mr. Royce for his discussion; however, in his comments the meaning of subsidence, draw and tension cracks is not entirely clear. As used in my discussion of subsidence at Climax, subsidence refers to movements involving appreciable downward displacement. Tension cracks indicate only

Jan 1, 1947

By F. Milton Lewis, Roshan B. Bhappu

In Part I of this article, published in the September issue of MINING ENGINEERING, Edward S. Frohling and Robert M. McGeorge of Mountain States Mineral Enterprises, Inc., reviewed the general overall financial aspects and methods of raising the necessary capital for developing the mine. In Part 2 of this two-article series, we will present several case histories to show how realistic feasibility studies are used for evaluating the choices and options entailed in mining ventures. Basically, after a potential ore body has been discovered, and the necessary funds obtained for the development of the deposit, the next major problem is one of ascertaining what specifically is to be produced, and the costs of production. The profit potential of the mining venture can then be accurately assessed by the mine owner, operator, or loan officer.

Jan 10, 1975

By A. L. Johnson, S. C. Lyons

A FEW years ago a leading American builder of centrifuges said, "No one uses a centrifuge if the job can be done any other way." This statement was essentially true at that time, not because the basic functional and economic principles involved did not frequently favor centrifugal methods, but rather because so many of the highly specialized features of the mechanical and functional peculiarities of continuous centrifuges had not been fully developed. The idea of using centrifuges in mineral dressing is definitely not new. There are literally hundreds of patents on centrifugal machines and processes for the mining industry. Many of them cover principles that are basic to the functioning of most centrifuges in operation today. In spite of this, until 1935, there were practically no successful applications of continuous centrifuges in the United States in the mineral industry, nor for that matter were there more than a mere handful of such machines in operation in North America in any industry. This was true despite the obvious desirability of machines that could furnish the advantages of high centrifugal settling forces in a continuous operation. The reasons for this are simple, even if not obvious: I. Finely divided solids, when thrown out of fluid suspension under high centrifugal forces, frequently exhibit physical properties (particularly rheological or flow properties) that are markedly different from those they possess when settled out by gravity alone, and machines that are not designed in careful detail to cope with these peculiarities seldom function satisfactorily. 2. Most continuous centrifuges embody a solids-conveying element in the form of a very special screw conveyor. The rotation of this member under conditions of operation calls for drive designs that were not satisfactorily provided until the introduction of the Bird gear unit about 1934. These matters will be touched on later. Continuous centrifuges are now operating successfully in the mineral industry. Some units have singly handled more than 500,000 tons of solids during the past ten years. Generally their operation has been characterized by large unit capacities, complete elimination of labor, minimum supervision, moderate maintenance and power costs. TYPICAL CENTRIFUGE APPLICATIONS Most materials classified by centrifuges are of subsieve particle size. Practically speaking, this means finer than l00-mesh. A unit of measure other than screens is needed in order to consider these products properly. Such a unit is the micron, which is equal to one one-millionth of a meter; roughly 1/25,000 of an inch. The opening in a standard 200-mesh screen is about 75 microns while a 325-mesh opening is roughly 43 microns.

Jan 1, 1947

By Duane H. Haley

The century we live in has been an eventful time for the Third World, particularly the country of Peru. Although it will take one or two generations more to see its end and fully evaluate its scope, it is already clear that during the twentieth century, Peru has entered a dynamic industrial, economic, social, and political revolution. This century has seen the end of old governments, and the introduction of reforms which radically change complex traditional patterns. It also has marked the beginning of an era in which the government has elected to undertake, as a national effort, most of the future economic growth of Peru. For the most part, large multinational mining companies, which have helped to discover and put into operation large mineral and ore deposits in Peru, have been sympathetic toward this philosophy. Most big foreign companies, in addition to capital, brought with them to Peru an efficient technology, modern management, and an effective organization for the further processing, sales, and distribution of refined commodities. Nationalization of all basic resources, including mining, is the, trend-not, it is hoped, to the detriment of established technology and production.

Jan 1, 1974

By L. S. Chabot

The bibliography of mining methods in the past few years has contained many articles dealing with the use of the diamond drill for blasthole drilling. In the Canadian mines, this method has been used with great success in stoping at Noranda, Aldermac, Waite Amulet, East Malartic and Sladen Malartic mines in the Province of Quebec. It has also been used at the Dorchester and Beattie gold mines in Duparquet, Quebec. The method has found useful application at Copper Mountain mine, British Colombia, and at Flin Flon mine in Manitoba. In the United States, the diamond drill blasthole method has been used at Cornwall Iron Ore Mines in Pennsylvania and at the Republic Steel Corporation magnetite properties in the Port Henry district of northern New York. In the Lake Superior iron district, the method has been used at the Anvil-Palms mine of Pickands, Mather and Co. at Bessemer, Mich., and is also used at the Book mine of the North Range Mining Co. at Alpha, Mich. Other companies in the district have also experimented in some degree with the method at some of their properties. This Paper is being offered as a prelimi- nary report on the use of the diamond drill method of stoping at the Book mine. Sufficient work has been done with it to prove its worth and it is the purpose of the article to present some results, operational details, equipment ideas and recommendstions which we have found in its use at our mine. Location and Description The Book mine is situated about a mile north of the village of Alpha, in the NE-NE1/4 and the SE-NE1/4 of set 12-42-33, between the Dunn mine and the Balkan-~~d~~~ mine, and about four miles southwest of the village of Crystal Falls, on the menominee Range of Michigan, The property was found to have ore near surface in sufficient quantities for open-pit operations and stripping was begun in the latter part of 1942 to prepare it for ore production in 1943. During 1943, 288,447 tons of direct shipping ore were produced from the open pit and 382,933 tons in 1944 While the mine was being operated as an open pit some 350,000 tons of lean ore were stockpiled for later treatment. This material is beilng treated in a washing and jig plant and concentrates are produced during the shipping season. The ore bodies at the Book mine are characteristic of the Menominee Range. They are found on the flanks of sharply folded anticlines which have a fairly steep pitch to the northwest. The open-pit operatiOns in 1943 and 1944 revealed two of these anticlinal structures. A detailed study and classification of the old diamond drill records, coupled with the information of some new holes drilled, has established the

Jan 1, 1949

By D. A. Dahlstrom

(A. C. Richardson and Charles C. Boley, presiding) W. E. BROWN*—In the operation of the cyclone, what factors have you found that will affect its results as far as efficiency goes; for example, if you have coming through the cyclone a pulp of 20 gpm, that has, say, 25 or 30 pct solids, and then from operational characteristics this pulp changes to 35 pct solids but it is still maintaining the same ratio of flow. HOW does that affect the cyclone;) D. A. DAHLSTHOM (author's reply) —It has a definite effect, as you know from Mr. Sutherland's paper,l3 in that as you increase the solid concerltration of your inlet slurry, you will naturally have an according effect on the overflow concell-

Jan 1, 1950

SINCE I have told you of the distillation of waters and the extraction of oils from things-all ingenious and useful processes-I wish to continue to speak of the arts. I am reminded that I first wish to write down for you the discourse that I made to you on another occasion a few days ago concerning the operation of a mint, so that if you have lost it from your memory (and this would not be surprising since you have had no practice in it) you may repossess it if you should need to practice it or even to talk about it, and if you find yourself in this activity it may not be new to you. I told you, as I believe you will remember and so again I repeat, that a very great and constant diligence is required by one who wishes to operate a mint well, or to have it operated, because it has many parts which it is necessary for anyone who enters this work to understand very well; indeed, if he wishes that all the work of his helpers be done well, he will have to do it himself. And if it were possible, he should have a hundred hands and a hundred eyes together, and at the same time should be in different places, because some loss often occurs in what is handled because of the carelessness of the workers or because of their little real trustworthiness. It is understood that such things require great hard labors and many kinds of knowledge. The material handled in this work is most often either gold or silver all ready to be spent, and these things are very attractive to those who handle them. In addition to being made into pieces of money likely to disappear, it is very easy to lose, and whatever part is lacking for any reason whatever [132v] brings detriment and loss to the patron since it is a thing of value. Therefore, in short, anyone who wishes to exercise this art well, without being fraudulent therein, must watch the weights with all care because the essence of this art is naught but the division of a quantity of weight into many exactly defined pieces and the alloying of gold by carats and of silver by leghe, exactly established in accordance with what the prince grants you as remedy.* If through negligence you exceed in perfection

Jan 1, 1942

ENGINEERS AVAILABLE (Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Member, technical graduate, five years' experience as mining engineer and chemist. Actual experience in underground work, surveying, mapping, foreman, etc. Will accept very moderate salary to start with reliable company. Willing to go anywhere. No. 184. Member, technical graduate, with experience as engineer and metallurgist for various copper companies, is open for similar positions. No. 185. Member, specializing in cyanide treatment and cyanide plant construction, with 10 years' experience in Mexico and in the West, desires position. No. 186. Member, technical graduate, first in mining engineering and then in chemistry and metallurgy, Lafayette College; Fellow, School of Mines, Columbia University; special work Royal School of Mines, Freiberg, Saxony, Germany; ten years' experience teaching mining, chemistry, assaying, and metallurgy, desires position as Director of School of Mines or Professor of Metallurgy. No. 187.

Jan 2, 1915

By G. W. Brownell, H. T. F. Lundberg, R. W. Pringle, K. I. Roulston

The rapid improvement of the airborne scintillometer and the perfection of its efficiency for counting low energy gamma radiation has made it possible to work out a technique to map in great detail the radiation pattern at the earth's surface. On such maps low radiation over certain areas appears to indicate the existence of oil accumulations, forming a pattern similar to that obtained by the geo-chemists. RADIOACTIVE analyses of samples from the surface of oil fields were carried out more than 10 years ago in Alberta by the alpha particle ioniza-tion chamber technique,' but large enough tracts could not be covered in these investigations to make possible any evaluation of the method as a means of oil exploration. Considerable interest has recently been revived, however, as a result of certain striking advances which have been made in the instrumentation available -for the measurement of radioactivity. It is the object of this paper to indicate the nature of these improvements in radiation technology and then to describe the attempts that have been made to interpret the radioactive patterns obtained in the course of airborne recordings with the new instruments. Since the survey can be carried out from the air and records can be accumulated over vast areas in a short time, the result may easily lend itself to statistical treatment. Areas have been surveyed in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and Montana. Producing fields in Alberta and West Texas have been flown over several times in different directions, Fig. 1. The operations were then extended into unknown territory and drill holes were put down on the anomalies which looked promising. The results from these drillings were encouraging and have given hopes for the development of an entirely new method of oil exploration. Any large scale method for the survey of radioactive anomalies must be based on the measurement of gamma rays, as beta and alpha rays have much too short a range to be of any significance. Thus the essential improvement which has made the present stage of this work attainable is the development of new highly sensitive detectors for gamma radiation. In the past the only detectors of any consequence that were available were the ionization chamber and the geiger counter, but both of these suffer from the defect that only a small proportion of the gamma rays passing through the counter are detected, possibly 0.1 to 0.2 pct. The recent development of the scintillation counter2,3 has completely transformed the situation and has had a considerable impact on many branches of nuclear technology. The detection of alpha particles in zinc sulphide screens by visual observation of the individual scintillations which these particles produce dates back to the early spinthariscope of Rutherford and Crookes, but the combined use of an appropriate scintillating phosphor and photomultiplier tube had to await the technical development of the latter many years later. With this development came the modern era of the scintillation counter and a knowledge of phosphors which have a large light output under the bombarding action of gamma radiation. Some of these phosphors are relatively dense and are capable of stopping a large proportion of the incident gamma radiation. As the sensitive region is the whole volume of the crystal, a very high detection efficiency, 50 pct or more, can be obtained for medium energy gamma rays. Scintillation counters for geological purposes were first developed in 19494-6 in an attempt to utilize this remarkable improvement in efficiency, which has the attractive consequence that only a small portion of the normal background of the counter is due to cosmic radiation. In 1949 tests were made in northern Saskatchewan by Lundberg Explorations Ltd. with portable scintillation counters which gave excellent results in the search for uranium and served to indicate unknown uranium deposits in areas previously closely surveyed with geiger counters. Portable scintillometers (registered in Canada) are now commercially available and in regular use,' and the adaptation of the instrument to radioactivity oil well logging has also been very successful.8 Initial attempts to measure radioactivity from aircraft with scintillation counters were made during this period in the same area and yielded most encouraging results. It would be appropriate to consider some specific requirements for airborne investigations. The essential problem to be met in the detection of any radioactive source is the necessity of obtaining a signal greater than the statistical fluctuations of the background counting rate for the instrument. It is possible to show that Nt>2k2 is the condition for detectability of a signal where N = average background counting rate for the detection. t = time constant of the counting rate meter, used to determine the average number of counts arriving in a certain predetermined time interval. N' = average source counting rate at the detector. k = N/N', and N>>N'. Sample values are given in Table I. Assume that the aircraft carrying the equipment is travelling at 120 mph, in which case it will cover 176 ft in 1 sec. Assume also, as a first approximation, that a point source target is in range when the air-

Jan 1, 1954

By R. W. Raymond

(Reprinted With some additions and changes from the Engineering and Mining Journal)] THE death of Prof. Samuel Benedict Christy on the 30th of November,. at the age of 61 years, cuts short a brilliant and influential professional career. He was born in San Francisco, Aug. 8, 1853, and was graduated as Bachelor of Philosophy at the University of California in 1874. For the five years that followed, he studied mining and metallurgy as a post-graduate in the same institution, serving also as instructor in analytical chemistry, and becoming in 1879 instructor in mining and metallurgy¬a position which he held until 1885. During this period he became known also by his contributions to technical literature, the earliest of which, perhaps, was his report on the Monte Diablo coals (in 1875); but the first which drew my attention to him was an exceedingly able discussion (in 1879) of the genesis of the quicksilver deposits of California, in which he followed with much acuteness and originality the lead of Professor Becker, who had been teaching at the University of California. The notion of the thermo-aqueous formation of such deposits was then new; and the laborers in a field now familiar to every student deserve the credit due to pioneers. For some years the subject of quicksilver seems to have occupied much of Christy's attention. In 1877, he described the mines and works at Almaden, Spain; in 1884, the Imperial quicksilver works at Idria, Austria; in 1889, the New Almaden mines of California. But his great work was the creation of the school, of mining and metallurgy at the University of California, which may be said to have begun with his occupancy of a full professorship of these branches. It is not necessary here to recount the early difficulties and perils of the University, and its long struggle for academic independence of political control or interference. The battle is over, and the institution is now upheld by the intelligent loyalty of the citizens of California, without regard to party. But while the issue was uncertain, the development of special schools of applied science was scarcely practicable. Doctor Becker and William Ashburner had given up the school of mines as a hopeless task when Christy, younger and less experienced, took it up. As he wrote me in February, 1901-

Jan 4, 1915

By AIME AIME

THE United Electric Coal Companies, operating large strip mines at various points in Illinois, pioneered in developing and perfecting the strip method of mining coal by use of large shovels and drag-lines. Coal stripping was first started on the properties owned by this company near Danville, Ill., in 1885. The first mechanical' excavating machine used for the purpose was really a dredge minus the hull, which had been purchased from the Marion Steam Shovel Co. It was erected on a wood frame supported by wheels and was referred to as a dry-land dredge or stripping machine. Wood was used throughout in the construction of this primitive excavator, even for the boom which was 50 ft. long. A single-cylinder vertical steam engine furnished power to hoist the %-yd. dipper arid swing the boom. 400 cu. yd. of overburden moved in a day was a great record.

Jan 1, 1936

Discussion of the paper of HAROLD RABLING, presented at the St. Louis meeting, October, 1917, and printed in Bulletin No. 128, August, 1917, pp. 1161 to 1172. A. P. WATT, Mine La Motte, Mo.-The information in Mr. Rabling's paper is of great value to users of the Hancock jig. In the Lead Belt, these jigs treat a larger tonnage than any other type of concentrating machine, and produce tailing of a larger size. This indicates the necessity for logical operation of the Hancock jig. The jigs receive at least 75 per cent. of the total original feed, the other 25 per cent. going to

Jan 1, 1918