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SME-AIME Fall Meeting and Exhibit

Jan 9, 1979

By Bernard Lallement

INTRODUCTION Geostatistics have been used for five years at the B. R. G. M. to compute the ore reserve estimation. At present this technic is also used at the beginning of the exploration project to determine the best way to prove the orebody. The best way is a compromise between the cost of the exploration and the precision of the estimation. It is clear that geostatistics cannot be used without any data, but very often an exploration project is decided on an orebody which has already been drilled. Old data can therefore be used. This was the case this year for two orebodies: an iron deposit and a lead deposit. The iron deposit was explored by drifts and has now to be proved. We used geostatistics to determine the best drilling pattern. The variograms computed with these old data showed that an anisotropy existed between the two directions of the orebody, which meant that the drill pattern had to be rectangular. The lead deposit was explored by drill holes and a short drift in part of the orebcdy. The problem was to choose between a regular pattern of drill holes or a long drift and some added drill holes. The case of this study will be exposed afterwards. On the other hand, if the orebody is completely unknown, the exploration project generally forecasts two exploration steps (the first step

Jan 1, 1977

By John Birkinbine

FOR two years past the Warwick Furnace, at Pottstown, Pa., has attracted attention by the remarkable work done in it, and a statement giving details of its operation and the unexpectedly short blast of 1880 will be acceptable to every member who studies blast-furnace practice. There are so many interesting features in con¬nection with this blast, and so much to be learned from investigating it, that the results of a thorough examination are offered to the Institute sans theories. In collecting the information, the courtesy of the various officers of the Warwick Iron Company was of material advantage, every facility for investigation being extended and an inspection of records being kindly permitted. In the following description these authoritative data are given in full where practicable, without making the paper too prolix, and the

Jan 1, 1881

By Albert F. J. Bordeaux

(Cleveland Meeting, October, 1912.) THE immediate vicinity of the sea-shore, affording special facility for the exportation of ores, makes it possible to work certain mines in the Vladivostok district, which, in more remote places of Siberia, would remain unproductive. Outside of the city of Vladivostok the population is small and the country is very little prospected. Additional discoveries of valuable deposits like the large body of calamine which has recently been opened in the neighborhood of earlier worked lead-silver ores, in the Tetiuhe valley, are still in the field of possibilities. For many years gold alone was produced, in part from the coastal rivers and in part from a quartz-vein on Askold island near Vladivostok. But the production is diminishing, and prospectors are looking for other rivers in the interior, such as the tributaries of the Ussuri. These rivers are now more accessible than formerly, due to the slow but gradual development, of colonization by the Russian peasants. The few natives of the country, called Orodjones, are of the Chinese race. They resemble the North American Indian and are hardy fur-hunters. They have given some attention to placers and have already shown good specimens of gold-dust from the rivers Iman, Bikin, Noto, etc. Coal-mining was begun in the Vladivostok region more than 20 years ago, but in a somewhat irregular way. The industry is not as yet important and the best coal-seams are badly prospected, or ire even neglected. Copper, lead, and iron exist in several places. The amounts give some encouragement to the anticipation that the discoveries will give rise to important metallurgical works. I here present a review of the various deposits, based upon such safe information as is in hand, when I have not drawn upon my personal observations. Fig. 1 is a snap of Eastern Siberia, showing the mineral deposits.

Oct 1, 1912

By Claudio Barsotti, Leonard C. Kitchener

INTRODUCTION The major mining operations of the Ontario Division of Inco Metals Company are located in the Sudbury Basin. Around the rim of this geo- logical formation and within thirty miles of the City of Sudbury are located eleven under- ground mines of the Company, two of which are on standby. In addition, there is one mine in Northwestern Ontario at Shebandowan, 1127 Km (700 miles) northwest of Sudbury. In 1980 ore production totalled 10.6 x 10 mt (11.7 million tons) from underground and open pit operations. Underground mining methods include blasthole, vertical retreat, sublevel caving, cut-and-fill and undercut-and-fill. Inco reduction operations in the Sudbury area include two concentrators, one smelter, one iron ore recovery plant, a copper refinery a nickel refinery and a high purity plate rolling mill. As well, an electrolytic nickel refinery is located on Lake Erie at Port Colborne, near Niagara Falls. In the Sudbury District, Inco employees total 14,278 of whom 6,490 are directly employed in the mining and milling operations. I T H DRILLING Background - The use of long blastholes in underground operations at Inco mines in the Sudbury district started more than 30 years ago at the Levack Mine. At that time, diamond drills were used to mine ore by open stoping and for pillar recovery. By the 1950's the concept had been extended to all mines. The heavy percussion drill was also developed by this time and led to the acceptance of the 11.43 cm (4% in.) piston diameter drifter for bar and arm and fan drill applications. The use however, of the nominal 5.08 cm (2 in.) diameter blastholes drilled radially from the level or sublevel causes overdrilling at the periphery. As well, the smaller holes are subject to hole deviation, are difficult to drill beyond 38.1 m (125 ft.) and require the need for several drilling horizons or sublevels. The need to improve blasthole stoping techniques and our experience with large diameter blastholes in open pit mining led to the trial of an I T H drill in 1962. The test was unsuccessful however, since button bits were not available at the time and the tungsten carbide cross bit experienced short life, gauge loss, and caused hole deviation and poor penetration rates. The successful application of the raise borer beginning in 1964 and the ability to drill 20.32 cm (8 in.) to 27.94 cm (11 in.) diameter pilot holes led to the development of smaller, more portable, rotary drills for blasthole mining. As a result, a mining method based on the use of 20 cm (7 718 in.) diameter, 60.1 m (200 ft.) long rotary blastholes was developed and tested successfully at our C.C.North Mine. Between 1972, when the method was first tested, and 1973 over 4572 m (15000 ft.) of large holes were drilled with rotary drills in the recovery of 175,960 mt (194000 tons) of primary stoping and pillar remnants. A new mining method was developed that made use of this large hole drilling equipment. Instead of longhole carbide drilling by bar-and-arm or fan drill set-ups at sublevels, the large diameter holes were drilled full stope height from the top sill, which substantially reduced development, drilling time and improved fragmentation. These drills however, were difficult to move and set-up, and had a high maintenance cost and low productivity. The capital outlay and extensive technical development required to improve these drills and reduce the high drilling costs however, was economically unattractive. New development in drills and button bits INTRODUCTION The major mining operations of the Ontario Division of Inco Metals Company are located in the Sudbury Basin. Around the rim of this geo- logical formation and within thirty miles of the City of Sudbury are located eleven under- ground mines of the Company, two of which are on standby. In addition, there is one mine in Northwestern Ontario at Shebandowan, 1127 Km (700 miles) northwest of Sudbury. In 1980 ore production totalled 10.6 x 10 mt (11.7 million tons) from underground and open pit operations. Underground mining methods include blasthole, vertical retreat, sublevel caving, cut-and-fill and undercut-and-fill. Inco reduction operations in the Sudbury area include two concentrators, one smelter, one iron ore recovery plant, a copper refinery a nickel refinery and a high purity plate rolling mill. As well, an electrolytic nickel refinery is located on Lake Erie at Port Colborne, near Niagara Falls. In the Sudbury District, Inco employees total 14,278 of whom 6,490 are directly employed in the mining and milling operations. I T H DRILLING Background - The use of long blastholes in underground operations at Inco mines in the Sudbury district started more than 30 years ago at the Levack Mine. At that time, diamond drills were used to mine ore by open stoping and for pillar recovery. By the 1950's the concept had been extended to all mines. The heavy percussion drill was also developed by this time and led to the acceptance of the 11.43 cm (4% in.) piston diameter drifter for bar and arm and fan drill applications. The use however, of the nominal 5.08 cm (2 in.) diameter blastholes drilled radially from the level or sublevel causes overdrilling at the periphery. As well, the smaller holes are subject to hole deviation, are difficult to drill beyond 38.1 m (125 ft.) and require the need for several drilling horizons or sublevels. The need to improve blasthole stoping techniques and our experience with large diameter blastholes in open pit mining led to the trial of an I T H drill in 1962. The test was unsuccessful however, since button bits were not available at the time and the tungsten carbide cross bit experienced short life, gauge loss, and caused hole deviation and poor penetration rates. The successful application of the raise borer beginning in 1964 and the ability to drill 20.32 cm (8 in.) to 27.94 cm (11 in.) diameter pilot holes led to the development of smaller, more portable, rotary drills for blasthole mining. As a result, a mining method based on the use of 20 cm (7 718 in.) diameter, 60.1 m (200 ft.) long rotary blastholes was developed and tested successfully at our C.C.North Mine. Between 1972, when the method was first tested, and 1973 over 4572 m (15000 ft.) of large holes were drilled with rotary drills in the recovery of 175,960 mt (194000 tons) of primary stoping and pillar remnants. A new mining method was developed that made use of this large hole drilling equipment. Instead of longhole carbide drilling by bar-and-arm or fan drill set-ups at sublevels, the large diameter holes were drilled full stope height from the top sill, which substantially reduced development, drilling time and improved fragmentation. These drills however, were difficult to move and set-up, and had a high maintenance cost and low productivity. The capital outlay and extensive technical development required to improve these drills and reduce the high drilling costs however, was economically unattractive. New development in drills and button bits

Jan 1, 1981

By FLOYD T. TAYLOR

IN 1833, less than one hundred years ago, Michael Faraday discovered and stated the laws of electrolysis. His discovery formed the foundation of a new use of metals which has now reached a variety of application not ordinarily appreciated. Furthermore, things can be done with electro-deposited coatings which have thus far defied other methods. Some of the uses of electro-deposited coatings are interesting. The tonnage of metals already finding an outlet through such a channel is considerable. In general electro-deposits have two characteristics: ornament plus utility; utility plus ornament. Both these factors are usually found associated in electro- deposits. Ornament plus utility was probably the first use. For example, the silver-plating of tableware, having its real birth in Birmingham, England, about 1844. However, this same ornament plus utility retarded the development of electro-plating, because in the beginning, electro-plated articles were branded with the odium of imitation and shunned accordingly. The gold brick of the swindler may be an exception to this statement.

Jan 1, 1929

By Charles Will Wright

Brief descriptions of the occurrence of the various deposits of strategic minerals then known in South America are published in "The Mineral Deposits of South America," by B. L. Miller and J. T. Singewald, 1919; in "Ores and Industry in South America," by H. F. Bain and T. T. Read, 1934; and in many publications on the individual countries. To give a gen.era1 idea of the situation today and possibilities for future output of strategic minerals in several of the countries, the following notes are offered. All tonnages are in metric units.

Jan 1, 1940

By Dexter Kimball

THE ease and promptness with which the public as a whole becomes accustomed to and takes advantage of the work of the engineer, using the term in a broad sense, is almost startling. Surprise at, and fear of radical innovations in transportation and private service quickly give way to blasé indifference, followed instantly by all manner of criticism that these things are not better constructed and managed. Does the street car stop a few minutes on a switch?-summon the State Commission. Is the Overland Express fifteen minutes late on a three thousand mile run?-Congress is memorialized to make the great railroad companies attend to their business. Does central not respond instantly when we take down the telephone receiver?-anathema!! Do the electric lights go out for a minute or so?-the darkness is illuminated by caustic sarcasm and other kinds of spoken English consigning all engineering and engineers to perdition; everyone apparently forgetting how steep the hills were before the days of street cars, how far away San Francisco was before the days of the locomotive, the telegraph and telephone, and how difficult it must have been to study by the light of a tallow candle.

Jan 9, 1922

By C. K. Leith

THE outstanding fact of the mineral world today, at home and abroad, is the surplus of current production, and particularly of capacity for production, over current requirements. This is not by Any means a new condition, but never before has it loomed up in such' menacing form. - Those of us who have devoted most of our professional efforts to the discovery and development of 'new mineral supplies now suddenly find ourselves with the job apparently accomplished, waiting for some one else to find an outlet for excess mineral production before we can further. The management of the industry is in much the same boat. The psjrcho16gy of the industry has been so grooved in the direction of acquisition of, minerals that at the present moment the mineral industry confronts the new problem of surplus in more or less of a daze.

Jan 1, 1931

By Sherwin F. Kelly

PLAIN mining engineers usually avoid any gathering of geo¬physicists because of the incomprehensibility of their discussion to the uninitiated. This being so, gradients, gravity and gammas will be deferred to the end of this review, the first part of which will be devoted to what has been done in applying geophysics to the solution of real field problems. From the West, J. J. Jakosky reports that International Geophysics has had its activities fairly well 'divided between mining (both placer and lode), oil structural work, and clans-site and reservoir investigations. In oil exploration, electrical methods are used for depths down to 2500 ft., beyond which they utilize seismic methods. They find in their placer work that the many 'magnetic anomalies encountered in the bedrock of the Southwest render the electrical techniques more satisfactory, and with them they are obtaining thickness and tonnage of gravels, depth to and contour of the underlying bedrock as well as important structural features therein, and water-table elevations.

Jan 1, 1934

By W. Lawrence Austin

Jan 1, 1884

By R. W. Raymond

(Pittsburg Meeting, March, 1910.) IN the long list of our illustrious and lamented dead, there are names which recall personality as well as career and achievement; social as well as scientific merit; devotion to the Institute itself as well as to some one of the professions which it represents. These men we remember because they did not forget us; besides our pride in their wider work and fame, we are proud of what they did with and through us; especially do we rejoice if our early recognition of them opened the way to a recognition by the world; and in their departure we claim to sorrow, not merely as members of an appreciative public, but also as. bereaved personal friends. In common with thousands, we regret our loss, but we do not regret only-we mourn and miss. To this group of those whose death has brought to us the double sense. of public and private grief belonged our strong, bright, dear brother, in whose memory this inadequate tribute is offered. Charles Benjamin Dudley was born July 14, 1842, at Oxford, Chenango county, N. Y. He came on both sides of New England blood, his father being from New Hampshire and his mother from Connecticut. Emigrating from the rocky hills of their native States, they. settled upon the more fertile soil of what was then regarded as the West, and, with thousands of other pilgrim sons, imitating the pilgrim fathers, contributed to the foundation of new commonwealths. The Empire State owes much to this element of its population. Dudley's early education was obtained, like that of the sons of the pioneers generally, by attending the village school and academy in the autumn and winter, while he worked upon the farm during the rest of the year. But his ambition looked forward to a college-course; and this was almost within his reach when a passion still stronger took possession of him. The out-

Jun 1, 1910

By J. VAN DEN BERC

Tin production and export from the Far East are still a long way off from the prewar figures. The Malayan Peninsula, which had a rather good start directly after the war largely because of stock piles found in Singapore and elsewhere, has since been hampered in the rehabilitation of its tin mines and dredging operations by material shortages and, more recently and more severely, by revolts and attacks of communist elements and gangster bands. These hindrances make working in the mines dangerous and form a daily threat against the valuable and highly vulnerable dredges. Contrary to the conditions in Malaya are those on the tin islands of Billiton, Banka, and Singkep-all in the Netherlands East Indies-where the Dutch have re-established peaceful relations with the population. Dutch efforts since the fall of 1945 have been rewarded by continuously increasing production, extension of production facilities, and return of moderate prosperity, complete safety, and all-out co-operation among the population ? native and Chinese ? to the benefit of all concerned.

Jan 1, 1949

By Harold Price

PRIOR to Sept. 1, 1928, there had never been constructed what might be termed a long pipe line with electric-welded field joints. Nevertheless, by Sept. 1, 1929, within the period of a year, more than 2500 miles of electric-welded lines have been completed. These lines vary in diameter from 6 to 20 in., and in length from 50 to 700 miles. Before Sept. 1, 1928, no such line had been constructed .longer than 50 miles, and only one of nearly that length, a 40-mile 7-in. gas line in Louisiana. This was in reality the first pipe line to use electric-welded field joints. During the past year the following lines have been electric-welded by the Welding Engineering Co. alone: Texas Pipe Line Co.-157 miles of 8-in. line from Corsicana, Texas, to San Augustine, Texas. (This was the first electric-welded oil line.) Texas Pipe Line Co.-80 miles of 8-in. from Lafors, Texas, to Childress, Texas. Texas Pipe Line Co.-39 miles of 10-in. from Monahans, Texas, to Jal, New Mexico. Texas Pipe Line Co.-50 miles of 6-in, from San Antonio, Texas, to San Marcus, Texas. Texas-Empire Pipe Line Co.-424 miles of 12-in. from Cushing, Okla. to Chicago, Illinois. In addition to the field welding mentioned above,1 250 miles of 12-in. line was electric-welded into double joints at the pipe mill at Indiana Harbor, Ind.

Jan 1, 1929

By A. N. Mitinsky

Discussion of the paper of A. N. MITINSKY, presented at the San Francisco meeting, September, 1915, and at the New York meeting, February, 1916, and printed in Bulletin No. 104, August, 1915, pp. 1697 to 1705. ALBERT SAUVEUR, Cambridge, Mass.-The author expresses the belief that steel will not fail under fatigue when subjected to ultimate stresses unless the stresses exceed the elastic limit or the limit of proportionality. I think this statement is contrary to the evidence. It is conceivable, however, that a stress ever so small does produce a permanent set, although so slight that we cannot detect it with the instruments at our disposal. Nevertheless the repetition of this small stress a great many times will finally break the piece and the nearer, we approach what we call the elastic limit, the quicker will the piece break under fatigue. J. W. RICHARDS, So. Bethlehem, Pa.-I would like to ask Professor Sauveur whether there is a similar indefiniteness about the limit of .proportionality as there is about the elastic limit. ALBERT SAUVEUR.-Yes; I believe it also depends upon the delicacy of our instruments. J. W. RICHARDS.-If that is so then we are as badly off by adopting the limit of proportionality as a criterion as we are by adopting the elastic limit.

Jan 5, 1916

By R. G. Schaal

The Magma Mine at Superior, Arizona had an unimpressive beginning as a. worked out silver mine that was purchased in 1910 for $130,000 and then incorporated into the Magma Copper Company which has been continuously mining the deposit since 1915. Copper is the principal metal produced. However, zinc, gold, silver and iron have also contributed to the total metal product. Prior to 1973, the production rate of 1500 tons per day was maintained by hoisting 4 and 5 ton pay-loads at speeds up to 1100 FPM through four small hoisting shafts. The hoists used included 8' and 7' diameter double drum, double clutched doc. and a.c. motor driven geared units built as early as 1917. One old timer that did yoeman's service for many years was an 8' Bollen Pulley with a.c. geared drive that utilized an endless rope system with mechanical grip and release mechanism built into the pulley's throat. Primary power for all of these old production hoists was 25 Hertz. Exploration that was completed in 1967 developed a reserve of 10 Million tons of 5 per cent copper which was sufficient to justify new capital expenditures for enlargement of productive facilities to 3300 tons per day. To reach the new reserves a 22' I.D. concrete lined vertical shaft was sunk to an initial depth of 48431. A 12 ½ diameter adit was bored from the mill side of the mountain to intercept the shaft at a point about 1100' below the collar. This 9200' long adit provides the right-of-way for the mine to mill railway and egress for heavy supplies from rail head as well as a conduit for potable water, electric power, compressed air and mine drainage. Mine operating levels begin 3582' below collar and thereafter have been cut at 100' vertical intervals. Skip loading stations have been installed 4282' and 46821 below collar with an in-shaft skip dump station located 800' below collar. This provides for 4500 tons of storage above the mine to mill train loading station located 1100' below collar. Ore and waste are moved horizontally from stope chutes and drift headings by rail haulage to transfer raises which channel all material to the two mentioned skip loading stations. The 22' diameter shaft crossection is arranged with the two skip compartments on the south side separated from the manway and utility compartments by the cage compartment. The cage counterweight operates in a portion of the southwest quadrant of the shaft. The hoisting plant consists of two conventional Nordberg double drum, single clutch, geared, d.c. motor driven units that are identical except for the drives and automatic controls. The drums are 15' diameter x 105" face with LeBus grooving for 2-1/8" diameter wire rope wound in three layers. Mechanical design emp1o::ed is the same as has been used for the past twenty- five years. One drum is attached to the main shaft by 2 large bolted integral shaft flenge. The loose drum is engaged by a 4-arm positive tooth clutch meshing with radially cut teeth of the clutch ring which is bolted to the drum. The drums are one-piece steel plate weldments having a finished weight of 60 tons each and are mounted upon a 36" diameter shaft that also weighs 60 tons. With the addition of brake rings, clutch, bull gear and rope, the total dead weight adds up to nearly 250 tons that is supported by just three double row spherical roller pillow block bearings. There is no bearing between the drums. All pinion shafts as veil as all head sheave journals are supported in the same type of antifriction bearings.

Jan 1, 1975

By Arthur La Motte

I NDUSTRIAL explosives, as distinguished from military explosives, include high explosives and blasting powder. The high explosives which are best known are straight dynamite, gelatin dynamite, ammonia dynamite and permissibles. There are two kinds of blasting powder, saltpetre blasting powder and nitrate of soda blasting powder. Blasting powders are mechanical mixtures of nitrate of potash or nitrate of soda with sulfur and charcoal, highly compressed, granulated and glazed. They ignite from a spark and burn with relative slowness, the rate of burning and hence the rate of conversion into gases depending upon the size of the granulation and upon the degree of. confinement under which the powder is placed. High explosives, on the other hand, are chemical compounds which detonate; that is, when the explosive is subjected to a violent shock, provided in practice by a blasting cap or an electric blasting cap, the molecule of the essential ingredient, usually nitroglycerin, is disrupted and the energy and heat released cause any other explosive ingredients which may be present, such as ammoniuin nitrate or T.N.T., to decompose with a resultant evolution of gases at an extremely rapid rate varying from 6000 to 20,000 ft. per second.

Jan 1, 1924

By H. K. Work, H. B. Emerick

IN the past year the steel industry underwent an abrupt conversion from a war tempo to a highly competitive peacetime schedule. It is still too early to gain a comprehensive picture as to which of the measures in production metallurgy, that made the war effort so successful, will remain in the postwar production of steel, but many of them undoubtedly will fill an important place after the war. Considerable speculation has developed regarding the disposition of the war-born production facilities of the steel industry. These include new open-hearth and electric furnaces, as well as vast numbers of auxiliary, supplementary, and balancing units that increased and speeded up production beyond the normal capacities of existing melting furnaces and finishing mills. Although these facilities were installed primarily to help meet war requirements, consideration was also given, in planning, to their possible peacetime use. The new equipment is generally modern and efficient, and it seems reasonable to suppose that strategically located units will gradually be absorbed by various steel companies to supplement their own facilities, or to replace in kind, obsolete and inefficient equipment now ready to be scrapped. Some, however,

Jan 1, 1946

By Robert S. Archer

THE proper material of construction for a given purpose is that material which meets the requirements satisfactorily at the lowest ultirnatc cost. It is consistent with this principle that most aluminum castings are made of an alloy containing about 8 per cent. copper. This alloy possesses mechanical properties satisfactory for general engineering purposes together with manufacturing characteristics leading to the production of finished castings at low cost. It is to the aluminum industry what gray iron is to the iron and steel industry. Just as some services require "semi-steel," malleable castings or steel castings instead of gray iron, there is a certain and growing demand for aluminum castings of superior strength or ductility, or both. Since the beginning of .the industry producers and others have sought to develop alloys or processes by which such castings could be made. Out of these efforts have emerged many alloy compositions and special processes, of which only a few have had sufficient merit to survive. It is the purpose of this paper to describe those which seem to the authors to offer the greatest promise for the production on a commercial scale of aluminum castings of superior mechanical properties, with special reference to heat-treated castings. The suitability of an alloy or process for actual manufacture is affected by so many factors that the problem of appraisal is not a simple one. Since this is such an important part of the whole subject it is proposed to discuss briefly some of the requirements. The final verdict is of course the result of commercial trial and experience. It will therefore, perhaps, be profitable to employ a somewhat historical method of treatment in discussing the subject of alloy development. The alloys or processes to be used in the production of aluminum castings are to be considered from the standpoint of their effects on both the utility and the cost of the finished casting. Specific gravity and mechanical properties come under the first head, while the properties

Jan 1, 1927

By E. L. Vickers

Over the years, the pure theorist in economic analysis has accumulated a formidable array of facts in bringing his subject matter under control. Business managers and mining engineers are aware of the theorist's weapons, but the question of applying them to the mastery of practical problems seems hardly feasible, especially in view of the almost innumerable variables plaguing the everyday scene in the mining enterprise. One such sophisticated tool of long-standing in the theorist's arsenal is marginal analysis. Equally long-standing for the operating company and valuation engineer is the problem of defining the cut-off grade the point below which a mineral re- source ceases to be economically amenable to extraction. In other words, what part of a mineralized body of rock is ore and what is waste?

Jan 6, 1961