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By C. M. Signer, W. P. Hewitt

THIS is a story of a mine discovered in the days of the Conquistadores but that remained unimportant until the second decade of this century. Without the usual legendary history of romance and fabulous riches it has become famous for the development of unexpected metals and unusual problems. These developments and experiences, exciting and interesting as any legend, are the substance of the San Antonio mine of the Santa Eulalia district in northern Mexico. Originally opened for its silver-lead content, it developed a tin deposit of singular economic importance and unique geologic interest, a vanadium orebody that for a few years placed it among the leading vanadium producers of the world, and now lead and zinc sulphide ores. It has been the seem of a disastrous flood that brought deep-sea divers into Mexico's desert mountains and raised important problems regarding ground water, demanding unusual measures. Geology and operating questions relating to the above matters will be discussed and much of it is recent history which has become a part of Mexican mining lore. History Dates Back to 1325 Santa Eulalia is the oldest of American cities, founded in 1325 by the Aztecs under the name of Tenochtitlan and devastated in 1521 by Cortes and his rapacious band of iron-willed adventurers. Their lust for gold burned through the Aztec empire and onward into most of North America. Santa Eulalia was in the path of conquest. In 1591 the district's first ore discovery was made near what is now the San Antonio mine. The ores carried no gold and the silver-lead content was unattractive to the early pioneers. Not until 1700 was real mining activity undertaken.

Jan 1, 1952

By R. J. R. Schaller

NO. 3 winze, the sixth shaft to be sunk on the San Antonio property, is practically a duplicate of No. 3 shaft, which was the main shaft prior to the installation of the larger hoisting equipment in 1939. It is collared on the tenth, or 1,500-ft., level, and goes down vertically to the sixteenth, or 2,500-ft., level, with a loading pocket, spill pocket, and sump below this. It is 1,000 feet east of No. 3 shaft. All ore, men, and materials are handled through the latter. The winze location with reference to the rock formation is shown in Figure 1. (In plan, this section strikes N.30°E. and cuts most of the main orebodies of the mine normal to their strike.) It is collared eighty feet inside the footwall contact of the basalt and cuts through it before reaching the eleventh level. In this location there will be no ore tied up in shaft pillars, as the closest ore to the shaft is on the tenth level, and here it is eighty feet northeast of the collar. The winze headframe and hoist-room straddle the main haulage to the No. 3 shaft, on the tenth level (see Figure 2). At no time during the excavation for the headframe and hoist-room was the general routine work of this haulage held up.

Jan 1, 1941

By Peter M. Fozzard

The San Bartolomt silver deposit was discovered by a United Nations team of geologists working with a counter- part team of staff of the Ecuadorian Government's General Directorate of Geology and Mines (DGGM). The Phase I project over five areas of operation during which this discovery was made was financed through a United Nations Development Program contribution of $860,000 and an Ecuadorian Government participation of about $680,000 equivalent. Existence of mineralization at San Bartolomé was first recognized in 1966 when a reconnaissance geochemical stream-sediment program was carried out over a 10 500 km2 (4,054 sq mile) area centered around the city of Cuenca in southern Ecuador. Over the course of this project more than 10,000 samples of stream-sediment, soil, and rock materials were collected. Average costs per sample were $10.00, as follows: collection, $5; sample preparation, $1.60; assay work, $3.40. Initially in the program (1965-1966) sediments were collected along all motorable roads and tracks. Routine analyses, originally by colorimetry and later by AAS, were for Cu, Pb, Zn and occasionally As, Ni, and Co. Discovery geochemical samples from the San Bartolomé drainage area were among the first to be taken in 1965. As luck would have it, the road along which this traverse was taken passes only some 100 m (328 ft) downstream from the mineralized suboutcrop. The relevant two streams sampled are of inconsequential size, some 1 m (3.3 ft) in width, with a limited flow volume throughout the year. Original anomalies were recognized through cold-extractable Cu/Zn analyses. The pH of all river waters was also recorded at sample sites. Resampling the discovery sediments when AAS became available showed total extractable values of between 150 ppm-300 ppm Zn, 550 ppm Pb, and 10 ppm Ag. In 1967 the first followup was by rough-and-ready means. Dithizone field-kits (THM) were used to rapidly test soils from the surrounding area. The area has no outcrop. This work allowed the definition of an area of interest of some 2 km (1.2 miles) x 500 m (1640 ft). Six approximately 1 km (0.6 mile) to 1.5 km (0.9 miles) lines spaced at approximate 250 m (820 ft) intervals were established and used for IP surveys and soil sampling at 50 m (164 ft) intervals. Where one of the lines crossed the westernmost geochemical discovery creek a first-priority geophysical anomaly coincided with a major Zn/Pb (and later Ag) soil anomaly. A pit was sunk and encountered mineralized vein material at a depth of 1.5 m (5 ft). This lucky glory hole confirmed the geochemical discovery and prompted systematic followup. Immediately, costeaning of the west bank of the discovery creek, the Quebrada Ocashuaico, was carried out and exposed weathered and leached mineralization. Nearly 100 mineralized veinlets ranging in thickness from 0.5 cm (0.2 in.) to 8 cm (3 in.) were exposed across the 180 m (59 1 ft) costean. Sixty mineralized veinlets were determined over a 90 m (295 ft) wide zone. Sampling delineated minable widths averaging between 0.16 and 0.31 kg/t (5 and 10 oz per st) Ag with associated copper (very sporadic) lead and zinc. Over the period 1968- 1972 a considerable amount of detailed work was completed: detailed IP, EM Turam, magnetic and mise-a-la-masse geophysics, very detailed soil- sampling, trenching, drilling and glory-hole drifting, and cross-cutting. Numerous problems were encountered: the area was found to be a most difficult geoelectrical target; zero outcrop; pyrite (nonargentiferous zones) associated with faulting; mineralized groundwater; extensive clay development; loss of diamond drill-core, and no two-dimensional surface information. As the program developed the complexity of the structure was slowly unravelled, using a degree of good guesswork. Apart from photogeological and ground geological mapping at various scales, the following

Jan 1, 1985

By William Paxton Hewitt

The San Carlos lead deposit in northeast Chihuahua yielded approximately one million tons of galena ore from a blanket-like deposit. Countryrock, composed of Cretaceous limestones and calcareous shales as old as late Albian-early Aptian, and an underlying undated quartzite series, has been warped into a northwest trending anticline and has been invaded by a light-colored holocrystalline igneous rock. Magnetite and contact metamorphic minerals heterogeneously mixed with variable amounts of pyrite, sphalerite and galena, are concentrated along the anticlinal axis where they replaced magnesia-rich argillaceous sediments above the quartzite contact. Magnetite and associated silicates were deposited under near-contact conditions. Following a period of post-magnetite shattering, pyrite, sphalerite and galena were introduced at lower temperatures. Galena and associated dolomite or magnesite, the final phase of mineralization, are concentrated at the top of the deposit near the anticlinal crest and extend upward into isoclinally folded dolomitic argillites. INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The stoped outlines of the San Carlos Mine are a pattern for a stratiform blanket-like deposit. But the close association of mineralization with an anticlinal axis, an observed relation between high grade galena mineralization and the apices of isoclinal folds, and the petrographic story of mineralization introduced into shattered areas make the deposit an example of structural control of ore de-

Jan 1, 1970

By Ali Nasirian Ph. D., Gabriel Carvajal

To facilitate the safer and more secure transportation of inmates from San Diego Central Jail to the new San Diego Courthouse, the County of San Diego committed to building a new transfer facility as part of the downtown developments. The transfer facility includes a three-story underground structure adjacent and connected to the Central Jail and a 60-ft deep, 23-ft diameter, 320-ft long tunnel. The tunnel starts at County Jail, passes underneath Western Regional Detention Facility (Old Jail) and, ultimately, connects to the State Courthouse. Condon-Johnson & Associates, Inc. (CJA) was selected to install the temporary shoring shaft for the underground structure as well as three arrays of canopy pipes to support the tunnel’s Sequential Excavation Method (SEM) construction. CJA installed the rectangular 56-ft deep access shaft shoring with three levels of bracing, and a combination of secant piles, soldier piles, and timber lagging. The shoring also included a sliding bridge at top to provide access for trucks to enter and exit from county jail during the duration of construction. Following shoring and shaft excavation, CJA installed and grouted 7-5/8” dia. canopy pipes in 3 reaches, parallel to the longitudinal design line of tunnel with a slight lookout angle. CJA installed 24 each canopy pipes, 99-ft from face of shaft at reach 1, 21 each, 80-ft length canopy pipes at reach 2, and 21 each, 75-ft length pipes at reach 3. CJA confirmed canopy pipe alignment via Inertial Sensing Gyro. To mitigate the possibility of settlements caused by the tunneling operation underneath Old Jail strip footing and grade beams, CJA also performed void fill grouting. Sleeve port grout pipes (SPGP’s) were installed inside the Old Jail basement and grouted with the use of packers as the tunneling operation passed underneath the Old Jail. In detailing various aspects of the construction, this paper aims to magnify the innovative solutions for shoring, canopy pipe installation and void fill grouting challenges as well as the state of the art quality control measures undertaken by CJA.

Oct 1, 2022

By Jeremy Stone, Yiming Sun, John Stolz

The Courthouse Commons Tunnel facilitates the secure transfer of inmates between the County Jail and State Courthouse across a city block in downtown San Diego, California. This shallow tunnel was excavated using the Sequential Excavation Method in soft ground. It passes under 8- and 10-story buildings with a foundation cover of 6 feet, and crosses the active San Diego Fault with a design offset displacement of 18 inches. In this paper, key design challenges of tunnel construction are presented: limiting building settlements without using underpinning of building foundations and incorporating an oversized seismic section with seismic joints and crushable backfill

Dec 1, 2022

By Rick Wright, Gregory L. Raines

San Diego’s need to access underground space has dictated a long history of tunnel construction. The subsequent need for water, coupled with San Diego’s natural attractiveness, has led to significant population increases and the need for the construction of even more tunnels. This paper will provide a historical summary of the progression of mines, tunnels and trenchless technology construction projects that contributed to the advance of current technology, feasibility, and constructability. A bibliography of relevant reports and data is included.

Jan 1, 2001

By Allan J. Clark

It is nearly three years since the metallurgy of the Homestake ore was discussed with considerable thoroughness, in a paper1 read before the Institution of .Mining and Metallurgy. Certain changes have been made in this period which are perhaps of sufficient interest to justify a brief description, and it is chiefly with such details and miscellanies that this paper will deal. In the circumstances, a certain amount of repetition is inevitable, but matter treated of in the former paper will be referred to here only when it is necessary for the sake of coherency. For full descriptions of equipment and technique, the former paper should be consulted. The mineralized slates and schists which constitute the ore vary considerably in composition, but the unoxidized ore, perhaps constituting the major part of the reserves, contains either chlorite or hornblende (cummingtonite), with quartz, carbonates of lime, magnesia and iron, and arsenopyrite, pyrite, and pyrrhotite. Ferrous minerals predominate, and this fact has been an important factor in determining the metallurgical treatment. With one or two exceptions the minerals noted are of relatively high specific gravity, and the ore as a whole is exceptionally heavy, many determinations giving an average specific gravity of 3.00. This high specific gravity presents one decided advantage, when the cost of treatment is compared with operations elsewhere, in that the ton, almost universally the basic unit, represents a volume probably less by 10 per cent. than that of many gold ores. On the other hand, this high gravity renders more difficult the discharge of pulp from mortars, its distribution on amalgam tables, and its transportation in launders. In the same way, as attesting the usual balance of such variations of different ores, it may be noted that the needle-like fibers of hornblende (cummingtonite), interlacing throughout the mass, render the ore more difficult to crush than would be anticipated, but on the other hand assist

Jan 1, 1916

By Steve Kral

San Francisco, CA will host about 1,500 tunneling and underground construction professionals from around the world during the biannual Rapid Excavation and Tunneling Conference (RETC), June 19-22. These professionals are gathering in a city that has seen much under-ground work throughout its history. And, today, the San Francisco region has more than $4.6-billion in tunneling projects under way. The RETC will include three-and-a-half days of technical programming, complete with proceedings, two short courses, two field trips and a host of social activities. In addition, the accompanying exhibit has attracted 127 exhibitors in 152 booths, an RETC record. The following is a brief list of activities that will take place during the conference. A more complete program is provided in the official showguide that is bound into this issue of Tunneling & Underground Construction.

Jan 1, 2011

Jan 1, 1900

By Frederick J. Pope

The protaxis of the North American continent consists, as is well known, of a large V-shaped area of Archæan rocks, which lie for the most part in the Dominion of Canada, and occupy an area of not less than 2,031,000 square miles. The western limit of this area extends from 'Lake Superior in a northwesterly direction to the Arctic Ocean, the southern is found along the Lower St. Lawrence as far as Labrador. A minor area, spoken of as the Adirondack region of northern New York, has a somewhat broken connection with the main body in a narrow band of igneous rock, which crosses the Upper St. Lawrence where it leaves Lake Ontario. The ancient crystallines are also presumably beneath all the later sediments, hut the above brief description outlines their principal exposures. This great rock-complex consists, for the most part, of a series of gneisses, which present great variations in both structure and composition. In certain sections areas of gneisses of the general composition of granite, and remarkably uniform in character, prevail. They consist largely, if not exclusively, of crystalline rocks in which a banding or foliation has been induced by pressure. These rocks constitute the basal member of the Laurentian system, and by later writers have been referred to as the Ottawa gneiss. In other and quite extended areas, gneisses, regarded by many as composed of altered sediments, are associated with crystalline limestones, quartzites, and much injected igneous matter. To this series the term Grenville has been applied. Both of these series of gneisses are penetrated by various igneous masses, of which the most important are great intrusioiis of several members of the gabbro family, such as anortho-sites, norites, pyroxenites, and gabbros proper; the whole form-

Jan 1, 1900

By Meghan Murphy, Yiming Sun, Kush Chohan

DTX is a 1.3-mile-long rail extension being constructed by Transbay Joint Powers Authority to extend Caltrain rail service and future California High Speed Rail service to downtown San Francisco. It includes a 3,352-foot-long mined tunnel with a cross section varying from 50 to 60 feet wide and 43 feet high to accommodate two- and three-rail tracks. DTX will be excavated in mixed-face and Franciscan Formation with ground cover ranging from 40 to 85 feet. This paper discusses how mined tunnel design has evolved since the initial preliminary design phase over 10 years ago. The current design concept for tunnel construction is also discussed.

Jun 13, 2023

By Camilo A. Alvarez, Stephen K. Harris, Brian R. Zuckerman, Philip J. Meymand, Danielle M. Steinmetz

"The sleek new air traffic control tower at the San Francisco International Airport stands at 221 feet tall and is set to replace the existing air traffic control tower by 2016. This aluminum-clad, torch-like structure and three-story Integrated Facilities Building at the base are situated between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 adjacent to the tarmac. Berkel & Company Contractors, Inc. and Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. worked in conjunction with structural engineers from Walter P. Moore Engineers and Consultants, geotechnical engineers from URS Corporation, architects from Fentress Architects, and general contractors from Hensel Phelps Construction Company on the performance-based design of a foundation to support this critical facility, which is located in a high seismic zone and situated on the very soft soil of the San Francisco Bay margin. With the loading demands and performance criteria established and Young Bay Mud thicknesses ranging from 44 to 47 feet thick across the site, the design team employed a total of 214 24-inch diameter Auger Pressure Grouted piles, which were drilled into the underlying Franciscan Formation as deep as 148 feet below existing grade. Pile reinforcement included full-length confined cages.The piles were designed to resist Maximum Considered Earthquake axial demands as high as 1,400 kips in compression and 700 kips in tension. The performance-based pile design included verification of shear capacity under double-plastic-hinge flexural mechanisms, verification of pile ductility via non-linear moment-curvature analyses, and consideration of curvatures due to kinematic as well as inertial loading.The team implemented an extensive pile load test program including a full-scale static compressive load test on a sacrificial test pile and five non-destructive high-strain dynamic load tests, four of which were performed on indicator piles that were later used as part of the foundation system. These piles were monitored with extensive embedded instrumentation throughout their length, including strain gauges and accelerometers."

Jan 1, 2017

THE program for the 126th meeting of the Institute, to be held in San Francisco Sept. 25 to 29, 1922, is being prepared by the General Arrangements Committee of the Local Section and its details are not yet ready for announcement. The program, however, has developed to a sufficient extent to permit members to decide whether they wish to attend or not. Briefly stated, Monday, Sept. 25, will be devoted to technical sessions which will be held at the Engineers Club, and there will be as many sessions as may be required to present the papers available, some of which are listed below. Under the registration fee plan (see July magazine) entertainment expenses during the week in San Fran-cisco will be borne by those in attendance, not by local members alone. Members who expect to attend the San Francisco meeting, but who will not accompany the President's party, will please notify C. H. Fry, Secretary of the San Francisco Section, 625 Market St., San Francisco, Cal., of their intention.

Jan 8, 1922

THE committee in charge of arrangements for the meeting of the Institute in September has com-pleted its program. The headquarters of the meeting will be at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, and the registration committee will be at the hotel all day on Sunday, Sept. 24, and from 8 a.m. until noon on Monday. On Sunday afternoon, automobiles will be available for sightseeing trips around the city. Monday will be devoted to technical sessions. In the morning, there will be sessions on Mining and on Iron and Steel; in the afternoon, sessions on Mining and Milling. At these sessions, in addition to the papers mentioned in the tentative list printed in August, there will be presented three papers on the geology, mining and milling of the Comstock lode; one on the Aztec mine, Baldy, N. M.; one on the Colombian oil fields; and one on charcoal precipitation of cyanide solutions. The luncheon on that day will be Dutch Treat, for men only, at the Engineers Club. On Monday evening, there will be an informal buffet supper at the home of F. W. Bradley. On Tuesday morning, a party of 50 men will leave for Hetch Hetchy. During the four days of the trip, the party will see the Priest tunnel and earth dam under construction by steam-shovel and hydraulic-fill methods, the Big Creek shaft and tunnel, early intake power plant and tunnels and the Hetch Hetchy dam under construction. For those who remain in San Francisco, Tuesday will be "San Francisco Day." There will be motor trips to the Presidio, Cliff House, Golden Gate Park, and other points of interest, and shopping trips to Chinatown. On Wednesday, "University of California Day," the party will be guided through the university by members of the Mining Association, the affiliated stu-dent society, and will see the Greak Theatre and not-able buildings. Thursday will be "Leland Standford, Jr. University Day." Automobiles will leave the Palace Hotel at 10 a.m., and will return from the university at 4.30 p.m. Friday has been reserved for trips to the Selby Smelter, to Mt. Tamalpais, or to other points of interest. Arrangements will be made to visit the mines or gold dredges in California, if members desire to do so, but such trips must of necessity be considered special trips and arrangements will have to be made to suit the convenience of the individual or party. The Golf Committee will make arrangements for those who wish to play golf.

Jan 9, 1922

Jan 1, 1912

Jan 1, 1916

Jan 1, 1923

Jan 1, 1923

By AIME AIME

ATER the preliminary registration at which approximately 380 members and guests were registered, the 138th meeting of the Institute was opened in the Concert Room of the Palace Hotel. E. A. Hersam, chairman of the San Francisco Section, voiced a brief welcome and introduced F. W. Bradley, president of the Institute, who presided over the remainder of the morning session. After expressing the welcome of the Institute to the members and guests, he read a telegram from Secretary H. Foster Bain, extending the best wishes of the eastern staff and members for a successful meeting. He next introduced Theodore J. Hoover, dean of the School of Engineering, Stanford University, who read an address by the Secretary of the Interior, Ray Lyman Wilbur, briefly outlining California's part in the mining industry and giving the welcome of California to this meeting of the Institute.

Jan 1, 1929