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By M. C. Malamphy

The report of work accomplished on the United States Bureau of Mines' bauxite project in Pulaski and Saline Counties, Ark., is presented in this volume and in a series of Reports of Investigations immediately following this volume. This first volume covers the project as a whole, whereas the subsequent volumes contain maps of local areas and deposits developed, together with logs of the drill holes and descriptions of the separate deposits. The Arkansas bauxite project was initiated in December 1941 and continued for 4 years. The first 5 months were spent in studying the problems presented and in geophysical exploration, Core drilling began in May 1942 and ended in May 1945. The project was one of the larger and more important of those undertaken by the Bureau of Mines for the purpose of developing domestic sources of supply of critical and strategic minerals necessary for National defense and for the successful waging of modern mechanized warfare. Some of the results of the Bureau's bauxite exploratory work have been made available to the public through the medium of press releases, transactions of technical societies, and government publications. More information has been supplied to government agencies upon request and to land owners and mine operators of the deposits concerned in the form of maps showing locations of all holes drilled on the property and logs with chemical analyses of' all cores recovered. In October 1946, the factual data were made avail-able to .the public in manuscript form in an-"open file" at the office of the State geologist, R. B. Foxhall, Little Rock, Ark., and at the office of the. Bureau of Mines in Washington. For the purpose of providing a background for the presentation of the factual data obtained, the history of bauxite is reviewed briefly. Information relative to past production and reserves of bauxite in Arkansas also is given. A resume of the development of the industry in Arkansas, the exploration and mining methods employed, the various uses to which the bauxite is put, and a brief outline of the geology of bauxite in Arkansas complete the -background.

Jan 1, 1948

By R. N. Hunt

GEOLOGICAL and exploration work of the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company are handled by the mines geological and the exploration divisions of a geological department under the direction of the chief geologist. The mines division at present includes, in Utah. a geologist in charge, resident at Bingham, assisted by a geologist stationed at each operation, and a small group of geologists resident at the Bayard unit, in New Mexico. The duties of the mines division include the mapping and delineation of the geology of the mines, direction of sampling and diamond drilling, and the periodic calculation of ore reserves. At Bingham an amount of underground drilling within the limestone and porphyry formations which are hosts to the ore bodies supplements and completes development by mine workings. At Bayard, five to seven drills are kept busy underground, and eight to twelve drills operate on the surface. The mines division men live at the mine and work in close co-operation with mine superintendents and foremen. Development work is discussed, initi-

Jan 1, 1948

By Frank A. Howard

WHAT are the reasons for the present public interest in the synthetic fuel industry, an interest which has culminated in the recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior that we start at once on a nine billion dollar program of construction? Three separate factors seem to have combined to create this pressure. First are recurrent seasonal and spot shortages of gasoline, fuel oil, and natural gas. Second is the international outlook, which forces us to face the possibility of war, with all that means in the way of increased call on our domestic resources and interference with our foreign commerce. The shortages we have experienced are superficially the result of lack of transportation, but basically they reflect a rapidly rising demand which has outstripped the expansion of productive facilities of all kinds. Not only oil and gas, but steel, coal, automobiles, and meat are temporarily in short supply for much the same reasons. The military problem has both long-range and short-range aspects, but the immediate necessity is to create reserve capacity in the United States to supply perhaps 2,000,000 barrels daily additional liquid fuel in time of war.

Jan 1, 1948

By AIME

TITANIUM-RICH ilmenite deposits, situated in the Allard Lake area in Quebec some 400 miles down the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City and 28 miles north of Havre St. Pierre on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, are undergoing an intensive development program by the joint efforts of the Kennecott Copper Corp. and The New Jersey Zinc Co. Easily accessible ore, amounting to about 125 million long tons and carrying from thirty to forty per cent titanium oxide, has been delimited. Plans are being made for construction of an electric smelter at Sorel, on the south bank of the St. Lawrence midway beween Montreal and Three Rivers, which will produce 650 long tons of high-grade titanium slag and 500 long tons of iron per day from 1500 long tons of ore. Occurrence of ilmenite ore in this area has been known since J. A. Retty reported his geological work in the lower Romaine River area for the Quebec Bureau of Mines in 1941. In this report Dr. Retty mentions the presence of anorthosite rocks, some of which were rich in ilmenite. Claims were staked by several interests but the small showings and complex metallurgy were too formidable for any organization not adequately equipped with capital, metallurgical knowhow, and market outlets. However, Kennecott became interested and through a newly formed Canadian subsidiary, Kennco Explorations Ltd., options were taken up under the direction of A. H. Robertson. An area of 300 square miles was traversed in the summers of 1945 and 1946. During 1946 and 1947 geophysical and diamond-drill prospecting disclosed a num-

Jan 1, 1948

By Nathaniel Hen

IN the United States, in the 2 1/2 years since the rescinding of the wartime order closing gold mines, conditions have not yet returned to normal. Shortages of man power have prevented some mines from operating at all, and most of those in operation are still at reduced capacity. This fact, combined with shortages of materials, the high cost of supplies and labor, high tax rates, and a fixed price for the product have made the past years rather rough ones for gold producers. In foreign countries conditions are rather similar. In Canada several new mines are coming into production and some others are enlarging. Costs have not increased as much as in the United States and gold production is being encouraged. Recently a bonus of 20 per cent on increased production has been proposed. In South Africa, where gold mining is of major importance in the national economy the industry is also in a favored position with government; new discoveries of major importance there will markedly increase the gold output. Demand for labor is rap-

Jan 1, 1948

By J. F. Myers

A bit of old philosophy: The optimist, the pessimist, The difference is droll; The optimist, the doughnut sees, The pessimist, the hole. This is a neat summation of the viewpoint of those engaged in "treating the crude mineral crust of the earth." Many of those in high places have reminded us during the year of the diminishing supply of the resources so essen-

Jan 1, 1948

By F. C. Smyers, E. W. Merrick

ALTHOUGH the zinc and pyrite concentrates produced at Midvale go to other companies, the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company smelts and refines its own lead. Refining is the first step of the process that is done at some distance from the mining operations, the plant being at East Chicago, Ind., an industrial center about 25 miles southeast of Chicago. For years it has been notable as being the only lead refinery in the country using the Betts electrolytic process. The original buildings, many of which are still in use, were erected in 1906 when the plant was known as the United States Metals Refining Co. In 1920 the parent company sold its copper refinery at Chrome, N. J., and since the copper refinery was also known as the U. S.

Jan 1, 1948

By Ira B. Joralernon

THREATS of a coming metal famine in the United States have filled many columns in magazines and newspapers in the past three years. This asserted menace has diverted attention from the actual results of recent exploration. Because no one had bothered to look into the facts, the statistical experts assumed that little ore was being found. They often subtracted the staggering tonnage of metals produced during the war from earlier published reserves, and assumed that the difference was all we had left. Naturally, they shuddered, with all possible publicity. For their figures showed an imminent lack of nearly all the metals needed for an industrial civilization, as well as for mechanized war. They concluded that only wholesale imports and development and production of metals by Federal agencies could avert the famine.

Jan 1, 1948

By Oscar A. Glaeser

INDUSTRIAL relations in the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company's Western operations covers the field of personnel and labor relations, and the principal aims are to render service to the employes of the Company and to its operating departments. Accident prevention Safety is a primary function. A safety engineer is employed at each operation. The wholehearted support of Company officials, staff, and the working force has been most successful in preventing accidents. Constant vigilance has been combined with a policy of building safety into all operating activities whether these are in the construction of a new facility, the developmnt of a mining system, or the direction of the working force. That this policy has produced results is attested to by the fact that the accident frequency rate at the Company's major mining operations in Utah has been reduced approximately 75 per cent in the ten-year period ending Dec. 31. 1946.

Jan 1, 1948

By James Boyd

In critical times such as the present, when the whole world is agitated by the aftermath of war and the road to peace is blocked by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, it is fitting that we should pause to take inventory of the material resources essential to our national security. Our status as a world power, in peace as well as in war, is intrinsically bound to the availability of minerals, for the foundation of our industrial and economic structurewhich in turn largely determines our military potential and our limits of national prosperity-rests on our ready access to economic sources of iron, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, bauxite, and at least threescore of other metals, minerals, and mineral fuels. By applying the well-known facts of mineral resources to recognized fundamental concepts of preparedness, we can obtain a- clearer picture of the essential needs of our country. Historically, the lure of minerals and other raw material resources has all too frequently led nations to policies of imperialism and war. For more than a century the staking of colonial territory for new sources of raw materials has been a primary objective of many nations. These national policies. of aggrandizement were accelerated by increasing industrialization. The nations, in their aggressive search for

Jan 1, 1948

By John V. Beall

HEAVY-DENSITY separation processes, a commercial application of the sink-float test used in mineralogical laboratories for the separation of mineral particles by their difference in specific gravity, are the biggest development in mineral dressing since flotation, which was at about the same stage of development thirty years ago. The scope of their application has broadened and, though still in the development stage, they are being accepted in a constantly increasing number of commercial installations. This progress in mineral beneficiation is especially satisfying when we realize that our high-grade ore deposits are fast disappearing and a big factor in determining whether a hole in the ground is being sat upon by a liar or an honest citizen is how economically the ore dressers can concentrate comparatively low-grade ores. As early as the middle of the nineteenth century attempts were made to use aqueous salt solutions in a heavy-liquid separation for cleaning coal. But the original and recovery costs of these liquids were high and further, the fact that they were corrosive, unstable, and toxic added to the difficulty in using them.

Jan 1, 1948

By H. M. Shepard

THE copper industry operated at high capacity throughout 1947, with no serious tie-ups in operation as was the case in 1946, when almost the entire industry was shut down by a four-month strike. Refined copper production in the United States averaged 94,250 tons for the first eleven months and deliveries to domestic consumers, including foreign copper for domestic consumption, averaged 114,000 tons per month. On April 29 the import duty of 4d per lb was suspended until March 31, 1949. Copper prices fluctuated considerably for a short time thereafter. Over the year the price of domestic electrolytic copper at refineries on the Atlantic seaboard advanced from 19.225¢ on Jan. 2 to 21.200d on Dec. 24.

Jan 1, 1948

By Robert T. Gdagher, Allison Butts

EDUCATIONAL trends as reflected in curricular changes are of interest and importance in engineering educa¬tion both as matters of record and as considerations for the future. The data on which the evidence of this report is based were obtained by sending questionnaires to all schools in the United States granting the undergraduate degree in mining engineering, metallurgy, or metallurgical engineering. The questionnaire had two parts, one inquiring as to the general nature of revisions made or planned, and the other asking for information on specific courses added to or dropped from the curriculum, or given more or less time than formerly. The frequency with which curricular changes are made, even in normal times, is notable. Although it was expected that the period since 1939-40 would show numerous revisions, it was somewhat surprising to find that of 62 mining or metallurgical curricula in existence in 1939-40 and reported in the present survey, 58 had been revised or are shortly to be revised, 52 having already been changed during this period. Moreover, approximately half of the mining schools that have already revised their curricula, and probably a similar proportion of the metallurgical schools, are about to make further important changes.

Jan 1, 1948

By Claus G. Goetzel

POWDER metallurgy is known as the art of producing metal powders and fabricating them in a nonfusion process by a simultaneous or consecutive application of pressure and heat under controlled operating conditions. Before the advent of powder metallurgy, the high melting points of the refractory metals and nonmetals made their manufacture and use practically impossible. Today, however, the uses of refractory materials in high-speed cutting tools, surgical instruments, brake linings, electrical contact switches, and filaments in incandescent lamps are commonplace in industry. Lately designers have even been turning to powder metallurgists to develop new techniques of fabricating refractory materials for extreme-service use in high-temperature zones of such modern products as gas turbines and jet engines. The new techniques being born will undoubtedly provide industry with a great number of new alloys and materials for future designing.

Jan 1, 1948

By C. E. McWhorter

IN underground mining recent trends toward mining large tonnages of low-grade ore have created, among other things, a need for cheaper and more flexible ore transport. A relatively new development has been the adaptation of shaker conveyors to meet this need. Although widely used in coal mining, only in the last few years have shaker conveyors been used in underground metal mining. The equipment consists of a driving engine, either electric or air powered, upon which is mounted a drive trough supported in ball-bearing frames. The trough line, or conveying medium, is made up of a number of sections, each section connected to another, usually with bolts. The length of each trough section is controlled by the length that can best be handled underground, but is usually from 9 to 13 ft over-all. The length of a complete conveyor line is determined by the character and weight of material to be handled as well as by the size of the ore body. Trough lines vary in lengths from 100 to 300 ft and the trough has a cross-section area of 127 sq in., and is 22 in. wide by 6 ½ in. deep.

Jan 1, 1948

By J. Robert Van Peli

IT was a strange but highly fruitful marriage-that union of hardy explorers, seeking the rich treasures of copper in the Lake Superior wilderness, with Boston's aristocracy of brains, capital, and enterprise. This historic wedlock, which has continued happily to the present day, was the means by which the wealth of Lake Superior's copper was won for the use and benefit of an expanding America. One branch of this family tree, the western branch, begins with prehistoric Indian miners, embraces the early French explorers of the Upper Lakes, and finally includes the British and American pioneers who reduced the vague rumors of copper to known fact and actually began the mining of copper in the wilderness. The other branch, the New England line, begins

Jan 1, 1948

By John V. Beall

STREAM pollution caused by waste waters from mineral industry operations is a problem that has grown up with the industry. Its importance to each operator is dependent on the amount and type of waste he dumps into the rivers and streams; on whether this waste pollutes the waters sufficiently to make them unfit for potable water, irrigation, and conservation of wild life; and on whether this waste makes a safety or health hazard. Through the years our growing population and industry have made increasing demands on the mineral industries, the suppliers of the raw materials on which our industries are based; and we have met these demands at some sacrifice to the natural beauty and cleanliness of our country. However, that is often the unavoidable nature of the business, and along with the increased use of our

Jan 1, 1948

By AIME

To be born in the East, reared and educated in the West, to do graduate work in Germany, leading to the doctorate in metallurgy, and to wind up-for the time being at least-in the Middle West as head of one of the outstanding mining and engineering schools of the country, is a unique career. Curtis Laws Wilson, dean (and in most respects, president) of Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy at Rolla, is a native of Baltimore. He came to Anaconda in 1918 and in due course was graduated from Montana School of Mines, with an exceptional record. In 1921, after experience in metallurgical research at Anaconda, he became instructor in metallurgy at his alma mater. Because of his ability as a teacher, he rose rapidly to head of the department after special work at Columbia in 1923-24. In 1927, Wilson was granted leave of absence to study physical metallurgy under the great Tammen at Goettingen, and returned with his doctorate to his work at Montana School of Mines. His major metallurgical interest was then in age-hardening of copper alloys. Also after his return to Montana Mines, Wilson started

Jan 1, 1948

By AIME

HAPPILY, a large group of the non-ferrous fraternity have long valued a personal association with the new Chairman of the Institute of Metals Division. Many others who will meet him, either officially or unofficially this year, will find themselves sharing the enthusiasm with which he has been welcomed to his new office. Albert A. Smith, Jr., was born at Butler, N. J., on Dec. 28, 1904, and moved to New Haven in time to initiate his preparation for Yale University on the home grounds. After receiving a B.S. degree cum laude in 1926, he stayed on for graduate work at the Hammond Laboratory under C. H. Mathewson, and was awarded an M.S. degree in 1928.

Jan 1, 1948

By F. B. Harris

MINE surveying and engineering at the various properties of the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company has developed and increased in importance steadily as mining methods have changed and expanded, both in the development of ore bodies and in the methods and styles of stoping. Most important to satisfactory engineering practice, and secondary -only to accuracy and precision, is the preservation of all data relative to surveys and calculations so that it is readily available for use at all times and in -such form that it is permanent, easily found, and usable. The first consideration for a proper, accurate, and practical start for surveys and efficient engineering at any property is an accurate triangulation net and system of co-ordinates. This has been our practice and the first step seas to select a base line, readily accessible and easily measured, situated preferably on an even grade where the difference of elevation between the two -end monuments was not too great and -the distance was long enough for practical use. Permanent concrete monuments were built for these base-line points so constructed that they could be easily recognized and were visible. Precise levels were run on this base 'line and the elevation (sea level datum) if possible was established at each end monument. The distance was carefully measured many times, back and forward, by using a tape that had been standardized by the National Bureau of Standards. The tape was supported at ,each 25-ft interval on stakes which had been brought to grade between each measuring point. All conditions were

Jan 1, 1948