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By Eugene N. Cameron

Pegmatites occur in abundance in certain areas of South West Africa and in adjacent parts of northern Cape Province in the Union of South Africa. Some of the pegmatite deposits were prospected before World War I, and intermittent mining was done during the period between the two World Wars. The deposits of the Jooste lithium mines became an important source of lepidolite, and beryl, columbite-tantalite, wolframite, and other minerals were produced. Since World War I1 prospecting and mining have been carried on vigorously, with the result that South West Africa produced nearly 3000 tons of beryl during 1949 through 1953, together with more than 40,000 tons of lithium minerals, chiefly lepidolite and petalite. Small amounts of tantalite, columbite, and other minerals have also been produced during the postwar period. Most of this mineral production has come from two pegmatite areas roughly outlined in Fig. 1. One is the Karibib-Omaruru area of north central South West Africa. The second is the northeastern part of the Orange River pegmatite area, which extends into adjacent parts of Namaqualand, in northern Cape Province of the Union of South Africa

Sep 1, 1955

By John D. Ridge, Robert C. Barwick

The amount of lead in concentrates that moved in international trade in 1952 was only 16 pct of the world mine production of lead and was less than 27 pct of the total of lead in concentrates and lead metal that traveled from one country to another. Because almost all lead is derived from galena, lead concentrates are high grade, with a theoretical maximum of 86 pct lead, and can be shipped as such without transporting a considerable weight of waste material. It would not be surprising, therefore, to find the large share of lead in international trade moves in concentrates (Rule 5). This is not, as has just been mentioned, actually the case. There is more than one explanation for the situation. Lead smelting is not a particularly difficult process and is one for which smelting equipment can readily be made of the best size for the tonnage to be handled. Another factor that encourages local smelting is the effort of many mining countries to see that a maximum of profit from their raw materials remains in the home country. Still another factor is the newness of large scale lead mining in two of the three largest exporters of lead in concentrates. In these countries, South West Africa and French Morocco, there has not yet been time to erect enough smelting capacity to process all of the concentrate output. Even in these countries, however, it will not be long, if present trends continue and plans are fulfilled, before most or all of the lead mined is domestically smelted.

Sep 1, 1955

By W. A. Boyer, A. W. Beck

At the Morning mine of American Smelting & Refining Co. it was particularly important that there be a means of signaling the engineer from the moving cage in the shaft. Because of the shifting ground in which the shaft was located, buckling timber made it extremely difficult to keep a continuous bell line serviceable. In 1930 engineers considered a moving contact pantograph arrangement between the cage and two stationary messenger wires strung on insulators in the shaft compartment next to the cage. The idea was abandoned because falling material in the shaft and speed of hoisting made it difficult to maintain communication. Later in 1934 a manufacturing company was consulted about the use of an electric eye or a radio signal. As the shaft was located in a return air stream of nearly 100 pct relative humidity, there was too much fog for the electric eye to be used. The radio signal was considered, and it was believed feasible to generate electric static on the cage, locating a radio receiver at the top of the shaft, but the manufacturing company's research department was too busy to work on it at that time.

Sep 1, 1955

By Kenneth Allen

El presente artículo describe el tajeo Mitchell como método para recuperar los pilares angostos de mineral dejados entre los tajeos de escuadras ya explotados. El tajeo Mitchell fue empleado durante una época en combinación con el tajeo con escuadras, para la explotación de yacimientos grandes, pero ha sido generalmente reemplazado por métodos más económicos como el de hundimiento, y ahora está limitado a la recuperación de pilares.

Aug 1, 1955

In the late 19th century Fremont Pass was only a gateway to Leadville, Colo., 12 miles to the north. Some of the silver, lead, and zinc won from this famous camp crossed the Continental Divide at Climax, passing by the huge outcrop of molybdenum on Bartlett Mountain. This element, relatively un- known in the world of commerce, was then nothing more than a joke to play on greenhorn prospectors. Even 30 or 40 years later, after the demand for metals created by World War I had forced temporary use of molybdenum as an alternate for tungsten in tool steels, the Bartlett Mountain outcrop once again became merely a curiosity. With the persistent efforts of Brainerd Phillipson, for years the president of Climax and almost the only employe, use of molybdenum gradually began to grow, first in tool steel and later in the alloy steels required by the growing automotive industry. Mr. Phillipson was first an engineer and second a salesman. The combination of these two qualities is the key to the story, not only of Climax sales but also of the growth of molybdenum from an object of idle curiosity to the point where it is today, along with chromium and nickel, one of the most versatile alloying elements in the iron and steel industries and increasingly important in chemistry.

Aug 1, 1955

By Marvin L. Kay

In the spring of 1950, just two years after the inauguration of the domestic uranium program by the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, the company entered the uranium mining and milling business through a newly formed subsidiary, Climax Uranium Co. This was the first venture into a new field of mining for Climax, which became the first old-time mining company, other than the vanadium producers, to become active in the embryo uranium industry. Twenty-five years earlier, Arthur Bunker, president of Climax Molybdenum, organized and operated the U. S. Vanadium Co. at Rifle, Colo. With this background, he viewed the budding industry of the Colorado Plateau with much interest. Upon its formation, the new subsidiary entered into a con- tract with the U. S. Government and the potential uranium-vanadium properties of Minerals Engineering Co. were assigned to Climax Uranium Co. Funds for the construction of a processing plant and working capital were advanced by Climax Molybdenum Co. The old sugar mill building of the Holly Sugar Co. in Grand Junction was leased to house the extractive plant. Construction of facilities, which were based upon a new process developed for the treatment of both uranium and vanadium ores, was completed and the mill was placed in operation early in 1951. Subsequent to that time several alterations were made and the capacity of the plant increased. In terms of recoveries, the plant has proved to be one of the most efficient on the Colorado Plateau

Aug 1, 1955

El presente artículo describe la morfología, estratografía y geología de la mina de Cercapuquio. Su geografía consiste en una zona levantada por fenómenos orogenéticos, donde después de un período de glaciación regular y se ha formado en su parte central, la cabecera del río Chacuasmayo ( o Cerca puquio); en la parte oriental, un sistema de valles paralelos entre sí, con lagunas, tributarias del río La Virgen e igualmente, y en la parte occidental, otro sistema parecido de valles paralelos, lagunares, tributarios del río Canipaco.

Aug 1, 1955

By J. W. Mills

The strike and dip of bedded formations is readily determined by trigonometry if some marker horizon is intercepted by three holes. If no marker can be identified and if orientation of the cores is unknown, as is the usual case in diamond drilling, the determination still can be made readily by the use of a stereonet if the bearing, inclination, and angle the bedding makes with the core axis is known for each of the three holes. Such determination, valid only if the bedding orientation is fairly uniform within the area drilled, is considered simpler, faster, and more effective than any solution previously published. Method: The steps of this procedure are as follows: 1) Mark north and south poles on tracing paper placed over stereonet. 2) Plot the three diamond drillholes by drawing a line from the center of the net in the direction of the bearings of the holes. Then rotate the paper until each line, in turn, lies along the equatorial diameter of the net; the end of each line is determined by the inclination of the hole measured in degrees from the periphery toward the center of the net along the equatorial diameter. Fig. 1 illustrates a vertical hole and a hole inclined at -23° due east.

Aug 1, 1955

From 1917 to 1926 mining at the Climax Molybdenum Co. property was confined to the Leal and White levels at elevations of 12,145 and 11,935 ft respectively and to surface outcrops above the Leal level. At present the production is coming from the Phillipson and Storke levels at elevations of 11,465 and 11,168 ft. Until 1926 when B. S. Butler recognized the relationship existing between the orebody and a central core of fine-grained hydrothermal quartz, the orebody was believed to be tabular in form. The orebody lies within the pre-Cambrian granites and schists and another rock type designated as the Climax porphyry and surrounds a highly silicious core, the mineable portion of which varies in thickness from 250 to 400 ft.

Aug 1, 1955

By Anibal Gastañaga

La determinación del cuarzo es un problema dentro de la Higiene Industrial, puesto que este mineral se convierte en una de las enfermedades ocupacionales causadas por la inhalación de pequeñas partículas de cuarzo encontradas en el aire. En ese sentido, el presente texto señala la importancia y peligrosidad de los polvos del mineral a través de la determinación cuantitativa de cuarzo en los polvos industriales, ya que el riesgo de adquirir silicosis es proporcional a la concentración de cuarzo en los polvos ambientales. Existen tres métodos para la determinación cuantitativa de cuarzo: El método químico, el de difracción de rayos X y el petrográfico. El método que presenta mejores beneficios es el de N. A. Talvitie, puesto que se basa en la propiedad del ácido fosfórico, donde se forma complejos solubles en agua con los silicatos y óxidos metálicos, quedando el cuarzo prácticamente inalterado.

Aug 1, 1955

The Climax design is for the human being and his needs. Climax President Arthur Bunker has likened the high mountain operation to a giant, 250 million tons in weight, and 12 thousand feet high. No matter how huge or complicated the plant, the design must assure efficient operation by its human operators. By the same token, living and playing facilities must be designed for fullest satisfaction in use-else the capital investment is not justified. Even the product, molybdenum, finds its application through the ever growing demands of a highly industrialized society of humans. Research in Climax Laboratories, in tune with our technical age, helps guide molybdenum to its maximum use for society.

Aug 1, 1955

By Allen F. Agnew

Geologic studies for the Federal and State governments in the Wisconsin-Illinois-Iowa zinc-lead district were begun in 1835, and subse¬quent surveys were made in the three states at in¬tervals until 1916, see Table I. The current study of the district, Fig. 1, by the U. S. Geological Survey was begun in 1942 in the hope that a systematic investigation would help in¬crease production of zinc and lead, then in ex¬tremely short supply. Major emphasis of the USGS program was on detailed mapping of the geologic structure and ore deposits. Preliminary maps and reports covering localities of intensive mining ac¬tivity have been published during the course of this study, Fig. 2. By 1950 the objectives of the study by the USGS were revised; 7Y2-min quadrangles of relatively unprospected localities as well as inten¬sively mined localities are now being mapped in Wisconsin. Since 1945 the investigation in Wiscon¬sin has been made in cooperation with the Wiscon¬sin Geological and Natural History Survey, and since 1951 the geologic mapping of areas of particu¬lar interest in Iowa has been performed in coopera¬tion with the Iowa Geological Survey. At intervals since 1943 the Illinois State Geological Survey has mapped the geologic structure and ore deposits of localities in the Illinois part of the mining district, see Fig. 2.

Aug 1, 1955

By H. M. Allen

La presente investigación señala la importancia y uso del tajeo Mitchell como método de recuperación de los pilares minerales, dejados entre los tajeos de cuadra ya explotados en las zonas mineras. Históricamente el sistema data de 1904 y fue empleado en combinación con el tajeo de escuadras durante un tiempo, siendo posteriormente reemplazado por métodos más económicos como el hundimiento. Actualmente está limitado a la recuperación de pilares. Para sus aplicaciones se utiliza el stoping, como método de extracción de los minerales, donde los stopes se explotan para luego rellenarlos, dejando un acceso libre para los pilares. Una vez extraídos, se colocan puntales largos de extremo a extremo y se los rellena compartimento por compartimento a medida que se los explota. De otro lado, aunque el tajo Mitchell considere riesgos de seguridad por la vulnerabilidad del terreno, la ventaja radica es que es un método flexible que permite adaptarse a las variaciones de anchura del pilar y en el que su uso se limita cuando no sea posible la utilización de otro método.

Jul 20, 1955

By Luis Palomino

El siguiente estudio indica la importancia de la función que ejerce el Departamento de entrenamiento en la Cerro de Pasco Corporation. Para ello, la compañía reconoce el entrenamiento como herramienta básica en el aumento de la producción y reducción de costo, al tiempo que el Departamento asegura el perfeccionamiento de su personal de toda índole. En esta primera etapa de planeamiento, se proponen las siguientes actividades: orientación de nuevos servidores, entrenamiento de supervisores, curso de pre-capataces, curso de instructores, cursos técnicos, cursos vacacionales para universitarios, cursos por correspondencia y clases de castellano. Concluyendo que dicho programa, aumenta el rendimiento de los trabajadores, les crea conciencia y a su vez desarrolla actitudes proactivas, así como se destaca el adiestramiento de los supervisores sobre la técnica de enseñar a sus obreros, y por último, busca que cada compañía elabore su propio programa de acuerdo a sus necesidades de su entrenamiento y según las características de su personal.

Jul 20, 1955

By Danilo Továr

Jul 20, 1955

By Thomas Fraser

"El siguiente estudio señala las recomendaciones para la preparación de las antracitas del Santa de la mina ""La Limeña"", así como las modalidades para determinar los efectos de la ""trituración"" diferencial y ""maceración"" en agua del carbón del tipo ""Limeña"". El resultado de estas pruebas en Bradford, mostraron que el carbón de ""La Limeña"" es adaptable para la ""trituración"" diferencial. Dicho mineral es mucho más blando que el relave, de allí que una gran proporción del carbón limpio disponible permanezca en su tamaño lógico inferior a 5/16"" producido en la extracción y manipuleo. Así también el tratamiento experimental de los tamaños mayores en una planta del tipo Bradford se divide en dos: el primero refiere un relave ""duro "" de tamaño mayor, que contiene una pequeña cantidad de carbón limpio, brillante y fácilmenteescogido a mano; y lo segundo, es una mezcla de tamaño inferior, de ""middling"" y carbón para lavado posterior."

Jul 20, 1955

By Carlos E. Del Río

"El presente estudio señala las normas que resolverían el problema entre las variaciones de ley y tonelaje del mineral explotado, a partir del establecimiento de la relación matemática económica entre las condiciones de producción actuales y la variante asumida. Como segundo punto, estudia las variaciones posibles de efectuarse en tonelaje y ley a base de una cubicación detallada, mientras que el tercer punto, señala el cálculo de los costos de minado según las condiciones particulares de cada exploración. Este cálculo y su distribución varía gradualmente según los diversos sistemas y quienes los empleen."

Jul 20, 1955

By Dave Ritchie

En el Perú existen 7 cable-carriles en funcionamiento, de los cuales la mayoría son bicables, cuyos baldes están suspendidos y son jalados por medio de un cable de tracción sobre un cable estacionario. En este aspecto, el objeto del estudio describe el empleo de los mismos en Cerro de Pasco Corporation, su historiografía, costos, procesos, instalaciones y el peso. Así, es menester conocer que dos de los más grandes bi-cablecarriles se encuentran en Mahr Tunnel de la Cerro de Paseo Corporation que conecta la mina de San Cristóbal con la Concentradora de Mahr Tunnel, mientras que el otro está en Quiruvilca, propiedad de la Northern Perú. También hay otros cablecarriles en Tamboraque, Atacocha, en las minas de San Luis y en la fundición de La Oroya. De otro lado, en 1864 se dispuso de parte de la Corporación, la instalación de un mono cablecarril para conectar la mina de Yauricocha con un lugar llamado Chaucha, el cual era el terminal de la línea del tren de Chaucha a Pachacayo. Siendo desde entonces, el único mono-cablecarril de la Cerro de Pasco Corporation, situado en Perú, mientras que los dos restantes pertenecen a la Reynolds Metal Co de Jamaica, y el otro a una mina canadiense, respectivamente. Asimismo esta cablecarril acarrea 48 toneladas de mineral por hora y permite ahorrar el costo de acarreo de madera por camión sobre los caminos de Chaucha a Yauricocha, aunque surgieron algunos defectos con el desprendimiento de los baldes transportadores. Finalmente el cablecarril de San Cristóbla a Mahr Tunnel

Jul 20, 1955

By Fred P. Gerbracht

Jul 20, 1955

By Alejandre Monge Gordillo

La siguiente investigación describe las generalidades de la administración de grandes empresas como principios alternativos y más seguros que los métodos del empirismo. En este punto, se revisan nuevas perspectivas sobre la economía de empresas, los aportes de Frederick W. Taylor y sus medidas de administración científica, los principios generales del establecimiento industrial, los conceptos de la concentración del esfuerzo en un campo limitado de actividad, los principios sobre el costo productivo, el significado económico de la "standarización" y las etapas del desarrollo de una empresa por F. W. Taylor. Concluyendo que la aplicación del método científico es factible en una operación industria,l dado que aprovecha exactamente los resultados de otras operaciones y retoma el conocimiento de otras áreas para organizar adecuadamente una empresa.

Jul 20, 1955