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By G. A. Collins

Being much interested in efficiency-work in general, and an ardent reader of writings on this subject by Frederick W. Taylor and others, as applied to manufacturing-plants, and having served my apprenticeship from mucking to the engineering design of ore-dressing and underground plants, I hope that this paper will lead others to investigate the field more fully, to the improvement of general mine- and mill-operations, as well as the advancement, intellectually, physically, and financially, of the employee and his relations with the employer. If a man who is prepared to look closely and observe broadly starts in Canada and zig-zags from camp to camp to southern Mexico, taking time casually to inspect mines, mills, and smelters, he will be pitifully impressed by the great difference in customs, and the general waste of labor, time, and money throughout the country. He will so seldom observe a dollar's worth of results given in exchange for a dollar spent that he will form a poor opinion of operating-efficiency and management. This highly-scientific department, requiring an amount of skill and executive ability equaled in few, if any, of the professions, certainly falls short of the standard established in our greater manufacturing industries. It is easily said that this is due to the diversity of conditions in mining, milling, and smelting. But on second view it must be admitted that there is room for tremendous improvements in nearly every mining-organization. The proposal of such improvements is often met by the argument that any mine is but a temporary affair, yielding such profits as to make efficiency-work of no consequence; but any business which is profitable and worth doing at all is worth doing on a basis which gives the greatest return on the investment.

Jan 1, 1913

By R. C. Canby

The American water-jacket furnace is the outgrowth of lead-smelting at Eureka, Nev., subsequently developed in Utah and Colorado. Early smelting in Virginia, New England, or the Missouri-Kansas-Illinois district seems to have had no direct influence in the development of this furnace. First Decade, 1870 to 1880. In 1870, the draft-furnace was used in Nevada, coincidentally with the first crude sandstone blast furnaces, which were 2 or 3 ft. sq., with Sturtevant fans or small Roots blowers, and sheet-iron or water-cooled tuyeres. Stetefeldt, Liebenau, Albert Arents, and 0. H. Hahn mere the early metallurgical leaders. Arents's siphon-tap and the re-establishment of the furnace-bosh mere the most important improvements of the decade. Second Decade, 1880 to 1890. At first there were ,many small local plants; but by the time Eureka had reached its maximum production of lead-ore, two custom works (the Eureka and the Richmond) were treating all the ore, the miners having learned the economy of smelting at larger and well-constructed plants. In the early eighties, most of the features of modern practice were already discernible at Salt Lake, Leadville, Denver, and Pueblo. The small square sandstone furnaces had been replaced by rectangular water-jacket furnaces, mostly 36 in. wide, and from 60 to 80 in. long at the tuyeres, which entered between cast-iron water-jackets. Subsequently, Franz Casin, at the Holden works, Denver, put the tuyeres in the middle of the jackets, and many other improvements were made by him and others, so that the cast-iron jacket became the favorite, until the possibility of

Jan 1, 1913

By S. Arthur Krom

ThE James diagonal-plane slimer is specially adapted to handle the finest slimes, but it will also handle sands as coarse as 40-mesh. The saving efficiency of this machine is due to the original construction ,of the deck, and to the rapid reciprocating movement imparted to it by the head-motion. The deck consists of a plurality of connected planes, having a certain fixed ratio of inclination one to another. These planes intersect each other diagonally to the stroke-line of the table and are arranged so as to give the pulp on the table a double treatment. This double concentration performed by the diagonal-plane deck produces cleaner concentrates and tailings than those obtained by the operation of two separate machines. The action of the diagonal planes settles, combines, and holds all the concentrates in one compact mass, sharply defined from the gangue, and easily cut away without loss. Many slime-concentrating machines distribute the feed-pulp for a distance of 4 or 5 ft. only, and upon a very limited settling-surface. This results in a thick, heavy deposit, from which it is impossible to stratify the values and wash away the gangue, the resulting products being dirty concentrates, and tailings carrying high values. The diagonal-plane slimer distributes the feed-pulp for a distance of 10 ft., and upon a settling-surface having an area of 40 sq. ft.; in other words, it spreads the pulp thinly on the table, which allows the metallic values to settle through the gangue quickly, forming a bottom stratum from which the thinly-distributed overlying stratum of gangue is easily brushed away by the feed-water without disturbing the underlying concentrates. Referring to Fig. 1, plane A is the main settling-section of the table. The feed pulp flows gently down this plane and is

Jan 1, 1913

By Charles W. Dickson

CONTENTS. [ ] I.THE RELATION OF NICKEL TO PYRRHOTITE. Introduction. The Sudbury district is to-day one of the two great sources of nickel in the world. The peculiar geological relations of

Jan 1, 1913

By Hjalmer Sjögren

AMONG the feldspar-rocks there are certain types which occur constantly in different areas-viz., the aruphibolitic plagioclase- rocks and the granulitic rocks Composed of quartz and alkaline feldspars. Among the latter soda: granulites as well as potash are met with; also the corresponding gneisses occur. GROUP I.-THE ORES OF THE ARCHEAN CRYSTALLINE SCHISTS. The Rocks. The ore-bearing rocks of the ore-province of central Sweden are chemically and petrographically unlike the more monotonous gneiss- and granite-areas which surround them. On the whole, they constitute a quartz-feldspar formation in which purer quartzitic rocks, limestones, " skarn " rocks, and ore-bodies are very subordinate members. (Skarn is the Swedish name for rocks of varying composition, mostly consisting of lime, magnesia, iron, and alumina, silicates of the pyroxene, amphibole, and garnet groups; as secondary minerals, epidote, chlorite, biotite, and talc occur. The skarn is scarcely an independent rock but is connected with the ore-deposits. It is formed through an interchange between the silica of the quartz-feldspar rocks and the basic constituents of the ore-formation.) [A BRIDGED SUMMARY.-The amphibolites must be considered as stretched and dynamo-metamorphosed dioritic rocks. The granulites are divided into two groups, one showing predominant plagioclase, the other equal or predominant orthoclase. Evidently, the iron-ore deposits are connected in some way with the

Jan 1, 1913

"Power is transmitted to Butte, a distance of 130 miles, over two separate lines running parallel on the same right of way.The transmission line embodies the most approved ideas in construction. The conductors are No. O. B. & S. gauge, hard drawn copper strand. The insulators are of the suspension type, each insulator consisting of six units, 10 inches in diameter. The insulators will stand a wet test of over 300,000 volts, and were selected after long and careful tests by the company's engineers. The wires are carried on steel towers of four-legged, single crossarm type, manufactured by Milliken Bros. The three conductors are suspended in a horizontal row from the crossarm, and there are no transpositions in either line. Above the power wires and symmetrically located are two galvanized steel strands, Vs-inch in diameter, grounded at each tower, which serve as a protection against lightning.The distance between towers in level country is 600 feet. In mountainous country, however, the spans are irregular in length and spans of 1,500 or 2,000 feet are common. The longest one in the line is that crossing- the Missouri River and is equal to 3,034 feet. The length of this span is such that a person standing at one end of it can sec the wires go off and vanish into space, while the tower at the other end is barely visible to the naked eye on a clear day. The towers at one end of this span arc shown in the accompanying photograph. The line starts at an elevation of 3,200 feet, rises to an elevation of 8,200 feet as it crosses the Continental Divide, and again descends to 6,100 feet, the elevation at Butte.Quantity of coppc1· in transmission line, 1,330,000 pounds.Number of towers, 2,-1-00.Steel used in construction, approximately, 2,-1-00 tons."

Jan 1, 1913

By John Jermain Porter

THe value of any particular ore, coke, or limestone, for iron-making, depends upon its effect, first, upon the quality or value of the resultant product; and second, upon the cost of smelting. The factors under the first head are the percentages of phosphorus, manganese, and other elements, which remain in the pig-iron ; while those under the second head are the percentages of iron, carbon, or lime, the slag-forming constituents, which must be fluxed, and any other ingredients which give rise to variations in cost of fuel and flux. The first of these criteria of value is perhaps not capable of being reduced to a general formula embracing all cases, since it must vary to a great extent with market-fluctuations. For example, Bessemer pig is worth sometimes more and sometimes less than foundry-pig; and the premium paid for high manganese varies within wide limits. The second, or smelt-ing-value, however, can be expressed numerically with a fair degree of accuracy; and it is with this phase of valuation that the present paper is concerned. The utility of a means of comparing numerically the relative smeltiug-values of difierent ores, cokes, and limestones, is self-evident, although it may not have importance in Northern practice, where materials are largely standardized. On the other hand, there are, especially in the South, many furnace-managers who must use a great variety of materials of widely varying grade; and it is with special reference to this district, and in connection with the efficiency-methods which I have elsewhere proposed,' that the methods herein described were devised.

Jan 1, 1913

Jan 1, 1913

"The reduction works of the Boston & Montana Reduction department, near the north end of this dam is one of the reduction plants belonging to the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, the other being at Anaconda. These works employ about 1,100 men and have a capacity of about 3,800 tons of crude ore per day. This plant is now being remodeled to embody results of experiments and investigations which have been made with a view to more economic.al treatment of ores. A brief description of the plant as it will be after the remodelling is as follows:Concentrator Department: Consists of six units or sections, each section treating from 550 to 600 tons of crude ore per day. This department is not being. remodelled at the present time. A concentrating process, however, has been developed and partially installed in the old mill, and an experimental section embodying this concentration process has also been installed at the concentrator at Anaconda."

Jan 1, 1913

John P. Thomas, President. B. W. Snodgrass, Secretary-Treasurer. San Andrews, mine boss, Morley. Richard Bickerton, Tabasco. E. P. Bayles, superintendent, Cokedale. Clyde Campion, parting tender, Valdez. O. C. Cook, 406 East Seventh, Street, Trinidad. James Cameron, superintendent, Hastings. Charles Chambers, superintendent, ,Sopris. Arthur Dennison, Trinidad. Samuel Dean, mine inspector, Delagua. F. S. Dunlevy, assistant engineer, Hastings. L. R. Douglas, assistant engineer, care Danford & Sanderson, Trinidad. W. E. Danford, superintendent, Segundo. M. O. Danford, superintendent, Cedar Hill Coal & Coke Co., Trinidad. John Dougherty, mine foreman, Morley. J. C. Davidson, timberman, Valdez. William Easton, fire boss, Valdez. George Fortune, electrician, Primero. D. J. Griffiths, chief mine inspector, Trinidad. J. E. Hanes, assistant engineer, Hastings. Joseph Haske, superintendent, Primero. O. C. Erwin, electrician, 714 Pine Street, Trinidad. R. J. Jinkins, superintendent, Morley. Thomas jolly, superintendent, Gray Creek. James Jamieson, assistant mine boss, Valdez. James Kilpatrick, fire boss, Tobasco. L. M.. Kuhns, first-aid miner, care Mine Safety Car No. 2, Trinidad. William B. Lloyd, 404 East Seventh Street, Trinidad. J. C. Lawrence, machinist, Starkville. R. A. McAllister, mine inspector, Trinidad.

Jan 1, 1913

By William H. Emmons

CONTENTS. [ ]

Jan 1, 1913

"The 100,000 volt sub-station at Butte is located near the center of the district in which the power is distributed. The sub-station building is 150 feet by 50 feet in plan and 50 feet high. It is a brick walled, steel framed structure with concrete floors and roof.There are installed at present four banks of single-phase transformers, rated at 3,600 k-w. per bank and connected in delta on both high and low tension sides. They step the voltage down from 102,000 to 2,500, at which voltage it is distributed to customers. The transformers are installed in fireproof compartments, entirely shut off from the rest of the building by brick walls and opening only out of doors. The transformers are mounted on wheels and can readily be run out onto a flat car, which stands on a track running parallel with the building in front of the row of transformer compartments. This arrangement furnishes a convenient method of handling the transformers, both at the time of installation and afterward, in case it is necessary to make repairs."

Jan 1, 1913

By Henry W. Turner

The following notes were taken on a trip through northern Korea in the fall of 1910. We started with about 19 Korean ponies, and as many Koreans, from Shin Anju, on the railway from Seoul to Antung. We passed through the ancient walled city of Anju, and thence up the valley of the Anju river. We then crossed over to the north into the Kalsan drainage, thence over another divide to the Chasung river, and finally reached the old Korean copper-smelting camp of Tong Jom— in all a distance by trail of about 200 miles. The return trip was made with ponies to Mampochin on the Yalu river, and thence' down the river in a junk to Antung. The route of travel is shown on the sketch map, Fig. 1.

Jan 1, 1913

Jan 1, 1913

By Arthur G. Levy, Henry M. How

The purpose of the investigation on which this paper is based is to determine whether the structural change which occurs in the slow cooling of steel below the transformation range has an important effect on its engineering properties. We recognize two distinct things which occur in steel when it is brought from above to below the transformation range, first, the transformation proper, that is, the breaking up of the austenite or solid solution of the cementite in the remainder of the iron, and the liberation of its components as undissolved cementite and as ferrite or alpha iron; and second, a structural change consisting in the gradual coalescence of the ferrite and cementite respectively into larger and larger separate masses. Let us distinguish these from each other by speaking of them as " the transformation " and " the structural change " respectively. If the cooling is at all rapid the unevenness of contraction induces severe stress; so that in a sense a slow cooling has a third influence, the prevention of such stress. This transformation from austenite to ferrite plus cementite can complete itself only below the transformation range; and, because this structural change is a change in the structural arrangement of the products of that transformation, it too can complete itself only at temperatures below that range, say below 725°; and of these temperatures it is only those between 600° and 725° that give the metal sufficient mobility to permit this structural rearrangement to progress with ally rapidity. The transformation is now known to be rapid, but the structural change is relatively slow. The transformation, the liberation of the dissolved cementite from the state of solution in the austenite to a free state, leaves the steel structurally in the

Jan 1, 1913

By Henry A. Wentworth

Electrostatic separation of ores in its present form is generally known as the Huff process, from the name of Charles H. Huff, of Boston, Mass., through whose constant and persistent labors (with the invention of Clinton E. Dolbear as a basis) the successful commercial process embracing separative machinery and the various electrifying devices has been developed step by step, and the finances for the long period of development provided, and the method finally established and recognized throughout the world as an important and successful addition to the ore-dressing department of metallurgy. The permanent field-success of electrostatic separation began in 1908 with a 20-ton Huff experimental mill built specially for the purpose by the American Zinc, Lead & Smelting Go., in Platterille, Wis., a plant which was a success from the start and was gradually increased in capacity as the market-conditions warranted to 100 tons of concentrates per day. Much credit is due to the above-mentioned company for its initial

Jan 1, 1913

"The Washoe Smelter is situated about two miles east of the City of Anaconda. The smelter site includes about 240 acres and peculiarly adapts itself in topography to the efficient handling of material. By reason of its being on a hill side it is possible to make the level of delivery of the product of one building the level of the charge floor of the next succeeding one.THE ORES: The ore treated comes principally from the Butte district and is hauled by the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific railway, a distance of twenty-eight miles, in trains of fifty 50-ton bottom-dump cars to the railroad yards at East Anaconda. At this point these trains are• split up according to their destination,—that is, as to whether they go to the concentrator and sampling mill ore bins, or to the storage bins. In each case they are made up into trains of eight or sixteen cars, according to the size of engine to be used, and are carefully weighed before delivery to their respective bills.Some idea of the magnitude of the works may be obtained from the following figures:Amount of ore that can be treated in 24 hours…12,000 tonsLime rock from adjacent quarries…2,300 tonsCoke used…500 tonsCoal for reverberatory use…500 tonsCoal for power use…50 tonsWater, per minute, 35,000 gallons.Men employed in and around Anaconda, 3,000. Monthly payroll for above, $300,000.00."

Jan 1, 1913

"Nestling in a little valley, right under the shadow of the rugged peaks of the Rocky Mountains and just over the great Continental Divide on the Pacific Slope, are Columbia Gardens, Butte's one rare beauty spot. Here purling brooks, fed from springs of snow-water course through the grounds to lend their aid later in making the great Columbia River. It is a question which has done more to make this oasis the charming place it is, nature or man, for both appear to have put forth their best efforts. The inspiring scenery surrounding the gardens is found in close association with the consummate art of the trained landscape gardener. The most delicate flowers, nurtured in large greenhouses, in the pleasant months of early spring and summer are transplanted into outdoor beds and in many instances woven, as it were, into beautiful designs. Green trees and grass on every side rest the tired eyes.Butte owes this delightful breathing spot to former Senator W. A. Clark, who owns and maintains it. A decade ago there were five large smelters belching forth their obnoxious fumes upon the city, making it impossible for vegetation to flourish within the confines of the town, a condition which fortunately no longer prevails. Primarily with a view of furnishing the children with a healthy playground, other than the muddy or dusty streets, Mr. Clark bought and developed the land upon which these grounds are situated. Upon numerous days in each month during the summer season, when school no longer demands attendance, his street railway carries the little folks to and from this ideal spot, free of all charge. ""Children's Day"" at the gardens presents a scene of life and happiness which once seen can never be forgot."

Jan 1, 1913

Prof. J. W. Richards, South Bethlehem, Pa. (in reply to several questions):—The cut representing some of the round briquettes which were under test shows that, at the brcaking-stresses, they break into lumps, and do not disintegrate into powder. The process is simplicity itself. I have followed the different processes for sintering iron-ores and flue-dust, am interested in all of them and wish them all success; but this process appealed to me strongly by its simplicity. It is in line with a method which I once tried to work out myself, but which never came to anything, namely, the agglomeration of fine iron-ores by means of Portland cement. As small an amount as 5 or 6 per cent. of Portland cement will enable fine ore to agglomerate and set into a briquette, but when I came to estimate the cost, I found it was a little too high. The Schumacher process, curiously enough, does not work well on iron-ore, but flue-dust thus treated does harden and give a strong briquette. In my attempts to find a reason for this difference, it has occurred to me that possibly the particles of flue-dust had been coated over with some sublimed silica, which might be an agent in the setting. But I found by experiment that neither sublimed silica, nor ordinary silica, nor ordinary alumina, would briquette. Chemically pure iron oxide briquetted quite hard; but the application of pressure is a necessary part of the operation. If simply moistened with the solution and allowed to stand it does not set hard, but the more pressure applied to it the hardcr it sets. Evidently the flue-dust particles must be pressed very close together in order to get the small proportion of active material wet, so that the particles shall act at their points of contact; for it is evident that only at the points of contact does the cementing action take place. The reactions are facilitated by considerable pressure, bringing the acting particles close together, and may go on with

Jan 1, 1913

By S. F. Emmons

Geological Sketch.-The rhyolite area near Silver Cliff includes what may be called the Silver Cliff plateau, with Round mountain and the intervening valley. The plateau is about 2 miles long and 1 mile wide. From its northern part rise the White hills, which have no special topographic importance, as their highest point is only 400 ft. above the northern edge of the rhyolite mass. Round mountain, on the other hand, is a quite sharply pointed conical hill, so steep-sided as to constitute an important topographic feature, although its elevation above the plains around it is barely 700 ft. The summit of Round mountain is dense banded rhyolite, with steep, irregular clip; the southern end is breccia containing fragments of the banded rock. There are slight exposures of glassy forms of rhyolite on the lower slopes. On the east, the Archaean rocks extend half-way up the side of the mountain, and the contact between them and the rhyolite is vertical, or dips steeply to the west. This mountain is supposed to be at the vent from which the rhyolite of the plateau was poured out. The Silver Cliff plateau occupies the site of a former basin, in which at one time there was probably a lake. At the time of the rhyolitic outburst of the Rosita hills there was a local eruption of the same character in this region, commencing with showers of volcanic ash and of rock-fragments, which filled the lake and built tip about it hills which have since been removed in great measure by erosion. At present the southern half of the plateau is capped by solid lava to a depth in places of 150 ft. The cliff of blackened rhyolite on the southern edge, where the main discovery of ore was made, is from 30 to 50 ft.

Jan 1, 1913