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IN December, 1905, a Forwood down-wheeler grinding pan (5 ft dialmter), and similar in design to those in use on the Kalgoorlie goldfields, was installed for experimental work in connection with fine grinding jig tailings.The galena remaining in this product is very finely (closely) mechanically disseminated throughout the blende and gangue, rendering fine crushing imperative for its liberation. A reswne of the milling process in vogue at the old mill will enable the series of operations to be more closely followed. The ore at the South Mine assays, on the average-lead...

Jan 1, 1909

By Henry M. Howe

Jan 1, 1909

Jan 1, 1909

By W. Mostowitsch, H. O. Hofman

The mineral gypsum, CaSO4 + 2 H2O, has been used for many years as a sulphurizing and basic flux in several smelting-operations. Thus, in smelting oxide nickel-ore in the blastfurnace, it is commonly added to the charge to furnish the sulphur necessary for collecting the metal in a matte, and a base for slagging the siliceous gangue. In the concentration of lead-copper matte in the reverberatory furnace it has been used for years at Preiberg, Saxony,1 for a similar purpose, and for producing at the same time a copper-matte with less than 0.15 per cent. of Fe. The latest use gypsum has been put to is in the blast-roasting process of Carmichael-Bradford.2 The term " blast-roasting," given by A. S. Dwight3 to the Dwight-Lloyd method of roasting and agglomerating: is a happy generic term which covers the ground better than the " lime-roasting " of Ingalls5 or the " pot-roasting " of Austin: in that it leaves the operation independent of the character of the flux and the form of apparatus, and retains the characteristic feature of this class of processes—namely, that of using forced draft. In the Carmichael-Bradford process the dehydrated material, mixed with galena-concentrate, acts as a diluent and a flux. The process differs in this from the Huntington-Heberlein7 and the Savelsberg8 processes, in both of which limestone is used.

Jan 1, 1909

By William Waters Van Ness

The Pierrefitte mines, situated in the South of France, in the district of the Hautes-Pyrenees, owe their name to the fact that the first mining operations of any extent, and of comparatively reccnt date, were carried out in the neighborhood of the village of Pierrefitte, which is a branch terminus of the Midi railway. The Pierrefitte mines, however, embrace a wide extent of country and several different concessions, on most of which comparatively little exploration-work has been done. The portion of the property presently to be described is a zone running roughly E—W., over a distance of about 5 miles from the valley of Cauterets to the valley of Estaing, the ridge dividing these valleys being a spur of the main chain of the Pyrenees, and running more or less at right angles to it. According to local tradition, which various indications tend to confirm, these mines are of ancient date, the first workings being attributed to the Romans, who are supposcd to have sought not only the lead but also the silver which is contained in the ore. Old slags have been found in the neighborhood which might well have been produced from the cupellation of lead-ores. These old workings, while of considerable extent at times, do not seem to have extended beyond a depth of 100 ft., even this depth being somewhat exceptional. The old notarial records of the district show that mines were known to exist, and that they were even worked, in the sixteenth century, but since the mines were abandoned (by the Romans or others) considerably prior to this period, very little

Jan 1, 1909

By H. W. Hardinge

Disregarding for the present the economic side of a new device, let us turn to that feature of the conical pebble-mill which is of interest from a scientific point of view, and consider the device as a puzzle in which the theories of the cylindrical type of mill have been increased. Many articles have been written on the theory of the tube-mill, and explanations have been made which do not explain ; but these have evolved suggestions of practice which have resulted in changes in the tube as to length, diameter, feed, discharge, speed of rotation, rotation on hollow trunnions, rotation on rings, and changes in the operation as to quantity and size of pebbles, charge of load above or below the axis, crushing by causing the larger pieces of the material of the charge to act as grinders, whether crushing is abrasive or impactive, etc. The practical worker in crushing. is first interested in the endeavor to reach an econonlic means of accomplishing a desired end; but the improvements in crushing-practice have been largely left to the manufacturer of machinery, who, as a rule, has little, if any, knowledge of the specific requirements— such as granulation, sizing for concentration without pulverizing the metals, instead of pulverizing the rock or gangue; the metals being the more friable, while the rock is tough and not so easily disintegrated. A reversal of this practice is the aim of sliming direct for cyanidation or pulverizing for cement, etc. In the ordinary cylindrical mill, having a diameter of 4 or

Jan 1, 1909

Jan 1, 1909

By John B. Hastings

The origin of the watery vapors of vulcanism has always been an object of interest and speculation to the seismologist, and as theories of the genetic origin of ore-deposits have of late years been pretty well narrowed down to the expiring forces of plutonic action, the same question has attracted mining engineers and geologists, as is well shown by the discussions of the subject in our Transactions. The important part taken by volcanic emanations in the origin of pegmatites and quartz-veins, described in my paper, Origin of Pegmatite,' and their latent power to concentrate into useful deposits such scattered gold as occurs in the Hartsel granite, make a discussion of their derivation but a natural third and final step. It is coilceded that enormous amounts of vapor accompany vulcanism, though perhaps we are apt to forget that steam has 1,700 times the volume of water, besides which the column seen over Vesuvius and other volcanoes is greatly mixed with air; the immensity of such volumes compared with solids and liquids is shown by the experiment of Gautier, who, by heating dessicated granite to 100' C., evolved from it gases 20 times, and steam 90 times, its own volume. Dana appraised the average amount of water left in ordinary rocks as 2.5 per cent. T. M. Read estimated that the Mississippi river carries to the sea annually 150,000,000 tons of rock material. If these Mississippi sediments, as deposited, contained 20 per cent. of water, it would be 600,000,000 cu. ft., or 4,500,000,000 American gallons, annually. Allowing the vapor suspended over a volcanic cone to be mixed with 80 per cent. of air, this amount of water converted into steam would replenish anew, every 9 min., a column 15,000 ft. high, 2,000 ft. in diameter at the base, and • 10,000 ft. at the top. Read's estimate is only half of the amount given in a more recent and probably correct one.2

Jan 1, 1909

By Thomas H. Leggett

In speaking of the mining and economic conditions prevailing at the present time on the Rand, it is not my intention to go into the details of the mining practice, since this has been already well described both in the Transactions' and elsewhere,2 but rather to take a more comprehensive view of the industry and its surroundings as a whole, marking its general development and the lines of its future progress. In a paper entitled Deep-Level Shafts on the Witwaters-rand, with Remarks on a Method of Working the Greatest Number of Deep-Level Mines with the Fewest Possible Shafts,' presented to this Institute in August, 1900, I drew attention to the great cost of sinking the very deep vertical shafts that were then being seriously proposed as necessary for the development of the deeper areas, pointing out the strong advisability of working this ground by means of inclines to be sunk from the existing shafts of from 3,000 to 4,000 ft. in vertical depth. In this paper it is stated (p. 975): '" In short, practice upon the Rand now tends towards fewer vertical shafts and more underground inclines, especially for the very deep mining about to be undertaken." In consequence, the 6,000-ft. vertical shafts, at one time so much discuesed, have never been started, and they do not now seem likely ever to be. The necessity of placing all deep shafts further apart in order to make them control and exhaust larger areas was also dwelt upon. This economy wae vitally necessary for both

Jan 1, 1909

Jan 1, 1909

By John B. Hastings

Ten miles from Hartsel, near Antelope springs, in Park county, Colorado, there is a large area of unconsolidated lake-beds, which are interesting because at least a part of the lacustrine sands contains in the aggregate an immense amount of gold. During 1906, one of the arms of this dessicated lake was fairly well prospected with shafts and cuts by an Eastern company to test its value, as favorable amounts of gold had in some instances been found upon it. The claims of the company contain about 5,000 acres of the beds; bat this is only a small portion of them, a south branch from a main body, which is at least 7 miles in diameter, with other and very wide lateral gulches, paralleling the one herein described on the east and west. A certain amount of digging and sampling was done in the outside areas; but the result was evidently unsatisfactory, since the work was discontinued. This section of Colorado has not been studied geologically, and the age of the ancient lake is unknown. It is probably Quaternary. I spent two weeks on the ground, in September

Jan 1, 1909

THE art of mine surveying has made very great progress in recent years, and is still advancing, perhaps faster than any other branch of surveying. The scope of the mine surveyor's duties has greatly increased, his instruments and methods have improved, the responsibility of his position is greater, and the end is not yet in sight.It might be supposed that such a steadily growing subject would have an adequate literature, but this is by no means the case and outsiders commonly judge mine surveyors by their text-books. Hardly any condemnation can be too strong for most of these books. The English books truckle to the antiquated and crude methods apparently still in use in England, and thereby largely aid in perpetuating them; they commonly in illustrative examples give the distances in fathoms, feet, and inches; they spend page after page discoursing on instruments that should have been forgotten long ago; they try to antagonize theory and practice by detailing such calculations as that a certain vein will contain 2,003.907 pounds of galena per square fathom, and then reduce this amazing quantity to hundredweights, quarters, and pounds. Nothing can be more unscientific, or, for that matter, less businesslike, than unwarranted assumptions of accuracy; it is, perhaps, the greatest curse of applied science. Here we have a calculation to thethousandth part of a pound, when there is probably an unavoidable error of two hundred pounds. What shall we say of a man who explains how to measure the depths of shafts to the hundredth part of an inch by means of short brass rods screwed together...

Jan 1, 1909

THE present article makes no claim to be exhaustive, since it cannot contain all the knowledge which scientists and manufacturers of the compounds of the rare earths have gained. The following notes are, therefore, simply an attempt to ascertain andclearly record the occurrence, properties, and uses of the more important of the rare earths, with a special reference to their commercial values and the industries based upon them.HISTORYIt was the mine manager, Gcyer, of Stockholm, who, in 1788, first drew attention to a black mineral which had been found in a quarry near Roslagen, in Sweden. In 1805 Klapproth received some specimens of this mineral, which he declared to be a newmineral. Subsequently Gadolin, professor of chemistry at Abo, analyzed the same mineral, and determined the presence of an unknown earth resembling alumina and lime. He named the mineral ytterbite, and afterwards gadolinite. Klapproth has alsothe merit of having detected (1804) another rare earth, which he named ochroit-earth, found in the Bastnas mine, near Riddarhyttan, in Wcstmannland, Sweden. Curiously enough, Hisinger and Berzelius simultaneously ascertained the existence of the same...

Jan 1, 1909

Jan 1, 1909

Jan 1, 1909

By R. W. Raymond

Prof. Henry Lours, of Armstrong College, Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, a distinguished member of this Institute and other technical societies, has recently sent to the Institution of Mining Engineers, and to the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, in Great Britain, a communication, the substance of which is as follows : Professor Louis calls attention to the absence of any recognized English term for the definite description of a frequent phenomenon—namely,the oblique position of an ore-body in the plane in which it lies. In this connection, Professor Louis says that in America the term " pitch " has been occasionally applied to this relation, and proposes that, in the literature of ore-deposits, it shall be hereafter restricted to this particular meaning, the angle of the pitch, like that of the dip, being always measured from the horizontal, and the dip being always taken at right angles to the strike, while the pitch is taken on the plane of the dip, in the direction of the strike. Thus, for example, in a vein or bed striking N-S., and dipping, say, 45' E., there might be an ore-body, the axis of which pitched northward, at an angle of 45O below the horizontal line, as measured on the plane of the inclosing vein or bed. If' the term " pitch " had this universally recognized meaning, the situation could be simply and perfectly expressed by its use, in connection with the general data of strike and dip. As Professor Louis says: "This suggestion has a certain practical value, and is not merely academic. Every mining engineer of practical experience in such types of ore-deposit will have met with cases, in which a vertical shaft has been sunk with the object of cutting the deposit, but has missed it, because the dip alone has been taken into account, while the pitch has been overlooked." He adds the acute observation that such an oversight is much likelier to occur with regard to a condition not definitely desig-

Jan 1, 1909

By Erminio Ferraris

The development of the mining industry in Sardinia dates from the application of the mining law of 1859, which, following the example of the French mining law of 1810, declared prospecting to be free, and suppressed the liens which had previously attached the mine to surface ownership. The first ore-dressing plants were installed by German engineers upon the classic models of the Harz and of Freiberg; but in 1880 Sardinia commenced to open a new path in that industry, utilizing the refuse from the mining of rich, selected minerals, of poor deposits, and of mixed ores. The first experiments were attempte to adapt the existing apparatus to local conditions, but progress was rapid, as was demonstrated already in 1887 by the calamine-dressing mill of Monte-poni, which exhibited a large plant designed in accordance with the experience gained, and constructed entirely in the machine-shops of the country, after new models and designs.' This example was followed two years later by the Sociékté Malfidano, with a large plant of the same sort, and with the reconstruction of the old-fashioned dressing-mill, built in 1880 by the Austro-Belgian Company. In 1900, almost all the mines of Sardinia had adopted the new designs, and the island contained 32 concen-trating-works, employing 2,000 h.p. and 1,924 workmen. Since that time, there have been added a large dressing-mill for blende at Gennamari, and two for calamine, at San Giovanni and at Masua, while the establishments at other mines have been enlarged and perfected. For the treatment of intimately mixed ores, a large establishment has been built upon the new

Jan 1, 1909

Jan 1, 1909

Jan 1, 1909

IN dealing with this subject the intention is not to write a detailed description of the various methods in vogue on the Kalgoorlie field, but rather to give a brief outline of three of the methods which are most universally in force, and from which, ultimately, a few comparisons may be drawn. The three methods which the writer proposes embodying in this article are known as "The Rill," "The Flatback," and "The Shrinkage." For comparative purposes each method will be applied to a block of ore 500 feet in length, and opened up by levels 200 feet apart."The Rin" System. It is necessary in this system, for facilitating mullocking, to make connections between levels by rising and winzing at about every 100 feet or 150 feet along the orebody. After the leading stope is beaten off for the full length ofthe drive, the level is timbered. Single stulls are put in up to a width of fourteen feet. If the span is too great for stulls, set timbers or saddleback stuUs are used. Stulls are lagged over with 4-in gimlet poles, and wooden chutes are built at intervals of 50-feet. Ore passes are cribbed up through the filling directly above each chute, and are constructed of 7-in. round timber or 9 in x 3 in square timber, the passes measuring 4 ft x 4 ft in the clear.Occasionally a double pass may be carried up, one side serving as a travelling way. Stoping is commenced off the winzes, and rills are gradually formed, one on either end of each winze. The rills are generally at an angle of 37° off the horizontal, this allowing for the boring...

Jan 1, 1909