Search Documents

South Africa remains the largest global producer of gold, accounting for 11.3 per cent of total world mine production, which amounted to 2520.2 t in 2005. The benefits and disadvantages associated with hedging practices in general, and among South African gold producers is examined. The wide variety and unique nature of risks faced by the mining industries provide a strong case for hedging. Only the principles of hedging, such as selling ounces of gold in the ground at a pre-agreed price for delivery at a future date as a cost-effective mechanism for price risk management, is discussed. Progressive and cumulative increases in the volume of forward sales in the major producing countries are considered by many to be the cause of the declining gold price over the past decade. In spite of negative publicity, forward selling continued as an industry-wide practice until recently (2002) when the global hedge book contracted by 352 t; contraction amounted to 158.6 t in first quarter of 2006. The objectives and benefits of hedging include continuity and stability of cash flows, stability in price achieved, reduction of frictional costs, and creating an effective management tool. The importance of a defined hedging strategy in reducing uncertainty about the hedging objectives is essential to a successful hedging policy. Historical patterns in hedging revenues at an industry level indicate five distinct periods during which the fortunes of hedgers have fluctuated. Finally, since 2001 the rising gold price and reduced price volatility through the consolidation in the global price means that the need to stabilize revenue flows is less urgent. This has meant that hedging is becoming progressively less important for the mining industry at large.

Jan 1, 2007

By L. B. Pankratz

The heat contents of the sesquioxides of erbium, holmium, thulium, and ytterbium (Er203, Ho203, Tm203, and Yb203) in the cubic crystalline form were measured over the temperature range from 298° to 1,800° K. The erbium and holmium sesquioxides gave regular heat content-temperature curves. Thulium sesquioxide had a minor thermal anomaly near 1,680° K, with a heat absorption of 310 cal/mole; similarly, ytterbium sesquioxide had a minor anomaly near 1,365° K, with a heat absorption of 150 cal/mole. The heat content results are presented in both tabular form (at 100° intervals) and in algebraic form. Entropy increments, corresponding to the tabulated heat content results, also are listed.

Jan 1, 1963

By Henry A. Wriedt, John Chipman

Equilibrium in the reaction of hydrogen gas with oxygen in liquid nickel, iron, and their alloys has been studied at temperatures of 1500° to 1700°C. The equilibrium con^stant, 0/p, [% O], is greater in nickel then in iron by a factor of 45 at 1594 C. In the alloy steel range, the activity coefficient of oxygen is slightly increased by the presence of nickel. NICKEL is more resistant to oxidation than is iron, in both the solid and the liquid state. The solubility of oxygen,' however, is greater in nickel than in iron. The two metals and their liquid alloys constitute an interesting series of solvents in which the chemical behavior of oxygen can be studied by methods similar to those used for liquid iron.' Experimental Method The furnace assembly, including the tube for preheating the entrant gas, was the same as that described by Gokcen and Chipman. " controlled mixture of water vapor, hydrogen, and argon preheated to approximately the melt temperature impinged upon the surface of the liquid metal. The charge, weighing about 35 g, was held in an alumina crucible at constant temperature in the gas stream for a prolonged period, then quenched in a stream of cold helium, sampled, and analyzed for oxygen by the vacuum fusion method. The temperature of the liquid metal was measured by a Leeds and Northrup optical pyrometer which had been checked against a similar instrument certified by the National Bureau of Standards. The freezing point of electrolytic iron in hydrogen, taken as 153j°C, was used for frequent checks. This point and the emissivity determined by Dastur and Gokcen" established the transmissivity of the optical system. The emissivities of Fe-Ni alloys at 1535" are known from the experiments of Smith and Chipman,h nd it was assumed that the variation with temperature is parallel with that of iron. Recorded temperatures are probably accurate within k5"C. Preparation of Gas Mixtures—Since the ratio H,O:H, had to be much higher for nickel than for iron, it was found convenient to construct two separate systems for gas preparation. In both cases, the ratio of argon to the sum of the other two gases was at least 4, the proportion of hydrogen and water vapor being varied to produce H,O:H, ratios from 0.2 to 70. The primary purpose of the argon was to diminish the errors caused by thermal separation' in the gas phase. In addition, its presence lowered the saturation temperature required for a given H,O:H, ratio and minimized the difficulty of preventing condensation. Both systems were modifications of the one used by Dastur and Chipman.' For H,O:HI ratios greater than 2, welding-grade argon purified by passage over magnesium chips at 620°C was mixed with hydrogen produced in the electrolytic cell shown in Fig. 1. The design was based on a cell used by Bodenstein and Pohl," the important features of which area nickel wire cathode and sodium hydroxide solution as the electrolyte. The rate of hydrogen evolution was controlled by a calibrated ammeter and a rheostat in the circuit, the current efficiency being taken as 100 pct. Precise control of the argon flow rate at about 300 ml per min was achieved by means of a capillary flowmeter having a controlled pressure drop. The molar flow rate was measured volumetrically before each run, and a constant flowmeter setting was maintained thereafter. The A-H, mixture passed through a water saturator of the type previously described," the saturation temperature being maintained automatically with a fluctuation of k0.04"C. The tube between saturator and furnace was heated by a resistance winding. The system was of all Pyrex construction with the exception of the stainless steel tube containing magnesium chips. This was connected with the glass tubing at the upstream end by

Jan 1, 1957

By R. E. Musgrove

At the present time Climax Uranium Company recovers vanadium oxide from carnotite type uranium ores in the mill at Grand Junction, Colorado, The flowsheet of this mill is shown in Figure I. Vanadium is solubilized by a salt roast of the slime fraction of the ore and dissolution is accomplished by a water leach. The metal is precipitated from the pregnant liquor as sodium polyvanadate by heating to boiling and adjusting the pH to 3 with sulfuric acid. The sodium polyvanadate, commonly called, "red caken, is filtered, melted, and cast into thin flakes. This fused flaked vanadium oxide is the material which is packaged for sale. Fused vanadium oxide, marketed by Climax, contains approximately 87% V205, 7% alkali oxide, 0.08% sulfur, 0.03% phosphorus, and less than 0.5% Insoluble. This material is of a lower grade and has a higher alkali oxide content than other vanadium products offered for sale at this time. A typical analysis of a high grade vanadium oxide currently offered for sale by another company is 98% V205, 1 - 2% alkali oxide, less than 0.05% sulfur and less than 0.2% Insoluble. The only reagent consumed in the precipitation of the sodium polyvanadate is sulphuric acid. The total reagent cost is 0.58 cents per pound of vanadium oxide produced.

Jan 1, 1958

By Theron Wasson

The state of Michigan showed considerable activity during 1935. The center of greatest interest was the Crystal field, which was unknown until March, 1935, and is an illustration of the effect of the unknown and unexpected on Michigan oil development. The fields of the state (Fig. 1) produced a total of 15,770,000 bbl. of oil in 1935, or about 5 million more than in 1934. In order to keep up this production 307 new oil wells were drilled, of which 88 were in the Crystal area, which produced 3,600,000 bbl. This field had a rapid development and reached its peak in October. Since that time increasing water encroachment has caused a rapid decline. The pay horizon at the top of the Monroe dolomite is only a few feet thick. Big producers were offset by dry holes or small wells. The discovery well, which was in section 11, Crystal township, Montcalm County, was drilled March 28, 1935. Its initial production was 5000 bbl. per day, and up to Dec. 31, 1935, had produced 350,000 bbl. of oil—dose to one-tenth of the total production of the field to that date. The Beaverton field, which was discovered at the close of 1934, did not develop rapidly. Four small producers were finished in the Dundee lime during the year. West Branch was active and at the end of the year had 97 producers, 72 of which were drilled during 1935. Most of the wells produce from the Dundee lime; a few are finished in the Traverse. The Birch Run field deserves special mention, for it is the one area where consistent production continues to be found in the Berea sand at about 1500 ft. Wells are small, 20 now producing a total of about 300 bbl. per day of oil of fine quality. The old Central Michigan producing area, extending from Nit,. Pleasant through Yost to Porter, continued to be the principal producing area of the state and accounted for 10,370,000 bbl. from 660 producing wells. Ninety-three new wells were drilled in this territory. The Porter field, at the southeast end of this producing trend, was outstanding from the standpoint of production. The old Leaton field of Isabella County added several new producers. Its production was greater than in 1934.

Jan 1, 1936

By Theron Wasson

The state of Michigan showed considerable activity during 1935. The center of greatest interest was the Crystal field, which was unknown until March, 1935, and is an illustration of the effect of the unknown and unexpected on Michigan oil development. The fields of the state (Fig. 1) produced a total of 15,770,000 bbl. of oil in 1935, or about 5 million more than in 1934. In order to keep up this production 307 new oil wells were drilled, of which 88 were in the Crystal area, which produced 3,600,000 bbl. This field had a rapid development and reached its peak in October. Since that time increasing water encroachment has caused a rapid decline. The pay horizon at the top of the Monroe dolomite is only a few feet thick. Big producers were offset by dry holes or small wells. The discovery well, which was in section 11, Crystal township, Montcalm County, was drilled March 28, 1935. Its initial production was 5000 bbl. per day, and up to Dec. 31, 1935, had produced 350,000 bbl. of oil—dose to one-tenth of the total production of the field to that date. The Beaverton field, which was discovered at the close of 1934, did not develop rapidly. Four small producers were finished in the Dundee lime during the year. West Branch was active and at the end of the year had 97 producers, 72 of which were drilled during 1935. Most of the wells produce from the Dundee lime; a few are finished in the Traverse. The Birch Run field deserves special mention, for it is the one area where consistent production continues to be found in the Berea sand at about 1500 ft. Wells are small, 20 now producing a total of about 300 bbl. per day of oil of fine quality. The old Central Michigan producing area, extending from Nit,. Pleasant through Yost to Porter, continued to be the principal producing area of the state and accounted for 10,370,000 bbl. from 660 producing wells. Ninety-three new wells were drilled in this territory. The Porter field, at the southeast end of this producing trend, was outstanding from the standpoint of production. The old Leaton field of Isabella County added several new producers. Its production was greater than in 1934.

Jan 1, 1936

By Matheus Teixeira Fraga

Esse trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar os fenômenos termoplásticos de carvões coqueificáveis e sua relação com o tamanho de partícula. Para isso, dois carvões americanos e um de origem nacional foram amostrados, caracterizados e separados em três tamanhos de partículas. Após a preparação das matérias-primas, ensaios termogravimétricos, de dilatometria e plastometria foram realizados a partir dos diferentes tamanhos de partícula. Os ensaios termoplásticos mostraram que o carvão nacional apresentou propriedades plásticas extremamente desenvolvidas e que a granulometria não afeta essas propriedades. No entanto, para os carvões americanos de alto e médio volátil diferenças importantes foram observadas, que indicam uma redução das propriedades termoplásticas com a diminuição do tamanho de partícula.

Oct 30, 2017

By Ashok K. Sinha

The quasi-binary systems "VFe3"—VCo,—VNi,— "VCu3"and "TiFe3"—TiCo3,—TiNi3-"TiCu3"have been studied by a combination of microscopic and X-ray methods. Of the Phases encountered, eleven had close-packed ordered layer structures. Within each system, there is an approximately linear variation of the degree of hexagonality of the stacking arrangement with electron concentration, e/a. A study of eighty -four known examples of AB3 structures in transition metal alloys indicates that at e/a = 8.65 the ordered structure of the close -packed layers changes from "triangular" (AuCu3 type) to "rectangular" (SbCu3 type). At e/a < 8.65, the slope of hexagonality us e/a line increases with the group number of the A component. An interesting series of close-packed ordered structures is known to exist at the composition AB3; however, their alloy chemistry has not yet been fully understood. Dwight and Beck1 observed a correlation between position of the components in the periodic table and the type of crystal structure of the binary AB2 structures formed by transition metals. No consistent effect due to atomic size was noted and they proposed that electron concentration* predominates in In the present paper, the AB3 structures are characterized by a symbol describing the stacking and a symbol specifying the ordered layer. The stacking symbol used was introduced by Zhdanov,7 and later used in the International Tables,8 and by Beck9 in his survey of possible layer stacking structures. Alternating positive and negative integers are used to represent the number of positive (e.g., in abcabc...) and negative (e.g., in cbacba...) stacking sequences. T denotes the triangular ordering found in close-packed planes of the AuCu3 structure and R the rectangular ordering found in close-packed planes of the SbCu3 structure, Figs. 3(a) and (b). The present structure symbols are listed in Table I alongside the prototypes, where known, and other structural characteristics of AB3 phases found in the present investigation. EXPERIMENTAL The starting materials were metals of 99.9+ purity. The alloys were prepared by arc melting under argon atmosphere using a nonconsumable tungsten electrode and water-cooled copper hearth. The total weight loss upon melting and subsequent annealing was always less than 0.5 pct and hence the alloys will be referred to by their intended (unanalyzed) compositions. The alloys were homogenized and annealed at suitable temperatures in the range 750" to 1200°C, the annealing periods varying from 3 days at 1200°C to 10 days at 750°C. The heat treatments were carried out in sealed silica capsules under argon atmosphere and with a molybdenum foil cover between the alloy and the walls of the capsule. The quenched alloys were microscopically examined and reduced to powder by crushing or filing. The powders were, whenever necessary, given a stress-relieving anneal at the original annealing temperature. X-ray powder patterns were obtained with an asymmetrical focusing camera, a Guinier-deWolff focusing camera, or a Debye-Scherrer camera. Cr, Co, or Cu radiations were used. In some cases, to ensure the minimum degree of contamination, the deeply etched specimens were mounted in the asymmetrical focusing camera to obtain an X-ray pattern. Internal silicon standards were employed for lattice parameter determinations. The intensity calculations were made by using a Fortran IV program

Jan 1, 1970

By V. T. McLemore

Rare earth elements (REE) are becoming more important in our society. REE deposits are found throughout NM. Some REE past production (1950s), as bastnaesite, came from the Gallinas Mountains district, Lincoln County, NM. Several companies and the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) have conducted exploration programs to identify REE potential. Four types of deposits are found in the district: epithermal REE-F veins, Cu-REE-F veins, REE-F breccia pipe and iron skarn deposits; all are associated with Tertiary peraluminous, alkaline to alkalic-calcic volcanic rocks. District zonation is defined by base metals (REE-F-Cu veins) that form center of the district, surrounded by REE-F veins. The magmatic-hydrothermal breccia pipe deposits form a belt partially surrounding the veins. Iron skarns formed at the top and edge of the trachyte intrusion and are likely the earliest stage of mineralization. In 1991-1992, USBM calculated an inferred resource of 0.487 million metric tons with a grade of 2.95% total REE. With the projected increase in demand of REE, areas such as the Gallinas Mountains district in New Mexico are being re-examined for additional REE potential.

Jan 1, 2011

By Timothy Fogarty, Gregory Poole, Roger Reeder, David Switz

This project involved the construction of a new pump station and intake structure at an existing water treatment facility. Although the project involved a significant amount of rock removal, the specifications said no blasting.

Jan 1, 2012

The Bagdad mill, built in 1977, was de-signed for a mill capacity of 36,300 tpd. An ABC (Autogenous Mill-Ball Mill-Crusher) grinding circuit was chosen. The original mill contained three completely independent grinding circuits, each containing one 9.75 m diameter by 3.96 m long fixed speed autogenous mill, one 4.72 m diameter by 6.71 m long ball mill and one 2.13 m diameter short-head cone crusher. Total installed power per grinding circuit was 8,464 kw with 5,966 kw in the autogenous mill, 2,237 kw in the ball mill and 261 kw in the crusher. (See FIGURE I--Major Equipment Flow Diagram.) The autogenous mills were designed to be able to operate semi-autogenously but were never converted to SAG. As a result of this design, only about 4,100 kw of the designed power is utilized in the autogenous mills. The grinding circuits are closed with 2.44 m by 6.10 m double deck vibrating screens. Screen oversize is returned, by a series of conveyors, underneath the mill coarse ore stockpile to feed the crushers. Variable speed belts feed the crushers and control power draw. Crusher product reports directly to the tail end of the autogenous mill feed belt. (See FIGURE 2--Typical Crusher Feed and Product Size Distributions.) Tramp iron in the autogenous mill-crusher circuit is handled in a unique way. A magnetic sensor detects the metal. This closes a gate which directs the crusher feed onto a separate belt which bypasses the crusher and returns the material to the autogenous mill feed belt.

Jan 1, 1992

By P. W. Erickson

Development of the Twin Buttes mine entailed the largest known preproduction stripping job in the history of mining. It linked earthmovers and conveyor belts in a new approach to development of a pit that may reach, or even exceed, dimensions of 1 x 1-1/2 miles at the surface and go as deep as 1800 feet. The orebody to be stripped was covered by an average of 460 feet of alluvial gravels, which presented an initial stripping job of great magnitude. The initial pit layout and the original time schedule established early in 1965 called for the excavation and disposal of about 250,000,000 tons of alluvial overburden before the end of 1969. Allowing about a year for equipment delivery, this schedule left four years to do the job averaging about 62-1/2 million tons per year. In 1964 when The Anaconda Company undertook the development of Twin Buttes, it was recognized that special planning was necessary for the disposal of waste material and tailings. Environ- mental control was a prime consideration and is particularly sensitive in the Twin Buttes area due to the proximity to residential developments. Disposal of the 250,000,000 tons of alluvium, as well as future rock and tailing waste material, presented a problem which Anaconda engineers resolved by designing a plan to spread out much of the alluvium over an extended area, including a massive 11- 1/2 mile dike system which will impound mill tailing in three basins. The tailing will be impounded behind these-dikes to avoid wind exposure and blowing. The dikes also serve as a

Jan 1, 1974

By Douglas J. Lacke

1974 marked the start of a new era for Climax Molybdenum Co., a division of AMAX, with the initiation of an open pit operation above the existing successful underground block panel caving mine. A number of problems posed a challenge to the Climax open pit. Highly fractured rock, old mine workings, permafrost, and more than 7.6 m/a (300") of snowfall forced changes in normal operations. Final pit wall design was altered. Production bench heights were lessened due to old workings. These and other modifications contribute to a highly successful open pit operation.

Jan 1, 1981

THE Rocky MountainClub brought into the East the spirit of the West; the impulse to build, to develop, to accept unquestion-ingly the comradeship and help of any straight shooter who had it in him to accom-plish things and a will to work. That this was the spirit of the Club was due to its leaders. It was their spirit and they attracted around them men of the same stamp. Among those who made the Club what it was no one had larger in-low fluence than William Boyce Thompson, the vice-president and chief of financial staff. It was characteristic of him that the same financial genius that was employed in building up Nevada Consolidated, In-spiration, Magma, Texas Gulf, and as director of the Metro-politan Life and the Federal Reserve Bank, was freely placed at the service of the Club. It was equally char- acteristic that the generosity that financed the Red Cross Mission to Russia inspired the use of the Club funds for Belgian and war relief. "W. B.," as he is known to his many friends, was born at Virginia City in Alder Gulch, Mont., on May 13, 1869. His father, William Thompson, born at Cobourg, Ont., had drifted into the old Northwest and, hearing at Yankton of the gold strike at Bannack, crossed the plains on the Oregon trail in the summer of 1863, arriv-ing in Alder Gulch at the inception of a mining boom that lasted several years, during which something like $60,000,000 in gold was yielded by the placer diggings. His mother was a daughter of Maj. James R. Boyce, Sr., from Logan County, Ky., who had served under General Sterling Price of the Confederate Army. Major Boyce&apos;s ancestors were early settlers of the Old Dominion, and his grandfather had seen military service in the war for American independence. Major Boyce&apos;s mother was a descendant of the Marshall and Smith families of Westmoreland County, Va. When Thompson was eleven years old, the family moved to Butte, then a silver camp. He attended the public schools of Butte, but desiring a better education, entered Phillips Exeter Academy and later the Colum-bia School of Mines. Returning West, for a year or two he ran the Boulder Chief mine near Basin, Mont., which earned him a sobriquet, "Boulder Thompson." While here, some old ore sacks, oil-soaked, introduced him to flotation. He was also the first to leach some of the ore dumps of Butte.

Jan 4, 1928

By T. Sterry Hunt

AT the meeting of the Institute in Easton, October, 1873, I made a communication on the Ore Knob copper mine, in Ashe County, North Carolina (Transactions, vol. ii, p. 123), in which I called attention to the chemical decomposition alike of the pyritous lode and the inclosing gneiss rock to a depth of 60 feet, by which the feldspar of the latter had been converted into clay, and the whole rock very much softened. Such a decomposition is well known to be almost universal in the crystalline rocks of the Appalachians south of the Potomac ; and if it is only seen in rare and exceptional cases farther to the northward, this, as I have elsewhere pointed out, is due to the fact that the decomposition began and ended in the ages anterior to the drift period, and that the decayed portions which still remained were at that time removed from the surface, except in some localities which were protected from the eroding agency. I have lately had an opportunity of studying a remarkable instance of this kind in an examination made last month for the corporators of the Hoosac Tunnel.* The locality is at the western base of Hoosac Mountain, the western slope of which rises rapidly 1300 feet above the town of North Adams, in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, itself 700 feet above the sea level. Through this mountain, as is well known, a tunnel for the Troy and Boston Railroad has lately been opened, a distance of 25,081 feet from east to west. The rock of the mountain consists of mica schist and micaceous gneiss, including in its western half a great mass of harder feldspathic and quartzose strata in part a granitoid gneiss, the strata for the most part dipping to the eastward with variable angles, but with occasional western dips, apparently due to inversion. The crystalline strata of the mountain crest and sides are in many places exposed, and present rounded surfaces, often deeply grooved and striated, but with no appearance of decay. At the western base of the mountain, however, the gneissic rock is in a state of complete decomposition, which was well displayed in opening the tunnel, which, for a distance of several hundred feet, was driven through highly inclined strata so much decomposed that they were excavated with pick and shovel, and without the aid of blast- * See, for a detailed account of this examination, Dr. Hunt&apos;s report, published by the General Court of Massachusetts in House Document No. 9, 1875.

Jan 1, 1875

By C. E. Shoenfelt, D. E. Winchester

NO important discoveries of petroleum during 1933 were reported from New Mexico. Lea and Eddy counties were the centers of activity during the drilling season and each had a number of interesting completions. The Hobbs pool, in Lea County, was definitely outlined on the east, north and northwest. Under an agreement reached last summer by state officials and operators, the Hobbs pool was continued under proration throughout the year. One hundred eighty-four units of 40 acres each were being produced at the end of 1933. The allowable was 21,306 bbl. daily at the beginning of 1933, but when the agreement was revised in the spring the minimum was raised to 30,000 bbl., and by the end of the year had been raised to 33,473 bbl. At present the field is being prorated on the basis of 25 per cent on acreage and 75 per cent on potentials except in the southwestern edge of the field, where water encroachment is a problem. In this area the basis of proration is 40 per cent on acreage and 60 per cent on potentials. A corrective method employed in this part of the field has been partly successful. The water is advancing in the upper part of the pay, a dolomitic limestone, and in a number of instances packers have been set in the pay below the water and above the oil. The locating of a satisfactory seat for a packer is difficult and in some instances has not been a complete success. Pipe line runs from the field during the year aggregated 11,413,218 bbl., bringing the total gross production up to 41,093,681 bbl., of which 39,000,-000 bbl. has been produced under proration, which went into effect on July 10, 1930. On Nov. 30, potentials were determined on the assigned pressure basis and the total was reduced 71,165 bbl. daily, to 1,265,-332 barrels. The outstanding completions in the Hobbs pool were three in number, of which the best was the Humble Oil & Refining Company&apos;s No. 3B Bowers in sec. 20, 18S., 38E., with an initial production of 11,664 bbl. of oil and 10,000,000 cu. ft. of gas. The Shell Petroleum Company&apos;s No. 4B McKinley, in the same section, produced at the rate of 22,940 bbl. of oil while flowing open, but when tubed, flowed at the rate of 6610 bbl. The third outstanding well, No. 4 Hardin of the Tidal Oil Co., and located in

Jan 1, 1934

By John C. Smock

THE question of the proper valuation of mines of iron ore was suggested to me by the difficulties experienced in getting answers for the United States Census Office, while I was engaged in the work of collecting the statistics of mines in New Jersey and New York The answers to the questions relating to values of real estate of mine properties varied so greatly that it was necessary to revise them according to some general principles of valuation. Generally the returns of mine proprietors Seemed to be too low. There were, however, examples of what would be termed excessive valuation. The Subject appeared to be of practical importance, and led to the paper here presented. The following table of selected mine statistics is given, prefacing the discussion of the principles of valuation. It is in part made up of census returns and partly of data obtained directly from mine owners and managers. The mines which were Selected for the Several groups and mining districts include nearly all of those from Which the more full and carefully filled returns were received, and are also representative of their respective districts. Hence the averages obtained from them become good types of these groups or districts. The mines of New Jersey appear in Six groups, each containing from three to eleven mines, or, in all, thirty-four mines. The magnetic iron ores of New York are in four well-marked groups, and there are twenty-six mines in them. Then follow the red hematite mines of St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties; and, lastly, the brown hematite groups of Dutchess and Columbia counties, and those of the adjacent parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts. The whole number of mines represented by the table is eighty-eight, of which twenty-eight are hematite mines. The first column gives the value of the real estate; the second that of the plant; the third is the sum of these two, or the capital invested. Then follow the number of men employed, the amount of wages paid during the census year, and the value of materials used in mining and preparing the ores for market.* The seventh column gives the total expendi- * The value of materials is somewhat uncertain in many cases, as royalties are included under this head. Likewise, under wages, the cost of explosives and light is often included. Hence it is impossible to draw the line sharply between these items of expenditure.

Jan 1, 1882

By Thomas Clagett

THE Pocahontas coal field comprises the area in Tazewell County, Va., and Mercer and McDowell Counties, W. Va., in which Nos. 3 and 4 Pocahontas seams of bituminous coal are mined. It is a mountainous region with ridges rising 300 to 1000 ft. (91 to 305m.) above the very narrow valleys and, except for some poorly kept farms along the tops of the ridges and the area occupied by the mining and coking plants and villages, is wooded throughout. First shipments were made from Pocahontas in 1883. There are now, about 100 mines, 95 per cent. of which are drift mines. At the end of 1920, approximately 298,000,000 gross tons of coal had been produced and 35,000 acres of coal mined. No. 3 seam is from 4 to 10 ft. (1.2 to 3 m.) thick, but the change is gradual and the thickness fairly uniform in any particular locality. It has a streak of bone, about 2 in. (5 cm.) thick, io which the coal adheres on both sides. In parts of the field this bone is replaced by hard slate, usually from 2 to 4 in. thick. The seam has a slate or fireclay bottom and a draw-slate top. No. 4 seam is from 65 to 80 ft. (19.8 to 24 m.) above No. 3 seam, and of minable section only in the western part of the field. It is from 3 to 8 ft. thick and has two streaks off bone, each from 1 to 2 in. thick. It has a fireclay or slate bottom and is overlaid by from 4 to 24 in. of a laminated coal and slate, locally termed "black rash," which is separated from the coal seam by about 3 in. of slate. This "black rash" averages about 25 per cent. ash, but contains some clean coal. The coal in both seams is quite soft. Cleavage sufficiently well defined to exert an influence on the mining is rare. Overlying strata are slates, shales, and sandstones, the sandstones predominating, extending from .30 to 1000 ft. above No. 3 seam. The strata directly above the. draw slate of No. 3 seam, or "black rash" of No., 4 seam, and up to the first sandstone are usually slates or shales, about 10 ft. thick over the

Jan 5, 1922

By W. Bakiewicz

The Lower Indus Basin deposits form a substantial unconfined alluvial aquifer of excellent quality. This aquifer contains basically highly saline groundwater, overlain in places by considerable amounts of freshwater whose origin can be traced to the present and historical courses of the River Indus. In the past the main source of groundwater recharge has been direct river seepage and water tables were generally deep. Since the establishment of a perennial irrigation regime however, deep percolation from the increased irrigation supplies has predominated and the water-table has risen to within a few feet of the surface. The river system itself is being progressively developed for irrigation and very shortly a situation will arise where the entire low winter flow will be utilised. Fresh groundwater will then be exploited to supplement the surface supplies, and at the same time a drainage system, mainly based on wells will be used to stabilise the water-table at safe depths. This paper discusses some of the methods used to ensure optimum-economic development of the fresh groundwater and describes the general design philosophy evolved by the authors firms for both irrigation and drainage wells, with respect to both well configuation and operation. Water quality standards are discussed in as much as they affect subsequent use of the groundwater. A few particular aspects are considered, including that of the values of the relevant aquifer constants, the construction of wells and the determination of screen losses. A major problem solved during the Lower Indus Project investigations has been the design of wells to-produce fresh water from layers overlying saline water. This solution is also discussed.

Jan 1, 1967

By D. A. Donato

It is often necessary for a mining company to extract coal from a seam underlying a previously mined coal seam. The impact of the overlying mine workings on the stress distribution within the underlying mine workings is very difficult to assess without the use of numerical modeling techniques. This paper demonstrates the usefulness of applying numerical modeling to evaluate alternate startup-room locations for a longwall panel considering the effects of multiple seam interaction. MULSIMIPC, a code adapted by the former U. S. Bureau of Mines, was used to compare stress patterns in two proposed startup-room locations. These model results were not only compared to each other, but also to results from a model with no overlying mine workings to provide baseline criteria for evaluation of the two proposed startup-room locations. The numerical modeling study was successful in providing useful information to the coal company and the regulatory agency (MSHA), resulting in a mine design that was both safe and efficient, and prevented the sterilization of a large volume of coal reserves.

Jan 1, 1996