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By Henry N. Toler

Oil and gas development in Mississippi during 1936 was about the same as during the past three or four years, with less drilling activity in the proven fields; although at the end of the year there was a decided increase in interest and activity. Jackson Gas Field Six wells were drilled in the Jackson gas field, three of which were producers and three dry holes. The gas production for 1936 was 12,968,-000,000 cu. ft., which is 2,500,000,000 cu. ft. more than for any previous year. The total gas production from the field to the end of 1936 has been 58,092,000,000 cubic feet. Thirteen producing gas wells were abandoned during the year because of encroachment of salt water. At present there are 99 producing gas wells in the field. The three oil wells on the edge of the field, which had been producing, were not produccd during 1936, although they are still capable of making some oil with much salt water. The rock pressure at the end of the year was 930 lb., which is a decline of 80 Ib. since the discovery of the field. In March of 1936, the State Legislature appropriated $115,000 to be used by the State Mineral Lease Commission in drilling some gas wells

Jan 1, 1937

By B. Fagerberg, P. H. Fahlstrom

Crushing and grinding practice in Sweden follows closely the international pattern. Certain special circumstances, however, have had an influence on its development. Most mines are worked underground. These mines are either quite small or very large. Sulfide ores are commonly treated by custom milling and, apart from the cement industry, the rock species treated are hard and abrasive. Another important factor is the increasingly strict requirements placed on the mechanical condition of different products, especially lump ores and coarse iron-ore concentrates. Increasing requirements are being placed on the concentrate grade to suit the new steel processes. As a result, iron ore beneficiation has expanded considerably for the production of fine pelletizing concentrates. This applies especially to magnetite ores in the intermediate phosphorus range 0.1-1% P. In 1969, about 5.5 million tons of pellets will be manufactured. It should be pointed out, however, that fairly large quantities of coarse products are still being made at mills where the right conditions are available. Crushing and grinding is also of great importance in the production of rich concentrates at high recovery from sulfide ores. In fact, a large part of the development work on the concentration of sulfide ores has been devoted to the crushing and grinding processes. Boliden has played an important role in this connection.

Jan 10, 1969

By A. Bruce Matthews

Of the many opportunities in the mining industry to invest funds to improve operations, there is always some limit in every company as to how much can be spent each year for the acquisition of capital assets. Generally, there are many more opportunities for investment than funds to make the investments. As such, one of management's goals is to select the most profitable of all the opportunities available. Each opportunity must be carefully analyzed for its potential percentage rate of return. This percentage return or return on investment concept is an accepted financial yardstick of business profit- ability. For today's mining engineers, this problem resolves itself in the job of determining how to in- vest most productively the cash that is flowing from their operations so that it will multiply in value. There are four basic types of capital investments: Strategic investments, such as selecting a plant site, are those that affect virtually all long-run plans of a company. Change in a company's product line and expansion of company facilities are two other types of capital investments.

Jan 3, 1963

By Kendall Y. Keuhey

The Mercur Mine, developed and operated by Getty Mining Company, is designed to process 3,000 tons/day of gold ore from the historic Mercur Hill mining district. The mill process involves crushing, grinding, and cyanide carbon-in-leach for recovery of gold from ores ranging from 0.08 to 0.10 oz/ton. During the mining of normal grade ore, a substantial tonnage of material containing 0.02 to 0.05 oz/ton is mined and would be available for heap leaching. Also, Getty Mining is developing methods to test and prepare lower grade material for heap leaching by rejecting a coarse rock fraction from the grinding SAG mill circuit. This lower grade fraction is suitable for heap leaching, and its removal will upgrade the regular mill feed. Other test methods are directed toward leaching techniques on some 4.0 million tons of tailings that resulted from roasting and/or cyanide leaching Mercur ores in the early 1900's. The natural carbons associated with the Mercur deposits require special treatment to reduce their gold adsorption effects when leached with cyanide.

Jan 1, 1984

By R. H. Frank

IN the investigation of the effect of the time of heat on slag volume, no attempt was made to vary the usual practice at the Bonney-Floyd Co., such as selecting special-purchase scrap or cleaning foundry returns. The data were collected from seven normal heats, including four medium carbon, two medium manganese-molybdenum and one nickel-chrome-molybdenum. These heats were made with our normal practice and no special instructions were given the melters except to make sure that all slag-making materials were weighed and that no slag was lost during the melting, refining or tapping. After the stopper was set in the ladle, it was carefully weighed and the heat was tapped. As soon as the heat was slagged on the pouring floor, the nozzle was plugged with mud, to preclude the possibility of losing any slag while the ladle was being conveyed to the scales. The ladle, containing all of the slag, was weighed and the difference between this weight and the original weight was taken as the slag weight.

Jan 1, 1947

Assaying, mineralogy, and geology appear in ancient records as early as mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Agricola was the first author to unify the earth sciences, the mineral extractive industries and the mineral processing industries. His text, De Re Metallica, published in Latin in 1556, is recognized as the first technical literature. In 1702 mining instruction was started at Freiberg, Germany. The purpose of this school was to train skilled workers, a program corresponding to present-day, on-job, vocational-technical, upgrading extension training. Formal instruction in mining engineering began at Schemnitz, Hungary, in 1763, at Freiberg, Germany, in 1766, and at St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1773. It is interesting to note that these three schools initiated instruction in mining engineering before formal instruction in civil engineering began at Paris, France, in 1775. Early mining engineering, 1763-1900, was expected to cover all eventualities in the mineral industries. Optional curricula were offered early in the 20th Century but did not reach into all branches until after World War I. Specialization crystallized during World War II under three organic units: (1) Earth Sciences; (2) Mineral Engineering; (3) Mineral Technology, the three together constituting the mineral arts and sciences of the modern world (Fig. 10).

Jan 1, 1950

Ocean environmental factors are an intriguing new set of parameters to be dealt with in the prospecting and exploration phases of resource development for both the continental margins and the deep ocean. While information and data gathering programs for ocean minerals would parallel onshore procedures, their costs generally run higher. Commercial Prospecting-Identification of Mining Sites Two modes of prospecting can be identified-commercia1 prospecting (in which the ultimate objective is to define potential mining sites), and scientific prospecting, which is conducted with different objectives in mind. For ocean exploration, both types of prospecting are carried out prior to the obtaining of any exclusive rights to explore and exploit a specific deposit. Deepsea's John Flipse adds: "Any commercial prospecting program should by its very nature require the freedom to search wherever minerals might occur with maximum flexibility."

Jan 4, 1975

By E. D. Meier

SINCE Dr. St. Albans, in 1840, began to build successful watertube boilers—some of which are still in use—the gravity-return water-tube boiler has been built in many forms, more or less familiar to all who have studied the subject. A single firm in this country published recently a pamphlet, showing some fourteen modifications of their boiler during about as many years. There were hence available to the thoughtful inventor of this latest form many data showing what forms were to be avoided, as well as the effects sure to follow certain erroneous methods of construction in the older types. Improvements in materials, tools, and workmanship made possible, forms formerly prohibited by excessive cost. The first Heine boiler was built by A. Borsig & Co., for the

Jan 1, 1886

J. B. MCGRAW, New York, N. Y. (written discussion*).-In Mr. Burke Baker's description of the process of the American Briquet Co., he speaks only of the attractive features, but every process which uses a compound or emulsified binder has certain undesirable features which must be considered. In making an emulsion, the success of which depends upon the introduction of the various ingredients at certain fixed temperatures and the complete intermixing of a soluble solution with an oil which has absolutely no affinity for it, considerable difficulty is found in keeping the various factors in strict accordance with the formula. To serve its purpose properly or, in other words, to be right for easy mixing with the coal, it should be of a certain predetermined density. Among the controlling factors of this ate the proportion of moisture contained and the temperature of the oil when introduced. If the latter is higher than intended, a greater proportion of moisture will be evaporated than is proper, and if the oil is not sufficiently hot the process of emulsification is retarded. These various factors can be controlled with more or less certainty where working in a laboratory or in a small experimental way, but when it is attempted on a large commercial scale, certain obstacles not otherwise apparent are likely to be encountered.

Jan 5, 1918

By Charles Meyer

The year 1955 was a busy one for mining geologists, for the expanding world-wide business activity kept the demand for mining products generally high, stimulating operators to develop local ore reserves and to expand their efforts to find new deposits. The uranium rush was still on, although probably past its maximum rate of climb. Prospecting was also stimulated by the increasing demand for rare metals, and this created new and fascinating targets for exploration. On the whole, it was a boom year when the prospector's chronic optimism found few repressions.

Feb 1, 1956

By Edwin A. Sperry

In 1892 I tested an ore, which was peculiarly difficult to treat, on several concentrators then in general use, including t,he Frue-vanner, the Luhrig table and the Cornish buddle. Owing to the character of the ore it had to be crushed- to a very fine state of division, and the results obtained were far from satisfactory; a large proportion of the values was lost in the slimes, which indicated the necessity of a very careful sizing before dressing. Even after reworking some of the slime-tailings, the results, in my opinion, were not as good aa those which might be obtained on a table designed more especially for the handling of slime. Although the subject of slime-concentration has occupied the attention of many engineers who have threshed the field quite thoroughly, the results obtained in my work led to a careful

Jan 1, 1904

By Jim V. Rouse

There have been many changes in environmental control techniques since the early days of uranium mining and milling, when liquid mill effluents and often mill tailings were discharged directly into nearby streams. With today's stringent environmental controls, the uranium miner must be as aware of regulatory requirements as he is of techniques in mining, milling, and in-situ recovery. The time delays involved in bringing a uranium project on line dictate that the proposed facility be designed with a view not only of present regulations, but also of those which may be in effect when the facility is completed. While such predictions are difficult, it's almost certain that regulatory agencies will exercise even more environmental control over future uranium mining and milling operations, using the past errors of the 1950's as justification for increasingly stringent controls.

Jan 10, 1978

By George H. Cook

At first sight this subject seems to belong to pure theoretical geology, but examination will soon show that it has important practical and economic interest to the mining engineer. The conclusion that all the northern portions of our country, as well as of the eastern continent, have, in the later periods of geological history, been covered with a thick bed of ice, is now accepted by geologists. This bed of ice, except in its greater magnitude, was like the modern glaciers of the Alps, and other mountains which extend above the line of perpetual snow. The marks it has left upon the surface show that it was comparatively thin on its southern edge, but that its thickness was much greater a little further north, and that it was several thousand feet thick at its kenviest parts. This variation of its surface would give it a descending slope towards the south, and cause the mass of ice, like a semifluid substance, to move in that direction,

Jan 1, 1879

Q: This is December 1960 and Jafet Lindeberg and myself are sitting around the tape recorder. Jafet, who discovered the gold in Nome, Alaska, in 1898, is going to tell the story of the discovery and of his life up there-a period of some 25 years. Now. Jafet, let's start this off well back of that-start it of1 when you were in Norway and, briefly, tell about when you were born and where you were born, anti so on. Lindeberg: My home in Norway was Varanger in Northern Norway. I was born and raised there and our industry was lumbering, cutting cordwood out of birch, sawing lumber with water power, fishing and dairy work. Q: Did you have anything to do with reindeer? Lindeberg: I never had anything to do with reindeer. But reindeer were raised in the nearby county, called Kautokeino, and they used to come to the coast in the summer, but we had nothing to do with the industry.

Jan 7, 1964

By B. Das, V. Hucka

In light of the present energy crisis, coal appears now as the only reliable source of energy. The production of coal is expected to regain a rising trend after the latest slump. Aside from the competitive price with natural gas and oil, the other retarder of coal production is its environmental pollution effect. Gasification of coal has been advanced as the partial solution to the energy-ecology crisis. All the Advantages In situ gasification of coal may be considered a further step in this direction. It carries all the advantages of normal coal gasification as a stable source of energy; it is clean to handle and nonpolluting of the environment. It partially and sometimes fully does away with mining, makes uneconomical low grade coal and lignites economical and places some formerly unworkable seams within the scope of modern technology. The seams posing problems for mining due to tectonic disturbances may be converted into gas in situ. Low grade coals, such as lignites, which otherwise would be left in nature as uneconomic wealth, may be exploited by underground or in situ gasification. Thus, in situ gasification is likely to increase the exploitable reserves of coal and may reduce the cost of production. An additional merit of this method is that coal substance never reaches the surface and there is no problem of cinder disposal.

Jan 8, 1973

By Alexander Knoll, Dwight L. Baker

THE work herein reported shows that galena in certain organic solutions of fatty acids becomes coated with lead soaps, and that this coating is not only highly water-repellent but is also repellent to certain organic liquids, particularly those [ ] of high surface tension; i.e., nitrobenzene, diphenylmethane. WETTING PROPERTIES OF GALENA IN NONAQUEOUS FATTY ACID SOLUTIONS When a "captive bubble"' is withdrawn from a polished, plane galena surface under a nitrobenzene solution of stearic acid, the air bubble shows a decided tendency to "cling" to the mineral surface. The contact angle, therefore, was greater than zero, although it was not large enough to be measured quantitatively by the captive-bubble method.* [ ] When pure nitrobenzene was substituted for the nitrobenzene-stearic acid solution, no clinging of the bubble was observed; viz., contact angle = zero. Although the contact angle developed in air-galena-nitrobenzene-fatty acid solution was small, the organic solvent repellency of the galena surface was great enough to enable good recovery in a laboratory flotation cell.2 In Table I are given the results of flotation experiments using several different fatty acids dissolved in nitrobenzene.

Jan 1, 1941

By J. de la Vergne, L. O. Cooper

The hydrostatic steel mine shaft liner (HSL) Provides a permanent wall lining for drilled shafts. It is watertight and suitable for bad ground conditions. After a shaft has been drilled to its full depth, the HSL is lowered into it and secured in place with cement grout. The liner consists of a cylindrical steel shell usually reinforced with exterior stiffening rings. The shell is basically designed for compressive strength and the rings are provided to give the shell added resistance to buckling. There are no published standards for the correct procedures to design an HSL. This paper gives a method that appears logical. A design solution can be complex with increased opportunity for error. This paper presents simple formulas to produce sufficient accuracy for construction design. Two new concepts are presented, referred to as transition pressure and critical pressure. An example demonstrates use of the formulas and concepts presented. To facilitate comprehension and use of the formulas, Greek letters are avoided and most of the English alphabet symbols used refer by association to their definitions. An appendix shows derivation of the formulas.

Jan 1, 1984

By T. P. Oxford, G. Y. Onoda, E. D. Whitney

Disposal of phosphatic clay waste slurry has been a problem since the advent of hydraulic processing of phosphate rock in Florida. Alternatives to the present practice of storing slimes behind earthen dikes have been earnestly sought for more than a quarter of a century. Seepage dewatering is a promising technique intended to increase waste clay solids content to a level sufficiently high to permit clay disposal in mine cuts, in lieu of above-grade impoundment. An experimental array of vertical seepage columns containing mine tailings sand was constructed. Significant improvement in waste clay dewatering relative to that occurring in a control test was observed when approximately 1800 m3 of waste clay was disposed of in the presence of the seepage aids.

Jan 1, 1983

By S. P. Sharples

Under the act providing for the taking of the Tenth Census, the superintendent was authorized to appoint experts to inquire into special industries; accordingly Professor Charles S. Sargent was appointed to gather statistics in relation to the forest industries. As chief of the Department of Forestry of the Tenth Census he has been busily engaged in this work since the fall of 1879. Soon after his appointment he became convinced that it would be desirable to make an examination of the fuel-value of the various woods of the United States, and this work was placed in my hands. At the same time I made the suggestion that while we had the opportunity, it would be well to test also the strength of these woods. The suggestion was adopted and Professor Sargent at once set his agents to work in various parts of the country to collect specimens of all the trees growing in their localities, employing as a rule botanists who were familiar with the flora of the region in which they were at work. The result of this work was the collection of over thirteen hundred specimens of wood, comprising over four hundred species and varieties, nearly one hundred of which had not before been described as trees existing in the United States.

Jan 1, 1883

Since the beginning of the 20th century the world has been trying to find a new political system, even as it did at the end of the 18th century. The French Revolution instigated the destruction of absolute monarchies when Napoleon unwittingly showed the masses the advantages of freedom, as opposed to the abuses of unlimited power by the imperialists. In spite of advances in culture, science, and technology during the past 50 years, there is a hangover of laissez-faire economic principles. Failure to divert the trends of minority pressure groups has caused two world wars and is the basis for the current social unrest and turmoil. In the ebullition of ideas there have risen to the surface the dregs of ideas, old and new-Nazism, Fascism, Russian Communism-a hodgepodge of imperialistic, socialistic, communistic and capitalistic maneuverings where state monopoly of capital enables ruthless exploitation of the masses. The United States owes much of its industrial greatness to the work of pioneers in the mineral industries. The task of the pioneer was to locate and develop in a rude way the mineral resources of the nation. Today, mineral industries leaders are still in great demand, but for a different purpose-to direct intelligent utilization of the limited, waning, submarginal mineral resources. Today the need is for trained earth scientists, mineral

Jan 1, 1950