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By Henry F. Herley

The New Orient mine, owned and operated by the Chicago, Wilmington & Franklin Coal Co., has caused a great deal of comment and interest because of its unusual features and huge daily production. It is in Franklin County, Illinois, adjacent to the town of West Frankfort. The seam being mined is the Illinois No. 6 which in this locality is 9 to 12 ft. thick and lies approximately 500 ft. below the surface. Without fear of contradiction, it can be said that this is one of the largest coal mines in the world from a daily production standpoint. During 1928, New Orient produced 2,400,000 tons, which amounts to over 10,000 tons each day the mine operated that year. The mine is built for a capacity of 12,000 tons but has actually hoisted over 15,000 tons in one 8-hr, shift. This enormous production can perhaps be better visualized if it is realized that each day's operation depletes over two acres of coal. The general features of this mine have already been fully covered in a paper by George B. Harrington,' President of the Chicago, Wilmington & Franklin Coal Co. In a paper of the nature of Mr. Harrington's, it was unnecessary to stress any particular phase of mining conditions, consequently the ventilation problems were touched upon but lightly. In this paper an attempt has been made to describe some of the problems which have been encountered in providing adequate ventilation for the mine. Ventilating Conditions The acreage allotted to New Orient mine has a length, north and south, of approximately 6 miles, and a width, east and west, of 2 to 4 miles. A number of important considerations caused the hoist shaft, air shaft and surface plant to be located near the southeast corner of the property, instead of near the center, as is usual. During the initial phase of the mine development, the mine was ventilated through these shafts, although there was a full realization that at some future date other shafts would be required.

Jan 1, 1930

By Raymond B. Ladoo

NONMETALLIC minerals (excluding fuels) arid their primary products produced annual in the United States have a value in excess of one billion dollars, or more than that of the metals, yet the lack of expert knowledge of some of the fundamental technical and economic aspects of this most important and complicated business is astonishing. This paper will deal with the economics of this non- metallic mineral field-the business of making money from producing these minerals. The incentive behind all business activity in a capitalistic economy is to make money-to plan so that each dollar invested in property, plant, equipment, services, and so on will return more than a dollar plus simple interest. Of course, business has social, civic, and national duties and responsibilities, but the fulfillment of these is largely dependent upon financial success.

Jan 1, 1939

By C. J. Bauer

WHEN the pipe lines from the Middle East to the Mediterranean are completed, the Middle East supplies will relieve the strain on Western Hemisphere petroleum resources, part of which are now shipped for Eastern Hemisphere use. A sketch of the world petroleum situation as it appears today and in the immediate future will help in understanding the future place of Middle East oil supplies. Anticipated 1951 world demand is slightly under four billion barrels. To meet this requirement, crude output and refinery runs throughout the world (including Russia) must be increased about two million barrels per day above the average of 1947. This increment, together with pipe lines, tankers, and other facilities, will require in excess of ten billion dollars of new capital in the next four years. We are, therefore, looking forward to the greatest expansion program in the history of the industry.

Jan 1, 1948

By Alfred H. Bell

IN 1945, Illinois produced 75,210,000 bid. of oil, or 4.4 percent of the total for the United States, and ranked sixth in the nation in oil production for the third consecutive year. Production decreased about 3 per cent from that of 1944, when the total Illinois production was 77,413,000 bbl. This is the smallest percentage of decrease in production in the state for any year since a peak was reached in 1940. Daily average production for 1945 was approximately 206,000 bbl. Daily averages by months were as follows:

Jan 1, 1946

By Open-Hearth Steel

We have a very high-powered organization up here this morning, headed by Kenneth C. McCutcheon, general superintendent of the Ashland Division of the American Rolling Mill Company, and L. A. Lambing, superintendent of the open-hearth and Bessemer departments of Jones & Laughlin Steel .corporation of Aliquippa, Pa., representing the open-hearth men. Also, we have P. F. Dolan, assistant general manager of the Maryland plant of Bethlehem Steel Company, of Sparrows Point, and Harry E. McDonnell, superintendent of blast furnaces of Weirton Steel Company of Weirton, W. Va., representing the blast-furnace section.

Jan 1, 1940

By K. Reinhardt

THE idea of burning blast-furnace gases directly in gas-engines, instead of under steam-boilers, as had previously been done, was first put into practice barely ten years ago, almost simultaneously in Great Britain, Germany and Belgium. The pioneers of this movement made their first experiments with small engines. After these experiments had given satisfactory results, and it had been shown that the thermal value of the poor blast-furnace gases, in spite of defective scrubbing, could with safety be directly transformed into mechanical work in the gas-engine, there very soon arose a considerable demand for gas-engines of large power, similar to the large steam-engines employed in metallurgical works. In face of these sudden requirements, the gas-engine builders were placed in a difficult position; for up to that time the gas-motor was considered as suitable for small engines only, and it was generally believed that the limit of size bad been attained with 100 to 150 effective h.p. in a single cylinder. Manufacturers of gas-motors, however, did not underrate the advantages offered by this new field for their manufactures, and it so happened that in Germany the Berlin-Anhaltische Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft, of Dessau, was the first to undertake the construction of a 600-h.p. two-cycle gas-engine, with two cyl¬inders of the Oechelhäuser-Junkers type, for the Hoerder Mining & Smelting Company. The engine was started in 1898, and, with a few improvements and alterations, is still working satisfactorily. This engine worked with astonishingly high of efficiency, considering the period. The builders were therefore

Nov 1, 1906

It is probably safe to say that, as the economic well-being of the mining industry goes, so goes the fortunes of mineral explorationists. And in 1977 the industry was not well at all. The year-long depression of the copper industry, marked by layoffs, temporary shutdowns, and mine closures, provided an appropriate background for the collapse of the nickel market, passage of a surface mining law that will affect the hard-rock industry in ways that are yet unclear, and the threat of operating under a new set of rules brought on by reform of the Mining Law of 1872.

Jan 5, 1978