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By R. W. Raymond

THE question, what is the best proportion among weight, fall, and speed of stamps, is one which has not yet received thorough and systematic examination. In considering the economical application of stamping machinery, we meet, at the beginning, with serious difficulties in obtaining accurate data for comparison. The weight and fall of stamps vary as the shoes and dies wear out; and this may lead to a change of speed also. Moreover, defects in engines, boilers, or machinery for the transmission of power, may occasion serious losses, which cannot fairly be charged to the arrangements of the stamps proper. Again, the capacity of stamp-mills is directly dependent, in some degree, upon the nature and extent of discharge, fineness of screens, and other peculiarities of the battery. Finally, the hardness and tenacity of the rock crushed varies so much that comparisons between different localities cannot be implicitly trusted. The safest experiments are those made in the same mill, by changing first one and then another condition of working; but this is seldom possible for such conditions as weight and lift of stamps, and only within narrow limits for their speed. We may eliminate of friction, transmission, and generation of power, in the case of stamps, by measuring the power actually developed by their fall. Thus, the weight, multiplied into the fall in feet, and the number of drops per minute, gives us exactly the number of foot-pounds exerted by each stamp. Dividing by 33,000, the number of foot-pounds per minute in one-horse power, we have the horse-power per stamp, from which the effective power of the whole mill may be obtained. Dividing the amount of rock crushed daily by the effective horse-power, gives us the daily amount per horse-power ; and this is the best measure that can be obtained for the effectiveness of the stamps. A complete discussion of the subject would require us to determine the exact influence of the discharge, etc., and the exact resistance offered by different classes of rocks, for both of which points the data are wanting. Professor J. D. Hague, in the third volume of the United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel, gives a valuable

By A. L. Johnson, S. C. Lyons

A FEW years ago a leading American builder of centrifuges said, "No one uses a centrifuge if the job can be done any other way." This statement was essentially true at that time, not because the basic functional and economic principles involved did not frequently favor centrifugal methods, but rather because so many of the highly specialized features of the mechanical and functional peculiarities of continuous centrifuges had not been fully developed. The idea of using centrifuges in mineral dressing is definitely not new. There are literally hundreds of patents on centrifugal machines and processes for the mining industry. Many of them cover principles that are basic to the functioning of most centrifuges in operation today. In spite of this, until 1935, there were practically no successful applications of continuous centrifuges in the United States in the mineral industry, nor for that matter were there more than a mere handful of such machines in operation in North America in any industry. This was true despite the obvious desirability of machines that could furnish the advantages of high centrifugal settling forces in a continuous operation. The reasons for this are simple, even if not obvious: I. Finely divided solids, when thrown out of fluid suspension under high centrifugal forces, frequently exhibit physical properties (particularly rheological or flow properties) that are markedly different from those they possess when settled out by gravity alone, and machines that are not designed in careful detail to cope with these peculiarities seldom function satisfactorily. 2. Most continuous centrifuges embody a solids-conveying element in the form of a very special screw conveyor. The rotation of this member under conditions of operation calls for drive designs that were not satisfactorily provided until the introduction of the Bird gear unit about 1934. These matters will be touched on later. Continuous centrifuges are now operating successfully in the mineral industry. Some units have singly handled more than 500,000 tons of solids during the past ten years. Generally their operation has been characterized by large unit capacities, complete elimination of labor, minimum supervision, moderate maintenance and power costs. TYPICAL CENTRIFUGE APPLICATIONS Most materials classified by centrifuges are of subsieve particle size. Practically speaking, this means finer than l00-mesh. A unit of measure other than screens is needed in order to consider these products properly. Such a unit is the micron, which is equal to one one-millionth of a meter; roughly 1/25,000 of an inch. The opening in a standard 200-mesh screen is about 75 microns while a 325-mesh opening is roughly 43 microns.

Jan 1, 1947

By E. C. Pechin

The attention of the members of the Institute of Mining Engineers is asked to a description of the minerals of Southwestern Pennsylvania, as representing the minerals of an enormous area, stretching continuotisly, with local variations, along the western slopes, and at the base of the Alleghany Mountains, through Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky, and destined to play no mean part in the future of the iron trade of the country. The particular locality is at and near Donbar, in Fayette County, where the most careful examinations and extensive developments have been made. The deep gorges cut by the Youghiogheny and Monongahela Rivers, in their passage through the mountains and lower lands, give admirable facilities for observing the measures lying between the sandstones of No. 11 and the upper coal measures. Apart from its varied mineral and agricultural resources this section of country has great historic interest attaching to it. It was down the Monongahela that Braddock led his ill-fated army to its defeat under the wails of Port Duquesne, and it was up the Youghiogheny River and Dunbar Creek that the shattered remnants hastily fled to gain the camp of Colonel Dunbar, the second in command, who was entrenched upon a high knob, at the head of the creek which bears his name, and which is still known and visited as Dunbar's Camp. Numerous streams, runs, and localities preserve the names of the guides and pioneers who accompanied, in early colonial times, young George Washington, who was pushing his surveys into the trackless and hostile wilderness, and many of them taking up large tracts of

By George B. Waterhouse

Jan 1, 1933

By James W. Clark, William C. Dixon, Kevin L. Wiley, Thomas R. Couzens

This paper is a description of certain geologic aspects of the Inspiration mining operation. It is not a geologic description of the Inspiration deposit nor an exposition of all the geologic work. Involved in the development and exploitation of the deposit. A few specific examples of the application of geology and geostatistics to the mining process are given to illustrate the progress that has been made in making the Inspiration Mine more efficient and cost effective, and a statement of the philosophy of geologic applications is offered.

Jan 1, 1985

Mr. Joseph P. GAZZAM,Germiston, Transvaal, So. Africa (communication to the Secretary*) :—About fourteen years ago, in southeastern Missouri,I used a method for the wet determination of lead which closely resembles the modified sulphate-chromate method described by Mr.. Guess. The principal difference, however, is, that after dissolving the lead chromate in hydrochloric acid, the chromic acid is determined by means of a standard solution of ferrous sulphate. The method, which I believe is still in use in southeastern Missouri, was found to be convenient and accurate for the determination of lead in the ores and various products of the mills and furnaces in that district, but it was never used for complex ores. A number of determinations of lead in mill-tailings were made in the year 1891; a few of these results are given in Table I. Table I.—Determinations of Lead in MilL-Tailings by Wet Assay.

Jan 1, 1905

By C. J. Barber

This paper Donald describes how New Jersey Zinc Co. made surveys for a connection between the Ivanhoe and Van Mater shafts at Austinville, Va. Except to say that the two faces had to meet "accurately" on line and grade, Donald does not indicate the required precision. Assuming that there were 24 angles in the 1 ½ -mile traverse and 15 in the one-mile traverse, it can be shown that if the average error in plumbing each shaft was ±30" and the average error in measuring each traverse angle was ±10", then the average error at the point of connection would have been about ±1.9 ft normal to the line between the shafts. This calculation assumes that any errors in the triangulation would be negligible compared with the errors in the plumbings and traverses, and it also neglects taping errors. With no constant errors or blunders, the latter would be important only in lines normal to the line between the shafts.

Jan 7, 1959

By Robert F. Mehl

Jan 1, 1944

By Robert F. Mehl

Jan 1, 1944

By V. R. Garfias

EVEN before the arrival of Cortes in 1519, the history of Mexico was closely linked to that of its mineral production; the mining activities of the Aztecs being thus described by Clavigero, one of the early historians: In the mountains of Anahuac there abound in veins all kinds of metals, and infinite variety of other fossiliferous products. The Aztecs obtained gold from the countries of the Cohuijques, of the Mixtecas, of the Zapotecas and from various other places. They gathered that precious metal usually in grain, from the sands of the rivers, keeping a certain portion for the crown. They obtained silver from the mines of Taxco, of Tzumpango and others; however, this metal was not as esteemed by them as by other neighboring nations. They had two kinds of copper; one hard, which they used instead of iron to make sickles, lances and all kinds of rural and military instruments and another, soft, with which they made kettles, goblets and other receptacles. This metal abounds mainly in the province of Zacatula and in that of Cohuijques, which at present is in the kingdom of Michoacan. They obtained tin from the mines of Taxco and lead from those of Izmiquilpan, located in the country of the Otomiea. From the tin they made money, and the lead, we know they sold in the market places, but we ignore the uses to which they applied it. They also had mines of iron in Tlaxcala, in Taxco and in other places; but they either had not discovered them, or did not know how to make use of the metal they contained. In Chilapa there were mines of mercury, and in other places there were mines of sulphur, alum, vitriol, cinnabar, cohre and of a white earth which they esteemed highly. As regards mercury and vitriol, we do not know of what use they were to them; the other metals they used in paintings and dyes. There were then great abundance of amber and asphalt-bitu- men of Judea--on the coast of the seas and many cities of that territory paid tribute of one and the other to the kingdom of Mexico. They mounted the amber in gold, and it was only used as ornament and display by them. With the asphalt they made certain perfumes. The following extracts dealing with pre-Colonial gold are taken from the famous "Cartas de Relación" to Charles V, in which Cortea described the progress of the Conquest: . . . here there came two chiefs who owned lands in the valley; one four leagues down the valley and the other two leagues up the valley and they gave me some gold necklaces of little value and seven or eight girls. . . . . . . that day I left the City of Churultecal and traveled four leagues to some villages of the City of Cuasucingo where the natives received me very well and gave me women and pieces of gold. . . .

Jan 1, 1937

By Robert Linton

SPECIFICATIONS for clays serving raw materials in the ceramic industry usually contain the following items: (1) Chemical analysis, sometimes with mineralogical structure determined by microscopic investigation. (2) Maturing temperature and firing range, usually expressed in terms of pyrometric cone equivalent. (3) Shrinkage (drying and firing shrinkage separately). (4) Degree of plasticity. (5) Color after firing. Clays may be classified, according to the purpose of the classification, in several different ways, based on (1) Geological occurrence-transported, altered An place, indurated (shales). (2) Physical properties-plastic (bonding clays, ball clays) and nonplastic (flint clays, kaolins or china clays, bone clays). (3) Color. (4) Use. A common classification of clays for commercial designation, and one fol-

Jan 1, 1936

As already said Pattin's map and the later one of Evans' showed coal in several places in Ohio as early as 1750, and possibly 1748; the reference on the latter map was' to an exposure near Bolivar, in Tuscarawas County, as well as along the Hocking River. So far. as now known, it 'was not mined in either place until 1810. George Croghan, in descending the Ohio with his party in 1765, mentions an "Alum Hill" which they saw near the present site of Pomeroy, probably an exposure of saline deposits, but does not mention coal. As settlement north of the Ohio River was prohibited until 1787, no coal was mined until long after that date. In 1785 a survey of seven ranges in the Ohio country was made, the line running west from a point on the north bank of 'the Ohio River, due north of the western termination of the southern boundary of Pennsylvania. The surveyors noted, "from hence to Stoney Brook between two very steep and high Ridges; it is eight yards wide, its bottom is of Slate and Sand Stone, and in many parts of it are large pieces of excellent Coal washed by, the Rains from the Neighboring Hills."' This was the present Yellow Creek, and the coal was from some of the lower measures. The Scioto Company published a pamphlet in French in 1787, to promote the sale of their lands and emigration to them, in which was said,

Jan 1, 1942

By William G. Fricke

MaCROSEGREGATION, as distinct from microseg-regation, is often inverse in nature. That is, the eu-tectic solute elements, which are expected to be con-

Jan 1, 1970

By Milton H. Fies

THE Alabama Power Co. operates its Gorgas mine in Walker County, Ala., immediately adjacent to its steam plant. The coal mine property consists of some 19,000 acres of fee and mineral ownership lands, and all of the production from the mine-approximately 2500 tons per day-is utilized at the company's adjoining steam plant. The company is presently considering the purchase of additional acreage adjoining its present holdings which acquisition will almost double its reserves. The coal is transported from the mine over a short railroad spur in the company's own equipment, either directly to one of the large plants at Gorgas or to a storage pile. The longest haul is about 1 1/4 miles.

Jan 12, 1950

By S. D. Michaelson

[CONTENTS PACE See TP 2377, Min. Tech, May 1948 for discussion of A Technique for Photographing Difficult Subjects through a Petrographic Microscope (TP 2092 by DONALD W. SCOTT, Min. Tech., Nov. 1946. Discussion by HORACE WINCHELL). Metallurgical Efficiency-a Yardstick in Lead-zinc Flotation Metallurgy (TP 2141 by R. A. ....... PALLANCH, Min. Tech:, March 1947. Discussion by S. D. MICHAELSON). I Symposium on Milling Devices and Practices. (TP 2162 by J. F. MYERS and R. J. TOWER, Min. Tech., May 1947. Discussion by HARLOWE HARDINGE). ............ 2 Rod Milling-Plant and Laboratory Data. (TP 2175 by J. F. MYERS, S. D. MICHAELSON and F. C. BOND, Min. Tech., July 1947. Authors' supplement and discussion by HARLOWE .......................... HARDINGE, and B. H. IRWIN) 2 A New Separating Vessel for Sink-float Concentration. (TP 2182 by E. C. BITZER, Min. Tech., May 1947. Discussion by E. H. CRABTREE, JR.) .................. 5] Metallurgical Efficiency-a Yardstick in Lead-zinc Flotation Metallurgy S. D, MICHAELSON*-The method of determining the efficacy of a separation described in this paper, gives the metallurgist a most useful guide for keeping his ship on an even keel When the ore Waves vary from placid seas to high breakers. Now that such a method of evaluating metallurgical efficiency has been developed and proven practical, it Would seem logical to introduce the next, and more final, factor of Economic Efficiency. I choose to define this term as the percentage ratio of net return from milling to the theoretical maximum net return. The actual operating cost subtracted from the actual mill return represents the net actual amount received for the material treated. Experienced operators of most plants Would ordinarily have enough data on hand to estimate a theoretical milling cost per ton, based on labor, power, supplies and maintenance When operating at maximum tonnage With minimum trouble and under ideal ore conditions. When this theoretical estimated cost is subtracted from the theoretical maximum ore return (calculated by Pallanch's method) the resulting figure is the maximum theoretical net amount the mill operator could hope to realize in processing the ore. The percentage ratio of these sums, of actual to theoretical, is the economic efficiency of the operations. This economic efficiency, if determined on the basis of a fixed market price for metal and similarly fixed base rates for labor, power and supplies, Will reflect the effect of changes in milling practice, labor efficiency and equipment condition. When computations made on the basis of actual current rates for labor, power and supplies are compared With similar actual figures for past periods they will show forcefully how energetic our hunt must be to develop man saving controls, more effective metallurgy, and better equipment to maintain profitable operations. Such computations also offer a simple means of determining how much more labor, supplies and power can be put into the mill operation to obtain an increase in metallurgical recovery at a profit.

Jan 1, 1947

By John W. Langley

The papers of Mr. W. J. Keep, read before this Institute, have called attention to the influence of aluminum in cast-iron and on iron and steel castings. The information in these papers is interesting and valuable, as showing the modifications which iron undergoes when dosed with sufficient aluminum to form a distinct alloy, the quantity of the alloying metal used being such that the amount remaining in the casting is sufficient to be readily discovered by analysis. The same is also true of the so-called aluminum-steel patented by R. A. Hadfield, where the proportions specified are such as to leave in the finished steel from one-twentieth to one-tenth of one per cent. of aluminum. Whether these alloys are of practical utility or not has thus far . not been proved by any extended tests on a large scale, and until such evidence is forthcoming it may be safely held, provisionally, that such a use of aluminum is of doubtful utility. But there is another function which this metal can perform that has been known for some time, and which has passed beyond the experimental stage, viz.: its beneficial effect in securing sound ingots. It appears to be a general property of all metals when in the fluid state and at a temperature considerably above their points of fusion, to contain gas, either dissolved from the air or frorn the furnace, or else self-evolved by internal reactions. Silver, perhaps, shows this power in the highest degree, and mercury and lead in the least; midway stands steel—the quantity of gas which it can hold in solution, or " occlusion " as it has been called, varies with its temperature, its composition, and its mode of manufacture. When the steel sets in the mould, a portion of this gas escapes, causing blow-holes, surface defects, boiling-over, wildness, and quite a long train of troubles, familiar to all practical steel-makers. Ferro-silicon has long been used as a quieting agent. The first extended use of it for this purpose was made at Terre-Noire, in

Jan 1, 1892

By G. A. Bole, F. W. Davis

The purpose of this paper is not to report, to the Institute, the results so far obtained in the survey, by the Bureau of Mines, of the metallurgical requirements for open-hearth refractories, but to present an outline that we hope will serve as a basis for discussion. The systematic survey that the Bureau proposes to make has not been outlined, although considerable preliminary work has been done in the way of interviewing open-hearth superintendents in several of the larger steel plants from the Chicago district eastward. At the several conferences so many of the opinions were diametrically oppoeite, when considering the same point, that it was thought that such an opportunity as the Institute offers in the way of a clearing house for moot metallurgical topics should not be overlooked. For this reason, the paper has been prepared as a basis for a discussion which, it is believed, will be of value in outlining the program of the Bureau. D. A. LYoN, Assistant Director. The importance of securing suitable refractories for metallurgical operations is daily becoming more universally recognized; particularly in the manufacture of open-hearth steel, where the life and earning power of the furnace depends largely on the judgment and care exercised in the selection of the correct quality of refractory for each of the parts. Any innovation that would make available to the steel manufacturers refractories with longer life or better suited to their needs than those now employed, and at a cost that would permit of their use, would be of enormous value to the industry at large. It is quite probable that revolutionary changes would not be necessary. Material now used in some parts of the furnace might, by more suitable preparation, be made of much greater service; in other parts, possibly entirely different material would be necessary in order to effect much improvement. Inasmuch as different parts of the furnace structure perform different functions and are subjected to different service conditions, a refractory suitable for one part will be entirely unsuited for another. For this reason, to make a comprehensive study of the refractory requirements of the processes, we should consider the furnace as built up of a number

Jan 1, 1924

By A. L. Mular

The flotability of crushed zinc oxide pellets which were doped to produce more n-type or less n-type (more p-type) properties was studied with a Halli-mond tube. Flotation data are presented to show that the pH at which 50% recovery occurs and the collector concentration for 50% recovery depends upon the concentration of doping agent added substitu-tionally for zinc in zinc oxide. The time of sintering of pellets has a slight effect on flotation behavior. A speculative model is proposed to explain the observed behavior in light of the fact that zinc oxide is a semiconductor and has a space charge region at the surface. Experimental verification is necessary before the proposed model can be established as correct. In recent years, the attachment of flotation reagents to minerals has been shown to depend upon the behavior of an electrical double layer which exists in the liquid near the mineral-liquid interface.' Thus, a mineral placed in water will undergo a surface re-arrangement, most likely be preferential dissociation of lattice atoms or by surface adsorp-tion-desorption reactions, to form a dissociation electrical double layer with the solution. Among the many factors which influence adsorption processes, the past history of the mineral itself is one of the most important. Because of trace impurities, minerals from different localities may exhibit marked differences in flotation behavior. This is not unexpected, since investigators who have studied the detailed structure of the double layer's3 have known for some time that the impurity content of many minerals may exert strong influence on double layer variables. For this reason, their studies were usually made with minerals of high purity. The precise relationship between impurities in a mineral and double layer parameters such as capacity and electrostatic potential has been obscure. However, impurities in a semiconductor type mineral which is in contact with a solution have been recently shown to produce changes in the properties of a space charge layer which extends into the bulk of the semiconductor to a distance of one micron or more.4 The double layer is influenced by the space charge layer, whose origin is best discussed in terms of the band theory of solids. A qualitative description of the behavior of impurities in the bulk of a semiconductor, from a chemical point of view, is useful at this point. Briefly, impurities or defects (lattice vacancies, interstitials, etc.) in semiconductors such as PbS, ZnS, FeS2, Cu2S, NiS, NiO, Fe2O3, ZnO, CdS, MnO2 and many others, behave somewhat like acids or bases in water. For example, water dissociates into hydrogen and hydroxyl ions according to

Jan 1, 1965

By McDowell Graves, Joseph Jensen, W. D. Goold, M. L. Gwin

During the present year the Santa Fe Springs field has proved to be the most important oil field under development in the United States. Its production will exceed that of any other field. Without it, production within the United States would have been almost in even balance with consumption. The field has forced to the fore and compelled, more than any other single factor, serious consideration of the need of conserving the gas resources of the State of California. It has also contributed much to the development of new drilling equipment and important features in petroleum engineering, and has required the development of a new cement for use in deep wells because of high temperatures. It is the only oil field in the country where wells 8000 ft. deep have become so common that they are no longer given special attention. The field covers a little less than 1400 acres of land. In it 196 producing deep-zone wells have already been drilled since August, 1928, and 224 wells are still drilling. More wells may be drilled. This indicates that probably more than 450 wells will be drilled in the present campaign. In hardly a year's time it has caused the outlay of nearly $50,000,000 for drilling, and within the year 1929 it will have returned practically an equal amount of revenue. In contrast to conditions during 1923, when this field was once before an important and disturbing factor, the California oil industry has not been forced to refinance to meet the situation presented by such a large production of oil. There has been practically no unit selling and no stock selling, nor any unnecessary development far beyond the limits of the field. Production is now about 275,000 bbl. per day and gives every promisc of remaining at this figure or increasing to nearly 300,000 bbl. Six months from now the field should still be capable of producing more than 200,000 bbl. per day. Obviously, the need for conserving gas that would be blown to the air, incident to the production of so large a volume of oil, represents a problem in conservation deserving of the most serious attention of the oil industry and of the State of California.

Jan 1, 1930

Jan 10, 1950