Search Documents

By James W. Wade

THIS discussion of the future supply of lead refers only to the next ten-year period. Beyond that no prediction can be made that would be of sufficient accuracy to serve any purpose. When any commodity is by an unsatisfied demand forced to a higher price level, and the profits of those who are able to produce the commodity are greatly increased, there is awakened a new interest in the commodity on the part of both producer and consumer. The consumer attempts to reduce his costs by developing substitutes or assisting in the development of new sources of supply. Lead is now going through this stage. The lead producer is increasing development expenditure and searching for new mines. The consumer is developing substitutes as illustrated by the increasing use of zinc oxide as a pigment, and the use of dry batteries in radio sets. The search of the Ford interests for lead, by prospecting in Missouri and Idaho, is induced by the effort to develop a new source of supply. Considering the index figures of the Department of' Commerce, it is evident that lead is on a substantially higher price level. For February, 1926, the index figure of lead is 209, while the general commodity price index is only 156, 100 being taken as the base for 1913.

Jan 1, 1926

By Theodore Hatch

The pneumatic rock drill operates essentially as a crusher. The rock is shattered into a powder that is removed from the drill hole by the air stream introduced through the hollow drill steel. Particles thus produced vary in size from 1/4 in. or larger down to diameters too small to be revealed by the ordinary microscope. The power consumed by the drill is proportional to the new surface area of the powdered material, therefore the greater the proportion of "dost" produced, the higher the power consumption and the lower the drilling speed. A considerable amount of material ejected from the hole settles on the rock and much of this falls back as the mound builds up to be crushed further before it is removed again. The cushion of dust at the bottom of the hole reduces the effectiveness of the blow of the bit and thus lowers the rate of drilling. The unfavorable working conditions created by the dust also reduce the drilling speed by lowering the efficiency of the operator. Thus, the dust produced by rock drills constitutes a serious drawback to economical performance on all drilling operations. To the economic objections, one must add the more important objection to the health hazard created when the dust contains free silica (quartz). The silicosis problem is a familiar one in many mines, tunnels, and other underground operations as well as in quarries and other types of open rock excavation. Dust is a necessary end product of all pneumatic drilling operations. Its production cannot be eliminated although the proportion of microscopic particles can be reduced by using improved drill steel, proper methods of sharpening, more efficient drills, etc.—improvements that increase the drilling speed largely by increasing the size of the cuttings. The absolute improvement secured in this way is not great, however, and the pneumatic drill must always remain a dust-producing machine. Definite benefits do result, on the other hand, from the use of dust-control equipment that captures the dust as it emerges from the hole and conveys it to a remote point of discharge. Dust production continues, but dust dispersion into the atmosphere is prevented. The dust is removed as rapidly as it is formed, with the following results: (I) The silicosis

Jan 1, 1937

By J. Kinkead, R. M. Sherman, E. M. Frizzel

A recent research study performed under US Bureau of Mines Contract No. J0199088 "Modular Irrigation Equipment for Reclaimed Strip Mined Lands" investigated the feasibility of irrigation as a reclamation tool in the arid and semi-arid regions of the Western United States. Review of mined land characteristics, evaluation of irrigation systems, and assistance from the mining industry resulted in the design of two strategies for the implementation of reclamation irrigation using solid set systems. It is not the intent of this paper to suggest the generalizations made on the basis of a six state area can extend to the design of an irrigation system for a specific mine site. The purpose is to present two irrigation strategies that may be implemented with solid set irrigation in this six state area. The reader should note that the following is the result of research and, therefore, original concepts were presented. The ultimate validity of these concepts will be determined by future field tests.

Jan 1, 1983

By AIME AIME

ROBERT F. MEHL was born in Lancaster, Pa., March 30, 1898 and graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1919. He then went to Princeton and was granted his doctor's degree in physical chemistry in 1924. Two years as head of the department of chemistry at Juniata College, followed by a like period as National Research fellow at Harvard, working with T. W. Richards and Albert Sauveuir, satisfied Bob's immediate affections for college and university life and prepared him to turn temporarily to other fields.

Jan 1, 1938

[Acker Drill Co., Inc. 997 Bauer Advertising, Inc. Allen -Sherman-Hoff Pump Co. Third Cover Dee Carlton Brown, Advertising Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co. 911 Compton Advertising, Inc. American Cyanamid Co * James J. McMahon, Inc. American Manganese Steel Div., American Brake Shoe Co. 933 Fuller & Smith & Ross, Inc. Anaconda Copper Mining Co. * Kenyon & Eckhardt Inc. Carlon Products Corp. 910 Penn and Hamaker. Inc.]

Jan 1, 1952

For the convenience of members who may be traveling from place to place, the Secretary has compiled a list of libraries or other places in the United States and foreign countries where MINING AND METALLURGY or the Transactions may be consulted. This list will be sent to members if they so request.

Jan 1, 1925

Jan 1, 1929

Jan 1, 1941

Jan 1, 1941

By E. H. Griswold

PETROLEUM production engineering is essentially the application of the laws of 'physics and mechanics to the production of oil. A true production engineer is one who can apply the principles of mechanics, hydraulics, thermodynamics, and other physical arts so as to facilitate' the efficient and economical recovery of oil. To this end he must have wide knowledge of practical field operations and a working knowledge of geology, with a thorough understanding of the underground state of the fluids which he seeks to control. Generally speaking, there have been two schools of production engineering, the California development and the Mid-Continent development. In California the preliminary production engineering was done by representatives of the U. S. Bureau of Mines and the State Mining Bureau, and was essentially subsurface work in regard to casing patterns, water shut-offs, and completion procedure, inasmuch as these were problems of the utmost immediate importance to the California industry. The oil companies were impressed with the value of such work and placed engineers, or more strictly speaking, engineering geologists on their field staffs. These men, realizing the need of further technical study in the mechanical phases of producing operations, added mechanical and mining engineers, and out of the blend developed what is now known as a production engineer.

Jan 1, 1932

The Howe Memorial Lecture, in memory of Henry Marion Howe, Past President of the Institute, was authorized in April, 1923, as an annual address to be delivered by invitation under the auspices of the Institute by an individual of recognized and out standing attainment in the science and practice of iron and steel metallurgy or metallography, chosen by the Board of Directors upon recommendation of the Iron and Steel Division. The following were the Howe lectures and lecturers for the years indicated: 1924 What is Steel? By Albert Sauveur.

Jan 1, 1936

By Ernest N. Patty

WHEN an Alaskan prospector makes a new mineral discovery he stakes out his claims and then starts prospecting for a near-by landing field. This may be a convenient lake but more often it is a gravel bar along a river, where, by cutting off some brush and throwing the larger rocks to one side and then tying a flour sack to a pole, he may decoy some intrepid aviator into testing it gingerly with the wheels of his plane. It was only a few years ago that .the fence around the baseball park at Fairbanks, Alaska, was taken down so that planes could get in and out of the ball park without ripping off boards. Today the grandstand is lost among the modern hangars which line one side of a modern and busy airport. Planes come and go all during the day, and in summer, when there is no darkness, the night stillness is frequently broken by the hum of a motor overhead. Fairbanks is the hub of interior Alaska and from that hub airplanes radiate in all directions to mining camps large and small. An air industry of comparable size is based at the town of Anchorage, and in fact there are but few towns of more than 200 population in the Territory that do not have one or more planes based there.

Jan 1, 1937

The following extract from a letter written by a distinguished member of the Institute, Albert Sauveur, of Harvard University, to a former. president of the Institute, Charles F. Rand, is of general interest. It is dated Dec. 3, 1917, at the Hotel des Saints-Pères, 65 Rue des Saints-Pères, Paris:

Jan 2, 1918

Early data about the amounts of coal used in making coke, and even of the first oven plants are meager. Table 84 shows the data about beehive ovens from 1841 to 1940, inclusive, and Table 85 shows the data about byproduct ovens from 1895 to 1940, inclusive.

Jan 1, 1942

By Maxwell Adams

OLIVER C. RALSTON, Salt Lake City, Utah.-We are indebted to these two gentlemen for the work which they have done with the oils derived from sage brush. Their work should not be confused, however, as the work of Mr. Adams deals with steam-distilled oils and that of Mr. Clevenger with destructively distilled oil, largely. In other words, Mr. Adams' oil is probably the original essential oil that existed' in the brush before distillation while Mr. Clevenger's oil not only contained this essential oil but also some products of destructive distillation of the wood constituents. I had noticed the work of Mr. Adams on attempting to separate the various constituents in the oils of some of the Western conifers and had sent to him to ask if he could send me small samples of some of. these pure products. This he very kindly did, and with them included some samples of oil from the common sage brush, whose characteristics he has here described, as well as a sample of oil from the common "rabbit brush." Only the sage brush oil proved of much value for flotation, but it, was very powerful, and I so informed Mr. Adams. Even in amounts as small or smaller than 1/10 lb. per ton of ore, it gave very quick and positive flotation of many ores, with high-grade concentrates and good extractions. It proved to be especially desirable for the flotation of carbonates of lead and of copper which had received an artificial coating of sulphide by treatment with a solution of a soluble sulphide. I also received a sample of crude pyroligneous acid from sage brush prepared by Dr. W. C. Ebaugh, of Salt Lake City. It did not do very good work in flotation, but it is possible that by concentration of this product to obtain the residual tar a good flotation oil might result. This has not been done as yet and I am sorry to see that Mr. Clevenger has not done this. It might be that the dissolved tar, added to the settled tar, would make a total yield of flotation oil higher than the 4 per cent. which Mr. Clevenger feels is a safe estimate. The importance of this point will be seen in the following discussion of the possible costs of sage brush oils for flotation.

Jan 10, 1916

THE first award of the James Douglas gold medal for achievement in non-ferrous metallurgy was made to Frederick Laist, of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., and the presentation ceremony was a feature of the annual banquet of the Institute at the Waldorf, on Feb. 21. Frederick Laist was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Oct. 30, 1878. In his early youth his parents moved to California where, in 1901, Mr. Laist graduated from the University of California, in the course of chemical en-gineering. For one year after graduation he was an in-structor in chemistry at the University of Utah. Fol-lowing this he was employed as a chemist in the lab-oratory of the Washoe Reduction Works of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., where in successive stages he has occupied the position of chief chemist, blast-furnace superintend-ent, assistant superintend-ent of the entire plant, superintendent, and finally manager of the Anaconda company's reduction plants in Montana, which position he now holds. Mr. Laist, in his labora-tory work, manifested great interest in the hydrometal-lurgy of copper and zinc. As chief chemist at Anaconda, he brought the laboratory to a high degree of efficiency.

Jan 3, 1923

By Francis Donaldson

THE direct injection of cement grout into water-bearing fissures as a means of checking or stopping the flow of water into shafts and tunnels has been experimented with for a decade or longer and seems to have been first attempted in Europe. The earliest application of which the writer has found a record was at a shaft sunk by the Mining Society of Lens; this is described by C. Dinoire in the Transactions of the Institution of Mining Engineers.1. It is only lately, however, that the process has been entirely successful. This success has been accomplished on the Catskill Aqueduct, now under construction by the city of New York. This aqueduct includes a number of deep pressure tunnels, reached by shafts for both waterway and construction purposes. In portions of these shafts and tunnels considerable underground water was met. The contract for the first of these deep pressure tunnels was let to the T. A. Gillespie Co.; this section is known as the Rondout Siphon. It leads under the Rondout valley at a depth of from 400 to 800 ft. and is about 5 miles long. The engineers expected that considerable water would be encountered, but fortunately this was not the case except at one shaft, known as No. 4, which penetrated the rock at a junction between limestone and conglomerate. Water-bearing fissures were encountered almost immediately. At a depth of about 200 ft. a flow of 1,500 gal. per minute was struck. The shaft then contained as many pumps as could be used, and it seemed impossible to sink it further. After vain efforts had been made to proceed, John P. Hogan, a division engineer of the Board of Water Supply, suggested that cementation of the fissures be tried. The process was attempted for the first time in this country. Since the shaft was partly full of water it was necessary to drill grout holes with a diamond drill. Platforms were placed on the timbers at the water level, the diamond drill was installed and six 90-ft. holes were drilled in the bottom of the shaft. Several car loads of cement were pumped through these holes into the fissures, the drill casings being used for grout pipes. This largely cut off the flow of water from the bottom and sinking could then

Jan 1, 1914

Jan 1, 1917

By Julian Avery

IN its dual role of pig-iron smelter and gas producer, the blast furnace is a remarkably satisfactory and efficient apparatus. Many metallurgists and engineers have pointed out, however, that since the primary function of the blast furnace is to produce pig iron at the lowest possible cost, its function as a gas producer should be subordinated to this primary pur-pose. During the past 10 years or more, improvements in blast-furnace technique and economy have, in fact, been directed primarily to increasing efficiency in the use of the reducing power of the gases produced by com-bustion of coke at the tuyeres, to reduce iron ore within the furnace. The net over-all result is a decrease in the fuel value of the top gas per unit of volume, and per ton of pig iron, which is evidently more than offset in value by the corollary saving in coke and the possibility of increased furnace capacity, for otherwise there would be no point in making such improvements. The purpose of the present paper is to suggest that, while progress has been made in this direction, there is another approach to the problem of increasing the chemical and thermal efficiency of the blast furnace in its primary role as a pig-iron smelter, which appears to offer possibilities of improvement in over-all economy of a different order of magnitude than results thus far obtained by the use of other expedients. The present argument is based in large part upon the hypothesis that the effi-ciency and economics of pig-iron smelting are seriously and adversely affected by the phenomenon known as "solution loss," and that the problem of solution loss can be successfully attacked by increasing the over-all pressure; i.e., the "top pressure" under which the furnace is operated. It is indicated that pressure operation may also be expected to result in concomitant benefits, which may be summed up as generally improved operating conditions, together with a substantial saving in fuel and/or a substantial increase in furnace capacity.

Jan 1, 1938

By John G. Hall

The pumping operations at the Chief mine have been unique in the respect that for many years the entire flow of water into the mine has been disposed of by pumping into natural underground " caverns" or "sinks." Volumes up to 4000 gpm have been pumped into these caverns with no apparent tendency for the caverns to fill with water, and it has never been proven that any of the water returns to the mine workings. Major pumping operations have been carried on during two periods, the first from 1918 to 1927, and the second from 1942 to the present time.

Jan 1, 1949