Search Documents

By H. OSBORG

THE patent literature of alloys for the last two decades or so indicates that the number of liatents referring to smaller and smaller percentages of essential alloying constituents is on the increase, whereas the number of patents relating to considerable percentages of alloying additions becomes smaller. The claims regarding physical properties indicate consistently higher and more rigid values and show the possibility of modifying the physical properties by only slight changes in the percentage of minor constituents or by applying different methods - of treatment. Alloys of the same base have been made suitable for a number of different applications by intelligently and rigid- ly controlling their composition, melting, casting, working, and heat-treatments. Other trends indicated in the development of modern alloys are higher corrosion resistance, higher fatigue limits, and "stability" in volume.

Jan 1, 1937

By Wilfred P. Sykes

AT intervals in the course of history an event occurs which, though scarcely heeded at the moment, marks in retrospect the beginning of a new era in some one field of human activity. Such a happening is perhaps more readily spotted in the field of technology than in other realms of human endeavor. Here the span of years is relatively short and the records have been kept with some degree of precision. In the current scene of our social and economic drama the art and science of metallurgy is playing a major role. Off stage will be found the metallurgist in one guise or another aiding, he trusts, in the development of processes and products which will contribute to the happiness of his fellow men. The results of his efforts appear in the form of metallic substances known as alloys built up from any two or more of the wide variety of metals which have been extracted from the mineral deposits in the earth's crust. An alloy by virtue of its inherent physical properties may seem ideally suited for human use in a special way but until this material can be produced economically it will fail to attain a place of prominence as an article of commerce. In fact many commercial alloys are being continually replaced by new or modified compositions better suited to meet the increasingly severe demands of industrial service.

Jan 1, 1939

By L. C. Graton

At the Tenth International Geological Congress, Mexico, 1906, Waldemar Lindgren presented "The Relation of Ore Deposition to Physical Conditions." Retrospect ranks it as the outstanding offering at that Session and as the most fundamental contribution up to that date on the philosophy of ore deposition. Elaborating thereon in his text-book "Mineral Deposits," Lindgren analyzed ore-forming processes under conditions prevailing from great depth up to surface; explained the nature of deposition in each environment; and developed a comprehensive genetic ore classification, which brought wide acceptance and enriching contributions by many. Since Lindgren's latest edition (1933), have come wealths of material relevant to ore genesis, particularly through amazing renaissance and proliferation throughout science. Current publication regarding ores now emanates largely from a generation caught in pressures of the breathless modern tempo, which tempts scant reflection upon earlier truths. Consequently, today's thrilling output contains not a few offerings that need challenge because supplanting interrelationship and system by what seems, collectively, an assemblage of strange, ad hoc and often self-contradictory concepts. From these latter some merit may eventuate but at the probable cost of present confusion and delayed progress. The following pages, naming numerous post-Lindgren advances, record the conviction, held by many, that Lindgren's philosophy, progressively improved, remains the soundest approach to understanding ore genesis.

Jan 1, 1968

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 Robert W. Hunt

(Cleveland meeting, October, 1912.) PERHAPS of all the scientific economic questions which have been claiming the attention of capitalists, metallurgists, manu-facturers, directors of public utilities, and the general public of America, during the last few years, none have been of more importance than the one relating to the wear and safety of steel rails. The discovery of the Bessemer process made possible modern railway development. In that growth, as has generally happened in all progressive movements, ill its department have not remained equally balanced. Iron rails permitted the construction of roadways for the passage of power-driven vehicles. In time the speed and weight of such carriages proved too much for the wearing-qualities of the rails, and the limit of railway capacity seemed to have been reached. Bessemer made his invention, which was soon perfected and developed, especially as related to steel rails, and thereby increased the limit of capacity, acid vastly greater railway progress was, made possible. The Siemens-Martin open-hearth process followed, and was later supplemented by the Thomas-Gilchrist basic improvement. For a time the Bessemer steel rails of commerce Were, more than equal to all that was asked of them, but this did not long continue, as evidenced by the records in our Transactions. Revolutionary changes occurred in the industrial world, and in no part of it more than in steel-rail manufacture. Great and powerful commercial combinations were made, whose financial resources made possible the supplanting of the then most efficient blast-furnaces, steel-works, mid mills, by others of theretofore unimagined capacity. Old traditions and practices of steel-making were wiped away, and, in too many cases, output was apparently the chief aim, with the result that much dissatisfaction with the wear and safety of rails was felt by railway officials, and the general public was concerned as to its safety when traveling. The climatic conditions of the winter

Dec 1, 1912

By Oscar H. Hershey

COMPLAINT has been made that in the literature of economic geology the work of the "company or practical" mining geologists does not get enough attention. I propose to attempt to overcome this com¬plaint in reference to one important lead-mining district, that of the Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho. Furthermore, I will assume that the reader is not so much interested in the geology of the district as in the methods of application used and incidents that have arisen in the work. All the important discoveries of ore in the Coeur d'Alene were made without benefit of geology. Certainly I would not claim the reputed discoverer of the Bunker Hill mine as a fellow geologist. It appears also that the mines were operated quite successfully for many years without geological specialists, though doubtless certain properties were visited at long intervals by such men as Waldemar Lindgren. It was known that the ores occur in quartzite, graywackes and slates as stated by J. R. Finlay in 1903. (TRANS., VOL. 33.) He described the ore as occurring in typical fissure veins that occupy fault-planes of indeterminate displacement. The Bunker Hill lode was based on a definite fissure with the mineralization all on the hanging-wall side, extending as far as 300 ft. from the fissure.

Jan 1, 1933

By AIME AIME

WEDNESDAY night, by long tradition, is al- ways set aside for the annual dinner, even when, as it was this year, it is Ash Wednesday. Whether the somewhat smaller attendance than last year is attributable to that cause, the unexpectedly long persistence of business depression, or whatever may have been the reason, it was a joyous occasion, and the grand ball-room of the Commodore Hotel was as completely filled With diners as * was consistent with com- fort. In the half hour before the dinner was actually served the guests assembled in an adjoining room and not only exchanged greetings but proceeded along the receiving line to greet the guests of honor. The number present was so large that hardly more than half of them had been able to do this before the summons to the dining room sounded and a hearty and immediate response was made to it. Toy balloons at each plate, inflated and directed at the heads of companions or nearby friends, but which were just as likely to carom from the nose of a hurrying waiter, successfully broke the ice as well as not a few plates. It would be interesting to know whether the pleasure the guests derive from these de- vices is in part based on the all-too evident annoyance of the waiters, and what the relative quantitative relationships are.

Jan 1, 1931

By FRANK R. VAN

I. INTRODUCTION. IN the summer of 1908, R. B. Cochran, Superintendent of the Compania Metalurgica Mexicana at Sierra Mojada, Mexico, presented to the Department of Geology and Mineralogy at Case School of Applied Science an interesting series of silver-, copper-, and lead-ores from the Veta Rica mine. These ores contained several interesting minerals which were associated in a somewhat peculiar manner, so that I was impelled to make a closer study of their occurrence. The investigation has brought out several new facts concerning the geology of the district and the geological occurrence of the ores, and therefore has seemed worthy of record. Two papers have been published previously about the region, one by Chism1 in 1887, and the other by Malcolmson2 in 1902. These articles, however, treat of the district more from the stand-point of the metallurgist and mining engineer, and not much attention is devoted to its mineralogy and economic geology. II. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE DISTRICT. The Sierra Mojada is situated in the extreme western part of the State of Coahuila, near the Chihuahua boundary. It is reached best via the Mexican Central railroad from El Paso, Tex., to Escalon, Chihuahua, a distance of 494 miles. From this point, a branch line, the Mexican Northern railroad, runs 78 miles in a NE. direction to the mines, which are its northern terminus. The railroad was built about 1890, practically on account of the Sierra Mojada mining-district. 1 Sierra Mojada, Mexico, by Richard E. Chism, Trans., xv., 542 (1886-87). 2 The Sierra Mojada, Coahuila, Mexico, and Its Ore-Deposits, by James W. Malcomson, Tram., xxxii., 100 (1901).

Aug 1, 1912

Jan 1, 1879

By WM. HUFF WAGNER

Computations and allowances for mine depletion for Federal income tax purposes depend upon the meaning of certain terms in the pertinent provisions of section 114(b) 4 of the Internal Revenue Code. Unfortunately, but one of these terms is defined in the Code. Congress left it to the Commissioner to define the other terms in the Regulations. Even though the Commissioner, through his staff, labored long and earnestly to draft these definitions they have not been satisfactory to the mining industry, because the definitions in the Regulations and the interpretation placed thereon by the Commissioner do not state what the industry believes to be the clear and obvious intent of Congress. Consequently serious and prolonged disputes, unduly delaying the settlement of Federal tax returns involving percentage depletion deductions are continually arising between taxpayers and the Commissioner.

Jan 1, 1949

By F. L. Bosqui

NO metallurgical process developed in the last half century has been more widely advertised to both technologists and lay- men, or has done more to promote efficiency and economy in the extraction of the valuable portions of ores than has the flotation process. Practically everybody has heard of this strange procedure whereby the heavy portions of an ore are made to float while the light parts sink. Some- times it is called froth flotation, the mineral-bearing froth being from the first a distinguishing characteristic. Many times it is called oil flotation, because a thin film of oil was commonly applied to the particles to be floated to make them adhere to the bubbles that rise through the pulp to form the surface froth. Oil, though commonly used, is not, however, necessary for this purpose, which is one of the facts that has been learned as the process has been developed.

Jan 1, 1940

By John M. Lovejoy

FEDERAL regulation of the petroleum resources of the nation has long been an interesting topic for discussion. A plan to accomplish Federal control has now taken definite form. At the request of the President of the United States, a bill to be known as the Petroleum Conservation Act of 1939 has been presented to Congress-H. R. 7372, offered by Representative Wm. P. Cole, Jr., and more usually known as the Cole bill. It is an act ostensibly designed to conserve our petroleum resources, through regulation of production practices. Hearings are being held currently by a subcommittee of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, in compliance with the request of the President to report the bill early in the next session of Congress.

Jan 1, 1939

By Betty J. Laswell, Gerald W. Laswell

The stepped-up pace of US open-pit and surface mining during the 1970's is a direct response by mining firms and equipment manufacturers to rising costs and declining ore grades. In the race for bigger and more efficient machines, rotary drills have emerged as the foremost leader in primary drilling at major US surface operations. At least 12 different manufacturers now offer rotary rigs in the 102- mm-diam. (4-in.) or greater blasthole size range. With capital investment for the larger units quickly approaching $1 million, the question is asked, "What's been the performance record to date of rotary drill rigs operating in North America?" To answer that question, a comprehensive study of rotary blasthole drills was conducted which qualitatively reveals various problem areas inherent in the rotary drill market and indicates some new directions for improvement.

Jan 6, 1978

By A. N. Rogers

Jan 1, 1883

By Fred Bond

WHEN some materials are ground dry in a ball mill, a stage of comminution is reached at which the finely divided particles begin to adhere to the balls and to the mill lining. As grinding progresses, a coating accumulates upon the grinding media, which tends to cushion the impacts and thus retard reduction of the material, and finally becomes so thick that all grinding ceases. At this stage, the characteristic noise produced by the grinding media dur-ing normal mill operation changes to a dull, muffled sound. In most instances, the formation of the coating marks the practical limit of size reduction. Industrial requirements for fine grinding frequently meet with this obstacle, and the tendency in many com-mercial operations to grind materials to a higher degree of fineness than formerly makes the solution of this problem an im-portant one. The phenomenon is of far greater importance, therefore, than the limited amount of research and technical discussion devoted to it implies. In order to learn more about the coating of different materials when ground dry to a high degree of fineness, certain labora-tory tests were made from which it was found that different materials form coat-ings at widely different size distributions. It is probable that most materials will coat if they are ground fine enough; the exceptions have inherent lubricating qual-ities, like coal and graphite.

Jan 1, 1940

By Paul C. Merritt

Chrysotile asbestos producers in Quebec may soon experience a unique situation-i.e., strong competition from American ore sources for the short fiber market west of the Mississippi River. This com- petition will be forthcoming from Copperopolis and Coalinga, two deposits now being developed on opposite flanks of the San Joaquin Valley in central California. The combined output now planned from both deposits is 100,000 tons annually, equivalent to about 50% of the annual market demand in the western, central and Gulf States, and more than twice the tonnage sold in 1960 by all other American asbestos producers combined. The principal companies involved in these new undertakings are Jefferson Lake Asbestos Corp. (subsidiary of Jefferson Lake Sulphur Co.), Hidden Splendor Mining Co., Coalinga Asbestos Co. (Johns- Manville Corp. in conjunction with Kern County Land Co.), Union Carbide Corp., and Asbestos Corp. Ltd. Jefferson Lake's principal interest is at Copperopolis where the company's new 70,000-ton per yr mill recently went on stream. The company also holds some claims at Coalinga, but this latter area is better known as the site where Hidden Splendor, Coalinga Asbestos Co. and Todd Industries (a local company) have established operating mines and mills capable of turning out 30,000 tons of fiber each year. Coalinga is also the site of exploration by Union Carbide Nuclear and Asbestos Corp. Ltd.

Jan 9, 1962

By Norman C. Stines

Russia's mineral potential is a secret that has been effectively kept by the Iron Curtain. There is no conclusive data and because of its extreme importance to the Free World, the subject is greatly discussed. Opinions range from those presented by Paul Tyler in his article "Russia's Mineral Potential," June issue of MINING ENGINEERING to those of Norman C. Stines, presented herewith. Mr. Stines is a consulting mining engineer of Los Gatos, Calif. He was in Russia, China, and Manchuria from 1909 to 1918 as a mining executive. From 1917 to 1919 he served as assistant military attache Intelligence Branch U. S. Army in Petrograd, Russia.

Jan 11, 1951

By Walter Renton Ingalls

In addition to the localities in which tin-ores have been found in Mexico, mentioned in my paper on the a Tin-Deposits of Durango," presented to the Institute in March, 1895,* the following should be recorded. I am indebted to Captain Henry Freeman, of Durango, for the notes as to these occurrences. In the Sierra de la Candela, west of the Sierra de Sail Frailcisco and El Promontorio (the Llano de Guatimape intervening between the two ranges), cassiterite is found in veins and stream-beds. The veins are narrow, and the ores have the same characteristics as those of Potrillos. They were exploited by miners from Coneto in 1882-86, the more extensive work having been done on the northern side of the mountains. In the Sierra de las Palomas, on the western edge of the Otinapa, ranch, about 25 miles W.N.W. from the Diablo mine in the Cacaria district, there are several small veins, of which the ore, gangue and country-rock are similar to those of the Cerro de los Remedios, near the city of Durango. The latter are essentially the same as the Potrillos veins. In the Cerritos del Olote, in the Murphy grant, about 50 miles W.S.W. from Durango, there are old mines, now partially filled. The veins are narrow and poor; the ore is highly ferruginous; the country-rock is rhyolite, with some granite; immense quantities of chalcedonic rubbish are strewn along the course of the veins. In the Cerro Blanco, overlooking the pueblo of Mezquital, 48 miles south of Durango, tin-ore is mined by the natives.

Jan 1, 1898

The following is a partial list of members and guests who called at Institute headquarters during the period Sept. 10, 1917, to Oct. 10,1917. Thomas J. Adams, Rahway, N. J. Leon Root Long, Tirapata, Peru, So. Am. L. W. Bahney, Waterbury, Conn. F. M. McClenahan, Ben Avon, Pa. D. W. Brunton, Denver, Colo. E. Francis McCrossin, Birmingham, Ala. J. R. Buchanan, Pasadena, Cal. P. S. Moses, Savannah, Ga. R. C. Canby, Wallingford, Conn. William A. Nelson, Cartersville, Ga. Paul R. Cook, Zaruma, Ecuador. Edmund Newton, Minneapolis, Minn. F. Crabtree, Pittsburgh, Pa. Askin M. Nicholas, Porrington, N. S. W., J. T. K. Crossfield, Chuquicamata Chile. Australia. Wayne Darlington, Georgetown, S. C. E. G. Norton, Chicago, Ill. R. W. Deacon, Elizabeth, N. J. M. L. O'Neale, Coal City, .Ala. Alexander Deussen, Houston, Tex. W. E. Pomeroy, El Paso, Tex. G. G. Dobbs, Bessemer, Ala. Joseph P. Ruth, Denver, Colo. E. B. Durham, Canonsburg, Pa. Gustavus Sessinghaus, Denver, Colo. L. H. Duschak, Berkeley, Cal. A. L. Sweetser, Boston, Mass. F. A. Fahrenwald, Cleveland O. G. M. Taylor, Colorado Springs, Colo. A. H. Fay, Washington, D. a. Allan G. Waite, Dragoon, Ariz. C. L. French, Brooklyn, N. Y. H. Vincent Wallace, Los Angeles, Cal. Carlos F. Galan, Riverside, Mex. H. A. Wentworth, Boston, Mass. Herman Garlichs, St. Louis, Mo. Alfred W. G. Wilson, Ottawa, Canada. Ernest Klepetko, Anaconda, Mont. Samuel S. Wyer, Columbus, O. D. A. Lyon, Washington, D. C. M. M. Albertson has accepted a position with the McIntyre-Porcupine Gold Mines, Ltd., Schumacher, Out., Canada. James A. Block is now employed by the Ray Consolidated Copper Co., of Hayden, Ariz.

Jan 11, 1917

By William P. Blake

The mineral, garnet, is a common associate of copper-ore in the southwestern portion of the United States. This association may be observed on a large scale in southwestern Arizona, in southern New Mexico and in Sonora, Old Mexico, especially at El Cananea, and at Nacozari. At other localities in Mexico the general occurrence of garnet " as a contact metamorphic mineral" in the copper-deposits of the Cretaceous limestone is noted by José G. Aguilera.1 It is usually found at the contact of this limestone with diorites, granites, etc., at numerous mines. The same authority also cites the occurrence of garnet in metamorphosed Cretaceous limestone alongside of diorite dikes in association with iron-ore. Other foreign examples are found in the Banat and Servia, at Rezbanya in Hungary, and Offenbanya in Transylvania, and at Bogoslovsk in the Urals. In New South Wales, at Broken Hill, the gangue in the Proprietary mine is chiefly garnet, with quartz, opal and rhodonite.2 Also, in a recent paper by George Smith, entitled, " The Garnet-Formations of the Chillagoe Copper-Field, North Queensland, Australia,"3 it is shown that in the copper-field of Chillagoe, Australia, where there are many lode-formations, about one-half of the number are garnetiferous, and many of this garnet-type are associated with magnetite, which is regarded as of analogous origin. The two minerals are found merging imperceptibly into each other. These examples suffice to show the very general and wide distribution of garnet as an associate of copper-ore. In addition to the localities already mentioned as known in Arizona may be mentioned the copper-mines and occurrences

Jan 1, 1904