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By Rossiter W. Raymond

By the courtesy of Mr. Charles W. Jenks, of Boston, one of the owners of this interesting mine, I am enabled to lay before the Institute a suite of specimehs, illustrating its peculiar formation and the paragenesis of mineral species which it presents; and a recent brief visit and rapid reconnoissance of the locality permit me to supplement this exhibition with a general description, based upon personal observation. The mine is situated upon the Culsagee Fork of the Tennessee River, in Macon County, North Carolina, a few miles from Franklin. The most practicable route by which it can at present be visited is by wagon (or preferably on horseback) from Seneca City, S. C., a station on the Charlotte and Atlanta Air Line Railroad. The itinerary is as follows: to Walhalla,* nine miles; Walhalla to Highlands, twenty-nine miles; Highlands to the Culsagee, fourteen miles. By passing the night at or near Highlands, the mine can be reached and examined and the return to Highlands made on the second day; and the round trip, if performed in the saddle, can be completed in three days from Seneca City. It is not easy, with due regard to steed and rider, to do it in less time. The rough and precipitous mountain roads do not permit rapid travel; and the journey is at best a fatiguing one. But its slight hardships are overpaid by the stimulating effect of the climate and the great beauty of the scenery, both of which are destined to become more widely known than at present, to seekers for health and pleasure. Indeed the town of Highlands, already named, is almost entirely made up of northern immigrants, attracted by these advantages and by the inducement of cheap land for agriculture and stock-raising. The Culsagee or Sugartown fork of the Tennessee traverses the belt of ancient crystalline schists on the west flank of the Blue Ridge. This belt abounds in valuable minerals. Among those of the nonmetallic class may be mentioned graphite, soapstone, serpentine, asbes-

Jan 1, 1879

By H. E. Mussey

When the American Institute of Mining Engineers visited the Birmingham district in May, 1888, the four Ensley furnaces (Fig. 1) then completed were referred to as monumental.' Their dimensions are givcn in Table 1. Mr. Gordon stated, with considerable satisfaction, that on the preceding day one furnace had produced 165 tons. The blast was

Jan 1, 1925

By HUBERT O. De

IN December, 1936, several drilling tests were made at the Hubert O. De Beck feldspar mine at Green Mountain, N. C., to determine the most efficient type of hammier-drill bit and drilling method for use at this particular property. This mine is well recognized as having the hardest rock in the Burnsville - Spruce Pine feldspar district and drilling costs always have been high. Local structural deformation has greatly distorted and warped the normal crystalline structure of the feldspar so the rock is much tougher than usual. In studying drilling methods and bit types, available literature was re¬viewed but little specific data could be found on the direct comparison of four-point and six-point drill bits so the following results may be of some interest.

Jan 1, 1937

Further discussion of the paper of JAMES JOHNSTON, presented at the New York meeting, February,. 1914, and printed in Bulletin No. 85, January, 1914, pp. 107 to 133. See also Bulletin No. 91, July, 1914, pp. 1473 to 1496. THOMAS CROWE,* Victor, Colo.-The interest manifested of late in the treatment of low-grade ores, together with Mr. Clevenger's discussion of the Mill and Metallurgical Practice of the Nipissing Mining Co., prompts me to acid a few remarks relative to concentration in connection with cyanide treatment of low-grade ores. Mr. Clevenger in this discussion does not condemn concentration in this connection, but, nevertheless, the tone of his remarks would lead one to believe that his conclusions are like those of many others: that concentration is often turned to as a last resort in an attempt to improve or obtain an extraction upon an ore by the recovery and sale of the refractory portion of the ore. This, I will attempt to point out, is not always the case. Concentration in connection with cyanidation often performs an entirely different function, i.e., one of saving fine grinding. Economy being the keynote of successful treatment of low-grade ores, the problem often becomes more commercial than metallurgical, and, as there is generally a definite ratio existing between cost of operation, degree of comminution, and percentage of extraction, the grade of ore under treatment usually imposes a limit upon these factors. With many ores grinding is the most expensive single item in their treatment; therefore, the degree of comminution is very apt to be governed by the allowable cost of operation. With most ores the degree of comminution controls to a great extent the percentage of extraction. So in the treatment of low-grade ore it often becomes necessary to sacrifice extraction, through coarse grinding for the benefit of cost, in order that the greatest ultimate profit may be obtained, and it is under these conditions that it is, possible for concentration to play an important part in overcoming to some extent the effect of mesh. The precious metals occurring in an ore are usually closely associated with the metallic portion of the ore, and as this metallic portion is generally fairly well liberated from the gangue at comparatively coarse meshes, further grinding of the ore is necessary only in order that the metallic portion may be reduced sufficiently fine that the precious metal part of it may be dissolved by cyanide solutions in a reasonable length of time.

Jan 11, 1914

By H. J. Rahilly

MINE FIRES, in the Butte District, have been a source of trouble and expense for the past thirty years, for while the actual fire area in most of the mines has been comparatively small, the handling of the gas has generally been a much larger problem than the actual putting out of the fire. The chief causes of these fires have been: Defective electrical equipment, incendiarism or carelessness, and spontaneous combustion. While fires from the first two causes have been numerous, they have generally been discovered and extinguished before they became very serious. Spontaneous combustion has been the cause of most of the large fires. Sufficient heat has been generated by ground movement, high rock temperatures, and decomposition to set fire to inflammable materials (tarred ropes, canvas, dry timber, manure, and hay) left in the gobs some years ago. Also, the heat resulting from the oxidation of the fine broken sulfide ore is sometimes sufficient to set fire to the timbers. In 1906, a fire was discovered on the 1100-ft. level of the Minnie Healy mine about 400 ft. (122 m.) west of the Minnie Healy shaft, which presumably originated, in one of the upper levels, from spontaneous combustion. The fire was walled off by concrete bulkheads and a pillar of ground 100 ft. (30 m.) thick was left below and mining resumed underneath. During subsequent operations, this pillar became cracked and broken and the fire passed into the new workings. It travelled downward and spread rapidly until, in 1917, it had become necessary to wall off portions of the Tramway, Leonard, and West Colusa mines on the 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1800, 1900, and 2000-ft. levels, and the top of the 2200-ft. raises were sealed. The fire area now consists roughly of a block 1000 by 1200 ft. and from the 600-ft. to the 2200-ft. level. This block is composed largely of a series of parallel northwest-southeast nearly vertical veins and stringers that form a large orebody, with no well-defined walls but badly fractured and faulted, and known locally as "Horsetail Ore." These veins, or orebodies, are mined by the square-set or the rill method.

Jan 2, 1922

By Eugene McAuliffe

IT is not possible to include in this paper, limited as it is in scope, the many diverse steps toward the reduction of mine accidents that are taken in the mines that produce the nation's coal. Every coal-producing state has enacted laws covering proper mining practices, and the major portion of these are directly related to the safety of the mine employees. The United States Bureau of Mines, the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, The American Mining Congress, a number of national, regional and state organizations, as well as the coal technical press, have covered time and time again all of the "do" and "don't" phases of mine operation that bear on the important question of mine and employee safety. Within the past 15 years The Union Pacific Coal Co. has attempted to put into practice in its mines in southern Wyoming these many good recommendations, finding some value in all, and yet, to secure substantial results, the management found it necessary to resort in the end to what might be referred to as "extra-territorial" methods. It is the writer's purpose to show in this paper that marked and even extraordinary betterment can be brought about when employer and employee work together with due sincerity. In presenting our own experience, one that has been duplicated in so far as results are concerned on numerous other properties, no theory of perfection of management exists; on the other hand, our organization feels that as long as our record of accidents remains as shown by even our latest and best performance we still have far to go. It is the writer's purpose to show in this paper that marked and even extraordinary betterment can be brought about when employer and employee work together with due sincerity. In presenting our own experience, one that has been duplicated in so far as results are concerned on numerous other properties, no theory of perfection of management exists; on the other hand, our organization feels that as long as our record of accidents remains as shown by even our latest and best performance we still have far to go.

Jan 1, 1938

By Willis H. Carrier

Particular interest in the ventilation of deep mines, especially those in South Africa, has been created by a very complete system of cooling of the world's deepest mine, the Turf shaft of the Robinson Deep in Johannesburg. The writer visited this mine in January, 1936, and again in 1937. During these visits and subsequently, a considerable part of the theory involved in rock cooling in tunnels was developed and this has been checked by practical observations of the rates of rock cooling made within mines. The purpose of this paper is to set forth the method of attack of the mine problem. The cooling or air conditioning of mines by the use of mechanical refrigeration was not wholly newl-5 when the Robinson Deep installation was made. The first mine to be cooled was the Morro Velho mine, in Brazil. The first installation in this mine was put into operation in December 1920, the refrigerant being ammonia.5 The surface cooling gave considerable benefit but it proved inadequate as greater depths were reached, therefore in 1929 two centrifugal refrigerating machines were installed at the 6000-ft. level. These were used in conjunction with the surface cooling system to furnish additional cooling at the lower levels. This later installation used Carrene as a refrigerant. This nonflammable refrigerant, having a boiling point of 104" at sea level, insured reasonable safety, since all parts of the machine operated at subatmospheric pressure. Very favorable reports have been received on the effectiveness of this installation, but no recent data are available. An interesting feature of that plant is that the condenser water is cooled by spraying it into the exhaust air from the mine at the base of the ventilation upcast, which permits the water to be cooled within a few degrees of the wet-bulb temperature of the air entering the upcast, and the only water that has to be supplied for condensing purposes is that lost by evaporation, or about 0.5 per cent of the volume circulating through the condenser. This plan affords an ideal means for the removal of the heat load from the refrigerating system, and of course also from the mine itself. In many mines, however, especially those in South Africa, there is no

Jan 1, 1940

By Willis H. Carrier

Particular interest in the ventilation of deep mines, especially those in South Africa, has been created by a very complete system of cooling of the world's deepest mine, the Turf shaft of the Robinson Deep in Johannesburg. The writer visited this mine in January, 1936, and again in 1937. During these visits and subsequently, a considerable part of the theory involved in rock cooling in tunnels was developed and this has been checked by practical observations of the rates of rock cooling made within mines. The purpose of this paper is to set forth the method of attack of the mine problem. The cooling or air conditioning of mines by the use of mechanical refrigeration was not wholly newl-5 when the Robinson Deep installation was made. The first mine to be cooled was the Morro Velho mine, in Brazil. The first installation in this mine was put into operation in December 1920, the refrigerant being ammonia.5 The surface cooling gave considerable benefit but it proved inadequate as greater depths were reached, therefore in 1929 two centrifugal refrigerating machines were installed at the 6000-ft. level. These were used in conjunction with the surface cooling system to furnish additional cooling at the lower levels. This later installation used Carrene as a refrigerant. This nonflammable refrigerant, having a boiling point of 104" at sea level, insured reasonable safety, since all parts of the machine operated at subatmospheric pressure. Very favorable reports have been received on the effectiveness of this installation, but no recent data are available. An interesting feature of that plant is that the condenser water is cooled by spraying it into the exhaust air from the mine at the base of the ventilation upcast, which permits the water to be cooled within a few degrees of the wet-bulb temperature of the air entering the upcast, and the only water that has to be supplied for condensing purposes is that lost by evaporation, or about 0.5 per cent of the volume circulating through the condenser. This plan affords an ideal means for the removal of the heat load from the refrigerating system, and of course also from the mine itself. In many mines, however, especially those in South Africa, there is no

Jan 1, 1940

Jan 1, 1920

By C. W. Goodale

I. INTRODUCTION. In the summer of 1909 the Boston & Montana reduction department of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. completed a new flue system, at a cost of about $1,100,000, and -is this includes the largest and highest chimney in the world, and some new features of flue construction, a description will be of interest. At the Spokane meeting of the Institute in September, 1909, a brief mention was made of this flue system, in discussing Mr. Brunton's presidential paper on the Progress of Metallurgy in the West, and a promise was given that when a long enough time had elapsed, so that operating results could be given, a paper would be offered. The smelting plant includes blast furnaces, MacDougall roasters, gas-fired reverberatories, and converters.

Jan 8, 1913

By John A. Gann

The following investigation constitutes a brief réumé of the more important binary magnesium alloys from the standpoint of metallo-graphic technique, and the effect of heat treatment on structure and properties. The comparative newness of the subject justifies this procedure as a preface to a more detailed study of each individual series of alloys. The work was started with the idea of practical application in the industry rather than as a theoretical investigation. The alloy compositions studied were selected as those most likely to show whether heat treatment would produce beneficial results. Furthermore, it was considered satisfactory to use commercial 99.9 per cent. magnesium, the best commercial grade of alloying ingredients, and to limit the time of heat treatment at the expense of incomplete equilibrium. These facts must be kept in mind when examining the results obtained, and the conclusions drawn. Preparation of Alloys All melts were made in an oil-fired cast-steel pot, approximately 12 in. dia, by 12 in. deep. Approximately 15 lb. of flux and 50 lb. of magnesium were melted and the calculated amount of alloying metal was added. After thorough alloying and puddling, the metal was chill cast in a graphite mold with four 1/2 by 1/2 by 4 in. bars fed from a common sprue and runner. The next higher composition alloy in a given series was made by adding the calculated amount of metal to the heel from the preceding cast. The pot was thoroughly cleaned after each series and new flux then introduced, thus avoiding possible contamination from earlier melts. The percentage compositions given in Table 1 are the calculated values. While not all alloys were analyzed, enough were checked to indicate that the reported compositions are correct to a few tenths of one per cent. A more detailed description of the foundry methods employed has been given in a previous paper. 1

Jan 1, 1929

By John A. Gann

The following investigation constitutes a brief réumé of the more important binary magnesium alloys from the standpoint of metallo-graphic technique, and the effect of heat treatment on structure and properties. The comparative newness of the subject justifies this procedure as a preface to a more detailed study of each individual series of alloys. The work was started with the idea of practical application in the industry rather than as a theoretical investigation. The alloy compositions studied were selected as those most likely to show whether heat treatment would produce beneficial results. Furthermore, it was considered satisfactory to use commercial 99.9 per cent. magnesium, the best commercial grade of alloying ingredients, and to limit the time of heat treatment at the expense of incomplete equilibrium. These facts must be kept in mind when examining the results obtained, and the conclusions drawn. Preparation of Alloys All melts were made in an oil-fired cast-steel pot, approximately 12 in. dia, by 12 in. deep. Approximately 15 lb. of flux and 50 lb. of magnesium were melted and the calculated amount of alloying metal was added. After thorough alloying and puddling, the metal was chill cast in a graphite mold with four 1/2 by 1/2 by 4 in. bars fed from a common sprue and runner. The next higher composition alloy in a given series was made by adding the calculated amount of metal to the heel from the preceding cast. The pot was thoroughly cleaned after each series and new flux then introduced, thus avoiding possible contamination from earlier melts. The percentage compositions given in Table 1 are the calculated values. While not all alloys were analyzed, enough were checked to indicate that the reported compositions are correct to a few tenths of one per cent. A more detailed description of the foundry methods employed has been given in a previous paper. 1

Jan 1, 1929

By W. P. Blake

One of the most remarkable iron-ore districts of the world is found in Southern Utah, in Iron County, about 270 miles south of Salt Lake City, and 10 miles west of Cedar City. This region has long been known in a general way; but, being at present somewhat difficult of access, it has been rarely visited by 'any of our members. Professor Newberry has published somewhere a short description. Last year, by the invitation of J. R. Walker, Esq., of Salt Lake City, one of our associate members, I formed one of a party, including Professor G. W. Maynard and W. S. Keyes, to visit and inspect the region. A special car was placed at our disposal by the courtesy of Hon. John Sharp, Superintendent of the Utah Central Railway. From the present southern terminus of the road at Milford, a drive of 55 miles took us to Cedar City, about 10 miles east of the iron region. The ores outcrop in a low range of hills or mountains, and stand out in such bold relief from the general surface, and are so massive and jet black, that they may be seen for miles before they are reached. These outcrops extend in long lines over the hills, and mark very . clearly the course of the beds, conforming generally to the inclosing stratified formations, probably of Palaeozoic age. These rocks are somewhat obscure, but there are large outcrops of limestone without much alteration. This, in places, appears to be the adjoining rock, at others the wall-rocks are porphyry, and at others apparently a quartzite and a fine-grained felsite. The beds of iron-ore are from 10 to 100 feet and more in thick ness, and some of the outcrops extend unbroken continuously for 1000 feet and more. It consists chiefly of magnetite and hematite,

Jan 1, 1886

By Richard H. Mote

The endlessly changing pattern of mineral supply and demand offers opportunity to the alert and can bring disaster to the unwary. The discovery of ore bodies, the invention of extractive processes, the provision of new transport facilities, the political stabilization of underdeveloped areas, and many other changes can increase supply dramatically. Such new outpourings of mineral wealth from ore bodies bring fortunes to their developers, and consumers frequently find their competitive positions decidedly improved by new and cheap sources of supply. On the other hand, operators of marginal properties can find competition from newly opened high-grade mines intolerable. Consumers that have depended on the products of nearby, high-cost mines may find new, remote, low-cost supplies advantageous only to their competitors. The invention of new prospecting methods can have spectacular effects. Shortly after World War I the discovery rate of petroleum pools began to decline. The leading prospecting technique of that day, the projection downward of surface reflections of geologic structure, was proving less rewarding. Prophets foretold an oil shortage in the near future. But at that very moment scientists were perfecting the application of seismic waves to reveal underground oil-bearing geologic structures. As these geophysical methods were put into commercial use the whole outlook changed-the problem of the 1930's became how to cope with the surplus from discovery, not how to meet the ever rising demand. Many lead mines were being abandoned as unprofitable about this same time because the penalties charged by smelters for the zinc in the ores and concentrates more than counterbalanced the payments for lead and silver. Then selective flotation (at the time called differential flotation) appeared,

Jan 1, 1964

By Alfred Beasley

LEAD-REFINING practice at the. Bunker Hill differs to some extent from that of other United States refineries using the Parkes process, in that the Bunker Hill-has reverted to a custom used years ago of making two kinds of skims, or crusts, in the desilverizing kettles. Also, this was the first refinery to adopt the liquation process for silver skims as developed in Australia. Both of these ideas were brought to the attention of the operator by H. S. J. Sommerset, in the summer of 1924, while he was visiting metallurgical plants in the United States, when he was general superintendent of the Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty., Ltd., of Port Pirie, South Australia. Since Mr. Sommerset's visit, United States patents on the liquation process have been issued to George Kenneth Williams, of Port Pirie, South Australia. At the Bunker Hill, the lead bullion is conveyed from the blast furnaces to the refinery in brick-lined cast-steel pots, each having a capacity of 5 tons, by a 20-ton electric crane, to which is suspended a Fairbanks-Morse suspension-type scale on which the gross, tare and net weights are obtained. The bullion is poured from the small bullion pots into either one of two kettles of 105 tons capacity, and when a kettle is entirely filled the heavy dross is removed by skimming it into a 5-ton pot suspended by the crane. The crane operator becomes proficient in the manipulation and a kettle is skimmed in a very short time. After the kettle is skimmed clean the bullion is pumped to a kettle of the same size alongside, where the bullion is cooled until it has almost frozen. By using two kettles for the drossing operation, one to accumulate the bullion where the heavy dross is removed, and then pumping to a clean kettle comparatively free of hangings, etc., it is possible to reduce the copper content much lower than if only one kettle is used in the operation. The average yearly analysis of bullion is given in Table 1.

Jan 1, 1930

By Ernest Burchard

A RECONNAISSANCE Of the manganese-and chrome-ore deposits of Cuba was made by the writer, as a representative of the U. S. Geological Survey, in company with Mr. Albert Burch of the Bureau of Mines under instructions of the Secretary of the. Interior, in the Spring of 1918. The object of the study was to obtain authentic information for the use of the United States Government as to the location, character, quantity, and availability of the manganese and chrome-ore deposits in Cuba. Accordingly, the work comprised the examination of such deposits as seemed to be of promise, without regard to stage of development, with a view to determination of the quantity and quality of ore likely to become available for shipment during 1918 and 1919, and of the tonnage of ore in reserve. While it was possible to visit most of the deposits that seemed to be of promise, there was not sufficient time to visit all that were brought to our attention, some of which may have merit. Manganese ore is found in Cuba in Oriente, Santa Clara, and Pinar del Rio Provinces, but in Oriente Province only does it occur in large commercial quantities. There, the deposits are in three areas: one north of Santiago de Cuba, one south of Bayamo and Baire, and one on the Caribbean coast between Torquino Peak and Portillo. In Santa Clara Province, a little ore has been found near the Caribbean coast west of Trinidad; and in Pinar del Rio Province, manganiferous material occurs north of the city of Pinar del Rio and farther west near Mendoza. The manganese ores of Cuba occur, principally, in sedimentary rocks, such as limestone, sandstone, and shale, that are in places metamorphosed, and. in beds that originally may have been water-laid tuff

Jan 3, 1919

By E. L. Bruce

The district of Patricia, in the province of Ontario, lies northwest of the Albany River and extends northward to Hudson Bay. Formerly this was the unorganized district of Keewatin, the southern part of which was divided in 1912 between the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. The interprovincial boundary now runs north from Lake of the Woods for 275 miles and thence northeast 375 miles to Hudson Bay. This district is comparable in size to all the older part of Ontario south of the Canadian Pacific Railway east of Lake Huron—thus it is roughly one-third of the whole of the present provincial area. The central part of this great triangle is one of the least accessible parts of Canada. From it streams flow southward to the English River, southeastward to the Albany, northward to Hudson Bay and the Hayes River, and westward to Lake Winnipeg. None of the streams is large and canoe travel is not easy. The only industry it has ever had is the trade in furs. Until the development of the airplane on a commercial basis, the only means of travel was by canoe or dog-train. There is not a mile of railway in the whole district. The two areas to be dealt with lie in the southwestern part of Patricia. Red Lake is 50 miles east of the Manitoba boundary and 75 miles north of the transcontinental railway from Cochrane to Winnipeg. Woman Lake is 50 miles farther east and slightly farther north. The late Dr. D. B. Dowling, of the Geological Survey of Canada, visited Red Lake and spent some time there during his exploration survey from Lac Seul to Berens River in 1893. He also visited the Woman Lake basin during the same journey, but his examination of it was much less detailed, the great area covered by him during the one field season making it impossible to make more than a hurried reconnaissance. Some prospecting in the Red Lake district followed Dowling's exploration, but the distance from railway was too great for any systematic work to be done. In 1922, following the usual plan, the Ontario Department of Mines made a geological reconnaissance of the English River, following :in instrumental survey of that river and its lakes by the Department of Lands. A side trip was taken to examine the rocks of Red Lake described

Jan 1, 1928

SUDBURY ore processed by International Nickel Co. of Canada Ltd. was recovered for many years as two mill concentrates, one primarily of copper, and the other mixed pentlandite-pyrrhotite, But, Since iron content of the nickeliferous pyrrhotite concentrate was ten times its nickel value, capacity of smelting was limited by the need for slagging the excess iron. A process for recovering the iron con- tent was developed after some years of research and a $20-million plant was constructed to employ the new method. Built near Copper Cliff, Ont., the plant started operation early in 1956, scheduled for separate treatment of 365,000 tons of pyrrhotite each year. It is only the first unit of an installation which will have a capacity of more than 1 million tons per year of pyrrhotite. By early 1958, production totaled more than 200,000 long tons of 68 pct Fe pellets containing 0.003 pct P, 1.5 pct SiO2, 0.01 pct S, and 0.15 pct Ni.

Jan 8, 1958

The Delegation of American Engineers constituted by the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, that visited France in December, 1918, in acceptance of the invitation extended by the Congrés General du Genie Civil consisted of the following: Representing the American Society of Civil Engineers, Major James F. Case, past president, Geo. F. Swain, vice-president, Nelson P. Lewis, treasurer, Geo. W. Tillson, past director, Geo. W. Fuller, director, A. M. Hunt. Representing the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, president, Chas. T. Main. Representing the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, past president, L. B. Stillwell. Representing the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers past-president, E. C. Spilsbury. The delegation organized on the way over by the choice of Major James F. Case as chairman, and Geo F. Swain as secretary. On arriving at Bordeaux, the Delegation was met by Mr. S. D. Brown, associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers; and on its arrival in Paris it was joined permanently by the following attaches: Captain P. Charton, of the French Engineers, Delegate of the Commissariat-General to accompany the Delegation and serve as liaison officer; Captain Carpenter of the American Army; and Mr. Geo. Herdt, representing the Society of Civil Engineers of France. The object of the visit was to discuss with the French engineers the large engineering, problems now facing France. Engineering problems in their restricted technical sense came up for discussion practically not at all, for the French do not need advice nor assistance along strictly scientific lines. It was in the -larger and economic aspects of engineering, to aid in building up the industries and commerce of France, that our French associates desired to learn from the experience of the American Delegation.

Jan 9, 1919

By John J. Howard

WE are approaching the depletion of our principal source of iron ore-the Great Lakes deposits, which have provided 85% of the nation's requirements for the past fifty years. This situation presents a threat to our standard of living and our position as a world power. Fortunately, in the Great Lakes region there are still tremendous quantities of potential iron ore in the form of the low iron, high silica rock called taconite. The economical extraction of iron from taconite will insure our future steel supply if no new deposits available to the United States even in time of war are discovered. In the new process presented here, the iron is reduced directly by a simple method and then separated from the silica. The product is "feed," not to the blast furnace, but to the steel plant. This process requires very much less plant, less physical and chemical treatment, and less fuel and auxiliary materials than the conventional ore concentration-blast furnace method. In my opinion, this new, fundamentally different approach offers a better hope for the solution of the iron ore problem.

Jan 5, 1950