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By Louis E. Reber

Jan 1, 1922

Thirty years ago a party of American Engineers, with members of their families, belonging to the four national engineering societies, sailed for Europe and visited England and the Paris Exposition of 1889 and received many courtesies, official, professional, and individual. Plans: have been made for a reunion dinner to be held in New York City, about May 26, at which it is hoped that all survivors, ladies as well as men, of that trip may meet again. It is, therefore, urgently requested that anyone who was of that party communicate immediately with the Secretary of the Committee, Jesse M. Smith, Engineers' Club, 32 West 40th St., New York, N. Y. Announcement of the precise date and place, and full details, will he sent to every individual who can he reached.

Jan 5, 1919

By John V. Beall

Early this year at the University of Arizona in Tucson, a survey was made of student opinion about the minerals industry. Over 100 of the three page questionnaires were completed and these were analyzed by the following categories: 40 Mining Engineering students, 20 Geological Engineering with 2 Geophysical Engineering students, 15 Geology students, 7 Metallurgical Engineering, 26 Underclassmen, 29 Graduate students and a composite of 84 total students. Not all of the results of the survey were predictable. After graduation there is a strong preference toward going to work in the mineral industries. The next most popular options, but trailing the first choice greatly, was graduate work or employment in another industry. A smattering of other choices were for teaching, government or research. None checked the box for drop out.

Jan 1, 1971

By W. Rostoker, R. P. Elliott

TWO intermediate phases enter into equilibrium with the primary solid solutions of titanium.' The TiMn2 phase was identified by Wallbaum2 as of the C14 type isomorphous with MgZn2. Contrary to Maykuth, et al.,¹ the phase occuring at about the 50-50 atomic proportion has been shown to derive from a peritectoid reaction.:' A 30 day anneal at 900°C of an alloy containing 52 wt pct Mn developed sufficient of the new phase to give a clear and predominant diffraction pattern. The powder pattern was taken in a 14 cm diameter powder camera using filtered Cu Ka radiation. In all, 75 lines were recognized and measured. Interplanar spacing and observed intensities for the first 26 of these are given in Table I.

Jan 1, 1954

Two sessions during the recent AMC Mining Convention in Los Angeles, September 23-26, served to update industry personnel on the status of health and safety regulations in the US. As reflected by the American Mining Congress resolution on mine safety and health, "Based on experience with the federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 and the federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, (AMC) does not believe that laws designed to force compliance with regulations through the imposition of criminal or civil penalties will result in safer mines. (AMC) feels that the government's participation will be much more productive if greater emphasis is placed on research, training, and inspections aimed primarily at assisting operators and employees in recognizing and eliminating hazardous conditions and practices.

Jan 11, 1979

By Bert Sandell

MUCH has been said and written about the various uses of die-castings, their applications in the various industries and their advantages and disadvantages. Examination of this literature, however, fails to disclose any data concerning the effect of temperature upon any of the physical properties of die-casting alloys. The uses and applications of die castings are so numerous, and of such a varied nature, that far too lengthy a manuscript would be required to list all of them. Brief mention of some specific cases will suffice to illustrate the temperature ranges in which certain die castings function. Automobile hardware, such as hub caps, door handles, radiator caps, etc., can be used as one example. Castings of this type are constantly exposed to varying climatic conditions, temperatures ranging from below zero to upwards of 100° F. Refrigerator parts, such as ice-cube trays, etc., form another example. Approaching the other temperature extreme, we encounter conditions such as are found in kitchens in which oven-heat indicator parts, cooking utensils, waffle grids, etc., embody use of die castings, where temperatures as high as 500° F. are often met with. Because of this variation in service temperatures, it was felt necessary to ascertain the effect of these temperatures upon the physical properties of die-casting alloys. The Charpy impact test was chosen first because of its simplicity, and because of the fact that brittleness is more likely to be objectionable in die castings than hardness or other physical properties.

Jan 1, 1932

By John M. Kelly

New Mexico produced 39,475,388 bbl. of oil in 1944, the greatest amount in one year in the oil history of the state. This production was 593,046 bbl. or 1.25 per cent more than in 1943. New Mexico retained its position as the seventh largest oil-producing state. The maximum per well allowable on Jan. I, 1944 was 48 bbl. daily and at the end of the year it was 45 bbl. daily. Allocations as set by the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission closely followed the recommendations made by the' Petroleum Administrator for War. The average daily pipe-line runs were within 4 per cent of the allocation. Production by counties was as fol1ows;Lea County, 33,509,548 bbl.; Eddy County, 5,504,498; Northwestern New Mexico 461, 342. Drilling activity for New Mexico in 1944 was well above that of 1943, with 362 completions. Of these, 283 were oil wells, 12 gas wells and 67 dry holes. The ratio of dry holes to producers, about I to 4, was an improvement over 1943. Wildcat drilling during 1944 was responsible for the discovery of six new fields and the extension of two present producing areas. Drilling records were established in New Mexico during 1944 with the deepest producer ever completed, the Humble Leonard Oil Company's No. I at 11,969 ft., in the Ellenburger section of Ordovician age near Jal, Lea County. The discoveries in Lea County during 1944 were as follows: West Lovington field, where Fred Turner, Jr. drilled his No. I State B .in C SE SW sec. 4-17-36 and completed it for 122 bbl. of oil in 8 1/2 hr., in the San Andreas section of Permian age. The Tonto field, where the T-exas Company completed its No. I Baskin at a total depth of 3586 ft. in Seven Rivers lime of Permian age, with an initial production of 254 bbl. of oil in 21 hours. The Drinkard area, where the Gulf Oil Corporation's Drinkard No. I flowed 782 bbl. of oil in 14 hr. from the Yeso section of lower Permian age, thus opening the first lower Permian production in the state. The total depth of this discovery was 6508 ft. and oil was 38.8" A.P.I. gravity. The Dublin area, where the Humble Oil and Refining Co. established a drilling depth record of 11,969 ft. drilling and completing its No. I Leonard Oil Co. well in the Ellenburger lime of Ordovician age. This well flowed 221 bbl. of oil per day, of 48.9º A.P.I. gravity oil. It is in sec. 12-26-37. The new pay horizon discovery of the Continental Oil Co. in the Skaggs area, where the company completed its Skaggs B-23 No. 2 in sec. 23-20-37 for 236 bbl. of oil in 21 hr. from the Wolfcamp section of lower Permian age, at a total depth of 7725 ft. This well was drilled to granite at 10,465 ft. and plugged back to the Wolf-camp for a new pay zone completion.

Jan 1, 1945

By E. G. Bailey

PLANTS that normally burn coal now able too obtain a substantial increase over their normal supply for their greater power needs, and also additional tonnage for extra storage against the uncertainties of the future. Many plants previously burning oil or gas have already been converted to coal, and those which must yet change to coal will undoubtedly be able to obtain ample tonnage of coal of standard quality at reasonable prices. What a contrast this is to the conditions of 25 years ago, when the shortage of coal and transportation led to prices of $5 to $6 per ton at the mines, and degradation of quality, until the already overburdened railroads were called upon to haul 100,000 ton per day of extra ash alone. This was the result of a runaway market and the loading of gob, slate, and sub-quality coal amounting to an estimated increase in ash of 5 per cent of the total tonnage hauled. The problem of getting increased steam output from inferior coal caused unbelievable reductions in the low normal boiler efficiency of that time and untold labor in firing the hand- and stoker-fed furnaces of that day.

Jan 1, 1942

By W. B. Plank, A. C. Callen

WAR and normalcy do not walk hand in hand, whether it be in industry, the educational field, or in the daily lives of individuals. Schools and departments offering curricula in mineral engineering have been seriously disrupted, beginning with 1942 and reaching a low during 1944. Selective Service regulations and voluntary enlistments have effectually stopped the flow of college-trained men into the mineral industry, and the flow into the colleges is little more than a dribble. The year just closed has been a most serious one for our institutions. Until March many of our faculties had been kept reasonably intact because of the large training programs of the Army and Navy. Although the number of

Jan 1, 1945

By Robert S. Young

During the last quarter-century, exploration for metallic deposits in Maine has been sporadic with peaks generally coinciding with periods of high metal prices. Known cases of regional or semi-regional evaluations are few; most efforts have been local and usually intensive. On the basis of broad geologic groups, the State has been divided into five fundamental environments: ( 1) coastal metamorphic belt; (2) southern volcanic belt; (3) Silurian slate belt; ( 4) northern volcanic belt; and ( 5) Devonian slate belt. Although not restricted to these areas, exploration in recent years has been concentrated in the northern and southern volcanic belts. Notable examples of recent exploration activity, directed to sulfide minerals, include: ( 1) the Knox County nickel-copper-bearing ultramafic rocks; (2) the Harborside (Cape Rosier) copper-zinc deposit; (3) the Second Pond (Black Hawk) zinc-copper-lead-silver deposit; ( 4) the Big Hill-Barrett lead-zincsilver- copper-gold zones; (5) the Parmachenee copper-zinc belt; ( 6) the Moxie Lake nickeliferous peridotite; and (7) the Attean quartzmonzonite molybdenum-copper occurrences. The Second Pond and Harborside prospects appear to be close to production. Systematic investigations for non-metallic deposits appear to have been aimed principally toward limestone, asbestos, diatomaceous earth, and spodumene-bearing pegmatites. Advances in prospecting methods, high metal prices, a favorable business outlook, increasing cooperation from large landholders, and some discoveries support the probability of increased exploration activity in Maine during the coming decade.

Jan 1, 1968

By H. M. Chance

Jan 1, 1887

By L. A. Cranson

WHEN I came out of Stanford University in 1922, the out-look for men trained in geology, petroleum engineering, and mining was indeed dismal; in fact, so much so that most of us looked upon our future in those fields as pretty hopeless. Neither our professors nor those men in industry with whom we came in contact gave us any enthusiastic encouragement as to the future of ourselves or the fields we had chosen for our labors. I believe that the attitude of pessimism which saturates everyone about graduation time is lament able and short-sighted, and may often start a young man on his way with an attitude of defeatism. Instead, he should be starting out knowing that he can expect hard work and keen competition, but that the fields of his labours are expanding at an accelerated rate, and that strong, energetic efforts will as always accomplish highly satisfactory results.

Jan 1, 1941

By W. B. Plank

I HAVE been asked by the Chairman of the Engineering Education Committee to outline what the engineering colleges would like the mining companies to do with the young engineer just, out of college. It has been suggested that, because my own personal experience has been almost entirely within the coal industry, I handle this subject from that view- point. Many thoughtful engineering educators are today wondering what effect the present employment policies of many industrial companies are going to have on the young man just starting out in his profession. Since before the World War large industrial concerns, such as those in the electrical and mechanical industries, have gone to the colleges to interview 'likely graduates until today there has developed in most of our engineering colleges, especially in the eastern part of the country, what appears to be a lively competition on the part of these companies in bidding for the young graduate engineer. The employers of mining engineers, with one or two exceptions, have not yet begun to enter this competition. It remains to be seen how serious this situation will become, how it will affect the training of other engineers, and what effect, if any, it will have on the mind of the young man about to enter college who may be inclined to take up mining engineering, but who gains the impression from this well advertised employment service just mentioned that there is no opportunity for him in the mineral industry as com- pared with the opportunities offered in say civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering.

Jan 1, 1929

By Will B. Jamison

Man's material advance from one level of civilization to the next has involved the development of new, more useful tools and the utilization of energy greater than he alone could produce. These two essentials for material progress have developed at an ever increasing rate in the last century. While the first really successful use of mechanical energy derived from burning fuel was in James Watt's steam engine which pumped water from coal mines in Cornwall about 1770, there was still very little use of mechanical energy in mining by 1900 except for pumping and hoisting. Compressed air, having some of the characteristics of steam and which operated engines not unlike steam engines or steam hammers, powered the first attempts to mine coal with energy greater than human muscle could provide. When direct current-powered traction cars replaced horse-drawn transportation cars on city streets, it was natural that direct current locomotives should begin to replace animal and human power in mine haulage. Slowly, trolley and battery locomotives were developed and introduced. With d-c systems being established for haulage, it was natural that improved cutting machines should be developed and powered by d-c motors. Thus began the years of

Jan 5, 1960

By George A. Miller

THE outstanding characteristic of the American business man is that he likes to run his own business his own way, without any interference from his wife, his friends, his bankers, and least of all from his government. The oil man, like the miner, is an American business man in which this special characteristic is even more pronounced. It may be because he has been an explorer and is more nearly like those pioneering Americans who explored, developed, and built these United States.

Jan 1, 1944

By John E. Murphy, Ernest L. Ohle

Hematite-magnetite ore bodies at Iron Mountain, Missouri, have produced nearly 9 million tons of iron ore concentrates since 1844. The ore minerals occur principally as open-space filling in fractured and brecciated andesite porphyry with very minor replacement of the wall rocks. The enclosing rocks are Precambrian in age and consist of a series of dacite, rhyolite, and andesite flows aggregating about 2000 feet in thickness. All of the ore is in andesite and the mineralization is Precambrian in age. The shape of the ore bodies, the breccia character of the ore, and the gangue mineralogy are believed to be unique. One of the two main ore bodies is crudely dome-shaped with a tendency for development of concentric mineralized shells; the other is an elongated lense in plan but hook-shaped in cross section. Both have strong linear elements striking northeast, east-west, or northwest. Various modes of origin for the structures and for the tension breccias have been suggested, but none is completely satisfactory. Hematite is the main ore mineral; magnetite is subordinate. Important gangue minerals are andradite, quartz, calcite, actinolite, apatite, epidote, and chlorite. Although some evidence favors injection of an iron-rich melt, other evidence suggests ore formation by a high temperature, water-rich solution.

Jan 1, 1968

By Sherwin F. Kelly

FRONTIERS of geological knowledge retreated further this past year before an ever-widening geophysical attack, as governments and endowed institutions continued to take an increasing practical interest in the geophysical line of approach to the study of earth phenomena. A year ago I opened this annual review with a brief account of the efforts to discover what formations lie concealed beneath the deep sediments which form the superficial portions of the Continental Shelf off the eastern United States. That work was but the beginning, and 1938 saw its continuation and expansion. With the assistance of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Maurice Ewing pushed his researches in the development of instruments and techniques for deep-sea seismic refraction studies. Ewing's early refraction profile from the Virginia Capes to the edge of the Continental Shelf has been followed by a similar traverse in Great Britain from the coast of Cornwall to the edge of the Continental Shelf southwest of England. This showed that the thickness of the sedimentary mantle and the rates of slope of the basement surfaces there are comparable to those in the Virginia Cape district.

Jan 1, 1939

By Alvin Kaufman

The industrial revolution of the early 1800's and the subsequent remarkable progress in raising American living standards are based not only on a constantly improving technology but on an ever increasing use of energy from mineral fuels and waterpower. Industrial nations require inexpensive energy sources in order to grow. The more complex the economy, that is, the more intensive the processing of raw materials, the greater the energy needs of that economy. As a result of the current international economic expansion, the worldwide search for sources of low-cost energy has accelerated. As a part of this search there is considerable interest in the potential for commercial development of geothermal power, particularly abroad and in the western United States. This interest is indicated by the fact that 40 exploratory wells have been drilled in the California thermal areas alone during the 1955-62 period. Of these, 24 were drilled in The Geysers, Casa Diablo, and Salton Sea areas.

Jan 9, 1964

Adolph Greiner, Seraing, Belgium:—I have nothing special to add to Professor Hubert's paper except to say that there are some little things that it would be well to have corrected when the paper comes to be published. In dealing with the thermal efficiency of the engine, you will find that the 29.84 per cent. was a very high one. Professor Hubert has forgotten those engines built under the Cockerill type, but he has referred to them in Appendix 11. At our works at Cockerill we have built 63 engines, giving 63,000 h.p., and the other companies who have received licenses have built 113 engines, making 103,000 h.p., and aggregating 176 engines and 166,000 h.p. Eight years ago I had the pleasure of giving to the Institute the results obtained up to that time. Since then a good many engines have been constructed. In 1898 I thought a blast-furnace producing 100 tons of pig iron would allow 3,000 h.p. Professor Witz and Professor Hubert show that with the same production of pig the new engines take 3,800 h.p. out of the gas. At present at Cockerill we make 700 to 800 tons of pig iron per day, and we hope to have 26,000 h.p. in a few years. At present we have only half of that in gas-engines, but we hope to have in five or six years all the gas out of these furnaces to the number of 25,000 or 26,000 h.p. Tom WEstGarth, Middlesbrough, England :—My contribution is not a paper in the ordinary sense of the word, because I am sure you will agree with me that what I have written is only supplementary to the other two papers. The notes are schedules of the larger-size gas-engines built by British engine-makers, of 500 h.p. and upwards. If you look at the schedules you will find that in England gas-engines have become quite ordinary motors for a good many purposes. It was at first thought that gas-engines were troublesome, and ill-

Jan 1, 1907

By R. D. Parker

LARGEST of any hoist installation ever manufactured in Canada is that being erected at No. 5 shaft, Creighton mine, of the Inter- national Nickel Company of Canada, Limited. It is a bicylindrical conical- drum hoist with the drums arranged in tandem, and driven by two direct- current motors through single reduction gearing. This hoist was designed by the Canadian Allis-Chalmers, Limited and manufactured at their works in Lachine, Quebec.

Jan 1, 1936