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By J. A. MacLellan, John C. Bowling, J. R. Davenport, G. M. Ellis

Six months out of the year the cold is always there, and it seems to be waiting for someone to make a mistake. The simplest things can shut down a multi-million dollar plant besieged with -40°F temperatures and a 40 mph wind. It takes only one man-door improperly latched to feeze up all the pumps on the bottom floor. Someone can poke a one inch hole in an outside wall in July and six months later, the whole plant is flooded because the main water line just froze up and burst. Some important things must be remembered in plant design for cold and remote areas. For one thing, everything in these areas is more expensive due to long and difficult supply lines. Fuel is expensive and would be a major cost item even if it were not expensive, due to the extended periods of low temperatures. Building volumes should therefore be kept to an acceptable minimum. Service areas, on the other hand, must be adequate, because maintenance generally has to be conducted inside in a heated area. Supply vehicles, for instance, have to get completely inside the building to unload. If you try to unload a supply vehicle with the door open at -50°F, you won't be able to find the vehicle for fog and if you take more than 5 minutes half the water lines in the plant will freeze UP.

Jan 1, 1972

By W. Myron Davy

For more than a decade the use of the metallographic microscope, by mining geologists, for examining ores has been increasing and conclusions founded upon examinations made by it are found in several recent professional papers of the United States Geological Survey as well as in our technical publications. But most mining men have been slow to realize the positive value of this instrument in their daily work. The reason for this condition is not hard to find. The varied applications, the simplicity of preparation, and the methods of studying a polished section of ore have not been widely published. Papers in technical periodicals have been profusely illustrated by photographs of such sections, special refined methods of procedure for laboratory work have been described, and complete and detailed schemes of identifying the ore minerals have been published in book form.1 But simple and easily applied directions and, what, is more important, light, compact, and inexpensive equipment have not been available. The simplest microscope obtainable is intended for laboratory use and is much too bulky for the average field equipment; at present it costs about one hundred dollars for the instrument alone. Methods previously described for polishing specimens have necessitated electrically driven lap wheels, which are found only in permanent installations. It is small wonder that the examining mining engineer, field geologist, resident engineers, and mill men have looked upon the subject as being too involved for the field and have assigned it to the laboratory investigator. The writer has been interested in this question for some time from the viewpoint of his own work. Being handicapped by the difficulties enumerated, he has designed an outfit that has proved very useful. It is described here and its. applications shown in the hope that it may be of equal value to others, and that a start will be made toward popularizing

Jan 8, 1920

By Pierre R. Hines

These notes are based on observations made while on a recent trip through the West, for the purpose of studying the practical operation of the ball-mill. The writer takes this opportunity to express his thanks for courtesies extended at the many plants visited as well as for the valuable data received: While there are several types of ball-mill on the market, particular attention will here be given to the diaphragm type, as the open-trunnion type, especially the conical mill, has been thoroughly discussed in the Transactions. There is a prevailing impression that the ball-mill is a recent development; however, ball-mills were used extensively in Montana and other western states for crushing ores for concentration as far back as 1808. Its present prominence is due in part to its recent successful application by one of the large copper companies. Without any reference to dry grinding, the first successful ball-mill for wet crushing, which is still in operation, was built 10 years ago.l This mill, designed by Erminio Ferraris for crushing Sardinian ores for concentration, is of more than passing interest. It embodies the peripheral discharge with grates, large forged-steel balls, and the principal features of the modern ball-mill. The results approach present-day practice, the chief differences being that the mechanical construction has been improved in the modern types. Crushing Action of Ball-mill The action of the balls and the principles of crushing have been studied by several investigators.2 Their conclusions are confirmed by results obtained by the writer in experimenting with a small machine built at

Jan 1, 1918

By Alexander Sattman, Anton Homatsch

Jan 1, 1894

By C. A. Pierce

Studies of roof and floor movement are of interest to those actively engaged in mining. This is especially true in the case of an entirely new area where there is no precedent for guidance. The potash deposit being mined is in the southeast corner of New Mexico, about 20 miles east of Carlsbad. The deposit was formed by the land-locked, shallow, Permian Sea that extended through parts of western Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, southeastern Colorado, and eastern New Mexico. The saline deposits vary from 500 to 4000 ft. thick. Neither of the companies operating in this area has delimited its commercial ore bodies. As all production so far has been from Federal and State leases, the Department of the Interior and the State of New Mexico have a direct interest in the development and extraction of these ore horizons. The ore is composed of an intimate mechanical mixture of sylvite (potassium chloride) and halite (sodium chloride). It lies generally in a horizontal bed varying from 5 to 12 ft, in thickness, and has a cover of approximately 1000 ft., consisting of about 500 ft. of salt beds and 500 ft. of sediments. The immediate mine roof for several feet is principally salt with some potash and clayey material. The next 500 ft. above, from the standpoint of structure, may be considered rock salt with a few inter-bedded potash members. The upper 500 ft. is of sedimentary (Permian and Triassic) origin and contains several water-bearing formations with flows varying from 10 to 500 gal. per minute. This water intensifies the interest in convergence problems as the ore and surrounding formations are water soluble. Potash salt (sylvite) and rock salt (halite) are plastic minerals. Plasticity is defined as a "property of solids by virtue of which they hold their shape permanently under the action of small shearing stresses but are readily deformed, worked, or molded under larger stresse."1

Jan 1, 1942

By B. S. Butler

STUDY of the ore deposits of Colorado has disclosed, in numerous places, sharp changes in both mineralogy and metal content of the primary or hypogene deposits with change in depth. A clear understanding of the meaning of these changes is requisite to form intelligent conclusions that can be applied in the exploration of such ore deposits. This paper is an attempt to set forth some of the geologic and chemical relations of minerals that bear on this problem. The effect of the differing electrode potentials of elements on the order of oxidation and on the order of displacement of one metal by another metal in supergene sulfide deposits has been studied for many years by several investigators. The results all agree rather closely with the original Schürmann series of replacability of metal sulfides, as Wells has shown.1 So far as the writers are aware there has been little attempt from the geologist's viewpoint to correlate the electrode potentials of the elements, other than those of the common metals, with the positions and mode of combination of the elements as found in ore deposits, and in particular in hypogene deposits. Wells2 discusses electrochemical activity between solutions and certain ore minerals and mentions the possibility of its effect in precipitation reactions.

Jan 1, 1929

Jan 1, 1962

By John Mitchell, C. C. Hanninen, L. D. Clark

INTRODUCTION Certain rock types can be fractured thermally by spallation and thermal cracking. Spalling occurs in the regions subjected to thermal shock temperatures and cracking takes place in the adjacent cooler regions. The analysis of the heat-affected zones requires that heat transfer calculations be made where the thermal conductivity of the rock is a function of temperature and direction. Generally, accurate thermal conductivity data is not available for the high temperatures and rise rates associated with most thermal rock breaking methods. This paper describes a method for determining the thermal conductivity of an orthotropic material whose conductivity is a linear function of temperature. The necessary data is obtained from one test which makes it especially useful for in situ applications. The properties data are determined through an iterative process of comparing theoretically computed values of temperature for assumed conductivity parameters with data measured in the laboratory. The conductivity of the rock is determined when the results of the assumed parameters yield computed temperatures which agree with those obtained experimentally. Transient temperatures are computed using the explicit numerical method at given points in a three-dimensional semi-infinite solid whose surface is symmetrically heated on a circular spot. The thermal conductivity is assumed to be a linear function K = [a] + Bt; however, if necessary, any reasonable linear or non-linear function might just as well be used. The stability, convergence, node size,

Jan 1, 1971

[ ] Thomas C. Baker, Jr., has been transferred by the American Manganese Steel Div. of the American Brake Shoe Co., from their Oakland, Calif., branch to their Cleveland, Ohio, office. He will represent them in Ohio and Michigan. William H. Carson, has been appointed district manager of Goodman Mfg. Co's. Huntington, W. Va. sales office. He succeeds Morris W. Highland, granted a leave of absence for health reasons. Mr. Carson, a graduate engineer of Michigan College of Mining & Technology, has been a member of the company's Huntington sales force since 1939, the past two years as assistant district manager. James Parnell Caulfield, former general manager of the Utah Copper Div. of Kennecott Copper Corp., has been appointed assistant general manager of Kennecott's Western Mining Div. L. F. Pett, general supervisor of operations of the Utah Copper Div., was named Mr. Caulfield's successor as general manager. William D. Charles, on completion of his graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, accepted the position of mineral engineer with American Cyanamid Co.

Jan 1, 1952

By George Cole

WHILE many parts of Canada's pre-Cambrian shield are well served by railway, it is frequently necessary for prospecting purposes to proceed farther into areas in-accessible by rail. To such areas in summer the canoe was at one time the accepted means of travel for the prospector while the dog team was much used in winter. Al-though summer travel was much improved by the development of the outboard motor, the lack of facilities for cheap transporta-tion has been a serious hindrance to the employment of capital in opening up the distant fields. The pre-Cambrian surface of Manitoba, like that of Ontario, is hummocky, with rounded hills and ridges of rock alternating with basinlike depressions and valleys oc-cupied by lakes and rivers or by many low-lying portions covered with muskeg. Routes to the mines have not usually been direct or easy and seasonal vagaries have presented problems in themselves. In summer, water transportation may be the cheapest method for the longer dis-tances but it is not every water route that will satisfy the conditions of loading freight onto a boat or scow and of conveying it without interruption to its destination. By its location, a mine may require a large program of boat transportation in summer over part of its route, to be followed by winter freighting for the remainder. In order to carry on development and produc-

Jan 1, 1940

By Henry Morris

AS STATED last year, in a similar review by David White and the author, any review of the petroleum industry purporting to cover such a wide field can only mention the principal facts. This incompleteness is necessitated not only by the limitations of space, but by the delay in receiving detailed information. The principal feature of the year, in Europe, was a material increase in the consumption of petroleum products, and a notable decline in prices. Although there we relative increases in production in Roumania and Poland, the total did not by any means keep pace with the increase in consumption, which, as usual, was supplied "from America and both the Near and Far East. The interest in Asiatic production, as usual, centers around the Persian fields, which, according to the annual report of the Anglo-Persian Oil Co. published at the close of last year, it was estimated would amount to 3,775,000 tons by the close of the fiscal year, March 1, 1924. Russia also showed an increase in production. In Africa there was nothing of outstanding interest in production, although Egypt showed a decrease and the goverment refinery at Port Said was closed.

Jan 3, 1924

By Robert H. Carpenter

Major trends in exploration geochemistry during the past year included an increased level of geochemical exploration by both government and private industry: greater sophistication in sampling, analytical and interpretive techniques: and increased activity on the part of universities and state geological surveys. The evolution of applied geochemistry in North America from a useful prospecting tool to an invaluable exploration method is largely due to efforts of the mining industry, the USGS and the Geological Survey of Canada. In the U.S., there has been a distinct reluctance on the part of universities to conduct research or to offer courses dealing principally with applied geochemistry. Most university geochemists have not been responsive to industry needs because government sponsorship of geochemical research in universities has been overwhelmingly in favor of theoretical, rather than applied research: and, because of the mistaken notion that exploration geochemistry is not sufficiently academic. A critical shortage of specialists in this field has resulted. Specialists in Exploration Geochemistry Needed Based on the response to a brief questionnaire sent to universities in the U.S. and Canada, there is some evidence suggesting a reversal in this trend. Graduate courses devoted to exploration geochemistry are currently being offered in geology departments at the following universities: University of British Columbia, Colorado School of Mines, University of Idaho, McGill University, University of New Mexico, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Utah. Other departments report that applied geochemistry is included in general geochemistry courses. A survey of recent publications suggests increased research interest in exploration geochemistry by university geologists.

Jan 1, 1970

By James R. Jones

The concern for air pollution goes back centuries as will be seen from this quotation: "Strife and coal, it seems, have a hand-in-hand historical relationship. It was thought by some . . . in the Middle Ages that burning coal filled the air with dangerous poisons. So great was the concern that in 1306 King Edward I of England passed the first and unquestionably the harshest, air pollution legislation edict that history will record. His proclamation declared the use of coal an act punishable by death." As related to coal mining the air pollution problem is primarily that of its customer when using the fuel. Thus the major impact relates to markets for coal rather than the actual mining operation itself. In the vicinity of the coal mine the problem is principally related to fugitive dust from roads, transfer facilities, loading facilities, crushers. etc., and particulate matter (dust or fly ash) from thermal dryers and air cleaning tables. FUGITIVE DUST Most state air pollution regulatory agencies now have rules and regulations requiring control of fugitive dust. This refers to dust generated from normal processing operations. A typical air pollution control agency regulation reads as follows: "Fugitive Dust" "No person shall cause, suffer, allow, or permit any material to be handled, transported, or stored; or a building, its appurtenances, or a road to be used, constructed, altered, repaired, or demolished without taking reasonable precautions to prevent particulate matter from becom-

Jan 1, 1973

By D. M. Given

HOW much can the mine operator afford to spend on his coal burning boiler plant? The usual answer is as little as possible and still get the job done. Thus, attention must be focused on the spot where excessive costs are most likely to arise - the materials handling end of the job. Boiler plants consuming less than 30,000 tons of coal annually can be controlled to the point where costs for handling coal and ashes are under $1.00 per ton. There is a wide selection of coal and ash-handling systems that can be used in smaller boiler plants to provide labor savings and convenience required if management is to accept coal as fuel.

Jan 7, 1953

By Leonard Larson

DURING several years immediately preceding the adoption of wet-charge smelting at McGill, various necessary conditions affecting this procedure, such as plant rearrangement and the metallurgical nature of the concentrate produced at the concentrator, were fully considered. Wet-charge smelting is not altogether novel to the recently recon-structed smelter at McGill. A number of years prior to this improve-ment, when flotation methods were initiated at the concentrator, large tonnages of wet and (at that time) sticky flotation concentrate were charged directly into the reverberatory furnaces, because of the difficulty in handling the entire tonnage in the roasters. The plant had excess reverberatory units and this surplus furnace capacity was utilized to smelt raw flotation concentrate. During the years 1927 and 1928, a number of actual operating furnace test runs were made to determine in principle the feasibility of wet-smelt-ing operation. Results were encouraging, and in November 1932 the roasting plant was shut clown. For some time thereafter the wet feed was delivered directly to the reverberatory side-charging calcine hoppers already in place. Feeding the wet material through the old calcine hoppers and charge holes into the furnace involved considerable labor, but under the conditions existing at that time it was desirable to continue wet smelting even under the handicap of this laborious procedure. The smelting plant during this period was on a curtailed production basis, operating only about 15 days per month. The alternate starting up and shutting clown of the roasting plant presented a difficult problem and charging the wet material directly to the furnace entirely eliminated this difficulty. The roasting plant was never operated thereafter.

Jan 1, 1938

By Charles Shamel

I FEAR most of the Institute members are already weary of the perennial controversy about the apex law. I feel that way about it myself now, though I have been guilty of considerable contribution to the discussion in the past. The discussion does not seem to perceptibly influence previously held views and I would not again break into print on the subject but for the urgent invitation of the Chairman of our, Law Committee. This energetic and able member has firmly determined to secure a revision of the mining law and among other things to eliminate the so-called apex provision from the U. S. mining statutes. He is, however, fair about it and has invited me to make "the strongest possible argument in its favor." I am suspicious that he is acting on the psychological principle that it is usually easier to convince an audience against a cause vigorously but unsuccessfully defended than against one wholly mute. Nevertheless, I realize that personally he wishes me no harm, much as he hates the apex law, and so am willing that the Institute have whatever benefit may accrue from my taking up again the unpopular side of the discussion. I say this because the attitude of a large part of our "articulate" membership seems irreconcilably hostile; their minds are made up; favorable consideration is foreclosed; and they become impatient and even sarcastic at any attempt to elucidate a favorable view of the apex law. The exact question for discussion at the present time is not whether on abstract, or any other considerations, the apex law is the best possible rule, but the very different proposition whether, after nearly 50 years of statutory life and much longer as a practically universal miners' custom, it is now just and expedient to repeal the apex law.

Jan 4, 1914

By Ralph Sweetser

PROGRESS in blast-furnace practice during 1922 has been in the direction pointed out in my article in the March, 1922, issue of MINING AND METAL-LURGY; this advance has been very satisfactory in spite of the difficulties caused by the great coal strike and the railroad strike. The progress, especially in increased tonnage, has been brought about, not by increasing the size of the furnaces, not by improved mechanical devices, but through the application of better blast-furnace practice; the advance has been metallurgical rather than mechanical. The increase in production per stack, has been more pronounced than in any period since the time that James Gayley began to break blast-furnace records in Pittsburgh. These big tonnages have been made in furnaces designed to make 550 to 600 tons of pig iron per day; but several such furnaces have had monthly averages of between 700 and 800 tons per day with a corresponding reduction of cost, and a reduction in the number of man-hours of labor per ton of pig iron. During this period there has been a wider acceptance of the fact that satisfactory blast-furnace results are more dependent on coke quality than on any other factor. There has always been much rivalry among blast-furnace men in making new tonnage records, and many schemes have been used for getting out big pro-duction, but the blast-furnace man cannot make the high records all by himself; it is necessary for him to have the cooperation of the entire management, and also the help of the organization that makes his blast-furnace coke. Herman Brassert has said that "there is no blast-furnace practice possible that can wholly overcome the effects of bad coke." In the past; the blast-furnace superintendent has often been under suspicion if he complained about the quality of the coke in times of unsatisfactory blast-furnace results, but it is now conceded that if the quality of the coke is not right, complaints are not necessarily made as an alibi.

Jan 5, 1923

By M. W. Strong

The technique of handling drilling muds varies somewhat, partly because of personal factors but mainly because of differences in formation, the type of problems, and the general drilling conditions in different localities. The much greater depths to which bore holes are now carried have made necessary closer attention to and great modifications of all aspects of drilling-mud technique. Increased depth means smaller hole, smaller drill pipe, smaller clearances, higher pumping pressures, higher differential pressures between shows and the mud column, less accurate control of the weight of the mud column, delayed receipt of formation data, and poorer samples. It means longer delays and greater hazards in rectifying mistakes or dealing with accidental occurrences. Equipment on a larger scale is necessary and more pains must be taken with layout. Lastly, the budget costs of raw materials have risen to high figures and economy of time and of direct monetary expenditure have come to mean much more than formerly. A mud laboratory is now part of the essential establishment of a modern oil field and to it current problems can be submitted for the most thorough investigation. The detailed chemical properties of all materials purchased or quarried have to be investigated. Detailed data on the physical properties have to be ascertained and research on improvement of material and its most efficient use has to be carried out. In this paper will be discussed the main mud problems of Iran, some of which are peculiar to local conditions while others are of the general type common to all workers in this subject. Underground Conditions In deep wells in Iran the normal overburden may consist of: (1) up to several thousand feet of marls with interbedded sandstones and limestones of varying porosity and permeability; (2) beneath this a chemical series of rock salt and anhydrites, containing various marls and thin limestones,

Jan 1, 1939

By C. E. Shoenfelt, E. W. Krampert

The major oil discovery in 1938 for Wyoming was the General Petroleum Corporation's So. 1 Government, C.NW.SE. of sec. 21-35N-77W, on the Cole Creek structure in central Wyoming, 14 miles northeast of Casper. This well found commercial oil production in basal Cloverly sand (Lakota) at 7978 ft. and was completed on May 28, 1938, at 8019 ft., 3 ft. in Morrison shale. It had an initial produrtion of 10 bbl. of oil an hour but at the end of a 7-day test made 336 bbl. of oil in 24 hr. During 1938, the well produced a total of 23,161 bbl. of oil. It has been agitated about 10 days out of each month to provide fuel for lease and drilling operations, the balance of the time it has been shut in pending the completion of the second well on the structure. The Cole Creek oil is of intermediate base and has an A.P.I. gravity of 32.7". The record of the well contains the "tops" listed in the accompanying tabulation. Tops in General Petroleum Corporation's No. 1 Government Well Feet 2210 Top of the Mesa Verde (Teapot sandstone) 2960 Top Steele shale 4500 Shannon sand; good show of oil and gas 6740 Top Frontier sand; some oil saturation 6840 Halliburton test of Froutier did not show much oil, but at 6878 ft. the oil showing amounted to 50 barrels 6878-7051 Shale 7051-7062 Sand with some oil saturation 7062-7920 Shale (sandy phase of Thermopolis shale 7779 to 7788 ft.) 7920-7926 Sand (Muddy); oil-saturated 7926-7974 Shale 7974-7979 Hard, coarse, limy sand (Dakota); some oil saturation 7979-7997 Soft sand; high oil saturation 7997-8002 Shale with pyrites 8002-8016 Sand (Lakota) 8016-8019 Variegated Morrison shale 5600 Elevation Lance Creek Field.—Important extensions to the Lance Creek field in eastern Wyoming were made in 1938 by the completion of a number of

Jan 1, 1939

By Wallace Ralston

The East Texas area includes the northeast 38 counties of the state of Texas. It covers all, and extends beyond, the borders of what is commonly described as the East Texas Basin. It is one of the most important oil and gas-producing areas of the Mid-Continent Province. It includes four important oil fields—Van, East Texas, Cayuga and Long Lake— and the recent extension of Rodessa field into Cass County, Texas, may prove to be of major size. Four commercial gas fields are in this area— Bethany, Waskom, Cayuga and Long Lake. Up to January, 1936, all of the oil has been produced from the Upper Cretaceous formations, and most of that from the basal member, the Woodbine sand. Gas is produced from both the Upper and Lower Cretaceous formations. Development in Fields East Texas Field.—This field continued to dominate the drilling and production situation throughout the United States. There were 4036 wells completed in this field during 1935; that is, 365 more wells than were completed during 1934. Drilling activity was due to close spacing of wells and the addition of 10,000 acres to the field. The field is now drilled to a density of one well to 6½ acres, which is certainly more wells than necessary for economic production of the field. The close spacing of wells is due mostly to the type of proration, which is per well allowable based on a potential test, and does not take acreage into consideration, and also to the numerous small acreage tracts such as town lots and excess strips. The field now has 19,519 producing wells. The allowable production for the field during 1935 was 161,118,659 bbl.; estimated production, including illegal or "hot oil," was 174,200,150. The illegal production of oil gradually decreased throughout the year, until an estimated low was reached of 20,500 bbl. daily during the months of November and December. The price of oil remained at $1.00 per barrel throughout the year. As stated, about 10,000 acres were added to the field during the year, making a total of 128,000 productive acres. There is a possibility that

Jan 1, 1936