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By W. H. Ode, W. A. Selvig

By plotting fixed carbon against British thermal units of coals free from mineral matter, and ranging in rank from anthracite to lignite, it is found that the coals of higher rank, from anthracite to the higher rank of the high-volatile bituminous coals, inclusive, can be separated into groups according to their degree of metamorphism by reference to their fixed carbon. Such charts show also that the coals lower in rank can be best separated into groups with respect to B.t.u., especially when plotted on the moist basis, that is, coal containing its natural bed moisture. A tentative scheme for coal classification was presented at the October, 1932, meeting of the Technical Committee on Scientific Classification, of the American Standards Association Sectional Committee on Coal Classification. This scheme was sponsored by Subcommittee IV on Tentative Classification of Coals, under the chairmanship of W. T. Thom, Jr. It proposed the grouping of coals according to rank by reference to fixed carbon and B.t.u., on the basis of coal containing its natural bed moisture but free from mineral matter. This scheme proposed classifying coals into four broad classes: (1) anthracitic, (2) bituminous, (3) subbituminous, (4) lignitic. The anthracitic class was divided into three groups designated as meta-anthracite, normal anthracite, and semianthracite. The bituminous class also was divided into three groups, low volatile, medium volatile, and high volatile. The high-volatile group was further subdivided into four subgroups according to moisture content, as fo1lows: (1) less than 5 per cent, (2) 5 to 10 per cent, (3) 10 to 15 per cent, and (4) 15 per cent and more. The subbituminous class was divided into two groups, group 1 including subbituminous coals having calorific values of 10,500 B.t.u. or more, and group 2 including those with less than 10,500 B.t.u. The lignitic class of coal was divided into two groups both below 8,000 B.t.u., the one group consisting of consolidated and the other of unconsolidated

Jan 1, 1934

By Edgar L. Newhouse

The lead smeltery at East Helena, Mont., controlled by the American Smelting & Refining Co. since 1899, has been in continuous operation for the past 25 years. Most of the old smelting and roasting practices have been superseded by newer and more modern methods, but on account of the difficulties involved in changing the original construction, some of the methods in use of handling materials are not the most modern. This plant, however, is particularly interesting as being one of the few essentially lead smelteries in the United States. At Federal, Ill., Collins-ville, Herculaneum, and possibly other places, similar work is being done, but it is doubtful whether any of them produces as much lead as the East Helena plant, whose monthly production averages 6,500 tons. The situation, 5 miles east of Helena, is convenient to both the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads, while the electric power is obtained from Canyon Ferry, 12 miles east on the Missouri river. Local quarries supply the requisite amount of lime rock, which the contracts require to be crushed to 5 in. Of the 450 men on the monthly pay roll, a census showed 200 Austrians, 110 Americans, and 30 Italians, the balance being made up of miscellaneous nationalities. The ore supply is mainly derived from the Coeur d'Alene mines in Idaho, and consists of crude ore, coarse and fine concentrates, middlings, and slimes. About one-half of the total output of the Coeur d'Alene camp is sent to East Helena. An average analysis of these ores gives approximately 40 per cent. lead and 11 per cent. sulphur. Local shipments, varying from month to month, are mostly highly siliceous gold and silver ores carrying little lead. Small shippers, leasers of old mines, and prospectors are very numerous throughout Montana, and it is the policy of the company to encourage these men by every possible means, including the free sampling and analysis of their ores and aid in the development of their mines and prospects, whenever their results show promise.

Jan 1, 1915

By Hans Lundberg, Theodor Zuschlag

Based upon an instrumental improvement, a new development has taken place in the art of electrical prospecting, and some remarkable results have already been obtained with regard to potential exploration. In order to visualize the importance of this development, it is deemed advisable to review briefly the fundamental facts about potential surveys. Potential exploration may be carried out qualitatively or quantitatively. Qualitative investigations are made by determining and plotting on a map points of equal potential, whereby any anomalies are revealed, without, however, much clue to their magnitude. Quantitative investigations determine the variations of potential or potential drop, and thus show not only the location of the anomalies, but also their magnitude. Figs. 1 to 6 illustrate the influence of simple types of ground inhomo-geneities, assuming one effective exciter potential only. Such a condition can be closely realized by connecting an electric current source to two electrodes, one of which is located at a great distance. Assuming uniform ground resistivity, the resultant potential distribution mar be represented by concentric spheres. Any change from the normal condition causes a characteristic distortion of the spheres, which becomes different for different types of resistivity variation. The series of Figs. la to 6a illustrates schematically results of qualitative investigations and series lb to 6b results of quantitative investigations. Figs. 1 and 2 picture the well-known case of local resistivity variations normally encountered in ore prospecting. Figs. 3 and 4 show the reactions caused by more or less vertical resistivity contacts and Figs. 5 and 6 refer to the problem of ground-water and bedrock investigations where the resistivity contact is horizontal or nearly SO. It is evident from Figs. 5a and 6a that qualitative measurements do not permit an identification of such general geological features as widespread horizontal strata, because the resultant contraction or expansion of the equipotential circles at the surface cannot be recognized without quantitative determinations. On the other hand, qualitative measurements are well suited for the exploration of local or lateral resistivity

Jan 1, 1932

By Thomas T. Read

THE official title of our topic for today is "Resources of Metals and Other Strategic Minerals," but in accepting the invitation to open this discussion I claimed the privilege of being allowed to talk about problems other than resources for the two reasons that a great deal has already been said about resources and because we can never discuss them with the degree of certainty that an engineer likes. Resources are uncertain for many, reasons. One is that we do not know what is in the earth. It is four thousand miles to its center and although oil wells 1 ½ miles deep are becoming common and engineers are now talking of drilling holes 2 miles deep, even when they do they will have advanced only one two-thousandth part of the total distance. Only a relatively few mines are over a mile deep as yet. We know certainly that it is comparatively expensive to work at such great depth, but it would be a very foolish man who would assert it will be' impossible, one or two hundred years from now, for engineers to obtain from great depths mineral supplies that are now being obtained at or near the surface. As long as- I can remember I have been hearing that our petroleum resources were in imminent danger of speedy exhaustion, and yet the yearly output is now of the same order of magnitude as the total resources were once estimated, with ' the cry of over-production the loudest it has ever been. Tapping progressively deeper and deeper sources of supply, has produced this result. Even in the thin layer that we are now working much-exploration still remains to be done. .

Jan 1, 1929

By AIME AIME

WITH a brilliance undimmed by hard times, the annual dinner on Wednesday evening, Feb. 17, was a complete success. More than 600 members, friends and ladies gathered early and filled the anterooms of the grand ballroom of the Commodore Hotel, while the president's reception was in progress, and then at the sound of the gong and with the music of the orchestra, rising above the happy din of conversation thronged to their seats at the tables. Following the "potage Ambassadeur"-probably to eliminate a very real hazard-the usual toy balloons appeared and a gay and lively scene, punctuated by multitudinous explosions, ensued, as the hundreds, of variously colored spheres bounced yon and hither until their gaseous existence was ended on the glowing end of a cigar or cigarette. On the speakers' dais sat C. E. Beecher, Chairman Petroleum Division; J. Vipond Davies, representative of A. I. M. E. on the Alfred Noble Prize Committee; Corbin T. Eddy, Alfred Noble Prize recipient; A.' S. Tuttle, Vice-president American Society of Civil Engineers; W. C. Mendenhall, Director U. S. Geological Survey; George C. Bateman, representing the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy; Paul D. Merica, Institute of Metals lecturer and Chairman James Douglas Medal Committee; Champion Herbert Mathewson, James Douglas Medalist; Robert E. Tally; retiring President; G. Temple Bridgman, toast-master; Scott Turner, incoming President; F. W. Bradley, William Lawrence Saunders Medalist; Fred Searls, Jr., Chairman William Lawrence Saunders Gold Medal Committee; Arthur Notman, President Mining and Metallurgical Society of. America; Robert J. Grant, Director U. S. Mint; Landon F. Strobel, Chairman New York Section; Howard Scott, recipient of Robert W. Hunt Prize; George. B. Waterhouse, Chairman Robert W. Hunt Prize Committee; F. M. Becket, Chairman Iron and Steel Division; Ora E. Clark, recipient of the J. E. Johnson, Jr., Award; Richard Peters, Jr., Chairman J. E. Johnson, Jr., Award Committee; E. C. Bain, Howe Lecturer; Sam Tour, Chairman Institute of Metals Division; and H. Foster Bain, Chairman. Charles F. 'Band Foundation Committee. ' Each was heartily applauded when introduced by Mr. Bridgman, as was Mrs. Tally, who also made a bow. The toastmaster made graceful reference in introducing Mr. Strobel, to the large part the latter had taken in planning the meeting.

Jan 1, 1932

By Ernst F. Eurich

(Cleveland Meeting, October, 1912.) ALEXANDER PARKES patented in England in 1851-52-53 a process for desilvering lead by means of zinc, making use of the greater affinity of silver for zinc than for lead, discovered by Karsten in 1842. The efforts in England to develop it commercially were not particularly successful, nor was the attempted introduction into the United States. This last was not surprising, as it was about the beginning of our Civil War, and at that period there was very little lead-bullion produced in the united States and there was no field for the process here. There was at that time on Staten Island an establishment that pattisonized lead, probably from Rossie, N. Y., and Chester, Pa., and possibly some Spanish lead, but the production of lead-bullion in the Far West had not yet begun. In 1864, Edward Balbach, of Newark, N. J., patented in this country a process for desilvering lead by means of zinc, and in 1867 Edward Balbach, Jr., patented a " movable black-lead retort with a neck, placed in a furnace," for the purpose of distilling the alloy of zinc, lead, and the precious metals. A brief comparison of the Parkes and the Balbach processes is interesting. The Parkes process as practiced in England consisted in stirring into silver-bearing lead, melted in a kettle, from 1 to 2 per cent. of zinc, cooling, skimming the alloy of lead, zinc, and silver that rose to the surface, liquating it in an iron retort, distilling the residual rich alloy in fire-clay retorts, thus regaining the zinc, and refining the desilvered lead at a low heat in a shallow cast-iron pan that formed the hearth of a reverberatory furnace. If the lead was too impure, it was first softened * Presented also at the Joint Meeting of the Institute and Section IIIa, Metal¬lurgy and Mining, of the Eighth International Congress of Applied Chemistry, New York, September, 1919, and here published by mutual agreement.

Dec 1, 1912

By AIME AIME

Maurer's review summarizes quite thoroughly the various theoretical developments and experimental findings that contribute to the knowledge of rock mechanics in drilling. This discussion supplements Maurer's paper by including generalities that either have been incompletely treated in his review, or formulated from new considerations by the discussant and from hitherto unpublished experimental data. These generalities are associated with the observation that all mechanical methods of rock drilling essentially comprise a sequence of indexed, concentrated loadings on the bottom of the hole being drilled.

Jan 1, 1967

By Reichmuth, Donald R.

Most brittle solids are relatively weak in tension and this weakness can be very significant in determining their performance in structures and excavations. Consequently, accurate knowledge of the tensile strength of brittle materials has long been recognized as important. In the past, measurements of the tensile strength of materials such as concrete, ceramics, and particularly rock have been hindered by problems encountered in fabricating test specimens and in accurately loading them. These difficulties have resulted in a scarcity of published tensile strength data. This can be readily seen in tabulations such as Wuerker's "Annotated Tables of Strength and Elastic Properties of Rocks.

Jan 1, 1968

By H. H. Taft

IT has long been known that the volcanic area south of Belmont, Nye county, Nevada, had mining possibilities. Some of the old-time prospectors knew that gold existed there. Its remoteness from any source of supplies, its long distances from water, the absence of game, and more, perhaps, the lack of grass for animals to subsist upon, has made this an unattractive region in which to search for mines. The decline of the Comstock mines, the exhaustion of sun-dry large and rich ore-bodies, the high cost of mining, marketing, and particularly the ruinously high freight-charges upon refractory ore that had to be shipped to distant smelters, have kept investors out of Nevada for the last few years; and mining people have hardly yet awakened to the importance of Tonopah, Goldfield and perhaps the newer and less developed districts. The discovery of Tonopah by J. L. Butler, who located the Mizpah Claim in May, 1900, and the fortunes soon realized there, attracted many people. As the boom declined, many went away, some scattering out into the surrounding country, and the population is now about 7,000. In the fall of 1902 a discovery of gold was made 23 miles south, in what is now known as the Sandstorm group, 4 miles NW. of Goldfield. In the winter of 1903-4 the Combination, January and Florence mines were discovered, and shipments of high-grade ore soon followed. In January, 1905, there were 10,000 people in Goldfield. In June, 1904, rich gold-ore was found 85 miles SE., at the foot of the south end of the Kawich mountains, but this discovery was kept quiet until a re-location could be made. On August 10, 1904, the Bullfrog claims, and a month later the Ladd mountain and neighboring claims, were located. The Shoshone group was located September 24. This district is

Nov 1, 1905

By Thomas T., Read

THE education of adolescents to perform the duties and assume the responsibilities of maturity has been a characteristic of human society since the dawn of history. In the beginning the members of the immediate family performed this function, and in modern life they still have an important part in it. Possibly religion was the first field in which education began to be functional; young people were sent for instruction to a teacher who had a broader and deeper knowledge of the subject than was possessed by the family. It does not seem necessary for our purpose to attempt to determine how, when, or where instruction in the practical arts first' began to become functional, and the brief outline which follows must suffice. The discovery and utilization of mineral substances to improve and maintain the conditions of human living is a practical art, which must have had an almost accidental origin and have been developed by empirical experiments. We do not know, nor would it be useful to try to fancy, how men first learned that they could make use .of mineral substances to their benefit, but how- ever that knowledge was initially gained it was certainly trans mitted through instruction in the family. At first such activities must have been merely a .minor part of the making of a-living, but in time those who excelled found it better to devote them-

Jan 1, 1941

By J. C. Bayles

Jan 1, 1886

By C. W. Hall

MINE executives, as a rule, have always been willing to adopt new ideas of operation, or to listen to proposals which might increase the effectiveness of their enterprise, more especially so if they could be shown how definite results might be attained by introducing any conception suggested. In these days of high wages, high cost of supplies, and high taxes, operators are even more inclined to accord consideration to innovations or improvements, and many go so far as to employ men to conduct special investigations and make studies for the purpose of advancing production. Where a man is brought into an organization to do work of an efficiency nature, it often creates resentment among the operative heads because of having their work directly scrutinized, or investigated, and there is a tendency, if not actually to obstruct, to fa.il to cooperate; in which case the investigator is handi-

Jan 1, 1925

By AIME AIME

MESSRS. BURT and Shockley and others have been for three years urging upon the Institute the matter of simplified spelling. The Institute endeavors to be progressive in the matter of spelling and. is in cooperation with the national body which has this in hand and which has its principal office in New York. Our spellings are changed as fast as-good usage will permit (so it seems to the Board of Directors) and the national body, which is the real representative of the simplified spelling interests, deems that the Institute is making real progress, although not quite as fast as extremists would wish. In January, 1919, Mr. Shockley sent out letter ballots which created a misconception in the minds of many members, who received the impression that the communications came from the Institute instead of from a small group of members. As a result of this propaganda 163 proposal-ballots were sent in to the Institute divided as follows: Yes ?114 No ?20 Negative letters ?9 Split ballots ?20 Total ?163 The total membership at this time was about 7200. The disgusted members would not vote.

Jan 1, 1920

By Herbert Hoover

THE Federation of Engineering Societies has been created for the sole purpose of public service. This initial meeting surely warrants some discussion of a few of the problems to which this organization, for expression of the --. engineering mind, can quite well give consideration. Some of the greatest of the problems before the country and, in fact, before the world, are those growing out of our industrial development. The enormous industrial expansion of the last fifty' years has lifted the standard of living and comfort beyond any dream of our forefathers. Our economic system under which it has been accomplished has given stimulation to invention, to enterprise, to individual improvement of the highest order, yet it presents a series of human and social difficulties for the solution of which we are groping. The congestion of population is producing subnormal conditions of life. The vast repetitive operations are dulling the human mind. The intermittency bf employment due to the bad coordination of industry, the great waves of unemployment in the ebb and flow of economic tides, produce infinite wastes and great suffering. Our business enterprises have become so large and complex that the old personal relationship between employer and worker has to a great extent disappeared. The aggregation of great wealth, with its power of economic domination, presents social, economic ills which we are constantly struggling to remedy.

Jan 1, 1920

By Allan D. Taylor

INTRODUCTION From the designer's view, the installation starts with the first definition of the orebody, and progresses through a long and complex development. The design is affected not only by the characteristics of the ore, but by all of the personalities and events of the project during its development. The following discussion attempts to touch on the most important aspects which define the context in which the designer must work in apply the do's and don'ts. That context is the basis of the viewpoint. WHAT CAN GO WRONG The Project Is Going Over Budget This is a common and serious concern to the plant designer. The Project Falls Behind Schedule Another common and disturbing condition with which the plant designer must cope. Some Equipment Fails to Perform This can be due to either faulty equipment or operating deficiencies. It can be the result of a wide variety of causes, but the designer will be an interested party in the search for the cause and the cure. The Plant Isn't Flexible Enough Sometimes a plant will handle some or even most of the ore satisfactorily but is unable to treat another type properly. This can be a significant problem. An example might be a case where low capacity of a cyclone feed pump makes it impossible to accompany an increase in grinding mill throughput with a corresponding increase in dilution water. This could lead to an increase in cyclone feed density, and a loss in product grade or a limit on the plant capacity. Spillage And Cleanup Are Excessive This is one of the most common and annoying defects in metallurgical plants, and one for which the designer can rarely delegate blame. Maintenance Is Excessive Another common complaint in new plants, and also one for which the dedesigner must accept most of the responsibility.

Jan 1, 1982

By W. P. Sykes

RECENT investigations of the molybdenum-carbon alloys have been reported by Becker and Ebert1,? Westgren and Phragmén2, T. Takei3, and H. Tutiya4. Takei3 studied the Mo-C system by employing metal-lographic and X-ray methods, and the other publications described the determination of the crystal structure of the molybdenum carbides. In exploring this system by a technique previously applied to the tungsten-carbon series5, the results of Takei were confirmed with two definite exceptions; i.e., first the composition of the eutectic, and second the nature of the carbon-rich intermediate phase. Consequently, a more thorough examination of the molybdenum-carbon constitution was initiated in an effort to correlate the data supplied by the microstructures, diffraction patterns and chemical analyses.

Jan 1, 1935

NEW MEMBERS The following list comprises the names of those persons who became members during the month of December, 1913: Members ADAMS, CHARLES W., JR., Smelting, American Smelting & Refining Co., Murray, Utah. ARMSTRONG, FRANK H., Mechanical Engineer Vulcan, Mich. ARNOLD, JOHN B., Attorney-at-Law Room 840,200 5th Ave., New York, N. Y. BOYS, HARRY R., Mining Paso Robles, Cal. CAVANAGH, JOHN L., Min. Engr., Nova Scotia Steel & Coal Co.; Wabana, Newfoundland. CHOW, KAI CHI, Student 1120 Amsterdam Ave., New York, N. Y. CLARK, ARTHUR B., Mining Engineer 72 Harbour Bldg., Butte, Mont. CURLEY, JOHN R., State Mine Inspector P. 0. Box 633, Leadville, Colo. DAVIS, ANGUS W., Mining Engineer, Consolidated Mining & Smelting Company of Canada, Trail, B. C., Canada.

Jan 1, 1914

By I. E. Rosenzweig

The problem considered in this paper is as follows: An arbitrary horizontally stratified area is given. The electrical properties of this area are characterized by a function p(z) (Fig. I), which shows the relationship between resistivity p of the soil and the depth z. For such general case the apparent resistivity p* will be computed, by earth-resistivity measurements carried out by any given configuration of electrodes. General solutions of this problem appear to be very important for interpretation of field results of resistivity measurements, concerning structural investigations. Such solutions have been given by many authors for the special case of a finite number of homogeneous layers (Fig. 2)lV4 as well as for the more general case of continuously ranging resistivities.5-8

Jan 1, 1940

By I. E. Rosenzweig

The problem considered in this paper is as follows: An arbitrary horizontally stratified area is given. The electrical properties of this area are characterized by a function p(z) (Fig. I), which shows the relationship between resistivity p of the soil and the depth z. For such general case the apparent resistivity p* will be computed, by earth-resistivity measurements carried out by any given configuration of electrodes. General solutions of this problem appear to be very important for interpretation of field results of resistivity measurements, concerning structural investigations. Such solutions have been given by many authors for the special case of a finite number of homogeneous layers (Fig. 2)lV4 as well as for the more general case of continuously ranging resistivities.5-8

Jan 1, 1940

By R. L. Loofbourow

Trends in the metal mining industry were definitely down in 1954. With a record in 1953 of $1.8 billion output, the last year dropped to $1.5 billion, the lowest value since 1950. The decrease in iron ore production alone accounted for at least 10 pct of the decline. PROBABLY more than any previous year, political debates of 1954 marked a new high for the mining industry. Lead and zinc prices gave forth with minor rallies producing no real improvements. An anticipated drop in copper prices never came to be. Early in the year arguments for more free trade versus tariffs to restrict imports were voiced eloquently by Charles P. Taft, president, Committee for a National Trade Policy, and Andrew Fletcher, president, St. Joseph Lead Co.

Jan 3, 1955