Search Documents

By Samuel G. Lasky

In a recent discussion of the mineral resource position of the United States, published in the September 1946 issue of Mining and Metallurgy, I expressed my conviction that ore deposits of major magnitude remain to be found in this country and that they can be found without undue cost or risk. I stated with equally strong conviction, however, that if the search for such deposits is to be notably successful there must be, among other things, a reorientation of philosophy and mental habits on the part of many who would be connected with the search. I would now like to enlarge upon that statement. For such a purpose. we may consider that the search for concealed deposits involves four steps: (I) the selection of areas for further study; (2) the geologic study of those areas in order to verify their general favorableness and in order to choose specific patches worthy of being tested; (3) the decision whether exploration of the patches chosen should actually be undertaken; and (4) the exploration itself. The first two steps and the last rest upon the judgment and skill of geologists. The third step—the decision whether exploration should be undertaken—rests upon management. In my opinion, the philosophies or principles that have guided these steps in the past are now inadequate. Philosophy of Appraisal If concealed deposits are to be looked for, how are the places of their possible concealment to be recognized? Every known mineralized area still in the prospect stage has already been repeatedly examined and condemned. As for those deposits concealed under later rocks, there may be not even the clue of a near-by outcrop for engineer or geologist to consider. flow then, are we to know where to look? Geologic Probability In the early days of our mining industry, ore deposits were found mainly by "following the ore." Later, as such opportunities decreased, and as geologic concepts became accepted, deposits were found more and more through use of the notion of geologic probability. Many instances can be cited wherein a courageous operator ignored the implications of the unsuccessful efforts of predecessors and, solely by "following the ore," converted a discredited prospect into a good mine. Similar experience doubtless will occur in the future, but "following the ore" will no longer in itself find new deposits in the amount needed. Nor can enough new ore be expected from further use of the notion of geologic probability, for, as mentioned above, our known prospects have already been ex-

Jan 1, 1949

By Samuel G. Lasky

In a recent discussion of the mineral resource position of the United States, published in the September 1946 issue of Mining and Metallurgy, I expressed my conviction that ore deposits of major magnitude remain to be found in this country and that they can be found without undue cost or risk. I stated with equally strong conviction, however, that if the search for such deposits is to be notably successful there must be, among other things, a reorientation of philosophy and mental habits on the part of many who would be connected with the search. I would now like to enlarge upon that statement. For such a purpose. we may consider that the search for concealed deposits involves four steps: (I) the selection of areas for further study; (2) the geologic study of those areas in order to verify their general favorableness and in order to choose specific patches worthy of being tested; (3) the decision whether exploration of the patches chosen should actually be undertaken; and (4) the exploration itself. The first two steps and the last rest upon the judgment and skill of geologists. The third step—the decision whether exploration should be undertaken—rests upon management. In my opinion, the philosophies or principles that have guided these steps in the past are now inadequate. Philosophy of Appraisal If concealed deposits are to be looked for, how are the places of their possible concealment to be recognized? Every known mineralized area still in the prospect stage has already been repeatedly examined and condemned. As for those deposits concealed under later rocks, there may be not even the clue of a near-by outcrop for engineer or geologist to consider. flow then, are we to know where to look? Geologic Probability In the early days of our mining industry, ore deposits were found mainly by "following the ore." Later, as such opportunities decreased, and as geologic concepts became accepted, deposits were found more and more through use of the notion of geologic probability. Many instances can be cited wherein a courageous operator ignored the implications of the unsuccessful efforts of predecessors and, solely by "following the ore," converted a discredited prospect into a good mine. Similar experience doubtless will occur in the future, but "following the ore" will no longer in itself find new deposits in the amount needed. Nor can enough new ore be expected from further use of the notion of geologic probability, for, as mentioned above, our known prospects have already been ex-

Jan 1, 1949

By AIME AIME

THE portrait of Herbert Hoover, President of the United States, recently painted by Philip A. de Laszlo at the request of the four Founder engineering societies, was unveiled at a special meeting in the Engineering Societies Building on Feb. 15. The portrait was delivered by Gano Dunn, chairman of the Hoover Medal Board of Award, who said, in part:,

Jan 1, 1932

By AIME AIME

AT the meeting on Engineering Education on Mon- A day afternoon E. A. Holbrook, of the University of Pittsburgh and chairman of the Committee, presided as chairman with W. B. Plank acting as vice- chairman. About sixty members of the educational fraternity were present. Dean Holbrook, after a few introductory remarks, introduced the first speaker of the afternoon, Charles Y. Clayton, who then presented his paper, "Why Do So Few Elect Metallurgy?" in which he stressed the fact that ,one of the things the study of metallurgy ,now needs is publicity and public education on what metallurgy is and 'does. Another thing he brought out is that the study of metallurgy has been looked on for many years merely as a branch of other departments. He gave tables showing past and present enrollment in the course of metallurgy in various schools.

Jan 1, 1930

The Institute conducts jointly with the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American Institute of Electrical Engineers, certain activities as listed below, and is joint owner with them of certain properties. United Engineering Trustees, Inc.* When Mr. Carnegie made his gift which made possible a home for the engineering societies, a separate corporation was organized to act as a holding company and to manage the common property. This was long known as the United Engineering Society but the name has now been changed to one which more nearly reflects the real function of the corporation. It holds title to the Engineering societies Building and to various funds placed in its charge and is managed by a Board of Trustees of which three are chosen by each of the four societies, American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Institute of Electrical Engineers and American Society of Civil Engineers, which own equal and undivided interests in the property. The land and building cost two million dollars. The interest of each of the Founders societies, aside from especial trust funds, is now valued at $493,352. The A. I. M. E. trustees are Arthur S. Dwight, J. V. N. Dorr and H. A. Guess. George D. Barron will succeed Mr. Guess as trustee at the end of this year. The President of the Board is Francis Lee Stuart and the Secretary, Alfred D. Flinn. The Engineering Foundation The Engnieering Foundation was established in 1814 as a result of a gift of $200,000 made by Ambrose Swasey. It is intended not only "for the Furtherance of research" along broad lines but also "for the advancement of" a wide variety of other activities of benefit to engineering as need arises. The endowment fund, which now amounts to $630,000, is administered by the United Engineering Trustees, Inc. Through The Engineering Foundation board, on which the Institute is now represented by J. V. N. Dorr, John M. Callow and Galen H. Clevenger, the income of the endowment, approximately $28,000 a year, and funds contributed for special projects are appropriated for the purposes intended. H. C. Bellinger will succeed Mr. Callow on the board at the end of this year. Alfred D. Flinn is Secretary- and Director. Researches of wide interest in many lines have been aided by Engineering Foundation. . A grant from it to the Mining Methods Committee assisted in the preparation of Volume 72 of the Transactions. For several years the Foundation has aided in support of the study of Blast-furnacc Slags by R. 8. McCaffery at the University of Wisconsin, sponsored by the Institute. The Foundation has raised over $230,000 to support the Alloys of Iron Research endorsed by the Institute and George B. Water-house is serving as Chairman and Director of the Iron Alloys Committee which has been brought together to direct this work. The Foundation has also on recommendation of the Institute made a grant in aid of the studies of Mining and Strata being conducted at Columbia University by P. B. Bucky, which promise information of great usefulness relative to mine subsidence and support of ground. John Fritz Medal Board of Award The medal was established in 1902 and lias since, been awarded not oftener than annually by a hoard of sixteen members, four representatives each from the American Societies of Civil, Mining and Metallurgical, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineers.

Jan 1, 1930

By F. B. Plummer

PERHAPS the greatest progress made in the technical methods of oil production during the last year has been in handling gas from the new fields that yield light distillate fractions. At least sixteen recycling plants have been perfected and installed in South Texas fields alone during 1939 having a daily capacity of more than one billion -2 cubic feet of gas and capable of producing more than a million gallons of distillate daily. The process consists of running the gas under pres- sure through especially designed plants, separating out the condensate, then compressing the gas to 3000 lb. or more, depending on the subsurface pressure in the formation, and injecting gas back into the reservoir to be produced again later, along with more of the liquid hydrocarbons, and again recycled. Hence production in these distillate fields in sense has changed from that of producing a constantly diminishing and much-wasted product to a more or less continuous manufacturing process, in which practically all the gas is conserved-a real triumph in engineering practice.

Jan 1, 1940

By Paul M. Tyler

MINOR industrial minerals included in this chapter are: the alum minerals, bromine, calcium chloride, epsomite and other natural magnesium salts, iodine, meerschaum, quartz, industrial crystals other than quartz (Iceland spar, tourmaline, fluorite, selenite, mica), and nonfuel gases (air, helium, carbon dioxide). ALUM MINERALS The alums comprise a series of double sulphates (or selenates) isomorphous with potash alum, which, according to a ruling of the Pennsylvania courts, is the only product commercially described simply as "alum." Common alum occurs in nature as kalinite (K2SO4- A12 (SO4) 324H2O). The mineral mendozite (Na2S04) 3.A12 (SO4)3- 24H2O) is soda alum; tschennigite (NH4)2SO4.Al2 (SO4)3.24H2O) is ammonium alum; and there are about a dozen other native alums and related double sulphates. Alunite (alumstone or alum rock) has the formula Al2(SO4) 3.K2S04.4A1 (OH)3 and alunogen, Al2(So4) 3.18H20. Saline residues, found wherever natural water is evaporated, may contain sulphate of alumina, which for most uses is the essential ingredient of alum. Mineral wells and springs that emerge from beds of pyritiferous shale are typically astringent and at times form local deposits of alum, generally as incrustations. Acid waters acting upon aluminous rocks may form sulphates of alumina. The alums of commerce, as well as aluminum sulphate (concentrated alum), are produced principally by treating bauxite with acid, but they have been made also on a substantial scale from clay, cryolite, pyritic slates, schists, lignites, alunite, and leucite. Alum shale-chiefly clay, pyrite, and (usually) carbonaceous matter-was extensively used in England as a source of alum for more than two centuries. In France, pyritic lignites mixed with sand and clay were burned in heaps to red ash, the leach Liquors from which, after treatment with ammonia, yielded alum and copperas. Processes have been developed for making alum or aluminum sulphate from such diverse materials as feldspar, aluminous phosphate minerals, greensand, and mixtures of mica and

Jan 1, 1949

By C. C. McDermond, Others, B. N. Zavoico

Production of crude oil in Venezuela for the year 1937 was 186,653,-916 bbl., as compared with 155,228,982 bbl. produced in 1936, an increase of almost 31,500,000 bbl. The oil-field strike, which started on Dec. 14, 1936, lasted until Jan. 25, 1937, when a total of 10,000,000 bbl. of production was estimated to have been lost (5,750,000 bbl. in 1936 and the remainder in 1937). Of the total of 186,653,916 bbl. produced in 1937, the Lagunillas field contributed 45.6 per cent, a drop of approximately 10 per cent under 1936 figures; Tia Juana, 14.3 per cent; Quiriquire field, 14.0 per cent; La Rosa area, 13.3 per cent and the Mene Grande field, 7.6 per cent, these being the five leading contributors of the year's production. Detailed production figures by fields and by companies are shown on Table 1. Of the total production of Venezuela the following four major companies accounted for the greater proportion: Standard of Venezuela and Lago Petroleum Corporation together, 48.3 per cent; Shell, 37.4 per cent and Venezuela Gulf, 14.0 per cent. At the end of the year, 2491 wells were producing, of which number 1291 wells were pumpers, or about 52 per cent. Production The accompanying statistics of production record of Venezuela oil fields from its inception to Dec. 31, 1937, shown on Table 2, indicates that the cumulative production reached 1,503,283,228 bbl. In order of importance, Lagunillas leads all the fields, having accounted for about 50 per cent of Venezuelan production, followed by La Rosa area, which produced about 21 per cent; Mene Grande, which produced about 13 per cent, and Quiriquire, which produced 6.5 per cent. Table 3 shows the age of each field. Mene Grande is the oldest, having produced for 24 years; Tarra is next, 21 1/2 years old, and El Mene third, 171/2 years. The gravity of the crude from the various fields, also shown on Table 3, remained unchanged, the only addition being the new Tia Juana field, which averages 15.6' A.P.I. Table 4 shows the method of production by fields as of Jan. 1, 1938; at the end of the year 2491 wells were producing, compared with 2005 wells producing at the beginning of 1937, or an increase of 486 wells. The completions for the year reached 512. Of the 2491 wells producing crude oil, 1291 wells, or approximately 52 per cent, were pumping, 925 (approximately 37 per cent) were flowing naturally and 275 (11 per cent) were on

Jan 1, 1938

By James A. Crookston, William D. Fitzpatrick

Committee C-8 of the American Society for Testing and Materials defines "Refractories" as "Material, usually nonmetallic, used to withstand high temperature," and it defines the term "Refractoriness" thus, "In refractories the capability of maintaining the desired degree of chemical and physical identity at high temperatures and in the environment and conditions of use." The ability to withstand high temperatures is critical to classifying a material as a "refractory." However, as the foregoing definition of "refractoriness" implies, the refractory material may be subjected to and is expected to resist not only high temperatures but a variety of other destructive forces incident to its use. These include abrasion, impact, thermal shock, chemical attack, and high level loads at high temperatures. The various industrial applications of refractories represent an infinite variety of combinations and degrees of severity of these destructive forces, including high temperatures. Naturally, such a variety of application conditions leads to a need for a wide variety of refractory products to satisfy those conditions. The number of refractory products available is great enough that some form of classification is necessary to a discussion of refractories. Refractories may be classified in several ways, but the most suitable one is based on their general compositions and to lesser degrees on their physical condition and distinctive properties. The primary types of brick include aluminosilicate brick (fire clay and alumina), basic brick (magnesia and chrome ore, alone and in various combinations), silica brick, insulating brick, and special refractories (carbon, Sic, ZrO,, zircon, borides, and nitrides). Brick are, of course, preformed and are usually heat treated at high temperatures before use, but are in some instances unburned and/or chemically bonded, including the relatively new class of tar-bonded magnesia and/or dolomite brick. In addition to preformed refractories, another broad category includes the so-called specialty refractories, which are usually made in the same types as itemized for brick-bonding mortars and high temperature cements, hydraulic setting castables or refractory concrete, plastic firebrick, and ramming mixes. Refractory grains, such as fire clay and high alumina calcines, dead-burned magnesite and periclase, and dead-burned dolomite are also considered refractory products. Brick are also classified on the basis of physical dimensions, as standard sizes and special shapes. The standard sizes are those which are of definite shape and design and are designated as 9 x 4 ½ x 2 ½ in. and 9 x 4 ½ x 3 in. straights and series. All other brick of non- standard sizes are referred to as special shapes. These come about as a result of a particular need for a given furnace or for a particular application.

Jan 1, 1975

By W. N. Poundstone, P. C. Thakur

Introduction Horizontal drilling in coal mines is a relatively new technology. The earliest recorded drilling in the United States was done in 1958 at the Humphrey mine of Consolidation Coal Co. for degasification of coal seams. Spindler and Poundstone experimented with vertical and horizontal holes for several years. They concluded in 1960 that horizontal drilling in advance of underground mining appeared to offer the most promising prospect (for degasification) but effective and extensive application would be dependent upon the ability to drill long holes, possibly 300 to 600 m, with reasonably precise directional control and within practical cost limits (Spindler and Poundstone, 1960). Mining Research Division of Conoco Inc., the parent company of Consolidation Coal Co., began a research program in the early 1970s to achieve the above objective. The technology needed to drill nearly 300 m in advance of working faces was developed by 1975 and experiments on advance degasification with such deep holes began in 1976. Preliminary results of this research have already been published (Thakur and Davis, 1977). To date nearly 4.5 km of horizontal holes have been drilled for advance degasification and earlier results were reconfirmed. In summary, these are: • The greatest impact of these boreholes was felt in the face area where methane concentrations were reduced to nearly 0.3% in course of two to three months from original values of nearly 0.95%. • The methane concentration in the section return reduced to 50% of its original value immediately after the boreholes were completed, indicating a capture ratio of 50%. • The total methane emission in the section (rib and face emission plus the borehole production) did not increase but rather gradually declined with time. • Initial production from 300 m deep boreholes in the Pittsburgh seam varied from 3 m3/min to 6 m3/min but then slowly declined as workings advanced inby of the drill site (well head) exposing a larger surface area parallel to the borehole. Encouraged by these results, it was decided to design a horizontal drilling system that would be mobile and compatible with other face equipment. A mobile horizontal drill can be divided into three subsystems: the drill rig, the drill bit guidance system, and borehole surveying instruments. The drill rig provides the thrust and torque necessary to drill 75- to 100-mm diam holes up to 600 m deep and contains the mud circulation and gas cuttings separation systems. The drill bit guidance system guides the bit up, down, left, or right as desired. Borehole surveying instruments measure the pitch, roll, and azimuth of the borehole assembly. Additionally, it also indicates the thickness of coal between the borehole and the roof or floor of the coal seam. Thus, it becomes a powerful tool for locating the presence of faults, clay veins, sand channels, and the thickness of coal seam in advance of mining. In recent years, many other potential uses of horizontal boreholes have come to light, such as in situ gasification, longwall blasting, improved auger mining, and oil and gas production from shallow deposits. The purpose of this paper is to describe the hardware and procedure for drilling deep horizontal holes. The Drilling Rig [Figures 1 and 2] show the two components of the mobile drilling rig: the drill unit and the auxiliary unit. The equipment (except for the chassis) was designed by Conoco Inc. and fabricated by J. H. Fletcher and Co. of Huntington, WV. The drill unit. It is mounted on a four-wheel drive chassis driven by two Staffa hydraulic motors with chains. The tires are 369 X 457 mm in size and provide a ground clearance of 305 mm. The prime mover is a 30-kw explosion-proof electric motor which is used only for tramming. Once the unit is Crammed to the drill site, electric power is disconnected and hydraulic power from the auxiliary unit is turned on. Four floor jacks are used to level the machine and raise the drill head to the desired level. Two 5-t telescopic hydraulic props, one on each side, anchor the drill unit to the roof. The drill unit houses the feed carriage, the drilling console, 300 m of 3-m-long NQ, drill rods, and the electric cable reel for instruments. The feed carriage is mounted more or less centrally, has a feed of 3.3 m, and can swing laterally by ± 17°. It can also sump forward by 1.2 m. The drill head has a "through" chuck such that drill pipes can be fed from the side or back end. General specifications of the feed carriage are: [ ] The auxiliary unit. The chassis for the auxiliary unit is identical to the drill unit but the prime movers are two 30-kW explosion proof electric motors. It is equipped with a methane detector- activated switch so that power will be cut off at a preset methane concentration in the air. No anchoring props are needed for this unit. The auxiliary unit houses the hydraulic power pack, the water (mud) circulating pump, control boxes for electric motors, a trailing cable spool, and a steel tank which serves for water storage and closed-loop separation of drill cuttings and gas.

Jan 1, 1981

By Milton H. Fies

EARLY in 1945 the laboratories of the Southern Research Institute will begin active research investigations on behalf of industrial clients. This achievement has come after four years of planning by a group of Alabama businessmen, and is in partialanswer to an urgent need in the South. Those who conceived the Institute have long realized that a marked relationship exists between scientific research and the economic well-being of the several regions of the country. Clearly, technological research, generally absent in the South, is the medium through which are created new finished goods industries, and the increase of technological research is perhaps the most important long-range project in the South.

Jan 1, 1945

By William Klement

KNELLER' has recently reported that extensive metastable solid solutions may be obtained in Cu-Fe alloys by simultaneous vapor deposition. This note reports that solid solutions, apparently single -phase, can be obtained for Cu-Fe alloys containing 0 to 20 and 85 to 100 at. pct Fe by rapid quenching from the melt; the inability to extend the solid solubilities further is related to the liquid miscibility gap, Fig. 1, as for Cu-Co alloys.2'3 Accurate lattice spacings of the copper-rich fcc and iron-rich bcc solid solutions have been obtained. Homogeneous alloys were prepared by casting4'5 and sintering2 from elements of 99.9+ pct purity. The quenching techniques were as before,' except the iron-rich alloys were liberally covered with argon while at elevated temperatures. Flakes about 1 sq mm in area were obtained and investigated with the Debye-Scherrer technique, as previously described.2,4 All X-ray work was done at 25° 2°C using filtered copper and cobalt K radiation. Relative visual intensities of the diffraction lines for the phases in the quenched alloys are shown in Table I. The lattice spacings of the fcc structure for alloys containing up to 80 at. pct Fe are plotted in Fig. 2. The variation of these lattice parameters with composition is in good agreement with the re- of cementite spots usually present (all hkl reflections are allowed) and the ease of confusing them with ferrite or martensite reflections. Copies of the report can be obtained by writing to the Materials Research Department, Rocketdyne. 6633 Canoga Avenue, Canoga Park, Calif., 91304. A copy is also available at the Engineering Societies Library, 2nd floor, 345 East 47th Street, New York, N.Y., 10017. Photocopies, either full-size or microfilm, may be purchased from the Engineering Societies Library. sults6 of Andersen and Kingsbury, Fig. 2, although there is some disagreement in absolute value. This discrepancy may be due to the different temperatures at which the X-ray measurements were carried out and perhaps to the different extrapolation procedures. Also, Andersen and Kingsbury6 state that their lattice spacings were computed relative to the wavelengths given by Siegbahn in 1933; this reference has not been found and it is assumed that the well-known 1931 wavelengths were used, the lattice spacings then being in kx units which are converted into angstroms by the factor 1.00202. There is no support for the contention that solution of iron decreases the lattice parameter of copper, as con-

Jan 1, 1965

By C. M. White

CITIZENSHIP is a rather abstract subject on which a great deal could be said-a subject on which a great deal is said -and still one which too many of us seldom think about and seldom work at. Too many of us engineers and business men have but a vague idea of citizenship. We think that if we go to the polls on election day and obey the laws scrupulously, with the exception of an occasional traffic violation, we are pretty good citizens and are doing our duty by our city, state, and nation. But when you think it over, that's a very passive observance of the important right of counting oneself a citizen of a country. There is nothing very positive in that attitude. There is nothing that indicates that we have sufficient interest to really go out and do a job for the -welfare of our country, forgetting any personal advantages or inconveniences that might arise. In other words, this type of voting-on-election- day, law-abiding citizenship does not keep us awake a single minute; it does not take any particular thought or require the expenditure of any time or energy.

Jan 1, 1939

By AIME AIME

LEADING off the Thursday morning session on Non-metallics was C. E. Heinrichs' paper, "Phosphate Flotation, Its Place in the Technology and Economics of the Phosphate Industry." Mr. Heinrichs also presented a closely related paper, "Milling Methods and Costs at the No. 2 Concentrator of the Phosphate Recovery Corporation," by H. S. Martin. The first of the papers points out the great significance of flotation to the phosphate industry, inasmuch as flotation practically doubles the potential recovery, thereby decreasing production costs and increasing reserves materially. The second paper describes three such plants, two of which are in Florida, the third being at Wales, Tenn. Operating characteristics and costs are reviewed. Answering inquiries from the floor, Mr. Heinrichs said that the adoption of a new parallel-shell dryer, from 60 to 80 ft. long, instead of the old single-shell countercurrent dryer, had increased the unit drying capacity over 300 per cent and had reduced the drying cost to less than 25c. per long ton of dried product. The initial moisture is from 15 to 18 per cent and the final about 2 per cent.

Jan 1, 1933

THE paper on "Cross-cuts in Coal Mining," by J. J. Rutledge (published in MINING AND METAL-LURGY, February, 1927, p. 64) was brought up for discussion at the annual meeting, where the follow-ing comments were made T. D. Thomas (Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co., Lansford, Pa.) : This question has caused me a lot of worry, not in the particular district in which I am, but throughout other districts. There are always several angles to consider. If you are in a hurry to push development work, you might increase the distance between cross-cuts from 60 to 350 ft., but if you have a 40-ft. chain pillar every 60 ft. it will cut down your entry driving a whole lot. Looking at it from the ventilation angle, I agree that too many cross-cuts in entries are bad things. You have a tremendous amount of leakage, and I have seen currents starting out with 45,000 cu. ft., and after passing about 30 or 40 cross-cuts the current has dwindled down to about 18,000 or 15;000 cu. ft. The result is that the question of putting in auxiliary fans is raised. That involves several points into which I do not want to go too far, but I am in favor of not getting in too many cross-cuts, putting them in only where they are necessary: I think the state mining laws are wrong in a number of places on that, and that when you finish with a cross-cut it should be in the room. It should be well sealed on an entry. There are several ways of tightening up the cross-cuts so as not to have the great amount of leakage and wastage of: air that we now have. 'I prefer tile stopping; other people prefer cement or brick, but there is a big fac-tor to all mines, saving the mine. I checked up on the number of fans in the anthracite region and found there are 651. That was derived from the state report of 1921, and it enabled me to compute from the power the weight of the air. In the anthracite region of Pennsylvania we put in 9 tons of air to every ton of coal we get out. Tracing that back again and taking the Government's figures which they made some time ago, I found but 20 per cent of the air got to the faces where it was actually needed. That is a tremendous big loss and shows a possibility for saving, money for the various coal companies. Chairman Rice: I think what Mr. Thomas refers to was an investigation by R. Y. Williams, of the Bureau of Mines in Illinois, where a study was made of 100 typical mines, and, speaking off-hand, my recollection is that we found as little as 15 per cent of air reached the faces in one of the mines and another was as much as 50. That seems to be a reflection on the type of stoppings and general ventilation scheme.

Jan 3, 1927

By Donald L. Everhart

SOONER or later intelligent exploration for uranium leads to these questions: Where did the metallic ions that formed the orebodies come from? What processes and geologic factors were involved in ore replacement? These matters, of course, make a big difference in how best to look for orebodies. Before these questions are discussed it might be well to point out other factors bearing on the subject. The whole business of uranium exploration is only a little over ten years old, participation by the public is only about six years old, and real interest and activity by more than a few large mining companies has arisen only in the past two or three years. Throughout this short period, uranium exploration has been affected by the unique influences of necessary security measures and by division of the over- all job into individual projects by a large number of specialists in diverse fields. This has meant that a normal interchange of information on the nature of uranium deposits has really only just begun. Com- pared to the vast amount of published studies on iron, copper, lead, zinc, and gold deposits over the past 50 to 75 years, current knowledge of uranium deposits is in its infancy and much of the pertinent information is still scattered about in a number of unpublished sources. The volume of reports on all phases of uranium exploration is now beginning to mount at a remarkable rate, and geologists with widely varying specialized backgrounds in uranium geology are engaging in spirited debates over the origin of uranium and the relative importance of geologic controls of various deposits.

Jan 9, 1954

By Mark Eisner

ONE'S JOB is the watershed down which the rest of one's life tends to flow write the Lynds in the first pages of their classic social study, "Middletown in Transition." Certainly engineers will confirm this statement after a check among those in their own profession with whose lives they are at all familiar. I have no hesitancy in acknowledging the truth of their observation for the men and women who are engaged in the profession of the law. It has been often remarked that American public life is overrun with members of the law profession. The highest public office in the land, that of President. has been occupied by lawyers almost to the exclusion of citizens of any of the other professions. Twenty-two Presidents of the United States out of the total of 31, were members of the bar. For the most part, members of Congress, the governors of the states, the state legislators and the mayors and other local leaders, men who occupy important positions of responsibility and public trust, have had legal training. Now this fact is no mere accident. Those who were fitted for the "job" of the practice of the law are favorably placed with respect to their participation in public life. Thus public service and public office is the watershed down which the "lawyer's" life tends to flow.

Jan 1, 1940

By S. Terry, W. Callender, R. J. Cornelius

When a dry ball-mill grinding circuit was in- stalled at the pellet plant of Hamersley Iron Pty. Ltd., it was something of a pioneering venture, since this was one of the first instances where such a circuit had been applied to iron ore on a major scale. The Hamersley pellet plant is located in Dampier on the coast of Western Australia. The feed for it consists of -8mm fines produced as a screened product at the Mt. Tom Price mine 186 miles inland from Dampier. It was these fines that encouraged the choice of a dry grinding facility for the plant. At the outset, tests had shown that the fines could not be filtered satisfactorily with a wet grinding system. At the pelletizing plant, the fines are stockpiled, reclaimed, dry ground in ball mills, formed into pellets on balling discs, hardened on an indurating line, and stockpiled for shipment overseas. These operations are shown in Fig. 1.

Jan 7, 1969

By J. T. Michalak, H. W. Paxton

The recovery of the initial flow stress of poly-crystalline iron is characterized by a) a logarithmic time dependence; b) an increasing activation energy with increasing recovery; c) an increased ?,ate and fraction of recovery with decreased temperature of deformation; and d) an increased rate with increased deformation. Isochro)ml studies of the recovery of single crystals revealed more sluggish recovery. The original flou3 stress of single crystals could be regained by recovery anneals at 800"or 900°C. ThE great majority of the theoretical treatments and experimental studies of strain-hardening have been concerned with the close-packed lattices.' Very little effort has been expended on the bcc structure so that the theory of work-hardening of this lattice is essentially nonexistent. The limited amount of experimental data resulting from the direct studies on silicon-iron,2 low-carbon steel,3 and purified irons4"7 does not as yet permit a detailed analysis of the strain-hardening. Studies concerned with the effects of annealing following deformation have been few in number," have been somewhat limited in extent, and have had the disadvantage of using irons containing a substantial impurity content. The present research was undertaken to augment the limited knowledge we have of the characteristics of a bcc metal as regards strain-hardening and recovery from the strain-hardened state. The recovery of the flow stress has been employed since it was felt that the stress associated with the hardened state gives at least a fair qualitative description of the state of the imperfections causing the hardening. The study was concerned primarily with the recovery of flow stress following strain-hardening of polycrys-talline, zone-melted iron as a function of the amount of deformation, the temperature of deformation, and the time and temperature of the recovery anneal. A limited investigation of the recovery of the initial flow stress of single crystals of this same material as a function of the recovery temperature was also conducted in conjunction with the Lambot X-ray technique." MATERIAL The zone-melted iron used in this investigation was obtained through the courtesy of the American Iron and Steel Institute and Battelle Memorial Institute. The analysis, as given by the supplier indicated a maximum impurity content of 0.02 wt pct excluding those impurities listed in Table I. (The actual impurity content is very probably less than this since detection limits were considered as the amount of a particular impurity level.) Also listed in Table I are the interstitial impurity contents of the iron at various stages of experimental work indicating that these im-

Jan 1, 1962

The following is an extract of the Engineers' licensing law recently passed by the Colorado legislature; it went into force July 10. On the board of examiners are representatives of the four national societies. R. J. Grant, of Denver, represents the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers; H. I. Reid, of Colorado Springs, the. American Society of Civil Engineers; H. S. Sands, of Denver, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers; and Frank E. Shepard, of Denver, the American Society of Mechanical Engineering. Within sixty clays after the taking effect of this act the Governor of the state shall appoint a State Board of Engineer Examiners, to be composed of five members, who shall be legal residents of the state of Colorado and who shall have been engaged in the practice of engineering for at least ten years. Upon the expiration of the term of any members other than the state engineer the governor shall appoint their successors for a term of four years, from a list of five nominees elected by the licensed engineers acting in a general assembly called together for this purpose by the president of the board. Such assembly shall be held in the month of January next preceding the expiration of the terms of any members. The Board of Examiners shall adopt all necessary rules, regulations and by-laws to govern its proceedings, not inconsistent with this act or the laws of the state or of the United States.

Jan 8, 1919