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By F. B. Plummer

PRODUCING operations abroad during 1940 were shrouded in the fog of war. Little, if any, concrete information is available, and the data that issue from the belligerent countries are too frequently distorted for military purposes, for the volume of supply of gasoline and fuel oil has become an important strategic secret. Despite this lack of information signs indicate the spread of a slow paralysis which is gripping producing operations in foreign countries. Only in the Caribbean area are developments proceeding normally and even there the destruction of the Western European market is being seriously felt. This creeping paralysis is being brought about partly by the serious shortage of materials so necessary for drilling and other producing operations such as steel, machinery, and the like-together with a scarcity of that prime munition of war-money. Markets too have been curtailed by the operation of exchange control as all exchange is needed to support war efforts. As a result, gasoline is tightly rationed in all belligerent countries. The growing casualties in shipping are fast restricting the water-borne trade in petroleum, but have had a local stimulating effect in some areas where the risk is less or where water-borne transport can be efficiently used as for instance Trinidad and Egypt. The type of product needed for war effort, particularly the great demand for aviation gasoline, has changed the schedules of .refinery operations. As a result of all these influences the world oil picture outside the United States- has vastly changed during the year.

Jan 1, 1941

By William G., Pariseau

There are important phenomena in rock and soil mechanics that cannot be explained in terms of theories of homogeneous, isotropic materials. Subsidence of strata about mine openings is an example. In-situ stress measurements in nonisotropic sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks is another. Patterns of joints, faults, fractures, and similar geologic features impart directional mechanical properties to rock masses that are locally isotropic or anisotropic. On the geologic scale, the non-homogeneity of composite rock masses may, in certain instances, be dealt with as homogeneous anisotropy. The mechanics of large rock masses can, therefore, be expected to involve considerations of anisotropy. The source of the anisotropy is not relevant. Once the scale of observation is selected and the material is defined accordingly, the analysis of stress and deformation proceeds without regard to the numerical values of the material constants. There are also important phenomena in rock and soil mechanics that cannot be explained in terms of linear elasticity, theory. For the mechanical description of anisotropic geologic materials capable of de- forming beyond the limit of purely elastic strains, a plasticity theory is required.

Jan 1, 1972

Abbey, Robert Graham, District Mgr.. The W. W. Sly Mfg. Co., 50 Church St.. New York, N. Y. '21 Abbott, A. N., Mines Supt., Mazapil Copper Co., LtdConcepcion del Oro, Zac., Mexico. '28 *Abbott, Argyle Campbell, Dev. Dept., E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Del. '29 Abbott, Clarence E., V.P., Charge of Raw Materials, Tenn. Coal, Iron & R. R. Co., 1242 Brown-Marx Bldg.. Birmingham, Ala. '04 Abbott, Louis Benjamin, Chief Engr., Elkhorn Div., Consolidation Coal Co., Jenkins, Ky. '16 Abeel, George H., Jr., Cons. Min. Engr Box 427, Santa Monica, Cal. '18 Abel, Albert E., Asst. to Pres., Valley Mould & Iron Corp Hubbard, Ohio. '19 Abel, Raymond L., Asst. Prof., Dept. of Pet. Refin., Univ. of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh. Pa. '28 Abeel, Leo M., Research Engr., Sullivan Concentrator Chapman Camp, B. C., Canada. '31

Jan 1, 1929

By George A. Komadina

From its modest beginning in 1957 with one mill grinding section handling 3000 tpd Pima has steadily expanded. In July 1966, work was completed that allowed the concentrator to treat in excess of 18,000 tpd. Almost immediately Pima embarked on another expansion program that will increase plant capacity to 30,000 tpd during the summer of 1967. This repeated expansion has corresponded with the development of additional low-grade ore deposits and with the improved operating economics realized by handling larger masses of material. Early in the life of Pima it was known that a mineralized area was present on the flanks of the high-grade orebody which systematic drilling had shown to be a low-grade copper orebody. Many months of engineering studies revealed that this was sufficient to allow Pima to compete with other large scale, low-grade copper operations in the Southwest.

Jan 11, 1967

By George A. Miller

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

Jan 1, 1944

By S. A. Falconer

D. A. Dahlstrom—Mr. Falconer has done an admirable job of proving the adaptability of the cyclone to the beneficiation of a very difficult size range in the preparation of coal. The addition of the cyclone to other coarser size methods makes it economically feasible for the coal operator to rigorously control his marketed products at a high and uniform quality level down to the 48 and 100-mesh size. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that by utilizing the cyclone as a deslimer or classifier the —3 200-mesh fraction, usually containing large percentages of undesirable material, can also be quickly and cheaply removed from the clean coal. Advantages of such a step are several: (1) Reduction of ash content, especially where clays and slimes are serious. (2) lower moisture content of the final coal. (3) easier mechanical and thermal de-watering of the fine coal due to higher cake and bed permeabilities. The author has indicated that adjustable control means should be installed on the cyclone operating on a heavy-media slurry. This also holds true for the cyclone acting as classifier, deslimer or preliminary dewatering agent and is worthy of special emphasis. Such controls, while not necessarily automatic, must be simple, rapidly adjustable, and require a minimum of attention. Three methods available to the operator are (1) throttling valve on the feed line, (2) back pressure valve on the overflow, and (3) adjustable diameter underflow nozzles. The first two, while fulfilling the specifications, suffer the disadvantage of restricting capacity if severe throttling is necessary. The third method has little effect on capacity and easily maintains an underflow of correct moisture content. Several designs are possible, but two find the widest application. The first was developed by Robert Piros of The Truax-Traer Coal Co. and uses a simple casting containing two holders for underflow nozzles which can be rotated about an axis parallel to the cyclone centerline. These holders retain the underflow nozzle flush with the conical section walls. When a change in nozzle diameter is required, the new size is placed in the spare holder and rotated into place. A second design utilizes a soft rubber cylindrical tube which is compressed or released from three sides, causing the inner diameter of the tube to decrease or increase. This is achieved by using a machine-threaded,

Jan 1, 1951

By S. A. Falconer

D. A. Dahlstrom—Mr. Falconer has done an admirable job of proving the adaptability of the cyclone to the beneficiation of a very difficult size range in the preparation of coal. The addition of the cyclone to other coarser size methods makes it economically feasible for the coal operator to rigorously control his marketed products at a high and uniform quality level down to the 48 and 100-mesh size. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that by utilizing the cyclone as a deslimer or classifier the —3 200-mesh fraction, usually containing large percentages of undesirable material, can also be quickly and cheaply removed from the clean coal. Advantages of such a step are several: (1) Reduction of ash content, especially where clays and slimes are serious. (2) lower moisture content of the final coal. (3) easier mechanical and thermal de-watering of the fine coal due to higher cake and bed permeabilities. The author has indicated that adjustable control means should be installed on the cyclone operating on a heavy-media slurry. This also holds true for the cyclone acting as classifier, deslimer or preliminary dewatering agent and is worthy of special emphasis. Such controls, while not necessarily automatic, must be simple, rapidly adjustable, and require a minimum of attention. Three methods available to the operator are (1) throttling valve on the feed line, (2) back pressure valve on the overflow, and (3) adjustable diameter underflow nozzles. The first two, while fulfilling the specifications, suffer the disadvantage of restricting capacity if severe throttling is necessary. The third method has little effect on capacity and easily maintains an underflow of correct moisture content. Several designs are possible, but two find the widest application. The first was developed by Robert Piros of The Truax-Traer Coal Co. and uses a simple casting containing two holders for underflow nozzles which can be rotated about an axis parallel to the cyclone centerline. These holders retain the underflow nozzle flush with the conical section walls. When a change in nozzle diameter is required, the new size is placed in the spare holder and rotated into place. A second design utilizes a soft rubber cylindrical tube which is compressed or released from three sides, causing the inner diameter of the tube to decrease or increase. This is achieved by using a machine-threaded,

Jan 1, 1951

By Robert M. Weidenhammer

For years before the war, Coal had the reputation of being a sick industry. Currently it is operating at peak production and succeeding pretty well in keeping out of the red. But, says Mr. Weidenhammer, it will have a relapse as soon as the war ends unless (1) working capital can be built up; (2) it gets the support of the people and Congress; and (3) a truly long-range national fuel policy is formulated.

Jan 1, 1943

By Mark David Rankin

This paper represents a general assessment of the primary factors driving the market for mobile offshore drilling rigs and the utility of those factors as choice variables for the offshore drilling program planner.

Jan 1, 1982

By A. L., Bailey

All who are even generally aware of the tremendous rate of increase in coal washing operations must realize the growing importance of the float-and-sink test. I believe it is conservative to estimate that, in the past decade, the dollar volume of float-and-sink testing has increased tenfold. It is a simple matter of economy, then, to examine the factors that determine the cost of adequate float-and-sink testing. When the Coal Preparation Section of the Bureau of Mines entered upon a greatly expanded program of such work in connection with the synthetic liquid fuels investigations, it seemed advisable to examine these factors experimentally. The principal consideration that differentiates float-and-sink test sampling from general purpose sampling, is that the original particle size must be preserved. Therefore, the total cost of the test will be directly affected by any standard that might be proposed to limit sample bulk reduction at any given particle size. For this reason, the relationship of sample size to variability of results was the first factor to be studied experimentally.

Jan 1, 1949

By Norman D. Fitzgerald

IN 1943 the petroleum industry completed a series of practical adjustments to the acute problems which dominated the scene a year earlier. The crisis in petroleum transportation from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast was met by the completion of overland pipe lines supplementing emergency haulage by tank car so pressure on consumers along the Atlantic Seaboard was appreciably relieved. Later in the year when the western Atlantic was largely cleared of submarines, the sharp reduction in the hazards of marine transportation permitted the resumption of coastwise traffic and imports from South America. Nationwide restrictions in the use of gasoline and fuel oils became necessary as military demands for all petroleum products mounted to high levels.

Jan 1, 1944

By F. B. WEEKS

I HAVE chosen for my subject a mining district which in an article published four years ago I referred to in the following words: "One of the un- usual anomalies of mining development and history is that a district having added thirty or more millions of wealth to a principal mining state, situated within four to six miles of two transcontinental railways and two auto highways, and within 150 miles of the most widely advertised part of the United States, should have been so completely lost sight of that probably not one mining man in ten can tell offhand where it is situated." But this district never was a dead one: it was only slumbering. During the past four months, day by day, it has been emerging from that state of slumber.

Jan 1, 1929

By E. D. Gardner

IN 1947 the metal-mining industry . passed through a year of readjustment; catching up on development work has caused production to suffer. Skilled labor has been short in most mining districts, notwithstanding the highest wage rate paid in the history of the industry. The trend has continued toward increased mechanization and refinements in practices and methods to increase the tons produced per man-shift. Improvements in procedures, however, have not kept pace with rising labor rates; and, in general, labor costs per ton mined have steadily increased since the war years. Prices of base metals have been the highest in a generation, but most producing companies can afford to pay the high wages. Capital expenditures have been approved for improvements to increase the output per man, both to reduce unit labor costs and to increase output. Surveys indicate a continuing

Jan 1, 1948

By James S. Baker

LARGER than continental United States but with only about one third the population, Brazil is a land of enormous potential wealth, waiting to be developed. During a recent visit to that country I saw Brazil at war and learned about some of the recent mineral developments. Many engineers and geologists have been sent to Brazil by various U. S. Government agencies to assist the Brazilian producers and co-operate with the Brazilian Government in producing needed war minerals. The Foreign Economic Administration staff of engineers has been active and through their assistance to the Brazilian producers, steadily increasing quantities of strategic minerals were provided to aid the United Nations' war effort. Mineral wealth has been found in almost every state of Brazil. Many mineral deposits have been discovered during the war period. Examples are: barite near Bahia; the tungsten and molybdenum deposits in Rio Grande do Norte; and corundum, beryl, and tungsten ores in Ceara.

Jan 1, 1945

By Herbert Hoover

THERE is one problem of the new administration that has received the attention and thought of the organized engineers of America for many years past. This is the problem of the reorganization of the Federal Government. The, inadequacy, the wastefulness, and the inefficiency of our federal organization was evident, enough under pre-war conditions. These inadequacies, these inefficiencies, these wastes were exhibited to the country during the war at the cost of millions. Congress has placed the problem in the hands of a very able Congressional Joint Committee, but if this Joint Committee succeeds in securing the imminently necessary results it will only be by full insistent support to it by public opinion. Many attempts have been made at reorganization before but all, of them have gone to the same crematory-the interminable differences in opinion among the executive and legislative officials over details.

Jan 1, 1921

Jan 1, 1883

By HOWARD N. EAVENS

DURING the year just closed the bituminous industry has been marked by a continuation of the period of low prices and a steady deflation, accompanied by the closing of mines and the consolidation of small units into larger ones. This pro- gram has marked almost every field in the country, and it bids fair to continue for some time. Some figures recently published for Kentucky show that in 1924 there were 660 mines producing 45,147,000 tons; in 1928 the number had decreased to 537, while production had increased to 61,860,000 tons, and a similar movement is occurring all over the country. Prices throughout the early part of the year were very low, but during the fall and winter the prices received are more satisfactory than they were earlier in the year. One of the leading developments in the marketing of coal during the year was the trade practice movement, which began in the Harlan field, and has now been adopted in the Harlan, Hazard, Appalachian, Logan. Williamson and Kanawha fields. The purpose of this movement is to prevent the shipment of coal except on order, and by the publication of price lists to prevent much senseless price quotation. Where it has been practised the longest this movement has resulted in a considerable degree of stabilization, and, undoubtedly, it will help existing conditions very materially if it becomes universal.

Jan 1, 1930

By D. M. McFarland

IN mining, quarrying, and construction, drilling and blasting have an important influence on the operations that follow. If the fragmentation of material being disrupted is inadequate, loading and transportation equipment will not operate at or near full capacity. Any operator faced with this difficulty should not be satisfied until he is convinced by a careful study of his methods of drilling and blasting that no improvement can be made. Rock in a certain quarry in Ohio seemed to defy any grade of explosive or means of detonation that the explosives industry had to offer. The average result of a blast was that a great part of the burden would be pushed out from the face in a number of large sections that would jokingly be referred to as "boxcars." These were no credit to the explosives man and a costly problem for the quarry company. Such blocks retard shovel operation as they have to be uncovered and subjected to secondary drilling and blasting which, if extensive, is an expensive operation. It was an attempt to improve the fragmentation obtained in primary blasts that led to the development of milli-second-delay electric blasting caps. The reasoning that prompted the trial was that even with wide spacing of the drill holes it seemed that the burden was separated too quickly from the face by the cutting action of the explosives from hole to hole. If the time of firing of the holes could be regulated so that

Jan 1, 1948

By R. R. Sayers

SILICOSIS is a term known to almost everyone today. Yet, in spite of a great deal of study, much is still to be learned regarding the disease. Government organizations are still continuing their investigations, begun near Joplin, Mo., 25 years ago. Work is also being done in several universities, as Harvard, Pennsylvania, Rochester, and Toronto, and at least two private organizations, the Air Hygiene Foundation of America, Inc., and the Saranac Laboratories for the Study of Tuberculosis, devote most of their time to this subject. Similar studies have been and are being made in many other countries.

Jan 1, 1939

By William J. Robinson

What is the cumulative rate of recovery of copper from a sulfide leach dump? The technical answers to this frequently asked question may vary from "I don't know" to "quite good" from people of the same company. Management also poses this question because it plays a vital role in planning future production. The answer is difficult because of the many variables between different operations such as physical construction of the dump, topography of the original site, characteristics of dump material, mineralization, and water application. Each of these factors and others have a bearing on the rate of recovery. Anaconda's method of water distribution at Butte is unique in that each dump is drilled to allow physical injection of water into the dump. The injection holes are drilled vertically on 25-ft centers from the surface of the dump [(Figs. 1 and 2)]. Normally, the holes are drilled 40 ft deep and cased with 4-in. PVC perforated pipe. The pipe is perforated at 1-ft intervals with four 1 -in.-diam holes at 90° spacing on the pipe circumference. Formerly, shallow holes (20-40 ft) were alternated with deep holes (80-180 ft) in an effort to cover the entire dump and hasten oxidation. The shallow hole depth varied according to the compaction thickness. The deep hole depth varied according to the height of the dump and the original ground profile. It is preferable to have the deep holes end 20-30 ft above the original ground level. This generally allows penetration of the coarse material at the bottom of the dump. Deep holes had to be discontinued in order to cover more

Jan 1, 1974