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By Zay Jeffries

From the title of this chapter the reader could expect an attempt to out- line the anticipated shape of things to come, mineralwise. We have no crystal ball and if we possessed one we could claim no expertness in its use. In the first place no one can tell the future status of man. No one has any way of knowing to what extent peace will prevail, nor to what extent changes may occur in national sovereignties or forms of government or in international relationships. So future man is an uncertainty. Nor can we predict new developments that may result in significant changes in man's status or in the mineral industry or both. If, for example, this chapter had been written in the middle 1930's, nearly everything that has happened since in the fields of atomic energy and space technology would have been missed. Yet what vast changes these I have made in the status of man! Also the changes in the mineral industry have been important. A writer would have been bold indeed had he prophesied that uranium would play such an important role. But we need not confine our foggy vision to these fields. The steep rise in the use of aluminum, titanium, and germanium reflects the unpredictable in what may be thought of as the more normal pursuits. This should not discourage one from using the past and currently observable trends as bases for limited predictions. To do this, however, it is desirable to make certain assumptions about man's status without pretense that these assumptions have a high probability of fulfillment: 1. Only minor changes will occur in the geographical boundaries of the nations of the world. 2. World War III will not take place in the near future. 3. As a consequence of (2), man will not destroy himself by wanton use of atomic weapons. 4. Disarmament will take place, if at all, gradually rather than all at one time. Under the above assumptions the world will enjoy a period of relative peace even though the status may be one of an armed truce. The assump-

Jan 1, 1964

By AIME AIME

IT IS impossible in this short sketch to give a detailed description of each part of the plant at Bethlehem, therefore, only such facts will be touched on as are necessary to give a general idea of the works. The extent of the plant, and the fact that the units making up the various departments are located in different parts of the works, make it impracticable to mention the departments in any regular order with regard to their location. They are, therefore, mentioned approximately in the order of their relation to each other with reference to their functions in the making of the various products.

Jan 1, 1924

By Blandford C. Burgess

Mica is an orchid among minerals. It is formed in pegmatites, one of the most bizarre of igneous formations, and is exceeded by few other minerals in the perfection it may attain as to size, color, and cleavage. First used for window glazing, as an ornament and article of trade, it has become one of the most essential insulators of electricity, heat, and shock. Most internal combustion engines use mica condensers or capacitors and such machines of war as planes, tanks, and submarines are immobile without it. The original manuscript of this guide was written in April 1943 at the peak of war emergency. It was not used be- cause shortly thereafter a decision was made to buy on a one price basis eliminating differentials for both quality and size. This is now presented with the thought that from the standpoint of preparedness we can only consider an- other war imminent and every effort should he made to set up in usable form the experience gained during the Second World War. Colonial Mica Corp. was set up by Metals Reserve Co. as a wholly owned government agency to encourage production of domestic mica and to purchase it. It soon became the exclusive buying agency for such mica. The writer as Southern Manager called on all the private agencies buying mica to assist in formulating buying policies, methods, and prices.

Jan 1, 1949

By W. R. Ingalls

THE paramount subject of interest and concern at the present time is the readjustment in economic conditions following the cataclysmic disturbance produced by the war and the misconceptions leading to an orgy of extravagance that prevailed during two years following the armistice he, time is too short for me to undertake to review the nature and extent of the upheavals occurring between August, 1914, and October, 1920. Bulky volumes will be written about them. . But I shall have to refer to some of the results in order to outline a prognosis. It is the future, not the past;' that is of most interest to us. Let me be so bold as to say, without further preface, that I am not optimistic as to the near future. .We shall, indeed, have revivals in trade, but they will be delusive if their nature be not 'understood. We shall build hopes and expectations upon political maneuvers and events, only to find in the end that they were folly. In the meanwhile fundamental economic influences will continue to exert their steady and irresistible pressure. The new administratiow at Washington has no magic wand with which to kindle the fires in our idle steel furnaces, or create a million new houses for the people; nor can the premiers of Europe put into motion the spindles of the cotton and woolen mills, or by any incantations compel the people of the Orient to buy goods. The people of the Orient, and of, Europe, and of the two Americas are in the grip of the same economic forces. The readjustment has proceeded further in some parts of the world than in others. In the United States I do not think we, have gone more than over the threshold. I shall tell you why 1 think thus, but in telling you I shall be limited, in view of the immensity of the subject, to a series of bald statements, without much elucidation.

Jan 1, 1921

By J. W. Mills

This paper's aim is to demonstrate, by reviewing findings and conclusions of earlier authors and through recording and interpreting the outcome of recent laboratory study of the ores, that the ores around the Gem stocks are metamorphosed equivalents of common siderite-sulfide ores far from the stocks, as was first proposed by Hershey (1912, 1913). That is, all the ores probably have the Precambrian age of 1250 million years reported by Long et al. (1960). Those near the Gem stocks, however, were extensively metamorphosed in Cretaceous time during the emplacement of stocks so their resemblance and relation to other veins in the district are camouflaged.

Jan 1, 1985

By William S. Springer

A NEW preparation plant has been put in - operation to treat coal from the recently opened Concord mine, located about 15 miles west of Birmingham, Ala., by the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Co., a U. S. Steel subsidiary. The mine produces metallurgical grade coking coal from the American seam for use as coke in the company's blast furnaces at the Fairfield and Enseley works. The capacity of the operation is 1000 tons of run-of-mine per hr, approximately half of which is delivered to the by-product coke plant at Fairfield after beneficiation to metallurgical grade. The remaining portion of the mine run is rock and refuse removed during preparation. No boiler coal or other fuels are produced by this mine. Preparation of the coal is done both under- ground and on the surface. The underground primary crushing station removes some tramp iron, and screens and crushes the oversize, most of which is rock, to protect the main slope conveyor. The surface plant consists of a crushing and screening plant, large blending bins, a two- process washing plant, a water clarification and

Jan 1, 1950

By Max W. Ball

Our ever-increasing use of minerals has been the outstanding fact in our American economic development. The rise in our standard of living in the past century is without equal in human history. Nowhere in time or place has the man who works lived so well, or the man who cannot work been so well cared for. We live in a new world, even the poorest of us, that our forebears of 1849 could not have dreamed. That new world has come mainly from our use of minerals. Our per capita use of nonmineral products has grown too, but by only a modest amount. Food consumption per person has grown about 15 per cent in the past fifty years; lumber use per person ,has fallen 56 per cent and that of wood for fuel 65 per cent. Of all the products of field and forest, our use, per capita, may have increased by one fifth during the present century. In contrast, our per capita use of minerals has multiplied several times. Each of us uses 2% times as much steel and 16% times as much petroleum as our fathers used in 1900. In less than half a century our per capita consumption of all minerals has probably risen by 200 to 250 'per cent. Man once built with wood; today he builds mainly with brick and stone and steel. Once he traveled by the power of hay and oats; today he travels by the power of coal and oil. Rubber made from minerals is already better for some uses than rubber tapped from trees; before long it will be better for most and perhaps all uses. Even our ladies' graceful legs are clad in mineral fiber, where once animal or vegetable fiber would have covered them. Our high standard of living is a product of the machine.. The machine is made of minerals. The machine is driven by minerals. The machine age is a mineral age.

Jan 1, 1949

By D. C. Sisti

A technical evaluation of actual performance of the preparation facilities at Beaver Consolidated Coal Co.'s Stinson plant is presented, with special emphasis on sulfur reduction in 1-1/2 x 3/8 in., 3/8 in. x 28 mesh, and 28 mesh x 0 size fractions. Evaluation of the heavy medium section of the plant and the treatment of the 28 mesh x 0 coal is included. Design criteria considered for sizing and selection of equipment required to process 1-3/4 million tpy of raw coal on coals of divergent washability characteristics are summarized.

Jan 1, 1976

Weiss Transit and Level The illustrations shown are the transits and levels manufactured by the Weiss Instrument Co. of Denver, Colo:, and they state that city and mining engineers are securing satisfactory results. It is claimed that their patented prismatic telescope gives increased illumination with an astronomical eye-piece. The prisms are set in a milled seat for this purpose, and cemented in so they can never come loose or out of adjustment. All adjustment for collimation is clone with the cross-hairs. This telescope is 8 in. long for magnifying power of 20 diameters against 12 in. for regular old style. The field is 1° 45' with a clear aperture of 1 1/8 in. The standards are 4 ¾ in. high from plate; to center of telescope axis. Weight 10 lb. Fig: 2. FIG. 1. FIG;. 3. The Light Mountain Transit of the same type, Fig. 1, has a telescope 6 ½ in. long, magnifying power 17 diameters; field 2° 15'; clear aperture 1 1/16 in.; weight 9 lb. The Mine Transit made by this ?company is interesting because it may be sighted directly down a shaft.. The principal advantage claimed for this type is the arrangement by means. of which vertical' sights can be had without an additional telescope.. As illustrated in Fig. 2 the telescope is in the position of a regular transit, and used exactly the same.

Jan 10, 1915

By E. H. Dix, F. Keller

The use of magnesium as an alloying element in aluminum alloys has been limited, in general, to comparatively small quantities. In duralumin-type, strong aluminum alloys, magnesium is present to the extent of 35 to 3/4 per cent. and various grades of Magnalite and the "Y" alloy of the National Physical Laboratory of England contain up to 1 1/2 per cent. In this country small quantities of aluminum alloy sheet containing 4 per cent. magnesium are produced commercially. All commercial aluminum contains sufficient silicon to convert a portion of the magnesium added to the compound Mg2Si. It is well known that the solubility of both magnesium and magnesium-silicide decrease with decrease in temperature. It is, therefore, impossible to separate the age-hardening effect of the magnesium-silicide from that of magnesium, except by the use of aluminum of such high purity that the silicon content is negligible. The present paper is the fifth l, 2, 3, 4 of a series from the laboratories of the Aluminum Co. of America reporting the results of investigations of the equilibrium relations in aluminum-rich alloys made from the high-purity aluminum manufactured by this company. 5 Previous Investigations A number of investigations have been made of the constitution of the complete aluminum-magnesium system and several determinations made

Jan 1, 1929

By F. Keller, E. H. Dix

The use of magnesium as an alloying element in aluminum alloys has been limited, in general, to comparatively small quantities. In duralumin-type, strong aluminum alloys, magnesium is present to the extent of 35 to 3/4 per cent. and various grades of Magnalite and the "Y" alloy of the National Physical Laboratory of England contain up to 1 1/2 per cent. In this country small quantities of aluminum alloy sheet containing 4 per cent. magnesium are produced commercially. All commercial aluminum contains sufficient silicon to convert a portion of the magnesium added to the compound Mg2Si. It is well known that the solubility of both magnesium and magnesium-silicide decrease with decrease in temperature. It is, therefore, impossible to separate the age-hardening effect of the magnesium-silicide from that of magnesium, except by the use of aluminum of such high purity that the silicon content is negligible. The present paper is the fifth l, 2, 3, 4 of a series from the laboratories of the Aluminum Co. of America reporting the results of investigations of the equilibrium relations in aluminum-rich alloys made from the high-purity aluminum manufactured by this company. 5 Previous Investigations A number of investigations have been made of the constitution of the complete aluminum-magnesium system and several determinations made

Jan 1, 1929

By Edward J. Way

+1KLEINFONTEIN GROUP CENTRAL ADMlNISTRATION, BENONI, TRANSVAAL, S. AFRICA. The cost and the speed of sinking a shaft are factors of so great importance in operating a mine, that the data given in Table I., herewith published, will be of interest and value to all engaged in practical mining; and for this reason the data are communicated for permanent and accessible record in our Transactions. The figures 'of cost cover the period from January 1, 1903, to May 31, 1903, during which time the total depth sunk was 858 ft. So far as I know, the cost of sinking per foot (£13,15s., 11.04d.) of a shaft of the dimensions 21 ft. by 6 ft. in hard rock, is the cheapest yet on record; and the speed of 213.5 ft. per month, which was attained during May, 1903, is also the best record for speed in sinking in rock so hard as that of this shaft. During the period from January 1 to May 31, 1903, there were 144 rounds worked, involving 4,032 holes, of a total depth of 28,963 ft. 2.4 in., which is equivalent to an average depth of 7 ft. 2.2 in. per hole bored. These data are of added interest from the fact that the work was done practically by native labor.

Jan 1, 1905

By J. J. Carrigan

DURING the experimental stage in our use of the electric cap lamp in the Anaconda mines at Butte. Mont., we were somewhat concerned as to how the spitting of fuses would be carried out if we completely eliminated the open-flame light. This problem was at once given serious attention by the engineering research department and some thought was given to having all blasting done by the use of electric delays, which has been the practice for some years

Jan 1, 1936

By ANDREW McVILLIAM, WILLIAM H. HATFIELD

AT the 1902 May meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute, the, authors presented a paper on " The Elimination of Silicon in The Acid Open-Hearth," wherein they recorded a few typical examples of certain Siemens charges out of a very large number specially watched for the purposes of that research. The main deductions drawn from those experiments have been accepted in all the intelligent criticism during or after the discussion on the paper. One opinion, however, was rigidly held by all who mentioned the matter, with the single exception, perhaps, of Mr. Lange, and that was the necessity for the attainment and the maintenance of an abnormally high temperature in order that the percentage of silicon in the metallic bath might increase, or that an unusually large proportion of silicon might be retained in the metal. The original decision was ar-rived at on the results of scores of trials, and has since been the subject of frequent experiment. The authors still retain their opinion that although, naturally, a higher temperature will accelerate the (probable) action between the carbon of the steel and the excess silica of the slag, they then fairly proved, and have now abundantly confirmed the fact, that around the temperatures occurring in Siemens steel-making practice the chemical composition of the slag, particularly with regard to its acidity, is the factor which determines whether the percentage of silicon in the molten steel shall increase or decrease. In the discussion in 1902 Mr. Saniter called attention to Mr. H. H. Campbell's work, and in the reply the authors also mentioned that of Messrs. Winder and Brunton of 1892, the two

Mar 1, 1905

By Mara Kosovac, Sujan K. Kundu

The Iron Ore Co. of Canada (IOC) has developed a computerized plan analysis method for its open-pit iron mining operations which will eliminate much of the tedious manual drafting of pit design plans performed by engineers and geologists at its two major operational areas near Schefferville, Que., and Labrador City, Nfld. The new technique permits analysis of section or bench plans for a specific ore body, based on drillhole information; preparation of a three-dimensional unit profit matrix for pit design purposes, and storage of extensive ore-block information for other applications. Other advantages include enhanced design accuracy through reduction of human errors normally associated with preparation of large data masses, and by elimination of errors inherent in planimeter-prepared ore block diagrams.

Jan 7, 1978

By R. B. Snow

THIS paper describes a technique of polishing and etching specimens of open-hearth furnace slags or hearth aggregates for identification of the crystalline constituents-lime (CaO), tricalcium silicate (3CaO•SiO2), dicalcium silicate (2CaO-SiO2), monticellite (CaO•MgO-SiO2), or forsterite (2MgO•SiO2), with especial emphasis on the mineral merwinite (3CaO-MgO.2SiO2). With proper standardization, this identification does not require the use of the petrographic microscope. The composition of basic open-hearth slags and furnace bottoms falls, almost without exception, within systems containing CaO, MgO, "FeO," MnO and SiO2, in which the number of basic molecules so greatly exceeds the orthosilicate ratio (two molecules of base to one of silica) that free basic oxides, and combinations between them such as aluminates or ferrites, are present in cooled specimens. Orthosilicates of (CaO + MgO) are the most common in such specimens, since in nearly all cases, except premelt slags, the molecular ratio of (CaO + MgO) to SiO2 is more than 2 to r. When sufficient lime is available it combines with the silica to form dicalcium silicate (2CaO•SiO2), which contains little, if any, MgO, FeO or MnO in solid solution whereas the latter oxides combine to form the oxide solid solution known as periclase. If the lime present is insufficient to form dicalcium silicate (2CaO•SiO2) it combines with MgO to form either merwinite (3CaO•MgO.2SiO2) or monticellite (CaO-MgO•SiO2); these minerals take little if any FeO or MnO into solid solution and the remaining MgO, FeO and MnO combine as periclase. This generalization seems to be valid for basic slags and furnace bottoms, since minerals such as CaO-MnO•SiO2 and CaO-FeO-SiO2 are found only in slags in which the lime-silica ratio is less than 2 and are not observed in specimens from furnace bottoms. The identification of crystalline constituents in such materials, especially of fine crystals in the groundmass, is difficult under the petrographic microscope. They are often masked by their neighbors because of their small size in relation to the thickness of the thin section and because of the presence of opaque or colored constituents. The indices of retraction and the optical sign of the mineral are sometimes difficult to determine because of the small size or because of twinning or of inclusions within the crystal. Moreover, the positive identification of merwinite (3CaO•MgO.2SiO2) from its optical properties is usually difficult in the presence of dicalcium silicate (2CaO•SiO2). CaO, MgO, 3CaO•SiO2 and 2CaO•SiO2 in open-hearth slags have been identified for a number of years in the U.S. Steel Corporation Laboratory by the usual

Jan 1, 1947

By Charles E. Hughes

HERBERT HOOVER had to sit through an hour and a half of eulogy of himself at Carnegie Hall last night, said the Sun and New York Herald of Feb. 19. When his turn to answer came he remarked that, although one of the speakers had referred to him as a modest man, he would never, in view of this experience, be able to prove it. The occasion was the presentation by the Civic Forum to Mr. Hoover of its medal of honor for distinguished service, the only recipients in past years having been General Goethals, Thomas A. Edison, and Alexander Graham Bell. Only by distortion of intent could there be said to be anything political in the affair, which was carefully described by the chairman, Charles E. Hughes, as non-partisan. Nevertheless, the praise bestowed on the former Food Administrator by the former Republican candidate for President, proved specially interesting to a much applauding audience which filled the hall to the uppermost gallery. A piece of real news was supplied by Horace V. Winchell, whom Mr. Hoover succeeded on Tuesday as President of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. He said that Mr. Hoover, when in Europe after the . armistice, caused to be collected the literature of the war in all Europe.

Jan 1, 1920

By Arthur Glance

MINE safety is of the utmost importance to all operators and most operations have a safety organization, or safety inspector, whose job it is to be continually on the alert to detect and correct the hazards of mine operation. Reports from the Bureau of Mines show that next to roof falls, gas presents the greatest hazard in mining. The Bureau of Mines Information Circular 6680 shows that 162 explosions occurred in the United States during the five-year period ending June 30, 1932. Deaths resulting from these explosions amounted to 984, with a great many disabled and disfigured. A fatality rate of 6.07 persons shows the ex¬treme severity of this hazard to the industry. Various mine appliance companies have put on the market instruments for methane detection, which record in direct percentages the amount of methane present in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, few mining companies are using these instruments, however. Those available include the Burrell methane detector, the Wolf, the Martienssen, the Mine Safety Appliance detector, and the Union Carbide Company methane detector, which last I have used extensively in making mine inspections.

Jan 1, 1936

DR. PeRsifor Frazer, Philadelphia, Pa. (communication to the Secretary):* Mr. Campbell's very interesting contribution, after complimentary mention, finally decides against the acceptance of the classification proposed by me in a paper bearing the same title and read at the Wilkes-Barre meeting, May, 1877.2 That paper was written primarily for the Second Geological

Jan 1, 1906

By T. R. Wright

IN few mining regions in the world are the ores so varied and complex as in the Andes of central Peru. Consequently, in few localities is one company engaged in so many and such diverse metallurgical operations as the Cerro de Pasco Copper Corp. Concurrent with the mining of complex lead-zinc ores in Peru, and the consequent expansion of the Corporation's metallurgical activities, a department of metallurgical research was established in 1927 at La Orova. Facilities were provided for research in ore dressing, hydronivtallurgy pyrometallurgy, electrometallurgy, and analytical chemistry. In addition to laboratories. various pilot plants were built, including a concentrator, leaching plant, "by-product" smelter, and electrolytic refineries. These pilot plants are not diminutive units; they are designed and equipped as semicommercial plants for operation on a continuous 24-hour basis thus assuring the duplication of pilot plant results in actual practice. In general, the sequence in the development of metallurgical operations hasbeen as follows: (1) investigations in the laboratory to determine the most effective and economical method of treatment; (2) continuation of the research project on a pilot-plant scale when the evaluation of the laboratory

Jan 1, 1945