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By Francis Cameron

Gloomy predictions that domestic mineral reserves are approaching exhaustion are unwarranted and may be harmful, this author contends. Specific mineral forecasting errors in the Paley Report are cited to support this contention, and steps that can be taken to insure a progressive mineral industry capable of keeping pace with the major raw material needs of the nation through advancing technology are suggested. Mining is both exciting and rewarding —although at times somewhat frustrating— and we all can have real pride in our industry, in its people, and in its accomplishments. It is, however, with concern that I have noted a deterioration in this Country in what might be called mining's stature and in the growth of a belief in many quarters that our mineral reserves are rapidly approaching exhaustion. In other words, there is a popular image that we are fast becoming a "have not" nation in many respects and that the domestic mining industry can no longer be considered, in the vernacular of Wall Street to offer much in the way of "growth potential." I do not subscribe to this hypothesis, nor do I be-li4ve that the record of the mining industry bears this out. However, let me add that we can, in time, talk ourselves into this frame of mind and we can hasten the day when this very well might come about by unnecessary and unwise legislation or regulation. My remarks today are basically designed to give my reasons for refuting this negative philosophy and to review our record. With your help, I know we can improve our image, and the public's recognition of our industry's peculiar problems. The progress of our civilization over the centuries has been fundamentally based upon proper use of raw materials, both agricultural and mineral, and upon energy, human or otherwise. As the standard of living has progressed century by century, the demands for mineral raw materials have increased in an irregular, but steadily rising progression. Fortunately, those minerals on which we depend most, i.e., iron, coal, petroleum, copper, aluminum, lead, and zinc have been neither too difficult to find nor to process into useful form. Iron, the most useful of all metals, is present in various amounts in most rock types and soils. Gold, seemingly the most generally desired (but certainly not the most useful of all metals), occurs in sea water in a far greater total tonnage than has been won from all of the world's known gold mines. If the latter is true, then why do we not see large installations treating sea water for the recovery of its gold content? The answer, of course, is that even the French, who seem, from their recent actions, to value gold above all else, have not devised a way of doing this at a profit. Theoretically, it is possible, but not with today's technology at a cost which would justify the effort. Man has exploited only those mineral concentrations which accidents of nature have placed within his so far limited means of finding and utilizing. What we geologists and engineers refer to as an orebody is nothing more than a concentration of minerals, exploitable with available knowledge, that will yield a value greater than the value attached to the energy and capital required to produce it. What is "ore" and what is not "ore" is, in the end, a matter of economics. The economic problem stems from the physical and chemical character of mineral deposits. The good Lord stacked the cards heavily in favor of rising costs by limiting the amount of the higher grade ores easily available. As the best and most accessible ores are depleted, it becomes necessary to work harder and with greater ingenuity to produce more from less accessible and lower grade resources. The quantity of mineral raw materials we can have in the future will be determined largely by what we can afford to pay for them in terms of human effort, capital outlay and production energies. We will always have the problem of cost with us and our only real means of keeping ahead of rising costs is by continually improving our technical abilities. We, in this country at least, no longer have open to us large and unexplored virgin wildernesses in which a pick-and-shovel prospector might uncover an untouched mineral bonanza. The rest of the world also has few conventional frontiers left in which the explorer-prospector is free to roam. We do, however, have enormous land areas unexplored, and untouched po-

Jan 1, 1969

By WILLIAM COUPER

THE completion of the excavation of the tunnels through Bergen Hill for the extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad into New York City, together with the fact that the excavation for the rest of the tunnel-line has been practically completed for some time past, arouses sufficient interest to justify a description of the engineering- and contracting-work, and the organization by which it has been accomplished. The finishing of the excavation is a long step towards the completion of the entire tunnel-project. It will be interesting to the members of the Institute, who last spring were taken through a great part of this work, to know that by the excavation now completed it is possible to walk by tunnel from a, point near Sunnyside yard, Long Island, east of the 34th Street ferry, to the central passenger station site in the City of New York, and thence by tunnel to the Hackensack meadows, and by an embankment constructed across these meadows to Newark, N. J. This New York tunnel extension is being constructed as a part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system by the Pennsylvania Tunnel & Terminal R. R. Co., a corporation of the States of New Jersey and New York. It extends from a point near Newark, N. J., to the Sunnyside yard, Long Island, as indicated on the accompanying plan.

Jan 7, 1908

By J. W. JESSUH

TO certain people the name of Northern Rhodesia brings only a vague recollection of a distant country somewhere in Africa; to others, it means a big game territory and the opportunity for excellent shooting; to some, a land of sunshine and peace; but to mining men the name signifies the land where the latest discoveries of copper ore are astonishing the mining world and bid fair, in a few years, to make Northern Rhodesia one of the largest copper- producing countries. There is a fascination about this part of the globe that is somewhat similar to southern California, and at the same time there is that feeling of mystery peculiar to a tropical climate. Perhaps it is the isolation, the fear of wild animals, or the influence of an undefinable something which cannot be expressed.

Jan 1, 1931

By Francis Cameron

Mining is both exciting and rewarding-although at times somewhat frustrating-and we all can have real pride in our industry, in its people, and in its accomplishments. It is, however, with concern that I have noted a deterioration in this Country in what might be called mining's stature and in the growth of a belief in many quarters that our mineral reserves are rapidly approaching exhaustion. In other words, there is a popular image that we are fast becoming a "have not" nation in many respects and that the domestic mining industry can no longer be considered, in the vernacular of Wall Street, to offer much in the way of "growth potential." I do not subscribe to this hypothesis, nor do I believe that the record of the mining industry bears this out. However, let me add that we can, in time, talk ourselves into this frame of mind and we can hasten the day when this very well might come about by unnecessary and unwise legislation or regulation. My remarks today are basically designed to give my reasons for refuting this negative philosophy and to review our record. With your help, I know we can improve our image, and the public's recognition of our industry's peculiar problems.

Jan 4, 1968

By John F. Abel

Personal gain seems to be the most powerful incentive to economic progress. One of my first exposures to this phenomenon was the comparison between company stopes and leaser's stopes in a vein gold mine. The company stopes were 4 to 6 ft wide, whereas the leaser's stopes were so narrow that in some places one could not turn around. The company leased only that ground it felt was marginal to mine with day's- pay miners, but by skillful, careful and energetic mining, the leasers managed in most cases to make money for themselves and the company. The Hurting Truth This capitalist system, which puts a premium on successful risk taking, is under attack. Not that it hasn't been under attack all along. What hurts and angers us at this time is that the attack comes from the children of the system-its youth. Such blasphemy should, of course, be eradicated, root and branch. Or should it? Are we hurt in part because some of the things they say are true?

Jan 1, 1970

By Charles Will Wright

Brief descriptions of the occurrence of the various deposits of strategic minerals then known in South America are published in "The Mineral Deposits of South America," by B. L. Miller and J. T. Singewald, 1919; in "Ores and Industry in South America," by H. F. Bain and T. T. Read, 1934; and in many publications on the individual countries. To give a gen.era1 idea of the situation today and possibilities for future output of strategic minerals in several of the countries, the following notes are offered. All tonnages are in metric units.

Jan 1, 1940

By Johnston, T. L.

BISMUTH is found as native metal associated with tin, copper, cobalt, silver, gold, or other metals and in a variety of ores. The more important ones are: bismuthinite (bismuth glance), Bi2S3; bismite (bismuth ochre), Bi2O3.3H2O; and bismutite (bismuth carbonate), Bi2O3CO3?H2O. Of lesser importance are the arsenate, telluride, and vanadate. The sulfide is the most common; the others are often oxidation products from this mineral. Bismuth minerals have been found in various places in the United States, principally in Colorado and Utah, but no ores are mined solely for bismuth. In the Granite mining district of Beaver County, Utah, a stratum of limestone about 6 ft. thick has been almost completely replaced by contact minerals in which bismuthinite associated with pyrite and molybdenite was found intergrown with silicate minerals. In the early days a few small lots of ore assaying 7 to 10 per cent bismuth were shipped from this district. Native bismuth has been found in the Clifton and Tintic districts of Utah. Bismuth is produced as a byproduct in the refining of lead, copper, gold and silver ores, it being recovered from the anode mud from the Betts process. Deposits of bismuth minerals exist in Argentina, Aus¬tralia, China, Japan, Germany, Spain, Peru, Bolivia, and Canada, but Bolivia is the principal, producer and could easily supply all of the present world's demand.

Jan 1, 1933

By G. M. BUTLER

TWENTY-ONE of the states in the Union, the Territory of Hawaii, and seven provinces of Canada now have in operation laws requiring that professional engineers be registered or licensed. In addition, two states require that civil engineers be registered, and one other state demands registration of structural engineers. Moreover, nearly every year sees additions made to the list. The registration movement, fostered by the American Association of Engineers, now has the powerful, energetic backing of the An1,erican Society of Civil Engineers, which is itself now fostering registration legislation, and there is a strong sentiment in favor of registration in the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Only in the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers is anti-registration sentiment, strongly dominant, but many members of this organization are enthusiastic advocates of registration.

Jan 1, 1930

AT A MEETING of the Shareholders of the Russo-Asiatic Cons. Ltd., in London, Oct. 23, 1922, LESLIE URQUHART, chairman of the com- pany made the following statement:* I come now to our recent negotiations with the Soviet Government and to the agreement which has resulted from them. You will remember that the conference at The Hague broke up without having achieved anything very definite. It was not, however, a failure. It elicited from M. Litvinoff an offer which will, I think, come to be regarded as a milestone in the progress of Russia from a ruinous and unpracticable Communism towards a modified form of capitalism. The offer made by M. Litvinoff at The Hague amounted in effect to this: that in return for political recognition on our part the Soviet Government would first acknowl-edge its liability for Russia's national foreign debts, and, secondly, would give the original foreign owners of property in Russia effective compensation. A very great advance that. It showed-and there have been many other signs to confirm it-how real and persistent has been the internal evolution of Russia during the past year from Marxism to the economics of the Western world. I will not now detain you with the reasons why M. Litvinoff's highly promising and significant offer came to nothing. The fact that it had been made and the further fact that The Hague Conference had separated indefinitely were the important things. The first fact seemed to indicate that the Soviet rulers, after all, proved to be people with whom one could do business. The second fact rather emphatically showed that the way to do business with them was not by unwieldy poly-glot conferences of ministers, officials and experts representing a few dozen different governments and a few dozen different sets of national interests. That method had been tried at Genoa. It was tried again at The Hague. Each time it failed, and having failed it left the road clear for a simpler and more direct approach.

Jan 12, 1922

By J. D. Vincent, Paul A. Weyler

Climax Molybdenum's plan for the Henderson 30,000 tpd molybdenite plant didn't just happen. It slowly evolved over a period of 3% years. Many plants cannot afford similar delays, but the Henderson project will take about 10 years to complete from the time the orebody was first discovered until production begins. Pilot plant testing results with both the single stage and two-stage semi-autogenous grinding circuits were highly favorable in terms of operating costs reduction-so much so, that the Amax subsidiary made the decision to go with semi-autogenous grinding for the Henderson mill.

Jan 5, 1972

By John A. Emery

The Pea Ridge iron ore deposit near Sullivan, Missouri, is a dike-like mass of magnetite enclosed in Precambrian porphyries. The ore body tops at the Precambrian surface at a depth of 1300 feet below the present surface and extends to an unknown depth. It dips nearly vertically, intersecting the dip and strike of the enclosing porphyries at an extremely sharp angle. Faulting, both pre- and post-ore, appears to be of minor consequence, and present knowledge indicates that no preferred structural conditions existed prior to emplacement. The ore body is composed of magnetite with specular hematite, quartz, apatite, and pyrite occurring as accessory primary minerals. Specular hematite in appreciable quantities occurs on parts of the cap and the footwall of the ore body. Fresh porphyry breccia is enclosed in the magnetite along the hanging wall and in the western portion of the ore body. Hanging-wall quartz-amphibole and footwall quartz-hematite occur as replacements of certain porphyries. Further alteration has caused sericitization of parts of these zones. The ore deposit is interpreted as having been formed essentially by a single injection of a magmatic differentiate with hydrothermal end phases forming the quartz-amphibole and quartz-hematite portions of the deposit.

Jan 1, 1968

By Walter G. Perkins

T SEEMS almost sheer presumption to attempt' to discuss Russia in its present chaotic political and economic condition, and were it not that at least two certain absolute factors are continuously at work, it would be impossible to' even approach the subject with any degree of intelligence. These are the inborn love of peace of the people and the national character of the cooperative movement. The love of peace inborn in the soul of every Russian, the desire to be left alone and to- live his life among his home village surroundings, is probably one of the two greatest factors that will make the continuance of the present conditions of civil war impossible. One army or the other may sweep up and down the country. but the Russian peasant will: remain in his own village if not literally darken out. This love of peace is evidenced by the fact that there is no country where personal safety is greater than in Russia in normal times. I have traveled in many isolated parts, carrying considerable sums of money and persolial equipment that; in itself, would be a fortune to any peasant, and have never even encountered a condition in which the most wildly imaginative person looking for adventure, 01: trouble, could muster up even a suspicion of fear. This statement applies also to Southern Siberia and Northern Turkestan, which are inhabitated by the nomadic tribes of Khirghese origin.

Jan 1, 1920

By Charles W. Frey

SUCCESSFUL mining today means proper mechanization. Before any mine can begin production on a paying scale, some machinery must be installed. There must be pumps to remove water, fans and blowers to provide proper ventilation, elevators and hoists to raise materials, and a source of power to turn the countless wheels on which the world's mineral supply rolls from its earthhound source to the market. Only the prospector with his burro and the anthracite "bootlegger" continue to mine without mechanical aid, and with the recent years even these can be discounted, for the burro has given way to the Model T, and the "independent" coal miner must have a truck to haul his coal away. The few types of machinery mentioned above are but a beginning. The

Jan 1, 1938

By H. K. Najarian

AT Josephtown, Pa., on the south hank of the Ohio River about thirty miles northwest of Pittsburgh, is the Josephtown electrothermic zinc smelter, which operates as a custom smelter receiving both domestic and foreign concentrates. Constructed in 1930, the plant was designed to produce zinc oxide and to process 124 tons per day of zinc concentrate obtained mainly from the Company's New York State mines. Zinc condensing equipment was developed in conjunction with the St. Joe electrothermic. furnace and commercial production of zinc metal started in 1936. Expansion of the plant and equipment during 1939 and 1940 brought the processing. capacity to upwards of 300 tons of concentrate per day; and the plant operated at peak capacity during the war years, earning the Army-Navy "E" award and three subsequent stars. A postwar plant expansion is now under way, designed to increase the capacity to 500 tons per day of concentrate, with an estimated daily production of 160 tons of zinc metal of various grades, about 100 tons of zinc oxide, and 425 tons of sulphuric acid as major products.

Jan 1, 1947

By Richard Moldenke

The paper describes the making of pig iron from the Mayari iron ores of Cuba. The outstanding feature f this pig iron is a considerable content f nickel and chromium. As a marked improvement in the quality of castings has been noted when this iron is used in the foundry mixtures, a series f melting tests f mixtures of great variety of composition was conducted with the idea f getting comparative strengths from which the effect of nickel¬chromium could be seen. These tests, on account of their number, and degree of accuracy desired, were made by the crucible melting method. The paper gives the tables of results, a series f curves showing the inter-relation of the elements involved, and a summary of the conclusions derived. THE presence of nickel-chromium in pig iron made from Cuban ores is so well known that the word "Mayan" is unconsciously associated with it. Since 1904, when exploration of the Mayari deposits of iron ore in northeastern Cuba was undertaken, there has been increasing interest in these ores. The TRANSACTIONS contain numerous references to them. This iron ore, which is shipped to the. United States in the nodulized state, has been thoroughly tested and found very valuable; the deposit covers over 25,000 acres and there is in sight over 500,000,000 tons of ore that, by systematic mining, runs practically constant in composition. With nickel and chromium present, also titanium in sufficient quantities to attract attention, as well as extremely low phosphorus and sulfur contents, the iron founder is naturally interested in the utilization of Mayari ore for pig iron for the better grades of finished iron products. The present point of consumption of Mayari ore is at Sparrow's Point, where Mayari pig iron of any desired composition is made. The com-

Jan 9, 1922

By Goodman, Richard E.

A complete rational analysis for design of excavation slopes and loaded rock masses is a desirable but perhaps unattainable goal. Irregular external and internal boundary conditions, poor understanding of failure criteria for large masses of rock, capricious material properties, and the importance of indeterminate forces and inaccessible and virtually un- sampleable rock defects emphasize the importance of experience in this aspect of rock engineering. The experience must be correlated with geological factors. In certain regions the accumulation of such experience through the observation of existing rock slopes in various formations constitutes an important aspect of studies for design of rock excavations.

Jan 1, 1969

By R. M. Brick

EDUCATIONAL benefits for veterans of World War II have largely removed one of the two former barriers to a college education for everyone, namely financial means and intellectual capacity. This latter limita¬tion has not kept privately endowed institutions from increasing 50 to 100 percent in size of student body, even after applying moderately rigid entrance standards. Growth of some land-grant universities, which cannot well exercise such restrictive judgements, has been even greater. After a weary board of admissions, subject to student, alumni, faculty, and even political pressures, has admitted double the former number of freshmen, the university's worries really begin: to find laboratory, classroom, and instructional facilities. If this were a one- or two-year problem, the answer would be simple: double up, hold night classes, particularly of laboratories, rent space, and have instructors work 24 class or contact hours a week instead of twelve (it takes usually two to three hours of outside work by the instructor for one hour in class). However, most engineering school faculty men are worn out now from four to five years of "accelerated" (frequently downward!) programs and they couldn't continue teaching in a way satisfactory to their own consciences on

Jan 1, 1947

By Harry P. Hohenadel

DURING the past few years the amazing developments of the chemical industry have inspired so much publicity that the feature writers assure us that we are entering a "Chemical Age," industrially as important as the "Steel Age" and the "Electric Age," so-called. Whether or not these assurances are overstatements, it is a fact that the expansion of the chemical industry during the past 25 years has been enormous. The Chemical Bureau of the War Production Board calculates the value of chemicals produced during 1944 at $8,300,000,000, no small sum even in inflated dollars. As concerns us of the Southwest oil and gas country, four significant trends of the chemical industry are most important. (1) Many of the recently developed chemical products are new creations, not substitutes,. as new and original as the invention of the light bulb, and with a field for exploitation almost as wide. (2) Many of these chemical products will enter the mass consuming markets, which require enormous tonnages of products, and such markets are setting up an industrial demand for chemicals on a mass volume basis, compared to the relatively high-priced low-volume basis ordinarily considered as the chemical outlet of the past. (3) Most of the processes involved in producing these chemicals are adapt. able to the use, all or in part, of natural gas, oil, or refinery gases as raw mate-

Jan 1, 1945

By Thomas B. Douglas

INSTRUMENTATION in the process industries can no longer be regarded as a convenience, but rather an absolute necessity. Although many chemical processes must already be conducted with instruments, every properly designed application of automatic process control will improve operation: 1) the product will be more uniform and of higher quality; 2) the manual labor saved will reduce cost; 3) uniformity of flow and uniform control of process will increase production; and 4) surges will be eliminated, making it possible to operate equipment near ultimate capacity at all times. Industrial instruments fall into two general classifications—those that measure and those that measure and control. The cement industry has been using instruments for a number of years, particularly in the burning process, primarily for indicatlng and recording. Automatic process control makes additional use of these instruments, and others, to control variables. Assisted by the instrument manufacturers, engineers at Ideal Cement Co. achieved considerable progress in determining how well the usual recording instruments could be made to control various phases of cement-making. The results of these experiments were used to make the new plant at Houston as wholly automatic as possible. The original Houston plant, built in 1937 by Gulf Portland Cement Co., consisted of only one 8 x 220-ft kiln and the necessary grinding mills and accessory equipment and had a capacity of 900 bbl per day (300,000 bbl annually). Ideal Cement Co. purchased this plant in 1940 and almost immediately started plans to increase its production. In 1941 a 9 x 220-ft kiln was installed and grinding and storage capacity were increased. The growing demand for cement in the Houston area necessitated a third kiln (9 ft 6 in. x 250 ft) in 1947. This brought the plant up to its present capacity of about 1.3 million bbl per year. Calcium silicates in cement are produced in a burning operation at high temperatures from raw mix of argillaceous and calcareous materials that have been crushed, mixed, and ground to a fine powder. The composition of this mixture must be kept consistent within narrow limits. Raw mixing and grinding may be done either wet or dry, but in both instances the materials must be correctly proportioned, finely ground, and thoroughly intermixed before entering the kiln. As the raw mix passes through a long horizontal rotary

Jan 1, 1959

By Leo Ranney

ANY years ago a prospector came to a Nevada town and built himself a shack. Day after day he searched the hills for gold -but he found none. He closed his shack and hurried north, where a strike had been made. Next he tried to trap the flour gold that floats down the Snake River. He panned the black sands along the Oregon coast. He ranged over the mountains and up the gulches of far-off Alaska. At last, broken in health, six years ago he came back to his old home in Nevada. There his shack still stood-nobody wanted it. One day he started a garden in the rocky soil that he owned. His spade turned up a chunk of quartz, and in that quartz were stringers of gold. He had found a rich gold vein, running right under his own house. You gas producers who have hurried to Oklahoma, Louisiana, East Texas, South Texas, West Texas, even to California to drill wildcat holes a mile or two miles deep-why not, like the old gold prospector, have a look in your own back yard? Some of your coal seams contain 20,000,000 cu. ft. of natural gas per acre.

Jan 1, 1943