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By LEWIS F. THOMAS

MINING geologists and mining engineer, rarely give due thought to the geography of mining deposits. They realize, it is true that what may be ore in one place would be only worthless rock in another because f the in accessibility of a smelter r a market; and they may consider the lack of a supply of labor, or water, or power to carry on operations. But they do not think (of these things in terms of geography. Geography may be defined as the science of relationships between earth and man, so geographers are vitally interested in the how and why of mining as it is carried on at different place, having entirely different environment-. Such environments are geographic complexes or composites of natural and cultural elements, which are listed and briefly discussed in the following paragraphs.

Jan 1, 1941

By AIME AIME

DONALD K. CRAMPTON, present Chairman of the Institute of Metals Division, A.I.M..E., is well known by nonferrous metallurgists in all countries for his research work on the fabrication and properties of copper and its alloys including investigation of season- and stress- corrosion cracking. He is also well known, at least by many metallurgists in the United States for the proficiency with which be carries on his hobbies, in i:lrlditlg photography. gardening, and golf

Jan 1, 1941

By AIME AIME

THAT neither the Reconstruction Finance Corp. nor its subsidiary, the Metals Reserve Corp., are in competition with private enterprise was stressed by Charles B. Henderson in an informal talk before the N. Y. Section, A.I.M.E., on Sept. 23. Among other things, the speaker stated that the R.F.C., since its establishment, had authorized loans of $12,000,000, of which over $8,775,000 has actually been distributed. Of this amount, over $6,600,000 has been repaid. None of this money was appropriated by Congress, the sole assistance from that body being the initial authorization of $500,000,000 capital stock.

Jan 1, 1941

By Frank T. Sisco

SHORTAGES of metals and minerals and substitution of less critical materials for those in which a virtual famine exists received detailed and frank discussion at a recent conference in Washington called by Robert E. McConnell, director of the Conservation Section, Office of Production Management. Representatives of the large engineering societies in the United States and O.P.M. department heads participated in the discussion. To open the session Mr. McConnell called upon Zay Jeffries, chairman of the O.P.M. Advisory Committee on Metal Conservation and Substitution, to summarize the present situation. Dr. Jeffries touched briefly on the status of metal shortages, which has already received considerable attention in the popular press, and said that much of the present difficulty was caused by the too-hasty substitution-without sufficient con¬sideration of the immediate conse¬quences-of metals having ordinarily a small yearly consumption, for those having a much larger annual consumption. As a result, all the alloying metals used in alloy-steel manufacture have become scarce, with the exception of molybdenum; further¬more, despite a reserve of 11,000 tons of molybdenum in this country and despite a normal consumption of only about 3500 tons and a prospective annual production rate of 21,000 tons by October, a shortage of molybdenum is possible before this war is over.

Jan 1, 1941

By Donald H. McLauqhlin

ITEM expressed in billions of dollars have become so commonplace these day- that a mere statement of the latest figures for the country s gold reserve scarcely conveys m adequate sense of the immensity of the commitment the nation has made in building up its huge stock, two-thirds of which is now stored at Fort Knox. Kentucky. Only by measuring it against quantities that mean something tangible to a particular group can an adequate comprehension of its magnitude he rained; consequently, to mining engineers, a comparison with the value of output from well-known mining districts might best serve to give some degree of reality to the astronomical figure at which the country gold is now valued.

Jan 1, 1941

By Francis H. Brownell

During the 1920's lead consumption in the United States reached the highest average total ever known. For the ten-year period 1921-'30, it was slightly over 600,000 tons per year, or say 50,000 tons per month, and the price averaged 6.81 per lb. But the I930's witnessed a severe drop in the consumption of lead is in other business activities. The average U.S. consumption for the ten-year period 1930-'40 was slightly less than 380,000 tons per year, or under 32,000 per month, with the average price dropping to 1.191c. per lb. The outlook in early 1939 was for a continuation of this average consumption and price a demand of 35,000 to 40,000 tons per month, and a price level of 4 1/2 to 5c. in the United States.

Jan 1, 1941

By Wallace E. Pratt

TO SERVE their primary function of balancing supply with demand. crude-oil prices must not only return full cost plus a reasonable earning to the efficient producer but they must also offer an additional reward to stimulate exploration sufficiently to maintain adequate reserves. High prices increase the volume and efficiency of exploration; low prig e- -Idle exploration. Over the last decade average prices for crude oil have been much lower than for the proceeding ten years, and lower even than the average over the life of industry. Under these circumstances no one should be surprised to learn that over this same recent period of discovery of new oil fields has also lagged and fallen below its average level for the previous decade. Crude oil prices have been too ion to support the required activity in wildcatting.

Jan 1, 1941

By JOHN R. SUMAN

OVERWHELMING proof of the importance of oil in a modern national economy is afforded by the present European War. Treat¬ies and national boundaries have been cynically violated to secure greater supplies of the precious fuel. Petroleum substitutes have been desperately, and far from successfully, sought. The whole German military theory of the drang nach Osten, the drive to the East, is directed at cutting the British supply of oil and securing a supply for Germany. This is a war of machines, and the machines of war feed hungrily on oil. In view of this fact, it is surely comforting to know that we are living today in a nation which has surpassed all the rest of the world not merely in unearthing the raw supplies of petroleum which lie beneath its surface but also in every phase of the industry in mining, refining, processing, production, and distribution.

Jan 1, 1941

By H. H. Otto

COMPARED with 1939, the year 1940 has seen no material change in the production of anthracite. Many factors seem to indicate a stabilized anthracite production of approximately 50 million tons per year. The present war has stimulated demand in the Cana¬dian and New England markets, which were formerly furnished with a portion of their needs from Great Britain and other European countries. Neither has there been any material change in the "bootleg coal" situation. This problem is more serious in the Southern anthracite field than in the Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, and Scranton areas. One reason for this is the nearness of the Southern field to the large anthracite markets in Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, and Harrisburg. During the past year no new large

Jan 1, 1941

By PAUL M. Tyier

NOW that analytical chemistry has gone so far to debunk early misconceptions about minerals, the fact that the light of exact knowledge still fails to illuminate many dark corners is often overlooked. By combining the skills of the physicist with those of a chemist, the identification of minerals has become an exact science and the presence of even minute traces of impurities and extraneous elements is readily revealed by spectrographic means, Granted that we can learn all there is to know about the composition of a substance and even about its physical propertied (which latter assumption is somewhat far-reaching) it still does not follow that we clearly understood its commercial designation or utility.

Jan 1, 1941

By Herbert A. Franke

ANY analysis of the aluminum situation, particularly of the factors involved in the current shortage of the metal, must consider the rapid march of events since the Munich fiasco of September 1938. At the end of 1938, the sole domestic producer of aluminum had more than a year's supply of metal on hand, having added 50,500 tons of output to stocks during the year. Not until war had been declared between the United Kingdom and Germany in September 1939 did the United States begin to make serious preparations for defense and a limited national emergency was proclaimed. Congress reflecting popular opinion, was not disposed to spend huge sums for armaments in 1939, and although 31,413 tons of aluminum was withdrawn from stocks. 107,500 tons was still on hand at the end of the year. When the President initiated a 50,000-airplane program in May 1940 the country was astounded, as previous Congressional authorizations of approximately 6000 planes for the Army by July 1911 and 3000 for the Navy by 1914 had been considered adequate.

Jan 1, 1941

By K. R. Bixby

OPENING of numerous stripping operations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other districts, particularly outside the Middle West and Southwest where the large-scale stripping mines predominate, holds the limelight for the year 1940. Several factors are responsible for this expansion. One is the scarcity of untested and undeveloped properties in this central field. Another has been the development of earth-moving and preparation equipment suitable for these smaller tonnage tracts. Draglines of the Walker type, small long-range .hovels, and large-capacity tractor- drawn scrapers have to be considered. Wash boxes, designed for light tonnages, costing a few thousand dollars, have made their contribution.

Jan 1, 1941

By AIME AIME

TECHNICAL achievement in mining will be rewarded at the forthcoming Annual Meeting of the Institute when the William Lawrence Saunders Gold Medal will be presented to Herman C. Bellinger. Mr, Bellinger was unanimously selected on the first ballot of the Medal Committee. Mr. Bellinger has had notable technical success as vice-president in charge of operations for the Chile Exploration Co., a position he has held since 1920.

Jan 1, 1941

By AIME AIME

POSSIBILITY of a greatly increased manganese production from domestic source; is indicated by news that the Bureau of Mines has been successful in producing concentrates with high manganese content from the low-grade deposit, in the Las Vegas, Nev.) area. The first unit of the comprehensive group of pilot plants built by the Bureau of Mines at Boulder City, Nev., under a defense appropriation has started operations, demonstrating definitely the applicability of a process developed in the Bureau laboratories. About 12 1/2 lb. of manganese is needed for the production of every ton of steel, and substitution is difficult. The United States produces only about 3 per cent of its total needs of this ore. Only high-grade ore, such as the Russian ore, containing 18 per cent or more manganese, is generally used by American producers in making ferro¬manganese the form in which manganese is usually added in steel manu-

Jan 1, 1941

By Zay Jeffries

HOSTILITIES in Europe, Asia, and northern Africa were responsible for dislocations in rare-metal supplies during 1940. Although the consumption of some of the rare metals is small the dislocations may be relatively large. In some cases these are advantageous to North America and in others they are disadvantageous. Specific instances will be cited later. Barium T HIN films of barium metal on special steel balls greatly improve the life and reduce the friction of rotating anodes in highly evacuated small X-ray tubes and make possible the operation of these anodes at relatively high temperatures. These remarkable results are described in an article by Atlee, Wilson, and Filmer in the Journal of Applied Physics for September, 1940. Oil could not be used because of the high temperatures on the one hand and its volatility on the other. Fig. 3 shows diagramatically the rotating anode and the method of coating the steel balls with barium. The letters K.I.C. refer to "Kemet Iron Clad." The K.I.C. wire was mounted so that the barium could be evaporated by direct passage of the electric current. At high temperatures the barium dif-

Jan 1, 1941

By C. E. Lawall

ONE of the most important developments in the coal industry during 1940 was the continued uptrend in the production of bituminous coal. Estimated production for the year is 450,000,000 tons, with an additional production of anthracite of 50,000,000 tons making a total of approximately 500,000,000 tons. This is an increase of 12.5 per cent over 1939. Despite an estimated decrease of about 3.5 per cent in anthracite production, all of the major coal-producing states had increases in production for 9140. The national defense program, with the consequent increase in industrial activity, undoubtedly had an important effect on the increased demand for coal.

Jan 1, 1941

By AIME AIME

EVEN though most of the program of the joint meeting at Easton, Pa., on Oct. 30 to Nov. 1. was devoted to the interests of combustion engineers rather than to coal-mining engineers, nevertheless the A.I.M.E. Coal Division was well represented, with 83, or close to one third of those in attendance giving this as their affiliation. The fuels division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers had 108 representatives, and an equal number reported no society affiliation. Added to the men's total registration was that of some twenty ladies so the total attendance was in the neighborhood of 325, exceeding that of the last two joint meetings, at Birmingham and Columbus, and equaling the 1938 crowd at Chicago.

Jan 1, 1941

By C. H. Benedict

Largest and most important of the milling plants under construction during the year is the Morenci plant of the Phelps Dodge Corp., in Arizona, where plans are being rushed for production in 1942. Grate mills will be used for fine-grinding, and in the pilot plant, classifiers of the spiral type have the preference for the closed- circuit work. The flotation units will be chiefly of the pneumatic type, with some mechanical units as auxiliaries. The Fagergren, Pan American, and Agitair machines were left in the competition as the year closed. If the absence of European markets for finished products has dislocated the mining industry, fortunately the lack of raw materials required in the beneficiation of ores has not been serious. except possibly as to the inability to import flint grinding pebbles. Some of the less important gold mines still use pebbles for grinding as is also the practice in the comminution of nonmetallics used in various industries. T the Calumet & Hecla in the Lake A Superior copper district pebbles have been used exclusively in open- circuit grinding in the Hardinge mills treating the

Jan 1, 1941

By Cornelius F. Kelley

EVERY man connected with the mining industry should take a significant pride in the fact that he belongs to an industry and to a profession that, from the beginning, has been constructive. The miner digs his ore and he gives the metal to art, to industry, and to commerce. The nature of our business is destructive only in that we deal with a wasting asset. That should be a source of great pride to those who belong to the profession. But unfortunately, the product of our mines, our smelters, and our re- fineries does not always go to constructive purposes. There are times when, in the administration of the affairs of men, our product chiefly goes to purposes which are destructive. When we look upon the panorama of horror that is being enacted throughout the world today, we wonder whether any effort toward the development of civilization and culture and education and well-being has been worthwhile. We are appalled to see the things that have been developed, through the application of science, toward progress and efficiency, now used for the catastrophic destruction of those things which are the most valuable that man has built. We must find hope that this is but an episodic thing; that it must, in the infinite wisdom of the Almighty, usher in a period of peace and progress, of civilization and development that will make man's existence upon earth worthwhile.

Jan 1, 1941

By AIME AIME

The first Diesel-electric locomotives for the Mesabi iron range of the Lake Superior district were put into service last summer by the Oliver Iron Mining Co., U. S. Steel subsidiary. There were ten of these locomotives, rated 1000 hp. and weighing 125 tons each. They are designed for service from 16 to 24 hours per day to haul trains of loaded ore cars from open-pit mines, 200 to 400 ft. deep, on a two to eight-mile haul to the top of the pit. The locomotives push or pull the trains over switchbacks and up heavy grades with 5 per cent maximum against the load. High tractive effort, less smoke, and ability to negotiate sharp curves were among the reasons for the selection of Diesel-electric locomotives.

Jan 1, 1941