Search Documents

By Thomas T., Read

T HE preceding chapter has recorded the initiation of mineral industry education during the period 1890-1910 in numerous institutions that had not previously offered it. It should also be emphasized that in many institutions where instruction had begun before 1890, as recorded in earlier chapters, but had not yet become firmly established,, this period was one of marked growth and development. This was not universally true, however, for at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Washington (St. Louis), Iowa, Vanderbilt and Tennessee, and at the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania, mineral industry instruction was being dropped during this period, instead of gaining in strength. It is necessary to emphasize this, because writers on the subject have not infrequently , attempted to make a much too simple correlation between mineral -discovery or production and the intensity of student interest in mineral industry curricula. It would naturally be true that periods of large mineral production would, in general, coincide with cycles of business prosperity, and the latter are conducive to starting new ventures, educational as well as business. It should be equally evident that opportunities for business and professional success might, in such periods, appear to increase at a more rapid rate in industries other than mineral, or in the utilization of minerals rather than in their production. The author has not been able to perceive any simple and clear relation between interest in mineral industry education and mineral discovery, production, and utilization, or general business prosperity. On the contrary, the more the problem is studied the more complex the factors involved in it appear to be. In a later chapter an attempt will be made to analyze them in more detail.

Jan 1, 1941

By Bjorge, Guy N.

MINING method improve through the gradual process of evolution and in 1340 there were no marked outstanding innovations. On the other hand refinements of detail and betterment: in equipment design continued to progress. Among the most important changes have been the increased application of trucks and highway equipment, including tractors and bull- dozers, to open-pit mining as exemplified by Phelps Dodge's Morenci operations; the Mesabi iron range; and the Tri-State district. Mass or bulk handling contributed its part underground with slurhers and conveyors at Consolidated Coppermines and slushers at Climax; and in open-pit mining. conveyors found increased use on the Mesabi range.

Jan 1, 1941

By ALEC CROWELL

This brief summary of oil and gas developments in Alabama, Florida and Georgia has been made possible through the courtesy of Stewart J. Lloyd, Assistant State Geologist of Alabama; Herman Gunter, Director, Florida Geological Survey, and Garland Peyton, Director, Georgia Department of Mines, Mining and Geology.

Jan 1, 1946

By HUGH E. McKinstry

OPENING the sessions of the Mining Geology Committee, the program on postwar mineral controls drew a larger attendance than any other session of the entire meeting. In view of its general interest, the papers of this session, or a substantial portion of them, are printed elsewhere in this issue. Whether control of mineral resources can help to promote peace, how controls could be applied and to whom, are questions so far-reaching that naturally no pat answer was agreed upon. In fact the discussion took on something of the flavor of a debate between those who favor strict control and those who felt that attempting to ration nations in peacetime would defeat its own ends. Discussion from the floor emphasized the difficulties in administering any international control and the $64 question, that no one cared to answer, asked by a courageous young lady who was induced to mount the rostrum for the purpose, was whether the United Nations should exchange mineral controllers to police each other.

Jan 1, 1944

By AIME AIME

THE Board of Directors of the Institute has authorized the appointment of a committee to draw up rules of procedure under which awards can be made from time to time to petroleum engineers for outstanding contributions to the art of finding and producing oil and gas. These awards will 11e sponsored by the Petroleum Division and are the first recognition by any professional society of outstanding achievement in "oil mining." They will be in the form of either a gold medal, scholar- ship, or other suitable prize. The awards will be financed from the income of the Anthony F. Lucas Memorial Fund, which was started about fifteen years ago, shortly after' his death, by admirers of Captain Lucas.

Jan 1, 1936

By Eugene McAuliffe

AS anthracite is no longer used to a marked extent by the rail- ways of the United States (1,513,000 tons in 1933), that portion of the mining industry engaged in the production of bituminous coal is, and will continue to be, the one chiefly concerned with the future use of its product by the railways. In a period such as the present, when all enter- prise is unsettled, when fundamental principles of industrial management and control are being swept aside or else changed overnight, it is difficult to predict what will happen. The relation between the total production of bituminous coal and the volume consumed by the steam rail- ways of the United States, Classes I,

Jan 1, 1936

By WILLARD HAYES

(Glen Summit Meeting, June, 1911.) THE determination of the question whether the Mayari and Moa mining-claims of the Spanish-American Iron Co. have been rightly denounced under the third section of the law of bases rests on the findings in the following questions of fact: 1. Is the mineral an iron-ore? 2. Is the iron-ore a bog iron-ore? 3. Is the iron-ore ocher? 4. If ocher is present, can it be mined separately and independently of the iron-ore ? 1. IS THE MINERAL AN IRON-ORE? Since the material is shown by a large number of analyses to contain from 41. to 50 per cent. of metallic iron and less than 0.02 per cent. of phosphorus, and since it has been and is being actually used on a commercial scale for the production of iron and steel, it must be classed as an iron-ore. 2. IS THE IRON-ORE A BOG IRON-ORE? Bog iron-ore has certain invariable characteristics of chemical composition, physical appearance, geological relations, and origin by which it can always be recognized with certainty. In chemical composition, it is the hydrated sesquioxide of iron, limonite, or a mixture of limonite and other closely-related iron hydrates. It never contains the anhydrous oxides-hematite or magnetite; is never magnetic, and never contains either nickel, chromium, or cobalt oxides. On the other hand, it is invariably high in phosphorus-content. In physical appearance and texture it is a yellow or reddish-brown amorphous spongy material, and always contains water-worn sand-grains, silt, clay, and plant-remains. In its geological relations it is wholly independent of the rock

Mar 1, 1911

By AIME AIME

A PAPER recently presented before the Anthracite Section of the A. I. M. E. by S. J. Phil- lips, Mine Inspector, Fifth Anthracite District, Department of Mines of Pennsylvania, covering the water hazards in the anthracite coal mines of the Lackawanna River Valley, was especially timely because the conditions there are duplicated to a large extent in the Wyoming Valley, which is traversed by the Susquehanna River with its many large tributary streams. Also, in the southern anthracite field, where there are a number of large creeks, similar pumping problems and mine water hazards will in time be presented if mining is continued to its conclusion.

Jan 1, 1936

By CHARLERS R. FETTEE

A slight decrease in drilling activity occurred in the oil fields of western Pennsylvania during 1945 and a considerable decrease in the shallow-gas territory (Upper Devonian or higher). The number of deep tests (Middle Devonian or deeper) completed was two less than in 1944 and these did not open any new reserves of natural gas. Thus far, no commercial oil has been encountered in sands below the Upper Devonian in Pennsylvania. Oil production declined 8 per cent.

Jan 1, 1946

By HERBERT G. MOULTON

FROM prehistoric times to our own day man has struggled against extremes of climate. Human life, originating in semi-tropical or temperate areas, was unable to progress into the northern latitudes until fire was discovered and some form of clothing provided. It was found possible to maintain life even in the hottest parts of the tropics, but only at a great sacrifice of comfort and efficiency compared with the more temperate zones, or in cooler areas with the protection of clothing and artificial heat. It was no accident, but the natural result of climatic conditions, that efficiency became the greatest and civilization the most advanced in areas where the natural climate was favorable, or in cooler zones where protection against severe cold could be se-cured by relatively simple methods of conserving or producing heat.

Jan 1, 1933

By Roscoe W. Stensrud

Marcona Mining Company operations are located 500 kilometers south of Lima, Peru, on the Pacific Coast, at approximately 15º-22' latitude south and 75º-11' longitude west. The terrain is sandy rolling hills ranging from sea level at the coast and rising sharply (escarpment) to an elevation of 800 meters at the mine area. The climate is arid and windy with a moderate year-round temperature, ideal for a year-round mining operation. San Juan, a new and modern community of 14,000 inhabitants and developed by Marcona, houses the working forces and their families.

Jan 11, 1968

By GUY B. HUNNER

THOSE magnetite ore bodies comprising the Clifton Mines are situated in the south central part of St. Lawrence County, New York, on the western slope of the Adirondack Mountains. The topography is made up of gently rolling hills densely wooded with second-growth maple, birch, and hemlock. Drainage is north and west to the St. Lawrence River.

Jan 1, 1943

By Robert E. Sorenson

EXPLORATION for deep-seated orebodies in the Silver Belt area of the Coeur d'Alene mining district is complicated by meager surface expressions of diagnostic criteria, lack of knowledge of the significance of specific alteration phenomena, and the great expense involved in the exploration for ore shoots, the tops of which often occur near sea level elevation or below and as much as 4000 ft or more below the surface. Except for the early studies of Ransome and Calkins in 1903 and 1904,[1] little geological work was done in the Coeur d'Alene district for many years, and it is only during the last 15 to 20 years that complete and careful geological mapping has been applied to most of the mines in the area. Much early information, which now would prove invaluable, is lost in hundreds of miles of caved and inaccessible mine openings not mapped by mining geologists. In more recent years mining geology has become a tool of greater use in the district, and some measurable progress is being made in the accumulation of observations that are adding gradually to the knowledge of ore deposits in the district.

Jan 7, 1951

By Douglas Bunting

(Wilkes-Barre Meeting, June, 1911.) WITH the gradual exhaustion of the upper veins in the anthracite coal-fields, the problem of mining at greater depths acquires increasing importance and demands the consideration of a number of important factors, one of which is the greater earth-pressure and the consequent necessity of stronger support o for the roof. Under the pillar-and-chamber system, almost exclusively followed in the Northern anthracite-field, the highest economy in mining is generally secured by leaving, on first mining, pillars only sufficient to support safely the overlying strata. As to the necessary size of such pillars, the opinions of mining experts are widely divergent. In establishing the width of chambers and pillars, the thickness of vein and its depth below the surface have received little consideration. For. instance, it has been quite usual to work both overlying and underlying veins with the same width of chambers and pillars, when the lower vein was two and one-half times as thick, and twice as fits below the surface, as the upper. In view of the generally-accepted theory that the crushing-strength of coal-pillars of the same base-area becomes less with increased height, it is probable, in this instance at least, that the most economical mining has not been secured. This question of adequate pillar-support is economically less important down to about 800 ft. than at greater depths; and it is with reference to mining at these greater depths that the study of the subject here presented has been prompted. The necessity of leaving larger pillars, involving greater mining-costs per ton and also smaller yields per acre, is one of the troubles of deep working. To mine without leaving adequate pillar-supports will result, sooner or later, in a squeeze. Limited areas, it is true, have been mined at certain widths of

Sep 1, 1911

By AIME AIME

N EARLY 1300 members and guests crowded the halls of the Engineering Societies Building during the winter meeting of the Institute just closed, and more than 600 attended the banquet. In variety of program, quality of papers, interest in discussion, and brilliance of social features, the meeting maintained the high reputation of the past. Nothing elaborate in the way of excursions was attempted, experience having proved that February weather in New York is much too uncertain to warrant extensive field trips. A sight-seeing journey up the Hudson to the Bear Mountain bridge was, however, made despite the snows of the week before and the week after. The annual business meeting, while attended by a minority of the members in the building, was marked by the display of keen interest in the work and called out several interesting discussions. The excellent reports of the committees that had organized their work and directed it along definite lines, emphasized the need of funds with which to support assistants or Fellows who shall correlate and put to the highest use the facilities of the Institute in research along technical lines. This thought was developed at the banquet by the retiring president, J. V. W. Reynders, and it is expected that the Directors will take early steps to collect a fund for this purpose. The number of the individual sessions was too great and the papers and discussions too numerous to permit mention here of all the features of inter- est. A general review only follows. The papers and detailed discussions will be printed and sent to members as promptly as possible.

Jan 1, 1926

By Charles Will Wright

THOSE that attended the seventeenth International Geological Congress held in Russia last summer had an excellent opportunity to gather data and to form impressions on the progress made in the industrialization of the country, particularly with regard to the mineral industries. Several trips to places of interest were arranged, supplementary to the technical sessions held in Moscow, the one to the Ural region being that which I selected as being most likely to be of interest. The accomplishments of the last decade in opening up new mines and building new metallurgical plants in the Soviet Union have been outstanding. This could only be accomplished by a central government ready to employ the best technical talent, which was

Jan 1, 1937

By Bedrand L. Johnson

THE phosphate-rock industry is built upon natural deposits of rocks and minerals in which the element phosphorus is present as a phoshate. The term ?phosphate rock? is a general one, applied to certain rocks of different degrees of consolidation and of diverese origin, charater and occurrence, composed of intimate mixtures of several phosphate minerals, largely submicrocrystalline, usually calcium phosphates, in commerical quantities, with various impurities. This term includes phosphatized limestones, sandstone, shales, and igneous rocks; nodular phosphates ; residual weathered phosphatic limestones ; vein phosphates ; and phosphatic sediments, both consolidated and unconsolidated.

Jan 1, 1944

By Joseph E. Pogue

FOR a number of years the petroleum department of The Chase National Bank has been making a continuing study of the financial aspects of thirty oil companies. (See Pogue and Coqueron, "Financial Analysis of Thirty Oil Companies," pamphlet, The Chase National Bank, November 1945, for data covering eleven years, 1934-1944, and the list of the companies making up the group. See also "Capital Employed in the Petroleum Industry," by the same authors, M&M, November 1944.1 This group represents a large sample of theAmerican petroleum industry, covering about two thirds of the business. Certain aspects of this study concern the capital employed in crude oil production, the main features of which arc presented in this paper.

Jan 1, 1946

By W. P. Barba

IN THE early summer of 1917, it became evident that the then existing sources of supply of guns and gun forgings were totally inadequate for the enormous and rapidly growing requirements of the Ordnance Department of the Army, so arrangements were made with sixteen makers of other products to take up the manufacture of guns and gun forgings. Nine of these makers were required to produce their own steel from the raw materials and convert it into rough machined gun forgings; the others finished and assembled these forgings into completed guns. In December, 1914, four of these makers of steel and rough gun forgings were instructed to manufacture the same amount of the 6-in. and 9.5-in. guns and howitzers. It, therefore, seemed practical .and profitable to assemble these makers into a small group, together with the officers of the Ordnance Department, and provide standard 'equipment in each of the four works for the production of these two types of guns. The advantages of this cooperation were immediately manifested, and there commenced an interchange of shop practice and a free discussion of facilities and methods that covered not only the equipment but the manufacturing processes.

Jan 1, 1920

By C. W. Davis

THE name fuller's earth, which was derived from its early use in "fulling" or removing grease from woolen goods, is a term that is generally considered to designate mineral matter, containing hydrous aluminum silicates of the clay group, which has a high capacity for removing colors from oils, whether of animal, vegetable, or mineral origin. Fuller's earths are usually dried and may be "tempered" by heating or may be treated with water or reagents to improve their efficiency. For our purpose the term "acid-treated earths" will include those products from the partial decomposition of mineral water by acid which are equal to or more efficient than an untreated fuller's earth from Quincy, Fla., when used in bleaching mineral oil by the "contact" process. In general, the contact process for treating oils consists of heating and agitating a mixture of oil and finely divided adsorbent, the latter being subsequently removed by filtration. The term "adsorbent" is used because, although there has been a great deal of controversy over the mechanism of removal of impurities from oils by mineral matter, there is no doubt that adsorption, which involves the surface of the solid, plays a major part.1 The properties that make fuller's earth useful in the treatment of petroleum products by "percolation" and in the purification of edible oils by the contact process have long been studied, but the comparatively recent adaptation of the contact process to the bleaching of petroleum products has made desirable the further investigation of fuller's earth and other adsorbent earths.

Jan 1, 1929