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By John F. Walker

WITH an estimated production of over 936,000,000 for the first six months, the gross value of mine production for 1937 in British Columbia should exceed $70,- 000,000. This figure, if attained, will establish an all-time record for the Province. Great changes have taken place in the different divisions of the mining industry since 1929, the previous peak year of mineral production. A brief review of the earlier history of mining in the Province will also be given.

Jan 1, 1937

By ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS

BY this time almost everyone knows, in a general way, the corporate income distribution policies of the 1936 Revenue Act, and many of the practical problems arising there under. This article is not intended to be a technical discussion of that act by title, subtitle, section, or supplement, nor an analysis of inter- dependent sections of the various acts over many years woven on the fiscal loom f our Congressional machine. Such a discussion would require the spinning of a web of words too long for patience. Yet ,a general statement of the underlying plan of the 1936 Act, so far as it affects dividend policies, is perhaps useful.

Jan 1, 1937

By The Hollinger Mill Staff

MR. E. L. Longmore (l), in presenting this paper at the Annual General Meeting, suggested that it was neither desirable nor necessary to read any but the briefest portion of the paper. He wished to emphasize that the scale of the milling operations at the Hollinger not only provided several units in continuous operation to ensure that the test work was being carried on under normal conditions, but also provided a large and competent staff to supervise such an extensive experiment and to criticize intelligently the recorded results. He wished to acknowledge the enthusiastic co-operation of the group of assistants whose excellent work was responsible for the confidence with which the conclusions could be presented. The following data were given as a supplement to the published paper. Following conclusion of the test work described in the paper, the size of the balls fed to the mill was changed from 3-in. diameter to 2Yz-in. Within a short time, a gradual rise in the tonnage rate took place and, as no other condition had been changed, the increased tonnage was credited to the changed character of the ball load. At present, the average daily tonnage for the mill with low discharge is 1,507 tons, an increase of 77 tons over the 1,430 tons ground when feeding a 3-in. ball. A similar increase in tonnage should be credited to the high-discharge test, if the 2;Y2-in. ball had been used at that time. This would raise the 1,117 tons ground at that time to a new figure of 1,177 tons. From a study made to determine those factors influencing the rate of pulp flow through the low-discharge mill, it became evident that the ball screen used on the high-discharge mill must have been restricting the flow through the mill, although this was not recognized at the time. Accord-ingly, it was decided to repeat the high-discharge run. Additional length was added to the 21-in. ring grizzly originally used, and the length of the reverse spiral was increased. The end of the grizzly was left open so that, if necessary, excess pulp might flow out. A coarse mesh 3 ft. by 3 ft. flat screen was provided to catch stray balls.

Jan 1, 1937

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 Stanley C. Herold

TWENTY-FIVE years ago no distinction was made between water wells and oil wells except in the nature of the fluid produced. Water wells usually showed no decline in their rate of production; when oil wells showed decline something in the manner of handling them was considered wrong. Both water and oil were believed to be subject to the same physical laws in their underground movement toward the wells. Today a sharp distinction is made between them. Whereas water exists alone in the porous formations at depth, oil is usually accompanied by gas. This mixture does not behave as a liquid alone. It is a frothy, seething mass of foam which approaches and enters the wells. Different physical laws come into play. Twenty-five years ago attention was directed entirely to the well itself; today the well is accepted as a mere hole in the ground, a hole to be equipped properly for efficient service, yet without any value whatever unless it is backed up by a sufficiently prolific reservoir. Then, we were concerned with wells alone, 3000 ft. in depth; now commercial wells and their reservoirs are 10.000 ft. deep. Petroleum engineering concepts have necessarily therefore undergone a change in this last quarter century. What are they today?

Jan 1, 1937

By John J. Cioston

THE steadily rising flood of gold production from all parts of the world has created an avalanche of rumors regarding the stability of the present price of this metal. Markets have been unsettled from Johannesburg to London from New York and Toronto to Melbourne, despite repeated denials from, American and British authorities of any immediate intention to alter the price. Various economists and financial writers have blossomed forth with predictions that the price would be set at the old level of $20.67 per oz.; some have even been so brash as to state That a price of $15 would be necessary to bring production within control. These effusions, based entirely upon monetary theories and with no regard to production costs, serve to confuse rather than clarify the situation.

Jan 1, 1937

By GEO M. FOWLER

AN appraisal of the activities of the mining geologists during 1936 clearly indicates the ever in- creasing utilization of geology in the search for ore. Few men with geo- logic training are idle at present; this is particularly true regarding recent graduates. Many have accepted employment in distant fields, such as the Philippines and South America, and greatly increased mineral production from these places reflects their activities. In North America, regions of intense mineralization formerly important are being restudied in greater de- tail and with better understanding; as a result, new mineral wealth is being found in many such districts. Much is being done by private companies and individuals, and it is to be hoped that mining companies will increasingly make available the purely scientific results of such studies by permitting their geologists to publish. On such generosity to a large extent will future advances in ore finding depend.

Jan 1, 1937

By AIME AIME

LEWIS EMANUEL YOUNG was elected a Director of the A.I.M.E. at the last Annual Meeting as a representative of District '4, including. Ohio, West Virginia, and western. Pennsylvania and New York. He also represents the Coal Division, in which industry lie has actively participated- for nearly twenty years. Dr. Young was horn in Topeka, Kan., Oct. 1, 1873, received mining degrees from Penn State and ,-Iowa. State, and a Ph.D., from Illinois. The first part of his professional life was spent in teaching first as instructor in mining at Iowa State, second .as professor of mining at the Colorado School' of Mines, third as director of the School of Mines and Metallurgy at Rolla, Mo., and finally he taught business

Jan 1, 1937

By T. A. Rickard

T HE life and career of Daniel Cowan Jackling constitute a distinctive part of a passing era, marked by the intensive exploration and exploitation of the mineral resources of the western regions of the United States. In the development of his abilities and in the use of his opportunities, he typifies the initiative, the energy, and the skill of a modern captain .of industry. Daniel C. Jackling was born at Hudson, Mo., on Aug. 1.4, 1869. He was the only child of Daniel Jackling, born in England of English parents, and Lydia Jane (Dunn) Jackling, born in the United States, but of Scottish ancestry. His father died a few months after he was born, and he lost his mother less than two years later. The orphan boy was adopted by his aunt. He went to school as soon as he was old enough to walk the two miles, and back, alone. As opportunity offered, he went

Jan 1, 1937

By J. T. Ryan

SAFETY practice or the elimination of accidents in our coal mines is specifically a problem of management. It cannot be delegated to any governmental agency except that the various coal-producing states do and should have some minimum safety standard laws. However, the legislative method of attempting to control mine accidents is ineffective because of the delay between the necessity and the action. It will always be impossible to keep our various state mining laws up to date; and when the law says you must do a certain thin there is a tendency to do this and no more. Unless the scheme for setting up state regulations is so flexible that when a new hazard develops it can be immediately and adequately covered and the whole responsibility for accident elimination placed undivided on the

Jan 1, 1937

By AIME AIME

CERTAINLY in point of attendance, and doubtless in several other ways as well, the 147th meeting of the A.I.M.E. was the best ever held. In times of depression, mining engineers and metallurgists have plenty of time to come to the Annual Meeting but money is scarce; at the height of industrial activity they have plenty of money but no time. "The current period of transition seemed to provide ideal conditions for' both the preparation of papers and attendance at their presentation. The weather made even the Californians present envious though the weather man gets no credit, for rain and snow was what he willed. Among the elevator men, the miners have the reputation of being the toughest crowd to handle, though the best natured, withal, of all the engineering groups that meet in the Engineering Societies Building. This year Your inquiring reporter was told, "it was the damnedest meeting I ever saw; they

Jan 1, 1937

By Charles Camsell

MORE than one-third of all Canada is embraced in the federal domain known as the Northwest Territories. Its most northern point, Cape Columbia, on Ellesmere Island, is only 500 mi. from the Pole. It includes parts of the main physiographic divisions of the North American continent. In the West there is a strip of 30.000 sq. mi. lying in the Cordilleran region, where peaks in the Mackenzie Mountains rise as high as 8500 ft. East of this strip and extending roughly to a line through Great Bear and Great Slave lakes to the Arctic coast is a section of the interior plains. This section, known as the Mackenzie Lowlands, contains the great artery, the most striking feature of the Northwest Territories-the Mackenzie and Slave river waterway impressive in its width, almost two miles in places, and in it's navigability for 1357 miles without obstruction to the sea. Adjoining the Mackenzie Lowlands on the East is the greater portion of the mainland of the Territories, which, as well as a large share of the island area, is in the Canadian Shield.

Jan 1, 1937

By D. Harrington

Dust diseases are much before the public at present, but little reliable information on the subject is readily available to the layman; even those rated as experts usually have a more or less theoretical conception of these diseases, their causes, remedies, and prevention. Until recently little attention has been given to prevention, and the usual attitude of the engineer, upon whom the main reliance for prevention ultimately must devolve, has been to let "sleeping dogs lie" or, more definitely, to "let well enough alone." However, the "laissez faire" attitude no longer is tenable; in the past few years numerous conditions have caused those engaged in industry, including mining, to study the subject with a view to ascertaining the facts upon which to formulate remedial measures, primarily preventive. This bulletin is an attempt to assemble information in convenient form on effects of breathing dusts, largely in the mining and allied industries. The literature on this subject is so extensive that no attempt has been made to include all published material or all types of dust diseases but only to assemble some of the more outstanding data on several aspects of the subject, especially with reference to silicosis.

Jan 1, 1937

By Ernest N. Patty

WHEN an Alaskan prospector makes a new mineral discovery he stakes out his claims and then starts prospecting for a near-by landing field. This may be a convenient lake but more often it is a gravel bar along a river, where, by cutting off some brush and throwing the larger rocks to one side and then tying a flour sack to a pole, he may decoy some intrepid aviator into testing it gingerly with the wheels of his plane. It was only a few years ago that .the fence around the baseball park at Fairbanks, Alaska, was taken down so that planes could get in and out of the ball park without ripping off boards. Today the grandstand is lost among the modern hangars which line one side of a modern and busy airport. Planes come and go all during the day, and in summer, when there is no darkness, the night stillness is frequently broken by the hum of a motor overhead. Fairbanks is the hub of interior Alaska and from that hub airplanes radiate in all directions to mining camps large and small. An air industry of comparable size is based at the town of Anchorage, and in fact there are but few towns of more than 200 population in the Territory that do not have one or more planes based there.

Jan 1, 1937

Both drilling and production of oil decreased in Rumania during 1935. The drilling totaled 1,042,041 ft. and production 61,973,938 bhl., being a decrease of 8.5 and 1.6 per cent, respectively. Wells completed during the year totaled 198, of which 168 were oil wells, compared with 238 and 215, respectively, of 1934. No important discovery was made during the year. The only new field found was Valea Calugareasca, where the Credit Minier completed a small well on the westward plunge of the anticline. Drilling higher on the structure will probably prove the field to be of greater importance than the results of the discovery well indicate. The only other developments of importance were the extension of the Bucsani field, the opening up of a new area on the northeast of the salt at Moreni by Credit Minier and a minor extension of the West Gura Ocnitei field. At Calinesti, on the cast extension of the Moreni field, exploration work continued and a gas well was completed, but oil in commercial quantities is yet to be found.

Jan 1, 1936

By C. E. Shoenfelt

There were 110 important discoveries of either oil or gas in Co1orado in 1935. There was, however, further development of the Price structure in southern Colorado and developments since the first of the year indicate. that an important oil field may be in the making. The discovery of oil in Price structure was made by the Oil City Petroleum Co. late ill Novem-ber, 1934, in its No. 2 Garnett in the northeast corner of lot 3 in the SW.¼ of sec. 25-33N.-2E. This well developed a good showing of oil in Dakota sand at 970 ft. The hole filled up 15 ft. with 40° gravity oil overnight and after standing for several days the oil level was 400 ft. higher. As a result of the discovery of oil by the No. 2 Garnett, three wells were drilled by the William E. Hughes Estate. Two of these wells had good showings of oil and may make good producers but it is doubtful whether they will produce the estimated capacity of 500 bbl. each with which they have been credited. Although the Hughes Estate wells have been completed for some time, they have not been given thorough production tests because of the isolated position of the field and lack of proper facilities. The. first well drilled by the Hughes Estate was located on the west side of the Navajo River on the downthrow side of a fault. It encoun-tered water ill the Dakota sand at 1285 ft, and was abandoned in green shales of the Morrison at 1405 ft. Well cuttings from the Dakota sand showed some evidence of once containing oil, so a 1ocation was selected for No. 2 Fee on the east side of the river and on the upthrow side of the fault. Oil was discovered in Dakota sands ill 1935 by Continental Oil Co. in its No. 3 Hoye, NW.NW.NE. of sec. 34-9N.-78W., on the South McCallum anticline in North Park, Jackson County, Colo., but on account of heavy flows of carbon dioxide gas under high pressure it has been impossible for the company to get an accurate gage of the oil production. The freezing action of expanding carbon dioxide makes the producing of the oil difficult and costly.

Jan 1, 1936

By S. H. Ash

California leads the Nation in the number of operating metal mines and the small number of persons employed at individual mines, which reached a minimum irk 1932 with an average of seven men. The mines are scattered over the entire State, which is the second largest in area (155,562 square miles) in the United States. The mines are situated at various altitudes, with portals ranging from approximately 300 feet below sea level to almost 12,000 feet above. Many of the mines can be reached only during the summer, while at others the heat of the regions adds so the difficulties during the summer months Supplied of explosives the use (or, probably more correctly, the misuse) of which constitutes one of California's gravest mining problems; are handled and stored under condition that contribute many hazards. The problem of providing medical care is serious and complicated, especially at small mines and more particularly in the almost inaccessible mountainous regions; instances in which a knowledge of first aid would have been beneficial but was lacking, or when first aid was instrumental in saving life or limb because it was available are too numerous to be mentioned.

Jan 1, 1936

By Robert H. Ridgway

Chromite has been produced commercially for slightly more than a century. Developed, at one time, chiefly as a chemical pigment raw material, it has subsequently found extensive application in other chemical industries - as a refractory material for furnace linings and as the sole source of the metal chromium. For some years prior to 1914, its use as a refractory predominated; but post-war development in alloy steels, principally stainless steels, enhanced the metallurgical demand in the form of ferrochrome with a consequent increase in the demand for chromite. More recently direct reduction of chromite in alloy-steel manufacture has been applied to a limited extent. Alloy steels containing varying amounts of chromium, with or without other alloying elements, now find extensive use in a ride variety of ways - in structural material, machines, industrial equipment transportation by land, sea, and air, sanitary equipment, food preservation, and a multitude of other uses. In recent years chromium plating has had wide application and has become important. industrially, but the amount of raw material consumed

Jan 1, 1936

By E. D. Gardner

During the summer of 1935 a plan was proposed by which the Government should establish custom sampling plants for gold and silver ores in the mining districts of the West, where the construction of such plants would be justified as an unemployment relief measure. It was known that in many districts prospectors and small operators had small lots of smelting ore that could not be marketed for lack of sufficient capital to get out enough ore at a time to make carload shipments to distant smelters. Moreover, considerable ore of milling grade was available in many districts in which there were no custom milling facilities. It was felt that. accurate sampling and the classification and consolidation of small lots of ore produced from prospects and small mines, with quick cash returns to the shippers on a nonprofit basis, would stimulate the working of small gold and silver properties: Idle mines would be put to work, and there was a possibility that some of the prospects could be developed into regularly producing mines. Each sampling plant was to be centrally located so as to serve the greatest possible number of mines and prospects. Wherever possible, the plants were to be built on a railroad, is ore of smelting grade accumulated, it was to be shipped to a smelter in carload lots. Where a plant was not on a railroad, smelting ore was to be trucked to the railroad after being sampled.

Jan 1, 1936

By W. J. Dick

THE purpose of this paper is to point out, briefly, the importance of the coal mining industry of Alberta and to stress the economic factors that hinder its development; also to offer suggestions relating to the major problems of the industry. The minor problems will not be dealt with in detail, because, if the major problems are taken care of, it is felt that the industry itself can take care of ,he remainder. COAL MINING NO LESS IMPORTANT THAN GOLO MINING The large increase in metal mining development in all provinces of Canada, excepting Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the Maritimes, has had the effect of focussing public attention on this branch of the industry. The fact, also, that this development came at a time of depression has been of immense benefit to Canada as a whole. On account of the necessity and consequent demand for gold, with its attendant increase in price, through government action, from $20.67 per ounce to $35.00 per ounce, it is safe to say that the public of Canada have become, today, gold mining conscious. While everyone admits the great value. of the gold mrn111g industry, nevertheless, the equal value to Canada of certain other industries must not be lost sight of. The coal mining industry, in particular, is worthy of greater public and government support than has been accorded it in the past. It would seem unnecessary to stress this matter to a meeting of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, but unless certain facts are brought to your attention, there is danger that the coal mining industry will not be developed to the extent its national importance deserves. Too many public men and men in authority are unaware of the value of coal mining.

Jan 1, 1936