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By John Howe Hall

One's first thought, upon being chosen to deliver the Henry Mario Howe lecture, is of pride at being selected for this post of honor, but ther succeeds immediately a deep sense of the Obligation thereby incurre to give of one's very best in order to make a contribution worthy of hir in whose memory these lectures are given. One who had the goo fortune to be associated with Henry ill. Howe, upon sitting down t prepare such a paper as this, irnrnediately falls to musing upon thc day when his face and his footfall were familiar from constant association, an recalls with singular vividness his active figure, his mobile, alert face, an his keenness in penetrating to thc corc of the subject under discussior Like Dr. Mathews, I was a young man when I first worked under hi direction, now nearly a quarter of a century ago, and in those early day he oft,en seemed a hard taskmaster—a man whose standards it woul never be possible for me to meet. I well recall his insisting upon m proving for the third time the truth of a conclusion which I had brc unwilling to submit to him until it had been confirmed by two carefull planned experiments. To my impatient protest that thc third .demor stration he asked for was but a repetition of the second, with differer samples, he replied, "Yes, that is true, but the inherent improbability ( your conclusions is so evident that I can not accept them until you prov your case again." "Shall I ever do a thing well enough to suit him? I thought. Looking back today upon many similar incidents, 1 suspect that h never expected me to attain the excellence he preached, and held up t me and to himself as a model, but knew out of the fullness of his experienc. that in no other way could he so impress upon me the necessity in researc of the patient, never-failing attention to detail and to accuracy tha distinguished his own work. How painstaking he was in the preparation of his many books an professional papers, as well as in his experimcntal work, was ncvcr s

Jan 1, 1929

By L. E. Young

LOADING machines may be classified in several ways: (1) Machines which cut or break down and load .the coal; (2) machines which simply load the coal; (3) devices which load and transport the coal; (4) de-vices which elevate; (5) devices which transport the coal after it has been shoveled onto the device. There are many types of mechanical loading devices, Bull. 17, Coal Mining Investigations, under the auspices of Carnegie Institute' of Technology, U. S. Bureau of Mines, and the Advisory Board, listing 31 exclusive. of -the large shovels used in thick coal seams. Mechanical loading of coal is not in its infancy; I think some of the early patents go back to 1890. One large coal company, properly called the early leader in this field of mechani-zation, has about 26 large machines at work. This company spent about thirty years in developing a ma-chine, and at the present time is loading approximately two million tons of coal a year in its mines. The chair-man directed a question at the previous speaker; inquir-ing if real progress was being made in mechanical load-ing. The experience of the company just referred to is in itself an adequate answer. A review of a list of mines using mechanical loading devices shows that there are 28 mines which we may say are 100 per cent mechanical. There are four more mines which have been 100 per cent mechanical, but which are idle at this time on account of labor condi-tions. There are at least 25 more at which the tonnage is more than 50 per cent mechanical. In speaking of a 100 per cent mine I do not mean that every pit car of coal is loaded by machine, because when complete, re-covery of the coal is attempted it is not practical to load all the coal at, the break line. In order to load the last 5 to 10 per cent of coal with a minimum of gob material and in order to keep the. working places along the break line timbered in a safe manner it is generally desirable to use a few hand loaders. At a certain mine operat-ing on the block system 90 percent of the coal is being loaded by what is properly a mechanical loading: device, and about 10 per cent -is being loaded by hand. This 10 percent is right off the break line, out of what might be called, the screen pillar. The mines referred to are scattered over the country, . in seven different' States, and the equipment used is produced by ten different machinery companies. As to size, these mines vary from small mines of 500 tons mining capacity-up. In one instance a company with one loading machine is producing an, average of 450 tons per day. One of the large mines that is idle pro-duced at the. rate of 4300 tons per day, of which 97 per cent was actually loaded by machinery.

Jan 8, 1928

By AIME AIME

THE best meeting ever held, was the opinion expressed by a number of those who attended the annual meeting of the Institute in New York, Feb. 18 to 21, and there was an atmosphere of friendliness and good fellowship about it that fully justified the feeling. In numbers it was not quite so large as last year and unless the Engineering Societies should build for themselves a new building it is probable that no meeting can be larger, in respect to numbers, than that held in 1928, which was only made possible by the circumstance that the eighth floor of the building happened to be, temporarily vacant at the time. The number of rooms available for -sessions that were provided when the building was built long ago proved inadequate, and it is only by the expedient of obtaining the temporary use of the board and committee rooms of other societies that it is possible to arrange for the over 40 sessions that must be spread over the four days of the meeting. The-fifth floor, where. a buffet lunch is served each-day, has reached its full capacity and it seems quite evident that any future development of Institute meetings must be along the lines of quality, not size.

Jan 1, 1929

By R. Gilman Brown

INTRODUCTION. MINES are interesting by reason of what they have done for man, or of what has been done for them by nature. Not all are interesting on both scores. Many profitable mines are commonplace to the geologist; and many presenting unique geological conditions have been sad failures commercially. The Standard group at Bodie has produced in 25 years, $14,500,000, paying $5,000,000 in dividends.' On the other hand, this output has been mined (almost wholly above the 1,000-ft. level) from a system of more than 100 veins, ranging in thickness-from 0.5 in. of "specimen rock" to 30 ft. of clay and quartz; distributed through a zone about 2,000" ft. in width, and representing from three to five distinct periods of formation. This group, therefore, by reason of its industrial record as well as its geological features, may fairly be regarded as doubly interesting. The Bodie district occupies an island of recent (Tertiary) hornblende-andesite, surrounded by a complex of igneous rocks and breccias. It lies at the summit of the eastern foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and within the Great Basin, a few miles from its western edge, marked here by Mono lake on the line of the Great Fault. The average elevation of the outcroppings of the veins may be taken at about 5,700 ft. The andesite projects from south to north in a great tongue, 12,000 ft. long and 5,000 ft. wide, reaching an extreme height at the northern end of perhaps 1,000 ft. above the adjoining small canyons. These separate it from the main mass of the foot-hill

Jul 1, 1907

By Sherwin F. Kelly

THE joint meetings of the Mining Geology Committee and the Society of Economic Geologists proved to be deservedly popular, and the interesting papers drew an attendance which strained the capacity of one of the large meeting rooms.. As might be expected these days when even the Supreme Court can't keep away from the subject of gold, the discussions opened on Thursday morning with several papers devoted to questions of structural and mineralogical relationships of the deposits of this metal. The presentation of Ira B. Joralemon's paper, "Veins and Faults in the Bralorne Mine," by Reno Sales, elicited considerable discussion on the relation of mariposite to gold, and the situation of the gold deposits with respect -to the Coast Range batholith. H. V. Warren stated that lie had observed mariposite always to be associated with gold in this region, but that gold was not always associated with mariposite. He pointed out that there is a series of veins on the west side of the batholith with a different mineralogy that, because of their richness but small size could quite easily make good, small mines. John A. Dresser concurred in this, and said lie thought this region was one of great promise for the mining geologist. He also reported having found mariposite associated with gold values below commercial limits, in the Appalachian regions.

Jan 1, 1935

By Henry Fay

The erosion of guns is a complex problem which can be solved only by a detailed study of all the factors involved. In the present paper it is proposed to submit the results of observations and experiments which have extended over several years. Certain facts have been established and preliminary reports have been published.' Conclusions have been reached since then which, it is believed, are worth presenting for the purpose of promoting discussion, and with the hope that ultimately the whole truth will be known. The particular phase of the problem which will be presented here is the hardening of the inner surface of the gun tube. It has been known for a long time that after firing a large caliber gun for some time, the surface of the metal becomes hard and brittle, cracks, and wears away.2 The character of this phenomenon may be learned by an examination of some results which are typical, obtained from a detailed study of a 12-in. gun. The gun was trepanned and rings representing various sections of the gun were cut out for examination. The first ring represented the metal at the muzzle end, and the other rings were removed at approximately 120, 240, 325 and 337 in., respectively, toward the breech end. The appearance of the surface of the metal in the different sections is shown in Fig. 1. The greatest amount of wear and maximum amount of hard surface layer was found in section marked E, which is nearest the powder chamber and at the beginning of the rifing; the maximum amount of cracking in D; the maximum amount of copper deposition in C. Section B showed heat cracks on both lands and grooves, and section A showed heat cracks on the driving edge of the lands only. There was much flow of metal in both sections E and D, and there was progressively less effect noticeable toward the muzzle end. The polished cross-section of these same pieces is shown in Fig. 2. The extent of the erosion is greatest nearest the powder chamber, and diminishes toward the muzzle end.

Jan 1, 1917

By R. L. Wiegel

The two questions considered in this study are: (1) what similarity is there in the liberation of magnetite from various iron formations, and (2) how is this liberation affected by the size reduction technique employed. Twelve sample suites were obtained from commercial concentrators processing magnetite iron formation in the United States, Canada, and Australia. These samples have grades in the range 15 to 45% magnetite iron and approximate mineral grain sizes o f 50 to 2000 microns. Efforts were directed at measuring the liberation characteristics of the samples obtained from the concentrators primary grinding mills. The Davis tube, a laboratory magnetic separator, was used to concentrate individual size fractions of the size reduction product to determine liberation data. These liberation data were compared with relationships calculated from a highly idealized mathematical model of liberation in a binary mineral system. The results of these comparisons have been encouraging for nine or ten of the twelve samples tested. This leads to the conclusion that for most commercial iron formations, at least with conventional rod mill size reduction, it is possible to quantitatively characterize liberation with two parameters: an effective mineral grain size and ore grade. Limited laboratory size reduction tests as well as one of two sets of liberation data from commercial primary autogenous grinding lend some support to the contention that autogenous grinding can affect mineral liberation.

Jan 1, 1976

By AIME AIME

MILLING called for four sessions and a luncheon and covered broad ranges from speculative theory to basic practice, and from coal to gold. An attractive and profitable feature was the "get-together" of "coal preparers" and "ore dressers" for mutual discussion of their common problems. The first event was the Milling Luncheon in the Engi¬neers' Club on Monday. A concentrated group of high¬grade appeared and many matters were discussed, but only two called for official action: The meeting unanimously recommended the use of the Tyler standard sieve scale as against any new scale, and also the adoption of micron designation for fine particles in place of decimals of an inch or millimeter, or theoretical mesh size. The real sessions began on Monday afternoon with a menu of Mineral Physics for the ore dresser, metallurgist, geologist, physicist, et al. Four papers by the staff of the U. S. Bureau of Mines dealt with the chemical and physical aspects of mineral structure as revealed by the first two years of research to date. A fifth paper by Dr. M. J. Buerger correlated to the foregoing the knowledge of "The Lineage Structure of Crystals" and finally a sixth paper was a progress report of further developments of the last year in explosive shattering of minerals by the U. S. Bureau of Mines.

Jan 1, 1933

The State Mining Experiment Station, Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy, Rolla, Mo Charles H. Fulton, Director of the School of Mines Martin H. Thornberry, Director of the Mining Experiment Station. From the State Mining Experiment Station are issued all the general and technical bulletins of the School of Mines The latest bulletin containing a complete list of publications will be sent upon application to the Director of the Station Residents of the state may obtain bulletins as issued without charge, or may ask to be placed on the mailing list. Nonresidents should write to the Director for further information concerning specific bulletins. From the long list of bulletins the following have been care¬fully selected as being most likely to interest the geologist and the mining engineer. Vol 8, No. 1 (1916), Bibliography of concentrating ores by flotation, by J Cunningham, vol 1, No 3 (1912), Some apparatus and methods for demonstrating rock drilling and the loading of drill holes in tunneling, by L E Young, vol 2, No 1 (1915), Comparative tests of piston drill bits, by C R Forbes and L M Cummings; vol 2, No 3 (1916), Cupellation losses in assaying, by H. T Mann and C. Y Clayton; vol 4, No 1 (1917), The hydrometallurgy and electrolytic precipitation of zinc, by F D. James; vol 4, No 2 (1917), The effect of additional agents in flotation, pt 1, by M. H. Thornberry and H T. Mann, vol 5, No 1 (1919), The carbonization of Missouri cannel coals, by H L. Dunlap, K. K. Kershner and V. X Smiley. Vol 5, No. 4 (1921), Coal mining methods in Missouri, by W W Weigel, vol 6, No 1 (1921), The problem of the St Peter sand¬stone, by C L Dake, 50 cents, vol 6, No. 2 (1922), Bibliography on the electrothermic metallurgy of zinc, by B M. O'Harra, vol 6, No. 4 (1923), Experiments on the distillation of zinc from complex zinc-lead-silver ores, by B M. O'Harra and E S. Wheeler, vol 7, No 3 (1924), Underground loading devices, by C. E. van Barneveld, 81; vol 7, No. 4 (1924), Briquetting of zinc ores, by B. M. O'Harra; vol. 8, No 2 (1925), A treatise of Missouri clays, by M. H. Thornberry.

Jan 1, 1933

By JAS. F. McCARTHY

THE present Hecla Co. is a Washington corporation; the Hecla Co. of Idaho was the old company. The older corporation owned two claims, the Hecla and the Katie May, and was incorporated for 500,000 shares of one dollar par value. The principal shareholders and officials of the older company were among the early mining men of the camp. Among the active officials were John A. Finch and A. B. Campbell. Among the directors and share- holders were Patrick Clark, J. R. Smith, Frank Upman, F. J, Kipp, Chas. Kipp, B. A. Kipp and Carl Landsee. F. J. Kipp and Carl Landsee are now directors of the Company. All of the others mentioned have died, but the surviving members of their families retain their ownership in the Company's shareholders. B. A. ,Kipp, who recently died, was the largest shareholder at the time of incorporation and Patrick Clark was the second largest shareholder. B. A. Kipp is a brother 'of F. J. Kipp, director of the Company.

Jan 1, 1924

By H. Y. Bassett

THIS paper attempts to show the various major operations used in nonferrous tube mills and does not necessarily represent the current practices at the two plants of the Wolverine Tube Div., of Calumet and Hecla Consolidated Copper Co. Inc. The operations now utilized in the production of tubing are quite varied and show the continual interest and advance metallurgically and mechanically to produce the best quality at the lowest cost. Naturally, any advance or lowering of cost is dependent on large production runs, which mean longer machine running time with maximum worker productivity. Standardization of tube sizes and elimination of unnecessary alloys are therefore very necessary, otherwise the development of costly new production machines would be of little benefit to the consumer as a whole. It should be noted that in such a short presentation it is impossible to describe in any detail the major operations. The short descriptions, it is hoped, will enable all who are interested to obtain a general idea of present, day practices in the copper tube producing field. Fig. I is a flowchart or sequence of operations showing the steps usually employed in tube production. RAW MATERIALS Quality starts with the raw material, and it is absolutely necessary that raw material be controlled and held to rigid specifications. Little need be said, however, regarding the raw materials for the casting of bars or billets, as the material always is purchased and checked against the various governing A.S.T.M. specifications. CASTING Casting, as is indicated in Fig. I, is quite varied and for convenience can be classified into two groups: The casting of solid billets, and the casting of hollow tubes, each of which is the base for subsequent operations. In the melting of the raw materials various types of furnaces are used, and the selection of any one is dependent on many factors outside the scope of this paper. However, as of general interest, a short description will be made of each. Induction Furnace (Low Frequency) This is popular in the melting of copper-base alloys, Fig. 2. In the induction furnace the principle of an inefficient transformer is used for the production of the necessary melting heat. The primary coil is.arranged around a transformer core made of high permeability silicon steel sheet. The secondary circuit is through a melting channel around the primary coil and opens into a hearth which contains the main charge. The heat is generated only in the melting channel, but because of the stirring action there is a constant flow of metal around the channel, which when mixing with the charge causes very rapid melting. The volatilization losses are very low as the furnace atmosphere above the charge is heated only by the heat from the melting metal. The stirring action, however, makes the use of any slag cover difficult. Such furnaces- must be started with molten

Jan 1, 1951

By Sidney H. Haughton

WHEN the white pioneers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries advanced from the coastal settlements of southern Africa into the interior of the subcontinent, they found it inhabited, more or less sparsely, by brown or black peoples mainly of pastoral habits but equipped with a fighting spirit and certain fighting weapons. Some of the tribes were smiths, others were miners and metallurgists; all used fuel, either industrially or domestically. Some of that fuel was wood, some cattle dung, and in some places the natives mined outcrop coal. Coal was first discovered by Europeans in Natal about 1840. After proper deliberation and after allowing due time for a consideration of all the implications, the Natal Government decided in 1881 (40 years after) to import an English expert to investigate and report on the discovery. Things then moved rapidly, and in what to a geologist is the remarkably short space of eight years, Natal collieries were producing at the rate of nearly 30,000 long tons per annum or 100 long tons per working day!

Jan 1, 1945

By M. A. Childers

Recent work with controlled laboratory tests.' field experience and a new analytical approach indicate that casing centralization, pipe movement and relative rheological properties between the mud and cement (yield point and density) are the three controlling factors in successfu1 primary cementing of dual casing. Turbulent flow has been demonstrated to be unnecessary under the severe displace ment conditions of parallel dual strings of casing. Simultaneous reciprocation of dual casing in directionally drilled boreholes is highly dependent on centralization and on the rapid initiation of pipe movement once the casing has been run to total depth. Successful cementing of 30 out of 32 dual, 3%-in casing wells substantiated these conclusions. A review of 15 dual, 3 1/2-in. casing wells completed prior to the adoption of these principles disclosed only one success. Mathematical and graphical techniques permit the engineer to analyze and anticipate the success or failure of a cementing operation. Standoff, mud displacement and reciprocation can be analyzed mathematically and planned in deep, directional or straight boreholes by review of annular geometry, relative rheological properties between the mud and cement, and forces caused by caring weight, functional drag and differential sticking. Introduction The objective in primary cementing is to displace the drilling fluid with cement that will bond to the formation and casing to prevent communication through the annulus. The predominant cause of failure appears to be channels of gelled mud that remain in the annulus after cementing.1 '* Past investigations have noted many procedures that could improve the displacement process.2-' These procedures include centralization, chemical preflushes, mechanical mud cake removers, controlled flow rates in certain regimes, pipe movement an1 control of mud and cement properties. Not until recently have the effects of many of these procedures been isolated so that their individual importance could be determined. In a recent paper,' a comprehensive and analytical laboratory study of various factors controlling the displacement process concluded that there are three major factors in obtaining complete mud displacement by the cement slurry. 1. Good relative rheological properties between the mud and cement. The cement should be heavier and have a yield point and plastic viscosity higher than the mud being displaced. Buoyancy forces often can dominate the displacement process. 2. High degree of standoff or centralization. The more centered the casing, the greater the likelihood of complete mud displacement and removal. 3. Pipe movement obtained by rotation or reciprocation. Often unfavorable rheological properties between the mud and cement, and poor standoff can be compensated by pipe movement. This work demonstrates the compatibility of the latter concepts with field results extended to the more severe dual casing displacement process. Early Experience With Dual 3'/t-In. Primary Cementing Early slim casing completions in the West Delta Block 73 field, offshore Louisiana, included 17 dual 3%-in., 3 single 3% -in. and 1 dual 2% -in. casing installations. Table I provides data on these earlier wells. Usually, common Class A cement was placed across the pay zone and 12 percent gel cement was placed to a height of 500 ft above the highest productive sand. Centralizers (6%-in. OD maximum expansion) were placed two or three per joint on both casing strings from total depth through the completion intervals and at least one per joint for the remainder of the cement sheath. A number of techniques and procedures were attempted to improve cementing success. Casing was run simultaneously or separately with a number of mud conditioning and circulating techniques. Mechanical aids such as cement bonders, slmiding sleeves, turbulizers and various sizes and strengths of centralizers were used. Common and gel cements were mixed with fresh or sea water with a number of different additives to control retardation and dispersion. Cements were thinned and mixed at high rates to try to induce turbulent flow in the annulus. On one well the "slow flow" method was used." Perforating was accomplished with a jet orienting gun. Unsuccessful cement jobs were indicated by production of extraneous fluids or by pressure communication between zones. On test, five wells flowed water, four flowed sand and six had pressure communication with the other string or the 10%-in. casing. A total of 25 remedial squeeze ce-

Jan 1, 1969

Jan 1, 1929

By E. R. Macgregor, J. Halpern

The kinetics of the reduction of cupric salts in aqueous solution by molecular hydrogen to metallic copper are described. The rate of reduction appears to be homogeneously determined and shows a marked inverse dependence on the hydrogen-ion concentration. Precipitation of copper is more rapid and complete in sulfate than in per-chlorate solution. A mechanism is proposed which accounts for this behavior. IN recent years a number of important hydro-metallurgical processes have been developed in which metallic salts in aqueous solution are reduced by gaseous hydrogen, usually at elevated temperatures and pressures, and thereby precipitated either in metallic form (e.g. Ni, Co, Cu) or as an oxide or salt of lower valence (e.g. VO, and VA).1 ; In connection with applications such as these, most of which involve heterogeneously catalyzed reactions, recent demonstrations"-" that salts of certain metals, e.g., Cu", Ag' , Hg" , and Hg,+ can activate molecular hydrogen homogeneously and thus catalyze hydrogenation reactions in aqueous solution, are of considerable interest. For example, cupric salts catalyze the otherwise slow homogeneous reduction of dichromate and ceric salts by hydrogen, i.e. Cr,O; + 3HL. + 8H1 ? 2Cr'- -- 7H,O [1] 2Ce ' ! H.. ? 2Ce" | 2H . [2] In perchloric-acid solution, where Cu" is not appreciably complexed, the kinetics have been found" " to be of the form -d [H,] _- k,[HJ [CU"]' dt -LCu+' l+ (k ,/k,) [H] [3] where, K = 1x10"' exp [—26,600/RT] 1, mole-' min-' ... [4] and (k ,/k,) - 0.25 at 110°C. This kinetic behavior suggests that the reaction proceeds by a mechanism involving the following sequence of steps kt Cu" +H1CuH' 4-HA [51 k., CUH + CU" ? + 2Cu f H' [GI 6Cu'+ Cr,07 + 14H'+ 2Cr- (¦ 7H,O + 6Cu" ['i] fast The catalytic activities of the undissociated cupric-sulphate and cupric-acetate complexes are somewhat greater (by factors of 6.5 and 120, respectively) than that of the simple hydrated Cu" ion.'" These considerations suggest that, in contrast to the other hydrometallurgical hydrogenation reactions, referred to previously, reduction of cupric salts in aqueous solutions by molecular hydrogen, should proceed homogeneously, and in the absence of an extraneous catalyst. This has already been demonstrated" for acetate-buffered solutions where the product of the reaction is a precipitate of cuprous oxide (Cu,O). In the present paper, an investigation of the reduction of cupric salts in perchloric-acid and sulphuric-acid solutions, leading to the precipitation of metallic copper, is described. Some results for the sulphate system, which is of considerable hydrometallurgical interest, have been reported previously by Ipatieff",' " and by Schaufel-berger' but these do not give a quantitative account, of the kinetics and mechanism of the reaction. Experimental The reduction experiments were conducted in the 1-gal, titanium-lined autoclave described in connection with earlier related investigations," " and using a similar procedure. The solutions were made up by dissolving known amounts of CP grade Cu(ClO,), and HC10, (or CuSO, and HISO,) in dis-tilled water. While in the autoclave, the solution was stirred and maintained at a constant temperature (±loc) and under a constant partial pressure of hydrogen gas. It was ascertained that the agitation (provided by two 3-in., four-bladed stirrers, rotating at 900 rpm) was adequate so that at no time was the rate of reaction limited by solution of hydrogen. During each experiment, samples of the solution were withdrawn periodically, allowed to cool, and the concentration of copper remaining in solution was then determined electrolytically. Some Cu' is formed during the reaction, but undergoes disproportionation when the solution is cooled to room temperature. For purposes of kinetic calcula-

Jan 1, 1959

By Fredrick C. Kruger

Introduction This surprisingly little-known group of minerals, the nonmetallics, so-called for their lack of metallic luster, is the largest group of the mineral kingdom, and cinstitutes perhaps 75 percent of all mineral species. For the most part, these minerals are compounds of the common acids, oxides, hydroxides, and two elements, carbon and sulfur. The list of the non- metallic minerals, therefore, is very long. It includes the borates, carbonates, chlorides, fluorides, nitrates, phosphates, silicates, sulfates, and less commonly, arsenates, chromates, molybdates, suliides, tungstates, and vanadates, the latter groups, and many of the oxides, being sought principally for their metal content. Those nonmetallics used commercially are generally called the industrial minerals, although in addition this term also includes a considerable group of rocks. The list of industrial minerals and rocks is continually growing as new uses are found, and it now numbers over 300 commodities. The industrial minerals industry has developed since about 1920. There- fore, the development has been fast, and it has been more or less parallel with the development of the art of minerals beneficiation. General Discussion of the Group This group is so heterogeneous that it has defied logical, or widely accepted, classification, whether by origin, composition, or end use, and perhaps for this reason the industrial minerals generally have received short shrift in both teaching and research. Except for those involved with asbestos, cement, fertilizers, gypsum, salt, sand and gravel, few large companies have deigned to enter the field, and consequently most industrial minerals have been developed for the most part by the small operators or entrepreneurs. Yet surprisingly, except for one war year, the nonmetallics have always surpassed the metals in value and tonnage (Fig. 1). One main characteristic that most of the nonmetallics have in common is direct sensitivity to labor and transportation. In other words they are characterized by large bulk and low-unit value, and hence have what might be termed a "place value".

Jan 1, 1971

By AIME AIME

READERS of a technical paper, or the audience if the paper is presented orally, judge the paper on several counts. The September 1940 issue of MINING AND METALLURGY contained an excellent short article by S. Marion Tucker en- titled "Are You Going to Present a Paper," which considered the general subject of presentation. In it Dr. Tucker referred to the large number of poorly prepared and badly delivered papers that are presented annually before the large number of technical and other societies that meet regularly, and he stressed the point that good delivery, length of paper, content, and composition are of great importance. All of Dr. Tucker's points were well taken; however, good illustrations are equally important in explaining certain phases of some papers.

Jan 1, 1941

By L. F. Pett

ALTHOUGH Kennecott's orebody has long been outlined, it is still necessary to define further its limits. This mine, long an advocate of churn drill methods, recently supplemented its practice by using a diamond drill. So far, the diamond drill holes have been along the main canyon floor which traverses the mine area. This zone, highly fractured, is cut by numerous friable quartz veinlets encountered within the porphyry. These veinlets, formed by filling contracted porphyry fractures with hot, siliceous, mineral-bearing solutions, are often more highly mineralized than adjacent porphyry. They pulverize on contact, yielding only slight amounts of core.

Jan 7, 1951

By D. Harrington

ANNUAL or necessary inspections and investigations of coal mines for various purposes were made possible through the Federal Coal Mine Inspection Act of May 7, 1941, which authorized entry to the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Mines. Primary object of these inspections is to obtain information pertaining to health and safety conditions. Among the purposes for which the data are to be used, are annual reports to Congress, the publication of inspection reports, and the compilation and publication of statistics. The act states that inspections and investigations shall be made by employees of the Bureau of Mines, who shall co-operate with other bureaus of the U. S. Department of the Interior, as well as with the official mine-inspection, safety cr health agencies of the several states and territories. The act specifies that a coal-mine inspector shall have "the basic qualifica-

Jan 1, 1946

By R. B. Walker, R. Palmer, L. C. Bryner

The purpose of this investigation was to further study some of the factors affecting the air oxidation of sulfide minerals. Data obtained from laboratory studies on the effect of temperature, concentration of iron salts, pH, and other catalysts on the biological and nonbiological oxidation of sulfide minerals are presented. The oxidation of copper sulfide minerals and subsequent leaching of the soluble copper has long been a profitable operation. The chief oxidizing agent is oxygen from the air. This reaction is influenced by a number of different factors such as temperature, light, hydrogen ion concentration, oxidizing agents, and various catalysts. Sullivan1 found that copper sulfide minerals are slowly oxidized by the air and that dilute sulfuric acid and iron (111) increased their solubility. At that time it was not known that bacteria were involved in the oxidation of the sulfide minerals. It has been shown that pyrite, molybdenite, free sulfur, and the copper sulfide minerals found in the waste rock dumps in Bingham Canyon, Utah, are largely oxidized by chemosynthetic autotrophic microorganisms found in the leaching streams.2-6 Similar organisms have been isolated in other mining areas7,8 and from the effluents from coal rnines.9 The following are some of the questions that have arisen regarding the mechanisms of the reactions involved in the leaching process. How dependent is the leaching operation upon the biological reactions? How does the temperature effect the biological and non-biological reactions? How does the concentration of iron (II) and (111) effect the rate of oxidation of copper (II) sulfide? Does the iron act as a catalyst? Does activated carbon act as a catalyst on the oxidation of sulfide minerals? What effect does the hydrogen ion concentration (pH) have on the above reactions? The purpose of this paper is to report the results of laboratory studies on these problems. EXPERIMENTAL The apparatus used in this investigation was an air lift percolator described in our earlier work.' The percolator consisted essentially of an air lift which enabled the leaching solution and microorganisms to pass freely through a suspension of mineral (substrate) in Ottawa sand. The air lift served the additional purpose of maintaining an ample concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the nutrient (leaching) solution. (See Fig. 1.) The percolators were so constructed that they could be immersed in liquid constant temperature baths for temperature studies. The thermostats were controlled to +0.5°C. The reactions were all run in the dark. The percolators were charged with one to three g of mineral, dispersed in 100 g of Ottawa sand and 100 ml of nutrient or leaching solution. The sand was purified to remove traces of iron by digesting with concentrated hydrochloric acid and washng with distilled water until free from chloride. After drying, the sand was ready for use. The compressed air supply was regulated to 5 psi and bubbled through an aerator containing distilled water, which was maintained at the same temperature as the bath used. The air was filtered through cotton plugs to maintain sterile conditions. The tops of the

Jan 1, 1968