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William H. Blauvelt, Syracuse, N. Y.:—Is the coal itself from which the briquettes are made of good quality for steam-ing-purposes? Mr. Parker :—It is an anthracite coal mined near Bank-head arid used on the Canadian Pacific railroad. It contains about 83 of carbon, 8 of ash, and 8 per cent. of volatile material. With regard to briquetting of a mixture of fine coal and coke-dust, I understand that a plant has been installed near Detroit in which coke is mixed with anthracite; also the plant of the United Gas Improvement Co. near Philadelphia is briquetting a mixture of anthracite coal, the resultant briquettes being used in the gas-retorts. Mr. Blauvelt:—The purpose of the Detroit briquette-plant of the Solvay Process Co. has been partly to use up the coke-breeze from the by-product ovens and partly to utilize the pitch. There is no necessity for mixing anthracite with the coke-breeze, but the supply of breeze is limited, and anthracite

Jan 1, 1909

By F. Robertson Jones

IF the tendency toward extending the scope of the workmen's compensation system to include life, health, accident, old age, and unemployment insurance for workers is not promptly altered, I believe there will be a complete breakdown of that system. This is not because of any objections, there may he to requiring industries to provide these additional forms of protection in whole or in part to their employees. It is rather because our workmen's compensation laws, their scale of benefits, and the administrative procedure under them are not adapted or suited to such situations. If the compensation principle is limited to its own proper sphere and is not enlarged so as to include all the ills that the flesh is heir to, it is practical, "workable, and beneficent. If it invades foreign realms, it is bound to grow into a veritable Frankenstein' which will harm principally those it 'is supposed to aid, and, at the same time, will promote waste, fraud, and Industrial demoralization. Compensation risks will become almost uninsurable; the cost to business will be intolerable; and the development of sound relief measures which will give to labor the protection now sought by the uneconomic device of enlarging the compensation law territory will be retarded.

Jan 1, 1934

By AIME AIME

FREE competition, long the controlling ideal of domestic trade within the United States, has had the fundamental geographical advantage of functioning in the world's largest area of unrestricted commerce. Goods moved back and forth across state lines, unimpeded by customs, and industrial operations have developed rapidly to meet the expanding needs of a pioneer country richly endowed with natural resources. Fifty years ago, antitrust laws were adopted to protect the competitive private enterprise principle. It became illegal for one person to combine with another to restrain trade or commerce among the several states or with foreign nations. The original legislative measures defining this philosophy were the Sherman Act of 1890 and the Clay- ton Act passed in 1914. The development of Europe and other parts of the world was influenced by different conditions which led to a different theory of trade. Here were many small nations, with limited natural resources and a thin market, and they attempted to protect their national economy by tariff walls. International business arrangements for the purpose of diminishing the ups and downs of the more competitive system --crux of the modern cartel operations-seemed a logical device to stabilize production and guard the interests of both workers and consumers. European governments as well as European industrial interests became convinced that if com- petition could be held in bounds the danger of business depressions and un- employment could be reduced.

Jan 1, 1944

By W. L. Saunders

When work was begun in September, 1910, on the rock excavation for the foundation of the gigantic dam at Valhalla, N. Y., which is to convert Kensico lake into an important storage reservoir of the Catskill Aqueduct system, one of the first steps taken by the contractor, H. S. Kerbaugh, Inc., was the development of a quarry to supply the stone needed in the

Jan 1, 1915

By AIME AIME

FEW men are better known in fuel engineering circles in the Middle West than the present Chairman of the Coal Division of the A.I.M.E. - Julian Elnathan Tobey. Now vice-president in charge of engineering of Appalachian Coals Inc., of Cincinnati, he has served that pioneer regional marketing agency since Aug. 1, 1934, when he became manager of its engineering department. His duties have included field promotion work in the interest of use of the agency's coals from eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, south western Virginia, and southern West Virginia in new plants of all types. He has been especially interested in certain industries which have shown an alarming tendency to change to natural gas or hydroelectric power; also in the development and practical application of small stokers and other mechanical equipment.

Jan 1, 1941

By H. J. Rahilly

Mine fires, in the Butte district, have been a source of trouble and expense for the past thirty years, for while the actual fire area in most of the mines has been comparatively small, the handling of the gas has generally been a much larger problem than the actual putting out of the fire. The chief causes of these fires have been: Defective electrical equipment, incendiarism or carelessness, and spontaneous combustion. While fires from the first two causes have been numerous, they have generally been discovered and extinguished before they became very serious. Spontaneous combustion has been the cause of most of the large fires. Sufficient heat has been generated by ground movement, high rock temperatures, and decomposition to set fire to inflammable materials (tarred ropes, canvas, dry timber, manure, and hay) left in the gobs some years ago. Also, the heat resulting from the oxidation of the fine broken sulfide ore is sometimes sufficient to set fire to the timbers. In 1906, a fire was discovered on the 1100-ft. level of the Minnie Healy mine about 400 ft. (122 m.) west of the Minnie Healy shaft, which presumably originated, in one of the upper levels, from spontaneous combustion. The fire was walled off by concrete bulkheads and a pillar of ground 100 ft. (30 m.) thick was left below and mining resumed underneath. During subsequent operations, this pillar became cracked and broken and the fire passed into the new workings. It travelled downward and spread rapidly until, in 1917, it had become necessary to wall off portions of the Tramway, Leonard, and West Colusa mines on the 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1800, 1900, and 2000-ft. levels, and the tops of the 2200-ft. raises were sealed. The fire area now consists roughly of a block 1000 by 1200 ft. and from the 600-ft. to the 2200-ft. level. This block is composed largely of a series of parallel northwest-southeast nearly vertical veins and stringers that form a large orebody, with no well-defined walls but badly fractured and faulted, and known locally as "horsetail ore." These veins, or orebodies, are mined by the square-set or the rill method.

Jan 1, 1923

By H. J. Rahilly

Mine fires, in the Butte district, have been a source of trouble and expense for the past thirty years, for while the actual fire area in most of the mines has been comparatively small, the handling of the gas has generally been a much larger problem than the actual putting out of the fire. The chief causes of these fires have been: Defective electrical equipment, incendiarism or carelessness, and spontaneous combustion. While fires from the first two causes have been numerous, they have generally been discovered and extinguished before they became very serious. Spontaneous combustion has been the cause of most of the large fires. Sufficient heat has been generated by ground movement, high rock temperatures, and decomposition to set fire to inflammable materials (tarred ropes, canvas, dry timber, manure, and hay) left in the gobs some years ago. Also, the heat resulting from the oxidation of the fine broken sulfide ore is sometimes sufficient to set fire to the timbers. In 1906, a fire was discovered on the 1100-ft. level of the Minnie Healy mine about 400 ft. (122 m.) west of the Minnie Healy shaft, which presumably originated, in one of the upper levels, from spontaneous combustion. The fire was walled off by concrete bulkheads and a pillar of ground 100 ft. (30 m.) thick was left below and mining resumed underneath. During subsequent operations, this pillar became cracked and broken and the fire passed into the new workings. It travelled downward and spread rapidly until, in 1917, it had become necessary to wall off portions of the Tramway, Leonard, and West Colusa mines on the 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1800, 1900, and 2000-ft. levels, and the tops of the 2200-ft. raises were sealed. The fire area now consists roughly of a block 1000 by 1200 ft. and from the 600-ft. to the 2200-ft. level. This block is composed largely of a series of parallel northwest-southeast nearly vertical veins and stringers that form a large orebody, with no well-defined walls but badly fractured and faulted, and known locally as "horsetail ore." These veins, or orebodies, are mined by the square-set or the rill method.

Jan 1, 1923

A special meeting of the Alaska Mining and Engineering society, held at Perseverance Mine of the Alaska Gastineau Mining Co. on Mar. 17, 1017, was attended by 46 members and about 80 guests, among whom were members of the Alaska Territorial Legislature. After an interesting trip through the mine in the afternoon, the members and guests assembled for dinner at the Perseverance Dining Room. After the dinner G. T. Jackson, assistant manager of the company, as president of the society, called the meeting to order. After the reading of the minutes, he welcomed the guests and then gave a short history of Perseverance Mine. B. L. Thane, manager of the company, briefly out-lined its general organization. The following papers were read-by members of the society and members of the staff of the Perseverance Mine: "The Organization of the Mine Staff and the Methods of Mining," by B. B. Nieding, Mine Supt.; "Tramming Equipment and Costs," by R. R. Van Valkenburgh; "The Surveying of the Mine," by R. L. Healey, Mine Engineer; "The Electrical Equipment of the Mine," by W. S. Pullen, Supt., of Power Supply; "The System of Mine Accounting, "by E. J. Doherty, Mine Accountant; and "The Mine Buildings," by D: J. Argall, Asst: Mine Supt. M. T. Tolch, Transportation Supt., described briefly the general transportation of the ore to the mill and the equipment used.

Jan 6, 1917

By John Eash

DURING recent years nickel has had an increasingly important role as an alloying element in the copper-tin bronzes. Nickel additions not only produce better casting alloys but also make alloys whose properties can be varied by precipitation hardening; thus leading to increased commercial application of copper-nickel-tin alloys. Recent investigations have indicated a decrease in the solubility of tin in the alpha phase as the annealing temperature is lowered and as the nickel content is increased within certain limits. A further change caused by the nickel additions is produced in the excess phase of the copper-tin bronzes. The alpha plus delta eutectoid is replaced by a clear precipitated constituent in the alloys containing up to 15 per cent tin and not less than 1 per cent nickel. This paper has a dual purpose. The first is to present a new determination of the alpha-phase boundary in alloys containing from 0 to 20 per cent nickel, together with the liquidus and solidus temperatures above that field. The second purpose is to give the equilibrium conditions existing in alloys exceeding the alpha phase containing up to 31 per cent tin and 5 per cent nickel, so that the disappearance of the alpha plus delta eutectoid constituent may be explained. After considering the earlier investigations of the related alloy systems and the experimental procedure used in this investigation, the alloys will be discussed in groups as separate quasibinary systems containing constant amounts of nickel. The systems considered contain 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 and 20 per cent nickel. The straight copper-tin system was reinvestigated in order to establish a foundation on which to build the remaining material. The 1 per cent nickel alloys studied give the relations existing in the region of the eutectoid transformation between the copper-tin system and the 2 per cent nickel copper-tin system which has been investigated in detail. The thorough examination of the latter system was made since 2 per cent of nickel is representative of the commercial additions to the cast bronzes and also because it is sufficient to produce

Jan 1, 1932

By Oliver Bowles

A NORTH CAROLINA miner dreamed that he found high-grade mica by excavating a certain corner of his mine. The next day he sank a hole on the exact spot and found mica of excellent quality. The dream came true. May not this be as good a method as any yet known for forecasting the valuable mineral content of pegmatites? The Federal Geological Survey has found in its recent detailed studies in New England that good sheet mica occurs most abundantly in zoned pegmatites, particularly in zones lying along the wall or contact of the pegmatite mass. Although this conclusion may be a valuable guide, pegmatite mining operations must still be classed as most uncertain and hazardous enterprises. Finding of the second largest diamond ever discovered in the United States-a stone of good gem quality weighing more than 34 carats-during the course of a horseshoe pitching contest at Peterstown, W. Va., is another example of unorthodox mining methods. These should not be considered, however, as characteristic mining methods developed in 1944.

Jan 1, 1945

THE first session, on alloys, took place on Feb. 20, Mr. Hibbard presiding in Mr. Campbell's absence. The session covered papers on manganese, chrom-ium, and silicon-iron systems. The paper by Mr. Wohr-man was presented by title. This paper showed that manganese produced many of the effects generally at-tributed to carbon and indicated that our ideas on manganese-bearing carbon steels will have to be modi-fied. Mr. Krivobok discussed this paper at length, the gist of the discussion being that Mr. Wohrman had not taken sufficient precautions in carrying out some of his work, particularly as to the effect of silicon content. Mr. O'Neill's paper was also submitted by title and no discussion was presented. Mr. Kinzel showed an accu-rate determination of .the carbon-free chromium-iron loop obtained by means of a specially constructed tele-scopic dilatometer. The loop ends at 12.2 per cent chromium and the A-3 line at 900° is unaffected by chromium content. The A-4 line runs from 1400° to 900° at 12.2 per cent chromium as an oblique hyperbola. Mr. Armstrong noted that the brittleness in high chromium alloys is often attributed to the gamma trans-formation and, according to Mr. Kinzel's diagram, this was impossible, as the alloys contain a great deal more than 12 per cent chromium. Mr. Kinzel pointed out that the presence of carbon in the commercial alloys caused the elongation of the loop and made possible local austenite transformation. Mr. Styri discussed the relations of the coefficients of expansion as shown in Mr. Kinzel's diagram. Mr. Corson presented the iron-silicon diagram as he has worked it out, showing a pre-viously unknown intermetallic compound, Fe3Si, to-gether with characteristic martensitic microstructure varying with the heat treatment. This compound formation is the real cause of brittleness in certain re-gions of the iron silicon system. Dr. Hoyt believed some of the evidence presented by Mr. Corson to be in contradiction to the phase rule. Mr. Corson, however, explained that true equilibrium does not exist under the conditions at hand so that the diagram was accurate in spite of the discrepancies. The meetings of the subcommittee on the physical chemistry of steel making were interspersed through-out the day. Mr. Feild presided and a program of future activities was outlined. This includes plans for a symposium at the next annual meeting and methods for interesting physical chemists, particularly those in the universities, in the steel man's problems. This committee has been newly formed and bids fair to be especially active. The Iron and Steel Committee met at lunch at the Engineers' Club at noon, with Dr. Mathews presiding. After disposing of the food the report of the Nominat-ing Committee was called for, and the following were elected as officers for 1928: R. H. Sweetser, chairman; F. C. Langenberg and W. J. Priestley, vice-chairmen; and T. T. Read, secretary. The report of the commit-tee appointed at the last meeting to consider publica-tion and general policy for the committee was then called for and freely discussed, after which it was unanimously voted to instruct the new chairman to se-cure from the Board of Directors the necessary author-ization for the Committee to recognize as a Division. This action was reported to the Board at its meeting the following night and the authority granted.

Jan 3, 1928

By Hamilton Wingate

In his paper on the hydraulic mining of a low-grade gravel in California,* Mr. W. H. Radford expresses the hope that other members of the Institute will contribute, for the benefit of all, their experience in similar lines. In these notes 1 shall describe the conditions and results of the operation of the Gold Bug Mining Co., of Cleveland, O., at Georgetown, Eldorado county, Cal.

Jan 1, 1903

By D. R. George, J. R. Ross, J. D. Prater

In the United States nearly 200,000 tons of copper per year are being produced, by leaching waste rock and oxidized copper ore with dilute sulfuric acid-ferric sulfate solutions and precipitating the copper on scrap iron. The flow of solutions is in excess of 80 million gpd. A survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Mines in late 1965 at 14 mines in Arizona, Utah and Nevada, showed that with a few exceptions, the solutions contain from two to a maximum of 15 ppm U3O8, and there is strong evidence that these represent equilibrium concentration and not merely an accumulated in-process inventory resulting from recycling the solutions for many years. Consequently, it is believed that uranium could be recovered at a constant rate as long as mining and leaching operations continue. Preliminary surveys and estimates by the USBM indicate a production potential of possibly 1000 tons of U3O8 per year at a cost of less than $8 per lb if the major process streams from most of the large copper mines in the western United States were to be treated. Laboratory research by the USBM showed that the uranium could be efficiently recovered as a specification-grade uranium concentrate by a combination of ion exchange resin and solvent extraction of liquid ion exchange techniques. A joint pilot plant investigation by Kennecott Copper Corp. and the USBM was conducted on solutions from the Bingham Canyon mine to evaluate a new system of countercurrent ion exchange developed during the laboratory studies. In subsequent small-scale continuous tests, recovery of uranium from the pregnant eluate by solvent extraction and chemical precipitation techniques was investigated.

Jan 1, 1968

By William F. Boericke

RESEARCH in the modern refractories laboratory has two practical ends in view-to develop refractory materials for the metallurgist that will meet particular operating difficulties more effectively and to ?manufacture these refractories at a cost sufficiently low to make their use economical to the metallurgist. At the research laboratories of E. J: Lavino and Co., at Plymouth Meeting, Pa., the technical staff, under Dr. Gilbert E. Seil, is giving principal attention. to an. exhaustive investigation of the following factors in refractories:

Jan 1, 1931

To THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING AND METALLURGICAL ENGINEERS GENTLEMEN: Herewith are transmitted the joint report of the Treasurer and Finance Committee for 1935 and the reports for the same year of the Chairmen of the following Committees: Admissions, Membership, Papers and Publications, Library, MINING AND METALLURGY, and Rocky Mountain Income. . To these reports you are referred for details of the year's activities. Finances. : Income continues to increase the total for the year 1935, being $141,754 compared with $134,967 in 1934, and $121,689 in 1933, which was the lowest reached during the depression. The principal increases were $2000 in Current Dues; $2400 in Dues from New Members; $2000 for Advertising in the monthly magazine MINING AND METAL¬LURGY; and $1600 in Sales of Authors' Reprints and TRANSACTIONS volumes. Income from Dues in Arrears was $1000 less as a consequence of the fact that arrearages had been largely reduced during 1934, so that there were fewer from which to draw.

Jan 1, 1936

By Walter Kauenhowen

The crude-oil production of Germany without Austria during 1938 amounted to 3,864,518 bbl., representing an increase of 21.7 per cent over the 3,173,373 bbl. produced in 1937. Adding the Austrian production, the crude-oil production of the new German Reich totaled 4,259,717 bbl. during 1938, representing an increase of 25.3 per cent compared with the respective figures of the previous year. According to published official data, and using a conversion factor of 1 metric ton equaling 7 bbl., the oil production of Germany in 1938 was as shown in Table 1. A semiofficial publication1 states that the program of the crude-oil industry for the second year (1938) of the four-year plan was successfully accomplished. According to the same source, new drilling developments at the following localities were promising: Reitbrook near Hamburg, Heide in Holstein, Eicklingen-Sandlingen near Celle, Steimbke near Nienburg, Worms in the Rhine Valley, Gifhorn near Braunschweig, Mölme near Oberg, and at other places. The drilling activity for oil is illustrated by the figures in Table 2.

Jan 1, 1939

By Walter Kauenhowen

The crude-oil production of Germany without Austria during 1938 amounted to 3,864,518 bbl., representing an increase of 21.7 per cent over the 3,173,373 bbl. produced in 1937. Adding the Austrian production, the crude-oil production of the new German Reich totaled 4,259,717 bbl. during 1938, representing an increase of 25.3 per cent compared with the respective figures of the previous year. According to published official data, and using a conversion factor of 1 metric ton equaling 7 bbl., the oil production of Germany in 1938 was as shown in Table 1. A semiofficial publication1 states that the program of the crude-oil industry for the second year (1938) of the four-year plan was successfully accomplished. According to the same source, new drilling developments at the following localities were promising: Reitbrook near Hamburg, Heide in Holstein, Eicklingen-Sandlingen near Celle, Steimbke near Nienburg, Worms in the Rhine Valley, Gifhorn near Braunschweig, Mölme near Oberg, and at other places. The drilling activity for oil is illustrated by the figures in Table 2.

Jan 1, 1939

By John H. Bassarear, Harold W. Sorstokke

The fourth expansion within 10 years was completed at Pima Mining Co. during late 1971. The first three expansions increased capacity from 3000 to over 40,000 tpd. Conventional crushing and grinding practices were used in the original 10-section mill. Total capacity is now approximately 54,000 tpd. Expansion IV includes a new primary crusher and a radial stacker conveyor that feeds stockpiles for both concentrators. The -8-in. primary product is fed from the reclaim stockpile to the new mill by two pairs of pan feeders, each pair feeding a separate conveyor. The reclaim conveyors each feed 28 X 12-ft semiautogenous mills operating with an 8% charge of 4-in. balls. Autogenous discharge is screened, oversize recycling by conveyors, with -%-in. undersize feeding two conventional 161/2 X 19-ft ball mills in closed circuit with cyclones. Cyclone overflow is pumped to three parallel rows of 300-400 cu ft flotation cells. Rougher and scavenger concentrates produced are sent to the original mill for regrind, cleaning, and filtering.

Jan 1, 1974

By Eugene Holman

UINQUESTIONABLY the petroleum industry not only can supply the world's present oil requirements but even can meet a considerable increase in demand if it should come. The United States produced last year 1 1/3 billion barrels of crude oil, or more than 60 per cent of the world's total. It could have provided more, if needed, because we has a large shut-in crude producing capacity. Our refining capacity of 4,500,000 0 barrels per day is more than 2 per cent above our average refinery run for 1940. Adequate crude supplies and manufacturing facilities also exist outside of the United States. Large crude reserves exist in South America, in Iran and Iraq, in Russia and Romania, in Sumatra and adjacent islands. The refineries of the Dutch West Indies, of Iran, and of the Netherland East Indies are well located in relation to crude reserves and world trade lanes. Furthermore, flexibility in the manufacturing facilities permits adjustment of yields to meet a considerable range in variations between demands for products. Only with regard to 100-octane aviation gasoline is there any apparent refinery problem. Even here so far as this country is concerned, additional refining facilities can be installed well within the time that would be required to turn out the airplane engines which will use this super fuel.

Jan 1, 1941

By Carl F. Floe, Michael B. Bever

ACCELERATED by the demands of war, research and development work in nonferrous physical metallurgy has continued at a rapid pace during the past year. In particular, advances have been made in processing and fabrication, especially of the light alloys, and in the surface treatment of metals. Theoretical physical metallurgy, although less active, has not been neglected and the year has brought forth some -notable contributions to our understanding of the fundamental structure of metals and their behavior in service. Of course, much work that has been done cannot be publicly discussed because of wartime restrictions.

Jan 1, 1945