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By Lewis T. Wright

IT is commonly believed by metallurgists that in copper-smelting, the copper in the slags, which is irreducible by continued smelting, is retained in the form of "prills" of matte. I have frequently held well-settled slag in a molten condition for a long period without being able thereby to reduce the copper-content. The slag acted as though it contained a minimum of dissolved or combined copper that could not be settled out by gravity. I have used reagents, but without satisfying myself in what form this copper existed. The same slags, by fine grinding and elutriation, could not be separated into portions containing more or less copper than the average content. By treating copper-slags in an electric furnace an impure button of copper. was produced, but the high temperature and the strong reducing-action of the furnace were influences that suggest an explanation of a result not obtainable with ordinary smelting-temperatures. If all the copper in the slag were in the form of copper-matte, and not existing as a dissolved compound with some of the elements of the slag, then the other metals in the matte, such as gold and silver, should occur in the slag in the same ratio to the copper as to the copper in the accompanying matte. This reasoning led me to study the ratio of metals in the products of smelting, and, apart from the issues discussed in this paper, the research has proved both interesting and illuminative. On the assumption of a similar ratio of metals in matte and slag, if the percentage of copper in the slag accompanying; a matte containing 50 oz. of silver and 1 oz. of gold per ton of copper was 0.3 per cent., or 96 oz. per ton of slag, there should be found 0.15 oz. of silver and 0.003 oz. of gold per ton of slag:; but, in my experience, there is less silver and much

Sep 1, 1909

By Franklin Moeller

Considering the really short time that has elapsed since hydro-metallurgical processes of extracting copper from ores have been extensively developed, and the large scale on which this method is practised at Ajo, the successful operation of the plant must excite the admiration of every visitor. The application of the mechanical unloader to the purpose for which it is employed at Ajo is but an extension of the use for which it was originally designed, some 20 years ago, for unloading iron-ore vessels at the lower lake ports. At a time when the maximum output of a single machine, with men shoveling the ore into buckets, did not exceed 40 tons per hour, G. H. Hulett invented and constructed a mechanical unloader with a bucket of 10-ton capacity. This machine was of the steam hydrauIic type, and it is still in operation after nearly 20 years of service. Several more machines of the same type were built, but the difficulties of power transmission, and the rapid development of electrical machinery, soon led to the adoption of electrically operated machines, and practically all of the later installations have been thus equipped. This electrically operated unloader has proved so well fitted for the work that the design of the lake boats has been practically revolutionized, with special view to the ease and rapidity of unloading. It is now possible to unload a 12,000-ton vessel with four machines in a little over 2 hr. This has necessitated an increase in the capacity of the machine, and the largest yet built handles an average load of 17 tons, with a possible maximum of 20 to 21 tons. The Ajo excavator is somewhat simpler in design than the iron-ore unloader, in that it is not provided with a larry. In the unloader, the iron ore, picked up by the bucket, is delivered to a larry or transfer car which runs in the lower chord of the bridge; the larry then delivers the ore either into railroad cars, standing on several parallel tracks, or into the stock pile, thereby saving the time that would be required for the bucket to make the trip. At Ajo, the bucket delivers the tailing

Jan 1, 1920

By B. Bernstrom

A 22-ft diam, 7-ft long, wet autogenous grinding mill was installed in the new Cretaceous plant of the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. to prepare crude iron ore for concentration in spirals and flotation cells. The paper describes the flowsheet and gives a description of the operating and metallurgical results that have been obtained. These results include capacity, horsepower, operating problems and a comparison of pilot plant results with those obtained in commercial operation. The Cretaceous plant at the Hill Annex mine of the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. was designed with a wet autogenous mill for grinding low grade iron ore so that it could be concentrated by spirals and flotation cells. The plant, on the west end of the Minnesota's Mesabi Range, went into operation in June 1961, and preliminary operating and metallurgical information describing the performance of this mill can now be given. The crude is lean ore from the Cretaceous iron foundation. This formation is a beach deposit of Cretaceous age that overlies the Precambrian direct shipping and concentrating ores. This rock in nature is not extremely hard but is quite resilient, resisting blasting in mining and size reduction in milling. It contains hematite as water-rounded particles and other fragments of the underlying iron formation and adjacent rocks cemented together by a high alumina-silica ferruginous matrix. It is interspersed with hard dense hematite agglomerates and also contains granite pebbles and boulders that were not cleaned off during removal of the surface. It has a 3.48 sp gr and in the stockpile the material consists of frag-

Jan 1, 1962

By H. A. Guess

Introduction. History and Production Statements. Southeast Missouri is the oldest of the large producing districts of the United States. The first recorded production from disseminated ores was in 1869, although for many years prior to that time lead had been milled from shallow pockets, and steady growth in production has been shown ever since, the greatest increases being during the past five years. The production by years for each of the operating companies from 1869 to 1907, inclusive, is given in Table I. In Table 11. is given the production by years from 1908 to 1912, inclusive, for the district as a whole, showing the tonnage of crude ore mined, yield in concentrates, average assay of concentrates; yield in metallic lead both per ton of crude ore and in total; also approximate value of the yearly production. It is interesting to note that the production for the 5-yr. period 1908 to 1912, inclusive, is practically equal to the total previous production, viz., the 39-yr. period 1869 to 1907, the summary being as follows:

Jan 1, 1915

By R. D. Pehlke, J. F. Elliott

The equilibrium pressure of nitrogen gas over pure silicon metal and silicon nitride has been measured in the temperature range 1400° to 1700°C. From the experimental data, the standard free energies and enthalpies of formation of Si3N4(a) have been calculated as functions of temperature over the above temperature range. Utilizing data in the literature and the results of this investigation, the specific heat, molar enthalpy, molar entropy, standard enthalpy of fornation, and standard free energy of fornation are estimated for the temperature range 298° to 1400°C. THE high-temperature thermodynamic properties of many metallic nitrides are not well established at present. This is a serious deficiency because nitrogen and nitride-forming metals are important alloying additions to steels, and knowledge of the interaction between nitrogen and these elements is essential to a better understanding of the behavior of steels. Metallic nitrides also are used as refractory materials. Consequently, the investigation reported here was undertaken to provide more complete information on the standard entropy and free energy of formation of silicon nitride. The experimental technique provided a direct measurement of the equilibrium pressure of nitrogen gas in the range of 1413 to 1700°C for the reaction: 3 Si(1) + 2N2 (g) = Si3N4 (a) [ 1 ] and below 1413oC for the reaction: 3Si(c) + 2N2(g) = Si3N4(a) [2] APPARATUS The experimental system consisted of a crucible assembly, a reaction chamber, and a gas supply and vacuum system. The Crucible Assembly which contained the equilibration specimen and molybdenum radiation shields with a susceptor for induction heating is shown in Fig. 1. Two covered, high-purity alumina crucibles, one nested within the other, contained the susceptor, shields and specimen. Central openings in the upper shield and crucible covers permitted on optical pyrometer to be sighted into the central cavity of the specimen. The specimen itself was a 5/8 OD by 1-in.

Jan 1, 1960

"In the spring of 1927, six members of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers met for dinner at the Chemists' Club in New York to discuss the possibility of setting up a committee within the Institute to further the current interest in the science of steelmaking. Attention' to this subject had been crystallized by a symposium held by the Faraday Society in 1925. ' After a prolonged discussion, ranging from thermodynamics to slag conditioning, it was decided to approach the Institute with the request that a standing committee on "The Physical Chemistry of Steel Making" be set up. This committee proposed to promote scientific and practical papers on the subject, and was designed to cooperate with the Open Hearth Committee of the Institute in bringing scientific developments to the attention of open-hearth operators throughout the country... . "As the life of the [Physical Chemistry of Steelmaking] Committee lengthened and general interest in the technical phases of steelmaking grew, it became evident that there was a distinct need for a book that might serve the open-hearth interests to better advantage than standard texts whose scope is necessarily wide and whose detailed exposition of the open-hearth process is, therefore, somewhat limited. With this thought in mind, the Committee, after some years of consideration and debate, embarked on the venture of writing a manuscript on `Basic Open Hearth Steelmaking'." The foregoing paragraphs, taken from the introduction by C. H. Herty, Jr. to the first edition, well describe the circumstances which led to the publication of "Basic Open Hearth Steelmaking" in the spring of 1944. The book consisted of nineteen chapters contributed by twenty-three authors and edited by the staff of Alloys of Iron Research and T. S. Washburn, B. M. Larsen, and J. S. Marsh with Frank T. Sisco as consulting editor. The Engineering Foundation and the Open Hearth Steel Committee of the Iron and Steel Division, AIME, made financial grants; steel companies and other organizations supported the publication by contributing time and expenses of staff members in their capacity as authors or editors. The volume was sponsored by the Seeley W. Mudd Memorial Fund and appeared under the

Jan 1, 1951

By E. W. Hough, G. L. Stegemeier

Empirical equations for surface tension of propane and normal butane as functions of reduced temperature are obtained from experimental data. Another correlation relating surface tension to enthalpy of vaporization is given for these two compounds. In addition, new paracbor numbers are calculated for the normal paraffin hydrocarbons. These numbers are utilized for the calculation of interfacial tension of two-component systems as functions of pressure and temperature, using a modified form of Weinaug-Katz equation. The experimental data for two binary systems are approximated by the correlation. From these results it is found that the interfacial tension in the high-pressure region remains extremely low at large pressure decrements below the critical pressure. Thus, it appears that condensate systems may have flow characteristics almost like single-phase conditions even though the pressure is within the two-phase region. Experimental data have shown that interfacial tension divided by density difference approaches zero as the critical pressure is approached. A calculation of wetting-phase saturations indicates that the saturation gradient at the two-phase contact becomes increasingly abrupt as the critical pressure is approached. DISCUSSION Prediction of the surface and interfacial tension of the light hydrocarbons and of two-component hydrocarbon mixtures at various temperatures and pressures may be made if other physical properties are known. Extensive experimental work on single-component and binary systemsl is the basis for the correlations outlined in this paper. Interfacial tension is defined as the specific surface-free energy between two phases of unlike fractional composition, while surface tension is defined as the specific surface-free energy between two phase:; of the same fractional composition. The usual definitions relating interfacial tension to a liquid-liquid interface and surface tension to a gas-liquid interface are not clearly defined when the critical region is included, and there is no sharp distinction between a gas and a liquid phase. Interfacial tension is probably the most important single force that makes one-half to one-third of the total oil actually in place in a reservoir rock unrecoverable by conventional gas-drive or waterflood methods. A rough estimate of this figure for the United States is 100 billion bbl. Interfacial tension presently is used by petroleum engineers in the estimation of saturation gradients at the gas-oil contact and at the oil-water contact. The data in this paper should prove useful for estimates of reserves involving gas-oil contacts. Relative permeability undoubtedly is influenced by interfacial tension, for sufficiently small values. These data should be useful in determining how small the values are In addition, these data should eventually add to our fundamental knowledge of surfaces. At the critical point, all surface excesses approach zero and the thickness becomes very large. SINGLE-COMPONENT SYSTEMS It has been observed1 that the following relationships are good approximations to the physical properties of propane and n-butane.

By Frank R. Van Horn

It is customary to ascribe two general modes of occurrence to natural gas, namely, shale gas which, as the name indicates, is found in shale, and reservoir gas, which occurs in sandstone, conglomerate and dolomitic limestone. Both of these types are found in the Cleveland district. The shale gas has been produced on a small scale for a long period of years, probably dating back as far as 1883. Shale gas is a low-pressure gas, small in volume with variable pressure, and is limited to no definite horizon. It is generally independent of oil, may last for a long time, and is not dependent to any great extent on the structure of the rocks. There are many such wells in the district which range from 400 to 1,840 ft. in depth, although most have been completed at about 800 ft. This indicates that the wells pass through the Cleveland and Chagrin shales into the Huron or Portage shale of the Upper Devonian. During the last 2 years great interest has developed in a deeper-seated reservoir gas. What is commonly called reservoir gas is generally a high-pressure gas occurring in large volume at a definite horizon. Oil may, or may not, be associated with the gas, and in most regions in which reservoir gas is found, the geological structure is of great importance. This type of gas occurs in all large fields such as those of West Virginia which have been supplying Cleveland until the recent discovery of local gas at great depths in commercial amounts. Historical Outline The oldest well producing reservoir gas in the district was drilled in 1886 in Newburg for what was then known as the Cleveland Rolling Mill Co. This well was 3,000 ft. deep, and was thought to have reached the "Clinton" formation. Two "sands" showing small amounts of oil were recorded in the Niagara limestone at depths of 2,658 and 2,686 ft. This is about the horizon of the so-called Newburg sand which has proved to be of some importance as a source of gas and oil by recent drilling operations. The rock pressure was reported to be 400 to 500 lb. per square inch, but since the volume was only 14,000 to 16,000 cu. ft. daily, the well was not only considered unsuccessful but was thought to prove the absence of high-pressure gas in commercial quantities in the Cleveland district.

Jan 1, 1917

By L. W. McKeehan, W. C. Elmore

THE magnetic powder method, long used for roughly mapping magnetic fields, has recently been refined 1,2 for investigating the microscopic variations in the surface magnetization of ferromagnetic crystals. Bitter' first discovered regular powder patterns connected with the crystal structure of such specimens. Several other investigators3 have used Bitter's original technique, with slight modifications, to study the variation of the patterns with variations in the magnetizing field applied parallel to the surface, and their dependence upon the state of strain, of polish and of crystal cut. All of the explanations of these patterns on metallic ferromagnetics have been couched in general terms. In a preliminary report we have described an improvement in the powder technique which led us to the discovery of a new effect throwing considerable light on the magnetic secondary structure of alpha iron4 and of nickel' single crystals. We now report additional evidence confirming the existence and stability of a magnetic block secondary structure. SPECIMENS The following list describes the specimens used in the present investigation. DESIGNATION DESCRIPTION A1 Silicon ferrite furnished to us by Dr. W. E. Ruder, of the General Electric Co., for which he gave the following typical analysis: C, 0.05; P, 0.038; 5, 0.026; Mn, 0.15; Si, 3.24. Disk, 0.60 cm. diameter, about 0.05 cm. thick.

Jan 1, 1935

By D. E. Hyatt

Many flotation plants practicing pyrite depression, mills leaching gold and silver ores, blast furnace facilities, and many metal plating shops share at least one common waste-water constituent of particular environmental concern-cyanide. In free or complexed form, cyanide ion is an emotionally and technically problematical reagent whose removal from water deserves attention. The initial consideration of the fundamental nature of soluble cyanides is followed by a discussion of decomposition or removal options for simple cyanide species. Complexed cyanide reactivity is discussed as it relates to ongoing or proposed methods for the decomposition or removal of soluble cyanides. New approaches to cyanide removal are discussed.

Jan 1, 1977

By R. Simon

Maurer's review1 summarizes quite thoroughly the various theoretical developments and experimental findings that contribute to the knowledge of rock mechanics in drilling. This discussion supplements Maurer's paper by including generalities that either have been incompletely treated in his review, or formulated from new considerations by the discussant and from hitherto unpublished experimental data. These generalities are associated with the observation that all mechanical methods of rock drilling essentially comprise a sequence of indexed, concentrated loadings on the bottom of the hole being drilled. A concentrated loading is defined as a mechanical loading by a tool that contacts at any one time only a small fraction of the surface of the body being worked and penetrates only a small fraction of the body thickness. The surface in this application is the bottom of the hole. The deformation of ductile material by concentrated loading has received considerable attention because of the importance of indentation tests for measuring hardness of metals. Some of the generalities involved in concentrated loadings on ductile materials apply also to concentrated loadings on more brittle materials such as rock. Among these generalities is the applicability of similitude considerations to scaling laws and to force-displacement and energy-volume characteristics for tools of various shapes, as summarized by Tabor.2 Vork on the flow and fracture behaviors of glass loaded with pyramidal and spherical indenters is reviewed by Douglas.3 Maurer refers to the work of Evans and Murrell on wedge loadings on coal and on mixtures of pitch and sand. It is evident from Maurer's paper that a considerable portion of the studies of rock mechanics in drilling, such as crater formation experiments, has involved concentrated loadings on rock.

Jan 1, 1967

By R. W. Raymond

ALL history testifies that the mineral resources of a region have furnished both the impulse for its first development by man, and the foundation for its subsequent occupation by civilized and prosperous communities. In the pre-historic ages, the hunters, fishers, shepherds and gardeners of the world may have wandered or tarried without regard to the attractions of the mineral deposits which they could not utilize, and therefore did not value. But with the rise of civilization, as expressed in manufactures and commerce, the national value of such deposits began to be realized. Barbarous and remote tribes, possessing the sources of such supplies, won recognition in trade long before they could attain it through any other means. Thus, the North American Indians of Lake Superior exchanged their native copper for the mica of North Carolina; the ships of Tyre sailed all the way to Spain for lead and to Britain for tin; and the fleets of Solomon brought gold from Tarshish. In more modern times it has been chiefly the precious metals that have stimulated exploration and conquest. The inherent qualities and the traditional value of gold and silver sufficiently explain this historic fact, the continued existence and potency of which is evidenced, even in our own times, by the occasional rush of eager adventurers to new districts where gold and silver have been discovered. The history of North and South America has been peculiarly influenced by this factor. It was the prospect of obtaining gold and silver that led the Spanish adventurers to the shores of America, and the conquests of Mexico by Cortez and of Peru by Pizarro were inspired by the stories of the wealth of the Aztecs and the

Mar 1, 1909

THE 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 Thomas Fraser, Alvaro Abreu

The work described in this paper was carried out under the sponsorship of the Foreign Economics Administration and in cooperation with the Departamento Nacional da Produggo Mineral, Rio de Janeiro. The project was undertaken to obtain complete data on the variations in washability of coal to be used for coke manufacture in the steel industry and to determine the economy of preliminary hand-sorting operations. The coal-producing industry of Brazil is in that pioneering stage in which operating practices and methods are just being developed. Increased wartime demand for fuel, coincident with a drastic curtailment of foreign supplies due to lack of shipping facilities, has put a tremendous pressure on the national industry to furnish more coal. Under this incentive, production facilities are being -expanded- and new methods of operation are being tested. Such changes are being developed both by improvement of existing methods that originated in the field and by adaptation and modification of methods introduced from the United States and Europe. These mining conditions and mining practices in Brazil are typical of what the American mining engineer will find in many instances when he goes pioneering into the developing coal fields of the Southern Hemisphere. The producing coal fields of Brazil are all in the southern states of that country. The coal measures are in a band roughly paralleling the coast and extending in a generally southwesterly direction from northern Sao Paulo through the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul to near the Uruguayan border in the vicinity of Bajé. The accompanying map1 (Fig. I) shows the general location of these fields and also the principal routes of movement of both national and imported coal in a late pre-war year (1940). Statistical data on production by states up to that year are given in Table I. Rio Grande do Sul is still the largest producer among the coal states; but wartime

Jan 1, 1947

By Alvaro Abreu, Thomas Fraser

The work described in this paper was carried out under the sponsorship of the Foreign Economics Administration and in cooperation with the Departamento Nacional da Produggo Mineral, Rio de Janeiro. The project was undertaken to obtain complete data on the variations in washability of coal to be used for coke manufacture in the steel industry and to determine the economy of preliminary hand-sorting operations. The coal-producing industry of Brazil is in that pioneering stage in which operating practices and methods are just being developed. Increased wartime demand for fuel, coincident with a drastic curtailment of foreign supplies due to lack of shipping facilities, has put a tremendous pressure on the national industry to furnish more coal. Under this incentive, production facilities are being -expanded- and new methods of operation are being tested. Such changes are being developed both by improvement of existing methods that originated in the field and by adaptation and modification of methods introduced from the United States and Europe. These mining conditions and mining practices in Brazil are typical of what the American mining engineer will find in many instances when he goes pioneering into the developing coal fields of the Southern Hemisphere. The producing coal fields of Brazil are all in the southern states of that country. The coal measures are in a band roughly paralleling the coast and extending in a generally southwesterly direction from northern Sao Paulo through the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul to near the Uruguayan border in the vicinity of Bajé. The accompanying map1 (Fig. I) shows the general location of these fields and also the principal routes of movement of both national and imported coal in a late pre-war year (1940). Statistical data on production by states up to that year are given in Table I. Rio Grande do Sul is still the largest producer among the coal states; but wartime

Jan 1, 1947

By P. G. Shewmon

A novel technique for determining the surface energy (?) and its derivative with respect to orientation, (?') is described. Essentially it involves the 'floating" of a wedge on the substrate, said wedge being made of a material which is not wet or only slightly wet by the substrate, i. e., as a greased needle "floats" on water. A thermodynamic analysis of a system in which the wedge is supported entirely by surface energy is given. If the original suyface is not at a cusp orientation, the surface tension is directly measurable from the groove angle formed. If the original surface is at a cusp orientation, there may or may not be a groove depending on the relative value of ?' and the weight of the wedge. Experiments primarily on copper and silver showed that sapphire, quartz and refractory metal wedges were wet while graphite wedges were not. The technique was demonstrated to work using graphite wedges, but the results obtained were not as eccurate as those obtained by other workers using the wire-creep experiments. It is concluded that the technique might prove most useful with non-metals where ?' is large and filament creep experiments would be quite difficult. If an absolute value of the surface free energy (?) of a metal is to be determined, the most reliable methods used to date measure an average over the various orientations exposed on a polycrystalline sample. For example, ? for silver, gold, and copper have been measured by determining the force required to just keep a thin wire,' or foil,' specimen from contracting under the influence of ?. Herring 3 has predicted and experiment confirms, that the sensitivity of this method is inversely proportional to the grain size.' Thus it cannot be used to measure ? for a particular orientation by using a foil single crystal or a very coarse-grained specimen. An accurate value if ? for tungsten averaged over a range of orientations has been determined using a field emission technique. The same techniques cannot or have not been used to measure ? for non-metallic solids, and as a result the values available are much less accurate.4 This Paper resents a means of making an absolute determination of ? for a particular surface orientation on any solid, as long as the given surface orientation does not break up into other orientations during an anneal. Experimentally ? is found to vary with orientation and at a few low index orientations it is found to have a cusped minimum, i.e., the derivative of ? with respect to the orientation of the surface changes discontinuously at the low index orientation, see Fig. 1. The slope of a plot of ? vs orientation (herein designated ?') is called the torque on the surface, since it tends to rotate the exposed surface toward the low index orientation, or if the surface is at the cusp orientation it opposes any force tending to rotate the surface out of the low index orientation. The ratio ?'/? has been determined for a few metals, but in cases where this ratio is high there is presently no means of determining either ?'/? or the absolute value of ?' for the orientations present on an annealed surface. The technique discussed herein also provides a means of determining an absolute value of ?' for those orientations which deviate only infinitesimally from a cusp orientation. It should work best on surfaces where ?'/? is large; that is, for cases where no other technique is available for measuring ?'. Aside from trying to learn more about surfaces through measuring ? and ?', the primary reason for wanting values of ? or ?' is to study adsorption. From measurements of the variation of ? for a particular orientation with the concentration of an impurity, one can obtain the number of impurity atoms adsorbed per unit area (Ti) on that orientation using the Gibbs adsorption equation.' where µi is the chemical potential of the adsorbed impurity. Thus, if absolute values of ? could be obtained for the free surface of a given surface orientation as a function of µi, ri could be determined for the given orientation. Furthermore, by equilibrating a grain boundary with the given surface at various values of ki, one could also determine ri for the grain boundary. Similarly Robertson 6 has pointed out that if y is taken to be a continuous function of and µi, then a2 ?/a @a µ2 = a2 ?/a pi a +. Thus, at all orientations away from cusps the following equation holds From a measurement of ?' vs ki, it is thus possible

Jan 1, 1963

CHARLES CATLETT, Staunton, Va.-A great many important things have been said in an interesting way but the most startling, to me, is that for 25 years, the price has been in the neighborhood of $1.00, with a minimum of 86 cents and a maximum of about $1.25. It is evident that during all that time the price was inadequate. The amount paid to be divided between the land owner, the capitalist, and the laborer was too limited or too irregular to permit of a healthy condition; yet it is evident that the enormous industrial development of this country was fostered by this very cheap coal, probably the cheapest that has been provided in quantity in any country. I entered the coal business when the price was lowest and my interest and sympathy went out to the man who spent his days in the dirt and foul air of a mine and I was filled with schemes for helping. But at the end of the year, after exercising every economy and in blissful ignorance of proper depreciation and obsolescence, there was still only a profit of 1 cent per long ton for what I think is one of the best coals in the world, the best grade of New River coal. We are now paying a great deal more than we did a few years ago and probably will continue to pay more for some time; but any one who thinks we will not have low prices again is very young or very forgetful. Yet we must have larger profits if the industry is to be healthy, if the three parties to the production are to get adequate returns and be in shape to provide the improvements which will be needed to take the place of and supplement the man-power. This will come when the men are making so much money that the operator wants to replace the man by a machine, and when the operator is making so much money as to be in a shape to make the improvements. He will not put in machinery unless the machinery will save money. We have got to pay a higher prime cost for coal, but engineering skill will teach us how to handle it better and use it more economically, and the ultimate result ought to be of advantage to the public.

Jan 3, 1920

By T. Egleston

The manufacture of charcoal in kilns was declared many years ago, after a series of experiments made in poorly constructed furnaces, to be unprofitable, and the subject is dismissed by most writers with the remark that in order to use the method economically the products of distillation, both liquid and gaseous, must be collected. It is asserted with truth that the number of kilns required for a large production of iron would be so great that it is doubtful whether any works would be justified in making the necessary outlay for their constructiou, but it can also be asserted with equal truth that for any such production in a given locality the use of charcoal as fuel would be eqnally unjustifiable. It appears to have been forgotten that there were other manufactures besides iron in which large amounts of charcoal were used, but these consumers seen] to have been guided entirely by the results of the experiments of the iron men, who necessarily made the largest qnantity of it. Some authors speak in a doubtful way of the quality of the charcoal produced, and a few concede that with great care good charcoal can he made in kilns, but that most of the workmen do not like kiln 'charcoal. This is the real secret of the opposition to this method of manufacture. Most of these objections were written when charcoal was the most important fuel used by the iron manufacturer, and when what was a largeproduction of iron for several furnaces was less than that produced by a single modern one, in localities where other fuels can be had. Almost all that has been written on the subject related to the use of the fuel for the manufacture of iron in the blast furnace, where very peculiar properties are required, and where the qnantity produced is limited by the height of the furnace, and this in turn by the crushing resistance of the charcoal. A large production was, therefore, only possible when the best and hardest woods were used. Of all these objections there is not a single one which is not eqnally applicable to any method of charcoal manufacture, whether it be meilers, pits, or furnaces. Until recently, therefore, the manufacturers of charcoal iron

Jan 1, 1880

By H. I. Smith

WHEN Spain established colonies on the North American continent, some of her land grants, in what is now the United States, reserved to the Crown deposits of gold, silver, and mercury. Later mineral rights were reserved under some of the English Crown charters involving land in the eastern part of North America, with provisions for the payment of royalties thereon to the Crown. Reservation of mineral deposits to the United States Government was instituted by an ordinance of Congress on May 20, 1785, which applied to such deposits in the Northwest Territory, then north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi River, and provided that there should be reserved "one third of all gold, silver, lead, and copper mines, to be sold or otherwise disposed of as Congress shall hereafter direct." Little was known then of the mineral resources of the country; the Great Lakes copper region had just come into the possession of the United States by treaty and much of the western mineral land still belonged to France and Spain. The policy of leasing mineral deposits was enacted by Congress under the act of March 3, 1807, which provided that "the President of the United States shall be, and is hereby, authorized to lease any lead mine which has been or may hereafter be discovered in the Indiana Territory, for a term not exceeding five years," and in the same year the Government reserved 345,600 acres of land in northern Illinois, valuable for lead. In 1816 Congress provided that in all cases where a tract of public land containing a lead mine or salt spring was applied for by settlers on the public domain, no permission to work the mine or spring would be granted without the approbation of the President of the United States. By the act of March 1, 1847 (9 Stat. 146), the control of mineral lands was transferred, with all records, from the War Department to the Treasury Department, and by the act of March 3, 1849 (9 Stat. 395), supervisory powers over lead and other mines of the United States were transferred to the Secretary of the Interior. Following the discovery of gold in California in 1848, President Polk advocated the leasing of mineral lands acquired from Mexico under the treaty of 1848. However, owing to the lack of communication and transportation facilities and the consequent difficulty of checking on production and operations, leasing was found impracticable. Mining was permitted to be carried on in each district under rules made by the miners themselves and patterned after the Mexican mining system. To meet the situation, Congress enacted mining laws in 1866, 1870, and 1872, which provided for possession by location and for private ownership, after discovery, by patent of essentially all mineral deposits belonging to the United States, except coal. Many other acts were passed by Congress applying to specific regions and states, reserving salt, lead, or other minerals, some of which provided for the leasing of such deposits. However, very few if any leases were issued thereunder. Not until 1901 (31 Stat. 745) were the mining laws extended to include salt, and in 1910 they were revised to specify salines and associated products. At the turn of the century, it became more and more evident that the mining laws developed for metallic minerals were not practical for the development and conservation of oil and gas, coal, potash, phosphate, or oil shale. Following withdrawals by the Secretary of the Interior as authorized by the act of June 25, 1910, the Department of the Interior recommended leasing legislation; however, it was not until February 25, 1920, that the Mineral Leasing Act was passed by Congress. This act authorized leasing all public lands potentially valuable for oil, gas, coal, phosphate, sodium, or oil shale. The Organic Act, creating the Geological Survey in 1879, imposed upon its director the duty of classifying the public lands.' The early years of the Survey were devoted largely to the accumulation of fundamental data and, with only minor exceptions, land classification was not seriously undertaken until 1906. Since that year, it has been actively pursued with respect particularly to leasable minerals and water power values. On March 3, 1873 (17 Stat. 607) Congress authorized the sale of coal lands of limited acreage to individuals at $10 to $20 an acre, depending on the distance from a railroad, and in 1907 a new scale of prices was adopted by the Secretary of the Interior, based, more logically, on the quality and thickness of the coal deposits, their depth below the earth's surface, and their accessibility. At that time it was much cheaper and easier to obtain incidental title to coal rights under the homestead laws at $1.25 an acre. On March 3, 1909, the first separation act (35 Stat. 844) became a law. It authorized patents, with a reservation of the coal and mining rights involved to the United States, to persons who in good faith had entered public lands under the non-mineral land laws prior to withdrawal, classification, claim, or report that such lands were valuable for coal. It solved the problem only partially, and the practice thereupon adopted by the department of making coal withdrawals "from all forms of entry" instead of "from coal entry" expedited the more complete solution effected by later acts. By the act of June 22, 1910 (36.Stat. 583) withdrawn and classified coal lands were declared subject to entry under the homestead, desert land, and Carey acts, provided a waiver of the coal rights accompanied the application, and by the act of April 30, 1912 (37 Stat. 105) the same privilege was extended to State selections and isolated tracts. The act of August 24, 1912 (37 Stat. 496) extended the separation policy to lands withdrawn for oil and gas in Utah, and finally the act of July 17, 1914 (38 Stat. 509) extended it to all nonmineral filings on public lands theretofore or thereafter

Jan 1, 1955

By H. Foster Bain

FROM time to time geologists and mining engineers, impressed by the heavy demands made on our mineral reserves' by modern industry, and particularly by the steadily mounting rate of production necessary to meet that demand, have issued warnings as to the danger of exhaustion. There can be no dispute as to the fact that mineral deposits are exhaustible. New mineral, is not created to replace that taken from the earth and when a crop of mineral is once harvested another cannot be grown in the same area. The evidence of exhaustion 'of particular oreshoots, deposits, or even of whole districts is familiar to all who have mined. If one were to judge solely from the abandoned mills and prospect holes he would rightly conclude that mining is but a short-lived industry. If one were, furthermore, to assemble the data as to known reserves of almost any of the commonly used minerals, and divide them by the annual tonnage mined, he would come to the same conclusion. If, again, one were to consider the most carefully made estimates of competent men seeking to measure the earth's reserves of minerals and plot against them a projection of the curve of past consumption, he would be justified in viewing the situation with alarm.

Jan 1, 1930