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By Walter E. Lewis

Myriad problems face all of us in the next decade. Vietnam, poverty, and pollution are perhaps the most pres- sing. A lesser one but still vital to us as a Nation is the slow hut apparently relentless extinction of the mining, metallurgical. geological and petroleum engineer. Are we doomed to take our place in the crossword puzzle with the moa. to be defined like it as an "extinct bird"? Or can we reverse the trend perhaps, in the next decade? The plain fact is we are an endangered species, and must resign ourselves to virtual extinction in the 1970's unless the trend is reversed. Probably, many of us have felt the problem will solve itself if left in the in-basket long enough, believing, that the trend will reverse solely on the basis of demand for these disciplines. This approach has not worked up to now, it gives no promise of working in the future, and furthermore, the problem has been in the in-basket much too long. The point is simply this: What can each of us do as an individual, or as part of a company, a State agency, a Federal agency, a university, or an organization such as AIME?

Jan 1, 1970

By AIME AIME

In the uniform of his country for the second time, Harry Phillip Stolz. Chairman of the A.I.M.E. Petroleum Division, holds a commission as Lieutenant-Commander in the Naval Reserve and is attached to the office of Inspector of Naval Petroleum Reserves in California. During World War I he left his studies at Stanford University to join the Army and was granted a commission as Second Lieutenant of Infantry. He remained in the Army Reserve until 1938 when he resigned to accept a commission as a member of the Naval Petroleum Reserves Advisory Board. Born in San Francisco Jan. 29,1899, where his father had lived since 1880, he was in that city during the turbulent year of 1906 where the city was ravaged by fire and earthquake.

Jan 1, 1942

By AIME AIME

CHARLIE WARNER, Chairman of the Petroleum Division, is no stranger to the problems of the oil industry or to those of the Petroleum Division, after more than 25 years of experience in locating and producing oil and more than 22 years of membership in the Institute. He was born at Jefferson, N. Y.. April 27, 1894, and educated in the public schools of New York State and at Cornell University where he studied geology and allied sciences from 1913 to 1917 and received a B.A. degree. Immediately upon completion of this training, he was employed by the Empire Gas & Fuel Co. as a field geologist in Oklahoma and Kansas. Two years later he became district geologist for the Emerald Oil Co. in Oklahoma and Kansas, and in 1920 he rejoined the Empire Gas & Fuel Co. in the capacity of district geologist in Oklahoma. In September of 1921 he began his association with the Houston Oil Co. of Texas. He was district manager for the company in the Mid-Continent area until 1932 when he was transferred to the head office at Houston, where he became superintendent of the land and lease department in 1934 and was elected a director of the company in 1941. In these capacities, and also as petroleum engineer for the company, he keeps in intimate touch with all phases of field activity and with the regulation of the industry by State and Federal agencies.

Jan 1, 1943

By J. E. Tobey

UNDER war conditions coal immediately assumes a position of highest importance for coal must carry the basic load for industry. The upward trend in production continued through 1941. Bituminous coal production alone about equaled the total output of bituminous and anthracite in 1940. The figures for 1941 approximated 500,000,000 tons for bituminous, and 54,000,000 tons for anthracite, and production of by-product and beehive coke exceeded that of the previous year. The coal industry, under the National Bituminous Coal Act, is going through a period of readjustment, and is beginning to stabilize itself under the statute. The Federal Mine Inspection Nill became law during the year.

Jan 1, 1942

By Castle. J. E., J. L. Gillson

In this chapter there is a wide difference in the meaning of some words used for rock and mineral names as defined by scientists and tabulated in the "Glossary of Geology and Related Sciences," published in 1957 by the American Geological Institute, and the meaning as used by the commercial producers of feldspar. It is necessary, therefore, to define these terms giving both the "scientific" and the "practical" definitions. There is no ambiguity about the name feldspar itself. This is a general term for a group of related minerals which are silicates of aluminum, combined with sodium, potassium and calcium. The feldspars are the most abundant minerals of the igneous rocks, and since these rocks make up the largest proportion of the earth's crust by volume (although not of the actual surface area of the continental land masses) the feldspars are the most abundant minerals of all. The igneous rocks themselves are classified on the basis of the variety of the feldspar present. The potash feldspars, which are called orthoclase and microcline, are the dominant minerals of the granites and syenites, and of their fine grained equivalents, the rhyolites and trachites. The plagioclase feldspars form an isomorphic series, of which the sodic endmember is called albite, and the lime endmember, anorthite. The members near the sodic end, albite, oligoclase and andesine are the characteristic feldspars of the granodiorites and diorites, and of their fine grained equivalents, the dacites, and andesites. These feldspars-orthoclase, microcline, albite oligoclase and andesine-are the feldspars used commercially. Labradorite, a member of the plagioclase group, in which the lime exceeds the soda in the chemical composition, is the common feldspar of the gabbros, anorthosites, norites, basalts and other so-called "basic" rocks. Although some attempts have been made to use labradorite as a commercial feldspar, none is now used except as an ornamental stone. The mineral anorthite is very rare. Since the feldspar in most of the common igneous rocks is relatively fine grained, and mixed intimately with other minerals, from which it can be separated cleanly only with difficulty, most masses of the common rocks cannot be used as sources for the feldspar contained in them. It is only the rarer types of rocks in which the feldspar is very coarse-grained, or ones containing very little of the iron-bearing minerals which are objectionable impurities in commercial feldspar, that are quarried to yield an acceptable product. The most widespread type of such a rock from which commercial feldspar can be produced, is that called "pegmatite." These rocks are dikes and bodies of irregular shape and of a size measured in feet or yards in most cases, rather than in miles. They are more commonly associated with granites, rather than with other coarse-grained igneous rocks. Many of them contain crystals of various minerals, including the feldspars, that are much larger than are found in the host rock, the granite, and in many there are large masses of feldspar that are sufficiently free from iron-bearing silicates so that products acceptable to the ceramic industry can be produced, in some cases simply by hand sorting. Most of this feldspar in pegmatites, however, does contain intergrown quartz up to 25 pct. Pegmatites are so important, not only as commercial sources of feldspar, but also of other minerals which are produced com-

Jan 1, 1960

By AIME AIME

FOUK fields of activity are now recognized by the A.I.M.E. in its award of medals for conspicuous achievement: the Saunders medal for mining, the Douglas medal for non- ferrous metallurgy the Lucai medal for petroleum, and the Rand medal for distinguished achievement in the broad field of mining administration including the organization and development of enterprises in all branches of the mineral industry. This last is known officially as the Charles F. Rand Memorial Medal, and it award is made possible through funds supplied by the Charles F. Rand Foundation. Until this year money thus available was used for other special projects, so that the forthcoming presentation of the Rand medal to Robert C. Stanley is notable as being the first time that achievement in mining administration has been thus recognized.

Jan 1, 1940

By AIME

Annual production of more than 4,000,000 tons of 0.74 percent copper ore and coincident handling of over 5,000,000 tons of waste at the open-pit mine of Castle Dome Copper Co. near Miami, Ariz. takes a lot of power. Manufacturers have ever co-operated with mining companies in providing the required equipment to suit the problem. Power equipment suppliers have done much to make possible the economic and profitable production of copper from low-grade ores. In the future, as mining operations will necessarily handle even lower-grade ores, the ability of the manufacturer to supply the power and mechanical equipment to produce more metal at a fair and reasonable price will be the good right arm of the miner. About 27,000 tons of concentrate is produced from the 4,000,000 tons of ore.

Jan 1, 1948

BECAUSE of the impetus given to placer mining since the price of gold was advanced to $35, several types of small dredges have made their appearance, especially in the Lincoln and Oroville areas of California. Some of these are known as "doodle bugs," and have been given considerable publicity, though many believe their performance has been overrated and that complete costs of construction and operation, if known would not put them in so favorable a light. Fig. 1 is a doodle bug owned by E. M. Clark and operated near Lincoln, Calif. It is understood that it was abandoned because of inability to handle deep ground. A similar machine that has been operated-profitably by Comstock Placers is shown in Fig. 2.

Jan 1, 1938

By Luke L. Y. Chang, Bert Phillips

ThE tendency toward further oxidation of the intermediate oxides and the high volatilization rates of the higher oxides have prevented direct attainment of equilibrium data for the system tungsten-oxygen. As a result, St. Pierre et al.1 have proposed a phase diagram (to 800°C) based on thermody-namic data to 1200°C for the known tungsten oxides (WO2z, W18O49, W20O58, and WO3) and a report on a tungsten suboxide W3O.2 Recent modification of a technique previously described3 5 now permits adequate preservation of compositions of mixtures of metallic tungsten and metal oxides (e.g., of tungsten, cobalt, calcium, samarium, titanium) in order that condensed phase relations may be established to 1700 This method has been applied to study the high-temperature stability of tungsten oxides. In the method used, the desired compositions were sealed in nonreactive containers such that only a small gas volume remained. Each sample then established its own equilibrium atmosphere at temperature. This method has advantages in the study of systems of the W-0 type where knowledge of the condensed phases is desirable but for which composition and pressure of the gas phase are not readily attainable because of oxide volatility. Mixtures of 99.99 pct tungsten metal powder and purified tungsten anhydride (WO3) or in some cases W18O49* were equilibrated in pellet form in sealed

Jan 1, 1964

By AIME AIME

To accompanying photograph of the plant of the Beattie Gold Miner Limited, at Duparquet,. Quebec, is taken from the east and shows the open-pit from which the ore is taken during the summer. The buildings on the level ground above the open-pit are the change rooms, steel shop hoist building, compressor building, machine shop, warehouse, carpenter shop, and oil house. The main five-compartment shaft is shown west of the hoist building. The crusher plant adjoins the headframe and a long conveyor transports the fine ore

Jan 1, 1936

By M. S. NORTH

IT may be a far cry from the days of the old horse whim, and it is relatively a long way back to hand production in factories. Modern machinery has made possible deep shaft-sinking, newer methods have increased the recovery of mineral. Technically, excavating and ore dressing have advanced as has mass production and its many ramifications in the manufacture of commercial product. To those of the mining industry who would have us believe that mining and manufacturing are totally different enterprises, it can be said that certain differences do exist. These differences rather than being fundamental are the result of adhering to past practices which were possibly sound years ago but do not measure up today. Differences in managerial control, sales, and distribution, cost finding, etc., are often so pronounced that efforts to compare or contrast are almost futile.

Jan 1, 1930

By Arthur Notman

YEAR ago, the Committee on Mineral Economics ventured to predict a more realistic attitude by the public toward the folly of seeking to have more by making less under the guidance of the Blue Eagle. A unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of the United States has now laid that embattled bird to rest. De rnortuis nil nisi bonum. In spite of dire predictions of disaster to follow its early demise, the metal industries and many others have improved substantially. One could name many indications of that improvement, and on the strength of stock-market activities might assume

Jan 1, 1936

lv. H. Blauvelt, Great Falls, Montana (communication to the Secretary): In his remarks on Mr. Stetefeldt's paper (Trans., xxiii., 587)) Mr. Goetz observes: " Trouble experienced with producers at Great Falls influenced me to try Taylor producers instead of those of Wellman. But recent reports show that the Wellman producers work better, besides coating nearly 50 per cent. less than Taylor producers of equal capacity. Indiana and Illinois coals cannot be used in the Taylor producers by reason of the large size and hardness of the clinkers which they form." I think that Mr. Goetz must have been misinformed regarding the work of this producer in Illinois. One of the large mauafacturing concerns in that State, the Illinois Zinc Company, situated at Peru, which uses a coal mined in the vicinity, tried one Taylor producer, some four years ago, in competition with those of an older type, which it had been using. As a result of this trial, the company has now thirteen Taylor producers, which have been in operation for about three years. A recent report from these works says that the Taylor producers have largely reduced the loss of coal through the grate, and have also improved the quality of the gas, as compared with that produced from the same coal in the producers of the older type. This Illinois coal is, perhaps, the worst in the country for making gas; since, besides containing from 20 to 40 per cent. of ash, it carries a large quantity of pyrites, so that the clinkers are large and extremely hard, and the capacity of the producer is most severely tested.

Jan 1, 1895

By John Jermain Porter

The chief purpose of this paper is to indicate the laws governing the fuel-economy of the cupola, to examine the feasibility of some of the proposals for increasing its fuel-economy, and to show that the conditions limiting fuel-economy here are altogether different from those prevailing in the blast-furnace. The two methods available for studying the thermal efficiency of the cupola and determining the factors limiting fuel-economy are: 1, by the determination of the total heat-balance; and 2, by the application of the theory of critical temperatures. The case selected as an example represents a cupola operating under fairly efficient conditions. The data are as follows : Cupola, GO in. in diameter, 15 ft. high to the charging-door, with a 9-in. lining. Bed-charge, 2,000 lb. of coke and 4,000 lb. of iron. Subsequent charges, 400 lb. of coke and 4,000 Ib. of iron. Total number of charges, 20. There was 800 lb. of coke recovered from the drop, hence the total coke burned is 8,800 lb., or 0.11 lb. of coke per Ib. of iron. Coke contains 90 per cent. of fixed carbon and 2 per cent. of moisture. 300 1b. of kindling-wood is used in lighting. 80 lb. of limestone (95 per cent. of CaCO,) is used per charge, or 0.02 lb. per Ib. of iron. Melting-loss, 4 per cent.; distributed thus : Fe, 3.5; Si, 0.25; Mn, 0.25 per cent. Average analysis of top-gases : CO2, 15.1; CO, 10.0 per cent. Average temperature of top-gases, 1,600" F. Temperature of air and stock charged, 60" F. Dew-point of air, 50 F. The items entering into the total heat-balance and their calculation are as follows: 1. Heat of combustion of fuel.—Total heat evolved = 14,580 x lb. of carbon burned + 7,200 X Ib. of wood burned. Hence B.t.u. per lb. of iron charged =

Jan 1, 1913

By AIME AIME

THE Petroleum Division will hold two meetings this fall, one on the Coast at Los Angeles, Sept. 29, with the technical sessions in the assembly room of the California Oil and Gas Association and a banquet Friday evening at the Richfield Cafe atop the Richfield building; the other in the Southwest, at Dallas, Texas, Oct. 6 and 7, with the Baker Hotel as headquarters. Dr. Frederick M. Becket, President of the Institute, and A. B. Parsons, Secretary, will attend both meetings. Arrangements for the meetings are not yet complete but the respective local committees, working in close touch with the officials of the Division are rapidly shaping up the programs and other detail.

Jan 1, 1933

By Lovell Lawrence

MAGNETITE deposits in the Eastern States have been mined uninterruptedly since pre-Revolutionary War days. The industry, thriving in normal times, was given impetus in all periods of tumult, and continued to advance and expand, until the Lake Superior ores came into production. A period of comparative quiet existed until increased freight rates, together with increased mining costs on Lake Region ores, permitted the magnetites again to compete. This, coupled with World War demands, created unpre¬cedented activity. Producing plants were at their peak, new mines were equipped and put in operation and the industry pushed production beyond the absorption point. Ore stocks were tremendous, internal competition severe, and a great increase in import of European ores brought the industry to a low ebb in 1923.

Jan 1, 1933

By O. E. Kiessling

THE Committee-on Production Control, at its meeting held during the last annual session in February, 1930, evidenced great interest in problems of stabilization affecting all mineral industries. . No immediate program of activity for the Committee as a- unit was decided on, however,, and efforts during the past pear have consisted lirgely of further stressing the economic aspects of mineral production and of the action by committee members, :.serving in their individual capacities, in sponsoring constructive changes, in specific, industries. Of greatest interest to the general subject of production control in 1930 was the very definite advance toward better coordination of demand and supply in the petroleum industry. Furthermore, since opinion both within and without the oil industry now favors a constructive program, and with a gradual change in legal precedents, it seems not unreasonable to expect greater progress in the near future.

Jan 1, 1931

By David R. Mitchell

IF you are the owner of a mine, or a mine executive, or just an ordinary miner, and have a son about to go to college, do you urge him to take up mining engineering or do you try to dissuade him from such a course? If you live in the East, or the Middle West and your interest has been in coal rather than metal mining, the chances are that your young hopeful will be urged to do almost anything else rather than follow in father's footsteps.

Jan 1, 1939

By James Lorimer

THE topography at the Stan Trg mine facilitated early exploration by adits; in consequence adit levels were developed at horizons 865, 795, and 760 meters above sea level, and the levels in the mine 'are named according to their elevation. Exploitation started from the 760-m. level . upwards while simultaneously first steps were taken with regard to mining in depth. A deep dewatering adit 2.5 km. long now gives access to the deposit at the 610-m. horizon which also is connected with the 760-m. adit level by a three-compartment main hoisting shaft. Main levels have been developed internally from

Jan 1, 1936

By Hans Lundberg

IN last year's report on the progress of geophysics, the airborne magnetometer was the featured new development. At that time only a relatively small number of surveys had been made. During 1947, the airborne magnetometer was used in making many surveys and is again one of the high lights of the year in geophysics. This report is mainly concerned with geophysics as applied to the search for minerals exclusive of petroleum. In 194,5 and 1946, the use of the magnetic method reached a peak, partly because of an active period of prospecting brought on by an active mining market, particularly in Canada.

Jan 1, 1948