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By Robert A. Stansbury

Keeping development ahead of retreat mining is a problem which occurs nearly everywhere longwall mining is used in the United States. As improved equipment technology has allowed the application of longwall mining to more difficult mining conditions, and with higher retreat rates, the problem has become more critical. Many factors determine development speed, including roof and floor conditions, mining heights, seam heights, and the number of entries. In an effort to maximize the rate of development and production from development sections, U. S. Steel's Gary District has used five entry, three entry, four entry and is planning two entry development panels at its different mines. With the introduction of various types of shield supports, it is now possible to utilize longwall mining in higher coal over 3 meters (10 feet), lower coal under one meter, in difficult roof conditions, and with soft floor. Improved shearers of 300 KW (400 HP) and more make cutting heights over 3 meters (10 feet) possible, and off pan shearers and improved Gleithobel plows make cutting less than 1 meter (40 inches) seam height possible. Longwall mining under these conditions puts an added strain on the ability to develop panels as fast as they are retreated. Poor roof conditions require a substantial amount of additional roof support to ensure that roof control in the head and tall entries will not hinder longwall retreat. The additional measures of longer bolts, resin bolts, point anchor resin bolts, roof mats, roof trusses, steel or wood cross bars, and roof grouting all place an additional burden on man power, installation time, and cost on the mining cycle. Additional roof bolting on development can cut the potential mining rate in half, and any roof falls cause significant delays to mining. Timbers and cribs can restrict ventilation and require more entries. Soft floor conditions can greatly impede development through tramming difficulties with shuttle cars and roof bolters, time required for cleaning and repairing roadways, and maintenance difficulties on equipment. High coal sometimes requires rib support to be Installed during the mining cycle, further cutting the mining rate. Mining low seams requires that roof or floor be mined in the head and tail entries as well as the track or tractor roadway entry to provide clearance of the longwall equipment. Mining this rock slows down the mining rate because of the extra material being mined and the extra wear and tear on equipment. To a large degree these conditions effecting development speed cannot be controlled.

Jan 1, 1981

By Sherwin F. Kelly

The need for geophysicists to adopt a uniform mode of expressing the electrical resistivity of geological formations has been stressed by Dr. A. S. Eve.1 The present paper is to emphasize the point he raised, to bring the weight of disinterested authority to bear on the matter, and to urge the adoption henceforth, save in exceptional cases, of a standard expression for resistivity; all in the hope that the needed reform will thus actually be brought about. The general definition of the resistivity of a material is the resistance in ohms between two opposite faces of a unit cube of that material. No account need be taken here of the cases in which the unit volume is not a cube, and the units of length and cross-section are different, encountered principally when dealing with metallic conductors such as wires. The idea of the resistance of a unit volume of earth or rock has found expression in geophysical literature in a number of forms and with a variety of units. Fortunately, the metric system has been adhered to in most cases, so ordinarily the meter or the centimeter, usually the latter, has been the measure chosen. The resistivity is then the resistance of a cube of the given rock, or soil, one centimeter on an edge. This is far from always being the same thing, however, as the resistance of a cubic centimeter. A long thin wire could contain a cubic centimeter and have a high resistance, whereas the same volume formed into a flat plate would have an entirely different, and quite low, resistance between faces. Consequently, it is not proper to express resistivity in ohms per cubic centimeter, inch, etc., as has been done occasionally by some writers. In an effort to emphasize the idea of cubic volume, some geophysicists, the writer among them, have used the phrase, ohms per centimeter cubed. This is a graphic way of picturing the measure, but is not in favor among highly qualified authorities. In this connection, an appeal was made to the U. S. Bureau of Standards for advice, and the Director, George K. Burgess, kindly replied in detail as to the practice adopted by his Bureau: 'I.., such expressions as 'ohms per centimeter cubed' or any similar expressions are objectionable, because they certainly carry the implication that the resistivity is found by dividing ohms resistance by the volume in cubic centimeters." Actually, of course, resistivity is found

Jan 1, 1932

Discussion of the paper of E. G. Woodruff, presented at the Butte meeting, August, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 78, June, 1913, pp. 1001 to 1010. F. A. LINFORTH, Butte, Mont.:-I have not had an opportunity of reading this paper thoroughly, but I would like to call attention to the possible use of the contours on fault planes. It is obvious that if the contours of fault surfaces call be determined, we will be able to determine the axes of the hollows in the fault surface. It seems probable, and there are examples to point to the accuracy of, the assumption, that the axes of these hollows may be the direction of movements on the faults, and if that is true it will aid materially in locating faulted ore bodies or the shoots of ore on the opposite sides of faults. A few such contour maps of faults have been attempted on some of the faults of the Butte district, and those faults which are believed to have the nearly normal movement exhibit for the axes of these hollows a line nearly up and down in the plane of the fault, but in those cases where the throw is believed to bee nearly horizontal we find that the axes of the hollows are almost horizontal lines. In other words, the movements on faults, I believe, would be more nearly indicated by the larger grooves in the fault surfaces than by the small slickensides and minor hollows that are seen, so that contour maps might be valuable in geology in that way. C. W. GOODALE, Butte, Mont.:-I received a letter from Mr. Woodruff asking me to take part in the discussion of his paper, but I have not had time to give the paper any study. I can certainly add my opinion to that of all the engineers here that the topographic maps of the government are of great aid to the engineer. When I visit a new district, the first thing I do is to see if that district has been covered by the U. S. Geological Survey avid if topographic map has been issued. And I find that some of the younger engineers frequently come into my office to see if I have such maps. I know in some cases the reports made out by engineers contain copies of these topographic maps, or clippings from them. I am sure that. the topographic maps furnished by the government are of very great value to our engineers.

Jan 11, 1913

H. RIES, Ithaca, N. Y.-The part of Mr. Fiske's paper that interests me especially is that portion dealing with the raw materials, and the tests that were applied to the raw materials in order to determine their value in advance, if possible, because that, I believe, is a step in the right direction. For a number of years I have done my best to persuade different consumers of clay to develop standard methods for testing raw materials. We have in this country a large variety of clays which can be used for a great many different purposes, but in many cases the consumers either have no standard methods for determining the value of those clays in. advance, or if they have they do not publish them; consequently it often puts the clay miner at a disadvantage. If, for example, manufacturers of different types of refractory materials would state publicly just what physical tests their raw materials have to meet, it would, I believe, help them to find more easily the materials that they are looking for, and the clay producer would also be benefited. It would also encourage him to have his clays tested in advance, so that samples could be accompanied by certificates of physical tests that would be of convenience to the manufacturer. At the present time, in this country there are certain types of clay which seem to be rather scarce. There apparently are not many deposits of clay that are exactly suited for the manufacture of zinc refractories. So, too, there are not many deposits of clay that are suited for the manufacture of glass-pots, or the blocks for glass tank furnaces, or clays that can be used for graphite crucibles. Now, in many cases, no standard series of tests has been developed. I am also gratified to see that Mr. Fiske considers the tensile strength. tests of value. Some years ago the American Ceramic Society appointed a committee to draw up a series of recommendations covering standard tests. These recommendations were especially for the use of State geologists and the U., .S. Geological, Survey. Among the tests that were considered was the tensile-strength test, which Mr. Fiske has mentioned in his paper. Unfortunately, a majority of the committee turned it down, and the test was therefore not officially approved, but two of us, who formed the minority, believed in it. Since then the other members of the Committee have come to see that that is an important test to make and Mr. Fiske has emphasized it in his paper.

Jan 1, 1918

By J. R. Long, E. T. Hayes, D. C. Root, R. S. Dean

The U. S. Bureau of Mines has recently reported on the development of a process for preparing pure ductile titanium in substantial quantities1 and on the physical properties that may be attained in the metal, when consolidated by powder metallurgy methods and fabricated by certain hot and cold-working procedures.2 The high physical properties (Table I), combined with excellent corrosion resistance and light weight, will lead no doubt to appropriatc applications of the metal. In any application, methods of joining will be of considerable importance. The relatively high activity of the metal toward the common gases raises the question of weldability and conditions that might be required for successful welding. Since hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen embrittle the metal, it should be protected from these gases at elevated temperatures. This was demonstrated by a few preliminary trials of arc, gas, and resistance welding. In these trials only the resistance method proved to be immediately- applicable. While atomic: hydrogen welding of titanium may be successful in some instances, a considerable amount of development work will be required to prove its worth. In addition, it would be suited only to small assemblies that could be heated subsequently in a high vacuum to remove embrittling hydrogen. Heli-are methods likewise would be limited to small assemblies, which could be completely protected by a helium atmosphere. It was quite apparent that titanium required more protection than was afforded by the normal flow of helium gas used for welding magnesium and aluminum. The hot metal is attacked by oxygen and nitrogen, and the rapid diffusion of the oxide into the metal prevents the formation of a protective coating and requires the helium atmosphere to be maintained until the weld has cooled nearly to room temperature. The preliminary work indicated that titanium could be successfully spot-welded without deterioration of the metal and that the microstructures of the welds were normal, exhibiting good bonding, and no oxidation. The high resistivity of titanium (53 microhms per cu. cm.) suggested that it would behave somewhat like stainless steel and allow considerable latitude in the several welding variables. The results reported here are intended to give a general picture of the effects of varying welding current, welding time, and tip pressure on single spot welds made on several different thicknesses of titanium sheet. The work was undertaken to demonstrate the feasibility of welding titanium rather than as an exhaustive study of spot welding. There are, therefore, a number of factors that will require further investigation to establish the specific controls required for actual applications.

Jan 1, 1947

By J. R. Long, R. S. Dean, D. C. Root, E. T. Hayes

The U. S. Bureau of Mines has recently reported on the development of a process for preparing pure ductile titanium in substantial quantities1 and on the physical properties that may be attained in the metal, when consolidated by powder metallurgy methods and fabricated by certain hot and cold-working procedures.2 The high physical properties (Table I), combined with excellent corrosion resistance and light weight, will lead no doubt to appropriatc applications of the metal. In any application, methods of joining will be of considerable importance. The relatively high activity of the metal toward the common gases raises the question of weldability and conditions that might be required for successful welding. Since hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen embrittle the metal, it should be protected from these gases at elevated temperatures. This was demonstrated by a few preliminary trials of arc, gas, and resistance welding. In these trials only the resistance method proved to be immediately- applicable. While atomic: hydrogen welding of titanium may be successful in some instances, a considerable amount of development work will be required to prove its worth. In addition, it would be suited only to small assemblies that could be heated subsequently in a high vacuum to remove embrittling hydrogen. Heli-are methods likewise would be limited to small assemblies, which could be completely protected by a helium atmosphere. It was quite apparent that titanium required more protection than was afforded by the normal flow of helium gas used for welding magnesium and aluminum. The hot metal is attacked by oxygen and nitrogen, and the rapid diffusion of the oxide into the metal prevents the formation of a protective coating and requires the helium atmosphere to be maintained until the weld has cooled nearly to room temperature. The preliminary work indicated that titanium could be successfully spot-welded without deterioration of the metal and that the microstructures of the welds were normal, exhibiting good bonding, and no oxidation. The high resistivity of titanium (53 microhms per cu. cm.) suggested that it would behave somewhat like stainless steel and allow considerable latitude in the several welding variables. The results reported here are intended to give a general picture of the effects of varying welding current, welding time, and tip pressure on single spot welds made on several different thicknesses of titanium sheet. The work was undertaken to demonstrate the feasibility of welding titanium rather than as an exhaustive study of spot welding. There are, therefore, a number of factors that will require further investigation to establish the specific controls required for actual applications.

Jan 1, 1947

By Sherwin Kelly

THE need for geophysicists to adopt a uniform mode of expressing the electrical resistivity of geological formations has been stressed by Dr. A. S. Eve.1 The present paper is to emphasize the point he raised, to bring the weight of disinterested authority to bear on the matter, and to urge the adoption henceforth, save in exceptional cases, of a standard expression for resistivity; all in the hope that the needed reform will thus actually be brought about. The general definition of the resistivity of a material is the resistance in ohms between two opposite faces of a unit cube of that, material. No account need be taken here of the cases in which the unit volume is not a cube, and the units of length and cross-section are different, encountered principally when dealing with metallic conductors such as wires. The idea of the resistance of a unit volume of earth or rock has found expres-sion in geophysical literature in a number of forms and with a variety of units. Fortunately, the metric system has been adhered to in most cases, so ordinarily the meter or the centimeter, usually the latter, has been the measure chosen. The resistivity is then the resistance of a cube of the given rock, or soil, one centimeter on, an edge. This is far from always being the same thing, however, as the resistance of a cubic centimeter. A long thin wire could contain a cubic centimeter and have a high resistance, whereas the same volume formed into a flat plate would have an entirely different, and quite low, resistance between faces. Con-sequently, it is not proper to express resistivity in ohms per cubic centi-meter, inch, etc., as has been done occasionally by .some writers. In an effort to emphasize the idea of cubic volume, some geophysicists, the writer among them, have used the phrase, ohms per centimeter cubed. This is a graphic way of picturing the measure, but is not in favor among highly qualified authorities. In this connection, an appeal was made to the U. S. Bureau of Standards for advice, and the Director, George K. Burgess, kindly replied in detail as to the practice adopted by his Bureau: ." . .' such expressions as ohms per centimeter cubed' or any similar expressions are objectionable, because they certainly carry the implica-tion that the resistivity is found by dividing ohms resistance by the volume in cubic centimeters." Actually, of course, resistivity is found

Jan 1, 1932

By G. Richards Gwinn

GRAPHITE is one of the so-called minor nonmetals that have become of major importance during the present conflict. Requirements of the domestic industry for graphite are relatively small and uses have changed so greatly in the past 25 years that different types, with few exceptions, are more nearly interchangeable in use. However, the quality of the graphite required for crucibles is exacting and under present manufacturing practices only a small part of the world production can be utilized economically by this industry. Graphite, for the domestic crucible industry, was supplied almost entirely by imports from Madagascar and Ceylon before the present war. The quantity required has been increased by the war and the greatest demand is for Madagascar flake. The fall of France to Germany in 1941 and the Japanese expansion southward threatened our supply of crucible-grade graphite, therefore the domestic industry was revived to supplement imports and to act as insurance in the event of complete stoppage of imports. Two plants were constructed for the Government, one at Ashland, Alabama, called the Crucible Flake Graphite Co., operated by Haile Mines, Inc., and one near West Chester, Pennsylvania, operated by the Benjamin Franklin Flake Graphite Co. Loans were made by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to the Alabama Flake Graphite Co. at Ashland, the Ceylon Graphite Co., at Goodwater, Ala., and the Southwestern Graphite Co., at Burnet, Texas. However, by the end of 1943 the import situation had improved and it was no longer necessary to continue Government assistance to mine and stock-pile the high-cost domestic material. Graphite is found in virtually every country of the world. Most occurrences are of no economic importance because of their poor quality, prohibitive mining and milling costs, inaccessibility, and poor location with reference to the industrial centers where graphite is used. The principal commercial deposits are found in Ceylon, Madagascar, Chosen (Korea), United States, U. S. S. R., Canada, Germany, and Mexico. Graphite is a typical international mineral in that it is utilized mainly in countries noted for industrial activities, whereas the two islands, Ceylon and Madagascar, which produce the major part of the world's high-grade graphite, are virtually devoid of any manufacturing establishments requiring its use. The industry thus is violently disturbed by wars. TYPES of GRAPHITE USED IN CRUCIBLES Graphite of various kinds and from many countries has been used for making crucibles. Passau (Bohemian) flake was first used in Europe, but by the middle of the seventeenth century crucible formulas were established largely on Ceylon graphite and German Klingenberg clay. Ceylon graphite is granular and the grains are subdivided into more or less

Jan 1, 1945

The Report on the Manufacture of Coke for the year 1880 by J. D. Weeks1 includes an historical account of the early days of coke-making that is very complete and accurate, and but little can be added to it to fully cover the period prior to 1885. The few additional references that have been found follow. The earliest suggestion found about making coke in this country is in a letter from D. M. Randolph to Harry Heth, dated August 22, 1808. Heth was then operating the mines in the Richmond, Virginia coal field and had sent Randolph to England to investigate steam engines for hoisting and pumping and other conditions in the coal industry there. The letter was written in London and said: "I shall explain to you, how, by turning Deep Run fine coal in Coak, to make great profit from what has heretofore been useless. You will do well to ascertain the price and amount of demand for this article throughout the U. States among brewers and manufacturers. I know how also to make every bushel of such fine slaty coal, fetch as much as any of the best grate coal, by turning it into Coak: and that too, after paying all expenses of the process."2 His interest was to use the slack more for domestic purposes than otherwise, probably, although what the interest of brewers would be in coke as fuel does not appear. Nothing ever came of this suggestion, and so far as known, no coal from this field was coked excepting in gas-making. The Plumpsock Iron Works, mentioned by Weeks as having used coke, was advertised for sale in June 1818.3 It was stated that stone coal was the only fuel used at the works, the pit being within 100 yards of the forge. "Three men with a horse and cart are sufficient to raise coke, and haul to the forge all the coal necessary for keeping the works in full operation." The coke, of course, was made in ricks, or heaps, and not in ovens. The first real coke oven in this country was probably built in Connellsville, the coal coming from a mine nearby on Mounts Creek. L. L. Norton operated an iron foundry and was persuaded by his foreman, one Nichols, who came from Durham, England to build a coke oven. The oven was 12 feet square, and the first coke was produced in 1833. Later

Jan 1, 1942

By T. A. Klinefelter, R. G. O’Meara, Glenn C. Truesdell, Richard W. Smith

THE investigation of domestic tales was undertaken by the Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior, in cooperation with the University of Alabama, at the request of the U. S. Army, on Dec. I, 1941: "Considerable concern has been expressed by the Supply Arms and Service over maintaining continued availability of supplies of the necessary raw materials. These ceramic products are used by the Signal Corps in all army radio equipment, and to a greater degree in the new ultra-high-frequency equipment. The Air Corps has become a user of large amounts of radio-grade ceramics for aircraft spark-plug covers required for high-altitude operations. In addition, the use of this material is essential to the proper functioning of the radio air-navigation aids of the Civil Aeronautics Board." HISTORY The use of steatite and talc in ceramic bodies goes back a great many years. If pure, tales shrink little under heat-treatment and are very resistant to heat shock. The massive form, commonly called "steatite" by the trade, cuts and works easily, and this was naturally the first method used in obtaining articles of talc. When gas was in general use for illuminating purposes, a large business was carried on in the manufacture of tips for gas burners.1 With the development of uses for electricity, low-tension insulators were made in a similar manner; and, in fact, the forming of shapes from massive talc continues. However, as the business increased, cuttings and waste became more and more of a problem. In the twenties, one of the larger producing firms had a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Mines at its Columbus station to work out a body using the finely powdered material. Somewhat earlier, manufacturers of spark plugs used the finely ground talc as part of the body and to some extent in wall-tile bodies. Somewhat later it came into use for kiln furniture and similar products and still more recently it has been used in some dinnerwares. With the development of the radio and the high-frequency fields generated, it was found that a dense steatite porcelain was far better than even high-tension electrical porcelain, which is a clay-flint-feldspathic type of body. Until the war increased the demand, the several pioneer steatite-porcelain manufacturers were able to furnish adequate supplies. When war began in Europe and Asia, three important foreign sources of raw material were cut off; i.e., the French, Italian, and Manchurian tales. Domestic producers of high-grade porcelain are few, and the trade

Jan 1, 1943

By L. R. Blair

Many hydrated silicates have been synthesized and sold for commercial use. However, this paper discusses only hydrated calcium silicates and, to a lesser extent, hydrated magnesium silicates. Synthetic calcium silicates were first formed by man when he found that mixtures of silica or silicates and lime in water set up to form cements. The material which was responsible for the cementing properties was calcium silicate hydrate, although this fact was not recognized until early in this century. In the early 19001s, synthetic calcium silicates, reinforced with fibers and formed simply by reacting calcium hydroxide and silica in water with fiber at atmospheric or under low pressure autoclave conditions, found increased use in thermal insulations and in building products. These insulations were found to have a low thermal conductivity and would withstand temperatures up to 650°C. This, combined with their very low densities (from 8 to 50 Ib per cu ft) and fairly high strength, also made them suitable for use as building products. Following the disastrous Morro Castle fire of the 1930Js, calcium silicate board products were used as partitioning material in all shipboard construction in the U.S. As autoclaving techniques were improved and developed, it was: learned that under hydrothermal conditions new and useful calcium silicates which could be used under more extreme temperatures (up to 980' C) could be prepared. These had high surface areas and other unique properties which suited them for use as fillers, pesticide carriers, low temperature insulating materials, and adsorbents for the removal of fatty acids from various solutions. Hydrated magnesium silicates have not been studied as extensively as the calcium compounds. Their first important use was in the filtration of dry cleaning solutions for the removal of fatty acids. With the introduction of detergents, it was found that these products lost their advantage because of their high affinity for the detergent chemicals. However, in recent years these chemicals are finding increasing use as decolorizing agents for fats and anti-caking agents for resins. Some materials with very high surface are finding new use as adsorbents. CALCIUM SILICATE HYDRATE COMPOUNDS AND THElR CONDITIONS OF FORMATION Within the past ten years much has been done in the field of calcium silicate hydrate chemistry. As a result of this work it has been found that at least 25 different forms of calcium silicate hydrate can either be formed synthetically or found as naturally occurring materials. The stability and composition relationships among these 25 compounds present a very complicated picture, and many of these very closely resemble other forms and are difficult to dis-

Jan 1, 1962

By John B. Knaebel, Robert J. Grant

This paper outlines the trends in gold production since the discovery of America, in the world as a whole, and in the principal producing regions as well. World production climbed at an average rate of about 20,000,000 oz. per 5-year period until the record all-time output of 111,307,000 oz. in the period ending with 1915. Production fell off during the war period, but has been mounting since 1925, and will probably be nearly 100,000,000 oz. for the 5-year period ending in 1930. Total world production of gold from 1492 to the end of 1930, as closely as can be determined, is more than 1,061,000,000 fine ounces. More than one-half of this total, or about 575,000,000 oz., has been mined since 1900. In percentage of world production, the United States jumped from 4.8 per cent for the decade 1831-1840 to 44.5 per cent for the five years ending with 1855. This is the highest figure ever reached by this country, although, with the exception of the 10-year period ending 1865, it ranked first among the nationa from 1849 until the end of 1905. During the 5-year period ending with that year, the United States produced 24.7 per cent of the world's gold. The tremendous increase from South Africa following 1890 resulted in that country's becoming the largest contributor for the five years 1906-1910, a position it has held with increasing dominance ever since. Relegated to second place in the period 1906 to 1910, the United States produced nearly 20 per cent of the world's new gold until 1920. From 1921 to 1925 it averaged 13.6 per cent and since then it has continued to decline in relative importance, accounting for only 10.9 per cent in 1927. Final figures for 1930 may place Canada second among the gold producers of the world.

Jan 1, 1931

By W. R. Crane

THE support of roof in mines is dependent largely on the character of the top rock and its occurrence. The formations overlying the orebed in the Birmingham district are sandstone and slate. The sandstone occurs in beds of sufficient thickness to constitute important elements in the system of support; the slate is relatively strong but is thinly stratified. The alternating beds of sandstone and slate furnish an excellent combination in that the former are strong and the latter are impervious; however, their continuity is broken by jointing or slip planes. The thickness, and consequent weight of the overlying formations, is important in so far as the size and arrangement of pillars are concerned but may be relatively unimportant, temporarily at least, as a factor in the support of the roof. The position of the respective beds of sandstone and slate, their relative thickness, and their inherent weakness because of the occurrence of faults and folds, may exert a predominating influence on their support in place, which is affected only in part by the weight of the cover. The only mine in this district that operates under a cover of approximately 2000 ft. (1900 ft.) is the Shannon so-called "twin slope," situated 14,000 ft. southeast of the portal of the No. 7 mine of the Tennessee Coal, Iron, & Railroad Co. The conditions in this mine indicate what may be expected in other mines when the same depth is attained; in fact the effect of pressure is shown in several mines that have not reached two-thirds of that depth. It is evident then that conditions affecting the support of roof will not improve but rather will become more difficult with the extension of the mines into the valley under a constantly increasing weight of cover. Further, the difficulties will probably be augmented by the occurrence of faults and other disturbed ground, the presence and position of which at present are largely unknown.

Jan 9, 1924

By Robert Anderson

ROUGHLY, a crack in a casting may be considered, for the moment, to be due to fracture of the alloy resulting from the stress set up by the contraction in volume on passing from the liquid to the solid state. Cracks may be external or surface, internal or deep-seated, or incipient or so-called strain cracks. Draws may appear as depressions, unevenness, and "pinching in" of the surface of a casting. Roughly, draws are due to contraction in volume and are governed largely by the same factors as cracks. A casting may be cracked, however, without being drawn. Shrinkage is a foundry term; it connotes the contraction in volume of a metal or alloy on passing from the liquid to the solid state. Pattern-makers' shrinkage is the total contraction in volume (including liquid, solidification, and solid shrinkage) that occurs when an alloy is poured into a mold. The contraction in volume of aluminum is one of the principal factors affecting the occurrence of cracks, as will be shown later, and the question of shrinkage and its control requires careful study in any treatment of cracking in castings. In the case of, sand and die castings, cracks have been attributed to a number of causes, but in the case of most light aluminum alloys, they are due to the large contraction in volume on freezing and the lack of its regulation or control. The most important factors are: (1) Contraction in volume; (2) composition of alloy; (3) quality of melting charge; (4) design of casting; (5) method of molding; (6) hardness of ramming; (7) method of gating; (8) hardness and characteristics of cores; (9) chills; (10) risers; (11) melting temperatures; (12) furnace used for melting; (13) pouring tempera-tures; (14) inclusions in alloys; (15) hot shortness of alloys; and (16) physical properties of alloys at high temperatures. Of these, the first, second, third, and eleventh to sixteenth involve ascertainable metallurgical facts; the remainder are largely matters of opinion, judgment and technical knowledge of men experienced in the production of castings.

Jan 10, 1921

By Peter T. Luckie, Harold L. Lovell, E. R. Palowitch, A. W. Deurbrouck, James K. Kindig

PART 1: DENSE MEDIUM SEPARATION by E. R. PALOWITCH and A. W. DEURBROUK INTRODUCTION During 1965, 64.9 percent of the 512 million tons of bituminous coal and lignite produced was cleaned mechanically, of which 95 million tons was cleaned by dense medium processes.l The percentage of bituminous coal and lignite cleaned mechanically by dense medium processes rose from 7.0 to 28.5 percent from 1938 to 1965. Dense medium separations include those coal preparation processes which clean raw coal by immersing it in a fluid having a density intermediate between clean coal and reject. As there is a general correlation between ash content and specific gravity, it is possible to achieve the required degree of removal of ash-forming impurities from a raw coal by regulating the specific gravity of the separating fluid. Dense medium processes offer the following advantages over other coal cleaning processes : 1. Ability to make sharp separations at any specific gravity within the range normally required even in the presence of high percentages of the feed in the range of e 0.1 specific gravity units. 2. Ability to maintain a separating gravity that can be controlled with ±0.005 specific gravity units. 3. Ability to handle a wide range of sizes (up to 14 inches). 4. Relatively low capital and operating costs when considered in terms of high capacity and small space requirements. 5. Ability to change specific gravity of separation to meet varying market requirements. 6. Ability to handle fluctuations in feed both in terms of quantity and quality. HISTORY Sir Henry Bessemer patented the first dense medium process in 1858. Solutions of the chlorides of iron, manganese, barium and calcium were proposed as separating liquids; the separation was made in a cone-shaped separator. One large-scale plant using calcium chloride was erected in Germany but soon was abandoned. The Chance process, using a mixture of sand and water, was first

Jan 1, 1968

By W. R. Crane

The support of roof in mines is dependent largely on the character of the top rock and its occurrence. The formations overlying the orebed in the Birmingham district are sandstone and slate. The sandstone occurs in beds of sufficient thickness to constitute important elements in the system of support; the slate is relatively strong but is thinly stratified. The alternating beds of sandstone and slate furnish an excellent combination in that the former are strong and the latter are impervious; however, their continuity is broken by jointing or slip planes. The thickness, and consequent weight of the overlying formations, is important in so far as the size and arrangement of pillars are concerned but may be relatively unimportant, temporarily at least, as a factor in the support of the roof. The position of the respective beds of sandstone and slate, their relative thickness, and their inherent weakness because of the occurrence of faults and folds, may exert a predominating influence on their support in place, which is affected only in part by the weight of the cover. The only mine in this district that operates under a cover of approximately 2000 ft. (1900 ft.) is the Shannon so-called "twin slope," situated 14,000 ft. southeast of the portal of the No. 7 mine of the Tennessee Coal, Iron, & Railroad Co. The conditions in this mine indicate what may be expected in other mines when the same depth is attained; in fact, the effect of pressure is shown in several mines that have not reached two-thirds of that depth. It is evident, then, that conditions affecting the support of roof will not improve but rather will become more difficult with the extension of the mines into the valley under a constantly increasing weight of cover. Further, the difficulties will probably be augmented by the occurrence of faults and other disturbed ground, the presence and position of which at present are largely unknown.

Jan 1, 1925

By Archer E. Wheeler, Milo W. Krejci

The Boston & Montana Reduction Works at Great Falls, Mont., was formerly the reduction works of the Boston & Montana Consolidated Copper & Silver Mining Co., and continued as the reduction plant for the independent company until June 1, 1910, when the consolidation of a large number of the operating companies of Butte was effected. It then became merged in the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. as the Boston & Montana Reduction Department of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. The history of copper converting at this plant, while not covering the entire period of the commercial use of the process in this country, does cover by far the larger part of it, and as the operation of and appliances for the process have undergone many changes during the time, it may, perhaps, be of some interest to put the record of these changes into permanent form. The plan followed in the preparation of this paper has been to give first a brief chronological record of the principal events and changes and then, even at the risk of some repetitions, to give more detaild accounts of some of these changes under separate headings. The headings for the complete paper are as follows: 1. General. Chronological Review. 10. Development of Different Classes 2. Mechanical Manipulation. of Converters After Class I. 3. Casting of Finished Copper. 11. Basic Lining. 4. Tamping of Linings. 12. Number and Size of Tuyeres. 5. Early Acid Linings. 13. Cast Copper Tuyeres. 6. Acid Linings With the Use of Ore. 14. Efficiency of Air. 7. Introduction of Flux Through the 15. Size of Converter Mouth. Tuyeres. 16. Height of Converter. 8. Bottom Blast. 17. Summary. 9. Disposal of Converter Slag, General Chronological Review. Ground was broken for the general concentrating and smelting plant in the spring of 1,891. The first departments to start operations were the concentrator in March, 1892, and the Brückner roasting and reverbera-tory smelting departments in April, 1892. The converter department

Jan 1, 1914

By A. M. Gaudin

THE study that is presented here was undertaken in order to condense information concerning comminution, and covering a great variety of conditions, into one or several rules which would be of use in the development of a systematic theory as well as in many directly practical ways. As the result of this work, the following conclusions appear justified 1. Rocks may be classified, from the point of view of comminution, into two general classes which are (a) structurally homogeneous, and (b) structurally heterogenous. Structurally homogeneous rocks are those in which fracture takes place through grains and grain boundaries alike; heterogeneous rocks are those in which fracture passes in preference through grain boundaries. 2. If a sized product composed of structurally homogeneous rock grains is crushed, a product results in which the relation between the percentage weight of grains of various sizes and these sizes themselves follows a definite law. This is not true of structurally heterogeneous rocks. 3. Ball milling with structurally homogeneous rocks, and under certain conditions, presents exceptions to this rule. 4. In ball milling with structurally homogeneous rocks, there exists a critical ratio of size of feed to size of balls, above which the machine operates essentially by surface wear, and below which it operates essentially by breaking across the body of the particle. 5. In ball milling, with structurally homogeneous rocks, and when the size of feed grains exceeds the critical size, the particles worn off are of a, substantially definite size which depends upon the ball size 6. In the case of a typical heterogeneous rock, such as Manhattan schist, particles are crushed in such a way that there is a greater proportion of grains of the size that is the average grain-size of the rock than there would be in that range of size with a structurally homogeneous rock. This has been found to be true with-all the crushers tested. 7. Different methods of crushing produce grains of different shapes.

Jan 2, 1926

By H. H. Taft

IT has long been known that the volcanic area south of Belmont, Nye county, Nevada, had mining possibilities. Some of the old-time prospectors knew that gold existed there. Its remoteness from any source of supplies, its long distances from water, the absence of game, and more, perhaps, the lack of grass for animals to subsist upon, has made this an unattractive region in which to search for mines. The decline of the Comstock mines, the exhaustion of sun-dry large and rich ore-bodies, the high cost of mining, marketing, and particularly the ruinously high freight-charges upon refractory ore that had to be shipped to distant smelters, have kept investors out of Nevada for the last few years; and mining people have hardly yet awakened to the importance of Tonopah, Goldfield and perhaps the newer and less developed districts. The discovery of Tonopah by J. L. Butler, who located the Mizpah Claim in May, 1900, and the fortunes soon realized there, attracted many people. As the boom declined, many went away, some scattering out into the surrounding country, and the population is now about 7,000. In the fall of 1902 a discovery of gold was made 23 miles south, in what is now known as the Sandstorm group, 4 miles NW. of Goldfield. In the winter of 1903-4 the Combination, January and Florence mines were discovered, and shipments of high-grade ore soon followed. In January, 1905, there were 10,000 people in Goldfield. In June, 1904, rich gold-ore was found 85 miles SE., at the foot of the south end of the Kawich mountains, but this discovery was kept quiet until a re-location could be made. On August 10, 1904, the Bullfrog claims, and a month later the Ladd mountain and neighboring claims, were located. The Shoshone group was located September 24. This district is

Nov 1, 1905

By Robert Keeney

THE electric smelting of manganese ore and the production of ferro- manganese did not exist as an industry, in the United States or elsewhere, previous to the outbreak of war in 1914. Ferromanganese had been produced, electrically, during times of high prices by two companies at Niagara Falls and by several European companies, but the production. was spasmodic, and none was electrically produced when ferromanganese sold at from $35 to $40 per ton. Thus the electric smelting of manganese ore must be considered as a development caused by the high prices prevailing during the years 1916, 1917 and 1918, and the necessity of smelting domestic ore in order to fill the ferromanganese requirements of the steel industry of the United States, which increased from 189,088 tons in 1914 to 356,356 tons in 1918. The electric furnace is well adapted to smelting domestic-ore because it can be located in small units near the source of ore supply. In 1918, the ferromanganese production of the United States was 333,027 tons, of which about 7 per cent., or 23,000 tons, was produced in the electric furnace. The electric furnace not only assisted materially in the development of a domestic-ore supply but made a considerable saving of coke, as it requires about 1,4 tons of bituminous or lignite coal per ton of ferromanganese compared with a blast-furnace consumption of 2.9 tons of coke per ton of ferromanganese. Some of the plants in the United States that smelted manganese ore in the electric furnace during the war and in 1920 are listed in Tabled. From early in 1919 to about February, 1920, little ferromanganese was produced in the electric furnace. During this period the price of ferro-manganese (78 to 82 per cent. manganese) was about $100 per ton. During the first half of 1920, several plants resumed operation when the, price of. ferromanganese (76 to 80 per cent. grade) gradually increased to $200 per ton, delivered.

Jan 2, 1921