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By E. DeGoyler

The Furbero oil field lies in the Gulf coastal plain of Mexico between the important ports of Tampico and Vera Cruz and about one-third of the distance between the two points from the latter (Lat. 20" 22' N., 97" 30' W. Gren.). It is in the State of Vera Cruz, about 14 miles west by south of the village of Papantla in the canton of the same name, and is the most southern of the developed oil fields of the Tampico-Tuxpam region being a distance of 50 miles south by east from the Potrero del Llano field and 42 miles in the same direction from the Alamo field. The field has been developed by the Oil Fields of Mexico Co. and is in the midst of a large block of lands owned or leased by them. Communication is through the port of Tuxpam with which it is connected by a narrow-gauge railway and 6-in. pipe line some 52 miles in length. This field is of more than ordinary interest since it represents a type of oil deposit hitherto unknown. So far as I am aware, no other commercially valuable deposit of oil is known to occur under conditions of accumulation similar to those found here. The igneous nature of the so-called 'sand' encountered in drilling was not recognized until a number of wells had been drilled; and it was not until recently that the geological relations of the sill or laccolith, which gives rise to the accumulation of oil, were known and the so-called 'anticline' was known to be, in part at least, the result of igneous intrusion. Geological surveys in this general region were made in 1900-1901 by W. H. Dalton and in 1907-1909 by P. C. A. Stewart, F. W. Moon, Leonard V. Dalton, and Dr. Max Muhlberg. More recent surveys have been made, however, under the direction of the author, by E. L. Ickes, B. C. Belt, B. Hartley, and Harve Loomis. Notes of the earlier examinations were not available with the exception of the report by Dr. Muhlberg who apparently first recognized the true nature of the Furbero intrusion. This paper is indebted to his work and that of the more recent surveys for much of the detail regarding stratigraphy and to Messrs. Percy Furber and Arthur C. Payne, President and General Manager of the Oil Fields of Mexico Go. for permission to publish, and for much of the in-

Jan 1, 1916

By L. W. Davies

A problem often encountered is the provision of materials which have impurity contents below a certain specified level. This problem is in some cases solved by making use of the segregation of the impurity with respect to the liquid and solid states of the material: an ingot of the material is subjected to directional solidification and the ends of the ingot. which are richer in solutes which respectively raise and lower the melting point of the solvent, are removed. An important extension of this process is the zone-refining process invented by pfann,' in which molten zones are passed successively along the length of an ingot and displace solutes towards the ends. Pfann's process is particularly appropriate in cases for which the segregation coefficient k does not differ greatly from unity, or when the impurity content must be kept extremely low (-=,6 atom fraction); it is widely used, particularly in the purification of materials for use in semiconductor electronic devices. It is the purpose of this paper to investigate theoretically the efficiency of the above refining processes; that is! we determine the most economic method of attaining a given yield of solvent of specified purity, taking into account the variables of the process. One variable of interest is the effective value of the segregation coefficient. which depends on the rate of movement of the liquid-solid interface and on the degree of stirring in the liquid; in addition to this, in the zone-refining process we are also interested in the choice of zone length for most efficient operation. A mathematical determination is made here of the lengths of successive molten zones which give, for an initially uniform distribution, the most efficient removal of a solute of arbitrary distribution coefficient. In order to be able to give a quantitative treatment of efficiency, we first define figures of merit applicable to a given distribution of solute. FIGURE OF MERIT Let an ingot of length L contain a distribution y(x) of solute: we confine our discussion to mono-tonic distributions, in order to avoid inconsistencies in the subsequent analysis. The first moments of the distribution about the origin and x = L are respectively L F = hy{x)dx [I] G = f(L -x)y(x)dx = YoL2-F, [21 where yoL is the total amount of solute present. We shall see that the quantities F and G are useful figures of merit for a discussion of the efficiency of zone-refining processes. In the first place, it is

Jan 1, 1960

By Irving M. Symonds

Compania Minera de Penoles, S. A., at its Avalos unit operates a lead-zinc concentrator having a capacity of about 600 short tons per day. Lead and zinc concentrates are made by flotation methods. The concentrator is at Terminal de Provi-dencia, in the state of Zacatecas, some 70 miles south of Saltillo, Coahuila. The Penoles-Avalos railroad operating between the plant and Estacion Avalos, a distance of 6 miles, makes connections with the Coahuila and Zacatecas railroad, which in turn connects with the Nacionales de Mexico at Saltillo. The three railroads are each of different gauge, requiring the transfer of all supplies and concentrates at each junction. The mill operates on company ores, on ores from leased mines, and as a custom mill. The custom business is very small. The lead concentrates are shipped to company smelters at Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and Torreon, Coahuila. Since the European war, all zinc concentrates have been shipped to the United States. Ore Treated The major source of ore supply is a group of four mines owned or leased by the company, some three miles south of the mill in the mountains, from which the ore is delivered to the mill by a gravity aerial tramway. Custom ore comes in by rail. The ores occur in chimneys. The upper levels contained oxidized siliceous ores of lead, copper, silver and gold, with varying amounts of zinc. These ores were direct-smelted. In the first two years of operation a good deal of the tailing loss was caused by the oxidized content of the ores milled. Much of the ore in the transition zones between the oxides and sulphides was not mined. The ores now being milled are clean, hard sulphides in a limestone gangue, with only occasional contamination of oxides. The lead and zinc sulphides are of coarse structure and are freed even above flotation sizes. The galena is usually "steel" colored, easily and quickly floated. When there is any oxidation, it is usually on the coarsest crystals. The zinc minerals vary a good deal in color; a resin sphalerite predominates but there are varying shades of brown marmatites. On an average, the zinc sulphides contain 64 per cent zinc. The only common copper mineral is chalcopy-rite. Little is known of the occurrence of gold and silver. Waste minerals are mainly limestone and pyrite, both of which are barren. The ores vary from 20 to 35 per cent pyrite. Mill heads for the year 1940 and the first eight months of 1941 are given in Table I.

Jan 1, 1943

By Irving M. Symonds

Compania Minera de Penoles, S. A., at its Avalos unit operates a lead-zinc concentrator having a capacity of about 600 short tons per day. Lead and zinc concentrates are made by flotation methods. The concentrator is at Terminal de Provi-dencia, in the state of Zacatecas, some 70 miles south of Saltillo, Coahuila. The Penoles-Avalos railroad operating between the plant and Estacion Avalos, a distance of 6 miles, makes connections with the Coahuila and Zacatecas railroad, which in turn connects with the Nacionales de Mexico at Saltillo. The three railroads are each of different gauge, requiring the transfer of all supplies and concentrates at each junction. The mill operates on company ores, on ores from leased mines, and as a custom mill. The custom business is very small. The lead concentrates are shipped to company smelters at Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and Torreon, Coahuila. Since the European war, all zinc concentrates have been shipped to the United States. Ore Treated The major source of ore supply is a group of four mines owned or leased by the company, some three miles south of the mill in the mountains, from which the ore is delivered to the mill by a gravity aerial tramway. Custom ore comes in by rail. The ores occur in chimneys. The upper levels contained oxidized siliceous ores of lead, copper, silver and gold, with varying amounts of zinc. These ores were direct-smelted. In the first two years of operation a good deal of the tailing loss was caused by the oxidized content of the ores milled. Much of the ore in the transition zones between the oxides and sulphides was not mined. The ores now being milled are clean, hard sulphides in a limestone gangue, with only occasional contamination of oxides. The lead and zinc sulphides are of coarse structure and are freed even above flotation sizes. The galena is usually "steel" colored, easily and quickly floated. When there is any oxidation, it is usually on the coarsest crystals. The zinc minerals vary a good deal in color; a resin sphalerite predominates but there are varying shades of brown marmatites. On an average, the zinc sulphides contain 64 per cent zinc. The only common copper mineral is chalcopy-rite. Little is known of the occurrence of gold and silver. Waste minerals are mainly limestone and pyrite, both of which are barren. The ores vary from 20 to 35 per cent pyrite. Mill heads for the year 1940 and the first eight months of 1941 are given in Table I.

Jan 1, 1943

By James W. Dally, William L. Fourney, Anders Ladegaard Peterson

For the past 3 years, the authors have been conducting research sponsored by the National Science Foundation (RANN) to improve the process of excavation by drilling and blasting. The approach followed has been experimental where the development of stress waves and fractures initiated at the bore hole have been investigated in order to obtain a complete understanding of the dynamic fracture process. The second step in the approach has been to introduce modifications in the drill and blast procedure which will permit closer control of the fracture process. The laboratory investigations involve high speed photography where the dynamic fracture process is recorded with a Cranz-Schardin 1, 2 multiple-spark camera. The camera is equipped with 16 spark gaps which are pulsed at 25 K volts to produce an intense but very short (0.5 sec) flash of light. The camera is capable of recording 16 photographs of a dynamic event at framing rates which can be varied from 30,000 to 1,500,000 frames per second. The exposure time is sufficiently short to stop motion associated with detonating explosive charges and to make visible the details of the fracture process at a bore hose. The bore hole in a massive intact rock formation is modelled with a two dimensional plate containing a circular hole to represent the bore hole. The model material employed is a transparent polyester known commercially as Homalite 100.* This polymeric material is extremely brittle as evidenced by its extremely low fracture toughness of [ ]. The fracture toughness is a measure of the ability of a material to resist the propagation of flaws or small cracks. In comparison, Schmidt3 has recently measured the fracture toughness of Salem limestone and determined [ ]. Thus, the Homalite 100 should closely model the brittle nature of rock where fractures occur at small flaws and propagate without any apparent plastic deformation. Homalite 100 is also birefringent, which indicates that it becomes optically anisotropic when subjected to either static or dynamic loads. Circularly polarized light is transmitted through the loaded Homalite 100 model in a polariscope4 and the birefringence produces an optical interference pattern which is called a fringe pattern. For dynamic photoelasticity, the multiple-spark camera is equipped with polaroid filters to produce the circularly polarized light required to generate the photoelastic fringe patterns. An example of a singlespark frame showing a fringe pattern from a typical experiment is presented in [Fig. 1]. The photograph was taken 0.000072 sec (72 sec) after the detonation of the explosive charge. The circular fringes are due to the outgoing dilatational or P type stress wave and travel with a velocity of 85,000 in. per sec (2260 m/sec) in the Homalite 100. The P wave is followed by a second lower velocity stress wave known as the shear or S type wave which propagates at a velocity of 49,000 in. per sec (1245 m/sec). In the local neighborhood of the bore hole, several radial cracks are visible. These cracks propagate at essentially a constant velocity of 15,000 in. per sec (380 m/sec) prior to arrest. The fringes about the crack tips and in the local region of the bore hole are primarily due to the residual gases contained in the bore hole after the explosive charge was detonated. Sixteen frames similar to this one are recorded during the experiment to give full field visualization of the dynamic event at 16 discrete times over its duration. The fringe order number N is related to the difference in the principal stresses of and 02 according to a stress optic law4: [ ] where f0 = material fringe value, and h = model thickness. The wholefield dynamic-fringe patterns provide a basis for simultaneously observing the interaction between propagating cracks and the stresses which drive these cracks. Fracture Control Experiments Improvements in the efficiency of the drill and blast procedures must involve close control of the fracture process following the detonation of an explosive charge in a bore hole. By control it is implied that the number of cracks initiated and the location of each crack on the wall of the bore hole can be specified. Control also, involves orienting each crack and maintaining the crack path and velocity until the specified crack length is achieved. If the entire fracture process can be controlled, then rounds can be designed to optimize volume removed. fragment size and minimize costs. One area of blasting where fracture control is vitally important is in underground excavation where the strength and stability of the rock walls must be maintained and smoothness and precision of the walls must be achieved. The smooth blasting method is one of the most commonly employed procedures for achieving some degree of fracture control. In smooth blasting, the central region of material is first removed, and then the final row of closely spaced undercharged or cushioned holes are fired to remove the final volume and produce a smooth wall. In some instances, unloaded or dummy holes between the loaded holes are recommended to guide the fracture plane. This investigation pertained to an evaluation of 3 features of the smooth blasting process. These included (a) the effect of stress reinforcement on fracture by simultaneously firing 2 charges; (b) the influence of a dummy hole on control of the fracture planes between 2 simultaneously fired charge holes; and (c) the influence of dummy hole spacing on fracture plane control.

Jan 1, 1979

By L. W. Davies

A problem often encountered is the provision of materials which have impurity contents below a certain specified level. This problem is in some cases solved by making use of the segregation of the impurity with respect to the liquid and solid states of the material: an ingot of the material is subjected to directional solidification and the ends of the ingot. which are richer in solutes which respectively raise and lower the melting point of the solvent, are removed. An important extension of this process is the zone-refining process invented by Pfann,' in which molten zones are passed successively along the length of an ingot and displace solutes towards the ends. Pfann's process is particularly appropriate in cases for which the segregation coefficient k does not differ greatly from unity, or when the impurity content must be kept extremely low (=10-6 atom fraction); it is widely used, particularly in the purification of materials for use in semiconductor electronic devices. It is the purpose of this paper to investigate theoretically the efficiency of the above refining processes; that is! we determine the most economic method of attaining a given yield of solvent of specified purity, taking into account the variables of the process. One variable of interest is the effective value of the segregation coefficient. which depends on the rate of movement of the liquid-solid interface and on the degree of stirring in the liquid; in addition to this, in the zone-refining process we are also interested in the choice of zone length for most efficient operation. A mathematical determination is made here of the lengths of successive molten zones which give, for an initially uniform distribution, the most efficient removal of a solute of arbitrary distribution coefficient. In order to be able to give a quantitative treatment of efficiency, we first define figures of merit applicable to a given distribution of solute. FIGURE OF MERIT Let an ingot of length L contain a distribution y(x) of solute: we confine our discussion to mono-tonic distributions, in order to avoid inconsistencies in the subsequent analysis. The first moments of the distribution about the origin and x = L are respectively L F = hy{x)dx [I] G = f(L -x)y(x)dx = YoL2-F, [21 where yoL is the total amount of solute present. We shall see that the quantities F and G are useful figures of merit for a discussion of the efficiency of zone-refining processes. In the first place, it is

Jan 1, 1960

By T. Sterry Hunt

This remarkable mine, to which attention has lately been drawn, is situated not far from the New River, in Ashe County, North Carolina, on a spur of the Blue Ridge which lies between the main crest of this name and the so-called Iron Mountain, a part of the Unaka or Smoky Mountain range. It is on a true fissure-lode, which cuts the strata of gneiss and mica-schist of the region. These, which have the lithological characters of what I have called the Montalban or White Mountain series, have here a dip of about forty-five degrees to the southeast, while the lode is vertical, with a course north 60' east. Both the country-rock and the lode, as is usual in this region, are decomposed to considerable depths; and the latter exhibits a cap of hydrous peroxide of iron or gossan, blocks of which, left by the denudation of the softer inclosing rock, are scattered over the surface, and first called attention to the locality as a source of iron ore. In sinking upon this lode, it was found that the porous gossan at a certain depth became charged with carbonate and red oxide of copper, and lower down was replaced by sulphuretted ores of this metal of remarkable richness. This deposit was worked for copper, in an irregular manner, before the late civil war, but was afterwards abandoned, and only reopened during the present year, by Messrs. S. S. & J. E. Clayton, of Baltimore. The outcrop has been traced for 1900 feet, and the sulphuretted copper ores have been met with in five shafts in a distance of 661 feet, a drift having moreover been carried for the above distance through the solid ore. The breadth of the lode, so far as opened, varies from six to eight feet to fourteen feet in places, and that of the outcrop of gossan is, in some parts, twenty feet. After comparing this deposit with the copper mines of Ducktown, Polk County, Tennessee, and those of Carroll County, Virginia, it is evident that we have, at Ore Knob, to do with the same kind of black ores as were met with in these mines, and will be noticed further on, Beneath the gossan, at Ore Knob, is found, in some parts, an iron-black, friable, drusy, crystalline, sulphuretted ore, inclosing grains of quartz, garnet, and magnetite, besides a black non-magnetic mineral, not attacked by nitric acid. This ore contains about 36 per cent. of copper, and portions have the mineralogical charac-

By Irving M. Symonds

COMPA[N]IA Minera de Penoles, S. A., at its Avalos unit operates a lead-zinc concentrator having a capacity of about 600 short tons per day. Lead and zinc concentrates are made by flotation methods. The concentrator is at Terminal de Providencia, in the state of Zacatecas, some 70 miles south of Saltillo, Coahuila. The Pe[n]oles-Avalos railroad operating between the plant and Estacion Avalos, a distance of 6 miles, makes connections with the Coahuila and Zacatecas railroad, which in turn connects with the Nacionales de Mexico at Saltillo. The three railroads are each of different gauge, requiring the transfer of all supplies and concentrates at each junction. The mill operates on company ores, on ores from leased mines, and as a custom mill. The custom business is very small. The lead concentrates are shipped to company smelters at Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and Torréon, Coahuila. Since the European war, all zinc concentrates have been shipped to the United States. ORE TREATED The major source of ore supply is a group of four mines owned or leased by the company, some three miles south of the mill in the mountains, from which the ore is delivered to the mill by a gravity aerial tramway. Custom ore comes in by rail. The ores occur in chimneys. The upper levels contained oxidized siliceous ores of lead, copper, silver and gold, with varying amounts of zinc. These ores were direct-smelted. In the first two years of operation a good deal of the tailing loss was caused by the oxidized content of the ores milled. Much of the ore in the transition zones between the oxides and sulphides was not mined. The ores now being milled are clean, hard sulphides in a limestone gangue, with only occasional contamination of oxides. The lead and zinc sulphides are of coarse structure and are freed even above flotation sizes. The galena is usually "steel" colored, easily and quickly floated. When there is any oxidation, it is usually on the coarsest crystals. The zinc minerals vary a good deal in color; a resin sphalerite predominates but there are varying shades of brown marmatites. On an average, the zinc sulphides contain 64 per cent zinc. The only common copper mineral is chalcopyrite. Little is known of the occurrence of gold and silver. Waste minerals are mainly limestone and pyrite, both of which are barren. The ores vary from 20 to 35 per cent pyrite. Mill heads for the year 1940 and the first eight months of 1941 are given in Table I. [ ]

Jan 1, 1942

By V. A. Zanadvoroff

The mine and concentrator of the Howe Sound Co., Chelan Division, are at Holden, in a remote section of the Cascade Mountains of northwestern Washington. Holden is at an elevation of 3200 ft., in the narrow valley of Railroad Creek. This creek drains into Lake Chelan, at a point some 40 miles up the lake from the town of Chelan. The concentrator treats 2000 to 2500 tons of low-grade copper-gold-zinc ore per day. Concentration is achieved by the differential flotation process, with recovery of 94 per cent copper and 82 per cent gold in the copper concentrate, followed by the recovery of 65 to 70 per cent zinc in the zinc flotation circuit. The final flotation tailing is deslimed, and coarse . sands, representing 60 to 70 percent of the total, are cyanided. The tonnage of tailing material amounts to 1900 to 2370 tons per day. General Considerations The property is within the Chelan National Forest. Railroad Creek is a fishing stream, being stocked regularly with trout from State hatcheries. Consequently, in planning a milling operation, the Howe Sound Co. was obliged to avoid any pollution of the stream by tailing material, and also destruction of valuable stands of timber. Moreover, the selected tailing- disposal sites should not mar the natural beauty of the valley. In addition to these requirements, the problem of tailing disposal at Holden was complicated by topography and climatic conditions. The valley is long and narrow, averaging 1200 to 1500 ft. in width. Its walls are flaring at a steep angle. There are no extensive flat areas suitable for deposition of tailing. All valleys tributary to Railroad Creek, also the well-marked paths of snowslides, must be avoided. Finally, the direction of prevailing winds and possible dust hazard arising therefrom dictated the necessity of selecting the tailing-disposal sites downstream from the mill building and two campsites. Heavy snowfall during the winter months of November to March, inclusive, impedes building of the retaining dike, making it necessary to prepare the needed storage space during the summer months. It is inadvisable, also, to do any dike building during the freezing weather, because the dike becomes unstable with the spring thaws, producing inevitable "sloughing" of the built-up borders. Tailing-disposal Sues The existing tailing-disposal areas are near the south wall of the valley. They were developed, and put to use in the following sequence: No. I. Area.—Covers approximately 10 acres. Built up to the height of 60 ft. and abandoned. Total length of dike border is 1900 feet.

Jan 1, 1947

By V. A. Zanadvoroff

The mine and concentrator of the Howe Sound Co., Chelan Division, are at Holden, in a remote section of the Cascade Mountains of northwestern Washington. Holden is at an elevation of 3200 ft., in the narrow valley of Railroad Creek. This creek drains into Lake Chelan, at a point some 40 miles up the lake from the town of Chelan. The concentrator treats 2000 to 2500 tons of low-grade copper-gold-zinc ore per day. Concentration is achieved by the differential flotation process, with recovery of 94 per cent copper and 82 per cent gold in the copper concentrate, followed by the recovery of 65 to 70 per cent zinc in the zinc flotation circuit. The final flotation tailing is deslimed, and coarse . sands, representing 60 to 70 percent of the total, are cyanided. The tonnage of tailing material amounts to 1900 to 2370 tons per day. General Considerations The property is within the Chelan National Forest. Railroad Creek is a fishing stream, being stocked regularly with trout from State hatcheries. Consequently, in planning a milling operation, the Howe Sound Co. was obliged to avoid any pollution of the stream by tailing material, and also destruction of valuable stands of timber. Moreover, the selected tailing- disposal sites should not mar the natural beauty of the valley. In addition to these requirements, the problem of tailing disposal at Holden was complicated by topography and climatic conditions. The valley is long and narrow, averaging 1200 to 1500 ft. in width. Its walls are flaring at a steep angle. There are no extensive flat areas suitable for deposition of tailing. All valleys tributary to Railroad Creek, also the well-marked paths of snowslides, must be avoided. Finally, the direction of prevailing winds and possible dust hazard arising therefrom dictated the necessity of selecting the tailing-disposal sites downstream from the mill building and two campsites. Heavy snowfall during the winter months of November to March, inclusive, impedes building of the retaining dike, making it necessary to prepare the needed storage space during the summer months. It is inadvisable, also, to do any dike building during the freezing weather, because the dike becomes unstable with the spring thaws, producing inevitable "sloughing" of the built-up borders. Tailing-disposal Sues The existing tailing-disposal areas are near the south wall of the valley. They were developed, and put to use in the following sequence: No. I. Area.—Covers approximately 10 acres. Built up to the height of 60 ft. and abandoned. Total length of dike border is 1900 feet.

Jan 1, 1947

By Z. E. Arlin, R. D. Lynn

A deep well injection system is used by The Anaconda Co. for the disposal of uranium mill tailing water near Grants, N. M. A 2511-ft hole was cored and tested through Triassic, Permian, and Pennsylvanian (?) sediments and bottomed in Precambrian granite gneiss. The disposal well was plugged back to 1830 ft and completed in 563 ft of sandstones in the Yeso formation. The reservoir sandstones contain water similar to the injected waste water, and are isolated from overlying fresh-water aquifers by an evaporite barrier zone. Mill tailing water is decanted, filtered, and introduced into the well by gravity at an average rate of 400 gpm. The reservoir has a life expectancy of 10 years. The Anaconda Co. began uranium milling operations near Grants, N. M. in 1953 with a small mill that processed limestone ores. A larger second mill was built in 1955 to treat sandstone ores. In 1956 it became apparent that a large tailing pond would be required to contain the increased discharge of mill waste water. Research was begun on supplementary methods of disposal by which a minimal pond size could be maintained to avert excessive seepage losses. An intensive sampling program was begun to monitor the fresh-water wells in the area. The original limestone mill ceased operation in 1959. The present mill treats sandstone ores by sulfuric acid leach and a resin-in-pulp ion exchange recovery circuit that uses chloride elution. Process waste water is discharged to a tailing pond where, after evaporation losses, an annual average of about 400 gpm are available for injection into the disposal well. The waste water is a mildly acid solution that contains large amounts of manganese, iron, and the sulfate and chloride salts of sodium, calcium, and magnesium. It is a low-level radioactive fluid that contains small amounts of Uranium-natural, Thorium-230, and Radium-226. The average chemical and radioactive analyses of the waste water injected into the disposal well are shown in Column B of Table I. Disposal of the excess mill waste water by deep well injection was investigated after extensive research had proved that alternate methods were not satisfactory. A study of the regional geology and hydrology indicated that a disposal well was feasible, and a test well to basement rock was planned. Tentative plans for the test well and the results of the geologic and hydrologic studies were submitted to the New Mexico Dept. of Public Health, the New Mexico State Engineer's Office, the U.S. Atomic

Jan 1, 1962

By T. W. Healy, D. R. Dixon

The mechanism of activation of ZnS by metal ions and the subsequent flotation induced by xanthate has been considered as a surface redox reaction. By ultraviolet (UV) irradiation of ZnS suspensions, the normally inert ZnS is caused to react with xanthate in the absence of activator. By similar UV irradiation, the rate of adsorption-exchange of activator ions at the ZnS-H2O interface is also increased. Mechanisms of these reactions are proposed and compared to current electrochemical and semiconducting models of sulfide flotation.

Jan 1, 1976

By Andrew Hodge

ISSUES IN MINING LABOR The examination of mining labor issues is often confined to health, and safety. There are other issues, including the present state of mining manpower availability and utilization, and the nature of mineral industries' industrial relations, which are worthy of consideration. The state of the labor market for mining skills, the availability and utilization of mining engineers and related disciplines, the state of research and its employment of scientists and engineers, and the condition of mining industrial relations with all these groups, all have an important effect on the viability and economic health of the minerals production sector. PRODUCTION LABOR Why examine an industry's production labor market? People involved in an industry should be aware of what labor supplies will be relative to industry requirements. This advance information allows industry and government to plan ahead to alleviate problems by moving to affect labor supplies or to accommodate production to expected labor supplies. This is less costly and less painful than responding after the fact to labor market changes. Any industry requires some form of labor. Labor is especially important to the mining industry. Mining labor is well paid. Average annual earnings are higher than in manufacturing. Average hourly wages are also higher. Payroll costs form a high percentage of total cost in coal mining and nonmetallic minerals mining. In metal mining the percentage is comparable to the average for manufacturing. Payroll cost in oil and gas extraction is quite low, but a major proportion of cost is in the form of income to proprietors, i.e., unincorporated businesses. Mining labor is worthy of specific attention. The minerals extraction labor is unique in many ways. Mining labor and especially underground miners are differentiated from other "unskilled" labor. Miners cannot be considered as part of a larger labor pool. The mining labor market has exhibited a unique combination of characteristics. Mining is the only large sector of United States employment in which hourly wages are high and continuing to rise, yet employment declines. Although industry has introduced new labor-saving investments, and labor requirements continue to decline, there is evidence of a mining labor shortage. Specific problems have arisen in the mining labor market such as a present labor shortage in nonfuels mining. Understanding the causes and remedies for these specific problems is also important. These various problems and questions may be handled in a unified manner by examining the relationships of certain economic variables. The relationship that exists between changes in output, employment, labor productivity, and hours worked per week may be stated explicitly:

Jan 1, 1976

By Michael J. Messel

THE critical shortage of asbestos fiber in the world today brings to the foreground the question of locating and developing new deposits. The object of this paper is to discuss some of the more important factors which should be considered in the examination and valuation of a new asbestos enterprise. Some of the more important uses of asbestos fiber are for textiles, heat insulators, building materials, filters and a series of other uses. The properties of this mineral, such as fibrous structure, color, strength, silkiness and flexibility, coupled with resistance to fire, certain chemical action and decay make its application unique for certain industrial uses which consume over 500,000 tons annually. These same unique properties which make this mineral so valuable also make a deposit one of the most difficult to appraise accurately, because of the many undeterminable and varying factors which must be considered before a deposit can properly be termed commercial. The majority of the asbestos fiber today, having the above mentioned properties, is sold by grades which are based on fiber length. Present day fiber prices vary over a wide range from $800 to $225 for crude fibers and $300 to $20.00 per ton for milled grades. For valuation purposes a careful study should be made of existing fiber prices and markets. EXAMINATION OF DEPOSITS In carrying out prospecting and examination of a deposit, considerable caution is required to get the necessary information in the form that will have the most value for the final determination. There are two main classes of asbestos fibers, chrysotile and the amphiboles, the chrysotile being, by far, the most important both in abundance and uses. This paper will stress mainly chrysotile deposits, however, the amphiboles have many important uses, especially amosite and crocidalite. Their valuation presents special problems as other factors may be involved, especially as they are not graded according to any well defined and adopted standard but usually according to the use for which they are being supplied. Most chrysotile deposits occur in two main types of rock, (I) mainly in basic igneous, such as dunite and peridotite, (2) to a lesser extent in sedimentary rocks, such as dolomite and limestone. All of these require a certain degree of metamorphism to be favorable to asbestos formation. Approximately 90 pct of the asbestos deposits are derived from serpentinization of dunite or peridotite, whereby the magnesiumsilicate olivine was altered to hydrous magnesium-silicate serpentine. Under certain favorable geological conditions, this serpentine takes a fibrous form having a definite crystal structure, probably due to molecular rearrangement, and is known as chrysotile. The fiber veins are usually ir-

Jan 1, 1947

By L. Casagrande, C. O. Brawner, D. L. Pentz, B. Kennedy, E. Hoek, H. Q. Golder, K. Barron

H. L. HAMMERSLEY, B. C. Dept. of Mines. I would like to ask Mr. Brawner if the direction that he measured in the boreholes with the camera was referenced to magnetic north? MR. BRAWNER. Yes, it was. However, there is one problem that you may encounter if the ore body is magnetic; the borehole compass will give erroneous results. Three procedures are available to overcome this. The first one involves the use of a gyro compass instead of a magnetic compass. The second technique developed by Christiansen in Salt Lake City, is to orient the core with the use of scribing knives. The third method is to remove the compass needle and place a steel ball in the compass case. The hole must be drilled at a slight angle off the vertical. The location of the steel ball, which will roll to the underside of the hole is photographed. A borehole directional survey is then made, from which the bearing of the steel ball relative to the axis of the compass can be determined. The joint orientation is then related to this bearing at all depths. J. ROBINSON, B. C. Dept. of Mines. It was stated this morning that there have been some recent developments that give us the ability to drill horizontal drainage holes and install drainage pipes more cheaply than in the past. Would Mr. Brawner tell us some of the new developments and methods of installing these horizontal drain holes? MR. BRAWNER There are two zones in which you may be concerned about installing drains; the first is in the overburden soil, the second is in the rock. Each area requires a different installation method. If the rock is fairly massive and the holes will remain open, the simplest procedure is to use standard air track equipment or a percussion drill. At one of the mines in the Highland Valley, drains up to 300 ft. long have been installed with a percussion drill at a rate of one drain per day. The costs were in the order of $2.30 and $2.40 per foot. If the rock is quite soft, such as in a serpentine, it will be necessary to install a casing in the hole. The least expensive casing that will not deteriorate within the life required should be used. Plastic pipe or black iron pipe are commonly used. In soft rock, it may be necessary to drill with a casing to prevent the col-

Jan 1, 1971

By S. Suphi Yavasca, A. M. Gaudin

THIS paper is intended as a contribution to our knowledge of the mechanism of comminution and of the work of crushing. In a previous paper' it was shown that with quartz comminution proceeds as follows I. The size distribution of broken fragments made by a single fracture is such that the new surface on each grade is the same. 2. Multiple fracturing results in a size distribution such that in the fine sizes the surface per grade is the same in every grade; in coarse sizes the surface per grade decreases gradually with increasing size. In that paper it was mentioned that determinations on minerals other than quartz were in course of completion in order to establish the generality of these observations. In this paper, condensed data2 are presented for galena, pyrite and glass. Galena and pyrite are crystalline material and glass is noncrystalline. Galena has excellent cubic cleavage. Pyrite, although cubical, does not have marked cleavage. Quartz, on which the original determinations were made, does not cleave and although crystalline (hexagonal) breaks conchoidally. Glass breaks much like quartz. It is apparent, therefore, that the minerals selected represent some range in character of the solid without covering all possible types. GLASS Fifteen glass marbles were crushed individually in the pendulum crusher described in the preceding paper,1 then subjected to careful screening for 30 min. Six sized fractions were selected and cleaned in a hot 0.12 N solution of hydrochloric acid, washed with distilled water and dried on a hot plate. This was followed by an examination with a binocular microscope, to remove foreign matters not eliminated in cleaning as well as to eliminate "compacts" of fine particles. These compacts are groups of fine iragments that seem to be mechanically stuck together as a result of localized compacting during the comminution operation. The presence and the abundance of these compacts may be related to the amount and direction of the forces applied in different crushing devices. Since, properly, such compacts should be entirely eliminated in the sizing analyses, it is necessary to remove them to the last before making surface determinations on sized fractions. For example, with a - 28 + 35-mesh glass the surface areas of two samples, one cleaned with acid and under the binocular, the other only washed, were 102 and 172 sq. cm. per gram, respectively. Examination of the samples under an Ultropak microscope showed that washing alone failed to remove the compacts and also that it fails to remove certain fine dusts attached to the particles. Cleaning with acid loosens the fine dusts and

Jan 1, 1945

By M. I. Jacobson, M. L. Hammond

The solid solubilities of high-purity silver, aluminum, chromium, copper, and iron in zone-refined beryllium have been determined. Diffusion couple sandwiches of beryllium with aluminum, copper, and silver foil and diffusion couples of beryllium with two-phase alloys in the Be-Cr. Be-Fe, and Be-Ag systems were analyzed by electron beam micro-probe techniques. This paper describes the material used, the experimental methods for preparing the diffusion couples and the alloys, the analytical techniques, and the results obtained. The results are compared with those of previous investigators who used materials of lower purity. ~NVESTIGATORS of beryllium phase diagrams have often been hampered in their interpretations of certain phase boundaries because of the relatively low purity of the beryllium used. This has sometimes resulted in the appearance of three phases in the regions where only two should exist. Advances in purification methods, specifically zone refining, have made available beryllium that is considerably purer than the material previously used for phase diagram studies. The primary object of this investigation was to reex-amine portions of the beryllium-rich end of the binary systems of beryllium with silver, aluminum, chromium, copper, and iron to determine more accurately the limits of terminal solid solubility. The five elements—silver, aluminum, chromium, copper, and iron—include some which are commonly found as the major impurities in beryllium, some of which are being used as solid-solution alloying elements, and some of which are used in ductile matrix alloys. They are thus of considerable importance to physical metallurgists who must work with beryllium but who must rely on the present inaccurate or incomplete diagrams. The determination of more reliable diagrams would aid researchers concerned with the problems of alloying, heat treatment, and ductility. MATERIAL The beryllium was acquired from the Franklin Institute in the form of a single-crystal, 6 in. long by 1 in. in diam, zone-refined in three passes from Pechiney SR-grade beryllium bar. The principal impurities, as determined by mass spectrography at Battelle Memorial Institute, are shown in Table I. Vacuum-melted copper, silver, and aluminum, and electron-beam zone-refined iron were obtained from the Materials Research Corp. in the form of 1/2-in.- diam bars. Iodide chromium was obtained as flakes from the Chromalloy Corp. Analyses supplied with these metals are shown in Table 11. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Preparation of Diffusion Couples. Two types of dif-fusion couples were used in this study. For the copper, silver, and aluminum systems, the couples were sand-

Jan 1, 1969

By T. Sterry Hunt

THIS remarkable mine, to which attention has lately been drawn, is situated not far from the New River, in Ashe County, North Carolina, on a spur of the Blue Ridge which lies between the main crest of this name and the so-called Iron Mountain, a part of the Unaka or Smoky Mountain range. It is on a true fissure-lode, which cuts the strata of gneiss and mica-schist of the region. These, which have the lithological characters of what I have called the Montalban or White Mountain series, have here a dip of about forty-five degrees to the southeast, while the lode is vertical, with a course north 60° east. Both the country-rock and the lode, as is usual in this region, are decomposed to considerable depths ; and the latter exhibits a cap of hydrous peroxide of iron or gossan, blocks of which, left by the denudation of the softer inclosing rock, are scattered over the surface, and first called attention to the locality as a source of iron ore. In sinking upon this lode, it was found that the porous gossan at a certain depth became charged with carbonate and red oxide of copper, and lower down was replaced by sulphuretted ores of this metal of remarkable richness. This deposit was worked for copper, in an irregular manner, before the late civil war, but was afterwards abandoned, and only reopened during the present year, by Messrs. S. S. & J. E. Clayton, of Baltimore. The outcrop has been traced for 1900 feet, and the sulphuretted copper ores have been met with in five shafts in a distance of 661 feet, a drift having moreover been carried for the above distance through the solid ore. The breadth of the lode, so far as opened, varies from six to eight feet to fourteen feet in places, and that of the outcrop of gossan is, in some parts, twenty feet. After comparing this deposit with the copper mines of Ducktown, Polk County, Tennessee, and those of Carroll County, Virginia, it is evident that we have, at Ore Knob, to do with the same kind of black ores as were met with in these mines, and will be noticed further on. Beneath the gossan, at Ore Knob, is found, in some parts, an iron-black, friable, drusy, crystalline, sulphuretted ore, inclosing grains of quartz, garnet, and magnetite, besides a black non-magnetic mineral, not attacked by nitric acid. This ore contains about 36 per cent. of copper, and portions have the mineralogical charac-

Jan 1, 1874

By Raymond Mancha

The purpose of an accurate underground pressure survey is to obtain a pressure gradient along the circuit or circuits under investigation. The pressure gradient shows the rate of pressure drop between various observation points along a circuit. This determines excessive resistance regions and the economic feasibility of correcting such conditions by cleaning airways, driving additional airways, or modifying existing airways. A pressure gradient is useful for predicting the effect on other parts of the circuit when adjusting the air regulation on any one split or when planning a field airshaft or slope or a new drift to the outcrop. A single-compartment airshaft often produces disappointing results because it relievcs only a part of the circuit instead of the over-all mine pressure. It is valuable to know how the circuit pressure drop is distributed. The underground pressure survey is used also to determine the friction coefficient for various types of airway. High precision work is required to establish these vital data for predicting the characteristics of mine pressure volume when projecting new mine developments. Methods Regardless of the type of instrument used to conduct a circuit pressure survey, the work should preferably be performed at a time when the mine is idle, in order to avoid air-flow disturbances from moving trips and cages or from the opening or closing of trap doors. Preferably the survey should be made when the barometer is comparatively steady, to restrict variation in the air specific weight at observation stations while the circuit is traversed. The two most commonly used instruments for underground pressure surveys are: (I) the altimeter; (2) the inclined manometer with hose extensions. The altimeter is sufficiently accurate for determining the underground pressure gradient and is preferable to the nianometer for such work because of greater flexibility and shorter time required for the traverse. With the altimeter it is possible to select more widely separated observation stations than is practical with the manometer, with its restricted hose extension lengths. The altimeter also permits easier travel along haulage roads between airway observation stations, avoiding badly obstructed airways. The inclined manometer is more reliable than the altimeter for establishing friction coefficients in mine airways. Manometer readings are unaffected by differences in elevations between stations, which require corrections to altimeter data. The manometer provides direct reading without temperature correction, which may or may not be true with the altimeter, depending upon the make of instrument used. The elimination of correction factors combined with the instantaneous, simultaneous and

Jan 1, 1947

By Raymond Mancha

The purpose of an accurate underground pressure survey is to obtain a pressure gradient along the circuit or circuits under investigation. The pressure gradient shows the rate of pressure drop between various observation points along a circuit. This determines excessive resistance regions and the economic feasibility of correcting such conditions by cleaning airways, driving additional airways, or modifying existing airways. A pressure gradient is useful for predicting the effect on other parts of the circuit when adjusting the air regulation on any one split or when planning a field airshaft or slope or a new drift to the outcrop. A single-compartment airshaft often produces disappointing results because it relievcs only a part of the circuit instead of the over-all mine pressure. It is valuable to know how the circuit pressure drop is distributed. The underground pressure survey is used also to determine the friction coefficient for various types of airway. High precision work is required to establish these vital data for predicting the characteristics of mine pressure volume when projecting new mine developments. Methods Regardless of the type of instrument used to conduct a circuit pressure survey, the work should preferably be performed at a time when the mine is idle, in order to avoid air-flow disturbances from moving trips and cages or from the opening or closing of trap doors. Preferably the survey should be made when the barometer is comparatively steady, to restrict variation in the air specific weight at observation stations while the circuit is traversed. The two most commonly used instruments for underground pressure surveys are: (I) the altimeter; (2) the inclined manometer with hose extensions. The altimeter is sufficiently accurate for determining the underground pressure gradient and is preferable to the nianometer for such work because of greater flexibility and shorter time required for the traverse. With the altimeter it is possible to select more widely separated observation stations than is practical with the manometer, with its restricted hose extension lengths. The altimeter also permits easier travel along haulage roads between airway observation stations, avoiding badly obstructed airways. The inclined manometer is more reliable than the altimeter for establishing friction coefficients in mine airways. Manometer readings are unaffected by differences in elevations between stations, which require corrections to altimeter data. The manometer provides direct reading without temperature correction, which may or may not be true with the altimeter, depending upon the make of instrument used. The elimination of correction factors combined with the instantaneous, simultaneous and

Jan 1, 1947