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By A. D. Kennedy

No major breakthroughs in concentration technology were made during the year, but solid advances were made in engineering. Perhaps the most significant was the growing acceptance of the unified or "systems approach" to mineral extraction, processing, refining, transportation and marketing. Under the systems approach, transportation is no longer some- one else's business, but a high cost item within the planning engineer's purview. The Savage River pipeline 1,2 and the Marconaflo process3,4 for land and ocean transport of iron ore slurry, are examples showing that evaluation of transportation as part of a unitized system can lead to innovation, and the determination of the physical location of some of the operations. There is even speculation that the cost reductions possible by ocean transport of iron ore slurry may bring in more plants using direct-reduction steelmaking processes.4 Some perennial problems can be solved by application of the systems approach; for example, under this concept the replacement of three small shovels in the pit with two larger shovels is not permissible on the basis of lower operating costs; the resulting change in ore blending upon metallurgical performance must first be evaluated to prove whether or not the change is economically beneficial to the entire operation (perhaps new storage-blending facilities will be indicated).

Jan 1, 1970

By Theodore Marvin

USE of airplanes to facilitate mining and petroleum operations has definitely left the "doubting Thomas" stage. As a matter of fact, front pages no longer record the novelty of this efficient arm of the mineral industry. We are now down to the facts basis. The recent aviation issue of Engineering and Mining Journal added - to our fund of knowledge on applications which the A.I.M.E. Aviation Committee is extensively adding to through its world-wide compilation of specific data. Another indication of the advance of flying in our. industries is the addition of regular aviation specialists to the staffs of various mining and petroleum companies, who function in the organization the same as do the metal

Jan 1, 1936

By W. A. J. M. Van Waterschoot Van Der Gracht

The commercial production of petroleum in Germany is confined to the North German plain, in the Hereynian foreland, and the intramontane Permian salt basin of Thuringia, south of the Hare Mountains. Petroleum is produced in the former only in connection with salt domes, upthrust through Tertiary and Mezozoic strata of great thickness. In the basin of Thuringia petroleum is found in a Permian dolomite underlying a salt formation. It is exclusively in the peripheric zone of a few of the salt plugs in the North German plains region that commercial oil has so far been developed, notably in the following fields, all in the general region northeast of the city of Hanover: (1) Hänigsen-Obershagen-Nienhagen, south of Celle; producing from horizons in the Upper Triassic, the Middle Jurassic and the Lower Cretaceous; (2) Oberg, south of Peine; producing from horizons in the Middle Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous; (3) Oelheim-Eddesse, north of Peine; producing from horizons in the Upper Triassic, Lower and Middle Jurassic; (4) Wietze, west of Celle, where the main producing horizon is in the Lower Cretaceous. In some of these oil fields production from surface seepages was mentioned as early as 1669 (Oberg). Commercial production of importance dates only from recent time.

Jan 1, 1932

By F. J. Longworth

For a number of years an intensive study has been made to improve the blast-furnace practice at Copperhill not only as to costs but to provide a good grade of gas for the acid plants. This study, took us back to the fundamentals of successful pyrite smelting; namely, a blast furnace working on a clean sulfide ore, free from fines, and the use of quartz high in silica as a flux. In 1919, the quality of the flux was improved and its effect on the metallurgy was very marked. To improve the practice further, it was necessary to work out some method of treatment for the sulfide fines and the siliceous and refractory ores, other than in the blast furnace. A series of milling tests indicated that these products could be successfully treated by differential flotation, and in 1922 plans were made and a flotation plant built. It was estimated that the flotation plant would deliver to the smelter 40 to 50 tons of concentrates per day; the problem was what to do with these concentrates. It was out of the question to attempt to smelt them in a blast furnace because of the dust losses and, because our practice demands a charge free from fines for satisfactory operation. There is no custom smelter in the vicinity to which concentrates may be sold, pending the time when the tonnage will be sufficient to warrant roasters and a reverbatory furnace. Sintering and nodulizing were investigated but neither method fitted into our scheme of metallurgy. A close study of the converter practice was then made to see if some method could not be evolved to smelt this tonnage of concentrates in a converter without preliminary treatment. At that time, the converter installation consisted of two 12-ft. Great Falls converters, which were handling 12 to 14 per cent. matte. The heat balance of the converters working with 12 to 14 per cent. matte was more than sufficient to smelt the contemplated tonnage of concentrates but the mechanical difficulties. of feeding fines into the Great Falls converter made the use of this type of converter impractical.

Jan 9, 1924

By D. Harrington

ONE of the main functions of the United States Bureau of Mines is to obtain and disseminate information that will promote safety in and around mines, and the health and safety of employees engaged in mining. Serious health and safety conditions arising out' of contamination of air in metal mines by dust, fumes from explosives and fires, and absorption of oxygen by timber and other causes, led the Bureau of Mines to cooperate with the United States Public Health Service in the study of dust occurrence and ventilation in metal mines in various parts of the country. Dr. A. J. Lanza, of the U. S. Public Health Service, and Edwin Higgins, mining engineer of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, in 1915, made a detailed study in the mines around Joplin, Mo., their reports1 are now available. In 1916, 1917, and 1918, a similar study was made in the Butte, Mont., region by Doctor Lanza and D. Harrington, mining engineer of the Bureau of Mines; the reports of this investigation will be available soon. In 1919, the study was continued in some of the Arizona mines by D. Harrington, of the Bureau of Mines, and G. E. McElroy and Dr. R. A. Koronski, of the U. S. Public Health Service, the underground work being completed in June, 1920; these reports are now being prepared for publication. In the spring of 1920, the scope of the work was extended, with D. Harrington in charge as supervising mining engineer, and short studies made in the mines of the Coeur d' Alenes in Idaho and around Oatman, Ariz. It is hoped soon to extend the work into mines of California, Nevada, Colorado, Michigan, and Minnesota, and ultimately to other states should the mining companies be willing to cooperate.

Jan 2, 1921

By Gail Moulton

THE oilfields in Illinois are located principally along the LaSalle anticline in the southeastern part of the state. The oil produced comes most largely from beds of Pennsylvanian and Mississippian age, but there is an increasing important production from deeper horizons, as will be noted under new development. The oil is largely of paraffin base, and has an average specific gravity of about 35° Baume. The rank of Illinois as an oil producer has dropped from third since 1913, when its production was exceeded only by that of California and Oklahoma, to eighth in 1923. This has been the result of failure to find new pools of considerable size to offset the declining production of the old wells and of the greatly increased production of some of the other states. The noteworthy features of petroleum production in Illinois during 1924 are: the low rate of decline for the state as a whole; the smaller percentage of dry holes; and the larger average initial yield of the new wells.

Jan 3, 1925

By George Packard

THE shaft of the Raven. mine, at Butte, Mont., is an incline 1,700 ft. in length and dipping at various angles. At the top the dip is 70° from the horizontal, but this is gradually flattened until at the 300-ft. level the inclination is only 47°. This angle continues to the 1,100-ft. level, below which it, curves with a 125-ft. radius to 78°. In addition to these variations in dip, the shaft does not lie in the same vertical plane, with the result that the hoisting rope not only rubs at intervals on both the hanging- and foot-walls, but presses strongly against the west, dividers near the collar, while 300 ft. below it runs close to the east end plates. The early operators used no idlers, and wall plates cut 6 in. deep y the rope resulted. Later operators first attempted to overcome the excessive friction, and the wear of rope and wall plates, by introducing solid cast-iron idlers, 3 in. in diameter. To allow for the travel of the rope from side to side some of these had to be 3 ft. long and were very heavy. Judging from the appearance of the old idlers of this type found at the mine, they often failed to turn in the bearings, which is not surprising when it is considered that they would have to make 1,000 rev.. a minute under ordinary hoisting conditions. The next rolls were made of wood, 6 in. in diameter, with an iron band about each end, and a pintle of 1-in. round steel driven in at the ends to serve as a shaft. These wore rapidly, and were soon replaced by rolls made from water pipe, 5 or 6 in. in diameter, cut to the desired length and fitted with a wooden cylinder into which the pintle was driven. Where the idlers were used on the hanging-wall of the shaft the original bearing was simply a piece of 2 by 1-1 in. strap iron, 10 in. long, turned up at the end in a circle of 18 in. in diameter to receive the shaft. A small hole served for oiling, and common black oil was generally used, although filtered oil from engine bearings and compressor bearings was also used. When the rolls were to be placed on the foot-wall the bearings were made from two pieces of 1 by 3 in. steel, 6 in. long. A half circle was cut on the flat side of each piece and the two half circles together formed a bearing. Oil holes were provided, and in some cases holes were bored through the two pieces so that they could be screwed or spiked to the wall plates.

Jan 8, 1914

By W. C. Winegard, C. Elbaum, T. Ojala

NONOCTAHEDRAL slip was observed in poly- crystalline aggregates of aluminum by Boas and Ogilvie.&apos; These authors indicate that the non-octahedral slip takes place on (100) or (110) planes. Ogilvie2 studied the continuity of slip lines across grain boundaries in polycrystalline aluminum. Non-octahedral slip was observed by him, but it was not reported to occur in the continuous slip lines across the grain boundaries, which were identified as octahedral slip in all cases. The present note reports the observation of non-octahedral slip in the grain boundary region of an aluminum bicrystal and tricrystal, both deformed in tension at room temperature. An analysis is made, which leads to a probable identification of the non-octahedral slip planes as (110) and (331). The specimens used were of rectangular cross section, approximately 5x10x200 mm. They were prepared by growth from the melt, using aluminum reported by the manufacturer to be 99.994 pct pure. The grain boundaries were in a plane perpendicular to the wider face and parallel to the long dimension of the specimens. The axis of tension was also parallel to the long dimension of the specimen. The orientations of the specimens studied were determined by the Laue back-reflection method and are given in Fig. 1. The nonoctahedral slip was first observed after about 6 pct extension in the bicrystal, and after about 2 pct extension in the tricrystal. The micrograph, Fig. 2, of the grain boundary region of the bicrystal shows two active slip planes throughout each of the two crystals, with a third plane active at the grain boundary in each crystal. Two major sets of slip traces observed in grain No. 1 are consistent with the operation of the slip systems (ill) [oil] and (111) [011]. The nonoctahedral slip takes place on a plane belonging to a <111> zone, as determined by drawing trace normals. Assuming that slip will take place only in the <110> direction, the planes in the <111> zone, which do not contain that direction, need not be considered. Among the remaining prominent planes of that zone, the (011) plane has a common slip direction—the [011]—with the (111) plane, which acts as one of the octahedral slip planes. In grain No. 2, a similar situation to that in grain No. 1 is observed. As indicated previously, the (oil) plane in the <111> zone, to which the nonoctahedral slip plane belongs, has a common [Oil] slip direction with the acting (ill) slip plane. Also, the orientation of the (oil) plane in grain No. 2 almost coincides with the orientation of the acting (111) slip plane in grain No. 1. Similarly, the orientation of the (oil) plane in grain No. 1 almost coincides with the orientation of the acting (111) slip plane in grain No. 2. It is, therefore, possible that the nonoctahedral slip was induced, in both cases, by octahedral slip in the neighboring grain. It is important

Jan 1, 1957

By Peter Haasen

INDIUM antimonide has the zincblende structure. A possible defect that does not disturb the indium tetrahedron surrounding any antimony atom in this lattice (or vice versa) is obtained when neighboring

Jan 1, 1958

By Sir John Cadman

IN THE changed circumstances which now confront the world, an international open-door policy is the only way to keep pace with the world&apos;s demand for oil. You may rest assured that as far as the British Empire is concerned, American capital for the develop-ment of oil resources is welcome, and little obstruction will be found in the way to permit the use of foreign capital in the group of countries which constitute the British Empire. In the war days we worked in close cooperation and harmony, but in disbandment of the Petroleum War Service Committee, when the war ended, I feel that it left its task unfinished. In the wake of war there appeared a ghost of war-time conditions in the form of belief that Great Britain was straining to corner the petroleum resources of the world. I am certain that if the war-service committee had continued its work in the period of reconstruction the real story would be known and this sinister ghost would have long since vanished before the truth.

Jan 2, 1922

By D. R. Maneval

The Surface Mining Act of 1977 required a study by the National Academy of Sciences regarding the special mine reclamation requirements of Alaska. The status of mines operating and planned in Alaska will be presented. New mines opening in Alaska must establish a baseline inventory of plants and animals in the mine site area as well as determine pre-mining air and water quality. Current work in these areas will be summarized. Reclamation practices in Alaska and other Arctic countries as practiced currently will be described. A summary of current research in Alaska dealing with revegetation on surface mined lanais, re-establishment of animal populations, and water treatment processes necessary in this pristine environment will be discussed. Included will be future predictions of the direction of mine reclamation in Alaska as more mines enter the industry.

Jan 1, 1984

By Walther Mathesus

INTRODUCTION THE use of high blast heats on furnaces melting Mesaba ores is still the exception, the average blast temperatures carried on Mesaba stacks seldom reaching 1,100° F. Some 15 years ago, when the use of fine Mesaba ores in larger proportions to the total burden first came into practice, it was found difficult to employ even those blast heats which it had been possible to carry with the Old Range ores. The furnaces refused to "take" high heats, and would persistently labor with irregular stock movement, which impaired the practice and increased the coke consumption. By lowering the blast temperature, the working of the furnace became smoother, and experience taught that with the softer and more easily reduced Mesaba ores, satisfactory practice could be obtained with comparatively low blast heats. Therefore a large number of Mesaba furnaces have ever since been operated on very low blast temperatures, ranging between 800° and 1,000° F. In the face of these difficulties, furnace men were slow to recognize that furnaces could be so designed as to permit a free movement of the charges in combination with the use of higher heats. Since higher blast temperatures did not seem to offer great advantages in the smelting of Mesaba ores, investments in hot-blast stoves were not as attractive to the furnace man as labor-saving devices and means of obtaining greater tonnages. The effect of this preference is keenly felt at the present time. It has brought about the peculiar situation, that the majority of our furnace plants (among them some of the most progressive) lack modern and efficient stove equipment. The result is that, even where the proper furnace lines have been adopted and conditions are now favorable to the successful employment of higher blast temperatures, the heats required for the greatest fuel economy are not available.

Jan 3, 1915

By W. D. Lacabanne

DRILLING fluids as an aid in drilling holes into the earth have been in use successfully for more than a half a century. Originally used in a primitive fashion in water well drilling before the turn of the century, drilling fluids came into their own in 1901 when they were incorporated as an indispensable part of the newly invented rotary oil drilling method. Since drilling fluids have been the basic factor in successful modern oil well drilling, at- tested by the dramatic growth of the U. S. petroleum industry, their study and development have naturally taken place in the oil industry. An abundance of engineering and scientific literature has appeared on the subject of drilling fluids. Application to Exploration Drilling The drilling fluid system is understandably called the heart of the rotary oil drilling rig. Any other type of rotary rig, such as the diamond drill, should benefit by the incorporation of mud fluids in the drilling scheme.

Jan 12, 1954

By J. L. Shugert, W. C. Williamson

The paper covers the different phases of dust dissemination in the Butte mines and methods of its control. Dust inspection and reporting same are taken up in detail. Methods of dust and dust counting techniques with their associated problems are discussed. Effects of different methods of dust depression are demonstrated under controlled conditions.

Jan 1, 1950

By N. E. Grosvenor

The study of rock mechanics is becoming more important each year and several groups are currently engaged in the study of rock mechanics instrumentation and techniques that can be used to determine rock properties in place. As it becomes necessary to mine lower grade ores, larger equipment and tonnages are required, which in turn call for larger openings underground. In addition, rock mechanics studies are necessary for designing large underground openings for defense and powerhouses, and highway and water tunnels. Meramec Mining Co. has a rock mechanics program in which they are trying to develop a means of detecting ground instability prior to failure. In one case advance warning resulted in valuable lead time for back filling stopes before pillar failure had progressed to a dangerous extent.1

Jan 2, 1968

By Paul Queneau

Some years from now, perusal of the unfolding saga of the nickel family will show that the year 1968 was the herald of change-both in the geography of its endeavors and in its technology. No one should doubt any longer that oxide ores of nickel have come of lusty age-their heavyweight stature in the Caribbean area and in the Western Pacific can be shrunk only by immersion in the politics of unhappiness. The sulfide branch of the family has been augmented afar off by substantial ore deposits in western Australia-right across the globe from Sudbury-and in southern Africa, 9000 miles from the nickel hub. The Foreword of the 1961 AIME volume, dealing with the extractive metallurgy of copper and nickel, noted that "the dead hands of nitrogen" had been lifted from oxidation reactions utilizing air and that the industry was on the threshold of under- standing this fact. Here, at least, nonferrous industry had led its ferrous counterpart in the commercial use of tonnage oxygen in liquid phase pyrometallurgy-the reference is to oxygen flash smelting. Today large oxygen-producing plants are blossoming everywhere and the fruits which will follow are many and varied. Among them is Inco&apos;s forthcoming use of the top-blown oxygen converter for sulfide melts. The bell tolls for those "pyro- metallurgical dinosaurs" which still stalk smelter aisles the world around. Silicate oxide nickel ores will rejoice in the glow of modern elevated temperature chemical metallurgy in its various manifestations, vindicating the bulldog spirit of that ancient of clans, the hot metal men-including the renovator of Le Nickel&apos;s Doniambo Works.

Jan 10, 1968

By Sidney A. Swensrud

This paper reviews the subject of gasoline margins, discusses some of the more current marketing problems, and gives some consideration to the main urges to marketing expansion, or overexpansion, in the oil industry. Margins In an earlier paper1, some comparisons were shown for the years 1929, 1930 and 1931, of the margin between the refinery cost of gasoline in Oklahoma, the market price in Oklahoma, and the average retail price in 50 representative cities of the United States. These figures indicated a small margin for the refiner in 1929 between his gasoline cost and the wholesale price, which, however, had turned into a loss by 1931. The margin between either refinery costs or wholesale prices and the retail price in the 50 cities showed a continuous decline during the three years. We have now worked out these figures on a similar basis for a longer period—from 1928 through 1936. The figures for refinery gasoline cost are slightly different from those in the earlier study, owing to the use of

Jan 1, 1937

By M. S. King

A series of cross-hole acoustic measurements have been performed in a columnar-jointed basaltic rock mass around an underground opening mined by the drill-and-blast method. The purposes of the test program were: to evaluate the rock mass characteristics around the opening; to determine the zone of blast damage; and to evaluate seismic methods for anomaly detection ahead of mining in this type of rock. The cross-hole measurements were made between four 76-mm diameter horizon- tal boreholes diamond-drilled 12 m into a wall of the underground opening. Repetitive pulses of compressional (P) and shear (S) waves of frequencies in the range 3 kHz-100 kHz were propagated from a transmitter sonde through the rock mass to a receiver sonde, both of which were clamped hydraulically to the borehole wall. After amplification the received P- and S-wave signals were digitized at the surface by a digital oscilloscope and stored on floppy discs. The results indicate considerable reductions in P- and S-wave velocities at distances less than 2 m from the face. Clearly these low values are associated with blast damage. Beyond 2 m, the velocities in a vertical direction indicate almost constant values. The velocities in the horizontal direction beyond 2 m appeared erratic, but showed a general tendency to increase as a function of distance from the face. Their maximum values remained, however, still lower in value than the corresponding velocities in the vertical direction. Near the face, the differences in velocities were considerably greater: with horizontal velocities considerably lower in value than those vertical. Results of the spectral analyses of the received signals indicated that Q-values were strongly influenced by the vertically- oriented sets of joints. Only for waves travelling in the vertical direction was the effect observed of the blast-damaged zone immediately around the opening. The acoustic data obtained are clearly indicative of an anisotropic jointed rock mass, with a greater intensity of jointing for travel paths in the horizontal than the vertical direction. The vertical, columnar joints are probably less tightly closed than those oriented in the horizontal plane.

Jan 1, 1984

By H. J. Wasson

With the close of 1932 and the third year of the depression, the activity of oil production presents, amidst the general wreckage and chaos of industrial society, a somewhat unique picture of rationalized economic effort. How long it will continue to present such a picture, however, is a subject for conflicting surmises. East Texas still dominates the contemporary horizon, but it has become, at least for the time being, a definitely known factor. With its 9500 wells it is approximately 90 per cent drilled up. So long as production control obtains, it is merely one important factor of the national oil reserve. Domestic Production The notable new discoveries in the United States were less numerous than for several years. Elsewhere in the world the record is much the same. The Conroe field in Montgomery County, Texas, lying in an intermediate zone that might be classified either as Gulf Coast or East Texas, represents perhaps the single example of a truly major discovery during the year. Elsewhere in Texas the new pool discoveries, about a dozen or so in number, were nearly all in the region known as Southwest Texas. Oklahoma contributed seven or eight new pools of the routine "run-of-mine" caliber, and the opening up of a few deeper oil pays also were of some significance. Continued expansion of the proved and semiproved reserves in Kansas added an important increment to the oil resources of that state. In California not a single new field was added to the roster, though deeper pay zones equivalent to or of greater importance than many new fields in other parts of the country were discovered or indicated. The new deep zone in the Belridge field is considered by some to underlie the prolific Temblor and may thus forecast the widespread distribution of a potentinl oil horizon underlying many San Joaquin Valley fields below the depths thus far exploited. Aside from the routine operations in connection with settled production, the Eastern fields were decidedly inactive. Further new develop-

Jan 1, 1933

By W. A. Weimer

Australia, the land of the kangaroo, koala, and the platypus, is often referred to as "down under" by people of the Northern Hemisphere. It is a tropical land and has very little freezing and thawing; consequently the in-place rocks are near the surface, exposing some of the unaltered mineralization. This type of geology induces the prospector and miner to search for minerals which lie at his feet (or not far under them), and it is adapted to open cut surface mining. Some of the rules and regulations applicable to exploration and mining in Australia will be interesting and helpful towards understanding acquisitions and control of minerals. They are common and basic to the United Kingdom. Throughout Australia practically all minerals are the property of the Crown (government), and their exploration and exploitation are administered by the state Department of Mines. Surface owners, or land lessees, do not control the minerals. Their mining codes protect the prospector. If a prospector obtains a permit, "miner&apos;s right," it entitles him to search for minerals any place within the state, only holding him responsible for damages he may incur in his exploration. If he finds something of interest, he may then apply for an authority to prospect, which gives greater latitude and protection in his work to develop the find. However, he will be obligated to spend a minimum specified amount to exclusively hold an area. He will be required to furnish maps, analyses, and geological data to the Mines Department. Presuming that he has located something economically valuable for mining, he may then apply for a mining lease or be granted a franchise to produce a specific material. It will contain a quantity clause so that the area cannot be held indiscriminately without production of the mineral. The states have Bureaus of Mineral Resources, Geology, and Geophysics that keep constantly abreast of the search for minerals and often do much of the drilling and deep boring to promote geological study for the states.

Jan 1, 1969