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By Hon. Tasker Oddie

DURING the closing days of the last Congress a resolution was passed, creating the Senate Com-mission of Gold and Silver Inquiry. The resolu-tion charges the Commission with the responsibility to investigate and report to the Congress on Jan. 1, 1924, upon the following subjects: 1. The causes of the continuing decrease in the production of gold and silver. 2. The causes of the depressed condition of the gold and silver industry in the United States. 3. The production, reduction, refining, transportation, mar-keting, sale, and uses of gold and silver in the United States and elsewhere. 4. The effect of the decreased production of gold and silver upon commerce, industry, exchange, and prices. The personnel of the Commission is as follows: Senators Pittman, Sterling, Goodling, Walsh and Oddie. At a meeting on May 8, H. N. Lawrie, a mining engi-neer and economist, was appointed as Assistant to the Commission. The present situation with respect to the gold and silver mining industries is well illustrated by the follow-ing data: The total world production of gold (in dollars) for 1915 was $468,724,918, and for 1921, $329,915,101; as shown by the reports of the U. S. Mint; and for the year 1922, $306,793,000, which is based oh a prelimi-nary estimate; this indicates a decrease of 34.5 per cent. between 1915 and 1922. The total world production of silver (in fine ounces) for 1915 was 178,850,000 oz.; for 1921, 175,268,234 oz., a decrease of 2 per cent.

Jan 6, 1923

By AIME AIME

A REGULAR meeting of the Executive Board 'of American Engineering Council was held in the Onondaga Hotel, Syracuse, N.. Y., Feb. 14, 1921, with the president, Herbert Hoover, presiding. Reports of committees were presented and acted upon as follows: ENGINEER ON INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION The second meeting of the Committee was. called because it was represented to the Committee' on Pro¬cedure that the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Association of Engineers, and the Ameri¬can Institute of Consulting Engineers were anxious to have President-elect Harding appoint an engineer to fill one of the vacancies on the Interstate Commerce Commission. The representative of The American Society of Civil Engineers agreed to endorse the recom¬mendations- of American Engineering Council, and the Committee on Procedure prepared and sent a letter to the President-elect, a - copy of this letter being sent to each member of the Board. No names were suggested. . The appointment of an engineer on the Interstate Commerce Commission was approved and the Board, after approving the action of the Committee 'on Procedure in writing the President-elect, voted that, if requested, the Committee on Procedure submit a list of not less than six names for the appointment of an engineer on the Interstate. Commerce Commission.

Jan 1, 1921

By B. E. Parsons

Curtailment of production of crude oil, to the extent of effecting an approximate balance in supply and demand, was a problem confronting the oil industry in California throughout the year 1930. At the beginning of the year, with drilling operations only slightly checked, the California industry faced a steadily increasing potential production, an actual production in excess of market requirements and stocks of crude oil and refined products which had reached staggering proportions. During the year, the intensive development of the Playa Del Rey field and extensions to several oil fields, together with flush production from numerous large wells from both new and old fields, caused a steady increase in the state's potential production to a record peak in November of 1,186,000 bbl. daily. Despite the burden of this steady stream of flush production and the handicap of incomplete cooperation in several fields, curtailment successfully lowered the trend of crude oil production in California, except for the period of an open-flow test to determine actual potential production in several important fields in February. Under the curtailment programs in effect, the state's production of crude oil for the year was reduced 22 per cent. under the production of 1929 and even slightly under the production for the years 1927 and 1928. The total stocks of crude oil and refined products were reduced 2.7 per cent. during 1930, as compared to an increase of 30 per cent. in total stocks of all products during 1929. Drilling operations were reduced 28 per cent. as compared to drilling activities during 1929. Voluntary curtailment of drilling programs by many operators, particularly the major companies, accounts for the greatest portion of the reduction in drilling activity. The decline in drilling activity at Santa Fe Springs and in the east-side fields of the San Joaquin Valley was more than offset by development in new fields and extensions to deeper zones of old fields. There were 755 new wells completed during 1930, as compared to 910 completions in 1929. At the close of the year, 220 wells were drilling in the oil fields of California, 9 of which were being drilled in search of deeper producing horizons.

Jan 1, 1931

By Evan Just

Attempting to analyze a 25-year forecast after less than a third of the time has elapsed may seem premature. The President's Materials Policy Com- mission's report necessarily painted with a broad brush and made no claim for pinpoint accuracy in its predictions. More importantly for present purposes, it made no attempt to predict the detailed courses of production and consumption during the period forecasted. Several statistical highs and lows may very well lie between now and 1957, so comparing recent figures with points taken from the report on a straight-line basis would be illogical. Moreover, the report assumed that the general trend of consumption-domestic and foreign-would be upward. Contrarily, domestic figures were lower in 1957 than in 1950. Therefore, to project curves from 1950 through 1957 leads to conclusions that are probably false. Many in the industry would feel more uncertain about forecasting 1975 domestic conditions now than they would have been in 1950, even though nearly a third of the 25 years has elapsed. In making comparisons, several statistical problems are encountered. The Paley report figures for 1950 were estimated in several cases and corrected figures vary as much as 10 pct. For example, the report placed 1950 lead consumption at 800,000 tons, whereas actual consumption was 885,000 tons. Obviously, in comparing more recent figures with the report's projections, adjustments must be made for positions taken in error from the start. Over the long pull, such discrepancies will probably be insignificant, but they must be noted in comparing short-term changes.

Jan 10, 1959

By C. M. EYE

IN the spring of 1905 I was employed by Messrs. Bradley and Requa, under our fellow member, Thomas Cox, on the mill plans for the Nevada Consolidated, when an opportunity came to go to the Philippines to erect a small mill on the property of the Benguet Consolidated. This I accepted, expecting to be away eight months or so, but it was seven years before I got back. .I sailed in May, on the Coptic, having as room-mate as far as Kobe, A. E. Drucker, who was going out to Korea for the Oriental Consolidated. It was the first trans-ocean trip for either of us, and we had some rather unusual experiences. This was toward the close of the Russo-Japanese war and the Russian fleet was known to be on the way from Suez to Asiatic waters, but it was a matter of doubt whether they would risk a passage between Japan and the mainland, or take the longer but obviously safer route outside of Japan. The Coptic carried much contraband of war for Japan, so naturally did not care to meet this fleet. No definite word being available at Honolulu, we went to the Midway Islands, but the cable station there had very little information to offer, so we proceeded cautiously toward Japan. On the last afternoon out, we steamed due north at half speed for several hours, and finally sneaked into Yokohama at night, to learn that ' the Russian fleet had met the Japanese the day before and had been annihilated. We sailed over the spot in the Sea of Japan a week later, and when we got to Manila we found three of the Russian boats interned and being guarded by the monitor Monadnock and a cruiser. This was only a matter of form, as the Russians were only too glad to be there for the rest of the war, and the boats could not have gone far anyway, for they were literally shot to pieces. The Admiral's flagship had a hole within 3 ft. of the water line, for ward, through which a man could enter by stooping.

Jan 1, 1929

By William E. Ford, Edward Salisbury Dana

The aluminate, ferrates, etc., allied chemically to the borates, have been already intro- duced among the oxides. They include the species of the Spinel Group, pp. 418-423, also Chrysoberyl, p. 423, etc. SUSSEXITE. In fibrous seams or veins. H. = 3. G. = 3.42. Luster silky to pearly. Color white with a tinge of pink or yellow. Translucent. Index, 1.59.

Jan 1, 1922

Addicks, L Ambler, J O Anderson, F B Armstrong, T Allen, L M, Jr Arnold, C E Adams, C E Adams, R E Anderson, A J Booth, E L Bernhardt, D I Boyd, W S Browning, W C Blake, D E Black, T B Bergman, Julius Bowen, H P Beckett, P G Blickensdefer, F C Bond, Josiah Butler, P P Bondlas. Y

Jan 1, 1923

Truman H Aldrich '78 W. S Ayres '73 A. A Blair '75 Walter M Brodie '72 H M. Chance '74 Frederick G Corning '77 Henry S Drinker Founder Ernest F. Eurich '74 W. E. C Eustis '76 A Heckscher '79 Henry D. Hibbard '79 Julian Kennedy '79 William St. George Kent '72 Frank Lyman '77 John Markle '79 Samuel Mather '79

Jan 1, 1923

G. K. BURGESS, ? Washington, D. C.-At the Bureau of Standards it was decided, in order to study the high-aluminum end of these curves, that efforts should be made to prepare pure aluminum, and the promise of getting aluminum, practically free from the two elements that have such great effect in very small quantities, namely, silicon and iron, and which

Jan 12, 1919

By H. I. NORTON, H. O. Hofman

ZINC smelters in the central western. States have established a very high standard of purity for blende-concentrates, viz., zinc 60, iron less than 3, and lead less than 1 per cent. The very low percentage of iron is made possible by the blende containing less than 0.5 percent of isomorphous iron sulphide and by the sparing occurrence of pyritic material in the large blende-deposits of southwestern Missouri and southeastern Kansas. The blende in these districts occurs in sub-Carboniferous limestone, and is associated with chert, residual clay, calcite, pyrite or rnarcasite and bitumen. The different minerals are coarse and therefore readily separated by mechanical washing from the blende, with the exception of pyrite and marcasite, as blende has a specific gravity of from 3.9 to 4.1, marcasite, from 4.85 to 4.90, and pyrite, from 4.95 to 5.10. The common procedure of dressing the ores is to crush in a breaker, size in a trommel with 0.5-in. holes, pass the over-size through roughing-rolls and then jig the ore, now reduced to 0.5 in. maximum size, in roughing multiple-sieve jigs. The products of these are waste-tailings, sine-discharge coarse concentrates, side-discharge coarse middlings and bottom-discharge fine middlings. The coarse concentrates are sent to the market. The coarse middlings are crushed in middlings-rolls and brought back into the system by feeding into the main trommel. The fine middlings are cleaned upon finishing-jigs. Any pyrite or marcasite present follows the blende and increases the percent-

Mar 1, 1905

INDUSTRIAL MINERALS DIVISION (Nonmetallics) Established as a Division March 15, 1935 Ian Campbell, Chairman Robert C Stephenson, Eastern Vice-Chairman Allen Cole, Southeastern Vice-Chairman David P Hale, Jr, Rocky Mountain Vice-Chairman G H Waterman, Western Vice-Chairman M F Goudge, Canadian Vice-Chairman James Norton, Secretary-Treasurer Mineral Deposits Branch U S Geological Survey Washington 25, D C.

Jan 1, 1952

Iowa State College Ames, Iowa Iowa State Mining Society CARL S. NELSON, President NORMAN S. GEIST, Secretary K. A. PHILLIPS, Faculty Sponsor C. G. DRESSER, Counselor University Of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas University of Kansas Student Chapter of A.I.M.E. WALTER CROOK, President EDWARD C. MISHOU, Secretary E. A. STEPHENSON, Faculty Sponsor GEORGE M. FOWLER, Counselor K. A. SPENCER, Counselor .

Jan 1, 1942

By Waldemar Lindgren

The important investigations of Dr. G. F. Becker at Steamboat Springs, Nev., in 1885, aided by the analytical work of W. H. Melville, established the fact that sulphides were being deposited at the surface by hot ascending waters.' Steamboat Springs is situated near the eastern base of the escarpment of the Sierra Nevada, six miles distant from the Comstock lode.

Jan 1, 1906

COMMITTEES. Precious and Base Metals. Charles W. Goodale, Chairman.. L. D. Ricketts, Vice-Chairman Darsie C. Bard, Secretary, Montana State School of Mines, Butte, Mont. Leonard S. Austin, Thomas J. Grier, Willet G. Miller, David W. Brunton, Hennen Jennings, Albert F. Schneider, Theodore B. Comstock, Edmund B. Kirby, George C. Stone, Stanley A. Easton, Charles W. Merrill, Benjamin B. Thayer. Samuel S. Fowler,

Jan 11, 1913

By Carrol A. Quam

DURING the first years of operation of the titanium and iron mine of the National Lead Co. at Tahawus, New York, efforts to increase production were hampered by the increased load put on the facilities for sharpening churn-drill bits. The ore and rock are extremely hard and abrasive and it was necessary to sharpen and harden a large number of bits per day to keep the churn drills supplied. Efforts to increase the capacity of the bit shop by a two-shift operation were not wholly successful in that it was hard to train men to do a satisfactory job of sharpening and tempering the bits. The number of bits that were improperly tempered increased, thus boosting the daily requirements for bits at the drills and increasing the load on the bit-sharpening facilities.

Jan 1, 1949

By Odmund Ljone

FAR north of the Arctic Circle is a totally industrial community which until 1945 could not boast a single specimen of the rat family, and where today you will be awarded a bottle of fine cognac for every rat-dead or alive. Amazing but true, the spot is Longyear City, the Norwegian mining town on the arctic island of Spitzbergen. Perhaps you have also heard of the town built on soil that never thaws, where huge blocks of ice must be melted to fill the city's fresh water reservoirs, and where the Far North dictates a way of life all its own. Here, coal is king and men must work hard for their "black gold." Spitzbergen is a rough, tough piece of Norway, made up of a half dozen isolated islands between 74 and 81 degrees north latitude. Covering twice the area of Belgium, they are home to

Jan 1, 1948

By R. H. Sweetser

THERE are SO many conditions affecting blast-furnace results that it is hard to get satisfactory comparative data on the working of two furnaces, and much more difficult to get comparable results from the use of two entirely different fuels. The several advantages of charcoal over coke as a blast-furnace fuel have doubtless been apparent to many managers; but probably the conditions for comparative tests of the two were never so favorable as during the year 1905, at the works of the Algoma Steel Co., Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, which comprise two modern blast-furnaces, well equipped, though of comparatively small capacity. For four consecutive months one of these furnaces was run with charcoal and the other with coke. Then the charcoal-furnace ran for a while with part charcoal and part coke; and, still later, with coke only. The ore-mixtures were about the same in the two furnaces, and, of course, all the climatic conditions were identical. The dimensions of the two furnaces, and their work with the different fuels, are given in Table I.

Jan 5, 1908

[A session of the Institute of Metals held during the February, 1926, meeting of the Institute, was devoted to a symposium on ''gas" in copper. S. Skowronski, Perth Amboy, N. J., was chairman. On the program were papers by T. S. Fuller; W. H. Bassett and J. C. Bradley; Susan B. Leiter, and W. H. Bassett and H. A. Redworth. These papers follow the chairman's introductory discussion.] S. Skowronski, Perth Amboy, N. J.—There are today two groups of metallurgists, one group who believe in oxygen-free copper and another group who believe that oxygen is absolutely essential in copper; not that the two groups disagree, but that a certain grade of work calls for oxygen-free copper, while another grade of work does not. I can sum up the problem by reading the abstract of an article by Frederick Johnson of Great Britain in The Metal Industry of Sept. 4, 1925. Few, who have watched the trend of things during the last two decades, can have failed to notice the steady growth of opposition to the prevalent use of copper in the "tough-pitch" condition, which for many ages enjoyed an unchallenged supremacy. Broadly speaking, there are two schools of thought in the metallurgical world, one holding the view that copper containing a small proportion of oxygen is an eminently suitable material for users, the other expressing its preference, in no hesitating or uncertain manner, for copper from which oxygen has been removed by means of a deoxidizer. In the old days, before the advent of the converter and the electrolytic refining process, the copper of commerce was so impure that the presence of oxygen was imperative in order to neutralize the influence of impurities which militated against the hot-working properties of the metal. For electrical purposes, oxygen must be present, because sound bars and billets cannot be produced without it, except at the expense of electrical conductivity. For most engineering purposes, however, electro-deposited copper may be used either by itself or with the addition of alloying elements, e. g., arsenic and nickel, which experience has proved to be beneficial, such copper being freed from oxygen by the aid of a deoxidizer, e. g., phosphorus. Such material has positive advantages over "tough-pitch" copper as at present produced from refinery furnaces. It has greater toughness and malleability, and is immune from the action of reducing gases at high temperatures, the destructive action of which, in the case of "tough-pitch" copper, is well known. The reasons why there has been no wholesale replacement of "tough-pitch" copper by deoxidized copper are commercial in nature; copper can be more economically melted in large-capacity furnaces which lend themselves to the poling process and are not so suitable for control of uniformity of action of deoxidizers as the smaller electric or crucible furnaces, whilst they are also more convenient for the production of very large castings. Moreover, the equipment of most large copper manufacturing plants is designed for casting "tough-pitch " copper in open moulds, e. g., wire bars and cakes, and these could not be used for deoxidized copper, which must be cast in vertical moulds as in brass-shop practice. Further, there are still certain impure brands and

Jan 1, 1926

By Donald H. McLaughlin

MINERAL industry activities have not been seriously hampered by a lack of men with higher training. The balance between opportunities for employment and advancement and available personnel has been a happy one, with enough competition to stimulate effort but not the unfortunate conditions arising from an overabundance. of employment seekers. Nearly all mineral industry educational institutions have been concerned about the falling enrollment in mining and metallurgical courses of study during the past decade. But industry has drawn upon a supply of many types of technically trained men apart from those who prepared their careers specifically in the mineral industry. Some schools have made this possible by uniting geologists, mineralogists, and others with students in mining and engineering. On the other hand, some schools have combined their department of mining engineering with an over-all engineering department and continue to send their graduates into the mineral industry by another route. On the whole, this seems to be a good trend and is likely to result in men better trained for current problems than would have been possible under the older rigid curricula.

Jan 1, 1947

By Dozier Fircley

SOME nonmetallic minerals and their products, such as portland cement, common brick and hollow tile, sand, gravel, crushed rock, vitrified salt-glaze clay pipe, and the like, are a necessity in every community. They are mineral in nature but the establishment of plants for their production is usually a local and elementary problem. Yet it is probable that an economic study of the problem in every locality will show that such nonmetallic mineral commodities are not always obtained in the most economical way, or in the best quality. Other nonmetallic minerals are of such value that they may be shipped for long distances and sold in sufficient quantities to establish prosperous commercial ventures. Among these are phosphates, barium compounds, borates, nitrogen compounds, magnesium compounds, sulfur, asbestos, and potash. Success in marketing such products depends on quality, production cost, transportation, and similar conditions.

Jan 1, 1932