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By J. L. Christie, R. H. Leach

SO much has been written recently about the use of silver to replace scarce metals that certain facts about silver and its uses should be of interest. Figures for the production and use of silver, taken from the Handy & Harman annual reviews of the silver market, are given in Table 1. It will be seen that the rate of production has remained fairly constant and has been affected in recent years by the production of base metals, of which silver is a by-product. In each of the years 1937, 1938, and 1939, the U.S. Government acquisitions alone exceeded the entire world production, the difference, of course, being made up by imports of previously accumulated stocks. In 1940 and 1941 the U. S. Government acquisitions plus the United States and Canadian uses in the arts and industries exceeded the Western Hemisphere production. The U.S. Government pays a premium price for silver newly mined in the United States, at present 71.11c. compared with the price of 35'/8c. for foreign silver, with the result that the current U. S. production is not used commercially for the arts and industries. At the time this is written (June 1942) there is much uncertainty as to the future effect of this situation.

Jan 1, 1942

By Charles Hardy, George D. Cremer

POWDER metallurgy has been established for some time as a novel method for manufacturing a great variety of articles generally specialties that could not be made conveniently by any other method. In this category are such parts as porous hearings cutting tools of sintered carbides, and electrical contacts in which the metallic constituents do not tend to alloy in the proportions employed. The industry, however, is now at a stage where it has begun to manufacture articles that can and have been made by other methods. Thus, powder metallurgy is now preferred technique for the production of numerous machine parts characterized by high strength, accuracy of configuration, and substantial lack of porosity. Manufacture of such machine parts from metal powders has no doubt been stimulated by the war, although the trend in this direction has been apparent for several years. In any case, quantity production of high-density precision pieces by ponder metallurgy is now in full suing in the United States, and such production can and should continue to expand during and after the war.

Jan 1, 1942

By Andrew Meyer

As a producer of gold and platinum, Colombia is most emphatically an important country. Last year it produced 656,000 oz. of gold-twice as much as any other country in South America, in fact accounting for a third of the production of that continent. In platinum, world data for 1941 are not available, but in 1939 Colombia exported 39,000 oz., apparently ranking fourth among the world's producing countries, being exceeded only by Canada, Russia, and the Union of South Africa. Colombia was always a mining country. Centuries before the Conquest, Indians mined gold, copper, silver, salt, and emeralds. The Spaniards simply intensified mining. The Bank of the Republic states that from 1493 to 1940 52,177,427 oz. of gold was produced by Colombia, and official Chocó statistics show that about $60,000,000 worth of platinum was mined between 1908 and 1941. These figures are impressive indeed considering that only rich pockets and surface showings were mined by the ancients.

Jan 1, 1942

By Hal M. Lewers

IN the past few years and especially since the beginning of World War No. 2, gold has attained a new, important. and critical place in the international scene, and in world affairs. In the past, as far back as history records, most wars have been waged for the purpose of acquiring it from someone else by conquest. But now, the most titanic struggle of all time is being waged with the avowed purpose of not only destroying it, but of destroying all that it stands for and represents. A tradition dating back to ancient Rome, affirms that battles are fought by men with weapons, but wars arc eventually won by gold. The validity of that tradition is now being subjected to its major test. Hitler has proclaimed that in his new world order, the work dollar or reichsmark, a beautifully engraved paper currency representing only a theory of value, based on unit of work and production, will become the supreme medium of world exchange, and that gold eventually will he valueless and obsolete.

Jan 1, 1942

By Walter Fuchs

IT is now generally conceded that coal is the product of deposition and transformation of debris of forests and swamps.29 Ample data are available to illustrate the metamorphosis of biochemical substances through biological action; other data show the progressive regional metamorphism existing in coal beds;25 and numerous examples of change effected by intrusion of igneous dikes into coal deposits have been established .R3 However, often the relative importance of the biological and the geological factor in determining the character of the various natural coals is a debatable question. Since both biological and geological factors are ever present in nature, the problem, at first glance, would appear to resemble certain probability problems: specifically the simultaneous toss of two coins, with the biological factor as heads and the geological as tails. The probability is 2:I for the combined effect of both factors, as compared to the exclusive effect of either one, if the a priori probability is the same for each factor. This condition can be analyzed by a thermodynamic treatment of data, which may be obtained from a consideration of pertinent biological, chemical, geophysical and geological facts. SYNOPSIS OF BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL FACTS The biosphere is not sterile; i.e., microorganisms are always present. Microorganisms have been established in the ocean deep, under the ice of the polar regions, in the sand of the deserts, and in swamps far below the surface. The various biological media may be acid, neutral, or alkaline, and they may or may not be readily accessible to air. Microorganisms are encountered almost everywhere, except where the temperature is not within the range tolerable by microbial life. Of course, with changing conditions, the type of microorganisms will change. All chemical products of life-proteins, fats, carbohydrates, lignins, waxes, resinsmay serve as a habitat of microorganisms. In the decomposition of a medium, some microorganisms macerate organic matter mechanically and remove certain constituents for their own nutrition; others decompose a large part of the organic matter but may leave certain constituents undecomposed. Some attack only certain specific ingredients of the organic matter. All of them build up cell substance. The nitrogen content of the medium largely determines the degree of decomposition. Below 1.7 per cent nitrogen, growth of microorganisms and hence decomposition of organic material is retarded; consequently organic material will accumulate.17,32 Such accumulations of organic material may give coal eventually. Coals differ in type and rank. The nature of the original vegetation and the conditions attending the transformation of the accumulated debris determine the type of coal such as bright, splint, cannel, and algal or boghead coals. Chemical analysis of representative samples of a given type of

Jan 1, 1941

By G. S. Scott

In the course of the investigation into the causes, behavior, and control of mine fires, which the Bureau of Mines is now conducting, some attention was given to the subject of spontaneous heating. It is self-evident that the temperature of a pile of broken coal will rice if the rate of generation of heat exceeds the rate of brat dissipation and will fall if the opposite is the case. Factors that affect the rate of generation of heat are:

Jan 1, 1941

By Walter Fuchs

IT is now generally conceded that coal is the product of deposition and transformation of debris of forests and swamps.29 Ample data are available to illustrate the metamorphosis of biochemical substances through biological action; other data show the progressive regional metamorphism existing in coal beds;25 and numerous examples of change effected by intrusion of igneous dikes into coal deposits have been established.23 However, often the relative importance of the biological and the geological factor in determining the character of the various natural coals is a debatable question. Since both biological and geological factors are ever present in nature, the problem, at first glance, would appear to resemble certain probability problems: specifically the simultaneous toss of two coins, with the biological factor as heads and the geological as tails. The probability is 2:I for the combined effect of both factors, as compared to the exclusive effect of either one. if the a priori probability is the same for each factor. This condition can be analyzed by a thermodynamic treatment of data, which may be obtained from a consideration of pertinent biological, chemical, geophysical and geological facts. SYNOPSIS OF BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL FACTS The biosphere is not sterile; i.e., microorganisms are always present. Microorganisms have been established in the ocean deep, under the ice of the polar regions, in the sand of the deserts, and in swamps far below the surface. The various biological media may be acid, neutral, or alkaline, and they may or may not be readily accessible to air. Microorganisms are encountered almost everywhere, except where the temperature is not within the range tolerable by microbial life. Of course, with changing conditions, the type of microorganisms will change. All chemical products of life-proteins, fats, carbohydrates, lignins, waxes, resins may serve as a habitat of microorganisms. In the decomposition of a medium, some microorganisms macerate organic matter mechanically and remove certain constituents for their own nutrition; others decompose a large part of the organic matter but may leave certain constituents undecomposed. Some attack only certain specific ingredients of the organic matter. All of them build up cell substance. The nitrogen content of the medium largely determines the degree of decomposition. Below 1.7 per cent nitrogen, growth of microorganisms and hence decomposition of organic material is retarded; consequently organic material will accumulate. l7,32 Such accumulations of organic material may give coal eventually. Coals differ in type and rank. The nature of the original vegetation and the conditions attending the transformation of the accumulated debris determine the type of coal such as bright, splint, cannel, and algal or boghead coals. Chemical analysis of representative samples of a given type of

Jan 1, 1941

By John S. Ball

[A system of analysis for sulfur groups in petroleum distillates has been developed as one phase of the Bureau-of Mines investigation of the more economic utilization of the so-called "black oils" of Wyoming. This problem is being studied by the Bureau of Mines under a cooperative agreement with the University of Wyoming at the Bureau's Petroleum Experiment Station , Laramie, Wyo. Wyoming black oils have high sulfur and asphalt content and usually yield only small percentages of straight-run gasoline. A more detailed description of the properties of black oils has been given in a previous publication (3)3/. The preparation and properties of asphalts from those oils have been described (1, 2), and the effect of thermal cracking and the use of ordinary methods of treating wore discussed in one Bureau publication (4), Although these studies gave considerable insight into the properties and characteristics of black- oils; it was thought t that a more fundamental attack would assist-materially in, the problem of sulfur removal.]

Jan 1, 1941

By Walter Fuchs

IT is now generally conceded that coal is the product of deposition and transformation of debris of forests and swamps.29 Ample data are available to illustrate the metamorphosis of biochemical substances through biological action; other data show the progressive regional metamorphism existing in coal beds ;25 and numerous examples of change effected by intrusion of igneous dikes into coal deposits have been established.23 However, often the relative importance of the biological and the geological factor in determining the character of the various natural coals is a debatable question. Since both biological and geological factors are ever present in nature, the problem, at first glance, would appear to resemble certain probability problems: specifically the simultaneous toss of two coins, with the biological factor as heads and the geological as tails. The probability is 2 : I for the combined effect of both factors, as compared to the exclusive effect of either one, if the a priori probability is the same for each factor. This condition can be analyzed by a thermodynamic treatment of data, which may be obtained from a consideration of pertinent biological, chemical, geophysical and geological facts. SYNOPSIS OF BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL FACTS The biosphere is not sterile; i.e., microorganisms are always present. Microorganisms have been established in the ocean deep, under the ice of the polar regions, in the sand of the deserts, and in swamps far below the surface. The various biological media may be acid, neutral, or alkaline, and they may or may not be readily accessible to air. Microorganisms are encountered almost everywhere, except where the temperature is not within the range tolerable by microbial life. Of course, with changing conditions, the type of microorganisms will change. All chemical products of life-proteins, fats, carbohydrates, lignins, waxes, resins may serve as a habitat of microorganisms. In the decomposition of a medium. some microorganisms macerate organic matter mechanically and remove certain constituents for their own nutrition; others decompose a large part of the organic matter but may leave certain constituents undecomposed. Some attack only certain specific ingredients of the organic matter. All of them build up cell substance. The nitrogen content of the medium largely determines the degree of decomposition. Below 1.7 per cent nitrogen, growth of microorganisms and hence decomposition of organic material is retarded; consequently organic material will accumulate.17, 32 Such accumulations of organic material may give coal eventually. Coals differ in type and rank. The nature of the original vegetation and the conditions attending the transformation of the accumulated debris determine the type of coal such as bright, splint, cannel, and algal or boghead coals. Chemical analysis of representative samples of a given type of

Jan 1, 1941

By E. C. Lane

[This is the tenth in a series of retorts on properties of commercial motor fuels, made in accordance with a cooperative agreement between the Cooperative Fuel Research (C.F.R.) Committee e end the Bureau of Mines of the United States Department of the Interior. The first report rave data on motor gasolines sold during .e winter of 1935-36.3/ The present report presents analytical data for 1,732 samples, representing the products of approximately 50 companies, which, as in previous surveys, include both lame and stall suppliers. In addition, the Pacific coast is represented by data that were averaged by the Pacific Coast Technical Group before being submitted and are published exactly as they were received. As in previous surveys, the data are divided into the three groups of samples of regular-price, premium-price, and third-grade gasolines, and each group has been averaged separately. he number of samples, items, and brands comprising each groan), exclusive of those of the Pacific coast, are as follows: Regular price, 934 samples, 230 items, and 50 brands; premium price, 465 saris samples, 184 items, 40 brands; third-grade gasolines, 360 samples, 177 items, and of these terms as used in the surveys are follows: Sample: The individual supply of gasoline obtained at the filling station and analyzed in the laboratory.]

Jan 1, 1941

By G. R. Hopkins

According to the annual refinery-capacity survey of the Bureau of Mines, the number of refineries in the United States showed little change in 1940, increasing from 057 the first of the year to 562 at the close. Although a number of plants were dismantled in Texas and other States, more than compensating gains were made in California, Illinois, and other States. Low gasoline prices, competition for crude-oil supplies, particularly in Illinois, and the termination of a favorable distributing arrangement for independent plants in the Los Angeles area, forced about 50 refineries to close down in 1940. The number of operating plants accordingly declined from 461 on January 1, 1940 to 420 on January 1, 1941 and the number of idle plants increased from 86 to 136 in the same period. These developments were also reflected in the capacity data, the operating capacity declining from 4,196,694 barrels daily on January 1, 1940 to 4,180,588 daily on January I, 1941 and the idle capacity rising from 431,952 barrels to 53g8381 barrels in the same period. However, the completed capacity on January 1, 1941 (4,718,969 barrels daily) was 2 percent above the previous year.

Jan 1, 1941

By D. Harrington

The mining industry of the United States has-long been severely criticized because of its high rate of accident occurrence, net only as compared with other major industries-in the United States but also with the mining industries of other countries particularly Europe. Statistics (often not of strictly comparable nature) indicate that the accident-frequency rate in all mining is currently about three times and the accident-severity rate is about seven times as great as the average for general industrial work in the United States. These figures are by no means comforting to humanitarian mining men, irrespective of their status in. the industry, and they constitute a challenge that certainly cannot continue to be ignored much longer. This picture becomes much darker when the above statistics are augmented with data indicating that. on an exposure basis our mines (more particularly our coal mines) have accident rates two, three, or even more times as great as more or less similar types of mines in Europe, particularly England and Wales, Belgium, France, and Germany. However, these foreign accident statistics should be carefully analyzed before we become very mush concerned about them, because they are clot strictly comparable owing to several considerations, not the least of which is the fact that foreign methods of compiling or recording accident statistics often differ materially from ours. Moreover, foreign mining and other conditions axe definitely dissimilar to ours in many if not most phases, and numerous ether factors affect the comparability of foreign mine-accident statistics with ours. Unquestionably it should also be taken into consideration that the accident rate of the 130,000,000 or more constituting the populace of the United. States as a whole is much higher than that of any other major country in the world and is two, throe, or more times the rate of the European countries that have more favorable mine-accident rates than those of the United States. Moreover, it is significant that the mine-accident-severity- rate of British mines is about six times the average accident-severity rate of the major industries of the British Isles, or but little mere, favorable than the comparable figures in the United States, namely, that mining-has an accident-severity rate about seven times that of the average of about 30 of the major industries of this country.

Jan 1, 1941

By John S. Ball

[A system of analysis for sulfur groups in petroleum distillates has been developed as one phase of the Bureau-of Nines investigation of the more economic utilization of the so-called "black oils" of Wyoming,. This problem is being studied by the Bureau of Nines under a cooperative agreement with the University of Wyoming at the Bureau's Petroleum Experiment Station, Laramie, Wyo. Wyoming black oils have high sulfur and asphalt content and usually yield only small percentages of straight-run gasoline. A more detailed description of the properties of black oilshas been given in a previous publication (3)3/. The preparation and properties of asphalts from those oils have been described (1, 2), end the effect of thermal cracking and the use of ordinary methods of treating wore discussed in one Bureau publication (4), Although these studies gave considerable insight into the properties and characteristics of black oil, it was thought t that a more fundamental attack would assist materially in the problem of sulfur removal.]

Jan 1, 1941

By D. J. Parker

Because of its convenience and availability, natural gas (and to a much less extent manufactured gas) in being used more generally throughout the country for domestic and industrial purposes. With this use, specific and little-recognized hazards have arisen owing principally to the fact that the public and the consumer lack knowledge of the explosive property of this fuel. During the past 8 years gas explosions hove occurred in public and private buildings with loss of more than 300 lives and injury to many others. Such appalling catastrophes can and will be prevented if and when the necessary precautions are taken in the construction of buildings and the installation and maintenance of gas lines and gas appliances, plus adequate supervisions inspection, and education.

Jan 1, 1941

By Bertrand L. Johnson

Barite, the natural sulfate of barium (BaSO4), is the most important barium mineral. Normally it is white (opaque to translucent), but impurities sometimes render it yellow, gray, blue, brown, red, or black. Brown or red stains are commonly caused by iron oxide. Barite is unusually heavy (specific gravity, about 4.5); in fact, it is one of the heaviest of the nonmetallic minerals. It is brittle and fractures unevenly. The hardness of barite ranges from 2.5 to 3 but is usually about 3. It can be scratched by a copper coin. Pure barite contains 65.7 percent BaO and A.3 percent S03. Much of the crude barite ore mined, however, contains impurities; thus it has a lower content of barite and consequently less barium oxide. Commercial analyses show its total BaSO4 content. Barium also occurs in nature as the mineral witherite (BaCO3), which, however, is not common in the United States, and commercial deposits have been found only in California. Witherite is a yellowish-white, light-gray, or Kite mineral with a specific gravity of about 3, a hardness of 3 to 4, and an uneven to subconchoidal fracture.

Jan 1, 1941

By Paul Billingsley

NICKEL Plate mountain coincides closely with that portion of the Hedley mining district which is of economic interest. From it has come almost the entire past production, and the active mines of the present epoch, Nickel Plate-Sunnyside and Hedley Mascot, lie in a compact group near its summit. The Hedley district, which is 210 miles due east of Vancouver, is situated in the Okanagan range of southern British Columbia, where this rather gentle uplift is deeply dissected by the canyons of the Similkameen and its tributaries. The region is essentially part of the Interior Plateau of the Province (Figure 1), but is adjacent to easterly elements of the Coast Range. The Similkameen canyon, 4,000 feet in depth and frequently less than 4 miles from rim to rim, traverses the district from northwest to southeast. The deepest and narrowest portion of the canyon lies between Hedley and Keremeos, 18 miles to the southeast. At Hedley, an important tributary, Twenty Mile creek, enters from the north in a bold canyon, making a focus of unusually rugged topography. Nickel Plate mountain occupies the sector to the east of this junction (see Figure 2) and its flanks are ringed by the cliffs of Twenty Mile canyon on the west and by those of the Similkameen canyon on the south. On the east, it slopes gently to the hanging valley of Eighteen Mile creek, and on the north, with only slight loss of elevation, it merges into the moderately hilly surface of the plateau.

Jan 1, 1941

By H. C. Fowler

Technical developments in the American petroleum industry as regards exploration, drilling, production, and transportation were characterized by many anomalous conditions during the half decade 1914-19. A review of the literature of that period discloses the striking fact that individual geologists, engineers, and other technologists were surprisingly well versed concerning the occurrence of natural hydrocarbons and methods of extracting them and were acquainted with many of the physical and chemical characteristics that influence the behavior of fluids in natural reservoirs. However, the industry as a whole knew little of the correct application of recognized fundamentals; indeed, judged by present standards certain expediencies of self-styled "practical' operators seem cumbersome, if not evidences of ignorance.

Jan 1, 1941

By E. C. Lane

["_&apos;_-is is t`-e tenth in a series of retorts on proferties of cornmerci-al motor fuels, m,-_de in accord^nce ::ith a cooper: tine aSreement between the Cooperative Fuel scorch (C.F.R.) Committo e ^nd the. PPure__u of Mines of the United_ States De_nartr.ent of the Interior. Zee first report rave data. on motor gs.solir_es sold. during .e winter of 19,-"1-3b. e are ent report presents an^..lytico1 data f&apos;i&apos;r samples, rerrerentin_E, t:-.e products of apyroximately 90 conr.anies, hich, as in previous surveys, include both lame and stall surnliers. In ?_"dition, the Pacific coast is represented by data that were avera,;el ty the Pacific Coast Technical Group before bein submitted and are rublisi,ed exectly zis they were received. As in previous s?nrve,rs, the data r~Lre divided into the three groups of samples of regular-price, premiu::--trice, and third-grade gasolires, and each group has been averaged sel c~r~.tely. he number of nmtles, items, and brands comprising each groan), exclusive of those of the Pacific coast, are as folio:;s: Reg<.~-lar price, 934 ca.^rnles, 2c0 i to s, and ~0 brands; premium price, 460 saris les, lPitems, an&apos;. -C` brat&apos; i _~ t__ rd grade gaseline, 360 samples, 177 i te.^..s, and of these terms as _ised in the surveys are a:: follows:]

Jan 1, 1941

By G. S. Scott

In the course of tire investigation into the causes, behavior, and control of mine fires, which the Bureau of Mines is now conducting, come attention was given to the subject of spontaneous heating. It is self-evident that the temperature of a pile of broken coal will rise if the rate of generation of heat exceeds the rate of heat dissipation and will fall if the opposite is the cane. Factors that affect the rate of generation of heat are:

Jan 1, 1941

By Joseph Daniels

[Adequate supplies of suitable coal and coke are prime requisites in many industries, particularly those dealing with the utilization of mineral resources, recently interest has been focused on the possibilities of using electricity produced at Bonneville and Grand Coulee, Wash., in many electrochemical and electrometallurgical processes, in which core or some form of carbon is necessary in addition, discussion has been revived on the possibility of making iron and steel by the conventional methods employed in blast and open-hearth furnaces. The subject also is important at this time because of its relationship to industrial preparedness for national defense. A supply of coke from local sources on the Pacific coast is necessary in any program of production for strategic sufficiency of certain materials. An anal trio involving tae establishment of such industries should include detailed data on available supplies of coal, the quality and properties of the coke produced, and the technologic and economic factors involved in manufacture of echo and disposal of byproducts.]

Jan 1, 1941