Search Documents

By AIME AIME

TRANSFER to the Bureau of Mines of the responsibility for conservation and production of helium, and announcement that a proposal has been made to the President for commercial operation of the Los Angeles has attracted new attention to the helium program of the Government. The matter is one in which mining engineers, and the mining industry in general, have a peculiar interest. Helium is a byproduct of the petroleum and natural gas industry. It is found in certain of the natural gases which have themselves been discovered, in the main, in the search for oil. If it is to be produced on a large scale, the conservation and development of the fields will necessarily be done by the men of the oil and gas industry. There is no known or expected source of supply of quantities of commercial importance save in the natural gas fields. Not all gas wells supply helium and none of them supply it in important percentages. If it were necessary to prospect a field, develop it, lay pipe lines and build production plants for the helium alone, the cost would be prohibitive. On that basis helium would necessarily be restricted to essential war uses, where cost is subordinate to need. As a byproduct of the natural gas in certain, at least, of the fields in the United States there is distinct reason for anticipating that it may be produced in amounts and at a cost that will permit its regular use in commercial airships.

Jan 1, 1925

By Gerald C. Dohm

INTRODUCTION After a mining company has discovered a mineral deposit, the problem is then how to mine and process that deposit the best way. The principal problem facing managers or engineers who must decide on mine plant size, equipment selection, and long-range scheduling is how one can optimize a property not only in terms of efficiency but also as to project duration. Mine opti¬mization is dependent upon the interaction of con¬tributing parameters which leads to maximizing the net present value (NPV) Realistic mine planning is the key, to the analysis. The process is to be used when evaluating undeveloped properties or when a complete revamping of existing facilities is scheduled The proc¬ess is not intended for detailed mine design but rather for property evaluation and feasibility studies. The derivation of the various input parameters will only be discussed to the point where a meaningful correlation can be made with the overall analysis. The interrelationship of the parameters will be the central point because most company guidelines and financial analysts have their own standards when deriving the various inputs. Assume that the data is totally acceptable and pro¬vides at least the following categories of information and guidelines- (1) mineral and waste inventory; (2) geologic, hydrologic, and geotechnical criteria; (3) topographic layout including property boundaries; (4) metallurgical flowsheet, recovery and design criteria; (5) access, water, power, and environmental base-line study; and (6) financial constraints (minimum rate of return, payback period, etc).

Jan 1, 1979

By B. E. Grant

THE major metal mine operations of the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company in Utah are in the Bingham area. The Company also owns and operates metal mines in the Ophir district, twelve miles south of Bingham, and in the Tintic district, 28 miles south of Ophir. Operations of the Company in the Park City area have been idle since early in World War II. These mining camps, lying at moderate elevations, serviced by railroads, hard-surfaced highways, in close proximity to mills, smelters, cities and towns, fertile valleys, winter and summer vacation areas, and airports are probably as favorably situated as any mining camps in the world. The Bingham district, known principally for its copper production from

Jan 1, 1948

By O. E. Kiessling

A GROWING uneasiness in the oil fields indicates that doubts are arising as to the efficiency of the present technical, economic and legal arrangements affecting production. Recent documents of the federal government, debates in state legislatures, editorials in the daily press and statements of oil company executives re-echo the notion that the present methods of producing oil satisfy neither the business man nor the public. Such intimations are of utmost importance, since oil is a vital clement in modern industry and dependence upon it increases as new uses develop. SECTION I-PRESENT SCHEME OF COMPETITIVE EXPLOITATION IS WASTEFUL The oil industry has convinced itself, for very good reasons, that the present scheme of competitive exploitation results in losses, both in terms of quantities of oil and in terms of profits. The story of these losses is familiar enough, and it is necessary only to distinguish and summarize briefly certain factors that are of importance to the following argument. Oil pools are exploited under a competitive economic system based on private ownership and contract; the hope of profits attracts capital and enterprise, and competition is supposed to serve as a regulative factor. Whether such a scheme of industrial organization works is partially dependent on the ability of the producer to withhold or produce is commodity as he sees fit, in accordance with the dictates of market demand.

Jan 1, 1927

By R. E. Radabaugh, J. M. Brown, J. S. Merchant

The Gilman district is on the northeast flank of the Sawatch Range in central Colorado. It has yielded a total of 10,000,000 tons of ore having a value of over $250,000,000. Paleozoic sediments intruded by a Tertiary quartz latite sill and unconformably overlying Precambrian intrusives and metasediments comprise the country rock of the area. The sediments strike northwesterly and dip 8° to 12° northeasterly. Structures in the Precambrian are related to the Homestake shear zone of the Colorado mineral belt. Only minor folding and faulting occur in the sediments. The principal ore bodies are massive sulfide replacement deposits in carbonate rocks. They consist of long, pipe-like mantos in the completely dolomitized Mississippian Leadville Limestone and funnel-shaped chimneys of copper- silver ore cutting across the Mississippian and Devonian strata. Mineralization is continuous from the chimneys into the mantos. The principal ore bodies are roughly in the shape of a four-tined fork which points up dip. Smaller manto deposits occur in the Cambrian Sawatch Quartzite, and fissure veins are present in the Precambrian rocks. The principal minerals in the mantos are marmatite and galena in a gangue of pyrite and manganosiderite. The chimneys consist of a central core of pyrite with erratically distributed chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite, freibergite, and occasional galena with a shell of zinc ore on the outer margin. Both the chimneys and the mantos are surrounded by imperfect shells of manganosiderite and sanded dolomite. The mineralization is of Laramide age. Hydrothermal alteration affects all rock units to varying degrees. Clay mineral alteration halos occur around the ore bodies. Hydrothermal solutions have developed sanded rock, rubble filled channels, and banded zebra textures, principally in the Leadville Limestone. Structural control of the ore bodies is not well defined. Both the location of the district and the chimneys are probably related to basement structures. The mantos are largely controlled by stratigraphic factors and a pre-Pennsylvanian karst topography in the Leadville Limestone, which were modified by hydrothermal activity, and by weak zones of northeasterly trending faults.

Jan 1, 1968

By Earl Oliver

Page A.I.M.E. Stabilization Committee Activity................. 133 Definition of Capture Rule: Robert E. Hardwicke.......................... 134 Westmoreland Natural Gas Co. vs. DeWitt................ 135 Kelly vs. Ohio Oil Co......................... 135 Bernard vs. Monongahela Gas Co.................... 136 Definition of Ownership in Place..................... 137 Prospective Stabilization Remedies.................... 137 Dean Roscoe Pound's Four Teats of Practicability.............. 137 I. Mechanically Feasible....................... 138 Capture Rule.......................... 138 Ownership in Place....................... 140 Mechanical Separatio.7 Method................. 140 Engineering Appraisal Method................. 141 II. Economically Advisable...................... 143 Capture Rule.......................... 144 Ownership in Place....................... 144 III. Politically Wise.......................... 144 Capture Rule..........................144 Ownership in Place.......................147 IV. Legally Sound..........................148 Capture Rule..........................148 Ownership in Place.......................149 Dean Henry M. Bates' Analysis......................149 Raumé................................152 The A.I.M.E. Stabilization Committee was named in 1932 to ascertain whether some practical substitute could be devised for the Rule of Capture, which was generally credited with being the major cause of instability in the Petroleum Industry. After considerable intercommittee correspondence a letter was received from E. DeGolyer under date of Jan. 25. 1935. in which he discussed the possibility of modifying rather than discarding the Rule of Capture. He summarized his proposal as follows:

Jan 1, 1937

By George M. Fowler, F. E. Gregory, William M. Agar, Joseph P. Lyden

The fact that most of the zinc-lead ores of the Tri-State district are associated with abundant chert in the Boone formation has led us to give much consideration to the manner of occurrence of the chert throughout the formation and to its relationship to the structural and other geologic features having bearing upon the sulfide mineralization. Necessarily the question of the source and the manner of deposition of the chert has come up in the course of these studies. We do not pretend to have arrived at the answer to all the questions regarding the chert. However, we have made a very large number of field observations, which present certain facts about the chert in this district that may be worth elaboration. Whatever theories may be drawn upon to explain the presence and distribution of the chert must necessarily be capable of reconciliation to these facts. The more important theories that have been presented are briefly summarized, and some of them discussed, in this paper. This paper is in three distinct parts, each complete in itself, wherein is recorded the evidence gained from three separate methods of attack. In an earlier paper,(3)‡ we briefly described the chert and its relation-ship to the ore deposits. Chertification, as used in this paper, means the replacement of limestone by introduced silicic acid. It is a common phenomenon in many widely distributed limestones. The products of chertification may be chert, cotton rock, or tripoli, depending upon the extent to which the replacement has been carried. Chertification is used instead of silicifica-tion in order to reserve the latter for the siliceous emanations so common in connection with the sulfide ore deposits of this and many other districts. Broadly, it is meant to include all silicification in this district prior to the introduction of the jasperoid, the latter being contemporaneous with the ore-bearing solutions.

Jan 1, 1935

By William M. Agar, F. E. Gregory, Joseph P. Lyden, George M. Fowler

The fact that most of the zinc-lead ores of the Tri-State district are associated with abundant chert in the Boone formation has led us to give much consideration to the manner of occurrence of the chert throughout the formation and to its relationship to the structural and other geologic features having bearing upon the sulfide mineralization. Necessarily the question of the source and the manner of deposition of the chert has come up in the course of these studies. We do not pretend to have arrived at the answer to all the questions regarding the chert. However, we have made a very large number of field observations, which present certain facts about the chert in this district that may be worth elaboration. Whatever theories may be drawn upon to explain the presence and distribution of the chert must necessarily be capable of reconciliation to these facts. The more important theories that have been presented are briefly summarized, and some of them discussed, in this paper. This paper is in three distinct parts, each complete in itself, wherein is recorded the evidence gained from three separate methods of attack. In an earlier paper,(3)‡ we briefly described the chert and its relation-ship to the ore deposits. Chertification, as used in this paper, means the replacement of limestone by introduced silicic acid. It is a common phenomenon in many widely distributed limestones. The products of chertification may be chert, cotton rock, or tripoli, depending upon the extent to which the replacement has been carried. Chertification is used instead of silicifica-tion in order to reserve the latter for the siliceous emanations so common in connection with the sulfide ore deposits of this and many other districts. Broadly, it is meant to include all silicification in this district prior to the introduction of the jasperoid, the latter being contemporaneous with the ore-bearing solutions.

Jan 1, 1935

The fact that most of the zinc-lead ores of the Tri-State district are associated with abundant chert in the Boone formation has led us to give much consideration to the manner of occurrence of the chert throughout the formation and to its relationship to the structural and other geologic features having bearing upon the sulfide mineralization. Necessarily the question of the source and the manner of deposition of the chert has come up in the course of these studies. We do not pretend to have arrived at the answer to all the questions regarding the chert. However, we have made a very large number of field observations, which present certain facts about the chert in this district that may be worth elaboration. Whatever theories may be drawn upon to explain the presence and distribution of the chert must necessarily be capable of reconciliation to these facts. The more important theories that have been presented are briefly summarized, and some of them discussed, in this paper. This paper is in three distinct parts, each complete in itself, wherein is recorded the evidence gained from three separate methods of attack. In an earlier paper,(3)‡ we briefly described the chert and its relation-ship to the ore deposits. Chertification, as used in this paper, means the replacement of limestone by introduced silicic acid. It is a common phenomenon in many widely distributed limestones. The products of chertification may be chert, cotton rock, or tripoli, depending upon the extent to which the replacement has been carried. Chertification is used instead of silicifica-tion in order to reserve the latter for the siliceous emanations so common in connection with the sulfide ore deposits of this and many other districts. Broadly, it is meant to include all silicification in this district prior to the introduction of the jasperoid, the latter being contemporaneous with the ore-bearing solutions.

Jan 1, 1935

By F. E. Gregory, George M. Fowler, William M. Agar, Joseph P. Lyden

The fact that most of the zinc-lead ores of the Tri-State district are associated with abundant chert in the Boone formation has led us to give much consideration to the manner of occurrence of the chert throughout the formation and to its relationship to the structural and other geologic features having bearing upon the sulfide mineralization. Necessarily the question of the source and the manner of deposition of the chert has come up in the course of these studies. We do not pretend to have arrived at the answer to all the questions regarding the chert. However, we have made a very large number of field observations, which present certain facts about the chert in this district that may be worth elaboration. Whatever theories may be drawn upon to explain the presence and distribution of the chert must necessarily be capable of reconciliation to these facts. The more important theories that have been presented are briefly summarized, and some of them discussed, in this paper. This paper is in three distinct parts, each complete in itself, wherein is recorded the evidence gained from three separate methods of attack. In an earlier paper,(3)‡ we briefly described the chert and its relation-ship to the ore deposits. Chertification, as used in this paper, means the replacement of limestone by introduced silicic acid. It is a common phenomenon in many widely distributed limestones. The products of chertification may be chert, cotton rock, or tripoli, depending upon the extent to which the replacement has been carried. Chertification is used instead of silicifica-tion in order to reserve the latter for the siliceous emanations so common in connection with the sulfide ore deposits of this and many other districts. Broadly, it is meant to include all silicification in this district prior to the introduction of the jasperoid, the latter being contemporaneous with the ore-bearing solutions.

Jan 1, 1935

[A AALSETH, Earl P (M 51) Consult Geol Engr 2019 Eldorado Dr, Billings, Monl ABADIE, Henry G (M 43) Asst to Supt of Oper Long Beach Oil Dev Co 925 Harbor Plaza, Long Beach 2, Calif ABBE, T Waldo (A 56) Asst Dist Oper Supt Sun Oil Co PO Box 66, Stowell, Tax ABBOTT, Fred E Jr (M 59) Abqaiq Dist Mgr Arabian American Oil Co Dhahran, Saudi, Arabia ABBOTT, Clifton T (A 60) Apartado 677, Maracaibo, Venezuela ABBOTT, J L (M 56) Partner Pritchard & Abbott 1010 Ft Worth Natl Bk Bldg, Fort Worth 2, Tex ABBOTT, Richard H (J 51) Partner Abbott & Howard 422 W Hermosa San Antonio 12, Tex .ABBOTT, William G (M 50) Div Mgr Rice Engrg & Operating Inc Box 1142, Hobbs, N. M. ABDERHALDEN, Ronald R (J 59) Prod Engr Continental Oil Co Box 100, Carmi, III ABEL, Malcolm D (J 50) Gen Partner Abel & Bancroft PO Box 865, Midland, Tex ABEL, Ramond L (M 28) Prof of Chem Eng Univ of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh 13, Pa ABEL, Wayne K (M 57) 1513 Patton Drive, Odessa, Tex ABELL, Joseph M (J 55) Petr Engr Tennessee Gas & Oil Co Box 1772, Casper, Wyo ABELS, Thomas A (J 60) Exploit Engr Shell Oil Co Box 193, New Orleans 3, La ABENDROTH, G F (M 46) Dring Prod Supt Lyons & Logan 1500 Beck Bldg, Shreveport, La ABERCROMBIE, Bolling A (M 60) Mgr Product Planning Axelson-Garrett PO Box 2427, Longview, Tex ABERCROMBIE, C T (160) Prod Engr Cities Ser Petr Co Box 472, Brownfield, Tex ABERCROMBIE, H L Jr (J 55) Prod Engr Mobil Oil Co Room 1800 Gr PI Life Bldg, Lubbock, Tex ABERCROMBIE, Robert (J 57) Prod Engr Mobil Oil Co PO Box 1770 Shreveport, La ABERG, Richard S (M 57) Area Prod Geol Shell Oil Co of Canada, Box 100 Calgary, Alta, Canada]

Jan 1, 1961

By Robert J. Linney

IN the latter part of the year 1943, it was decided to experiment with diamond-drill blast holes in the Old Bed magnetite mine at the Mineville mines of the Republic Steel Corporation, in sections of the ore body where vertical dimensions were large and where development for sublevel bench stopes had already been done. Other possibilities of application for this drilling method were in the reclamation of old floors and pillars in the pitching folds of the Lower Old Bed ore body and in the reclamation of large vertical pillars in the " 21 " Bonanza-Joker ore body. The cross sections and views of the two ore bodies will show the conditions to which the diamond-drill method has been applied. The Lower Old Bed magnetite ore body is lenticular and dips approximately 30° toward the southwest and strikes generally southeast and northwest. An intensely folded structure, which pitches generally on an axis approximately at right angles to the strike, is continuous from the uppermost old workings down to the present bottom of the mine, and probably continues with depth. On successively lower levels this folded structure becomes greater in vertical dimensions and the two folds are closer together in a horizontal dimension. As shown in Fig. 1, this folded structure gives to parts of the ore body considerable vertical dimensions, which provide areas that were developed for sublevel bench stoping above a slushing drift, as shown in Fig. 2. It was in one of these previously developed sublevel bench stopes, No. 26 on the 1185-ft. level, that the diamond-drill blast-hole method was applied for mining the upper sublevel. The lower sublevel was underhand-bench-drilled to the finger raises of the scram drift below. The roof of this stoping area began to break and spall on the lower sublevel, causing the roof to become inclined. Along the hanging wall of the stope this reached an elevation about half way between the two sublevels. A smooth schistose seam in the hanging wall causes the ore to break away freely. Therefore, if bench mining had been carried on in the upper sublevel, a dangerous condition of poorly supported benches would have resulted. When the drillers were slashing across the sublevel to footwall and hanging wall to make a bench, spalling roof of the opening below would probably have carried away part of the bench, and would have left a dangerous place in which to continue underhand benching. A 6 by 8-ft. raise had been driven between the lower stope and the upper sublevel about 200 ft. from a manway. It was decided to use this raise for a starting cut and to arrange holes as shown in Fig. 3, so that a slot would be opened across the ore body between the footwall and hanging wall. This slot would then be used for the purpose of breaking into the ore; by blasting vertical rings of holes drilled at right angles to the axis of the pitching folds as nearly as possible. Layouts of this slot drilling and the rings adjacent are

Jan 1, 1945

By Herbert K. Kutter

This paper is concerned with the physical phenomena in the fracture process of presplitting and only indirectly with the establishment of the optimum presplitting parameters. Its nature is therefore qualitative, rather than quantitative.

Jan 1, 1968

By W. H., Bassett

IN January, 1926, the writer began a study of the commercial value of beryllium in its relation to copper. The purpose of the investigation was not to make a mere laboratory study of the characteristics of beryllium-copper alloys, but to determine under mill conditions the behavior of copper when alloyed with beryllium and when other metals were added to such alloys; in other words, it was considered important to know whether the alloy bars could be hot-rolled or cold-worked, and what limits in composition would have to be established for these two methods of working. Consequently, more stress has been placed on the practical application of the alloys in engineering and commercial use than on a discussion of the metallography of the specimens examined, although this part of the matter has not been entirely neglected. Credit should be first given to G. Oesterheld,1 who, in 1916, published the copper-beryllium equilibrium diagram. Fig. 1 has been copied from the original article with the simple substitution of English words. It will be noted from Fig. 1 that alpha solid solutions are formed, up to about 1.5 per cent. Be (10.5 atom.). The freezing-point curve, after falling from 4.2 per cent. Be (23.5 atom.), enters into a very complicated form over the entire beta region. There is a possible compound, Cu2Be, at about 6.5 per cent. Be (32.3 atom.). The pure gamma range extends from 11.2 to 12.2 per cent. Be. (46.5 to 49 atom.), after which the liquidus rises rapidly to 30 per cent. Be. (75 atom.). The delta solution extends from 25 per cent. to an unknown percentage of beryllium. There is a eutectoid point at 575" C., extending from 1.5 to 11.2 per cent. Be., the maximum time interval of which occurs at 6 per cent. Be. Below this line the beta solution is described as breaking up into alpha and gamma. Microscopically, the eutectiferous alloy thus formed closely resembles pearlite, and requires a high magnification for its resolution.

Jan 1, 1927

By AIME AIME

The first session, held Tuesday evening, February 23, in North Sheffield Hall, was called to order by Louis V. Pirsson, Chairman of the Local Committee, who introduced Prof. Russell H. Chittenden, Dean of the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University. Professor Chittenden, in behalf of the Governing Board, felicitated the Institute on its visit to New Haven, and cordially welcomed the members and guests to the University and the city. Dr. James Douglas, who presided at the meeting, responded in behalf of the Institute. The Secretary announced that, upon the proposal of many members, the unanimous report of the Committee on Membership, and .the unanimous recommendation of the Council, the following members had been unanimously elected by the Board of Directors Honorary Members in the American Institute of Mining Engineers Prof. Richard Beck, of Freiberg, Saxony, in recognition of his distinguished service to technical literature, and the cordial

Apr 1, 1909

By P. V. Roundy

PUBLIC lands in Florida were first withdrawn from entry by President Taft on July 2, 1910, as a conservation measure because of their possible phosphate content. The reserve thus established was subsequently modified by further withdrawals and by restorations, so that on Jan. 1, 1934,' it contained 66,796 acres, of which only a small part had been defi-nitely classified. The reserved land was in scattered parcels, ranging from less than 40 acres to 320 or more, distributed in many counties. For administrative purposes and for final disposal of any of the numerous parcels, mineral classification of the land is legally necessary. In 1934 and 1935 the United States Geological Survey, under two successive grants from the Public Works Administration, prospected some 83 tracts of these lands in Polk County, comprising in all about 3300 acres, and six tracts comprising 240 acres in Citrus and Marion Counties. The tracts in Polk County were all in the so-called land-pebble field and the others in the hard-rock field. The Survey field party was under the direction of P. V. Roundy, from whose unpublished report the material in this paper is largely taken. The foreman of the prospecting crew was J. H. Wingate of Zephyrhills, Fla. The individual tracts were identified through the cooperation of the General Land Office, by transitman Hugh B. Crawford. This prospecting work fitted well the classification adopted for Public Works projects in general: it could not he done on any considerable scale under the Survey's usual appropriations; it gave employment to unem-ployed labor; and it may be expected ultimately to repay the Government in royalties more than the cost of the exploration.

Jan 1, 1937

By Frank Milliken

IN September 1937, the Ohio Copper Co. inaugurated the treatment of its copper-bearing mill tailings at Lark, Utah. These tailings had been accumulated during the regular operation of the Ohio Copper mine and mill over the period 1007 to 1019. Gravity concentration had been employed except for a comparatively short period in 1919, when flotation was used. The ore milled during that period assayed about I per cent Cu. The chief copper mineral, chalcocite, was dissemi-nated in a shattered quartzite, mainly along fracture or cleavage planes. The quartzite gangue was extremely hard and grinding to liberation resulted in excessive sliming of the "sooty" chalcocite, with consequent high tailings losses. Recovery on the seven million tons treated was prob-ably less than 6o per cent of the total copper content. As early as 1918, attempts had been made to sample the dump. In 1928, a com-plete sampling program was undertaken. The sampling consisted of seventy-four 5-in. post auger holes drilled to the full depth of the dump at regular intervals of 250 ft. Each 10-ft. portion thereof com-prised a sample for analysis. Each sample was screened, rolled, divided into three parts, dried and assayed. The reject was retained for testing purposes. From the depth of the auger holes a contour map of the dump was plotted, Fig. 1, which gives percentages of tonnage and copper content.

Jan 1, 1940

By R. W. Raymond

In my former paper (Bans., xii., 410) I quoted the ruling of Judge Hallett, of Colorado, in the "Iron-Smuggler" case, tried before him in June, 1882. Under his charge, the jury in that case found for the defendants, practically declaring that the deposit on the outcrop of which the Iron Silver Mining Company's claim was located was not a " lode," or else that the portion of it within that claim was not the apex. The case was appealed, and the decision of the Supreme Court, given in February, 1886, is reported in 116 U. S. Reports, p. 529. It simply declares that there is nothing in the charge of Judge Hallett to warrant the setting aside the verdict. The definition of a legal lode given in that case, and quoted in my paper at the page above-named, is perhaps the best of several which Judge Hallet has pronounced. That is to say, his earlier definition, that " a lode or vein is a body of mineral, or mineral-bearing rock, within defined boundaries in the general mass of the mountain," is here accompanied with further explanations, which relieve it from the requirement on one hand, that the body shall be continuously ore-bearing if it he only well-defined, and, on the other hand, that the boundaries shall be well-defined if the ore-bearing body be proved to exist. So far as this particular case is concerned, the approval of this ruling by the Supreme Court merely prevents any re-hearing as to the face. Undoubtedly, the evidence was conflicting; and the jury chose to believe, for the purpose of that occasion, the " experts " who

Jan 1, 1887

By Evan Just

DIRECT subsidies for mine production in this country began as an outgrowth of wartime 'price regulation. The price-fixing authorities realized that the volume of production to be required from domestic copper, lead, and zinc mines would invoke costs of production considerably higher than the established ceiling prices. Accordingly, beginning Feb. 1, 1942 the Premium Price Plan was set up, which undertook to pay premiums to mines for production in excess of quota, of 5¢ per lb of copper and 2Y4¢ per lb of zinc or lead. Quotas, except for small mines, were initially established at the average rate of production in 1941, but were later reduced arbitrarily on an individual basis. Subsequently, additional "B" premiums were set for lead and zinc of 2Y40 per lb and a further "C" zinc premium of 2%¢. Additional copper premiums were negotiated on an individual basis, mainly with small mines. Quotas under each of these successive categories were the production obtained at the next lower premium level. In other words, under ceiling prices of 12¢ for copper, 6,14¢ for lead, and 83¢ for zinc, it was possible for high-cost operations to receive prices plus premiums of 17¢ or more for copper, 12¢ for lead, and 16% 0 for zinc on a portion of their production. On the other hand, some of the larger operators received only slight premiums and in at least one instance none at all. The average price plus premium for copper was 12.25¢ in 1942 and rose to 13.65¢ in 1945. That for lead was 6.99¢ in 1942 and 8.73¢ in 1945, and for zinc it was 9.06¢ in 1942 and 11.200 in 1945.

Jan 1, 1948

By George S. Rice

A problem of possible subsidence of the surface from mining operations, which might have had disastrous results, arose in 1913 at the Brier Hill mine, of the Penn Iron Mining Co., near Norway, Mich., now managed by Pickands, Mather & Co. for the Bethlehem Steel Co. A double track and sidings of the Chicago & North Western Railroad passed over part of the mine, and if subsidence had reached the surface it might have affected the stability of the tracks. The chief purpose of this paper is to record the facts disclosed by investigations of underground movement from 1913 to 1919, when the tracks were moved, and subsequently at intervals, as engineering data of value from mining carried on below the tracks in the steeply pitching lenses. A secondary purpose of this paper is to describe a novel method for determining the rate of speed of upward breaking above the mine excavations. This method was found effective and might be used elsewhere under similar conditions. The mine workings under consideration were developed from the Brier Hill shaft, which was circular, concrete-lined, 14 ft. in diameter and about 900 ft. deep. They extended about 800 ft. westward from the shaft, and nearly parallel to a corresponding length of the railroad tracks. The highest part of these workings was at a depth of 400 ft. below the tracks (Figs. 1 to 12). The mining company had the right to remove the ore, the railroad assuming that the surface would be supported. Finally, without legal controversy, an amicable adjustment was reached as to what should be done to lessen or obviate the hazard of subsidence. Method oF Mining Before the problem became acute, the mining company, to decrease the possibility of subsidence, had been mining the part of the orebody that lay under the tracks by a room-and-pillar system, back-filling with

Jan 1, 1934