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By R. A. L. Black

Between March and June 1962, the privilege of holding a Carnegie Corporation Fellowship enabled R. A. L. Black to travel extensively in the northeastern and western U.S. and in Canada, seeing mining schools, mining research establishments and a cross-section of the American and Canadian mining industry. Visits were paid to 12 university mining schools, 7 research establishments and 19 mining operations. The author had previously spent two months in Britain in a similar manner and eventually returned to his home in South Africa after a short period studying mining problem in Australia. Thus, although the following remarks are mainly concerned with the educational problems of mining in North America, a comparison of impressions of American and Canadian conditions could be made with impressions gained from first-hand experience of other mining centers in the English-speaking world. The conclusion was reached that the problems and conditions of mining, research and mining education are very similar in all areas visited.

Jan 4, 1963

ONE of the interesting-though not unnatural-features of the whole Porphyry Copper development is the way in which the history of each property dovetails with that of one or more of the others. The same names keep cropping up as one digs into the accounts of events from 1900 to 1915. J. Parke Channing made examinations of Nevada, Ray, and Inspiration, as well as of Miami. Henry Krumb did important work in the early stages of the exploitation of Utah, Nevada, Ray, Braden, and Inspiration. Pope Yeatman was favorably impressed with the Braden property before he had ever visited it, when he saw a batch of Braden ore sent to the United States for testing. It reminded him immediately of Nevada Consolidated ore: indeed, he was unwilling at first to believe that it came from South America. And it was while working on the examination at Utah Copper that Philip Wiseman became enthused with the possibilities of the Ray mines. In 1905, Mr. Krumb, under the general direction of A. Chester Beatty, was strenuously engaged at Bingham, Utah, in arriving at an answer to this question: Should or should not the Guggenheim interests back Jackling to the tune of several million dollars to build the big concentrators at Gafield? Seeley W. Mudd was the Guggenheim engineer on the Pacific coast and in that capacity was indirectly responsible for the work at Bingham. At his suggestion Wiseman came up from Los Angeles as one of Krumb's assistants-at $5 per day, incidentally. A little later Mr. Mudd, in Utah on one of his visits, went down to Bingham. That evening in the old Hills Hotel in Markham Gulch he was going over reports with Mr. Krumb. Wiseman and some of the other engineers on Krumb's staff were present. During a breathing spell, Mudd expressed

Jan 1, 1933

By Spencer S. Shannon

This chapter is concerned with the uses, geology, exploration, evaluation, preparation for markets, and future of 90thorium and 39yttrium, along with 14 rare-earth elements. The rare-earth metals or lanthanides were divided into three categories by Berzelius. The cerium subgroup is comprised of 57lanthanum, 58cerium, 59praseodymium, 60neodymium, and 62samarium. 61Promethium does not occur naturally. The terbium subgroup includes 63europium, 64gadolinium, and 65terbium. The remaining lanthanides are placed in the yttrium subgroup. Strictly speaking, yttrium is not a rare earth. Because the properties of yttrium resemble those of heavy rare earths, its name has been used as a designating adjective. The yttrium subgroup includes 66dysprosium, 67holmium, 68erbium, 69thulium, 70ytterbium, and 67lutetium. Rare-earth elements, especially those of the same subgroup, tend to occur together rather than in discrete minerals.

Jan 1, 1975

By E. T. Peters, L. E. Tanner

In the course of a study concerned with the rnechanical behavior of the intermetallic compound CO3V, both structural observations and anomalous electrical-resistivity behavior indicated the presence of a new high-temperature phase in an alloy with the stoichiometric composition, Co-22.4 wt pet V. The evidence, which is given below, suggests that the new phase is situated between the low-temperature ordered hexagonal phase, k,1, 2and the high-temperature disordered fee solid solution, a,3 within a small range of temperature in the vicinity of 1070°C. Structural studies included X-ray diffraction analysis* and electron-transmission microscopy examination* of stoichiometric composition speci- mens homogenized for 1 hr at 1200oC and either air-cooled or water-quenched. The air-cooled specimens yielded X-ray diffraction evidence of the k phase, while electron microscopy revealed a microstructure of both heavily and moderately faulted regions as shown in Fig. 1. The high density of stacking faults (or fine twins) in region A is reminiscent of hexagonal cobalt following its allotropic transformation.4 Selected-area diffraction from this region revealed distinct superlattice reflections of the ordered hexagonal phase, as well as continuous rel-streaks which were normal to the fault planes in the micrograph. The latter is indicative of extremely small spacings between the faults.' Regions such as ß were found to be only partially transformed to the k phase. Attempts to study the antiphase domain structure by either bright- or dark-field techniques were unsuccessful in these initial studies. This was due to the low intensity of the superlattice reflections arising from the closeness of the cobalt and vanadium scattering factors. Quenching Co3V from above Tc appears to suppress the formation of the k phase. Both X-ray and electron-diffraction results indicated that the disordered phase, a, was partially ordered during severe cooling and that the structure of the ordered phase was of the L12 (Cu3Au) type,6 designated here as a'. As in the case of the hexagonal phase, examination of the domain structure was unsuccessful; however, significant information concerning the morphology of this condition was revealed by the appearance of dislocation arrays. In particular, it

Jan 1, 1965

By B. G. Klugh

(New York Meeting, February, 1912). IN a paper before the Institute at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., June 1911,1 Mr. James Gayley discussed the application of this process to iron-bearing materials. The same author2 described the results of operations at the plant at Birdsboro, Pa. The purpose of the present paper is to present further discussion of some technical details involved in the operation of this plant, and of the theoretical and practical relations of this product to blast-furnace practice. Since Oct. 1, 1911, the Birdsboro plant has been in operation at the blast-furnace of the E. & G. Brooke Iron Co. The results have been highly satisfactory, although the material treated, being chiefly the flue-dust currently made by the furnace or taken from the accumulated stock-pile, was excessively high, and yet not uniform, in carbon, so that the desirable control or regularity of the amount of fuel in the mixture treated could not be maintained. Nothing could more forcibly demonstrate the flexibility of the process than the fact that, under these conditions, the sinter produced was, in all cases, of excellent quality. The Dwight & Lloyd process, as such, and its present highly-developed mechanical appliances were described by Mr. Gayley in the paper above mentioned. While the repetition of some particulars will be unavoidable in this paper, it will be confined to features bearing upon the metallurgical principles involved. According to the principle of the process, the finely-divided iron-bearing material to be sintered is intimately mixed with

May 1, 1912

By AIME AIME

UNTIL recently, practically all geophysical prospecting in Australia was conducted by government departments, either by the Aerial, Geological and Geophysical Survey of Northern Australia or the New South Wales Department of Mines. At present, in addition, the Shell company is carrying out an extensive geophysical campaign in South West Queensland. The Northern Australia Survey has now been in operation for over six years, its work being carried out principally in the northern and central parts of Australia over an area of about a million square miles. At present this Survey is being brought to a conclusion but it appears certain that the geophysical section will be transferred to a Commonwealth Government department on a permanent basis. At present the officers of the Geophysical Section are preparing or have issued some 150 reports on their field work and also a special technical report on the geophysical practice of the Survey.

Jan 1, 1942

By Rossier W. Raymond

John Birkinbine was born Nov. 16, 1844, at Reading, Pa., the eldest son of H. P. M. Birkinbine, widely known as a hydraulic engineer. The family removed subsequently to Philadelphia, where, as a young man he established with his father the office now, continued by his sons, after more than 60 years. His education was received at public schools, the Friends' High School in Philadelphia, the Hill School at Pottstown, Pa., and the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania, where his studies were interrupted in 1863-4 by service in the Union Army, which included participation in the battles at and around Gettysburg. Later, he devoted two years to work in a machine shop; and subsequently he became associated with the late P. L. Weimer, under the firm name of Weimer & Birkinbine, operating the Weimer Machine Works at Lebanon, Pa. Much of his work was in mining, metallurgy, and blast-furnace construction. As manager for the South Mountain Mining & Iron Co. he carried on experiments with various fuels for iron-ore smelting while maintaining the furnace in constant operation. The carefully recorded results obtained were widely published, and are referred to in text-books by other metallurgists as most complete. From his Philidelphia office he was sent to nearly every State, and to Canada and Mexico, for examinations, reports, constructions or im-provements in iron-ore mines, blast furnaces, iron works, water supplies, hydraulic development, irrigation projects, etc., and his engineering knowledge was requisitioned by several Eukopean corporations. A number of business trips were made to Mexico, beginning with a visit to the Cerro de Mercado at Durango,,before railroads were established in that. portion of Mexico, to make a critical examination and report on this "Iron Mountain." Later visits covered other localities and engineering problems, familiarizing him with the major part of the iron industry in Mexico. The late disturbed political conditions in that Republic have retarded the probable enlargement, modernization, and improvement of much of the iron and steel industry of Mexico, upon which he investigated and . reported for various capitalists on both continents. One interesting subject included in these reports was a proposed electric furnace, to be operated by energy from water power.

Jan 1, 1916

By AIME AIME

THE many kinds of iron and steel may be grouped into two general classes. First, there are the common steels and cast irons, made in enormous tonnages each year and used for the construction of buildings, ships and bridges, for pipe, for reinforced concrete highways, for the so-called tin cans, and by the railroads and other industries for which a low cost material is suitable. Second, there are the alloy steels and alloy cast irons, which are alloys of the chemical element iron and one or more of a large number of special elements such as manganese, silicon, nickel, chromium, vanadium, tungsten, and molybdenum. Alloy steels and irons are more costly than the common grades but their higher cost is, for many applications, justified by their superior properties, leading to ultimate economies or other advantages. They may be harder, stronger, tougher, or more resistant to rusting than the common varieties, and so are extensively used for tools, for ornamental work on buildings and in the automotive, aircraft, and other industries for, which the higher cost is compensated for by the higher quality.

Jan 1, 1933

By E. H. Rose

From the more distant members and some not so distant, the plaint is often heard that they cannot justify the expense and time required to attend the AIME Annual Meeting. Almost invariably, the reason given takes this form: "I just don't see that I would get enough out of it." Often the would-be clincher is added: "Besides, the meat of it all comes out in print anyway." Not long ago, a group of us who have seldom missed a meeting in recent years fell to discussing this phenomenon, and found ourselves in emphatic agreement that anyone holding such a belief indicates by his first remark that he does not know how to attend a convention, and by his second, proves it. He is, by and large, the man who has never been there, and of him, there are many.

Jan 1, 1949

The First Conference of the Powder Metallurgy Committee convened in the East Foyer of the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria, New York City, at 9:45 a.m., on Feb. 21, 1944, Mr. John Wulff, General Chairman, presiding. THE CHAIRMAN.-In behalf of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers I welcome all members and guests to this conference on Powder Metallurgy. We hope that this meeting will give expert and novice in the field a chance for discussion. Unfortunately, the subject has been overemphasized by some, and, of late, severely criticized by others. We have here today powder producers, fabricators, and engineers of different viewpoints, who can make the meeting a success. Such success depends not only on the caliber of the papers presented but more so on the discussion. To give you time for a free exchange of views, the papers have been shortened purposely. With the hope that you will all benefit by this conference, I shall turn the meeting over to the Chairmen of the morning session, Mr. Roland P. Koehring, of Moraine Products Division of General Motors, and Dr. R. K. Waring, of the New Jersey Zinc Company. SESSION ON DESIGN FACTORS IN POWDER METALLURGY R. P. Koehring and R. K. Waring presiding The opening paper of the session was presented by Mr. Fred P. Peters, as follows:

Jan 1, 1945

By Rossiter W. Raymond

BY the courtesy of Mr. Charles W. Jenks, of Boston, one of the owners of this interesting mine, I am enabled to lay before the Institute a suite of specimens, illustrating its peculiar formation and the paragenesis of mineral species which it presents; and a recent brief visit and rapid reconnoissance of the locality permit me to supplement this exhibition with a general description, based upon personal observation. The mine is situated upon the Culsagee Fork of the Tennessee River, in Macon County, North Carolina, a few miles from Franklin. The most practicable route by which it can at present be visited is by wagon (or preferably on horseback) from Seneca City, S. C., a station on the Charlotte and Atlanta Air Line Railroad. The itinerary is as follows: to Walhalla,* nine miles; Walhalla to Highlands, twenty-nine miles; Highlands to the Culsagee, fourteen miles. By passing the night at or near Highlands, the mine can be reached and examined and the return to Highlands made on the second day; and the round trip, if performed in the saddle, can be completed in three days from Seneca City. It is not easy, with due regard to steed and rider, to do it in less time. The rough and precipitous mountain roads do not permit rapid travel ; and the journey is at best a fatiguing one. But its slight hardships are overpaid by the stimulating effect of the climate and the great beauty of the scenery, both of which are destined to become more widely known than at present, to seekers for health and pleasure. Indeed the town of Highlands, already named, is almost entirely made up of northern immigrants, attracted by these advantages and by the inducement of cheap land for agriculture and stock-raising. The Culsagee or Sugartown fork of the Tennessee traverses the belt of ancient crystalline schists on the west flank of the Blue Ridge. This belt abounds in valuable minerals. Among those of the nonmetallic class may be mentioned graphite, soapstone, serpentine, ashes- * A branch or cross railroad is in operation as far as Walhalla ; but the single daily train runs at an hour not convenient for this expedition ; and Seneca City is probably the best starting-point. At all events, I obtained there an excellent mount for the trip.

Jan 1, 1879

By H. B. Goodrich

Anthony I?. Lucas died suddenly at his home in Washington, D. C., on Sept. 2, 1921. Captain Lucas, as he was known to us, was born in Dalmatia, Austria, in 1855, of Montenegrin ancestry. He was graduated as an engineer at the Polytechnic of Grate and served in the Austrian Navy as second lieutenant. In 1879, he obtained leave of absence and visited an uncle in the United States. After an extension of this leave of absence, in order to undertake an engineering engagement in the lumber district of Michigan, where he resided, he decided to become an American citizen. He was naturalized in May, 1885. His name was Luchich, but as his uncle had adopted the name of Lucas, which was more easily pronounced by Americans, from his entrance to this country, he used this Anglo-Saxon form. Without knowing this fact, upon first meeting him a person was sometimes surprised to note the rather Germanic pronunciation of the Captain. Although he subsequently revisited Austria with Mrs. Lucas, he made his permanent home at Washington, D. C. His son served with distinction in the A. E. F. during the World War. His activities in this country as a mining engineer were at first in Colorado and later in salt mining at Petit Anse and Belle Isle, La. During his salt investigations, his attention was directed toward the possibility of oil in the Gulf Coast region and in January, 1901, his well, the "Lucas Gusher," on Spindle Top, Tex., started a new era in the oil business and his reputation as discoverer made him famous throughout the world. Captain Lucas became a member of the A. I. M. E. in 1895. During 1914, 1915, 1918, and 1919, he was chairman of the Petroleum and Gas Committee of the Institute and was at all times prominent in Institute affairs. As to the personality of Captain Lucas, the lasting impression is of a courteous hospitable gentleman, genial, affable, obliging, and helpful with his advice br assistance to any colleague. He was sincere, honest, firm against all obstacles, backing his judgment with his own hard work along any course which he had determined to be correct. His value in the engineering world lies mainly in the petroleum industry. In the oil business all wild-catters are pioneers that deserve credit and gratitude upon their success. There are, however, names that particularly stand out in our history. Drake conquered such obstacles as ridicule, lack of finances, and started the oil business. In 1901, Captain Lucas had the conviction that Spindle Top, a dome rising about 12 ft. above the coastal prairie south of Beaumont, Tex., contained commercial oil. He was scoffed at by practical oil men of the East. Noted geologists

Jan 1, 1921

By E. L. Bruce

The district of Patricia, in the province of Ontario, lies northwest of the Albany River and extends northward to Hudson Bay. Formerly this was the unorganized district of Keewatin, the southern part of which was divided in 1912 between the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. The interprovincial boundary now runs north from Lake of the Woods for 275 miles and thence northeast 375 miles to Hudson Bay. This district is comparable in size to all the older part of Ontario south of the Canadian Pacific Railway east of Lake Huron—thus it is roughly one-third of the whole of the present provincial area. The central part of this great triangle is one of the least accessible parts of Canada. From it streams flow southward to the English River, southeastward to the Albany, northward to Hudson Bay and the Hayes River, and westward to Lake Winnipeg. None of the streams is large and canoe travel is not easy. The only industry it has ever had is the trade in furs. Until the development of the airplane on a commercial basis, the only means of travel was by canoe or dog-train. There is not a mile of railway in the whole district. The two areas to be dealt with lie in the southwestern part of Patricia. Red Lake is 50 miles east of the Manitoba boundary and 75 miles north of the transcontinental railway from Cochrane to Winnipeg. Woman Lake is 50 miles farther east and slightly farther north. The late Dr. D. B. Dowling, of the Geological Survey of Canada, visited Red Lake and spent some time there during his exploration survey from Lac Seul to Berens River in 1893. He also visited the Woman Lake basin during the same journey, but his examination of it was much less detailed, the great area covered by him during the one field season making it impossible to make more than a hurried reconnaissance. Some prospecting in the Red Lake district followed Dowling's exploration, but the distance from railway was too great for any systematic work to be done. In 1922, following the usual plan, the Ontario Department of Mines made a geological reconnaissance of the English River, following :in instrumental survey of that river and its lakes by the Department of Lands. A side trip was taken to examine the rocks of Red Lake described

Jan 1, 1928

By Joseph C. Platt

It is not the object of the present paper to give a description of the minerals found on Mine Hill, in Sussex County, N. J., nor even to touch upon all the forms of the ores named, but to place upon record and call to the attention of the Institute some interesting facts concerning them. In May, 1875, after the Dover meeting, some of the members visited this locality, and, no doubt, it is fresh in their memories, being one of the best known mineralogical points in our country. It will be only necessary to describe it very briefly. Mine Hill and Stirling Hill, in Sussex County, N. J.,—the former being at the village of Franklin Furnace, and the latter near Ogdensburg,—are the only localities in the State where zinc ores are found in workable quantities.* Mine Hill is the more northerly, and mineralogically differs from its neighbor, chiefly in having no hydrated ores to speak of, while at Stirling this deposit is considerable. At both points Franklinite, red oxide, and silicate of zinc occur in large quantities. Mine Hill lies on the east side of the Wallkill River, above which it rises to an extreme elevation of about 150 feet. On the summit the outcrop of the Franklinite vein appears, while the lowest worked points are perhaps 10 or 15 feet above the level of the stream. Cornmencing at the northern end, where the Hamburg Road crosses it, this outcrop runs along the northwestern brow of the hill a distance of about 2000 feet, in a general southwest direction, to a point where is a large, cavern-like opening, called the "Southwest Opening." " Double Rock," about the highest point on the hill, lies near the middle of this 2000 feet of outcrop, and over or near it passes a property line, to which allusion will hereafter be made. At the Southwest Opening the vein bends abruptly towards the east,—the angle between the two parts being perhaps 45°,—and this easterly branch continues some 700 feet. From the northern part of the Stirling Hill deposit to the southern part of the Mine Hill deposit is about two miles, and in this interval the vein carrying Franklinite

By Carroll C. Bailey, William F. Boericke

Mine financing, or providing adequate capital for developing and bringing a mining property into production, is an essential requirement for a successful operation. Today it presents a different picture than even twenty-five years ago. The day appears to be gone when a mining property could pay its own way from grass roots to production. The country has been quite thoroughly combed for surface showings from which sufficient initial profit could be immediately garnered to pay for further development and production facilities. The four M's for success in mining-mineral, market, management, and money-are still essential; but doubled or tripled wage costs and steep advances in cost of equipment and supplies throw increased emphasis on adequate capital funds for bringing in a prospect and making it a producer. Consequently, the old picturesque, although seldom rewarding, grub- staking procedure where a single venturesome citizen might advance funds to a prospector on a fifty-fifty basis for whatever discovery he might find, has largely disappeared. Its place, to some degree, has been taken by the small syndicate of venturesome members who band together for furnishing funds to a group of prospectors for the same general purposes. Such a syndicate has a definite organization and is usually assured of sufficient initial funds, or flow of funds, to carry on work for several years. It is headed by an engineer-promoter who has had considerable field experience as well as personal knowledge of his prospecting crews. For the owner of a potential mining property who has ample capital, the problem is to determine (1) justification for the necessary investment in exploration and development, and (2) the economics of the enterprise as to size and degree of integration of the final operating entity. If the owner of such a property has little or no capital, he also faces these same basic problems but, in addition, must be able to present the findings of fact and persuade the prospective investor that the enterprise will produce

Jan 1, 1959

By Albert R. Ledoux

Discussion of the Paper of Albert R. Ledoux, read at the Atlantic City Meeting, February, 1904. ARTHUR JARMAN, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia' (communication to the Secretary*): Some remarks upon. Dr. Ledoux's interesting paper from one who has not visited America may, I hope, be of interest to members. It appears to me that there is considerable difference between the training of the American and of the British mining engineer. Not that the subjects are different, but rather in the way in which they are handled, the illustrations being, as far as possible, mining in character. Colloquial instruction is unknown in English curricula, but could be introduced with advantage. Students here assure me that an hour of conversation is of tar more use to them than an hour of the best lecturing. In England a school-year of 6 or 7 months would be considered very short indeed; but Americans do not consider it so, for the reason that the rest of the year is mostly spent in acquiring practical acquaintance with their subjects in works or in the field, and the shorter courses, when coupled with this large amount of outside expe¬rience, produce an essentially practical-minded engineer, who is also more of a business man; whereas the English system, though excellent from a scholastic point of view, produces the theoretical rather than the practical man. British schools are waking up, however, and the practical aspect of the engineer's training is receiving greater consideration. Once launched upon his career, the American engineer is immediately called upon to exercise his self-reliance and ingenuity, if he is to retain the confidence of his employers; but what can we say of English directors? In how many cases is the engineer allowed to guide the destinies of his company? Witness several recent cases of gross waste of money upon unsuitable plants, and the perpetuation of prehistoric methods of

Mar 1, 1905

By Ernest Burchard

A RECONNAISSANCE Of the manganese-and chrome-ore deposits of Cuba was made by the writer, as a representative of the U. S. Geological Survey, in company with Mr. Albert Burch of the Bureau of Mines under instructions of the Secretary of the. Interior, in the Spring of 1918. The object of the study was to obtain authentic information for the use of the United States Government as to the location, character, quantity, and availability of the manganese and chrome-ore deposits in Cuba. Accordingly, the work comprised the examination of such deposits as seemed to be of promise, without regard to stage of development, with a view to determination of the quantity and quality of ore likely to become available for shipment during 1918 and 1919, and of the tonnage of ore in reserve. While it was possible to visit most of the deposits that seemed to be of promise, there was not sufficient time to visit all that were brought to our attention, some of which may have merit. Manganese ore is found in Cuba in Oriente, Santa Clara, and Pinar del Rio Provinces, but in Oriente Province only does it occur in large commercial quantities. There, the deposits are in three areas: one north of Santiago de Cuba, one south of Bayamo and Baire, and one on the Caribbean coast between Torquino Peak and Portillo. In Santa Clara Province, a little ore has been found near the Caribbean coast west of Trinidad; and in Pinar del Rio Province, manganiferous material occurs north of the city of Pinar del Rio and farther west near Mendoza. The manganese ores of Cuba occur, principally, in sedimentary rocks, such as limestone, sandstone, and shale, that are in places metamorphosed, and. in beds that originally may have been water-laid tuff

Jan 3, 1919

By John A. Church

Jan 1, 1880

PRESIDENT BENJAMIN B. THAYER,1 NEW YORK, N. Y. PAST PRESIDENTS JAMES F. KEMP,1 NEW YORK, N. Y. CHARLES F. RAND,2 NEW YORK, N. Y. FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT SIDNEY J. JENNINGS,1 NEW YORK,. N. Y. TREASURER GEORGE C. STONE,1 NEW YORK, N. Y. SECRETARY EMERITUS ROSSITER W. RAYMOND, NEW YORK, N. Y. SECRETARY BRADLEY STOUGHTON NEW YORK, N. Y.

Jan 11, 1914

By J. A. Botin, K. H. Singh

INTRODUCTION The Alfredo underground mine is one of the three mining operations of Rio Tinto Minera, S.A., all near the community of Rio Tinto in Huelva province of southwest Spain. The other two operations are Corta Atalaya open pit (Pyrite ore) and Cerro Colorado open pit (Copper ore 1. Underground mining of Alfredo Mine for pyrites started in the nineteenth century and continued without interruption until 1979 when it was discontinued due to economical reasons. In 1972, a new project was started for the mining of copper bearing ores on the footwall of the pyrite deposit. This copper ore is locally named “Cloritas” and it forms a nearly vertical and tabular shaped orebody which forms an envelope at the footwall of the San Dionisio pyrite orebody. Mining of the Cloritas commenced in 1975 using cut and fill stoping. In 1977, the original project was completely revised which led to the introduction of a bulk mining system to achieve a planned production of 3,000 tonnes of ore per day. This paper covers the economic and planning aspects of the mine and discusses the evolution of the mining method for the Cloritas orebody. A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CLORITAS OREBODY The “Masa San Dionisio” (figure 1 ) is a massive sulphide orebody located in the town of Rio Tinto, about 90 kilometres west of Sevilla, Spain. Extensive vein-type sulphide mineralization exists in the volcanic host rocks of the Masa San Dionisio. Within this area of stockwork veins, there is a higher concentration of copper in the form of chalcopyrite in a zone adjacent to and paralleling the contact with the massive sulphides. This copper envelope is locally referred to as the "Cloritas Orebody” and the ore within it is called "Cloritas”. The main zone of the Cloritas orebody, (figure 11, is tabular and nearly vertical having a length of 375-400 m east-west, a thickness of 20-50 m north-south, and a vertical extension of 500 m from the surface. In addition to this area, there is a second less important low grade area called zone 2A located to the north of the main zone below 26 Level which, in some sections, is not fully separated from the main zone. MINING METHODS Mining in Rio Tinto area can be traced back to the Phoenecians and the Romans. Modern day mining started with the demand for sulphuric acid during the last half of the nineteenth century. By 1971, more than 33 million tonnes of pyrite had been mined out of Alfredo Mine, (San Dionisio Orebody), using labor intensive drift and fill methods and also by open pit method. During the last decade, underground mining of the pyrite had become uneconomic due to lower prices and a slackening demand for pyrite, and the underground mining operations for pyrite were finally stopped in 1979. In 1971, a major change in the long range mining plans for Masa San Dionisio was established. Between 1971 and 1975, underground mining of pyrites was progressively reduced while open pit extraction was increased in

Jan 1, 1981