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By BERNARD PLANNER

PRODUCTION COSTS, profits, and quality are the primary factors in the peacetime production of iron and steel. In a war emergency, as high production rates and as complete utilization of readily available raw materials as possible, consistent with securing passable quality, become the most important factors. In this connection a discussion of some of the recent developments in the German iron and steel industry, where the problem of scarcity has naturally always been more acute than in the U.S.A., maybe of interest. To get more pig iron out of the existing blast furnaces it was necessary to obtain the maximum efficiency from the iron-bearing raw materials. This was achieved by eliminating all "excess baggage," chiefly by beneficiating the ore. The preparatory work for this was done by various methods which are effective when the ore either is too poor or contains too many impurities or too much gangue. Some of the beneficiation methods are well known, some are combinations of wet-mechanical, magnetic, roasting, sintering, and other treatments.

Jan 1, 1942

By B. S. Old, E. R. Poor

PRODUCING more steel without major capital investment in new plants is one of the most perplexing difficulties which confront the nation's postwar steel industry. The lack of scrap at a reasonable price results in an especially heavy pressure being brought to bear on the pig-iron production facilities which consist of 245 blast furnaces scattered throughout the country but concentrated most heavily in the Pittsburgh-Chicago area. Present demands exceed the total optimum output of these existing blast-furnace plants. Management hesitates to authorize erection of new plants on a scale sufficient to satisfy 'the demand for pig iron for two main reasons: first, extensive building under the present high costs of construction would greatly increase . the over-all capital investment per ton of iron capacity; and, second, the amount of steel necessary for a major construction program would upset the already tight supply-demand situation. The answer to the problem would then seem to be the development and application of a method which would increase the capacity of existing blast furnaces with a minimum of alterations and expense. Experiments consisting of operating a blast furnace at higher-than-normal top pressures, as proposed by Arthur D. Little, Inc., were carried out by the Republic Steel Corp. initially during World War II, and much more extensively during the past twenty months. The results of the Republics trials indicate that pressure blowing is a solution to the problem of increasing pig-iron capacity without necessitating major changes to existing equipment.

Jan 1, 1948

By C. M. WEILD

ATTENTION has been turned recently to the exploration and development of certain large blanket-deposits of brown iron-ore in Cuba. The most conspicuous of these to-day, and the one upon which the most light has been shed, is the Mayari deposit, situated about 15 miles south of Nipe bay. Here the Spanish-American Co. has sole control over 18,500 acres of ore-bearing lands, reported by its engineers to contain 500,000,000 tons of ore; and the necessary plant and equipment, with docks and railways, is now under construction for the early marketing of this ore. A similar deposit, and undoubtedly the next to be exploited, is the ore-field at Moa bay, where 13,000 to 15,000 acres of ore-lands, immediately adjacent to the shores of an excellent harbor, have been generously covered by numerous mining-claims, practically all controlled by four large interests. This deposit is now estimated to contain approximately 350,000,000 tons, on the basis of dried ore ready for shipment, a figure which may be increased when the western limits of the ore-deposit have been more accurately defined. Other deposits of the same type, but smaller and less accessible, are those at Cubitas, situated from 12 to 15 miles north of Camaguey city, and at Taco bay and Navas, points lying a few miles west of Baracoa. The area of the Cubitas deposit is said to be 6,000 acres, and the yield of ore is estimated at 150,000,000 tons. The Baracoa. deposits are less well known, but preliminary estimates have placed their joint ore-reserves at 40,000,000 tons. Accepting the above tonnages as reasonably correct, we conclude that the deposits enumerated give promise of adding about 1,000,000,000 tons of iron-ore to the world's supply; they have, therefore, to be considered in any attempt to fore-

Aug 1, 1909

By R. V. Norris

1. INTRODUCTION. THE anthracite coal trade, with a shipment averaging about 70,000,000 tons per year, differs essentially from other coal business, in the fact that the larger sizes, comprising about 65 per cent. of the total, are used almost exclusively for domestic purposes, principally during the winter months; and that for proper combustion close-sizing is imperative, so that eight sizes are made; broken, egg, stove, and nut, known as prepared sizes, and pea, buckwheat, rice, and barley, known as steam sizes. These sizes are made in the regular course of preparation, and but little variation in the natural percentage of each is practicable. Thus it is necessary either to work the collieries intermittently, or to dispose of all the varying sizes in their fixed proportions. Unfortunately, the market does not at all times absorb the coal in proper proportions, and rather than interfere with the regular operation of the mines it has been found economical to provide storage for the excess. While the cellars of the consumers are the great storage-plants of the country, this capacity is not under the control of the trade, except so far as reduced prices during the spring and summer months may tempt the use of this reserve. The same remark applies but with less force to the retail yards, which,, though usually small, store in the aggregate a large amount of anthracite. While every effort is made to utilize to the utmost the individual storage-capacity of the country, there still remains the necessity for taking care of the irregularities of the market by the construction of storage-plants under the direct control of the producers. Such plants are usually the property of the railroads, and are situated at points most convenient from a traffic stand-point.

Jun 1, 1911

By Charles A. Thomson

RECENTLY a prominent Brazilian' doctor wrote to an American friend: "I feel that cultural relations between the American and Brazilian people could be promoted in a very speedy and effective way by establishing contacts between men of the same professions. . . . A Brazilian mechanical engineer could be immediately interested in relations with American colleagues, even if he had never heard of Longfellow and was not interested in Stokowski's orchestra. . . . A large number of cultural ties could be established between specific groups of men who have already some common interest, and who, whenever they meet, can do something that naturally brings them closer, that is, `talk shop."' In appointing a committee on Inter-American Engineering Relations to cooperate with the Department of State in its program of fostering cultural relations with the other republics of this hemisphere, the American Engineering Council has taken a step which should lead to a greater sense of unity and fraternity among engineers of the Americas. That such unity and fraternity are part and parcel of the moral defense of the hemisphere is obvious. For years engineers of the United States have been traveling South and South-east to construct roads and bridges, dam rivers, harness waterfalls, build ports, install and operate mining equipment, and erect buildings and plants, often at the risk of life. Those in the teaching profession in this country have had as pupils a growing number of students from our neighboring republics whom they have sent back home trained in the most efficient engineering methods. In a sense, however, these relations with the other nations on this side of the globe have been haphazard and left to chance. Personal acquaintance among engineers has played its role but no organized attempt appears to have been made to take advantage of the natural relationship which geographical and historical factors should encourage.

Jan 1, 1940

By C. C. CONCANNON

POTASH is an essential. It is necessary as an ingredient in fertilizers or as a plant food, and certainly one of the great problems, and one of increasing gravity, is the maintenance of agricultural fertility that we may have adequate food supplies. When one thinks of potash one thinks of Germany. The first and most important deposits of soluble potash salts were found in Germany, and it was through Ger- man research and the application of a highly developed knowledge of chemistry that the value of these deposits was recognized and appreciated in the field of agricultural fertilization. The Germans knew that they had something of great value in their potash resources, not only because of the advantage derived from the extensive use of it in their own intensive farming operations at home, but also because of the pressing need for it on the part of other countries. Appreciating the economic value of this in international trade, they fostered the industry to the fullest extent and devoted much attention to well organized propaganda designed to bring out the essential need for potash of German origin throughout the world. Thus every one came to believe that potash was an essential commodity of only German origin and as such it held an extraordinary position in world trade prior to 1914.

Jan 1, 1926

US Tin Mission To Study Costs in Far East A move to obtain adequate supplies of tin at prices the United States is willing to pay was initiated when the interagency tin mission left for the Far East. The Mission, which includes representatives of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, State Department, Defense Minerals Procurement Agency and the Bureau of Mines will go to Indonesia and Malaya. The primary purpose of the mission, according to officials, will be to study tin production costs, not to negotiate for the purchase of tin. The mission will be prepared to enter into negotiations, if the Far Eastern producers are amenable. The United States withdrew as a large-scale buyer of tin some months ago in protest against what it considered exorbitant prices being charged in the Singapore market. Subsequent attempts to negotiate for a steady tin supply at what this country considers reasonable prices have been unavailing. The U. S. is prepared to enter into a two or three year contract with the price of tin somewhere between $1.00 to $1.12 per lb. The decision to abstain from the market has not yet put a squeeze on U. S. supplies. Substantial quantities of tin still are coming in from Malaya under an old contract.

Jan 12, 1951

By Paul M. Tyler

THE winning of metals from Nature has been advanced to a degree of efficiency that commands admiration even in this Machine Age. Economy of human effort underground, in surface plants, and in treatment works, and better means of performing all manner of operations have cut costs and im¬proved products to an extent that seems far beyond the wildest imagin¬ings of those that labored in the days of hand mining and muscular metallurgy. Principles and methods borrowed from other professions and sciences - mechanical engineering, chemistry, and physics-all have con¬tributed to the rapid development of ore production and treatment, but no small part of the achievements must be credited to the free exchange of ideas within the industry itself and mass attack upon problems of mutual concern. The esprit de corps or class consciousness that has contributed so effectively to the progress of the metal industries has been less apparent among nonmetallic mineral producers. As a class they have been handicapped by inadequate contact with the metal-mining fraternity as well as among themselves.

Jan 1, 1935

By Thomas Leonard Watson

I. HISTORICAL. BARITE has been mined for many years in various parts of Virginia, probably the earliest mining-operations being in Prince William county, within 600 ft. of the Fauquier county line, about 4 miles south of east from Catlett, a station on the Southern Railway. It is claimed that the mineral was mined here as early as 1845. Mining-operations in Campbell and Pittsylvania counties in the Piedmont region, and near Marion in Smyth county, in the southwest Virginia Valley region, were begun about 30 years ago. The mining and milling of barite on a commercial scale in Tazewell and Russell counties are more recent, and commenced about 15 years ago. II. GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION. Barite occurs in many counties in the State, as shown in Fig. 1, but the industry has been confined to only a few of them. Its occurrence is noted in two of the three major divisions of the State-namely, the Piedmont region east of the Blue Ridge, and the Paleozoic area west of the Blue Ridge. In the Piedmont region the mineral has been mined in the following counties:, Bedford, Campbell, Louisa, Prince William, and Pittsylvania. In the region west of the Blue Ridge, composed of Paleozoic sediments, barite has been mined in Montgomery, Russell, Smyth, and Tazewell counties. Of the counties mentioned, Bedford, Campbell, and Pittsylvania of the Piedmont region, and Russell, Smyth, and Tazewell of the Valley region, have been the principal producers. In 1906, operations were confined to five counties-Bedford, Louisa, Pittsylvania, Russell, and Tazewell-but in the first two counties named there was no production, the work being solely development.

Jan 9, 1907

By Joseph G. Wargo

An investigation of trends in exploration expenditures for a selected group of mining companies was undertaken for the interval 1968-1971. These trends were compared with financial factors that are associated with various groups of companies and the implications of these trends are indicated. The sample consists of 21 mining companies, of these, 19 are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and 2 are listed on the American Exchange. Twenty are American, one is Canadian. All are fundamentally "mining companies" in that they derive the bulk of their income from the ex- traction, sale, and at times, fabrication of metals from their own mines. This is in contrast to companies which have mineral exploration departments but derive the bulk of their revenues from sources other than mining, such as oil and gas sales. No companies which can be considered strictly as exploration companies are included in the sample. This definition held up in 1968, however, its strict application became more difficult through the years. In 1971, three or four of the companies were changing their character in that they were phasing out of the mining business and deriving a substantial part of their income from activities other than mining.

Jan 5, 1973

By MARSHALL D. DRAPER

CHINA is one of the large producers of the world's tin. About 95 per cent of the total Chinese production comes from the Kotchiu district in the southern part of the province of Yunnan. Yunnan occupies the southwestern part of China, bordering on Burma,. Siam and. French Indo-China. From the British port of Hong Kong,' small steamers sail southwest at about four-day intervals, reaching Haiphong in French Indo-China in two or three days. This, one of the principal ports in Indo-China, is a modern French city of some 50,000 population which, with its tropical surroundings, has much natural beauty. It is a few miles from the sea on the Red River, which has its source in China. Both at Haiphong and Hanoi, the capital of Indo-China, sixty-three miles north of Haiphong and also on' the Red River, there are foundries, shipyards, machine shops, cement and brick plants and various similar industries.

Jan 1, 1931

By George Otis Smith

A YEAR ago, ,at the Institute's dinner, I closed my A remarks with the words: "The scientist devotes his life to the advancement of learning; the engineer gives his to the advancement of living." May 1 begin tonight where I left off then and speak first of the distinction between science and engineering? This difference is a difference both in purpose and in method: it is the sharp contrast between theory and practice; it marks the broad gap between dream and attainment. Sometimes it happens that the investigator is also the builder and applies what he discovers, yet the distinction between science and engineering serves to point out the broad dependence of the engineer upon his brother the scientist. You remember .the old - saying that "where there is no vision the people perish" translate this into modern experience and we may say that "where there is no science, the engineer fails."

Jan 1, 1929

By AIME AIME

MILLING called for four sessions and a luncheon and covered broad ranges from speculative theory to basic practice, and from coal to gold. An attractive and profitable feature was the "get-together" of "coal preparers" and "ore dressers" for mutual discussion of their common problems. The first event was the Milling Luncheon in the Engi¬neers' Club on Monday. A concentrated group of high¬grade appeared and many matters were discussed, but only two called for official action: The meeting unanimously recommended the use of the Tyler standard sieve scale as against any new scale, and also the adoption of micron designation for fine particles in place of decimals of an inch or millimeter, or theoretical mesh size. The real sessions began on Monday afternoon with a menu of Mineral Physics for the ore dresser, metallurgist, geologist, physicist, et al. Four papers by the staff of the U. S. Bureau of Mines dealt with the chemical and physical aspects of mineral structure as revealed by the first two years of research to date. A fifth paper by Dr. M. J. Buerger correlated to the foregoing the knowledge of "The Lineage Structure of Crystals" and finally a sixth paper was a progress report of further developments of the last year in explosive shattering of minerals by the U. S. Bureau of Mines.

Jan 1, 1933

Freeport's Floating Mine Begins Sulphur Operation Eight years of research were culminated when Freeport Sulphur Co.'s floating mine plant went into operation on Bay Ste. Elaine in the remote Louisiana bayou country 60 miles southwest of New Orleans.

Jan 1, 1953

The following is a partial list of members and guests who called at Institute headquarters during the period July 10, 1917, to Aug. 10, 1917: G. A. Collins, Seattle, Wash. Norman Picot, Melbourne, Aust. A. D. R. Galloway, Komfrodua, W. Africa. W. E. Pomeroy, El Paso, Tex. F. Lynwood Garrison, Philadelphia,; Pa. Francis R. Pyne, Elizabeth, N. J. Geo. M. Henderson, Bland, N. M. W. L. Remick, W. Norfolk, Va. L. B. Herr, Jr., So, Bethlehem, Pa. M. F. Sayre, Schenectady, N. Y. Zay Jeffries, Cleveland, 0. Leighton Stewart, New York, N. Y. H. H. Lauer, Allentown, Pa. Randolph D. Talmage, Joplin, Mo. Wm. B. McKinlay, Yonkers, N. Y. H. J. Volker, Ossining, N. Y. A. N. Mackay, Republic of Colombia. Dwight E. Woodbridge, Duluth, Minn. Edmund Newton, Minneapolis, Minn. Kwong Wu, Peking, China. J. N. Acosta has resigned his position as mining engineer for the Shannon Copper Co., Gleeson, Ariz., and is now engaged as consulting engineer for Lower California, Mexico, with headquarters at San Diego, Cal. L. D. Albin, formerly assistant general sales manager of the Ingersoll-Rand Co., was appointed general sales manager on July 25,1917.

Jan 9, 1917

By AIME AIME

READERS of a technical paper, or the audience if the paper is presented orally, judge the paper on several counts. The September 1940 issue of MINING AND METALLURGY contained an excellent short article by S. Marion Tucker en- titled "Are You Going to Present a Paper," which considered the general subject of presentation. In it Dr. Tucker referred to the large number of poorly prepared and badly delivered papers that are presented annually before the large number of technical and other societies that meet regularly, and he stressed the point that good delivery, length of paper, content, and composition are of great importance. All of Dr. Tucker's points were well taken; however, good illustrations are equally important in explaining certain phases of some papers.

Jan 1, 1941

By T. T. Read

TWO papers on health and safety were given Thursday afternoon when a joint session of the Health and Safety Committee and the Mining Methods Committee was held. T. T. Read presided and the first paper, on ventilation at Climax, was presented by the author, L. H. Glanville. In the subsequent discussion by Cloyd M. Smith, P. B. Bucky, B. F. Tillson, D. F. Haley, J. L. G. Weysser, and others a number of interesting points not covered by the paper, which appears in full in the January Mining Technology, were brought out. Ventilation troubles in mines so often hinge on the air being too hot and damp that it was interesting to hear of one where it is frequently too cold and too dry.

Jan 1, 1943

By R. V. Norris

The anthracite coal trade, with a shipment averaging about 70,000,000 tons per year, differs essentially from other coal business, iii the fact that the larger sizes, comprising about 65 per cent. of the total, are used almost exclusively for domestic purposes, principally during the winter months; and that for proper combustion close-sizing is imperative, so that eight sizes are made; broken, egg, stove, and nut, known as prepared sizes, and pea, buckwheat, rice, and barley, known as steam sizes. These sizes are made in the regular course of preparation, and but little variation in the natural percentage of each is practicable. Thus it is necessary either to work the collieries intermittently, or to dispose of all the varying sizes in their fixed proportions. Unfortunately, the market does not at all times absorb the coal in proper proportions, and rather than interfere with the regular operation of the mines it has been found economical to provide storage for the excess. While the cellars of' the consumers are the great storage-plants of the country, this capacity is not under the control of the trade, except so far as reduced prices during the spring and summer months may tempt the use of this reserve. The same remark applies but with less force to the retail yards, which, though usually small, store in the aggregate a large amount of anthracite. While every effort is made to utilize to the utmost the individual storage-capacity of the country, there still remains the necessity for taking care of the irregularities of the market by the construction of storage-plants under the direct control of the producers. Such plants are usually the property of the railroads, and are situated at points most convenient from a traffic stand-point.

Jan 1, 1912

By David Cole

THE New Cornelia Copper Co. is mining and treating a 'monzonite " porphyry" copper deposit that is all hard rock. The oxidized surface shell, which constitutes the leachable part of the orebody, is measurably more resistent to crushing and comminution processes than is the underlying sulfide portion. The siliceous ribs running through the whole orebody are harder to crush than the main mass and there is no soft crumbly material to furnish the large volume of primary fines that features the crusher feeds of most other porphyry properties. New Cornelia ore reaches the primary crushers with a greater. proportion of large 'pieces. When the New Cornelia company first equipped its 'property, it used the following machines and flow , scheme to reduce the ore to leaching size:

Jan 1, 1925

By W. A. Ver Wiebe

Spurred on by the very high demands for new crude supplies resulting from World War 11, the oil men of Kansas strained every effort in 1943 to find as many new pools as possible. In all, 1761 test wells were drilled, ,of which 895 were successful in finding new oil supplies and 32 in finding new gas supplies. The total number of wildcat wells drilled in Kansas was 577, including the so-called "extension wildcats," which are located less than 2 miles from production. As a result of the very determined effort to find new oil reserves, 49 of the wildcat test wells found new oil pools in western Kansas and 7 found new oil pools in eastern Kansas. There were 289 rank wildcat tests, and among these 28 were successful ventures. They are responsible for 26 of the new oil pools recorded for the year and 2 of the new gas pools recorded. The ratio of dry holes to producing wells among such rank wildcats is thus approximately 10 to I (289 dry and 28 good). This compares with a ratio of II: I in 1942 and 6:1 in 1941; the same in 1940 and 5:Iin 1939. With nearly all wells flowing to their maximum economic capacity, the total production for Kansas during 1943 reached a new high; that is, 107,700,000 bbl., compared with 97,000,000 during the previous year. Similarly, the amount of gas sold during 1943 made a new high point on the production curve. The total amount was 122 billion cubic feet, compared with about 98 1/2 billion cubic feet for the year previous. As usual, the large Hugoton field of south- western Kansas accounted for approximately half of the total gas production. Highlights of the Year Despite the fact that 56 new pools were found in Kansas during 1943, it must be admitted that the future reserves of the state have not been increased greatly. Most of the new pools seem to be of minor value, although it is admittedly impossible to gauge the future production of any pool in Kansas with any exactitude. Judging by the later performance of some of the pools found in 1942 and in 1941, less than five of the new pools are likely to make any great contribution to the state's future oil reserves. Taking up the counties of Kansas in alphabetical order, the following statements summarize the highlights of the year. In Graham County, the Morel pool was extended to the southeast and this pool now promises to become one of the important pools of western Kansas. Several of the older wells have already contributed more than I000,000 bbl. of oil, and such a figure is considered very satisfactory in Kansas. In McPherson County, important new reserves were found by persistent drilling in township 17 S., R. I. W., the most northeastern township of the county. Many new wells in older pools and discovery wells in new pools make this region look promising. The Lindsborg pool, which had a sensational revival during 1942, was also extended in a number of directions and has now become a rather large producing area with a fairly high future potential capacity.

Jan 1, 1944