Search Documents

THE object of all classification is to group together things which are alike, and separate those which are unlike. This object is essentially a practical one, enabling us to apply past experience to new conditions: Many costly large-scale experiments lose half their importance for want of proper description of the coal used, and the consequent impossibility of predicting other coals will behave in the same way. I do not, therefore, make a fundamental distinction between "scientific" and "use" classifications, except in so far as use depends on conditions, such as size or impurities which are not related to the nature of the coal substance itself. The characters chosen to define the classes of coal must be such as are accompanied by as many other properties as possible. It is not to be expected that any system of classification will enable us to predict every property of coal, since all specimens have an individuality of their own. But specimens can be grouped by a number of resemblances into species. Further, species which resemble each other can be grouped into genera.

Jan 1, 1928

By Lauren A. Wright

SINCE the early nineteen-thirties the production of talc* in California has increased five-fold to a yield in 1947 of about 76,000 tons (fig. 1); conse- .' Unless otherwise qualified, the term "talc" in this paper will imply a mixture of the pure talc with such related minerals as commonly occur in the commercial material. quently the state is now one of the nation's three principal talc producers. The 1947 output, which represented about one-sixth of the national total for that year, was approximately equal to production from Vermont, and was second in value to that from New York. New York has an annual output of about 130,000 tons. Three factors have been mainly responsible for the expansion of talc production in California. (1) Technical advances and innovations, particularly in the ceramic industry, have increased the demand for certain California talcs. The nation's high-qual- LAUREN A. WRIGHT, Junior Member AIME, is Associate Geologist, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, Calif. Los Angeles Meeting, October 1948. San Francisco Meeting, February 1949. TP 2622 H. Discussion of this paper (2 copies) may be sent to Transactions AIME before Feb. 28, 1950. Manuscripts received Dec. 7, 1948; revision received Aug. 29, 1949. This paper is Contribution No. 508 of the Division of Geological Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. the industry, mainly through demand for the urgently needed steatite. Fibrous talc, used as a paint extender by the armed forces, also was produced in quantity. (3) Expanding western industry has continued to draw heavily on California talc deposits, and has extended the upward production trend into the postwar period. Considerably more than half of California's current talc output is used as ceramic raw material. The paint, rubber, paper, and textile industries are the more important consumers of the remainder. Smaller amounts are used as insecticide carriers, and in cosmetics, and various minor industrial applications. During World War I1 the principal steatite deposits were studied in detail by members of the U. S. Geological Survey; other sources of commercial talc in the state have in the past received but scant geologic attention. The following discussion is essentially a preliminary report based on research currently in progress by the California Division of Mines, and includes a brief outline of previous steatite studies by the U. S. Geological Survey. Distribution of California Talc Deposits: The principal talc resources of both California and Nevada are confined to an elongate belt that extends from the vicinity of Baker, in north-central San Bernardino County, northwestward to include the southern Death Valley region, the Inyo Range, and the Palmetto-Oasis district of western Nevada (fig. 2). This belt, of which all but the northernmost tip lies in California, is approximately 200 miles long and 30 miles in average width. Included in the belt are four contrasting areas. The deposits within each area are geologically similar and yield talcs that have characteristic properties and applications. Three of these local "talc provinces" lie within California's portion of the talc-

Jan 1, 1951

By Lauren A. Wright

SINCE the early nineteen-thirties the production of talc* in California has increased five-fold to a yield in 1947 of about 76,000 tons (fig. 1); conse- .' Unless otherwise qualified, the term "talc" in this paper will imply a mixture of the pure talc with such related minerals as commonly occur in the commercial material. quently the state is now one of the nation's three principal talc producers. The 1947 output, which represented about one-sixth of the national total for that year, was approximately equal to production from Vermont, and was second in value to that from New York. New York has an annual output of about 130,000 tons. Three factors have been mainly responsible for the expansion of talc production in California. (1) Technical advances and innovations, particularly in the ceramic industry, have increased the demand for certain California talcs. The nation's high-qual- LAUREN A. WRIGHT, Junior Member AIME, is Associate Geologist, California Division of Mines, San Francisco, Calif. Los Angeles Meeting, October 1948. San Francisco Meeting, February 1949. TP 2622 H. Discussion of this paper (2 copies) may be sent to Transactions AIME before Feb. 28, 1950. Manuscripts received Dec. 7, 1948; revision received Aug. 29, 1949. This paper is Contribution No. 508 of the Division of Geological Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. the industry, mainly through demand for the urgently needed steatite. Fibrous talc, used as a paint extender by the armed forces, also was produced in quantity. (3) Expanding western industry has continued to draw heavily on California talc deposits, and has extended the upward production trend into the postwar period. Considerably more than half of California's current talc output is used as ceramic raw material. The paint, rubber, paper, and textile industries are the more important consumers of the remainder. Smaller amounts are used as insecticide carriers, and in cosmetics, and various minor industrial applications. During World War I1 the principal steatite deposits were studied in detail by members of the U. S. Geological Survey; other sources of commercial talc in the state have in the past received but scant geologic attention. The following discussion is essentially a preliminary report based on research currently in progress by the California Division of Mines, and includes a brief outline of previous steatite studies by the U. S. Geological Survey. Distribution of California Talc Deposits: The principal talc resources of both California and Nevada are confined to an elongate belt that extends from the vicinity of Baker, in north-central San Bernardino County, northwestward to include the southern Death Valley region, the Inyo Range, and the Palmetto-Oasis district of western Nevada (fig. 2). This belt, of which all but the northernmost tip lies in California, is approximately 200 miles long and 30 miles in average width. Included in the belt are four contrasting areas. The deposits within each area are geologically similar and yield talcs that have characteristic properties and applications. Three of these local "talc provinces" lie within California's portion of the talc-

Jan 1, 1951

PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR EUGENE MCAULIFFE OMAHA, NEBR. PAST PRESIDENTS AND DIRECTORS HERBERT G. MOULTON NEW YORK, N. Y. JOHN R. SUMAN HOUSTON, TEXAS TREASURER AND DIRECTOR H. T. HAMILTON NEW YORK, N. Y. VICE PRESIDENTS AND DIRECTORS ERLE V. DAVELER NEW YORK, N. Y. W. M. PEIRCE PALMERTON, PA. PAUL D. MERICA NEW YORK. N. Y. LEROY SALSICH DULUTH, MINN. CHESTER A. FULTON NEW YORK, N. Y. L. E. YOUNG PITTSBURGH, PA.

Jan 1, 1942

By J. L. Weeks

THERMAL conductivities of several samples of uranium and uranium alloys were determined using an apparatus previously described.' The value previously reported for uranium,' 0.035 cal per sec per cm per "C at 70°C, is in error due to the failure of a thermocouple during the determination on uranium. The defective thermocouple was detected after a reanalysis of the data obtained during the run and since has been replaced. Subsequently, runs on several samples of uranium show the thermal conductivity of uranium to be 0.069 cal per sec per cm per 'C at 70°C. The accuracy of the determinations was checked by measuring a sample of synthetic sapphire whose thermal conductivity was previously reported and found to be in agreement with other values."-" The values given in Table I are believed correct to % 3 pct or 0.003 cal per sec per cm per "C, whichever is larger. The samples were provided by J. H. Kittel of the Argonne National Laboratory, Metallurgy Div. References J. L. Weeks and R. L. Seifert: Apparatus for the Measurement of the Thermal Conductivity of Solids. Review of Scientific Instruments (1953) 24, pp. 1054-1057. J. L. Weeks and R. L. Seifert: Note Regarding the Thermal Conductivity of Synthetic Sapphire. Journal American Ceramic Society (1952) 35, p. 15. :' J. Francl and W. D. Kingery: Thermal Conductivity: IV, Apparatus for Determining Thermal Conductivity by a Comparative Method; Data for Pb, Al2O3, BeO, and MgO. Journal American Ceramic Society (1954) 37, No. 2, Part 11, pp. 80-84. (Part 11: special issue on thermal conductivity.) ' W. D. Kingery, J. Francl, R. L. Coble. and T. Vasilos: Thermal Conductivity: X, Data for Several Pure Oxide Materials Corrected to Zero Porosity. Journal American Ceramic Society (1954) 37, No. 2, Part II, pp. 107-110. (Part 11: special issue on thermal conductivity.) Edwin Ruh: New Jersey Ceramic Research Station, Rutgers University. Private communication.

Jan 1, 1956

By R. E. Zimmerman

WITH coal-preparation plants becoming more complex and containing widely diversified types of equipment and processes, it is necessary that considerable control be exercised in their operation. Rising mine costs make it imperative that close check be made of plant efficiencies to assure a minimum loss of coal to the refuse bank. Further, much of the coal sold today is sold on a competitive specification basis, and this makes it necessary to provide frequent analyses and inspections. Many ' plants are required to operate on a two or three-shift basis, and as a con- sequence an efficient organization is required to eliminate down time and provide for smooth low-cost operation. ORGANIZATION Probably the most important item for successful operation of a preparation plant is a capable, properly organized staff, with the individual workers properly informed and well trained for their particular jobs, clear-cut lines of authority among the supervisors and in general a standard operating procedure for most conceivable conditions that may occur. The idea of placing the older, partially disabled and generally incompetent coal miner in the cleaning plant, as was the practice on the earlier tipples, is entirely inadequate in a modern complex cleaning plant. The new plants require intelligent, alert, and reasonably educated men. With perhaps millions of dollars invested in an installation, it is poor business to use other than a well organized, well trained, and properly supervised force. Organizations naturally must vary with the size of the plant and local conditions; whether it is a central cleaning plant at a distance from the mine organization or one of several cleaning plants operated by the company. Smaller operations can be operated by a washery foreman, under the supervision of the mine superintendent or perhaps the "outside" superintendent. Large installations should have a plant superintendent either responsible to the mine superintendent or preferably, where possible, responsible to a preparation manager or engineer. A typical organization chart for companies operating in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania is shown in Fig. 1. Breaker (preparation plant)

Jan 1, 1950

By E. P. Polushkin

The object of this paper as to show that the structural composition of an alloy may be found by the planimetric measurement of the total area occupied by each of the constituents on a few representative photomicrographs of this alloy. When the area is determined the volume and the proportional weight of the constituent may be calculated. This method has been used for the determination of the structural composition of binary eutectics and other binary alloys with known constituents; also the composition of unknown constituents in binary alloys. The accuracy of the method is. high enough to justify its application to metallographic problems instead of the chemical analysis. THIS work has for its purpose the establishment of a new method for determining the structural composition of alloys. The area occupied by a constituent on a few representative photomicrographs of the alloy is measured, by a planimeter, especially designed for metallographic work, and the volume and proportional weight of the constituent calculated. Experiments have shown that 'the results are accurate enough to justify the application of the method to many problems in metallographic research instead of chemical analysis. The advantage of the method is the possibility, of determining the amount of the constituents with-out separating them from the alloy; their composition may also be determined if the ultimate chemical analysis of the alloy is known. DESCRIPTION OF PLANIMETER Suppose Fig. 1 represents a part of a photomicro-graph on which the total area of the black figures is FIG. 1?-PART OF PHOTOMICROGRAPH ON WHICH TOTAL AREA OF BLACK FIG- URES IS TO BE FOUND. to be found. By a system of parallel lines drawn short equal distances apart all figures may be divided into trapezoids. As the area of a trapezoid is equal to its median multiplied by its altitude, the relation between the total areas of the black and the white figures comprised within each strip is equal to the relation between the sums of medians for these figures respectively.

Jan 12, 1924

By Edwin Ludlow

For many years, coal has been known to exist in the valley of the Sabinas river, in the State of Coahuila, and for about 15 years it has been worked by the Mexican International Railway Co., which opened mines for its own fuel-supply when the railway was built, and has been mining continuously ever since. The coal-basin worked by this company lies along the Sabinas river, principally on the SW. side. It covers a wide area and has been carefully prospected, but only in a few parts have the beds been found sufficiently thick and regular for economical operation. This Sabinas basin was considered the only one in this field, until, in the Spring of 1899, the Las Esperanzas basin was found by Messrs. J. L. Elliot and E. D. Peters, who were in Mexico looking after some copper-properties. After a further examination by Mr. James T. Gardiner, of New York, the Mexican Coal & Coke Co. was organized in June, and active work was begun on Nov. 5, 1899. The coal-field of Las Esperanzas, situated in the State of Coahuila, about 85 miles SW. of Eagle Pass, Texas, adjoins and runs parallel with the Sabinas basin—an anticlinal separating the two outcrops by about 2 miles. Fig. 1 is a sketch-map of a part of the basin. The coal-formation is in the Upper Cretaceous, and corresponds with the Laramie measures of the United States. The following geological section, taken in Nogales canon, shows the measures between the massive limestones forming the Sierra de la Santa Rosa and the outcrop of the coal: Section. Feet. Limestone,...Unknown. Blue shale,.........110 Shale and sandstone,.. 60 Bed of fossiliferous shale,. 60

Jan 1, 1902

By Arthur West

IT is the purpose of this paper to describe briefly some recent large power stations for blast furnaces, where the blast is exclusively supplied by gas engines using furnace gas. The stations are given in the chronological order in which they were designed, in order to indicate the various improvements suggested by experience. Fig. 1 shows the blowing-engine station of the Bethlehem Steel Co. at Bethlehem. Although the picture shows only five blowing engines, the house now contains 11 engines. In the diagrammatic. plan the arrow shows the position and direction of camera. This station handles five modern blast furnaces of 450 to 500 tons capacity each. In this, as in all the other stations described in this paper, each furnace is blown by-two single tandem gas engines. Ten engines are thus required for five furnaces, leaving one single tandem spare engine. This spare capacity has been shown by several years' experience at Bethlehem to be adequate to insure continuous operation. The engines in the Bethlehem station are right hand and left hand, arranged in pairs. The outboard bearings of each pair are close together so that there is not room for passageway between them. On the right of the picture are shown the inclined drums communicating with the cold-blast lines outside of building, so that any engine may be operated on any furnace. The illustration shows four cold-blast gate valves with pipes passing through wall, but since the photograph was taken the drums have been extended to take care of a fifth valve for a fifth furnace. At the extreme back of the picture can be seen the tubs of three twin vertical-horizontal Southwark steam blowing engines, which, although of modern design and as good as new, are not operated because of the greatly reduced blowing cost shown by the gas blowing engines.

Jan 6, 1915

S. F. EMMONS RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP. The movement was started by a number of the friends and admirers of the late S. F. Emmons, Economic Geologist of the United States Geological Survey, to perpetuate his name through a fellowship to be known as the " S. F. Emmons Research Fellowship," and they have succeeded in raising some $13,000 for the purpose of carrying on research work in economic geology. The Committee in charge of this Memorial Fund has succeeded in obtaining the co-operation of Professors Kemp, of Columbia, Irving, of Yale, and Lindgren, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the administration of this fellowship. These three gentlemen are respectively geologists of the institutions mentioned and are exceptionally qualified to determine in what direction the fund can be best administered. It is hoped that additional contributions will be forthcoming from many who have heard of this movement. Subscriptions are invited and may be sent to any one of these gentlemen, or to Benjamin B. Lawrence, Treasurer, No. 60 Wall Street, New York City.

Jan 11, 1913

S. F. EMMONS RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP. The movement was started by a number of the friends and admirers of the late S. F. Emmons, Economic Geologist of the United States Geological Survey, to perpetuate his name through a fellowship to be known as the ?S. F. Emmons Research Fellowship," and they have succeeded in raising some $13,000 for the purpose of carrying on research work in economic geology. The Committee in charge of this Memorial Fund has succeeded in obtaining the co-operation of Professors Kemp, of Columbia, Irving, of Yale, and Lindgren, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the administration of this fellowship. These three gentlemen are respectively geologists of the institutions mentioned and are exceptionally qualified to determine in what direction the fund can be best administered. It is hoped that additional contributions will be forthcoming from many who have heard of this movement. Subscriptions are invited and may be sent to any one of these gentlemen, or to Benjamin B. Lawrence, Treasurer, No. 60 Wall Street, New York City.

Jan 10, 1913

By F. M. Lewis, J. E. Goodman

TENNESSEE Copper Co. operates two ore concentrators, the London and Isabella mill. Copperhill, Tenn. In 1948 and 1949 the small ball mills and rake classifiers in the London concentrator were replaced by one large ball mill and one hydraulic classifier. This new ball mill was designed oversize so that it could be operated at slower than normal speed. The proper operating conditions were established and the results published.1 Later it was found that this mill operated more efficiently with a small ball charge.2 While this London grinding practice was being developed, the Isabella grinding circuit was not changed in any way. It remained a conventional two-stage rod mill-ball mill combination, the rod mill in open circuit and the ball mill in closed circuit with a rake classifier. Study of the data indicated that grinding cost could be lowered by converting to the London practice, but not enough would have been saved to warrant the expense of converting. No plan for improving this grinding operation could be developed.

Jan 11, 1957

By H. W. Camp

Research is defined, scientifically, as a "systematic investigation of some phenomenon, and also a search for hidden treasures." Chemists tell us that the hidden treasures of petroleum are far richer than the products which have been best known to us. However, these secrets will be discovered only through intensive and systematic, as well as scientific, industrial research. Indeed, the scope of the subject is so great that such an intensive research program should be assumed by a centralized organization supported by the petroleum industry as a whole. Such organization should assume the responsibilities for investigation of new products and development of markets for such products. Gasoline, the chief product of the petroleum industry has become a cheap commodity. The continual uncontrolled overproduction of crude petroleum, the intensive competitive condition in the marketing of petroleum products and the increase of refining efficiency and installing of cracking facilities, have all combined to lower the market value of gasoline. The purchaser has profited from the lower cost of gasoline by way of lower prices so that today the most important product can scarcely be manufactured at a profit. In other fields, manufacturing industries have diversified their products when faced by a similar situation. Thus, they have been able to widen their marketing outlook. Why cannot the petroleum industry employ the same tactics? Right now we are hearing much discussion concerning the development of a wider market for existing petroleum products and new products for existing or prospective markets. For instance, we can cite recent developments for use of propane, butane and ethylene. Butane has been found to be an efficient and inexpensive refrigerant, especially adapted to home refrigerating systems. Propane and butane fractions of natural gasoline may be shipped under pressure and may be used as a substitute for, acetylene in cutting torches in connection with oxygen. There is a possibility of substituting butane for gas oil in the carburation of coal gas, as we know that butane contains practically the gas enrichment as the same volume of gas oil and should prove to be a superior product for

Jan 1, 1928

By William G. Schultz

Sylvite of Canada, a division of Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co., operates a new 8500-tpd potash mine ten miles northeast of Rocanville, Sask. This mine, employing less than 60 men in its underground maintenance, engineering, and production operations probably ranks as one of the most highly mechanized and automated mining operations in the world. Access to the flat lying potash bed is through two 16-ft-diam concrete and steel lined shafts 3300 ft deep. The backbone of the operation is two 258-ton, 1500-hp continuous mining machines capable of mining in excess of 700 tph per machine while employing extensible conveyors for haulage. This production capability is complemented by a completely automated haulage, storage, and hoisting system. Of the other unique features of this operation, the principal ones are that the mine was designed and developed by the people that are currently operating it and from the time the shafts were commissioned, the mine was completely developed, equipped, and brought to full production in less than six months.

Jan 1, 1974

By 0. H. ESCHHOZ

HARMON F. FISHER,* New York, N. Y. Mr. Eschholz discusses the particular case of large precipitators installed in connection with large metallurgical operations, and receiving their high-potential energy through the conversion of alternating current to direct current by means of the mechanical rectifier. He classifies these mechanical rectifier installations, according to source of power, as follows: System A.-Applications utilizing individual alternating-current generators, either single-phase or polyphase, installed exclusively for furnishing energy to one or more transformer-rectifier-precipitator units. System. B.-Applications having no special alternating-current generators, but utilizing the existing alternating-current industrial or lighting mains to supply the energy to one or more transformer-rectifier-precipitator units. System C.-Applications receiving their energy from high-tension power circuits supplied directly to potential regulator-rectifier-precipitator units. I do not intend here to enter upon a detailed technical discussion of the foregoing classes, which would really interest only the manufacturers of electrical apparatus and the electrical engineers. A brief general discussion follows:

Jan 11, 1918

By Nicholas J. Grant, Oliver Preston

A series of dilute solid solutions of a1uminum and silicon in copper, in powder -form, were internally oxidized, compacted, and extruded, to produce Cu-A12O3 and Cu-SiO2 alloys with 0.1 to 12 vol pct of oxide. Room-temperature tensile tests, creep-rupture tests from 450oto 850°C. conductivity measurements, and recrys-tallzzation studies were made. Oxide particle size and interparticle spacings were determined in an effort to relate the structure to measured strength values by means of known dispersion strengthening theories. A new dispersion strengthening theory, based on the effect of the dispersed phase on the retention of strain energy from the deformation step, zs proposed for this type of alloy, THE study of dispersion strengthening is of partitular interest in high-temperature materials technology in view of the excellent creep-rupture Properties and thermal stability achieved with SAP.1-5 Considerable effort has been devoted to this study in recent years, and encouraging results have been obtained in a number of systems.6 In general, the most

Jan 1, 1962

By Robert L. Frantz

Progress and improvement continue to be the bywords of a dynamic coal industry. The industry continues to gain strength and expand its horizons in the face of competition from atomic energy and the problems of restrictive legislation. The direct contribution of coal mining and transportation to the national economy is about $3 billion a year ac- cording to a study made by the National Coal Policy conference. Coal remains the backbone of the power industry producing almost two-thirds of all the electrical energy generated by fossil fuels and one-quarter of all the energy consumed in the nation. Power supplied by electric utilities increased 6.9% last year. The chairman of the Federal Power Commission predicted a 7.5% growth rate until 1980 for the nation's electric output. Some 80,500 MW of fossil fired power plant capacity are on order or under construction before 1974, compared to a present capacity, all sources, of about 290,000 MW. The comparable new additions of nuclear power plants is expected to total about 51,000 MW.

Jan 2, 1969

By Charles Janin

The first successful bucket-elevator dredge to operate in California was put in comnlisvion wt Oroville in March, 1898. There had been numerous previous attempts at dredging, but noue of the earlier boats proved a success. The gold-miners in California earl3 conceived the idea of a machine to dig gravel from the beds and bars of auriferous streams that were inaccessible by the methods then employed, and it was only a few months after the discovery of gold in California that such a machine was Shipped around Cape Horn from New York to San Francisco. Thij was, however, but the forerunner of many failures in gold-dredging, and was soon at the bottoni of the Sacramento river. During succeeding years many other unsuccessful attempts mere made, and it was not until 1897 that a dredge of the single-lift bucket-elevator type mas floated on the Yuba river. This dredge was built by the Risdon Iron Works for 12. H. Postlethwaite, and would probably have been a success if it had been operated on some of the rich Ororille ground

Jan 1, 1912

Discussion of the paper of R. H. RICHARDS and BOYD DUDLEY, JR., presented at the New York meeting, February, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 97, January, 191.5, pp. 67 to 72. R. H. RICHARDS, Boston, Mass.-I believe that the manner of working for efficiency in almost all lines is to study the conditions of highest efficiency, and then to measure what is being clone. We can then see how near we have approached the highest efficiency. Spigots in practice often use many times the water theoretically needed. There are places where that is necessary for safety reasons. There are, however, places where it is unnecessary, and in these places it seems to me that this work of Mr. Dudley's will be a great help to the mill man to arrive at the greatest economy of water and highest efficiency. ALBERT R. LEDOUX, New York, N. Y.-A good many years ago I received a telegram from that distinguished engineer, Hamilton Smith, which simply said in substance: "I have discovered that liquids will flow faster from a square orifice than from a round orifice of the same area, under the same head." I wondered why he sent me the telegram, but some time afterward he told me that he had been making experiments along that line in Montana; that he thought the discovery was interesting

Jan 5, 1915

By Timothy Collins

There was once a speculative period of interest in small mining companies that is commonly referred to as "the uranium boom of the 50's." In the late 60's, there was a second mining stock boom: it centered around uranium and silver, when silver had reached a new high of $3.60. In the mid 1970Js, there may be a new boom in the making, and it appears that substantial public and institutional interest in mining equities will finally result in a viable long-term capital market rather than the boom-or-bust pattern of the 50's and 60's. The reason for Wall Street's renewed interest in mining is understandable: most mineral commodities have recently gone up in price. Domestically, these price increases have come in the wake of the inflationary spiral unleashed by years of unbridled government deficit spending and erratic fiscal and monetary policies. Internationally, of course, the biggest push for higher prices has come from third-world countries whose primary income derives from indigenous natural resources. Many of these countries-whose fiscal and monetary policies haven't been models of excellence either-have attempted to cope with the worldwide economic mess by forming cartels that could control the price of commodities. What's happened to petroleum is well-known; what's happened to copper, bauxite, phosphate, and uranium is part and parcel of the same syndrome.

Jan 9, 1975