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By G. W. Garside

In order to render my descriptions more intelligible, I have compiled a general map of this section of Alaska, showing accurately the relative positions of the most important districts where valuable deposits of minerals have been discovered (page 819). Upon inspection of this map, it will be observed that the chief metalliferous belt in this mineral field is in close proximity to the mainland shore, the trend of which it follows for more than a hundred miles in a northwest and southeast course, while the mineral croppings on the adjoining islands are much shorter in extent, and more irregular with respect to their strike and continuity. This principal metalliferous zone, which I will call the main-land system of lodes, contains gold, silver and lead, besides traces of copper, zinc and iron, gold being found extensively in a free state and also associated with sulphur, and with many of the sulphides of iron, lead and other substances. On the line of this belt, as shown on the map, there are a number of distinct mineral districts. Beginning at the southerly extremity, they are named as follows: Sumdum, Snettishham, Grindstone Creek, Sheep Creek, Gold Creek, Lemon Creek, Montana Creek and Berners Bay districts, each deriving its name from the hay or creek on which it is situated. Harris mining district, as legally organized under the local customs, rules and regulations adopted by the miners of Juneau, embraces, within its exterior boundaries, Grindstone, Sheep, Gold and Lemon Creeks, and all of Douglas Island. The limits of this immense metalliferous horizon are becoming definitely known through the exposures made by prospectors. The belt, as now recognized, varies in width from one to several miles, the lateral measurement being greatest at Juneau in Harris district, where the famous Treadwell mine, with its slate foot-wall, marks the westerly boundary of the zone, while the eastern side of Silver Bow Basin, with a granite hanging-wall, defines its easterly border.

Jan 1, 1893

By John V. Beall

Homeland of the Republic of China, the island of Taiwan looks on the map like a seal, muzzle pointed south, resting complacently on the emerald waters of the China Sea. Any notion of placidness is quickly dispelled by going to that country where the visitor gains the impression of almost violent busyness in tearing up streets, pushing up buildings and tilling the fields. Driving from the airport downtown to Taipei, the capital city, one sees roads, streets and thorough-fares which seethe with bizarre traffic. From water buffaloes to buses, transportation takes every conceivable shape, size and color in between. The load being transported need not conform in any way to the capabilities of the vehicle. Twenty- foot lengths of pipe may be trans- ported on a bicycle. A family of five may go to town on a motor- cycle. Impossible? Count them. The streets and buildings of the city appear unrestrained, or without margins. Shops do not end at the doorway but overflow with a variety of goods onto the sidewalks and into the streets where the marginal traffic, on foot or on wheels, intertwines unconcernedly with the flotsam from the shops. Signs, dry goods, hardware and the continuous hubbub make the view colorful, lighthearted and fascinating. The island is 230 miles long by 75 miles wide with a central mountain spine. To the east, the mountains descend steeply to the ocean whereas to the west, beyond the foothills, there is a broad coastal plain. Only about 25% of the land is suitable for cultivation but the tropical climate permits several harvests a year. At the same time the mountains, which are high enough to sometimes have snow, offer an agreeable change of temperature. In this setting, society has created an economy that is growing at such a rate on all fronts that it would seem to be fairly bursting at the seams.

Jan 9, 1969

By Rupert Spivey

Kennecott Copper's Chino mine is one of the oldest copper mines in the United States, having been operated by the Spaniards as early as 1800. At that time haulage methods were indeed primitive. Indians brought the ore up on "chicken ladders" in leather buckets. It was then melted into crude bars and hauled to Chihuahua by mule train. There are still remnants of the old trails near the present pit where the mule hooves cut grooves in solid rock. The mines were worked as underground operations off' and on until open-pit mining was started in 1910 by John Sully and Daniel C. Jackling. Since that time many haulage methods have been used: mule carts, steam and electric trains and finally large haulage trucks, now believed to be the best method for this mine. The general shape of the pit is oval with dimensions of 1% miles by 1% miles. Working benches are 50 ft high, with the bottom bench at 5750 ft and the top at 6450 ft above sea level.

Jan 1, 1964

By Max Heberlein, R. P. E. Hermsdorf

The electrolytic refining of metals for the removal of undesirable impurities has become a recognized necessity in the nonferrous field. Copper, lead, zinc, nickel, silver and gold have been produced in this manner for years. The United States Metals Refining Co., realizing that considerable quantities of lead and tin could be made available to the trade if a satisfactory method of purification of these metals could be established, decided to investigate the possibilities of electrolytic solder. In cooperation with Dr. Edward F. Kern, of the School of Mines at Columbia University, the company developed a process of electrolytic refining of lead-tin alloys using a tin-lead fluosilicate electrolyte. A pilot plant was installed in November 1927, and the commercial unit was put in October 1929. Since that time thousands of tons of electrolytic solder have been produced in this plant and consumed by all branches of industry that use solder. Older Methods of Producing Solder In the early days practically all solder was made by melting together virgin lead and tin in the proper proportions to meet specifications; then the solder was cast into the commercial shapes required. Today the base of most solders comes from scrap or secondary materials. Ordinarily solder is produced from secondary materials either by sweating solder-bearing scrap or by smelting lead and tin-bearing drosses, residues and similar materials. When solder is produced from scrap by sweating, clear solder is collected directly. It is then given some kind of kettle refining and usually blended to specification with virgin metals before it is cast into finished shapes. In producing solder from drosses and residues, the materials are usually first given a reducing smelting treatment from which a crude solder is obtained. This crude solder may be refined in several ways, but usually the first step is a furnace liquation to remove the bulk of the copper, which is followed by one of the more or less complicated methods for the removal of antimony and other impurities.

Jan 1, 1937

By George R. Gardner, Kenneth B. Ray

THE application of wet cleaning processes for the beneficiation of bituminous coal has created in some localities a problem in the recovery and disposal of fine solids in the washery water. The maximum allowable concentration of these solids in the washery circuit that is consistent with satisfactory operation of the cleaning units remains a controversial point. It has, however, been generally recognized for a number of years that some degree of control should be exerted over the concentration of such material. Early methods of control involved intermittent or continuous discharge of a portion of the plant slurry into near-by streams or settling ponds, and this persisted even after the adoption of settling tanks or cones. The practice is not always economical, for two reasons: first, because of the waste of coal, and, second, because it is sometimes difficult and expensive to obtain an adequate supply of water. The latter condition often is aggravated by chemical treatment of the make-up water that is necessary to prevent excessive corrosion of plant equipment. The modern approach to this problem has been the adoption of continuous thickening devices. However, because such equipment occupies considerable plant space and is somewhat expensive to construct, the practice of loading these thickeners beyond their rated capacity is widespread, therefore often the performance of such units is not altogether satisfactory. In recent years, European washeries have increased the rate of settling of the fine coal from the slurry by the addition of specially prepared starch solutions. These reagents cause flocculation of the solid particles and thereby increase the rate of sedimentation. The first important work on the flocculation and clarification of coal slurry was done by Henry, who developed the Henry process and used it successfully in Belgian preparation plants. Soon after the initiation in Belgium, the process was introduced into England, where subsequent investigation developed similar processes, which were successfully used in

Jan 1, 1939

By Thomas R. Cunningham, A. B. Kinzel

Silicon, unfortunately, is not in the same category as some other metals with respect to the absolute value of the highest purity material prepared. Tucker, in England, and Becket, in this country have developed procedures for the purification of silicon, and Becket's process has made industrially available silicon of a purity of 99.8 per cent or better. However, even the term "silicon metal" may be a paradox to some people, although not more so than the term "amorphous" as applied to silicon. These terms come from commerce, and "metal" is used to distinguish industrially high-purity silicon from ferrosilicon, silicon-aluminum, and other high-silicon alloys. Alloys of iron and silicon with 95 per cent Si or less are known as ferrosilicon, with a designation of silicon content where necessary, arid the term "silicon metal" is invariably applied to the grades containing 96 per cent Si and higher. The Becket method of purification was referred to in a monograph on the Alloys of Iron and Silicon, and the Tucker procedure was described in some detail in that publication.' In order to get silicon of still higher purity, a sample, prepared by the Becket method, analyzing 99.84 per cent Si, 0.020 Fe, 0.016 Al, 0.005 Ca, 0.025 C, 0.033 per cent 02, 0.006 H2, 0.006 N2, and 0.001 per cent Mn, was crushed to pass a 100-mesh sieve and further purified by a modification of Tucker's procedure. This modification differs from Tucker's method in that after treatment the 100-mesh alloy was centrifuged to remove the last traces of acid. Our directly determined analysis of this purified sample shows: Si, 99.952 per cent; Fe, 0.009; Al, 0.012; Ca, 0.003; C, 0.006; or 99.982 per cent. Silicon by difference equals 99.97 per cent. The variation between silicon by difference and silicon as directly determined is important. Although Tucker mentions the amount of insoluble matter in commercial silicon both before and after his treatment, he does not mention the existence of carbon in the alloy; nevertheless, he reports silicon by difference. Any final figure as to purity obviously results from agreement between direct determination and

Jan 1, 1940

By A. B. Kinzel, Thomas R. Cunningham

Silicon, unfortunately, is not in the same category as some other metals with respect to the absolute value of the highest purity material prepared. Tucker, in England, and Becket, in this country have developed procedures for the purification of silicon, and Becket's process has made industrially available silicon of a purity of 99.8 per cent or better. However, even the term "silicon metal" may be a paradox to some people, although not more so than the term "amorphous" as applied to silicon. These terms come from commerce, and "metal" is used to distinguish industrially high-purity silicon from ferrosilicon, silicon-aluminum, and other high-silicon alloys. Alloys of iron and silicon with 95 per cent Si or less are known as ferrosilicon, with a designation of silicon content where necessary, arid the term "silicon metal" is invariably applied to the grades containing 96 per cent Si and higher. The Becket method of purification was referred to in a monograph on the Alloys of Iron and Silicon, and the Tucker procedure was described in some detail in that publication.' In order to get silicon of still higher purity, a sample, prepared by the Becket method, analyzing 99.84 per cent Si, 0.020 Fe, 0.016 Al, 0.005 Ca, 0.025 C, 0.033 per cent 02, 0.006 H2, 0.006 N2, and 0.001 per cent Mn, was crushed to pass a 100-mesh sieve and further purified by a modification of Tucker's procedure. This modification differs from Tucker's method in that after treatment the 100-mesh alloy was centrifuged to remove the last traces of acid. Our directly determined analysis of this purified sample shows: Si, 99.952 per cent; Fe, 0.009; Al, 0.012; Ca, 0.003; C, 0.006; or 99.982 per cent. Silicon by difference equals 99.97 per cent. The variation between silicon by difference and silicon as directly determined is important. Although Tucker mentions the amount of insoluble matter in commercial silicon both before and after his treatment, he does not mention the existence of carbon in the alloy; nevertheless, he reports silicon by difference. Any final figure as to purity obviously results from agreement between direct determination and

Jan 1, 1940

By George Wolff

To THE average person, the purport of the items and figures on the balance sheet of a mining company are hazy and the real financial condition of the company is cloaked in obscurity. It is also likely that the satisfaction of the stockholder in his investment, as well as the determination of the prospective investor, rests more on the reputation of the company, his confidence in the management, the stated earnings per share and the dividends paid, than on a comprehension of the information contained in the balance sheet. The balance sheet of any company at best can only closely approximate the true financial condition as of a given date. Any item of asset, except cash, can probably be altered if another's viewpoint is applied. It is difficult and expensive to drill and explore an orebody to determine the entire tonnage of ore therein. Those inherent difficulties render it practically impossible to prepare an absolutely correct balance sheet of a mining company. It is possible, however, to present the facts of a mining company more intelligently and comprehensively than is usually done. With this, in mind, a balance sheet of an imaginary mining company is submitted, with supporting schedules. The same fundamental principles hold true whether we consider a large or a small company. Less complexity is involved in dealing with the affairs of a smaller company. Therefore, for this purpose, the assumed company operates but two mines and a smelting plant. It has been deemed advisable to introduce the features of the operation of a mine acquired prior to March 1, 1913 and one after that date. The presentation therefore is concerned in one mine with the appraisement as of March 1, 1913 and in the other with the appraisement by reason of discovery. A consequential factor pertains to dividends paid from depletion reserves and therefore free of surtax to the stockholders. While supporting schedules, when necessary, give details of certain items on the balance sheet, it seems desirable to give further explanations with respect to some of them. This seems to be important because some mining companies do not treat the items as indicated on the statements submitted.

Jan 1, 1928

By F. Rosenblum, P. Spira, F. Kitzinger

The possibility of increasing the efficiency of mineral processing plants by means of computer control has prompted metallurgists to examine their flowsheets more critically in order to develop practical control strategies. Control schemes in use to date generally rely on the automation of traditional and previously manually regulated control loops, e.g., the addition of reagents to maintain a constant assay or a constant pH. This approach is predicated on the availability of well established primary sensors such as pH electrodes or on-stream analyzers. Noranda Research Center, in cooperation with Noranda Group concentrators, has developed a froth level monitor and a pulp density meter adaptable to this type of control. Although some of the basic principles on which they are based have been known for some time, their incorporation into the design of reliable, direct-reading instruments which can be interfaced with a computer is believed to be novel.

Jan 4, 1979

By J. O. Whitely

IT is difficult to give a refining outline that may be followed for any and all combinations of the platinum metals; different combinations require different methods of attack. This paper does not pretend to go into all of the reactions of the metals of the platinum group, but will outline the commercial refining of platinum scrap. TYPICAL PLATINUM SCRAP As a concrete case, let us take 100 oz. of miscellaneous scrap, made up of jewelry scrap, dental scrap and laboratory ware. This lot will contain some platinum, palladium, iridium, ruthenium, rhodium, gold, silver and copper. The first problem is to get all of the metals in solution. If the scrap is principally platinum, palladium and gold, a treatment with aqua regia is the course to pursue; but if the scrap contains alloys high in iridium or ruthenium, aqua regia will act too slowly. In the case in hand, we are going to presume that we have scrap high in iridium and ruthenium, and proceed accordingly.

Jan 1, 1928

By W. M. Tuddenham, R. J. P. Lyon

In many areas surrounding the orebodies in mining districts rocks have been bleached and altered by the ore-forming solutions and have been oxidized during later weathering processes. A number of the rock-forming silic-ates have been broken down to clay, sericitic micas and chlorites have been developed, and pyrite may be found hundreds of feet outside the economic limits of the orebody. These halos of altered ground are prime targets used by geologists in many districts to delineate promising sites for drilling. Both in the field and in the laboratory it is often difficult to map these mineralogical changes in the halos in detail without numerous petrologic examinations. The secondary minerals are generally fine-grained, and since conversion of one mineral to another is often progressive, many alteration processes have not proceeded to completion (feldspars to clay to sericite mica). Qualitative detection of these minerals is difficult; quantitative determination is frequently impossible.

Jan 1, 1960

By B. F. Fackenthal

The earliest history shows that, in the reduction of iron-ores, natural draft was used to supply the blast, and that, when artificial blast was first used, it was supplied by leather bellows, usually made of skins, which were worked by the feet or hands, the blast entering the furnace through one tuyere or nozzle. The prehistoric bellows and its tuyere or nozzle are still in use in some form wherever iron is made. The original Durham furnace, built in 1727 at Durham, Pa., which was one of the earliest blast-furnaces in this country, was blown with a bellows, the power being supplied by a waterwheel. The old records show the purchase of leather at various times to repair the bellows, and mention the freezing of the water-wheel as one of the causes for going out of blast. In the early days of our iron manufacture but one tuyere was used; in fact, a cousiderable number of charcoal-furnaces continued to use but one tuyere down to recent years. I am

Jan 1, 1899

By Eric N. Baklanoff

A major problem whose importance touches the entire underdeveloped world is how to reconcile the demands of nationalism with the requirements of the international economy. Chile's copper industry presents a study of how one such accommodation has been slowly, if precariously, evolved. The dependence of a low-income country on the international economy presents, on the one hand, opportunities for speeding up the rate of development and, on the other, imposes a set of constraints on national behavior. Nationalism may be indispensable in motivating low-income countries to bear the economic costs and absorb the social changes involved in modernization, but it may also inhibit the acceleration of economic growth by its failure to come to terms with the international economy. Nationalism is a two-edged sword. An outstanding feature of Chile's economy since the mid-1920s has been its considerable dependence on the export of a single primary commodity- copper. Moreover, the affiliates of two US.-owned firms-the Anaconda Co. and the Kennecott Copper Corp.-have dominated Chile's copper industry, a fact which from time to time has posed conflict between that nation's long-range economic opportunities and more immediate political realities.

Jan 8, 1968

By W. B. Mather

A SURVEY of the technical literature concerned with oil well drilling methods and particularly with rate of penetration by various cutting media on different types of rock provides a mass of conflicting data. This is especially true with respect to, (1) the relative efficiency of diamond, rotary and percussion drilling operations; (2) the costs of the various types of drilling; and (3) the hardness factor of various types of rock and cutting media. The latter is the particular phase of the subject discussed here. The cause of the confusion may be attributed partially to a lack of 'basic knowledge concerning the physical properties of the cutting media and of individual types of rock. It is also due in part to a general lack of uniform standards in the industry for evaluating the hardness versus drillability of rocks while possible errors in interpretation by the authors of the various papers pertaining to the subject may be an additional cause of misunderstanding. The hardness of a mineral is defined by Dana' as "the resistance which a smooth surface offers to abrasion." Webster' states that hardness is "the cohesion of the particles on the surface of a body (as a mineral) as determined by its capacity to scratch another or be itself scratched." Rock hardness, although not usually defined in publications describing rocks, is assumed to be the same as the minerals which compose the rock or the resistance of the rock to abrasion. Drillability of a rock may be defined arbitrarily as the rate at which rock is penetrated by a definite type of drilling tool with the assistance of a specific type of cutting surface or medium and under speci- fied conditions as to speed of rotation and applications of pressure. Eventually the term penetrability may have to be employed to include any method of making boreholes in rocks, since methods other than those using conventional cutting surfaces are already in operation. A case in point is the jet piercing methoda which employs an oxy-acetylene flame as a means of penetration. The word hardness as used by the drilling fraternity has a variety of meanings which depend upon the type of drilling method employed. For example, in diamond drilling, hardness is interpretated as resistance to abrasion. In percussion drilling the term implies resistance to impact or indentation, while in rotary drilling, hardness is considered anal-agous to compressive strength. The three types of hardness—abrasion, impact and compression—are conflicting variables for different types of rock. Nevertheless, the term hardness is applied indiscriminately by the industry for the resistance of rock to penetration by any type of drilling technique. Abrasion Hardness Since 1818, Moh's scale of hardness, although only relative in nature, has been accepted universally as the method of measuring mineral and therefore rock hardness. In 1933, Ridgway, Ballard and

Jan 1, 1952

By R. S. Schechter, T. R. Guilinger, P. Bobeck, J. G. Price, L. W. Lake

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the rate of uranium and molybdenum extraction from a flow reactor. Specific variables tested are fluid throughput and flow rate, lixiviant cation, and injected pH and carbonate concentration. The ore tested was from the Felder mine in southern Texas. It contained substantial quantities of marcasite and molybdenum disulfide that competed with the uranium ore for oxidant. Flow studies showed the oxidation of molybdenum disulfide under field conditions is mass transfer controlled, whereas the uranium oxidation is limited by surface reaction rate. The rate of uranium oxidation decreased with decreasing pH. The total carbonate levels, on the other hand, were unimportant. Ammonium carbonate appears to greatly decrease, if not completely halt, the reaction of marcasite with the oxygen. This effect was not found using either sodium or potassium carbonate.

Jan 1, 1986

By A. S. McLatchie, R. A. Hemstock, J. W. Young

Much attention has been given in the past few years to methods of increasing the recovery of oil from proven reserves. Numerous laboratories have made investigations to evaluate the possibilities of increased oil recovery by high-pressure injection of dry gas, injection of a propane slug followed by dry gas, solvent flooding. and by the injection at relatively low pressures of gases enriched with ethane and propane. Several years ago, Whorton and Kie-schnick' published the results of laboratory studies on high-pressure gas injection which showed that, in the case of light oils, recoveries could be considerably increased by sweeping the reservoir with dry gas at pressures in excess of 3,000 psig. The increase was attributed by those authors to the vaporization of oil at the invading gas front and viscosity and solubility effects produced at the front by the invading gas. Later, Stone and Crump' presented the results of a series of displacement experiments in which a light under-saturated crude oil was displaced from sand-packed columns with unusually high recoveries when the displacing gas was a rich condensate or a dry gas enriched with ethane or propane. They also conducted similar experiments at higher pressure on heavy undersa tu rated crude oil, although in this case the increase in recovery was not as great as in the case of the light oils. In both cases, viscosity reduction and swelling of the by-passed oil behind the invading gas front were believed to be responsible for the more favorable recovery of the original oil in place. Within the past year, other investigators", ' have presented the results of laboratory studies of miscible slug and solvent flooding recovery processes. This paper describes the laboratory methods developed for evaluating benefits to be obtained by enriched gas drive in specific reservoirs, and presents the results of several displacements of crude oils which possess a wide range of physical properties. The displacements were conducted at reservoir conditions of temperature and pressure. The apparatus used in the following experiments consisted of a sand-packed tube which served as the model reservoir, a cylinder of injection fluid, and a mercury pump. The stainless steel tube, 8 ft long and 0.53 in. I- was packed with a graded quartz sand. The high-pressure pump discharged mercury into the bottom of the injection fluid cylinder at a constant rate as low as 1 cc/hr. The average porosity and permeability of the sand column were 34.6 per cent and 3.25 darcies, respectively. In each case the tube was charged by the displacement of salt water by the reservoir oil under consideration. Recently a project was initiated to evaluate oil recovery by enriched gas drive from three oil reservoirs. Samples from a fourth reservoir (in this case high-viscosity oil) were studied with a view to obtaining recovery information of general applicability to low-grade, high-viscosity crudes. The oils from these four reservoirs exhibited a wide range of physical properties, and the reservoir conditions of pressure and temperature simulated in the laboratory represented several typical field conditions under which enriched gas drive might be employed. One of the reservoirs selected for laboratory displacement experiments produced an intermediate-gravity crude (29.6" API) by solution gas drive and a weak water drive. A low recovery in the range of 10 to 20 per cent was anticipated. Four displacement experiments were made to determine the effect of injection gas composition and initial gas saturation upon recovery of oil from the laboratory model. Two types of reservoir oil were used in these experiments. In the first run, a desaturated crude with a bubble point of 395 psi was charged to the tube. In the three subsequent runs, a simulated original reservoir oil was charged at 2,000 psi and produced by solution gas drive to 300 psi before beginning gas injec-

By John Dilworth

THIS paper treats primarily of the valuation of developed coal properties by the method of capitalizing their estimated average future earnings. However, in it reference is also made to valuations of undeveloped coal lands and to various methods of appraisal other than by future earnings. FUNDAMENTAL VALUATION PRINCIPLES Before discussing in detail coal property valuations, a few statements bearing on the general subject will be made to present certain of the writer's views on the question as a whole. 1. A certain property at a given time has but, one true value. This is not universally admitted. The appraiser rather frequently finds that a coal owner has in mind three valuations for his holdings; one, the figure at which he feels they should be appraised for taxation purposes; another, the much higher one that should be used if a loan is to he negotiated on the property; and a third, intermediate between the other two, the price for which he would be willing to dispose of his holdings were they for sale. The last is usually nearest to the true value, and because this is so the statement is generally accepted that the fair value of such a property is the price arrived at by negotiation between a willing seller and a willing buyer who are otherwise disinterested. 2. Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is only very generally and approximately true that the proper measure of the value of a given developed1 coal acreage is the unit or per-acre price for which one or more bodies of similar coal in the salve district have been sold recently. To give a few reasons why such a measure of value can not be strictly applied, it may be noted:

Jan 1, 1927

IT will be recalled that when educational instruction for the mineral industry began at Freiberg, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the original aim was to organize and systematize the procedures previously followed by young men in gaining familiarity with the technology then in use. There must have been many other ideas current, even then, as to just what a young man needed to learn in order to become capable of assuming responsibility for the supervision and direction of such technical work. The problem in Europe was decidedly different from that in nineteenth-century America, because some of the European mines were actually owned and operated by the governing authority and the others were supervised, regulated, and taxed by it. The American problem was the efficient performance of technical operations; the European one was regulatory supervision. It was natural, therefore, that in the development of educational processes in Europe stress was laid on those factors which conserved and protected the interests of the state. The study of mineralogy and geology, leading to correct judgments as to the workability and value of mineral deposits; assaying, which gave the means of quantitative measurements, as did surveying; chemistry, which furnished a better basis of understanding for assaying, mineralogy, and geology; and physics and mathematics, which are the bases for the understanding and efficient use of mechanical appliances, became the core of systematic instruction for the mineral industry. It was early recognized that men could learn more than was already known about all of these subjects and education took on that dichotomy which still characterizes it; the teaching of established knowledge to the unlearned, and that of extending of the bounds of knowledge, now loosely termed research, which after two and a half centuries of work still shows

Jan 1, 1941

By Carlos D. da Gama, Charles R. Nelson

Griffith’s theory of brittle fracture, as modified by McClintock and Walsh to fit rock behavior in cases of failure by compression, has been successfully applied in various fields of rock mechanics. Extension of the Griffith's criterion to rock blasting problems may also be more representative of rock behavior than the simple consideration of a criterion of failure based on the dynamic tensile strength of the material. If consideration is given to pre-existing cracks within rock structure, occurring not only because of the discontinuous properties of rocks, but also as a result of drilling operations that normally precede blasting, those cracks can be propagated under the action of the dynamic stresses (radial and tangential) induced by the passage of the wave emitted by the explosion. Conditions for initiation and propagation of pre-existing cracks are deduced in terms of rock properties and explosives performance. Influence of the different variables governing the phenomenon is discussed after considering an actual example. Results seem to be well correlated with experimental evidence of radial cracking observed in blasting with high explosives acting within hard rock.

Jan 1, 1971

By L. H. Hart

Because of a widely recognized association between breccia pipes of one form or another and many important copper deposits, conditions under which breccia pipes develop have been of great scientific interest for many years. Since these phenomena first attracted attention, many theories have been advanced to explain their origin. This is not unexpected, since it is likely that they have been formed by and under a wide range of conditions. Moreover, the entire subject is confused by the fact that the term breccia pipe is applied to a wide variety of occurrences. To discuss any part of the subject intelligently, therefore, it is necessary to start with definitions of the terms used. In their discussion of the Toquepala deposit, Richard and Courtright have carefully defined the terms they have used in their presentation of a very logical geo- logical history of Toquepala breccias. This is a real contribution, as there is no reference in the literature known to the writer where the history of a series of breccia pipe epochs, confined essentially within one channelway, may be read with the degree of certainty that appears to be possible at Toquepala.

Jan 6, 1958