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By W. J. Taylor, H. J. Mutz, A. F. Brock

THE International Kickel Co. of Canada Ltd. operates five underground mines and an open pit. Four of the mines, the Frood-Stobie, Creighton, Murray, and Garson, are on the south range of the Sudbury Basin, map above, within a radius of 10 miles of the city of Sudbury, Ontario. The fifth mine, the Levack, is on the north range of the Sudbury Basin, 30 miles to the northwest of the city. The open pit is operating on surface ores of the Frood-Stobie orebody. Two pits were opened at the Frood-Stobie mine; the Frood section was started in 1938 and the Stobie section in 1942. To meet the heavy demand for nickel during World War 11, open-pit production was accelerated until it constituted over 40 pct of Inco's total tonnage. As a consequence open-pit ore was depleted considerably alhead of schedule; the Stobie pit was completed in the summer of 1951, and it is expected that mining at the Frood pit will be completed in 1953. The major program launched 10 years ago to develop additional underground production as a replacement of open-pit tonnage thus had to be greatly speeded up. This conversion to all-underground mining will be completed within the next two years, and the underground mines will then have an annual hoisting capacity of 13,000,000 tons. One of the new mines in the underground expansion program, the Murray, was brought into production in 1950. Ore production from the new Stobie section of the Frood-Stobie mine was commenced on a limited scale in 1951 and will be increased as the program progresses. Delivery of ore to the new Creighton mill was started in the summer of 1951 from the caving project launched at Creighton mine. When mining was started in the Sudbury district 65 years ago the ore deposits were opened on a small scale and mining methods conformed to a general pattern of small open cast pits, followed by open stopes as mining was extended below the pits. The open stoping methods used were heading-and-bench and shrinkage. In certain cases a type of cut-and-fill mining was used with drywall tramways and dry-wall chutes in the fill. As the mines were deepened,

Jan 1, 1954

By A. F. Banfield

"IntroductionELEMENTAL sulphur occurs in three types of deposits: in salt domes in the Gulf Coast region of the United States and Mexico, from which over 90 per cent of world native-sulphur production is obtained; in sedimentary deposits such as those in Sicily, which are thought by some authorities to contain the largest world reserves of elemental sulphur; and as surface deposits, associated now or in the past with some phase of vulcanism, the type which bas the greatest world-wide distribution.Deposits of the volcanic type are the subject of this paper.From antiquity until the successful development of the sulphur-bearing salt domes at the beginning of this century, important sulphur production for local needs was obtained from volcanic deposits in many parts of the world. Due to technical and economic factors, however, producers could not compete in price with sulphur from salt domes. •The result has been that, except in Japan and Chile, little sulphur was produced from volcanic deposits from about 1910 until the start of the Korean war in 1950. Shortly after the outbreak of the Korean war, an acute world sulphur shortage developed and prices skyrocketed in many countries up to several hundred dollars a ton. Interest in volcanic deposits was renewed and exploitation of many was undertaken. Few of these operations have been successful, mostly due to inability of management to solve technical problems.While important volcanic deposits of elemental sulphur have not been reported ( 1) in Canada, and it is doubtful that any will be found, data presented in this paper may be of interest to students of ore genesis.This paper is based on field examination of numerous deposits of the volcanic type in North and South America."

Jan 1, 1954

By Albert E. Long

Preliminary experiments conducted in 1949 with a few diamond bits in which the diamonds in the bit crowns were set in hard-vector directions indicated that a substantial saving could be effected when a high percentage of the diamonds were oriented in this-manner. It was realized, however, that many additional tests would have to be performed before a positive trend could be established and the possibility of coincidence eliminated. Therefore, a long-range series of experiments was planned to investigate various phases of the problems related to the orienting of diamonds in diamond bits. This report (the third in a series) 2/3 presents the information obtained from tests conducted to investigate more fully the effects of orienting high-grade drill bort in diamond bit crowns. In these tests, the drill bort were oriented in both hard-vector and soft-vector directions in the crowns of AX-size bits. Test drilling was done in a dike of saussuritized dacite porphyry similar to a fine-grained granite in hardness e drillability.

Jan 1, 1954

By W. A. Cole

This report covers the preliminary phase of an investigation of some clays and shales and other materials in North and South Dakota to determine the feasibility of lightweight -aggregate manufacture in the two States. The background of the light - weight -aggregate industry, on a national basis, and results of preliminary laboratory testing of samples of North and South Dakota clays and shales from various localities are presented herein. The countrywide search for lightweight aggregates was necessitated toward the end of the 19th century by the change in building design from thick, heavy, load- bearing walls to a framework of structural steel .beams and columns with thin walls, followed shortly by the use of reinforced concrete and structural concrete as materials for the load-supporting frame. Ordinary concrete, with sand and gravel aggregate, weighs about 150 pounds to the cubic foot. A lighter concrete was needed to relieve the dead load and make it possible to construct higher buildings or add stories to existing buildings.

Jan 1, 1954

By M. J. Sinnott

WITH the advent of nodular iron as an engineering material, considerable interest has been shown in developing this material for various applications. Generally the strength, hardness, or ductility are the more common properties used for design purposes but occasionally applications involving a knowledge of the thermal conductivity of the material is required. A search of the literature showed, rather surprisingly, that relatively little work has been done on this property for all types of cast iron. Insufficient data are available on thermal and electrical conductivities to develop the Weidemann-Franz ratio, or the Lorentz relationship, for estimation purposes. There are no data on nodular irons and the published data on malleable irons are quite sketchy. For these reasons the conductivity of the group of nodular irons listed in Table I were measured. Irons I to IV were made in such a fashion as to maintain the carbon and alloy content essentially the same while varying the silicon content. Test specimens were cut from the mid-section of 4-in. keel castings. Iron V is a commercial casting of nodular iron. The test specimen of this iron was cut from the center of a large cast billet 3x10x26 in. All alloys were tested in the as-cast condition. A microstructural examination showed that each iron had spheroidal graphite but the size and distribution varied with the silicon content of the iron. The spheroid size decreased while the number of graphite nodules increased as the silicon content of the iron was increased. The matrix structures of each iron consisted of pearlite and ferrite with the proportions varying from predominantly pearlite in the low-silicon iron to mostly ferrite in the high-silicon iron. The commercial heat, iron V, was predominantly pearlite probably because of its higher manganese and phosphorus content. Two methods for measuring the thermal conductivity were used. The first was a modification of the techniques described by Powell and Hickman and Van Dusen and Shelton,² the second method was a simpler technique described by Jakob and Hawkins." Since the agreement of both methods as tested on two sets of duplicate samples was excellent, the simpler experimental technique was used. The results of the measurements are given in Table II along with a summary of the microstructural constituents. These conductivity data indicate that as the percentage of silicon increases there is a corresponding decrease in the thermal conductivity even though the structure is changing from pearlitic to ferritic. Such a change in microstructure is usually accompanied by an increase in conductivity. A third factor involved in the behavior of these irons is the size and distribution of the graphite nodules. The relative amounts of graphite do not change greatly but the size and distribution do. Generally graphite improves the conductivity but in the present case such an effect is probably masked by the alloying effect from the silicon and its dispersion through the matrix. The thermal conductivity of the nodular irons studied is less than that of regular foundry irons by some 10 to 30 pct and is less than that of regular malleable irons.' The cause of the decreased conductivity is probably the more highly alloyed fer-rites obtained in these irons and the changed mode of distribution of the graphite as compared to the regular foundry irons. References R. W. Powell and M. J. Hickman: Journal Iron and Steel Inst. (1946) 154, No. 2, p. 99. 'M. S. Van Dusen and S. M. Shelton: U. S. Bur. Standards Journal of Research, RP668 (1934) 12, p. 429. ³M. Jakob and G. A. Hawkins: Elements of Heat Transfer and Insulation. 2nd Ed. (1950) New York. John Wiley and Sons. ' J. W. Donaldson: Journal Iron and Steel Inst. (1933) 128, No. 2, p. 255.

Jan 1, 1954

By O. C. Blade

This report on the properties of aviation gasolines and aviation jet fuels produced in the United States during 1953 was made under a co-operative agreement between the American Petroleum Institute and the Bureau of Mines of the United States Department of the Interior. Analytical data are presented for 101 samples of aviation gasoline which include, for the second time in this series of reports, data on some samples of grade 108/135 aviation fuel. Data also are given for 32 samples of aviation jet fuel. The analyses were made on samples typical of the manufacturers' production in their laboratories and the results sub-mitted to the Bureau of Mines for compilation. The products of 19 manufacturers of aviation gasolines and of 19 producers of aviation jet fuels are represented.

Jan 1, 1954

By G. F. Carr

"IntroductionFLUORSPAR has been found at several •localities in Newfoundland, but all the commercial deposits discovered to date are in the vicinity of St. Lawrence, a town on the southeast coast. Most of the veins are within six miles of St. Lawrence harbour, and between sea-level and an altitude of 400 feet. The St. Lawrence Corporation of Newfoundland, Limited, and Newfoundland Fluorspar, Limited, a subsidiary of the Aluminum Company of Canada. Limited. are the two producers.With the arrival of 1953, the St. Lawrence area entered upon its twenty-second •consecutive year as a producer of fluorspar. Production has increased more or less steadily during this period, as is shown by the fact that approximately one-half of the total shipments to date have been made during the past six years. Between four and five hundred men are employed by the industry, and more than $1,250,000 was paid out in wages and salaries during 1952. Shipments during that year reached an all-time high of 81,283 tons valued at $2,484,943, compared with 67,925 tons valued at $1,966,477 in 1951 (1).As a result of an agreement made in July, 1952, with the United States Defence Materials Procurement Agency, production of the St. Lawrence Corporation, Limited, and St. Lawrence Fluorspar, Incorporated, an affiliated company, will •be increased by .approximately 50,000 tons of acid-grade fluorspar per year. The contract extends over a period of four years, or until 150,000 tons of acid-grade concentrates have been produced."

Jan 1, 1954

By R. W. Stahl

One of the broad purposes of the Bureau of' Mines since its establishment has been conservation of mineral resources. As some of the coal beds approach depletion, especially those coals suitable for making metallurgical coke, more and more attention is being given to means of recovering a larger percentage of coal in place. The customary system of mining in the United States is by room and pillar, or some variation thereof, which leaves pillars of coal to support, the roof. In many operations, where the pillars are not systematically recovered, the loss of coal often amounts to 50 percent or more of the original deposit. In many instances in developing new mines, It is planned to recover chain and barrier pillars on retreat when the mine has reached established boundaries. Too often, however, mines are abandoned for some unforeseen reason before completion of mining without recovering any pillars. Usually, these pillars are lost forever. With this in mind, the Mining Division, Region VIII, of the Bureau; of Mines is encouraging mining by longwall methods. It is a generally known fact that almost all of the European coal is mined by longwall methods, which are conducive to a high percentage recovery of coal. A comparison between mining systems usually is on the basis of tons per man per shift. Unless all operating conditions are similar, such a comparison could be misleading. Generally, the output per man shift in European longwall mines is less than that obtained in room-and-pillar mining in the United States. In European mining, maximum recovery of coal is not only mandatory but it must be accomplished without major damage to surface by subsidence. These restrictions necessitate packing or stowing with consequential increases In manpower and decreases in output per man shift.

Jan 1, 1954

By Joseph J. Wallace

1. The investigation shows that there are two coal beds of major importance in Perry County from the standpoint of present production -Flag and Fire Clay -and two beds of minor importance -Haddix and Hindman. The Flag and Fire Clay beds contain the largest remaining known reserves. 2. Known measured and indicated reserves in all beds, based on a minimum thickness of 14 inches and 1,800 tons per acre-foot of coal in place, are estimated at 840 million short tons as of January 1, 1954. Of this total, 720 million short tons is in beds 28 inches and more thick. Areas in each bed were omitted from the estimate because available data relative to the bed characteristics are too meager for making an estimate that conforms with the definitions of measured and indicated coal adopted for this study. Should future drilling or development prove reserves in these areas, these should be added to the total estimated reserves.

Jan 1, 1954

By O. C. Blade

This report on the properties of motor fuels sold through service stations in the United States was made in accordance with a cooperative agreement between the American Petroleum Institute and the Bureau of Mines of the United States Department of the Interior. By agreement with the American Petroleum Institute, identification of the items is confidential. It presents analytical data for 4,680 samples, representing the products of 130 companies. The samples were collected during December 1953 and January and February 1954. As in previous surveys, the gasolines covered by this survey include those from both large and small suppliers. The data were obtained by laboratories of various refiners, motor manufacturers, and chemical companies and submitted to the Bureau of Mines for compilation. A list of the National Motor-Gasoline Survey reports published during the past ten years is given on page 5.

Jan 1, 1954

By G. W. H. Norman

"During the past few years emphasis has been placed on the importance of major faults, fault zones, and associated structures in localizing ore deposition. This interest has developed partly through experience in mining camps in other parts of the world, and partly by the discovery of such structures associated with ore deposits in the Abitibi region, northwestern Quebec. The recognition of these structures has been brought about chiefly by detailed mapping that has been gradually extended along most of the southern gold belt of Quebec and across adjacent parts of Ontario. In the Chibougamau region of northern Abitibi, progress has been made in mapping major faults by using aeroplane photographs with a scale of about 1,000 feet to 1 inch for field mapping. These studies have shown that many large faults occur in the Abitibi region; also that there is a relationship, direct or indirect, between faults and mineral deposition. The faults are, however, of more than one type and age, and this should be clearly appreciated in any planned programme for prospecting this great region adequately.Geology of the Abitibi RegionGeneral GeologyFaults of more than one age and type occur in the Abitibi region. In order to appreciate some of the age relationships of the faults, a brief summary of the historical aspects and major structural features of the geology (fig. 1) is necessary. These historical aspects may be briefly summarized in chronological order as follows:(1) Accumulation of Archæan lavas and associated pyroclastic rocks, either alternating with, or essentially followed by, deposition of sedimentary rocks, and interrupted at least once by local and perhaps regional folding and erosion."

Jan 1, 1954

By Jean Scott, G. A. Collins, G. W. Hodgson

WHILE it is well known that trace metals in crude •oils and distillates have been a matter of deep concern to refining engineers because of the damage done .by the metals to cracking catalysts and refractories (8, 5), the trace metals in crude oils may be of great benefit in correlation studies and in origin studies. During the geological processes in which the oil is formed from •animal and vegetable life, the hydrocarbons are subjected to a host of inter-related reactions, both physical and chemical. It has been well demonstrated that the lighter materials, certainly the short-chain paraffin hydrocarbons, are degradation products of the heavier molecules, and it might be concluded that for correlation studies it would be advisable to direct attention as much as possible not to the degradation products of the large molecules but to the large molecules themselves. Be this as it may, the methods at •hand to conduct the study are not particularly precise and, in the past, attention has centred on the simpler small molecules, as evidenced by the great mass of work involving distillation and chromatography with painstaking separation of the simpler 'front-end' hydrocarbons.

Jan 1, 1954

By L. J. Kane

Applications are described of various methods for determining the weight concentration and physical properties of solid and liquid impurities of gases in connection with problems encountered in synthesis-gas production. Of special interest among these methods may be listed: 1. A method developed for determining, the weight concentration of solid and liquid impurities in. hot, crude synthesis gas containing a high concentration of moisture. 2. A method developed for the same purpose but for highly purified synthesis gas or atmospheric air. 3. A method for obtaining a uniform dispersion of dry duet or, a microscope slide for particle-size determination or other purposes.

Jan 1, 1954

By O. C. Blade

This report on the properties of motor fuels sold through service stations in the United States was made in accordance with a cooperative agreement between the American Petroleum Institute and the Bureau of Mines of the United States Department of the Interior. By agreement with the American Petroleum Institute, identification of the items is confidential. It presents analytical data for 4,421 samples, representing the products of 131 companies. The samples were collected during June, July, and August, 1953. As in previous surveys, the gasolines covered by this survey include those from both large and small suppliers. The data were obtained by laboratories of various refiners, motor manufacturers, and chemical companies and submitted to the Bureau of Mines for compilation. A list of the National Motor-Gasoline Survey reports published during the past 10 years is given on page 5.

Jan 1, 1954

By J. P. Walsted

The lack of an iron-smelting industry in the Pacific Northwest places the ferrous metals industries under an economic handicap. No iron-smelting enterprises, now dormant, had been operated successfully. Iron made at both of hoes installations proved to be satisfactory for normal pig-iron uses. Electric power and reductants acre available in the area. Power from the dames now completed and. those being constructed insures present and future needs for basic industries. Subbituminous coal, close to the main supply of iron ore, insures ample reluctant for all smelting requirements.

Jan 1, 1954

By Baker G

The exposures resulting from development work, following on the discovery of a new shoot of hIgh grade ore at the north end of the Sardine tin mine, during 1952, have provided an unusual opportunity to study the oxidation of a stannite-rich ore. Through the kindness of C. C. Morton, Chief Government Geologist of Queensland, an exactly located suite of specimens representative of the exposures was supplied by J. and W. Reddie. This was later supplemented by a number of specimens culled from a parcel ofrepresentative ore submitted to the Melbourne Ore Dressing Laboratory for testing.The Sardine tin mine, near Ewan, Queensland, has been the outstanding producer of the Kangaroo Hills Mineral Field. Since its discovery in 1918, up to 1952 it has yielded about 1,500 tons of cassiterite concentrates, and about 85 tons of stannite concentrates. The outcrop ore averaged 35% tin oxide, but the grade declined with increasing depth, and by 1930 had fallen to 7% tin oxide. In the northern section of the mine the ore shoots show a downward passage to complex primary s.ulphide ore, containing cassiterite and abundant stannite.The orebodies occur in a series of fissures in a crushed zone about 50 ft. wide in slates and quartzites that have been intruded by granite (Connah, 1952). A quartz porphyry dyke forms the footwall of the original main lode in its southern part, being traced' from the surface to' the No. 4 level (173 ft. vertical depth), and two narrow dolerite dykes were encountered in the workings north of the main...

Jan 1, 1954

By L. C. IlsLey

The theory and practice followed by the Bureau of Mines in investigating electrical equipment4/ made for service in gassy mines are of particular interest not only to manufacturers but also to those organizations that deal with safety anal inspection at the mines. This publication purposes to discuss the theory upon which tests of equipment in explosive atmospheres are based and to consider inspection and other matters pertaining to investigations made by the Bureau in ascertaining whether a machine merits approval. The material in this report is taken from an earlier bulletin,5/ which is row out of print, and has been revised and brought up to date to make the information again available to manufacturers, inspectors, and others interested in the development of safe equipment.

Jan 1, 1954

By R. G. Nelson

The mechanical properties of low-hafnium, arc-melted, Kroll-process zirconium are presented. The effect of temperature on the ultimate strength, yield strength, proportional limit, elongation, hardness, Young's modulus, electrical resistivity, and impact strength are shown, The effects of cold work and annealing on the tensile properties, bend radius, and formability, as determined by cupping tests, are also given, Tensile properties are compared, in part, to those obtained on earlier graphite-melted zirconium and on crystal-bar zirconium. INTRODUCTION The commercial production of high-purity, low-hafnium bearing zirconium has been achieved, and this metal is becoming available for industrial use. However, there is little published information regarding the physical and mechanical properties of this product; and, since there have been many improvements in the production and arc-melting techniques of zirconium in the past 3 years, it was considered advisable to present the properties of the vastly improved zirconium representative of current production.

Jan 1, 1954

By C. S. Lord

"The Regal Silver mine is 5 miles north-northwest of Albert canyon; a station on the main line of the Canadian Pacific railway; 21 miles east of Revelstoke; British Columbia.Development, commenced in 1918, comprises more than 8,000 feet of workings from six adits, one of which extends into the Regal Silver property from the adjacent Snowflake ground. Production has been limited to a little tungsten concentrate recovered recently from a few r..undred tons of ore treated in a small underground mill. The property has received some attention as a possible source of tin. The deposits are large quartz veins containing irregular sulphide bodies. Ore minerals normally make up less than 1 per cent of the veins and include pyrite, galena, sphalerite, scheelite, and stannite. The veins are approximately parallel with the bedding of the enclosing graphitic, siliceous to calcareous, slates and argillites. These strata are of Precambrian age, strike about northwest, and dip northeast. No other rocks are known in the vicinity of the workings . Granitic rocks, intrusive into t'he sediments, outcrop 4 miles to the southwest and 7 miles to the northeast and may underlie the property at no great depth."

Jan 1, 1954

Total mechanisation in the Western district of New South Wales is quite a recent addition to productive methods in that State, for it was only in 1940 that the first colliery was equipped for this method of winning coal. Now almost all mines either are totally mechanised or are planning to get their coal by these means.This marked change in recent years is explained by the salient features of the industry's history. Collieries in New South Wales had generally been subjected to low selling prices forced on them by over-production and severe competition. Little money was available out of profits to purchase machinery, and returns on capital were so poor that inducement to invest money in the industry was nonexistent.The second world war brought price fixing at the already low prices. It was not until the post-war period that there has been any inducement to mechanise.Much credit for mechanisation can be given to the Joint Coal Board, a government body formed in 1948. Pursuing a broad plan for the rejuvenation of the industry, this Board, purchased large quantities of machinery for use in, mines under hire-purchase agreement. These agreements encouraged machine mining, and this fact, together with the ensuing production economies, has improved the financial position of the industry.The Board has also been instrumental in the granting of increases in the fixed price of coal, so that the industry has been given an even greater boost in the direction of mechanisation.

Jan 1, 1954