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By John Johnston

ONLY two of the Institute's 26 Local Sections were unrepresented at the delegates' three sessions, held on Monday morning and afternoon and Thursday afternoon of the annual meeting. The Philadelphia and Wyoming Sections alone sent no delegates. In all, seven hours were spent most profitably in reviewing the work done by the Institute at headquarters and in the field, comparing ideas and practices in varied activities, and in establishing personal contacts. Cordiality and the co¬operative spirit marked the meeting and apparently no one had any serious grievances to air. Four motions were introduced and unanimously passed. The first, which was introduced by B. L. Sackett, was a recommendation by the delegates that a national committee be appointed to cooperate with Local Sections in the matter of student activities, to promote Institute welfare. It was agreed that this recommendation be made simultaneously to the Board of Directors and to the Mineral Industry Education Division. A subsequent resolution by A. M. Smith was passed asking that a part of the duties of this committee be to secure the opinions of Local Sections as to the most desirable methods of interesting students in the preparation of technical papers, by giving prizes or otherwise, and to report their findings at the Section Delegates' meeting next year.

Jan 1, 1933

By M. B. Bransford

A calculation procedure was evolved by the Bureau of Mines for determining the heat-transfer characteristics of dilute gas-solid mixtures in an externally heated tube. The procedure accounts for differences in gas and particle velocities and covers a range of particle sizes. Heat transfer coefficients obtained by the calculation procedure are compared with values reported in the literature.

Jan 1, 1970

By Gregory B. Beacher

Analyses have been performed on geotechnical properties of copper, uranium and phosphate (gypsum) tailings materials, with the intent of identifying typical measures of variability within and among sites, and of characterizing such variability for use in reliability modeling of tailings embankments. In all, data from approximately 41 sites were analysed. Fairly consistent results were obtained for within site variabilities. However no one probabilistic model was found to be applicable to all sites. The distributional forms for most of the data sets are regular, and tend toward Normality when spatial trends are removed. At many of the sites sufficient in situ data were available to allow estimates of vertical autocorrelation distances and measurement noise. Available data indicate that variability in pore pressures may have a more important effect than strength property variation. A major problem in interpreting available strength property data results from the unknown drainage conditions during testing.

Jan 1, 1983

For nearly two decades, MINExpo International has held the title to the biggest show in mining. The 2012 MINExpo is expected to be the biggest yet, with nearly 1,800 exhibitors rolling out the newest equipment and services across 12 halls. From September 24 to 26 in the Las Vegas Convention Center, MINExpo will present the newest in everything from automation and robotics to safety and communications equipment to reclamation services, and much, much more. The last MINExpo, in 2008, had nearly 38,500 visitors. The show?s sponsor, the National Mining Association, expects this year will be even bigger, with more than 40,000 visitors over three days. Twenty talks on the issues facing mining today are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, but the real action will happen out on the floor. That?s where ultra haul trucks big enough to carry as much as 363 t (400 st) of rock will be assembled next to underground loaders able to lift more than 20 t (22 st) in one scoop. Caterpillar, Komatsu, Liebherr, Sandvik, Atlas Copco: all the big names in mining equipment will be there. Their massive earthmoving equipment and mining machines are the centerpiece of the show. Preassembly for the largest pieces begins on August 6, 2012.

Jan 1, 2013

By Tang Chaoho

Laboratory research on the reducing and matte smelting of Jamesonite concentrate has been carried out. The influence of the process conditions such as the smelting temperature, the amount of pyrite cinder (the agent of fixed sulfur) and the amount of additives on the smelting process have been studied. Under the optimum condition the direct recovery ratios of antimony and lead are 83.26% and 68.50% respectively. The ratio of fixed sulfur is 98.97% but more than 15% lead and 30% silver remained in the ferrous matte. The key problem to be solved of this new process is how economical and effective is the recovery of silver and lead in ferrous matte.

Jan 1, 2003

By Tang Chaoho

Laboratory research on the reducing and matte smelting of Jamesonite concentrate has been carried out. The influence of the process conditions such as the smelting temperature, the amount of pyrite cinder (the agent of fixed sulfur) and the amount of additives on the smelting process have been studied. Under the optimum condition the direct recovery ratios of antimony and lead are 83.26% and 68.50% respectively. The ratio of fixed sulfur is 98.97% but more than 15% lead and 30% silver remained in the ferrous matte. The key problem to be solved of this new process is how economical and effective is the recovery of silver and lead in ferrous matte.

Jan 1, 2003

By A. H. Onur, S. Ural

"The Afsin-Elbistan coal deposit with its 3.4 billion metric tons of reserve is the biggest coal basin and one of the most important resources for electrical energy production in Turkey. The coal deposit is located north of Elbistan, Kahramanmaras Province, in southeast Turkey (Fig. 1).The Kislakoy sub-basin of the Afsin-Elbistan basin was selected as the first open cast mine to feed four power station blocks of 340 MW each. The mine is equipped with six identical bucket wheel excavators of the type Sch Rs (2300/5) 32. The annual coal demand of the power station is 18.5 million metric tons. The Elbistan basin encompasses an area of 900 km2, and its centre lies about 1150 m above mean sea level. The sedimentation took place mainly in the upper Pliocene period. The thickness of the coal bed varies from 20 m to 60 m, respectively. The basal part of the coal beds consists of clay, marl and sandy clay. These formations are overlain by gyttja, which may also occur in the form of calcareous ooze, enveloping coal beds. The thickness of the gyttja is up to 35 m (Otto-Gold, 1969). The coal of Afsin-Elbistan is soft coal and the quality has been found to vary considerably throughout the deposit. The thicknesses of the sterile intercalations vary from 0.50 m to 2.2 m and average 1 m in thickness. From the quality control point of view, the coal seam is regarded as upper seam where the gyttja formation occurs as sterile intercalations, and lower seam where the clay formation occurs instead of the gyttja (Fig. 2). The CaO content of upper Kislakoy coal is very high, grinding resistance is low and base to acid ratio of ash, that is, the ratio of acid oxides of metals to base, is greater than one (Ural and Onur, 2001). Contrary to upper Kislakoy coal, CaO content of lower Kislakoy coal is very low, grinding resistance is high and base:acid ratio of ash is smaller than one. Modified Impact Strength Index (MISI) tests are used to determine the grindability of the Elbistan coals (Ural, 1999)."

Jan 1, 2003

By Vinícius Cardoso da Rocha

Frente ao cenário industrial competitivo, o emprego de fluxantes em lingotamento contínuo de aços permitiu o aumento da produtividade e a redução das perdas metálicas por defeitos superficiais. Neste estudo, avaliou-se a aplicabilidade de dois tipos de fluxantes para produção do aço SAE 1046 Mod. Os fluxantes foram testados quanto ao desgaste da válvula submersa, frenagem (atrito) na interface metal/molde e rejeição dos produtos de lingotamento devido à presença de defeitos superficiais. O fluxante teste apresentou taxa de desgaste de válvula submersa de 2,2 mm/corrida, frente ao fluxante padrão com 0,8 mm/corrida. Entretanto, o fluxante teste demonstrou bons resultados quanto à lubrificação do molde, reduzindo a frenagem (atrito) entre o metal e molde e, consequentemente, melhorando a qualidade superficial do produto de lingotamento. A rejeição dos produtos por defeitos superficiais reduziu 47% com o fluxante teste.

Aug 16, 2017

By C. H. Riggs

This report describes the development, oil recovery, and potentialities of productive formations in the Hall-Gurney field, Russell County, Kans. It is presented as part of a general program to aid and promote increased recovery from petroleum reservoirs. The report is based on studies of well logs, drill cuttings, and oil-and water-production histories of individual wells and leases. The geological interpretations follow closely those in published literature with only slight local modifications. Oil and water analyses, made at a Bureau of Mines research center, were supplemented by many analyses obtained from oil-producing and service companies. The Hall-Gurney field, in south central Russell County, Kans., (fig. 1) was discovered in 1931 but was not developed extensively until 1941. By 1960 the rate of oil production from the field had declined to the extent that many wells were abandoned. In some areas natural productive forces have effected good recovery. However, in other areas inefficient waterflooding, both natural and accidental, has adversely affected recovery potentialities.

Jan 1, 1963

By Abhilash

Uranium is conventionally extracted using a process that employs strong acid (H2SO4) and an oxidant (MnO2) as leaching agents. This method often creates environmental problems, requires large amounts of energy, and involves a complex operational plant. It is not, however, economically attractive to extract uranium from low-grade ores by chemical leaching. Because the content of U3O8 in the Indian ore is usually below 0.1% by weight, it is necessary to develop an alternative process to enable the efficient and economic recovery of uranium. Uranium ore from the Narwapahar mines, UCIL is a type of vein deposit found in India, which accounts for ~54% in India. The ore (0.047% U3O8), though of Singhbhum area, possess exceptionally different mineralogy due to presence of some refractory minerals and richness of apatite (5%) resulting in a maximum 78% recovery through conventional processing at UCIL, with a very high consumption of sulfuric acid and pyrolusite, besides possible loss of uranium as uranium phosphate. To avoid usage of environmentally non-benign oxidants, remediation of influence of phosphates, and improve the overall process output of uranium; an alternate extraction technology using microbial isolate(s) is worthwhile exploring and the same is presented in the paper. The microbial isolate enriched with Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans grown from source mine water was employed for bio-leaching of uranium while varying pH, pulp density (PD), particle size, etc. On varying pH at 35oC using 20%(w/v) PD and <75µm particle size, 83.5% and 78% uranium bio-recovery were observed at 1.7 and 2.0 pH in 40 days against maximum recovery of 46% and 41% metal in control experiments respectively. Whereas, it was observed that grinding of ore to finer size actually helped dissolution of uranium. Finer size particles (<45µm) gave a maximum biorecovery of 93% in 40days at 10%(w/v) PD, 1.7 pH and 35oC. The bio-recovery of uranium fell down from 93% to 82.73% and 60% on increasing the pulp density from 10% to 20% and 30% respectively for particles of <45µm size. The higher uranium dissolution during bioleaching at 1.7pH can be correlated with increase in redox potential from 433 mV to 664mV in 40 days.

Aug 1, 2010

By I. Yochev, A. A. Metelev, A. I. Stepanenko, A. P. Purgin, M. G. Viduetsky, A. M. Panshin, I. F. Garifulin

"Pneumatic flotation cells of the KFM series are intended for the concentration of various ores and technogenic materials. The key operating principle of the flotation cells of the KFM series is the preparation of pulp for flotation in blowers, offering the advantage of an accelerated flotation process. This report summarizes the results of the implementation and operation of the KFM cells at Russian and foreign projects in 2015-2017. Their implementation and operation experience confirms the high efficiency of the KFM cells, especially in the head of lead and zinc, copper and zinc, copper flotation processes:head KFM-600 flotation cell recovers from lead-zinc ore (Rudmetal AD modular concentrator) up to 52% of lead in a single stage (without cleaner flotation) in a salable lead head concentrate (grade of up to 76% lead, 2.3% zinc). The flotation cell proved to be much more efficient than originally expected in the process description in the design phase,flotation of the copper-zinc ore from Novo-Shemur deposit (PJSC Svyatogor concentrator) in two KFM- 1400M cells recovers up to 65% of copper and 70% of zinc in a high-grade bulk copper-zinc concentrate containing 12-13% of copper and 25-28% of zinc. The installation of the two cells with a combined capacity of 26 m3 allowed to decommission 4 chambers of FPM-16 pneumomechanical flotation cells with a combined capacity of 64 m3 with a simultaneous increase in the overall ore concentration performancea single KFM-1400M cell (13 m3) recovers from the copper ore from Volkov deposit (PJSC Svyatogor concentrator) 53% of copper into a high-grade copper head concentrate (33.0% of copper). For comparison, the pneumomechanical cell FPM-16 (capacity 16 m3) has almost half as low copper recovery (29.6%) into the head concentrate at a lower grade (30.5% copper)."

Jan 1, 2018

By W. Wittke, D. Schröder, H. Polczyk

ABSTRACT: The Urft dam, the Diemel dam and the Eder dam are three old masonry damslocated in Germany. The paper describes the rehabilitation measures and the correspondingstability analyses carried out to adjust the dams to today&apos;s standards. Remedial works such as theexcavation of inspection galleries, the installation of a grout curtain with a downstream drainagescreen as well as the installation of pre-stressed permanent tendons were carried out. In all threecases the stability of the upgraded dam could be proven on the basis of finite element analyses. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Die Urft-, Diemel- und Edertalsperre sind drei alte deutscheSchwergewichtsmauern aus Bruchsteinmauerwerk. Im Beitrag werden Instandsetzungsmaß-nahmen und Standsicherheitsnachweise beschrieben, die erforderlich waren, um die Staumauernan den heutigen Stand der Technik anzupassen. Hierzu wurden Kontrollgänge aufgefahren,Dichtungsschleier mit luftseitiger Dränage sowie vorgespannte Daueranker hergestellt. In allendrei Fällen konnte unter Berücksichtigung der Instandsetzungsmaßnahmen die Standsicherheit derMauer auf der Grundlage von Berechnungen nach der Methode der finiten Elemente nachgewiesenwerden. RÉSUMÉ: Les barrages de Urft, Diemel et Eder sont trois barrages-poids vieux allemandsconstruit de maçonnerie de moellon. Dans cet article, opérations de remise en état et preuves destabilité sont décrits, qui étaient nécessaires pour adapter les barrages à l&apos;état de la techniqueactuelle. À cet effet, des galeries de contrôle étaient creusés, voiles d&apos;étanchéité avec des drains àla face aval et tirants précontraints permanents étaient fabriqués. Dans tous les trois cas, tenantcompte des opérations de remise en état, la stabilité de la barrage pouvait être prouvée à partir decalculs selon la méthode des éléments finis.

Jan 1, 2003

By AIME AIME

THAT the copper industry is in serious straits is admitted. So are the lead and zinc industries, and both lead and zinc are tariff protected. Conditions in the Western lead, zinc and silver mining districts are desperate. These are illustrated by the present disastrously low prices of these metals compared with the levels of two and three years ago and by the comparative rates of metal production and the present activity of the western mining camps. The January production of copper was 32.2 per cent of the 1929 average rate, of steel was 32.3 per cent of the 1929 average, while January production of pig iron was only 27.6 per cent of the monthly average of 1929. The copper industry is only one of many industries that are suffering in this tragic depression. It has been exceedingly prosperous and will be prosperous again when business recovers. Its difficulties are not unique and it does not deserve the tariff equivalent of a dole. The burden of subsidizing through an effective tax or tariff the minority group of high-cost mines would be a heavy one on the consuming public of the United States. On the basis of 1929 consumption figures, an effective 5c. tariff would result in an increased copper bill to the country of over $109,000,000, of which the electric manufacturers would contribute $26,000,000, the telephone and telegraph companies $16,000,000, and the automobile manufacturers $14,000,000. And of this total bill, only $33,000,000 would go to those who are urging a tariff and the balance of $76,000,000 would be paid to those who do not admit either its necessity or usefulness under present conditions.

Jan 1, 1932

By Felipe Buboltz Ferreira

O Pó de Aciaria Elétrica (PAE) é um resíduo sólido originado da fabricação de aços em Fornos Elétricos a Arco (FEA). Este resíduo contém metais nocivos ao meio ambiente e é constituído, em sua maior parte, pelos elementos ferro, zinco e oxigênio. Devido aos custos crescentes para disposição e por tratar-se de um resíduo perigoso, a indústria procura tanto opções de reciclagem quanto a possibilidade de retorno ao processo produtivo do aço. Uma das alternativas é a reintrodução na aciaria elétrica através de aglomerados autorredutores como parte da carga do FEA. Nesse trabalho, são confeccionadas misturas autorredutoras contendo PAE e coque de petróleo, apresentando as correspondentes caracterizações químicas e físicas. É feita também uma avaliação do comportamento destas misturas em ensaios termogravimétricos, mostrando a possibilidade do emprego desta técnica na aferição prática do teor ótimo de coque.

Aug 16, 2017

By Luis M. Tejada C.

La mina Tintaya es un yacimiento skarn de cobre, que por su disarmonía litológica, complejidad estructural y fuerte tectonísmo acontecido, origina diferentes tipos de inestabilidades en los tajos operativos, constituyendo un cierto grado de vulnerabilidad a la seguridad por los fenómenos conocidos como caída de rocas y deslizamientos. En ese sentido, el presente texto señala las curvas del desarrollo de la ruptura en los taludes altos de Tintaya en sus fases progresiva y regresiva, así como una metodología geotécnica que defina el grado de riesgo en taludes inestables para adoptar controles de mitigación de los mismos. A ello, se instalaron redes de instrumentación de campo; conformados por extensómetros electrónicos y prismas asociados al sistema de monitoreo robotizado, ambos en tiempo real.

Sep 14, 2009

By B. K. Shibler, A. O. Ipsen, W. W. Agey

"INTRODUCTION As a part of the program of investigation of domestic sources of manganese ore, mining engineers of the Bureau of Mines obtained and examined samples of ore from six properties in the vicinity of Pioche, Lincoln County, Nev., and from one property near Caliente, Lincoln County, Nev. As the ores were too low-grade to be acceptable for the direct production of ferromanganese, their amenability to concentration by ore-dressing methods was investigated.In general, the Pioche ores had a low manganese content and, owing to extremely intimate association of manganese minerals with iron oxide and nonmetallic gangue, were refractory to concentration by ore-dressing methods. Only two samples (Zero Gap and Wheeler ores) were amenable to the production of concentrates that would sinter to a marketable plus 35-percent manganese grade. The Prince Consolidated and Ely Valley No. 1.ores were roasted and sintered to produce lead-silver-zinc fumes. The residues were of possible value as manganiferous iron ore. No marketable manganese products were made from Calton semi-oxidized ore, but over 80 percent recoveries of lead, silver, and zinc were made by bulk sulfide flotation followed by Diming of the sulfide concentrate. No satisfactory results were obtained by treatment of Golden Eagle and Ely Valley No. 2 ores.The Cudverwell ore was amenable to the production of high-grade manganese concentrates by ore-drssing methods. However, fine grinding was required to effect mineral liberation, and loss of manganese as slime limited the mangenese recoveries obtainable.In the coarse of the investigations, many data were obtained and compiled, but for the sake of brevity, several data, of secondary importance have been omitted or condensed, and only the tests giving the more promising results are discussed in detail. For convenience, the report has been divided into two parts, one opertaining to the Pioche ores and the other summarzing results obtained by testing Culverwell ore."

Aug 1, 1947

By J. Y. Lee, J. Kang

"A selective chlorination process using cuprous chloride (CuCl) was investigated for producing high-grade chalcocite (Cu2S) from chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) feed. The chalcopyrite feed was reacted with CuCl in the presence or absence of sulfur (S) at temperatures between 900 and 1,100 K for five hours under an argon gas atmosphere. The experimental results indicate that iron (Fe) was selectively removed from the chalcopyrite feed as ferrous chloride (FeCl2) at 1,100K and the mass percentage of Fe thus decreased from 31.5 percent in the feed to less than 0.05 percent in the residue, under certain conditions. As a result, high-grade Cu2S was obtained from chalcopyrite in a single step. This new selective chlorination of chalcopyrite using CuCl as a chlorinating agent is therefore feasible for producing high-grade Cu2S.IntroductionCurrently, blister copper (Cu) is commercially produced from sulfide ores by pyrometallurgical methods. These methods entail matte smelting and converting, with the removal of iron (Fe) and sulfur (S) as slag — mainly Fe2SiO4 — and sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas, respectively.In the pyrometallurgical method, as shown in Fig. 1 (Schlesinger et al., 2011), Fe is removed through two steps at high temperatures of around 1,500 K to reduce the loss of Cu during slag formation. However, the slag still contains 1 to 8 percent Cu. Therefore, Cu in the slag is recovered by slag treatment processes, after which the concentration of Cu in the slag decreases to around 0.4 to 1.3 percent. Although Cu is recovered, the slag that had undergone the treatment processes is difficult to use as a feedstock for ironmaking owing to the small amount of Cu remaining in the slag (Schlesinger et al., 2011).In addition, large amounts of SO2 gas are generated by the oxidation of S in the current Cu production process. The SO2 gas generated is captured and used to produce sulfuric acid (H2SO4). However, despite the development of SO2 gas-capture technologies, the emission of SO2 gas is still a problem in terms of environmental considerations.Several studies had been carried out in the past to overcome the drawbacks of the current process. The extraction of Cu from sulfide ores using a chlorination process is one alternative that had been investigated by several researchers. Most chlorination processes used chlorine gas (Cl2) as a chlorinating agent at temperatures between 573 and 1,023 K under an inert atmosphere (Donaldson and Kershner, 1962; Olsen et al., 1973; Kumar, Li and Warren, 1985, 1987; Kanari et al., 1999; Kanari, Gaballah and Allain, 2001)."

Jan 1, 2017

By B. C. Allen, R. I. Jaffee, D. J. Maykuth

Wrought unalloyed iodide chromium, containing 39 to 95 ppm total interstitials, has a tensile transition temperature of —15°C. Re crystallizing at 1100°C causes the transition to rise to 90° to 390°C, depending on the purity, grain size, and cooling rate after annealing. At about the 100 ppm level, individual additions of carbon or nitrogen raise the transition of both wrought and recrystallized chromium by as much as 210°C, while oxygen has a lesser effect, and sulfur essentially no effect. High transitzon temperatures are exhibited by recrystallized and quenched chromium, and appear to be associated with the amount and distribution of inter-stitials. The latter cm be either in solid solution or in the form of precipitates within the grains or at the grain boundaries. Quench hardening in chromium is primarily caused by nitrogen. The hardness, re crystallization, and grain growth behavior of chromium with and without impurity additions were also investigated. BECAUSE of low density and good oxidation resistance, chromium-base alloys are potentially useful for elevated-temperature applications. The main deterrent to the use of chromium in structural applications is its lack of low-temperature ductility, especially in the recrystallized condition. Accumulated evidence has shown that the ductility of chromium is sensitive to purity. The objective of the current study was to determine the effect of common nonmetallic impurities on the tensile properties of high purity chromium. The separate effects of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur additions on the ductile-to-brittle transition were evaluated for wrought and recrystallized material after various cooling rates. EXPERIMENTAL WORK Unalloyed iodide chromium and seven impurity alloys containing individual carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur additions were prepared in rod form. Nominal additions were 100 ppm C, N, and S, and 100 to 500 ppm O. The additions were about a factor of ten greater than the residual amounts in the unalloyed material. The seven alloys and two unalloyed compositions were consolidated into four-pound ingots by conventional consumable arc melting of pressed and welded electrodes under 0.5 atm of helium. Impurity additions were made to the electrode in the form of crushed master alloys. The impurity alloys were double melted to improve homogeneity. The ingots were broken down by extrusion at 1200°C in evacuated steel cans at a reduction ratio of 18 :1, using a molten borosilicate glass lubricant and a ram speed of 80 in. per min. The cans were removed by acid pickling, and the chromium core ground free of surface undulations. Cut lengths were sheathed in mild steel and swaged at 900°C until the core was about 1/4 in. in diam. Two additional 15-lb ingots of unalloyed chromium (ICr-3, ICr-4) were prepared by arc melting and broken down by 26:1 extrusion at 1250°C without a steel can. The billet was lubricated and protected from contamination by a coating of molten glass. The resulting extrusion was then sheath swaged as described previously. Representative chemical analyses of each of the materials, after removal of a 10-mil surface layer

Jan 1, 1963

By Alexandre Magno Alves de Oliveira

Os resíduos provenientes das indústrias cerâmicas demandam locais apropriados de descarte, gerando gastos, desperdício de matérias-primas e, quando o local de descarte é impróprio, problemas ambientais. Sendo assim, se faz necessário o estudo da reutilização destes resíduos, tanto para fins econômicos quanto ambientais. Dessa forma, a reutilização de chamote, resíduo oriundo do descarte de materiais cerâmicos, é possível através da sua incorporação em massas cerâmicas para a produção de novos materiais (blocos, tijolos, telhas, etc). O presente trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a influência do chamote em massas cerâmicas, comparando dosagens com substituição de 10%, 20% e 30% em massa com um traço de referência. Para isso foram realizados ensaios, com os quais pode-se obter as propriedades relacionadas a retração por secagem e por queima, absorção de água, perda ao fogo, porosidade aparente e tensão de ruptura à flexão. Em suma, pode-se concluir que o uso do chamote permite a obtenção de materiais com boa resistência mecânica, moderada absorção de água e com boas propriedades dimensionais, demonstrando ser uma alternativa ambientalmente amigável e economicamente viável.

Oct 30, 2017

By Zay Jeffries

From the title of this chapter the reader could expect an attempt to outline the anticipated shape of things to come, mineralwise. We have no crystal ball and if we possessed one we could claim no expertness in its use. In the first place no one can tell the future status of man. No one has any way of knowing to what extent peace will prevail, nor to what extent changes may occur in national sovereignties or forms of government or in international relationships. So future man is an uncertainty. Nor can we predict new developments that may result in significant changes in man&apos;s status or in the mineral industry or both. If, for example, this chapter had been written in the middle 1930&apos;s, nearly everything that has happened since in the field of atomic energy would have been missed. Yet what a vast change this has made in the status of man! Also the changes in the mineral industry have been important. A writer would have been bold indeed had he prophesied that uranium would play such an important role. But we need not confine our foggy vision to the atomic energy field. The steep rise in the use of aluminum, titanium, and germanium reflects the unpredictable in what may be thought of as the more normal pursuits. This should not discourage one from using the past and currently observable trends as bases for limited predictions. To do this, however, it is desirable to make certain assumptions about man&apos;s status without even a pretense that these assumptions have a high probability of fulfillment: 1. Only minor changes will occur in the geographical boundaries of the nations of the world. 2. World War III will not take place in the near future. 3. As a consequence of (2), man will not destroy himself by wanton use of atomic weapons. 4. Disarmament will take place, if at all, gradually rather than all at one time. Under the above assumptions the world will enjoy a period of relative peace even though the status may be one of an armed truce. The assump-

Jan 1, 1959