Search Documents

By John Gjers

Being on a visit to your great and prosperous country, and having been favored with an invitation to attend this meeting of your Institute, the author has been requested by your Secretary to give a short account of his invention of the " soaking-pit," which he has great pleasure in doing. The object of the soaking-pit is the rolling of steel ingots with their own initial heat, that is, to supply the missing link in that chain of metallurgical operations which Sir Henry Bessemer began in 1857, when he proved how it was possible to produce malleable iron or steel direct from the fluid cast-iron out of the blast-furnace, without any further direct use of fuel. The great Bessemer invention has revolutionized iron and steelmaking throughout the world; but it stopped short at producing the ingot, which, it was found, had afterwards to be heated in a furnace to enable it to be rolled or hammered; and it is only lately, twenty-five years after Mr. Bessemer's announcement, that the author of this paper has been able to show that furnacing can be dispensed with, and that it is practicable to roll a steel ingot into say a bloom, a rail, or a billet, with its own initial heat. It has no doubt suggested itself to many that there ought to be heat enough in the ingot just cast, for the purpose of rolling; and from time to time attempts have been made to utilize this heat; but such attempts always ending in failure, it became a settled opinion in the trade that it could not be done—an opinion which the author is aware that your late lamented countryman, Mr. Holley, than whom there was none more conversant with Bessemer steel-making, also entertained. But settled opinions sometimes prove to be great fallacies. As an instance, it is not many years since the opinion prevailed in the trade that steel ingots could not be rolled successfully, that is, so as to make good rails, unless they were first allowed to get quite cold, and afterwards heated. No greater boon was ever conferred on the

Jan 1, 1885

By Herbert Hughes

The trend in modern building construction is definitely toward the use of weight-reducing materials. The basic advantage of lighter structural weight is obvious; reduction of dead load with retention of equivalent strength affords the possibility of increasing the live load, or if this is not desirable or necessary it makes feasible a reduction in size of structural steel members and corresponding savings in other phases of construction. Among the weight-reducing materials and practices rapidly gaining favor are the use of light-weight patented insulating board to replace back-up tile or units, particularly in home construction; introduction of aluminum alloys to replace steel for many purposes; manufacture of porous brick, the use of which materially reduces the weight of masonry walls and partitions; and the use of self-rising vesicular concrete, dia-tomite and sawdust tile, porous gypsum, or gypsum tile for nonload-bear-ing partitions and walls. Even building accessories are being designed to save weight and space; one of the most striking examples of this is improved radiator construction. Concrete technique is keeping pace with the rest of the industry. Burned shale aggregates now available in many sections of the country will make concrete weighing only 100 Ib. per cubic foot, saving roughly 35 per cent. in weight and sacrificing none of the strength of a rock-sand mix. It may be more expensive, but actual experience has shown that the saving in dead load will effect a reduction in structural steel which in many instances will more than offset the increased cost of the aggregate. The vesicular nature of most light-weight aggregates gives the concrete especially good insulating, fireproofing and soundproofing properties; yet absorption is compara.tively low. Strangely enough, however, the increased use of light-weight aggregates appears to have augmented the demand for ordinary aggregates in concrete construction rather than to have decreased it. Light-weight aggregates have widened the field for concrete structures and, since the producers do not attempt to recommend the use of their material except where weight or other special properties are important factors, impetus has been given to sales of other aggregates.

Jan 1, 1931

By H. S. McQueen

THE central Ozark region of Missouri has inter-ested geologists and mining engineers for many years. Of particular interest are the mineralized sink-hole type deposits, some of which have produced large quantities of iron ore. Deposits of coal are also known in this part of the State, and in mode of occur-rence are similar to the iron ore deposits. Occurring in the same general area, and often associated with coal, are deposits of high-grade non-plastic flint fire clay, and high alumina or diaspore clay. At present these clays are the most important materials being mined from the sink-hole type deposits. Deposits of high-grade flint fire clay have been known to occur in this region for many years, the Kelley pit near Rolla, Phelps County, being discovered in drilling for iron ore shortly after the close of the Civil War. Mining operations had disclosed at an early date masses of rough, open-textured "sandy" clay associated with the flint fire clay. Some of the hard flint clay also con-tained rounded shot-like particles of "sand." Both types of clay were considered of inferior grade and unsuited to the manufacture of fire brick. These clays were discarded in mining as value-less, in some instances being used for road metal. Some knowledge of the high alumina content of this sandy material had been obtained by 1908 1, and by 1917 the high alumina content was gen- erally known, and commercial shipments of what is now called diaspore clay were being made. These deposits of diaspore clay associated with flint fire clay form the only known deposits of commercial importance in North America. The production of diaspore and flint fire clay at present exceeds that of any former year. Statistics covering the production and value of the former were not collected prior to 1922, and the figures given below do not cover the tonnage of clay mined by companies and used in their own plants, so that the total produc-tion probably is much larger than that indicated. The figures were collected by the U. S. Geological Survey and the U. S. Bureau of Mines in cooperation with the Missouri Bureau of Geology and Mines.

Jan 6, 1928

By F. C. Stanford

The work of an engineer is to direct natural forces so that the: bring about the results that he wishes to secure. Heretofore he ha concerned himself chiefly with physical forces and inanimate objects until he has secured a truly marvelous degree of control over them The great problem of the present age is to secure a like degree of know1 edge and control of the human factor. Progress has already been made along this line, but it is only a beginning. Wilhelm Ostwald says tha scientific knowledge enables a man to be a true prophet; but it must be remembered that a good many people do not seem to be able to main tain a high average in prophecy. In short, 'the average of knowledge is not equal to the average needs of the present time, but continually fails to keep pace with it. It has been aptly said that the really essentia need of the period is for more brains; if we only had sufficient knowledg and sagacity we could not only solve all difficulties, but prevent then from arising. This generalization holds good for an industrial organization. Th most vital need of the management is for more brains. The logica course for an engineer in charge of an industrial organization is, therefore to direct whatever forces may be at his command toward the development training, and guiding of all the brains in his organization. This is easie said than done, for it involves the carrying on toward two objective: the maximum of productive work, and the development of the individual who perform it. This is essentially like the rebuilding and enlarging of plant, keeping it in full operation the while. On the other hand, if th aim is merely for maximum production from an organization, withou offering opportunity for development, the final outcome will necessari be like that of a plant that is driven at full capacity without stoppin for repairs or improvements; it eventually becomes so run down th either a complete rebuilding is necessary or else it has to be abandone

Jan 1, 1918

By John McCoy, Edward Thimons, Kenneth Heller

As the working levels in domestic mines are developed to greater depths and work areas move further from the shafts, maintaining a safe and healthful working environment becomes more difficult. Increased temperature and humidity at greater depths becomes first a factor in productivity and then a threat to the miner's safety. Initially, a miner might develop listlessness leading to reduced productivity and reduced alertness. Continued overexertion can lead to heat stroke and possibly death. Mine ventilation engineers, therefore, must not only provide clean air to work areas, but also must provide cooled air. The following article describes the United States Bureau of Mines (USBM) and Foster-Miller's successful development of a high performance, low maintenance direct water to air contact heat exchanger for mine cooling. While heat problems frequently do not develop until mining operations descend below sea level, problems will arise any time mining penetrates high temperature rock. Hot fissure water will increase the severity of the situation, causing increases in wet bulb temperature - the temperature to which perspiring miners reject metabolic body heat. All energy expended in mining adds to the heat load which must be absorbed by the ventilation air. Just when the cooling capacity of ventilation air is needed most, adiabatic compression (autocompression) of air descending the shaft raises air temperatures 1.3g°C (2.5'F) to 2.94"C (5.3OF)/305m (1000 ft) depending on humidity. Increased temperatures decrease the ability of the air to absorb heat from the mine, and work area temperatures rise. Once forced ventilation air can no longer maintain safe work area temperatures, refrigeration methods must be employed. Many mines now use cooling coils for this purpose. A cooling coil uses refrigerated mine water to cool the air by passing the air through banks of copper tubing filled with cold water. Heat from the air is transferred to the water through the pipe with the aid of fins. Conventional water to air heat exchangers prove troublesome for many mines be- cause of the high levels of dust that are encountered, causing these exchangers to operate at relatively low efficiencies. A more satisfactory approach to work- place cooling is desired - one that offers reduced maintenance and increased cooling efficiency.

Jan 1, 1982

By R. S. Archibald

The subject of this paper is particularly appropriate, since Daniel C. Jackling was active in early exploitation of taconites on the Mesabi Range and contributed greatly to their later economic development. After his success in developing the low grade porphyries in the West he looked for more worlds to conquer, and so undertook the concentration of low grade taconites, from which he hoped to produce commercial ore. Mesabi Iron Co., organized in 1919, actually did produce merchantable sinter from taconites in 1922. The enterprise did not prove commercial at the time, as cost of production was high and the surplus of iron ore in the Lake Superior District already contributed to a low market price, but this same property has since been developed by Reserve Mining Co. The work done by Jackling had much to do with the success of this later venture. Iron ore was first discovered on the Marquette Range in Michigan in 1845. The first ore from this range came from the old Jackson mine in Negaunee in 1848. During these early years this property and others on the Marquette produced limited tonnages for transportation to Lower Lakes and for consumption by charcoal furnaces in the area, where a plentiful supply of hardwoods furnished the charcoal for iron smelting. The Marquette and other ranges tributary to Lake Superior did not produce much ore for transportation to Lower Lakes until the locks at Sault Ste. Marie were constructed, but from the time the first lock at the "Soo" was completed in 1855 these ores were transported through the locks to consumer centers in the East. The Marquette Range has a history of continuous production from 1848 to the present day. In 1877 the Menominee Range was discovered at the location of the old Penn Mines near Vulcan, Mich. There were further discoveries of ore on the old Menominee Range and at Florence, Wis., in 1880 and at Iron River and Crystal Falls, Mich., in 1882. Penn Mines continued in operation from the date of their discovery until they were finally exhausted by Pickands-Mather in 1945, but operations still continue on the Menominee in the Crystal Falls and Iron River districts. Ore is shipped to a lake port at Escanaba, Mich.

Jan 1, 1960

By Thomas Read

PERSONNEL work is a term recently introduced to cover the great variety of activities in industrial work that deal with the human factor. Much attention has been focussed upon individual phases of personnel work, such as accident prevention, sanitation, "welfare" work, reducing labor' turnover, and so on. In most cases these activities have been carried on as though they were distinct and separate fields; as a matter of fact, they are only different phases of the single problem of human engineering, and each has important and fundamental relations with the others. Thus, for example, high labor turnover is one of the most .important causes of a high accident rate, and unsatisfactory housing conditions are an important cause of labor turnover. In the early stages of the study of these problems, it was necessary to take them up separately; the time has now arrived at which it is desirable to consider them as a whole in order to bring them into the right relation to each other. When thus considered as phases of an interrelated whole, they may be grouped as personnel work. A discussion of the importance of personnel work as a means of in creasing dividends in industry may be objected to by some as a too materialistic way of looking upon work that is humanitarian. Nothing could he more mistaken than such an opinion. Humanitarianism, per se, has no place in industry, and nothing is gained and much is lost in pre tending that it has. The only reason why a corporation engages in business is to make profits, and any activity of the corporation that does not tend either directly or indirectly toward that end is poor business. It is equally poor business to overlook any activities that do tend indirectly to the making of profits. On this basis, personnel work can be justified as a corporate activity; there is no justification whatever for abstract humanitarianism from the business standpoint. One characteristic of the American workman is a general high level of intelligence, and it is an insult to intelligence to ask a man to believe that anything so impersonal as a corporation is really desirous of benefiting

Jan 10, 1917

By Ligon Johnson

ONLY the acute phase of the smelter fume problem is new. The problem itself is older than the Christian era. While both lead and copper were mined and crudely smelted ; on: 3,000 years ago, it was not until the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula and the British Isles, which occurred but shortly before the beginning of the Christian era, that there was any evidence of smelting operations on a scale sufficiently large to permit a fume problem. Around Huelva, Spain, are found more than 30 million tons of slag from lead smelting conducted there by the Romans. Pliny tells us that more than 20,000 slaves were employed in the Iberian mines. Extensive mining and smelting by the Romans in England and Wales were coincident with the Iberian proceedings. These metallurgical operations were upon a sufficiently large scale to produce marked results both upon the surrounding country and the smelter workers, but, as they were those of a conqueror upon conquered soil, conducted by slaves, imperial Rome failed to recognize that such a thing as a smoke problem did or could arise, and whatever fume question there may have been at that .time remained a question only to those who had no chance to answer any phase of it. The smelting operations of the Romans extended over about 400 years, and little is "recorded of lead and copper smelting from that time until the 16th century. From the revival beginning at this period up to the present century, the growth of smelting has been comparatively gradual. In Great Britain, smelting was conducted almost wholly in localities where metallurgical operations were of paramount importance, and the communities that grew up in smelter localities were due to and dependent upon the mines and smelters. This fact had much to do with the comparative freedom of British smelting from burdensome fume litigation and legislation. To a lesser degree these conditions applied to the German operations which, when coupled with the further fact that most of the early German operations were to a greater or less degree fiscal workings of Prussia, Saxony and Brunswick-Hanover; accounts for

Jan 5, 1917

By Charles E. Weaver

During the past few years there has been considerable activity in prospecting for oil and gas in several parts of western washington. From time to time seepages of oil or emanations of gas have been reported from various places. Several companies have been organized for the purpose of drilling, but only a part of these have actually begun operations. In certain localities very small seepages of oil occur, but up to the present time no oil or gas in commercial quantities has been obtained. In order to determine the conditions which may be favorable or unfavorable to the occurrence of petroleum it becomes necessary to know the character and extent of the geological formations in which such deposits might occur. In other regions where producing wells have been developed it is possible to know what formations contain the oil and what structural conditions influence its concentration in reservoirs or zones. It is usually possible to determine those strata which contained the materials from which the petroleum may have been derived and also the position and distribution of the more porous sandstone belts into which it may have collected. Detailed stratigraphic surveys may even determine the depth at which a certain known oil-bearing zone may be tapped at any particular place. It is also possible to recognize those formations which are presumably barren of oil, as well as those which are absolutely so. In new regions far distant from any of those which are now producing or have produced in the past, it becomes absolutely impossible to foretell whether oil may exist in commercial quantities or not. Assuming that such deposits do exist, it is extremely difficult to predict at what depth the produciqg zone or zones occur. However, in prospecting in a new and unexplored region, use should be made of such laws as have been found to govern the occurrence of petroleum deposits in other well-developed fields. Such deposits in their world-wide distribution are found almost exclusively associated with sedimentary rocks. Areas composed predominatingly of igneous and metamorphosed rocks are to be rcgarded as extremely unfavorable localities for the occurrence of commercial deposits of oil or gas. Assuming that such oil deposits are

Jan 1, 1916

By Edmund B. Kirby

This meeting marks the point at which the long-standing dissatisfaction with the mineral-land laws, the innumerable protests against them, and the many isolated efforts to obtain relief, have developed into a general movement for their revision. That part of the mining industry which is affected by these laws has three general organizations which are able to speak for it: the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the Mining and Metallurgical Society of . America, and the American Mining Congress; all of which are represented in this meeting. In the series of able and thoughtful papers presented here, prominent men have discussed the evils of the present laws and some of the reforms which should be made in them. We all appreciate fully the ultimate value of these studies; but we are also painfully aware of the fact that discussion of this kind has been going on for a quarter of a century without any other effect than a steady increase in the mass of printed records stored on library shelves. In order to get any practical result we Gust induce an indifferent government at Washington to act, and to do this we must unite in pushing some practical plan whereby it may act in a simple and effective way and with the least possible amount of criticism or opposition. The actual question before us is not whether the mining laws are bad; for their evils and absurdities are not only beyond discussion but also beyond the resources of a temperate and dignified vocabulary. It is not what particular changes ought to be made; for it is premature to make . specific recommendations until there is some one to listen to them. Moreover, we all know that there are wisdom and experience enough available, and awaiting that time, for the creation of a code which would be a model to the mining world. The practical question now is, how to obtain the revision; and since the American Mining Congress has of late restricted its attention to this phase of the problem I wish as one of its representatives here to present its views upon the matter.

Jan 1, 1915

By R. J. Piros, Brusenback, D. A. Dahlstrom

DEWATERING fine coal has been a serious problem to many operators who desired to wet-wash finer sizes and maintain high recovery. Centrifugal driers have become popular for this purpose for sizes between 3/8 in. and 14 mesh. Below 14 mesh the perforated screen centrifuges lose a large per- cent in the effluent solid bowl types that do retain -14 mesh coal, produce excessive degradation, tend to retain the highest ash fraction in any size fraction, and are subject to abrasion, which results in higher maintenance. In 1949 Truax-Traer Coal Co. planned a cyclone installation at their Ceredo preparation plant to recover coal down to 150 mesh with approximately a 14-mesh top size. Since available centrifugal equipment was not considered satisfactory, an investigation of rotary vacuum filters was begun in cooperation with the Peterson Filters and Engineering Co. to determine the suitability of the Peterson Top Feed Reservoir (TFR) filter. This investigation, which is described below, has resulted in a highly satisfactory installation of two 6x10-in. Peterson TFR filters that have been in operation over a year. After some preliminary laboratory batch vacuum filter tests, a pilot plant double-drum Peterson TFR filter was installed at Ceredo to prove the feasibility of vacuum filtration and determine optimum conditions. The full scale units were then installed on the basis of the pilot plant results. This was followed by an extensive research program on vacuum filtration in the laboratory at Northwestern University to investigate basic design and operating variables and their influence on final moisture con- tent of the filter cake. A method of scale-up from laboratory batch tests to the full-size unit was also proposed and proved. Because of the importance of dewatering fine coal today, it was felt that the results of the three steps should be made available for the use of others facing this problem. The work at Northwestern is given in a theoretical section following the discussion of the pilot plant and full- scale operation. Fig. 1 is a flow diagram of the cyclone and filter installation. The feed is drawn from below the

Jan 1, 1952

By George Collins

AT the meeting of the Western Division of the American Mining Congress, held in Denver last September, papers were read by F. H. Brownell, a vice-president of the American Smelting and Refining Co. and chairman of its finance committee, and by H. Foster Bain, former director of the United States Bureau of Mines and now secretary of the A. I. M. E.. which dealt thoroughly with certain phases of my sub-ject. These addresses can hardly have failed to awaken serious reflection in all who listened to them; but their implications have apparently not penetrated the con-sciousness of bankers, economists and statesmen, whose business it is, or should be, to prepare for the economic and social changes which must inevitably follow, if the conclusions which I shall outline hereinafter are true. In discussing this subject I wish to disclaim any intention or desire to forecast the course of the metal markets or the immediate prospects of the mining in-dustry. The facts' adduced must inevitably influence the value of metals, the activity and profitableness of mining, and perhaps also the social status of those en-gaged in it. But my forecasts do not refer to this year, next, year, or the year after. The nearest ap-proach to a date on which I will venture is that the relative scarcity of gold may begin to make itself felt in something like ten years from now, but its effect will not culminate for several years thereafter. Scarcity of new gold is likely to be offset, to some extent, by increasing use of currencies based on credit; but unless it is found possible to dispense with the gold standard altogether, this can hardly prevent a great ultimate fall in commodity prices. This fall, moreover, is likely to be more severe in manufactured goods than in what are, popularly termed raw ma-terials; and most of all in those manufactured goods which are susceptible to the greatest degree to cheapen-ing by mass production, and which are least counter-affected by increasing metal prices; by which I mean those in which the cost of metal contained forms a relatively small, element in the total cost of production.

Jan 6, 1927

By Frederic K. Bunton

The smelting plant of the British Columbia Copper Co. at Greenwood, B. C., now closed because of the decline in the price of copper due.to the European war, is of special interest to metallurgists for several reasons. It was successfully smelting in blast furnaces the lowest grade copper ore of all plants in America. In order to do so, it had to run at very hig~; efficiency, which necessarily required a large tonnage per square foot of hearth area, together with the minimum amount of labor and other costs. The furnaces smelted daily 2,250 tons of ore (6.62 tons per sq. ft. of hearth area), carrying 0.85 per cent. of copper, at a smelting cost of 81.18 per ton. The entire plant required 130 men to operate it and keep up repairs, showing a labor efficiency of about 17.5 Dons per man per day. In the present paper, the method of obtaining these results is shown. Most of the information contained in this description I obtained as Assistant Superintendent, during the two years preceding the present shutdown. Other sources of information to which I am indebted are: The British Columbia Copper Co., Ltd., by ALfred W. G. Wilson, in The Copper Smelting Industry of Canada; Greenwood Smelting Worlrs, by J. E. McAllister, Engineering and Mining Journal, vol. xci, pp. 1011 to 1015 (May 20, 1911); and Description of the Copper Smelter of The British Columbia Copper Co., by W. L. Bell, in Transactions of the Canadian Mining Institute, vol. xvi, pp. 151 to 154 (1913). II. Location and Connections The smelter of this company is about half a mile south of GreenGood, in the Boundary district of British Columbia, on the Columbia & Westerg branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was originally built in 1900 by Paul Johnson, to handle 600 tons of ore a day in two small furnaces of 300 tons capacity; but in 1907 the old furnaces were torn out, the plant was remodeled, and three blast furnaces, 48 by 240 in. at) the tuyéres, were installed. In 1910, two of these were enlarged to 51 by

Jan 1, 1916

By Frank A. Hill

After a long struggle with an underground mine-fire and its accompanying evils, having experienced the discouragement of many retreats, the uncertain hope of varying advances, and the gratification of final success, I am tempted to give the members of the Institute some of the details of the fight. I do not write with the thought of treating a novel subject, but with the hope that some one as unfortunate as ourselves may be led by our experience to avoid our mistakes and to profit by our successes. The fire occurred on June 16, 1890. It was a calamity awful in its results, ringing the death-knell of thirty-one stalwart miners, bringing sorrow and desolation to many homes, and destroying in a few hours the work of years. While there have been a number of disasters in the history of American mining in which there was a greater loss of life and property, I know of none in which so simple a cause led to results so serious. A description of the mine, with the details of the accident, is necessary for a full understanding of the conditions existing at the time. The Hill-Farm-Parrish mine is in Dunbar township, Fayette county, Pa., about one mile from Dunbar station, on the Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio railroads, about four miles south of Connellsville, nine miles northeast of Uniontown, and in the heart of what is celebrated as the Connellsville coke region. The mine is owned and operated by the Dunbar Furnace Company ; and all the coal produced is made into coke and used in the company's furnaces, one mile to the east. The mine is opened by two slopes, the HillFarm and Parrish, the latter known also as the Ferguson. The Hill-Farm slope is 2600 feet northeast of the Parrish. There are 150 ovens at the former and 70 at the latter slope. The Hill-Farm slope is 4100 feet in length, and the length of the Parrish at the time of the accident was 3700 feet. The average dip of the coal is about 8 degrees S of W. The workings of the two slopes are con-

Jan 1, 1893

By N. I. Fisher, J. Shepherd

Statistical studies have been carried out on structural geological data collected across a large zone of roof failure 600 m (1968 ft) wide and at least 800 m (2642 ft) long in the Greta coal seam at Aberdare East Colliery. Two swarms of hundreds of minor, normal faults with throws commonly between 3 and 300 mm in the room and pillar workings are broadly coincident with roof failure. The faults have been classified into dip slip and oblique and strike slip types. Roof conditions have been classified into good; troublesome with subclasses scaly, heavy, gutter falls and wide, flat-roofed falls; and severely failed with subclasses very heavy roof, gutter falls and dome falls. Troublesome conditions are defined as those in which the height of the fall is less than or equal to 0.3 m, and severely failed conditions as those in which the fall height is greater than 0.3 m. Comparison of faults, roof condition and mining rate on a shift basis indicates that faults and roof failure are much more important than machine breakdowns in reducing mining rate. The effect of faults on roof conditions has been quantified using a concept called the "zone of influence," a rectangular area around a fault in which the fault has potentially deleterious effects. The spatial comparison of fault "zones of influence" with areas of roof failure wing Spearman's rank correlation coefficient shows that, while normal dip slip faults do not appear to be associated with roof failure, oblique slip and strike slip faults appear to be associated with roof classed as severely failed. The "zone of influence" of an oblique slip fault may extend up to 3 m on each side of it in the headings and up to 1.14 m in the cut-throughs. The fault "zone of influence" has geomechanical implications for the design of mine openings and Possibly represents the maximum length of a cantilevered roof beam likely to fail during mining, owing to a fault. Roof conditions could Possibly be predicted in blocks of &gin coal if the type of fault could be identified in oriented drill cores.

Jan 1, 1979

By H. T. Matson, G. Allan Wallis

In the Northern Rhodesia copper fields the size of the orebodies and the exceptionally consistent values over great distances made it possible to outline the ore with drill holes spaced at 1000-ft. intervals; in some cases, 2000-ft. intervals. Owing to the fact that the size of the deposits made it very evident that much outside capital would have to be called in to develop them and, owing to the wide spacing of the holes, it was essential that the sampling of drill holes be as accurate as possible, so that outside examining engineers could adopt the results as trustworthy within the limits of accuracy of the drilling method. With this object in view, the field staffs of the Selection Trust group of companies have studied for the past three years, and are still studying, drill sampling in a very thorough manner, and for this reason it is felt that these notes may be of interest to engineers or students who are, or in the future may be, in charge of drilling operations. The orebodies in this field lie in shales and sandstones, more or less indurated, in the lower strata of the Roan series, and the copper mineralization is in the form of sulfides predominantly, with some oxidized copper minerals. These interested in the geology and history of the area can find full details in a recent paper by Anton Gray and Russell J. Parker.' In some formations core recovery was good—between 90 and 100 per cent.—and where any difficulty occurred in recovering sludge, as in fissured ground, this was not insisted upon; but the samplers' difficulties, both practical and theoretical, do not commence until core recovery drops and sludge recovery becomes important, for if core is being ground up it is recoverable only as sludge, and naturally the sludge sample, which theoretically should contain only the material cut from the annular ring around the core, is being salted, in a sense, by the ground-up core. In the perfect core, where 100 per cent. core is recovered as well as 100 per cent. sludge, the two samples can be treated separately, as in the case

Jan 1, 1931

By N. Lilienberg

Refractory materials play much the same part in the producion of metals as houses and shelter for men, and it therefore seems useful to discuss sometimes the ways of manufacturing them. In fact, it appears to me that too little has been said on this important matter, probably because the manufacturers of fire-brick do not care to publish details for the benefit of competitors, but perhaps, also, by reason of the indulgent indifference of consumers. Judging from the revolutions in the manafacture of iron and steel caused by using calcareous materials for the furnace-bottoms, it does not seem improbable that in the future basic bricks may be produced suffciently strong for building also side-walls and arches, and perhaps, also, for use in blast-furnaces. But the existence of the present difficulties of great shrinkage in burning and small strength against compression, which limit the possibility of using basic bricks to Bessemer converters and such open-hearth furnaces as permit the bottom to be separated from the superstructure, seems to indicate still a long and extensive use of silica fire-bricks. I am not prepared to say anything about American fire-brick making, but knowing that industries abroad are watched with increasing interest by American manufacturers, I have imagined that this association would like to hear some facts about the way firebricks arc made in my country—Sweden. Well-known as it is that Sweden produces a high quality of iron, it is perhaps not so universally known that the same country produces a very high grade of silica fire-brick, whereby most of its own wants are supplied. In giving the following sketch I can, of course, not claim that all the facts are entirely new, but shall consider my object attained if American manufacturers can derive some benefit from the comparison of the following methods with their own, and if some discussion on this important subject can be aroused which will contribute to further progress. In order to show the extensive use of domestic fire-bricks in Sweden, where English bricks are easily obtainable, I mention the fact that about twelve millions of all kinds of fire-bricks (reduced to

Jan 1, 1885

By B. H. Dunshee

This paper is not intended to be a technical discussion of square-set framing as used in mines, but merely a short description of the different kinds of framing that have been used in the Butte mines, and what has been decided upon, after years of practical experience, as being the best, taking into consideration the physical condition of the veins and country rock, and also the supply of timber available for mining purposes. Butte is, essentially, a square-set district. Virginia City, Nev., was the first mining camp to use this method of timbering, and to Philip Deidesheimer, who went to the Ophir mine in 1860, is given the credit of solving the problem of square-set framing, where large bodies of ore were stoped and the timbers were supposed to hold the ground from caving without any filling. That he did his work well is shown by the fact that the main features of his framing are in use to-day. In the Butte mines the conditions are such that this method of timbering is generally used. We do not, of course, depend upon the timbers any more than is necessary. The worked-out stopes are filled with waste rock as close behind the miners as possible and not interfere with mining operations. The waste rock is obtained from development work on the different levels or from the surface. In the earlier days of mining in Butte there were numerous independent companies and naturally there were different ideas as to the best way to frame the square sets, although the general features were the same. Timber was abundant for mining purposes and the common practice was to use sawed lumber, generally 10 by 10 in. or 12 by 12 in. square. Some of the mines used for girts 6 by 10 in. or 8 by 12 in. timber, depending upon whether they used 10-in. square or 12-in. square timber for posts and caps. This avoided the necessity of framiug the ends of the girts, and also required less timber for the

Jan 1, 1914

By Raymond Howe

SOME time ago,, a prominent engineer asked a representative of the firebrick industry to prepare a comprehensive paper on blast-furnace refractories. It was to have been the purpose of this paper to gather practical experiences from widely different sources, in the hope of determining what kind or kinds of firebrick were best adapted for certain uses. This engineer sent questionnaires to the large consumers of blast-furnace linings and stovebrick and received very detailed replies as to their experiences. These replies are conflicting, but, having been turned over to the writer, form the basis of this attempt to meet the request. Because of the impossibility of making final recommendations at this time, a few of the more interesting and commonly known methods of studying refractories are also discussed, as well as the more recent developments in this field. The first reply to, the questionnaire stated that good service was being secured from the linings. This satisfactory condition was attributed to the use of a very good distributor. The writer believed that manufacturers try to and do produce a good product and that the proper handling of equipment is of the utmost importance, if good results are to be secured. The type of bricks used was not mentioned. The second reply stated that good life was secured from the furnace linings, but that the writer had had soft-fired stovebrick crumble and, for that reason, preferred a hard-fired product for use in this position. The type of bricks used was not mentioned. The third reply stated that firebrick had crumbled from the mantle up; the cause was not known. The fourth reply stated that the stove linings were satisfactory. Hand-made furnace linings failed after 4 years' service so a steam-pressed lining was installed which was still good after 4 years of service. Consequently, a second steam-pressed lining was installed but this disintegrated at the top after the furnace had been in- blast 7 months. The firebrick manufacturer attributed this failure to the expansion of iron blocks that had been installed at the stock line to prevent erosion.

Jan 9, 1919

By Wallace E. Pratt

IRon-oRe deposits in the Philippine Islands became the subject of official record as early as 1664. Undoubtedly iron ore was known and recognized by the Filipinos long before the earliest Spanish records. It is even possible that the Filipino practice of smelting iron ore is, like the native copper smelting, older than the Spanish conquest of the islands. The first records have to do with the magnetite-hematite ores near the towns of Santa Inez and Bosoboso in Rizal Province, from 15 to 20 miles east of Manila. The magnetite-hematite ores of Bulacan were exploited in 1783. Similar ores near the town of Mambulao in Camarines Province yielded a number of specimens to be exhibited in Spain in 1834. With the exception, then, of the lateritic iron ores on the eastern coast of northern Surigao, the true nature of which was not recognized until 1914, the important iron-ore deposits of the Philippines had all been discovered before the islands came under the dominion of the United States. Indeed, in the Spanish documents relating to the history of iron mining are statements which, if their accuracy be not questioned, leave us in the Philippines today with much less iron ore than the Spaniards found. To quote, for example, a report submitted to the Superior Government in Spain in 1835 by one of its emissaries, Don Lorenzo Calvo: "The Philippine Islands, most excellent Sir, possess iron and exhibit it in nearly every known mineralogical combination, and in such abundance that the cordillera of the island of Luzon, from Montufar Point in San Bernardino Straits to Cape Bojeador, is composed of no other mineral than iron, its ranges, of the third order, being in content and structure totally iron of the best quality, the more valuable in that its combinations are such as to facilitate its fusion and to render its redaction to metal simple." Today, however, it is recognized that the iron-ore deposits in the Eastern Cordillera of Luzon constitute, not a continuous belt, but a series of widely separated deposits, including a half dozen orebodies within a distance of 10 miles in Bulacan Province, a single outcrop at Santa Inez, Rizal Province, farther south, and three deposits around

Jan 1, 1916