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By George S. Rice

DEFINITE data on the amplitude and effect of ground movement in specific mineral formations, caused by various methods used in the mining of ores, coal, and nonmetals, or in the extraction through wells of petroleum, sulphur, and soluble salts, are increasingly needed because of legal liabilities from damage to overlying or adjacent properties, and growing concern as to the conservation of national mineral resources. Not since the committee was established in 1923 has it been so difficult to get technical papers giving ground movement and subsidence data from specific mine operators. The reasons given, as above indicated, are pending or threatening lawsuits. There are three major objectives in ground movement and subsidence studies : (1) Maximum recovery of a mineral resource. (2) Minimizing damage to surface structures, highways, railroads, and agricultural lands caused by caving or subsidence, which may in some situations, as along the Gulf of Mexico shore, cause flooding by surface waters. (3) Lessening damage to overlying or adjacent mineral by back-filling of mine excavations as completely as possible.

Jan 1, 1940

By ARTHUR THACHER

PRIMITIVE man supplied his wants as they arose; as he became more civilized he anticipated them by producing more regularly and storing the products for future use. This tended to cheapen' production and prevent ' violent fluctuations and therefore tended to increase consumption. In order to anticipate our wants, we must know what these wants will be, and this can be .determined only by statistics. 'While we have made great progress in gathering statistics, they are still far from what they should be; especially metal statistics. We determine fairly, well the amount produced, but this does not answer all inquiries because of the erratic conditions of mining, it is necessary to carry larger stocks of metals than of most other articles; moreover, as metals are more or less durable, it is difficult to determine the actual consumption. We often count under consumption what is being produced and sold, while the actual consumption is what is being worn out.

Jan 1, 1921

By AIME AIME

WHETHER by the Mohawk Trail, Sound steamer, air plane, railroad or any other route or mode of locomotion, all roads will lead to Boston the week of National Metal Congress, Sept. 21-25. The Institute of Metals and Iron and Steel divisions of the Institute are then to meet jointly at the Hotel Statler, and the American Society for Steel Treating, the American Welding Society, the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Iron and Steel Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers present carefully planned programs at their respective sessions. The National Metal Exposition will be held on Commonwealth Pier.

Jan 1, 1931

By J. D. Price, W. M. Bertholf

One of the chief difficulties with which the operator of a coal washing plant has been forced to contend is the handling of the very fine coal. First he has the problem of separating the fine coal from washery water. This is usually accomplished by the use of settling cones or Dorr thickeners: in either event the separated fine coal contains a high amount (40 to 80 pct) of water and, somewhat loosely, dependent upon the size of the coal particles present, may be known as sludge or slurry. His second problem is the satisfactory further dewatering of such separated sludge and/or slurry.

Jan 1, 1949

By AIME AIME

MEMBERS of the Engineering Education Committee held two meetings at Joplin preliminary to the opening of the main meeting there. The first was held on Sunday afternoon. It was attended by all who had arrived early enough and as among the dozen or' fifteen who were present the heads of a half dozen schools of mines were included it was a representative gathering. C: H. Fulton, chairman of the Committee presided and T. T. Read acted as secretary of the meeting. The chair., man reminded those present that last year there had been some discussion as to the advisability of the proposal, made by Edward Steidle, that a, separate society, devoted to education in the mineral industry, he organized. Many .people had felt that there are already so many societies in existence to demand one's time and attention, that it would be a mistake to add to their number and the counter suggestion had been made that the work of this committee could be so reorganized as to meet all the needs that a separate society could fill. He therefore presented for discussion these four' questions: (1) Shall a subcommittee .be appointed to study, and report in February, 1932, the possibility of the reorganization of the work of the Engineering Education Committee into the equivalent of an' Institute division; (2) if the work is so reorganized what shall be the relation of the work of the Committee (division) to the work of the-Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education; (3.): what are the, cardinal objectives of education for the mineral industry; and (4) what should be done as regards the movement in some institutions to plan their work-in the light of that being done in other institutions, for example, in geophysics?

Jan 1, 1931

By AIME AIME

T HE appointment of Herbert Hoover to the portfolio of Commerce in the President's Cabinet is to engineers the fulfillment of a long deferred hope to have an engineer in high political office and is a matter of congratulation to us for three reasons; because he is a mining engineer who represents the highest type of idealistic engineering effort; because he is a past president of the Institute; and because he has probably a broader grasp of world problems than any other living engineer. Frank A. Vanderlip in the preface to his book "What Happened to Europe" tells of the many interviews he had with the most prominent men in Europe which were made possible for him by his eminence as a banker and by the courtesy of the American ambassadors. He cites by name such well known figures as Austin Chamberlain, Sir Auckland Geddes, Monsieur Delacroix, Monsieur Briand, Mr. Padkrewski, Mr. Venizelos, Colonel House, General Pershing, Mr. Baruch, and many others and says :

Jan 1, 1921

By James E. Harding

AT just about the geographical center of the peninsula of Lower California is the El Arco gold mine. It is small and spotty, and three separate attempts to operate it in the past have failed. The only reason the present operation is possible is because of the higher price of gold and because the previous operators had spent about $300,000 developing the property with shafts, four levels, machinery, and a complete mill, all of which was acquired at a bargain price. All the known ore in the mine, to say nothing of the cost of recovering it, is

Jan 1, 1937

By Arthur S. Dwight

THE professional career of Thomas Septimus Austin, who died at El Paso, Tex., August 23, 1906, was contemporaneous with the growth of the silver-lead smelting-industry of the Far West, to which his talents and zeal contributed in no small degree. Born at Stratford, Conn., December 7, 1853, he was the seventh son in a family of thirteen. His parents were well-to-do; and he received a thorough preliminary training at the Hopkins Grammar School, New Haven, Conn., passing thence to the Columbia School of Mines, in New York, where he was graduated in 1876. His first professional work was that of analytical chemist with a Cuban sugar company. In this position he spent a year, and, whatever else of benefit he may have acquired during that year in Cuba, he gained a facility of speech in the Spanish language which was of inestimable value in his subsequent work in Mexico and the southwestern United States. In 1877, he went to the Rocky Mountains, and, under the firm name of Murphy & Austin, opened an assay-office in Leadville, Colo., which was just then coming into public notice as a rich silver-lead camp. The next year, however, he entered the service of the Germania Smelting & Refining Co. at Salt Lake City, Utah, where he remained until 1882, first as assayer and chemist, and later as Assistant Superintendent. The Germanic bears the honorable distinction of being one of the first of the large " custom " lead-smelters erected in the West. Its founders may be called the pioneers of the modern lead-smelting practice, and the Germania served, to a large extent, as a model for the many plants that sprang into existence during the next few years in Utah, southern Idaho, Colorado and other lead-producing districts. The formulation, for the first

Jan 1, 1908

Jan 1, 1934

By Charles L. Elliot

Data on mining applications of geophysical activity in the Free World in 1964 have been made available to SME again this year by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. Worldwide data were collected as part of an annual service to the mining industry by the Committee for Geophysical Activity of SEG. Data are taken from 245 voluntary responses (53%) to questionnaires circulated to 463 company, government and university organizations engaged in mining geophysical operations and research all over the world. WORLD ACTIVITY Worldwide manpower utilization totalled 9323 professional man-months and $14.5 million was reported spent in mining geophysical activity in 1964. This is up from 9078 man-months and $12.6 million in 1963 and 8065 man-months and $12.8 million in 1962. Worldwide geophysical activity in terms of manpower utilization and expenditures is presented in the accompanying table.

Jan 9, 1965

By William F. List, Marvin A. Schuster

Monolithic electrooptical mosaics of 2500 photo-transistor elements with internal row and surface column interconnections have been fabricated by epitaxial-planar diffsion techniques. Unique access to any elemed of the mosaic is provided through one of the fifty X and one of the fifty Y external leads. The sensor mosaic can be used for imaging applications and has a 1:1 aspect ratio, a resolution of 100 lines per in., a dynamic range in excess of lo3, a sensitivity of 0.5 per pw, element response within a 2:l range over 75 pct of the mosaic, and a minimum detectable signal of the order of 10-' w. Design considerations which ilnpose particclar fabrication yequirements are disctussed along with some of the problems peculiar to the epitaxial and planar-dijfision techniqes by which this device is fabricated. The solid-state silicon monolith has an imaging area of 0.5 by 0.5 in. and an element center -to- center spacing of 0.010 in. J monolithic solid-state electrooptical device has been developed as the photon-sensing mosaic for use in an image-converter system.' This system is the solid-state equivalent of the vidicon and can image radiation in the visible and near-infrared regions of the spectrum. The electrooptical image converter has the desirable size, weight, reliability, and low-power characteristics inherent in solid-state devices. It is read out by direct-wire means rather than by beam-scan techniques. The packaged unit is shown in Fig. 1. A selection of material for the sensor was based on considerations of both reliable fabrication techniques and material spectral response. Silicon was selected both for its response from the lower end of :he visible to the long-wavelength cut-off above 11,000A and for its well-developed epitaxial planar-diffused technology. The electrical image is composed of M x N discrete information bits with each bit emanating from one of the individual phototransistor sensors. The interconnected mosaic concept was introduced to provide a structure which is both manageable in its number of leads and compatible with conventional viewing systems which accept XY data. Interconnections along the Y direction are provided by internally diffused strips, while interconnections along the X direction are formed by vacuum-deposited metal surface bars. Unique access to any individual element of the M x N mosaic is available through one of the M and one of the N external leads. PHOTOTRANSISTOR DESIGN A phototransistor structure2 was selected for the discrete photon detectors of which the mosaic is com- posed. Basically, the mode of phototransistor operation is such that incident quanta are absorbed in the base area of the element where they generate electron-hole pairs. If the electrons are liberated within a diffusion length of the depletion region around the collector junction, they will diffuse to this depletion region and be swept across the junction where they account for a small component of the photocurrent. Similarly, the holes which are created within a diffusion length of the emitter junction will diffuse to this region where they forward bias the emitter and so induce injection of minority carriers into the base. This accounts for the substantial transistor photocurrent. This mechanism of operation implies several design and fabrication goals for the individual sensor elements: high electrooptical conversion efficiency, sufficient carrier lifetime in the base regions, and a maximum volume in which photons can be absorbed within a diffusion length from the depletion layer about the junction. Moderately high transistor gain is desirable to permit readout at low light levels; however, very high gain has a deleterious effect on mosaic dynamic range. The mosaic must also be characterized by good uniformity of element response as well as by good isolation between elements. The above set of conditions imply that junction depths must be optimized with respect to photon ab-

Jan 1, 1967

By W. W. Eckles

This paper is presented as a suniniary report of the use of well gas composition correlations obtained from mass spectrometer recordings as a means of identification and determination of reservoir continuity. Conventional methods for detecting composition differences are en-pensive, elaborate, and difficult to obtain. This excludes the use of extensive composition data for most applications. During recent years the mass spec-trometer has come into general use as an analytical tool in petroleum refineries. The use of mass spectrometer composition patterns ir~ characterizing or "finger-printing" the produced gas from a reservoir, presents a novel method for correlatitlg gas samples from well to well. The mass spectrometer provides a trace similar to an electric log. having peaks which represent the abuntlnnce of certaitz hydrocarbons in the well gas sample. Without going further into the detailed analysis the idea has been advanced that these traces or patterns could be used as a means of identifying a particular natural gas. This theory has proven to be essentially correct. The mass spectrometer pattern method is simple and cheap as COi?7pared to other standard methods. It greatly facilitates the solution of reservoir and geological problems in which correlation of well gas Com-positions is a factor. Specific field applications have been made. This paper concerns the results obtained in 465 individual gas analyses from 35 fields and 77 res- ervoirs. In a number of cases it has been found that such data have been extremely valuable in the determination of reservoir continuity. In at least one case, the method was a valuable contribution in tracing a reservoir from sand to sand in a coinplex fnulted field involving n11rnerous gas reservoirs. Field applications are presented to illustrate the possibilities of the method at the present stage of developnient and to stimulate the ernployrnent of this new approach by geologists and petroleum engineers in the industry. INTRODUCTION Identification of producing horizons and the determination of reservoir continuity are often a problem in those areas where dome structures and highly faulted sands are encountered. To complicate the picture further, there may be numerous sands, one on top of the other which dip and diverge in different directions. Even though it may be possible to develop some solutions to the preceding problems on the basis of the geological and reservoir data on hand. it is readily recognized that substantiating data based on independent methods would he extremely valuable. It has been found through field studies that correiation of well gas composition can be used to advantage in the geological and engineering study of a complex reservoir identification problem. METHOD FOR COMPARISON AND CORRELATION OF WELL GAS SAMPLES Since a large number of well gas samples are required in a gas identification or reservoir con- tinuity problem, it is necessary that a method of analysis be employed which can detect differences in composition readily and inexpensively. Although detection would be possible by means of low temperature fractional distillation (POD) analpsis, the method requires a relatively large sample and is comparatively slow and expensive to run. The mass spectrometer affords an inexpensive and precise analysis of small well gas samples taken at the surface which are about 1/300 as large as a POD sample. These samples can be obtained by regular field personnei and shipped to the spectrometer for analysis. It is, therefore, a practical approach to the problem. A typical record from the mass spectrometer is illustrated in Fig. I. The peaks on the record represent the abundance of ions produced from the different hydrocarbon molecules making up the gas sam-ple. In well gas comparisons only five peaks are employed, since the other peaks are formed from the same gas molecules and furnish no additional information. The five peaks used represent the abundance of methane, propane, ethane, butane and heavier, and oxygen. They are referred to respectively as the 16, 29, 30, 43, and 32 peaks. The oxygen peak is used to correct for air content in

Jan 1, 1958

By James P. Roe

I. INTRODUCTION. THOSE who deem the subject of this paper an old and super¬seded one may recall with advantage the words of the great proverb-maker, bidding us to seek the new in the ashes of the old. The manufacture of wrought-iron began with the small hearth built upon an eminence, and relying on the wind for blast. Next came, either the hearth about 12 in. in diameter by 2 ft. in height, blown by a man operating two goat-skins for bellows, or, a hearth of greatly varying diameter and about 10 ft. high, depending for its blast upon natural draft. The former appeared in India, the latter in Burmah; and both were in operation until quite recently, though their origin is lost in prehistoric times. The Catalan forge was the evolutionary descendant of the foregoing, and the parent of the Blase-ofen, which in turn led to the high bloomary or " Stückofen," the father of the blast-furnace, as a producer of cast-iron. The production of cast-iron checked the growth of the direct processes; and led to the introduction of various hearths, such as the Walloon, for low-silicon irons; and the South Wales process, combining the run-out fire with the finery, for higher-silicon irons. Some of these are still in operation in localities possessing the necessary raw materials; and their product is used for purposes requiring wrought-iron of exceptional quality, the supply of which is still smaller than the demand. We have to look back but a century and a quarter to see the introduction of the puddling process by Henry Cort; a process which, reinforced by the iron-oxide bottoms and fettling of Hall, was not less revolutionary in character, and more revo-

Jul 1, 1905

By GILBERT E. SEIL

GREAT advances in the preparation of ores for reduction to ferro-alloys have been made, although standard methods of reduction have been continued at most plants. Efficiencies, yields per furnace, and energy requirements per ton are generally better than previously attained. The advantages of sizing and conditioning of ore, fluxing stone, and coke have been realized. Conditioning varies from drying the furnace burden to chemical rearrangements to facilitate reduction reactions and sometimes to furnish some of the energy required for the reaction before the burden reaches the furnace. During the war period it is impossible to discuss in detail many of the advances made. They are subjects for postwar papers. However, the new procedures mentioned in the following paragraphs are indicative of the work already done and in progress.

Jan 1, 1944

By J. J. Carrigan

DURING the experimental stage in our use of the electric cap lamp in the Anaconda mines at Butte. Mont., we were somewhat concerned as to how the spitting of fuses would be carried out if we completely eliminated the open-flame light. This problem was at once given serious attention by the engineering research department and some thought was given to having all blasting done by the use of electric delays, which has been the practice for some years

Jan 1, 1936

By Henry G. Granger

A RESIDENCE of 14 years in the Republic of Colombia, spent in almost continuous traveling and prospecting-trips, has given me an intimate knowledge of the resources of that wonderful country. The man who best knows Colombia is unquestionably General Rafael Reyes, President of the Republic for the past three years, and with seven years more to serve in his present term. Such is the strength of his personality and the wisdom of his policies that his term of office will no doubt endure as long as he is willing to serve. The vastly improved economic situation and the brilliant outlook for Colombia are so directly due to the influence of President Reyes that a few lines concerning him. will not be amiss, if they serve towards a better understanding of his personality. Born of a distinguished ancestry in the mountains of Boyaca, he is now 57 years old, just the age of his friend Porfirio Diaz when be began the work which has placed Mexico in the rank of great modern nations. It was Reyes who came to Washington to protest against the action of the government of the United States of America in reference to the establishment of the Republic of Panama, and, without entering into a discussion of this affair, it can be fairly said that there was not an American in Colombia whose feelings of justice were. not outraged at the government action and subsequent refusal to submit the matter to the impartial judgment of the' Hague. President Reyes is an accomplished linguist, speaking English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. He has a remarkably. powerful voice, which can readily be heard by a large assemblage. His height is about 6 ft., and his weight exceeds 200 lb. He has clear gray eyes. Reyes was the leader of those who favored the approval of

Sep 1, 1908

By R. H. Ogburn

THE GROUND now being worked by the Fairbanks Exploration Co., near Fairbanks, Alaska, has been known to be gold bearing since 1901. In the early days it was worked by drift mining and other small-scale methods. In 1922, Hammond started prospecting the gold-bearing ground and obtaining options on the properties desired. Two years later the present Fairbanks Exploration Co. started taking up the options, and preparing to exploit the ground. For the prospect drilling Keystone drills were used, with holes at the points of equilateral triangles 600 ft. apart. Holes were also put down more closely spaced to determine the limits of dredging ground. In the first drilling casing was used to the bottom of the holes, but in later work the casing was put down only to the bottom of the thawed ground, and the rest of the hole put down without casing. The gold content was determined by panning, each 2 ft. of depth being determined separately. Where no casing was used the size of the hole was determined by using water to measure its volume. The greatest concentration of gold occurs at or near bedrock. All the gold-bearing streams head in one big dome. Gold, however, is not found clear to the head of the creeks, the pay being first found some distance downstream from the head.

Jan 1, 1933

By AIME AIME

BECAUSE of its unequalled skill, your country in- creased its production until, in 1913, it produced 40 per cent. of the world's consumption of coal, iron ore, and cast iron; 45 per cent. of the steel; and 60 per cent. of the copper. Your industrial effort, in a general manner and your mining effort in particular, has been tremendous. In the general economy of the world, you occupy an incomparable position of power and action. All your curves of production, mineralogical, metallurgical, financial, commercial, have taken terrific trigonometrical tangents and you will easily under- stand the sorry position of your competitors. I must, therefore, pay a tribute of homage arid admiration to you all who, each in his sphere, have been the artisans of such prosperity and my earnest wish is that you continue in this way.

Jan 1, 1920

By E. D. Hummer

During the planning of the fine coal cleaning addition at the Gary, W. Va., Coal Preparation Plant of United States Steel Corp. careful consideration was directed toward the problem of minus 48 mesh refuse disposal. The plant flow sheet included wet screening the raw coal at ¼ in., pumping the minus ¼ in. raw coal to bowl desiltors for desliming, and then cleaning the deslimed raw coal on tables. The material to be removed from the circuit as minus 48 mesh refuse consisted of the minus 100 mesh desiltor overflow thickened in two 120 ft diam thickeners and minus 1 mm screened from the table refuse. Later a flotation plant was added to recover coal from the desiltor overflow, and a classifier replaced the screens to make a sharper size separation of the table refuse at 48 mesh. Today the minus 48 mesh refuse at Gary consists of thickened flotation tailing and thickened spiral classifier overflow. The transportation of large quantities of fine, wet refuse filter cake mixed with jig and table refuse over existing conveying equipment would have been neither dependable nor economical. Filtration was therefore impractical, and disposal of the fine materials was a problem. The decision was to pump the material to storage ponds.

Jan 3, 1965

By Richard P. E. Hermsdorf

IN the nonferrous sessions this year, magnesium wiggled its way into a dace of prominence such as it has never before enjoyed. This was evidenced not only by the number of papers presented on that metal but by the attendance at the meetings. The atmosphere permeating these magnesium meetings was similar to that which exists in a family with a new baby. Everybody crowded around to see what it looked like and then wondered whether it would be a success and credit to the family. Well. magnesium appeared to be a vigorous youngster, full of life, and raring to go. A close relative of maenesium named " aluminum, although much more grown up, also attracted much attention. From the activity and spirit in these sessions

Jan 1, 1944