Search Documents

By John V. Beall

Probably it won't happen to us again in a thousand years, but it was very embarassing at the time. It is only because of certain matters that have come up this month that we tell you at all about it. At the beginning of our trip to Peru and Chile last summer, we were flying with Bill Haddon from Lima to Tacna aboard Fawcett. Being an old hand at foreign travel, particularly in South America, we felt obliged to explain some of the special features of travel in Latin America and the niceties of etiquette in particular and were so engaged when the plane landed at the airport. We led the way briskly into the terminal, expecting at any moment to have a representative of Southern Peru Copper pop up and present himself. However, this didn't happen so we repaired to the baggage arrival station to wait. All the bags were quickly picked up, but ours were no where to be seen. Bill was slightly agitated because the plane was being buttoned up for take off. However, rising to the emergency with our usual aplomb, we took charge of the situation. Brandishing the claim checks under the nose of the porter who pointed to them and said, "si, Tacna," we nodded briskly and in our serviceable Spanish said "si se[n]or, vayase viejo, rapido." He was off and back with our suitcases quickly enough.

Jan 1, 1970

By E. D. Williamson

DURING the wartime rush to prepare the glass necessary for the needs of our army and navy, the problem of the temperature control of the annealing kilns became most serious. The narrow limits of strain allowable (all the specifications called for less internal strain than the average of the previously used German glass) made necessary a very exact procedure and the methods had to be used on a much larger scale than theretofore. At the Charleroi plant of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., the members of the staff of the Geophysical Laboratory, which was cooperating with the company, had occasion to study the methods available, and reached a number of conclusions (many of them by no means new except in their application) that may interest and assist those who have to meet similar problems in other fields. The following is a short account of the essential features of the system of temperature control evolved, along with a rather abridged statement of the reasons that led to the adoption or rejection of various schemes.

Jan 8, 1919

NEVADA SECTION J. W. HUTCHINSON, Chairman, FRANCIS CHURCH LINCOLN, Vice-Chairman, HENRY M. RIVES, Secretary-Treasurer, Reno, Nevada W. H. BLACKBURN, E. A. JULIAN, EMMET D. BOYLE, JOHN G. KIRCHEN, FREDERICK BRADSHAW, C. B. LAKENAN, TASKER L. ODDIE. The formation of the Nevada Section was originally suggested by Professor F. C. Lincoln, who had discussed the subject with Mr. William L. Saunders when the latter was President of the Institute. Professor Lincoln sought the assistance of the Nevada Mine Operators' Association, whose Executive Committee constituted itself a Committee on Organization, and authority for the establishment of a Nevada Section to include the entire State was secured from the Board of Directors of the Institute. The formal installation took place at 10 A.M. on May 18, Mr. William L. Saunders officiating. The Honorable Emmet D.. Boyle, Governor of Nevada (and a member of the Nevada Section), made the address of welcome. On the afternoon of the same day, a technical session was held, at which the following papers were presented: History and Development of the Cyanide Process Charles Butters Virginia City Whitman Symmes Ore Deposition at Steamboat Springs Prof. J. C. Jones

Jan 7, 1916

By John Gillie

Prior to the year 1902 electricity was used in the Butte district only for lighting, for the tramming of ores on the surface, and for the electrolytic refining of copper. In that year the Canyon Ferry hydro-electric plant on the Missouri river, with a transmission line to Butte and Anaconda, was completed, and enabled the mining operators to purchase electric current in large quantities at reasonable rates, and its application and use in the various mining operations and reduction works proceeded rapidly. The principal applications. of electric current in metal mining may be listed as follows: Compressing air for hoisting. Compressing air for rock drills and pneumatic tools. Pumping. Ventilating. Lighting. Tramming. Compressing air for blast furnaces and converters Running shop and miscellaneous motors.

Jan 9, 1913

Increased world consumption of crude and products coupled with the trend toward supplying this demand from the nearest and most economical source of supply had the economic effect of broadening the demand for Venezuelan crude. As a result of this, Venezucla produced more in 1934 than in 1929, the previous peak year. During 1934 Venezuelan output is estimated at a total of 139,382,000 bbl., a daily average of 381,868 bbl., against 120,442,000 bbl. in 1933, a daily average of 329,978 bbl. This is an increase of 51,890 bbl. per day. It is interesting to note from the comparison of production for the past 10 years (Table 1) that in spite of the fact that Venezuela produced more in 1934 than in 1929 its share of world production is slightly less than in 1929 and 1930. During the latter part of 1934 Vcnezuela produced its first billionth barrel of crude. Only three other crude-producing countries of the world have attained this distinction; namely, United States, Russia and Mexico. Venezuela still ranks third in the producing countries of the world, being surpassed by the United States and Russia. Exports of crude and products from Venezuela for 1934 are estimated at 133,400,000 bbl. This is an increase of 16,107,000 bbl., or 13.73 per cent as compared with 1933.

Jan 1, 1935

Jan 1, 1935

By Gregory B. Baecher

Rock engineering involves uncertainties which are large and difficult to quantify. The traditional design approach to these uncertain- ties has been conservatism, and has been satisfactory to the extent that failure rates are reasonably small. Yet, a price is paid for conservatism, and that price is not always small. Today, reliability and risk analysis are finding use in rock engineering. The introduction of such methods, usually under the name 'probabilistic design,' is controverisal. However, if the jingoism of both sizes in this controversy is stripped away, it appears that new insights about uncertainty in rock engineering are emerging.

Jan 1, 1982

By John D. Morgan, Sylvain J. Pirson

AN instantaneous and continuous analysis of a mineral suspension should be of great value in controlling various mineral preparation processes. Described herein is a method of analysis based on the use of high-frequency alternating current, which, under certain restrictive conditions, could be of use. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS In a suspension of conductive minerals, the electrical effect primarily responsible for the variations in electric conductivity is the capacitance. In Fig Ia, let an alternating voltage E be applied across two electrodes F and F', between which are two rows (S and T) of mineral particles, all of approximately the same size, immersed in a fluid. Let the number of rows of particles between the electrodes be R and the number of particles in each row be N. If A is the area of a particle, D is the distance separating two particles, and K is a constant depending on the fluid, the capacity, Co, of the particle system will be given by: [KRA C0 ND] Referring now to Fig Ib, let R, the number of rows, be held constant, but let N, the number of particles in each row (S and T), be increased X-fold. The capacity, C1, of [ ]

Jan 1, 1947

By A. G. Crocker

The positions of twin reflections in electron-dijjcraction patterns obtained from thin metal foils may he calculated for any twin in any crystal structure by means of an elementary application of vector algebra, General equations for the four classical orientation relationships are presented using the superscript and subscript notation of the tensor calculus, which is briefly described. As an example of the application of these expressions, the case of twinned rhomhohedral crystals, and hence as a special cased twinned cubic crystals, is examined. CONSIDERABLE interest has recently been shown in the interpretation of electron-diffraction patterns obtained from twinned regions of thin metal foils. In the present paper, it is shown that the necessary information may be obtained directly for all twins in any crystal structure by means of a very elementary application of vector algebra. The equations involved are most conveniently presented by making use of the very powerful superscript and subscript notation of the tensor calculus. The use of this notation will first be described and then applied to the problem of calculating diffraction patterns for any twinned crystal. Finally, as an example of the application of the method, the specific case of twinned rhombohedra1 crystals will be considered.

Jan 1, 1965

By O. C. Wheeler

There was an increased amount of activity in the oil business in Colombia during 1934 over that of the past several years in point of production, development and exploration. The Tropical Oil Co. continued to be the only company operating on what may be called a commercial basis, although the Gulf, through its subsidiary, the Colombian Petroleum Co., was actively engaged in exploratory and developmental work on its Barco property in eastern Colombia. The Socony Vacuum interests acquired an option from Sr. Luciano Restrepo on a concession in Las Monas-Sogamoso River area and carried out geological investigations on these lands during the year. Colombian Petroleum Company The activities of the Gulf in exploration and development in Colombia during 1934 were confined to the Barco concession. The following information is furnished through the kindness of Mr. E. S. Bleecker, Chief Geologist of the South America Gulf Company. Two strings of tools were kept in operation throughout the year on the Petrolca (Tarra) structure. Three wells were completed, including one deep test, all of which were producers from one or more of the three zones which have been defined in the Lower Cretaccous limestone formation. On the Rio de Oro structure, some 45 miles northwest of Petrolea, a complete camp has been established on the Catatumbo River, about

Jan 1, 1935

By L. A. Panek

When rock is subjected to a load it is deformed. Ordinarily this is observed in a mine as the displacement of one point with respect to another-the deflection of the roof, which may be observed as a convergence between roof and floor; or the extrusion of material from the rib, which may be observed as a decrease of the distance between the rib and the post of a timber set. The effect of excessive pressure may be a rockburst if the rock is strong, or it may be "squeezing" ground if the rock is "soft". Some desirable effects of high stress (high in relation to strength) are the caving of roof in a longwall mining operation, the caving of ore in block caving, and the decrease in mechanical energy required to break down the mineral seam in a retreating pillar-robbing operation. In any case, whether the observable effect of rock load is desirable or undesirable, it is a displacement, and depends on the following four factors:

Jan 3, 1961

By Dr. T

THE application of electricity in the extraction of metals has hithcrto been chiefly confined to the electrolysis of dissolved or fused compounds of these by varios methods. The power of electric currents to generate intense heat in their passage through a resisting medium has, however, long been known, and the late W. Siemens thereby succeeded in fusing considerable quantities of steel. But it was reserved to Messrs. Eugene 11. and Alfred H. CoWles, of Cleveland, Ohio, to take a new step in the metallurgic art by maKing the heat thus produced a means of reducing in the presence of carbon the oxides not only of the alkaline metals, but of calcium, magnesium, manganese, aluminium, silicon, and boron, with an ease that permits the production of these elements and their alloys with copper and other metals 011 a commercial scale. In the apparatus devised and now employed by the Messrs. Cowles, a column of fragments of well-calcined charcoal, so prepared and arranged as to present the requisite electrical resistance, is imbedded horizontally in finely pulverized charcoal, and covered by a layer of the same material coarsely broken, the whole being arranged in a box of fire-brick, covered with perforated tiles and opened at the ends to admit two carbon electrodes an inch and a half in diameter.

Jan 1, 1886

By J. Donald Graham, John G. Kuhn

The goal of any development drilling program is the drilling of the exact number of holes necessary to adequately determine grade and dimensions of an ore body, no more and no less. Any technique which eliminates unnecessary drilling costs produces beneficial results, both to the company and to the person who can claim the savings. The method for controlling development drilling programs to be described was developed during the latter part of a major development drilling project at the Christmas mine of Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co. in Gila County, Arizona. It was used to test the need for drilling individual holes but could be expanded to control an entire project. Application of this method involves an evaluation of geological conditions present and a good bit of common sense. Projects involving large disseminated, rather homogeneous ore bodies of the porphyry-copper type would be the most likely candidates for application of the technique. Discontinuous ore bodies would not be amenable. The method is based on the measurement of the linear correlation between the spatial distribution of two sets

Jan 1, 1973

By John T. Galey

The restrictions placed on drilling by the Federal Government, which caused a severe curtailment in activity at the beginning of the year, were relaxed somewhat so as to permit the drilling of one shallow† gas well per 40 acres. New wells numbering 574† were drilled for a combined depth of nearly 1,500,000 It., and of this number 131 were dry holes with a footage of slightly over 375,000. Inside locations account for the majority of these totals and the increasing demand for natural gas would normally have increased the number considerably, but many of the independent operators chose to ask for fewer exceptions to Order M-68 of the Office of Production Management, and consequently to curtail the number of wells drilled. Initial open flow of natural gas developed from all operations§ is over 230 million cu. ft. Nearly 191 million cu. ft. of this volume resulted from the 410 new gas wells drilled to horizons above the Lower Devonian, and the footage drilled in these wells accounts for approximately 93 per cent of the total. Shallow Development Oil.—Thirty oil, wells, with a total initial production of slightly over 152 bbl. and a footage of 50.000, were drilled during the § Including deepening wells previously drilled.

Jan 1, 1943

By Raymond Mancha

WHEN calculating the pressure-volume characteristics of projected mine-ventilat-ing circuits by orthodox methods, certain basic assumptions are required in order to employ the various available empirical data. It is assumed, for example, that the mine air is an incompressible fluid subjected to isothermal flow, an assumption suffi-ciently accurate for practical purposes since pressure and temperature differentials are small throughout the average circuit. A more erroneous assumption, however, is that all air is accounted for as it travels throughout the mine. No attempt is usually made to evaluate stopping leakage as it occurs; instead, the air volume required at the last crosscuts is assumed to enter the mine, travel the vari-ous intake air courses intact, sweep the workings and travel out by the return air courses to the point or points of exit from the mine. Actually, there is a leakage of air from intake to return at every stopping, the quantity of this leakage depending upon the tightness of the stopping and the pres-sure difference across the stopping. Unfortunately, a lack of empirical data and knowledge of the condition of individ-ual stoppings makes an exact analysis of underground stopping leakage impossible. Generally, leakage is most severe through the old stoppings outbye the circuit. These are also subjected to higher pressure differ-ences than the newer inbye stoppings. Therefore the circuit air volume diminishes at a decreasing rate progressing from out-bye to inbye the circuit.

Jan 1, 1940

By F. A. Hill

Coal mining in the State of Washington offers many interesting problems for the mining engineer, due to the varied physical conditions occurring in different fields, and often in, the same mine. The different coal seams worked in the same mine commonly require different mining and transportation methods for economical operation. The coal measures have inclinations ranging from 5° to vertical, and in the same mine the dip of the coal may vary from 30° to 50°. In all fields, the seams are extensively faulted, folded, and sheared. The quality of the coal produced ranges from brown lignite to bituminous- coking coal, the following being typical analyses: Lignite Sub Coking Coal bituminous Moisture 23.5 14.30 0.57 Volatile hydrocarbon 31.0 33.03 23.57 Fixed carbon 37.4 41.30 65.55 Ash 8.1 11.37 10.31 100.0. 100.00 100.00 Very little of the coal contains as much as 0.75 per cent. sulphur. The brown lignites occur mostly in Lewis and Thurston Counties, and, as a rule are very cheaply mined. This coal has been successfully used in locomotives of the Oregon & Washington Railroad, after equipping them with specially designed fireboxes. The sub-bituminous coals occur in all the coal-mining counties. Their cost of production varies widely, according to the character of the formations, the pitch, and the wall conditions. This makes a fairly good steam coal, but the lump is used mostly for domestic trade, after grading into lump, nut, and pea.

Jan 4, 1918

By M. A. Hunter

THIS paper gives the results of an investigation of the specific resistance and temperature coefficient of the electrical resistance of nickel and its important alloy, monel metal. For most of the pure metals, the temperature coefficient of resistance is approximately 0.0004 per degree centigrade at 2.0° C. Nickel and iron, however, are exceptions. This property is important as it gives us good material for the construction of thermometers and other instruments involving electrical control. A summary of information on this subject has been published by the Bureau of Standards.1 The present experiments antedate this publication by several years and as the information obtained is not contained in it, the results of the experiments are published as additional information. ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF PURE NICKEL It is generally conceded that the lowest values for electrical resistance are obtained in the purest metal. In the case of nickel, the best material obtainable is electrolytic nickel, which contains approximately. 99.80 per cent. nickel, 0.15 per cent. iron, and 0.05 per cent. copper. Any cobalt that may be present is included in the nickel figure. If the electrolytic sheet has been deposited without intermission, it is possible to cut a section from the sheet and roll it into wire without melting. By this means a nickel wire may be obtained that is uncontaminated by any of the impurities always taken up by nickel during melting.

Jan 5, 1922

Article IX of the Bylaws constitutes the basic instructions to the Nominating Committee The first duty of the Nominating Committee is to select a candidate for Director and President-elect It is desirable that the successive Presidents from year to year be men of differing professional interests so selected that over a period of years each major group in the Institute will be represented in the Presidency a number of times bearing some reasonable relationship to the numerical strength of that group in the Institute In Section 2 of Article IX it is stated that "a sufficient number of Directors be selected on the basis of geographical districts so that each district will have at least one representative" These districts, as now established, are shown in the accompanying map There are ten districts including the New York metropolitan district Each of these districts is entitled to one Director, except the metropolitan district which is entitled to six Each year each district, the term of whose officially recommended Director expires, shall suggest a candidate and if desired an alternate candidate to the Nominating Committee to fill the vacancy If a candidate and an alternate are suggested they should preferably have different Divisional or Branch affiliations The Chairmen of the Sections In the district shall constitute a committee to select the candidate or candidates The Sections shall rotate the chairmanship, as shown in the Appendix to this instruction It is desirable that in filling a quota vacancy in any district, the selection be made from the name or names suggested by the district

Jan 1, 1952

By Greenleaf W. Pickard

The Parral mining district is located in the southern part of the state of Chihuahua in north-central Mexico, in the border area of the physiographic provinces of the Mesa Central and the Sierra Madre Occidental, at an average elevation of 1700 meters. This is one of the most highly productive lead-zinc districts of Mexico. The principal operating units are the Prieta, Santa Barbara and San Francisco mines. The Santa Barbara-San Francisco del Oro area is located 25 kilometers to the southwest of the Prieta mine. It has a system of generally narrow veins in fault zones, entirely in the shale series. The Santa Barbara veins follow long, persistent fractures, while the San Francisco del Oro veins are in relatively short fractures. The Veta Colorada structure, located 5 kilometers to the northwest of the Prieta mine, was a major producer of high grade silver ore with low lead-zinc content during the eary 1900's. It follows a major north-south fault zone in andesite and is noteworthy for a number of wide oreshoots of limited vertical extension along its 10 kilometer length. The Palmilla and Esmeralda mines are on the south end of the Veta Colorada structure. Numerous smaller mines are operating in the Parral area. During the last 45 years the Prieta mine has produced approximately 15,000,000 tons of complex sulfide ore, principally from one single vein. Extensive stoping has

Jan 1, 1970

By Franklin Bache

There seems to be in the public mind, and even in the minds of some coal-operators not experienced in mines subject to dust-explosions, a feeling that there has been somet-hing mysterious at the bottom of a number of recent American colliery-exploaions. It has been declared in cases of accidents in mines regarded as particularly well equipped, in which every preventive precaution was said to have been taken, that the explosions were incomprehensible, and resulted from causes beyond the present knowledge of the practical coal-operator. But it is safe to say that no explosion has taken place which could not be explained by reasons well understood by most operators. The U. S. Geological Survey Testing Laboratory, recently inaugurated at Pittsburg for the reported purpose of investigating scientifically the matter of explosions in mines, will discover no new explanation of explosions. It can, however, co-ordinate the previous investigations of similar boards in England and on the Continent; and it may do a vast amount of good by promulgating widely, and in a form comprehensible to the most unlettered miner, certain facts and obvious deductions that cannot but have an effect in reducing the number and extent of the mine-disasters which, in the last few years, have been so terrible in frequency and magnitude.

Jan 1, 1910