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POSITIONS VACANT Engineer to take charge of construction of smelter and mill. Experience with blast furnaces, roasters, belt-conveying systems and general machinery, essential. Salary $250 per month up according to experience. No. 129. Mine Engineer.-Man with experience, ability and initiative wanted to handle an organization, direct sampling, surveying, mapping and record keeping.. Experience in laying out development work, haulage-ways, shaft pockets and ore-handling systems, particularly desired. No. 130. Recent technical graduate for experimental work with a metal refining company. Laboratory work first to acquaint worker with methods, then research work. Good opportunity for advancement. Beginning salary $100 a month. No. 132. Mine superintendent. Man of experience and energy wanted in mine being developed to produce 5,000 tons of iron-ore per day from open-cut and underground. About to start underground operations. Expect to follow methods of low-grade copper mines of Southwest. No. 133.

Jan 9, 1916

By P. Duwez, C. B. Jordan

The phenomenon of the change of volume of pressed powder compacts upon sintering is well known in the field of powder metallurgy. Depending upon the metal or metals involved and the pressure used in forming, a compact may, in the course of time of sintering at a given temperature, expand mono-tonically, contract monotonically, or first show a volume change of one sign followed by a change of the opposite sign. It is clearly desirable to have accurate knowledge of the magnitude and sign of the change in dimensions to be expected in any given case, both from the point of view of direct usefulness in the fabrication of parts by powder metallurgy, and from the longer range viewpoint of elucidating the fundamental mechanism of metallic sintering. The present study was therefore undertaken as a first step in acquiring systematic and reasonably quantitative knowledge of the change in density of metal powder compacts during sintering. For practical reasons, copper was selected as the material to be studied first, and its densification followed as a function of temperature and time of sintering in hydrogen and in vacuum. Experimental Procedure The copper powder used was that designated by the manufacturer (Metals Disintegrating Co., Elizabeth, N. J.) as MD-151. This powder was sifted through Tyler standard screens to separate the fraction having particle size range between 200 mesh and 325 mesh, and this fraction was used in all the subsequent work. Compacts weighing about 10 g were then pressed in a 1 in. diam round die, using a pressure of 20,000 psi throughout. Sintering was carried out in commercially built electric furnaces in which the resistance windings are so disposed as to produce a nearly uniform temperature along the axis of the furnace for a length of about 18 in. centrally located. In order to be able to sinter in a controlled atmosphere, a 2 in. stainless steel tubing was inserted in the furnace. Each end of the tube was cooled by a water jacket about 7 in. long, and closed with a rubber stopper. The hydrogen used for one series of specimens was purified as described in Ref. 1. For the other set, a pressure of about 0.5 mm Hg was maintained during sintering by a Welch Duo-Seal Pump. The specimens were heated on square trays made of stainless steel. In placing specimens in the trays, a thin even layer of powdered aluminum oxide was first sprinkled on the bottom of the tray. A copper guard disk about half the thickness of the specimen was then placed in the tray and covered with a second layer of alumina. The actual specimen was then set on the guard disk, and a final coat of alumina sprinkled over the specimen. This technique was evolved for sintering the specimens in such a way as to reduce the influence of unknown extraneous factors to a minimum. If the specimen is placed directly on the tray and sintered, it is found that the resulting shape is that of a frustum of a cone, rather than a section of a right circular cylinder, since friction with the tray prevents the bottom of the specimen from contracting at the same rate as the top. In the arrangement used in these experiments, the guard disk provided a support which shrank at the same rate as the specimen, and the alumina powder reduced to a minimum friction between guard disk and tray, and between specimen and guard disk. The procedure followed in sintering consisted of bringing the furnace to the required temperature, and then inserting the specimen into the central heated portion of the furnace tube in one of the two atmospheres used. At the end of the heating period, the specimen was cooled by bringing it into a portion of the furnace surrounded by a water jacket. These manipulations were carried out without opening the furnace, by means of rods which were attached to the trays and operated through a sliding seal in the rubber stopper. The progress of densification of the copper compacts was studied at 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700, and 1800°F. At each of these temperatures, a specimen was allowed to sinter for each of the following time intervals: M, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 hr. The thickness and diameter of each specimen were measured with micrometers before and after sintering, and each was weighed on an analytical balance after sintering. Results The techniques described in the preceding section were found to give satisfactory results. The specimens were not detectibly warped after sintering, and were usually of uniform diameter (that is, truly round) to within 0.001 in., a very few showing a variation in diameter of ±0.002 in. All specimens were found to have the same diameter

Jan 1, 1950

THE Leadville tunnel, a Bureau of Mines project designed to unseal Colorado's rich but flooded lead, zinc, and manganese mines, is still being advanced, although the work is encountering severe difficulties. Work on the tunnel, begun in 1943, was dropped for lack of funds in 1945, and started again last September. The tunnel is one of the nation's toughest mining jobs. Fifty firms and individuals, who were asked to bid on the job of continuing be- yond the 6600-ft mark, didn't even answer. The work was finally taken over by the Utah Construction Co. of Salt Lake City. Since last September, the face has been moved 1000 ft closer to the flooded Leadville district mines, and to the hoped-for length of 17.300 ft. Some apparent success has already been noted, with an unusual decline in the water level in some major mine shafts reported this winter.

Jan 5, 1951

By S. A. TAYLOR

THE aftermath of a world war brings up a number of economic problems for the consideration of all thinking and patriotic citizens. The solution of the problems which confront the country at this time cannot well be accomplished by reference to past experience, for such conditions as confront us today have not existed in the past. We must, therefore, in any attempt to solve the present problems, rely to a great extent upon a careful analysis of present conditions to determine what is wrong; and after this is determined, seek the remedy and apply it. It needs no argument to establish the fact that, in the effort to win the war, the cost of so doing, and the waste in connection with it were, to a large extent, lost sight of; and this situation caused high wages, high cost of all materials, and of food supplies.

Jan 1, 1921

(Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons. ) An experienced gold and silver metallurgist specializing in cyaniding is desirous of obtaining a position in 'America. Speaks, Mexican Spanish fluently. A member, a. technical graduate, with four years' experience in railroad work and-general construction, two years' on mine examination and geological reconnaissance, and two a half years' drilling exploration in placer work and petroleum, together with prospecting and geological interpolation, desires a position as a mining engineer or mining geologist. An experienced mine superintendent, manager, or field engineer, is open for engagement. He has had 12 years' experience as superintendent and manager of large mines in the United States and Mexico, and experience in mine examination. A member of the Institute with several years' experience in mining in the Lake Superior copper district, is open for engagement.

Jan 7, 1913

THREE-QUARTERS of the amount needed to defray the cost of the Louvain memorial clock and carillon has been subscribed by one-thirtieth of the total number of mem- bers of the engineering societies that are indorsing this memorial to the engineers who gave their lives in the Great War. Gifts of materials and services have been made, but about $20,000 is still needed to meet the total expense involved. Small contributions from the twenty-nine-thir- tieths of the total membership who have not yet subscribed should promptly provide this sum. The accompanying illus-tration shows the 48 gold stars made by the American Brass Co. for the four faces of the clock, being boxed for shipment at the works of the Dwight & Lloyd Co. at Netcong, N. J. The actual material of the stars is, of course, an aluminum bronze, which retains its gold color without tarnishing.

Jan 5, 1928

By S. E. Craig

Jen Inc., operator of the Cord mine, in the Big Indian district of San Juan County, Utah, has a contract with a milling company that provides a small bonus for proper grading and preparation of uranium ores shipped. To obtain maximum returns on this contract very close grading is required with settlements made on individual lots, which vary from 250 to 300 tons. Another feature of the contract, and one that is rather unique in this country, is that the ore is sold over truck scales at the mine. Grade is determined at the buyer's sample plant. It is necessary to take a moisture sample of each truckload shipped for ac- curate weighing and this is done by the representative of the buyer, using facilities supplied by Jen Inc. The sample is hardly more than a grab sample and includes only the finer and smaller pieces of the ore shipped.

Jan 10, 1958

INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING CONGRESS This Congress will be held under the auspices of five National Engineering Societies, of whi h the Institute is one. The sessions will be held in 11 sections and the proceedings will be published in 10 volumes of 500 pages each, of which Volume 8 will contain the papers and proceedings on Mining Engineering and Metallurgy. The membership fee of $5 will entitle the holder to the volume of General Proceedings and Index, and, in addition thereto, any other single volume chosen. Other volumes may be subscribed for according to a sliding scale depending upon the number of volumes taken. The Institute will have a meeting in San Francisco during 1915, and it is desirable for our members to join the International Engineering Congress at in early date in order that their support of the enterprise may be given in its early stages, when it is most needed.

Jan 2, 1914

1 Any society of undergraduates at a technical school, comprising students in any branch of engineering, metallurgy, chemistry, geology, etc , may be recognized by the Board of Directors in its discretion as an Affiliated Student Society, and its name, together with the names of its president and its secretary, may be published in MINING AND METALLURGY or the Directory of the Institute. The members of such a society will not be named individually on the membership list of the Institute, but may at any time be proposed for election as associates or junior associates of the Institute, in the usual way 2 Membership in an Affiliated Student Society, certified by the official representative thereof, and accompanied with suitable testimony as to character and qualifications, will have special weight with the Membership Committee of the Institute, in its consideration of the pro¬posal of a candidate for membership

Jan 1, 1923

By N. H. Cone

It is somewhat surprising that among the many mechanical devices that were brought into the State of Colorado, that the Brückner cylinders alone have stood the test for roasting ores. The brick walls of the Arey and Stetefeld furnaces have been remodelled into reverberatories and compound reverberatories, their binding and anchor irons have been forged into hoes and shovels, while the Crosby and Thompson cylinders have been rent by the ruthless hand of the foundryman searching for a tough piece of boiler plate. Two only of these furnaces remain in operation, of the large stock that came into Colorado by car-loads several years ago, and they occupy only a subordinate position to some reverberatories on the North Boulder Creek. But to-day there are in Colorado, in active operation, ten Brückner cylinders, and two or three more running part of the time. Dur-

By N. E. Cone

IT is somewhat surprising that among the many mechanical devices that were brought into the State of Colorado, that the Brückner cylinders alone have stood the test for roasting ores. The brick walls of the Arey and Stetefeld furnaces have been remodelled into reverberatories and compound reverberatories, their binding and anchor irons have been forged into hoes and shovels, while the Crosby and Thompson cylinders have been rent by the ruthless hand of the foundryman searching for a tough piece of boiler plate. Two only of these furnaces remain in operation, of the large stock that came into Colorado by car-loads several years ago, and they occupy only a subordinate position to some reverberatories on the North Boulder Creek. But to-day there are in Colorado, in active operation, ten Brückner cylinders, and two or three more running part of the time. Dur-

Jan 1, 1876

By G. S. Rice

IT is evident from Professor Louis' remarks that he holds a different opinion on certain phenomena connected with a specific type of surface subsidence from mining than is held by many engineers in the United States. The question which appears to be at issue is whether or not the line or plane of "draw" produced in ground movement resulting from extraction of pillars may, under certain conditions, be vertical or even inclined toward the workings rather than inclined for- ward over the unworked mineral, as it is universally agreed occurs in mining by the longwall advancing method. In discussing this case it is well to take the simplest condition, such as specified by Professor Louis, of a flat bed, whether it be coal, iron or other mineral, where the overburden is stratified rock and where there is no overlying quicksand. Professor Louis says in effect that his experience is that the ultimate angle of draw is always positive and inclined 5" to 15" from the perpendicular over the unwrought mineral. My experience under Illinois coal-mining conditions is that .'where longwall advancing is used the draw is always positive as Professor Louis describes it, but that in extracting of panels by withdrawal of pillars, the ground movement is manifested, after the first roof' beam break, by the forming of an unstable dome over the goave. Then subsequently, by the falling of individual slabs from the under side, the dome gets larger and higher until it breaks through to the surface of the rock., Up to this time, arch stresses buttress the rocks above the solid coal or mineral. When, however, after. the dome breaks through and the central hole - #enlarges so the arch is no longer sufficiently supported -the stratified rocks cantilever out .from over the solid unworked mineral and tend to break off in masses triangular in vertical cross-section, until the broken loose material, sliding down against the solid rock, .has such a thrust that it balances the tendency ,for the solid stratified rock to break away and slide toward the excavation.

Jan 1, 1929

By Charles Will Wright

DESPITE the war, the First Pan American Mining Congress, held in Santiago, Chile, Jan. 15-23, was attended by about 300 persons including the official delegates from sixteen of the American republics. The United States delegation consisted of Elmer Pehrson, of the U. S. Bureau of Mines; D. F. Hewett, of the U. S. Geological Survey; William H. Hobbs, of the Carnegie Foundation; and C. W. Wright, delegate of the Board of Economic Warfare and of the A.I.M.E. Mr. Wright was elected to head the delegation. Among the other members were Edward Steidle, of Pennsylvania State College and also an official A.I.M.E. delegate; John Huttl, of Engineering and Mining Journal; W. 0. Vanderburg, foreign mineral specialist from Lima, Peru; O. B. Hundley, of the American Cyanamid Co.; Horace Graham, of the Anglo-Chilean Nitrate Co.; and several officials and engineers from the Anaconda, Kennecott, and Bethlehem Steel companies' mines in Chile.

Jan 1, 1942

"The method of conveying ore from the ore-pocket at the shaft collar to the railroad ore bins, whence it is transported to the reduction works, is by cars with electric haulage.The cut shows the car coupled to the electric locomotive at the moment of dumping into the railroad ore bins.The locomotives used are of several makes, usually having two 12 ½ h-p. motors of a rated draw-bar pull of about 1,200 lbs., using 500 volts D. C. Track gauge is 30 inches, and speed is six miles per hour.The car holds two skip loads-10 tons—and has sides opening outwards the full length of the car, for rapid side-dumping. One man operates car and motor, and loads and unloads the car. The trolley pole runs in both directions without reversing.Loading is clone by operating a valve connected to a compressed air lift, which raises and lowers a gate in the ore-pocket chute, the ore running by gravity into the ore car spotted under the gate of the chute. Dogs hold the sides of the car in place at the bottom, the tops of the sides being hinged, and a hand lever releases the dogs, permitting the sides by the pressure of the ore against them to open at the bottom.With little manual effort one man does the work which was formerly done, when hoisting ore with cars and cage, by 10 men under laborious conditions."

Jan 1, 1913

By W. C. Knoblaugh

ROTARY kilns are adaptable to many fuels, but this paper deals principally with the use of powdered coal. The observations and conclusions presented are based on rotary kilns used in the manufacture of basic refractories for steel furnaces. Solid fuels are pulverized for two principal reasons: (I) ease of control, and (2) rapidity of combustion. By the use of pulverized coal, the operator can increase or decrease the fuel supply by small increments and with very little time lag between the change of control and the resultant change in the flame. This is extremely important in this type of furnace, as the temperature range for maturing the clinker is very narrow. By fine grinding, it is possible to increase the rate of burning of the coal, thereby liberating great quantities of heat within a small space in a short time. Under given conditions, temperature is a measure of the heat liberated per unit of time. To attain the temperatures of 2950° to 3150°F., which are encountered in the manufacture of various steel-furnace refractories, it is estimated that it is necessary to liberate 125,000 to I75,000 B.t.u. per cubic foot of the burning zone per hour. The manufacture of dolomitic refractories is a ceramic process and, as is true in most such processes, the material must be subjected to a certain critical temperature for a certain length of time in order to complete the reaction. If the time of reaction is reduced, the temperature must be increased; in other words, if the rate at which the material flows through the hot zone of the kiln is increased, the temperature of the hot zone must be increased to compensate for this shorter exposure to the flame. FIRING WITH PULVERIZED COAL Fig. I is a line drawing of a rotary kiln with the attendant equipment indicated in their relative positions. The kiln proper consists of a sloping, refractory-lined steel tube rotating slowly about its longitudinal axis (0.75 r.p.m.), and is countercurrent in operation in that the raw feed is introduced at the stack end and gradually approaches the zone of highest temperature at the lower end, where the fuel is introduced. Before 1930, the usual method of firing a rotary kiln was to store the coal in the pulverized form and then feed from this storage to the kiln as needed. This proved unsatisfactory and dangerous because of dust explosions and the inability to obtain an even feed to the kiln caused by arching of the coal in storage and flooding of the coal feeders. In later years the practice has been to store the raw coal and grind it as it is needed. Such a layout is indicated in Fig. I. The coal is stored in bins, charged from the top and drawn from the bottom into recording scales and then into some type of unit pulverizer. There are a number of good pulverizers on the market, each incorporating features that the manufacturer considers outstanding.

Jan 1, 1946

By Clarence Claghorn

ONE of the simplest and most easily effected steps toward mechanization and concentrated mining in coal mines is the substitution of transport or room conveyors for the customary tracks in rooms, thus bringing the coal to the cars instead of taking the cars to the coal. As this involves little or no change in the established room and pillar layout, it appeals to the conservative operator who is more or less fearful of changes in system involving the element of roof con-trol. An increasing number of these room conveyors would seem to attest the favorable commercial results secured. Rooms are naturally driven as wide as roof conditions permit, providing maximum tonnage from each room cut. If the rooms are more than 12 to 14 ft. in width the room conveyor is usually set along one rib, a porta-ble face conveyor being set along the face itself and within easy shoveling distance of it, so arranged as to discharge to the transport conveyor. As the room ad-vances the latter is lengthened and the face conveyor moved up laterally. The advantages of this layout are, briefly, low lifts, no shoveling, no waiting for cars. It gives easy shovel-ing conditions and continuous production so long as there is loose coal at the face. Several loaders are usually employed at the face and the room is loaded out several times each shift. In fact, where the rooms are fairly wide, by judicious management, cutting and load-ing may go on simultaneously. Under these conditions, naturally, the face conveyor plays an important part as it is the appliance on which the coal is actually loaded. Someone has aptly stated that the loading is a question of "foot pounds," which is an appealing way to put it, for it is the number of pounds to be moved by the number of feet which measures the work to be done. It can easily be seen that the design of the face con-veyor is a matter of importance. It might be an im-perfect target for the shovel or of an awkward shape and height, and so involve extra effort on the part of the loader, tiring him when kept up continuously and at the same time slowing up his shoveling speed.

Jan 12, 1927

By Alfred James

John Stewart MacARthUr, born in 1856, was the son of Robert MacArthur of Glasgow, and came of Scots stock distinguished for character and religious conviction. His election as elder of the Free Kirk gave him greater pride than the receipt of the gold medal of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy. The former honor was for character— it marked him as a son worthy to follow in his father's footsteps; the latter was awarded for his life work of eminent service to the gold industry. Cheery optimism, resolution, tenacity of purpose, and industry ever characterized his actions. Apprenticed to the Tharsis Sulphur & Copper Co., his work on the chemical staff brought him to the notice of the Cassel Gold Extracting CO.,. at that time struggling with an unworkable electrolytic process..He was engaged by that company, in 1886, as technical manager and before long brought out the perchloride process, which was speedily followed (in 1887) by the epoch-making cyanide process. This process revolutionized gold mining and directly led the way to the elevation of the mining engineer to the most broadly trained product of the engineering profession. A noteworthy feature of the cyanide process was its completeness when introduced. Over thirty years have elapsed and the use of the process has been worldwide, but no suggested improvement has stood the test of time. The extension of the process to the beneficiation of silver ores—containing far more metal per ton and thus requiring the employment of stronger solutions—has brought us the Merrill and Crowe improvements in precipitation and the Nipissing desulfurization process for certain silver-hearing minerals. Roasting apparatus, fine crushing, filtration, and settling equipment have all aided the extension of the process in and from its original field. As Hennen Jennings put it,, the cyanide process today is essentially that of 1890. This self-containedness of the cyanide process arose from no mere chance; it was directly due to MacArthur. It was he who personally investigated every known method of precipitation and then every form of zinc from sheet, punchings, filings, millings, rods and shaving down to fume; it was he who investigated the effect of protective alkalies, of so-called accelerators, and of the addition of lead salts; he was determined to leave nothing to chance.

Jan 1, 1921

He took a great interest in technical matters and his inclination was strongly toward research investigations. At the same time he was effective in manual and mechanical work and was generally found working side by side with the men under his direction. His nature was unselfish and he was extremely popular socially. He was a member of the Coeur d'Alene Commandery, Knights Templar. Stanly A. Easton. Lieutenant.Louis Baird Louis Baird, a Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery of the British Army, died on the battlefield in 1915. Lieutenant Baird was born July 28, 1880, at Stirling, Scotland. His technical education was obtained at King's College, Melbourne, Australia, in 1893 to 1895, and at the Technical College at Glasgow, Scotland, in 1897 to 1900. After an apprenticeship with the Mexican J. & 8. Rec. Co. of Mexico, lasting from 1900 to 1903, he became mill superintendent for the Cia. Minera Benito, at Juarez, Zac. During the year 1905-6 he was assistant manager of the Caridelaria y Anexas, at Pinos, Zac., and from 1906 to 1907 was engineer with the Cia. Minera Jalisco, San Sebastian, Jalisco. At the time of his admission to the Institute, in 1908, he was practising as a mining engineer at Etzatlan, Jalisco, Mexico. For the next four years he practised his profession in the City of Guadalajara, Jalisco, removing, in 1913, to Ixtlan del Rio, in the State of Tepic. It was from here that he returned to England to put his services at the disposal of the British Government. The Institute is not definitely informed as to how, where, or when Lieutenant Baird met his death. iCaptain John H. Ballamy John H. Ballamy, Captain on the Regimental Staff of the 103d Engineers, was killed near Fismes, on Aug. 9, 1918. Captain Ballamy was born at Plvmouth. Pa.. in 1886 and graduated from' the High School of that town in 1903. In the following year he began work as a coal miner, and at the same time began the study of mining engineering in the evening and any other spare time. He continued this diligent and energetic practice for many years. For sixteen years he continued in the employment of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Rai1roa.d Company's coal mining

Jan 1, 1920

By Richard C. Timberlake

The disposal of phosphatic clays has presented a problem to the phosphate industry since the mining of phosphate rock first began in Polk County. As the flotation process was introduced in the late 1920's the problem of clay disposal was increased significantly since clay is present in proportionally greater quantities in reserves yielding flotation concentrates. Because of their physical character and the tremendous surface area per unit volume, these clays have the characteristic of retaining large volumes of water as they are slurried during processing. The disposal of clay and the recovery of a portion of the water require settling areas with a capacity ranging up to 2 cu ft for each cubic foot of phosphate matrix mined. According to a recent study by the Bureau of Mines, the average cost for disposal of these wastes is 24.5[c] per ton of product. This is a major cost of phosphate rock production.

Jan 12, 1969

By Arthur Knapp

THE economics of fuel oil must be considered in two aspects; viz., fuel oil as one of a number of competitive fuels and fuel oil as a refined product of petroleum. "Fuel Oil" is usually defined as that product of petroleum which is used in furnaces for the generation of heat by simple combustion. It is true that any product of petroleum used in an internal combustion engine is essentially a fuel oil, but such oils are not included in the class known as "Fuel Oil." FUEL OIL AS ONE OF SEVERAL FUELS For a number of years, the petroleum industry has believed that the petroleum reserves were very limited and that petroleum products would begin to become scarce within a few years. The industry has believed FIG. 1.-DAILY AVERAGE CONSUMPTION OF FUELS BY PUBLIC UTILITY POWER PLANTS. that there would be a gradual but continual rise in prices as a result of this impending scarcity.

Jan 1, 1928