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By AIME AIME

FELIX E. WORMSER was born in Santa Barbara on Oct. 31,1894, so is one of the youngest members of the Board, only H. D. Wilde t 39) and W. M. Peirce (43) being his juniors. After graduating from the Columbia School of Mines as an E.M. in 1912, he went West and worked for the Snake River Mines, the Baker Mines Co., and the Cornucopia Mines CO., all in Oregon. Then for a year or two he was the youngest U. S. Mineral Surveyor in Oregon. In 1918 he was in the Army from which he was honorably discharged as a Second Lieutenant. Early in 1919 he joined the staff of the Bureau of Mines, at Washington, assisting in compiling reports and in War Minerals Relief work. His acquaintance there with J. E. Spurr led to his joining the staff of the Engineering and Mining Journal as assistant editor in April, 1920. He specialized in market studies and assisted in the compilation of the Journal's metal quotations until June, 1925, when he resigned to engage in active mining examination and consulting' work in the Northwest for H. H. Armstead. Three years later he returned to New York at the time of the formation of the Lead Indus- tries Association, becoming its Secretary and Treasurer, a position that he has since held.

Jan 1, 1940

By AIME

Rapid exhaustion of iron ore in Minnesota's Mesabi range has led the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. to develop the world's largest open quarry mine for magnetite iron ore, at Star Lake, N. Y. Already contributing more than one eighth of the total iron ore used by the Corporation, the expanding Benson mines are destined to become Jones & Laughlin's important source of ore within the next ten years. In 1947 over 650,000 long tons of high-grade ore was produced. Output this year is expected to reach 800,000 long tons and studies are under way to increase production further. The future of the Benson mines is assured as present indications show large reserves of ore. The property, briefly described in M & M for November 1943, then under

Jan 1, 1948

By C. C. Henning

In any line of human activity logical handling requires an amount of attention to each phase that is in keeping with the importance of that phase. In the complex and rapidly changing field of modern ferrous metallurgy it is difficult to allot the proper degree of attention to the various subjects, and it is not surprising that one or more subjects of major importance should for a time be neglected. Bessemer steel is a good example of a neglected subject. It is largely taken for granted, inferior physical quality is assumed for it, and there is a • lack of interest in its technical development and commercial application. Availability of supply is limited. In spite of this technical indifference, limited source and lack of commercial exploitation, bessemer steel constitutes a large volume of tonnage in daily use. There is a fairly prevalent idea even among technical people that bessemer steel survives mostly because of low cost and by reason of a dwindling residue of applications sufficiently common to permit of its use. The difference in cost between bessemer and open-hearth steel is governed largely by the relative cost of manufacture of pig iron and the market price of steel scrap. During the past four years there have been long periods of time during which the price of steel scrap was low enough so that open-hearth steel was considerably lower in manufacturing cost than bessemer. As to application, it may be pointed out that thousands of tons of this material in the form of bessemer screw steel are applied for moving parts in automotive and other equipment. Some forging work and considerable heat-treating, particularly carburizing, is performed on this grade. From an economic standpoint the most effective contribution of bessemer steel lies in its free machining qualities. It is by far the freest

Jan 1, 1935

SAFETY in open-pit mining receives a minimum of notoriety, but its significance in profitable and efficient operation is as great as in other methods of mining. Open-pit operators from Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico, exchanging ideas on safety at a symposium during the recent annual meeting of the Arizona Section, AIME, discovered unanimity of opinion that the successful safety program depended on managerial and supervisory support with the vigorous cooperation of the employes. Safety Organization The operation of a safety program is dependent on the ability of management to project enthusiasm through the company organization. This requires a suitable method of communication to the supervisory and employee levels so as to approach them in a manner that will inspire cooperation. Safety committees comprised of various combinations of managerial, supervisory, and employe personnel are frequently used for this purpose. The open-cut mine of the Chino Division of the Kennecott Copper Corp., Santa Rita, N. Mex., operates its program through management, a full-time safety engineer, and two safety committees, the Departmental and Shops Safety Committee and the Central Safety Committee. The Departmental and Shops Committee consists of one employe from each department and shop and the safety engineer. The selected members serve for a period of one month. This committee meets once a month, the only representative of management being the safety engineer because it is believed that employes will speak more freely when their supervisors are not present. The duties of the committee are to report hazardous conditions and make recommendations, but the committee has no authority to approve or disapprove. The Central Safety Committee is comprised of supervisory personnel from all departments and shops, and one member of each of the five bargaining organizations. Members of this committee are permanent and hold meetings soon after the departmental group to take action on recommendations of the latter. The committee system insures participation of all levels of personnel in the accident-prevention program, thereby stimulating safety consciousness. The New Cornelia branch of the Phelps-Dodge Corp., uses three groups to conduct the safety program; the General Safety Committee, Division Safety Committee, and the operating-unit safety meetings. The unit safety meetings provide for active participation of employes in discussion of various phases of the program. Within these groups vigorous opinions regarding safety are often expressed and the workmen are critical if they recognize a digression from the adopted safe-practice procedures. These monthly discussions give the program vitality. The Division Safety Committee is composed of the division superintendent and the division department heads, and follows an established pattern in discussion of all phases of the safety program. The General Safety Committee, made up of the manager, division, and department heads, makes decisions on policies and procedures; it renders decisions on recommendations and suggestions. Management at the New Cornelia branch feels this system of safety committees and meetings has been active in advancing the program. Safety Codes In the open-pit mines of the Southwest, a safety code for operation or service of equipment, methods

Jan 1, 1952

By Henry F. Adams, Guy H. Ruggles

In this paper the authors aim to chronicle the experience and salient points brought out in changing flotation reagents at a concentrator which had probably been using a minimum amount of oil at a minimum cost per ton, to a more complicated system requiring a partial chemical control. The original oils were coal tar and pine oil. The new reagents are lime, xanthate and pine oil. It was found that there were no insurmountable difficulties and eventually the cost of the new reagents per ton of ore proved to be very little more than that of the old. Lime Plant When the question of handling lime came up there were two propositions open: (1) to handle the lime dry; (2) to handle it wet in the form of an emulsion. Granting that a dry lime feeder would function properly, delivering lime uniformly, the chief objection was the dust that would be raised when these feeders were being charged or operated, as the only possible location was on a gallery beneath which men were working. With this objection the handling of lime as an emulsion seemed to be the better scheme. The lime plant which was first installed was for experimental work on one section. This was gradually changed and developed until it was of sufficient size to accommodate 20 sections. The various changes will not be discussed and the following description deals only with the fully developed plant. Crude as it is, and perhaps somewhat expensive to operate, the lime-handling plant has been quite successful. Much has been learned which will pave the way for a better installation in the future. Burnt lime is received loose in standard gage box cars. This is the product of the kilns and has had no screening or sorting. A grab sample is taken from each car as it is unloaded. An average of the analyses of samples from 44 cars gave the following: Available CaO Total CaO, Oxide and Hy- MgO, Fe²O³ + Al²O³, Insoluble, Per Cent. drate, Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Pek Cent. 88.3 79.2 1.6 ' 1.3 2.2

Jan 1, 1928

By Carl Zapffe

The object of the Bradley process is to free manganese oxide from its associated gangue and separate the contained iron oxide by dissolving the manganese and precipitating it from the solution. This results in producing two oxides as concentrates, the one to be converted into a manganese sinter and the other into an iron sinter. The manganese sinter may be made to contain as high as 70 per cent. inanganese and as low as 1 per cent. silica, with phos'phorus not to exceed 0.02 per cent, and from that figure downward to about 0.005 per cent., and with sulfur at 0.007 per cent. The iron sinter contains about 2.50 per cent. manganese, making the total recovery of the manganese 98 per cent. The method involves selective roasting, which converts the manganese into a form in which it is soluble in an aqueous solution of ammonium sulfate, then precipitating the manganese as a hydrate by using ammonia gas, then stabilizing and washing the hydrate, followed by sintering; concurrently most of the iron oxide is converted by roasting into an insoluble form and becomes a residue with magnetic qualities, which makes possible the recovery of much of the iron in the ore. Leaching manganese by using sulfur dioxide gas was shown possiblc Inany years ago. Mr. Bradley tried it for a year, working in conjunction with the original experimenters of that method, and found that while relatively pure inanganese oxide could be produced, the likelihood of developing a commercial process along this line was not very encouraging. He also attempted leaching with nitric and sulfur acids, but the cost of recovery mounted and the quality of the product was not as good Mr. Bradley tried nearly every leaching method proposed, and the expen-ments were made on a large scale in the spacious laboratories of John C. Wiarda & Co., in Brooklyn, N. Y. Insufficient encouragement was discernible in the results obtained. Upon the suggestion of N. Arthur Laury, of John C. Wiarda & Co., Bradley undertook using arnrnoniurn sulfate. Because a high rate of recovery appeared feasible, Bradley planned the erection of a 4-ton pilot plant at the State of Minnesota Mines Experiment Station, at Minneapolis. The results of that work are described in this treatise.

Jan 1, 1929

By W. B. Mather

A SURVEY of the technical literature concerned with oil well drilling methods and particularly with rate of penetration by various cutting media on different types of rock provides a mass of conflicting data. This is especially true with respect to, (1) the relative efficiency of diamond, rotary and percussion drilling operations; (2) the costs of the various types of drilling; and (3) the hardness factor of various types of rock and cutting media. The latter is the particular phase of the subject discussed here. The cause of the confusion may be attributed partially to a lack of 'basic knowledge concerning the physical properties of the cutting media and of individual types of rock. It is also due in part to a general lack of uniform standards in the industry for evaluating the hardness versus drillability of rocks while possible errors in interpretation by the authors of the various papers pertaining to the subject may be an additional cause of misunderstanding. The hardness of a mineral is defined by Dana' as "the resistance which a smooth surface offers to abrasion." Webster' states that hardness is "the cohesion of the particles on the surface of a body (as a mineral) as determined by its capacity to scratch another or be itself scratched." Rock hardness, although not usually defined in publications describing rocks, is assumed to be the same as the minerals which compose the rock or the resistance of the rock to abrasion. Drillability of a rock may be defined arbitrarily as the rate at which rock is penetrated by a definite type of drilling tool with the assistance of a specific type of cutting surface or medium and under speci- fied conditions as to speed of rotation and applications of pressure. Eventually the term penetrability may have to be employed to include any method of making boreholes in rocks, since methods other than those using conventional cutting surfaces are already in operation. A case in point is the jet piercing methoda which employs an oxy-acetylene flame as a means of penetration. The word hardness as used by the drilling fraternity has a variety of meanings which depend upon the type of drilling method employed. For example, in diamond drilling, hardness is interpretated as resistance to abrasion. In percussion drilling the term implies resistance to impact or indentation, while in rotary drilling, hardness is considered anal-agous to compressive strength. The three types of hardness—abrasion, impact and compression—are conflicting variables for different types of rock. Nevertheless, the term hardness is applied indiscriminately by the industry for the resistance of rock to penetration by any type of drilling technique. Abrasion Hardness Since 1818, Moh's scale of hardness, although only relative in nature, has been accepted universally as the method of measuring mineral and therefore rock hardness. In 1933, Ridgway, Ballard and

Jan 1, 1952

THE great subject of interest in American affairs during February was the consideration of the proposed soldier bonus. This proposal was based upon the idea that, because most of the workers of the United States had enjoyed high wages during war, the soldiers were entitled to "adjusted compensa-tion" in order to equalize things. It overlooked the fact that the soldiers, themselves, had the opportunity to enjoy high wages in 1919 and 1920, when rates were highest. Apart from this, the whole project was founded on fallacies and involved what would be nothing less than economic crime. Although it looked as if the measure were destined to be railroaded through Congress, so great a storm of protest was pelted upon Congress that the present outlook is that the whole project will be abandoned. There was probably some increase in the physical volume of business during February. A rise in prices for agricultural products assisted the farmers mate-rially. These developments, however, are not to be construed as presaging any general upward movement. On the contrary, the current year is to be contem-plated as one of serious labor troubles, following inevit-able reductions of wages. These began in February in the form of an extensive strike in the cotton textile industry of New England, accompanied by some rioting in Rhode Island. The coal miners have had numerous conferences, without coming to any encouraging results, and the stage appears to be fully set for a general strike beginning Apr. 1. About the only question now is whether this will comprise both the bituminous and anthracite miners. If the latter refuse to go out, no serious shortage of coal is anticipated, the belief being that the existing stocks together with the output of the non-union mines will supply the demand, which is sub-normal even now. In the metal industries, lead and zinc were dull but stable. The weakening tendency in iron and steel that was manifest during January appeared to be checked, at least temporarily. Copper was charac-terized by a distinct weakness and a considerable decline in the market. This downward movement was inspired by the news during January that several of the important mining companies were taking steps to resume production. During February the demand for copper, both foreign and domestic, was poor.

Jan 3, 1922

By C. C. Henning

In any line of human activity logical handling requires an amount of attention to each phase that is in keeping with the importance of that phase. In the complex and rapidly changing field of modern ferrous metallurgy it is difficult to allot the proper degree of attention to the various subjects, and it is not surprising that one or more subjects of major importance should for a time be neglected. Bessemer steel is a good example of a neglected subject. It is largely taken for granted, inferior physical quality is assumed for it, and there is a • lack of interest in its technical development and commercial application. Availability of supply is limited. In spite of this technical indifference, limited source and lack of commercial exploitation, bessemer steel constitutes a large volume of tonnage in daily use. There is a fairly prevalent idea even among technical people that bessemer steel survives mostly because of low cost and by reason of a dwindling residue of applications sufficiently common to permit of its use. The difference in cost between bessemer and open-hearth steel is governed largely by the relative cost of manufacture of pig iron and the market price of steel scrap. During the past four years there have been long periods of time during which the price of steel scrap was low enough so that open-hearth steel was considerably lower in manufacturing cost than bessemer. As to application, it may be pointed out that thousands of tons of this material in the form of bessemer screw steel are applied for moving parts in automotive and other equipment. Some forging work and considerable heat-treating, particularly carburizing, is performed on this grade. From an economic standpoint the most effective contribution of bessemer steel lies in its free machining qualities. It is by far the freest

Jan 1, 1935

By C. W. Hamilton

In the production of crude petroleum for the year 1930 Venezuela again maintained its world rank of second only to the United States. During the latter months of the year Russia forged ahead of Venezuela in daily rate of production, and from the present outlook will probably rank second among the oil-producing countries of the world in 1931. It is now believed Venezuelan production has passed its peak. The producing fields of the Bolivar coastal district, along the east side of Lake Maracaibo, continue to be the principal source of supply. Such fields as Lagunillas, Mene Grande and La Pas were not produced to capacity throughout 1930. During the year, three new fields entered into commercial development: The Rio Tarra field in the District of Colon, State of Zulia; the El Mene de Salto field in the District of Acosta, State of Falcon and the Quiriquire field, District of Piar, State of Monagas. For 1930 the total crude production of Venezuela was approximately 137,424,000 bbl. as compared to 137,739,000 bbl. during 1929, or a decrease of 315,000 bbl. During the past year exports of crude from Venezuela amounted to 137,8.50,000 bbl. as against 130,044,000 bbl. exported during 1929. Crude oil in field storage decreased from 14,138,-000 bbl. at the beginning of 1930 to 9,600,000 bbl. as of Jan. 1, 1931— present crude stocks fill about one half the field tankage available. Drilling operations in the producing fields declined sharply but throughout the year there was maintained a satisfactory potential reserve in the shape of proven territory and closed-in producers. Of the 2555 wells which have been completed in Venezuela, 1571 wells were in production on Jan. 1, 1931. The status of these present producing wells may be classified as follows: flowing 652, pumping 170, gas-air lift 193 and closed-in 556. The ratio of closed-in wells to producing wells declined in 1930, while the number of wells produced by artificial means increased materially. In the Bolivar coastal fields there is now observed a marked decline in gas volume and well-head pressure. Lago Petroleum Corpn. and Venezuela Gulf Oil Co. each have under construction electric plants designed to generate power for pumping wells by electricity. The first units of these plants will be placed in conlmission in the early spring of 1931. Venezuela Oil Concessions, Ltd. has installed a number of stenrn-

Jan 1, 1931

By P. Barnes

It cannot be said that this whole subject is a new one in respect to its presentation to the Institute, but the minute discussion of it has been looked upon as lying more strictly within the field of study of the societies which have to do chiefly with the construction and management of machinery as such. It must be true that the importance of close limits in steam-economy is as fully recognized among the members of this Institute as by any body of men who have to do with steam-machinery. In all directions, nevertheless, among manufacturers as well as among metallurgists, there may still be found those who do not give the same attention to exact methods in fuel-consumption as devoted to steam, as to other technical uses which, to say the least, are not more important. The study of the most efficient methods of use of fuel in operations which are more strictly metallurgical has been long-continued, and in some directions nearly or quite exhaustive. This has led to a rather close bringing-up, in those particulars, all along the line of technical work, of the establishments (and their managers) which had lagged behind. Yet, in the steam-departments of those works, there are too many reasons for believing that the name may still be legion of those whose methods and results are far from the best. If there be room in any given case to suspect any imperfect working or waste of fuel in the steam-supply, the search for the evil, the clear fixing of its cause, and the application of the remedy are, or certainly ought to be, too obvious in their pressure for attention upon a manager to call for even so scanty a mention of them as can be accorded in this paper. It is natural that men should be incredulous as to imperfections which may be noted as existing in their machinery or methods. Still more are they likely to be altogether disinclined to admit that there may be thus an actual and palpable leakage in the compartment of their money-drawer devoted to coalsupplies. But the laws which govern the combustion of fuel, the

Jan 1, 1885

By John A. Brown

Granules are used primarily as roofing material. From the earliest times, man has been faced with the basic problem of providing protection for himself, his family, and his property against the ravages of the weather. Basically, this problem is no different today than in the past, except that today the trend is to demand shelter which is also colorful and distinctive. There has been a gradual evolution from the thatched roof to the modem ranchstyle home. In his search for a more permanent and more attractive roof, the home owner has utilized many mineral materials. All granules, whether slate or colored granules, are referred to by the asphalt roofing industry as "Slate Granules." Early Roofing Materials The development of mineral roofing in the United States followed two trends: first, the slate industry, and second, the bituminous products. The early colonists were familiar with slab slate construction from Europe and it was natural for them to continue with this type of roofing. As early as 1780, the forerunners of the present bituminous products were finding favor. Those early products consisted of saturating burlap or similar material with crude tar or pitch. This type of roofing was soon improved by dusting a variety of materials on the surface of the roofing to prevent adhesion while in rolls. Such factors as fire resistance and protection from the actinic rays of the sun soon followed. This started the general pattern which is still followed today, that is, saturating felt materials and supplying a uniform grade of crushed mineral to the surface. In commercial and public buildings, metal roofs found early favor. The attractive green color of verdigris-coated copper became a symbol of churches and institutions of learning. Aluminum roofing has become economical for large structures and is finding limited popularity in rural areas. Tile, asbestos, and cement materials, being weather resistant, found early acclaim and are still popular. Today, by far the most widely used roofing materials in the United States are asphalt products. Two important characteristics-economy and weatherability-account for their popularity. Influence of Building Trends on Roofing The postwar building boom in 1947 had many attractive features for the American people. The ranch-style one story type of home seemed well suited for suburban developments which sprang up in such profusion. As the roof in modern home construction is one of the most conspicuous aspects of its architecture, the home owner could now express his tastes not only in paint and landscaping, but could also select an attractive and harmonious roof color. Variety of Minerals Used Many naturally occurring minerals are used today in the roofing industry. Most widely used (and most noticeable to the public) is the granulated mineral surfacing applied to asphalt products. Selected natural colored granules as well as artificially colored granules are

Jan 1, 1960

By J. B. Newkirk

Results of a Debye-Scherrer X-ray investigation are given which show that the order-disorder transformation is a first-order or heterogeneous reaction in Cu-AU alloys with compositions near CuAu. Evidence was found for conventional tie-line segregation across a usual type of two-phase field separating the ordered and disordered fields in the Cu-Au equilibrium phase diagram. The horizontal and vertical widths of the two-phase fields are about 3 atomic pct and 20°C, respectively, at 43 and 54 atomic pct Au. No evidence for the existence of an ordered structure based on a stoichiometric composition of Cu3Au2 could be found. ALTHOUGH the modern theories relating the de-Agree of order of binary alloys to temperature and composition have met with considerable success, the nature of the transformation from the disordered state to the ordered state and vice versa has never been well understood. It has been assumed by some' that this is a second-order transformation, that is, a homogeneous change of state. Others2 hold that the transformation is first-order and that the effects characteristic of heterogeneous phase transformation apply. Since this subject is discussed in detail in a recent paper,' the arguments will not be repeated here. The present paper summarizes an experiment which was designed to distinguish between these two viewpoints for the case of Cu-Au alloys near the composition CuAu. The Cu-Au system is an important one because it furnishes prototype alloys, the behavior of which has formed the basis of much of the present-day order-disorder theory. It has recently been shown- hat in alloys near Cu3Au there is a temperature range within which the ordered and disordered states coexist in equilibrium and are distinguishable as separate phases. Therefore, the transformation must be first-order for these alloys. A similar demonstration for alloys near CuAu, however, has been lacking. Experimental Method Essentially the experiment consisted of equilibrating Cu-Au samples at various temperatures, quenching them in water to retain the high temperature states, and then examining them at room temperature for the coexistence of the ordered and disordered structures. The thermal gradient method of heat treatment- as used because it was important that all temperatures over the transformation range should be represented in the test. Briefly, this method consisted of holding a wire of the desired composition, sealed under vacuum in Pyrex, in a known temperature gradient for a long enough time to allow each part of the wire to assume the crystal structure characteristic of the temperature at which it was held. The temperature gradient was produced by inserting into an ordinary wire-wound cylindrical laboratory furnace, an 18 in. length of 1/8 in. ID ceramic tube which was heavily wrapped with asbestos. The furnace power was controlled by a Tag-liabue Celectray controller and a chromel-alumel thermocouple with the junction located on the heating elements. During the equilibrating treatment the widest variation of temperature within the gradient tube was approximately 4°C at the highest temperature. The temperature at various places within the tube was determined, before inserting

Jan 1, 1954

By Albert J. Phillips

LEAD is an inexpensive metal produced and consumed in large quantities with certain chemical and physical properties that permit handling the molten metal in bulk. These properties are its low melting point, resistance to oxidation, and its negligible solvent action on iron and steel. Thus, lead is almost always melted in large iron or steel kettles, heated from beneath, and is seldom melted in either directly or indirectly fired furnaces or electric induction or arc furnaces. Even with a modest operation a kettle holding 2 or 3 tons is employed, and the size will range up to 215 tons in the large lead refineries. The methods of handling tin and its alloys are essentially the same as for lead because of the similarity in melting point and resistance to oxidation, although because of the cost of the metal the scale is more modest. In melting lead and its alloys preliminary to a casting operation it is seldom that the melting unit is completely drained of its contents. The usual procedure is to continuously charge solid metal and continuously remove small amounts of liquid metal, so that the kettle is maintained essentially full at all times. For type metals, linotype machines usually employ automatic means of adding the solid alloy to the melting pot in proportion to the removal of the liquid metal in casting slugs of type. In the casting of grids for storage batteries, frequently automatic means of charging solid metal in direct proportion to the consumption of liquid metal in the casting is used. In the manufacture of bearing alloys, new alloy is charged in direct proportion to the consumption of metal in the bearings being cast, so that at no time does the level of the metal in the melting pot lower to any great extent. Even in the manufacture of bulky commodities such as pipe, cable. sheathing, and slabs for rolled sheet, it is the practice to employ a melting kettle of several times the capacity of the casting being made. A substantial level of liquid metal in the melting kettle is thus maintained even after the casting is poured and the original metal level is quickly restored by promptly charging new metal, even though there is no immediate need to proceed with additional casting. This procedure is permissible because the amount of fuel consumed in keeping the lead molten and immediately available for use is negligibly small and the cost is more than offset by the convenience. However, this convenient procedure necessitates study and control of certain properties of lead and tin alloys that are not of serious consequence in most other alloys and for that reason are not well known. These properties are "drossing rates" and "melting segregation." DROSSING RATE Users of lead long ago observed that the rate of dross formation on the surface of the lead in their kettles or pots varied greatly from time to time. This was particularly common in places where both antimonial lead alloys and commercially pure lead were being handled.

Jan 1, 1946

By W. R. Webb, M. O. Peterson

WHEN men drive haulage equipment ranging up to 22 tons in an open pit operation, they must live with the realization that their safety is dependent upon the machines they drive and how well they operate them. The hazards inherent in their jobs must be recognized, met, and defeated. It comprises a never ending struggle toward perfection-an almost un- obtainable goal. The Jones & Laughlin Benson Mines, at Adirondack State Park in New York, created a safety program which resulted in only one three day lost time accident from April 1948 to April 1952. At the very start of the program, management of the open-pit operation recognized the hazards existing at Benson. The program was designed to meet each danger. With a knowledge of the problem faced, the process of minimizing each facet was planned along lines of maintenance of equipment and training of personnel. Its success is evident. In the ever-present struggle, care and maintenance of machines and application of experience to new equipment design are mainstays. Truck Haulage Benson produced 2.9 million tons of crude iron ore and 1.6 million tons of waste in 1951. To do the job, truck mileage reached 500,000 miles. The tremendous mileage emphasized to safety planners, the fact that the more work done, the greater the possibility of risk in haulage operations. Instrumenting the aim of the safest equipment possible is a methodical servicing program. Like other segments of the drive, the servicing program is based on greater production with fewer accidents. Every truck is serviced at least once per eight-hr shift. Examination includes inspecting and tightening wheel studs, checking tires, steering apparatus, lights, brakes, wipers, heaters, fire extinguishers, and refueling. A running history of the equipment's operating life is kept in the form of service and maintenance records. Machine operators are constantly on the alert for malfunctioning of units. At the first sign of trouble the truck is returned to the garage for exchange. No truck functioning incorrectly is kept on the line, regardless of its shift check schedule. The program resulted in a reduction of the number of costly overhauls and cut down the number of haulage accidents. Miscellaneous Mobile Equipment Auxiliary units, operating within the pit, have presented definite safety problems. The highest accident rate in the pit occurred on trucks carrying water and bits to the churn mills. The weight and awkwardness of bits and drill stems, combined with remote delivery points were direct causes of numerous accidents. Here, the problem has been one of equipment handling, rather than haulage. All air compressors for secondary drilling are truck mounted, facilitating mobility. In addition to making it easier to move the equipment, truck mounting has eliminated many of the hazards connected with relocating machinery. By making air compressors independent of other units, drilling operations have been speeded up considerably. Unseen rocks in the path of moving vehicles are a constant source of tire damage. At Benson the problem has been met by supplying each loading crew with a bulldozer for cleanup operations. The pitman directs the dozer operation, and when truck drivers back into loading areas, he serves as an extra set of eyes. Modern Truck Garage Provides Drive-Through Service Simplicity is the essence of any preventative maintenance program. At Benson, a modern garage, with a drive-through service bay simplifies servicing. Shift inspection of the 22-ton haulage units is accomplished with minimum delay and maximum thoroughness. Major repair work and periodic overhauls are done in the repair section of the truck garage. Crane facilities for handling heavy assemblies ease the job and add to the safety factor. Other mobile machinery,

Jan 1, 1952

By AIME AIME

WINFIELD SCOTT MORRIS, known from Coast to Coast within the petroleum industry as "Buck" Morris, is and has been for several years an outstanding man in the Petroleum Division of the A.IM.E., so it is most natural to have him as the Chairman of the Division. "Buck" has been such a vociferous promoter of everything TEXAS that most of his friends believe him to be a "Longhorn" by birth-but the records show he was born at Wilmington, N. C., on July 29, 1901. He worked his way through college and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1924 with a B.S., followed by a C.E. in 1927. His graduation thesis was entitled "De¬sign of a Modern Oil Refinery."

Jan 1, 1944

By AIME AIME

EVER since Henry Bessemer, nearly 100 years ago, developed the steelmaking process that bears his name, occasional variation has been noted in the quality of steel made in the acid converter, owing largely to the difficulty of stopping the ? refining-which takes only ten to twelve minutes -at precisely the right moment. Principally as the result of this, the amount of Bessemer steel made in the United States gradually declined over the years until it is now about 7 per cent of the total.

Jan 1, 1943

By John Hays Hammoud

At the Annual Business Meeting of the Institute, held February 19, 1907, the following persons were elected Council. President of the Council, John Hays Hammond, New York, N. Y. Vice-Presidents (for two years), Samuel B. Christy, Berkeley, Cal. ; John A. Church, New York, N. Y.; Persifor Frazer, Philadelphia, Pa. Councilors (for three years), B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., Easton, Pa.; H. 0. Hofman, Boston, Mass.; Walter Renton Ingalls, New York, N. Y. Secretary. of the Council (for one year), Rossiter W. Raymond, New York, N.Y.

Mar 1, 1907

By E. J. Ripling, S. I. Liu

IT has been shown in a number of recent publications that much information on the mechanical behavior of metals can be gleaned by first deforming test specimens under one set of conditions, and then evaluating the effect of this deformation by means of a subsequent tensile test. A straining procedure of this type has been applied to study the flow behaviors of a number of metals.1, 2 In these studies the prestraining and testing were both tensile strains, while the straining temperature was varied between the prestraining and testing steps. These data indicate that there is a more or less general flow behavior exhibited by all metals which are pre-stretched at one temperature and then tested in tension at a second temperature. Prestraining a metal at a high temperature produces a lower yield strength during the subsequent low temperature strain than would the same total strain at the lower temperature. On reversing the order of the strains, low temperature prestraining produces a higher yield strength during the subsequent high temperature straining than would a single high temperature strain of the same magnitude. Unlike the flow behaviors, the fracturing characteristics of metals when prestrained under one set of conditions and tested under a second set of conditions is quite material dependent. The fracture behavior of a number of steels2" as well as of a commercially pure zinc,4 have been investigated by these two-step tests and was found to depend upon the position of the transition temperature with respect to the prestraining and testing conditions. Since these fracturing phenomena are complicated by the appearance of the transition temperature, it has been difficult to reliably define the basic effect of a two-step straining procedure in fracturing. Metals crystallizing in the face-centered cubic system do not exhibit transition temperature effects so that the mechanical characteristics obtained on these materials could serve as a base for two-step straining behaviors. Consequently groups of specimens of the aluminum alloy 24s-T4 were prestrained various amounts at room temperature in either tension or compression after which these strained specimens were further strained to failure, or tested in tension, at either room or some lower temperature. Other groups of 24S-T4 specimens were prestretched at various low temperatures after which these were tested in tension at room temperature. These straining techniques then made it possible to compare the behaviors of aluminum with the behaviors previously presented for steels. Material and Procedure The commercial aluminum alloy 24S-T4 in the form of 3/4 in. rods was used in this investigation. The material was subjected to the following treatments before machining: 1—resolution treating at 920" & 10°F for 45 min, 2—quenching in water at room temperature, and 3—aging at room temperature for four days. The re-heat treated material was then machined to either of the specimen shapes shown in Fig. 1. Fig. la shows the threaded-end specimen used for prestraining in compression. Fig. 1b shows the specimen used for both prestrain in tension and final testing. The material subjected to precompression in the form of the specimen shown in Fig. la was re-machined to the specimen shape in Fig. 1b for final testing. Prestraining in tension and final testing were done without any intermediate machining. All straining was performed on a 10,000 1b Riehle tensile testing machine. Tensile strains were conducted in a specially designed concentric fixture which produced an eccentricity of less than 0.001 in." The change in diameter at the minimum section of

Jan 1, 1954

By S. S. Solomons, V. H. Tillmann, L. Smaniotto

INTRODUCTION The Zinc Corporation, Limited and New Broken Hill Consolidated Limited (ZC/NBHC) mines are situated at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia (refer Fig. 1). Both companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Australian Mining and Smelting Limited (AM&S). Annual production from both mines is 2.3 million tonnes of lead, silver and zinc ore mined by a variety of underground methods. From 1911 to 1968, conventional overhand cut and fill stoping (both open and square set timber) was used almost exclusively, though some trials with shrinkage and sublevel stoping were undertaken. The trial stopes used short holes in conparison with today's sublevel open stopes. Mechanised cut and fill methods with regular rockbolt support were introduced in the early 1960's and undercut and fill stoping replaced square set timber stoping for pillar extraction in the late 1960's. Since 1968, increasing emphasis has been placed on longhole open stoping (LHOS) although some areas of the orebodies are comrnrnitted to the abovemehtioned methods since existing stope development makes it impracticable to change. In 1979, approximately half the total production was mined by LHDS and it is expected that the LHOS proportion will increase in the future. A vertical crater retreat method of longhole mining has also been successfully introduced to replace the undercut and fill stoping of some pillars and it is expected that this stoping method will be used in some future primary ore extraction. This paper reviews the progress of LHOS technology at ZC/NBHC with emphasis on the stope planning and design process and the importance of rock mechanics applications. The objective has been to maximise the primary extraction of the orebody giving due consideration to stability and safety. This has led to the design of a novel sloped wall longhole stoping method which should eliminate the formation of pillars by mining the orebody in a "continuous" manner incorporating a sloped sand interface between the blocks of ore being mined and the previously mined sandfilled stope. The expected results include the complete extract of the orebody without the formation of pillars and with minimal dilution of ore with sandfill. The evolution of the method can be best illustrated by following the mining progress of the relatively new Southern 'B1 Lode orebody at the NBHC mine. GEOLOGY Southern '8' Lode is the southern extension of the 'Bt Lode orebody, which is currently being mined further to the north in ZC/NBHC (refer Fig. 2). The ore block being developed and stoped extends for a vertical height of 90 metres from No. 17 level down to approximately ten metres above No. 19 level. The ore minerals are sphalerite and galena with the zinc:lead ratio averaging approximately 3:l with a minor amount of silver associated with the galena. There is a sharp contact between the ore and the country rock on the footwall and keel, while the hanging wall gradates into medium and low grade material. The gangue is primarily quartz together with garnet, biotite, feldspar, gahnite, sericite and minor apatite. In various horizons within the orebody, grey feldspar, quartz and garnet pegmatites occur as stratiform layers. The ore and country rock are competent with some inconpetent boundaries.

Jan 1, 1981