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By Frederick J. Rich

INTRODUCTION Coal characterization involves a variety of analyses which are designed to yield as much information as possible about the properties of coal. The types of analyses which are now regarded as necessary for any truly quantitative assessment of coal include the following: 1. proximate analysis 2. ultimate analysis 3. petrographic analysis The two traditional forms of analyses are the proximate and ultimate types. A proximate determination reveals the amount of moisture, volatile matter, fixed carbon, and ash which are present in the coal. Nowadays, a sulfur determination is usually included in the proximate analysis. The ultimate analysis, in contrast, includes a major alkaline oxide determination, which tells how much sodium, calcium, and potassium are found in a sample. Sulfur forms, i.e. sulfide and sulfate vs organic sulfur, are also identified as well as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and trace element concentrations. Proximate and ultimate analyses have been used for many years. The petrographic analysis, one which identifies and quantifies organic microcomponents of coal, is a comparatively new technique of coal characterization. Petrography adds great detail to a coal analysis and, to be sure, is a necessary component of any complete analysis. Coal is not at all uniform in its composition. Material from different mines within one coal-producing region will display varia-

Jan 1, 1983

By Kim Beattie

IN spite of the fact that in 1944 Canada experienced a decline in production of all her leading base metals-nickel, zinc, lead, and copper; despite uncured headaches in the coal-mining industry; and cheerfully ignoring a still further drop in gold, the most valuable product of her mines, which had the lowest output of any year since 1931, the Canadian miner retains the traditional optimism of miners everywhere as he looks forward to the postwar period. Some factors should keep the Canadian mining industry from being too optimistic of the coming era of peace, but the fraternity generally holds that its confident attitude towards the future is based on sound reasons. The decline in production in the Canadian mining industry last year can be almost wholly attributed to the serious shortage of labor and the difficulty in obtaining transport and supplies in remote areas. Some falling off occurred in the demand for certain strategic metals, but the diversion of gold miners, especially, without replacements being obtainable, to direct war work or allied pursuits, was certainly the principal cause of the reduced output in 1944. But that is a situation which will right itself at the close of the conflict.

Jan 1, 1945

F. E. BASH, Philadelphia, Pa.-In order to make a definite check on the emissivity of crucible steel under works conditions, a test was planned and executed by the plant of the Midvale Steel Co., by a Sub-committee, as follows: Five crucibles were put in a crucible furnace with-the normal charge and were treated in the same manner as a number of others that were charged at the same time; the only difference was that the five cur-cibles had lids with.2-in. holes in the center. It was thought that after the crucibles were removed from the furnace a reading could be made through the hole in the lid with the optical pyrometer and that such a reading would give the true temperature of the steel as black-body con-ditions should prevail inside the crucible. If after obtaining the true temperature, the crucible lid were removed and the steel poured into the ladle, the apparent temperature could be taken by sighting on the steel stream and the emissivity obtained from the two temperature values. Such a test was carried out with five crucibles. About a third of the crucibles charged into the furnace with the five experimental ones were first drawn from the furnace and poured into the ladle. The experimental crucibles were then drawn and readings of the true temperature were made

Jan 12, 1919

By AIME AIME

ARRANGEMENTS for the Annual Meeting of the Institute were well advanced at the end of December as the following program will show. Heretofore this has been printed separately, but its inclusion in the Annual Review issue of MINING AND METALLURGY will, it is hoped, make it more easily available for reference until the final program is issued, which will be distributed at the meeting. Added details will appear in the February issue. Last year's meeting drew a record crowd of over 2300 which should be exceeded this year. Early reservations at the headquarters hotel, the Waldorf-Astoria, or any other convenient hotel are desirable, as are prompt reservations for the Annual Dinner. No one need worry about too much speechmaking this year, for the honors will be awarded and accepted in a few words instead of a few paragraphs, in seconds rather than minutes.

Jan 1, 1939

By W. H. Meyer

During the seventeen years Fairchild has been making aerial surveys and aerial photographic equipment many changes and improvements have been made in the equipment and in the technique of using it. Aerial photographic operations have been developed from the crude methods and apparatus of wartime to a science upon which exact engineering calculations can be based. In the early days there was no airplane specially designed to meet aerial photographic requirements. One type of camera was used in all types of operations. Projects were made to conform to the products we could make and deliver. Obviously this entailed definite limitations. We now have airplanes designed specially for aerial photographic operations in accordance with the conditions encountered in actual service experience. We have cameras for every photographic purpose and our laboratory technique and equipment have been developed to the point where it is possible to make contour maps from vertical aerial photographs with contour intervals as close as five feet. Therefore, the selection of equipment now can be made in accordance with the time at our disposal, the justifiable cost, the scale desired, and the general requirements of the client. This does not mean, however, that arbitrary deliveries can be set for aerial photographic products. The factors in each project vary and each job must be considered in accordance with the factors involved. This accounts for the fact that products of aerial surveys may readily vary from $1.25 to $200 a square mile. Sherman M. Fairchild became interested in the design of a radically different aerial camera during the war. At its close he was about ready to demonstrate his design to the War Department. By 1920, he was able to bring out his first completed model. It had a number of radical features, one of which was the first dependable high-speed between-the-lens shutter, which makes for accuracy in aerial photographic work. Another feature was the use of metal throughout, eliminating the wooden parts that had been employed in wartime cameras. Another feature was the interchangeability of parts.

Jan 1, 1937

The key-note of good writing, as of good manners, is B natural. Sincerity is the first requisite for effective writing. When a man says what he knows or believes, he is likely to be interesting, because each human being possesses an individuality, a point of view, or a range of sympathy that makes him different from his fellows. To say or to write what you do not think, for the mere sake of talking or writing, is a verbal exercise that must be performed with extraordinary skill if it is to be attractive. Affectations are rarely attractive, rarely effective. To be natural is to be yourself, not a poseur; to give the reader the best of yourself, instead of re-warming the baked meats of yesterday. Quotations-which are second-hand thoughts-will serve occasionally when the thing you want to say has been said so well by another that it would be waste of energy to try to say it better; gut, as a rule, the utterance of the writer himself is more interesting than the quotation, because the writer brings something of himself to bear on the subject, and for the moment is more in touch with the reader than any dear departed author. Therefore, say things as best you can in your own way, neither in borrowed words nor in the phraseology that mimics another. Write as if you were speaking to a person whom you desire to persuade or convince. You will then write better than you speak, because, in the first place, you can be more deliberate, and, secondly, you can revise what you have written. Speaking and writing are similar mental acts, with a difference: the difference between eating food raw and eating it cooked. Some kinds of food gain nothing by being cooked; likewise some kinds of utterance are not bettered by being written down first; but most expressions of thought, especially

Jan 1, 1931

Edward Halse, Puerto Berrio, Colombia, So. Amer. (communication to the Secretary*): The Taviche mining-district is generally known as " Taviches," being named from the two villages called respectively San Pedro Taviche and San Jero-nimo Taviche. It is so called by Jose G. Aguilera, in his paper on the Geographical and Geological Distribution of the Mineral Deposits of Mexico;' and in published reports by the late N. W. Rudston Read ;2 and by Juan de Dios Villarello3 The region is a large one, measuring about 24 miles long and 7 miles wide. Dr. Chance, in his interesting paper, tells us very little about the nature of the ores, and, with regard to the geology of the district, contents himself with observing that " the country, as a rule, consists of eruptive rocks; and no evidences of sedimentary strata appear near the mines." The latter part of the above statement is hardly correct. The formation is mainly

Jan 1, 1906

By Eugene McAuliffe

The term "mechanical mining" carries an ambiguity which justifies a preliminary word of explanation. . All mining activity conducted in this day is more or less mechanical; that is to say, power expressed in the form of electricity, steam or compressed air is used in some portion of practically every mining activity of consequence. "Mechanical loading" is more nearly correct than "mechanical mining" in reference to present practice. The first substantial effort made in the direction of mechanical mining, subsequent to the application of steam for hoisting and underground pumping purposes, was that of substituting for hand labor undercutting and shearing by power-driven machines. The undercutting of coal by hand represented at one time the most arduous task confronting the miner. Occupying a kneeling position in the thicker beds, or lying on his side in the thinner coal, the task was tedious and exhausting. The first attempt to substitute crude air-driven, and later electrically driven, "punchers," as the percussion type of machine was called, met with much the same opposition on the part of the workers as was expressed by workers in the other industries when any innovation, whether labor-saving or otherwise, was introduced. We should not be too critical of this attitude of mind shown by the mine workers. The peculiarly isolated character of the work carried on in semidarkness by a class of men who to a large extent lived and held themselves aloof from the other branches of society led long ago to the development of a craft consciousness which they have found difficult to surrender. It was not until 1891 that a definite record of the results obtained by the use of undercutting machines of all types was made available, the quantity undercut in that year totaling 6,211,732 tons of bituminous coal from all American mines. The volume of bituminous coal undercut by machines in 1928 totaled 369,687,007 tons, or 73.8 per cent. of the nation's production. In the light of this experience, we can properly feel that the work of introducing the coal-loading machine as a substitute for hand shoveling is making substantial progress.

Jan 1, 1931

By T. W. Turk, S. A. Sass

The engineering design features of the Mercur Gold Project crushing, grinding, carbon-in-leach, bullion, reagent, and tailings disposal areas will be discussed in this paper. It presents a project overview and flowsheet along with selected design alternatives. During the engineering phase, major equipment and other features were selected to optimize design within site location and environmental constraints. The project team organization and procedures were adopted to accommodate multiple optimization studies while maintaining a tight engineering schedule.

Jan 1, 1985

By Lloyd Emory

THE region known as. Guyana or Guiana stretches along the north coast of South America from the mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela to the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil. Politically, it is divided into British, Dutch, and French Guiana, extend¬ ing into Venezuela on the north and into Brazil on the south. Because the area is within the sweep of the northeast trade winds and of approximately the same latitude, plant' and animal life are fairly uniform throughout. The geology is very similar as far as the northern coast is concerned. The drainage is taken care of by a number of large rivers that flow northward directly into the sea. The Courantyne River, which roughly divides the area into half, is the eastern boundary of British Guiana.1 The lower reaches of this river are also the center axis of an ancient bay that at one time indented the coast-line at this point. The old shore-line and, in fact, successive shore-lines can be traced from near the present coast-line in, the northwest district of British-Guiana, south-east and inland, crossing the Essequibo River near Dahli, the Demerara near Christianburg, the Berbice at the mouth of the Kuruduni River and the Courantyne at Vaka-Kuyaha Falls. The line then swings around to the northeast and again approaches the coast near St. Lau-rent in French Guiana. This article will be confined to British Guiana and largely to the valley of the Demerara River, but for geographic names .and topographic details it might, however, apply to Dutch Guiana as well. British Guiana, which comprises about 90,000 sq. mi. and is as large as England, Scotland, and Wales combined, may be divided into three belts, the alluvial belt or coastal plain, the foot-hill area (often spoken of as the sand clay belt), and the hinterland.

Jan 1, 1928

By William F. Campbell

One of the deepest coal operations today is the Springhill No. 2 mine of Cumberland Railway & Coal Co., subsidiary of Dominion Coal Co. Ltd. Mining is now conducted at a slope distance of 14,000 ft, with 4400 vertical ft of cover. The record of Springhill No. 2 can be said to contain the history of bumps in the Province of Nova Scotia. The Springhill coal field forms part of the Cumberland field of Carboniferous age. There are seven mineable fields in the area, numbered in the order they were discovered. Mining has been carried on in all but the No. 4 and 5 seams, but present operations are confined to the No. 2. Fig. 1 shows a vertical section through the seams.

Jan 9, 1958

The North American Coal Corp. Increasing demand for coal, stimulated by the national energy shortage, and complicating and often conflicting, demands by government and ecology groups for better land reclamation methods continued to propel advances in surface mining technology during 1974. To meet current demands for coal (estimated at more than 700 million t for 1975 and 1.5 billion t in 19851, equipment manufacturers and coal operators concentrated on increasing the productivity of all surface mining equipment. The trend towards larger equipment, particularly in overburden removal, loading, and haulage machinery, prevailed during the year, notwithstanding the perennial debate over the economics and practicality of using large, inflexible equipment. Increasingly, the industry called on computers to monitor productivity and help design more efficient production systems

Jan 2, 1975

By Alden B. Greninger

THE study of mosaic structure of crystals1 has been confined until recently to the field of theoretical physics Crystallographers, in general, have neglected the subject, although X-ray crystallographers constantly make use of formulas for intensities of X-ray reflection as modified by mosaic structure Work on mosaic structure has centered chiefly on the task of proving or disproving the secondary-structure theory of Zwicky,2 and very little attention has been paid to the visible imperfections of crystals A Goetz has been responsible for most of the supposed experimental confirmations of Zwicky's theory 3 On the other hand, Smekal,4 and Orowan,5 among others, maintain that these is neither theoretical nor experimental evidence to substantiate Zwicky's secondary structure

Jan 1, 1935

By H. J. Booss

THERE is a considerable lack of data on thermody-namic properties of hard-metal alloys. Only two papers 1,2 give mean values of specific heat in an unknown temperature range; more recently the author3 gave more detailed information on the mean specific heat in the temperature range from 20" to -190° C.. EXPERIMENTAL 1) Method—Experimental procedure followed a method suggested by Oelsen and coworkers.4 It requires samples of some 100 g of weight. The time of measurement is prolonged (30 min) but one run allows the measurement of a lot of positions on the heat-content curve. Results4 were found to be in good agreement with "best values" given by kelley,5 Kubaschewsky and Evans,6 etal.

Jan 1, 1960

By J. Redstone, A. R. Laplante

Sidbec-Normines operates six large iron ore concentrate regrinding mills in parallel and open circuit at its Port-Cartier pelletizing plant. Grinding kinetics in these mills were characterized for slurry densities varying between 70 and 89% solids, using a lumped parameter size discrete model. Optimum grinding conditions were encountered at 83.5 to 84% solids. Higher densities decreased the normalized selection function and increased slurry short-circuiting, yielding a sharply coarser mill discharge. At lower slurry densities, the normalized selection function decreased and the mill discharge coarsened slightly. The grinding kinetic model predicted particle size distributions within the mill. These were found to vary significantly from the feed to the discharge end. This is likely to cause nonlinear breakage kinetics.

Jan 1, 1985

By John F. Barkley, J. W. Woomer, H. F. Yancey, H. B. Charmbury

The coal picture in 1955 was much brighter than in 1954, when the tonnage produced dropped to the 1939 level. Bituminous coal and lignite production are expected to approach 465 million tons, against 392 million tons in 1954, an increase of about 19 pct. On the other hand, the production of anthracite declined about 7 pct to some 25 million tons. There was marked improvement in coal consumption in all industrial lines except railroads. At the end of November 1955 the largest consumer, electric power utilities, had used about 126 million tons, an increase of some 22 million tons over the previous year. Coke-oven consumption increased about 19 million tons and coal coked in beehive ovens increased about 1.5 million tons, due to heavy coke

Feb 1, 1956

By Theron Wasson

The discovery of two new fields—the Reed City area of Osceola County and the Headquarters field, of Roscommon County —and the important development in Winterfield township, Clare County, again demonstrate the fact that it is the unknown and unexpected that enter very definitely into the oil-producing history of Michigan. This is particularly true in the area of thick glacial drift in the north central part of the state, where the new prolific fields have been discovered this year. This shifts the interest from the southwestern part of the lower peninsula, where a number of pools were rapidly developed during 1939 and 1940, back into the Central Basin area. As a result of strict proration in the new areas, the production for the state of Michigan for the year has not been as great as in 1940 or 1939. In 1941 the total production was 16,300,000 bbl., in 1940 it was 19,551,000 bbl., and in 1939, which was the peak year, it was 23,300,000 bbl. However, the discovery of the new fields this year nearly doubles the estimated reserves for Michigan reported at the end of 1940 In 1941 about 12,000,000 bbl. of oil was produced from the older fields, in which the individual well productions were so small that proration was not an important factor. The total production for the state from the discovery of oil in 1925 through 1941 now stands at 161,205,000 barrels. ActIVe Oil Fields Reed City Field.—In the Reed City field, Lincoln township, Osceola County, only small oil wells were completed during 1939 and 1940. The discovery of much larger production in wells drilled somewhat deeper, by The Pure Oil Co. and the Weber Oil Co., in the early part of 1941, led to the rapid development in this area. Some wells have had initial productions as high as 10,000 bbl. By the end of the year III producing wells were completed, with an average depth of 3600 ft., from the Detroit River formation of Devonian age. The entire development of the field to the end of 1941 was on 20-acre spacing. Headquarters Field.—The Headquarters field, which lies along the line between Clare and Roscommon Counties, was one of the most important discoveries of 1941 and will be the scene of vigorous development during 1942. Production so far has been from the Traverse lime at about 3400 it., and development has indicated that this is probably one of the most productive Traverse pools yet discovered. One well had been given a potential of 10,000 bbl. per day. Dry holes well located in relation to big producers indicate that it is a typical Traverse development. Winterfield Field.-This field, in Winter-field township, Clare County, was discovered late in 1940. By December 1941, 14 Dundee and 5 Traverse producers had been completed. The Dundee lime is found at a depth of 3750 it. and the Traverse lime at 3070 it. Producing conditions in the Dundee seem to be erratic because of varying porosity in the dolomit-ized limestone. Kawkawlin Field.—The Kawkawlin field, which was discovered by the Gulf Refining Co. in 1938, is in Monitor and Kawkawlin townships, Bay County. Small production

Jan 1, 1942

By Theron Wasson

The discovery of two new fields—the Reed City area of Osceola County and the Headquarters field, of Roscommon County —and the important development in Winterfield township, Clare County, again demonstrate the fact that it is the unknown and unexpected that enter very definitely into the oil-producing history of Michigan. This is particularly true in the area of thick glacial drift in the north central part of the state, where the new prolific fields have been discovered this year. This shifts the interest from the southwestern part of the lower peninsula, where a number of pools were rapidly developed during 1939 and 1940, back into the Central Basin area. As a result of strict proration in the new areas, the production for the state of Michigan for the year has not been as great as in 1940 or 1939. In 1941 the total production was 16,300,000 bbl., in 1940 it was 19,551,000 bbl., and in 1939, which was the peak year, it was 23,300,000 bbl. However, the discovery of the new fields this year nearly doubles the estimated reserves for Michigan reported at the end of 1940 In 1941 about 12,000,000 bbl. of oil was produced from the older fields, in which the individual well productions were so small that proration was not an important factor. The total production for the state from the discovery of oil in 1925 through 1941 now stands at 161,205,000 barrels. ActIVe Oil Fields Reed City Field.—In the Reed City field, Lincoln township, Osceola County, only small oil wells were completed during 1939 and 1940. The discovery of much larger production in wells drilled somewhat deeper, by The Pure Oil Co. and the Weber Oil Co., in the early part of 1941, led to the rapid development in this area. Some wells have had initial productions as high as 10,000 bbl. By the end of the year III producing wells were completed, with an average depth of 3600 ft., from the Detroit River formation of Devonian age. The entire development of the field to the end of 1941 was on 20-acre spacing. Headquarters Field.—The Headquarters field, which lies along the line between Clare and Roscommon Counties, was one of the most important discoveries of 1941 and will be the scene of vigorous development during 1942. Production so far has been from the Traverse lime at about 3400 it., and development has indicated that this is probably one of the most productive Traverse pools yet discovered. One well had been given a potential of 10,000 bbl. per day. Dry holes well located in relation to big producers indicate that it is a typical Traverse development. Winterfield Field.-This field, in Winter-field township, Clare County, was discovered late in 1940. By December 1941, 14 Dundee and 5 Traverse producers had been completed. The Dundee lime is found at a depth of 3750 it. and the Traverse lime at 3070 it. Producing conditions in the Dundee seem to be erratic because of varying porosity in the dolomit-ized limestone. Kawkawlin Field.—The Kawkawlin field, which was discovered by the Gulf Refining Co. in 1938, is in Monitor and Kawkawlin townships, Bay County. Small production

Jan 1, 1942

US underground mine production of nonfuel minerals was 153 million tons of crude ore in 1971, according to a recent US Bureau of Mines report compiled by Dravo Corp. Underground capacity includes all nonfuel mineral commodities and is distributed into three general categories: (1) metallic ores; (2) nonmetallic ores; and (3) construction materials, such as clay, sandstone, and limestone. All three categories are produced by a combination of open-pit and underground methods. While US underground mining represents only 5.9% of total domestic capacity, it is significant in the types of products produced. Domestic supplies of potash, trona, A lead, zinc, sulfur, and fluorspar are almost exclusively recovered from underground mines, as well as a significant portion of the gold, silver, molybdenum, and salt supply.

Jan 7, 1975

By R. S. Archibald

THE Blueberry mine is about 10 miles west of Ishpeming, Marquette County, Michigan. The property consists of about 2000 acres in sets. 3, 4 and 5, T. 47, N.R. 28W. and sets. 32, 33 and 34, T. 48, N.R. 28W., and, excepting one intervening 80-acre tract, contains the iron formation for a length of about 2 1/4 miles. The property is traversed by State Highway M-28 and is served by three railways, the Chicago & Northwestern, the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, and the Lake Superior & Ishpeming. The Northwestern transports the ore to a dock at Escanaba; the other railways, to Mar¬quette. Ore for Chicago goes via Escanaba and that for Lower Lake ports, as Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo, via Marquette.

Jan 1, 1935