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By AIME AIME

FOR the development of a mine, a shaft of small cross-section is usually sunk, of no larger size than is absolutely necessary. After the mine has been developed and put on a production basis it is a common practice to sink a shaft of larger cross-section for hoisting and use the original shaft for the handling of men and material into the mine. While that ar¬rangement is usually expedient, the small size of the supply cages presents a problem in the handling of ma¬terial. Where a cage is, say, 4 by 4 ft., which is not an uncommon size, all lengthy and bulky material must be handled piece by piece several times from the supply department to the underground stations. Thus drill steel and timbers over 4 ft. long will be loaded on cars at the supply department and wheeled to the shaft, where each piece must be unloaded from the cars and stood up in the cage. They are then lowered to the shaft station, unloaded piece by piece and placed in cars, run to the supply station and again unloaded and stored until called for. In such a case handling becomes a major item in the cost of supplies.

Jan 1, 1930

By John S. Johnson

THE purpose of this article is to describe several types of borehole lining in common use, and especially to offer a relatively new means of reducing the expense of maintaining boreholes where they are subjected to corrosive action of water flowing either inside or outside of their casing. In the Anthracite region of Pennsylvania, boreholes are used for many purposes, the principal ones being: openings between the surface and underground workings through which are passed steam, water and compressed-air lines, ropeways from surface hoists to underground rope haulages, conduits for electric power and signal lines, water-discharge lines from underground pumping stations, and inlets to mine workings for flushing material. LININGS FOR BOREHOLES The inadequacy of steel pipe for use in boreholes has long been recognized. Various substitute materials have been tried, including screw-joint cast-iron pipe (Fig. I). Cast-iron pipe, while very effective as a discharge line for acid water (mine water) being pumped to the surface, is not so effective when serving as a conduit for silt and crushed rock being flushed underground for filling mine voids. Terra cotta pipe (Fig. 2) has been used in boreholes, and lasts a long time if the glazed inner surface of the pipe remains intact. Its installation in a borehole is very difficult and is recommended only where it is certain that there will be no subsidence of the surrounding territory. Accessibility in order properly to join each section of the pipe is essential to a satisfactory job. In large water holes, where it is possible to lower a man into the hole for sealing the joints of the pipe, glazed terra cotta pipe has been used successfully for delivering mine water from pumps in the mines. For large holes used for flushing refuse into mine workings where the surface wash is shallow, standard paving brick have been used to form a tube through the wash to the bedrock. These brick are laid radially, backed by common brick and cobbles laid in cement. It is obvious that the shaft through the wash must be large enough to permit a man to work in it. The flushing material is carried through bare rock from the juncture at bedrock to the openings underground. This plan has been used, particularly where a cast-iron surface line is laid upon the surface to carry the flushing material from the breaker to the hole, and down the hole continuously, with no opening to the air at the top of the hole, thereby eliminating the necessity of an attendant at this point (Fig. 3). Another similar type of borehole lining is constructed of hexagonal pieces of vitrified brick (Fig. 4). This type requires a steel drive pipe through the surface wash large enough to provide a finished tube of the desired size surrounded by a brick wall about 4 in. thick. The special bricks are laid in cement, six to a circle, around a lubricated pipe used as a form, and lowered in sections inside the large drive pipe; the bottom section is seated in a socket drilled in the solid rock, having the same inside

Jan 1, 1941

By David R. Maneval, H. B. Charmbury

At the turn of the century, iron and coal were the keys to industrial prosperity. At that time, Pennsylvania was the leading mineral producer in the Country, producing 200,000,000 tons of coal in a typical post-World War I year. Close to 90% of the Nation's energy was generated by coal. Today, coal accounts for but 22% of the energy generated, leading to a drastic reduction in Pennsylvania coal output. In contrast with the post-World War I days, 1964 figures showed a drop in production to 93,846,480 net tons. This huge decrease has created a serious economic problem in a state so much dependent on the coal industry. Along with the reduction in coal production, employment has dropped considerably through these years (the number of miners alone has gone from 280,011 to 43,149), thus causing a heavy burden of supporting the unemployed on the taxpayers. As far back as 1939, coal operators and economists saw the problems on the horizon and the need for improvement. Realizing that research was a way to improve and stabilize the industry they demanded legislative action. The Legislature reciprocated with a small grant to The Pennsylvania State University with the provision that each State research dollar be backed with one from the industry. This initial grant laid the foundation for the further growth in coal research.

Jan 3, 1966

RECEIPTS [Magazine Advertising $ 62,564.83 Magazine Sales 3,591.44 Totalm 66,156.27 Dues, Arrears7,032.88 Dues. Current96,839.74 Dues, New Members6,525.00 Dues, in advance 1,907.02 Initiation Fees7,584.00. Sale of Transactions3,909.03 Sale of Binding7,845.05 Sale of Special Editions 338.20 Sale of Year Book76.20 Sale of Pamphlets1,189.06 Sale of Authors' Reprints867.54 Miscellaneous Receipts62.93 Interest on Bank Balances1,712.89 Interest on General Reserve Fund337.50 Interest on Life Membership Fund557.84 Interest on James Douglas Library Fund....5,491.89 Total Receipts$208,433.04] [ ]

Jan 1, 1925

By Carl L. Renzoni

INTRODUCTION This paper defines equity as the issuance of a permanent interest in the business on a broadly distributed basis. As such, it excludes the issuance of equity to either a merchant bank or to another corporation. Nearly twenty years ago the equity markets were very simple: The instruments used were primarily common shares, convertible debentures or convertible preferred shares. Another equity-type option often used, especially by junior companies, was the sale of joint venture interests. Issue sizes were generally in the order of $25 - $100 million and issues were syndicated primarily in North America and Europe by one or two investment dealers. Mining corporations today benefit from a market with much more depth. Issues are syndicated by dealers on a truly international basis, and issue sizes now often range up to $300 million. Moreover, dealers are now willing to take significant risk in buying the issues for redistribution. This discussion of trends in equity markets will encompass: 1) common shares 2) warrants to buy common shares 3) convertible debentures 4) commodity backed instruments A review follows of events that affect the mining industry and investment dealers as they have a bearing on the equity markets for the metal producers. FACTORS AFFECTING THE MINING INDUSTRY The current business cycle, up to October 1987, had been characterised by a buoyant stock market and depressed base metal prices. Mining companies entered this period with weak balance sheets and little prospect of cash flows meeting capital needs. The issuance of equity and the sale of assets were used extensively to reduce debt to manageable levels. During this period, the relative high price for gold, and more important, the very high earnings and cash flow multiples afforded to gold producers, caused companies to target gold as the only game in town. The need for capital to acquire and develop gold properties prompted an unprecedented volume of equity issues. (Burns Fry led or co-managed over $1 billion of mining equity issues per year during this period). This high demand for equity capital by the industry prompted an increase in the use of equity instruments, such as commodity backed instruments. In addition, government tax incentive programs in Canada, such as flow-through shares, allowed smaller companies to raise significantly more equity than would otherwise have been possible. Over $1 billion in flow-through equity was raised in 1987 alone. The abundance of flow-through capital in Canada made it easy to form a new company. One flow-through share fund developed a system of providing the working capital required for a company to be eligible to receive flow-through share capital so that an entrepreneur required only a mining property to get started. Many new companies were formed and several flourished in a buoyant stock market environment to the point that market capitalizations grew to $100 million or more. The current period is in stark contrast to that before October 1987. The equity markets are generally available to the resource industry only on a window basis and only for senior companies and for special situations. The industry is benefitting from buoyant metal prices, and bankers are anxious to provide debt capital. Investment dealers previously processing several equity issues

Jan 1, 1990

By S. E. Bretherton

THIS title introduces the subject I wish to describe to my fellow members, very few of whom, I hope, have ever had as much trouble with the smelting of ore containing much zinc, either in the lead blast furnace or the matting furnace, its circumstances have forced upon me: First, for several years in Leadville, Colo., after the sulphide ores containing zinc had been developed with greater depth and were sold to the interests with which I was connected for smelting in the blast furnace for the recovery of the lead, silver, and gold; then, in New Mexico and Arizona, where the principal source of ore supply for our custom smelter was from miners who sent most of their product in the form of concentrates, which we briquetted and smelted in the blast. furnace, producing a matte containing copper, silver, and gold, for which we were paid; together with some zinc and lead, which was penalized if in excess of a maximum base set by the refinery to which we sold our copper matte; last, but not least, my experience in Shasta county, Cal., where for the sake of recovering $13 per ton value in copper, silver, and gold, I have smelted ore containing as high as 40 per cent. zinc (the last. 18,951 tons smelted averaged 15 3/10, per cent. zinc) which we not only lost, but which it cost us money to lose.

Jan 8, 1913

By Michael Perch, Charles C. Russell

Nearly 95 per cent of the total coke production in the United States in 1940 was consumed in blast furnaces. In 1939 the percentage was 69,9, and in 1938 it was 61.3, To produce a net ton of pig iron 1959 lb. of coke was required in ,1940 and 1760o lb. in 1939. These figures indicate how dependent the production of pig iron is upon the production of coke. The rate of iron production is in some measure influenced by the physical and chemical characteristics of the coke. Blast-furnace operators believe that the physical properties of coke profoundly influence the operation of the furnace. Although it is true that coke of a wide variety of physical properties is used in American blast furnaces, the periodic fluctuation of these properties is one of the causes of irregularity of blast-furnace operation. The purpose of this paper is to present a broad picture of the physical properties of by-product coke that are generally considered to be important by coke-oven and blast-furnace operators. Effects of the kind of coal used, the preparation of the coal, the rate of coking, and other factors will be considered. Of all these variables, the kind of coal used is by far the most important. In this discussion use will be made of the method of coal classification by rank1 standardized by the American Society for Testing Materials. Although this method of classification has been an American standard for several years, it has not been given the attention it deserves, especially in connection with the selection of coal for production of coke. Despite the fact that many producers of blast-furnace coke are limited to some particular source or sources of coal, a good understanding of the principles involved in setting up the standard method of classification may lead to a better appreciation of the causes of changes in coke characteristics. Furthermore, where it is necessary to select new coals as a substitute for the original supply, this method of classification can be of great assistance. The data presented have been gathered from many sources, but no attempt has been made to cover the vast literature. Instead, some of the more important data have been selected to show how coals and their carbonization affect some of the physical properties of coke. It must be emphasized that generalizations concerning the behavior of coking coals are presented and that individual coals may vary widely from the specific behavior depicted. Nevertheless, it is believed that the data illustrate certain typical behaviors. Neither was it possible to cover completely all the factors involved; for example, the macroscopic constituents of coal are believed to have important effects on the physical properties of coke, but since there is little information available for such study, and since vitrain, clarain, and durain are neither

Jan 1, 1942

By Joseph Jensen

No outstanding example of an important producing unit operation exists in California today where the competitive drilling drainage feature is or was entirely eliminated We need not feel, however, that the thought of unit operation had its birth in 1924, when Henry L. Doherty named and sponsored it so strongly before the American Petroleum Institute and our own organization. No man or company in California ever drilled a wildcat well without exerting every possible effort to get all of the structure, so as to control drilling and avoid competition. Overproduction did not begin in 1923, so there has always been the wish to avoid it. In this state the practice of selling acreage around a wildcat has not been followed, except possibly in rare instances. The operator drilling the wildcat knew he must pay the bill alone, so he endeavored to get the benefit of his effort by tying up all of the land around his well and by so planning his different lease obligations as to avoid as much offsetting as possible. If he failed to get all of the land, it was because someone's price was too high, some other oil man also had the same idea and already held some lands, a competitor took leases away from him while his work was still incomplete, or (as was so often the case) the hidden structure when developed did not prove to be where the wildcatter thought it would be. The last named condition often led to a forced drilling campaign by the last leases secured and thus to serious drilling drainage problems. Ownership of the Land The land situation differs a great deal in various parts of the state. In the San Joaquin Valley, all the land is surveyed into sections and townships. Railroad land grants embraced a part of the land. In the areas that were developed at an early date, as at Kern River, Coalinga, McKittrick and the Sunset-Midway field, such land as the railroad company's diligent land department had been unable to sell for a song as grazing land still remained in its ownership. Operation and ownership

Jan 1, 1930

By R. U. Jackson

FACED with rising costs, the mining industry is looking to new methods and equipment to supply the relief necessary for profitable operation. Conveyor transportation is rapidly taking a superior position to motor tramming in underground mines because of lower installation, maintenance, and operating costs. Haulage is always a critical problem in underground mining. The ease of operation and flexibility of a haulage system can have an important effect on ultimate mining cost. With the average tenor of ores on the downgrade, larger tonnages are required for the same metal recovery. This selection of a tramming system can be the key to a successful, paying plant. Because this shift is being made at an ever advancing rate, it may become necessary to tailor mining operations to the transportation system, rather than to select a haulage system fitting set mining methods. In choosing a haulage system, the relative costs of the various methods are of the greatest importance. Adapting the mine to one or the other type of tramming is not considered in the cost analysis, and very likely would make little difference, outside of location of drifts and raises. In the cost sheet, the problem presents recommendations for a conveyor installation and a comparison of equipment, installation, operation, maintenance, and power costs are made. Under the track haulage estimate, no allowance was made for dumping equipment at the shaft pocket or bin. If this equipment was added to the balance sheet, the additional

Jan 1, 1952

By W. P. Sykes

SEVEN years ago, Dr. S. L. Hoyt1 presented a masterful discussion of the hard metal carbides and cemented tungsten carbide. His lecture summarized most of the data then available in the field; many of the details relating to the production, properties and structure of cemented tungsten carbide had never been previously published, for, in fact, this information was only then being acquired. During the intervening years, the cemented carbides have assumed a place of real importance in the commercial field, with an ever widening variety of applications due to constant improvement in the control of production technique and the unremitting search for new compositions that might better the performance of the alloys in one or another type of service. The most recent summary of production methods, properties and guides for the successful application of the cemented carbides appears in the 1936 edition of the Metals Handbook. Of necessity, much detailed information relating to structures and physical properties is not included in such a summary, and it is with such details that the present discussion is concerned.

Jan 1, 1938

By J. D. Price, G. V. Woody

MANY producers of by-product coke have spent considerable time and given considerable thought to the use of a substitute for low-volatile coal as an admixture with high-volatile coking coal for charging high-temperature by-product coke ovens. Generally speaking, there are two principal reasons for this, one being occasioned by the lack, in certain localities, of low-volatile coal delivered at a cost sufficiently low to permit its use, and another being the desirability of finding a substitute product with a delivered cost lower than the cost of the low-volatile coal. It was for the first of these reasons that the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation was particularly interested in this subject. This paper deals with the experimental work and the results obtained by that company in producing and using low-temperature char. OVERCOMING DEFECTS IN COKE FROM COLORADO COALS Colorado coking coals are all of the high-volatile type and were all laid down during he Cretaceous period, which makes them something like 80 million or so years younger, geologically, than eastern coals. They behave, when coked alone, something like the Pittsburgh-seam coals. They make a very brittle, highly cross-fractured, fingery coke of fair shatter value but quite low in resistance to abrasion. Mixed with a low-volatile coking coal such as Pocahontas or certain Oklahoma coals, they make a coke that is equal to virtually any of the eastern cokes. The inferior quality of Colorado coke has long been recognized, and a considerable amount of time, effort and money has been spent upon investigations of means for improving its physical properties. While it has been found that some improvement in quality of coke can be secured by the adjustment and control of such variables as pulverization, moisture content, oven temperature and bulk density of charge, and through the addition of certain inert materials such as pulverized coke breeze, pitch, high-volatile noncoking or semicoking coal, the benefits so gained have been comparatively small. There are no low or medium-volatile coking coals available within a reasonable freight-cost distance. Therefore a substitute for low-volatile coal was developed through low-temperature carbonization-or, more correctly speaking, through the partial devolatilization-of high-volatile coals. The blending of this lower volatile char with the high-volatile coking coal distinctly improves the quality of coke made from Colorado coal. There is nothing especially new about this idea. In 1908 a Japanese patent was taken out by Kotaro Shimomura, whose claim was: The method of making a nonfingery coke out of bituminous coals, without using natural coals of low-volatile matter; according to which a certain coal is heated at a temperature between about 300°C. and about 600°C. so as to leave about 15 to 25 per cent volatile matter in the coal; this coal is mixed with the

Jan 1, 1944

By AIME AIME

THE coal classification session* on Monday morning, Feb. 17, was opened by a paper by M. R. Campbell, entitled "Natural Groups of Coal and Allied Fuels," in which he pointed out, by means of graphical presentation of selected proximate analyses of coal, that coals can be classified on the basis of their moisture content. He proposes four groups of coal, brown coal, hydrobituminous, bituminous, and anthracite, each subdivided into two or three sub-groups. In a written discussion of this G. H. Cady, of the Illinois Geological Survey, showed that there is, in general, a progressive decrease in the moisture of Illinois coals from north to south, and that it would be very difficult to draw any arbitrary line dividing the coals of the State into two groups on the basis of moisture content.

Jan 1, 1930

By W. E. D. Jr. Stokes

THE application of aviation to mining and petroleum operations, on the basis of economy and attainment, has become a demonstrated fact. According to Dominion Government records, 30. Canadian companies engaged in air transportation with northland mining camps, carried 13,000 tons of freight in 1935, and in 1936 carried 16,000 tons. In addition, many mining companies used planes to transport prospectors with canoes, outboard motors, gasoline drums and supplies to remote locations, and one company maintained a plane to take radium-bearing ore from its mine on Great Bear Lake nearly 1000 miles south to the rail-way at Waterways, Alberta. Heavy pieces of mining machinery weighing 2 tons are being carried by Ford trimotor planes over the Andes, at an altitude of not less than 15,000 feet. At Bulolo, New Guinea, 17,500 tons of disassembled gold-dredging equipment has been flown over inaccessible terrain, while supplies and building materials for a, community of 1000 whites have been transported by airplane. A 3 1/2-ton shaft was carried on one notable trip, while at another time an automobile, 2 tons of rice and a large safe went over the mountains in one plane. Fig. 1 shows an electric generator that was carried by plane to Bulolo.

Jan 1, 1937

Page Laboratory Methods...........................127 Special Analytical Methods.......................127 Improvements in the Accuracy of the Vacuum-fusion Method for the Determination of Oxygen in Steel....................127 Quantitative Spectrochemical Analysis of Mixtures of Gases.......131 Oxygen Samples from Open-hearth Bath...............133 Rapid Analysis of Sample for Alumina.................139 Accurate Carbon Analyses in Low-carbon Steel.............139 Laboratory Technique for Study of Reactions Involving Liquid Metal. . . . 142 Rotating Liquid Crucibles......................143 Stationary Crucibles.........................145 Jones and Laughlin Experimental Furnace...............148 Vacuum Melting..........................149 Measurement of Temperature of Liquid Iron and Steel;..........149 Pouring and Teeming Temperatures..................149 Bath Temperatures.........................151 Plant Methods.............................154 Methods of Studying Slags.......................154 Sampling Slag in the Open Hearth..................155 Viscosity of Open-hearth Slags....................155 Petrographic Examination of Slag...................156 Statistical Methods Applied to Study and Control of Chemical Relations in Bath...............................166 Rapid Method of -Correlation Applicable to Study of Steelmaking Reactions............................166 INTRODUCTION On Thursday morning, Feb. 16, 1939, a round table discussion was held on the subject of Experimental Methods in the Study of Steelmaking. Dr. John Chipman, Professor of Metallurgy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and chairman of the A.I.M.E. Committee on Physical Chemistry of Steelmaking, presided. In opening the meeting, the chairman said: "The purpose of this round table is to discuss methods of study by which more and better information on the fundamentals of steelmaking can be obtained. It was thought that a round table discussion rather than a symposium would furnish the best opportunity for those actually using various methods of study to get together and discuss their common problems. For this reason attention will be focused upon methods of study rather than upon their results. We want new and current and up-to-date discussion.

Jan 1, 1940

Page Laboratory Methods...........................127 Special Analytical Methods.......................127 Improvements in the Accuracy of the Vacuum-fusion Method for the Determination of Oxygen in Steel....................127 Quantitative Spectrochemical Analysis of Mixtures of Gases.......131 Oxygen Samples from Open-hearth Bath...............133 Rapid Analysis of Sample for Alumina.................139 Accurate Carbon Analyses in Low-carbon Steel.............139 Laboratory Technique for Study of Reactions Involving Liquid Metal. . . . 142 Rotating Liquid Crucibles......................143 Stationary Crucibles.........................145 Jones and Laughlin Experimental Furnace...............148 Vacuum Melting..........................149 Measurement of Temperature of Liquid Iron and Steel;..........149 Pouring and Teeming Temperatures..................149 Bath Temperatures.........................151 Plant Methods.............................154 Methods of Studying Slags.......................154 Sampling Slag in the Open Hearth..................155 Viscosity of Open-hearth Slags....................155 Petrographic Examination of Slag...................156 Statistical Methods Applied to Study and Control of Chemical Relations in Bath...............................166 Rapid Method of -Correlation Applicable to Study of Steelmaking Reactions............................166 INTRODUCTION On Thursday morning, Feb. 16, 1939, a round table discussion was held on the subject of Experimental Methods in the Study of Steelmaking. Dr. John Chipman, Professor of Metallurgy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and chairman of the A.I.M.E. Committee on Physical Chemistry of Steelmaking, presided. In opening the meeting, the chairman said: "The purpose of this round table is to discuss methods of study by which more and better information on the fundamentals of steelmaking can be obtained. It was thought that a round table discussion rather than a symposium would furnish the best opportunity for those actually using various methods of study to get together and discuss their common problems. For this reason attention will be focused upon methods of study rather than upon their results. We want new and current and up-to-date discussion.

Jan 1, 1940

By L. W. McKeehan, W. C. Elmore

THE magnetic powder method, long used for roughly mapping magnetic fields, has recently been refined 1,2 for investigating the microscopic variations in the surface magnetization of ferromagnetic crystals. Bitter' first discovered regular powder patterns connected with the crystal structure of such specimens. Several other investigators3 have used Bitter's original technique, with slight modifications, to study the variation of the patterns with variations in the magnetizing field applied parallel to the surface, and their dependence upon the state of strain, of polish and of crystal cut. All of the explanations of these patterns on metallic ferromagnetics have been couched in general terms. In a preliminary report we have described an improvement in the powder technique which led us to the discovery of a new effect throwing considerable light on the magnetic secondary structure of alpha iron4 and of nickel' single crystals. We now report additional evidence confirming the existence and stability of a magnetic block secondary structure. SPECIMENS The following list describes the specimens used in the present investigation. DESIGNATION DESCRIPTION A1 Silicon ferrite furnished to us by Dr. W. E. Ruder, of the General Electric Co., for which he gave the following typical analysis: C, 0.05; P, 0.038; 5, 0.026; Mn, 0.15; Si, 3.24. Disk, 0.60 cm. diameter, about 0.05 cm. thick.

Jan 1, 1935

By Hans Lundberg

By electrical prospecting, orebodies that do not otherwise manifest themselves at the surface may be located. Conditions favorable to success with the methods are: Favorable geological conditions, such a proportion of minerals of good electrical conductivity in the orebody as will render the latter materially a better conductor than the enclosing rock, situation of the orebody within the range of influence of the electrical currents used and in proportion to this range a sufficient area of horizontal cross section of the orebody. The result is to permit of spotting drill holes accurately and to save the expense of drilling barren ground. THE art of prospecting, like other branches of mining, has developed rapidly during the last ten years, mainly because of the advancement of mining geology, but also because of the development of "geophysical methods," which are based on the different physical characters of minerals and rocks, e. g., specific gravity, elasticity, and magnetic and electric properties. These methods have proved of great value, especially in countries where the rock is covered by soil and direct geologic investigation is out of the question. In prospecting for orebodies, the methods based on studying differences in electrical conductivity have proved most successful; for which reason, the methods of electrical prospecting have been subject to the most energetic and systematic work, especially in Sweden. This paper gives a brief description of the methods of electrical prospecting now in use, especially the new electromagnetic methods, which have not been described before. The great differences in the electrical properties, especially in conductivity, between ore minerals and rock minerals are fundamental to all methods of electrical prospecting, for which reason, the electrical conductivity of ore minerals and rock minerals has been carefully studied in connection with and previous to the development of the various methods of prospecting with electricity. Ore minerals with a metallic luster, such as chalcopyrite, iron pyrite, galena, specular iron, magnetite, etc., also graphite and a number of cows, have considerably higher conductivity than the surrounding rock and soil (see Table 1). The figures of the table denote the specific resistance W, expressed in ohms for a cube with an edge of 1 centimeter.

Jan 7, 1925

By Joseph Richards

PLATING iron with copper has received great attention from practical sand scientific men, but, aside from the deposit secured by immersion of iron in copper salts, by electro-plating, or by welding together thin sheets of iron and copper, these efforts have met with no success. Failure of these efforts, in the production of copper plating, has been due to the fact that the conditions normally and necessarily present in the plating operation are antagonistic to the production of copper-plated iron. In most, if not quite all of them, a bath of molten copper has been used. The-temperature of a molten copper bath is so high that the iron becomes oxidized before it can be immersed in the molten copper, and unless protective flux for the molten copper is used, the surface of the copper will become oxidized, and, in any event, the plated iron will oxidize immediately on its being withdrawn from the molten bath. I recently had the pleasure of visiting the works of The Metals Plating Co. at Elizabeth, N. J., where I witnessed the plating of iron sheets with copper by a new process.1 The plating metal is applied to the sheet in the form of a liquid mixture by means of rolls, such as inking rolls. The sheet, after being coated with the mixture, is automatically carried forward and deposited on a link-belt conveyor, which carries it through a furnace maintained at a. temperature well above that of molten copper. The basic principle involved in this method lies in the application of the plating metal to the sheet while the sheet is cold and then melting the metal in place on the sheet under conditions which are favorable to the formation of the plating.

Jan 1, 1919

By W. Griffith

The purpose of this paper is to make public record of new information in regard to the sustaining power of artificial mine-roof supports (not timber props), the result of investigations recently made in the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania. First.—By the "Scranton Mine Cave Commission," appointed to investigate the mining conditions under the City of Scranton. Second.—By the "Pennsylvania Mine Cave Commission," appointed by the Governor to investigate the general subject of mine caves in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania. Third.-—By the personal researches and tests made by the author in an effort to secure a better artificial mine-roof or surface support. During the progress of the work of the Scranton Mine Cave Commission, the Engineers for the Commission, Messrs. Conner and Griffith, being aware of the general lack of exact information in the engineering profession as to the strength of the ordinary artificial mine-roof or surface support, and particularly the stronger kinds, such as mine cogs, rock piers, etc., had tests made at the Fritz Engineering Laboratory at Lehigh University, to determine the sustaining power under various compressions of the several kinds of artificial mine supports in use in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania. A report of these tests wasincluded in the report of this Commission, which was published as Bulletin No. 25 of the United States Bureau of Mines, Washington. A similar series of tests, more extensive and more elaborately planned, were subsequently made for the Pennsylvania Minc Cave Commission at the U. S. Government Testing Laboratory at Pittsburgh, Pa. The report of this Commission was made to the Governor, but has not yet been published. The author, during his connection with the Scranton Mine Cave Commission, observed that of all the various devices employed for sustaining the roof of coal mines, the one universally used and the best

Jan 1, 1918

By Vasily P. Muravjev, Gennady I. Razgildeev

The theory of reliability is a powerful mathematical tool for determining optimum selection of components and application of electrical power to coal mines. In order to make this tool useful, statistical material on equipment life must be gathered and all failures carefully recorded. Statistical data can be applied to new apparatus design and can be used to determine optimum configuration of network and maintenance to reduce costs. Reference is made to underground power systems in the USSR. Technical progress in the last few years has occurred in the design and application of highly productive coal mining and transporting machinery. One of the most important problems facing mining engineers is to increase the availability of the machine to obtain higher productivity. However, machine failures and breakdowns of electrical power supply components cause serious delays in the coal-winning processes. In spite of the fact that electrical equipment and the power supply contribute only a small percentage of direct mine costs, electrical failures as well as power supply delays can result in severe indirect losses. It is necessary, therefore, to consider reliability and safety in the application of electrical equipment underground. To obtain the best results, it is necessary to investigate and evaluate the reliability of the electrical mining components (starters, breakers, motors, cables, etc.) and optimal methods for minimizing maintenance, the desired result being equipment which is efficient and safe. Electrical equipment reliability directly influences economics: the lower the reliability the more frequently failures occur, causing serious working delays and possibly huge economic losses. By the same token, while increasing the number of preventive maintenance calls per unit time might result in fewer failures, thus reducing delays, the cost of making more frequent maintenance inspections will increase; this is one aspect to be discussed in detail. Obviously, failures of identical types of electrical equipment (starters with the same current and voltage, etc.) are influenced variably by different working conditions, environments, quality of the apparatus, maintenance procedures (personnel, frequency, quality), load, and other factors. Hence, the lifetime of identical types of equipment will vary depending upon usage in terms of the foregoing factors. Thus for a given type of electrical component, these factors must be considered quantitatively; the interaction of all these factors are evaluated quantitatively by a statistical method using probability theory. Equipment reliability must be quantitatively determined from a study of equipment life, since no one laboratory test can reproduce all working conditions and environmental effects. Nevertheless, reliability theory applied to electrical mining equipment is a very powerful mathematical tool for selecting as well as evaluating certain parameters. It is necessary to select several reliability parameters so that one can obtain an expression for the total overall economic situation in terms of cost, taking into consideration damage caused by electrical equipment failure and cost of maintenance. To accomplish this result, such characteristics as apparatus lifetime, breakdown idle time, and losses (damages) can be determined quantitatively on a statistical basis. For identical electrical equipment working under similar conditions, the previously mentioned reliability factors are random variables and therefore can be characterized readily by a probability density function. Investigations carried out by the authors in the Kuznetsk Basin (Kuzbas) in West Siberia, USSR, show that the reliability factors of electrical mining equipment are well described by the exponential, normal, or Erlang's distribution in most cases. Mining electrical equipment life is well-described by the exponential law. The distribution of lifetime density is

Jan 1, 1971