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By N. O. Johnson, J. Boyer, D. H. Sargent, R. B. Frahme

Although the Western bentonite industry has grown rapidly, it is facing major challenges to sustained growth. The fundamental penalty of costly overland transportation to both domestic markets and to US seaports is of increasing importance; as both substitute materials and foreign bentonites present more formidable competition in the historic market areas of drilling muds, foundry sands, and iron ore pelletizing; and as foreign demand grows more rapidly than domestic demand. The Western bentonite industry is facing these challenges by altering its transportation patterns, by upgrading of products, and by emphasizing customer service and stringent quality control.

Jan 1, 1980

By Staff

Concentrates at the rate of 1000 tons a day are being smelted by International Nickel Co.'s new commercial flash smelting furnace. Developed by Inco, the process is a radical departure from the former practice which involved conventional smelting in coal-fired reverberatory furnaces. In the new process copper flotation concentrate and flux are injected horizontally with oxygen into a specially designed reverberatory furnace, and smelting temperature is maintained solely by the flash combustion of iron and sulphur while the particles are in suspension. The major benefits of this new process stem from two sources: 1)-Substitution of energy from local resources for imported coal; and 2)-Production of liquid sulphur dioxide, replacing equivalent imported sulphur. A measure of these benefits is afforded by considering the saving, in 1954, of 60,000 tons of coal and the production of 70,000 tons of liquid sulphur dioxide, equivalent to 35,000 tons of sulphur.

Jun 1, 1955

By A. F. Lucas

Introduction BELLE ISLE, located in the low sea marshes near Atchafalaya Bay, is the southeasternmost of the famous Five Salt Islands of Louisiana. Rising about 80 ft. (24 m.) above the level of the surrounding marsh and being some 800 acres (323 ha.) in extent, it constitutes a striking landmark on the low Gulf coast, and since the eighteenth century, when it played an important part in the operation of the buccaneers, it has been intermittently frequented by man. In 1897, the writer discovered the great mass of salt that underlies the island and shortly afterward pub-lished a brief account of the geology of Belle Isle and the neighboring salt islands.' In that paper he described principally the salt, but pointed out also the occurrence of petroleum and of sulphur in the strata above the salt. Since that time the island has been extensively explored by the drill, and the developments up to 1908 have been described by Veatch2 and Harris," and Knapp.4 The writer's early conclusions as to the probable presence of sulphur in considerable quantity have been confirmed by the later drilling, some of the wells having found quantities of gas containing sulphur dioxide and a number of sulphur-bearing strata as well. Under the stimulus of the present keen demand for sulphur for war purposes, a syndicate of New York capitalists was recently formed to explore the sulphur resources of the island in more detail. Under the writer's direction, six wells were drilled for this syndicate during the winter of 1916-17. The present paper presents briefly the results of this work and sums up the present knowledge of the geology of this highly interesting locality.

Jan 9, 1917

By Sanford S. Cole

LABORATORY TESTS Takakuwa and Takamori' have applied the principle of phase inversion, well known in the chemistry of colloids, as a means of evaluating the wettability of minerals and to classify some frothing agents. By determining the angle of contact across the liquid phase of an emulsion, it has been possible to readily determine the wettability of a mineral. When this angle is less than 90°, the emulsion is of the oil-water type, and if it is greater than 90a, then the emulsion is of the water-oil type. The authors replaced oil with benzene in their recommended operation. They studied this method with the influence of ethyl xanthene on galena, on activated or unactivated zinc blend and of sodium cyanide on chalcopyrite and zinc blend. Raffinot and Formanek" described a pilot flotation plant with a capacity of 33 to 66 lb per hr of ore which is at the Laboratory of the Sociktk Minerais et Metaux in Paris. The plant will handle about 440 lb of ore per 8-hr shift and a regular series of tests can be undertaken with two to three tons of ore. Ore is ground to 0.1 in. and blended in advance. The plant includes two mills used either as rod mills or ball mills, conditioners, four groups of three cells for rougher circuits, eight cleaner cells and two small mills for regrinding middlings. Automatic controls for the pulp level in the cells, automatic sampling and addition of flotation reagents by electric valves facilitate plant operation and help to produce regular runs in spite of small throughputs.

Jan 8, 1963

DR. E. E. SOUTHARD,* Boston, Mass.-As Director of a Psychopathic Hospital, I am a sort of "voice in the wilderness" speaking to mining engineers. I suppose that I am here because Major Gilbreth had prevailed upon me to speak on a kindred topic before the mechanical engineers at the annual meeting of their Institute. You might wonder why a psychopathic hospital, a state institution for the first care of mental cases and especially for incipient, acute and curable cases, should have any part or lot in the industrial problem. We have obvious contacts in our institution with the retarded and exceptional children of the schools, with the defective and non-defective

Jan 4, 1918

Jan 1, 1916

By Andrew Balint, Peter Cammack

When coal is irradiated by the X-rays emitted from a plutonium 238 isotope, the radiation absorbed by elements of low atomic number (carbon and hydrogen) is lower than that absorbed by elements of high atomic number (silicon, aluminium, iron) which form the ash in coal. The differences are reproducible and readily measurable, and this paper describes how this technique is used to determine the ash content of coal and to optimize measurement accuracy. Uses of the output signal are given with an example of a simple control circuit, and the advantages of instantaneous ash measurement are highlighted in terms of operational convenience and profit.

Jan 1, 1977

By Graham Crutchfield

THE W. I. Cook pool in Shackelford County, Texas, has been the subject of a number of papers and articles. Its unique position both as to operation and development has made it an ideal location for unit repressuring. The major portion of the pool is located on the W. I. Cook ranch and most of the oil leases are owned by Roeser & Pendleton, FIG. 1.-PRODUCING SAND CONTOURS, COOK POOL, JAN. 1, 1931. Inc. and the Continental Oil Co. and operated by Roeser & Pendleton, Inc. The Humble Oil & Refining Co. and Tom James operate producing leases which have a vital bearing on the unity of the pool. Both have cooperated in the repressuring project. Practically the entire royalty is .owned by Mrs. W. I. Cook and she has given the operators her entire cooperation in all phases of unit repressuring.

Jan 1, 1931

By Dirk van Zyl

The paper describes the construction of a clay pad in Southern California. The pad consisted of a mixture of in situ soil and imported clay products. The paper summarizes design considerations. Laboratory permeability tests performed on samples removed from the pad formed part of the quality control requirement of the State of California Water Quality Control Board. The paper presents statistical analysis of the data (about 70 permeability tests in total) and their significance in controlling seepage losses. The results obtained from an investigation of the first pad-area after completion of the leach cycle are presented and discussed. Results from visual observations and laboratory tests are presented.

Jan 1, 1984

Jan 1, 1909

By Elmer W. Pehrson

THE founding of the American Institute of Mining Engineers in 1871 came at an unusually significant moment in the life of our country. The industrial revolution, in which mineral production played a major role, was just getting underway. The iron industry, established several decades earlier, was reaching sizable proportions. In 1871 pig-iron production was approaching 2 million tons, and the industry had spread as far west as Missouri and Wisconsin. The chief sources of iron ore were Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Michigan. The age of steel was in its infancy; production had not yet reached 100,000 tons per annum. The gold rush to California two decades earlier and the discovery of other gold and silver bonanzas in the West paved the way for the transcontinental railways, which were then being built and which contributed much to the subsequent development of the great copper, lead, and zinc districts of the Rocky Mountain area. Regular production of copper in the Michigan peninsula and of lead in Missouri and the upper Mississippi region had been established for many years but on a scale dwarfed by the quantities later required as technical progress, invention and enterprise made possible the rapid expansion of industry. Discovery of oil in Pennsylvania in 1859, the growing recognition of the

Jan 1, 1947

By Raymond A. Bradbury

The first diesel-powered Scooptram has now been in service for 21/2 yr at the I-C mine of Martin County Coal Corp. It has become the workhorse of the operation, being used around the clock many days. The fleet of nine 20-ton capacity Teletrams used behind three Jeffrey Heliminers now have more than 1 1/2-yr experience in the Coalburg mine. They have been exposed to some difficult conditions which, include steep grades, water, mud, and rutted roadways. These units have proven to he both rugged and powerful. The safety components and shutdown systems make these haulage units very safe for underground coal mines. A clean-burning engine, a satisfactory exhaust conditioning system, and good ventilation are the keys to maintaining a safe and healthful atmosphere for the underground operators and other employees.

Jan 1, 1976

Jan 1, 1940

By J. L. Christie, W. R. Webster, R. S. Pratt

Since the delivery of our paper on Some Comparative Properties of Tough-pitch and Phosphorized Copper,1 a new brand known as "oxygen-free high-conductivity copper" (brand OFHC) has become available to consumers. It was thought desirable to make a comparison between the properties of this material and those of the materials covered by our original paper and its discussion. Preliminary tests had indicated some notable differences. A billet of oxygen-free high-conductivity copper was taken from regular production. A chemical analysis of the particular billet was not made, but the producer of the material has given as typical the analysis shown in Table 1. The

Jan 1, 1933

By V. K. Karra, A. J. Magerowski

An overview of the scope of a computer program meant for aiding the design of crushing circuits is presented. Effect of circuit variables like the screen separation size and the crusher setting is illustrated. For a better understanding of the logic behind the circuit sizing, a detailed commentary in the case of a starting example is given.

Jan 1, 1982

By J. F. Mahoney, P. B. Hobsbawn, N. Arbiter, C. C. Harris

Current trends in flotation applications are reviewed and effects of increased cell sizes and automation of circuits considered. The role of laboratory and pilot plant investigations in establishing design criteria and project feasibility are assessed and illustrated.

Jan 1, 1978

By J. Leland Myer

IN a precise study of Pennsylvania anthracites, the research on European. anthracites is of little value to us because of their different physical and chemical nature. Likewise, there can be little correlation with the physical properties of bituminous and lower rank coals. Although all high-rank coals are thought to have had a common origin, microscopic examination revealing essentially the same kinds of organisms in similar .states of preservation, the different physical properties apparently arise from the degree or kinds of metamorphism of these coals. Representative samples from the Pennsylvania deposits have been selected for analysis, together with graphitic anthracite, bituminous coal, and some of the common forms of carbon. A complete list, with descriptions, is shown in Table 1.

Jan 1, 1932

By Olin G. Bell

During the year 1928 ten new producing areas have been discovered and several extensions in oil and gas fields have been found in southwestern Texas. This year, however, will reveal itself as one of small profits in spite of considerable increase in production for the area as a whole over the previous years. At the beginning of 1928 the fields in this area (Fig. 1) were producing a daily average of 7500 bbl. from 730 wells, whereas at the close of the year the daily average had increased to approximately 14,000 bbl. from 827 wells. Production for the year was 3,453,938 bbl. The total oil produced in Southwest Texas since its discovery has been 16,955,-388 barrels. (Table 1.)

Jan 1, 1929

By D. W. Peaceman

In previous papers by this author on numerical calculations of multidimensional miscible displacement, some simplifying assumptions were made in writing the dispersion term of the differential equation. It was assumed that the flow vectors were essentially parallel to the x-axis. However, in most multidimensional miscible displacements, the flow vectors are not so simply oriented with respect to the coordinate axes. This paper derives the correct dispersion term /or the more general case; gives a difference approximation /or the dispersion tern; and derives the stability criterion for the corresponding explicit difference eguation.

Jan 1, 1967

By Plato Malozemoff

Our young, technically oriented people today are entranced by the space program, by physics that unlocks the secrets of nature, by electronics, and by other new technologies. The mining industry seems to be their last choice. Enrollment in mining schools is dropping and so is the interest of our great universities in mining curricula. The image of the mining industry appears to be one of being conservative, nonprogressive, resistant to change, and lacking in excitement and challenge. I submit that this public image is wrong. While the initial development of mines is usually slow and seemingly plodding, the problem of solving the imponderables of nature-the ore emplacement, its structure and physical characteristics, its response to recovery processes, and its probable ultimate profitability-is stimulating to the most acute and searching of minds and requires careful application of a combination of many technologies. The paths to obtaining the desired results must be within the bounds of reasonable expenditures in the early stage of development when risks are still high, and this financial discipline is a further stimulus to the imaginative search for the right answers.

Jan 6, 1968