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By N. H. Cone

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

By T. Egleston

At the Dover meeting of the Institute, Mr. F. A. Canfield showed some of the members a machine which he had invented for dressing mineralogical and geological specimens, which he has since modified and brought to such a high state of perfection, that after having used it for several months in preparing specimens for the cabinet of the

By John Birkinbine

An unusually large number of crystals of magnetite obtained in the exploitation of a deposit of magnetic iron-ore of remarkable purity, encouraged the preparation of this paper, and its presentation at this time, that the matter might go on record in the Transactions. To make this record more complete, a preliminary statement is offered concerning the district and locality in which the ore is found. To the northeastern portion of the State of New York the United States is indebted for a large percentage of the iron-ore which has assisted in developing the resources and industries of the nation. As early as 1804, iron-ore was mined between Lake Champlain and the Adirondack mountains, and this district has since been an important and continuous contributor to our iron-ore supply. The production of the Lake Champlain district for the last, eleven years is as follows: Years. Gross tons. 1879,...........420,341 1880,...........531,000 1881,...........637,000 1882,...........675,000 1883,...........500,000 1884,...........504,894 1885,...........379,077 1886,...........588,752 1887,...........768,852 1888,...........789,419 1889,...........750,230 Approximate total,.....6,644,565

Jan 1, 1890

By T. H. Oxnam

The predominating value of the ores now being treated by the Palmarejo and Mexican Gold Fields, Ltd., is silver, although some gold also is carried. The present method of treatment consists of wet-crushing and concentrating, followed by the cyanidation of the un-roasted sands and slimes. The sands are treated by leaching, and the so-called " accumulated slimes " by a system of agitation and decantation. It is only within very recent years that the cyanidation of unroasted silver-ores has been commercially successful. In fact, at the time operations were begun at the cyanide-plant at Chinipas, February, 1902, I knew of no other leaching-plant treating similar ores successfully. The cyanide treatment of the Palmarejo ores differs but little from the ordinary practice in cyaniding gold-ores; and perhaps but little, if any, new information concerning the metallurgy of silver is to be gleaned from it. Palmarejo Mines. The Palmarejo mines are located in the southwestern part of the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, on the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains, at an elevation of 3,200 feet. The mills, 12 miles distant, are situated on the Chinipas river, near the town of Chinipas, which is about 150 miles northeast of Agiabampo, on the Gulf of California. Supplies are shipped via this port as this route is the best and most direct to the property. The ore-bodies in the Palmarejo mines have been deposited along a series of rock-fractures, caused by an intrusion of eruptive rock. The most important of these fractures or fissures, both in width and value, are the Prieta and Blanca veins, which

Jan 1, 1906

By B. Silliman

The experiments detailed by Dr. Hunt,* having demonstrated the fact that the copper contained in the "clay ore" of Jones's Mine, was rendered completely soluble in the bath of ferrous chloride, used in the Hunt and Douglas process, after heating in contact with carbonaceous matter in a close vessel, I set myself to devise a form of muffle furnace adapted to the treatment of large quantities of these and similar ores by a continuous process. The result is shown in the diagrams on Plate X, reduced from the working drawings, after which this furnace was built early in 1876, at Phœnixville, by the Chemical Copper Company on their works at this place. The peculiar character of this ore determined the form, dimensions, and position, with reference to charging and discharging of these muffles. The ore arrived from the mine with from 20 to 25 per cent. of moisture, and when dried at 21o F., or more slowly at lower temperature, it falls to a light incoherent powder, with occasional lumps of undecomposed rock. In this condition it is readily mingled with coal-dust or any like reducing agent, and requires no other preparation for the muffle than the use of the shovel, to mix it well with the reducing agent. As it is a remarkably good non-conductor of heat, it was obvious that the mass, to be heated through in a reasonable time, must not be too thick, while the weight of the mass must be sustained in a way to avoid undue strain upon the walls of the muffle. These walls must be as thin as practicable, to favor the more rapid transmission of heat, and must, therefore, be so constructed as to admit of being stayed on the sides at frequent intervals to resist the lateral thrust of the very mobile mass of pulverulent ore, which, for obvious reasons, must be charged at the top and drawn from the bottom of each chamber. These considerations led to the form adopted, viz., two vertical muffles, standing upon very strong bridge tiles, seen in longitudinal section, on the line E, F, and in plan in Fig. 3, on the same plane. (Plate X.) The vertical section of the muffle is seen in Fig. 4, drawn in the plane G, H, of the longitudinal section, Fig. 6, which is the key to all sections. The walls of the muffles are built of the best firebrick, very care-

By Andrew A. Blair

The increased importance and value of chemical analysis in connection with metallurgical operations is largely, if not entirely, due to the increased accuracy of the analytical methods used for the quantitative determination of the foreign elements always associated with the metal operated upon. This applies especially in the working of iron and steel, and to the determination of the amounts of such elements as phosphorus, carbon, and silicon. The influence of greater or smaller amounts of these elements upon the physical properties of iron and steel will be better understood when the proper experiments shall have been made upon samples whose chemical composition is known with almost absolute certainty. From the present standpoint of analytical chemistry, it is easy to see that at least one reason for the failure of many attempts to solve this problem, is the inaccuracy of the analytical methods used. Even at the present time the frequent want of agreement (over and above the unavoidable error due to manipulation) between chemists working on the same sample, leads one to think that there is still at least a choice in the methods used. It is true that very frequently a faulty method in the hands of a skilful analyst may be made to give corroborative results

By Martin Coryell

Ehrenberg was the first to publish and direct attention to the peculiarities of the diatomaceous deposit of Richmond; but how and by whom he was supplied with the material for his microscopical investigations, is not generally known; but we may presume W. B. Rogers, formerly State Geologist of Virginia, furnished the material, and may have given the geological position or horizon. OF these facts we have no available evidence, nor have we any estimate of the thickness of this stratum of diatomaceous or infusorial earth. At the request of a member of this Institute, I have investigated the subject, and offer the following facts as the result, derived principally from information supplied by Mr. John Ott, of the Southern Fertilizing Company, Dr. William Taylor, State Chemist, C. Peticolas, microscopist, Captain Robert H. Temple, civil engineer, Major C. M. Bolton and Mr. C. M. Smith, civil engineers, and formerly engaged in constructing the tunnel under Church Hill, in Richmond. The city of Richmond is generally described as being built on seven hills. This is not the fact, geologically speaking. Originally, there was an immense plateau of land, about two hundred feet above tide, in which a deep excavation was made from the west to east by the James River cutting down to the granite. Opening southward and meeting the valley of the James are various ravines and gullies, in the principal of which are Shockoe and Gillies Creeks. The formation is tertiary, subdivided into all the classified divisions, but at the present moment no one has been found to make this section a special study. Rogers's early classifications and diagrams, with all their imperfections, are the only published records, and the printed editions are long since exhausted. The city of Richmond is really situated in these ravines of the James, Shockoe, Gillies, and their connections. The profile marked A, Plate V, represents the section of the plateau

By John Birkinbine

Secretary's Note.—In printing this paper in the present volume, the figures given in the pamphlet edition have been brought more nearly up to date, the product of 1899 being in many instances inserted. Iron-Ore Resources. In a paper presented to the Institute in 1897,* I discussed the iron-resources of the United States as then developed, calling attention to some principal sources upon which other countries depended. The following statement will give a general idea of the amounts, as compiled from the latest official records, of ores won, and metal produced, in the nations which are important contributors to the world's output. Unfortunately these are not all contemporaneous, since in some countries the statistics do not appear until after one or more years. The statement covers not only pig-iron and iron-ore, but also manganese-ore —the manganese mined being principally used in the production of spiegeleisen or ferro-manganese, and these alloys being generally included in the pig-iron output. Table I, which epitomizes the present situation, shows respectively the countries and the quantities of iron-ore and man-

Jan 1, 1901

By Pedro G. Salmon

The broad general distinction between primary and secondary batteries lies in the fact that in the former the current is produced by the consumption of one or both of the elements composing the cell, while in the latter the elements retain their form as such, and merely pass from one state of chemical combination to another. Much has been said in condemnation and but little in praise of storage-batteries; yet, notwithstanding the severe criticisms passed upon them, the skepticism with which electricians have viewed them, and the ignorance with which they have been handled, they continue to push their way into use. Their manufacture has now become a well-defined and established industry.

Jan 1, 1890

By Francis A. Pocock

The writer is continually asked, if this electricity:is all you claim for it, why do not the mines put it in and use it? The best answer was given by Mr. John Fox Tallis, in his paper read before the South Wales Institute of Engineers in 1888, namely, that the reasons are similar to those which have prevented the more general employment of other systems of haulage. Managers, as a rule, are " not experienced mechanical engineers; neither are they all versed in electrical engineering." It may be said that there are a number of " able and practical electrical engineers who could do the work; but those electrical engineers are not conversant with the practical routine of colliery work and are, therefore, placed at a disadvantage by not knowing the actual requirements of mining engineers, and the many little difficulties to be met and contended with in underground workings; and, until mining engineers have acquired the necessary knowledge and a confidence in electricity, it is only natural that they will continue to follow the beaten path." In the above remarks, Mr. Tallis has hit the nail on the head. In the face of the partial failure, financially, of the haulage-plant which the Union Electric Company of Philadelphia had set to work at Lykens Valley, Pa., an electric haulage-plant was installed near Scranton, Pa. The question was not whether electricity could do the work, but whether any electrical company knew enough about the practical difficulties to attack and overcome them. That point being settled, the remainder was easy. The contract for the Erie Colliery haulage-plant was signed in January, 1889. This colliery is owned by the Hillside Coal and Iron Company, Mr. Samuel Hines, President, and Captain W. A. May, Superintendent. The company has been using arc-lamps in its breakers for three years. It is the only company in the Lackawanna Valley which has had enterprise enough to do so. Consequently, it was acquainted

Jan 1, 1890

By T. E. Schwarz

The publication of the report by Mr. F. L. Ransome1 was welcomed by many engineers who had mined in the heart of the San Juan country, braved its long and snowy winters, climbed its lofty peaks, run the gauntlet of its snow-slides, and studied its problems of geology, while making dividends for their English or American clients. This report helps one to understand why the bonanzas occurred, and why the inevitable " borrasca " presents itself where least expected. The Red Mountain district of Ouray county, a very productive section from 1884 to 1893, occupies considerable space in the report mentioned. The character of the ore-occurrence.

Jan 1, 1906

By B. F. Fackenthal

One of the practical questions presented to the blast-furnace manager, with regard to which little help can be obtained from existing technical literature, is the manner of filling and blowing-in. This operation is often performed according, more or less, to traditions which have come down from earlier practice, and which, if not positively detrimental when followed with the large modern furnace, may at least be greatly improved, just as the running of the furnace itself, while in blast, has been improved. It is not necessary, as many of the old furnace-men believed, to make a lot of white or silver-gray iron at the start, or to spend many weeks, or months even, in bringing the furnace to its normal burden. It has seemed to me that the publication of carefully-recorded data of practice on this point may be interesting to the members of the Institute engaged in the management of blast-furnaces. The enlarged blast-furnace at the Durham Iron Works, Riegelsville, Pa., owned by Messrs. Cooper & Hewitt, of New York City, was first put in blast February 21, 1876, since which time it has made seven blasts, and is now running on the eighth. A description of the furnace-plant, together with a record of the fifth blast, was given in my paper read at the Chattanooga meeting, May, 1885 (Transactions, xiv., 130). After some of the early blasts the furnace-lines underwent considerable change, and I have thought best to accompany this paper with drawings showing the lines and the tuyere-arrangement (see Plates I. and II.), and to give also the following summary of the conditions and results of each blast. During the first and second blasts no coke was used, and the furnace ran very irregularly, showing a constant tendency to scaffold, which was attributed, in great part, to the small hearth and other defective lines. The large proportion of air required at this furnace is accounted for by the fact that the engines are defective, and do not deliver into the furnace the amount of air indicated by the pistondisplacement.

Jan 1, 1890

By Frank Firmstone

(Ottawa Meeting, October, 1889. Substituted for the briefer note on the same subject. pre sented at the meeting and subsequently distributed in preliminary pamphlet edition.) Prof. H. Hoefer's theory of blasting was published in the Oesterr. Zeitschrift, xxviii., 1880, and xxix., 1881; and Part 111. in Nos. 15, 16 and 17, xxx., 1882, and subsequent numbers of that

Jan 1, 1890

By Edward Keller

In a paper, " A Study of the Elimination of Impurities from Copper-Mattes, etc.," presented to the Institute at the Atlantic City meeting, February, 1898, I gave certain figures which I called the relative slaggability in refining copper. In that paper* will be found the following pertaining to this subject: Relative Slaggability in Refining Converter-Copper. Cu. Pb. Bi. Sb. As. Se, Te. 1 129.5 1.13 7.30 5.22 0.81 and Relative Slaggability in Refining Electrolytic Copper. Cu. Pb. Sb. As. 1 41 9.97 7.13 Since there is a, possibility of misinterpretation of the above values, the following supplementary information may seem justified in explanation. As the contents of impurities in the unrefined or crude copper were unknown, the contents of the refined copper were substituted therefor, merely in order to obtain the two series of figures for comparison. These figures are higher than they would be had I been able to take the correct ones for the unrefined copper. The high figure, 129.5, for lead, in the case of converter-copper, means simply that more lead was slagged from the crude copper than remained in the refined copper; or, in definite values, that to 1 per cent. of copper slagged, the ratio of the lead gone into the slag and the lead remaining in the refined copper is 129.5 : 100. It is possible to approximate the true slaggability much more closely by adding the quantities of impurities in the refined copper to those in the slag, thus obtaining values for the crude copper in which the amounts volatilized are ignored (the latter

Jan 1, 1901

By Joseph Hartshorne

The nature if this process and the general course of its development have already been described by me in two papers read before the Institute.* Since the latter paper mas read, in February, 1898, the development at Kladno has been almost altogether in the direction of using metal direct from the blast-furnace. This has now been the regular practice for about a year. The molten metal is brought from the furnace in ladles, without the intervention of any mixing- or accumulating-reservoir. The plant remains practically the same as originally described by me,† except that the primary furnace has been enlarged as much as was permitted by the existing conditions. This was done primarily in order to increase the capacity of the

Jan 1, 1901

By Samuel S. Wyer

The installation of the gas-producer power-plant in America has been so unusual that all engineers have viewed it with interest; a large majority, however, regard it with a lack of confidence and many with positive distrust. Despite the fact that

Jan 1, 1906

By J. M. Boutwell

PAGE I. Introduction,.......541 II. General Geography,......542 III. General Geology,......544 1. Sedimentary Rocks,..... 544 2. Igneous Rocks,...... 545 3. Areal Geology,.......546 4. Structural Geology......547 IV. General Character of Ore-Deposits,...548 V. Genesis of the Disseminated Ore in Monzonite,.... 549 1. General,........549 2. Character and Occurrence,... 649 3. Genesis,....... 550 4. Superficial Alteration.....553 5. Conclusion......553 VI. Genesis of the Ore in Fissures,...553 1. Character........... 553 2 Occurrence......554 3. Deposition...... 556 4. Transporting Agent....555 6. Immediate Causes of Deposition..556 6. Superficial Alteration....564 7. Conclusionl ..... 565 VII. Genesis of the Copper-Ore in Limestone...... 566 1. Character......566 2. Occurrencel .....566 3. Deposition......567 4. Relation of Fissures.....569 5. Relation of Intrusives,...571 6. Superficial Alteration....575 7. Conclusion......578 VIII. Periods of Ore-Deposition....578 IX. Dates of Mineralization.....579 X. General Conclusions.....580 I. Introduction. The object of this paper is to present a concise statement on the genesis of the copper- and lead-deposits of the Bingham

Jan 1, 1906

By J. E. Spurr

The region here discussed is that part of Western Nevada in which. during the last few years. discoveries of rich gold- and

Jan 1, 1906

By C. Willard Hayes

One of the most productive iron-ore districts of the southern Appalachians lies in the vicinity of Cartersville, in northwestern Georgia, where the ore-deposits are so directly related to the stratigraphic and structural features of the region that a description of its geology possesses economic as well as scientific interest. Stratigraphy.—The area shown on the accompanying map, Fig. 1, occupies the southeastern portion of Bartow county, Georgia. It is about equally divided between the older crystalline and metamorphic rocks which occupy the Piedmont plateau and Appalachian mountains on the east, and the Paleozoic formations which occupy the Appalachian valley on the west. The line separating these two groups of formations enters the mapped area near the northeastern corner, and, pursuing a somewhat irregular diagonal course, leaves it, as shown on the map, near the southwestern corner. This line marks

Jan 1, 1901

By H. M. Chance

The Choctaw coal-field is a direct westward extension of the Arkansas coal-field, but its coals are not like Arkansas coals, except in the country immediately adjoining the Arkansas line. From the base of the coal-bearing rocks up to the top of the coalmeasures, I find a total thickness of at least 8500 feet. This great mass of coal-bearing rocks consists of an alternation of slates, shales, sandstones and coal-beds, with their accompanying under-beds of fire-clay. Only one small bed of limestone was observed. This occurs near the middle of the series; it is about eighteen inches thick, and quite arenaceous. The formation is naturally subdivided by seven or eight thick beds of sandstone, varying from 50 to 200 feet in thickness, the outcropping edges of which form a series of more or less bold " hogback " ridges, the interbedded shales and slate forming the intervening valleys. The base of the coal-series is a massive sandstone, ranging from 100 to 200 feet or more in thickness, lying immediately beneath the Grady coal-bed, which is the lowest known coal. In the district embraced between. the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad and the Arkansas State line, this sand-rock usually forms a bold semi-mountainous ridge. This is the ridge through which the St. Louis and San Francisco railroad passes at Bryan station, where the Grady coal-bed is opened and worked, from which point it can be traced westward without difficulty, passing about three miles north of Le Flor on the same railroad, thence west to the " Little Narrows " (which is merely a gap in the ridge), 'and beyond to a point two miles west of the Thompson-McKinney place, where it swings abruptly north for a mile or more, only to resume immediately its westward course, forming for some miles the northern boundary of the valley known as the " Boiling-Springs Prairie," beyond which it trends somewhat

Jan 1, 1890