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By S. J. Cook

The system of mining statistics for Canada, as it exists today, represents the result of long years of progress, first by the Geological Survey, later and more comprehensively by the Mines Branch of the Department of Mines, and now by the Mining Branch of the Dominion Bureau of Statistics-all supplemented by the very comprehensive reports published by the several provincial departments of mines. It is the purpose of this paper briefly to state the development and present status of Canada's statistical service, more particularly in regard to information on mineral production, and to show that in its evolution continuous progress has been made in the elimination of factors tending to duplication and overlaping, with the result that the construction of an adequate statistical service has been carried out with the least possible expenditure of .public funds. For the purpose of this discussion, the subject of mineral statistics may conveniently be considered from two points of view. The technical difficulties in obtaining satisfactory and complete data from the variety of industries represented in the mining fields of Canada must be apparent to all. Methods of record-keeping are almost as numerous as mines and even the larger concerns which maintain elaborate records for their own information, often find it difficult to compile the statistical reports required of them, because the specific form of inquiry differs from the method in use in their offices.

Jan 1, 1924

By Joseph B. de Hart

Two papers recently published on the subject of mine ventilation: "The Theory of Ventilation," by Douglas Hay. and "The True Effect of Natural Ventilation in Deep Mines," by Robert Clive, form the first and second reports respectively of the committee on the Ventilation of Mines appointed by the Midland Institute of Mining Engineers. The purpose of the present paper is to draw attention to these two papers and the discussion thereon. The theory of ventilation as taught in our schools is based on Atkinson's formula, which is a variation of Chezy's formula for the flow of water in pipes. The formula depends on two assumptions : 1. That air is an incompressible fluid within the limits ordinarily encountered, and; 2. That the pressure required to produce ventilation varies as the square of the rate of flow. The Atkinson formula has been assumed to hold good over the entire range of conditions met with in mines.

Jan 1, 1924

By Thos. A. Stroup

From time to time the question of shearing or vertical cutting of rooms and entries especially as an adjunct to the usual horizontal cuts, has cropped up in the literature of coal mining and in the discussions of mining men. Exact and definite data based an thorough tests have usually been lacking however and the present article is written to supply as far as possible this deficiency. The tests given below were made over a period of 90 days in the summer of 1921 and the object was to investigate the general .economics, if any, that might result from the introduction of vertical cutting as a standard practice into the Clear Creek mines. The machine used was the Oldroyd Universal coal cutter and comparative tests were made against the Goodman Straight- face machine and the 35 B Jeffrey Shortwall. The tests however should be held to apply only to the various methods of cutting and not as a study in the relative merits of the various machines. The first series of tests were made in the 2nd East district of No. 3 mine, where only entries were being driven at the time, the tests therefore cover only entry work. The presumption was that the entry width would be 12 feet but the oxerrun in some cases was marked enough to make the work comparable to rooms. The first test made was to determine the time necessary to shear as well as cut the places, and the results were reduced to the time necessary to cut a ton of coal. The time for shearing in the table includes the time necessary to revolve the cutter bar to the vertical position.

Jan 1, 1924

By A. McEachern

At the Annual Meeting of this society, held in Halifax last year, a paper entitled "Closed System Breathing Apparatus" was read by I. C. Mackie, metallurgist, British Empire Steel Corporation. Coming from such an authority it was most instructive and illuminating. The purpose of the paper was to emphasize the necessity of a full supply of oxygen and the danger of oxygen shortage in the use of rescue breathing apparatus. In connection with this he pointed out: "In times of emergency, when life is at stake, rescue men cannot be restrained from using their utmost endeavor, and unless the apparatus is adequate to meet the heaviest load, the result may be fatal to the wearer. The body's demand for its oxygen requirement is absolutely imperative and must be granted at once. We can do without food for many days and without water for many hours, but we cannot do without full requirements of oxygen even for a few minutes. Furthermore, the victim of oxygen shortage gets practically no warning. He may fall helpless or unconscious before realizing that he is in a serious condition." Hence the necessity for expelling all the nitrogen from the breathing-bag and filling it with pure oxygen; also filling the lungs of the wearer with oxygen before he begins to use the breathing apparatus. This practice is general at all the collieries under the British Empire Steel Corporation.

Jan 1, 1924

By J. W. Bingay

The expansion of the mining industry, with other industries, of course, is dependent upon a supply of fresh capital from year to year. Mining is a speculative form of investment, though there is a wide range of risk as between indiudual undertakings. All of the leading financial writers, nowadays, agree that expansion is being seriously interfered with by the unprecedented load of taxation Canadians are carrying. Individuals have less for investment and corporations are obliged to defer necessary expenditures in order that the demands of the taxing authorities may be met. Naturally, speculative investments such as mining exploration suffer first. Undoubtedly, a great deal of cash raised by taxes, if left in the hands of individuals and corporations for investment and expansion, would have been far more beneficially used and would have developed the country more than any use made of it by the government, in the way of bonusing new industries, or the undertaking of large schemes of development. Government undertakings of this nature are often entered into without a proper knowledge of cost and probable return. Expert expenditure of the same sums by business men or corporations undoubtedly would generally produce more prosperity for the country as a whole. The absolute necessity for lower taxation is being increasingly known to the public at large, and eventually it is hoped that our governments will see the economic impossibility of continuing the present rate of expenditure. The successful Finance Minister of the near future will not be the one who can borrow the most money.

Jan 1, 1924

By L. C. IlsLey, M. W. Von Bernewitz

"Introduction.Several hundred thousand open lights are daily carried in coal mines of the United States, each lamp being a menace to life and property through fire or explosion. They have been responsible for many disasters in the past, and will be again. Flame safety lamps have been available for over a hundred years, but during the last ten years safe and practical electric lamps have been perfected. These have eliminated many of the flame safety lamps, and in a few mines have replaced open flame lamps. But there are still more than twice as many open lamps as electric lamps in our mines, and the open lamps should be discarded in favor of an approved type of electric lamp. There are several electric miners' lamps which have been approved by the Bureau of Mines for safety and efficiency, give good light, and are easily maintained and carried, some flame safety lamps will always be used, hut mostly for detecting gas; although they might be supplanted if some simple, reliable, and cheap gas detector were developed.Explosion Hazards from Open Lights.An open light and gas*** constitute a vicious hazard; while if there be coal dust present in the vicinity the consequences are multiplied many times. An open light and black blasting powder also constitute an explosion hazard, vividly attested by several serious disasters."

Jan 1, 1924

Edwin Ludlow, the forty-first President of the A. I. M. E., died in Muskogee, Okla., on Feb. 10, 1924, after a brief illness of influenza followed by pneumonia. He was born in Oakdale, N. Y. (on Long Island), March 12, 1858, a son of William Handy and Louise (Nicoll) Ludlow. He attended Flushing (L. I.) Institute 1868-75, and Columbia School of Mines (N. Y.) where he was graduated with the degree of Engineer of Mines with the Class of 1879. After graduation, his first employment was as assistant engineer in river and harbor work on the Delaware River near Philadelphia. In 1913

Jan 1, 1924

By Howard Eavenson

The data given in the paper were collected to furnish an idea of the amount required in various operations of bituminous mining to produce a ton of coal, the plants selected being well-managed ones. With these are included some figures compiled from U. S. Coal Commission's report showing the average amount of labor in various classes of mines. THE information contained in the following paper was collected at the request of the U. S. Coal Commission, and is, published with the permission of that body and of the various companies furnishing the data. For obvious reasons, the names of the companies are not given. No data were gotten from States south of Virginia or west of the Mississippi River. The data about the amount of labor, in man-hours, required in producing a ton of bituminous coal have been collected with the idea of showing what is being done at some well-managed plants, and not to show the average amount required by all mines, which undoubtedly is considerably higher than the average of the figures shown.* Almost all of the figures were supplied by the various companies in reply to a questionnaire; when they were obtained from other sources the company was asked to verify them. On account of the amount of work required, the data were only requested for one or two months for each plant, and the figures represent in each case a month when the car supply was good and the work was practically steady. In the case of most of the West Virginia and Kentucky mines, these conditions were best met in May and June, 1922. The mines for which the figures are given are arranged by states and as to whether the mine operates under union or non-union or open-shop conditions. The union mines listed are generally considered to be as well-managed as are the non-union ones. The production per month in a few cases includes the amount of slate which is loaded and hauled out of the mine, as of course this requires nearly as much labor per ton as does the coal. These cases are noted:

Jan 1, 1924

By Albert Sauveur

Iron, like other metals, solidifies through the formation of dendritic crystals; iron alloys forming solid solutions, like other solid solutions, solidify likewise through the formation of dendritic crystals. The alloying elements or impurities as well as the inclusions segregate generally in the interstices, or "fillings," between the axes and branches of the dendrites; that is, in the portions last to solidify. This results in dendritic segregation or heterogeneity, which is generally persistent and makes possible the revelation of the dendritic crystallization of the metal through the selective action of a suitable etching reagent.' For this purpose, a cuprie solution, such as Le Chatelier's, is generally used, copper being deposited on the pure, or relatively pure, ferrite present in the axes while the fillings remain free, or relatively free, from copper deposition. The dendritic structure, formed on solidification in a steel containing 0.50 per cent. carbon, 0.37 per cent. manganese, 0.12 per cent. silicon, 0.07 per cent. sulfur, and 0.035 per cent. phosphorus is shown, after treatment with Le Chatelier reagent, in Fig. 1 under a magnification of 8 diameters. Commercial steel always contains inclusions of manganese sulfide, which are located in the fillings of the dendrites. Comstock has shown that boiling sodium picrate imparts a dark coloration to these inclusions. We find that this reagent likewise reveals dendritic segregations in commercial steel, as shown in Fig. 2, under a magnification of 8 diameters. which represents the same spot as that shown in Fig. 1. The fillings have been darkened while the axes remain white, the action being, therefore, the reverse of that of cupric reagents. On closer examination, under higher magnification (Fig. 3) it is found that the picrate blackens the small particles of manganese sulfide, that these are frequently surrounded by a rim of white, or relatively white, ferrite, and that both the ferrite

Jan 1, 1924

By Robert Warner

The growing importance of screening makes an accurate measure of the quality of a sizing operation desirable. Screen efficiency is considered equal to the percentage of true undersize in the feed obtained as undersize from the screen. This method is unreliable, as it gives the same credit for removing minus 200-mesh material as for removing material just able to pass the aperature of the screen. A more accurate measure of screen efficiency is to consider only the work done on the "difficult" grains, that is, those grains of which the intermediate diameters closely approach the screen aperture.. The application of this method is given, together with the derivation of formulas and an example of their use. Is AN accurate measurement of the efficiency of a screen under a given set of operating conditions valuable? If so, what is the efficiency; of, a screen and how can it be measured? Sizing, especially of the finer sizes of material, has increased in importance in the development of flow sheets as a result of the perfecting of the rapid vibrating screens. More consideration should be given screens in the preparation of ball-mill feed, where they permit the admission of a dryer feed than, the classifier. Where possible, the introduction of a screen ahead of the primary ball-mill, and the diverting of ore below, say, 4 mm. to a secondary mill, might result in a greater overall economy because of the thicker feed and the better, adjustment of crushing media and mill operation to the reduction demanded. With the present trend back toward a combination of gravity methods and flotation, rather than flotation alone, the accurate, economical sizing possible with the new screens makes fine jigging a method to be considered. W. 0. Borcherdt1 and John Bland2 discuss the screening problem and also the value of close sizing in the concentration of some of the rare-metal ores. If a screen is to be used, it should be selected in competition with others; other things being equal, that screen which makes the cleanest oversize should be preferred. The quality of the screening and the tons

Jan 1, 1924

By J. W. Faul

[The Bureau of Mines initiated an extensive research on coal-mine ventilation factors in 1922, large- scale tests being conducted in its experimental nine near Bruceton, Pa., over a period of two years. A comprehensive report an this work is in course of preparation, but in order to place the practical results before the mining fraternity immediately and in condenses form, the more important features will be presented in a number of short papers. The present report is the first of a series dealing with the resistance of coal-mine entries to the flow of air and considers only entries in which there are no obstructions other than the natural roughness of the ribs, roof, and floor.]

Jan 1, 1924

By S. R. DeBoer

A study of Western cities reveals the fact that a city where people make their homes for permanent residence is always a city with, well-shaded avenues, with parks and playgrounds; in other words, a beautiful city. On the other hand, the average city that lacks these qualifications is usually a city of transient population. Many of our Western cities must be classified as such. Their inhabitants live in such a city only to the time that they will be able financially to retire from business and go to one of the other types of cities to live; or until opportunity offers itself for a position or a job in such a city. I believe that our Western coal camps could benefit by this truth. If conditions can be created in the camps that will encourage the workers to settle permanently or for a long time at least in the town, it would greatly aid in stabilizing employment. By the term "workers" I do not mean the pick and shovel men alone, but everybody from the superintendent or the manager down; for the educated part of the population suffers probably greater from a desire for better surroundings than the less educated part. Modern City Planning tries to show the way for more attractive towns; for more practical towns also, and at less expense. The grid-iron system of street planning is slowly being replaced by one that fits the contours of the site. Instead of streets that are cut through the hills and built over the valleys to get practical grades, it tries to show how these streets can be made to fit the ground and produce better traffic lines; greatly more attractive streets; better building sites and lots, and all of this at less expense. A well-planned town of this character should have as its nucleus, a central square around which the main stores and business houses are grouped. The main building of this group should be the church, the community meeting place, city hall or such other buildings of a public or semi-public character, that are imposing enough to add interest to the square. From this central square, streets should be built to radiate out in all directions, more or less like a spider-web. The main lines of these streets should be reserved for traffic purposes and they should be wide, for the town may grow into a city, and they should be direct, connecting the town center with outlying points at the shortest and easiest possible line. Between these radiating streets should be residential streets of narrower width and arranged in such a way that fast through traffic cannot pass over them and make them unsafe and unsanitary for family life. Following up the comparison with the spider-web, the town should have circular streets, encircling the whole town with rings at various distances out, along which circular lines parks should be located. In the West, where the need for shade is so great, the town should surround itself with a belt of forest trees. Such a forest belt would break the winds and shelter the town, and also make the whole town a cozier, nicer place to build a home in. A forest belt of this kind does not necessarily mean a great layout of money. Trees can be planted small and at little cost and a carefully studied irrigation system will make the maintenance cost small. If the town has any places of natural beauty they should be carefully preserved and made accessible. Natural parks of this type will often take the place of the artificial parks of large cities, and at no expense to the community. Playgrounds, a swimming pool, either of concrete or a sanded beach on a lake; a place for all to go skating in winter; a hill for sledding in

Jan 1, 1924

[Page Minutes 7 Discussion of L. S. Ickis' Paper 20 City Planning and Landscape Architecture for Western Coal Camps, by S. R. DeBoer 22 Discussion of Thos. Foster's Paper 26 Discussion of Safety Committee Report 30 Discussion of R. L. Hair's Paper 52 Discussion of H. I. Smith's Paper 61 Miscellaneous Discussion 62 Discussion of Thos. A. Stroup's Paper 70]

Jan 1, 1924

By A. C. Halferdahl

The Granby ores may be divided into three groups or classes. The No. I ore is a heavy pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, sulphide carrying some free silica, and calcite. No. 2 ore carries the same general group of sulphides as does No. 1, but in a lesser amount. The gangue is an altered greenstone. No. 3 ore has a smaller amount of sulphides than either of the others. Analyses of these ores is as follows: Cu. Si02 Fe. CaO S. Al 203 MgO No. I. Per Cent. 1.8 17.5 33.0 5.7 34.5 2.3 1.3 No. 2 Per cent. 2. 0 35. 6 23. 9 4. 3 I .5. 0 9. 2 6 .. 0 No. 3, Per cent. 1 . 5 40. 9 21 . 7 3. 0 I 1 . 3 11 . 0 5 . 4 The sulphide minerals in No. 2 and No. 3 ores occur largely in bands in the gangue, and for these portions comparatively coarse grinding serves to release the gangue. Drill cores show a certain dissemination of sulphides in portions of the rock, so that grinding to 5 per cent. + 65 mesh with 65 per cent.-200 mesh liberates the sulphide minerals very completely. The association of the sulphides is fundamental. The pyrite was probably deposited first and was followed by a portion of the chalcopyrite, or these two portions of the sulphide minerals were deposited together.

Jan 1, 1924

By H. G. Schneider

The Smackover oil and gas field lies in Ouachita and Union Counties, Ark., in the south-central part of the state, in T.15 and 16S., R.15, 16, and 17W. It is 10 miles north of El Dorado, the principal business and railroad center in the south-central part of the state, and extends from the town of Smackover in all directions. Productive territory having an aggregate area of nearly 55 sq. mi. has been developed. It extends 6 miles from north to south and 12 miles from east to west. The field may be divided into two parts: the east district, which includes the area east of the town of Smackover, and the west district, which includes the area west of the town of Smackover. In relation to the neighboring productive fields of Arkansas, the Smackover field is 9 miles north of the El Dorado oil and gas field, 8 miles slightly west of north of the East El Dorado oil and gas field, and 16 miles east of the Stephens oil field. Smackover was discovered in May, 1922, when the Oil Operators Tnist drilled well No. 1 on the J. T. Murphy farm, in the southeast quarter of sec. 8, T.16S., R.15W. This well is located almost on the top of the Norphlet dome and was drilled to the Nacatoch sand. It had an initial open flow volume of 30,000,000 cu. ft. of dry gas per day, and a rock pressure of 950 lb. per sq. in. In July, 1922, the V. K. F. Co. completed the first oil well in sec. 29, T.l5S., R.l5W., on the north side of the Norphlet dome, and 3 miles north of the first gas well. This well started the active development of the north and northwest sides of the dome.] The field was extended westwards, when oil was discovered in the Nacatoch sand, during October, 1922, in sec. 4, T.l6S., R.l6W., 51/2 miles west of the original gas well. This opened up the so-called "light oil district," which is located on a structural terrace, for which the name

Jan 1, 1924

By A. N. Winchell

In connection with law suits between mining companies at Bingham, Utah, a few years ago, the writer made petrographic studies of more than 1400 rock and mineral samples in thin sections, and also careful studies of their field relations. In petrographic studies, even when an area is studied intensively, attention is commonly centered very largely on the unusual features of special interest, so that the relative abundance of rock types (or minerals or textures) can only be determined by a study of map areas outlined largely by field methods, and cannot be based directly on microscopic work. It is very uncommon, and usually impossible, to take samples at regular short intervals along and across formations. It is precisely because such methods were used at Ringham that the work presents a rare opportunity for determining, on a microscopic basis, the relative abundance of rock types and the continuity of gradations between rock types. At the same time, a study was made of the alteration of sediments under the influence of igneous intrusions, with results that are believed to be of interest and importance. • Sandstone-limestone Gradation The sedimentary rocks of the Bingham district are chiefly sandstones, with some beds of limestone, all now lying with their strike nearly east and their dip nearly north at an angle of about 30°, near the surface. The limestone beds are remarkably irregular in thickness in some places, but usually change very slowly in composition along the strike. However, the most interesting results are obtained from a study of a section across the beds at right angles to the strike. In some places, such sections show the usual alternation of pure sandstone with nearly pure limestone, in the simple manner assumed in most geological discussions.

Jan 1, 1924

By N. F. LeJeune

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Jan 1, 1924

By R. W. Brock

This subject is too broad and comprehensive to be dealt with adequately and authoritatively in this paper. It calls for the knowledge and experience of many men, but the results from such collaborative effort would be of great value, particularly if similar reports of the principal mining districts of the world were made on a standardized basis so that conditions everywhere might be directly and accurately compared. In considering conditions affecting mining in British Columbia, unfavourable as well as favourable factors must be taken into account. The unfavourable are apt to loom large and to be exaggerated rather than minimized; for it is human nature to see the blackness of the cloud rather than the silver lining; to think that one's own undertaking is beset with peculiar difficulties, and to attribute lack of greater success to out-side causes rather than to personal shortcomings. It should be recognized, however, that there is no country where the conditions for mining are ideal. The ideal mining country is the product of imagination, invested with every favourable condition found anywhere, but with none of the unfavourable conditions that are always present in reality. So if British Columbia has some handicaps to the industry, it is in good company. What is important is that the advantages compensate for the disadvantages, that the balance will compare favorably with that of competing states, for mining, like every other industry is competitive, and the cost of one's product must have a definite relationship to its price in the world's market.

Jan 1, 1924

By T. T. Read, T. L. Joseph, F. H. Royster

In a preliminary study of the beneficiation of iron ores conducted by the Bureau of Mines, one of the authors (T. T. Read) found it necessary to ascertain, if possible, how much effect a decrease in the silica content of an iron ore has upon the cost of making pig iron from the ore. In the beneficiation of iron ores the most important impurity to be removed is usually silica, and the amount that can be expended on a beneficiation process to reduce the silica content of the ore is obviously determined by the amount of increase in the value of the ore after beneficiation. The price that can actually be obtained for a beneficiated ore is, of course, a matter of negotiation between the seller and the buyer, but since the relative value of different grades of iron ore must be chiefly based upon the cost of making pig iron from them, an approximation as to the effect which decrease in the silica content of ore has upon the cost of snaking pig iron is an important guide in estimating what probable average gain will result from subjecting an ore to a beneficiation process. A search of the literature failed to reveal any detailed statement on this important topic, but fortunately the data are at hand to permit making an approximate calculation of the probable effect. For the purpose of the calculation assume three iron ores with the following composition (natural):

Jan 1, 1924

By J. H. Nead

The subject of this paper is one to which there are many references in the literature on the manufacture of steel in the open-hearth furnace, but few actual experimental data have been published. For that reason, the presentation of results obtained from two open-hearth heats where attempts were made to measure the sulfur absorption will be of considerable interest and value. The two heats on which the experiments were made were Armco ingot-iron heats and differ from the usual open-hearth heat of medium- or mild-carbon steel in that the refining is carried further; in this product the carbon and manganese are reduced practically to traces. In most other respects, and especially in respect to the absorption of sulfur from the producer gas, the two heats are typical of usual open-hearth practice. The object of the experiments made on the first Armco iron heat was to determine the fluctuation of the composition of the metal bath and the slag throughout the course of the heat, with especial reference to the variations in sulfur. It was hoped to determine whether there was an increase in sulfur in the bath from the producer gas and if so at what stage in the process the increase occurred. The experimental method consisted of charging analyzed scrap and pig iron, so that the sulfur in the charge could be calculated. Then, throughout the duration of the heat, metal and slag samples were takcn every half hour, beginning as soon as there was enough molten metal to take a sample. These samples were analyzed; the results are given in Table 1. All domestic scrap was used and the charge was made up as follows: Head End Finish Pounds Pound Pig iron........................ 36,300 Pig iron....................... 23,900 Sheet scrap bundles............. 36,200 Sheet bars..................... 23,900 Sheet bm..................... 40;200 The total charge, exclusive of the re-pig added near the end of the heat, was 160,500 Ib. The limestone charged was 21,400 Ib., or 13½ per cent.

Jan 1, 1924