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By Charles G. Yale

(San Francisco Meeting, October, 1911.) A FEW years ago somebody connected with one of those self-constituted bodies of unofficial character, like a Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trade, or State Development Board, started a catch-phrase referring to California as " The Land of Sunshine, Fruit, and Flowers," and the railroad magazines and folders keep it steadily in use, working day and night. Yet it altogether ignores the substance which brought the State into the Union, which peopled it, and which made it famous through-out the world. You ladies and gentlemen who have come from what we here call "the East," have in your own States, no matter which one, sunshine, fruit, and flowers. But your Eastern States, having these things as we do, have not the gold that we do. Therefore, the old designation of "The Golden State," applied to California, should be revived, as being the most distinctive term. It is worthy of remembrance, too, that during the dark days of the civil war this State handed over $172,000,000 in yellow gold, and saved the credit of the nation. Gold-mining has been carried on in California since " The days of old, The days of gold, The days of 49," and it still continues. Since that historic year, and up to the end of 1910, the State has produced, in gold alone, $1,530,214,468. Since 1792 the entire United States production of gold has been $8,261,573,500, so that the single State of California has, in that period, produced within $201,144,564 of one-half of all the gold from Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and the Southern and scattering States. In other words, all the other 25 gold-producing States of the United States combined

Mar 1, 1912

By C. A. Rowland, R. C. Nealey

Until recently there were very few dry grinding rod mills used. The early installations performed as anticipated. In the last seven years a number of dry grinding rod mills have been made, most of which have been used for grinding iron ore. The recent installations have not operated as anticipated in accordance with practices learned from wet rod milling. The paper does not establish any definite rules for the application of dry grinding rod mills but does attempt to establish some guidelines that can be followed. The paper reviews a number of flowsheets describing the problems encountered and some of the solutions found. Completely dried compared to partially dried feed is reviewed. Problems encountered in scaling up from pilot plant to production-size mills are described. Rod sizing, effect of rod length, rod bending, rod breakage, and rod tangling are discussed. While wet grinding rod mills have been used for 50 years to grind ores and make specifications sands, dry grinding rod mills have only recently come into significant use in the mineral industries. Among the materials now being processed in dry grinding rod mills are (1) lead sinter, lead slag, and limestone; (2) iron ore; (3) silica; (4) cement clinker; and (5) coke. Because the application of wet grinding rod mills was well understood at the time that dry grinding rod mills were introduced, the criteria and guidelines for selecting the former were carried over to the selection of the latter - in some cases with the anticipated results, but in many cases not. It is the purpose of this paper to describe, through a series of flowsheets, some of the recent problems encountered with dry grinding rod mills, to point out the solutions to these problems, and to set forth some guidelines for the selection and application of these mills. When dry grinding rod mills came into use, the following facts about their wet grinding counterparts were already well established: (1) The performance of large-sized mills can be accurately predicted from the performance of rod mills 5 or 6 ft in diameter. Wet grinding mills as large as 14 ft in diameter (inside shell) by 20 ft long with rods 19.5 ft long can operate satisfactorily.

Jan 1, 1970

By G. W. Josephson

GRANULAR mineral products used primarily to form a protective and decorative coating on the weather surface of composition roofing are called "granules," "roofing granules," or "slate." The latter term is a relic of the early days of the industry, when crushed slate was the dominant type of granule in use. Asphalt roofing is made by saturating and then coating a continuous strip of felt with specially compounded asphalts. Granules are embedded in the hot asphalt on the top of the sheet, and mica or talc is dusted on the back. After passing through press rolls, the strip is looped on a conveyor for cooling and then cut into shingles or packaged as roll roofing. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT Although the durability and protective qualities of asphalt and tar have been known since the earliest days of recorded history, it was not until 1780 that the first forerunner of present-day composition roofing was developed.' Large-scale expansion of the industry has taken place since 1900. At first the process consisted simply of dipping sheets of burlap or other fabric into a tank of molten tar or asphalt. The long strip of roofing was rolled up, for convenient handling, and the early experimenters soon found that it was necessary to dust the surface of their new "roll roofing" with some kind of material that would prevent the tarred surfaces from sticking together. Any finely divided, low-priced local material like sand or fine gravel served this purpose and from its application the roofing-granule industry grew. As time went on, other characteristics of a properly applied mineral surfacing were recognized. As with wooden shingles, tar and asphalt can be ignited by flying embers from nearby fires. It was found that by in- creasing the largest particle size to the maximum that could be success- fully embedded and by properly controlling the amount of smaller fractions retained in the grade, so as to cover the asphalt completely, a high degree of resistance to fire was attained.

Jan 1, 1949

By Richard W. Lodge

In the crucible-method of assaying ores for silver a certain amount of litharge is essential to supply sufficient lead to collect the precious metals. The object of this paper is to point out that the use of a large excess of' litharge in the assay of some ores will give results for silver that are uneven as well as low. So far as I know, however, an excess of litharge does not affect the results obtained in the crucible-assay of ores for gold. The main reasons for using, in the crucible-assay, much more litharge than is required to givc the necessary lead button are: 1, its action as a flux; 2, its action as a desulphur-izer; and 3, its action as an oxidizer, especially on metals like copper and nickel, whereby they are forced into the slag as oxides and thus prevented from passing into the lead button. Hence, by the use of much litharge in the crucible-assay more ore call often be taken than in the scorification-process, and a lead button obtained which call possibly be cupelled at once or after a single scorification. The method is specially advantageous with an ore carrying much copper or similar impurity and poor in silver, when the assayer does not wish to resort to a wet-analysis for the determination of the silver. It is well known that some ores give better results when assayed by the scorification-method, while others give better results by the crucible-method. For several years I have noticed that, when much litharge was used with certain sulphide and arsenical ores, the results were considerably lower than when the scarification-method was used. This fact was more forcibly brought out in connection with certain work carried on this year by Messrs. H. A. Frame and

Jan 1, 1908

By Douglas M. Dwosh

Inland Steel Coal Co.'s system of applying a gypsum/fiberglass rib and roof sealant with standard rock dusting equipment will be outlined. The criteria for use included acceptability of results, flexibility of equipment, ease of application, and economics. Material is conveyed dry until the gypsum, fiberglass, and water are combined at the discharge end of the rock dust hose.

Jan 1, 1978

By Charles E. Lundin

Pressure-temperature-composition data were obtainedfor the Er-H system. Measurements werecar-ried out in the temperature range of 473° to 1223°K, the composition range of erbium to ErH,, and the pressure range of 10-5 to 760 Torr. Solubility relationships were established from these data throughout the system. Three solid-solution phases were delineated: metal solid solution, dihydride phase, and trihydride phase. The trihydride Phase decomposes at about 656°K and 1 atm pressure. The dihydride phase is stable to about 1023°K, but becomes more deficient in hydrogen above this temperature. The equilibrium decomposition pressure-temperature relationships in the two-phase regions, erbium solid solution plus dihydride and dihydride plus trihydride, were deter- The differential heats of reaction in these two regions are AH = - 52.6 * 0.3 and - 19.8 i 0.2 kcal per mole of Hz, respectively. The differential entropies of reaction are AS = - 35.2 * 0.3 and - 30.1 * 0.4 cal per mole HZ.deg, respectively. Relative partial molal and integral thermodynamic quuntities were calculated in the system to the dihydride phase. RARE earth metal-hydrogen systems have been the subject of general survey,1"4 and all have been found to form hydride phases. The heavy rare earths, of which erbium is a member, form dihydride and trihydride phases with different crystal structures, whereas the light rare earths form only a single-phase dihydride which expands without structure change, as hydrogen is added, to the trihydride composition. These materials are of interest primarily because of their theoretical properties, such as bonding, defect structure, and thermodynamic and electronic characteristics. Erbium has been studied in several previous investigations.5, 6 It was deemed desirable to more thoroughly and accurately define the system, both for the phase equilibria and the thermodynamic properties. I) EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE A Sieverts&apos; apparatus was employed to conduct the experimental measurements. Briefly, it consisted of a source of pure hydrogen, a precision gas-measuring buret, a heated reaction chamber, a mercury manometer, and two McLeod gages (a CVC, GM 100A and CVC, GM 110). Pure hydrogen was obtained by passing hydrogen through a heated Pd-Ag thimble. The hydrogen was analyzed and found to have only a trace of oxygen and nitrogen. A 100-ml precision gas buret graduated to 0.1-ml divisions was used to measure and admit hydrogen to the reaction chamber. The reaction unit consisted of a quartz tube surrounded by a nichrome-wound furnace. The furnace temperature was controlled by a recorder-controller to ±1°K. An independent measurement of the sample temperature in the quartz tube was made by means of a chromel-alumel thermocouple situated outside, but adjacent to, the quartz tube near the specimen. Pressure in the manometer range was measured to ±0.5 Torr and in the McLeod range (10-4 to 10 Torr) to ±3 pct. The hydrogen compositions in erbium were calculated in terms of hydrogen-to-erbium atomic ratio. These compositions were estimated to be ±0.01 H/Er. The erbium metal was obtained from the Lunex Co. in the form of sponge. The metal was nuclear grade with a purity of 99.9 pct +. The oxygen content was reported to be 340 ppm and the nitrogen not detectable. Metallographically the structure was almost free of second phase (<1 vol pct). A quantity of sponge was arc-melted for use as charge material. The solid material was compared with the sponge in the pressure-temperature-composition relationships. They were found to be identical. Therefore, sponge material was used henceforth, so that equilibrium could be attained more rapidly. The specimen size was about 0.2 grain for each loading of the reaction chamber. The procedure employed to obtain the pressure-temperature-composition data was to develop experimentally a family of isothermal curves of composition vs pressure. First, a specimen of erbium was wrapped in a tungsten foil capsule to prevent contact with the quartz tube. After loading the specimen, the system was evacuated to less than l0-6 Torr, flushed several times with high-purity hydrogen, and evacuated again ready for the start of the experiment. The furnace was then brought to the desired temperature. A measured amount of hydrogen was admitted into the chamber. Equilibrium was allowed to be attained, the pressure read, and the process then repeated many times until 1 atm of gas pressure was finally reached. Other isotherms were then developed in the same manner. The partial pressure plateaus were determined by another manner. In the solid solution-dihydride region a composition of approximately 1.0 H/Er was selected on the plateau. The temperature was varied throughout the range of interest. At each temperature level, equilibrium was achieved, the pressure read, and the next temperature attained. The temperature was cycled both up and down. In the dihydride-trihy-dride region, the plateaus were determined in the 473" to 651°K range only by heating to the desired temperature and not by both heating and cooling. The data were much more reproducible in this manner. Equilibrium required long periods of time. Specimens were initially hydrided to 2.8 H/Er, so that at the higher

Jan 1, 1969

By Meredith Johnson

THE year 1924 saw little change in the production of oil and gas it either Pennsylvania or New York. In the early months of the year the price of Pennsylvania crude oil, $4.00 to $4.50 a barrel, was sufficiently high to cause operators to lay plans for rather extensive drilling opera-tions. But when, in August, the price dropped to $2.85 a barrel, there was no inducement for new work and drilling was curtailed. In spite of the curtailment, however, the combined production of the two states for the year showed a slight increase over 1923, the production being 8;859,000 bbl. in 1923, and 8,901,000 bbl.1 in 1924. The increased production was due entirely to. the continued development of flooding operations in the Bradford field, all other oilfields showing a decline for the year. TABLE 1. Production of Crude Oil in Pennsylvania and New York for the Last Ten Years a Production, Barrels Production, Barrels Year Year Pennsylvania I New York Pennsylvania I New York 1915 7,838,000 888,000 1920- 7,438,000 906,000 1916 7,593,000 874,000 1921 7,418,000 988,000 1917 7,733,000 880,000 1922 7,425,000 1;000,000 1918 7,408,000 809,000 1923 7,609,000 1,250,000 1919 8,137,000 851,000 1924 7,535,0006 1;366,0006 a U. S. Geological Survey figures. b Estimated. Much of the drilling in the southwestern part of Pennsylvania was done in search of gas. Natural gas in Pennsylvania is fast being recognized at its true worth and the increased prices allowed &apos;the gas companies for their product induced quite a bit of new work. The relative importance of natural gas compared with manufactured gas is shown in Table 2.2

Jan 3, 1925

By Edmund C. Pechin

THE iron trade of America seems on the point of a new departure. After years of struggling against heavy odds, patient endurance in periods of depression and loss, fears and hopes alternating as failure or success seemed to be the penalty or reward ; wanting in sufficient capital, embarrassed by reason of imperfect knowledge and lack of skilled labor, confronted by a powerful foe-every doubt has at last vanished, physical and mechanical difficulties have been largely over-come, capital has become more abundant and remunerative, the excellence of our product has been everywhere established, and the peculiarities of American character-pluck, energy, and perseverance -have at last placed the trade upon a foundation so broad and stable that upon it we begin to erect the structure of a world-wide business. Concerning the future of the iron trade in the United States there can be but little doubt. The growing scarcity and constantly increasing cost of raw material in Great Britain, their loss of labor by emigration, the social disturbances among the working-classes, assuming a more threatening attitude on each new outbreak ; the rapidly decreasing value of money, in consequence of the enormous production of gold and silver, combine to forbid any return to former prices, and indicate that a point has been reached beyond which any marked increase of production is improbable. The same causes are operating to a greater or lesser extent upon the Continent. In the meanwhile the growing wants of humanity are rapidly outstripping these sources of supply. In addition to the steadily increasing foreign and home demand, we find, the world over, the most intense activity everywhere displayed in enterprises requiring

Jan 1, 1873

By James J. Wise

INTRODUCTION One basic design feature utilized in all caving and sublevel stoping techniques is the drawpoint. These draw- points may be located on sublevels when using sublevel caving methods, or may be located at the floor pillar when using block caving, sublevel stoping, or vertical crater retreat methods. How the drawpoint is designed and developed, how the ore is withdrawn from it, and how the ore is hauled to the shaft or portal encompasses the loading and hauling function. Historically, predominate loading and hauling equipment for caving and sublevel stoping has been scraper slushes, air powered overshot loaders, and rail mounted train haulage. All of this equipment has two common constraints. 1. The equipment locked into specific work sites and is not easily shifted to another work site. This constraint can often lead to low utilization and low productivity of the equipment. 2. The equipment is designed to work in the horizontal plane, which requires that the various horizontally-oriented working levels be connected by vertical raises. Vertical development by means of raises is not only increasingly expensive, but also is not well adapted to movement of large equipment into the s topes. In the last 20 years, two revolutionary labor saving concepts have become common in caving and sublevel stoping. 1. Long-hole drilling, which has mechanized the development of the drawpoint extraction structures as well as the actual stoping and undercutting. 2. Vertical access by means of trackless ramps between levels, and the consequent use of rubber-tired vehicles not only for loading and hauling ore, but also for the rapid movement of men, material, and equipment into the stopes. The introduction of trackless mining systems for loading and hauling has not been easy. Mine planners have had to re-orient their thinking to the larger operating space required by trackless equipment. Larger access drifts have necessitated reconsideration of mine layouts to insure proper ground support. Spiral ramp developments were often laid out on slopes steeper than the equipment could negotiate economically. Mine operators had to accept the added responsibility of roadway maintenance, water removal, increased ventilation, and more technical mechanical maintenance. As the mine operators enthusiastically embraced the superior productivity of trackless mining systems, they some- times disregarded opportunities to combine the older types of equipment with trackless vehicles to maximize productivity at lowest cost. In order to gain a proper perspective on this problem, it is necessary to review the various techniques of loading and hauling and to become more aware of the advantages or disadvantages that each system or combination contributes. LOADING Loading consists of two functions, (1) primary loading from a drawpoint and (2) secondary loading into long- haul system, a truck, train, or possibly a belt conveyor. Mine planners have four basic loading systems available to fit various operating conditions. These are, (1) gravity, (2) scrapers, (3) rail-mounted loaders, and (4) trackless loaders. Each system can produce optimum results under specific conditions. Gravity Loading Gravity loading is probably the oldest system in general use today.

Jan 1, 1981

By E. C. Potter

It is not the purpose of this paper to enter into the minutiae of a subject so vast, upon which volumes have already been written and volumes more might still be written, but simply to pass in review the characteristic features of that practice, which, dating from the blowing-in of the Edgar Thomson "A" furnace in 1879 and continuing down to the present day, has given to American blast-furnace operations a new significance. The blowing-in of " A" furnace marked the beginning of a new era in the science of iron-smelting if, indeed, it was not the very birth of science as applied to this industry in the United States. American blast-furnace practice in its generic sense and world-wide significance dates from that day, and really all that is valuable, all that is remarkable or worthy of discussion, is embraced in the experiences and achievements of the past fifteen years. Back of that we find only the dead level of mediocrity, or worse, a dispoition to " let well enough alone;" a general, almost universal, employment of " rule of thumb " methods. The application of scientific principles and methods was rare and, indeed, previous to the introduction of the Bessemer process in the early seventies, science had no place in controlling the operations of the American blast-furnace. The old practice consisted mainly in dumping raw materials in at the top of the furnace and tapping out iron and slag at the bottom, for the successful consummation of which the furnace-manager directed his best energies toward keeping the furnace as free as possible from "gobbing" with, alas ! but indifferent success. The burdening of the furnace was based largely on Mark Twain&apos;s receipt for " Johnny-cake," altered to suit the circumstances, viz.: a lot of ore, a lot of fuel and about a quarter of a lot of flux. The possible capacities of furnace-plants were not nearly realized. Enormous wastes were permitted, unheeded because not understood. In the use of fuel quantum suff. was always the rule. Increase of product was not thought of because it was not deemed wise or safe to attempt

Jan 1, 1894

By Carle R. Hayward

GENERAL conditions in the lead industry have registered a distinct improvement. The first signs of a strengthening market were found in an increasing demand for scrap. There is keen competition for old battery plates both by large and small dealers. The large operator smelts them either alone or in combination with ores or other lead-bearing material, giving an antimonial lead for which there is brisk demand. The small operator usually has three alternatives. He may simply melt out the metallics in a kettle at low temperature, giving an antimonial lead and a pulverulent lead oxide; he may fuse under oxidizing conditions, giving a soft lead and lead-antimony slag; or he may fuse under reducing conditions, giving a relatively low-grade antimonial lead and a low-antimony slag. In each case the metal product is used or sold, and the dross or slag sold to a large smelter. It will be interesting to see what the final outcome will be of this situation which is generally conceded to be unsatisfactory.

Jan 1, 1937

By Bruce A. Kennedy

This is an opportune time to examine the disposition of practical rock mechanics in the mining industry. The rock mechanics world has put on steam with publication of a number of books and the organization of a large number of symposia and teaching seminars. SME has just published Stability ill Open Pit Mining. proceedings of a conference held In November 1970 in Vancouver, R.C. R book entitled Planning Open Pit Mines covering the entire range of open pit mining with emphasis on slope stability has just been published by the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. The Thirteenth Symposium on Rock Mechanics was held at the University of Illinois. Urbana-Champaign, during the last week of August. The University of British Columbia&apos;s Division of Continuing Education is holding a symposium and specialty seminars on stability in open pit mining during the first week in November. A tremendous planning effort has started to organize the Tl3ii.d Congress of the International Society of Rock Mechanics in Denver in 1974. This meeting is held every four years in the country of origin of the president of the Society. This third congress comes to the U.S.A. with Leonard Obert of the 17. S Bureau of Mines as president of the Society. The previous two were held in Lisbon. Portugal and Belgrade. Yugoslavia.

Jan 1, 1971

By Erwin J. Durrer

The development of planning in the petroleum industry is de- scribed and the current status analyzed. Worldwide transportation networks led to corporate models which caused a differentiation between operations research and planning groups. Ranking of projects solely by ROI proved infeasible because of the diversified nature of the industry. Qualitative elements such as synergism with ongoing operations and the external socio-economic environment had to be included, leading to business plans based on scenarios of possible futures and stressing growth-opportunities over cash-flow rich mature product lines. In addition, decision analysis is finding applications in large capital, high uncertainty situations such as planning for synthetic fuel development.

Jan 1, 1977

By Luiz C. Correa da Silva, Robert F. Mehl

A. D. Le Claire and R. S. Barnes (Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell, Didcot, Berks., England)-—This much awaited paper admirably confirms that the Kirkendall effect is a true diffusion phenomenon and likely to be found in all diffusing systems. The most likely explanation put forward so far to account for the shift of interface is that the two components of the system, diffusing in opposite directions, do so with unequal rates so that there is a net loss of material from that half of the diffusion zone rich in the more rapidly diffusing component. This loss is accompanied, and at least partly compensated for, by a closing up or decrease in volume of this latter half of the diffusion zone and an expansion of the other half so as to tend to keep constant the overall volume per atom. This is manifest as a movement of the original interface. If this is a true picture of what is taking place then there are at least two important matters requiring further study."1—The quantitative relating of the observed shift with the independently measured separate diffusion coefficients of the two diffusing species."2—A detailed study of the mechanism and characteristics of the closing up process."We would like first to make a few remarks pertinent to these topics. In connection with the first of these, it is a pity that more and detailed measurements were not made on the Au-Ag system, the only one for which the separate diffusion coefficients of the two species have been measured.&apos;" One of us (A. D. Le C.) has calculated from Johnson&apos;s results the shift to have been expected in samples D.2 and D.3. Darken4 showed that the velocity v with which the markers move is related to the separate diffusion coefficients Dau, Dag, by the eauation:"dN"v = (Dag — Dau "dx"dN"where .is the concentration gradient at the mark-ax"ers. Under certain conditions,4, 20 it can also be shown that:"Xm"v = "2t"where x, is the total marker shift after time, t:"dN". . xm = 2t (Dag — Dau) [9]"dX"Johnson measured Dag and DAu in a chemically homogeneous alloy and so his reported figures represent the true or ideal diffusion coefficients"; the same quantities in eq 9 represent the actual diffusion coefficients as would be measured in the presence of a chemical concentration gradient, so we need to multiply Johnson&apos;s reported values of Dag and Dau by the"1 before insert-dlogN "ing them in eq 9. 7 is the activity coefficient of Ag at the concentration prevailing near the markers which we shall assume to be - 50 pct. The values of the thermodynamic factor for N = 0.5 and the temperatures at which D.2 and D.3 were annealed were obtained from thermodynamic data quoted by Darken.&apos; aN/ax was computed from the coefficient of inter-diffusion of Au and Ag given by Johnson on the assumption that in the samples D.2 and D.3, the concentration distance curve could be represented by the standard equation:""No is the original difference in concentration between the two halves of the couple, and + is the error or probability function."aN/ax at x = 0 is then given by:"adN/dx "2/nDt"and we assume that this represents the concentration gradient at the markers, although it is probable that the figure is slightly high."When all the appropriate quantities are inserted in eq 9, we find that the expected shifts are: for D.2, 0.0134 cm and for D.3, 0.0119 cm."The agreement between these results and those

Jan 1, 1952

By Paul Merica

ALTHOUGH nickel was discovered and isolated as early as 1750 and its valuable properties recognized, many years passed before it was used commercially for wire, sheet, rods, etc., in the pure form. This was due partly to its high cost at that time and partly to the fact that it was not possible to refine and cast nickel into ingots sufficiently malleable to be amenable to the usual forging, rolling, or drawing processes. So remarkable was this fact, and so different from the experience at that time with metals such as copper and iron, that it has left its impress on the no-menclature within the nickel industry. To this day, furnace-cast nickel produced in such a manner as to be suitable for rolling and forging is called malleable nickel to distinguish it from the ordinary pig and shot nickel of commerce. In 1878, the firm of Jos. Wharton, of Philadelphia (which later became The American Nickel Works, a constituent of The International Nickel Co.) exhibited at the Paris Exhibition specimens of rolled pure nickel strip and of drawn nickel wire. About this time, there was considerable activity in the study of the refining of nickel and several methods were described, some of which were patented, for the production of furnace-cast malleable nickel including the use of manganese (Boed-dicker,1 Selve and Lotter2), the use of potassium permanganate (Bernsdorfer Metallwarenfabrik3) and the use of phosphorus (Garnier4). By far the most efficient method was discovered by Th. Fleitmann in 1879;5 it consisted in adding to the molten nickel, just before pouring the castings, from 0.05 to 0.125 per cent. of metallic magnesium. This soon became the recognized final malleableizing treatment for furnace-cast nickel.

Jan 1, 1925

By J. M. Hartman

ONE of the most important subjects to the blast-furnace engineer is a thorough knowledge of the conditions affecting the temperature in the different portions of the furnace. All efforts to decrease the consumption of fuel and improve the working of the furnace must be based upon it, and I may, therefore, be permitted to place before you the results of my observations, and detail the conclusions to which they have led me. Tracing the thermic conditions from below upwards we have at the bottom of a blast furnace making No. 3 iron a temperature of 2900&apos; F., which increases slightly to a point a little below the tuyeres. In the immediate vicinity of the tuyeres the temperature is somewhat lower, owing to the entering blast; but a short distance above the tuyeres, where all the oxygen of the blast has been converted into carbonic acid, the highest temperature in the furnace must be attained. This carbonic acid is, however, almost as soon as formed, converted by the glowing coal into carbonic oxide, a process which absorb, heat, reduces the temperature, and provides the active agent for the reduction of the iron ores. In its ascent the hot carbonic oxide gradually parts with its heat, first melting the descending iron and earthy materials, which drop down to the hearth of the furnace. The limit of this zone of fusion is rather sharply defined, and the temperature above this zone suddenly decreases. In its further ascent the hot gas drives off the carbonic acid from the limestone, which causes a further absorption of heat, and finally the gas escapes at the top, at a ternperature of about 250&apos; F. if the furnace is working well. These changes of temperature I have attempted to represent graphically,

Jan 1, 1880

By Stanley W. Sundeen

2.3-1. Introduction. The subject-"Preliminary Evaluation of Coal, Metallic and Industrial Mineral Deposits for Surface Mining&apos;-seems at first glance to be definitive and not likely to be misinterpreted. Nevertheless, there are widely divergent opinions as to what is meant by "preliminary" and even as to what is meant by "evaluation." Some definition and qualification is necessary in order to provide a readily recognized basis for discussion. Evaluation evokes the idea of organizing extant data and judging its significance especially in the economic sense. It also may evoke the concept of the physical processes of acquiring the data that will characterize the deposit such as the geologic mapping, drilling, etc. Castle (5) considers that evaluation may embrace psychological aspects wherein human traits as, for example, over optimism might cause the evaluator to overlook obvious project weaknesses. In this chapter, evaluation is discussed primarily from the viewpoint of economically appraising a project from data available at a given point in time. The qualifying adjective "preliminary" is not easily defineable. In fact, some kind of evaluation proceeds, if not continuously, intermittently over the full span of exploration and early stages of development of a deposit. Bailly (1) comments: "Sometimes, before starting exploration in new areas or countries for a given commodity, we establish models to define what minimum combinations of re- coverable grade and tonnage are needed to give the minimum acceptable rate of return established by corporate policy. Then, before starting physical exploration in any target area we try and guesstimate optimistically what best &apos;geometry-grade-tonnage&apos; can be expected. If these are acceptable in light of above minimum combinations, exploration is started as soon as funds are appropriated for the target area.&apos;&apos;

Jan 1, 1968

By James M. Winston

When I began my career (the first assignment was mucking the "drainage" ditch) an experienced miner told me, "Remember son, happiness is a journey, not a destination. . . ." If you missed the 100th Anniversary of AIME in New York this year, you are missing the journey. There are not enough superlatives to describe the event. Especially since New York is "known to have it all." An Indefinable Plus There was a little something different at this meeting. I cannot explain what, but there seemed to be more of everything. There were more wives there this year-what a pleasure to see all the lovely women mingling through the conference- which was reflected through our own attire and mannerisms. In fact, everyone looked so great, we checked to see if it really was a convention of miners. You wives keep coming to all of the events, because so much is added by your presence.

Jan 1, 1971

By Robert L. Davidoff, Rodney D. Rosenkranz

In order to determine copper resource data and production costs for major market economy mines and deposits, the Bureau of Mines has performed detailed engineering and economic analyses on 271 of the world&apos;s most significant copper deposits. At the demonstrated resource level, copper potentially recoverable from these deposits is estimated to be 325 million metric tons, 180 million tons of which would be from Pacific Rim countries. Chile has the largest known copper resources of any country and accounts for nearly 45 percent of the copper avail- able from Pacific Rim countries. At $1.00 per pound, in January 1981 dollars, an estimated 80 million metric tons of copper are potentially economically recoverable from Pacific Rim deposits. At this same price, analyses indicate that these deposits could economically produce about 2 million metric tons of copper per year. Sensitivity analyses reveal that if operating costs were to decrease 25 percent, with copper at a price of $1.00 per pound, total copper economically recoverable from Pacific Rim countries could increase by about 10 percent; a 25 percent increase in operating costs could lower economically recoverable copper by 50 percent. Analyses also indicate that byproduct prices are important. If byproduct revenues increased 25 percent, at a copper price of $1.00 per pound, an additional 2 million metric tons of copper could be recovered; if byproduct revenues decrease 25 percent, about 5 million metric tons less of copper metal would be available. Since the January 1981 date of this study, inflation and decreases in copper and byproduct prices have greatly affected the profitability of the world copper industry. Many producing mines have curtailed or suspended production, and development of many non- producing deposits has been postponed.

Jan 1, 1982

By R. M. Briney

A RETURN to nonwar conditions characterized the year 1946. The acquisition and forced use, under Government auspices, of low-grade and uneconomic ores, both foreign and domestic, ceased in 1945, but there was some carry-over into the early months of 1946. The world shipping situation delayed the procurement of some foreign ores, but conditions were improving by the end of the year. No actual shortage of any important alloy was experienced, hence the industry was able to make prompt shipment of orders placed. Price levels of ferroalloys, which had remained virtually constant through the war years, were forced upward, with increases on specific products as conditions necessitated. Standard ferroman-ganese and low-carbon ferrochrome were notable exceptions in that their price did not change. No new ferroalloy smelting plants were constructed. The Defense Plant Corp.. sold the works at Ashtabula, Ohio, to the Electro Metallurgical Co. A new type of ferroalloy furnace was described at the Birmingham meeting of the Electrochemical Society. Known as the "Elkem Rotary Furnace" it is distinguished by a rotating shell. The whole furnace, including shell, refrac-

Jan 1, 1947