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INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGICAL CONGRESS. (For further particulars apply to the Secretary, 12th International Geological Congress, Victoria Memorial Museum, Ottawa, Canada ; cable address, Geocong, Ottawa.) The Coal Resources of the World.-Three quarto volumes of about 400 pages each, 8 1/4 by 10 3/4 in., and an atlas of about 70 maps in colors, 13 1/3 by 19 1/2 in., bound in heavy paper cover. Edition limited to 3,000 copies, One thousand copies will be reserved for members of the International Geological Congress, and the remainder of the edition will be distributed in the order in which applications are received. Price, $35 per set. Ready in July, 1913. This book is an inquiry made upon the initiative of the Executive Committee of the Twelfth International Geological Congress, with the assistance of geological surveys and mining geologists of different countries, published by: Morang & Co., Ltd., Toronto, Canada. Headquarters During Session at Toronto. The headquarters will be a t the University of Toronto, where there will be a branch post-office open at all hours and at which registered mail may be received or despatched, money orders sent or cashed, etc. A hank will be established at which money may be exchanged. A typewriting service will be maintained, also a telephone service and messenger service. Railway and steamship agents will also be in attendance. A restaurant service providing luncheon in the middle of the day will be arranged.

Jan 8, 1913

By Hiram B. Woon

Uranium ore deposits in the Lisbon Valley area are in an arcuate belt, 15 miles long by one-half-mile wide, on the southwest flank of the Lisbon Valley anticline. They range in size from 500 to 1,500,000 tons and by mid-1965 had yielded 6,147,000 tons containing 48,530,000 pounds of U3O8. Ore bodies average 6 feet thick, are tabular, amoeba-shaped masses, concordant to the bedding, and are in the thickest, lowest sandstone unit of the Moss Back Member of the Chinle Formation of Triassic age. The host rock is predominantly a fluviatile, calcareous, fine-grained to conglomeratic sandstone. Uraninite, the principal ore mineral, fills the pores in the sandstone and partly replaces sand grains and fossil wood fragments. During Late Permian and Early Triassic time pre-Chinle Formations were arched to form the ancestral Permian anticline. Moss Back streams truncated Moenkopi and Cutler beds which capped the ancestral anticline and then covered it with fluviatile elastics, which were subsequently covered by thousands of feet of Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous sediments. Uranium, probably derived from the Chinle Formation by diagenetic processes, was transported in connate ground waters, was moved by compaction or hydrostatic forces, and was deposited under reducing conditions. Uranium was emplaced around the crest of the ancestral anticline, prior to the Laramide orogeny. During the orogeny, the Tertiary-Lisbon valley anticline was super induced on the Permian anticline and, penecontemporaneous with uplift, was faulted parallel to its longitudinal axis. The Big Indian ore belt on the southwest flank footwall block was elevated to approximately its present position, and the northeast flank hanging wall block was elevated only slightly. An extension of the Big Indian ore belt around the northeast flank of the ancestral Permian anticline may exist in the Moss Back sandstone in the downthrown block northeast of the Lisbon Valley fault.

Jan 1, 1968

By Gilbert Soler

THIS year's Chairman of the Iron and Steel Division is a noted member of a small and select group of practical scientists now working in this country and in Canada to improve the production and properties and to reduce the cost of super-quality carbon and alloy steels; he is one of those all-important leavening agents-a man with his feet always on the ground but capable of putting his head into the clouds on occasion-that are so necessary in applying science sensibly to the practical problems of steel production. He is equally at home in a discussion of the free energy of deoxidizing reactions or the entropy of the formation of stable sulphides, and in a consideration of the relative advantages of the basic-electric and the open-hearth furnace for the production of rimming steels in the Detroit area. Gilbert Soler was born of American parents in Havana, Cuba, just forty years ago. He graduated as a ceramic engineer from Ohio State University in 1930 and received a Master of Science degree a year later. In 1940 he received the degree of metallurgical engineer from the same institution.

Jan 1, 1948

By M. J. Coolbaugh

Mining of potash more than 3000 ft beneath the water-bearing sediments in Saskatchewan presented the unique challenge of designing stable mine workings and assuring protection from overhead water in a material that was believed to flow plastically, but whose behavior as a plastic material was not sufficiently known. Under the stress conditions ordinarily encountered in mining most rocks behave as elastic materials; that is, they compress slightly under pressure, and rebound when the pressure is released. Salt and potash, however, are different. Even under the relatively low pressures encountered at shallow depths, these materials become slightly plastic and yield to stress by flowing.* The plastic properties become more pronounced at greater depth and pressure, and the question arises as to whether or not the plastic flow will be rapid enough and exert enough pressure to destroy underground structures or interrupt the mining process.

Jan 5, 1967

By Bobby P. Faulkner

The Tennessee Copper Co.'s flotation plant, refer- T red to as London Mill, processes approximately 4800 tons of a massive complex sulfide ore per day. The ore is predominantly pyrrhotite and pyrite, the other sulfides being chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and a small amount of galena. Magnetite of economic value is also present. There are four concentrates produced. In decreasing tonnage, these are iron, copper, zinc and lead. The ore feeding the mill is a composite of ores from five mines which vary in grade. Therefore, in order to provide a fairly constant feed to the mill, the ore is blended several times before reaching the flotation machines. The flotation plant is divided into three main sections: bulk, copper and zinc. Fig. 1 shows a simplified flowsheet. The first two sections, the bulk and copper, were the two sections studied most closely in utilizing the computer.

Jan 11, 1966

By D. R. THOMAS

GENERALLY speaking, the production of other metals in Mexico fluctuates with that of silver. The first commercial discovery of mineral was in Taxco, Guerrero, in 1552. Five years later, the patio process was introduced at Pachuca, by Bartolome de Medina. In 1884, the main line of the Mexican Central R. R. was completed and a few years later, the National railway. In 1907, the patio process, after 350 years of successful operation, was replaced by cyanidation. Soon after the completion of the railroads, smelters were built at various points and provided means of treating ores that could not be treated by any of the processes existing at that time, such as patio, lixiviation, or pan amalgamation. As a result, a number of mines were developed along the railroads and even far \ out in the mountains. In order to facilitate the shipment of this ore to the smelters, purchasing agencies were established, which for a time were very profitable; most of these agencies are now permanently closed.

Jan 1, 1921

By C. R. Hayward, H. O. Hofman

I. INTRODUCTION. THE aim of instruction in a metallurgical laboratory is to make real the principles on which metallurgical processes and operations are based, and to foster the spirit of investigation: The materials with which experiments are carried out are ores, metals, and metallic compounds. The method varies with the end sought. A class may work as a whole, each member contributing his share to the solution of a problem, or the students may carry on investigations independently; the former exemplifies class-research; the latter, individual research. It is with a branch of the former, with special reference to ore-treatment that the present paper intends to deal. In smelting an ore by a well-established process, the result is shown by analyzing the products to see whether their compositions correspond to those calculated in making up the charge; by taking account of stock to show the distribution of metal in the different products made and the losses from dust and volatilization, by casting a thermal balance to find the ,distribution and losses of heat; and by making a cost-sheet to ascertain, as far as possible, the necessary outlay of money. In, lixiviation and amalgamation, the mode of operating has to be varied to adapt a process to the individual ore. Here a number of tests become necessary. Each will consist of a series of experiments with one variable, in order to find the conditions under which the variable gives the best result; a. summary of several tests will give the best method of operating.. Working a number of charges with the best method will furnish the data desired for ascertaining the recovery of metal,

Jun 1, 1909

Report of President The important fact of the year 1916 is that on July 25 contracts were executed by which the American Society of Civil Engineers because an additional Founder Society and arranged to make its permanent home in our building. The contracts provide for the construction of three additional stories to the building, the American Society to pay the cost tip to $250,000, this being considered equivalent to what each other Founder Society had contributed, the American Society to participate in the original Carnegie gift and have an equal share in the property with each other Founder society. The construction of the addition to the building is under way, $62,525.04 having been expended thereon in 1916. It has been found that, clue to war conditions and the advanced price of materials, the cost of the addition will be $300,000. The founder societies have been requested to assume the extra $50,000, one quarter each. This work is in charge of a Building Committee consisting of H. H. Barnes, Jr., Chairman, E. G. Spilsbury, Charles Warren Hunt and Charles F. Rand. At the request of the Founder Societies, important alterations were made in the lecture halls on the fifth floor of the building to make the same suitable for social functions of the societies. The cost, $6,642.08, was advanced by the United Engineering Society but is to be paid eventually by the Founders. The Library of the civil Engineers is being merged with the Library of the United Engineering. Society and the other founder societies. At the present time the membership of the four founder societies is 29,000 and of associate societies 23,000, so that a total of 52,000 engineers now have their headquarters in our building. The value of the real estate now owned by this Society is $1,647,171.16. This sum will be increased at the end of 1917 by the amount of the cost of the addition to the building.

Jan 3, 1917

By J. Elmer Thomas

The evolution of the oil business is one of the great industrial romances of modern times. First used as a medicine, then as a lubricant, then as an illuminant, and finally as a motor fuel, each change in its principal usage caused large increases in consumption. Producing Successes The producing branch of the industry responded ably to the demands made upon it. Never was there a famine, rarely any threat of scarcity, and stored inventories were gradually accumulated to form comfortable working stocks. Originally an erratic and hazardous undertaking, the discovery and development of oil fields has made such strides as to classify now as a science. When storage stocks were low, production in close balance with consumption, and demand trending sharply upward, considerable concern was expressed over future needs. Price was very responsive to fluctuations in supply under those conditions, and quotations for crude and refined oils exhibited wide swings. A very different situation exists today. Consideration of the statistics only since the war will show how recent has been this change. In the 10-year period from 1918 to 1927 inclusive, we produced in the United States 6,100,000,000 bbl. of crude and imported 900,000,000 bbl., our total supply being 7,000,000,000 bbl. The consumption was 6,600,000,000 bbl., thus adding to stocks 400,000,000 bbl., an accumulation of somewhat less than 6 per cent. of the total supply. During that period virtually every field was promptly developed as soon as discovered and nearly every well in the country was producing at full capacity. With the maximum production of the wells required to take care of the rapid increases in consumption, with storage stocks moderate and proven reserves very slight, the producing division of the industry acquired a tempo not needed now. Potential Surplus Today the situation is vastly different. The economic consumption is about 2,700,000 bbl., with current production slightly in excess of that.

Jan 1, 1930

By R. J. Stevens

THE Roan Antelope Smelter commenced operations in October, 1931. As originally designed, its equipment consisted of one reverberatory furnace, 120 X 25 ft, two Peirce-Smith converters 12 X 20 ft, and one straight line casting machine. Since that time the following additions have been made: One reverberatory furnace 120 ft X 28 ft (1934) One reverberatory furnace 95 ft X 28 ft (1943) Two 12 X 20 ft Peirce-Smith converters (1934 and 1938) One 13 X 30 ft holding furnace 6 (1938) One straight line casting machine and 2 ladle tilting quadrants (1934) The metallurgy of the smelting process is comparatively simple. However, there are several features of operation which are uncommon to most copper smelters: (1) The high grade of concentrate treated; this has always been about 50 pct copper. (2) The high flux burden on the charge. This is necessary because of the deficiency of bases'in the concentrate and the high alumina content of the concentrate. (3) The frequent necessity of adding coal to the furnace charge to control the matte grade. (4) The high grade of matte produced. This has led' to unusual converter problems. From the commencement of operations, the ore mined has come from the Roan Basin orebody. The concentrate produced from this ore consists mainly of chalcocite and shale with small proportions of other copper minerals. As mining operations extend to the Roan Extension orebody, the proportions of bornite and chalcopyrite in the concentrate will increase with a corresponding decrease in the copper content of the concentrate. Because of the concentrate grade the capacity of the reverberatory . furnaces in terms of tons of copper produced per ton of coal burned is high.. This ratio is usually over 2.2, and on especially favourable runs has reached 2.6. Reference to Table , shows that the iron content of the concentrate is unusually low. Only part of this iron is available for slag formation, the balance going to the matte. To make up this deficiency in bases, limerock is added to the furnace charge. This flux ensures a slag that is of the correct silicate degree, is sufficiently fluid, of low specific gravity, and it counteracts the thickening effect of the alumina present. An ample supply of flux is obtainable from Ndola, 2 2 miles distant by rail. Although the reverberatory slag has a high copper content, the slag fall is low and the copper loss in the slag now rarely exceeds 1.0 pct of the total copper charged. The blister copper shipped is of such purity that only one fire refining operation has been necessary to produce a wirebar with properties comparable to electrolytic copper. Bismuth has always been the most troublesome impurity and consequently the problem of its control in the finished product has been of prime importance. Practically none is removed in the reverberatory furnace. The bulk of the elimina-

Jan 1, 1947

Ask any mineral industry executive what he considers one of the most expensive aspects of getting a product to the ultimate consumer and invariably the answer will be transportation. Some company officials say that transportation charges alone account for over half of the total cost of most products. If these judgments are correct and a recent invention turns out to be the long-awaited breakthrough that shippers have been looking for, then many producers can look forward to slashing their delivery costs by 90%.

Jan 9, 1969

By Frederick Laist

THE past year has witnessed no radical changes in methods for the reduction and refining of copper. The Carson litigation was finally brought to a close ant1 the copper smelter is again free to introduce charge into his reverberatory furnaces in whatever manner suits him best. This litigation naturally led to much experimentation with various methods of charging and with various types of bath. In some cases the charge was introduced more or less centrally on a relatively dry hearth and in other cases into a bath of greater or less depth. The results of these furnaces were meticulously compared with the results obtained in side-charger furnaces, and it was apparent that it made little, if any difference how a given furnace \\.as charged so long as care was taken that there was always something in the furnace for the flames to work on. So long as this requirement was complied with, consumption of fuel per ton of charge smelted and tonnage smelted per furnace day remained substantially the same regardless of the method of charging or the depth of bath employed. In some instances the center-charged deep-bath furnaces gave slightly better results than the side-charged particularly with respect to copper losses. The slags of the deep-bath furnaces are generally a little cleaner

Jan 1, 1930

By F. C. Blake

The apparatus which I shall describe in this paper has been in ase for some time at the laboratory of the Pennsylvania Lead Company's works, and has been found to give good results, and to be simple and convenient. Steam Bath.—This steam bath is shown by Figs. 1, 2,3 and 4. It is made of sheet copper, about one-twelfth of an inch thick, the joints being brazed, and is used for heating the bottles in which the silver samples are dissolved,-previous to the fineness determina-

Jan 1, 1882

By Warren H. Westphal

For mining and exploration, and indeed the entire mineral industry, the first century of AIME has ended with far more problems than it began. Paradoxically, most of these problems have arisen not because, the industry has been unsuccessful, but rather because it has succeeded too well. Whatever the public demand for minerals over the past 100 years, it has somehow been met-and met at a price well within the public's ability to pay for the products. But as AIME moves into its second century, the past successes of mining and exploration are beginning to levy a tax on the future. Prospectors have already found most of the rich and ready ores, and miners have dug them out. New mineral assets grow progressively harder to come by, and as they do, the need for them grows inversely more pressing. How and where and at what cost can adequate supplies be found? How and at what cost can they be mined from heretofore inaccessible recesses deep underground and under the seas-or from vast surface tonnages containing only minor values? And once they are found or won, how can these assets be husbanded for generations to come? How also can they be extracted without injury to the land, air and water on which we and our successors must depend? And what constructive use can be made of the incidental materials now treated merely as wastes-sometimes at great expense?

Jan 1, 1971

By CHARLES W. BENTON

THE following paragraphs comprise such information as the Secretary has been able to obtain concerning the members and associates whose deaths have been reported. Further particulars or corrections of errors, and biographical data concerning deceased members or associates not already noticed in this way, are solicited. Charles IV. Benton was born at Kezar Falls, Maine, Nov. 12, 1843. We have no accurate knowledge concerning the early part of his career. In 1871 he engaged with the N. Y. Honduras Rosario Mining Co., at San Juancinto, Honduras, C. A., and later was employed at the Monserrat mine at Yuscaran, and at Santa Lucia, Honduras, with the Tenero Mining Milling Co. of Pennsylvania. In 1897 he became a member of the Institute. At the time he was stricken with his last sickness he was employed at the Paymaster mine at Tucson, Ariz. He died at Fairmount, Denver, Colo., Sept. 9, 1907. William R. Boggs, Jr.-The notice in the Bulletin for January was incorrect in saying that the murder of Mr. Boggs occurred while he was employed as metallurgical. manager by Mr. W. B. A. Dingwall, at La Maroma, San Luis Potosi, Mex. Mr. Dingwall writes that in March, 1907, Mr. Boggs left him, to return to his home at Winston, N. C., whence he. subsequently went to Durango, Mex., to take, with the Topia Mining Co., a position which he occupied at the tine of his death, Nov. 17, 1907. Mr. Dingwall says that, while in his service, Mr. Boggs never had any trouble with the workmen, but was esteemed and liked by them, as by all who knew him ; and adds, injustice to the State of San Luis Potosi, that the population, even in the mining-camps of that State, is orderly and law-abiding, and that the authorities are vigilant and just. Our

Mar 1, 1908

By A. W. Hahn

USE of gold leaf goes back to biblical and even to prehistoric times. Both gold and silver, as well as other metals, were employed in illustrating or illuminating manuscripts. The medieval monks also used bronze powders. Metals were subdivided as finely as possible by mechanical methods, or by granulation and then were pounded into finely divided flakes. Substances such as honey have also been employed, since early times to keep the flakes of metal apart during grinding. Stearic acid is a more modern agent used in flaking aluminum and other metals. Finely divided "blue powder" is a by-product in retorting zinc ores, and contains from 78 to 90 per cent of zinc metal. This has been used as a precipitant for precious metals in the cyanide process and for chemical reduction processes. The making of zinc dust by atomizing is a step well known in electrolytic zinc plants. The Thermit process of Goldschmidt also requires the use of finely divided aluminum.

Jan 1, 1937

By R. A. L. Black, J. E. Jennings

The problems of slope stability in open cast mines are examined. A criterion, the instantaneous stripping ratio, is suggested for use in the design of pit slopes and as an index of control at all stages of the exploitation of the orebody. This criterion may also be related to safety and to the maximizing of profits. Two approaches to safe design of slopes, one from the point of view of soil mechanics and the other from the point of view of rock mechanics, are described and critically compared. The effect on slope stability of the regional tectonic stress field is discussed. Explanation is given of the application of the Terzaghi effective stress concept to problems in both soil and rock environments, including possible effects when borehole deformation techniques are used to measure stresses in rock in situ. A company embarking on open cast mining is faced with two basic questions: 1) will the venture be profitable and 2) can it be carried out with safety? The two questions are obviously interrelated because both depend upon the slope angles adopted for the pit. The cost of open cast mining depends largely upon the stripping ratio, defined as the volume of overburden that must be removed to the volume of ore recovered. The steeper the slope angles, the more favorable the stripping ratio, but the stability of the slopes, and therefore the safety of men and materials in the pit, require that the angles be made relatively flat. Consequently, the design depends upon a compromise: the slopes must be steep enough to result in economical mining and flat enough to ensure safety. Today there is a world trend towards deeper mining by open cast methods. This is mainly due to the higher cost of underground mining and the lower cost of open excavation resulting from the introduction of large modern earth and rock-moving machinery. Deeper open cast mining has led to a very great increase in the volumes of wasted overburden, and much thought is being given to the considerable economic benefits which would result if pit slopes could be made steeper by even one or two degrees. The result has been an increasing interest in research into slope stability problems in the expectation that the application of scientific principles will provide solutions leading both to economies and to more predictable operation of the mines. In at least four places, the U.S., Australia, Western Germany and Southern Africa, comprehensive investigations are at present in progress, and it is the object of this paper to review some of the more important aspects of these programs. RELATION BETWEEN ECONOMY OF OPERATION AND SLOPE ANGLES The main object of any industrial enterprise in a free economy is to make a profit. In mining, where profits must be made from a wasting capital asset, a further definition of the profit motive is imposed, namely that the economic aim should be to maximize the total possible profit. But since profits deferred for a number of years are not as valuable as profits that are immediately available, it is usual to discount deferred profits at some rate of interest which reflects their current or present value in the hands of the investor. Thus, in mining the logical aim can be defined more closely still: to maximize the present value of the total future profits. In commercial terms the present value represents the market value of the operation as a going concern. Many factors enter into the forecast of current and future profits. They include the volume of production, the price of the salable product and the cost of production. Current profits can be estimated with reasonable accuracy by the operating engineers; but it is the task of economists and management to assess future trends in the mineral markets and in the economy as a whole, and together with the engineers, they can then estimate the future cost and profitability of the mining operations. In open cast mining, the rate of ore production once decided on remains a virtually constant factor unless a major change in the capital structure of the mine is made. But one factor over which the operator has a considerable measure of control is the ratio of the volume of ore mined to the volume of waste over-

Jan 1, 1963

By C. A. WARNER

AN OIL and gas mining lease contract, as entered A into by and between 'the lessor and the lessee, contains certain express covenants stipulating, in part at least, the exact performance thereof; it also contains certain implied covenants, among which may be included that of protection of the leased premises against drainage by the drilling of necessary offset wells. In the drilling for, and production of, oil and gas, however, it not infrequently happens that the lessee, acting in good faith, does not deem it prudent to, drill a test thereon even though the location for such test is offset by a producing well on an adjoining lease. Such conclusion, on the part of the lessee, is generally construed by the lessor as constituting a breach of the implied covenant mentioned above, and he may take proper action to secure satisfaction therefor. The action against the lessee is generally for cancellation or relinquishment of the lease, together with, or apart from, claims for damages allegedly sustained through failure to properly protect against drainage of the leased premises.

Jan 1, 1931

By George M. Fowler, J. P. LYDEN

T HE relationship of geological structure to orebodies and to the great masses of chert in the Tri-State mining district is of such significance that it prompts a brief recital of the existing information regarding the various periods of structural deformation. We began to note a relationship between structure and orebodies early in our studies of the field, and further work revealed a like relationship of structure to the great masses of chert so commonly associated with the ore-

Jan 1, 1934

Industrial minerals enjoyed a fairly successful year in 1978, despite the sluggish economy, inflation, and environmental restrictions. A glance at US Bureau of Mines statistics shows that, in general, production of industrial minerals increased from + 1% (salt) to as much as 26% (sulfur, other than Frasch or recovered). A few industrial minerals showed a decline; fluorspar production, for example, registered a 23% decrease in 1978 from 1977 due to the closing of three domestic mines. Bromine, natural sodium sulfate, Frasch sulfur, and vermiculite also had production decreases of 2-6% in 1978.

Jan 5, 1979