Search Documents

By L. B. McConville

The general term "tar sand" refers to sand that contains varying amounts of dense, viscous petroleum. Tar sand deposits have been found throughout the world, often in the same geographical area as conventional petroleum. The largest one by far is known as the Athabasca Tar Sands, in the province of Alberta, Canada. Actually a group of three deposits, these particular sands underlie an aggregate area of more than 12,000 sq miles. Current estimates place the contained raw petroleum at about 700 billion bbl; and via currently available technology, the amount of recoverable synthetic oil may be as much as 300 billion bbl-which is roughly equivalent to five times the combined US and Canadian total crude oil reserves. With the ever-widening gap between energy supply and demand, mining and petroleum companies are now evaluating all possible energy resources-both developed and underdeveloped-and, certainly, the Athabasca Tar Sand deposit is one of the more important ones to merit such attention. The first section in ME deals with the geology and historical developments; the other four sections, with mining methods, extraction technology, economics, and outlook.

Jan 1, 1975

By F. R. Brotzen, J. Taranto

SEVERAL investigators have computed stacking-fault concentrations from X-ray diffraction data.'-' The method generally employed relates the line shift to the stacking-fault probability. In this investigation platinum filings of 99.99 pct purity screened to -325 mesh were studied after having been subjected to various annealing treatments. The lines were measured on a General Electric XRD-5 spectrogoniometer using CuK, radiation. The centroid of the broad reflections was determined by the method proposed by pike.' The stacking-fault probability was calculated by the formula given by Warren and warekois,3 with the assumption that all stacking faults were on the (111). Various high-angle reflections were used, but most data collected refer to the shift in the (400) reflections. When the filed platinum powder was annealed at 1200°C for 20 min the stacking fault concentration was too small to be detected. The stacking-fault probability in freshly filed specimens, as determined by the line shift relative to the annealed specimen, was about 0.016, Fig. 1. If the faults would be created only by extended dislocations, the dislocation density in the filed specimen would be about 3X1012 cm-2. The average stacking-fault width of about 21 which was used in this computation, is that given by Thornton and Hirsch.7 The mechanism by which stacking faults are annihilated during annealing is not yet fully understood. The isothermal results obtained do not seem to support the simple hypothesis of a first-order decay. On the other hand, the analysis by Kuhlmann, Masing, and Raffelsieper8 for the loss of dislocations during recovery agrees much better with the experimental data of this investigation. This analysis yields an activation energy of 29 ± 8 kcal per mol for the disappearance of stacking faults in cold-worked platinum during annealing. Even if one takes into account the lack of accuracy inherent in this X-ray method, the activation energy found is substantially less than that of self-diffusion in platinum, i.e., 61.6 kcal per mol.9 The results therefore suggest that processes other than dislocation climb, which involves the activation energy of self-diffusion, are responsible for the loss of stacking faults in platinum during annealing. The broad reflection lines became sharper early in the recovery process, Fig. 1. The sharpening occurred well before the stage during which stacking faults disappear. This lends support to Nowick's10

Jan 1, 1962

By John J. Egan, A. B. Kinzel, Walter Crafts

The demands of the petroleum and chemical industries for steels to be used in pressure vessels and similar structures at artificially low temperatures are continually increasing, and the writing of proper specifications with suitable tests becomes increasingly important. Likewise, the selection of suitable steels for such applications is of increasing concern to the metallurgist. It is generally recognized that highly alloyed steels of the austenitic stainless type retain their properties even at very low temperatures and represent the best technological solution of the low-temperature steel problem. However, in many instances less expensive carbon or low-alloy steels suitable for service within limited temperature ranges are available. The problem thus becomes one of defining the various factors involved in the production and fabrication of these less expensive steels and determining the temperature ranges in which their properties justify engineering application. Most of the applications involve welded structures, and the heat effect of welding as well as the nature of the weld metal are matters of prime concern. The first problem that the metallurgist faces is the determination of the type of test to be used as a criterion of the performance of the steel in low-temperature service. It has been generally recognized that the static properties of steel as determined in the ordinary tensile test undergo a gradual and relatively slight change as the temperature of test is lowered in the range of current interest; i.e., from room temperature to minus 120' C. It is further generally recognized that the behavior of steel under impact involving notch sensitivity is definitely affected at the lower temperatures. While the major subject of this paper is the effect of grain-refining deoxidizers, of low-alloy additions and of welding on the low-temperature notched-bar impact properties, an inquiry into the general behavior of steel under low-temperature impact testing is included. This is a pertinent portion of the investigation and the results thereof are

Jan 1, 1937

By Robert H. Merrill, David W. Wisecarver, Raymond M. Stateham

The US. Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with US. Borax and Chemical Corp. and Kennecott Copper Corp., has investigated the use of the microseismic method to evaluate the stability of large, open-pit slope walls. The method is based on the phenomenon that stressed rock normally emits subaudible rock noises, and the number of rock noises per unit time (noise rate) and the magnitude of the rock noises (amplitude) increase as the stresses in the rock approach the failure stress of the rock. Therefore, the detection and recording of those rock noises serve as a semiquantitative method of predicting the incipient failure of rock. This report briefly describes the three different types of micro-seismic apparatus, the procedures, and the results of microseismic investigations in the slope walls of the Boron mine near Boron, CaL, and the Kimbley, Liberty, and Tripp-Veteran open-pit mines near Ely, Nev. Microseismic monitoring within a frequency band of SO to 5000 Hz indicates noise rates in stable, inactive mining areas are between 0 and 10 noises per hour; the rates in stable, active mining areas are between 10 and 50 noises per hour; and the rate in unstable areas is as high as 2500 noises per hour. High microseismic noise rates in the Liberty pit correlate with the time of nearby earthquakes, indicating that the earthquakes affected the slope wall. The results provide evidence that the microseismic technique is applicable to large pit walls, and that the wide-band, wide-range microseismic equipment appears to be suitable for open-pit investigations. The microseismic method is based on the phenomenon that stressed rock normally emits subaudible rock noises, and the number of rock noises per unit time (noise rate) and the magnitude of the rock noises (amplitude) increase as the stresses in the rock approach the failure stress of the rock. Therefore, the detection and recording of those rock noises serve as a semiquantitative method of predicting the incipient failure of rock. The method has been used for many years to detect incipient failure in roofs or pillars in underground mines. In 1963 the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) started an investigation of the microseismic method in large, open-pit slope walls. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the method in open-pit slopes where the rock may be fractured and broken and where the size of the rock mass under investigation is much larger than normally encountered underground. In addition, both the stresses in the rock and the strength of rock near pits are lower than usually found underground. Consequently, there was some doubt concerning the feasibility of the method for open pits, and the economics of such an investigation may have been prohibitive especially if large walls had to be monitored with closely spaced geophones. The successful application of the microseismic method to underground operations has improved safety at little, or no sacrifice, to production or extraction ratios. The anticipated reward in open-pit mining would be the improvement of safety with a minimum sacrifice to mining operations. There is also a possibility that the method could be used to optimize the unloading (stripping) of potential failure areas by the removal of intact rock from the slope wall rather than the cleanup of a slide from the bottom of the pit. This report contains a brief description of three types of microseismic apparatus used in four different pit walls, each of which is different in height, slope, rock types, or has different planes of weaknesses, such as faults, fractures, or joints. Because the geologic features of the pit walls are varied and complex, for brevity, this report dwells mostly on the microseismic apparatus, techniques, the rock noise rates, and the slope movements measured at the various sites. PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT The microseismic method was developed over 20 years ago; and the method and examples of investigations in underground mines are summarized by Obert and Duvall. 1 In more recent years, the method has been applied in several underground mines, and an in-situ test under controlled stress conditions is described by Morgan and Merrill. 2 Experience has shown that, on occasions, the microseismic noise rate and amplitude reach a peak value and then start to decrease before a failure occurs in an underground mine; on other occasions, the noise rate steadily increases to a maximum at failure. The method has been applied to slopes by Goodman and Blake,3 and by Paulsen. 4 Goodman and Blake found that the noises corresponded with failures in the slope

Jan 1, 1970

By A. W. Ambrose

THE underground losses of oil exceed by hundreds of thousands of barrels all the oil that has been lost in storage, transportation, or refining. The quantity lost is, of course, indeterminate; but when it is considered that the contents of an entire oil field have been excluded from recovery by invading waters, some idea of the amount wasted may be gained. Similarly, enormous quantities of gas have been lost underground. Conservation of the oil, therefore, should start before it is brought to the surface rather than after it is placed in storage tanks. Water is one of the most important causes for underground losses and the operator should give as serious consideration to an underground flood of water as he would to a destructive surface flood. The best insurance, of course, is to have the wells drilled in such a manner that water has no access to the productive oil and gas horizons, and on abandonment the wells should be properly plugged. The encroachment of edge water and the occurrence of water in the base of an oil sand present a very serious problem to an oil company; sooner or later these waters are bound to cause considerable damage, if they do not entirely destroy the possibilities of further production. Too often, however, a field has been considered to be in a hopeless condition, whereas wells in as bad a condition in other areas have been repaired and the life of the field appreciably lengthened. The corrections are very often suggested by technical study. Very successful results have been accomplished by detailed underground work in the California oil fields, in Cushing, Oklahoma, and in other areas.

Jan 9, 1920

By W. C. Phalen

INTRODUCTION NOBODY will dispute the fact that the conservation in every legitimate manner of our valuable high-grade phosphate-rock deposits is a present-day problem of importance. The table and curve, given herewith, show. that during the past 10 years the exportation of high-grade rock has averaged very close to half the total output of the entire country. The bulk of this exportation is from Florida, for obvious reasons. It is plain that the deposits in this State, more particularly, are being wastefully depleted under a system of selecting the cream of the product for exportation to Europe, leaving the comparatively low-grade rock, running from 65 to 70 per cent., and under, in bone phosphate of lime, for our own n fertilizer manufacturers to work up when all the best rock is gone. In this paper the writer has endeavored to make a point of describing in some detail the important methods of production and conservation in Tennessee. These ought to prove of educational value to our American agriculturists and fertilizer manufacturers, and should result in a demand for the highest-grade rock, both for direct application to the soil and for use in making acid phosphate. It is certainly evident that the European

Jan 10, 1916

By G. Caetani, E. Burt

Jan 1, 1907

By George A. Packard

THE experiments here described were made under my supervision while temporarily acting as head of the Department of Metallurgy at the Missouri School of Mines, at Rolla. The work was done by Messrs. W. E. Brown, W. C. Richards, and F. L. L. Wilson, and the description of the results forms a portion of a thesis presented for the degree of Bachelor of Science. These results are submitted because I have seen no description of the application of pot roasting to the treatment of a copper-concentrate. This work followed that already described in the discussion of the ' Lime-Roasting of a Galena-Concentrate,"' and was similarly occasioned by the lack of a furnace of the reverberatory type in which the copper-concentrates could be smelted. The material for the tests was a mixture of three lots available. The first consisted of 8-mm. jig-concentrates and the second of 0.5 mm. table-concentrates, from the San Juan district, Colo. Both contained pyrite, chalcopyrite and galena. The third was a lot of copper-ore, found in the laboratory, which had been crushed through 8-mm. screen, and had at some previous time, before the laboratory roasting-furnace was torn down, received a partial roasting. The analyses of these ores are given in Table I. In order to determine the applicability of pot-roasting as to each lot of ore, and the effect of varying proportions of lime, six preliminary tests were made in a " size N " Battersea crucible, 9 in. high by 6 in. in diameter at top, with a 5/8 in. hole bored through the bottom. The crucible was set in the upturned elbow of a 2-in. pipe, the joint being luted with clay; and air was obtained from a receiver supplied by a compressor. The

Jan 1, 1908

SPEAKING generally, it may be said that leaching is the simplest method of recovering copper from its ores. Likewise it is perhaps the oldest method of treatment used by copper metallurgists of the modern era. Reliable records indicate that as early as 1752 cupriferous pyrite was leached in the famous Rio Tinto region in Spain. Though the manipulation was quite different from that in use today at Chuquicamata, New Cornelia, Inspiration, and Andes, it resembled that employed by Phelps Dodge at Bisbee, as described in Chapter XIV. Leaching consists of subjecting ore to the action of a liquid solvent or menstruum (usually an aqueous solution) which dissolves the major part of the soluble copper minerals. The resulting pregnant solution is drained off or otherwise separated from the residual ore; and the copper in the solution is then recovered by some appropriate means of precipitation. When sulphuric acid is the lixiviant, as is usual, the simplest procedure is to pass the copper-bearing solution through large troughs containing scrap iron. The iron displaces the copper in the solution, precipitating it as a slime coating the iron and varying in color -from bright copper to a dull black. This may be washed off at intervals, collected as a sludge, dried, and melted with a little fluxing material to produce reasonably pure copper. Usually, of course, the mud is sent to a smelter where most often its destination is the converter or reverberatory furnace. Modern practice uses precipitation on iron only as a complemental process to electrolytic precipitation or deposition, wherein the pregnant copper-bearing solution, acting as the electrolyte in a cell having insoluble anodes and copper cathodes, is depleted of the copper it contains. Cathode copper, 99.5 per cent pure, is produced ready for the market as refined copper, or for a simple process of melting, fire-refining, and casting in

Jan 1, 1933

By Robert F. Mehl, Edward L. McCandless

Oriented overgrowths and intergrowths among both metallic and nonmetallic substances have been recognized and studied for well over a century. The work of Widmanstätten in 1808 on the geometrical structure in meteorites, a structure known by his name, demonstrated that oriented intergrowths can occur in purely metallic systems. This fact led to much of the early microscopic study of alloys, contributing greatly to the advance of physical metallurgy. The problem has been attacked again in recent years in a comprehensive fashion, with the object of discovering what atomic movements may occur during phase changes in alloy systems. Much of this work has appeared in the A.I.M.E. Transactions in a series of papers published by Mehl and coworkers beginning in 19311. Although many aspects of this general problem remain unsolved, it may be said that the orientation of a new phase forming by precipitation from solid solution or by transformation invariably bears a unique relationship to the orientation of the phase from which it formed, and that similarity in atomic patterns on atomic planes in the two phases play an important part in determining the orientation relationship. Analogous orientation relationships exist in oriented intergrowths in nonmetallic systems—mineral or inorganic. In 1827 Haidinger2 discovered natural intergrowths of hematite and magnetite, and demonstrated that the rough form of the magnetite octahedrons was delineated by small crystals of hematite, of which the basal (00.1) planes lay parallel to the octahedral cleavage planes of the magnetite. The description of this orientation relationship was later completed by von Rath3, who showed that the edge (00.1): (10.1) in hematite lies normal to the [Ill]

Jan 1, 1937

By Ottey M. Bishop, William G. Peryam, Fred E. Johnson

THE Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company is the largest copper producer in the Philippines, and the only one that makes a concentrate valuable principally for its copper; also, it has the only productive copper mine situated at considerable distance from the sea, and is the only one in the islands operating its own smelter. The Lepanto mine is in the Municipal District of Mankayan, sub-province of Benguet, near the heart of the Mountain Province of Northern Luzon. It is 165 km. from its shipping point at San Fernando, Province of La Union, on the shore of the China Sea. Elevations at the property range from 3200 to 4500 ft. The climate is very mild; temperatures are seldom below 50° or above 80°F. Annual rainfall approaches 170 in. and is mainly confined to a rainy season lasting from May to October. The months from December to April, inclusive, are usually extremely dry. This climatic pecularity entails the problems of landslides on the roads during the rainy season and water shortage during the dry season. The Mountain Trail, an improved rocksurfaced toll road maintained by the Commonwealth Government, gives access to the property. The 105 km. over this road may be traveled in about 4 ½ hr. during the dry season. Very few sections of the road are straight for more than 100 meters, and about one third of it is a one-way road controlled by gates. All freight for the property is delivered by the Manila Railroad Company to Bauang, La Union, 45 km. west of Baguio and at sea level, where it is picked up by freight trucks and hauled via Baguio to Lepanto. Granulated matte is hauled in bulk from Lepanto in four-ton lots on freight trucks to the storage bins at San Fernando. Freight rates from Bauang to the property amount to [P]8.oo per ton, and from the property to San Fernando the rate is [P]16.00 per ton. The company pays the road toll, [P] 1.00 per truck, each way. THE CAMP The company maintains a modern camp, well separated from the mine and reduction plant. Comfortable and sanitary living quarters, water, and light, as well as free medical service are provided all employees. A hospital staffed by a doctor and two nurses takes care of all medical treatment. Considering recreational facilities of great importance, the company has provided two tennis courts, two basketball courts, and badminton courts for employees. Bowling alleys and a motion picture theater are operated by the company, the profits being expended for other recreational purposes. A moderate sized recreation hall serves for barrio dances, meetings,

Jan 1, 1942

By Arthur Notman

SacRamento Hill is a mass of granite porphyry intruded along a fault between Paleozoic sediments and pre-Cambrian schists in the Bisbee district, Cochise County, Arizona. The intrusion invaded both walls of the fault to a large extent, and the accompanying extensive mineralization of the Paleozoic limestones is the locus of the great high-grade copper orebodies of the Bisbee mines. Prior to 1909, although the presence of ore in the masa of the hill itself had long been suspected, systematic exploration had not been attempted. A few shallow pits on the surface here and there had disclosed some chal-cocite with associated carbonates as stringers in a mass of strongly brccciated, silicified, and iron-stained porphyry. The workings in the surrounding limestones had penetrated the porphyry in a dozen or SO places for some distance from the contact but had disclosed no ore. However, the rock had been largely altered to quartz and sericite and very thoroughly impregnated with pyrite and traces of the copper sulphides. A close geological study of the conditions, both surface and underground, strengthened these suspicions, and plans for prospecting the hill were made in 1909. Reference to the accompanying illustrations, Figs. 1 and 2, will give an idea of the general appearance of the surface. The mineralization is more intense in two main zones, one at the west end and the other at the east end of the hill. The outcrop of the hill is elliptical and approximately 3,000 ft. long by 1,400 ft. wide. The Sacramento shaft, which is the main hoisting shaft of the mine and situated at the east end of the hill, as shown by the accompanying map (Fig. 3), offered a convenient base for prospecting that end of the hill, while the workings from the Holbrook shaft offered a similar opportunity at the west end. The choice of level for the first work was determined by analogy with the most favorable depth for enrichment below surface obscrved in the other disseminated deposits of the Southwest.

Jan 1, 1916

By Sherwin Kelly

IN presenting this brief historical perspective, it is not my purpose to address myself to the geophysicists, to most of whom the story is already well known. My objective is to draw the attention of those who hold the belief that geophysics is something new, typically twentieth century, to the fact that fundamentally, whether it was known by the name of geo-physics or not, the science is an ancient and an honorable one. It began many centuries ago, and our modern civilization and its commerce owe a great debt to its founders, who today are likely to he overlooked and their names forgotten. The word "geophysics" means the physics of the earth, and is descriptive of a science that in many ways bears the same relationship to geology that astrophysics does to astronomy. When dealing with dis-tant stars or deeply buried rocks, the experimenter cannot reach them to obtain samples, which can be taken to his laboratory for study. He therefore exhibits the resourcefulness of Mahomet in the mountain episode, and makes the terrestrial globe or the cosmic universe his labora-tory, studying the effects of distant bodies on certain "fields of force"" which come to him across interstellar space, or through the rocks that make our earth. The application of these techniques of the physics laboratory to the study of the stars is the science of astrophysics, and to the investigation of the earth is geophysics. Yet the origin of the most valuable contribution to the world's trade and commerce ever made by geophysics remains lost in deep obscurity. Unknown even is the country wherein lived the unsung genius who invented the first geophysical instrument, the mariner's compass! Worse yet, it is not certain whether this invaluable guide of man had its begin-nings in Europe or in Asia. A Chinese legend tells of the Emperor Hwang-ti, who attacked his enemy Tchi-yeou on the plains of Tchou-lou in the year 2634 B.C., whereupon the latter magically raised such a fog that the Emperor could not pursue the retreating troops. Not to be outdone, the mighty ruler constructed a chariot that indicated the cardi-

Jan 1, 1938

By Ancel St. John

During a session on coal and coke at the February, 1926, meeting of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, the writer called attention to the important work on the X-ray analysis of coal1,2 being carried on in England by C. Norman Kemp and his associates. This aroused so much interest that a paper on the subject was requested for the October meeting. It has seemed advisable to make this paper a preliminary survey of the present status in the application of X-ray methods to coal problems and to follow it from time to time with further articles as the art develops. A survey of this sort naturally divides itself into two parts, radio-scopic analysis of the distribution of constituents through the body of the coal, and diffraction analysis of the state of association of the elementary components. In this article the subject matter concerning radioscopic analysis has been drawn almost entirely from the writings of Kemp and his associates and the illustrations have been sptcially furnished by him. It is a pleasure to record here a great indebtedness for this courtesy and cooperation. The subject matter and illustrations concerning diffraction analysis are taken from the author's unpublished researches. Nature and Properties of X-rays Before proceeding it is well to recall the nature and some of the properties of X-rays, as well as our present conception of atomic structure According to the accepted theory atoms are composed of electrically-charged particles. A positively-charged center, called the nucleus,

Jan 1, 1927

By Walter Kauzmann

ALL viscous or plastic flow of incompressible matter is the result of shear strain; the changing shape of any body that is being plastically deformed can be completely described in terms of the shear strain occurring at each point in the body.[t] Furthermore, the relative amounts of shear strain occurring in different parts of a body under stress depend upon the relative rates of shear strain at those different points, so that if the dependence of the shear rate of any material on the temperature, shear stress, previous history, etc., were understood, the principles of plastic deformation would be known, and we could calculate how a body made of a given material, having a given shape, and subject to a specified system of forces, would change its shape with time. It may be said, then, that the problem of plasticity resolves itself into, first, the problem of the rates of pure shear processes, and second, the application of what is known about pure shear to actual cases. It is the purpose of this work to investigate the former problem -i.e., the dependence of shear rates on temperature, stress, etc.-from the standpoint of recent developments in the field of chemical-rate theory and with particular reference to the phenomena occurring in the creep of metals and in the plastic flow of crystalline solids in general. It is left for the mechanical engineer, and perhaps the expert in hydrodynamics, to deal with the problem of applications1 RESOLUTION OF MACROSCOPIC SHEAR INTO MICROSCOPIC MOVEMENTS; RESEMBLANCE TO CHEMICAL REACTIONS Just as any large body is made up of many small units, or atoms, so macroscopically observable shear is the result of many microscopic unit shear processes; just as the understanding of the behavior of large bodies demands the understanding of the atoms of which it is made, so the understanding of macroscopic shear demands the understanding of these fundamental unit processes. The study of shear from this "atomistic" point of view has made considerable progress. There has been fairly complete understanding of shear processes in gases for a long time, at least for nonturbulent flow, as a chapter on gaseous viscosity in any text on the kinetic theory of gases will prove. In recent years Andrade2 and Eyring3 have presented important theories for the flow of liquids and amorphous solids. Becker,4 Orowan,5 Taylor,6 Burgers,7 and Kanter8 have considered the

Jan 1, 1941

By A. U. Seybolt

The pressure-temperature relations required to maintain the existence of Si3N4 in silicon-iron of 0.44-11.7 pet Si have been partially explored. The critical data obtained have allowed the calculation of some thermodynamic quantities, and have shown evidence of an order-disorder two-phase field extending at 800°C from about l pet to 5.5 pet Si. THE presence of silicon nitride in electrical sheet, nominally about 3 1/4 pet silicon, balance iron, has been described by several authors'" but there has been some discrepancy among them regarding the identity of the nitride. Also, little has been reported on the quantitative thermodynamic prop- erties. In the work to be reported here, the nitride has been found to be more stable than described by Corney and Turkdogan." Several silicon nitrides have been described in the past, including SiN, Si3N4 and Si2N4 (see, for example, Abegg6 and Pascal7). However, the literature on nitrides other than Si,N, is all very old. No recent investigators using the more powerful tools available today have reported the presence of any nitride other than S3,N4. W. B. Hicke and L. R. Brantley8 in 1930 determined the dissociation pressure of Si3N4 which they made by reacting nitrogen

Jan 1, 1959

By D. S. G. Hanson

The Flin Flon Mine has been in production for over fifty years, and current mining is dependent on pillar and remnant recovery. One of the last major blocks of ore, and an important economic entity to the Mine, is the North Main Shaft Pillar. A rock mechanics program was initiated through under' ground instrumentation and other subsequent analyses, to establish the degree of instability as min¬ing progressed. Several studies have been and will be undertaken to evaluate the general stability, and possibly improve the chances of stability during pillar recovery. The North Main Shaft Pillar is immediately bounded by cemented cut and fill supporting rib stopes which inturn are bounded by slag and waste filled stopes. The min¬ing method involves a modified longhole open stoping and slag fil¬ling sequence for each mining block in a general mining upwards scheme.

Jan 1, 1983

The Pinson Mining Co., which will start production in very early 1981, is the fourth Carbon-In-Pulp plant to be put into operation in the United States. The property is located in Humbolt County, Nevada, 38 km (24 miles) northeast of the town of Golconda. The famous Getchell Mine was also near Golconda and was the site of one of the early Carbon-In-Pulp plants in the 1940s. The deposit was discovered in 1971 by Reno based Cordilleran Explorations, which is founded by a consortium of Canadian mining companies. Cordilleran is a partnership consisting of John Livermore and Peter Galli. In 1972 a second but smaller deposit, called "Preble", was discovered at a location 15 miles south of Pinson. During 1980, a decision was made to place the Pinson deposit into production and Pinson Mining Company was formed. Ownership of Pinson is vested in Lacana Mining Inc. , Rayrock Mines, Inc. , Siscoe Metals, Inc., John S. Livermore, Peter E. Galli and Donald M. Duncan. Three distinct but connected ore zones occur at Pinson. Combined reserves of milling ore total 3, 200, 000 tons at an average (undiluted) grade of 4. 12 g per mt (0. 12 oz per st) Au. Initial mining will be from "A" zone which contains 1, 500, 000 tons with an average (undiluted) grade of 5. 8 g per mt (0. 17 oz per st) Au. An additional 5, 500, 000 tons of low grade ore will be mined from the Pinson deposit and processed by heap leaching. Mining reserves at Preble total at least 1, 500, 000 tons grading 2. 7 g per mt (0. 08 oz per st) Au. Production plans for the Preble deposit have not been formulated at the date of writing. Gold mineralization at both deposits is finely disseminated as sub micron sized particles. The ore at Pinson is structurally controlled and occurs in an Ordovician limestone-siltstone unit. Much of the ore has been silicified to a jasperoid. The ore zones have been entirely oxidized. Preble ore occurs in the Cambrian formation in a carbonaceous, limey shale. Only the upper part of the Preble is oxidized and amenable to conventional cyanide leaching. The Pinson ore body is adjacent to the mouth of Granite Creek in the Osgood Mountains at an elevation of 1, 615 m (5, 300 ft) with the mill being 1. 2 km (3/4 mile) from the mine at an elevation of 1, 495 m (4, 900 ft). Mine development work began in May of 1980 with ore being stockpiled for later processing. Pertinent factors affecting

Jan 1, 1981

By R. M. Daelen

Mechanical science is severely tested by the demands of the iron manufacture for the varied apparatus needed to transport and to treat raw materials and products. Water has long been a favorite means of transmitting pressure for such purposes, because of its own incompressibility. Further advances in its use are the more to be expected, since mechanical improvements have steadily tended to overcome the difficulties formerly encountered in the employment of great hydraulic pressures. So long as the pressure is not higher than that which requires for plungers, etc., only ordinary stuffing-boxes, with hemp or other similar packing, the necessary arrangements for the production and transmission of the water-pressure without leakage are very simple. But when this limit (which is, for most purposes, 50 kilos to the square centimeter) is exceeded, new conditions of construction arise, which are met in various ways, and which justify a primary division of hydraulic presses into low-pressure and high-pressure respectively. The former are used in lifting and moving weights, and employ pressures as high (in extreme cases) as 100 kilos per square centimeter; but at this point the friction between piston and hemp-packing is so great that the use of cup-leathers is already preferable. Beyond 100 kilos it becomes a necessity. The range of practicable tight packing which follows is considerable, extending to about 1000 kilos; but "high pressure" in practice is from 100 to 600 kilos, and it is to this that the present paper applies. General Classes and Types. Hydraulic transmission at high pressure usually claims consideration in case the solid mechanism, such as levers, cams, screws, and gear-wheels, would have to be too large, would involve too much friction, or could not be suitably adapted to the speed-requirements of the working-tools. Since steam is mostly the primary carrier of

Jan 1, 1893

By T. Lane Carter

It is a curious fact that while in our Transactions there are papers dealing with mining-districts in all parts of the world, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, there is not one which describes the mining possibilities of Nicaragua, our near neighbor. To be most interested in distant objects, like the moon, and to neglect what lies at our feet, appears to be a trait of human nature. The neglect of Nicaragua is not confined to the American Institute of Mining Engineers. In no other transactions am I able to find papers dealing with mining in Nicaragua, some parts of which are as much in need of discovery and research as the North Pole. I hope this paper will be the precursor of many others to be printed in our Transaclions, dealing not only with the miniilg possibilities of Nicaragua, but with the whole of Central America, where there are vast areas a,waiting skill and capital for their development. Much of this capital and skill should come from the United States in the future, although it is probable that European capitalists, when they appreciate fully the possibilities, will investigate more and more the mining-resources of Nicaragua and ot'her Central American republics. Fig. 1 is a sketch-map of Nicaragua showing the principal mining-districts. 11. History. Mining in Nicaragua did not begin yesterday. It was commenced by civilized man when the Spanish conquerors pene-' trated into the interior and forced the natives to procure the precious metal for them. It is strange that the Spaniards did not find more gold, and work on a scale as extensive as in Colombia and other parts of South America. Probably in Nicaragua the Indians covered up most of the rich prospects

Jan 1, 1911