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By J. R. Campbell

A dozen years or so ago, the general superintendent of our company, now the president, Mr. W. H. Clingerman, asked me to study the coal-washing problem. This work brought me into contact with the best washery men of the country. I investigated many kinds of coal-cleaning schemes, made numerous tests, and collected voluminous data, yet I confess frankly that I have had little practical washery experience and that little has been at the Middlefork washery of the United States Fuel Co. at Benton, Franklin Co., Ill., which was put in operation last fall. While this washery installation may not be the "last word," I am quite sure it embodies some long steps in advance of the older designs and constructions. From the washery man's standpoint, the removal of pyrites or marcasite, a disulfide of iron, is the one vital problem, and the one productive of the most beneficial results, so far as elimination of sulfur is concerned. Sulfates and so-called organic sulfur occupy quite a sec-. ondary position and are generally lost sight of in coal washing. The elimination of sulfur in coal in the past has usually been accomplished by jigging in water, but lately concentrating tables have been successfully employed. The flotation process has been applied to fine coal, but is hardly considered practicable. Coal washing is rapidly coming into its own, due to the depletion of low-sulfur coals for coking purposes, and we predict that soon the same careful attention will be given to the design and construction of coal washeries that is now being given to byproduct plants and other allied industries. Heretofore, coal washing has been considered only an incidental and necessary evil instead of the big problem it is—one worthy of the most careful study by men well trained along technical lines and capable of delving into the fundamental principles. Preparation oF Coal It is usually necessary to crush the mine-run coal before sending it to the jigs, the degree of crushing depending on the occurrence of the sulfur and other impurities in the coal and the type of jig over which it is to be sent. The feldspar jig requires finer and more uniform crushing

Jan 1, 1920

By D. S. Choi, R. Stefanko

There are a number of complex factors that influence the effectiveness of anchorage to maintain tension in rock bolts. However, a plastic analysis of the anchorage site employing certain simplifying assumptions with application of the Mohr-Coulomb criterion appears to explain the observed phenomena. Such an analysis has been made and a correlation sought with field and laboratory tests. Field tests were made in an anthracite mine in eastern Pennsylvania and included pull tests and long-term tests of a variety of anchorage devices in two basic lengths, 30 and 42 in. in two widely differing seams. Performance is reviewed for wedge, expansion shell, and resin anchorage. Laboratory tests duplicated many of the field conditions but in addition compared the performance of shells with normal and reversed serrations. This performance was compared with the predicted results from the plastic analysis. One of the major problems in conducting long-term underground tests is the selection of suitable instrumentation. All installed bolts were fitted with spherical and hardened washers to insure the best possible torque wrench readings. In addition, commercially available load cells were used. Finally, the performance of a specially developed strain-gage-equipped ring cell is viewed. Rock bolting as a method of support continues to increase with applications in many other industries in addition to mining. Nevertheless, with nearly 55,000,000 roof bolts installed in coal mines alone last year, this remains as the single greatest use. While bolts have frequently supported ground where conventional timbering could not, there are relatively few design criteria; and trial-and-error procedures prevail. Furthermore, there has been a lag in development of suitable instrumentation that is simple to install and read out, sensitive, durable, reliable, safe, and economical in evaluating the effectiveness of a bolt over long periods of time. Therefore, the pull test continues to be the most popular method of evaluating the applicability of a certain type of roof bolt under specific installation conditions. At The Pennsylvania State University in the Dept. of Mining, research has been conducted for a number of years to measure bleed off in carefully controlled laboratory experiments as well as in underground investigations."-' Unfortunately, most of the instrumentation developed has been primarily suitable only for research purposes, not possessing all of the aforementioned characteristics desirable for routine underground use. Other groups also have met with restricted success. Therefore, while relatively crude, the torque wrench continues to remain as the most widely used load measuring device. While both field and laboratory tests continue to be con- ducted, analytical analyses are attempted to discover the more important design parameters in order that more efficient anchorage might be devised. Bolts are being used for a greater variety of purposes in mining. Suspending wire sideframe belt conveyors from roof bolts is a common application. The suspension of a monorail transportation system presents yet another. One such system has just been installed in a recently reopened anthracite mine and is presently being evaluated under production conditions. Preliminary studies revealed that a considerable cost reduction was possible by suspending the monorail on bolts anchored in the top. The monorail was to be installed under two widely differing conditions—a competent sandstone above the Buck Mountain seam and a softer shale top above the Skidmore. The type of anchorage device, length of bolt, and long-term performance, consistent with economy and safety, had to be established for the installation once the decision was made to suspend the system on rock bolts. This paper describes some of the testing procedures leading to a final selection. Theoretical Analysis of Expansion Shell Anchorage A detailed look at an expansion shell assembly might shed some light on the factors involved in the design of a suitable shell, Fig. 1. When a bolt is rotated, the tapered plug is forced downward, expanding the leaves laterally to grip the sides of the hole. Two friction surfaces are present: (1) the interface of the plug and leaf and (2) the interface between leaf and rock. The relationships of these friction planes, geometry of expansion shell, and properties of the rock are important in the design of an expansion shell. Therefore, an analysis assuming the rock to behave as a rigid plastic material with its yield governed by the Mohr-Coulomb criterion was made." Furthermore, the effect of friction between the leaf and rock produced by serrations was analyzed.

Jan 1, 1971

By C. H. Li, R. J. Stokes, T. L. Johnston

Dislocation half-loops, artificially introduced by sprinkling with carborundum, were subjected to stress using three-point loading. The different stages of loop expansion and multiplication were then correlated with the macroscopic stress-deflection curve. Loop expansion started at approximately one-third of the "yield stress," defined here as the motivation stress. Above one-half of the "yield stress" simple multiplication commenced while about two-thirds of the yield stress gross multiplication developed short slip-line segments. These values were not affected by the age of surfaces exposed to both dry and wet air. Slip was not detected on unsprinkled crystals below two-thirds of the "yield stress." Thus the stress to activate intrinsic sources, defined here as the activation stress, was approximately twice the motivation stress. This relationship was independent of the strain rate used. It is concluded that lattice resistance takes the form of a viscous drag rather than a static type of force. THE importance of surface condition and environment as one of the more significant factors controlling the mechanical properties of ionic solids has recently received renewed attention.1-4 In some materials, notably the alkali halides, exposing freshly cleaved specimens to the atmosphere results in a progressive hardening and embrittlement of the crystals. This has been attributed to the surface layer becoming "aged," thereby restricting the motion of dislocations in such a way that pileup and eventually fracture results. It is necessary therefore in studying the mechanical properties of ionic crystals to inquire first into the density and distribution of dislocations in the normal cleaved surface and to understand the role these dislocations play in the onset of plastic flow. Knowledge of the effect of environment on this behavior will then assist in understanding the mechanism of embrittlement on aging. In the work reported here a method is described for studying the initiation of plastic flow from dislocation sources in the surface of magnesium oxide crystals. Preliminary results are described of the influence of surface age on this behavior. EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES The magnesium oxide used in this investigation was obtained from the Norton Co. and had a nominal purity of 99.5.pct. Single-crystal specimens, having dimensions typically 1/4 by 1/8 in. cross section and 1 in. in length, were prepared by cleavage over (100) planes from the parent crystal. They were deformed under three-point loading with 3/4 in. spacing between the two end supports and a constant rate of deflection at the center of 0.001 in. per min. The maximum strain rate therefore was 1.5 X 10-5 sec-1. Reasons for choosing this particular form of loading will become apparent in a later section. In addition, a number of confirmatory type tests have been performed at higher loading rates where the maximum strain rate was increased to 1 x 10-3 sec -1. Following deformation the crystals were etched to reveal the dislocation distribution. In a previous paper5 we described a satisfactory etching solution consisting of 5 parts of saturated ammonium chloride, one part of sulfuric acid, and one part distilled water. Immersion of the crystals for 1/4 hr at room temperature developed reproducible conical etch pits at the points where dislocations emerged through the surface. It should be mentioned that dislocations freshly introduced by room temperature deformation gave sharply pointed etch pits which generally distinguished them from the almost flat-bottomed pits obtained on "grown-in" dislocations. The distinction is obvious in the photomicrograph included in Fig. 5(b). Annealing crystals at 1000°C for 12 hr on the other hand gave sharper etch pits on the grown-in dislocations and the distinction was no lower -possible; a similar observation has been reported for lithium fluoride. We have succeeded furthermore in chemically polishing magnesium-oxide crystals. Boiling in fresh 85 pct ortho-phosphoric acid for only 1 min resulted in a microscopically smooth surface which could again be etched to reexamine the dislocation distribution. This boiling time was sufficient to remove the surface damage introduced by cleavage (see next section). SURFACE DISLOCATION SOURCES There are a number of ways by which dislocations may be introduced into cleaved surfaces to act later

Jan 1, 1960

By A. E. Harnsberger

IT is obvious that details such as the physical and chemical properties and methods of heat-treating of the materials mentioned must be omitted in a paper on the subject of materials used in oil-refinery pumps1. Only sufficient identification is given to enable the reader to find additional information from already published data. Also, the subject covers many operating conditions, but only the most important services can be discussed here. To the oil refiner, the pumping equipment is of vital interest. Practi-cally every refinery operation, from the charging of crude oil to a dis-tillation unit to the shipping of refined products, involves some form of pumping machinery. Intermediate refining stages involve a great variety of pumping machinery to carry out successfully the aims of the refinery technologist. Temperatures at which oils are handled vary from -50° F. to 900° F. Pressure may vary from subatmospheric to 2000 lb. per, sq. inch. The selection of the proper materials involves a careful consideration of the conditions under which the particular pump must operate. The four most important considerations are temperature, pressure, corrosion, and abrasion or wear. Consideration of temperature may be divided into three parts: (1) extremely low temperatures of the order of -50° F.; (2) temperatures at atmospheric or slightly above; (3) temperatures from 200° to 900° F. Pressures fall into two groups: (1) pressures reached by ordinary trade pumps of the order of 200 lb. per sq. in., (2) extreme pressure conditions involving pressures as high as 2000 lb. Noncorrosive and corrosive oils can be treated differently. Under the latter falls corrosion in the presence of water, which will occur up to 250° F. The second type of corrosion occurs in high-temperature pump-ing equipment, with temperatures from 450° to 900° F., largely caused by sulfur compounds. There are also other corrosive conditions met with

Jan 1, 1935

By H. C. George

IN 1901, the United States produced 69 million barrels of crude oil, which was 41.4 per cent of the world production. By 1931, these figures were 850 million barrels and 62.1 per cent respectively, showing over this period of thirty years an increase in the world production of 718 per cent. Over this same period, the increase in the demand for technically trained men in the industry was much greater than the increase in crude-oil production. This was because much of the increase in production was secured by the application of geology and physics to the finding of new oil fields and by .the development of engineering methods and equipment incident to drilling and producing from much greater .depths.

Jan 1, 1934

By T. A. Wright

THE SAMPLING of waste materials containing copper, lead and tin has taken on a new significance within recent years, and is of increasing importance, on account of the entry of some of the copper refineries into this field and the tendency towards consolidations among the smelters. In the past, such material was sold on the basis either of a rough or grab sample or of casual inspection of the lot. The two principal sources of this waste are the processes of fabrication and the scrapping of automobile, electrical, plumbing, railroad and other equipment. In both cases much material can be sorted, salvaged and sold by classification and grade to be melted "as is" or with the addition of new or virgin metal. The increasing care in classifying exercised in the large manufacturing plants tends to increase the proportion of this usable scrap; on the contrary, the increasing use of more complex and special non-ferrous alloys tends to make sorting and grading more difficult in turnings, borings, clippings, etc., and consequently is making sampling of more moment. In tin, lead, aluminum, and zinc furnace by-products such as ashes, drosses, skimmings, etc., the trade practice of evaluation has not varied much. For instance, tin drosses, battery lead, and aluminum skimmings are ordinarily sold on what is called "metallic button" or "metallic recovery" or "metallic yield." Copper and lead waste, however, is being sold more and more on actual copper and lead contents based on sample and chemical analyses. This paper will be devoted chiefly to the sampling of materials suitable only for refining and recovery of one or more of the metals present. The methods described are often based on the fact that but one metal, such as copper, is to be paid for. The loss of volatile constituents in melting does not appreciably affect the final copper result, as the "after-melting" assay can he readily calculated to the "before-melting" basis, but if smelter efficiency continues to increase, so that in time zinc, for instance, may be recovered on a paying basis, the method of sampling dirty brass, for example, will have to be changed also. As a matter of fact, we may expect that improved refining processes will make possible the partial recovery of lead and tin which are now lost.

Jan 1, 1928

By E. G. Leonardon, C. Schlumberger, M. Schlumberger

Last year the authors presented a paper that discussed the various electrical measurements they perform in drill holes, which they name "electrical coring."' The object of the present paper is to give a brief account of the points of scientific interest that have been elucidated by further field work and laboratory research, as well as the economic results that have been attained recently. The practical examples given in this paper are drawn, for the most part, from the field work performed in Russian oil fields during the years 1931 and 1932. This is due to the fact that, thanks to the comprehensive cooperation of the Russian geologists and scientists, the authors are allowed to make public a large amount of recant information. In other countries in which the authors are engaged in similar work, the competition between private companies makes it imperative, for a considerable lapse of time, to avoid publication of the results obtained. The following points will be discussed successively, under separate headings: 1. Electrochemical phenomena in drill holes. 2. Stratigraphic correlations and tectonic studies. 3. Relations' between the productivity of oil horizons and their electrical resistivity. 4. Location of coal seams. 5. Summary and conclusions. Electrochemical Phenomena in Drill Holes Technical Publication 462l described the author's discovery concerning the existence of important differences of potential spontaneously gener-

Jan 1, 1934

By James L. Poole

INTRODUCTION Companies in the mining industry are subjected at times to currency exchange rate risks and interest rate risks. The former occurs any time a firm deals in more than one currency. The latter occurs anytime a firm is financing itself with borrowings that have a floating interest rate (although a fixed rate can be a problem at times). FOREIGN EXCHANGE RISKS There are two general reasons why exchange rate risks (FX risk) can occur: First, a firm may be building a mine or plant in another country where financing for the plan is denominated in funds other than the country hosting the plant. For example, if a Canadian firm is building a smelter in another country which is being financed with Canadian dollars, the C$100 million for labor, which must be paid in the local currency, has subjected the firm to a C$100 million FX exposure risk. If after the cost estimates were made the local currency appreciates 30% against the Canadian dollar, the cost of labor has increased to C$130 million. (Of course, the local currency could also devalue during this period making the labor cost component less than estimated.) The other reason exchange rate risk arises is due to the fact that the costs of production in one country producing minerals may be incurred in one currency while the production is sold in another currency, such as coal being exported from Canada to Japan under contracts denominated in Yen. In this example, the Canadian firm is exporting coal to Japan and being paid in yen in 30 days at a contract price of 100 Y per ton. Furthermore, assume that the mining firm anticipates a depreciation of the yen against the Canadian dollar of 5% in the next 30 days. Therefore, the mining firm stands to lose 5% of the value of its shipment in a month's time not including carrying costs. In both cases, the mining company risks an adverse change in the exchange rate, that is, the currency the company holds may decrease in value relative to the other currency. There are a number of ways to mitigate the exposure to foreign exchange which can be utilized by the mining company. Optimally, a company should try to match all their inflows and all their outflows in the same currency. For example, if a Canadian firm has mining costs and debt service costs both denominated in Canadian dollars then 100% of their receipts would need to be in Canadian dollars. If a Canadian firm has 70% of its cash outflows in Canadian dollars and 30% of its cash outflow in American dollars in the form of a loan amortization then their receipts would need to be 70% in Canadian dollars and 30% in U.S. dollars. This general principle of matching cash receipts and cash costs in the same currency works fine in a perfect world but what of the real world when these cannot be matched? In actual practice, however, the financial markets have developed a number of ways in which foreign exchange risks can he managed or reduced. FORWARD MARKETS One method is to use the forward markets which are made on a world-wide basis by the commerical banks for foreign exchange. If a firm wanted to lock in the current exchange rate for the receipt of a foreign currency at some point in the future, they could do so by contracting on the forward market with a bank selling that foreign currency at the current rate at the future date. For example, assume that a Canadian firm is exporting coal to Japan which would pay yen in 90 days. If a firm wanted to lock in today's exchange rate they could contract with a bank to sell on the forward market yen in 90 days. When the yen was received the contract would be executed by selling the yen to the bank and receiving the previously agreed upon number of Canadian dollars. Generally speaking, the forward market can be used to sell forward about 12 months. The costs of selling (or buying) forward

Jan 1, 1985

By Leonard Obert

The structural stability of any mine or under- ground opening in rock is dependent on the stress field, that is, the state of stress in rock before mining, the stress distribution in the rock created by the opening, and the in situ strength of the rock. In the past mine design problems have been considered by assuming that the stress field is due only to the weight of the overlying rock, the stress around the opening can be calculated from elastic theory using laboratory-determined elastic constants, and the in situ strength of the rock can be determined from laboratory tests on small specimens. Solutions to hypothetical problems using this procedure are given in a report by Obert, Duvall, and Merrill.' Because of the uncertainties of these assumptions, this method can give only a rough approximation to the solution of actual structural problems. Obviously, this approach to determining the stability of underground openings would be greatly improved if the rock stress could be measured in situ, and it is undoubtedly for this reason that in recent years many investigators have spent considerable effort on the development of procedures for measuring rock stress. In this report a method is described for determining in situ the absolute stress in rock. The method requires the measurement of the deformation of a borehole before and after the rock is stress-relieved. The magnitude and direction of the applied stresses are calculated from the borehole deformation and modulus of elasticity of the rock. Also, the results of absolute stress determination made in the walls and pillars of underground openings in five rock types are presented. From these results a number of conclusions are drawn regarding the accuracy and limitations of this method and the problem of stress measurements in general.

Jan 8, 1962

By K. E. Brown, J. P. Brill, T. C. Doerr

A wide range of intermittent gas-lift tests way conducted in a 1,500-ft experimental well through 11/4- and 11/2-in, nominal size tubing. The well was equipped with two gas-lift valves, four Maihak electronic pressure transmitters and surface facilities to measure casing and tubing pressures, temperature, liquid production and the rate and volume of gas injected. For each tubing size, tests were conducted varying the slug length, gas volume injected and liquid viscosity and surface tension. From these tests, an empirical "fallback" or liquid loss correlation has been developed. No general fallback correlation could be obtained, and the correlation is presented in the form of one curve for each slug length of a given liquid and lubing size. A conceptual model has been developed which combines the fallback correlation with equarions which govern liquid slug pow. A mathematical simulation of the model in the form of a digital computer program is used to calculate total recovery, gas volume used and clearance time for a given test. Tubing pressures at the gas-lift valve and at the gm-slug interface are calculated as a function of time. Tubing pressures at the surface during slug clearance ore also calculated. The results compare favorably with the test data and verify the conceptual model. The extent to which the model can be used for other tubing sizes, depths, liquids and gas-lift valves can only be determined with additional experimental data. Data are also necessary so that a fallback curve can be constructed for the particular test conditions studied. INTRODUCTION The flow of liquid slugs in vertical conduits has long been an established production method in the petroleum industry. Under the name "intermittent gas lift", many advances have been made in engineering design. However, the unsteady-state nature of liquid slug flow has discouraged attempts to describe the problem analytically. The result has been that intermittent gas lift is dominated by rules-of-thumb engineering practices developed over many years. The advent of slim-hole completions has increased the demand for a more rigorous solution to the intermittent problem. Small-diameter conduits offer more frictional per intermittent cycle. Small-diameter conduits are defined to be 1%-in. nominal size tubing or smaller. When oil is produced from the reservoir in which it is found, and transported to surface tanks by intermittent gas lift, three separate flow stages are encountered: flow of the fluids to the wellbore through a porous medium, vertical flow of a liquid slug from the point of gas injection to the surface, and horizontal flow of the liquid slug through the surface flowlines from the wellhead to the surface tanks. The three stages are depicted schematically in Fig. 1. The present study deals with liquid slug flow in both the vertical and horizontal conduits, ending when the bottom of the liquid slug reaches the surface. Due to the large number of variables involved, the analytical study of intermittent gas lift is extremely complex. The possibility of flow regimes other than slug type, the nature of the force fields acting on the system, the interfacial instabilities involved, the varying operational principles of existing gas-lift valves and the complete unsteady-state nature of the physical phenomena occurring in an intermittent gas-lift cycle relate some of the difficulties encountered.

By W. E. Keck, W. C. Lowry, G. C. Eggleston

The potential iron ores of Michigan can be classified from the stand-point of the predominant impurities into siliceous, sulphurous and phos-pllorous ores. Research on the flotation of each of these classes of ore was carried out in the following manner. The flotative properties of the valuable minerals of iron and of the worthless and deleterious ones were first determined under carefully controlled conditions. This information was then applied to synthetic mixtures of these minerals, which simulated the potential ores. Finally, data obtained during the two foregoing stages of the investigation were used in the flotation beneficiation of samples of the potential ores. Hematite is the most important mineral of iron in each of the above classes of iron ores. This paper deals with a study of that mineral in the very nearly pure state. There are two varieties of the mineral—specular hematite and massive hematite. The latter is the principal variety, but the former is an impor-tant' mineral of iron in some of the potential ores. Because of this condition, flotation research was performed with both varieties. This research consisted essentially of: (I) a survey of the literature on hematite flotation, (2) the preparation of pure massive hematite, (3) the preparation of pure specular hematite, (4) the development of a laboratory procedure and (5) flotation experimentation. For the purpose of this discussion, the results of previous work on the flotative properties of hematite can be summarized as follows: Specular hematite has been readily floated with terpineol and sodium oleate or heptylic acid1. Further, hematite has been likewise floated with a proprietary frother and oleic acid or other soluble oils2. Finally, lead nitrate, copper sulphate, silver nitrate, chromium nitrate, mercuric chloride, ferric

Jan 1, 1939

By G. C. Eggleston, W. E. Keck, W. C. Lowry

The potential iron ores of Michigan can be classified from the stand-point of the predominant impurities into siliceous, sulphurous and phos-pllorous ores. Research on the flotation of each of these classes of ore was carried out in the following manner. The flotative properties of the valuable minerals of iron and of the worthless and deleterious ones were first determined under carefully controlled conditions. This information was then applied to synthetic mixtures of these minerals, which simulated the potential ores. Finally, data obtained during the two foregoing stages of the investigation were used in the flotation beneficiation of samples of the potential ores. Hematite is the most important mineral of iron in each of the above classes of iron ores. This paper deals with a study of that mineral in the very nearly pure state. There are two varieties of the mineral—specular hematite and massive hematite. The latter is the principal variety, but the former is an impor-tant' mineral of iron in some of the potential ores. Because of this condition, flotation research was performed with both varieties. This research consisted essentially of: (I) a survey of the literature on hematite flotation, (2) the preparation of pure massive hematite, (3) the preparation of pure specular hematite, (4) the development of a laboratory procedure and (5) flotation experimentation. For the purpose of this discussion, the results of previous work on the flotative properties of hematite can be summarized as follows: Specular hematite has been readily floated with terpineol and sodium oleate or heptylic acid1. Further, hematite has been likewise floated with a proprietary frother and oleic acid or other soluble oils2. Finally, lead nitrate, copper sulphate, silver nitrate, chromium nitrate, mercuric chloride, ferric

Jan 1, 1939

By S. K. Nicol, A. R. Swanson, J. C. Day

Addition of oil to a suspension of hydrophobic coal particles can influence its dewatering characteristics. An agglomeration process occurs in which coal particles are held together by negative capillary pressure at particle/oil/water contacts. Consequently, the units round which flow can occur are enlarged and this improves dewatering parameters such as drainage rate, solids recovery, and equilibrium moisture content. This paper discusses processes which attempt to use this principle, in terms of metallurgical and economic efficiency. The discussion is augmented by results of recent experiments on the effect of oil addition to centrifuges and vacuum filters.

Jan 1, 1980

By Theodor Knutzen, Charles H. Fulton

The plant of the National Smelting Co., a corporation controlled by the Horseshoe Mining Co., was built during 1901 to smelt the dry siliceous ores of the northern Black Hills, extracting the gold- and silver-values in a matte of low copper-percentage which is shipped to Omaha and Denver for refining. Originally, the plant was designed to collect the values of the siliceous ores in an iron-matte, which mas to be resmelted with lead-ores, in a lead-furnace, the lead-bullion produced to be refined into Doré bullion in English cupelling-furnaces. However, the scarcity of lead-silver ores in the Black Hills, owing to the present non-productiveness of the Galena district, led to

Jan 1, 1905

By Bunting S. Crocker

PEBBLE grinding at Lake Shore is not a temporary wartime substitute. The tube milling plant, with a 1000 ton per day capacity, grinds a hard siliceous ore to 90 pct - 325 mesh. The plant, prior to using pebbles, was consuming 4.3 lb of 1 1/4-in. grinding balls per ton of ore, which amounted to 785 tons of balls per year. At September 1951 prices, $132.60 per ton, this steel cost amounted to, $104,400 per year, or $0.285 per ton milled. By the Lake Shore method of substituting screened rock for this steel, all of this cost is saved. This is one of the major economies in Lake Shore mill practice. Regardless of the ultimate price of grinding balls, a change, back to steel balls is not considered. The present pebble plant is more flexible than a steel ball plant and equally efficient. For example, if it is desired to change the size of grinding media, the pebble charge in any mill can be changed completely in 4 to 5 days, as against 76 days to change completely a 1 1/4-in. steel ball charge. To change pebble size it is necessary only to change two sets-of screens and clean out the rock feed storage bin. This will take 8 to 10 days as against 3 to 4 months to clean. out the customary supply of grinding balls kept on hand. Also it has not always been ' possible to purchase all desired sizes of balls at any price. In an analysis of savings effected by the use of the pebble mills, the flexibility of the Lake Shore grinding plant should be discussed, as it has a direct bearing on these savings. The plant has always used several units to handle tonnage rather than sending all the tonnage through a single unit. This principle may result in using small diameter mills, but no objection to that is seen. At no time has any advantage been found in cost per ton ground in large diameter mills. Both the capacity and the power of any mill varies as the diameter raised to the 2.6th power. Consequently large or small mills are equally efficient, and a plant should be designed to use as many units-or combination of units as is consistent with reasonable operating practice. Mills under 5 ft diam are harder to reline, etc. To define the case at Lake Shore, .2600 tons per day formerly were milled in seven 7x6-ft ball mills and twelve 5x16-ft (and two 6x16-ft) tube mills.* This gave an excellent test plant. and an extremely efficient-one. In this plant the ratio of ball mills to tube mills was 1: 2. When the much cheaper pebble mills were substituted for the tube mills, this. ratio -was changed to one ball mill to four pebble mills to take the greatest possible advantage of the cheaper operating mill, i.e., the pebble mill. This flexibility without loss in efficiency has been an important item in the cost savings. It is interesting to note that the use of pebbles for fine grinding was. proved first in the laboratory in a 12-in. ball mill. In fact, since 1934 all testing on -.8 mesh material has been done in this 12-in. mill. Scope of the Tests A paper on fine grinding at Lake Shore Mines was published in July 1940.1 This paper covered 7 years of intensive research on fine grinding as well as sizing methods and equipment, plant scale grinding tests on 5x16-ft tube mills with and without .grate discharges-both with 1 1/4-in. and 3/4-in. balls, the use of laboratory mills to evaluate plant changes, and several reports on classifiers and classification. In the following July the addendum report' was added in which the idea of series-circuit grinding was introduced, and the results of running five stages of tube mills and bowl classifiers were shown. Since 1940, the ball milling end of the plant has been altered extensively as a result of tests on the use of 3 1/2-in. rods in 7x6-ft mills and the use of the Tyler repulping screen with from 7 to 14 mesh screens. These tests are, lengthy and may be covered in a separate 'report later. The scope of this report is confined to ore ground by rod milling and ball milling until it passed through an 8 mesh Tyler Ty-rod screen. The -8 mesh screen undersize then was pumped to a primary bowl classifier in open circuit and the sands .from the bowl sent to the primary pebble mills, see Fig: 1. In the pebble mill circuit the ore is ground to 90 pct -325 mesh (24 pct + 28 microns) In studying the flowsheet, attention should be paid to the efficiency of the classification equipment used. The Tyler repulping screen is an efficient machine on the 8 to 10 mesh separation, and the bowl classifier is equally efficient at the 325 mesh separation. Efficient classification is a necessity for series-circuit stage grinding. The ore is hard siliceous porphyry, 60 pct SiO2, 80 pct insoluble. Its grindability at different. meshes has been shown near the top of 'the list in F. C. Bond's grindability tests' Lake Shore is not shown, but an adjacent-mine with identical ore, Wright-Hargreaves, is. Reasons for the-Changeover Since 1936 grinding balls have been rising steadily in price with no sign of stopping. For a mill that used 4.5 to 5.2 lb of grinding balls for every ton of ore ground this rise represented an alarming increase in grinding costs. In many cases the quality of the grinding balls fell off as the scrap steel became more difficult to obtain. The ratio of tube mills to ball mills increased with the use of the Tyler repulping screen in the ball mill circuit. Originally only 3.0 lb of balls per ton were used in the tube mills, and this

Jan 1, 1952

By Haakon Styri

In discussion of Dr. Fitterer's paper on electrolytic separation of slag inclusions, some results from experiments on electrolyzing high-carbon steels at the SKF Research Laboratory were given. l We had been working for a number of years on chemical methods of separating the inclusions but could not find any solvent that would dissolve the steel without attacking some of the inclusions, particularly the sulfides in which we were mostly interested at the time, nor any that would dissolve all sulfide or silica in filings as fine as 300 mesh without attacking the iron. Electrolytic methods had also been tried without any real progress until we learned from the Bureau of Mines about the use of the collodion membrane around the anode. Our early difficulties were to some extent different from those of the Bureau of Mines, perhaps because of experimenting on steels of higher carbon content, but most of our difficulties were of the same nature as those of the Bureau. Formation of large quantities of basic hydroxides was traced to the use of impure and oxidized ferrous sulfate. To protect from oxidation from the atmosphere during electrolysis, after purer chemicals were obtained, a thin layer, 54 in. or less, of molten paraffin was poured over the surface of the cathode liquid, where it solidified. It was found desirable also to hold the cathode chamber slightly acid by initial addition of 0.1 per cent acid (sulfuric or hydrochloric) to prevent precipitation of the hydroxide. This acidity would decrease gradually and the cathode chamber would become neutral before the end of the electrolyzing. The increase in acidity in the anode chamber during our early experiments had appeared to cause attack of the precipitated sulfides in the residue, which originally was analyzed by volumetric method for sulfur, and for this reason a 10 per cent sodium citrate solution was substituted for the sulfate in the anode chamber. With the use of the more reliable Eschka method for sulfur determination (as in coke), there was however no serious attack on the sulfides in the anode chamber with a variety of different liquids, as shown in Tables 2 and 4. The Eschka method gives a higher sulfur value than

Jan 1, 1933

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

VARYING in thickness and in number from place to place, coal seams in the Canadian Rockies also range in pitch from nearly horizontal to vertical, sometimes with overturns. Over the entire coal-bearing area there are considerable differences of rank in coals of the same geological age, and there are marked differences in ash content and washability characteristics. Correlation of seams at mining operations within a few miles of each other has often proved impossible. These factors influence mining methods, and, of course, production results. The oldest coal formations of western Canada are of Lower Cretaceous age, as the carboniferous sediments are marine and contain no coal. Coal is also present in formations of Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary ages. The rank of coal varies from semianthracite in some operations in the Kootenay and Luscar formations of the Lower Cretaceous in the Rockies to lignite in the Tertiary fields of the Saskatchewan prairies. Fig. 1 shows the general extent of the formations.

Jan 8, 1954

By Eugene R. Rice

(Canal Zone Meeting, November, 1910.) THERE are many methods for determining the meridian, but all of those in common use involve at least two separate observations, one for latitude and one for azimuth. Such observations made upon a south star at any hour are open to the objection of possible inaccuracy due to ignorance of the absolute refraction, and also to slow change in the altitude of the star when near the meridian. The method of observing a circumpolar star at elongation, besides requiring a separate observation for latitude, is open to the serious objection that clouds may obscure the star at the critical moment. Moreover, a tedious wait for the star to come to elongation is sometimes necessary. Many of us can recall long, cold, weary vigils, waiting for Polaris to reach elongation. For observing a circumpolar star at any hour, not only the latitude, but also the true time, must be known. This it is practically impossible to obtain, except in regions reached by the telegraph, and usually then one has to know the longitude also, in order to reduce "standard time" to "local time." The results obtained by this method, when the star is at culmination, are not very good, unless the true local time is absolutely known. The methods of obtaining the meridian from the sun, by means of a solar attachment, or by direct observation, while good, are not absolute, by reason of refraction, change in declination of the sun, and small change in vertical angle, when the sun is near the meridian. For these two methods, latitude, time, and approximate longitude have to be known. In the method here described, only one observation is needed, and from it azimuth, latitude, and sidereal time are computed. In other words, one can observe a circumpolar star-Polaris

Nov 1, 1910

By R. F. Mehl

Jan 1, 1961