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Secretary of the Interior, Franklin K. Lane, has appointed a commission of five mining and metallurgical experts from the Bureau of Mines and the Geological Survey to visit Europe to observe and study reconstruction methods in the devastated regions of France and Belgium. The chairman of the commission is Dr. Frederick G. Cottrell, chief metallurgist of the Bureau of Mines. The other members are: George S. Rice, the chief mining engineer of the same bureau; Frank H. Probert, consulting engineer of the bureau, and. professor of mining in the University of California; F. J. Cameron, consulting chemist of the bureau and expert on potash matters; and Hoyt S. Gale, of the Geological Survey, another expert on potash.

Jan 4, 1919

By James P. Sloss

MOST students that plan to enter the mining profession attempt to obtain some kind of practical experience before graduation. Six or seven years ago it was an easy matter for undergraduates to find employment during the summer vacation and return to school in the fall filled with enthusiasm to dig deeper into the theoretical field. However, during the past few years it has become extremely difficult for an inexperienced undergraduate to obtain even a menial job in mining. This was the situation which presented itself to the author and his partner, T. M. Patten several months before school closed in May, 1934. At that time, Mr. Patten's training consisted of two years study in Mining, and mine included three years' study in Mining Geology at the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy. With this technical training and no practical experience, we conceived the idea that custom assaying in some of the western mining districts should be a lucrative business. We thought that the renewed interest in prospecting for gold and the opening of new mines should provide more assay work, and believed that we might secure it if we were on the spot where the assaying was needed. We realized that it would be out of the question for us to obtain the necessary equipment with which to establish an assay office. Even if such an office were established we had a maximum of but three months during which to operate. So we determined to build some kind of inexpensive equipment that could be placed in an automobile, or trailer, and be moved from one camp to another. We then began to study the theoretical aspects of assaying and started experimental work with the equipment that we proposed to build.

Jan 1, 1935

By Jennings S. Cox

(Glen Summit Meeting, June, 1911.) THE following notes, prepared in 1908, as the result of a personal examination and extensive explorations under my direction in 1906, have been revised and greatly augmented after two subsequent visits and further explorations in 191.0. The hard iron-ores of the south coast of Oriente Province, in the island of Cuba, have been known for many years, in fact one mine has been in operation for more than 20 years ; but it is only within the past four years that the large mantle-deposits of brown ores of the north coast have attracted serious attention. A. C. Spencer 1 has described these ores in a paper, entitled Three Deposits of Iron Ore in Cuba, which refers to the Mayari, Moa, and Cubitas deposits. C. M. Weld,2 in a scholarly paper on The Residual Brown Iron-Ores of Cuba, has discussed the character and possible genesis of these deposits with particular reference to the Moa field, calling attention also to the Taco and Navas fields in addition to those described by Spencer. Descriptive articles with reference to the Mayari field, and a few words about the Moa deposit, have also appeared.3 It is the purpose of the present paper to give some account of the exploration of the Moa deposit and to call attention to its commercial importance. LOCATION. The Moa district is situated on the north coast of the . Province of Oriente, which is the most easterly province of the island of Cuba. It lies on the northern or seaward slope of 1 Bulletin No. 340, U. S. Geological Survey, pp. 318 to 329 (1908). 2 Trans., xl., 299 to 312 (1910). 3 Iron Age, vol. lxxx., No. 7, pp. 421 to 426 (Aug. 15, 1907), and vol. lxxxi., No. 15, pp. 1149 to 1157 (April 9, 1908).

Mar 1, 1911

By George A. Laird

I. INTRODUCTION. THIS old and once famous district played, through its enormous production of silver and gold, an important part in the history of the State of San Luis Potosi. According to a pamphlet prepared under the direction of the Governor of the State, Sr. Don Blas Escontria, and presented to the visiting members of the Institute during the Mexican meeting of 1901, this district is situated 20 km. east of the city of San Luis Potosi, in a range of mountains of moderate height, extending 135 km. N. and S., and 16 km. E. and W.; and the mineralized area hitherto developed is about 600,000 sq. m. The history of the district,. as given by the record dated 1778, and formerly kept in the San Francisco convent, says that it was discovered in 1575 by Sr. Don Pedro Irarte, and adds that the city of San Luis Rey de Francisco del Potosi received its name (in allusion to the famous Potosi mines in Bolivia) by reason of the remarkable productiveness of its gold- and silver-mines in the first period of their exploration, during which they paid to the Crown, as " quintos " (the fifth part of the product), $97,000,000, as appears from the accounts of the royal treasury. The amount of the quientos paid during the " bonanza period " of 80 years was $72,000,000. The larger sum first mentioned probably represents a longer series of years. But either will suffice to indicate the great wealth of the mines. In 1663, the decadence of the industry began with the caving¬ in of several mines, concerning which the record of 1778, al¬ready cited, says, in substance, that on Good Friday one of the owners in the enterprise, in view of the unfavorable prospect of a lawsuit in which he was engaged, set fire to the timbers supporting the underground galleries and workings of the San

Jan 1, 1905

By Arthur La Motte

I NDUSTRIAL explosives, as distinguished from military explosives, include high explosives and blasting powder. The high explosives which are best known are straight dynamite, gelatin dynamite, ammonia dynamite and permissibles. There are two kinds of blasting powder, saltpetre blasting powder and nitrate of soda blasting powder. Blasting powders are mechanical mixtures of nitrate of potash or nitrate of soda with sulfur and charcoal, highly compressed, granulated and glazed. They ignite from a spark and burn with relative slowness, the rate of burning and hence the rate of conversion into gases depending upon the size of the granulation and upon the degree of. confinement under which the powder is placed. High explosives, on the other hand, are chemical compounds which detonate; that is, when the explosive is subjected to a violent shock, provided in practice by a blasting cap or an electric blasting cap, the molecule of the essential ingredient, usually nitroglycerin, is disrupted and the energy and heat released cause any other explosive ingredients which may be present, such as ammoniuin nitrate or T.N.T., to decompose with a resultant evolution of gases at an extremely rapid rate varying from 6000 to 20,000 ft. per second.

Jan 1, 1924

By A. J. Shaler, J. Prieto Isaza, John Wulff

TANTALUM metal has a number of unique properties which give it widespread application in modern technology and in research. In electronic apparatus involving high temperatures in vacuo some of the refractory metals become brittle. Tantalum retains its ductility at elevated temperatures, and this property, together with its low vapor pressure and its ability to absorb gases, make it important in this field. Its chemical inertness in the presence of acids, halogens, and other corrosive media, makes it useful in chemical apparatus and in neuro and orthopedic surgical applications. As an addition to tungsten carbide in steel-cutting grades of cemented-carbide tools, the carbides of tantalum and of its sister element columbium have found considerable use. The present-day method1 of manufacturing tantalum is to sinter a powder compact of the metal in vacuo. Because tantalum- columbium alloys are difficult to work and since tantalum ores almost always contain columbium, the two metals must be separated chemically, the products of the separation being generally in the form of potassium tantalum fluoride and potassium columbium oxyfluoride. These salts are used in fused-salt electrolytic baths from which coarse metallic powder is deposited as a sponge at the cathode. Finer powder can be made from the coarse product or from tantalum scrap by first submitting it to an embrittling heat treatment in hydrogen and then crushing it. The fine hydrogen- containing powder may subsequently be degassed in vacuo at a high temperature. Prompted by the success of others2,3 in the magnesium reduction of titanium and zirconium halides, one of the authors under- took4 an investigation of the thermo- chemistry of the reaction between solid magnesium and gaseous tantalum penta-chloride, a subject which had not previously been studied. He found that the heat of formation of tantalum pentachloride is approximately 364,250 cal per mol at temperatures lower than the melting point of magnesium. A value of 83 units was found for the standard entropy at these temperatures. With these values, it was shown that magnesium and tantalum pentachloride are capable of reacting exothermically at temperatures less than the melting point of magnesium, and that no great violence is to be expected when these substances are heated together. The exothermic nature of the reaction indicated that the process should be efficient and should not require much externally applied energy. Tantalum pentachloride is not commonlv made commercially, and any process using it therefore involves the subsidiary problem of producing and handling this substance. A series of experiments was carried out in which dried chlorine saturated with carbon tetrachloride was passed over heated tantalum, either in the metallic state or combined

Jan 1, 1947

By Arthur F. Taggart

TO all Mineral Dressers, but particularly to those in the Coal and Industrial Minerals Divisions: Ted Counselman, retiring after two years at the helm of the Milling Committee, pointed with pride to the continued growth of that committee, and sang the swan song "Why ain't we a Division of Mineral Dressing?" Our genial Secretary pointed out, handily, that, you see, the way the Institute is divided there are several blocks running across this way here, and one running all the way down here, and another running part way down here, and they all cut across each other like this, and anyway the miners want to be a Division now, so why not you Mineral Dressers be good and not upset the big Institute organizational chart? And anyway again, Divisions have vested interests, and a Division of Mineral Dressing would take something away from Coal and something from Industrial Minerals, and any good institutional man can see that a Division would never give anything up. It was all quite confusing, and apparently not too convincing, because then the Milling Committee went ahead and voted unanimously it is a good idea, let's see what the other fellows think about it as well.

Jan 1, 1944

By Bruno KERL

THE list of deaths reported during the year 1905 comprises the following names (the figures in parentheses indicating the year in which the persons named were elected to membership:- Honorary Member.-Dr. Bruno Kerl. Members and Associates.-Charles Christy Adams (1903), John Wesley Anderson (1898), William Burton Barber (1901), Thomas A. Bennett (1900), Luke W. Bryan (1901), Edwin S. Daugherty (1905), William Scott de Camp (1875), George H. Eldridge (1889), B. W. Frazier (1871), John Broome Guinn, Jr. (1897), Dana C. Irish (1900), Harry Hugh Lee (1899), William Alfred Lindsay (1902), Roland C. Luther (1884), James MacNaughton (1890), Gordon McLean (1899), Herbert Holmes McNamara (1902), August R. Meyer (1886), William Orr (1897), William J. Parker, Jr. (1898), Joseph Phillips, Jr. (1895), Charles O. Ripley (1902), Emmerich J. Schmitz (1883), Ludwig Philip Seeger (1900), Jacob Johnston Sperry (1900), Gustavus H. Stoiber (1902), William L. Study (1905), Robert Macnair Wilson Swan (1900), Richard Henry Terhune (1886), Joseph Thiry (1892), John N. Tisdale (1903), Alfred Isham Totten (1897), Walter H. Virgoe (1902), Charles H. Wellman (1890), Harvey L. Williams (1903). Of these, Dr. Bruno Kerl and Prof. B. W. Frazier have been made the subjects of special Biographical Notices in the Bi-Monthly Bulletin 1 the former in No. 4, July, 1905, p. 743, and the latter in No. 5, September, 1905, p. 1097. Concerning the remainder of the list, the following paragraphs comprise such information as could be obtained by the Secretary. Charles Christy Adams, who had been a member of the Institute since 1903, died in Johannesburg, South Africa, August 31. 1905. He was born in New York City, July 13, 1849, and received his technical training at the Colorado State School of

May 1, 1906

By E. V. Potter, H. C. Lukens

THE volume of hydrogen released from electrolytic manganese at various temperatures and pressures was determined in a previous investigation1 as part of a study to determine the most practical procedure for removing the hydrogen from electrolytic manganese metal. No attempt was made to determine the absolute volume of gas in the metal at any temperature and pressure; the volume of gas released showed only the variation in solubility with temperature and pressure. The results were very similar to those obtained by Sieverts and Moritz.2 Both sets of data show a minimum solubility between 500° and 700°C., but they differ in certain respects; on cooling from 500°C., our results showed an increase in solubility of about 7 C.C. as compared with an increase of 34 C.C. per 100 grams shown by Sieverts. Furthermore, the transition temperatures, as indicated by sharp breaks in the solubility curves, did not agree well with Sieverts' data. This information was of secondary importance in the earlier investigations, and the solubility at low temperatures and the transition temperatures were subject to considerable error. There- fore, a subsequent investigation, reported in this paper, was made to measure the absolute solubility at temperatures from room temperature through the melting point and make more accurate observations of the transition temperatures. APPARATUS AND METHOD The apparatus and method were essentially the same as those described in the previous work,1 as shown in Fig, I. At high temperatures, the small tube containing the thermocouple in the sample container A frequently broke off, so for some of this work the thermocouple was placed outside the sample container and protected by a quartz tube of about the same wall thickness as the sample container. No significant difference was found in the transition temperatures obtained in the two ways. The automatic temperature controller was used in these tests in the regions where there was little change in solubility with temperature. In the neighborhood of the transition points a continuously variable autotransformer was used instead of the automatic controller, and the power input to the furnace was adjusted so that the temperature increased or decreased at a very slow, uniform rate through the transition range. This procedure was followed because the temperature oscillations produced by the controller were too great compared with the transition range, and the transition points determined under such conditions were less accurate. ABSOLUTE SOLUBILITY Procedure and Results The absolute solubility of hydrogen in manganese could be determined most

Jan 1, 1946

By AIME AIME

T HE Institute of Metals Division and the Iron and Steel Division will meet jointly at the Stevens Hotel, Chicago, during the week of the American Metals Congress, Sept. 22-26. The Iron and Steel Di- vision of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society for Steel Treating and the American Welding Society meet at the same time. but the sessions have been arranged to conflict as little as possible. A rich program of papers and plant visits has been arranged for the members and guests of the two Institute Divisions. The annual dinner and a pro- gram of entertainment are being arranged by the Woman's Auxiliary of the Chicago Section. Members are urged to register immediately up011 arrival and to make dinner and plant visit reservations at the same time.

Jan 1, 1930

By A. Roberts

This paper reviews progress in equipment design and in the techniques applied to mine lighting in Great Britain. The incidence of the disease miner's nystagmus, which was a major source of concern only a few years ago, has now diminished, largely owing to improvements in standards of lighting in mines. The reorganisation of the coal mining industry, involving increasing mech-anisation, together with new safety legislation, has brought about the widespread use of mains electric lighting underground. An account is given of some of the results of research to determine the lighting conditions needed for compliance with the compulsory legal requirement of "sufficient and suitable" general lighting at specific localities in British mines. Some details are given of the techniques applied and the results of recent research in the problem of glare from miners' cap lamps. Of the various factors in the working environment of the miner, it is true to say that lighting is seldom given attention comparable with that devoted to other factors, such as dust, heat and humidity, or atmospheric gas content. No doubt one reason for this lies in the ability of the human eye to adapt itself to low brightness levels. Be that as it may, the fact is that at the turn of the 20th century the miner's working light improved little throughout the centuries during which mining technology has developed. Indeed, in coal mines which encounter a methane explosion hazard, flame safety lamps, with a luminous intensity less than one candle power, were virtually the sole means of lighting during almost the whole of the 19th century. The 20th century has witnessed a substantial improvement in lighting techniques underground in coal and metalliferous mining. In Great Britain the general pattern has been one of standards periodically raised by the implementation of Statutory Regulations imposed under successive hlines Acts, but it is fair to add that the more progressive mining companies usually anticipated the Statutory Regulations, which when they have been put into effect have served to turn into general practice what was already being done at the better mines. In earlier years, official requirements were limited to the specification of approved lamp designs, with stipulated minimum values of luminous intensity and light output, but more recently the necessity of satisfactory maintenance of standards during service has been recognized, and the current regulations not only require that a maintenance organisation should exist, but also specify a maximum permissible depreciation below initial approval standards.'

Jan 1, 1961

Jan 1, 1883

By R. L. Whiting, H. J. Ramey

The basic study from which this paper was prepared was started as the result of the growing need throughout the world for increasing quantities of energy in all forms. Quite obviously, natural forms of energy that are readily available at low development cost are those in greatest demand. The underdeveloped countries — and particularly those having little or no petroleum resources — are the countries in which the most interest is being shown in the newer energy sources. One of the least expensive energy sources is natural geothermal steam.'-* Although this form of energy has been recognized for centuries, it has been only during the past 20 years that serious efforts have been made to harness it. Natural geothermal steam energy in Italy, New Zealand, Mexico, Japan, and California is now being produced through wells to drive turbines and generate electricity. Further, active exploration for natural geothermal steam is being conducted in Hawaii, Fiji, Taiwan, Chile, Russia, Greece, and Katanga. It is surprising to find that most geothermal steam exploration is in the "steam seep" stage. That is, surface studies are made and exploratory wells are drilled in the general area of steam seeps. However, in the larger geothermal steam areas, there have been efforts to apply the most modern geological and reservoir engineering principles in order to define the reservoir parameters, particularly those relating to estimates of reserves and future productivity. This paper is concerned with the development of appropriate equations and techniques to facilitate these estimates. Production of natural steam or hot water presents problems different from those experienced in the production of oil and gas. For example, steam or hot water systems may be essentially single-component systems, while hydrocarbon systems are most frequently multicomponent fluid systems. Heat effects are much larger for water than for hydrocarbon systems; and the natural steam production may or may not be isothermal, while production of petroleum reservoirs is considered normally to be isothermal. Petroleum reservoir engineering principles may be applied to natural steam or hot water reservoirs if the inherent differences in the systems are considered. The basic considerations involved in geothermal steam reservoir engineering are: thermodynamics, physical and thermal properties of water, materials and energy balances, fluid influx, and performance matching and predicting. Thermodynamics Fig. 1 is a pressure-temperature diagram for the liquid-vapor region for pure water, showing the critical point and five other points representing possible initial conditions for a geothermal steam reservoir. To generate a physical appreciation for the mechanics of natural steam production, it is helpful to consider

Jan 1, 1970

By FRANK FIRRISTONE

Ix the summer of 1842 my father, William Firmstone, was engaged by Charles Jackson, Jr., of Boston, to examine the conditions in the Lehigh valley as a site for blast-furnaces using anthracite for fuel. In consequence of his report, he was further engaged by Mr. Jackson to build a furnace for him and his partners on the Lehigh canal, 2 miles above the mouth of the river at Easton. Work was begun in the fall of 1842, and the first furnace blown-in in 1844. The history of the works, therefore, from 1844 to 1887, when my own connection with them ceased, covers only four years less than the whole period of the rise, culmination, and commencement of the decline in the smelting of iron with anthracite in America, the beginning of which, in a commercial sense, may be put in 1839.' Although this paper, as the title indicates, is concerned almost exclusively with the furnaces at Glendon, still what was done there was more or less influenced by current opinion in the dis¬trict, and even reflects, to some extent, the changes in opinion and practice with mineral fuel the world over. No. 1 Furnace was built of red brick, on four piers, had three tuyeres and fore-hearth and tymp, as was universal with furnaces using mineral fuel until the introduction of Liirmann's cinder-tuyere. The dimensions and profile are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The first hearth (Fig. 1) was of sandstone; all after were of fire-brick (Fig. 2). The profile was no doubt derived directly from Gibbons's furnace,2 for it appears from W. Firmstone's note-books that in October, 1840, he visited ." Gibbons' new furnaces building at Corbyn Hall," and I have an old drawing,\

Sep 1, 1909

By J. F. KENP

THE White Knob copper-deposits are situated about three miles south of Mackay, on the Salmon River .branch of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, in Custer county, Idaho. An outline-map of this district is given in Fig. 1. The deposits have been known and spasmodically worked for many years, and a total of over 3.5 miles of tunnels, shafts and other workings has been driven with a view to their development. These extensive excavations have exposed the deposits sufficiently to permit a careful geological examination. The peculiar features which give special interest to this paper are the branching, free-like form of the ore-bodies; the absence of zones of secondary enrichment in the partly oxidized pyritic deposits, and the fact that while the deposits are associated in a general way with the contact of an eruptive rock with limestone, which it penetrates, the garnetization has taken place not in the limestone, as is the usual case, but in the igneous

Mar 1, 1907

THE Lehigh Valley Section is planning with a num-ber of other organizations a three-day conference, April 25, 26 and 27, with field visits to cement, slate and steel plants in the vicinity of Easton, Pa. W. B. Plank is chairman and D. Knickerbocker Boyd is sec-retary. Headquarters will be at Hotel Easton. Wednesday' will be cement day. In the forenoon A. S. T. M. Committee D-16 will meet and after luncheon the delegates will visit the Martin Creek plants of the Alpha Portland Cement Co. An evening dinner and general session on cement is being arranged. Thursday morning will be devoted to a technical ses-sion on slate, and the breaking of ground for the new John Markel mining building at Lafayette College. After luncheon various slate quarries will be inspected, the visitors being guests of the companies. In the eve-ning there will be a conference dinner at Hotel Easton with a number of distinguished visitors. Friday will be given over to steel and will include a visit to Lehigh University, an inspection of the plant of the Bethlehem Steel Corp., and a luncheon as guests of the latter.

Jan 3, 1928

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 C. W. Goodale

TOMBSTONE, a name not exactly full of cheerful suggestion, has a great record as a mineral producer and a colorful history as a frontier mining camp. The only practical route to Tombstone in the early 80's was by way of San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Southern Pacific was building across Arizona, and a sleeper was attached to a construction and freight train at Los Angeles, and was trailed slowly across the Colorado Desert to Benson in the San Pedro Valley. Thence one staged 26 miles to Tombstone, which is located near the foot of a range of hills at an altitude of about 4500 ft.

Jan 1, 1925

How Mining Engineers Will Fare in 1977 Mining Education- The State of the Discipline Coal Mining Technologists are a New Force in the Labor Pool Trained Manpower Provided by Mining Technology Programs Putting New Engineers to Work-A Management Perspective

Jan 1, 1977

By E. P. Bayer

MESABI RANGE ore is mined largely by the open-pit method. This involves having available at all times sufficient working places which in combination will produce ore of guaranteed analysis. Fast- loading power shovels turn out under favorable conditions 1000 tons per hour from each unit. Each unit loads ore differing materially in analysis from that loaded by the others, One may load high grade, another low grade, and another may be in a mixed bank with the lead ore so placed that the product must be mixed at the shovel before it is loaded into cars. In such cases the bank is combed with the bucket, the door being left open to permit the material to fall through.

Jan 1, 1937