Search Documents

PUGET SOUND LOCAL SECTION. Executive Committee. CHESTER F. LEE, Chair roan. C. R. CLAGHORN, Vice-Chairman. JOSEPH DANIELS, Secretary-Treasurer, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash. W. C. BUTLER. AL K. RODGERS. On the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 2, an informal dinner was held at the University Club, Seattle, Wash., at which the Secretary of the Institute was present, and a valuable and interesting conference took place concerning the recent activities of the Institute and the relations of the Institute management to the Local Sections. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LOCAL SECTION. Executive Committee. THEODORE B. COMSTOCK, Chairman SEELEY W. MUDD Vice-Chairman. FREDERICK J. H. MERRILL, Secretary-Treasurer, 300 Germain Building, Los Angeles, Cal. C. COLCOCK JONES. FRANK ROBBINS. Maintains headquarters at 300 Germain Building, Los Angeles, Members of the Institute are invited to visit these headquarters whenever they are in the city. A reception was held at the headquarters of the Section on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 8 p.m., to meet the Secretary of the Institute and discuss Institute activities and affairs. Light refreshments were served, and about 20 members of the Section attended.

Jan 10, 1913

By C. H. Ault, D. D. Carr

Four counties in Indiana- LaPorte, Vigo, Vanderburgh, and Switzerland-have potential for deep underground limestone mining because they are in or near high population areas and have no surface-mineable limestone deposits. The principal markets are Gary-South Bend, Terre Haute, Evansville, and Cincinnati. Mineable seams suitable for aggregate are 120-150 m (400-500 ft) below the surface in LaPorte and Vigo Counties, about 90 m (300 ft) below the surface in Switzerland County, and about 600 m (2,000 ft) below the surface in Vanderburgh County. Some deposits are also suitable for high-purity uses or for cement raw materials, which enhances their potential for exploitation.

Jan 1, 1983

By Byron S. Gottfried, Guan Qi Zhao, John W. Tierney

Equations for predicting the performance of vacuum filters and centrifuges used for coal dewatering are presented. These equations are the basis for a dewatering module which has recently been added to the Coal Preparation Plant Simulator developed at the University of Pittsburgh under the sponsorship of the Department of Energy. The module provides for mechanical degradation in the centrifuge; loss of fines to centrate or filtrate; changes in size and gravity distribution; changes in ash and sulfur content; as well as final moisture content of the dewatered product. Inputs to the module are the flow rate of the coal to be dewatered, a washability analysis of the coal, and parameters describing the operation of the vacuum filter or centrifuge. Typical results obtained using the module are presented. There are adjustable parameters which can be varied to match plant operation or experimental data if desired.

Jan 1, 1983

By Ta M. Li

Application of an hydraulic mining system to a troublesome overburden removal project has unlocked an estimated three million tons of ore reserves at Caland Ore Co., Ltd.'s open-pit iron operation in Ontario, Canada. The mine, operated by Caland under a 99-year lease and royalty agreement with Steep Rock Iron Mines, Ltd., would have been forced to curtail its mining operations later this year as the economic limits of the original pit design were being reached. As a result of the stripping program, which uses a tandem set of Marconaflo jet slurry systems, Caland officials now estimate that mining will continue into 1977. These reserves, added to existing ore stockpiles, are expected to sustain the firm's pelletizing operation well into 1981. In addition, Caland engineers are initiating studies to continue mining since the ore body, to date, has yet to bottom out.

Jan 10, 1976

By Luis E. Vallejo

Experimental and theoretical analyses are presented to study the mechanics of growth and interaction for three inclined left-stepping, three inclined right-stepping and two inclined non-stepping cracks in a brittle material subjected to uniaxial compression. It was found that the non-stepping cracks did not interact and they propagated individually in a direction parallel to the uniaxial compressive stress. The propagating cracks formed in regions where tensile stresses developed. The left-stepping cracks interacted and formed branching cracks as a result of failure in tension of the material between them. Also, they propagated from their tips in a direction parallel to the uniaxial compressive stress. The right stepping cracks did not interact, but extended themselves from their tips following a direction parallel to the uniaxial compressive stress. The extended cracks formed in areas of compressive stresses.

Jan 1, 1984

A dinner was given to Ambrose Swasey by the United Engineering Society, at the Engineers' Club, on November 14. Those present -included -twenty-one presidents and past presidents of the Founder Societies. Charles F. Rand, President of United Engineering Society, presided. President Robert S. Woodward, of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Dr. Robert W. Hunt, of Chicago, made addresses to which Mr. Swasey responded. Dr. Michael I. Pupin, Chairman of Engineering Foundation, made the closing address. The evening was marked by the high character of the addresses, inspiration for grave duties lying before the engineering profession, and by the spirit of good fellowship. Among the seventy-two persons present were the following members of the Institute: E. E. Bartlett, William N. Best, J. Parke, Channing, C. R. Corning, F. C. Cottrell, J. V. Davies, J. V. N. Dorr, H. S. Drinker, Karl Eilers, H. M. Howe, A. C. Humphreys, Robert W. Hunt, Wm.. B. Jackson, D. S. Jacobus, J. H. Janeway, J. E. Johnson, Jr., John Johnston, George F. Kunz, Edwin Ludlow, Philip N. Moore, Fred'k. H. Newell; Wm. H. Nichols, H. Hobart Porter, Charles F. Rand, R. M. Raymond, .Jesse M. Smith, E. Gybbon Spilsbury, Bradley Stoughton, . Joseph Struthers, Benj. B. Thayer, Wm. H. Wiley, S. T. Wellman.

Jan 1, 1919

Safety and health are no longer secondary responsibilities but must be of paramount concern to every mining operation, according to Anthony J. Thompson, an attorney with Hamel, Park, McCabe & Saunders of Washington D.C. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) forecasts an estimated 19,000 inspections during 1979, and the economic and psychological impact of these inspections may he significant. To illustrate his point Thompson reviewed the experiences of a relatively large operation during a recent MSHA visit. The inspector was on the premises for two months, issuing between 250 to 300 "significant and substantial" (s&s) citations. During the most intensive period, about one month in duration, the operation experienced a production loss estimated between 2500 to 3000 tons; an accident rate up 30% over the previous month and 20% over the same month in the preceding year; 100% of the safety director's and safety engi¬neer's time was devoted to the inspection; 50% of top level management's time; and 90% of the mid-level or front line supervisory's time.

Jan 11, 1979

Jan 1, 1907

By James R. Swaisgood, Ronald E. Versaw

Hundreds of shafts have been sunk in the United States in the past. Most of these have been successful however, in some instances thousands of dollars have been lost due to work stoppage while emergency measures were taken to control unexpected water flows. In cases where it was not possible to control the water, the shafts were completely lost. Many thousands of dollars have also been wasted in overconservative support design for the successful shafts. These "hell for stout" designs were necessary because of the importance of the shaft in the operation of the mine. If there was trouble in the shaft, all underground operations would come to a halt. Over-design was also necessary because no reliable preconstruction investigation methods or rational support design methods were available.

Jan 6, 1974

By T. Egleston

In the year 1881 I presented to the Institute two papers containing the resnlts of researches on gold, in which I endeavored to make plain some of the causes of the losses in the working of gold-ores. Since that time I have continued this investigation at intervals with the following results. In the papers previously presented to the Institute I made no attempt to make compounds containing more than two substances. Since then I have endeavored to make more complex compounds. The experiments consist in fusing mispickel free from gold with a certain amount of metallic gold, and experimenting with that; also fusing the same mineral with sulphide of antimony, and fusing iron pyrites with gold and compounds of antimony. The mixture was made with mispickel taken from a vein not far from Stamford, Conn., absolutely free from gold. It was fused

Jan 1, 1884

By John V. Beall

Beall: Mr. Bennett, you have had a very successful -and a very colorful-career in mining. Would you tell us about your first job in the mining industry? Bennett: I was a mine surveyor on the Mesabi and Marquette ranges, working both open pit and underground. I worked two years for the Meriden Engineering Co., formerly the Meriden Iron Co., which was founded in 1904 to operate mines and to act as a lessors' agent for inspection. At the time I was there, Meriden was operating one open pit and one underground mine, and acting as agent or inspector for some lessors, the owners of the fee interest.

Jan 1, 1968

By C. E. Shoenfelt

Wildcat drilling operations in Utah in 1937 added nothing of importance to the commercial oil and gas possibilities of the state, and such operations consisted largely of efforts to reach objectives in wells started in former years. The Standard Oil Company of California, jointly with the Continental Oil Co., completed a wildcat well in sec. 22, 23 S., 11 E., on the San Rafael swell in Emery County, which was abandoned in metamorphic rocks at 4900 ft.; it tested the Pennsylvanian and Mississippian sections and probably ended in Devonian or older rocks. The Utah Southern Oil Company's test of the Cisco structure in sec. 33, 22 S., 22 E., was abandoned at 6715 ft.; it may have been through the Pennsylvanian section at this depth. The Mountain Fuel Supply Co. continued the development of its Clay Basin gas field, and with the completion of two wells in 1937 added 35,571,000 cu. ft. initial daily gas capacity to its reserves. This company constructed 21 miles of 10-in. gas pipe line from the Clay Basin field to its South Baxter Basin terminal in Wyoming, and during the closing months of 1937 delivered 2,225,000,000 cu. ft. of gas through the Salt Lake trunk line.

Jan 1, 1938

ST. LOUIS SECTION H. A. BUEHLER, Chairman, CHARLES T. ORR, Vice-Chairman., THOMAS T. BREWSTER, Vice-Chairman, L. L. HUTCHISON, Vice-Chairman, W. E. McCOURT, Secretary-Treasurer, Washington University, St. Louis. CHARLES J. ADAMI, EUGENE MCAULIFFE, A. C. TERRILL, JAMES A. CASELTON, JAMES D. ROBERTSON. The annual meeting of the St. Louis Section was held at the St. Louis Club, Saturday evening, Mar. 10, 1917. Philip N. Moore, President, and Bradley Stoughton, Secretary of the Institute, were the guests of the Section. The meeting was preceded by a dinner, at which 70 were present, and was presided over by F. W. DeWolf. Addresses were made by Mr. Moore and Mr. Stoughton. The routine reports of the officers were- presented and the Executive Committee named above was elected for the current year. The special business of the meeting was a report of progress concerning the arrangements for the Institute meeting to be held in the St. Louis Section district, Oct. 8 to 13, 1917. The general program for the meeting met with the cordial approval and cooperation of the members of the Section. It was evident that the members are united in an endeavor to arrange a successful meeting. W. E. McCOURT, Secretary.

Jan 4, 1917

By Donald N. H. Chi, Henry E. Perlee

Accident cost data bases for all mining sectors covering the period 1975 through 1980 have been created on the PDP-11/70 and VAX-11/780 computers at the Bureau of Mines Pittsburgh Research Center. The total expected costs of the following tangible elements are computed: (a) loss in personal income; (b) compensation of wages from State, Federal, and union funds for disabling injuries; (c) benefits for injuries resulting in death or permanent disability; (d) medical treatment and hospital care; (e) investigation of a fatal accident; and (f) production loss due to accidents involving fatalities or amputation injuries. Each cost record computed contains a reference to the original record in the Health and Safety Analysis Center (HSAC) accident files to permit concurrent analysis. The intended applications include examinations of annual trends in mine accident statistics on the basis of economic loss. This provides an additional perspective on mine accidents. Various examples of the use of these data bases are presented.

Jan 1, 1983

By W. A. Boyer, A. W. Beck

At the Morning mine of American Smelting & Refining Co. it was particularly important that there be a means of signaling the engineer from the moving cage in the shaft. Because of the shifting ground in which the shaft was located, buckling timber made it extremely difficult to keep a continuous bell line serviceable. In 1930 engineers considered a moving contact pantograph arrangement between the cage and two stationary messenger wires strung on insulators in the shaft compartment next to the cage. The idea was abandoned because falling material in the shaft and speed of hoisting made it difficult to maintain communication. Later in 1934 a manufacturing company was consulted about the use of an electric eye or a radio signal. As the shaft was located in a return air stream of nearly 100 pct relative humidity, there was too much fog for the electric eye to be used. The radio signal was considered, and it was believed feasible to generate electric static on the cage, locating a radio receiver at the top of the shaft, but the manufacturing company's research department was too busy to work on it at that time.

Sep 1, 1955

By James J. Olson, Richard A. Dick

Blasting practices have shown a recent trend toward larger blastholes and larger burdens and spacings, although some operators, after reconsidering the situation have gone back to smaller blasthole sizes. The greater pull-down capabilities of larger drill rigs and the greater bearing strength of large diameter drill bits give penetration rates for large diameter blastholes approaching, and sometimes exceeding, penetration rates for smaller holes. In practically all cases, large diameter holes can be drilled more quickly and cheaply, based on volume of hole, than small diameter holes. The industry's shift to dry blasting agents and slurries, products which perform more dependably and efficiently in larger diameters, gives an additional advantage to larger boreholes.

Jan 3, 1972

(Members are urged to send in for this column any notes of interest concerning themselves or their fellow-members.) Members and guests who called at Institute headquarters during the period Feb. 10, 1916 to Mar. 10, 1916: D. A. S. Bell, Ottawa, Can. E. B. Latham, Santa Maria, Cal.. John Cooper, Exeter, Devonshire, Eng. H. N. Lawrie, Portland, Ore. I. Dally, Seattle, `Wash. L. A. Levensaler, Tacoma, Wash. George W. Evans, Seattle, Wash. George J. Lyon, Schenectady N. Y. Alexander Fyfe, London, Eng. Fred MacCoy, Antofagasta, Chile. F. C. Greene, Seattle, «rash. J. Mitchell-Roberts, London, Eng. I. Ishikawa, Tokio, Japan. Chas. W. A. Sultan, Yonkers, N. Y. William Kelly, Vulcan, Mich. R. B. Tinsley, Big Stone Gap, Va. Paul S. King, Wilmington, Del. Walter E. Trent, Reno Nev. Oscar Lachmund, Greenwood, B. C. Alfred W. G. Wilson, Ottawa, Can. J. S. Lane, New York City. Nelson Dickerman has resigned as general Manager of the Pato Mines (Colombia), Ltd., and The Nechi Mines (Colombia), Ltd., and will return from Colombia to San Francisco, Cal., the latter part of April. W. A. Prichard has been appointed as his successor.

Jan 4, 1916

By Sanjoy Shome

Recent legislation and the heightened environmental awareness of the public have brought about constraints in the location, process selection and operation of the modern electrolytic refinery. The modern electrolytic zinc process incorporating pyro, hydro, and electrometallurgy has emissions, effluents and residues which are acceptable only under severely restricted discharge conditions. Due to the necessity of maximizing zinc recovery, the additional cost of the environmental equipment has to be minimized, which may be achieved by intelligent process and location selection as well as by proper operation of the plant for maximum return to the Owner and minimum damage to the environment.

Jan 1, 1977

Jan 1, 1967

By M. L. Jeremic

Observations of ground behavior in mining the Choka Dulkan ore body have been described. Ore recovery was limited to approximately 60% because unconsolidated hydraulic fill did not permit either the widening of stope spans nor secondary ore recovery from pillars. Stope undercutting induced high stress concentrations. However, as extraction progressed, ground conditions improved but before extraction was complete they deteriorated again. After completion of a stope, the remnant rib and crown pillars continued to be deformed by other stresses for some time.

Jan 1, 1979