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By Ralph H. Sweetser

N Greenup and Carter counties, in the northeastern part of Kentucky, are the remains of many old charcoal furnaces built and operated during the period from 1818 to 1892. They were all included in what was called the Hanging Rock district. In the summer of 1930 I visited ten of these old blast furnaces, as follows:

Jan 1, 1931

By FREDERICK W. BRADLEY

MINING methods are evolved rather than devised; and the process is slow. The advance in no particular year is phenomenal, but progress is un- questionably being made constantly in several directions: (a) better adaptation to given conditions of various "systems" of mining; (b) better utilization of mechanical equipment ; (c) improvement in working conditions so as to promote the health, safety and efficiency of the workers. During the year 1930 operations were commenced at a number of important new mines. Methods adopted are not new, except in minor detail, but the fitting of methods to conditions is interesting, because, as the engineers presumably started from scratch, they have selected the methods that experience under similar conditions has indicated as being the best.

Jan 1, 1931

By F. E. ROGERS

CUSHMAN TUNNEL No. 2 is adjacent to the Hood Canal, near potlatch, Wash. It is 17 ft. inside .diameter, about 13,000 ft., or two and one- half, miles in length, and is a part of the second unit of the Cushman power project. It connects Cushman ' Dam No. 2 and the penstocks that lead to the power house on the beach about 400 ft. vertically below the outlet of the tunnel. One shaft, 190 ft. deep, and two adits between 300 and 400 ft. long, were provided to speed up driving operations. his arrangement gave 6 working headings, which were operated 24 hr. daily. The shaft provided a manway, cageway, and skipway.

Jan 1, 1931

By HOWARND N. EAVENSON

THE year 1930 resembled the preceding one in the coal industry in continuing the era of falling prices and 'of the abandonment of unprofitable mines. Practically all coal prices fell, and in the steam sizes during the last half of the year this was particularly true, due to the small industrial demand. No new mines of any size were opened in the bituminous coal industry, but there was a steady increase in the number of cleaning plants of all kinds built in all fields. It is estimated that at least nine million tons per year were added to the previous total of washed coal. The largest washing plant started during the year was that of the Buckeye Coal Co., at Nemacolin, Pa., with a capacity of 650 tons per hour. Fig. 1 shows - the mixing-bin, conveyor galleries, washing-plant and skip hoist, and Fig. 2 the 120-ft. Dorr thickener for collecting the 48-mesh material from the wash water. Dryers are used for drying the steam coal product. The following statement by J. R. Campbell shows the effect of cleaning on Pittsburgh coal in Greene County: "With the advent of the 650-t.p.h. efficient washing plant in Greene County at the Nemacolin mine of the Buckeye Coal Co., it has undoubtedly been demonstrated that the potential coking-metallurgical coals of the county can be brought within the pale of the highest grade high-volatile coals for steel manufacture. A few months' operation indicates that 9% per cent ash in the raw coal can be easily reduced to under 7 per cent ash in the washed coal and the sulfur from 1.60 per cent in the run of mine to 1.20 per cent sulfur in the washed coal.

Jan 1, 1931

By HENRY COLEMAN

WE as employees of these related companies, I am sure, are proud to be affiliated with them, and have great faith in the sagacity and fore- sightedness of our employers. Most of us here have been called into important positions in these organizations, and it should be our most earnest endeavor to sense and carry them out as if they were our very own. We have been asked to supervise and carry on a work over which our employers cannot personally watch. It has been well said that the most efficient organization is that which requires the least attention from its head. Because of the very nature and condition of our work, which separates us by many miles from our employers and makes it impossible for us to receive attention and instructions from the heads of our departments, save for occasional visits and correspondence, we are given a great opportunity to prove that we can be efficient workers without too much attention from the heads of our departments. There are few employees who cannot do their duty when it is laid before them in specific terms, and when their employers are always there to see that their plans are carried out. But the employee who is really giving efficient service sees his duty himself and willingly does it. '

Jan 1, 1931

By JAMES BRADLEY

THE Spanish mine is in Nevada County, California, 21 miles northeast of Nevada City by road, and 3 miles north of the town of Washington. The mill and surface buildings are on Poorman's Creek at an ele¬vation of 3,000 ft. About 35 men are employed at the property, which is producing 50 tons of ore per day. Electric power, purchased from the Pacific Gas and Electric Co., is brought in from Alleghany, seven miles away. In the early days the mine was operated by F. W. and P. R. Bradley. Between 1883 and 1899 the production was approximately $900,0)0 in gold. The ore treated during; that time yielded an average of 60 cents per ton and was mined and milled at a profit. The surface, oxidized, ore deposit was 30 to 100 ft. wide and was mined by the glory-hole method. The milling-plant at first consisted of a Blake crusher an-1 a small Huntington mill; later three large Huntington mills were added to the plant. In 1893 a new mill was built at a lower adit- It consisted of 10 stamps and four Huntington mills. The gold was secured by amalgamation, the recovery being about 50 per rent.

Jan 1, 1931

By AIME AIME

WEDNESDAY night, by long tradition, is al- ways set aside for the annual dinner, even when, as it was this year, it is Ash Wednesday. Whether the somewhat smaller attendance than last year is attributable to that cause, the unexpectedly long persistence of business depression, or whatever may have been the reason, it was a joyous occasion, and the grand ball-room of the Commodore Hotel was as completely filled With diners as * was consistent with com- fort. In the half hour before the dinner was actually served the guests assembled in an adjoining room and not only exchanged greetings but proceeded along the receiving line to greet the guests of honor. The number present was so large that hardly more than half of them had been able to do this before the summons to the dining room sounded and a hearty and immediate response was made to it. Toy balloons at each plate, inflated and directed at the heads of companions or nearby friends, but which were just as likely to carom from the nose of a hurrying waiter, successfully broke the ice as well as not a few plates. It would be interesting to know whether the pleasure the guests derive from these de- vices is in part based on the all-too evident annoyance of the waiters, and what the relative quantitative relationships are.

Jan 1, 1931

By AIME AIME

IT IS not necessary to travel hundreds of miles from New York City to see examples of modern mining methods applied in tunnel work. In the various subway jobs, for instance, underground work is done on so large a scale as to justify the oft-quoted remark that here is the world's greatest mining camp. In such cases, however, the size of the excavation makes wholly disproportionate comparison with the haulage drift or adit level of the West. But in West Orange, N. J., Antonio -DiMarco is driving a tunnel from two headings on opposite sides of First Mountain, under contract with the town of West Orange, which is similar in nearly every respect to the type of work that must be done at the mines, and merits description as an example of fast and economical tunnel driving under conditions commonly met with by the mining engineer in more inaccessible parts.

Jan 1, 1931

By Donald H. McLaughlin

ZEST in the search for new supplies of metallic ores and petroleum is difficult to maintain with stocks of raw materials accumulating and with over- production rightly or wrongly blamed for most of our industrial troubles. Enthusiasm over new methods of prospecting has consequently diminished and exploration programs in many fields have been drastically cur- tailed. Very naturally the effects have been felt with particular keeness in highly specialized phases of the work, such as geophysical prospecting, for the feverish scramble for new areas in which to drill beneath magnetic or electrical anomalies has abated, and there is even a lull in the firing in the battle over salt domes on the Gulf Coast. It is unquestionably an unhappy time for many of the organizations dependent on this work, but in certain respects the situation may be beneficial in correcting unsound practices that .have grown up through the necessity for haste and for quick decisions. With the restriction of the field to the more competent workers by the harsh rule of survival of the fittest, a general improvement, not only in technique but in business methods, can be expected which may go far in restoring public confidence. Geophysical prospecting in the short period that it has been utilized in North America, has suffered severely both from over-popularity and from excessive abuse. The former evil now

Jan 1, 1931

By AIME AIME

THE initial meeting on Mining Methods* opened at 10 o'clock Monday morning with Scott Turner as chairman and W. Spencer Hutchinson as vice- chairman; about 60 attending. After preliminary announcements Theodore Marvin was called on for his paper,, entitled "Rock Tunnel Methods," which has been appearing serially in The Explosives Engineer. Marvin read the introduction and called attention to the account of one or' two particularly' interesting projects, such as the. Brooklyn water supply tunnel. E. D. 'Gardner, Char1e.s S. Hurter, L. D. Lamont and Spencer P. Howell took part in the discussion, Howell commenting on the fact that, in one case cited, misfires had occurred through detonator wires 'coming in contact with the case of an unapproved flashlight, .,: and that all flashlights should be approved.

Jan 1, 1931

By MARSHALL D. DRAPER

THERE are said to be about 150 operating companies in Kotchiu, most of these being small, corresponding in degree to lessees in western mines in the United States. Of the total number there are probably forty large companies having their own smelting plants equipped with one or two furnaces, slag crushing plant and other accessory equipment. A few plants, not more than ten, do custom smelting. There are in all about fifty smelting plants in Kotchiu. With little variation, the equipment and methods are the same. The plant usually consists of two furnaces, one being in operation while the other is being relined 01- re- paired. An adjoining house contains one or more of the large buffalo-drawn Chilean mills for crushing slag. A few houses for the working coolies, with more pretentious ones for the owners, complete the establishment, the whole being surrounded by a compound wall 8 ft. high.

Jan 1, 1931

By D. Harrington, C. W. Owings

The mining industry is gradually realizing that safety education and safety inspection are economic factors that may not be overlooked as a means of reducing operating costs . Many mine operators , however , have failed to realize the benefits of safety , and the efforts of the more progressive mining companies are offset by the carelessness of neighboring companies when the accident records of a community or a State or the nation as a whole are considered . This tendency is indicated by the data collected by the safety division of the United States Bureau of Mines . During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1930 , relatively definite information: was secureä concerning 34 mine explosions , 24 mine fires , and 29 miscellaneous accidents ; these accidents are by no means all of the explosions , fires , and miscellaneous accidents which occurred in the mines of the United States during the period; but the data on the fires and explosions constitute a record of all of those types of accidents that were called specifically to the attention of the safety division , and the miscellaneous accidents include those on which definite , detailed data were obtained by the safety division .

Jan 1, 1931

By Walter W. Hyde

This paper describing the mining and preparation of sand and gravel for a number of special markets by the East Texas Gravel Co., Dallas, Tex., is one of a series being prepared on the subject by the United States Bureau of Mines. These articles are designed to disseminate technical information regarding the methods used. The cost tabulations represent operating expenditures only and not total production costs. It is recognized that publication of total production costs might in many instances cause embarrassment to individual producers as well as to the industry as a whole, but on the other hand, operating costs are essential to the technical discussion and study of the methods employed. The attention of the reader is specifically called to this differentiation in order that no misunderstanding of the scope of the cost tabulations shall ensue.

Jan 1, 1931

By G. E. McElroy

The Coeur d'Alene minim, district of Shoshone County, Idaho, has been one of the largest and most active lead-silver producing districts in the United States for the last 40 years. The mines of the district enjoy exceptional natural advantages with respect to ventilation in that the veins apex high on mountain sides and are most often developed to considerable depths, up to 2,000 feet, by adit and crosscut tunnels under conditions that develop large natural draft pressures; the increase of temperature of the rock with increase of depth from surface in at a low rate; and the average surface temperatures are low. These natural conditions have, in the main, resulted in well-ventilated mines with low temperature conditions throughout. However, where the development has been carried to considerable depths below the lowest level of surface entry, natural-draft ventilation has proved inadequate, and mechanical ventilation systems have been installed on the three largest mines of the district. Local conditions, more particularly those in dead-ended working places, have also required auxiliary ventilation by will fan-pipe units in these and other mines. A particular feature of the district is the number of exceptionally long crosscut tunnels that have been driven to provide entry to vein systems from low points adjacent to milling and transporta¬tion facilities. Three of these tunnels are approximately 2 miles long, and lengths of 3,000 to 8,000 feet are quite common.

Jan 1, 1931

By H. A. Doerner

"The following report is submitted, in compliance with the request made by the Honorable W. H. Sproule, Chairman of the Committee on Mines and Mining, to the Director of the United States Bureau of Mines, that the bureau investigate the most modern processes for the production of radium from its ores. A thorough search of technical publications and patent office files was made. Outstanding authorities on the subject as well as persons claiming novel or secret methods were interviewed.Unlike most other elements, it is not possible for radium to occur naturally in a pure or concentrated form. This is because radium is one of a series of unstable elements which, by a constant, spontaneous, atomic disintegration, change from one element to the next in the series. Uranium is the ""grandparent"" of radium. The rates at which radium atoms are ""born"" and ""die"" are so related that only one part of radium can exist in equilibrium with three million parts of uranium. Consequently radium is only found associated with uranium minerals, and the ratio of radium to uranium is never more than one to three million. Since uranium is a rather rare element, the scarcity of radium is almost beyond comprehension. Nevertheless minute traces of radium can be detected in nearly all rocks.The carnotite ores of Colorado and Utah were the chief source of radium for many years.In the fall of 1922 news of the very rich deposits of radium ore discovered in the Belgian Congo caused most complete cessation of domestic production. The Congo ore contains pitchblende and a number of alteration products, including the new minerals bequerelite, curite, krasolite, stasite, and dewindite. Reports indicate that a considerable amount of ore containing over 50 per cent uranium oxide has been produced. It seemed certain that radium could be extracted from the Conga ore at a much lower cost than from the relatively low-grade carnotite; and in order to preserve their elaborate marketing organizations, the larger American producers made agreements with the Belgian syndicate to market the foreign product in this country. The retail price of radium has been held at $70 per milligram, but large orders are filled as low as $50. Extraction of radium from carnotite by the usual methods does not appear to be profitable at that price with one exception, all American firms ceased production after their accumulated stocks of ore had been treated. The United States Radium Co., which continued to treat carnotite for several years, finally shut down its plant."

Dec 1, 1930

By THOMAS SOULE, R. I. C. Manning

The Phelps Dodge Corporation considers safety a major operating problem , both from the humanitarian standpoint , for this company has a real interest in the welfare of its employees , and from the economic standpoint , for it has found the safe way to be the most economical . In turn , a feeling among employees that the company really has their interests at heart has a wonderful psychological effect . It is bound to bring forth more and better work and to attract and keep workmen of the better class . There is keen competition between the various branches of this corporation for a trophy that is awarded each year to the one having the best accident record . This trophy was won by the Nacożari branch of the Moctezuma Copper Co. in Mexico in 1926 and 1927 , and the Morenci branch won the trophy in 1928 and 1929 .

Oct 1, 1930

By John W. Frey

Although there are certain general uniform provisions in the laws ... of the several Provinces of Canada the differences are so great that it is considered advisable to present digests of separate mining laws rather than a digest of Canadian mining law as an entity . This analysis , accordingly , has been divided as follows : Nova Scotia , New Brunswick , Quebec , Ontario , British Columbia , and a group of Provinces under Dominion Law .

Sep 1, 1930

By A. D. Garman

This paper presents one of a series of digests of foreign mining legislation and court decisions which is being prepared in advance of a general report relative to the right of American citizens to explore for minerals and to own and operate mines in various foreign countries . This interpretation of the laws of El Salvador has been prepared from the best available information in Washington , but is released subject to correction and amplification , if necessary , by the proper American diplomatic and consular officers to whom it is being referred through the courtesy of the Department of State . Under the terms of the Code of Commerce ( arts . 12ff . ) , foreigners living in El Salvador can engage in business on the same terms as nationals . This involves ( = $434.00 ) - except for those with a working capital , of less than a thousand pesos inscription in the merchants ' register , which can be refused only in case of manifest disability of a permanent nature .

Sep 1, 1930

By A. D. Garman

This paper presents one of a series of digests of foreign mining legislation and court decisions which is being prepared in advance of a general report relative to the right of American citizens to explore for minerals and to own and operate mines in various foreign countries . This interpretation of the laws of Uruguay has been prepared from the best available information in Washington, but is released subject to correction and amplification , if necessary , by the proper American diplomatic and consular officers to whom it is being referred through the courtesy of the Department of State .

Sep 1, 1930

By A. D. Garman

This paper presents one of a series of digests of foreign mining legislation and court decisions which is being prepared in advance of a general report relative to the right of American citizens to explore for minerals and to own and operate mines in various foreign countries . This interpretation of the laws of Haiti has been prepared from the best available information in Washington, but is released subject to correction and amplification , if necessary , by the proper American diplomatic and consular officers to whom it is being referred through the courtesy of the Department of State .

Sep 1, 1930