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By Donald H. McLaughlin

PRICES paid for goods and services in paper currencies are undoubtedly determined by many interrelated factors, but among them none is more specific in pushing prices toward higher and higher levels than the vast increase in debts and monetary obligations of our own and practically all major governments. There is nothing unorthodox in the situation in which the gold miners find themselves today. With wages and the prices of all materials required in the production of gold at the high levels characteristic of a period of prosperity, phony or otherwise, and with shortages of both men and machinery to contend with as well, the spread between the returns in paper dollars that must be accepted for gold in the United States and the cost of producing it is rather painfully small for most producers. Technical

Jan 1, 1948

By AIME

IRWIN W. ALCORN, present Chairman of the Petroleum Division, was born Sept. 5, 1899 at Marietta, Ohio, and moved with his family to Robinson, Ill., at the time of the early oil development there. This was in the days of the Star spudders, mud, mules, and Stanley steamers. Al graduated from Robinson High School after participation in basket ball, also attaining the captaincy of the football team of that school. He entered Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy in 1918 and was ushered by the Army into the S.A.T.C. In 1920 he transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, later to return to receive his B.S. degree -in metallurgy at Rolla, also joining the AIME. On graduation, he worked for the Skelly Oil Co. at Cushing, Okla., shifting to the Moore Refining Co. at DeNoya, Okla., as superintendent of a small pipe-line system. After an interval of two years with the National Supply Co. in Tulsa, he joined the Independent Oil and Gas Co. of that city, and at various times was chief engineer of the Texas division, superintendent of the West Texas pipe-line system, chief engineer of pipe-line construction, and chief engineer of the refining division. Al organized the Company's production engineering department. In 1930 the Company was merged with the Phillips Petroleum Co. The depression was in and Al was out, 'as was true nine months later when the Smith Separator Co. whose chief engineer he had become, was liquidated. The next few years was spent with Oil Well Supply Co. as a subsurface pumping equipment engineer

Jan 1, 1948

By W. M. Myers

MINERAL Economics is the most recent profession to be recognized as a separate division of the mineral industries. It has originated from the increasing awareness of the importance of the economic aspects of industries concerned with discovery, extraction, and utilization of minerals. It is concerned with the interrelated fields of economics and technology. The individual trained in economics alone cannot qualify. The curriculum in the School of Mineral Industries at The Pennsylvania State College was approved in May 1946, and enrollment begun in September of that year. Due to the transfer of advanced students from other courses, particularly metallurgy and electrical engineering, it was possible to graduate the first seniors in June 1947. The next class was graduated in February 1948. From experience derived from placing these graduates in industry, and from information supplied by prospective employers, valuable data have been obtained in the organization and operation of the course of study.

Jan 1, 1948

By AIME

Rapid exhaustion of iron ore in Minnesota's Mesabi range has led the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. to develop the world's largest open quarry mine for magnetite iron ore, at Star Lake, N. Y. Already contributing more than one eighth of the total iron ore used by the Corporation, the expanding Benson mines are destined to become Jones & Laughlin's important source of ore within the next ten years. In 1947 over 650,000 long tons of high-grade ore was produced. Output this year is expected to reach 800,000 long tons and studies are under way to increase production further. The future of the Benson mines is assured as present indications show large reserves of ore. The property, briefly described in M & M for November 1943, then under

Jan 1, 1948

By W. S. Tower

STEEL is the basic metal, the main metallic prop of the modern industrial world, a good gage for measuring the state of our complex economy. Any who had doubts on that score should have had them dispelled by the many evidences of public concern over the affairs of the steel industry in recent months. I do not need to relate the various criticisms of the industry, nor the questions about its policies and performance which have come in a rising flood, especially from unthinking and irresponsible sources. But judged from the standpoint of production, or from plans to improve and expand facilities, or from technical progress, the facts about the steel industry are proof of

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Jan 1, 1948

By Hugo L. Johnson, Robert Wallace

THE Midvale plant of the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company consists of a flotation mill for concentrating sulphide ores of lead and zinc by differential flotation to produce three separate concentrates, one of lead, one of zinc, and one of iron pyrite; and a lead smelter for smelting ores and concentrates to produce base lead bullion, The plant, including its shops, laboratories, office, railroad yards which serve both mill and smelter, and areas reserved for tailing ponds and slag dumps, covers 646 acres on the right bank of the Jordan River at Midvale, Utah. It is twelve miles south of Salt Lake City and sixteen miles east of the West Mountain mining district at Bingham Canyon from which is drawn a large part of its ore supply. Custom ores are treated as well as the product of Company mines.

Jan 1, 1948

By E. D. Gardner

IN 1947 the metal-mining industry . passed through a year of readjustment; catching up on development work has caused production to suffer. Skilled labor has been short in most mining districts, notwithstanding the highest wage rate paid in the history of the industry. The trend has continued toward increased mechanization and refinements in practices and methods to increase the tons produced per man-shift. Improvements in procedures, however, have not kept pace with rising labor rates; and, in general, labor costs per ton mined have steadily increased since the war years. Prices of base metals have been the highest in a generation, but most producing companies can afford to pay the high wages. Capital expenditures have been approved for improvements to increase the output per man, both to reduce unit labor costs and to increase output. Surveys indicate a continuing

Jan 1, 1948

By R. S. Newlin

IN reality, the Butte district is the birthplace of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., for it was here that strength was gathered and means provided for later expansions of the Company. The Butte district was organized at a miners' meeting on Aug. 20, 1866, primarily for gold placer-mining operations. Substantial amounts of placer gold were recovered from gulch gravels during the period 1862 to 1868. The earliest lode claim locations in the district were recorded in July and August 1864. Copper ore was first shipped, to Swansea, Wales, in 1866. In November 1866, according to the Montana Post, construction of a smelter was started to treat the silver

Jan 1, 1948

By B. E. Grant

THE major metal mine operations of the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company in Utah are in the Bingham area. The Company also owns and operates metal mines in the Ophir district, twelve miles south of Bingham, and in the Tintic district, 28 miles south of Ophir. Operations of the Company in the Park City area have been idle since early in World War II. These mining camps, lying at moderate elevations, serviced by railroads, hard-surfaced highways, in close proximity to mills, smelters, cities and towns, fertile valleys, winter and summer vacation areas, and airports are probably as favorably situated as any mining camps in the world. The Bingham district, known principally for its copper production from

Jan 1, 1948

By Odmund Ljone

FAR north of the Arctic Circle is a totally industrial community which until 1945 could not boast a single specimen of the rat family, and where today you will be awarded a bottle of fine cognac for every rat-dead or alive. Amazing but true, the spot is Longyear City, the Norwegian mining town on the arctic island of Spitzbergen. Perhaps you have also heard of the town built on soil that never thaws, where huge blocks of ice must be melted to fill the city's fresh water reservoirs, and where the Far North dictates a way of life all its own. Here, coal is king and men must work hard for their "black gold." Spitzbergen is a rough, tough piece of Norway, made up of a half dozen isolated islands between 74 and 81 degrees north latitude. Covering twice the area of Belgium, they are home to

Jan 1, 1948

By S. J. CRAIGHEAD

IN 1912 the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company made a large investment in a number of coal properties in Utah and in 1915 a subsidiary, the United States Fuel Co., was organized to take over these properties. Operations started in 1916 and the Company soon became, and remains, one of the major coal producers of the State. It now produces approximately one million tons of coal annually, which is about 22 per cent of Utah's output. The U. S. Fuel Co. owns large reserves of good coal and is in a position to expand operations with the industrial growth now taking place in the West. Traveling through the Western States, one is struck by numerous advertising signs portraying the picture of jovial Old King Cole of nursery rhyme fame. His rotund figure and beaming countenance are the symbols of Utah King Coal, the product of the King mine of U. S. Fuel Co. King Coal is a by-word of quality coal throughout all the Western States.

Jan 1, 1948

By B. M. Larsen

NEVER having actually tried to engage in the systematic education of anyone, and having little direct knowledge of the practical problems and limitations in the field of education, I can pose only as a "nonexpert" in this field, one whose ideas are to be regarded as personal opinions. The necessity for compromise between educational ideals and the practical limitations of time, money, and mental capacities of both student and teacher is evident in the preparation of an end product that we may regard with a reasonable degree of conviction as a professional engineer. We need to do so many things. The engineering student must have a clear understanding of the basic sciences; he should develop manual skills and co-ordination; he should speak and write the language with simple clarity and directness; he should gather knowledge of a special field; and, he should be educated for living in a broad ..

Jan 1, 1948

By J. A. Retty

IN the Labrador iron fields two concessions, totaling nearly 24,000 square miles, have been staked out and commercial-grade deposits delineated. The Newfoundland-Labrador concession, owned by the Labrador Mining and Exploration Co. Ltd., is a 20,000-square-mile tract in the upper basins of the Hamilton and N askaupi Rivers which drain into Lake Melville. The New Quebec licensed area is 3900 square miles, owned by the Hollinger North Shore Exploration Co. Ltd., lying to the northwest of the northwestern part of the Labrador concession. It includes the upper basin of the Swampy Bay River and part of the upper basin of the Whale River, both of which drain into Ungava Bay. Both of the above-named companies are controlled by Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mines Ltd. with The M. A. Hanna Co., of Cleveland, holding a minority interest. When exploration was first undertaken in 1936, the only published map of the area was that prepared by A. P. Low in 1895. It showed only the main watercourses and gave only a rough, general idea of the geology. The numerous lakes of this vast area had to be first sketched and then mapped. Since then, extensive geological and topographical surveys have been conducted by the Labrador company, work which is normally done by Government branches. The object of the work was to examine the area and gradually eliminate unfavorable or less favorable prospecting ground. With this object in view, geological

Jan 1, 1948

By B. D. Cullity

GOLD and beryllium form an intermediate phase composed of the two metals in equal atomic proportions and having the formula AuBe. According to Winkler,1 this phase probably exists in two modifications: beta, stable below about 600°C, and alpha, stable between 600°C and the melting point, about 740°C. Only the low- temperature beta form will be considered in this paper. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The gold used had a fineness of 999.75 to 999.85, balance mainly silver, and the beryllium purity was better than 99.8 pct. AuBe was prepared by melting the constituents in a beryllia crucible in an evacuated induction furnace. After melting and thorough mixing, the alloy was allowed to solidify in the crucible. No difficulty was encountered in obtaining a homogeneous ingot. Both chemical analysis and microscopic examination of the ingot showed that the alloy was essentially one phase, containing 50 at. pct gold. The alloy was quite brittle and powder samples could easily be pre- pared by grinding in an agate mortar. The X-ray diffraction patterns were made with CuK-alpha radiation in a Debye-Scherrer powder camera 57.3 mm in diameter. The film was placed unsymmetrically in the camera in order to afford a basis for am-shrinkage corrections. A sample homogenized at 5o0°C gave the same diffraction pattern as a sample taken from the as-melted ingot. GENERAL RESULTS The diffraction pattern of AuBe was readily indexed on the basis of a simple cubic lattice with ao = 4.659 ± 0.001kX. If the unit cell is assumed to contain four AuBe "molecules," the calculated X-ray density is 13.46 grams per cc as compared with the measured density of 13.55 gm per cc. The only missing reflections in the dsraction pattern are (100) and (220) (see Table I). Since these missing reflections are not those characteristic of body or face centering, the lattice of AuBe must be simple cubic. To locate the positions of the atoms within the unit cell, two possibilities had to be considered: I. The structure was disordered and there were eight positions to be filled by an "average" gold-beryllium atom. That the structure was disordered seemed unlikely since the lattice parameter did not vary with composition in alloys containing some- what more and somewhat less than 50 at. pct gold, indicating a fixed composition for AuBe.

Jan 1, 1947

By R. A. Pallanch

PROBABLY one of the most perplexing problems with which a mill operator contends is the proper evaluation of his mill results. True, he accurately determines his recoveries of metals and grades of products monthly, weekly, and often daily. These figures do not of themselves directly translate to mill economics. When one figure is unusually good there may be an offsetting circumstance. The advantage of high lead or zinc concentrate grade may be offset by poorer recovery; high lead recovery may be offset by poorer zinc recovery, or vice versa; and so on. Besides, grades or recoveries may not of themselves mean more than a reflection of the grade and character of the ore during the period under study. What the operator sorely needs is some one measuring stick that tells him when he has achieved his greatest return, regardless of grades or recoveries-for if he knows his methods and practices are yielding the optimum return he need no longer concern himself with the assays of products and tailings, or the corresponding distribution of metal values. At first blush it would appear that the obvious answer to this is the actual money return to the mill. Paradoxical as it may seem, however, money return does not make a dependable yardstick any more than do grades and recoveries, as ore conditions would vary enough to bring about greater money return during periods when the actual metallurgical work is not as good. The mill operator, of course, should always aim for the greatest return on the ore, once it is in the mill bins, with proper attention always to mill treatment cost. The need of a proper yardstick becomes more imperative with the increasing complexity of the problem. In the case of a simple, single-product operation on a fairly uniform ore, in which only one metal is of significant importance, the need is not great, as grade and recovery pretty well tell their own story. At the other extreme is the operation that makes three or four separate marketable products from a complex mixture of heterogeneous ores that vary tremendously in individual metal contents and ratios, degree of oxidation, and other characteristics, and in which gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc are all significant values. ECONOMIC RECOVERY The first attempt at obtaining a proper single yardstick for a fairly complex ore with which I am familiar is the use of the "Economic Recovery" term at the leadzinc flotation mill of the Sunnyside Mining and Milling Co., Eureka, Colorado. This method had been applied there early in Sunnyside flotation-mill history (not later than 1920) and credit for the innovation I believe belongs to Messrs. Kuryla and Marquand. The term "Economic Re-

Jan 1, 1947

By E. H. Rose

The question is often pondered whether the flotation process is still an art or has become a science. The fact is that flotation is a science in so many variables that only art can blend them. It is demonstrable that no less than one hundred variables are involved in any flotation operation, most of them immeasurable on a routine basis. The behavior of every one of them is always governed by orderly and unchanging law, as no man can doubt. There is nothing truly indefinite about that behavior; the only indefiniteness is in our knowledge of it, either in general or from hour to hour in the circuit. In dealing with a simultaneous equation in, say, one hundred variables, all not only affecting the outcome to some degree but many influencing each other as well, it is small wonder that the mineral-dressing profession presents a case history of debate and controversial opinion. The statement of the subject of this symposium—a symposium on flotation machines—seems to delimit and define the matters to be considered and at least the general nature of the conclusions sought. Nevertheless, in such a meeting it is not possible to meditate upon all the variables that do in one way or another affect performance of flotation machines. To attempt it would be much like trying to operate a hundred-ring circus. Perverse variables being what they are, one could expect the elephant in ring 36 to squirt a trunkful of water at the tightrope performer in ring 37 to ruin that artist's act, just as our learning to depress pyrite in the early 1920's ruined the act of the formerly faithful old Callows. Honest Disagreements Selective flotation dates from 1922 or 1923, when several plants established their regular flotation operations on a selective basis. Since then, two decades of efforr have gone into the development of better and better flotation machines. Many have come and gone. The competition has simmered down to perhaps a dozen machines, each one of which is staunchly defended by some operators as being the best for their particular jobs, and as scornfully dismissed by at least a few others elsewhere as being positively the poorest for theirs. These disagreements are honest disagreements, honestly arrived at after plenty of sweat. In many a flotation plant, one machine has been tried out against another under conditions as fair as they could possibly be made. Sometimes the results are on a par but more often one machine shows a consistent and unmistakable margin of superiority over the other. In equally honest and enlightened tests, machine A may win over machine B in one place, and machine B over machine A by as great a margin in another. This paper purposes to identify some of the more prominent reasons why this is so,

Jan 1, 1947