Search Documents

By Granville S. Borden, Frank H. Madison

The fruits of industry are divided between capital, labor, and governments. Capital takes its redemption and remuneration through profits or dividends; labor takes its share through wages; governments take their share through taxes. Each must have a just share, and the question of what is a just share and the question of who shall make the allocation are vital current political and economic issues. Certain political philosophies con- tend that government should take all the fruits and that some dictator or politician should have irrevocable discretion and power to distribute the fruits. Believers in democracy and free enterprise adhere to the view that capital is entitled to redemption and fair remuneration; that labor shall have a fair wage; and that governments shall make equitable levies. But since all human beings, both individually and in groups, are inherently selfish, there are many variable views in regard to the question of what ratios shall be applied in a division of the fruits and who shall have the power to fix these ratios. Perhaps all parties should devote more energy to means of increasing the crop, and not so much time to quarreling over a division of the existing crop. Moreover, all three parties must guard against killing the goose that lays the mineral eggs. For example, if the tax burden becomes oppressive and the taxpayer refuses to carry it, then business stagnates, with consequent unemployment, reduction of profits, and curtailment of government revenue. If a producer assumes the increased tax burden, marginal operations must be closed down, and, again the consequences are increased unemployment and diminished government revenue. Quite often an increase in a rate of tax results in a reduction of government revenue. Perhaps the worst detrimental feature of selfishness and greed on the part of any one of the three distributees of the fruits of industry is the retardation of expansion of the enterprise. Growth means new jobs, more government revenue, better trade, and better standards of living. Explorations and discoveries have resulted in tremendous contributions

Jan 1, 1964

By Ernest Burchard

FLUORSPAR is found in most of the states from the Rocky Mountains westward, and commercial production of the mineral has been reported from Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Washington. The map in Fig. 1 indicates the general distribution of many of these deposits but it is by no means complete. In the summer of 1926 the writer examined certain deposits of fluor-spar in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Washington; in November, 1927, revisited the Jamestown, Colo., district, and in earlier years examined deposits in Colorado and New Mexico. Based on notes of his own and. on descriptions and other data by H. A. Aurand, H. W. Davis, R. B. Ladoo, V. C. Heikes, W. D. Johnston, Jr., and by producers of fluorspar, he prepared the following brief descriptions of deposits and estimates of reserves of fluorspar, originally for the use of the subcommittee on fluorspar of the Joint Committee on Foreign and Domestic Mining Policy and on Industrial Preparedness respectively of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America and the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. Descriptions of many fluorspar deposits in various western states and districts have been published. It is not feasible to summarize this literature here, but the appended bibliography will indicate to the interested reader what papers are available.

Jan 1, 1933

By W. J. Uren, Charles R. Kuzell

The industries engaged in winning minerals from the earth, because of their widespread dissemination, are faced with perhaps as wide a variety of labor-management problems as may be found in any other broad sphere of productive activity. Those problems are continually increasing in volume and complexity, and management has become aware of their growing importance. For the past quarter century at least, labor-management problems have largely been union-management problems. During this period tremendous assistance has been given labor unions through legislation and administrative and political action. In the United States, legislation favorable to unions has come about in the form of the now defunct National Industrial Recovery Act; the Wagner Act, most of which has been carried forward in the Taft-Hartley Act and the Landrum-Griffin Act; the Norris-La Guardia Act, the Wage and Hour Law, the Walsh-Healey Act, and others. The result has been to transfer from the hands of management to those who direct the affairs of the unions a large share of control over the industry and to hamper in many ways the remaining control left to management. In the United States there are many examples of the power of unions to injure whole industries seriously without regard to the interests of management, the employes, or the public. During 1958 and 1959 revelations of corruption and coercion in labor unions made before the McClellan Committee of the U. S. Senate generated considerable public sentiment in favor of legislation to protect the interests of employes and the public. However, the resulting legislation, the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (Landrum-Griffin Act), demonstrated quite clearly that the political power of the labor union leaders was adequate to prevent adoption of effective measures in this field.

Jan 1, 1964

By T. L. McCall

The late Walter Herd1 in 1929 gave a full description of past and present conditions in No. 2 mine, Springhill, Nova Scotia, developed theories regarding the cause of these bumps and made certain suggestions regarding possible methods of future development. Recapitulating briefly from Mr. Herd's paper, the seam is bituminous coal, averages 9 ft. in thickness and has a well defined parting containing fusain about 14 in. from the roof. This roof coal is somewhat stronger than the rest of the seam and has a tendency to cling to the roof. The pitch of the seam where it is now being worked is about 20". The first manifestations of bumps began when the room and pillar workings had reached a depth of cover of 1900 ft. and under continuously increasing depth of cover these bumps increased to such an extent, both in number and severity, that in the year 1924 it became apparent that some change in the system of extraction was necessary. After closely studying all the factors involved and benefiting largely by valuable outside advice obtained by the Provincial Department of Mines of Nova Scotia,2 the system of working was changed from room and pillar to longwall retreating. Mr. Herd's paper described in detail three remarkable bumps in the year 1928 in April, July and October that affected the 5700-ft. and 5900-ft. East levels, the last bump being so severe both in intensity and in extent of damage done that this district was abandoned. The longwall workings to the west of the slope had been stopped in the year 1926 owing to an inbreak of water, coming from the flooded waste of No. 3 seam lying some 400 ft. vertically overhead. This inflow was not excessive, but a large quantity of water being impounded in the old workings it was considered advisable to take the prudent course and not incur the risk of possibly increasing the flow by further working. This district has remained idle ever since.

Jan 1, 1934

By ROY BERENTZ

MANUFACTURE is the transformation of material by the application of energy and power. The energy of a man exerted throughout a day is equivalent to about one horsepower-hour of mechanical work an amount which can be purchased for less than 2c. It is evident that manual labor is uneconomical if mechanical energy can be applied effectively, or without disproportionate expense. Since manual energy is relatively so costly, economy demands that mechanical power be employed so as to reduce the human effort connected with mining operations to a minimum. Power, like other commodities, is most efficiently produced in large quantities. Mechanical transmission, once prevailing, is being rapidly superseded by electric drive. There are many reasons for this change; such as increased production, ease and accuracy of control, convenient application, ease of moving, etc.

Jan 1, 1930

By M. R. Geer, J. D. Davis, H. F. Yancey

ALTHOUGH the mechanical cleaning of coal is carried out at plants on the surface, preparation is actually begun at the face in the mine. Here the character of the coal and the amount, character, and distribution of the impurities within the bed may be seen. Blasting methods, dust-allaying procedures, location of mining cut with respect to bands of impurity, and the practice of discarding segregated impurities underground, all have an important bearing on the successful operation of surface cleaning units. The most important single characteristic of both coal and its asso¬ciated impurities from the standpoint of cleaning is specific gravity. Other characteristics related in one way or another to the preparation of coal are rank, petrographic composition, structure and hardness, and friability. These and still other coal properties are discussed in the first section of this chapter and impurity characteristics in the second. COAL CHARACTERISTICS RELATED TO PREPARATION Rank As a result of work done over a period of several years by committees of the American Society for Testing Materials and the American Standards Association, standard specifications are now available showing the classification of coals according to rank and quality of grade.' The term "rank" expresses the degree to which the original coal-forming material has been changed by metamorphism through successive stages from peat to anthracite. Table 1 shows the classification of coals according to rank as devised by the committees of the organizations mentioned. The basic scheme of classification for the higher-rank coals is according to

Jan 1, 1943

By A. G. Gilbert

Paradoxical is the word. The coal industry, despite reach- ing a 22-year high in production (590 million tons), has been tagged as having its back to the wall vis-a-vis its valiant attempts to quench the nation's still unabated craving for coal. What must be even more reassuring to the industry, infected once with rumors of a uranium takeover, is a nation's almost insatiable appetite for electricity. Between 1967 and the summer of 1970, utility stockpiles were being gobbled up, diminishing to 79% of the January 1968 level.

Jan 1, 1971

By D. J. McAdam, G. W. Geil, R. W. Mebs

AS shown in previous papers by the authors 9-l7† the resistance of a metal to fracture, like its resistance to plastic deformation, is a function of all three principal stresses.‡ A technical cohesion limit is the technically determined resistance to fracture under a specific stress system. The technical cohesive strength thus comprises an infinite number of technical cohesion limits corresponding to the infinite number of possible combinations of the principal stresses. The technical cohesive strength, therefore, may be represented by a surface in a diagram with the three principal stresses as coordinates. As shown in previous papers, 9-I8 the technical cohesive strength increases with plastic deformation, with decrease in temperature, and with increase in the strain rate. The technical cohesion limit, therefore, is affected by the same factors that affect the flow stress, § namely, the stress system, plastic deformation, temperature, and the strain rate. More- over, the influence of each of these factors on the technical cohesion limit has been shown to be qualitatively similar to the influence of the same factor on the flow stress.9-18 Advance of knowledge about the conditions determining fracture, of metals has been retarded by the reluctance of some investigators to abandon preconceived ideas about how metals "should" behave. The incorrect idea is still prevalent that the conditions determining resistance to fracture are very different from those determining the flow stress. Attempts are still being made to express resistance to fracture in terms of a single parameter, such as a limiting value of the greatest principal stress, the maximum shearing stress, or the volume stress (one-third the algebraic sum of the three principal stresses). In these attempts, a sharp distinction is sometimes made between a ductile or "plastic fracture " and a "brittle fracture." In making this distinction, however, the meaning attached to the term "brittle fracture" sometimes is not made clear. The term could mean fracture after very little plastic deformation or it could be used to designate the type of fracture. An ordinary fracture of a ductile metal at room temperature starts as a cleavage, generally transverse to the direction of the greatest principal stress, but eventually changes to a shearing fracture. In some conditions, however, the metal fractures entirely by cleavage, with no evidence of plastic deformation during the fracture; the surface of such a fracture may have a

Jan 1, 1947

By John D. Ridge

For mining geologists, the most important trends during 1962 have been the increased concentration of the exploratory activities of American mining companies in the United States and Canada and the greater use of the combined techniques of geology, geophysics and geochemistry in searches over larger areas for wider varieties of metals and minerals. The principal reasons for these changes in approach have been the deterioration of the political-economic climate in many areas of the globe of equal or greater geologic promise and the realization that modern exploration is most efficiently and economically conducted through the use of all available means of detecting ores in areas sufficiently large to raise to a maximum the chances of success. The attitude of certain major U.S. metal-producing companies can be shown by the officially ex- pressed positions of their principal officers. Early in 1962, Clyde E. Weed, Chairman of the Board of Anaconda, remarked that "because of unsettled conditions and disruptive influences in many of the copper-producing areas of the world, it is imperative that domestic copper-producing capacity be improved and made as efficient as possible in order to meet consumer demands at reasonably stable prices." In November, Robert G. Page, President of Phelps Dodge, pointed out that his company is not only concentrating most of its exploratory effort on this continent but is also increasing the number of metals for which it is searching. Frank R. Milliken, President of Kennecott, recently said that "most of our exploration money is going into the northern part of the Western Hemisphere."

Jan 2, 1963

By M. C. Flemings, T. Z. Kattamis

Dendrite morphology and grain size were studied in bulk samples of iron and nickel base alloys under-cooled up to 300°C. In the alloys studied, dendrite morphology gradually changes with increasing undercooling from the usual dendritic structure to a structure composed of cylindrical dendrite arms. At a critical undercooling of approximately 170°C in these alloys there is an abrupt transition to a fine-grained structure of spherical morphology. Final dendrite-arnz spacing of melts nucleated at less than the critical undercooling decreases with increasing undercooling and with decreasing distance from a chilled surface. Grain size of melts nucleated at greater than the critical undercooling decreases similarly with these factors. It is concluded that structure coarsening, with reduction of surface area as driving force, is the principal mechanism determining final dendrite-arm spacing in melts nucleated at small undercoolings and grain site in melts nucleated at large undercoolings. IN solidification of highly undercooled melts, nuclea-tion and growth of the solid is accompanied by a rapid release of latent heat of fusion. The heat release is sufficiently rapid in bulk specimens that it takes place essentially adiabatically with respect to the surroundings; hence the specimen heats up ("recalesces") to some maximum recalescence temperature. For bulk liquid metals and alloys, a simple thermal balance shows the undercoolings obtainable in bulk samples are not sufficient to lower the maximum recalescence temperature below the equilibrium solidus temperature. Hence, some liquid always remains at the end of recalescence; this liquid must solidify by rejection of heat to the surroundings. Metals, including iron and nickel base alloys, normally freeze with only a few degrees of undercooling. In general, nucleation begins on impurity particles present in the metal, at a "heterogeneous nucleation temperature" that is quite close to the equilibrium liquidus temperature. Very small droplets of metal can be undercooled considerably before nucleation occurs,1-4 presumably because subdivision of the liquid reduces the probability of solid impurity in a given droplet. Following early work on metal droplets,' a series of studies has shown that it is possible, without great difficulty, to undercool bulk samples of many metals and alloys. Undercoolings obtainable are approximately two tenths of the melting point for nickel, iron, copper, and other metals and alloys.5-9 Specimen sizes have generally been in the range of 50 to 500 g. Studies on undercooling to date have been concerned primarily with techniques of undercooling and with nucleation and growth kinetics. Only limited consideration has been given to dendrite morphology in under- cooled alloys. One such study, in bulk Cu-Ni alloy,8 showed that at small undercoolings a typical dendritic structure was obtained. At undercoolings the order of 175°C the structure of a Cu-40 pct Ni alloy became "ray or starlike", and a dense network of subbound-aries appeared. At still larger degrees of undercooling, of the order of 250°C, the structure became more random and included an ensemble of globular forms. Comparable results were obtained by walker10 on Cu-Ni alloys, and by Kamenetskaya et al.11 in research on Cu-Ni, Sb-Bi, Fe-Ni, and Fe-Cr alloys. In this work, study was made of the processing parameters influencing dendrite morphology and grain size in undercooled alloy melts. Experiments were specifically designed to show the effects of coarsening ("ripening") during solidification on final casting morphology. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Apparatus used was patterned after that of Walker,10 Fig. l(a). Melting was by induction under reduced pressure of helium. Two different types of crucible materials were used; there was no difficulty in obtaining substantial undercooling in both types of materials. Alumina crucibles were used for the bulk of the runs made, with a glass coating separating the metal from the crucible walls. Other runs were made using fused silica crucibles with or without slag coating. A graphite susceptor was employed around the crucible to aid in melting and to reduce melt stirring. The major portion of the experimental work was on

Jan 1, 1967

By H. A. Stacy

THE ability of galvanized sheet steel to withstand severe bending is of very great importance as relates to all such sheet material which, in service, is not used in the flat condition in which it is purchased. A "bend-test" clause is found in, all specifications for material of this kind. In the attempt to draw up a specification for galvanized sheet steel the subcommittee of the Federal Specifications Board having this work in charge, soon found that there was a surprising lack of published data and apparently very little available from manufacturing sources upon which to sustain or reject the various requirements embodied in the tentative specification which, in turn, had been based largely upon other specifications submitted to the subcommittee for this class of material. Specifications from 25 sources were received; 10 Government specifications, 10 from private users of such material, and five from manufacturers. The main points raised were: (1) The minimum mandrel thickness, expressed in terms of the thickness of the sheet tested, over which sheets with different weights of coating can be bent 180°, without serious damage to the coating; (2) the minimum radius of curvature on the inside of the angle in 90°-bends in such material; (3) effect of double seaming on the coating; (4) uniformity in the thickness of coating over a sheet, particularly as relates to the results of bend tests. In view of the uncertainty existing, it was considered very desirable for the subcommittee to conduct a series of tests in order to secure reliable information.

Jan 10, 1926

By Arthur F. L. Bell

Prior to 1908 the oil production in the State of California had been almost entirely a heavy fuel oil, with a high flash point, but changed within a short period to a large percentage of refining oil with a low flash, by reason of the heavy production of light oil coming in from the Santa Maria field, the Midway field, and the increased production of the Fullerton field. This is clearly shown in the following tabulation of California's pro- The bringing in of these high percentages of light oil with their dangerous low flash and the increasing demand for the refined products necessitated the devising of some cheap and efficient means of quickly separating the lighter elements either in the field or at the main distributing points; also it became necessary to remove the excessive percentage of water which many of the light oils carried in emulsion. Union Oil Co. Port Harford Plant Probably the first important attempt to top light oil in California by other means than the ordinary stills was tried about 1908 by the Union Oil Co., at its plant at Port Harford, San Luis Obispo County, with Santa Maria oils. The process was the invention of Hubert G. Burroughs who afterward obtained a patent for the process, No. 998,837, dated July 25, 1911. The apparatus used consisted of a series of 12-in. pipes mounted in units of three pipes, one above the other, the crude oil being admitted to the upper pipe and filling it about two-thirds of its

Jan 1, 1916

By J. P. Carson

THE Croton water-shed furnishes the source and storage of watersupply to both the old and the new aqueduct. The Croton river rises in the southern part of Dutchess county, about 68 miles from the lower end of New York city. Its three main branches, called the East, Middle and West branches, flow southward across Putnam county, joining, near its southern boundary, to form the Croton, which continues thence in a general southwest direction across Westchester county to the Hudson river at Croton Point, about 35 miles north of the city. The water-shed above the proposed site of the Quaker Bridge dam extends about 33 miles north and south, with an average width of 11 miles, making in all about 362 square miles, from which, by complete storage, an average daily supply of 250,000,000 gallons may be collected—sufficient for the needs of the city, probably, for the next fifteen years. The water-shed above the Croton dam is 23 square miles smaller, and furnishes the present daily supply of 100,000,000 gallons. By referring to the map it will be seen that the shortest approximately straight line between the proposed site of Quaker Bridge

Jan 1, 1891

Jan 1, 1959

By P. Somasundaran, H. S. Hanna

The separation of minerals such as apatite and scheelite by flotation from other salt-type minerals such as calcite is extremely complex owing to the close similarity between their physicochemical properties. In this paper, properties relevant to flotation such as crystal structure, solubility, surface charge and adsorption behavior of important salt-type minerals are examined along with the role of inorganic modifying agents such as silicates and polyphosphates and organic modifying agents such as starch and tannin. Flotation characteristics of these minerals are then reviewed and selected separation problems involving salt-type minerals are discussed.

Jan 1, 1976

By E. Maltby Shipp

YouR committee's secretary submits the following report, or summary, to the members of the committee, in an endeavor to lay before them a general review of the information so far received and also his own knowledge of the work as carried on at a number of plants, this being done in part to secure further information and suggestions from members and lead to a more effective means of furthering the work of the committee. It is suggested that more detailed data be compiled regarding engineering features involved, and that papers be contributed which will deal with the safeguarding of underground electrical installations. There are few operating companies which have not started a more or less systematic campaign to safeguard their employees from accidental injuries and unhealthful surroundings, but a great deal is to be gained by experience. All may welcome the advice and cooperation of those who have been actively engaged in the work and have demonstrated the results obtainable by organized effort, and it is, therefore, exceedingly gratifying to note the ready assistance and hearty cooperation rendered by the companies that may be truly termed pioneers in the movement. No solution of the safety problem is to be found in a skrict standardization of methods, rules or devices, as the various mining, milling and metallurgical practices present too many conditions differing broadly in general principles, but some standard system embodying principles already proven to be efficient should be created, which may be modified or elaborated to meet specific requirements of each individual company, or to fit working conditions as they exist in the various mining camps throughout the country. An industrial plant is primarily a business undertaking, therefore the economic side of a safety or welfare campaign is of importance. Many small operators have been deterred from undertaking the work by their belief that it involved an expense beyond their means, and one that could not be counterbalanced by greater efficiency or saving along other lines. This idea is generally due to a lack of knowledge of the actual costs of such work, and of the results secured by judicious selection of a method commensurate with the size and nature of the opera-

Jan 1, 1918

By Carl Pierce

THE writer of this article has not attempted to write a technical paper; on the contrary, he has tried to express in "steel-plant English," for steel men, a viewpoint drawn from his practice and experience. It is not his thought that it shall be taken as the "last word" in the making of this class of steel, or that good rimming steel cannot be made by any other practice. The paper was written to serve as the basis of a discussion from which it is hoped much benefit may be derived. The paper deals only with rimming steel made by the open-hearth process, and with the lower carbon steels, such as sheet and tin bar, rivet stock, skelp, etc., although good rimming steel as high as 40 to 50 carbon can be made by having good open slags and giving proper attention to working and tapping temperatures.

Jan 2, 1926

By Edgar Dunn

PART I.-DETERMINATION OF GASES IN SMELTER FLUES. IN 1907, upon arriving in Anaconda to take up work in the testing department of the Washoe Reduction Works, the. following problem was met at the car step, so to speak: complete and. exact analysis of gases, not only at the stack, but also in all departmental flues. Taken up to employ time not otherwise needed for regular testing department work, instructions were extremely liberal for a commercial plant, to the effect that accuracy should not be sacrificed to speed. In December, 1907, the work was temporarily transferred to the Great Falls Smelter, and some of the methods here given were there worked out. Differences in smelting operations at Great Falls and Anaconda, however, necessitated further investigations and the development of a new method for S03 determinations at the latter plant, where work was resumed in July, 1908, and completed about a year later. At the time of inception of the work, data (not only on percentages, but even on methods) were found to be meager in the extreme, for one or the other of two reasons: either entire lack of experiment at a large proportion of smelters, or disinclination on the part of the managements to divulge data of any description pertaining to either results or methods. In making determinations of gaseous constituents of flues, two methods are open to consideration: 1, the drawing out of a sample, and collection of the same as a whole, to be removed to the laboratory for later analysis; and 2, the absorption in situ on the flue of one certain constituent, disregarding others for the time being, or perhaps combining two or three in one determination. The first is generally the more rapid, but it is also the more inaccurate, method of analysis, even with special type absorption apparatus, being the more largely subject to error, both of reading, and also because of leakage during complicated manipulation in the laboratory. The amount used for analysis must also, because of limit of container, be small for the first method, and an average gas is very seldom obtained, necessitating for a fair average result a large number of determinations. Consequently, when we balance the time spent in a dozen determinations of short-time samples as against the time employed in making two or three long-time determinations of various constituents in situ, we are not so certain in our statement as to the relative speed of the two methods. Moreover, the method of analysis in the laboratory of 100 cc. of flue gas is satisfactory only when constituents thus determined are present in considerable quantity, results being simply approximate when determining such compounds as sulphur dioxide, sulphur trioxide, carbon monoxide and dioxide, and arsenic trioxide and water vapor, none of which are carried in all smelter flues in amounts in excess of (or even approaching) 1 per cent by volume. Special condi-

Jan 8, 1913

By L. L. Wyman

SINCE the presentation, by the writer, of the initial paper on the embrittlement of copper,1 the subject has been investigated further along two separate lines. The first series of investigations involves the "double-deoxidized" copper, while the second series is devoted to single deoxidizers other than those used in the investigations reported upon last year. The object of these experiments is to develop a type of copper that will show the minimum of detrimental effects after having been exposed to alternate oxidation and reduction. The fabrication of this material necessitates the use of alternate oxidizing and reducing atmospheres, at temperatures ranging up to 900° C. Following this treatment it is essential that the soundness and strength of the copper be unimpaired, even in sections of only a few thousandths of an inch in thickness.

Jan 1, 1932

By Willard L. Cumings, Benjamin L. Miller

The Camaguey brown iron-ore deposit covers the top of Sari Felipe hill, the nearest point of which lies 14 miles NW. of the city of Camaguey. While there are several low flat-topped hills in the vicinity covered with a more or less continuous mantle of brown iron-ore, the deposit of San Felipe hill is the only one of any size and importance, and the name " San Belipe district" is proposed for the region. The deposit extends in a NW-SE. direction for a distance of about 10 miles, with an average width of 5 miles. The location is shown in Fig. 1, a sketch-map of the eastern part of Cuba. Fig. 2 is a map of the San Felipe district. 2. Description. The district is mentioned by Spencer,' who says: " The Cubitas iron-ore fields are situated from 12 to 15 miles north of Camagueg City, in the province of Camagueg.....Within an area measuring roughly 10 miles east and west and 4 miles north and south, there are several flat-topped mesas rising 300 to 400 ft. above the level of an almost featureless plain which extends for many miles in all directions except toward the north." With the exception of the discrepancy in his statements .as to the distance from Camaguey and the area of the hill, which is over 50 sq. miles, his description is a very good one. Kemp2 has the following to say of ores in Camaguey Province:

Jan 1, 1912