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By Dennis H. Laubscher

INTRODUCTION The selection of mass mining methods is the situation facing not only planners of new operations, but also those involved with cur- rent operations, including the eventual change from open-pit to underground. Increasing ground control problems on many mines, plus a better understanding of dilution and ore loss problems have meant a review of current mining methods and support techniques. Experiments are only successful if conducted in the right mining environment and on the right scale. Mining personnel have been known for their conservatism and will tend to persevere with an established method rather than change; often, hidden costs will obscure the correct economic assessment. An established mining sequence is not necessarily correct in the long term. However, recommendations to change are usually met with opposition because of inconvenience, temporary production problems and the desire for a trouble-free guarantee. In any planning exercise, care must be taken that time and money are not wasted in trying to achieve the unattainable. During the decision-making period, production personnel must be involved, and, if possible, they should visit similar omrations to that proposed. Co-operative production personnel will help ensure success. Descriptions of mining methods are available in technical papers and books, and it is not intended to discuss this aspect, but, rather, the various factors which must be recognised before arriving at a final selection. In another paper presented at this Conference (Heslop and Laubscher, 1981) factors affecting ore recovery and dilution are discussed in greater detail for various cave mining methods. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS Comprehensive Geological Data. Geological information is available during the exploration stage, but, often, core from exploration drilling is not analysed with the selection of a mining method in mind. Drilling costs are high, therefore the maximum benefits must be derived from this operation. Holes which have not intersected ore may provide data on possible shaft sites, and 35 mm colour slides of core, sound logging and geomechanics classification, will provide a record which can be used with confidence at a later date. Intersections of the various rock types should be kept for future study; for example, is weathering likely to be a problem, bearing in mind that this can be accelerated in the warm, humid atmosphere of an underground mine. The accumulation of data required to select a mining method starts with initial geological work in the target area, whether this be surface mapping or a diamond drill hole. Publications. As technical papers, reports and books are used in the selection of mining methods, an appeal is made to authors to describe the geological environment so that readers can relate to their own conditions. Not enough emphasis is given to the problems experienced and the techniques employed to overcome them. Follow-up papers are seldom written and we should be prepared to discuss our failures. Diagrams are often misleading, as the ideal and not actual situations are depicted. The caved ore/waste interface is not a straight line, and whereas this may not be significant in a diagram of a 200-117 draw height, it certainly is in sub-level caving with draw zones only 1 - 2 m width but up to 20 m high. SUMMARY OF FACTORS AFFECTING THE SELECTION OF UNDERGROUND MASS MINING METHODS (a) Regional rock stresses and mining geometry. (b) The geomechanics rock mass classification of the orebody and surrounding rock mass. (c) Ratio of the surface area of the ore/unpay interface to the contained ore which determines ore losses and dilution. (d) The cavability and fragmentation data of the ore and hangingwall. (e) The mineral distribution in the orebody and its dilution zone.

Jan 1, 1981

An Appreciation of Dr. Douglas by Dr. ALBERT R. LEDOUX The Bulletins of the American Institute of Mining Engineers and the program of the International Engineering Congress, held last September at San Francisco, called attention to an important feature in the pro¬ceedings of the Congress; viz., the public presentation to Dr. James Douglas of the John Fritz Medal, for notable achievements in mining, metallurgy, education. and industrial welfare. Dr. Douglas' health, unfortunately, did not permit of his taking the journey to California. While he had been willing that the bestowal of the medal should be a public ceremony, his natural modesty made him shrink somewhat from what he considered something of an ordeal, and he begged those who were to take part in it to use restraint in anything which they might have to say as to his work and attainments. It was, therefore, with some considerable satisfaction on his side that he learned that the medal would be given him without a public, ceremony in New York, or elsewhere. . On Dec. 5, 1915, the writer of this had the pleasure of handing him the medal, certificate, and official letters of transmittal, at his home at Spuyten Duyvil, where lie was surrounded by his children and grandchildren, with one or two of his most intimate friends. He begged the writer to return his thanks to the Committee of Award; and again to express the feeling that nothing in his career merited so great an honor. On this point all of the members of the Institute will share the writer's feeling that Dr. Douglas is too modest. James Douglas was born at Quebec, Canada, in November, 1837. His father Was a distinguished physician and surgeon, employing his skill in the field of philanthropy: He established the first retreat for the insane in the Dominion, to which lie. devoted himself up to the time of his departure from Canada, when it was taken over by the Government. The son spent 2 years in study at the University of Edinburgh, which lie entered in 1855. Returning to Canada, he graduated from Queens University, at Kingston, Ontario, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, having also studied medicine, and later theology. After his graduation he traveled extensively with his father in Europe and in the Orient, visiting Egypt several time's. They returned with important archaelogical collections, which Dr. Douglas subsequently donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in this city. He then returned to Edinburgh, where he continued his course in medicine, surgery being perhaps his chief interest at that time. He was subsequently licensed to preach and his contemporaries bore testimony to his broad philanthropy and to the sympathy which dominated his every act. His taste was distinctly literary; he had carried off a prize at Edinburgh in English literature.

Jan 1, 1916

By D. A. Keyes

International Minerals & Chemical Corp. (Canada) Ltd. is presently exploiting by underground mining a potash-rich zone in the middle Devonian Prairie Evaporite formation near Esterhazy, Saskatchewan. Of the three main potash-bearing horizons denoted by Goudie as zones 1, 2 and 3 only the 1ower. two are present at Esterhazy and mining is confined to the lower or zone 1 horizon. The area in which the evaporites were deposited, although flanked on the west by a zone of geosynclinal deposition and tectonic activity, has been subjected to only very gentle epeirogenic activity. The sylvinite ore is coarsely crystalline and occurs in well-defined beds. The halite, sylvite and insoluble content of the ore bears a direct relationship to the lithological units, but the carnallite cuts across the beds. Local concentrations of salt produce blank spots in the ore horizon. Some of these appear to be salt-filled, post-ore channels and cracks while others have been formed by brines emanating upward from below the ore. INTRODUCTION International Minerals & Chemical Corporation (Canada) Ltd. is operating an underground potash mine near the town of Esterhazy in eastern Saskatchewan. The deposit was discovered by IMC in 1955. Subsequent drilling outlined extensive high-grade reserves, and in 1957 shaft sinking and plant construction began. Production from Yarbo No. 1 Shaft commenced in September, 1962 and quickly reached the initial capacity of one million tons of muriate product per year. Production is currently being expanded to 1.6 million tpy. The single mining level is 3140 ft below the surface at No. 1 Shaft. GENERAL GEOLOGY The Esterhazy district lies within the Interior Plains region of Canada and on the northeast rim of the Williston Basin (Fig. 1). Average dip of the rock formations in this area is about 40 ft per mile to the southwest. The potash ore occurs in the Prairie Evaporite formation of the Middle-Devonian Elk Point Group. The Prairie Evaporites are overlain by 3000 ft of Paleozoic shales and limestones and by Jurassic and Cretaceous sandstones and shales (Fig. 2).

Jan 1, 1967

By E. T. Turkdogan, Klaus Schwerdtfeger, P. Grieveson

The rate of growth of "Fe4N" on a iron was measured by nitriding purified iron strips in flowing am -monia -hydrogen gas mixtures at 504" and 554°C. It is shown that a dense nitride layer is formed when a zone -refined iron is used in the experiments. With less pure iron, the nitride layer is found to be porous. Through theoretical treatment, the self-diffusivity of nitrogen is evaluated porn the parabolic rate constant, and found to be essentially independent of nitrogen actirlity, e.g., D* = 3.2 x l0-12 and 7.9x l0-12 sq cm per sec at 504" and 554?C. Some consideration is given to the mechanism of diffusion in the nitride phase. THERE is a great deal of background knowledge on the solubility and diffusivity of nitrogen in iron, and on the thermodynamics and crystallography of several phases in the Fe-N system. Although case-nitrided steels have many applications in practice, no work seems to have been done on the diffusivity of nitrogen in the iron nitride, ?', phase. The only work reported on the related subject of which the authors are aware is an investigation by Prenosil,1 who measured the growth rate of the e phase on iron by nitriding in ammonia-hydrogen gas mixtures. EXPERIMENTS Purified iron plates of approximate dimensions 1 by 0.5 by 0.03 cm were nitrided in flowing mixtures of ammonia and hydrogen, in a vertical furnace fitted with a gas-tight recrystallized alumina tube. After a specified time of reaction, the sample was cooled to room temperature by withdrawal to the water cooled top of the reaction tube. The furnace temperature was controlled electronically in the usual manner within *l°C; the temperature was measured using a calibrated Pt/Pt-10 pct Rh thermocouple. For each experiment the iron strip sample was cleaned with fine emery cloth and degreased with tri-chloroethylene prior to the experiment. The ammonia-hydrogen gas mixtures were prepared from anhydrous ammonia and purified hydrogen using constant pressure-head capillary flowmeters. The gas mixture flowed upward in the furnace with flow rate of 400 cc per min at stp. The composition of the gas mixture was checked by chemical analysis at regular intervals. In most cases, the compositions of the exit gas and metered input gas agreed within about 0.3 pct, indicating that cracking of ammonia did not pose a problem at the temperatures employed. Two series of experiments were carried out using two different types of purified iron samples. In the first series of experiments at 550°C, vacuum carbon deoxidized "Plastiron" was used. The main impurities present in this iron were, in ppm: 4043, 50-Cr, 20-Zr, 40-Mn, 20-P, 20-S, 20-C, 50-0, and 10-N. In these experiments the rate data were obtained by measuring the change in weight of the iron specimen suspended in the hot zone of the furnace by a platinum wire from a silica spring balance. The nitride layer formed in these experiments was found to be porous, particularly near the outer surface. In other experiments, high purity zone-refined iron (prepared in this laboratory) was used. The total impurity content of this iron was 30 ppm of which 20 ppm was Co + Ni, 4 ppm 0, other metallic impurities were less than 1 ppm. The zone-refined iron bar, -2.5 cm diam, was cold rolled to a thickness of about 0.03 cm and the specimens were prepared for the experiment as described earlier. After the nitriding experiment, the sample was copper plated electro-lytically and mounted in plastic for metallographic polishing. After polishing, the thickness of the ?' layer was measured using a metallographic microscope. The nitride layer formed on the zone-refined iron was essentially free of pores. RESULTS The different morphology of the nitride layers grown on "Plastiron" and zone-refined iron is shown in Fig. 1. Both samples were nitrided side by side for 55 hr. The holes in the less pure iron, Fig. l(a), are confined to a region about one half thickness from the outer surface. The dense layer grown on zone-refined iron, Fig. l(b), is thinner than the porous layer on the "Plastiron". The impurities in the iron are believed to be responsible for the formation of a porous nitride layer. The pore formation may be due to the high nitrogen pressures existing within the nitride layer, e.g., the equilibrium nitrogen pressure is 1.2 x l05 atm in the 38.6 pct NH3-61.4 pct H2 and 6.6 x l03 atm at the Fe-Fe4N interface at 554°C and 0.96 atm. It is possible that the oxide inclusions present in the electrolytic iron may facilitate the nuclea-tion of nitrogen gas bubbles within the nitride layer. Support for this reasoning is the fact that pores are only encountered in the outer range of the layer where nitrogen pressures are largest. The photomicrographs in Fig. 2 show the effect of reaction time on the thickness of the dense nitride layer formed on zone-refined iron. These sections are from samples nitrided in a stream of 29 pct NH3-71 pct H2 mixture at 554°C for 22, 70, and 255 hr. In all the sections examined the nitride-iron interface was noted to be rugged. These irregularities are be-

Jan 1, 1970

By ROBERT R. RICHARDS

My. first paper, read at the Cobalt Meeting of the Institute,1 July, 1907, dealt with the behavior of a small Wilfley table when concentrating galena from quartz, the table being fed with natural products, with sized products; and with classified products. Since galena, having a specific gravity of 7.5, is among the heaviest minerals ordinarily concentrated by Wilfley table, it was desirable that a similar set of tests upon a mineral of, lighter weight should be made. Chalcopyrite, of a specific gravity of 4, would have been the best mineral for this purpose, on account of its great importance as an economic mineral, but in carrying out the test, however, I was obliged to content myself with a cupriferous pyrite, the specific gravity of which was 4.68 and the contents in copper 8.80 per cent. Through the kindness of Mr. H. 0. Cummins, this material was obtained from Shasta, Cal.,in very pure, clean, homogeneous condition. It was broken by rolls to 2 mm. in size, taking care to make a minimum of slimes. The quartz used to mix with it was pure, white, New England quartz, broken in the same way to the same size. In studying the accompanying tables, it should be borne in mind that the material concentrated was of low copper-content, and in many cases the quantity fed to the machine was 1 kg: or less.. As a consequence of the smallness of the 'quantity treated it was very difficult to adjust the table and get it in condition to do its best work before the feed became exhausted, and for this reason many results were obtained which appear irregular.

Sep 1, 1908

By William Hume-Rothery

MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I need not say how much I appreciate the honor of being asked to lecture to you, and how much I would thank you for your kind invitation. It is encouraging to feel that the abnormal restrictions of the war have been relaxed sufficiently to allow a free exchange of scientists between our two countries, and I hope that some of you will be persuaded to go to England, and to visit us at Oxford, so that I may repay a little of the kindness I have received from you. As this is one of the first lectures since the end of the war, I have thought it well to describe some of the advances in the theory of alloys which were made in the years between the two World Wars. From the point of view of theoretical science, these years have been of outstanding interest in the history of metallurgy. They have been years in which the development of new and more accurate experimental methods has led to the revelation of many new facts. At the same time, the theoretical developments have enabled some of these facts to be viewed as parts of a general scheme, and we may say that some of the foundations of metallurgical science have been laid. This work was naturally stopped by the Second World War, and it can therefore be reviewed as one definite stage in the development of our Science. To illustrate the new advances, I shall deal mainly with the alloys of copper and silver, since these have revealed many of the general principles. SOLID SOLUTION At the beginning of our period, the first steps in X-ray crystal analysis had been taken, and copper had been found to crystallize in the face-centered cubic structure (Fig I). The determination of this structure naturally was of immense importance in the understanding of our subject, because it meant that we were at last in a position to appreciate the underlying structure out of which the crystal of copper was built. The earlier science of metallography had shown that in many alloys of copper the addition of a second metal in not too large proportions resulted in the formation of a homogeneous alloy which was regarded as a solid solution of the one metal in copper. Fig 2, for example, shows the so-called equilibrium diagram of the copper-zinc alloys, and here you will see that there is a solid solution of zinc in copper extending to something of the order 35 to 40 at. pct zinc.

Jan 1, 1947

Jan 1, 1941

Jan 1, 1941

By Oscar Glaeser

THE United Verde Copper Company's mine is at Jerome, Ariz. The orebodies are of the schist replacement type, the main sulfide mass being a large lens-shaped body approximately 7 acres in cross-sectional area. In general, the mineralization is found along the iron schist contact, with the orebodies extending about 1000 ft. along this contact and varying from a few feet to 250 ft. in width. Three types of ore are mined; schist porphyry and the so-called "heavy" or "massive sulfide" ore. Approximately 50 per cent. of the total tonnage mined at present is of the latter class. A representative analysis of this ore indicates 42 to 46 per cent. sulfur. Because of the high sulfur content, blasting in this ore is an extremely hazardous operation. Not only does it endanger the lives of men who may be in the mine at blasting time but it also becomes a potential fire menace when timber is in close proximity to shots being fired in these massive sulfides. The origin of the fires of 38 years ago, embers of which are glowing to this day, may perhaps be attributed to dust explosions due to blasting in the massive sulfides of those, early square-set stopes.

Jan 1, 1930

By John B. Hastings

The origin of the watery vapors of vulcanism has always been an object of interest and speculation to the seismologist, and as theories of the genetic origin of ore-deposits have of late years been pretty well narrowed down to the expiring forces of plutonic action, the same question has attracted mining engineers and geologists, as is well shown by the discussions of the subject in our Transactions. The important part taken by volcanic emanations in the origin of pegmatites and quartz-veins, described in my paper, Origin of Pegmatite,' and their latent power to concentrate into useful deposits such scattered gold as occurs in the Hartsel granite, make a discussion of their derivation but a natural third and final step. It is coilceded that enormous amounts of vapor accompany vulcanism, though perhaps we are apt to forget that steam has 1,700 times the volume of water, besides which the column seen over Vesuvius and other volcanoes is greatly mixed with air; the immensity of such volumes compared with solids and liquids is shown by the experiment of Gautier, who, by heating dessicated granite to 100' C., evolved from it gases 20 times, and steam 90 times, its own volume. Dana appraised the average amount of water left in ordinary rocks as 2.5 per cent. T. M. Read estimated that the Mississippi river carries to the sea annually 150,000,000 tons of rock material. If these Mississippi sediments, as deposited, contained 20 per cent. of water, it would be 600,000,000 cu. ft., or 4,500,000,000 American gallons, annually. Allowing the vapor suspended over a volcanic cone to be mixed with 80 per cent. of air, this amount of water converted into steam would replenish anew, every 9 min., a column 15,000 ft. high, 2,000 ft. in diameter at the base, and • 10,000 ft. at the top. Read's estimate is only half of the amount given in a more recent and probably correct one.2

Jan 1, 1909

By George B. Harrington

This paper is a brief description of the design and equipment of a new coal mine in southern Illinois, which has many features not common practice in shaft coal mining and which is laid out and equipped for such unusually large capacity that it promises soon to become one of the largest mining operations of its kind. Shaft sinking for the mine, New Orient, was commenced in May, 1921, by the Chicago, Wilmington & Franklin Coal Co. In October, 1924, the plant was practically completed and was producing over 6000 tons of coal per day. There is good prospect that within a few years, when the mine is fully developed and manned, the output will attain a daily rate of 12,000 tons. The coal seam at New Orient lies approximately horizontal, about 500 ft. below the surface, and may be said to run from 9 to 12 ft. in thickness. The tendency in Franklin County has been toward large mining units (5000 to 6000 tons per day) with great care being given to protection against fire and explosion hazards, and usually with quite elaborate surface plants permitting careful preparation of the coal into graded sizes comparable with those made in the anthracite region. The field is unionized, with uniform conditions of wages for various classes of work, hours, etc., and the Illinois mining laws are quite specific with regard to fireproofing and safety measures. These conditions make it difficult for any hut well-equipped and well-operated mines to meet the competition of the numerous fine properties of which this county can justly be proud. The coal company's property was already developed on the western side by the Orient mine—a much visited and written about operation (with which many of you are possibly familiar through the Department of Mines' film "The Story of Coal") which until recently held the 8-hr, production record with 8218 tons and usually ran quite consistently with production of slightly over 6000 tons per day. Experience at Orient wat naturally one of the greatest influences in determining the location and character of the New Orient.

Jan 1, 1925

By C. A. Stetefeldt

In my paper on "The Refining of Sulphides Obtained in the Lixiviation-Process with Hyposulphite Solutions," read at Cleveland, June, 1891 (Trans., xx., 37), I recommended the Roessler converter

Jan 1, 1893

By D. R. Uhlmann, T. P. Seward, K. A. Jackson, J. D. Hunt

microscopic ohservations on alloys of organic trzaterials show that dendrite arms can melt off under normal conditiorzs of growth. This occurs because of the interactiorz of' heat and matter fluxes during dendritic growth. The re melting occurs where the den-drite arms are joined onto the main deizclrite sterrz. Many detached crystals can be produced in this fashion. It is postulated that this remelting phenornenon occurs in metal alloys, giving rise to the equi-axed region in castings. Experiments peyformed orr castings of transparent materials support remelting as a primary source of detached crystals. Ob~ervations an equiaxed tones in metal castings are discussed in terms of this and other mechanisms. It is concluded that the partial remelting of dendrites is on important mechanisnl for producing the equiaxed regions in castings. THE freezing of a casting can be divided into three regions: a chill zone formed near the mold wall, a columnar region, and a third region, at the center of the casting, which is called the equiaxed zone. The origin of the grains that comprise the equiaxed region is the subject of this paper. We will first outline the mechanisms which have been proposed to account for the origin of the equiaxed region and discuss some recent experiments which cannot be explained by these theories. We will then present some microscopic observations of dendritic growth which have led us to conclude that the equiaxed zone in castings can arise from partial remelting of dendrites. This proposal is supported by observations on transparent castings. Finally, we will discuss several observations on metal castings which could not be explained previously, and which can be accounted for by the present proposal. Previous Mechanisms. Winegard and Chalmers3 pointed out that the molten central region of an ingot could be constitutionally supercooled, because of the solute layer at the growing interface. In this supercooled region, nucleation on particles could occur, giving rise to the equiaxed crystals. Another mechanism has also been suggested,4y5 that the nuclei originate in the chill zone then float or are carried by convection to the center of the casting, where they grow to produce equiaxed crystals. In this case, all the crystals nucleate immediately on casting, so this mechanism will be termed "big-bang" nucleation. Walker's Experiments. J. L. Walker has made observations on the solidification of nickel and Ni-Cu alloys which cannot be accounted for by either of the above mechanisms. In studying the grain size resulting from freezing of nickel at various undercoolings, walker6 found that at large undercoolings the grain size was small, due to mechanical nucleation, as discussed by walker7 and Horvay.' At small undercoolings, the grain size was large, and the growth dendritic. In Ni-Cu alloys, however, for initial undercoolings starting from just below the melting point and extending for a hundred or so degrees of undercooling, fine grains were also observed. Samples were undercooled 200 Centigrade degrees without nucleating, and were then heated 130 Centigrade degrees so that the undercooling was 70 Centigrade degrees, and nucleated. The samples had a small grain size, indicating multiple nucleation. There were no heterogeneous nuclei in the liquid which could operate at the temperature of growth. Constitutional supercooling could not have been greater than the supercooling of the initial melt, since the temperature rose as the freezing continued. walker -as also shown that a Ni-Cu alloy which can be undercooled to below its solidus will produce typical columnar and equiaxed regions when cast into a cold mold. This alloy could not reach a temperature below its solidus by constitutional supercooling. It could not, therefore, have nucleated heterogeneously. Neither the big-bang mechanism nor the Winegard-Chalmers mechanism can account for the fine grain

Jan 1, 1967

[ ] John M. Davis has left Western Machinery Co. to take a job as project engineer with Baroid Sales Div., National Lead Co., and is now located at Houston, Texas. C. W. Allen, general manager of the mining dept. of the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co., visited the firm's iron mines on the Mesabi iron range of Minnesota recently. Thomas P. Anderson, mining engineer and geologist, has resigned from the Raw Materials Div. of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission where he was assistant chief of the Denver Exploration Branch. He will enter private practice in Golden, Colo. James E. Atkinson, consulting mining engineer and geologist, left New York for Colombia, S. A., as general manager for Cia Minera Choco-Pacifico, S. A., operating five dredges in gold and platinum on the Pacific coast of Colombia. Russell H. Bennett has been elected a director of Placer Development, Ltd. with head office in Vancouver, B. C., and is also a director of its subsidiary, Canadian Exploration, Ltd., which mines and mills lead, zinc, and tungsten ores at a property near Salmo, B. C.

Jan 1, 1952

By W. Spencer Hutchinson

THE relative importance of mineral production in British South Africa is about as follows: Gold, $200,000,000; diamonds, $40,000,000; coal, $18,-000,000; asbestos; $3,000,000; chrome ore, $2,000,000. In 1926 the gold mines paid $42,000,000 in dividends, the diamond mines $13,000,000, coal nearly $3,000,000, others less than $500,000. The recorded history of South Africa starts with the visits of the Dutch and the English in the sixteenth century, followed by the settlement of Cape Colony by the Dutch East India Company in 1651: The English acquired Capetown in 1806 and conflicts between English and Boers were a part of the history, from that, time on. Transvaal was settled in 1835, following the Great Boer Trek. The mining of diamonds became im-portant in 1870; the production of gold from the Rand in 1890;' the export of chrome ore in 1910; and the dis-covery of platinum in 1925. South Africa has a race problem, resulting not alone from the disparity of numbers between whites and natives, more than seven blacks to each white, twenty to one in Southern Rhodesia, and three. hundred to one in Northern Rhodesia; but because of the division of the white race between English and Cape Dutch or Afrikaans. The natives are also of many tribes.

Jan 6, 1927

By Joseph Richards

PLATING iron with copper has received great attention from practical sand scientific men, but, aside from the deposit secured by immersion of iron in copper salts, by electro-plating, or by welding together thin sheets of iron and copper, these efforts have met with no success. Failure of these efforts, in the production of copper plating, has been due to the fact that the conditions normally and necessarily present in the plating operation are antagonistic to the production of copper-plated iron. In most, if not quite all of them, a bath of molten copper has been used. The-temperature of a molten copper bath is so high that the iron becomes oxidized before it can be immersed in the molten copper, and unless protective flux for the molten copper is used, the surface of the copper will become oxidized, and, in any event, the plated iron will oxidize immediately on its being withdrawn from the molten bath. I recently had the pleasure of visiting the works of The Metals Plating Co. at Elizabeth, N. J., where I witnessed the plating of iron sheets with copper by a new process.1 The plating metal is applied to the sheet in the form of a liquid mixture by means of rolls, such as inking rolls. The sheet, after being coated with the mixture, is automatically carried forward and deposited on a link-belt conveyor, which carries it through a furnace maintained at a. temperature well above that of molten copper. The basic principle involved in this method lies in the application of the plating metal to the sheet while the sheet is cold and then melting the metal in place on the sheet under conditions which are favorable to the formation of the plating.

Jan 1, 1919

By H. B. Goodrich

Anthony I?. Lucas died suddenly at his home in Washington, D. C., on Sept. 2, 1921. Captain Lucas, as he was known to us, was born in Dalmatia, Austria, in 1855, of Montenegrin ancestry. He was graduated as an engineer at the Polytechnic of Grate and served in the Austrian Navy as second lieutenant. In 1879, he obtained leave of absence and visited an uncle in the United States. After an extension of this leave of absence, in order to undertake an engineering engagement in the lumber district of Michigan, where he resided, he decided to become an American citizen. He was naturalized in May, 1885. His name was Luchich, but as his uncle had adopted the name of Lucas, which was more easily pronounced by Americans, from his entrance to this country, he used this Anglo-Saxon form. Without knowing this fact, upon first meeting him a person was sometimes surprised to note the rather Germanic pronunciation of the Captain. Although he subsequently revisited Austria with Mrs. Lucas, he made his permanent home at Washington, D. C. His son served with distinction in the A. E. F. during the World War. His activities in this country as a mining engineer were at first in Colorado and later in salt mining at Petit Anse and Belle Isle, La. During his salt investigations, his attention was directed toward the possibility of oil in the Gulf Coast region and in January, 1901, his well, the "Lucas Gusher," on Spindle Top, Tex., started a new era in the oil business and his reputation as discoverer made him famous throughout the world. Captain Lucas became a member of the A. I. M. E. in 1895. During 1914, 1915, 1918, and 1919, he was chairman of the Petroleum and Gas Committee of the Institute and was at all times prominent in Institute affairs. As to the personality of Captain Lucas, the lasting impression is of a courteous hospitable gentleman, genial, affable, obliging, and helpful with his advice br assistance to any colleague. He was sincere, honest, firm against all obstacles, backing his judgment with his own hard work along any course which he had determined to be correct. His value in the engineering world lies mainly in the petroleum industry. In the oil business all wild-catters are pioneers that deserve credit and gratitude upon their success. There are, however, names that particularly stand out in our history. Drake conquered such obstacles as ridicule, lack of finances, and started the oil business. In 1901, Captain Lucas had the conviction that Spindle Top, a dome rising about 12 ft. above the coastal prairie south of Beaumont, Tex., contained commercial oil. He was scoffed at by practical oil men of the East. Noted geologists

Jan 1, 1921

By P. B. Bucky

IN this day of steady progress in the mining industry, especially along mechanical lines, the question of whether to discard present equipment for that of a new type often engages the minds of many officials of mining companies. The rapid strides made from year to year sometimes cause this question to be brought up within a year after new equipment has been purchased and installed. It is a moot question whether a machine that has been purchased last year should be replaced by a new one put on the market this year. As I see it, the reasons for the replacement of present equipment may be summed up as follows: (1) because of increased safety; (2) because of legal regulations; (3) because of increased profits. I think all of us, as engineers, will endeavor to put in as safe equipment as it is possible to devise. The tendency of mining companies in that direction is very gratifying.

Jan 1, 1930

By Earl R. McMillan

Though much has been written during the past several years about the Russian success in using hydraulic jets for coal mining, little or none of the published information, in so far as this writer has observed, has been of any use or practical application in this country. It is true, according to their published reports, that the Russians were pioneers in the use of high-pressure water jets in the mining of coal. They report the use of water jets for this purpose as early as 1936. However, according to a survey of foreign literature on the subject made by the U.S. Bureau of Mines1 a few years ago, water jets in the USSR, as well as in other nations including New Zealand, Poland and West Germany, were used principally to sluice the loosened coal after it had been previously drilled and blasted, rather than to cut or break it from the solid face. The interest of the Northern Pacific in the potential application of a high-pressure water jet to the actual extraction of coal, particularly in steeply dipping beds, originated in a visit by this author to the operations of the American Gilsonite Co. at Bonanza, Utah, in March 1958. After seeing the extraction, on a commercial basis, of gilsonite from a 22-ft wide vertical vein of this solid material with a 3/8-in. diam stream of water under approximately 2200 psi, it was felt that, with some modifications, water jets were the solution to the problem of economically mining the steeply dipping (i.e., steeper than 20º) coal beds in the State of Washington.

Jan 6, 1962

By Carl Zapffe

JUST as 85 per cent of the total ore produced annually in the United States comes from the Lake Superior region, so does one of its six producing districts-the Mesabi --dominate that region both as to production and total reserves; also in ore Treatment, Mesabi practice is dominant. Therefore, in discussing future reserves or ore treatment one may visualize one big district with five smaller districts as so many satellites. In considering the future less thought need be given to processes than to, economic policies. For thirty years experimental work has now been in progress and every possible ore-treatment process now known has been given attention. This work was started when there was no recognizable danger of running short of ore because of rapid consumption. Thirty years ago the annual production had just progressed beyond the twenty-million bracket for the first time. Today fifty million tons is considered a small production, and last year the aim was for 65 million. At the recent rate of production the life of the estimated reserves of good ore is about 35 years. All who know the local terrain are convinced that, unlike thirty years ago, the chances for discoveries of new big deposits are nil; treatment of lean ores obviously is to become an all-important topic.

Jan 1, 1938