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By G. St. J. Perrott

One of the important hazards in coal mining is the danger of ignition of explosive mixtures of methane and air or coal dust and air, or both, by the explosives used in blasting the coal. It has long been recognized that certain explosives are more dangerous than others in this respect. ' In America and abroad, government testing stations have been established for officially passing on the suitability of explosives for use in coal mines. In this country the Federal government is given no power to enforce the use of the approved explosives but merely publishes from time to time, through the Bureau of Mines, those explosives which have passed the tests necessary to place them on the list for use in coal mines. In spite of this lack of police power, the increase in the use of permissible .explosives since the promulgation of the fist list in 1909 has been rapid. In 1912, only 8 per cent. of the explosives used in coal mines were permissible; in 1925, this figure had increased to 25 per cent. While the past record of permissible explosives has been most gratifying, it is very desirable that we pave the way for further improvement in explosives and blasting methods by learning more about the mechanism of ignition of gas and coal dust by explosives. To this end a considerable amount of investigative work already has been carried out and a large amount yet remains to be done. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss briefly the effect of the characteristics of explosives and method of loading in the borehole on the liability of a blown-out shot to ignite explosive mixtures of gas or dust. For an account of the methods by which an explosive is tested for permissibility for use in coal mines, the reader is referred to Schedule 17-A of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. Safety Factor in Using Explosives The factors that affect the liability of an explosive to ignite gas or dust are already known in a qualitative way but quantitative data are

Jan 1, 1927

Trans No. Place Date Vol. 1. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. May, '71 1 2. Bethlehem, Pa. Aug., '71 1 3. Troy, N. Nov., '71 1 4. Philadelphia, Pa. Feb., '72.. 1 5. New York, N. Y. May, '72 1 6. Pittsburgh, Pa. Oct., '72 1 7. Boston, Mass. Feb., '73 1 8. Philadelphia, Pa. May, '73 2 9. Easton, Pa. Oct., '73 2 10. New York N. Y. Feb., '74 2 11. St. Louis, Mo. May, '74 3 12. Hazleton, Pa. Oct., '74.. 3 13. New Haven, Conn. Feb., '75 3 14. Dover, N. J. May, '75 4 15. Cleveland, Ohio Oct., '75 4 16. Washington, D. C. Feb., '76 4 17. Philadelphia, Pa. June, '76 5 18. Philadelphia, Pa. Oct., '76 5

Jan 1, 1939

Trans No. Place Date Vol. 1. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. May, '71 1 2. Bethlehem, Pa. Aug., '71 1 3. Troy, N. Nov., '71 1 4. Philadelphia, Pa. Feb., '72.. 1 5. New York, N. Y. May, '72 1 6. Pittsburgh, Pa. Oct., '72 1 7. Boston, Mass. Feb., '73 1 8. Philadelphia, Pa. May, '73 2 9. Easton, Pa. Oct., '73 2 10. New York N. Y. Feb., '74 2 11. St. Louis, Mo. May, '74 3 12. Hazleton, Pa. Oct., '74.. 3 13. New Haven, Conn. Feb., '75 3 14. Dover, N. J. May, '75 4 15. Cleveland, Ohio Oct., '75 4 16. Washington, D. C. Feb., '76 4 17. Philadelphia, Pa. June, '76 5 18. Philadelphia, Pa. Oct., '76 5

Jan 1, 1942

Trans No. Place Date Vol. 1. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. May, '71 1 2. Bethlehem, Pa. Aug., '71 1 3. Troy, N. Nov., '71 1 4. Philadelphia, Pa. Feb., '72.. 1 5. New York, N. Y. May, '72 1 6. Pittsburgh, Pa. Oct., '72 1 7. Boston, Mass. Feb., '73 1 8. Philadelphia, Pa. May, '73 2 9. Easton, Pa. Oct., '73 2 10. New York N. Y. Feb., '74 2 11. St. Louis, Mo. May, '74 3 12. Hazleton, Pa. Oct., '74.. 3 13. New Haven, Conn. Feb., '75 3 14. Dover, N. J. May, '75 4 15. Cleveland, Ohio Oct., '75 4 16. Washington, D. C. Feb., '76 4 17. Philadelphia, Pa. June, '76 5 18. Philadelphia, Pa. Oct., '76 5

Jan 1, 1932

Trans No. Place Date Vol. 1. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. May, '71 1 2. Bethlehem, Pa. Aug., '71 1 3. Troy, N. Nov., '71 1 4. Philadelphia, Pa. Feb., '72.. 1 5. New York, N. Y. May, '72 1 6. Pittsburgh, Pa. Oct., '72 1 7. Boston, Mass. Feb., '73 1 8. Philadelphia, Pa. May, '73 2 9. Easton, Pa. Oct., '73 2 10. New York N. Y. Feb., '74 2 11. St. Louis, Mo. May, '74 3 12. Hazleton, Pa. Oct., '74.. 3 13. New Haven, Conn. Feb., '75 3 14. Dover, N. J. May, '75 4 15. Cleveland, Ohio Oct., '75 4 16. Washington, D. C. Feb., '76 4 17. Philadelphia, Pa. June, '76 5 18. Philadelphia, Pa. Oct., '76 5

Jan 1, 1932

By John B. Hastings

THE occurrence of such a large amount of gold in the Hartsel granite, even though the surmised existence of similar areas is not new, brings freshly to mind the pegmatite type of magmatic differentiation lately brought again to attention by occurrences at Silver Peak, Nev., described by Spurr; and in Alaska, described by both Spurr and Brooks. In both localities graunitic rocks or dikes are thought to pass into metalliferous quartz-veins. An interesting association in this connection is the occurrence of diamonds in residual pegmatitic clay of San Juao de Chapado, Brazil, described by Derby :1 (P. 142) "Bodies of pegmatite are quite common in the older rocks of Brazil, both in the. diamond regions and elsewhere, occurring not only in the gneiss and granite, but in the schistose series as well. Those that have been examined are dike-like in their mode of occurrence and granitic in composition." (P. 143) "The question of the eruptive or secretionary origin of pegmatites has long been a subject of discussion among geologists. . . . The recent studies . . . seem to have clearly established that most if not all of them are essentially eruptive masses, though possibly modified in some way by aqueous agencies. Even before becoming acquainted with the literature of the subject this view had seemed to me to be the only acceptable one as regards the typical pegmatites of Brazil." What is pegmatite ? J. F. Kemp says ". . . veins or dikes-it is an open question which is the more correct term-are met formed of very coarsely crystalline aggregates of the same minerals that constitute granite. These are called pegmatite and in them is the home of graphic granite, the curious intergrowth of quartz and feldspar, such that a cross fracture of the blades of quartz suggests cuneiform characters. . . . In regard to the larger veins or dikes it seems improbable that true igneous fusion could have afforded such coarsely crystalline aggregates, and so we are forced to assume such abundance of steam and other vapors, i.e, mineralizers, as to almost, if not quite, imply solution."

Jan 5, 1908

The Carol concentrator of the Iron Ore Company of Canada was completed in 1962 and through expansions .has become one of the largest iron ore beneficiation plants in the world with a new feed capacity of 147,000 It (149,350 mt) per day. The Carol ore contains specular hematite and magnetite having a bulk density of 166 lb/cu ft (2660 kg/m3) It is crushed to 7 in. (178 mm) for feeding to autogenous mills for subsequent concentration by Humphrey’s s spirals. Mine ore is loaded into 150 It (152 mt) trucks by 10 cu yd (7.65 m3) shovels and then, at a transfer station, is loaded into side-dump rail cars of 100 It (101.6 mt) capacity. Each train is composed of twenty cars and operates completely automatically as it hauls the ore to the primary crushing station, dumps its loads, and returns to the loading station, a 11.5 mile (18.5 km) round trip. The primary crushing station is composed of two 60 in. by 89 in. gyratories installed in 1962 and 1972. Neither crusher has a grizzly ahead of it. Rail cars are dumped into 300 It (305 mt) pockets which contain splitters for spider protection. What few oversize boulders which do not go through the crushers are drilled and blasted. Liners in the dump pocket and the crushed ore pokcet under the crusher are manganese steel. Both crushers are direct driven by 700 hp (5 15 kw) motors, and the hardness of the ore causes them to pull almost their full power. Crushed ore drops into a 160 It (163 mt) pocket equipped with radioactive level control units for low-intermediate, and high level indications. The low level unit stops and starts the apron feeder, the intermediate unit controls the feeder speed, and a high-level reading stops the car dumping. Apron feeders are 72 in. (1. 82 m) wide and are variable speed from 12 to 52 fpm (3. 7 to 15. 8 mpm). They discharge to 60 in. (1.52 m) wide takeaway belts. Crushing capacity, nominal and maximum for each crusher, is 4, 000 ltph (4. 064 mtph) and 4,600 ltph (4,674 mtph). The crusher eccentric is removed by a conventional cart which travels on removable rails. Mainshaft removal and maintenance is done by 65 and 75/10 ton cranes. Mainshaft replacement requires eight hours, a usual time, but concave replacement requires only sixteen hours, a result of a fine maintenance organization. Mantle relining is done at grade next to a repair track. Zinc is used for backing both mantles and concaves. Both the electrical rooms and the dust collectors are located below grade,

Jan 1, 1978

By AIME AIME

THREE of the addresses presented at this interesting and important session are printed in full else- where in this issue. The fourth, Mr. Hewett's paper, on "Cycles In Metal Production" has been issued as Technical Publication 183, and an abstract of it was published on page 162 of last month's issue. The general discussion that followed these four important papers is given in full below. S. A. TAYLOR: I would like to ask Mr. Veasey whether the control of oil in pools includes royalties, and, if so, in case of a new pool how are you going to control, or rather how are you going to describe the limits of that pool?

Jan 1, 1929

By G. S. Rice, J. A. Davis

The Péchelbronn oil field is located in the province of Alsace, in the Rhine Valley, about 30 miles north of Strasbourg. It is approximately 4 miles wide and 12 miles long, extending from the villages of Lobsann on the north to Wintershausen and Ohlungen near Haguenau on the south. (See Fig. 1.) The productive area includes about 44,000 hectares (107,680 acres). The name Péchelbronn signifies "pitch-spring" or "pitch-fountain." The first exploratory galleries were driven in from the hillside in 1735; and in 1745 the first official concession was granted by the French government and the first pit sunk to a depth of about 30 ft. Extraction by drilled wells was begun in 1879, supplementing the mining operations, and during the next 10 years 200 wells were drilled to an average depth of 172 m. (568 ft.). The bringing in of two "gusher" wells, in 1882 and 1888, respectively, was followed by the abandonment of all underground work. Underground mining, with a view to increasing the production of petroleum by recovering the oil left in the sands after drilling wells, was resumed in 1916. This mining operation started by sinking shaft No. 1 to a depth of 150 m. (495 ft.). The underground developments were pushed during 1917 and 1918 and the annual production of the Péchel-bronn field was increased to about 50,000 metric tons or 350,000 bbl. On the signing of the Versailles Treaty the province of Alsace, which had been taken by Germany as the result of the war of 1870, was returned to France, and the proprietary rights were taken over by the French Government. Concessions or leases, which embraced all the known oil-bearing territory of the field, were granted to the present operating company, Mines de Péchelbronn. This company followed both the drilling and the mining methods of the previous company.

Jan 1, 1927

By Rossiter W. Raymond

Being a portion of the President's Address at New Haven, February 23d, 1875. As I have attempted briefly to show you, gentlemen, the present position of the mining and metallurgical industries of this country offers in several respects most important indications of radical change. This is an epoch for more than one branch of these industries. We are commencing again to export copper; we have shifted the main production of lead from the Mississippi Valley to the far West, besides developing a new production of that metal in Missouri; we have seen the price of quicksilver go up, and the price of iron go down to such an extent as to affect profoundly, on the one hand, the great business of extracting silver by amalgamation, through the Washoe process in this country and the patio process in Mexico, and, on the other hand, the various manufactures employing iron as a raw material ; above all, the manufacture of steel. But the epoch which has occurred in the relative value of gold and silver, in consequence of causes which I shall attempt to explain, and among which the extraordinary increase in the silver product of Nevada is not the least ; this epoch is, perhaps, the most striking feature in the review of our situation. Since my official duties in connection with the mining industry of the Pacific slope and the Great Interior Basin have led me to pay particular attention to this subject, I have thought it not inappropriate to lay before you a somewhat extended account of its history. It is a topic of peculiar interest, because of the general use of these two metals as standards of value in the exchange of commodities. Neither of them is suitable to be, for the political economist, a real standard of value. That standard is rather to be sought in some more universal product of labor, such as wheat-the relation

Jan 1, 1875

The Similkameen mine is located about 100 miles east of Vancouver, British Columbia, and ten miles west of Princeton, where the mine personnel live. Princeton was the first town in the British Columbia interior, originally the home of Cree and Blackfoot Indians and later settled by men of the Hudson's Bay Company, miners, cattlemen, and others looking for gold. After gold, there were coal mines and then copper mines . The Granby Consolidated Mining Company, Limited, operated the Copper Mountain ore bodies from 1926 to 1930 and from 1937 to 1957, mining 34 million tons of about 170 copper ore, mainly from underground. In 1966, Newmont Mining Corporation acquired the Ingerbelle property on the west side of the Similkameen River. Newmont then purchased the assets of Granby and formed Similkameen Mining Company to develop and operate the Ingerbelle and Copper Mountain ore bodies on both sides of the Similkameen River canyon. The Ingerbelle and Copper Mountain ore bodies lie within rocks composed of andesite tuffs, agglomerates, and argillites. Chalcopyrite mineralization occurs as a dissemination. Original ore reserves were estimated at approximately 75 million tons grading 0.52% copper. Mining is carried out on a three-shift, seven-day-week schedule at a rate of about 60,000 tons of ore and waste per day with four 10 cu yd P & H 1900 shovels which mine and load a fleet of 100-ton Lectra Haul trucks. Among the unique features of the design and construction of the Similkameen project was the construction of 4. 5 miles (7. 24 km) of new Trans-Provincial No. 3 highway by the company to the specifications of the British Columbia Department of Highways. The old highway traversed the Ingerbelle pit area. Along the relocated highway is a 4, 000 ft (1219 m) long berm which conceals the mine pit. This area has been replanted and now looks like the original forest scenery. Another interesting feature is that the tailings from the concentrator flow by gravity over a 1000 ft (34% m) suspension bridge, which crosses the Similkameen River canyon then passes through a tunnel to the dam site, a distance of 59,000 ft (17,980 m) to the cyclone station. When the Copper Mountain ore bodies are mined, the ore will be transported by belt conveyor on a second suspension bridge across the canyon to the Ingerbelle concentrator. After being loaded by the shovels into the 100-ton trucks, the ore is

Jan 1, 1978

By D. C. DERINGER

METALLURGISTS and mill operators appreciate, in a general way, .the economic or commercial relationship between recovery and grade of product but few have correlated in detail fluctuating metal prices with the metallurgy. They know that many factors such as metal price, dedusiions for returning charge, transportation, percentage of metal in head ore, etc.; all affect the commercial relationship between recovery and grade of product. In practically every mill some one at some ' time has calculated the amount of recovery that can be sacrificed for each percentage increase in grade of concentrate and from this calculated ratio the commercial or ., economic tail has been established. Such a ratio finally becomes a well-entrenched rule by which the progress of the metallurgy is judged.. When once established, these-, ratios are but seldom corrected to changes of metal prices for each possible grade of concentrate that may be produced. The calculation is tedious when often repeated. Other methods have been suggested and used to correlate the commercial with the metallurgical phase. A factor .derived ,by multiplying the grade of concentrate by recovery is often used, but is of little importance because it does not possess a single commercial quantity. The percentage monetary recovery calculated by dividing the gross value of the ore into the net smelter return gives a good economic index and, is to be commended, but it is difficult to correlate exactly and quickly the work of each day on a commercial basis.

Jan 1, 1931

By Herbert R. Mosley, Paul M. Tyler

STRATEGICALLY situated in almost the heart of the leading fertilizer- consuming area of the United States, Tennessee long has ranked second only to Florida as a phosphate-producing state. Since 1932 its share of the national output of phosphate rock has increased steadily, and in 1937 its production mounted to an all-time record. More significant even than the increase in tonnage are the forward strides in technology. The Tennessee Valley Authority's research program has led to quasicommercial operations using hydroelectric power to manufacture concentrated phosphatic fertilizer that is used to further the farmer education program designed to streamline the fertilizer business and halt the appalling waste of farm land by soil erosion. Even more stimulating to chemically minded imaginations is the production of elemental phosphorus by a private company that not only has succeeded in extracting it from the phosphate rock in electric furnaces but actually has contrived to capture it and to transport it safely in tank cars. New values have been created for low-grade phosphate deposits, and the economic life of reserves has been lengthened while the waste of former years goes back into the mills for recovery of its values by modernized methods. Tennessee's phosphate-mining industry dates from the discovery of blue rock in-lewis County in December 1893. Its known reserves are of the order of 101,500,000 tons, which compares with the production of 825,099 tons in 1937; that is, 21 per cent of the phosphate-rock output of the whole nation. The total output reported from 1894 until July 1, 1938, was approximately 19,000,000 tons. Official estimates of reserves are overly conservative and evidence submitted before a joint Congressional committee in November 1938 places "probable" reserves at more than 6,000,000,000 tons.

Jan 1, 1939

By Gordon E. Agar

Several correlations have been proposed to relate energy consumption and size reduction in comminution, and although these are arrived at from different starting points, it is postulated that they are all statements of the same basic concept. To test this postulate, the dry ball mill grindability of langbeinite was determined, and the results were analyzed according to the various methods. An examination ' of the energy-particle size relationships proposed in the recent past revealed that they had much in common. In fact, the conclusion was tentatively drawn that these expressions were essentially the same, even though they were arrived at from quite different basic premises. The equations attributed to Charles2 and Holmes3 were shown to re- duce to the same single equation, W - A K-3, and the simulated continuous test used by Maxson et al.4 was shown to give the best experimental value of the required empirical parameter, ß. Furthermore, the size distribution parameter a in the Schuhmann equation, y - (x/K)2, was shown to be equal to ß in many cases. The kinetic approach used by Arbiter and Bhrany5 should give the same results as the Maxson test procedure; however, the batch operation used by Arbiter and Bhrany could not produce data that would be as precise as the simulated continuous technique. To test the validity of these conclusions, the simulated continuous method was used to obtain data on the dry grinding of langbeinite. The results are discussed in terms of the various equations and approaches. APPARATUS AND MATERIAL A ball mill with internal dimensions of 17.5 cm (6 7/8 in.) in length by 19.4 cm (7 5/8 in.) in diam was loaded to 50% of its volume with balls 3.2 cm in

Jan 1, 1969

By L. R., McLeod

NO important changes in metallurgical practice are exhibited in the smelter that has been erected for treating the Morenci concentrate: the material is charged to reverberatory furnaces without roasting, and the matte subsequently blown in Peirce-Smith converters to separate the iron and sulphur from the copper. In fact the process is essentially the same, except for preliminary roasting of the concentrate, that was adopted in the new smelter that was built for the Arizona Copper Co. at Clifton, a few miles away, to treat Morenci concentrate just before the start of the first World War, and which went into service in October, 1913.

Jan 1, 1942

SEVERAL distinctions can rightfully be accorded the Bagdad enterprise. For one thing, it has the most romantic name among the Porphyry Coppers and this is said with all due deference to Copper Queen and Inspiration! Bagdad was one of the richest and most magnificent cities of the glamorous world of the Arabian Nights. The record does not say who was responsible for applying the name Bagdad to the company that in 191 1 took over the property of the Arizona-Nevada Copper Company; but whoever it was must have had visions (or at least hopes) of a fabulously profitable mine. So far as I know, Bagdad is the only Porphyry whose owners, or officials, ran afoul of the law because of alleged sins of omission or commission in vending shares of the company's stock. E. B. Bronson, of New York, had been interested in Bagdad since 1909; and, during the lean period of the 1930's he had, as president of the corporation, endeavored to raise needed funds by the sale of 140,000 shares of treasury stock. Some legal questions arose as to the need for registration under the Securities and Exchange Act; but, when Mr. Bronson finally filed a registration statement, the New York office of the Securities and Exchange Commission found 155 "deficiencies" in the document. According to the judge who later heard the criminal case against Bronson, no evidence was introduced to show that he had personally benefited "to the extent of one dollar." However, it was charged that the setup was such that he was in position to profit if he had wanted to! A somewhat quixotic position, it would seem. In any event, he was convicted, on highly technical

Jan 1, 1957

By AIME AIME

DESPITE the fact that its membership is spread over every continent of the globe, the Petroleum Division was able to report a very substantial attendance at its meetings. Careful planning on the part of its chairman, J. B. Urnpleby, and his associates resulted in the presentation of a program that was of timely interest -and led to discussions that will unquestionably prove to be of major value to the petroleum engineer and to the oil industry in general. Scheduling of meetings so as to avoid all conflicts made it possible to obtain a higher average attendance at the several sessions* than in previous years, and gave everyone a chance to hear all of the papers that he was interested in. The chairmen of the various meetings are to be congratulated especially for their skill in handling them so that at .no time was there the least indication of lagging interest.

Jan 1, 1930

By Perry Olcott .

THE Taka oil field is in the northern part of Titus and Franklin Counties, in north- eastern Texas. The small town of Talco, from which the field derives its name, is on the P. & Mt. P. R. R., about 15 mi. north of Mt. Pleasant, the county seat of Titus County. The oil field extends east and west from the town of Talco, the approximate center. In May, 1924, R. L. Cannon, while doing surface geology for the Humble. Oil & Refining Co., mapped the surface trace of this fault structure as evidenced by Upper Midway faulted down against Lower Midway. In the interval of sixteen years between the original surface work and the recent productive well completion, approximately eight wells were drilled into the Woodbine sand without success. The structure was well defined by those tests and all of the wells en-

Jan 1, 1936

By William P. Shinn

Jan 1, 1881

By Clyde Ross

The Thunder Mountain mining district is in eastern Valley County, Idaho. It is of undefined extent but nearly all of the development is confined to the ridge between Monumental and Marble creeks in unsurveyed T. 19 N., R. 11 E. (Fig. 1.) The district is still remembered among the mining men of Idaho because of the ill-advised rush there in 1902, but available evidence indicates that optimism regard-ing the future development of the gold deposits of the district is warranted. The former disappointment arose from the fact that many who took part in the early rush hoped for bonanza deposits, whereas the district is characterized by large masses of low tenor. In 1926 the writer,, assisted by C. Y. Behre, 3r., incidental to other work in the region, devoted four days to the detailed examination of the then access-ible workings in the district. Tha major workings in the Sunnyside, Venable, Standard and H-Y mines, most of which were still in good shape, were examined., Surface exposures at the Dewey were studied, but the main workings there have long been caved. The time available did not permit more than a cursory examination of the surface at a distance from the mines. Sufficient data have been gathered, how-ever, from published and unpublished accounts, production records and mine maps so that the major features of this deposit, by far the most productive in the dis-trict, can be summarized. The kindness of Messrs. Dan McRae and R: A. Davis in making available information regarding the mines of the district, a rd of these men and others in recounting early history and their observations in now inaccessible workings, have aided materially in preparing the present paper. A brief summary of the salient characteristics of the district has already been published.1/ Cir-cumstances have contributed to delay in the publication of the full official report, which will contain mine maps and ?such other detailed data as could be ontained. In view of the present interest in gold deposits it seems desirable to present here a summary of results of the study.

Jan 1, 1933