Search Documents

By William Hilliard

IN any manufacturing business, it is of vital importance that the management should know the exact cost of the units of production. Without such knowledge, a company can sell blindly in the open market, obtaining the best prices it can in competition with other firms, and manage perhaps to continue in business for a time; but at any moment, and especially in a period of falling prices, such a firm is at a loss to know exactly at what point it can sell at a profit and exactly how much it is losing per unit if it sells below that point. Furthermore, it is necessary not simply to know the exact total cost per unit, but to know definitely all the different-factors which enter into that cost. A firm manufacturing pocket knives had been doing a profitable business for many years when it began to earn smaller and smaller profits, until there was scarcely any profit at all being realized. Being unable to determine exactly what its future policy should be, it called in experts who studied the past records carefully and followed out for a period a better cost, system. Investigation then showed that on several different kinds of knives in common use, a small profit per unit was being made. On a number of special kinds of knives, of which the firm was very proud, it had been forced to cut prices under the pressure of outside competition and had believed that a small profit per unit was still being made on that product, while a detailed cost analysis showed that a loss was being incurred on each knife of that kind produced. It then became clear that the company must either give up the special line and concentrate wholly on the cheaper knives and extend their sales to territory not yet developed; or expand its plant and produce more of the higher grade knives and thus lower the cost per unit enough to make money on the higher grade knives also, if conditions warranted such expansion. Investigation revealed that the market for large quantities of the high-grade -knives was decidedly uncertain and that the most promising move would be to manufacture only the less expensive knives on a larger scale. That plan was carried out and the concern began again to make a better profit.

Jan 1, 1932

By H. B. Pulsifer

THE unprecedented high price of zinc ore prevailing through the early months of 1915 caused great activity in the Joplin district of Missouri. The Media mill is conspicuous as one of the first of the new "big mills" of the district. The mill was built over a mine previously worked but abandoned in 1912 because of the leanness of the ore and the large quantity of water encountered. The ore prices prevailing-$100 a ton in June, 1915, as against $50 in 1912-favored the new undertaking. The mill was designed for good recovery so that it might operate in times of depression. In design and equipment, the mill is exclusively local in conception and construction. Former Exploitation The tract of land is a part of the large Guinn holdings; 70 acres are comprised in this particular lot, which is situated just a mile north of the center of Webb City on the Alba line of the Southwest Missouri Electric Railway. The ore lies 242 ft. below the' surface at the top of the knoll which is surrounded by the well-known properties: Black Cat, Ground Floor, Florence, Hurry-Up, Electrical and Mercantile. Since the abandonment, in 1913, of the Yellow Dog. a bit farther to the north, the Black Cat, Ground Floor and Florence workings had been flooded. However, as there was no cut through from this side into the area it was proposed to exploit, it was thought that moderate pumping facilities would take care of the water.

Jan 5, 1917

By Oswald J. Heinrich

(Read at the Philadelphia Meeting, February, 1878.) DURING the last twenty years much has been done to investigate and define the Mesozoic formation of the United States along the Atlantic States, as well as in the Territories. The investigations of Professors Hitchcock, Emmons, Hayden, H. D. Rogers, and those now in progress in connection with the geological surveys of Penn-

Jan 1, 1878

By Reinhardt Thiessen

IN THE general study of coal, all evidence points in the one direction -that coals had their origin in a manner analogous to that of peat. The best method of studying coal, whether it concerns its chemistry, composition, or physical condition, is to study peat. The essentials in a study of peat are a knowledge of the chemistry of plants, knowledge of decay and of the transformation process of plant-substances into peat. A number of facts must be emphasized, namely, (1) peat is formed under wet conditions only; (2) plants grow in the place where peat is formed; (3) all the plant substances go into the bog; and (4) all the plant substances are subjected to a series of phases of decay which are (a) in the air completely above the water level but in relatively moist conditions; (b) above the water level, but covered by debris; and (c) completely submerged by both water and debris.

Jan 3, 1925

By John A. Church

IT is a well-known fact that under similar conditions a ton of pig iron can be made from any ore with less fuel when charcoal is used than when coke or anthracite is employed for heating. The cause of this superiority is entirely undiscovered, and no explanation has yet been offered which has won even temporary acceptance. Such as they are the hypotheses heretofore presented are of two general kinds, and they come from those two divisions of the working force which are so often antagonistic in all professions, the scientific and the practical men. The theory of the scientific men is drawn from the chemical reactions which are known to go on in the furnace, and it is well expressed in a recent paper by Prof. Akerman, of the Stockholm (Sweden) School of Mines. It makes the superiority of charcoal as a fuel in the blast furnace to depend upon its quick and thorough reduction of carbonic acid. This property belongs to charcoal in virtue of its porous structure. Its cells have a diameter of only one twenty-four hundredth of an inch, and one grain of charcoal has been computed to have a surface of two and four-tenths square feet. According to the theory in question, carbonic acid is formed by the first impact of the air upon the fuel; but in charcoal furnaces the acid is immediately reduced to oxide by taking the necessary amount of carbon into combination, and the gas reaches its highest reducing power even in the near vicinity of the tuyeres. Coke, being harder, does not produce so strong a reducing gas in that part of. the furnace. Carbonic acid is formed as in the case of charcoal, and remains longer before its reduction to oxide is completed. Anthracite is the

Jan 1, 1879

By B. C. Craft

The principal events in the oil and gas operations for Louisiana during 1933 have been the rapid development of the Converse field in Sabine Parish, the discovery of three new salt domes, one in North Louisiana and two in South Louisiana, increased development in the Iowa field on the Calcasieu-Jefferson Davis Parish line, and extensive geophysical operations over a wide territory. Other miscellaneous events worthy of mention are the continued leasing of prospective oil lands over a wide area, extension of production at the East Hackberry field, Cameron Parish, discovery of deep sands at Caillou Island, Terrebonne Parish, and the completion of several important wildcats. Despite proration, oil production showed a substantial increase during 1933. The total output for this area was 25,599,802 bbl. as compared with 22,507,387 bbl. during 1932. North Louisiana There were 111 oil wells and 47 gas wells completed in North Louisiana during 1933 as compared with 109 oil wells and 33 gas wells during 1932. North Louisiana oil production decreased approximately 692,625 bbl. in 1933 from its 1932 figure. The normal decline in the old fields was partly offset by increased production at the Zwolle and Converse fields in Sabine Parish. Acid treatment of wells in the Zwolle, Converse and Monroe fields was highly successful. The method of application has been described by H. K. Shearer, Geologist, Pelican Natural Gas Co., as fo1lows:l With tubing in the hole and standing valve removed, the casing is filled with oil to the surface. The limestone solvent is pumped in through the tubing, at the same time bleeding off enough oil from the casinghead to equal the volume contained in the tubing plus the volume of open hole to be treated. The amount of solvent used in most of the wells treated was 1000 gal., which is enough to dissolve about 11 cu. ft. of chalk or limestone. After the computed amount of oil is bled off, the casinghead is closed and the remainder of the solvent is pumped in at whatever pressure is necessary to force it into the oil-producing horizon. The solvent is followed up with enough oil to

Jan 1, 1934

By W. G. Fischer

Basic laboratory tests on trona and the surrounding shales initiated the Rock Mechanics program. The stress-strain curve, modulus of elasticity, Poisson's ratio, the uniaxial rock strength, Mohr's envelope, the biaxial stresses at failure, and creep were investigated. A series of underground problems were then approached using this information and various field measuring devices, most of which were developed by the Bureau of Mines. Initially, stress concentrations near mine openings were evaluated using the stress relief technique. This required an accurate determination of the pre-mining stress field. Later, stress concentrations associated with the cave line were studied. After about 30 stress reliefs over an appropriate time interval the effects of one type of mining could be compared against another. The microseismic technique was used to investi- gate a possible application of warning devices near the cave line. A study of mine reorientation was made. Problems related to the shape and size of pillars and barriers were studied. The effectiveness of roof bolting patterns was examined. Control of roof stresses was attempted. A new system of mining in heavy ground has been developed using the information secured in the Rock Mechanics program. Without this system, mining in more than one instance would have been next to impossible. Indeed, from this one discovery alone, the Rock Mechanics program has paid off in improved safety as well as in dollars. The Westvaco trona* mine is located near the town of Green River in the southwestern corner of Wyoming. It is owned and operated by FMC Corp. on land leased from the US Government, the State of Wyoming, and the Union Pacific Railroad. A conventional room and pillar system is being used, (Fig. 1) with complete removal of the pillars during final mining. Return air bleeders surround

Jan 1, 1964

By H. M. Chance

The Taviche district is about 12 miles from the town of Ocotlan in the State of Oaxaca, and about 250 miles south of the City of Mexico. Its altitude rises to something more than 5,000 ft.; and although within the tropics (latitude about 17° N.) the climate is mild and salubrious, neither excessively hot in summer nor cold in winter. The phrase, "perpetual spring," which has been applied to it, aptly describes the weather during my stay. Sugar-plantations, bananas and other tropical and semitropical fruits flourish in the valleys, while the hills

Jan 1, 1905

By E. Gybbon Spilsbury

Everybody who has had his attention turned to the gold-deposits of the Southern States, is acquainted with the undisputed fact of the existence, at least in the Carolinas and Georgia, of enormous areas of gold-bearing rocks. Long before the discovery of the precious metal in California, gold-mining on a very extensive scale mas a well-estab-

Jan 1, 1887

By F. H. Buttner, E. R. Funk, H. Udin

A. P. Greenough (University College, swansea, Great Britain)—I have recently made some experiments on the deformation of silver wire at high temperature in an atmosphere of oxygen-free nitrogen. The observa-tions which 1 made confirm the main conclusion of this paper, that the most satisfactory mechanism so far suggested to explain the deformation which takes place

Jan 1, 1953

The Joint Economic Committee's subcommittee on international payments and exchange has recommended that, following international monetary reforms, the law which prohibits private possession of gold by American citizens be repealed. The subcommittee recommendation called for reforms to enhance the role of special drawing rights in international monetary affairs and downgrade the role of gold. Special drawing rights, also known as "paper gold", are on artificial reserve with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which distributes them to member nations in proportion to their economic importance in the world economy. The special drawing rights are then used to settle debts between nations in the same manner as gold or currency. The subcommittee said that under the reforms now being discussed special drawing rights would be acceptable in lieu of gold among the member countries of the IMF.

Jan 1, 1973

By F. G. Clapp

Introduction.......................................................... 915 Scope of Discussion................................................... 915 Literature and Acknowledgments....................................... 915 Geographic Distribution of Petroleum in South America................. 916 Geographical Comparison with North America.......................... 917 Geological Inferences Regarding South America......................... 918 Quality of South American Oil........................................ 918 South America's Position in the World's Production.................... 919 Political Conditions in South America................................. 920 Peru.................................................................. 920 Distribution of Peruvian Fields................................ :...... 920 Surface Indications.................................................. 923 Geological Conditions................................................ 925 Quality................................................,............ 927 Production......................................................... 929 Argentina............................................................. 932 Distribution of Argentina Fields...................................... 932 Surface Indications.................................................. 933 Geological Conditions............:................................... 935 Quality .......................................................... 936 Production.......................................................:938 Venezuela................................................. 939 Distribution of Venezuela Fields...................................... 939 Surface Indications................................................. 939 Geology of Venezuela Fields.......................................... 941 Quality........................................................... 942 Production.......................................................... 943 Colombia.............................................................. 944 Distribution of Colombia Fields....................................... 944 Surface Indications.................................................. 945 Geological Conditions............................................... 948 Quality............................................................ 950 Production......................................................... 950

Jan 1, 1918

Jan 1, 1929

By W. T. Allan

RAW bituminous coal has been in general use as a blast-furnace fuel in Scotland for the last century, and although its use has now been largely abandoned and it has been replaced by coke in the majority of the few furnaces which are at, present in blast in this country, coal-smelted pig iron is not yet a thing of the past; it is still being produced and mar-keted in competition with the more cheaply smelted product of the coke-fired furnace. Various factors have influenced this change in practice; the once plentiful deposits of coal of a suitable nature for the blast furnace are now not so easily obtainable; native blackband and clayband ironstones which are easily smelted in the coal-fired blast furnace, although still far from being exhausted, are not available except at a. cost that is somewhat higher than that of imported ores, making them unattractive to the ironmaster that is compelled by circumstances to smelt his iron at the lowest possible cost. Within the last 15 years overproduction of synthetic nitrogen has led to progressive reductions in the price of sulphate of ammonia, the recovery of which together with the other by-products before that time materially assisted in reducing the working costs of the coal-fired furnace. Now the sale of the by-products recovered yields a diminished profit. When the cost of the product is the only consideration the small, slow-smelting, coal-fired blast furnace cannot compare with its large, modern, coke-fired competitor. Other `considerations do not by any means all support the same side of the argument. In the smelting of pig iron to be used in the manufacture of steel where the quality of the final product depends so largely upon the control of the conversion process and so much less upon the physical quality of the pig iron used, the physical properties of the pig iron do not exert any appreciable influence upon the quality of the steel produced, therefore the methods employed in the smelting of the pig iron matter but little so long as the requisite chemical composi-tion is reached. On the other hand, in ironfounding where the simple melting of the pig iron, which is the only treatment it receives before being cast into its final form, does little or nothing to modify its original charac-

Jan 1, 1937

By D. J. Reed

Concord coal mine near Bessemer, Ala., built, owned, and operated by Tennessee Coal & Iron Div., U. S. Steel Corp., produces only a metallurgical grade for use as coke in blast furnaces of the division at the Fairfield and Ensley works. Capacity of the operation is approximately 800 tph, half of which is delivered to the coke and coal chemical plant at Fairfield after beneficiation to metallurgical grade coal. The remaining portion of the mine run is rock and refuse removed during preparation. Concord mine coal is hoisted to the surface coal preparation plant by an underground slope conveyor. The slope conveyor is 2449 ft long and has a lift of 729 ft. At time of installation the Concord mine slope conveyor was the largest single conveyor unit ever made with respect to belt horsepower and total lift. After several years it became necessary to determine the cause of slope conveyor cover wear.

Nov 1, 1956

By Hugh M. Roberts

In the spring of 1915, then a 30-year old geologist in the employ of the E. J. Longyear Co., of Minneapolis, Minn., I accompanied prospectors to ex- amine outcrops of supposed nickel ore situated a mile or two in from the shore of a lake in the Kenora district of northwestern Ontario. The deposit proved to be bog iron ore containing traces of nickel. We were stormbound there for three days, a circumstance which gave rise to a tale that was told at our fire one night. It seems that Sandy and Jock, two prospectors, were crossing the bay of a large lake in a canoe. They were bucking headwinds; the waves grew higher. Jock called out from the stern, "Sandy, can ye na pray a little." Sandy pressed his knees a little closer into the bow and, between strokes of his paddle, sought for words, which came haltingly, "Save us this time . . . Oh Lord . . . and we promise . . ." when Jock, peering through the spray sang out, "I would na commit yourself, Sandy, I think I see lond ahead."

Jan 1, 1965

By Howard Willey

Mining operations of the Charcas unit at present are limited to the Tiro General mine at Charcas, in the State of san Luis Potosi, Mexico. The Tiro General mine was first operated during the Spanish occupation of Mexico for rich silver ores in an oxidized zone along the outcrop of the principal vein. In depth the ore is a complex sulfide with widely varying proportions of sphalerite, argentiferous galena and chalcopyrite ; and until recent years, it was economically impossible to carry on mining otherwise than irregularly in sections of the veins richest in galena and chalcopyrite. The advent of selective flotation brought the orebody as a whole within the field of economic interest, and a flotation mill of 650 metric tons daily capacity was constructed in the year 1925. The mining of partly worked-out sections of the mine, as well as the very heavy ground in most of the stopes opened in virgin ore, presented an unusually difficult problem. This paper describes the so-called "filled top slice" stoping method finally adopted as the standard system. Physical and Geological Conditions The principal orebody of the mine is an oreshoot about 1400 ft ng in a fissure vein striking about east and west and with an average lip of 70" to the north. The footwall of the orebody is fairly cleancu and regular both longitudinally and vertically and generally shows a dell-marked post-mineral slip. The footwall rock varies from a fairly strong limestone to a broken, metamorphosed limestone which requires heavy timbering. In some sections it is an altered, crumbly porphyry, which swells badly and necessitates frequent renewal of drift and raise tirnber. The hanging wall is irregular and frequently an assay wall. The stopina width ranges from a few feet up to more than 90 ft.; it averages about 30 ft. For the most part the hanging-wall rock is a shattered and altered monzonite porphyry, nearly aways requiring heavy timbering. The orebody is greatly fractured by post-mineral movement, which usually followed the footwall and left it as a smooth surface frequently covered with a slippery clay gouge. Two well marked transverse faults

Jan 1, 1931

By M. R. Pickus

THE study of the plastic deformation and recrystallization of metals has been the subject of many investigations. In regard to the simple deformational processes, such as tension and compression, the early knowledge gained from studies of polycrystalline material has been supplemented by many significant researches on the behavior of single crystals. Unfortunately, this has not been true for more complicated deformational processes. As far back as 1927, G. I. Taylor1 wrote: It is impossible in the present state of knowledge to do more than give a possible reason why (face-centered cubic) crystals set themselves with a (110) direction in the plane of rolling, and at right angles to the direction of rolling. The explanation of why the orientation of the crystal axes round the transverse direction is what it is, must be left till the distortion of metals, and particularly single crystals of metals in the process of rolling, has been studied in greater detail. That this gap in the systematic study of deformation and recrystalliza-tion has not yet been filled was indicated by C. H. Samans,2 who wrote in 1934 that "only four investigations upon cold-rolled single crystals of any of the face-centered cubic metals have been reported in the literature." Of these four studies, only those of S. Tanaka3 and T. Sakao,4 both of whom worked with aluminum crystals, had quantitative significance. The other two, carried out by F. Wever5 and W. G. Burgers,6 were of a. qualitative nature. It is our hope that the present investigation may contribute some-thing to the knowledge necessary for a rationalization of the origin of rolling textures in terms of the known behavior of single crystals, and may add pertinent information concerning the recrystallization characteristics of deformed single crystals.

Jan 1, 1938

By J. A. Jr. Church

I. EARLY FURNACES. COPPER blast-furnace construction in America has long recognized a general standard in the rectangular mater jacketed shaft with separate forehearth. The details, however, and especially those relating to shaft dimensions, have had to meet a great variety of conditions, and show no uniformity whatever. Selecting a few of the present day Western plants, we find furnace lengths varying from 12.5 to 87 ft., widths at tuyere level from 42 to 84 in., and heights above tuyeres from 5 ft. 4 in. to 22 ft. 4 in. ; and comparing present designs with those of the past, we meet contrasts no less striking. Unlike its transverse section, the length of a furnace has come to depend rather on the size of unit desired than on the requirements of smelting ; and if the question of length be ignored, several of the various existing designs can be grouped together on the basis of a common transverse section. This section, having a width at tuyere level of 56 in. and a height above tuyeres of 18 ft., was developed at Great Falls, and the story of its development contains some interesting features. Ground was broken for the Great Falls works in the spring of 1891. About a year later, the concentrator was able to begin operation, followed within the next few mouths by the Brueckner, reverberatory, and converter departments, and in April, 1893, by the first blast fur-

Jan 7, 1913

By G. E. Anderson

The Asientos-Tepezala district is in the north of the State of Aguasca-lientes, about 30 miles north of the city of Aguascalientes, the capital. The district is reached by a standard-gage railway on the west side through the junction, Rincon de Romos, which is on the main line of the National Railways of Mexico from El Paso to Aguscalientes. The terminal is Tepezala. On the east side a narrow gage connects Asientos with the junction, San Gil, on the main line, Asientos to San Luis Potosi. Tepezala on the west side of the Asientos hills is about 2 miles from Asientos on the east side. The area between the two mining centers is separated by a low subdued divide which forms the central part of the hills. The district is in a group of isolated hills surrounded by characteristic bolsón plains. The hills rise above the surrounding plains about 6500 to 10,000 ft.; the highest peak is Alta Mira. The two mining districts lie somewhat upon the flanks of the hills at about the same elevation, 7200 ft. The district is an old one and has been known since early in the 17th Century when the mines were worked by the Franciscan Monks. Their mining operations, which were limited to the oxidized ore above the water level, consisted chiefly in extracting silver from the Santa Francisca vein. To judge from the old workings and the remains of surface plant, the operations were on a large scale. By modern mining operations since about 1900, the various mines of the district have been one of the principal sourees of ore for the smelter located at Aguascalientes. Topography The topographic features of the Asientos hills are largely controlled by the character of the underlying rocks. During the Tertiary period, the entire group of hills was probably covered by extrusive volcanic material in the form of cones and lava flows. The central part of these have since been carried away by erosion, so that remnants have been left along the borders of the hills. These remnants form rather conspicuous peaks,

Jan 1, 1927