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By Arthur Hockman, Howard W. Jaffe, Howard F. Carl

THE problem of establishing practical techniques for evaluating natural corundum ores arose from the desire to improve the existing purchase specifications for crystal corundum procured by the Federal Government for stockpiling. Such purchase specifications had been developed for a large number of products, including minerals and ores considered to be critical and strategic because of the country's dependence on foreign sources of supply. It will be apparent to anyone considering the subject of purchase specifications that the determination of whether or not a submittal meets the specifications is a prime consideration. Consequently satisfactory specifications for minerals should not only incorporate physical, chemical, and mineralogical requirements that are practical but should also establish the means by which both buyer and seller can be assured that materials meet stated requirements.

Jan 4, 1954

By Freeman Bishop

Quietly picking his way through the thorny thicket of conservation issues is William E. Ruckelshaus, director of the Environmental Protection Agency in which President Nixon gathered the various anti- pollution units from the Interior, Commerce. Agriculture and Health. Education and Welfare departments. Mr. Ruckelshaus. EPA's first administrator, moved over from being Assistant Attorney General in charge of the civil division at Justice to this new post. Essentially, EPA is charged with administering swiftly proliferating antipollution programs. This means policing industry cities, farms and everything else. Ruckelshaus has been quietly fitting together the various pieces of this new agency, pulling then1 out of other Federal departments. Some 5800 employees are involved. The budget in 1971 for these segments will total about $1.5 billion.

Jan 1, 1971

The recent dedication of Magma Copper Co.'s San Manuel, Ariz., electrolytic copper refinery and rod casting plant marks the culmination of a three year, $250 million expansion-modernization program. The new facilities will eventually permit an annual production of 200,000 tons of marketable copper for direct sale to fabricators. The Newmont Mining Corp. subsidiary will produce and market continuous cast 5/16 in. copper redraw rod, full plate cathode copper and sheared cathode plate under its own brand name. Among the four largest in the nation, the new refinery and plant, was built at a cost of $34 million and will be fully automated. In addition, all materials used in the plant will be recycled and no waste, discard or emissions will occur.

Jan 3, 1972

By William H. Love

ATLAS shaft was sunk to explore at depth a portion of the eastern end of the dry belt, or silver belt, of the Coeur d’Alene mining district. The Atlas mine is a mile east of Mullan and is on the south side of the Osburn fault. Equal partners in the venture are Hecla Mining Co., Newmont Mining Co., New Jersey Zinc Co. and Atlas Mining Co., the financing being equally shared by Hecla, Newmont, and New Jersey Zinc. As outlined the project had as its goal deep exploration of prominent structures developed in the Atlas in upper levels. Plans called for deepening the shaft from the 800 level to the 2400 level with subsequent drifting, crosscutting, and diamond drilling on the 2400.

Jan 11, 1954

By C. E. Birchenall, R. H. Condit

THREE surface activity procedures are in com--L mon use for the determination of diffusion coefficients in solids. In the oldest of these' the activity observed at the original surface is compared before and after diffusion, where all the activity is in a thin, plated layer on the surface before diffusion. Partial absorption of the radiations from active atoms which have diffused below the surface reduces the effective activity after diffusion. The formula employed to calculate the diffusion coefficient is where F, is the ratio of final to initial activity at the surface, measured with identical counting geometry; Z=u3Dt, where D is the diffusion coefficient; t is the diffusion time; and u is the absorption coefficient for the radiation in the solid as defined by Lambert's law. This absorption law implies that all the rays are parallel to each other and normal to the specimen surface. This assumption of a collimated beam used by Steigman, Shockley, and Nix has been adopted by all other investigators and, although it gives results which are approximately correct under restricted physical conditions, it does not represent many actual circumstances. It is the purpose of this paper to show the importance of the divergent rays and to indicate a procedure for taking them into account. In the residual activity method the activity is determined on a series of surfaces ground on the specimen at progressively greater depths in the diffusion layer parallel to the initial surface. Gruzin2 has de- rived a formula for this procedure, which may be put in the form where I is the ratio of the activity measured at a newly ground surface at distance k below the initial surface to the activity at the initial surface measured after diffusion, and K= k/2p Dt. A third procedure involves the autoradio-graphic determination of activity on a plane ground at a small angle to the initial interface through the penetration zone. Aut oradiography can be particularly sensitive to the oblique rays. Unlike most counters which detect essentially all ß particles or X-rays which enter the active volume as a single event, the photographic emulsion may be thin enough so that oblique rays with longer path length in the emulsion produce more darkening than rays which move normal to the film plane. Consider a plane containing a source of radiation uniformly spread over a circle and a point counter located on the perpendicular through the center of the circle. As the counter moves along this line, the total angle 6, at the counter subtended by the specimen will vary. For a fixed counter distance, let 6 be angle between the counter axis and the line connecting the counter to a point P on the active plane. If an absorber of thickness X is interposed parallel to the source between counter and source, the ray from point P to the counter will pass through an absorber thickness X secant 6. Exponential absorption is assumed to hold for all rays. If r, is the ratio of intensity at the counter with absorber to the intensity without absorber and a = pX, 1 00 The behavior of this integral, evaluated numerically,

Jan 1, 1957

By AIME AIME

THE MODEL LAW previously referred to', in these columns several times, prepared by Engineering Council, to be o ered in any state where legislation is introduced for licensing engineers, is given in abstract below. , Mining engineers throughout the country should watch legislation of this sort and see that the draft prepared by Engineering Council is in the hands of any state legislative committee which proposes to frame a licensing law. So far as this office is informed, the mining engineers are a unit against licensing, but if we must be licensed the most innocuous law that has been submitted is the draft prepared by Engineering Council. ABSTRACT OF MODEL LAW -FOR REGISTRATION OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS, ARCHITECTS, AND LAND SURVEYORS

Jan 1, 1920

By Betty L. Gibbs

A company must have an organized approach to effectively sort through the profusion of available software and hardware and find the programs and equipment which fit defined needs. The selection process must build a complete compatible system which includes hardware and software. The methodology presented in this paper helps identify some of the more important considerations. The steps needed for an organized approach to software/hardware selection are: •All involved staff should contribute to an assessment of current computer capabilities and projection of future needs. •Alternatives are analyzed to determine what software and hardware is available and how selections may possibly be merged into the existing computer system. The evaluation process focuses on details of program capability and hardware compatibility. Analysis must be done to determine how closely individual programs fit the established requirements. The final decision is often a balance of needs between program capabilities and hardware availability. Any programs selected must be able to run on existing and newly purchased hardware. Any additional hardware selected must be capable of meshing with the available computer system.

Jan 1, 1983

By Whitmell J. Smithwick, Charles E. Dandois

The first operating unit of the ring or annular shaft kiln as developed by Mr. Karl Beckenbach of West Germany was rated 185 tpd and was installed in 1962. Today, there are approximately 84 units in operation in Western Europe and Japan. Twenty-one additional units are under construction or on order. Sizes range from approximately 100-330 tpd, however, units of over 500 tons are in the design stage. The ring shaft kiln is a single vertical cylinder to which are attached the required service platforms, combustion chambers, injectors and distribution piping (Fig. 1). Auxiliaries such as recuperator, exhaust fan and dust collector are mounted on the appropriate service platform. The charging pan, feed conveyor, etc., are mounted at the kiln top and at the bottom of the kiln is the silo with a vibrator type discharger. Mounted separately is the required blower for injector air and fan for internal cooling.

Jan 4, 1973

By M. G. Cheney

Careful estimates indicate that during 1942 new discoveries and extensions in West Central Texas added oil reserves slightly in excess of the eight million barrels produced. Drilling activity fell 40 per cent below 1941 and 82 per cent below the normal drilling activity of the late 1920's. Total production for the district continued its downward trend, now being less than % of the 42.7 million barrels peak in 1921. Rapid revival of activity is not probable under existing conditions, as costs of discovery, development and operations on the average probably now exceed current market price for the oil, the latter having remained constant since the spring of I941. Costs have advanced materially since the third quarter of 1941, when reports to the Tariff Commission indicated a margin of profit of 13.3 per barrel. Physical as well as economic conditions are holding back the amount of drilling in this district. The lenticular sands are not suited to 40-acre spacing regulations. There is no surplus of experienced oil-field labor. To reduce costs, much second-hand material is used for all except the deeper wells.. Price controls have retarded movement of used equipment by prescribing maximum prices that arc too low for the better grade materizl, thus making , owners reluctant to sell. On the other hand, buyers are unwilling to pay ceiling prices asked by sellers for poor material. Seventeen new oil fields and five new gas fields were found during 1942. Extensions and deeper 'drilling brought favorable results in eight older fields. The most significant new developments appear to have been in Coleman, Jones, Shackelford and Taylor Counties. A 5800-ft. completion in Wise County brought this county into the producing column for the first time. None of these new discoveries can he rated above one million barrel reserve on the basis of present development. Probably the most important development was discovery of a deeper pay (Gunsight lime) in the Wimberly field of Jones County, which shows promise of producing over an area of about 1000 acres. Jones and Shackelford Counties still lead the district in total annual production. Discovery of the Reddin pool, north central Taylor County, is credited to geochemical methods, making one success out of five or more wildcats based on such methods. Geophysical surveying increased decidedly during 1942 and returns from these studies are expected during coming years. Most of the wildcatting in the district is still based on surface and subsurface geological structural mapping, study of log data as to distribution of prospective producing reservoirs, and drilling in proximity to previous showings of oil and gas. Geological debate continues as to the proper correlation of the 100 to 300 ft. of gray lime that has produced more than 100 million barrels in the Parks, Brecken-ridge, Curry, Eliasville, Ibex, Pioneer and other important fields of this district. Fossils indicate that this limestone is younger than the Atoka beds of Oklahoma. On a structural basis most geologists include this formation with the Bend but a number of paleontologists believe it is more properly classified with the Strawn.

Jan 1, 1943

By M. G. Cheney

Careful estimates indicate that during 1942 new discoveries and extensions in West Central Texas added oil reserves slightly in excess of the eight million barrels produced. Drilling activity fell 40 per cent below 1941 and 82 per cent below the normal drilling activity of the late 1920's. Total production for the district continued its downward trend, now being less than % of the 42.7 million barrels peak in 1921. Rapid revival of activity is not probable under existing conditions, as costs of discovery, development and operations on the average probably now exceed current market price for the oil, the latter having remained constant since the spring of I941. Costs have advanced materially since the third quarter of 1941, when reports to the Tariff Commission indicated a margin of profit of 13.3 per barrel. Physical as well as economic conditions are holding back the amount of drilling in this district. The lenticular sands are not suited to 40-acre spacing regulations. There is no surplus of experienced oil-field labor. To reduce costs, much second-hand material is used for all except the deeper wells.. Price controls have retarded movement of used equipment by prescribing maximum prices that arc too low for the better grade materizl, thus making , owners reluctant to sell. On the other hand, buyers are unwilling to pay ceiling prices asked by sellers for poor material. Seventeen new oil fields and five new gas fields were found during 1942. Extensions and deeper 'drilling brought favorable results in eight older fields. The most significant new developments appear to have been in Coleman, Jones, Shackelford and Taylor Counties. A 5800-ft. completion in Wise County brought this county into the producing column for the first time. None of these new discoveries can he rated above one million barrel reserve on the basis of present development. Probably the most important development was discovery of a deeper pay (Gunsight lime) in the Wimberly field of Jones County, which shows promise of producing over an area of about 1000 acres. Jones and Shackelford Counties still lead the district in total annual production. Discovery of the Reddin pool, north central Taylor County, is credited to geochemical methods, making one success out of five or more wildcats based on such methods. Geophysical surveying increased decidedly during 1942 and returns from these studies are expected during coming years. Most of the wildcatting in the district is still based on surface and subsurface geological structural mapping, study of log data as to distribution of prospective producing reservoirs, and drilling in proximity to previous showings of oil and gas. Geological debate continues as to the proper correlation of the 100 to 300 ft. of gray lime that has produced more than 100 million barrels in the Parks, Brecken-ridge, Curry, Eliasville, Ibex, Pioneer and other important fields of this district. Fossils indicate that this limestone is younger than the Atoka beds of Oklahoma. On a structural basis most geologists include this formation with the Bend but a number of paleontologists believe it is more properly classified with the Strawn.

Jan 1, 1943

By J. G. Hadley

IN THE early stages of the depression the Utah Copper Co. realized that an unemployment problem would he created which demanded an intelligent and sympathetic solution. The company recognized that as many men as possible must be kept at work on a basis which would ultimately permit of the most efficient reabsorption of displaced labor. The company therefore determined to distribute available work among the greatest number of men and to that end adopted a system of rotating employees on a part-time basis. An employer requires a certain number of days' or shifts' work during the month. Obviously one employee working thirty days or shifts a month is equal to two employees each working fifteen. In principle, therefore, where two employees equally fitted to do certain work are available the work could be divided between them on an equitable basis and twice as many persons would benefit. A rotation plan on this basis was adopted by the Utah Copper, Co. on Jan. 30, 1930. Some variations of the orig¬inal plan have been made from time to time, the reasons for which will be discussed.

Jan 1, 1932

By Edward Martinez

The literature on the beneficiation of serpentine asbestos ore states that the specific gravity of the rock containing fiber and the fiber itself is the same so that specific gravity cannot be used as a basis for separation. An investigation of particles of asbestos ore ranging in size from 4 mesh to 5 in. revealed that the fiber-bearing particles generally had a lower specific gravity compared to essentially barren particles. The difference in specific gravity was sufficient to make an effective gravity separation of ore particles and reject a low grade tailings product. The results of laboratory tests are described that lead to the running of pilot plant tests with 20-ton ore samples using a heavy media separator. These tests indicated that a large amount of low grade material could be rejected from the raw ore at a coarse size. Although the process used is a wet separation, it can be added to a conventional dry asbestos mill. A gravity preconcentration would allow the mining of lower grade ore, increase the life of the mine, increase the value of the feed to the fiber recovery section, and decrease maintenance costs by removal of low grade tailings early in the flowsheet.

Jan 1, 1975

By C. R. Boyd

In 1874 I received an appointment in the corps organized by Col. William P. Craighill, U. S. Engineers, to survey the New or Upper Kanawha river for the purpose of ascertaining the practicability and

Jan 1, 1895

By Clint L. Milliken

The smelter is often considered the flywheel of the copper industry. No other unit can produce such a uniform product from so many starting materials. Direct-smelting ore, concentrate, precipitate, refinery slag, and scrap in almost any combination can be processed into blister or anode copper. Copper smelting practice has advanced little in the last century. It is still basically matte smelting, although the source of matte has changed from the blast furnace to the reverberatory furnace because of changes in smelter feed, and the Great Falls converter has been replaced by the Peirce-Smith converter. This lack of progress has continued because the economic forces required to produce change have not been of sufficient magnitude. Traditionally, the smelting, operation has required only about 10% of the total cost of producing copper from its ores and this minor cost item has not warranted change until recently.

Jan 1, 1971

By C. S. Smith

It is the policy of The Metallurgical Society to provide, in the TRANSACTIONS OF THE METALLURGICAL SOCIETY OF AIME, a prompt and accurate medium for publication of reports of significant new research in both the scientific and engineering aspects of metallurgy. Papers submitted to the Society are judged by competent reviewers according to established criteria for technical merit, accuracy, originality, and presentation. STAFF: Editor, Dr. Gerhard Derge; Editorial Assistant, M. A. Redmyrski; Staff Coordinator, James J. Burke. THE METALLURGICAL SOCIETY: W. R. Hibbard, Jr., President; J. C. Kinnear, Jr., Post-President; John Chipman, Vice President; T. D. Jones, Treasurer; R. W. Shearman, Secretory. PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE OF THE METALLURGICAL SOCIETY: A. W. Thornton, Chairman- Dennis Carney John Chipman J. C. Fulton J. H. Hollomon H. H. Kellogg, A. E. Lee, R. Moddin, J. D. sullivan, and D.' Swan. Review and selection of manuscripts is under the supervision of the following Publications Committees: Extractive Metallurgy Division: T. B. King, Chairman; S. J. Dickenson, R. P. Hermsdorf, R. Schuhmann, Jr., and P. T. Stroup. lnstitute of Metals DM lion: Robert Maddin, Chairman. F. Lincoln Vogel, Jr.. Vice chairman. W. A. Backofen R. W. Boliuffi J. H. Bechtold' M. B. Bever R: S. Busk C 6. Goetzel poul Gordon C. D. Grobom, Jr., Robert F. Hehe-mann R. I. Joffee F. i. Joumot Jr. lrvin R. Kromer, A. J. Leno. Horold Morgolfn, C. J. McHargue, Russell A. Meussner, J. B. Newkirk, H. W. Paxton, G. E. Pellissier, I. S. Servi, Alon U. Seybolt, A. J. Shaler, and Jack Washburn. Iron and Steel Division: J. C. Fulton, Chairman. T. B. King, F. C. Laogenberg, W. O. Philbrook, and T. 0. Winkler. Publishod bimonthl by the American Institute of Mining Metollurgicol and Petroleum Engineers Inc., 29 West 39th Street, New York 16, N. Y. Telephone: PEonylvanie 6-9220. Subscription $20 par yew for non-AIME members in United States and North, South and Control Americo $25 foreign; $5 for AIME members. Single copies, $4.00, single copios foreign $5,00. The AIME is 1958 by the Amarican mode or opinion axpressed in it* publications ... Copyright by the Amarican lnstitute of Mining, MataIlurgicol, and Petrolum Engineers, Inc,. . . Reg. istered cable address AIME New Yark ... Indexed in Engineering Inderx, Industrial Arts ...Index and Chemicol Number5. Absrtracis . . . Second class postage paid at New York,Indor. N. Y., Industrialond Ann Arbor, Mich.

Jan 1, 1959

By Richard E. Chism

The dry methods of assaying mercury-ores and other combinations of mercury all rest upon the volatility of this metal as a beginning. After the separation of the mercury in the form of vapor from the matrix upon which the assay is performed, the mercurial vapors are either condensed upon cold surfaces or received upon a gold plate into which the mercury is absorbed.

Jan 1, 1899

By Joseph F. Shirley, Harry K. Burke

On January 9, 1964, the molybdenite extraction circuit at the San Manuel concentrator was switched from the sodium hypochlorite-ferracyanide process to the present process described in this paper. This moment was the culmination of over three years of laboratory and pilot plant test work. COPPER CONCENTRATOR Even though San Manuel's molybdenite plant begins with the thickened copper concentrates, it is necessary to describe briefly the copper sulfide circuit, because San Manuel's excellent molybdenite recovery actually begins with the primary grinding of the ore.

Jan 3, 1965

* A complete magnetic picture of the Mesabi range is now available for the first time with the release of 21 additional maps based on the aeromagnetic survey of 30,000 square miles made jointly by the USGS and the Minnesota Geological Survey. A potential iron formation with a magnetic pattern remarkably like that of the Mesabi iron range lies buried beneath the glacial drift in a wide belt extending some 30 miles across the northwest corner of Itasca County in north central Minnesota. Identification of three new uranium minerals by the USGS was recently announced. The new minerals, andersonite, swartzite, and bayleyite are, respectively, hydrous uranyl carbonates of magnesium, of sodium and calcium, and of calcium and magnesium. They were first observed by Charles A. Anderson, Survey geologist, in a coating on gypsum on the 300-ft level of the Hillside mine, Yavapai County, Arizona. International Minerals and Chemical Corp. has announced a $4,000,000 expansion and development program in the Polk County phosphate fields in Florida, Plants for the manufacture of multiple superphosphate and phosphate chemicals including dicalcium p osphate for animal feed and chemical purposes, and a sulphuric acid are planned. Office building, machine shop, warehouse, and laboratory are also scheduled for erection. A new type of tramp iron detector is being used on the conveyor belt feeder at the South Agnew stripping operation. It is made of an alloy of aluminum, nickel and cobalt and does not have any electric coils. The alloy, known as Alnico, is remarkable for the permanence and intensity of the magnetism which it retains. The detector was made by Dings Magnetic Separator Co. and it is probable that Alnico will be used in magnetic separators. The American Society of Engineering Education estimates that unless the percentage of high school graduates entering engineering colleges is increased, there is a strong possibility that instead of a large surplus of engineering graduates, which has been propehsied rather widely, there will soon be fewer engineering graduates available than are needed annually by our national economy. This conclusion is reached from a survey that shows that engineering enrollments are only slightly higher than prewar whereas industrial expansion is increasing the need for engineers. * The natural resources of Korea are being investigated under ECA sponsorship. E.J. Longyear has just embarked 8 crews for that country; two drills are scheduled for base metal search while six are slated for development of coal reserves. An innovation in the development work in the iron country has been the adoption of the Drill-Mobile, jumbo-mounted drills on rubber-tired carriage, by Cleveland-Cliffs at the Mather A and B mines. The machine is being used to cut stations in the new Mathed B shaft and for driving development headings at the Mather A.

Jan 5, 1950

By Paul A. Bailly

“For innovative leadership in bringing about a quantitative rationality to mineral exploration; for the impact his efforts and wide respect have made on national mineral policy issues; for his effective managerial role in major mineral discoveries; and for his lecture, ‘Managing for Ore Discoveries.’”

Jan 1, 1980

The Commissioner of Education has issued a call for a public conference on business training for engineers and engineering training for students of business. This conference, national in scope and character fully representative of all interests, will be held in Washington, D. C. on June 23 and 24. Educational institutions, commercial organizations, and educational and engineering societies will be given an opportunity to state their views. Engineers, educators and business men will be invited to discuss the following major topics: Business Training for the Engineer; Engineering Training for Commercial Enterprises; Significance of the. War Experience for Engineering Education; Training of the Engineer for Foreign Projects. This conference has been called on behalf of the Conference Committee on Commercial Engineering. This Committee is composed of administrative professors in engineering and commerce from several of the large educational institutions and representatives from the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, The American Society of Civil Engineers, American Institute of Electrical Engineers, American Society .of Mechanical Engineers, and a committee f fifteen on Educational Preparation for Foreign Service.

Jan 6, 1919