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By John J. Croston

The year 1935 witnessed one of the world's oldest industries—gold mining—attain the stature of a billion dollar business. Preliminary estimates indicate that somewhat over 30,000,000 oz. of gold was produced, the largest output ever recorded and exceeding the previous year by more than 11 per cent. Of this huge total the Witwatersrand field produced about 10,800,000 oz., compared with 10,480,000 oz. in 1934. Russia was apparently the stellar performer, and from incomplete data it appears that between five and five and a half million ounces were produced by the Soviets compared with 4,200,000 last year and 2,814,000 in 1933. The United States nosed Canada out of third place with a production of 3,546,000 oz. against 2,916,000 in 1934, while Canada increased her total from 2,965,000 to 3,291,000 oz. Similarly, gains of lesser magnitude were made in Australia, the Gold Coast and other countries. As a result of great activity in developing outlying areas on the Rand, and the great number of new companies building mills in Canada, Australia, the Gold Coast and the United States, the years 1936 and 1937 should see new high records, as these new producers will more than offset any decline in the older properties. The whole world has become "gold conscious" during the past three years. It has been the subject of innumerable articles by economists and others, but, unfortunately, because of their lack of actual mining knowledge, they have treated the production of gold as a static affair, ignoring geological and technical factors. It is hardly necessary to draw attention to the fact that the world's gold-mining industry was slowly but steadily shrinking in importance, owing to the gradual depletion of known deposits that were profitable to work at costs existing prior to 1929. The International Geological Congress at Pretoria and the League of Nations Committee drew attention to the estimates of the mining experts of the various governments predicting a steady falling off in world production. On the Rand there

Jan 1, 1937

By Albert L. Toenges

Alaska requires an adequate fuel supply for its development, and has large potential coal reserves ranging from lignite to subbituminous and anthracite. Coal production in the Territory now is less than the requirements. In 1947, production was 361,000 tons, divided about equally between bituminous coal from the Matanuska field and subbituminous coal from the Nenana field. There is need for development of modern mechanized mines, which should produce the required output with a minimum of workers. These mines should not be thought of in the light of large potential capacity, as in the States. However, these new mines should be developed by modern methods, which should result in lower costs than at present. Because of the diverse physical conditions in the coal fields, intensive investigation by diamond drilling is necessary to properly plan the development and equipment of mine sites at minimum cost. The Bureau of Mines is doing this now in the Wishbone Hill area of the Matanuska field. All coal land in Alaska is government-owned and subject to the Coal Leasing Act.

Jan 1, 1949

The following is an incomplete list of members and guests who called at Institute headquarters during the period Feb. 10, 1919, to Mar. 10, 1919. R. H. Allport, Cleveland, Ohio. R. R. Landon, Philippine Islands. I. H. Bergstein, New York. Alfred 0. Law, Cambridge, Mass. Capt. R. S. Burdette, San Antonio, Tex. James M. Little, Towanda, Pa. William R. Chedsey, State College, Pa. F. E. Marcy, Salt Lake City, Utah. L. R. Clapp, Philadelphia, Pa. H. F. Nash, Bartlesville, Okla. J. Murray Clark. L. S. Panyity, Columbus, Ohio. E. H. Claussen, San Francisco, Calif. W. C. Ralston, Reno, Nev. George E. Collins, -Denver, Colo. T. A. Rickard, San Francisco, Calif. George L. Collord, Sharpsville, Pa.. W. A. Rigby, Mt, Vernon, Iowa. William M. Corse, Mansfield, Ohio. H. H. Rowatt, Ottawa. Frank R. Crampton, Los Angeles, Calif. P. H. Royster, Pittsburgh, Pa. Capt. E. 0. Daue. Alan B. Sanger, Dorchester, Mass. A. E. Eddy, Butte, Mont. J. S. Shaw, Pittsburgh, Pa. N. H. Emmons, 2d, Lynchburg, Va. S. B. Shutts, Lynchburg, Va. E. W. Engelmann, Hayden, Ariz. Henry B. Smith, New Britain, Conn. F. A. Fahrenwald, Cleveland, Ohio. W. C. Smith, Roselle, N. J. 0. S. Finnie, Ottawa. Harry M. Spoor. John T. Fuller, Honesdale, Pa. D. M. Stackhouse, Johnstown, Pa. Major C. C. Griggs, Eureka, Utah. F. D. Stay,. Cleveland, Ohio. H. F. E. Gamm, Rutherford, N. J. D. B. Sterrett, St. Cyr, Que. A. W. Hackwood, Butte, Mont. R. H. Thayer, Yonkers, N. Y. C. L. Horne, Roanoke, Va. Kirby Thomas,. New York. B. B. Hood, Chrome, N. J. Henry Traphagen, Toledo, Ohio. R. E. Hore, Toronto Ont. H. D. Trounce, San Diego, Calif. Ross B. Hoffmann, Oakland, Calif. Henry J. Volkin, Ossining, N. Y. G. A. Joslin, Salt Lake City, Utah.. A. T. Ward, Bellefonte, Pa. John Johnston, Washington, D. C. Major L. W. Wickes. Paul S. King, Wilmington, Del. Horace V. Winchell, Minneapolis, Minn. E. William Kohl, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa. Fred L. Wolf, Mansfield, Ohio. W. H. Landers, San Francisco; Calif. J. Carson Adkerson, of the Stockwood Realty Corpn., Inc., of Woodstock, Va., writes that they are discontinuing their operations in Virginia on account of the conditions in the manganese market following the end of the war.

Jan 4, 1919

By Theodore P. Holt

The Mines Operating Co.'s plant at Park City, Utah, was designed to treat the low-grade fillings in the old stopes of the Ontario mine. These fillings carry 6 to 14 oz. of silver, 1 to 2 lb. of copper, 0.01 to 0.015 oz. of gold, and a small percentage of lead and zinc. The treatment consists in mixing the crushed ore with coal dust and salt and then roasting in a new type of furnace by combustion of the contained fuel. The roasted ore is leached with an acid salt solution to dissolve the silver, gold, copper, and lead. At present these metals are precipitated together on scrap iron and the product sold to a refinery. The only new feature of importance in this scheme of treatment is the roasting process, which makes possible the chloridizing of ores without any loss of the valuable metals, and at a very low cost. History of the Development of the Process The roasting process- had its beginning in connection with research work at the Utah State School of Mines. N. C. Christensen, Jr., who held one of the School of Mines' fellowships, was engaged in some experimental work on blast roasting. At the same time I was doing some work on the insoluble gold in Mercur base ores. Mr. Christensen roasted some of this base gold ore in his pot furnace, and found that when he mixed a sufficiently low percentage of fuel with the ore, it did not sinter but roasted to a leachable product. We considered this a new application of blast roasting, and proceeded to test out a large number of ores in several different types of small roasters which we constructed.. This experimental work continued well into the summer of 1911. In August, 1911, the Consolidated Mercur Gold Mines Co. installed a small roaster of our design, which we proposed to operate on the counter-current principle, feeding mixed ore continuously on top, and at the same time drawing off the roasted ore from the bottom. By proper adjustment we hoped to maintain a permanent roasting zone near the center of the column, the ore moving downward as roasted. However, we

Jan 1, 1915

By Charles Goodale

With notes on other mines of the Marysville district by WALTER McDERMOTT, London, England, and F. L. Sizer, Dos Cabezas, Ariz. (Salt Lake Meeting, August, 1914) THE purpose of this paper is to review the history of the Drumlummon, one of the famous old mines of the West. Mining engineers, when sent to examine new mines in old districts, or to decide whether an old property, under new conditions, will pay to re-open, have had difficulty in learning anything authentic regarding workings which are under water, and historical facts about the working character of the ore, the total production, and the value of the ore with increasing depth. Not many years elapse after the pumps are pulled, before maps, books and records are destroyed, and the value of the publications of the Institute would be increased if they contained the history of many old mines now abandoned. The unsuccessful efforts of the writer quite recently in trying to obtain reliable information about a gold mine which was reported to have produced several million dollars between 1880 and 1888, the workings of which are now partially caved and under water, impressed upon his mind the desirability of having a permanent record of old properties. In this particular case, the owners insisted that under present conditions of improved methods of treatment -particularly by the use of cyanide, which was not an applied process when the mine was operated, the property. could be made to pay a handsome profit on ore left in sight in the old workings, but no assay records could be found to confirm these assurances, and even the records of bullion shipments had been destroyed. If surveys and maps were made as the work progressed, no trace of them could be found, and therefore opening of the ground through a new shaft and drifts therefrom would be attended by some risk while exploring near the old workings. Fatal accidents by flooding under these conditions have occurred, and as an evidence that miners have fears of such dangers, it was urged upon the Mining Committee during a recent session of the Montana Legislature, by a delegation of

Jan 8, 1914

By John J. Croston

THE year 1935 witnessed one of the world's oldest industries-gold mining-attain the stature of a billion dollar business. Preliminary estimates indicate that somewhat over 30,000,000 oz. of gold was pro-duced, the largest output ever recorded and exceeding the previous year by more than 11 per cent. Of this huge total the Witwatersrand field produced about 10,800,000 oz., compared with 10,480,000 oz. in 1934. Russia was apparently the stellar performer, and from incomplete data it appears that between five and five and a half million ounces were produced by the Soviets compared with 4,200,000 last year and 2,814,000 in 1933. The United States nosed Canada out of third place with a production of 3,546,000 oz. against 2,916,000 in 1934, while Canada increased her total from 2,965,000 to 3,291,000 oz. Similarly, gains of lesser magnitude were made in Australia, the Gold Coast and other countries. As a result of great activity in developing outlying areas on the Rand, and the great number of new companies building mills in Canada, Australia, the Gold Coast and the United States, the years 1936 and 1937 should see new high records, as these new producers will more than offset any decline in the older properties. The whole world has become "gold conscious" during the past three years. It has been the subject of innumerable articles by economists and others, but, unfortunately, because of their lack of actual mining knowl-edge, they have treated the production of gold as a static affair, ignoring geological and technical factors. It is hardly necessary to draw attention to the fact that the world's gold-mining industry was slowly but steadily shrinking in importance, owing to the gradual depletion of known deposits that were profitable to work at costs existing prior to 1929. The International Geological Congress at Pretoria and the League of Nations Committee drew atten-tion to the estimates of the mining experts of the various governments predicting a steady falling off in world production. On the Rand there

Jan 1, 1936

By R. B. Haagensen, E. Martinez, V. Kudryk

The sample under investigation contained approximately 16% BaSO, and was 80% -325 mesh. Established methods for floating barite did not produce concentrates of satisfactory grade or barite recovery because of low barite content and the presence of 6% calcite in the feed. By using a new long-chain sulfosuccinamate collector in combination with relatively high concentrations of sodium silicate, a barite concentrate was produced that would be acceptable as an oil-drilling mud using a simple rougher-cleaner circuit. No desliming of the fine-ground feed was necessary. Barite recovery was over 80% and the concentrate produced had a specific gravity higher than 4.3. During the course of the investigation, a procedure was developed to obtain semiquantitative determinations of barite, calcite, quartz, and feldspar in test samples using an infrared spectrophotometer. Samples were also analyzed in a thermobalance for determination of the calcite content. The use of these instruments made it possible to obtain quick mineralogical assays and proved to be of invaluable assistance in guiding the flotation testing.

Jan 1, 1976

By Robert L. Greyer, John I. Myung

The Birdwell 3-D Velocity Log displays photographically the amplitude of elastic waves as a function of time and of the depth of the logging tool in a borehole. The elastic waves are generated by a magneto-strictive source transducer and detected by a receiving transducer, which is at a fixed distance from the source. The output of the receiver, which is proportional to the amplitude of the received elastic waves, modulates the light that exposes the film record. The duration of the receiving time can be selected to record the entire wavetrain of late events or to record only early events at a finer time scale. When a full complement of elastic waves (i.e., the refracted compressional wave, composite shear wave, direct fluid wave, and boundary wave) is recorded, their velocities and the density of the borehole fluid provide the information necessary to compute the elastic moduli and density of the rock surrounding the bore-hole. The differences between the values of the moduli determined from measurements of 3-D Velocity Logs and by other better known techniques are small, well within the limits of experimental error, when the velocity log is interpreted by an experienced seismic analyst. INTRODUCTION Quantitative descriptions of the mechanical properties of the rock environment have long been basic requirements of planning, design, and quality control of engineering projects. Because of this need, many techniques for determining the elastic moduli from static and

Jan 1, 1971

By L. D. Fetterolf

The New Jersey Zinc Zompany operates at Depue, Illinois, an integrated zinc smelting plant using tie vertical retort reduction process. The overall operation comprises green concentrate roasting, sintering, vertical retort smelting and metal refining. In the roasting operation, the fine concentrate is pelletized, the dried pellets fluidized and autogenously roasted with air in a “fluid column” with minimal formation of dust requiring recirculation. The roasted pellets and any associated roaster dust are agglomerated in a rotating drum and laid down, in combination with coal for fuel, on a Dwight-Lloyd sintering machine which converts to a semi-fused mass - a physical state more suitable for vertical retort smelting. The smeltins plant of 27 vertical retorts rated at 8 T zinc each per day on average requires the following major processing steps - mix preparation and briquettine, briquet coking, vertical retort reduction, vapor condensation and slab casting of metal. A portion of zinc production is converted to 99.99+ percent purity by boiling and fractional distillation in columns consisting of externally heated, superimposed trays of high-conductivity refractory.

Jan 1, 1970

By H. B. Fuqua, B. E. Thompson

The area discussed herein, commonly known as the North Texas district, embraces the following 10 counties: Archer, Baylor, Clay, Cooke, Foard, Hardeman, Knox, Montague, Wichita and Wilbarger. It is underlain by two major structural features. The northernmost portion of the district, including Cooke, Montague, northern Clay, Wichita, Wilbarger, Foard and Hardeman counties, is underlain by the system of buried mountains known as the Red River uplift, which is parallel to and closely related to the Wichita-Amarillo uplift of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. While the presence of a great majority of the numerous oil fields of the area is traceable to this feature, the production in Archer, southwestern Clay and southeastern Baylor counties is due to the influence of what is known as the Cisco Arch (so called because of its influence on Cisco deposition), the axis of which extends in a north\lest-southeast direction across Archer County. Discussion of Tables Preliminary to discussing developments during the year 1933, it appears advisable to offer a few words of explanation on Tables 1 and 2, included as part of this paper, in which an effort has been made to sumlllarize oil and gas development in North Texas to Jan. 1, 1934. One of the chief objectives of this publication is understood to be to show production by individual pools, and, if possible, by distinct pays in a pool. This the authors haw been unable to do for North Texas. It is a generally recognized fact that there are well over 100 individual pools, which should perhaps be mow properly called "productive spots," in Archer county alone, with perhaps an even greater number in Wichita County. It can be found upon investigation that an apparently continuous productive area covering Many acres consists of a half dozen lenticular sands, all stratigraphically different,, which produce only under portions of the apparently continuous area. It is also a fact that practically all gross production records are carried by the various intcrcsted parties by major districts or by counties. It is obvious therefore

Jan 1, 1934

By H. C. Miller

The gas-lift method of flowing oil from wells is the outstanding feature of petroleum technology today. Its forerunner, the air-lift, was used successfully first, in the Baku fields of Russia, in 1899, and later in the Gulf Coast fields of Texas and Louisiana and the Kern River field of California. It is still used to a limited extent in certain oil fields. The use of compressed natural gas for lifting oil from wells has supplanted the air-lift method in a measure in those fields where a sufficient quantity of gas accompanies the oil to make the gas-lift possible, or where natural gas is plentiful and inexpensive. We find, therefore, in California, that natural gas is used at practically every well where a gaseous medium is employed to flow the oil. The use of natural gas has many advantages over that of air. It is possible to recover and save the gasoline from the gas that accompanies the oil to the surface. This gasoline would be wasted if air were used as the lifting medium. Also, certain proportions of air and gas form an explosive mixture that cannot be handled safely by compressors. Another advantage that gas has over air is that gas under pressure is more soluble in oil. Gas in solution in oil reduces the viscosity of the oil that is being produced and causes it to flow more readily through the tubing and flow lines. The gas-lift has made it possible to recover many thousands of barrels of oil from deep wells in California that could not have been produced otherwise. It would not have been economical, had it been mechanically possible, to produce such wells as the world's deepest producing oil well (Miley Athen's No. 6, Rosecrans field, California) by any other method of pumping known today. At this well, production is obtained from between 7305 and 7591 ft. and 11 months after completion of the well, production was being maintained on the gas-lift at approximately 2000 bbl. a month. The crookedness of the hole, or its diameter and depth will not prevent the successful application of gas-lift pumping when other conditions are favorable.

Jan 1, 1928

(Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons.) Opening for three unmarried draftsmen with large mining company in Chile, S. A. Two must be designers familiar with the layout and detail work connected with a large milling and smelting plant; the third must be good steel designer. Salary starts day of leaving New York; all expenses paid to Chile and return; three-year agreement required. Applicants should state age, experience, and- salary expected. No. 27. ENGINEERS AVAILABLE (Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary. of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Member, aged 43, with 25 years' experience as engineer, examiner, and superintendent of steel, copper, lead, nickel, gold mines, and plants. Record for organizing and handling work quickly and economically even in remote districts. Last position five years' heavy reconstruction work covering blast furnaces, converters, roasting and refining plant. Ready to go anywhere, similar fields. Speaks German. No. 188.

Jan 3, 1915

By Calvin C. Brown

A university is a place to build minds and develop leaders. It provides the tools necessary for the development of new ideas which come from the inquisitive mind and is one of the stepping stones to management responsibilities for the truly ambitious. However, it is not always a financially sound investment! Lately, there have been several articles published on the economic advantages of a college education. These articles tend to average wages together according to education and years of service. Their tabulations generally include the chairman of the board, various vice presidents and plant managers and do not reflect the achievement of the average graduate. They consistently fail to include an analysis of the investment a college education requires. In reality, the bright high school graduate would make more real money over a 20-year period if he went directly to work "on the hill" than he would if he graduated from college. Furthermore, he would find little difference between his wages and those of the college graduate in the period from 20-30 years after high school graduation.

Jan 1, 1971

By John V. Beall

Back in the days when it was possible to tell one sports season from another, the football season began the last Saturday in September and ended on Thanksgiving Day for most teams. There were one or two post-season bowl games on New Year Day; but that was it. Actually, ten weeks of football, counting preseason practice, was about all a player could stomach without going stale. Not that the boys were any softer back then; quite the contrary, a good player usually played 60 minutes of ball. We must admit that we played lots of football in those days too---but not on Saturday. Particularly we remember the Monday after the Saturday when Columbia beat the Georgia Tech team which was led by the great back, Frank Sinkowitch, by a score of 7 to 3. That Saturday Mr. Little actually played 14 men: that is there were three backfield substitutions, each of which was for a few minutes only. Georgia seemed to have a progressive coach because he alternated two squads by quarters.

Jan 1, 1970

By E. G. Williams

Conveyors were first used underground at Miami Copper Co., in the latter part of 1947. At that time some of the stoping area was too heavy and too close to the haulage level to use conventional haulage. To get the haulage drifts out from under the stoping area belt conveyors were used for the additional lateral transfer. Since 1947 more than 8 million tons have been mined in this manner, with as many as four belt type stopes in production at one time. When the mining plan for the new low grade was worked out, it was decided to use belts on what otherwise would have been short train haulage transfers to move the ore laterally to centrally located concrete ore passes. One group of these stopes has grizzly levels on the 570, with a belt level on the 670; the other group has grizzly levels on the 720 and belt levels on the 820, with the concrete ore passes bottoming on the 1000, or the existing train haulage level.

Jul 1, 1956

By A. R. Sims

Are from the Greater Butte Project is hoisted through the new Kelley shaft. In 1946 when plans were formulated for the Kelley mine, two test cave blocks were mined by using the facilities of the old St. Lawrence mine. These blocks, known as the Adams No. 1 and Adams No. 2, produced more than half a million tons of ore. The experiment proved beyond all doubt that cave mining was possible- and economical-in Butte. Adams No. 1 was patterned after Inspiration cave blocks. Adams No. 2 was a slusher type, with the slusher lane on the first floor above the haulage crosscut and at right angles to it. Thirty-horsepower electric hoists slushed ore from 48-in. scraper buckets directly into cars for haulage to the shaft. These cars were the 57-cu ft Granby type hauled by 6-ton battery locomotives over 40-lb, 18-in. gage track. Prior to this time the largest slushing machines used at Butte were 15-hp electric hoists pulling 36-in. scrapers.

Dec 1, 1956

By J. H. Polhems, R. B. Brackin, D. B. Grove

P. L. Jones (Sink and Float Corp., New York)—The comparisons between galena and ferrosilicon medium should be applied only to the specific sink-float process used at Mascot since no evidence is presented that allows the comparison to be extended generally to galena medium as now used in other forms of sink-float. It is stated that flotation recovery of galena medium was tried but was unsuccessful and therefore the elaborate gravity system of medium recovery was applied. The expense of the gravity system at Mascot was one of the reasons for changing to ferrosilicon. However two important sink-float plants treating a combined total of over 13,000 tons of ore per day are using flotation to clean galena medium most successfully and are obtaining medium recoveries comparable with those reported in the paper for ferrosilicon. Slightly increased zinc recovery is claimed due to the change-over but it is to be noted that at the time of the change a decreased density differential was obtained in the separator. With galena a differential

Jan 1, 1952

Discussion of the paper of P. B. LIEBERMANN, presented at the St. Louis meeting October, 1917, and printed in Bulletin No. 127, July, 1917, pp. 1051 to 1062. P. B. LIEBERMANN.-As mentioned in my paper, a special investigation was made on the effect of dirt on the track, for the -express purpose of educating mine operators to the advantage of keeping their tracks clean. As to the benefit of clean tracks to the saving in battery consumption, that can be easily determined if the rate of discharge is known under existing conditions, that is, on dirty tracks. The tests have shown that tracks covered with coal dust cause an increase in draw-bar pull of about 30 per cent. The battery discharge table will show the capacity corresponding to the new rate of discharge and will thereby disclose the possible saving in battery consumption. The difference between dirty tracks and clean tracks will be found large enough to have an appreciable effect on the size of the storage-battery locomotive, and for a locomotive of any given size it may mean

Jan 1, 1918

By John H. Bassarear, Harold W. Sorstokke

The never ending search for lower unit costs led Pima Min- ing Company's management to study various alternatives shortly after Expansion III was completed. A considerable amount of ore as- saying 0.35% copper had to be moved to maintain mill feed at the desired 0.54 % copper content, which is the overall grade of the ore reserves. Detailed investigations revealed that for a period of 8-10 yr, about 14,000 tpd of 0.30- 0.40% copper ore pass the crusher enroute to the low grade stockpile. This ore is very hard, very clean and has to be mined at a uniform rate. A six month pilot plant run testing autogenous and semi-autogenous grinding gave encouraging results. Since no mining costs need to be charged to the extra tonnage (it had to be mined anyway), the major costs would be against milling. The decision to proceed was made in August 1970. Fluor-Utah was retained as the prime design construction contractor. Ore was put through the new mill on December 29, 1971. By March of 1972 design tonnage

Jan 5, 1973

Open pit operators have found the dropball crane a great aid in cutting costs and hazards of secondary breakage. But a common problem in using the unit has been with the shock absorbing connection from the cable to the dropball itself. Blair Limestone Div. of Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. has come up with a new connector to solve this problem and to save the time usually lost in frequent replacement of the cable slings, chains, or old tires hitherto used at this point. J&L personnel solved the problem by combining three ideas from other dropball crane owners. Their unit consists of two long U-bolts running through a heavy spring originally made for use on a vibrating screen. Heavy duty swivels attached to the bent ends of the U-bolts provide attachment points for the crane cable and the special chain to the dropball. Connection at the dropball is by an eyelet welded directly into the mass of steel, and a special alloy chain is connected to this with a clevis.

Nov 1, 1955