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By D. M. McFarland

A FEW years ago a novel electric detonator known as the split-second or millisecond delay electric blasting cap was introduced for use in quarry blasting. Regular electric blasting caps fired in series may be depended upon to fire within a millisecond or so from the first to the last in a series. Regular delay electric blasting caps are provided that fire one period after the other period in intervals of 1/2 to possibly 1 1/2 sec. Most split-second or millisecond delays are designed to fire one period after the other period in possibly 25 to 50 millisecond intervals. The ear is not capable of detecting time intervals of this magnitude. The primary thought at the time millisecond de- lays were introduced was to investigate the results on rock breakage by firing a line of holes in a quarry face.so that charges in adjacent holes would not be detonated simultaneously. This could not be accomplished satisfactorily with regular delays. The time interval between successive periods of $5 to 1 sec was sufficient to permit considerable movement of the burden. If the burden of one hole was reduced to a great extent by the firing of an adjacent hole, the firing of the hole with the reduced burden would likely reveal this lack of confinement by a terrific report and wild throw of rock.

Jan 1, 1950

By Joseph Domenico

AMONG others, one of the most important duties of the accounting department is to disclose to the management the cost of production accurately and as quickly as possible after the ore has been produced and treated. A report is issued daily showing man shifts and the cost of labor, supplies, power, and miscellaneous charges to each department of the operation: mining, crushing, milling, packing and loading, and general expense. Mining costs are broken down into stoping, handling, development, exploration, and miscellaneous, and each of these subdepartmental costs are further broken down into the branches making up the subdepartment. Costs of crushing, milling, packing and loading, and general expense are detailed in the same manner. With such a detailed daily report as this, the management is able to keep in close touch with the efficiency of the entire operation. Because no expense items are deferred or spread over a period, and so that the report does not lose its comparative valve, appearances of unusual charges are explained.

Jan 1, 1946

By L. H. Marshall

MALLEABLE-IRON castings frequently are made brittle by hot-dip galvanizing. The castings may be and usually are perfectly normal before the hot-dip treatment, in that they will stand a remarkable amount of distortion and punishment before fracturing, yet, after galvanizing, a single blow with a hammer will often cause a break. One such casting broke when accidentally dropped on a concrete floor. Such weakness causes galvanizers to view malleable cast iron with misgivings, and, in turn, is a source of worry to the manufacturer of the castings. It is felt, therefore, that a practical method of overcoming this embrittlement, a method that has already been used on several thousand tons of castings, will be of general interest. The purpose of this paper is to describe this immunizing process. DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROBLEM In the early days the trade was not much concerned with the finish of the castings and in most cases the only protection given to the parts placed in service was a coat of paint. It was soon found that this form of protection was inadequate and the user demanded a better type of rustproofing. In compliance with this demand, the use of zinc for coating gradually spread until it became general practice. More than half of all the zinc produced today is used for coating iron and steel, and, in spite of the recent use of cadmium and chromium, zinc coatings are still recognized as among the best general rust inhibitors for atmospheric exposure.

Jan 2, 1926

By W. H. Bassett

ALTHOUGH brasses and bronzes have been made for ages, a systematic study of their physical properties has been carried out only during the years of the present century. Among these properties may be included those which are to be detected by means of microscopic examination; in other words by the science of metallography. The earlier workers in this field, both in this country and abroad, gave their attention to steel. When the senior author explored the situation in 1902, there was little encouragement to be found in undertaking the study of the non-ferrous alloys. A start was made, and the metallography of the brasses and bronzes, as well as of the copper-nickel- zinc alloys developed materially under his direction. Annealing experiments were begun in 1902, and in the succeeding years the effect of temperature, and the influence of previous working, on the grain size of brass were studied. The conclusions so well known and widely published today were largely reached during those earlier years. In 1905 the first complete annealing series were made. By this it is meant that brass and copper sheet, 5 B & S Nos. hard, was machined into tensile test specimens, then annealed under accurate control for 30 min. at temperatures up to the melting point of the material. Various determinations were made, including tensile strength and elongation in 2 in. There rapidly followed similar series on all of the copper-zinc alloys from 100 to 60 per cent. copper, on the bronzes, cupronickels, and on copper-zinc-nickel alloys. At this point there was published by Grard, in October, 1909,1 the very comprehensive and complete work on the tensile properties of cartridge brass, 90-10 copper-zinc, and electrolytic copper. The excellent photomicrographs in that paper illustrated the changes in structure produced by cold rolling as well as by annealing at different temperatures, but where Grard's work was confined to copper and to two alloys, the investigations in this laboratory have been over the entire fields of the commercial copper-zinc alloys, copper-tin alloys, representative copper-nickel and copper-nickel-zinc alloys as well as aluminum bronzes and others of a more special nature.

Jan 1, 1927

By Leon W. Dupuy

INTRODUCTION A BRIEF elemental discussion of the fundamental factors involved in diamond drilling often fills a need, particularly when a mine operator is contemplating for the first time an exploratory drilling campaign. Mr. James A. Barr, of the Mining Methods Committee of the Institute, has suggested that many engineers must undertake a drilling program of one kind or another and, in the case of diamond drilling, sometimes even are at a loss as to how to start correspondence. The Bureau of Mines has acquired much experience in managing exploratory diamond-drilling activities. Its activities in diamond drilling included exploring for potash in Texas, Utah and New Mexico 1-4 during the 1920's. The Strategic Minerals Exploration program was started in 1939 and was materially expanded during the war to include critical and essential minerals. At the peak of its war-time activity more than 200 engineers were employed, a majority of whom supervised diamond drilling. Many of them had little experience with such work prior to their employment with the Bureau, and it was necessary to instruct them in their duties. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to present the fundamentals of exploratory diamond drilling from the viewpoint of management in such a way that they will serve as a basis on which those beginning exploratory diamond drilling may build an experience and acquire ability to direct exploration as they gain that experience. SELECTION OF METHOD OF DRILLING Selection of the method of drilling is governed by the type of material to be penetrated and by the type of sample needed to determine the quality and importance of a deposit. Types of drills that might be used for a given job include diamond drills, churn drills, hand auger drills, power auger drills, bucket drills, and rotary drills (sometimes called "seismograph rigs"). Each type has a specific field in which it is most useful. While the Bureau of Mines utilized all the types of drilling mentioned, diamond drilling was used on a majority of its exploratory projects. FACTORS GOVERNING SELECTION OF DIAMOND DRILLING The prime consideration in selecting a method of drilling is first to determine what results are desired and then to choose a method that will furnish reliable data in the ground to be penetrated. Use of diamond drills permits recovery of a core as well as sludge at a comparatively low cost. The core provides an excellent means of studying the formation being drilled and furnishes much information that would be difficult to obtain otherwise. Diamond drills will recover a satis-

Jan 1, 1947

By L. J. Lorig, B. H. G. Brady

The Discrete Element Method is a numerical technique suitable for use in modeling the discontinuum behavior of jointed rock. The disadvantage of this method, in its application to analysis of underground excavations, is the necessity to discretize the complete problem domain. Since the far-field rock responds to the excavation as an elastic continuum, it may be appropriately represented by the Boundary Element Method. This exploits the inherent advantage of the Boundary Element Method in representing a quasi-infinite domain in terms of its internal surface geometry and associated boundary conditions. The procedures employed in developing a first-generation coupled Discrete Element-Boundary Element algorithm are described and the solution to a simple problem verifying the performance of the coupled code is presented. A procedure for numerical treatment of installed support systems is also presented.

Jan 1, 1982

By M. G. Arthur

This paper is a theoretical analysis of fingering of water and coning of water and gas in homogeneous sand. Investigation of this idealized case illustrates the relative magnitude of the factors involved in actual conditions. The body of the report presents equations, example calculations, and charts that facilitate solution of such problems. Derivation of the equations introduced in this paper and a discussion of previously published equations are included in the appendix. Introduction Production of water from oil wells as a result of the pressure gradients established by flow of fluids through oil-~roducing sands is a common occurrence, which influences the cost of oil production, the degree of depletion and the efficiency of expulsion of oil from naturally occurring reservoirs. Control of water production and encroachment are important both in primary and secondary phases of of exploitation in order to produce oil and gas at lowest cost and in order to achieve the greatest ultimate recovery of the oil in the reservoir. Although many actual oil reservoirs present a multitude of variables that influence fingering and coning of water and gas, an inspection of the relationship and magnitude of the forces involved in the case of a homogeneous sand may indicate satisfactory methods of controlling water production. Application of equations relating the variables may indicate the geometric type of drainage that exists in a particular reservoir or in the vicinity of a particular well. A homogeneous sand body is assumed within the portion of the reservoir influenced by the well. Two geometric types of drainage are considered theoretically. The first is water fingering into an oil sand that is relatively thin compared with the lateral extent of the sand. This sand may represent the entire oil-producing reservoir or it may represent one interval in an oil reservoir, which is separated from other producing intervals by competent lithologic barriers to flow of fluids. For the condition of complete penetration of a well in such a sand body, it may be assumed that no flow occurs across bedding planes. A mathematical relation is developed between the limit of approach of a water finger to the well without being drawn into the well and the corresponding operating pressure drawdown. The second condition considered is that of water or gas entry into an oil well as the result of coning through bedding planes. The theory and graphical solution developed by Muskat' for the limit of approach of a water or gas cone to a well, without its entry into the well, related to the corresponding maximum pressure drawdown, is reviewed and amplified, Charts are presented, which facilitate graphical solution of the problem. A method is presented for the extension of this type of graphical solution to the case where gas and water coning occurs simultaneously~

Jan 1, 1944

By M. G. Arthur

This paper is a theoretical analysis of fingering of water and coning of water and gas in homogeneous sand. Investigation of this idealized case illustrates the relative magnitude of the factors involved in actual conditions. The body of the report presents equations, example calculations, and charts that facilitate solution of such problems. Derivation of the equations introduced in this paper and a discussion of previously published equations are included in the appendix. Introduction Production of water from oil wells as a result of the pressure gradients established by flow of fluids through oil-~roducing sands is a common occurrence, which influences the cost of oil production, the degree of depletion and the efficiency of expulsion of oil from naturally occurring reservoirs. Control of water production and encroachment are important both in primary and secondary phases of of exploitation in order to produce oil and gas at lowest cost and in order to achieve the greatest ultimate recovery of the oil in the reservoir. Although many actual oil reservoirs present a multitude of variables that influence fingering and coning of water and gas, an inspection of the relationship and magnitude of the forces involved in the case of a homogeneous sand may indicate satisfactory methods of controlling water production. Application of equations relating the variables may indicate the geometric type of drainage that exists in a particular reservoir or in the vicinity of a particular well. A homogeneous sand body is assumed within the portion of the reservoir influenced by the well. Two geometric types of drainage are considered theoretically. The first is water fingering into an oil sand that is relatively thin compared with the lateral extent of the sand. This sand may represent the entire oil-producing reservoir or it may represent one interval in an oil reservoir, which is separated from other producing intervals by competent lithologic barriers to flow of fluids. For the condition of complete penetration of a well in such a sand body, it may be assumed that no flow occurs across bedding planes. A mathematical relation is developed between the limit of approach of a water finger to the well without being drawn into the well and the corresponding operating pressure drawdown. The second condition considered is that of water or gas entry into an oil well as the result of coning through bedding planes. The theory and graphical solution developed by Muskat' for the limit of approach of a water or gas cone to a well, without its entry into the well, related to the corresponding maximum pressure drawdown, is reviewed and amplified, Charts are presented, which facilitate graphical solution of the problem. A method is presented for the extension of this type of graphical solution to the case where gas and water coning occurs simultaneously~

Jan 1, 1944

By G. E. Karantzavelos

Although jigging has been the subject of extensive studies, evaluation of the effect of various jigging factors on the efficiency of separation has been less comprehensive. The basic factors that affect jigging separation are reviewed, a mathematical model describing jigging kinetics is presented, and attention is focussed on the mechanisms of the stratification process. The parameters of the kinetic model (the Wei- bull distribution function) are redefined in a gravity concentration technological sense, and their values are estimated for a wide range of jigging conditions. Several mathematical relationships (regression models) are also formulated which express the dependence of total time required for the complete stratifaction of mineral particles on the operating jigging variables.

Jan 1, 1984

By AIME AIME

A COMMITTEE of the American Railroad Association, consisting of Samuel Rea, president of the Pennsylvania System, Chairman; F. D. Underwood, president of the Erie Railroad; A. T. Dice, president of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad; E. J. Pearson, president of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad; and C. H. Markham, president of the Illinois Railroad (who was represented at the meeting by J. F. Porterfield of his system), met at the headquarters of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, New York, on April 6 to assist in the Coal and Coke Committee's attempt to solve the bituminous coal problem. There was a full discussion of the questions of seasonal freight rates and the purchase by the railroads during the slack months of their winter's supply of coal. As the question of fuel supply for the railroads is in the hands of the Railroad Association, as well as the coal operators, it was vital that it should be represented at this important conference. The situation from the point of view of the mine operators was presented very thoroughly. No seasonal rates were considered necessary for the year 1920, and, as this matter requires considerable thought, it will be given thorough study and worked out in detail at a subsequent meeting.

Jan 1, 1920

By D. G. Deveraux

A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE DAVE JOHNSTON MINE The Dave Johnston coal mine is located near the southwestern extremity of the Powder River Basin in central Wyoming. This mine is operated entirely for the purpose of furnishing fuel to the 750,000 Kw Dave Johnston power generation station located five miles east of Glenrock, Wyoming on the North Platte River about 24 miles east of Casper, Wyoming. Coal is delivered to the power plant by a company-owned railroad moving the coal 15 miles downgrade from the mine to the power plant. The mine first belonging to Pacific Power & Light Company has now been transferred to Northern Energy Resources Company (NERCO), a mining subsidiary of Pacific Power & Light Company. The coal beds which make up the field at the Dave Johnston Mine are locally referred to as the School and Badger seams and occur beneath gently rolling terrain in the Fort Union formation. The School seam is found approximately 180 feet beneath the Badger in the southern portion of the field and about 110 feet beneath the Badger towards the north. The coal beds dip down toward the northeast on about a four percent average inclination. The School seam has an average thickness of about 35 feet and the Badger seam about 16 feet. The climate at the Dave Johnston Mine is semi-arid, with annual precipitation varying between 10 and 12 inches with 70 percent occurring during the months of April to September, with the maximum occurring in May. A few storms occur in July and August which are usually torrential in character, often causing erosion damage to un- protected soils. Snowfall averages 50 inches a year at the mine with 12 to 15 inches of snow yielding one inch of moisture. However, snow seldom

Jan 1, 1983

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 R. B. Sudderth

The recovery of copper by various combinations of processes centered around liquid ion exchange has certainly been accepted as a technically superior entity when compared to the widely applied classical method of cementation. While the technical aspect of liquid ion exchange processes has received much attention and acclaim through actual operating data, in particular the ease of handling solutions, percentage recovery, reduction of pollution, etc., the corresponding economic data has either gone unpublished or has been held confidential. Much of this economic data has now been made available for publication; and with this data, we at General Mills Chemicals, Inc., will attempt to present an accurate economic analysis of some liquid ion exchange plants and an economic comparison between these plants and the typical cementation facility.

Jan 1, 1974

By Frank Firmstone

IT is often desirable to obtain one or more accurate horizontal sections of a blast furnace after blowing out. Wishing to do this, last April, in the case of No. 4 furnace at Glendon, which had worn in a very remarkable manner, the method described below was employed, with very good results. A scaffold was fixed in the furnace, and on it was placed a drawing- board, covered with paper, the top of which was made level at exactly the height at which the section was to he taken. (Fig. 8.) The centre of the furnace (which had previously been found, and marked on a plank across the top) was laid off on it by dropping a plumb-bob from above, and a strong needle was driven into the board in the centre. By means of a straight-edge and two plumb- bobs, the line passing through the centres of the front and back arches was also drawn on the board. A pencil was fastened to a light wooden straight-edge at a known

Jan 1, 1875

By Frank Firmstone

It is often desirable to obtain one or more accurate horizontal sections of a blast furnace after blowing out. Wishing to do this, last April, in the case of No. 4 furnace at Glendon, which had worn in a very remarkable manner, the method described below was employed, with very good results. A scaffold was fixed in the furnace, and on it was placed a drawingboard, covered with paper, the top of which was made level at exactly the height at which the section was to he taken. (Fig. 8.) The centre of the furnace (which had previously been found, and marked on a plank across the top) was laid off on it by dropping a plumb-bob from above, and a strong needle was driven into the board in the centre. By means of a straight-edge and two plumbbobs, the line passing through the centres of the front and back arches was also drawn on the board. A pencil was fastened to a light wooden straight-edge at a known

By Jed H. Mosgrove, Paul M. Budzak

INTRODUCTION Good mine ventilation starts at the drawing board. A coal mine will either be adequately ventilated or not, depending upon how good a job was done in the planning. Poor planning will not only result in inadequate ventilation, but may also lead to low productivity. A mine foreman cannot achieve high productivity while trying to maintain 4.2 m3/s (9000 cfm) of air at his last open crosscut. PLANNING What will provide adequate ventilation? A rule of thumb in laying out a coal mine is to provide enough entries in the main entry system to keep air velocities at 2.5 m/s (500 fpm) or less; at this rate of flow, good ventilation may be expected. The intake and return air courses of a coal mine do not improve with age. Entries will deteriorate, ribs will slough, roof will fall, and clutter will accumulate. The resistance offered to air travel will continue to increase with each passing year. Providing enough airways for the present and the future cannot be emphasized too strongly. In order to better appreciate good planning and bring it into better focus, assume a hypothetical mine has the following features: entries 1.5 m (5 ft) high and 6.1 m (20 ft) wide; one intake and one return entry; the mine development is 4.8 km (3 miles) from the intake and upcast ventilation shafts; and the ventilation requirement is 141.6 m3/s (300,000 cfm). Air travel of 4.8 km (3 miles) into a mine and the same distance back to the fan is not unusual. However, to do so with one intake and one

Jan 1, 1981

By Walter B. Devereux

Metallic copper is a product of native metallurgy in various parts of Mexico, and by somewhat varied processes. While recently examining copper mines in the State of Jalisko, I had an opportunity of witnessing Mexican copper smelting by a process which I have not seen described, and which is interesting from the fact, that a fine quality of copper is produced from sulphurous ores in three metallurgical operations, and apparently without excessive loss. The process was carried on in buildings which were part of a plant erected by an American more than twenty-five years ago for the purpose of smelting and working copper. After a few years this man met with accidental death, and the works have been but little used since. Located in the centre of a high range of mountains, far from any town or seaport, and inaccessible except over difficult mule trails, these substantial buildings, filled with furnaces and heavy machinery,

Jan 1, 1883

By James Bowron

CONSIDERING the importance of the steel trade and the strategic position occupied in it by the Birmingham District, it may be surprising to many to realize that even the first pig iron smelted with coke was made in Alabama on Feb. 28, 1876, although merchant pig iron had been produced in Rockwood, Tenn., in 1867, a plant which is still in active operation. The heavy deposit of Clinton ore extending from Pennsylvania into Alabama, varying greatly in accessibility on account of geological changes such as erosion or anticlinal upthrow, varies equally as much in thickness and in quality. The brown ores extensively scattered through the South also vary materially in quality, some being relatively low in phosphorus and high in manganese, and vice versa. The red ore varies materially in phosphorus, but the iron produced from these ores was always considered to be too high in phosphorus for treatment by acid Bessemer or open hearth and did not contain sufficient for the basic Bessemer process. Under these conditions there remained only the basic open hearth as a possibility, and for many years it appeared impossible to use it, because, with coke smelted iron, the silicon was too high to permit its use in basic lined furnaces.

Jan 1, 1924

By J. R. Low

The brittle fracture of a Tic-lnconel cermet at room temperature is shown to occur primarily as a result of the cracking of the larger carbide particles (at a tensile strain of approximately 0.3 pct), followed by cracking of adjacent, smaller carbides and, finally, by the rupture of the lnconel matrix between cracked carbides (at a strain of-1.2 pct). No evidence was found for separation at the interface between carbide and matrix at any point in the fracture process. MATERIAL used in this study was a Tic-Inconel cermet prepared by infiltration (50 pct Tic, 50 pct Inconel: designated as TC66-I). A thin section of this material was brazed to a piece of low carbon steel and then mounted in lucite for metal-lographic preparation." After grinding, polishing, Deformation and fracture of the specimen was accomplished by bending the specimen as a simply supported, centrally loaded beam, in a bending fixture which could be placed in the stage of a microscope, with the tension side of the bend specimen under the microscope objective.? This method of deformation and observation has the advantage that the surface under examination is the most severely deformed portion of the specimen. The procedure followed was to deform the specimen a small amount, scan the surface at Xl OOO for any evidence of deformation or cracking, deform another small increment, scan the surface again, and so on until a

Jan 1, 1957

Jan 1, 1940