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By A. CHESTER BEATTY

MAGNESIUM oxide is by far the most refractory of the common oxides, since it has a melting point of 5072 deg. F. as compared with 3110 deg. F., the melting point of silica (crystobalite) ; 3722 deg. F., the melting point of alumina (corundum) ; and 4127 deg. F., the melting point of chromite (Cr2O33FeO). Its large-scale use in the lining of metallurgical furnaces dates back to the latter part of the nineteenth century, when extensive deposits of magnesium carbonate were discovered in southern Austria in the province of Styria. Before the development of Austrian magnesite, calcined dolomite, a mixture of lime and magnesia, was used in basic steel-making furnaces. The lime in the dolomite was quite objectionable, since it slaked on exposure to the atmosphere, and dolomite therefore could not be made' .into permanent furnace bottoms or into brick. The Austrian magnesite, with its very low lime content, was free from these objections and soon displaced much of the dolomite. With the extensive development of basic steel-melting, the rise of the copper industry, and other metallurgical and chemical processes which dealt with chemically basic substances, the use of magnesite grain and magnesite brick increased rapidly.

Jan 1, 1931

By C. E. Johnston

In December 1956, International Minerals & Chemical Corp. installed a rope-suspended belt haulage system in its Carlsbad, N. M., potash mine to complement the already existing rail transport arrangement. In this article the author describes when and where each system is used, the advantages and disadvantages of both, and future planning and proposed changes in haulage at IMC. The haulage system at the International Minerals & Chemical Corporation (IMC) potash mine near Carlsbad, N. M., reached a turning point in December 1956 with the introduction of rope-suspended belt haulage. In fact, IMC pioneered the use of this type of belt in the potash industry. Since that time belt conveyance has been employed as an extension of the rail system but not as a replacement of the main rail haulage. IMC's potash mine is located in the Permian Basin, approximately 20 miles east of Carlsbad in Eddy County, N. M. The 800, 850 and 900-ft levels have been exploited. From these levels over 60 million tons have been extracted. The two ore minerals are sylvite (KCl) and langbeinite (K2SO4. 2MgSO4). The principal gangue mineral is halite, with minor amounts of polyhalite, kainite and leonite. Langbeinite is mined on the 850-ft level and sylvite on the 900. The 800-ft level, with both langbeinite and sylvite mineralization, is idle. Mining heights vary from 54 in. to over 10 ft. A room and pillar mining system is used. Geologically, mining is done in the Salado salt formation. The U.S. Geological Survey has classified the 900-ft sylvite level as the first ore zone and the 850-ft langbeinite level as the fourth ore zone. Since the grade of sylvite is low, mineralization at the IMC mine is somewhat irregular and salt horses, are common. Selective mining and a flexible haulage

Jan 1, 1963

By Wm. A. Haven

As soon as the likelihood of American participation in the war was established, and in spite of the fact that we can produce almost as much as all other countries combined, the demand for prompt deliveries of iron and steel products from American factories began to exceed their utmost capacity, and, after fifteen months of practically full operation, has continued to do so. Therefore, it would seem worth while to review some of the aspects of the supply and demand for steel as well as the efforts that are being made to bring them into balance. It is still being debated as to whether the situation should be defined as a real shortage that will persist through the emergency period or as a temporary one than can be relieved by less drastic measures than a Government-sponsored program of expanding existing plants and building new ones.

Jan 1, 1942

[United Engineering Society WALTER H. ALDRIDGE J. VIPOND DAVIES J. V. N. DORR Engineering Societies Library Board SYDNEY H. BALL ALEXANDER C. HUMPHREYS GEORGE C. STONE JOHN H. JANEWAY Engineering Foundation Board H. M. BOYLSTOX J. VIPOND DAVIES GALEN H. CLEVENGER]

Jan 1, 1928

By George Otis Smith

WHAT American can enter this Western empire without his imagination being stirred by the stories of its past-yes, and even more by visions of its future! Whether we travel by rail or by auto, our pathway has its traditions of exploration and its records of early settlement. The mountain passes and the routes used by today's commerce are lasting memorials of the pathfinders whose unconquerable purpose was to search out a way-Lewis and Clark, Bonneville, Pike, Long, FrBmont, their names still live in your rivers and lakes and peaks. It was the glory of these adventurers that they spied out the land so that others might follow that long pro- cession of pioneers who occupied the new country- fur traders, gold miners, cattlemen, and homesteaders. Each of these pioneers attacked the problem of transportation in his own way, and each sought by his own method to win the resources whose richness had been reported by the pen of the Government explorer or by the swift rumor of the unnamed and unfamed adventurer. Trails were worn deep by these home or fortune seekers as they passed through the mountain barriers in successive waves-and these were waves that did not ebb, for this was an army of occupation. Along these main pathways of the West, as one historian has pointed out, the figure of chief interest was the sad- faced woman sitting on the front of the covered wagon.

Jan 1, 1926

By A. H. Bromly

THE small agricultural village of Santa Barbara, in the State of Guanajuato, has been the center of spasmodic tin-mining operations during recent years. The deposits, so far as I know, are unique, and a few brief notes may be of interest. Santa Barbara, about 12 miles west of San Felipe station on the Mexican National Railway, and at an elevation of 2,400 m. above sea-level, is situated in a flat valley extending east and west, and bounded north and south by broken rugged bills rising about 330 m. above the general level of the valley. Tin-mining operations have been conducted-at the Queensland mine, near this village. A small concentrating-mill was erected and attempts were made to smelt the ore in reverberatory furnaces. The country-rock of the district for many miles is rhyolite of great thickness. There are some local variations due to differences in cooling, or subsequent alteration or impregnation; but throughout the whole district the principal constituents of the rocks remain the same, viz., free silica, orthoclase-feldspar and sanidine. The latter is especially marled. The crevice and joints of the rock are frequently filled with calcedonic and opalescent quartz. The ore-formation at the Queensland mine is of an unusual nature, consisting of cracks in the rhyolite which have been filled with clay. This phenomenon is largely developed over a width of from 80 to 100 m., in which the principal fissuring follows an approximate direction of north and south. The av¬erage clip ranges between 70 to 80 degrees. Some of the fissures bold sufficiently true for a time to afford the impression that they are clue to dynamic causes, or earth-movement. This may be true of some of the north by south fissures; but considering

Jul 1, 1905

By Joseph T. Roy

MINING revival during the last few years has brought about a considerable increase in the number of gold and silver determinations made, noticeable in all branches of the industry but especially so in the business of a custom smelter. At East Helena, solely a custom smelter the assay department found that the four assay furnaces available were inadequate to handle the increased amount of work. These furnaces were of a standard design, having duplex muffles, one superimposed on the other; each muffle was 12 1/2 in. wide, 18 1/4 in. long and 6 in. high, and could handle 72 cupels or 20 fusions. Since the heat varied considerably between the upper and lower muffles, cupellations were not ruin in both at the same time. To speed up assaying, E. A. Meale, chief chemist, had the happy idea of enlarging a muffle furnace, originally designed by the Montana Power Co., so that one muffle would acconmmodate at least as many determinations as the duplex muffles. An order was given to the Denver Fire Clay Co. for a Carbofrax muffle of the size required and the local engineering department enlarged the furnace to accommodate the muffle. Details of the

Jan 1, 1938

By John A. Mathews

D R. CHARLES W. ELIOT, the great educator and philosopher-he of the five-foot book shelf-recently gave expression to a thought I had long been cherishing as a private opinion, when he said: "It is obvious that standardization has become a dangerous adversary of progress in both education and industry." This idea must have been more widespread than either of us knew, for some five years ago a writer of verse for one of the comic papers dealt with it at great length. I will quote only a few of his stanzas to illustrate his understanding of "A Standardized Existence" : A visitor at large, I stand Beneath a standard sky- Where everything is standardized To please the standard eye. Each tree is of a standard height, Each building is the same; Each man is uniform in height, And has a standard name. Above there is a standard star Beside a standard cloud, And a standard weather here prevails To please a standard crowd. With standard joy, and standard gain, The standard people live; And if there is one bit of pain T?is such as standards give.

Jan 1, 1926

By Olin M. Hart

Uranium ores occur in the Lower Cretaceous Inyan Kara group of heterogeneously stratified fluvial and fluvial-marine sandstones in the Black Hills of western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. There are three principal mining districts, each in the ancestral and present drainage area of a major river partially responsible for stripping the region to its present topographic form. Primary minerals in the deposits are coffinite and uraninite with minor amounts of paramontroseite and haggite. The ore minerals coat sand grains and fill interstices of complexly cross-stratified sandstone along solution fronts similar to "roll" type deposits of the other districts. Minerals of oxidized deposits are typically carnotite and tyuyamunite with different proportions of secondary vanadium accessory minerals. Ground water was the transporting medium and deposition of primary uranium and vanadium minerals occurred in reducing environments produced and controlled by physio-chemical characteristics of the sedimentary rocks.

Jan 1, 1968

United Engineering Society ARTHUR S. DWIGHT KARL EILERS J V N DORR Engineering Societies Library Board SYDNEY H. BALL JOSEPH E POGUE GEORGE C STONE JOHN H. JANEWAY Engineering Foundation Board J. V N. DORR JOHN M CALLOW GALEN H CLEVENGER

Jan 1, 1923

By AIME AIME

A. A. Holland, Consulting Engineer, Toronto, Ont.-I noticed in this discussion of locations in which radium is found, no mention is made of the recent deposits discovered in Ontario. While radium is not a subject with which I am very familiar, I took an interest in this deposit on account of its novel occurrence. It is found in Haliburton County, near Wilberforce, Ontario, associated with a quartz free pegmatite, in a "break" that I understand can be traced for two miles. This "break" marks the contact between the limestone and syenite and contains numerous cavities or vugs. The gangue, on account of its deep purple, appears to :be amethyst.

Jan 1, 1930

By R. W. Dr. Raymond

(Read at the Philadelphia Meeting, February, 1878.) THE manufacture of ferromanganese in the blast furnace having been the subject of considerable attention in the Institute, I beg to put on record a contribution to the discussion from a quarter hitherto not directly represented, namely, the St. Louis furnaces, near Marseilles in France, belonging to a company of which M. Jordan, a member of the Institute, is Managing Director. These furnaces commenced in 1862 to manufacture specular pig (fontes à facettes) containing from three to six per cent. of manganese. In 1864 the regular production of spiegeleisen (fontes miroitantes), containing seven to ten per cent, of manganese, was inaugurated. At that time the Rhine was the only locality of this manufacture, and the Bessemer works of England and France obtained from Germany all their spiegel. From 1864 to the present time, the St. Louis furnaces have been advancing steadily the percentage of manganese in their product. From ferromanganese of thirty per cent. they had arrived, about two years ago, at a product containing seventy to seventy-five per cent., and for some time past they have been turning out what, as M. Jordan remarks, may fairly be termed fonte de manganese, or manganese pig, instead of iron, since the percentage of iron it contains is not more than 8.5, while the percentage of manganese is 85, or ten times as great. This very high grade material has a peculiar appearance, entirely different from that of ordinary cast iron or spiegel. It is granular, and steely gray in color. The following analyses, communicated to the Société to des Ingenieurs Oivils, by M. Jordan, show the composition of various products of the St. Louis furnaces :

Jan 1, 1878

By James K. Richardson

Today, the enigma of the "missing man" in the metal mining industry equals, and frequently surpasses in objective importance, the problems of ore development, drilling, sampling, pumping, milling techniques, geophysical prospecting, or any one of a hundred highly technical subjects. Unfortunately, as engineers, we have confined our attentions, in the main, to the scientific phases of mineral technology, relegating our man power problems to the background. But what good has all our scientific study and preparation been if we can't get the ore mined, milled, or smelted? What has happened to our labor supply? Where is the good old miner who could timber, drill a round, lay track, or do any job underground?

Jan 1, 1949

By W. E. C. Coxe

Many of you who are interested in the manufacture of iron and steel, have no doubt heard of the "Wheeler process for combining iron and steel." Mr. Wheeler has formed a company, styled the "Combination Trust Company," whose business is to grant licenses for the use of this patent process in producing what he calls "iron-clad steel." It has been proposed to apply it in the manufacture of car or wagon axles, also to shafting, having steel cores or centres covered with iron; to tubes of steel with an inner and outer skin of iron ; to structural purposes, such as girders and beams; bridge and tie-bolts, where the strength of the iron and the rigidity of the steel would be desirable. In answer to a request from Mr. Wheeler, permission mas accorded him to make some experiments at the rolling mill of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company, at Reading, Pennsylvania, with a view to manufacturing some steel-headed rails. In making this kind of a rail two difficulties are encountered. If the iron is brought to the requisite heat to weld properly, the steel is likely to be burned; if the steel is cared for, to prevent burning, the several layers of iron are not brought up to the proper welding heat. Mr. Wheeler claimed that the steel slab covered with iron which he furnished for the head of the rail could net be injured by any heat to which it might be subjected in the ordinary course of heating the rail-pile. He claimed, also, that by this method the porosity, which he thought was characteristic of all solid rails of Bessemer steel, would be overcome. Four steel slabs were furnished for this experiment, being Bessemer steel of .61 carbon, made at the Edgar Thomson Steel Works, and covered with iron in one of the Pittsburgh mills. The slabs were in section seven inches wide by three inches thick, and the iron covering was one-eighth to three-sixteenths inch thick. Each slab was placed on a pile of iron made up in the ordinary way for a rail fifty-six pounds per yard and thirty feet long. The heating was under the personal direction of Mr. Wheeler, and

Jan 1, 1879

By H. C. Rickaby

BY August 1944 Canada expects to be shipping 56 percent hematite ore from its new Steep Rock iron mine, via Port Arthur on Lake Superior, to the steelmaking centers in Canada and the United States. This is indeed welcome news to steel men, especially if they operate open hearth furnaces, as the Steep Rock ore is a high-grade lump and will be valuable as charge and feed ore. But better news is the fact that this first big producer of high-grade hematite ore in Canada, since the exhaustion of the Helen mine in the Michipicoten area north of Lake Superior in 1918, has a proved ore body of 16,757,000 long tons and a probable ore body of 14,000,000 long tons, thus giving an over-all total of 30,757,000 long tons and assuring production for a number of years to come.

Jan 1, 1943

By R. P. Aikman, F. G. Miller, J. M. Podgursky

As part of a larger study of the mechanism of froth flotation of coal, the rates at which coal particles of various size and specific gravity react to froth flotation were investigated. Results of this study show that in flotation: I) recovery rate increases, but selectivity decreases with a decrease in particle size down to 100 mesh, and 2) recovery rate is constant for all sizes between 100M and 325M. n response to the growing demand for low-sulfur coking coal for iron making, the coal industry is continually striving to perfect methods for cleaning coal to acceptable ash and sulfur levels while maintaining maximum product yield. By present standards the industry has adequate processes for cleaning coarse coal, i.e., + 28 mesh, at almost any desired specific gravity. However, in the case of fine coal, i.e., —28 mesh, neither of the two existing processes - froth flotation or hydrocycloning — in its present state of development yields products that are comparable in ash and/or sulfur content to products normally obtained from coarse coal processes. The work outlined in this paper is part of a larger study directed toward maximum exploitation of froth flotation for fine coal processing. The concepts and data presented are now serving as a basis for designing fine-coal circuits in which improved efficiency is obtained by optimum use of froth flotation with other fine-coal processing methods. The paper includes: 1) A discussion of the value of a detailed wash-ability study as a method of assessing the problems associated with fine coal processing, 2) A general discussion of hydrocyclone principles, included to serve as a basis for understanding the mechanism of coal flotation, and 3) A detailed discussion of the mechanism of coal flotation, as well as the research leading to the optimum use of froth flotation in combination with other fine-coal cleaning methods to provide efficient fine-coal processing. Our study of the rates at which coal particles of various size and specific gravity react to flotation shows that in flotation: 1) recovery rate increases but selectivity decreases with a decrease in particle size down to 100 mesh, 2) recovery rate is constant for all sizes between 100 mesh and 325 mesh, and 3) the flotation process effectively rejects only those extremely fine particles which do not contain surface carbon. (Because of this feature, froth flotation is an excellent method for rejecting clays - the only extreme fines in - 325-mesh coal that are always carbon free.) Washability studies of flotation products are used to assess flotation efficiency. These studies show that: 1) the increase in percent sulfur in flotation products above the theoretical sulfur content as defined by the washability study is due almost entirely to flotation of fine high-specific-gravity particles that are part coal and part pyrite, and 2) in a given size range particle floatability decreases with an increase in particle specific gravity. Error curves are explained and are used to compare the mechanisms of coal flotation and hydrocycloning. These comparisons show that hydrocyclone performance is affected primarily by particle mass, i.e., particle specific gravity and size, whereas coal flotation performance is dependent on both the particle mass and the coal surface available for bubble attachment. Since the error curve is a basic tool for rating the efficiency of any coal processing system, it will be useful to quickly review the principles of error curve construction. RATING COAL-PROCESSING EFFICIENCY BY THE ERROR CURVE The organic component of coal is of lower specific gravity than its impurities, and the most effective principle for coal concentration is therefore separation on the basis of specific gravity. However, since there is no sharp dividing line between pure coal and pure ash components, specific gravity must be closely controlled if the product is to have acceptable quality at maximum yields. In turn, the basis for close control in any coal processing system is the reference standard provided by precise laboratory washability studies. In these studies, coal is carefully separated into a series of progressively higher specific gravity fractions to establish a relationship

Jan 1, 1968

By J. J. Jakosky

The strategic importance of the metallic minerals in our industrial economy, and the declining rates of discovery have focused attention on means of exploration for new mineral deposits. A consideration of exploration techniques leads to an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of geo- physics as a tool for mining exploration. One means of evaluation will be to compare the use of geophysics in petroleum exploration with its possible uses in mining.

Jan 1, 1949

By GLENVILTE A. COLLINS

(Presented at a Meeting of the Spokane Local Section of the Institute, Feb. 17, 1912, and accepted for publication in the Bulletin. ) WHILE I am not at the present time engaged in active mine-management, my duties permit of extensive study and examination of many mines, mills, and reduction-works in various places throughout the United States. Being much interested in efficiency-work in general, and an ardent reader of writings on this subject by Frederick W. Taylor and others, as applied to manufacturing-plants, and having served my apprenticeship from mucking to the engineering design of ore-dressing and underground plants, I hope that this paper will lead others to investigate the field more fully, to the improvement of general mine- and mill-operations, as well as the advancement, intellectually, physically, and financially, of the employee and his relations with the employer. If a man who is prepared to look closely and observe broadly starts in Canada and zig-zags from camp to camp to southern Mexico, taking time casually to inspect mines, mills, and smelters, he will be pitifully impressed by the great difference in customs, and the general waste of labor, time, and money throughout the country. He will so seldom observe a dollar's worth of results given in exchange for a dollar spent that he will form a poor opinion of operating-efficiency and management. This highly-scientific department, requiring an amount of skill and executive ability equaled in few, if any, of the professions, certainly falls short of the standard established in our greater manufacturing industries. It is easily said that this is due to the diversity of conditions in mining, milling, and smelting. But on second view it must be admitted that there is room for tremendous improvements in nearly every mining-organization. The proposal of such improvements is often met by the argument that any mine

Sep 1, 1912

By John M. Lovejoy

CURRENT production of petroleum on such a vast scale presents many interesting problems- the solutions of which are important not only to those directly interested in the business, but to the nation as a whole. The industry is relatively young. Until the discovers of the Lucas gusher at Spindletop in 1901 petroleum production had not exceeded 60,000,000 bbl. per year compared with 1,100,000,000 bbl. in 1936. In 36 years then, the modern oil business, production, transportation, refining, and marketing has developed. I will first present a brief history. of oil production as a background for consideration of the present situation.

Jan 1, 1937

By C. EDWARD STAFFORD

A Discussion of the paper by Mr. James P. Roe which was read at the Washington meeting, May, 1905. MR. C. EDWARD STAFFORD, Chester, Pa.:-During all my business life, I have been engaged in the manufacture of Bessemer and open-hearth steels, but, during my long connection with the Shoenberger Steel Co. of Pittsburg, I had some experience in the manufacture of high-grade puddled iron for horse-shoes and in the making by Dr. Otto Wuth's process extremely pure low phosphorus puddled blooms (analyzing from 0.005 to 0.01 per cent. of phosphorus and sulphur), which were melted with low-phosphorus pig-iron in acid open-hearth furnaces to make extra locomotive fire-box steel. I have also seen the Dank's puddlers in operation at different times and places, notably where they were most successful, at the Otis Steel Works, Cleveland, Ohio; then under the management of our friend, Mr. S. T. Wellman. These Dank's blooms were made solely for open-hearth melting-stock to which they were well adapted ; the unavoidable presence of bits of ore-fix imbedded in the mass of the, metal always prevents the profitable manufacture of merchant iron from Dank's blooms. With the experience just described, I was to some degree in position to value fairly the means, methods and results of Mr. Roe's mechanical puddling from the metallurgical or technical and economic points of view, when given an opportunity by Mr. Roe to see his puddling furnace or machine in operation in Pottstown, Pa. Briefly, the furnace, with water-cooled bottom, is rectangular in plan, about 20 by 8 ft. in the clear, suspended by trunnions at the middle of the long sides, at a. height of 17 or 18 ft. above the general level; the oscillation (65° each way from the vertical) is accomplished by geared segments (attached to the downward-projecting side or trunnion-plates) with which engage pinions driven by a reversing engine. The whole section

Sep 1, 1905