Show MONTHLY COST RECORDS the editor since the publication of the annual report of the buckeye mine at tonopah To nevada covering the work done in 1912 1 I have received many letters from mining superintendents and mine managers for more extended information and inquiring if there was any other work being done to which a portion of the overhead costs might be charged several suggested that any mine manager might be willing to publish record months or record re cord years or to select certain branches or lines of work which owing to conditions or environments might be record lines and to publish that part which made a good showing admitting the human tendencies and vanities of man that any one would rather be held up as a model to be imitated than an object of ridicule or a horrible example there is no doubt an unfairness in lack of completeness eness when any man rushes into print he issues an implied challenge to the world this is what I 1 have done can you do better and he must expect criticisms and questions and be prepared to meet them at af the same time it would be a manifest unfairness to omit any portion of expense or condition that went to make up a part of the whole the writer submits that in cases where there are wide fluctuations between the same items in different months the inquiry rises immediately in every readers mind why this difference just as it does in the writers mind when he makes out his tables from the foremans daily report sheets if it is an error in judgment or management or a method that can be improved upon we try to avoid the same cause the next time therefore the mistakes in mine management are just as valuable to mining men as the models of efficiency fici ency if they are shown together for comparison one letter writer said have bad months and unsatisfactory records that you will not want to publish but will hold till the end of the year and everage your bad record through the entire year in order that it will not show up so glaringly that is the object of the monthly tabulated account system to show when variations occur and in what items they occur that investigation vesti gation in the right place can be made to ascertain why and remedy the defect that it may not occur again the criticism that the detailed division of costs is carried too far or farther than necessary is to be answered by the statement that even further details will be made by any who try it once the entire months report can be tabulated in a few hours from the foremans daily report sheets the foreman has a printed form bound in books of thirty one pages one for each day of the month he has nothing to do but jot down a few figures in squares under the headings of materials used etc and the office clerk does the rest on the 2nd and of the following month so the labor entailed is really less than trying to make up reports from a jumble of accounts such as is frequently kept and when the end of the year is reached the annual report is already made mad as soon as december s accounts are in further when your report shows 10 expenses one month and another and another and neither the tonnage nor progress hiow a difference it convenient to have a sheet that will show what each item cost to know whether it runs to power or labors labor or supplies and to which branch and why the following is a table of costs of underground der ground work of all kinds by the month and by the foot of progress made including all surface work incidental to underground work and all overhead costs and all materials used in connection with said work at the buckeye mine tonopah To nevada NOTE shaft and station timbers and repairs in in may in june 1004 in may the south station was widened out into a room large enough to install a belt driven fan on the 1200 foot level the powder and labor necessary for this work underground is here combined with cross cutting labor and averaged into the per foot costs this being the reason for may 1 costs showing larger than other months the april costs show somewhat higher er and 1 as a reason for that a larger hoist motor J and change in transformer connections was 5 installed during april causing some lost time with certain overhead costs still running though the cost of the motor norr nor its installation is not computed in the table for that month explanations the stations are cut 12 feet high inclining to 9 feet in height lit 25 feet away from the shaft each station is 10 feet wide at shaft and narrows down to 5 feet in width 25 feet away from the shaft each station is here figured as 25 feet away from the shaft being station work crosscutting figures begins at station 25 feet from shaft all work or materials te rials used within 25 feet of the shaft is charged to station expense on the books but averages into costs per foot of each month as it is necessary work to the progress e g notice powder and labor items in may drill repairs and steel sharpening and what little timber now being used in crosscutting is here shown under one head blacksmithing and timber framing framan g these items are carried in three accounts upon our books but are so small at present that combination was advisable the above table in costs per foot does sinking shaft station crosscutting arc cost per pe sr foot jan feb feb mar apr aar may juno june timbers and lumber 4 03 04 see note black stand pipe 56 none 21 21 13 12 pipe and figgs 30 97 25 24 24 39 30 4 bell line let out 04 04 none none none none none powder used 85 electric exploders Explode rs 43 50 none none none none none fuse none none 16 07 10 09 caps cap s none none 06 02 02 03 02 shaft miners pay 1022 none none none none none crosscut miners pay none none hoist eng timber frame and alks 85 10 top labor 69 team dray and stable 70 75 83 73 58 water purchased 04 1512 15 va 09 05 33 2712 27 12 illum ilium and lubricants 23 25 15 07 05 11 disc and incidentals 50 17 11 15 04 93 04 Turn sheets and track 35 none none 96 30 28 29 electric power hoisting 22 2 A 74 98 62 52 electric power comp 64 70 70 electric power vent 60 82 50 56 58 15 machine shop gas power 03 03 none none fuel heating 22 73 40 28 total costs per foot 03 1743 1061 1402 1612 1109 not include legal and title patenting ground new machinery etc but only items that can be used in comparisons with contract bids manifestly it would be unfair to charge title and machinery or buildings to the expense of any one month or several months mining these go into separate accounts and show in the annual reports but never are averaged into costs per foot march and june are both months of solid work crosscutting without delays and are comparable for figures section of crosscut averages 5 x 7 section of shaft averages 6 x 10 rock tonopah and ande sites powder used 10 hercules gel per ib tonopah To number r of buckets hoisted ho isted 12 cubic cut ic foot bucket bucke t use jan february febra lary mar apr aar may june 6 mo shaft shaft station crosscutting cro ig rock 1060 men alen on 89 90 37 water vater 66 65 1240 empty 19 9 69 70 45 17 29 42 1380 1498 1235 progress in feet b 5 of t t april 10 days crosscutting last 20 days lost on account of changing hoist and surface equipment also first 12 days of may alay lost which is the reason their number of buckets is less during this six months period we paid the power company for electric power for hoisting only and for that we pulled buckets out of the mine loaded with rock men water and empty averaging almost 10 cents per bucket hoisted buckets of rock 1200 lbs ibs per bucket gives 2685 tons 2685 tons hoisted for shows cost per ton of LETSON BALLIET tonopah To nevada |