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By A. F. Taggart, F. E. Beach

The flotation process for the concentration of ores is a method by means of which one or more of the minerals in the ore (usually the valuable ones) are picked up by means of a liquid film and floated at the surface of a mass of fluid pulp. Here they are separated from the other minerals, which remain immersed in the body of the pulp. In general, the minerals which are floated are sulphides of metallic luster, but some other minerals of metallic luster such as graphite and some sulphides with adamantine luster, such as sphalerite and cinnabar, are amenable to treatment by the process. The importance of flotation lies in the fact that it is primarily a "slimes process" by means of which the particles of valuable mineral, too fine for efficient gravity concentration, are saved with a high percentage of recovery. Recoveries in the mills treating low-grade copper sulphide ores have been advanced 10 to 20 per cent. by the installation of the process and similar increased savings have been accomplished by the same means in mills treating sulphide ores of zinc and lead. When finely ground ore containing sulphides mixed with a siliceous or earthy gangue is brought gently onto the surface of a body of water, in a direction forming an acute angle with the surface of the water, a considerable portion of the sulphide constituent of the ore floats on the surface of the liquid, while the gangue sinks. This is the so-called film flotation, exemplified by the Wood and Macquisten processes. When gas bubbles are introduced into a fluid pulp composed of finely ground ore and water, to which has been added (1) a small amount of certain oils, or (2) a small amount of certain acida or acid salts, or (3) a small amount of certain alkalis or alkaline salts, or (4) a small amount of a mixture of oil with acid or alkali, the sulphide particles in the ore are brought to the surface on the gas bubbles. These collect in a froth

Jan 1, 1917

By W. G. Matteson

In 1915, the State of California passed a law of great scope and importance. This law has been in successful operation for a year and may be briefly described as an act " establishing and creating a department of the State Mining Bureau for the protection of the natural resources of petroleum and gas from waste and destrucbion through improper operations in production; providing for the inspection of petroleum and gas wells; requiring all persons operating petroleum and gas wells to make certain reports" and providing the necessary officers and assessments to carry out the provisions of the act. The statute provides for a separate department of the State Mining Bureau, under the general supervision of the State mineralogist, with a staff composed of a "state oil and gas supervisor" and four deputies. It rules that all petroleum and natural gas wells shall be drilled, operated or abandoned under the supervision of the State supervisor, who shall order such tests or remedial work as seems to him necessary to protect the interests of property owners and the general public. It also provides for a board of arbitration to consider orders given by the supervisor which are not acceptable to the well owner. Section 18 of the act, which is the provision that is directly related to this paper, requires ('the owner of any well referred to in this act to keep a careful and accurate log of the drilling of such well," and further requires that this log shall show the character and depth of the formations passed through or encountered in the drilling, particularly the location and depth of the water-bearing strata; the character of the water encountered (so far as ascertained); whether the water was shut off, and, if solat what point; that it shall show completely the amounts, kinds and size of casing used; the depth at which oil-bearing strata are encountered; the depth and character of the strata, and whether all water was successfully and permanently shut off so as to prevent percolation or penetration into the oil-bearing strata. This log is to be kept in the local office of the owner or operator, subject to the inspection of the supervisor or any of his deputies at any

Jan 1, 1917

ALABAMA Anniston.-Carrington, F. G. Auburn.-Brown, R. L. Battelle.-Green, G. G. Bessemer.-Abbott, C. E. Dobbs, G. G. Ferguson, V. Birmingham.-Adams, J. H. Aldrich, T. H. Aldrich, T. H., Jr. Allen, A. W. Bonnyman, J. Bowron, J. Bush, M. W. Crawford, G. G. Crockard, F. H. Ellis, E. E. Fairbairn, C. T. Gallacher, J. Geismer, H. S.

Jan 1, 1917

PROF RICHARD ÅKERMAN Stockholm, Sweden DR. FRANK DAWSON ADAMS Montreal, Canada PROF RICHARD BECK Friberg, Germany ANDREW CARNEGIR New York, N.Y. DR. JAMES DOUGLAS New York, N.Y. PROF HATON DE LA GOUPILLIERE Paris, France SIR ROBERT A. HADFEILD London, England PROF HANS HOFFER Leoben, Austria PROF HENRI LOUIS LE CHATELIER Paris France EZEQUIEL ORDONEZ Mexico City, Mexico ALEXANDRE POURCEL Paris, France DR. ROSSITTER W. RAYMOND New York, N.Y. DR. ING H. C. EMIL SCHROEDTER Dusseldorf, Germany JOHN E. STEAD Middlesborugh, England JAMES M. SWANK (Associate) Philadelphia, Pa. PROF DIMITRY CONSTANTIN TSCHERNOFF St Petersburg, Russia PROF TSUNASHIRO WADA Tokyo, Japan CHARLES D WALCOT Washingtion D.C.

Jan 1, 1917

Executive BENJAMIN B. THAYER, .Chairman. JAMES F. KEMP, CHARLES F. RAND, ALBERT R. LEDOUX, JOSEPH W. RICHARDS, Membership KARL EILERS, Chairman. W. R. INGALLS, JOHN H. JANEWAY, Jr., JOHN D. IRVING, SIDNEY J. JENNINGS. Finance CHARLES F. RAND, Chairman. KARL EILERS. W. L. SAUNDERS.

Jan 1, 1917

PRESIDENTS DAVID THOMAS 1871 R W RAYMOND 1872-1874 A L HOLLEY1875 ABRAM S HEWITT 1876 T STERRY HUNT 1877 ECKLEY B COXE 1878 - 1879 WILLIAM P SHINN 1880 WILLIAM METCALF 1881 RICHARD P ROTHWELL 1882 RICHARD W HUNT 1883

Jan 1, 1917

The Society of Automobile 'Engineers is planning to hold its Annual Meeting on Jan. 11, 1917. The Society extends a cordial invitation to the members of the Institute to attend a technical session on the afternoon of that day, in the auditorium of the Engineering Societies Building, and to take part in the proceedings. Papers are being prepared on the subjects of high-speed engines, dynamics of the automobile and electrical equipnment. It is also expected that important papers will be presented on aerial navigation over water, and the use of motor boats in war. Captain V. E. Clark of the Signal Corps is to give a paper on the requlrements of aeroplane design particularly as regards the experience of the Army in using aeroplanes in Mexico

Jan 1, 1917

By Lawrence W. Aldrich

At the San Francisco meeting of the Institute last year, I presented, through the courtesy of Dr. James Douglas, some results of experiments on the roasting and leaching of concentrator tailings. After it became apparent that flotation rather than leaching was clearly the better method of handling the particular problem under consideration, before dismantling the experimental equipment, some data were secured on roasting and leaching the concentrate itself in competition with smelting. Some of the results obtained are given in the following paper and they are of particular interest at this time in view of the large quantities of flotation concentrates with their somewhat difficult smelting characteristics now being produced. A complete wet processt consists of roasting and leaching the calcines in dilute sulphuric acid produced from the roaster gases, roasting the residue with salt and leaching with dilute tower liquors (the well-known Longmaid-Henderson process) and recovering the copper, silver and gold by cementation or electrolysis or a combination of both. It is evident, however, that the residue from the first leaching, carrying about 20 per cent. of the copper and all of the silver and gold, can be smelted if preferable. In considering the application of the scheme to individual cases, it must be remembered that freight plays a large part in any reduction process wherein smelting is not conducted at the mouth of the mine, and that it is not practicable today to build small smelting plants for individual operations, The experiments may be grouped under four main heads: Roasting, leaching, chloridizing residue, and recovery of copper from solutions. The products of two concentrators were used: The Nacozari concentrates were the product of a large modern mill not using flotation, the copper mineral being largely chalcopyrite; and the Tyrone concentrates, the product of an experimental mill including flotation, the copper mineral being chiefly chalcocite. Typical analyses are given in Table 1. Fig. 1 shows screen analyses of calcines obtained by dead roasting the

Jan 1, 1917

By Samuel S. Wyer

The magnitude and economic importance of the problem of correctly valuing natural-gas leaseholds become evident when me consider that: (a) Natural gas is handled in 55 per cent. of the gas distributing plants in the United States. (b) Present known natural-gas acreage forms 47 per cent. of the total known mineral-land acreage in the United States. (c) Five acres of land are now required to protect and maintain continuous service to each of the 2,000,000 domestic natural-gas consumers in the United States. (d) The cost of acquiring and maintaining this acreage of an expendible resource represents a substantial part of the cost of the natural-gas service to the consumer. (e) "The right of a citizen by means of his ownership of or his mining leases on land to draw gas from beneath its surface is property and sometimes valuable property."' A large number of other court decisions have established the basic legal principle that the right to drill for gas within a given area constitutes an interest in the land itself, and is necessarily an exclusive property right. Definition of Vested Interests or Rights "Vested interests are economic interests which are legally recognized to be such that they cannot be impaired by public action, directly or indirectly, without indemnification. Vested interests are largely property interests. The recognition of an interest as a vested interest gives it some of the attributes of property, and by American courts it would be comprised in their very inclusive concept of property. Otherwise than through property, vested interests generally arise through contract."

Jan 1, 1917

By A. E. Bellis

The problem of heat treating high-speed steel becomes more and more important as the design of cutters becomes more and more complicated in increasing the efficiency of mechanical operations. Hundreds of dollars' are spent in the design and manufacture-of milling cutters of special form ,for rapid production of duplicate or interchangeable parts, and then, as the heat treatment is faulty on the one hand, or scientifically executed on the other, the tool fails after a few operations, or its efficiency is greatly increased. The practical operation of giving these complicated tools the right temperature necessary to bring out the best cutting qualities, and at the same time bring the tool out "clean," is a difficult: one and calls for no small amount of skill. In order to be on the safe side, the average tool hardener uses a temperature much too low to give the best results with the high-speed steel he uses. In the case of cutters which are finished to a given diameter before hardening, it is impossible to grind the tool after hardening, so that it is essential that the surface be-protected from oxidizing or de-carbonizing. It is the aim of this paper to describe some experiments on hardening high-speed steel, in which metallographic means were used to determine the correct hardening temperatures. The accompanying table and plates show the results of hardening experiments on five different high-speed steels. The analyses for carbon, tungsten, chromium and vanadium of each steel are given in the accompanying table. Six specimens from the same bar :of each: kind of steel

Jan 1, 1917

By L. O. Howard

What was perhaps the first attempt at basic converting in the Southwest was made by the late Charles F. Shelby at Cananea early in 1907, when he removed the acid lining from one of the 8 by 12-ft. barrel-type converters then in use at the reduction works of the Cananea Consolidated Copper Co. and substituted a lining of one course of magnesite brick. In this shell, he blew 21 taps (about 180 tons) of matte to white metal before the brick gave out along the tuyhre line. In every case, the white metal so made was transferred and blown to copper in other converters. The cost of the lining was $700 and Mr. Shelby gave up the experiment as impracticable. No further serious effort to bessemerize copper mattes in a vessel having a more or less permanent lining of basic brick was made by any of the large copper smelters in the Southwest until some months after Messrs. Peirce and Smith had brought the question permanently before the public, and had proved it to be a metallurgical and financial success by their work at Baltimore and Garfield. Early in 1911, the Cananea Consolidated Copper Co. had in operation at its reduction works at Cananea, Mex., several 8 by 12-ft. barrel-type converters lined with magnesite brick which had previously been operating with acid linings. In the 18 months following, these converters produced 50,000 tons of copper. In June, 1912, this company installed the first of its new equipment of six stands of electrically operated 12-ft. Great Palls type converters, and shortly afterward discontinued the use of the smaller shells. In September, 1911, the Consolidated Kansas City Smelting & Refining Co. had installed at its El Paso plant two 10 by 26-ft. Peirce-Smith converters. Later, in March, 1913, one standard Great Falls type converter was added. About the time the Peirce-Smith converters were going in at El Paso, the Calumet & Arizona Mining Co. was experimenting with basic linings in 7-ft. by 10-ft. 6-in. barrel converters at its plant in Douglas, Ariz. These efforts were sufficiently successful to enable the plant to "handle the total output of copper in these small shells until the standard Great Falls converters were substituted in June, .1914.

Jan 1, 1917

By Henry M. Howe

The brilliant and very original matter in Professor Jeffries' discussion† should rank not only as an independent paper, but as a most important one. In particular, the explanation which it gives of the remarkable Sauveur phenomenon, over which so many of us have puzzled long and hard, is so clear, complete, and cogent as to go far toward establishing Professor Jeffries' hypothesis. The very leatures of Professor Sauveur's photographs which fit this hypothesis so exactly are reproduced in Chap-pell's photographs of steel coarsened under somewhat different conditions.' The ideas developed by these discoveries are so novel that convenicnce of language seems to call for new conventional terms for expressing them. In what follows here I propose certain terms for this end, for criticism and improvement, and I attempt to generalize from Professor Jeffries' hypotheses. Generally speaking, a given set of grains which undergo no growth in the cold will, when the temperature is raised progrcssively, start to grow on reaching a certain temperature, and will continue growing at all higher temperatures. The "germinative" temperature is that at which growth begins, quite as the conditions which cause a seed to grow are "germinative." We have then an inert temperature range below the germinative temperature, and a growth range above it, the germinative temperature being the limit between these two ranges. So, too, a germinant grain is one which is at its germinative temperature, and hence beginning to grow, while inert grains are those below their own germinative temperature, and the term "growing grains" includes those which are germinant and those which are above their germinative temperature. These last could be called " supergerminant" if the distinction should be needed. "Germinative temperature" seems better than "critical temperature

Jan 1, 1917

ARIZONA Tucson University of Arizona, Mining Engineering Society. B CALIFORNIA Berkeley University of California, Mining Asso. B University of California, Library. T Los Angeles Chamber of Mines and Oil. B Southern California Local Section. T Public Library. T Oakland Oakland Free Library. T San Francisco California State Mining Bureau. T Mining and Scientific Press. B Stanford University Stanford University Geological and Mining Society. B

Jan 1, 1917

By R. J. Wysor

SINCE the outbreak of the European war, few problems of raw-material supply have commanded more nation-wide attention than potash. It is well known that before the war the domestic production of potash was an insignificant percentage of the imports. The average annual importation of raw potash salts for several years prior to 1914 was slightly over 300,000 net tons, and f other potash manure salts about 700,0000 tons. The sudden and almost total cessation f these imports created a unique and stringent situation. Methods of recovering potash from feldspar and other native mineral sources, and reclamation from hitherto waste products, have received a marked impetus. Soaring prices have been a keen-incentive to research and industrial development. Although several brief articles concerning the possibilities of potash recovery have appeared in recent trade journals, it still may be a matter of some surprise to the average technical mind that potash might be reclaimed as a profitable byproduct in the manufacture of pig iron. At the present time it may be of special interest to present some data, largely of a technical nature, on this subject. A fairly thorough search of the literature reveals a number of articles concerning salts of the alkali metals in the blast furnace. Many of them deal with the-theoretical role f alkali cyanides in the furnace. Several discuss the, probable effect of the alkalies on the furnace brickwork. Two or three ambitious patents have been granted for reclaiming potash or other products from blast-furnace gas. However, we have heard nothing further as to the practical application of these patents. Little literature of importance has appeared during the last 10 years concerning alkalies in blast-furnace practice, and I have discovered no record whatsoever as to the actual sale or commercial disposal f flue dust for its , potash content until this was inaugurated in our plant at Bethlehem. A bibliography of the most important articles discovered is appended.

Jan 1, 1917

COUNCIL.* PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. JAMES F. KEMP NEW YORK, N. Y. (Term expires February, 1913.) VICE-PRESIDENTS OF THE COUNCIL. S. B. CHRISTY BERKELEY, CAL. W. A. LATHROP PHILADELPHIA, PA. GARDNER F. WILLIAMS WASHINGTON, D. C. (Term expires February, 1913.) KARL EILERS NEW YORK, N. Y. WALDEMAR LINDGREN WASHINGTON, D. C. BENJAMIN B. THAYER NEW YORK, N. Y. (Term expires February, 1914.)

Jan 1, 1917

By Linn Bradley, W. W. Strong, H. D. Egbert

A hot-dry method of cleaning the gas from blast furnaces has been shown1 to conserve the sensible heat energy of the gas, and in general it thus permits of a higher flame temperature. The electrical method of cleaning gases removes from 98 to 99 per cent. of the suspended matter in one operation when operating properly, thus making possible the use of a very clean gas for burning in the stoves. The use of such clean gas thus makes feasible a different type of hot-blast stove construction from that being used at present. It therefore seems advisable to construct the stoves from the viewpoint of getting the maximum amount of heat energy into the products of combustion. By preheating the air added to the top gas and obtaining a better mixture of the air and top gas, less excess air will be required and a higher flame temperature obtained from the combustion of the top gas. The interior of the stove should be provided with a kind of brick that will withstand a high flame temperature, will conduct the heat energy along certain directions, insulate the flow of heat along other directions and at the same time store heat energy so as to make the flow of such energy more uniform. It is quite likely that these results can be best obtained by using several kinds of bricks: one type which is a good insulator of heat energy to be used for lining the stove and for making partitions through the stove to restrain the flow of heat; another type of brick or material with high refractory qualities; and a third type which will be a good conductor of heat energy. The surface of the stove exposed to the atmosphere should be a minimum in comparison to the mass of checkerwork which it is possible to obtain, due regard being paid to other conditions. With clean and hot furnace top gas it will be advisable to consider a rearrangement of the checker work in the stoves. One season for the present size and shape of checker openings is to provide facility for

Jan 1, 1917

LIST OF THE MEETINGS OF THE INSTITUTE AND THEIR LOCALITIES FROM ITS ORGANIZATION Transactions Number Place Date Vol Page I Wilkes-Barre, Pa * May, 1871 I 3 II Bethlehem, Pa August, 1871 I 10 III Troy, N Y November, 1871 I 13 IV Philadelphia, Pa February, 1872 I 17 V New York, N Y * May, 1872 I 20 VI Pittsburg, Pa October, 1872 I 25 VII Boston, Mass February, 1873 I 28 VIII Philadelphia, Pa * May, 1873 II 3 IX Easton, Pa October, 1873 II 7 X New York, N Y February, 1874 II 11 XI St Louis, Mo * May, 1874 III 3 XII Hazleton, Pa October, 1874 III 8 XIII New Haven, Conn February, 1875 III 15 XIV Dover, N J * May, 1875 IV 3 XV Cleveland, 0 October, 1875 IV 9 XVI Washington, D C February, 1876 IV 8 XVII Philadelphia, Pat June, 1876, V XVIII Philadelphia, Pa October, 1876 V 9 XIX New York, N Y February, 1877 v 27 XX Wilkes-Barre, Pa * May, 1877 vi 3 XXI Amenia, N Y October, 1877 vi 10

Jan 1, 1917

By George K. Burgess

The suggestion has often been made that it would be highly desirable, at least for certain grades of steel, to be able to control more certainly, by pyrometric measurement or otherwise, the temperatures of the operation of the open-hearth and other furnaces used in the manufacture of steel and iron. That the properties of the ingot and finally of the finished steel product are intimately related to the final temperatures attained by the metal in the furnace and to the temperature of casting, has been recognized by metallurgists for a long time, and this question has been very thoroughly treated, especially by Prof. Henry M. Howe, and by A. W. and H. Brearley.1 It is the object of this paper to demonstrate that in so far as casting temperatures of furnaces, steel ingots, and similar operations involving the temperatures of streams of iron and steel are concerned, well-known pyrometric methods may be easily applied—if certain recently determined corrections are made and precautions taken—with a relatively high degree of accuracy. Greater but not insurmountable difficulties will be encountered in the case of open-hearth furnace temperatures, while for those of the converter type a ready solution does not seem practicable. It appears that certain essential data have always been lacking in reporting observations such as those of Le Chatelier in 1892. Thus the correction to be applied for the characteristic radiation—or emissivity— has hitherto not been adequately taken into account nor the limitations of the several possible pyrometric methods clearly recognized. In view of the fact that in open-hearth practice the temperature to be measured in the furnace itself, in the stream of metal and slag and in the teeming into molds or ingots is usually above 1,500" C. (2,700" F.)

Jan 1, 1917

ALABAMA Anniston. Carrington, F. G. Ashland.-Herr, I. Auburn.-Brown, R. L. Bessemer.-Abbott, C. E. Dobbs, G. G. Ferguson, V. Salmon, H. S. Schaber, C. F. Birmingham.-Adams, J. H. Aldrich, T. H. Aldrich, T. H., Jr. Allen, A. W. Ball, E. M. Bonnyman, J. Bowron, J. Bush, M. W. Crawford, G. G. Crockard, F. H.

Jan 1, 1917

By W. R. Hamilton

The knowledge of the existence of petroleum in Southern California dates back to the days of the missions. The presence of asphaltum and semisolid bitumen was reported at Santa Barbara in 1792, but no serious attempt was made to develop oil until Professor Silliman's optimistic report in 1865 started California's first oil boom. Wells were drilled in many counties of the State, but the equipment was unsuitable and the drilling difficult and no production was obtained except in Ventura County. Even there the production was of little importance commercially, and not until the early '80s did it become sufficient to again attract attention. In 1888 the production for the State had reached a total of about 700,000 bbl. per year, practically all light oil produced in Ventura County, Pico Canyon, Los Angeles County and in the Puente Hills. The production of petroleum attained the dignity of an industry in 1895 when the Los Angeles City and Coalinga fields were discovered. The subsequent development has been remarkable, and in 20 years the production has increased from 1,000,000 to 100,000,000 bb1. per year. The refining industry has kept pace with the production of oil. The Pacific Coast Oil Co., the predecessor of the Standard Oil Co. of California, was the virtual pioneer refining company of the State, having built a refinery at Alameda about 1880. When purchased by the Standard, about 1902, it was dismantled and the refinery at Point Richmond was built. The Richmond refinery is now one of the largest in the world, having a capacity in excess of 60,000 bbl. per day. A small refinery was built by the Union Oil Co. at Santa Paula in the early days of the industry and later many asphalt refineries were in operation in Southern California. The Pacific Coast Oil Co. was then, as has been its successor, the Standard Oil Co. of California, the principal refiner and marketer of light products, the most valuable of which was kerosene. Before the opening of the twentieth century, gasoline of excellent quality was produced, though it was always a drug on the market and was produced for the simple reason that its presence rendered the flash and fire tests of the kerosene too low. The user of kerosene at the present

Jan 1, 1917