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By Harold L. Hinds

The Homestake Ledge or Lead was discovered by Fred and Moses Manuel on April 9, 1876. They recovered a small amount of gold from the quartz outcrop, but, unfortunately, they were prospectors not hardrock miners. Their claim was sold to a group of experienced California mining men in 1877. These mining men incorporated their holdings as the Homestake Mining Company. This was the beginning of one of the greater gold mining enterprises of the Western World. Metallurgical operations progressed over the years from an eighty- stamp grinding circuit using amalgamation for recovery to the more complex circuit of today. The Homestake Mine, today, is an underground mine with the deepest winze reaching the 8,000-foot level. The ore is hoisted to the surface by two primary shafts, the Ross Shaft and the Yates Shaft. See Figures 1 and 2. It is crushed in three-stage crushing plants located in the headframes. From here, it is trammed to the mill fine- ore bins by electric locomotives. The Lead grinding plant milling circuit, known as the South Mill, receives ore from the crushing plant at minus 112 inch (Figure 3). This material is dumped into overhead fine-ore bins from five- ton rail cars. The fine-ore bins have a live capacity of about 3,700 tons. The South Mill bins can also be fed by a conveyor system which reclaims ore from an 80,000-ton capacity stockpile. This stockpile is built up from peak mining production periods and available surface low grade material. It is then reclaimed during low mine production periods. The grinding circuit at the South Mill consists of four rod mills in open circuit followed by four ball mills in closed circuit. Three of the rod mills are 6-foot by 12-foot Marcy's. The other is

Jan 1, 1983

By Kefton Teague

The minerals discussed in this section have experienced a gradual, although not spectacular, growth in general. Obvious exceptions are the gradual decreasing use of talc and bentonite as filler materials, partly because of availability and relatively lower sales price of competitive materials. Mineral fillers and filter minerals are used principally in those countries that are heavily industrialized. Except for diatomaceous earth of filter grade, most industrialized countries are reasonably self-sufficient in the various filler and filter minerals. Prices of the various mineral commodities during the period 1950-1970 increased approximately as follows: barite, 43%; diatomaceous earth (filler), 49%; diatomaceous earth (filter), 55%; fuller's earth, 55%; talc. 77%; and bentonite, 94%. Actual usage of these mineral commodities as fillers and filters, during this period, showed changes approximately as follows: (1) Decrease-fuller's earth, 6%; talc, 15%; and bentonite, 29%. (2) Increase-barite, 113%; diatomaceous earth (filler), 150%; and diatomaceous earth (filter), -194%. A relationship between the amount of the various fillers and filters used and price increases is apparent. For example, barite increased only 43% in price, but its use as a filler has increased by 113%. On the other hand, talc, which increased 77% in price, decreased in filler use by 15%; and bentonite, which increased 94% in price, has decreased for filler and filter purposes by 29%. The actual decrease in the use of some of these commodities is not entirely caused by an increase in price. Competitive materials frequently have made substantial gains in the various filler and filter markets. For example, much of the bentonite used in the late 1940s and early 1950s for clarification of mineral and vegetable oils has been replaced by competitive materials. BARITE Occurrences and Sources In the United States, barite is produced from about 14 states, listed in approximate order of importance as follows: Missouri, Arkansas, Nevada, Georgia, Alaska, Tennessee, Kentucky, California, New Mexico, North Carolina, Washington, Idaho, South Carolina, Texas, and others. During the 20 years ending in 1970, almost equal amounts of barite were produced from Arkansas and Missouri. Within recent years, Nevada has replaced Georgia as the third leading barite--producing state. West Germany is second to the United States in barite production. Other important barite-producing countries include: Mexico, USSR, Italy, Greece, Canada, and Ireland. Ireland has become an important barite producer only recently. Barite is obtained from vein and cavity fill-

Jan 1, 1976

By H. H. Taft

The mining possibilities of the volcanic area south of Bel-mont, Nye county, Nevada, have long been known. Some of the old-time prospectors knew that gold existed there. Its remoteness from any source of supplies, its long distances from water, the absence of game, and more, perhaps, the lack of grass for animals to subsist upon, has made this an unattractive region in which to search for mines. The decline of the Comstock mines, the exhaustion of sundry large and rich ore-bodies, the high cost of mining, marketing, and, particularly, the ruinously high freight-charges upon refractory ore that had to be shipped to distant smelters, have kept investors out of Nevada for the last few gears; and mining people have hardly yet awakened to the importance of To-nopah, Goldfield, and perhaps the newer and less developed districts. The discovery of Tonopah by J. L. Butler, who located the Mizpah claim in May, 1900, and the fortunes soon realized there, attracted many people. As the boom declined, many went away, some scattering out into the surrounding country, and the population is now about 7,000. In the fall of 1902 a discovery of gold was made 23 miles south, in what is now known as the Sandstorm group, 4 miles NW. of Goldfield. In the winter of 1903—4 the Combination, January and Florence mines were discovered, and shipments of high-grade ore soon followed. In January, 1905, there were 10,000 people in Gold-field. In June, 1904, rich gold-ore was found 85 miles SE., at the foot of the south end of the Kawich mountains, but this discovery was kept quiet until a re-location could be made. On August 10, 1904, the Bullfrog claims, and a month later the Ladd mountain and neighboring claims, were located. The Shoshone group was located September 24. This district is

Jan 1, 1907

Jan 1, 1903

By Günter Petzow, Siegfried Steeb

DURING an investigation of the U-Co-A1, U-Ir-A1, and U-Ni-A1 ternary systems, three previously unknown phases have been identified which correspond to the phases UCoA1, UIrA1, and UNiA1, and which be- long to the C22 (Fe2P) type (P 6 2m). In the following the structure determination of the new ternary phases is reported. The alloys have been prepared in an arc furnace under purified argon from 99.97 wt pct U, 99.83 wt pct Co, 99.99 wt pct Al, 99.95 wt pct Ni, and 99.97 wt pct Ir. The pellets obtained were bright and brittle; chemical analyses agreed with the nominal compositions. To obtain equilibrium, the samples were annealed in evacuated quartz capsules at 950°C for 30 hr and then quenched in water. Guinier photographs were processed and evaluated according to a method already described previously.1,2 The hkl's, measured and calculated sin2 6 values, and in the case of UCoAl only calculated and estimated intensities, are given in Tables I to 111. Lattice parameters refined according to the least-squares method and the respective mean-square variations are presented in Table IV. Lattice parameters, especially the c/a ratio, lead to the assumption that the three phases are crystallizing in the C22-type structure. For the calculation of the intensities given in Table I, the atomic positions recently reported by wyckoff3 have been accepted for the C22 (Fe2P) type. The uranium atoms were assumed to be in phosphorus sites; furthermore the scattering amplitudes of the boron atoms have been averaged in the stoichiometric formula UB2 according to atomic percentages; i.e., for these atoms a statistical distribution on the iron sites was assumed. The two smallest distances between a uranium and

Jan 1, 1967

By E. L. Bruce

GOLD occurs ill many mineral deposits in the rocks of the Canadian Shield. It is present in the ores of many base metals and a considerable quantity is recovered as a by-product from the production of copper at Noranda, of nickel and copper at Sudbury and of copper and zinc at Flinflon. But the greater part of the gold production of Canada is from deposits in which gold is the only metal of value. No gold is obtained from placer deposits within the borders of the Canadian Shield. A brief review of the geological relations of some of the gold deposits of the Canadian Shield will be presented in an attempt to explain certain associations. Only those which are being worked for their gold content will be considered and descriptions will be confined to representative types of deposits, chiefly those of major importance; a few others, differing in certain features from those of the older and larger mines, will be included in order to illustrate the general conditions in which gold occurs in these ancient rocks. Brief summaries will be given of the geological relations of the Beattie and Siscoe mines of northern Quebec, of the mines of the Porcupine and Kirkland Lake areas of northeastern Ontario and of the Howey, Central Patricia and Little Long Lac mines of northwestern Ontario. Genetic relations to igneous rocks of granitic composition, outcropping in the vicinity, have been assumed for many of these deposits. Undoubtedly the ore minerals have been derived from igneous sources and, for some occurrences, there is evidence suggestive of genetic relationship between the ore bodies and neighbouring intrusive rocks. During the past few years, however, many investigators have expressed doubt of the genetic relationship of certain ore bodies to igneous masses near which they occur. As will be seen from references in the following descriptions the importance of the structural conditions in localizing deposition has been realized. This is pointed out for Canadian pre-Cambrian gold deposits by E. T. Dougherty, who also refers to the

Jan 1, 1937

By W. J. Keep

Some explanation of methods of testing will be given before presenting the record of a series of physical tests of aluminum, other metals and alloys. I. The Methods Employed and Meaning of Diagrams. The test-bars used, 12 inches long and 4 inch square, are cast in green sand, with chills bedded in such a way that the ends of the bar run against them. By splitting the ends of the bar the depth of chill can be measured. The chills being held in the mould 121/8 inches apart, the space between the end of the bar and the face of the chill, after both are alike cold, is the amount of shrinkage, and is recorded in thousandths of an inch per foot.

Jan 1, 1890

By M. Gensamer

IN applied mechanics and in metallurgy the transition from elastic to inelastic action is a matter of considerable interest and importance. Often the first inelastic deformation is apparently quite homogeneous; that is, uniformly distributed throughout the specimen. Sometimes this deformation is heterogeneous; that is, localized; inelastic deformation proceeds to some definite amount in restricted regions before adjacent regions of the specimen are inelastically deformed. In such cases the deformation does not become homogeneous until the whole specimen has been deformed the amount corresponding to that for each localized deformation. If the test is stopped before uniform extension sets in, the heterogeneous character of the deformation is apparent on the surface of the specimen through characteristic markings, which have been called "Lüders"' lines, "Hartmann's" lines, the "Piobert effect," or simply "flow figures." These markings are the source of considerable trouble in fabricating operations, particularly in the deep drawing of steel sheet. In many cases where the transition is of this nature, the stress developed at the upper limit of the elastic range is greater than the stress during the period of heterogeneous deformation, giving rise to the familiar "drop of the beam" effect in testing. The amount of the yield-point elongation, as well as the value of the stress at the lower yield point (the value to which the stress drops when yielding begins), are functions of the temperature and the testing speed. Lower temperatures and faster rates of testing increase both the yield-point elongation and the yield-point stress. These matters have been ably discussed in a recent paper by Winlock and Leiter1 though, as brought out by the discussion of that paper, the phenomena are but little understood. The purpose of the present paper is to clarify the problem through the application of a simple principle, and to show that, through the application of this principle, a number of phenomena in the plastic deformation of metals become more readily understood. The principle is this: During homogeneous flow, the rate of work-hardening is greater than the rate of change of stress resulting from change

Jan 1, 1938

By E. Lancaster-Jones

THE gravity magnitudes obtained by means of observations with the Eötvös balance in the field are necessarily resultant or total effects due to all abnormalities of mass distribution, including even the effects due to the ellipticity and rotational motion of the whole earth. Since the object of the survey is to isolate the effects which arise solely from some particular subterranean feature, and to deduce therefrom the configuration and extent of this feature, the first step is to eliminate from the observed effects all those due to "disturbing" (i. e., unwanted) features, whether above or below the surface of the ground. The disturbing features have different characteristics, according to their situation relative to the center of the balance and to the horizontal plane through the foot of the balance, or station point; this diversity was recognized by Eötvös, who divided the total effects into so-called Normal, Terrain, Topographical, Cartographical and Subterranean effects. This classification has been adhered to by most subsequent investigators, but the writer prefers to employ the term "three-dimensional," which really indicates the essential character of the class of effect known as "Subterranean," at any rate from the standpoint of the computer of effects. Before disturbing effects can be eliminated, the features must be measured up or surveyed, whether by topographical, mining, or boring methods, and then the effects of each feature calculated and subtracted from the total observed effects. After this the problem of interpreting the residual effects will itself necessitate the computation of the assumed feature, or even a series of trial features.

Jan 1, 1928

By Lachlan Gilchrist

MEASUREMENTS of resistivity by methods involving the use of two current electrodes and two potential electrodes in general collinear with the current electrodes have been made extensively in geophysical investigations. In the method developed by Wenner and made use of by Gish and Rooney, and later in a modified form by Lee, the distance between the current electrodes is divided into three equal parts by the potential electrodes. In one of the methods developed by Schlumberger prospecting methods and by Koenigsberger, one current electrode is placed at considerable distance from the other and potential measurements are made in the immediate neighborhood of one of the current electrodes. The method is described as the single current electrode method, and the effect of the distant current electrode is considered negligible or a correction is made for the effect in the calculation of the resistivity. Usually the correction that is introduced is based on the calculated effect for measurements made in a homogeneous conducting material. The useful application of these methods in prospecting for minerals, of course, is in regions where nonhomogeneous conditions exist. In many of these conditions it is very doubtful whether the effect of the distant current electrode may be neglected, except for measurements in the immediate neighborhood of the "single" current electrode, and corrections based on homogeneity of the medium will necessarily be inadequate. In order to obtain a degree of symmetry that would preclude the necessity for corrections for the distant electrode and that would simplify interpretation, it appeared desirable to use a central current electrode and a set of distant end current electrodes symmetrically placed about the central electrode as shown in Fig. 1 and to provide by means of auxiliary resistances that the currents passing into the earth at the distant end electrodes should be equal. Circumstances did not permit the operation of this plan in complete detail but a degree of symmetry was obtained by using a central current electrode and two distant collinear end current electrodes and by taking measurements along a line passing through

Jan 1, 1931

By Howard Eavenson

ONE who has been trained in belief in the law of supply and demand and its effect upon prices finds it difficult to adjust himself to the minute regulations imposed by the New Deal, and also to the bewildering changes of government policy as expressed within a short period of time between the antitrust laws and the N.R.A., and later by the Bituminous Coal Conservation Act of 1935. A survey of the coal industry since the World War, both in this country and Great Britain, however, shows that regula-tion of some sort is needed if any stabilization is to be achieved and if the Wage structure and economic welfare of the many communities dependent solely upon coal are to be maintained. Let us look at what has happened to the industry since 1920, which can be considered as the end of the period affected by the war influence. This discussion will be confined solely to bituminous coal, although many of the general conditions are equally applicable to anthracite, the position of which now is at least as bad as that of the softer variety. Since 1920-to the end of 1934-the production of coal has decreased from 568.7 million to 358.4 million tons, or 37 per cent; the number of mines from 14,766 to 6,258, or 58 per cent; the average annual production per mine has changed from 38,512 to 57,425 tons, or 50 per cent. The number of large mines has increased considerably, and the number of men employed has decreased from 639,547 to 458,011, a reduction of 28 per cent, while the average output per employee has changed from 4.0 to 4.4 tons, or an increase of 10 per cent. The average price per ton of coal at the mine has varied from $3.75 to $1.75. During that time wages decreased largely until 1933 and since that time have increased, until now the rates paid are- considerably above those in other occupations, although the actual yearly earnings are low, because of part-time work. From 1920 to the signing of the Jacksonville wage agreement in 1924, about two-thirds of the men were union members and practically all of the nonunion mines were south of the Ohio River; with the fixing., of the high wage scale of that agreement, which soon proved to be an uneco-nomic one, many of the mines found that they could not retain their business, so gradually changed to nonunion. By 1928 the proportion

Jan 1, 1936

By John Garcia

THE presence of carbon de terre along the banks of the Illinois river was noted by the members of the Joliet and Marquette expeditions in 1673, and that may be referred to as the birthday of coal in the Middle West. The march of progress in the majority of indus-tries radiating from Chicago-one of the phenomena of history-is due in no small measure to this same carbon de terre and to the development and exploita-tion of the vast coal resources, which nature in a generous mood spread so lavishly over almost the en-tire state. The geological records indicate that coal-bearing rocks underlie three-quarters of Illinois, in-cluding 85 of the 102 counties and the entire area is estimated at from 36,000 to 42,000 square miles. Not all of the coal in this great area may be mined under the conditions existing today; producers are now taking the "cream" since industry demands the best quality and the lowest cost, thereby forcing competition among operators, which, in turn, com-pels the development of mines in those areas where the coal may be most readily .won, leaving the coal that is more difficult and expensive to mine to pos-terity. This is not such a bad arrangement, since the engineers of succeeding generations will enjoy the advantage of the experience of their ancestors, where-by they should profit and know how to mine a 2-ft. seam with as much economy and dispatch as we today work coal of thrice that thickness. During the period between 1830 and 1850, Illinois coal-mining progressed from the art of scratching along the outcrop to the development of small mines, mostly slopes, drifts and shallow shafts, but the real progress in the industry was coincident with the con-struction of railroads.

Jan 2, 1927

By E. S. Bardwell, R. J. Lapee

Twenty years ago, W. T. Burns, in his paper presented at the Butte Meeting of the Institute,' discussed the general scheme then in use in the electrolytic copper refinery of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. at Great Falls, Mont., for removing impurities from tank-room electrolyte and controlling its acid content. Since then marked changes have taken place in copper-refinery practice at Great Falls. The electrolytic copper refinery in use in 1913 has been replaced by a new and entirely modern plant capable of producing up to 27,000,000 Ib. of cathode copper per month. With the building of the new plant in 1916, the treatment of converter anodes was discontinued. At first the substitution of refined anodes for converter anodes resulted in a decrease in the impurity content of the anodes, but as time went on, changes in metallurgical practices at the smelter resulted in substantial increases in the impurity content of the anodes. The leaching of the silver slime to remove copper before shipment to Raritan for treatment further added to the purification problem. The fact that the scheme of purifying electrolyte which Mr. Burns described in his paper has proved adequate for our needs under a wide variation of conditions speaks well for its essential soundness. Method of Purification Briefly, the method adopted for purifying tank-room electrolyte at Great Falls has been as follows: Each day a certain volume of tank-room electrolyte is run off and sent to the purification plant, where it is boiled down to approximately 46' 136. The concentrated electrolyte is then sent to crystallizing tanks where the bulk of the copper is crystallized out as copper sulfate. The mother liquor is then passed through insoluble anode tanks to remove the last of the copper and most of the arsenic and antimony. It is then either returned to the tank room direct or boiled down to 55' Bé, the iron and nickel salts crystallized out and the mother liquor returned to the tank-room circuit as restored acid. Prior to 1930 all of the evaporating was done in lead-lined tanks 13 ft. in diameter by 4.5 ft. deep, provided with lead heating coils through which steam at 30 lb. gage pressure was circulated.

Jan 1, 1934

By C. H. Jr. Herty

IRON oxide .(Fe0) plays an extremely important part in the manufacture of steel. In the open-hearth furnace and the Bessemer converter it is the chemically predominant compound and controls to a large extent both the operation of the furnaces and the composition and quality of their products. Almost all of the refining action is carried out through the medium of FeO, which oxidizes carbon, manganese, silicon, and phosphorus. At the end of any open-hearth or Bessemer heat the steel contains dissolved iron oxide, which must be wholly or partly eliminated. The type of deoxidation product depends on the amount of dissolved iron oxide and on the deoxidizer used. After the heat has been deoxidized and while it is being teemed, iron oxide diffuses from the ladle slag into the metal, causing losses of deoxidizer and increase in iron oxide content of the steel. It is generally believed that non-metallic inclusions are responsible for a great many failures of steel in service and for decreased yield of steel during rolling. The basis of most non-metallic inclusions is dissolved iron oxide. This investigation was undertaken in order to determine the amount of iron oxide that will dissolve in iron under various conditions. Steel-making slags are complex and it has been thought best to determine solubility under simple slags as a first step. The study is being continued under slags whose compositions approach those of operating. slags.

Jan 1, 1928

By J. M. Sands

Production of oil in Oklahoma during 1927 amounted to 273,256,900 bbl. (Table l), an increase of nearly 100,000,000 bbl. over the previous year. All of the major fields declined with the exception of those of the Seminole district which produced 136,105,000 bbl., almost one-half of the total production of the state. Because of this large new production, most of the development in the state during the year took place in that district. The Seminole City pool located in T.-9-N., R.-6-E., was the first of these pools to be developed. The Indian Territory Illuminating Oil Co. brought in the first well in this field in March, 1926, for 1100 bbl. This well is located in Sec. 24-T.-9-N., R-6-E., and produced from the Hunton lime reached at depth of 3900 ft. The first Wilcox production was developed by the Independent Oil & Gas Co. and R. S. Garland in Sec. 26, T.-9-N, R-6-E. This well was being drilled for production in the Hunton lime but was dry in this horizon and was deepened to the Wilcox sand in July, 1926, and at the total depth of 4069 ft. developed a maximum production of 8000 bbl. daily. It held up in wonderful manner and was the cause of not only the development of this pool but the prospecting of the whole district for the Wilcox sand. This led to the discovery of the other major pools in that district. Seminole City pool reached a peak production of 264,500 bbl. on February 22, 1927, and slowly declined so that by December it had a daily average of 56,200 bbl. from 321 wells. The second pool in this district to be discovered was the Searight pool which was discovered by F. J. Searight et al. in Sec. 33, T-10, R-6, in April, 1926. The first well was drilled to the Hunton lime encountered at 4115 ft., and came in for 1300 bbl. daily. During August, 1926, the second well was drilled on the same farm through the Hunton lime to the Wilcox sand which was encountered at 4360 ft. It came in for an initial production of 4000 bbl. daily. This started active drilling in this field for the Wilcox sand. The field had a peak production of 40,621 bbl. on June 15, 1927, and declined to a daily average of 22,300 bbl. from 73 wells during December.

Jan 1, 1928

By John F. Blandy

Every new mining district has had its own peculiar experiences in inventing and experimenting upon new methods for the various operations of mining, and more particularly in the processes of crushing and dressing ores. As a matter of course, during this period many old things have been reinvented, patented, and cast aside, there to remain until at a future day other geniuses shall bring them forth again as new. In this respect the Copper Region of Michigan has not been behind other mining centres, and probably in no other part of the country has more money been expended in devising new machines and improvements upon old ones for the crushing of the rock. The appliances for washing the sand have not been so varied, simply for the reason that, having but one mineral, or rather metal, of high specific gravity to separate from rock material which varies but little in its character in any one mine, it requires much less care than is necessary in most mining centres of the world. At the beginning of operations in that district most of the work was in the control of Cornish miners, who introduced the simplest of Cornish mills, namely, wooden stem pestles, with wooden shafts and cams. These were well suited to the small mines, and particularly to the limited means of transporting more expensive machinery. As these facilities improved, they were enabled to change to iron, and to vary their patterns of rods, shafts, cams, and mortars. The most approved pattern, finally obtained, is the square or round stem, with collar adjustable by means of keys. In its present form it is a bar of cold rolled shafting, an eye in the top, an adjustable collar with key-plate and keys, the head and a shoe of chilled iron. The stem is fitted into the head by a slight taper. The battery has heretofore been of wood, lined with chilled cast plates, and bed-plate of the same, but within the past year the California pattern has been introduced. The screens are of sheet-steel, drilled with 16 holes to the inch. During this period of trial and gradual improvement in the pestle stamps, in the years 1855-6, the Ball steam-stamps were introduced, and after years of labor and expense, have been made the most efficient and powerful machines ever yet used for the purpose. It is ostensibly the Nasmyth steam-hammer, and yet the

EDUCATION for the mineral industry was at first a single comprehensive curriculum, but it was early recognized that the main basis of mining is physics, while that of metallurgy is chemistry. The first school to offer curricula leading to degrees in mineral industry education in the United States (1853) had separate ones in mining and metallurgy. The Columbia School of Mines (the fist really successful one) had only a single curriculum when it opened in 1864, but within a few years had so reorganized its work that it offered curricula in mining, metallurgy, geology, chemistry, and civil engineering. Interest in the metallurgy or geology curricula was slight at fist, and for the next 30 years the great majority of Columbia students took the mining curriculum, probably partly because it contained nearly as much geology as the geology curriculum, practically all the metallurgy, and most of the chemistry, and partly because of the degree awarded for it. Other schools kept their mining curricula equally broad, and as late as 1900-1910 men were graduating as mining engineers who were practically as well prepared to make geology or metallurgy their life work as they were for mining. Gradually, however, the subject matter of mining geology and metallurgy became so enriched through research and development that separate curricula in them became worth while; their progressive development is the subject of another chapter. Mining curricula also began to be somewhat diversified, and schools in areas where coal mining was of outstanding importance began to offer options in coal mining, the earlier curricula having been chiefly aimed at metal mining. The petroleum industry began its meteoric rise about the same time as mineral instruction in this country, but little more of applied science attended its birth than had attended such ancient practical arts as copper and iron

Jan 1, 1941

By Charles Hart

THE-report of the advisory committee to the U. S. Bureau of Mines, on the use of oxygen in metallurgy, brings to the art of steelmaking a radical change in the method of operation of the many processes of this widely diversified industry. When completed, the improvements suggested by the use of oxygen will be far-reaching and revolutionary. As to its effect upon the iron blast furnace, the use of oxygen should be as important as any of the improvements in the art of iron smelting and should take its place beside the German "Hochofen" which was the first attempt to use a shaft for preheating the stock, and beside the hot-blast stove which heated the blast before entering the furnace. The former initially produced molten iron and the latter made unbelievable economies in fuel consumption. It would seem that a discussion of this paper would be best served by following the conclusions on page 17 of the report and analyzing them seriatim. 1. (a) A decrease in costs, due to higher smelting heats is only attainable by taking full advantage of these heat units. This is affected by, adding additional ore to the burden which in turn increases production and yields a larger tonnage upon which to figure costs. These economies appear in decreased cost per ton of iron for coke and limestone consumed, and a proportionate reduction in all items entering the cost above materials. We can take no exception to these. premises. It is a well-known fact that silicon in the iron and sulfur removed" are the result of hearth temperature, other matters remaining constant. To a practical furnaceman the most satisfactory manner of controlling a furnace is by increasing the burden. It is not necessary, therefore, to consider the question of refractories, for this discussion presupposes that the temperatures in the furnaces will be kept practically where they now stand for making the various grades of iron. The same situation obtains in regard to the height of the furnace, which, as intimated, was one of the great strides forward in this art, and its abandonment at this time, is inconceivable. The shaft prepares the stock so that at each succeeding step we have exactly the proper conditions. All the stock entering the furnace is dried and preheated. The limestone is calcined by sensible heat practically at no cost, for this is sensible heat which otherwise would pass from the top with the gases. Under normal conditions, external calcination has been attempted without tangible results. Under normal average furnace operation, limestone requires about 760 B.t.u. for calcination and the loss of sensible

Jan 11, 1924

By Lombard Squires, W. K. Lewis, W. I. Thompson

The authors presented an article2† last year on colloidal properties of clay suspensions in which they attempted to sustain the position that the behavior of clay suspensions is due primarily to the mechanical interference of the platy particles, the nature and extent of the interference being profoundly influenced by the character of the surfaces of the particles, which in turn is determined primarily by the nature and amount of adsorbed foreign materials held on the surface of the particles by forces which are predominantly chemical in type. The following discussion is a continuation of that article to extend these same interpretative points of view to the behavior of clay gels. Insight into the mechanism of gelation is certainly of outstanding importance in the handling of drilling muds. In the former article it was suggested that the thin, flat plates that constitute the ultimate clay particles may build up aggregates by the overlapping of the ultimate plates face to face much longer and perhaps also much wider than the ultimate plates themselves, but not appreciably thicker. Exhaustive microscopic examinations of characteristic clays show no tendency for the larger particles, clearly visible under the microscope, to orient themselves in this way. It is true that the gelation of the clays is due primarily to the smallest particles, unresolvable other than by the ultramicroscope, so that the possibility of the deve1opment by them of an overlapping structure is not excluded. Furthermore, as one approaches the limit of resolving power of the microscope, the difficulty of observing accurately the shapes and relative positions of particles incresses excessively. However, in the absence of any observable tendency toward overlapping orientation of the large, visible particles, one hesitates to ascribe such a tendency to the smaller particles beyond the range of visibility. Should it develop that one must exclude the assumption of overlapping orientation, the explanations offered in the previous article are changed in only one respect; namely, one would now have to assume that the ultimate particles themselves have length, and probably also width, very large in comparison with their thickness.

Jan 1, 1936

By Edward Richardson

As DEVELOPED up to the end of the Great War, an airplane was essentially a mechanism of wood and fabric, joined and held together by metal fittings and, fastening. The engine and accessories, wire for wheel spokes and other tension members, and the occasional use of metal for interplane struts and the shafts of surface controls required some metal, but essentially it was a. wood and fabric structure. Attempts had been made to use metal for other purposes, such as struts in the drag-trussing of wing panels and for short interplane struts, and Junkers had produced an airplane of iron in 1915. By 1917 he was using steel tubes and duralu-min sheets, securing noteworthy advantages aerodynamically and from the standpoint of weigh PRINCIPLES OF AIRPLANE CONSTRUCTION The loaded weight of airplanes ranges from 500 lb. for the light plane of which we heard so much a short time ago, to about 40,000 lb. The great majority of planes range from 2000 to 10,000 lb. Of this weight from 15. to 30 per cent. is for the dividend-earning load. This percentage is so low that every per cent. saved on the rest of the weight increases the pay load from 3 to 6 per cent. The economic value of every pound that can be saved in designing or constructing a plane is sufficiently great to warrant spending money on refined methods of structural analysis, materials of superior strength properties for a given weight, methods of manufacture which may make possible the use of refinements in structural design, and the like, to an extent unknown heretofore.

Jan 1, 1928