Search Documents

By Wllliam D. Davis

C OMMERCIAL production of oil in northeastern Oklahoma began in 1897 and in the next two decades this area became one of the greatest oil districts of the time. Its importance is now secondary, but thousands of wells in this area have produced uninterruptedly for more than thirty years. They are now classified as stripper wells. By means of what is known as water flooding their L. production can be considerably in- creased. This practice consists in injecting water under pressure into the sand surrounding an oil well, thus displacing the oil in the pores of the sand and forcing it into the oil well.

Jan 1, 1940

By Frank C. Aplleyard

The two calcium sulfate minerals-gypsum and anhydrite-occur in many parts of the world, and gypsum has long been of economic importance in the family of industrial minerals. Gypsum, the dihydrate form of calcium sulfate (CaSO4•2H2O) and anhydrite, the anhydrous form (CaSO4) are frequently found in close association, and it is seldom that a calcium sulfate deposit will consist exclusively of one mineral or the other. Although known gypsum deposits are extensive, anhydrite makes up the largest part of total calcium sulfate reserves. However, it has very minor economic use, and most of the following discussion will be devoted to gypsum. Calcium sulfate is one of the principal constituents of evaporite deposits, and when pure, has the following composition: [Sulfur Combined Lime Trioxide Water (CaO) (SO,) (H2O) Gypsum 32.6% 46.5% 20.9% Anhydrite 41.2% 58.8% -] Deposits of pure gypsum or of pure anhydrite which are large enough to be considered commercial have never been found because of both the metastable relationship between the two minerals, and the presence of impurities such as calcium or magnesium carbonates, chlorides, other sulfate minerals, clay minerals, or silica. As a result most mine production of gypsum will range between 85 and 95% pure. Often it is used as mined, although in certain cases, one or more forms of mineral beneficiation are employed to upgrade the product. End Uses The largest use for gypsum is based upon the unique property which calcium sulfate has of readily giving up, or taking on, water of crystallization. With the application of a moderate amount of heat in a process known as calcining, gypsum is converted to plaster of paris (the hemihydrate of calcium sulfate, CaSO4 ½ H2O) which when mixed with water will set or harden as the calcium sulfate returns to the dihydrate form. This semifinished product, usually called stucco, is then manufactured into a large variety of plasters, wallboard, and block for construction use, or into plasters for industrial applications. About 75% of the gypsum used in the United States is calcined for these purposes. Uncalcined uses of gypsum are principally as a retarder for portland cement, as a soil conditioner, as a mineral filler, and other minor industrial applications. About 25% of the gypsum mined in the United States goes into these markets; however, in less developed countries where construction and other industrial uses may be quite limited, the use of uncalcined gypsum for portland cement retarder may well be the dominant-if not the only-market for the mineral. It has often been noted that calcium sulfate constitutes the world's largest reserve of sulfur, and minor use of both anhydrite and gypsum has been made to produce sulfuric acid or other sulfur compounds such as ammonium sulfate. However, because sulfur is readily available at lower cost from other sources, use of calcium sulfate has been limited to only a few locations where it could compete economically. No such use is reported in the United States at this time. Mineralogy Anhydrite, CaSO4 because of its geologically rapid conversion to gypsum, and relatively high solubility (about 0.2 g per 100 g H2O) is not often found outcropping in climates wet enough to support abundant vegetation except on steeply dipping slopes or other places where hydrated material is continuously removed. Anhydrite rock is most often light to bluish gray in color, and under the microscope, varies

Jan 1, 1983

By F. Keller, J. D. Edwards

THE anodic treatment of aluminum presents problems of scientific as well as of commercial interest.1-3 Of particular interest is the fact that, during the anodic oxidation process, the oxide continues to form at the metal-oxide interface under any oxide previously formed. This has led to speculation as to the mechanism involved in the formation of the relatively thick oxide coatings that are used commercially for decorative or protective purposes. Furthermore, the ability of certain types of oxide coatings to adsorb dyes and other substances has stimulated research to determine the actual structure of these adsorptive coatings. It has been found that anodic oxide coatings on aluminum are composed essentially of aluminum oxide. They are formed by the action of oxygen ions penetrating to the metal surface during the electrolytic oxidation treatment. These coatings can be formed in a number of different electrolytes, as for example, those which contain sulphuric acid, chromic acid, oxalic acid, or boric acid. These are the commonest and most useful electrolytes employed commercially. Except for certain specific conditions of formation, the coatings in general have been found to be amorphous alumina, as far as can be determined by X-ray or electron-diffraction methods. Anodic oxidation processes can be arranged in three rather general classes if they are grouped in relation to the solvent action of the electrolyte on the coating.4 In the first class, the electrolyte has little or no solvent action on the coating that is formed. In general, coatings produced under such circumstances are nonporous and non- adsorptive. In the second class, the electrolyte exerts an appreciable solvent action on the coating. These coatings are porous and adsorptive. Finally, for the third class, the electrolyte tends to dissolve the coating about as rapidly as it is formed. This action produces electrolytic brightening or anodic polishing of the aluminum surface and at most leaves only a very thin film of oxide. The nonporous and nonadsorptive type of oxide film is represented by the coatings that are formed when solutions of boric acid are employed as the electrolyte. It is especially significant that these impervious films are formed in electrolytes that exert little or no solvent action on the coating. Where a boric acid electrolyte is used, the coating tends to form rapidly, with the result that the flow of current is soon reduced to substantially zero. This indicates that the growth of the coating has stopped. As a rule, the thickness of the coating is roughly proportional to the voltage employed for formation and the coatings of this type are exceedingly thin. In an electrolyte of this type, the coating has a high resistance when the aluminum is made anode; consequently, any current that may flow (leakage current) is very

Jan 1, 1944

By J. B. Newkirk, W. G. Martin

Oxidized cobalt powder is known to have a magnetic hysteresis loop which is asymmetric with respect to the magnetization axis. The experiment described herein shows that the orientation relationship between the basal plane of hexagonal cobalt and the oxide which forms upon it at 400°C is {111}ux//{100.1 }co <110>ux//<11.O> This orientation relationship allows a magnetic interaction between the antiferromagnetic oxide and the ferromagnetic substrate which could account for the offset hysteresis loop. Oxidized nickel powder has a symmetrical hysteresis loop and so is apparently not influenced by any magnetic interaction between metal and oxide. The orientation of the oxide (cubic) was found to be identical with that of the nickel substrate when the oxide forms on a polished surface parallel with {111} Ni. IN 1956 W. H. Meiklejohn and C. P. Bean discovered that fine particles of cobalt which had been prepared in a certain way have a magnetic hysteresis loop which in a strong field is asymmetric relative to the magnetization axis.&apos; The cobalt powder exhibited this unusual magnetic property only after it had been oxidized in air or oxygen; it lost the shifted hysteresis loop when the oxide was reduced in hydrogen. X-ray and neutron diffraction&apos; experiments showed the presence of cobaltous oxide (COO) and hexagonal cobalt in samples exhibiting the biased hysteresis loop and specifically showed no indication of any other compound with the exception of mercuric oxide.* The magnetic hysteresis loop becomes symmetrical above the Nee1 temperature (paramagnetic state) of COO. Therefore, it was concluded that the anomalous magnetic behavior is associated with the influence of cobaltous oxide upon the metallic cobalt. It has been proposed that crystallographic coherency may exist between the cobalt and a plane of some antiferromagnetic material which has unbalanced spin distribution and sufficient magnetic anisotropy to hold its spin in the direction which existed when the specimen was cooled. COO has these properties. Therefore, Roth&apos; has suggested that cobaltous oxide may form with a {111} plane parallel and coherent with the basal plane of the hexagonal cobalt metal and proposed that, as consequence of the antiferromagnetic interaction between COO and the underlying cobalt, the magnetization direction in oxidized fine Co particles may be ro-lated from the easy c-direction.2 Such a relationship, he proposed, would explain the observed magnetic effect in oxidized cobalt powder. The main purpose of this study was to determine the orientation relationship, if any, between the basal plane of cobalt and the oxide which forms upon it. Attempts to produce a film of COO which was strong enough to be handled were not successful. However we did succeed in making a film of CoCo2O, which was strong enough to be removed from the cobalt substrate and mounted on an electron-microscope grid. Because of the close structural similarity of COO and CoCo2O, we believe the orientation relation found for CoCo2O, on cobalt probably also holds for COO on cobalt. The epitaxial relationship of NiO and Ni also was investigated. To date no shifted hysteresis loop has been observed with nickel powder. However, the similarity of atomic array in cobalt and nickel leads to the prediction that a {111} of NiO may be parallel with a (111} of nickel. Experimental Method Cobalt-Cobalt Oxide—A coarse-grained specimen of a (hexagonal) cobalt was prepared by allowing a large crystal of fee cobalt to transform slowly at 400°C. The crystal was then cut to expose a surface parallel with the basal plane. A back reflection Laue X-ray photograph showed that the 00.1 plane was within 2" of the cut surface. The surface was mechanically polished and then electro polished in 85 pet orthophosphoric acid after which the crystal was held for 30 min at 400°C in air. During this heat-treatment the surface darkened slightly due to the oxide film which formed. The film was not thick enough to give an X-ray diffraction pattern, even by a glancing-angle technique. Glancing-angle electron diffraction was not possible either, owing to the interference of the electron beam with the high magnetic fields which exist at the 00.1 surface of the cobalt. However, it was possible to make an electron-diffraction photograph of the oxide film by stripping it from the cobalt substrate using the method described later. By maintaining reference marks carefully, it was possible to preserve the orientation relationship between the stripped film and the substrate on which it was formed. The oxidized surface of the crystal was first covered with a 1 pet solution of collodion (cellulose nitrate) in amyl acetate. When the film was dry, small rectangles were scored on the surface with a needle point. The specimen was then repolished

Jan 1, 1959

By Maurice Grieves

The great majority of shafts constructed today are still excavated by drilling and blasting, a method which changed very little in over 100 years until the introduction of the mechanical lashing unit and cactus grab by the South Africans, which enabled muck to be removed as fast as massive hoisting systems could handle it and resulted in very rapid rates of sinking. Record breaking month&apos;s performances were achieved at -Hartebeestfontein No. 4 shaft, October 1960-337.1 m; Western Reefs No. 4 shaft, October 1961-340.7 m; and Buffelsfontein eastern twin shaft, March 1962-381.2m. The method was very labor-intensive, requiring a crew of over 60 workers at the shaft bottom during the drill cycle. Safety precautions were strict, but in the drive to achieve rapid advance, cases of personal injury were still somewhat high because of the large number of people engaged in this potentially hostile environment. The South African method, as it came to be referred to throughout the rest of the world, was adopted in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s in a modified form with greatly reduced manpower and nonsimultaneous sinking and lining, which was insisted on by the British Mines Inspectorate. In that instance, it was successfully used to sink the 7.3-m-diam concrete-lined shafts at Kellingley to 770 m depth, with rates of advance of over 90 m/month achieved, a British record at that time. During the sinking of the 1.15-km-deep twin shafts at Boulby potash mine in the UK in 1970, the method was again used, but for the first time ever in Britain exemptions from the mining code permitted the use of crash beams, crash doors, jack catches, and semi-simultaneous sinking and lining techniques. New British shaft sinking records of over 120 m/month were achieved in both shafts. Similar equipment and techniques were used in the early 1970s to sink several deep shafts in Canada, notably Creighton #7 and the Con zinc mine at Yellowknife in the NW Territories. Today, this equipment is standard for deep shafts in the US and the rest of the world. However, with the tremendous escalation in mining labor costs, the impact of health and safety legislation, and environmental regulations, coupled with a very real shortage of miners willing to work in this exposed situation it was apparent that an alternative to the labor-intensive conventional method of shaft construction had to be found. Recognizing the trend is inevitable, one or two major German shaft sinking contracting firms began to take a fresh look at full face boring techniques applied to tunnels and raise bored shafts. The results were most encouraging. Tunnel drivage techniques using moles had developed considerably from Colonel Beaumont&apos;s original channel tunnel machine circa 1880 to the superbly engineered Priestley machine selected to cut the British side in 1975 and the double shielded Robbins Grandori borer on the French side of the English Channel. Full face tunnel machines were being successfully used to drive uphill in inclined shafts in Austria and Switzerland. At Mapprag in Switzerland, the Demag mole drove the first (intentional) vertical transition and curve, and then went on to successfully complete the 730-m-long penstock shaft at an inclination of 35°. In Austria, the Wirth mole drove the Kaprun Glacier ski-lift railcar tunnel at record breaking rates of 457 m/MONTH (best 30 m/d) through green schist at an inclination of 29° for a distance of 3.35 km while the Hydro tunnel at Sarrelli in Switzerland was being driven by the Robbin&apos;s mole at an inclination of 35°. Simultaneously, extremely promising results were obtained using large assemblies of cutter discs on raise borer heads, such as the 4.87-m-diam X 460-m-deep shaft raised by Teton for Jim Walter Resources Inc. Bearing in mind that most mine shafts in the future (unless in exceptionally competent rock) will require some form of lining, and the trend will be toward deeper shafts as the more easily accessible mineral deposits become exhausted, it was seen that normal raise boring had definite limitations in vertical accuracy, in the limitation imposed by the drill string on the available torque that could be applied to the cutter head, and in the risk of collapse of the unsupported shaft rock wall in friable or jointed and fissured ground, since it is not possible to apply any form of temporary support until the permanent lining is being installed. A further problem was the economics of installing a subsequent lining, necessitating setting up a headgear and hoisting arrangement approaching in size that required for conventional drill and blast sinking and lining. Because of the economics, German contractors opted for a phased transition from drill and blast to the full face, rodless, out of the solid shaft mole, by starting off with a down-the-hole shaft boring machine -without a drillstring-but using a pilot hole to get rid of the muck.

Jan 1, 1982

By AIME AIME

ON Sept. 24, 1875, a remarkable deposit of silver ore was discovered by James Ryan and Samuel Hawkes at the east base of Grampian Hill in central Beaver County, Utah.. A shaft was begun and had been sunk about 30 ft. in ore when the claim was sold on Feb. 17, 1876, to A. G. Campbell, Matthew Cullen, Dennis Ryan, and A. Byram for $25,000. To them is due the credit of having developed the mine and started the district on the road to its present state of prosperity. Their development resulted in proving the vein to a depth of over 280 ft. and about 2500 tons of ore was extracted and turned into bullion. In February, 1879, the mine came into the possession of the Horn Silver Mining Co., and since then over $65,000,000 worth of ore has been taken from the mine. Two smelters were built in 1878, near the mine; 400 men were employed underground, and 1000 on the surface, burning charcoal, hauling wood from the surrounding hills, and freighting and hauling hay for the hundreds of horses used in the work. Ore was hauled thirty miles to the

Jan 1, 1936

By E. S. Wheeler, M. W. Murphy

A LARGE part of the molybdenum produced in Colorado is converted and consumed in the Eastern States. As the raw materials and the power needed for the conversion of the Colorado concentrate are also accessible in the Eastern States, the conversion plant has been installed some 1500 miles east of where the ore is mined and milled. When concentrate was first produced at Climax in 1918, a custom smelter converted the product into ferromolybdenum. By 1924, the Company had decided to produce calcium molybdate and rented a building and installed equipment for that purpose at Langeloth, near Burgettstown, Pa., about thirty miles west of Pittsburgh. For the first few years the plant was a simple one of small capacity. A small hand-rabbled roaster was used, the product of which was made iota calcium molybdate by a conventional method; then an eight hearth mechanically rabbled roaster was installed to increase and speed up production. The output was considerably less than a million pounds of contained molybdenum annually until 1928, when a small part of the produc-

Jan 1, 1946

J. R. Lane (Metals Research Laboratory, Washington)—A new type of deformation called "kinking" has recently been described. Is there any relation between the "rumpling" described in this paper and "kinking?" D. C. Jillson (author&apos;s reply)—Both are manifestations of bending about [210] axis. The difference is one of degree. W. C. Ellis (Bell Telephone Laboratories, New York) —Some observations of deformation in zinc recorded in this paper may be applicable generally to flow in metals. One of these, deformation in torsion without evidence of slip or twinning in the early stages and with startling ease, when the twist is about the hexagonal axis, adds another method of flow to the presently increasing list of mechanisms. This illustrates again that a crystal will utilize any realizable process to flow and relieve stress. The process is not necessarily classical directional slip—& this case, it is rotational slip. The question naturally occurs: Will face-centered cubic metas stressed by twisting about an octahedral axis flow in a similar manner by rotation on an octahedral plane? I would like to ask Dr. Jillson if he has made any experiments or knows of any experiments of this type on face-centered cubic metals? Face-centered cubic metals possibly would behave differently from zinc, since, for one thing, the stacking sequence is different for the two structures. The results of such experiments, however, would be instructive in providing more information about deformation processes. D. C. Jillson—Dr. Roy E. Swift, working in the Hammond Laboratory at Yale, performed a twist test on a single crystal of brass. The work has not been published, and I do not know the crystallographic direction of the axis of the specimen used. Lo-ching Chang (Columbia University, New York)— Observations similar to Figs. 1 and 2 of the paper were obtained by us during the bending and unbending of an orthorhombic Au-Cd alloy.&apos;l This orthorhombic alloy is the product of diffusionless transformation from a single crystal of p Au-Cd alloy (CsC1 structure) containing 47.5 atomic pct Cd on cooling to about 60 "C.62 Referring to the effects of annealing, has the author tried any loilg time high temperature anneal, such as 150 to 200 hr at 40O°C? D. C. Jillson—No. C. Crussard (Ecole des Mines, Paris: France)—I

Jan 1, 1952

By S. K. Asunmaa, W. D. English, N. A. Tiner, W. A. Cannon

This paper discusses the reaction of metal surfaces with fluorine. Fluorination reactions result in the formation of metal fluoride films which are "passive" toward further reaction of the metal with fluorine. These films are very adherent, and do not easily detach from the substrate metal by mechanical flexing or thermal shock. Exposure of passive films to a humid atmosphere produces hydrated metal fluorides which cause secondary fluorination reactions upon reexpo-sure of the metal surface to fluorine. The surface films formed range from 10 to 30A in thickness and they pow at the expense of surface oxide films. The apparent film formation is completed rapidly in 15 to 30 min on stainless steel and nickel surfaces. On copper and on Monel surfaces, the film at first grows rapidly, then increases slowly over an extended period of time. Passive films are formed at all fluorine pressures in the range from 0.1 to 1.4 atm at room temperature. ALL metals react when exposed to fluorine. These reactions generally produce surface films which consist of metal fluorides. The rate of reaction is largely determined by the extent to which these films are protective. Although there is an extensive literature concerning reactions of oxygen with metals, there are very few investigations reported concerning fluorine-metal reactions. Brown, Crabtree, and ~uncan&apos; investigated the kinetics of the reaction of gaseous fluorine with copper metal which had been freshly reduced in hydrogen. The reaction rate was independent of pressure over the range from 6 to 60 torr. A logarithmic rate law was obeyed in the temperature range from 25" to 300" ~. There was some deviation at higher temperatures which could have been the onset of a parabolic law. The calculated film thicknesses ranged from about two molecular layers, 10A, for 5 hr exposure at room temperature to thirty-five molecular layers for 5 hr exposure at 200" . The authors concluded that no single mechanism could explain all the observations. O7Donnell and spatkowski2 studied the reaction of fluorine with copper at 450°C at pressures from lo to 133 torr. The reaction was found to be pressure -dependent and followed a logarithmic rate law. It was not entirely diffusion-controlled, and fluorine was thought to be the migrating species in the reaction. Miscellaneous metal-fluorine reactions were investigated by Haendler et ~1.~ Reaction products were identified but no rate data were determined. Air Prod- ucts and Chemicals, Inc., have conducted an investigation of reactions between fluorine and various metal powders at room temperature and 85° C. Fluoride film thickness as a function of time of exposure was reported on the assumption that the reaction takes place between fluorine and metal to form the normal metal fluoride. Surface areas of the powders were only estimated so the relative film thicknesses may not be exact. The data showed reaction rates which were generally logarithmic in character, the rate of film growth virtually ceasing after a few hours exposure time for some alloy powders. The effect of moisture on fluoride films was also investigated by measuring additional reaction with fluorine after exposure of passivated powders to atmosperic moisture. The fluorination of iron was studied by 0&apos;~onnell~ at temperatures from 225" to 525" ~ and at pressures ranging from 20 to 200 torr. In all ranges, the reaction followed a logarithmic rate law and was dependent on the square root of the gas pressure. The author concluded that fluorine gas passes through pores in the film. As the film grows, the blocking of pores leads to a rapid decrease in reaction rate; hence a logarithmic rate law is observed. Jarry, Fischer, and Gunther&apos; investigated the mechanism of the reaction of fluorine with nickel at about 600" to 700°C. On the basis of the metallographic examination of fluoride scales growing on the nickel and from separate radioautographic data, it was claimed that fluorine is the migrating species in the reaction. This is in sharp contrast to the growth of oxide films on nickel where it has been shown that nickel ions migrate through the scale to the gas-solid interface to react with oxygen. Few investigations have been reported of the reaction of fluorine with metal oxides. Such investigations should be of great significance for a better understanding of passivation in view of the ubiquitous oxide films on technical alloys. Haendler et al.3 studied the reaction of fluorine with oxides of copper, tin, titanium, zirconium, and vanadium. Copper (I) oxide reacted as follows in the temperature range 150" to 300"~: temperature above 300" ~ was required for the CuO to react to form additional copper fluoride. Ritter and smith7 also investigated the reaction of fluorine with copper (11) oxide. An oxide powder comprised of spherical particles with a fairly high surface area was reacted with fluorine, starting at room temperature and increasing to 100° C over a period of 3 or 4 hr. The initial reaction was slow until the fluoride film thickness reached about to or 15R at which time the reaction rate accelerated, then decreased again. Most of the kinetic data was obtained during this final phase of reaction. The authors conclude that the film grows slowly at first until the stresses developed in the distorted lattice are sufficient to rupture the initial

Jan 1, 1969

By J. F. Shirley, H. K. Burke

In January, 1964, three years of laboratory and pilot plant test work reached its culmination. The San Manuel Div. of the Magma Copper Co. switched its molybdenite extraction circuit from the sodium hypochlorite-ferrocyanide process to the new process described in this paper. The San Manuel Div. Concentrator of the Magma Copper Co. is located near San Manuel, Ariz., approximately 45 miles northeast of Tucson. The concentrator treats approximately 35,000 tons of ore per day containing about 0.85% copper and 0.025% molybdenite. The San Manuel ore body is a disseminated copper deposit in quartz monzonite and quartz monzonite porphyry. The primary copper mineral is chalcopyrite; minor amounts of chalcocite, bornite and covellite are also present in varying degrees. Pyrite makes up somewhat more than half the sulfide content of the rock. The molybdenite is nearly always found on fracture faces or associated with quartz veinlets.&apos; On January 9, 1964, the sodium hypochlorite-ferrocyanide process that had been used for molybdenite recovery was replaced by the following process: 1) A conditioning step with hydrogen peroxide, sulfuric acid, sodium cyanide and zinc sulfate. 2) A two stage rougher flotation step with stove oil and sodium ferrocyanide. 3) One cleaning step with sodium ferrocyanide. 4) One cleaning step with sodium hypochlorite and potassium ferricyanide. 5) Four cleaning steps with an anti-foam Exfoam 636 and potassium ferricyanide. COPPER CONCENTRATOR Since molybdenite recovery is closely allied with previous steps in the operation, the copper concentrator will be briefly described first. The ore is ground to approximately 5% plus 65-mesh and 65% minus 200-mesh in a two-step grinding circuit consisting of rod mills in open circuit and ball mills in closed circuit with rake classifiers. A straight forward rougher circuit producing only one concentrate is used. The rougher concentrate is combined with the discharge from the regrind ball mills and is then cycloned, with the overflow going directly to the cleaner circuit and the underflow going to the regrind mills. The feed to the cleaner circuit is approximately 90% to 94% minus 325 mesh. The cleaner circuit consists of two stages in which the tailing from the final cleaner stage is returned to the primary cleaner and the primary cleaner tailing is returned to the rod mill discharge at the head of the circuit. Approximately 0.013 lb of the allyl ester of amyl xanthate (S-3302) per ton of ore is added to the rod mills and approximately 0.006 lb of sodium isopropyl xanthate (2-11) per ton of ore is stage added down the rougher banks. The frother used is methyl iso-butyl carbinol (MIBC) and it is added at various points in the grinding and the rougher flotation circuits. Lime is added to the ball mills and/or to the rod mills to maintain the desired pH in the rougher flotation. The rougher flotation has been operated at various pH levels between 10.5 and 11.5. Fuel oil is added in the regrind mills at a loading of approximately 0.01 lb per ton of ore. Factors Which Directly Affect Molybdenite Recovery: It has been found at San Manuel that, to obtain maximum molybdenite recovery, an oily type flotation collector must be added in the grinding circuit. When molybdenite is crystallized in the characteristic platy form, which appears to be the case almost all of the time at San Manuel, its surface has a greater tendency to adhere to oils than water. 2 Of the several oily type collectors available on the market, the allyl ester of amyl xanthate seems to be the best molybdenite promoter. The floatability of San Manuel&apos;s molybdenite does not appear to be affected, at least up to a pH of 11.5, by lime. It has been reported that at several plant operations high lime alkaline circuits have adversely affected the molybdenite recovery.3,4 It has been found through microscopic studies that the bulk of the chalcopyrite will float before the molybdenite in both the rougher and cleaner circuits. It is necessary to add fuel oil to the regrind mills to enhance the

Jan 1, 1965

By Frederic Carter

THERE have been many attempts to prove that platinum was known to the ancients, but since no traces of the metal have been found in the relics of early times, it must be concluded that it had not been known to them. As far as records go, it was actually first discovered in the 16th century in a Spanish mine on the Pinto River in South America; from which source it received its name of Platina del Pinto (little silver from the Pinto). It was more or less of a rarity and was a subject of interest to a few chemists only, until the year 1822 when the metal was first discovered in Russia. In 1819 there had been noticed in the washings of the gold sands of the southern part of the Ural Mountains, grains of a heavy white substance, but it was not until three years later that this substance was found to contain platinum. While at first the amounts of platinum brought from the Urals had been meager, prospecting soon disclosed rich deposits extending over a considerable area, and nuggets from 10 to 20. lb. were by no means rare. This discovery assured to chemists an ample supply of platinum for their crucibles, etc. The ore is now found in various parts of the world but the richest deposits are still found in the Ural Mountains. The platinum of commerce is obtained entirely from alluvial deposits at depths varying from 6 to 40 ft. The sand and gravel of former river beds are subjected to a series of screenings and washings to effect the separation of the ore. Actually, probably all gold-bearing gravel beds of the world contain platinum, and it is more than likely that large quantities of platinum ore have been thrown away with the black sand washings from gold placer deposits. This is especially true of the alluvial deposits of the Pacific Coast in California and Oregon. Platinum ore is usually found in the form of rounded or, flattened grains of "sand," and occasionally in irregular lumps of the size of peas. Large nuggets are very rare. The ore has a metallic luster and is distinguished by its steel gray color, but shows light gray streak when rubbed on a hard white surface; it has a high specific gravity, 16 to 19; is infusible in the hottest blast furnaces, and insoluble in any single acid. Platinum ore is a complex body consisting of the metal in combination with varying proportions of the other members of the platinum group; iridium,

Jan 1, 1928

By James E. Little

(Wilkes-Barre Meeting, June, 1911.) OF the several extensive deposits of brown iron-ore in Cuba, including those of Mayari and Moa, that of Mayari was the first to be systematically explored, and was selected as the scene of the first operations in the development of this class of ore. Construction-work, begun in the spring of 1907, involved the building of 16 miles of standard-gauge railroad and two large double-track inclines, the installation of mining-machinery, a nodulizing-plant, power-plant, shops and shipping-facilities, and the dredging of an extensive basin for deep-draught vessels. Unusual weather-conditions delayed the completion of portions of this work so that the entire plant was not in operation until December, 1909. The ore in its natural state contains a very large percentage of water, which increases to some extent with the depth below the surface. Near the surface it is red in color, with somewhat granular structure. The color gradually changes with depth, finally reaching a bright yellow. The consistency also changes towards, the bottom to a clay-like, sticky mass. The relative proportion of red and yellow ore is quite variable; in some places the yellow reaches close to the surface, while in others the red extends almost to the underlying serpentine. Fig. 1 is a map showing the Mayari division of the Spanish-American Iron Co. The ore lies on an irregular plateau about 15 miles long and 5 miles wide at the widest point, entirely covered with pine trees and brush, which grow directly on the ore. The elevation at the northern extremity, which is approached by the railroad, is about 1,700 ft. above sea-level. At the southern end the general elevation is about 2,000 ft. Ore is removed by means of scraper-bucket excavators and steam-shovels, these machines loading into special standard-guage, side-dump steel cars of 100,000 lb. capacity. A short haul

Aug 1, 1911

By M. A. Jones

Performance of a pilot flood in eastern Kansas indicates improved recovery and accelerated production resulting from mobility ratio control obtained by adding a high moleculur weight polymer to injected water. Ultimate pilot flood recovery of the 75-cp reservoir oil is anticipated to he 350 bbllacre-ft during the six-year flood life. Cumulative recovery to date totals 242 bbl/acre-ft after 30 months of injection. Reservoir parameters and flood performance are disc~rssed in detail to provide a case history relating to the feasibility of polymer flooding. INTRODUCTION The Vernon Polymer flood of the Brazos Oil & Gas Co., located in Sec. 2, 24 S., 16 E., Woodson County, Kans., was begun in late Oct., 1963. Injection of a 500 ppm solution of Pusher* polymer was initiated in a 15-acre pilot to determine feasibility of improving oil recovery by mobility ratio control. Performance to date and the anticipated recovery of 115,000 bbl from the 329 acre-ft pilot indicate efficient displacement of the viscous reservoir oil. Dependence of flood recovery on the displacing fluid-displaced oil mobility ratio has long been recognized. Displacement efficiency of the reservoir oil decreases with increasing mobility ratio. Therefore, economic reduction of this parameter is an attractive approach to improving oil recovery. particularly from viscous oil reservoirs where mobility ratios are often quite high. Waterflood mobility ratios can be controlled by dilute solutions of certain polymers&apos;; which provide a displacing fluid with considerably reduced mobility. Reservoir parameters and flood performance are emphasized in this paper to provide data relating to polymer flood applicability. THEORY The polymer used in the Vernon pilot exhibits the property of unusually high resistance to flow through porous media.&apos;.&apos; A small concentration in injected water effects a mobility reduction considerably beyond that predicted from increases in bulk viscosity as measured in a capillary or rotating cup viscosimeter. Water mobility in the subject flood is reduced by a factor of 7.55 with the addition of 500 ppm Pusher chemical to injected water while the bulk viscosity is increased from 1.03 to only 1.40 cp at 75F. The exact flow mechanism causing resistance to flow has not been established; however, it is observed only in tortuous flow systems and appears to be influenced by brine properties, rock properties and oil saturation. Consequently, mobility reduction is estimated from flow studies for a given sample of reservoir rock and is expressed in terms of a "resistance factor".&apos; This parameter is defined as the ratio of brine mobility to polymer solution mobility measured at residual oil saturation: RF= ?m/?p= (km/µm)/(kp/µp)M.......(1) where RF = resistance factor (dimensionless) k*. and A, = mobility of water and polymer solution, respectively k,,, and k,, = water and polymer permeability, respectively (darcies) µie and µp = viscosity of water and polymer, respectively (poise). Eq. 1 is similar to the expression commonly used to relate the relative mobility of the water bank at residual oil saturation to oil-bank mobility at irreducible water saturation: where M =mobility ratio of water to oil (dimension-less) A, = mobility of oil k, = permeability to oil (darcies) )i* = oil viscosity (poise). From Eqs. 1 and 2 it is apparent that the polymer-solution-to-oil-mobility ratio can be approximated by dividing the brine-to-oil ratio by the resistance factor RF: Mpn=M10/RF...........(3) where M,-, = mobility ratio of polymer solution to oil (dimensionless). This simplified presentation assumes no dilution of the polymer solution by connate water. Also, the presence of a connate water bank separating the polymer solution from the displaced oil is not considered. Displacement of oil by waterflooding is increasingly dominated by viscous forces as the viscosity of the oil displaced increases. When the oil mobility is less than that of the injected water, the oil-water interface is not a piston-like front.3,&apos; Instead, instabilities occur at the flood front in the form of viscous fingers which tend to penetrate the less mobile oil bank. The magnitude of these protrusions, or the degree of channeling, increases

Jan 1, 1967

By A. W. McReynolds

One characteristic of plastic deformation which distinguishes it from elastic strain is the essential inhomo-geneity of plastic strains. Elastic strain varies continuously through a material, and average relative displacements of initially adjacent atoms are only small fractions of their initial spacing, (strains of the order of 0.01 or less). On the other hand, plastic flow corresponds to the appearance of discontinuities in strain of the lattice, such as dislocations or slip bands, where local strain, on an atomic scale, is several orders of magnitude higher. These discontinuities are visible on a microscopic scale as the familiar slip lines (Fig 1). In spite of this obvious microscopic inhomogeneity, however, macroscopic measurements almost invariably show a smooth curve of stress vs. strain (Fig 2b) even if measurements of linear strains be made to an accuracy of one part in 107. This macroscopic homogeneity of strain indicates that the discontinuities in strain on slip planes occur in increments too small or too slow to be recorded individually, and further that they occur sufficiently independent of one another so that the small increments add at random to a smooth stress-strain curve. The present paper describes observations of plastic strain in aluminum of commercial purity and in high purity Al-Cu alloys, where there exists a strong coupling between slip in various regions of the specimen such that once initiated it spreads rapidly through a large volume. The total effect is that of relatively large, rapid, and regularly spaced steps of strain followed by periods of only elastic strain. Fig 2a illustrates the type of "stair-step" stress-strain curve which results. The properties of this cooperative slip phenomenon will be described further in the section on results: in par- ticular it will be shown that each step corresponds to the propagation of a wave of plastic deformation through the specimen. Some interpretations of the mechanism by which it occurs will be made in the following section. Although the type of plastic wave phenomena to be described has not previously been reported, there are numerous cases of related effects in the plastic yielding of metals: YIELD POINT PHENOMENA The most familiar of such effects is the "yield point" observed in low carbon steels, brass, duralurninum, and the like. It consists in the sudden termination of the elastic portion of the stress-strain curve by a large plastic strain. Since the usual tensile machine is such that yielding of the specimen relieves the load, the resulting curve is as shown in Fig 3. As the strain continues, deformation occurs at a lower stress for some time, then follows a rising curve, but with no further sudden yielding. This effect has been observed in brass by Sachs and Shojil and later by many others. Edwards, Phillips and Jones2 made extensive studies of the effect in steel, and of the role of various alloying elements. Although there seems to be fairly clear evidence that the yield point is caused by a hardening of the material by precipitation of impurities, no satisfactory explanation for the sudden yielding has been given. Winlock and Leiter3 have shown that the strain. level of the upper yield point depends strongly on the rate of loading, the yield point increasing by almost a fac- tor of two as the strain rate goes from 0.002 in. per in. per min. to 4.4 in. per in. per min. This effect would seem to imply an incubation period before yielding is initiated at a certain stress. On the other hand, by going to very slow loading rates, Edwards, Phillips and Jones2 showed that the yield point does not become lower and eventually disappear as might be expected, but, on the contrary, begins to rise at loading rates below about 25 Ib per in. per min. becoming much higher than at rapid loading rates. STRAIN AGING If, instead of continuing straining of a specimen after occurrence of a yield point, the load is removed and the specimen aged, resumption of the test results in occurrence of another yield point as shown by the dotted curve of Fig 3. The new yield stress is generally higher than the previous maximum applied stress. This hardening of the material by straining and subsequent aging is undoubtedly related to quench age-hardening resulting from the aging of a specimen quenched from high temperature. Since neither effect is observed in pure metals, it is generally accepted that quench-aging in all cases is the result of hardening by precipitation of a supersaturated alloying element, and that strain-aging is probably a similar precipitation, accelerated by disruptions of the lattice by previous strain. Pfeil4 has shown that strain-aging does not occur in iron from which all of the carbon has been removed, but that only a very small carbon content, around 0.003 pct, is necessary to cause strain-aging. In accord with this observation is recent work by Dijkstra5 in this laboratory showing that the solubility limit of carbon in iron is extremely low, less than 0.001 pct at 400°C. Edwards, Phillips and Jones2 have shown that the strain-aging effect is also removed by the addition of small quantities of elements such as Mo, Mn, Ti, and the like, which readily form carbides. Their results demonstrate the

Jan 1, 1950

By J. W. Lacey, F. H. Brinkman, J. E. Faris

This paper presents an analysis of the high-pressure, gas-driven LPG-slug process, based on fluid flow tests in areal models. Two types of tests were made. One series was made in low-pressure models which permitted observation of fluid movement. Three completely misci-ble analog fluids were used. A second series of tests was made in high-pressure models using methane, propane and a light refined oil saturated with methane at room temperature and 1,550 psig. Under the test conditions of room temperature and a pressure level of 1,550 psig, the phase diagram for the fluids used is similar to those for many of the field systems where the process is considered for use. A method for using these laboratory data to calculate field performance of the process is outlined. As a result of this work, it is concluded that small banks of LPG (5 per cent HV or less) are not effective in increasing oil recovery in horizontal reservoirs. Znstead, where small banks are used, the driving gas quickly penetrates the LPG bank because of fingering and channeling; and from this point on, the process behaves essentially as an immiscible gas-injection project. The validity of this conclusion was substantiated by: (1) laboratory studies of the effect of rate, model size and mobility ratio on miscible displacement in areal models; and (2) calculation of field recovery, which compared closely with actual field recovery. INTRODUCTION Field applications and pilot tests of the gas-driven, LPG-bank, oil-recovery process are on the increase. Most of these tests are employing small banks (2% to 5 per cent hydrocarbon volume) of LPG, which is miscible with both the driving gas and the oil in place, in an effort to attain an effective yet economical miscible displacement of oil by gas. The expectation of miscible displacement with small banks is based on the concepts that: (1) lengths of solvent-oil mixed zones, measured during miscible displacements in long slim cores, are representative of those that will occur in the field; and (2) areal sweep efficiencies5 measured in electrolytic model studies are applicable to miscible displacement in reservoirs. Our experimental evidence indicates that the mixed-zone lengths and sweep efficiencies mentioned are not applicable to miscible displacement in reservoirs. In this paper we present an evaluation of the gas-driven, LPG-bank oil-recovery process based on fluid flow experiments in areal models. These results are used to predict the performance of a field pilot test of this process, and the results are compared with the actual test results. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LPG BANKS The effectiveness of LPG banks of various sizes in accomplishing miscible displacement of oil by gas was determined by displacement tests in a model representing one-quarter of a confined five-spot pattern. The model, 12 X 12 X 1/4 in. in size, was packed uniformly with glass beads. It was operated at a pressure of 1,550 psig and at room temperature; the fluids used were methane, propane and refined oil saturated with methane at 1,550 psig. The saturated oil had a viscosity of 1.2 cp at room temperature. The results of these tests are shown in Fig. 1, where recovery is plotted as a function of the volume of fluid injected for: (1) an immiscible-gas drive with an oil-to-gas viscosity ratio of 85; (2) three sizes of LPG banks; and (3) two completely miscible displacements with mobility ratios of 85:1 and 10:1. (The miscible displacement data plotted are the averages of several tests.) The results show that a 2½ per cent bank of LPG does not increase oil recovery over that obtained by immiscible-gas drive. The 7 and 17 per cent banks are, respectively, about 30 and 50 per cent effective (with reference to the M = 85 miscible-displacement curve) in increasing oil recovery at the point where 2½ hydrocarbon volumes (HV) of fluid have been injected. The percentage effectiveness of the banks at a given volume of fluid injected is defined as Recovery by Bank — Recovery by Gas Drive Recovery by Miscible Recovery by Flooding Gas Drive We conclude from these results that banks of LPG smaller than about 5 per cent HV in an individual stratum will cause from little to no increase in oil recovery. This finding was substantiated by work in low-pressure models, which permitted visual observation of fluid movements. In these tests, three completely miscible fluids having the same viscosity ratios as those used in

By Ta M. Li

Recent economic and environmental setbacks have not slowed Occidental Oil Shale, Inc.&apos;s program aimed at the commercialization of oil shale. In fact, the firm expects to have a 795 MI (500C) bbl) per day production unit working by the end of 1976. The key to Occidental&apos;s ambitious program is an in situ method that extracts the valuable oil by retorting the shale in place. The process will require practically no water and will leave the spent shale in place underground. Additionally, all plant operations are to be located within the mine. These factors thus serve to make the operation attractive from an environmental viewpoint, in contrast to proposed conventional schemes which call for extensive underground mining, crushing and grinding at the surface, and construction of a massive surface retorting facility.

Jan 12, 1976

By Jack M. Swales

Kermac Potash Co., the newest American entry in a rapidly expanding industry, has come on the scene with notable variations in conventional shaft-sinking and mining techniques. Located in the famed potash producing district east of Carlsbad, N. Mex., Kermac started up its mine in November, 1965, to supply ore to the company&apos;s 500,000-tpy potash crystallization refinery. In so doing, the company (1) drilled the first large diameter mine shaft in the potash industry and (2) has employed new continuous miners especially adapted for use in thin potash beds. REACHING THE ORE ZONE In its initial mine planning, Kermac, a partnership owned jointly by Kerr-McGee Corp. and the National Farmers Union Development Corp., considered it imperative that the shafts be sunk and equipped as soon as possible and that the mine be developed sufficiently to insure a constant ore feed to the mill when the unit was placed on stream. After examining the alternative sinking techniques available to it, the company decided to accept a proposal by Big Hole Drillers, Inc., to drill the shaft from the surface through various formations of sandstones, siltstone, shales, anhydrite, limestones, dolomite and salts to the potash ore zone.

Jan 12, 1966

By H. M. Chance

Jan 1, 1887

By Mark C. Malamphy

MAJOR JUAREZ TAVORA, who recently accepted the post of Minister of Agriculture in Brazil, has reorganized his department. Not least among those sub: divisions of the "Ministerio" which underwent radical changes in the general reform was the Serviqo Geologico e Mineralogico do Brasil. This well- known organization was declared extinct, and in its place was created a new cleparttnent &apos; termed "Departamento Nacional cle Producqao Mineral," which immediately took over all the work of the olcl Servico Geologico ill addition to certain new duties. Dr. .. Domingos Fleury- da Rocha, former head of the School of Mines of Ouro Preto, was called to Xio to assume the newly created post of Director General of the department of Mineral Production. His department will have live divisions :

Jan 1, 1934

The ability of activated charcoal or carbon to adsorb complex metal ions has been recognized for many years, but it wasn&apos;t until the late 1940s and early 1950s that attempts were made to employ carbon-In-Pulp or C. I. P. processing to the recovery of gold. Early plants using the process were those at the Golden Cycle in Cripple Creek, Colorado, the Getchell Mine near Golconda, Nevada, and at the Idria Mine in Honduras. Recovery of the carbon from the pulp was done by screening or flotation, and recovery of gold from the carbon was done by burning the carbon (a very difficult task) or by sending it to a smelter. Unfortunately at the time, the price of gold was still fixed at $3-5 per ounce and labor costs were rising to the point where these mines were no longer able to operate. Consequently, C. I. P. treatment was temporarily forgotten. In the early 1970s, however, Homestake Mining Company at Lead, South Dakota, were being forced by environmental regulations to discontinue the use of mercury for amalgamation in their 7,500 ton per day plant, and at the same time were encountering high labor costs in the slime circuit of the plant, where over 2,000 tons of slimes were filtered each day in Merrill plate and frame filter presses. Shortly before that, researchers of the United States Bureau of Mines had developed the caustic -cyanide method of stripping gold from activated carbon and an electrolytic cell (now known as the Zadra cell) to recover gold from the carbon strip liquor. Homestake and the United States Bureau of Mines then jointly operated a C. I. P. pilot plant at Lead. Results were immediately favorable and a 2,400 ton per day C. I. P. plant was then built to treat the slime fraction of the Homestake ore. (See Au and Ag Cyanidation Plant Practice, Volume I, SME of AIME, 1975. Later, Homestake built a second plant at Creede, Colorado, to treat the slime fraction of the tailings from a silver-lead flotation plant. Next was Duval Corporation&apos;s 3,000 ton per day C. I. P. plant at Battle Mountain, Nevada. Both of these latter plants are described in this volume. C. I. P. operations under construction at the time of this writing are as follows: Pinson Mining Co. , Nevada Gold Freeport Gold Company, Nevada Gold Compania Minera El Indio, Chile. Silver and Gold

Jan 1, 1981