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By A. B. Kinzel

ALTHOUGH calcium carbide and other compounds of calcium, as well as a number of calcium alloys, are well known and are the basis of important industries in the of United States, calcium metal has been thought of as something of a rarity and has received comparatively little attention from industrial metallurgists. The metal may he made in a number of ways, but the electrolytic deposition of calcium from a molten calcium chloride bath was the first process to be used for its commercial production and is still the standard procedure. Calcium metal has elicited little interest among nonferrous metal producers, as the demand has been relatively small and its production restricted to only a few plants, exclusively in France and Germany.

Jan 1, 1941

By C. MeCulloch

A NOVEL practice in the bituminous coal industry is the accelerated method of burning coal to ash used in the laboratory of the Fidelity washery of the United Electric Coal Companies, Du Quoin, Ill. Development of this method has supplanted the tedious float-and-sink process for plant control at this plant. In normal operation the plant operators have available within thirty minutes the accurate ash percentage of the coal loaded in the railroad cars and can therefore make adjustments to maintain a practically uniform quality of washed coal, regardless of the variations in washery feed.

Jan 1, 1937

By J. L. Lummus, Frank O. Jones

A field procedure for determining graphite in drilling mud is presented which is sensitive to 0.25 lbs/bbl and accurate to 20 per cent. The method, utilizing oil flotation principles, is suitable for use in all oil-free water base muds except those containing ligno-sulfonates, lignites, or surface active agents. INTRODUCTION Graphite was proposed as a drilling lubricant as early as 1940, but has not been used extensively until recently.' Graphite has been substituted for oil in certain instances to avoid oil contamination of core samples since it has been found that graphite does not interfere with routine core analysis. A major difficulty in using graphite is the lack of a satisfactory field test for determining the concentration of graphite in mud. DISCUSSION OF METHOD Several possible methods of analysis were investigated, including chemical separation, density fractionation, radioactive tracers, and oil flotation.', ' The investigation indicated that a satisfactory method for field use could be devised using an oil flotation method. It was found that toluene shaken with a highly diluted mud sample would recover sufficient graphite to be apparent in the oil phase. Refinement and standardization of technique made it possible to detect as little as 0.25 lb/bbl graphite and to estimate graphite content to within 20 per cent by using a visual comparison method. The test is limited to oil-free water base muds. Quebracho, phosphates, or barytes in the mud do not interfere with the test but surface active agents, lignosulfonates' and lignites evidently render !he graphite water-wet so that none may be recovered by oil-flotation. PROCEDURE Instructions for determining graphite in mud: 1. Collect representative one gallon sample.- from mud stream. Transfer immediately 350 ml portions of this Sample into four mixing cans labeled A, B, C, and D. Measure out graphite (same as is used to treat mud) for addition to cans as indicated below, using either a specially designed scoop or a balance. Can: A B C D Grams Graphite to Add: none 2 4 6 Stir samples B, C, and D for 15 minutes with propeller type mixer. 2. Clean and rinse well with water four 250 ml volumetric flasks labeled I, 11, 111, and IV. Using a 5 ml hypodermic syringe, transfer the indicated volume of samples from cans A, B, C, and D into designated flasks as follows: From Can: A B C D To Flask: I II III IV Add This Volume of Mud: 4 ml 2 ml 2 ml 2 ml 3. Measure 100 ml fresh or distilled water to each flask and swirl gently to disperse mud. Add exactly 5 ml toluene to each flask. Stopper and shake each

Jan 1, 1953

By Walter W. Bradley, OLAF P. JENKINS

IN April of this year the California State Division of Mines (formerly known as the State Mining Bureau) observed its 50th anniversary. The Division serves as a bureau of information and, an encyclopaedia of California's economic minerals. Its primary function is to make economic surveys of the mineral resources of California, their development and utilization. Geological studies also constitute a related part of the work as being necessary in tracing and out- lining ore deposits and the most likely areas in which to find them. The results of the Bureau's data-gathering are published in the form of annual reports of the State Mineralogist, and in bulletins on specific substances. The Division is just completing a series of reports on the mineral resources of the State arranged by counties.. It is now starting .a new series of reports arranged according to substances particularly the so-called non- metallic commercial groups. Of these the following are now available: clays, barite, and mineral paint. These will be followed by reports on feldspar and silica, diatomaceous earth, limestone and others

Jan 1, 1930

By T. D. Yensen

Discussion of the paper of T. D. YENSEN, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1916, and printed in Bulletin No. 110, February, 1916, pp. 483 to 512. JOHN A. MATHEWS, Syracuse, N. Y.-Concerning the critical composition of the steel containing 2.50 per cent. of silicon, I may say that 12 or 13 years ago we made some of these alloys. They. were not as pure as the alloys made by Mr. Yensen, nor were they melted in vacuo, but one of them contained exactly 2.50 per cent. silicon, and about 0.25 per cent. carbon. It gave us no trouble whatever in hammering to a billet or rolling into bars, nor even when rolling into ¼ -in. wire rods. The steel in question was practically free from everything except carbon or silicon and contained no manganese sulphur or phosphorus worth mention. The alloy containing 2.50 per cent. of silicon worked perfectly well, as well as one containing 0.5 per cent. silicon, and it seems to me that further work should be done by Mr. Yensen on the physical properties of alloys at this seemingly critical change point. W. E. -RUDER, Schenectady, N. Y.-We -have made silicon steels of practically every composition and have never obtained any material under 5 or 6 per cent. of silicon which was brittle. This may be due, of course, to the presence of carbon, in some of the 'commercial materials, and I presume that Mr. Yensen would argue that the: presence of this carbon might prevent inter-granular brittleness. However, all of our silicon steels, up to 5 per cent. of silicon, by treatment in hydrogen at temperatures near the melting point, can be made to show inter-granular brittleness. Furthermore, the material made brittle in this way could be restored by treating at the same temperature in hydrogen containing a hydrocarbon vapor. I discussed this matter some years ago in a paper on inter-granular cement. It therefore appears likely to me that Mr.

Jan 5, 1916

By Harold W. Aldrich, Frederick Laist

After a series of experiments covering a period of about three years, extending from the spring of 1912 to the spring of 1915, a 2,000-ton leaching plant for the treatment of the accumulated copper concentrator tailing was built and put into operation. During the experimental period, the first step was that of laboratory experiments or beaker leaches. The results on this small scale were so satisfactory that a small operating plant, capable of handling 5 tons of roasted tailing per day, was installed. Again, the results proved satisfactory and an 80-ton plant was built and operated continuously from August until February, 1913. In this plant, full-sized roasting and leaching units were

Jan 1, 1917

By D. L. McElroy

It is too broad a statement to say that the mine car is the most important unit in a haulage system, but almost every mining man will admit that it is one of the most important. The mine car is to the mine haulage system what the railroad car is to the railroads; the main purpose in each instance is to move the greatest number of ton-miles of material at the least cost. The data presented in this paper are taken from a study of mine haulage conducted by the School of Mines of West Virginia University at 42 mines in 8 coal fields of Wrest Virginia. The study was made possible by a graduate fellowship of the School of Mines and the cooperation of the mining companies of the state. Three important factors in the use of mine cars in West Virginia are: (I) the number of mine cars in use per loader; (2) the capacity of mine cars; (3) the distribution of mine cars. ("Loaders" in this paper refers to all men loading coal, whether manually or mechanically.) During the World War many mine managers were annoyed by the reduction of efficiency and production caused by railroad-car shortages. Today relatively little complaint is heard about a shortage of mine cars, yet possibly 50 to 75 per cent. of the mines in West Virginia are suffering from this cause of reduced production and increased costs. The railroads have solved their car shortage by placing in service more cars of larger capacity and better design. Many coal mines in West Virginia should solve a part of their cost problems by the same simple procedure. Such a procedure requires an initial outlay of capital, but there is little doubt that this will be repaid, with a good return on the investment. Determining Number of Cars Needed There can be no mathematical rule to determine the number of cars which should be in use per loader in a coal mine, because numerous factors such as concentration of mining, system of haulage, car capacity, speed of haulage, distance of working places from tipple, and so forth, affect materially the number of cars in use. These factors in turn are more or less determined by height of bed, character of roof and coal,

Jan 1, 1931

By Jock A. Campbell

Oil-impregnated rocks are known to occur in 22 of the 50 states. The largest known petroleum resources of this type are in Utah, with over 95% of the inventoried total, The Utah deposits are estimated to contain over 25 million bbl (42 gal per bbl) of oil in place.' All major Utah tar sand deposits crop out and can be mined partially by open pit methods, but in-situ techniques will have to be employed to recover oil from the deeper parts of the deposits. No significant development of Utah tar sands deposits for their petroleum content has occurred to date, although a mine and extraction plant are anticipated this year at Asphalt Ridge. The barriers to development have been mainly economic, but technological and legal problems will also have to be overcome.

Jan 5, 1975

By E. J. Haug, M. M. Fine

FOR several years work has been carried on by the U.S. Bureau of Mines at Rolla, Mo., to develop improved methods of concentrating the oxidized ores of lead and zinc. Various samples have been investigated, and results on some have been published 1,2 lished.l, 2 Details of the progress to date are given in a mineral dressing study now being conducted for an extensive oxidized lead-bearing tract in southeast Missouri, property of St. Joseph Lead Co. These oxidized ores present problems typical of many encountered in modern mineral dressing research in that recovery of very fine particles is of

Jan 1, 1956

By K. R. Janowski, A. B. Chase, E. J. Stofel

Ruby crystals of exceptional optical quality have been grown from fluxes composed of Bi2O3 + PbF2 or Bi2O3 + BiF3. Careful control of growth conditions was required to minimize the number of growth defects consisting primarily of dislocations, occluded flux, and growth twins. Slow growth rates coupled with the addition of small amounts of La2O3 as a flux dopant were helpful in producing nearly perfect crystals. Chromium concentrations up to 1 pet were incorporated into these crystals without adversely affecting their perfection. Crystals up to 10 mm in diameter having as few as one to ten dislocations per crystal were typical of those produced under optimum growth conditions. Under these same conditions the occlusions were eliminated, and growth twins were either eliminated or reduced to one to three twin boundaries per crystal. INTEREST in the nature of lattice imperfections produced during the growth of ruby crystals (Al2O3-corundum structure) has been stimulated recently by the need for ruby lasers of good optical uniformity. As a result, ruby crystals grown by the flame-fusion (Verneuil) process have been studied in detail and have been found to contain high densities of dislocations (106 to 107 dislocations per sq cm) and mosaic structures that impair their optical quality.'-3 Attempts to improve the quality of Verneuil-grown crystals by controlling the growth variables have not been entirely successful. On the other hand, rubies grown by the flux process have received little attention even though their more nearly equilibrium growth conditions suggest that they would have fewer growth defects. Nelson and Remeika have shown recently that small flux-grown rubies can indeed be made into very low-loss lasers. However, they did not report information on crystalline imperfections in these crystals.4 Stephens and Alford have reported briefly on defects found in a flux-grown corundum crystal but they neither described these defects in detail nor related them to the method of growth.5 The present investigation was undertaken to establish the relationship between growth conditions and crystalline perfection of flux-grown rubies, sapphires, and other crystals of the corundum family. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The corundum crystals used in this study were grown by slowly cooling solutions of A12O3 in molten-salt solvents of PbO + PbF2, Bi2O3 + PbF2 or Bi2O3 + BiF3. The materials employed were Linde A (a Al2O3 powder) with reagent-grade chemicals as solvents. Some of the solutions also contained small additions (1 pet or less) of one or more of the transition metal elements chromium, manganese, iron, and titanium as crystal dopants. La2O3 was added to some of the solutions to alter the growth habit of the crystals. The La2O3 promoted the occurrence of growth facets parallel to (0112) and {1011} planes, where the indexing system is the morphological system described in detail by Kron-berg6 and used throughout this paper. The melts from which the crystals were grown were prepared by mechanically mixing the various constituents and placing them in platinum crucibles. The covered 50- and 100-ml platinum crucibles were heated in muffle furnaces at 1250°C for short periods of time (1 to 4 hr) and then program-cooled at either 2° or 4°C per hr to 1000°C. At this lower

Jan 1, 1965

By Thomas V. Falkie, Robert Stefanko

Recently The Wall Street Journal featured a series of articles titled "The Dirty Work-Brutal, Mindless Labor Remains a Daily Reality for Millions in The US.-Mining Coal, Shoveling Slag, Gutting Hogs Pays Bills But Can Drain Spirit, Hope." The article was devoted to describing how tough and dangerous is mining (and some other jobs) and how rough life is for miners and their families. Similarly during the past few years some psychiatrists and sociologists have devoted increased attention to the attitudes and life styles of miners. Unfortunately most of their approaches have been neither scientific nor objective, and very little good clinical research has been done on the subject.

Jan 1, 1971

By T. Egleston

AT the Dover meeting of the Institute, Mr. F. A. Canfield showed some of the members a machine which he had invented for dressing mineralogical and geological specimens, which he has since modified and brought to such a high state of perfection, that after having used it for several months in preparing specimens for the cabinet of the

Jan 1, 1876

By T. Egleston

At the Dover meeting of the Institute, Mr. F. A. Canfield showed some of the members a machine which he had invented for dressing mineralogical and geological specimens, which he has since modified and brought to such a high state of perfection, that after having used it for several months in preparing specimens for the cabinet of the

By A. Patton, F. N. Speller

The use of roll scale in the Bessemer process dates back, to the best of our knowledge, at least 20 years. It was first used by the Ohio Steel Go., Youngstown, Ohio (now the Ohio Works of the Carnegie Steel Co.) under the direction of Sam McDonald, Superintendent of the Bessemer Department at these works. Two 10-ton vessels and one blowing engine capable of blowing one heat at a time were employed. The object of using the scale was to shorten the length of the blow, or in other words, to increase the production with the same equipment. Various means were tried out for introducing the roll scale into the bath of molten iron: It was shoveled into the vessel before the heat was charged, so that the metal would flow over the scale; it was shoveled into the bath after the vessel was turned up; it was dumped into the empty iron ladle by the wheelbarrow-load, and at times was dumped on top of the molten metal in the iron ladle. But the practice of introducing the scale into the iron ladle had to be abandoned on account of danger from explosions and of skulling the ladles. It was soon learned that the proper place to charge the scale was in the empty vessel, so that when the molten iron was poured into the vessel it flowed over the scale, causing a considerabIe reaction to take place before the heat was turned up. Eventually, cylindrical chutes similar to those now in use were installed. Into these chutes the scale is dumped and carried into the empty vessel. Before this convenient means of introducing the scale was adopted, the Ohio Works had satisfactorily demonstrated that roll scale would increase production, by blowing 107 heats in one 12-hr. turn (1,087 tons) with one blowing engine, blowing one heat at a time; whereas, prior to the use of scale, the best practice at these works was about 80 heats under the same conditions. In using roll scale and other oxides of iron to facilitate and control the refining of pig iron in the converter, the Bessemer plant has borrowed one of the most active agencies used in the open-hearth process with, as would be expected, much the same results. The effect of such additions to the Bessemer charge may be discussed as to the influence of this practice on quality, production and cost.

Jan 1, 1917

By R. A. Perry

A speiss is an artificial arsenide, sometimes an antimonide, formed in lead smelting, smelting of oxide copper ores, and in some lead-refining operations. The production of speiss is closely allied with the amount of arsenic and metallic iron in the blast-furnace charge, while dross is produced mostly from the copper and sulphur, with varying amounts of antimony, arsenic and nickel. Most speiss is essentially an iron arsenide containing some sulphur, copper and nickel, if these elements are present in the furnace. The recent introduction of the soda treatment of lead drosses has produced a speiss high in copper. Speiss is not miscible to any extent with molten copper, lead, matte or slag. Miscibility increases with temperature. This property of the speiss is clarified in the latter part of this paper. Most speisses are produced in conjunction with matte and their sulphur content points to the solubility of matte in speiss. . Some plants have insufficient speiss to warrant separate treatment. When arsenic is high in the blast-furllace charge, there may be sufficient speiss to tap separately from the first settler. Arsenic From the foregoing, it is obvious that a study of the treatment of speiss would not ,be complete without consideration of arsenic. Inasmuch as perhaps go per cent of the blast-furnace feed may be sinter, a definite knowledge of the properties of arsenical ores and compounds that go in to the roaster and sinter feeds is of value. Lcad smelters obtain their arsenic from ores and concentrates, as well as from flue dusts shipped from other plants, particularly copper smelters. The percentage of arsenic in ores is usually low, although occasional lots of high arsenical products are smelted. These crude ores may be sulphides, as arsenopyrite; or oxides like scoiodite, which carry gold or lead minerals. The small amount of arsenic in the original ores received is greatly increased by a circulating load of arsenic in secondary products at are resmelted for their lead or precious metals. More important than the arsenic present directly in the concentrates treated is that in fumes and dusts that may originate in the blast furnace or sinter plant of the lead smelter, or may come from a copper smelter as lead-bearing converter fume or roaster dust. Thus the lead smelter not only must treat its own arsenic but is compelled to handie that from some copper and perhaps other lead plants. Where copper and lead plants exchange products, each plant may be forced to re-treat part of the arsenic it has shipped ,outside its own confines. Speiss from the lead blast furnace contains chiefly iron and arsenic with some lead, copper and sulphur and often appreciable amounts of gold and silver. If its copper content is sufficient this speiss may be sent to the copper smelter where usually it is treated in the converter and the copper is separated as blister. Much of the arsenic and most of the lead are recovered as converter fumes

Jan 1, 1944

By J. E. Tobey

BECAUSE of the wide-spread publicity given to Nylon yarn as being made from ?coal, air, and water,? the general public has become conscious of the nonfuel uses of bituminous coal. Some of these uses are as filler for fertilizer, carbon for the absorption of orders, for water supply, and for the bedding of cattle. Spectacular as are these accomplishments the fact is that only a small amount of coal is used for nonfuel purposes. It is on the utilization of coal as fuel that the industry depends. Practically all the coal mines for years to come will be used for making coke for the generation of heat. Recently much attention has been paid to the significance of ash in coal. Another study worthy the interest of metallurgists in the iron and steel industries if that of Dr, Lowry of the Carnegie Institute of Technology relative to the percentage of sulphur in coal and coke.

Jan 1, 1941

AUGUST began with a reminder that warfare was still in progress in the world, in that the Greeks, still at war with Turkey, threatened Constantinople in spite of the small British and French forces of occupation and opened a vista of international dangers. There was in this, moreover, a recollection that religious questions in India had prevented the British from permitting a real settlement of the Turkish question, wherein the absence of Russia as a great power is missed. Civil warfare also continued in Ireland and China. Even in the military way the world is far from being at peace. Bloody fighting between the Fascisti (anti-communists) and the com-munists in Italy led to several provinces being put under martial law, but after a while these disturbances were quelled. In the latter part of the month the assassination of Michael Collins in Ireland produced a great shock. From China, however, there came rather favorable news, indicating the early reintegration of that country, which sooner or later ought to play an important part in world affairs. Economically, instead of there being any improve-ment, there grew a clearer perception of how bad things really are. Italian politics were in chaos through inability to find anyone to accept the premiership and assume the all but hopeless task of averting national bankruptcy. The French, too, began to see their own position in true colors, and especially to see how in reconstruction they had incurred debts on the strength of what they hoped to collect from Germany, with at last the understanding that the Germans could not pay and that France herself was thereby put in a desper-ate economic position. As for the Germans, them-selves their Reichsbank defaulted on ordinary bills early in August. As the month wore on the value of marks fell more and more and at the end it appeared that Germany was on the verge of economic collapse. On Aug. 7, another international conference (with America again absent) was assembled in London, this being the thirteenth since the war, and there was a general feeling that it would be the last. The prime question was what is to be done about the German reparations, but underlying was the whole subject of the entente. The conference opened like a meeting of importunate creditors, doubtful whether the debtor had any tangible assets. On Aug. 14 this conference broke up without coming to any useful conclusion. Indeed, the acrimony among the premiers was so sharp that even the entente between Great Britain and France was endangered. The international situation was saved only by the Reparations Commission excusing the Germans from the payment of 50,000,000 gold marks that come due on Aug. 15 But although the entente was nominally preserved there is no longer any illusion about the interests of Great Britain and France being different and that henceforth they will play their own hands. The London conference was really an effort to maintain the partnership, and it failed.

Jan 9, 1922

By H. C. George

As the basis for a round table discussion of Petroleum Engineering Education for the February, 1930, meeting of the Petroleum Division, A. I. M. E., the following questions were sent to about 60 of the leading engineers and educators in the petroleum industry: 1. Should there be any changes in the curricula of our courses in petroleum engineering to meet the changing demands of the Industry? If so, what changes?] 2. Should courses in petroleum engineering be offered through university extension? 3. Should the universities offer correspondence courses in petroleum engineering? 4. What should be the character of the graduate work offered in petroleum production engineering? 5. Should summer work in the oil fields, on pipe lines, or in oil refineries be required of undergraduates? If so, how much and of what character? The following men replied to the questions: G. B. Corless, Humble Oil & Refining Co., Houston, Texas. J. R. McWilliams, Skelly Oil Co., Tulsa, Okla. W. W. Scott, Humble Oil & Refining Co., Houston, Texas. H. H. Power, Gypsy Oil Co., Tulsa, Okla. L. G. E. Bignell, Oil K. Gas Journal, Tulsa, Okla. E. L. Estabrook, Pan American Petroleum & Transport Co., New York, N. Y. F. P. Donohue, Pan American Petroleum & Transport Co., New York, N. Y. C. 0. Rison, lndian Territory Illuminating Oil Co., Bartlesville, Okla. L. B. Holland, Phillips Petroleum Co., Bartlesville, Okla. H. J. Kemler, Shell Petroleum Corpn., St. Louis, Mo. C. A. Bonine, Pennsylvania State College, State College, Pa. J. 0. Lewis, Dunn & Lewis, Tulsa, Okla. A. G. Heggem, Tulsa, Okla. J. M. Lovejoy, Petroleum Bond & Share Corpn., New York, N. Y. B. B. Boatright, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colo. A. C. Ruble, Union Oil Co. of California, Los Angeles, Calif. J. B. Umpleby, Goldelline Oil Corpn., Oklahoma City, Okla. R. S. Knappen, Gypsy Oil Co., Tulsa, Okla. K. C. Heald, Gulf Companies, Pittsburgh, Pa. K. C. Sclater, Exchange National Bank Bldg., Tulsa, Okla. F. G. Tickell, Stanford University, Stanford University, Calif.

Jan 1, 1930

By Herbert D. Drechsler

Mining Finance is the interrelated aspects of "determining the total amount of funds to employ in a mining firm; allocating these funds efficiently to various assets; and, obtaining the best mix of financing in relation to the overall valuation of the firm." The first section is an overview of the financing problem through examination and discussion of the Balance Sheet and Income Statement. The next section is a discussion of the nature of the criteria developed in feasibility study. The third section describes type of capital funds, and the final section describes case studies of mining finance

Jan 1, 1985

By D. D. Pollock, G. P. Conard II

Equations of the form of the Mott and Jones equations for the absolute thermoelectric powers of metals are derived primarily from a thermodynamic approach. The behaviors of transition thermoelements in common use are then examined and compared with this simple theory. MOTT and ones' derived a general expression for the absolute thermoelectric behavior of metals and alloys using the approach of the solid state physicist. This expression was then applied to specific cases.1,2 The present work develops equations of the same form principally by a thermodynamic approach. These relationships are then employed to gain some insight to the behavior of the transition thermoelements in common use. I) DERIVATION OF AN EXPRESSION FOR ABSOLUTE THERMOELECTRIC POWER First consider a metallic conductor which is maintained in a temperature gradient with no current flowing. At constant pressure, there will be a gradient of the free energy (F,) given by:

Jan 1, 1963