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By Louis E. Reber

Jan 1, 1922

By J. Koskinen, P. Vanninen, T. Leskinen, A. Leppala

Continuous and accurate analysis of slurries has become a critical requirement in mineral processing. With on-stream assay data, automation procedures can be employed to obtain higher recovery and improved control of production. The Courier system was developed by Outokumpu Oy, taking advantage of mineral processing know-how, to provide means for achieving these objectives in the company's ore concentrator operations. It became evident, based on early experience with on-stream analysis, that the Courier should be a complete system to fulfill all functions of the analysis operation. The system includes equipment and techniques for primary sampling, sample preparation for assaying, and processing of data for final assay results. In addition, the on-line X-ray spectrometer unit was developed specifically for industrial use, incorporating a number of technical advances. A new system for converting spectrometric data to assays is based on a physical model programmed on a digital computer. The Courier system is furnished on a turn-key installation basis incorporating all elements needed for operation including calibration. The experience to date with the Courier system at the Pyhäsalmi concentrator is summarized. Reference is also made to recent results with installations at the Outokumpu and Vihanti concentrators.

Jan 1, 1972

By John Treweek

FOR many years the Homestake Mining Co. has devoted serious attention to the elimination of accidents, and ground is steadily being gained in this direction. In accident prevention work it is line-plunging with perfect teamwork and not the spectacular forward pass that brings progress toward the goal. In both surface plants and under- ground workings we regard "good housekeeping" as a first requisite for safety as well as efficiency. Under this term are included all types of safety guards and protective devices as well as cleanliness and orderliness it working places. Perhaps the most important factor in safety work is to arouse and maintain employee interest. The general morale and contentment of employees is of particular importance.

Jan 1, 1938

LUTHER B. EAMES, Pueblo, Colo. (written discussion*).-In reading Mr. North's interesting paper, several points have been noted that appear to warrant discussion. With a feed all through 20 mesh, I feel inclined to question the use of steel balls as large as 2 in. in a tube mill. I have seen balls as small as-3/4 in. used for the dry grinding of cement clinker, and surely many more points of contact would result from smaller balls. This would seem to be desirable in a mill as short as 6 ft. The heavy load in the classifiers would also indicate a high proportion of returned pulp. I hope that some discussion by Mr. North -and others may develop this point. The flow sheet on page 1181 shows the solution returning from the dam valued at 40 c. per ton being added to the last decantation tank. Theoretically, this solution should not be added to that of a lower value. As I calculate it, if this solution were added to tank X the solution finally discharged from tank Z would be reduced in value by nearly 4 c. per ton.

Jan 10, 1919

Jan 1, 1939

By Oscar E. Harder

THE TERM "physical metallurgy' is used in the title of this lecture in preference to "metallography ?because the former has a broader meaning with most audiences, some people thinking of the latter as being limited to work with the microscope. This distinction, how- ever, has not been held by the out- standing workers in the field of metallography, such as the late Professor Sauveur. In the broadest sense metallography is essentially the same as physical metallurgy. The American Society for Testing Materials has adopted-the following definition: "Metallography is that branch of science which relates to the constitution and structure, and their relation to the properties of metals and alloys." This definition might be improved by adding after "properties" -"and their industrial and scientific uses." Metallography has also been defined as the science of metals and alloys. Physical metallurgy is to be distinguished from process metallurgy in that the latter relates particularly to the production of metals from the ores.

Jan 1, 1940

By P. K. Currie, J. V. Walters

Solution mining of magnesium salts (Carnallite and Bischofite) is taking place near Veendam, in the northeast Netherlands. The magnesium salts are used for the production of magnesia sinter, used as a base material for the manufacture of refractory bricks for furnaces. This paper gives, first, an introduction to the operational procedure followed in Veendam, with the emphasis on some of the unique aspects, and then discusses rock-mechanical aspects of the cavity behaviour. The creep behaviour of magnesium salts is described, and Finite Element calculations on cavity stability and potential surface subsidence are discussed.

Jan 1, 1985

By George J. Young

(Cleveland Meeting, October, 1912.) I. GENERAL. THE recurrence of mine-fires in Nevada during the past decade is not only a matter of interest, but also one of considerable concern to engineers and mine-managers. The more important fires may he enumerated as follows: Forman Shaft fire., Gold Hill, April 21, 1903 ; shaft-house, machinery, and shaft, destroyed; loss estimated at $50,000.; Cause Unknown. Union Shaft fire, Virginia City, July 14, 1904; shaft-house, machinery, and shaft in part destroyed; loss estimated it $100,000; cause of fire stated as the careless throwing of a match in the rope-house. Sutro Tunnel fire, Virginia City, Jan. 27, 1909 ; 700 ft. of tunnel-timbering destroyed, and direct damage of $10,000; cause ' probably electric wires." Belcher Shaft fire, Gold Hill, Aug. 9, 1910; shaft-house destroyed, machinery ruined, and upper part of shaft damaged; damage, $25,000; no cause given. Belmont Mine fire, Tonopah, Feb. 23, 1911; fire started in winze ; 17 men killed. Giroux Mine fire, Kimberly, Aug. 23, 1911 ; fire originated iii shaft-station from unknown cause; 7 men killed, and $34,¬521 damage caused. (NOTE 1.-On June 11, 1912, some time after the present paper was written, a fire broke out in the pump-room on the 2475 station of the Ward shaft, Virginia City. This fire was caused by the short-circuiting and exploding of the starting-switch on No. 5 pump. The oil in the switch was scattered about and set fire to the timbers and laming of the pump-room. The pump-roan in charge notified the surface, and the * Professor of Mining and Metallurgy, Mackay School of Mines.

Oct 1, 1912

By J. B. Cohen, S. L. Sass

The nucleation process for y', Ni3Ti, is shou'n to change from heterogeneous to uniform as the undercooling within the phase boundary increases. As unifornz nucleation beconres copious, (100) alignment is observed in the early stages of aging; howecer. whether or not the alignment is due to spinodal decomposition could not be determined. The presence oi a large-scale reversible segregation of titanium and not the intermediate precipitate y' may be the cause of the initial strengthening in this alloy system and the discrete regions detected magnetically by Ben-Israel and Fine. Evidence is presented for the role of dislocations in the formation at long aging tines oJ the equilibrium precipitate . ThE nickel-rich portion of the Ni-Ti phase diagram consists of a terminal fcc solid solution of titanium in nickel called y.' For temperatures below 1290°C if the solubility limit is exceeded and the temperature is high enough, the excess titanium will combine with nickel to form q, Ni3Ti, a four-layer hcp ordered structure with stacking sequence ABAC."~ Since a change in structure is involved, formation of q is slow and a metastable precipitate referred to as y' forms. This metastable precipitate is an ordered cubic phase in the unconstrained state having a structure similar to Cu3Au (LIZ) with the composition Ni,Ti."'5 From X-ray studies,8, 7 the following sequence is indicated for the precipitation reaction at low temperatures: 1) The appearance of satellites around low-index diffraction spots and splitting of high-index spots, indicating the formation of a slightly tetragonal phase in an imperfectly periodic arrangement. The tetragonal phase is y' or the depleted matrix, depending on the volume fractions of matrix and precipitate (and hence, the alloy composition); tetragonality apparently arises from coherency strains. 2) The appearance of diffraction spots from the equilibrium second phase, q. Ben-Israel and Fine'" used magnetic methods to measure the changes in matrix composition during aging, and to estimate the precipitate composition in a Ni-10.1 at. pct Ti alloy. They observed that the alloy, solution-treated at 1270°C and quenched, contained heterogeneities with discrete compositions which gradually vanished upon aging. It was suggested that y' may initially form as a defect structure with several possible compositions deficient in titanium as compared to Ni3Ti; the composition Ni3Ti develops with prolonged aging. The initial composition was Ni6Ti which would require a very large deviation in stoichiometry for y'. It was noted that at 700°C the precipitation reaction was 80 pct complete after 2 hr and that the volume fraction of second phase was 0.2 after 1 hr. Mihalisin and Decker' suggested that the equilibrium precipitate, besides being nucleated at grain boundaries, could also form at stacking faults. ~errick" examined the formation of in Ni-Cr-Ti, and suggested that a collapsed vacancy cluster within y' acted as a nucleus for intragranular q at high temperatures, 820" and 900°C. After long aging times at lower temperatures, 650" and 750°C, diffraction patterns taken from regions containing ribbons of stacking faults showed spots associated with q. Aging greatly enhances the mechanical properties of these alloys, even at high temperatures, and the metastable precipitate y' is thought to be responsible.' At 600°C the hardness of a Ni-10.1 at. pct Ti alloy increases rapidly during the first 20 hr of aging and continues to increase slowly thereafter.'" At 700°C the hardness reaches a maximum at 1 to 2 hr and then decreases.l1 In this paper the kinetics of formation of y' and the mechanism of transformation to in a Ni-Ti alloy are described. Evidence is presented that suggests that large-scale regions of titanium segregation are present initially and these may have an important influence on the initial strengthening of the alloy: these regions may be the heterogeneities detected by Ben-Israel and Fine. I) EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES The Ni-10.3 at. pct Ti-0.6 at. pct A1 alloy was prepared by vacuum melting. Its chemical analysis is given in Table I. A 0.007-in.-thick strip was sandwiched between foils of the alloy and placed in an open Vycor tube with titanium chips (to get oxygen) and solution-treated for ; hr at 1150°C in a Globar Furnace under a flowing argon atmosphere. Following a quench into an ice-brine mixture at -5" to -2"C, a sample to be aged at temperatures up to and including 700°C was sealed in an evacuated Vycor capsule before being put into a fused salt bath. Aging above 700°C was carried out on bare samples in a salt bath. When removed from this bath and quenched into an ice-water mixture, the sample was normally coated with a thin layer of oxide easily removed with emery

Jan 1, 1970

By M. J. Marcinkowski, K. S. Raghavan, A. S. Sastri

A detailed transmission electron microscopy investigation was carried out in connection with a manganese Hadfield Steel. At small plastic strains, numerous individual intrinsic stacking faults are observed. With increased plastic deformation, the stacking faults thicken into twin lamellae which in turn subdivide the original austenite matrix into smaller domains. The twin boundaries act as strong barriers to subsequent dislocation motion and is in a sense equivalent to grain refinement. It is this "grain refinement" which is believed to be the cause of the very high work hardening rates in the Hadfield Steels. In many cases, especially where an hcp phase is the stable one at low temperatures, the stacking fault energy in fcc metals and alloys decreases with decreasing temperature.' Since stacking faults of the intrinsic type are precursors of both twins as well as the hexagonal close packed structure, both of these entities should become more frequent as the temperature of a fcc crystal is lowered. In the case of the twin, there is no chemical driving force for its formation and it is generally necessary to provide the required driving force by an applied stress, i.e., strain energy. In the case of the hcp structure the transformation from the fcc modification can occur spontaneously (marten-sitically) since a decrease in chemical energy does in fact occur; however, an applied stress will provide an even greater driving force toward complete transformation. Since the transformation products mentioned above occur in an inhomogeneous manner throughout the crystal and since these can act as potential barriers to further plastic deformation2 marked strengthening effects can be anticipated. Also because metal and alloy strenghening is in general proportional to the shear modulus, these effects should be greatest in steels of the austenitic type (y), i.e., the fcc types. Perhaps the two most important steels in this category are the austenitic stainless steels and the Hadfield manganese steels. Both may be quenched from elevated temperatures so as to retain the austenitic states characteristic of those temperatures. The effect of subsequent deformation at lower tem- peratures has a profound effect on the stress-strain curves of these alloys. In particular Fig. 1 shows the compressive stress-strain curves obtained with an 18-8 stainless steel which was quenched from 1850°C after annealing for 1 hr so as to produce all y. As the temperature is lowered, the work hardening rate increases markedly. Although some hcp or c mar-tensite can be generated by plastic deformation as the temperature is lowered,~ it is believed to be a transition phase4 and most of the martensite produced is of the bcc or a variety.3 It is this stress induced martensite which gives rise to the very low initial work hardening at 77°K as can be seen in the stress-strain curve in Fig. 1. Similar low initial work hardening rates have been observed in the stress induced Ni-Ti martensites.5 Fig. 2 shows that an even more rapid rate of work hardening occurs in the Hadfield steels treated in the same way as that described for the 18-8 stainless steels a; the temperature is lowered. It is this ability to work harden to such high stress levels that makes the Hadfield steels particularly suitable for armor plate and heavy construction equipment. However, unlike the case of Fig. 1, no initial low rate of work hardening is observed in any of the curves in Fig. 2. Thus the stress induced formation of any low energy martensite phase in any significant quantity must be ruled out. This observation is in accord with the X-ray findings of Otte.~ On the other hand, small quantities of the E phase have been observed by other investigators using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) above Even more significant was the fact that large numbers of deformation twins were observed in the deformed Hadfield steels,678 which were postulated to be one of the reasons for the high work hardening ability of this class of steels.8 It is the purpose in what follows to discuss a series of experimental observations pertaining to the stress induced transformation in a Hadfield steel and to formulate a dislocation mechanism which adequately accounts for the observed results. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The stainless steel used to obtain the curves shown in Fig. 1 was of the AISI Type 303 containing approximately 18.0 pct Cr and 8 pct Ni. On the other hand, the Hadfield manganese steel used to obtain the curves shown in Fig. 2 contained between 1.00 to 1.25 pct and 11.5 to 13.5 pct Mn. In all cases the samples were in the form of compression cylinders 0.220 in. in diam and 0.370 in. long. Prior to testing the samples were annealed for a hr at 1050°C and rapidly quenched into a brine solution. This treatment was sufficient to preserve the y phase for subsequent testing at lower temperatures. All samples were compressed in an Instron testing machine using a cross head speed of 0.02 in.

Jan 1, 1970

By George V. Smith, Daniel E. Sonon

Various mechanical properties of the Ni-Co-C alloy system were investigated to delineate the strengthening effect of carbon. Carbon concentration, cobalt concentration, vain size, temperature, and strain rate were varied so that thermal activation analysis and the Hall-Petch analysis could be used to evaluate the strengthening effect of carbon. Increasing carbon increased the strength of nickel and a Ni-60 pct Co alloy , with the effect becoming more pronounced at lower temperatures. Yield stress depended linearly on carbon concentration in nickel, but it depended on the square root of carbon concentration in the Ni-60 pct Co alloy. The Hall-Petch slope of nickel increased with carbon concentration; however, that of the Ni-60 pct Co alloy did not. The yielding behavior of these alloys was sensitive to composition, grain size, and temperature. Cobalt eliminated serrations in the flow curve of carbon-containing nickel at 300' and weakened them severely at higher temperatures. Pairs, or clusters, of carbon atoms appear to be responsible for the observed strengthening behavior. FLINN' conducted several experiments with carbon in nickel in an effort to provide information on the strengthening effect of interstitial impurities in solid solution in fcc metals and alloys. Strengthening which increased with decreasing temperature led him to conclude that carbon causes Cottrell locking in nickel. Fleischer2 analyzed Flinn's data and calculated that the strengthening effect of carbon in nickel was smaller by a factor of fifty than the strengthening effect of carbon in a! iron. Fleischer2 termed the magnitude of strengthening of carbon in nickel "gradual" and that of carbon in a! iron "rapid". He attributed "gradual" hardening to hydrostatic strains and localized changes in modulus of elasticity around solute atoms, whereas he attributed "rapid" hardening to tetragonal strains around solute atoms. Sukhovarov et a1.3-7 reported strain aging and serrated plastic flow in nickel, both of which they attributed to the presence of carbon. Serrated plastic flow has been rationalized by a process involving a series of dislocation pinning and multiplication steps.8, This process is more probable when screw dislocations are strongly pinned. Screw dislocations cannot be pinned by pure hydrostatic forces from the symmetrical strains of an interstitial impurity in an fcc lattice, except for small, second-order effects. However, they might be pinned by localized changes in modulus of elasticity around solute atoms,' by the pinning of the edge components of the partial dislocations of an extended screw dislo~ation,'~ or by clustered groups of solute atoms whose net elastic stress field is unsymmetric. The purpose of the present work was to investigate various mechanical properties of the Ni-Co-C a1loy system which are sensitive to pinning effects in order to delineate the specific pinning mechanism of carbon. Carbon concentration, grain size, temperature, and strain rate were varied so that thermal-activation analysis and the Hall-Petch analysis could be used to evaluate the pinning mechanism. Cobalt was added to lower stacking fault energy so that the number and extension of split, screw dislocations would be increased in order to test the possibility of pinning by carbon at extended screw dislocations. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Nickel and cobalt (both 99.98 pct-. pure) were melted with graphite in stabilized zirconia crucibles and cast at lo-' Torr to form Ni-C and Ni-60 pctCo-C alloys. Two ingots were heated to 1250°C and were forged to 1-in.-sq bars. These bars were machined to 4-in.-round bars, and then swaged cold to 0.144-in. -diam rods. Reductions in area of approximately 75pct were used with intermediate anneals at 900°C for 1 hr. The carbon content of batches of 0.144-in.-diam rods from each ingot was reduced to two levels by annealing 5-in. lengths in palladium-purified, dry hydrogen at 1100°C for 25 and 100 hr. The remaining material from each ingot was annealed at 10"5 Torr for 1 hr at 1100"~. These treatments gave a total of three carbon levels for both the nickel and the Ni-60 pct Co alloy. The 0.144-in.-diam rods were swaged to 70-mil wire, cut into test specimens, and then re crystallized at lom5 Torr in capsules for 1 hr at temperatures ranging from 760" to 1050" ~. The capsules were broken and the specimens were immediately quenched into water. Average grain size was measured using Hilliard's method of circular intercepts." Annealing twin boundary intercepts were counted in addition to grain boundary intercepts to establish an average grain size. Average grain sizes ranged from 5 to 140 p depending on the cobalt concentration and re-crystallization temperature. Tension tests were made in duplicate at various temperatures at a crosshead speed of 8.34 x 10"4 in. per sec with an Instron Universal Testing Machine. Specimens of 1-in. gage length with soldered ball ends were used at atmospheric and cryogenic temperatures. Pinch grips were used on specimens at elevated tem-

Jan 1, 1969

By S. C. Lindsay, D. J. I. Evans

With each year that passes hydrometallurgical processes are being more widely used to recover base metals from ores and concentrates. Generally these processes involve liquid-solid separation of metal-bearing liquors from barren residues. This may be done by countercurrent decantation, thickening and filtration, or filtration or centrifuging only. Choice of method is governed by chemical and physical characteristics of the pulps; cost of labor, power, materials, and waste disposal; and even by the amount of capital available when building plans are under way. Since all these controlling factors change with time and location and with technological advances, the separation method must be re-evaluated when new plants or expansion programs are contemplated. At the Sherritt Gordon refinery in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, an ammonia pressure leaching process recovers nickel, copper, and cobalt from the nickel concentrate produced at Lynn Lake, Manitoba.' Pregnant liquors are separated from the barren leach residues in a thickener-filter liquid-solids circuit. The decision to use this type of separation was based on a summation of economic factors during the pilot plant and design stages. Although countercurrent decantation was not incorporated in the refinery flowsheet, the problems solved in thickening the leach residues and the experience gained in operating the commercial plant are pertinent to countercurrent decantation, particularly where it is applied to slow-settling leach slurries or slurries having a relatively high vapor pressure of a valuable, obnoxious, or poisonous vapor. The nickel sulfide concentrate is leached under pressure with air and ammonia to dissolve the nickel, copper, and cobalt and most of the sulfur, leaving a residue of iron and siliceous material to be discarded.2,3 During a subsequent distillation stage to recirculate part of the ammonia used for leaching, copper is recovered from the solution as a high-grade sulfide. After further purification to remove traces of copper and undesirable sulfur compounds, the nickel is precipitated by hydrogen under pressure at an elevated temperature. The cobalt, together with unreduced nickel, is precipitated as a mixed metal sulfide by hydrogen sulfide for eventual cobalt recovery. The end solution is then evaporated to produce a crystalline ammonium sulfate byproduct. As shown in Fig. 1, the nickel concentrate is leached in a continuous, two-stage, countercurrent circuit. In the first stage, or adjustment leach, the fresh concentrate is partially leached (60 pct) in the liquor produced in the second stage, or final leach. This system is necessary to produce a solution suitable for treatment in the copper sulfide precipitation step. Both stages are carried out at 170" to 180°F under a total pressure, with air, of 100 to 120 psig in large, horizontal, water-cooled autoclaves. The autoclaves are divided by overflow weirs into four compartments to give a certain amount of staging during leaching. In each compartment a relatively slow-speed (100 to 150 rpm) agitator maintains the nickel concentrate in suspension. Adjustment leaching, carried out in two autoclaves in parallel, is followed by a thickener-filter liquid-solids separation. Final leaching is done in two parallel trains of three autoclaves using aqueous ammonia to extract metal values from the adjustment leach residues. This too is followed by a thickener-filter circuit. Here the residues are repulped once with aqueous ammonia and twice with process water and refiltered after each repulping stage, to insure a maximum recovery of soluble metal, before being discarded to the tailings pond. The adjustment leach is followed by a seven-disk Dorr-Oliver American filter, with an agitator in the filter boot to keep the residues in suspension. Agitators have also been installed beneath the four ten-disk filters following the final leach thickener. Slurry Characteristics: A typical analysis of the Lynn Lake nickel concentrate, produced by differential flotation,' is given in Table I. The concentrate comprises 35 to 49 pct pentlandite, (Fe, Ni)S; 3 to 6 pct chalcopyrite, CuFeS,; 1 to 4 pct pyrite, FeS2; and 24 to 42 pct pyrrhotite, Fe1-2S (where x varies between 0 and 0.2) together with various siliceous minerals such as actinolite, hornblende, and talc. During leaching, the sulfur in the pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and part of the pyrrhotite is successively oxidized through the thiosulfate and poly-thionate radicals to sulfate and sulfamate." Simultaneously the nickel, copper, and cobalt are converted to soluble ammine complexes and the iron in the pentlandite, chalcopyrite, and part of the pyrrhotite is oxidized to a spongy hydrated iron oxide. The hydrated iron oxide is readily broken down by the agitation needed to sustain the concentrate in suspension and to maintain a satisfactory mass transfer of the oxygen from the air to the slurry. Table I shows typical chemical, screen, and

Jan 1, 1961

Jan 1, 1943

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Jan 1, 1911

By Robert Glass Cleland

[Incorporated under the laws of the State of New York OFFICE, 41) WALL STREET, NEW YORK 5, N. Y. Authorized4,000,000 shares $150,000,000.00 Outstanding-5,071,260 shares 126,781,500.00]

Jan 1, 1952