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By Charles M. Brinckerhoff

When I first went to Arizona in 1925, mining was primarily an underground job. Ajo, Sacramento Hill in Bisbee and Jerome were the only open pit operations in the state. Thousands of men, however, were employed in underground mining at Morenci, Miami, Inspiration, Globe, Ray, Bisbee, and Superior. The grade of ore in the larger operations was about 1-1/2% copper while a few of the smaller ones mined ore better than 2% Cu. In Utah, the Bingham pit was doing well and growing; in Montana, the vein mines of Butte still yielded ore running 6% Cu.

Jan 3, 1972

By E. Ryba, D. J. Michel

SAMPLES of REZn2 (RE = rare earth) intermetallic compounds prepared by a variety of techniques have been shown to exhibit an extensively twinned micro-structure.1-4 We have recently conducted compression tests at room temperature on specimens of HoZn2 prepared by a powder metallurgy technique.' The microstructures of specimens before and after testing are shown in Fig. 1. The "before" specimen, Fig. l(a), shows the basic twin structure of this material. Fig. l(b) shows the microstructure of the "after" specimen just below the fracture surface and reveals considerable cross-twinning as well as additional

Jan 1, 1970

By D. P. Seraphim

Single crystals of bee Li-Mg solid solution were grown and their internal friction was measured as a function of temperature, A peak of the Zener type was found in the damping spectrum. The activation energy for the relaxation process is 21.5 ± 1 kcal per mole and the frequency factor is 1015.7 ± 0.7 sec-1. ZENER internal-friction peaks which are observed for a wide range of solid solutions are attributed to stress-induced changes in local order.' In the present work a Zener internal-friction peak, the first reported for a solid solution of an alkali metal, is

Jan 1, 1961

By E. Northcott, F. N. Oberg

High-grade concentrates from Florida pebble phosphate deposits have long been recovered by wet methods. When work was begun in the field, only the coarse pebble (generally +1 mm) was recovered. In the 1920's a froth flotation process was developed to separate quartz from the finer phosphate fractions, but this method proved unsatisfactory for treating the intermediate fraction (-1 mm +35 mesh). Consequently various other processes were adapted, including agglomerate tabling and spiral separation of reagentized feed. Today the three processes are used-washing and screening for coarse pebble, tabling or spiraling for intermediate sizes, and flotation for -35 mesh material.

Jan 10, 1958

By N. A. Parlee, A. E. Lord

Measurements of the solubility of lead in liquid iron were made at 1550°, 1600°, 1650°, and 1700°C using two different methods, i.e., 1) liquid iron-liquid lead equilibration and 2) liquid iron-lead vapor equilibration. LEAD was long considered insoluble in liquid iron1. Today steels containing 0.15 to 0.35 pct Pb are used. One laboratory has found a solubility of about 0.5 pet in the 1600°C range. Recently Miller and Elliott2 gave 0.60 pct as the result of one determillation at 1540°C. Because these findings resulted from the

Jan 1, 1961

By R. E. Miner, J. K. Jackson, T. L. Wilson

THE nature of the decomposition reactions producing hardening in aluminum-rich A1-Ag alloys is now fairly well understood. The silver is not uniformly dispersed even at temperatures above the solvus line: rather, it is clustered into zones and associated with dislocations.' During quenching, nearly all of the silver segregates into zones' and some is attracted to dislocations, producing stacking faults. Growth of these faults produces the semicoherent y precipitate.1 During aging, the larger zones and the y precipitates grow at the expense of the smaller zones. The large zones persist up to about 350°C; where they redissolve in favor of the y' and y precipitates.' The equilibrium hcp y precipitate occurs both by a cellular reaction at the grain boundaries1 and by growth of the Y' plates to a critical size where incoherency results. Damask and Nowick 4 observed an internal friction peak in an A1-6 at. pct Ag alloy at about 140°C (0.25 cps). The peak was found to exhibit a systematic instability. After aging at successively higher temperatures between 155' and 23Z°C, the peak first migrated to higher temperatures while increasing in height, then returned to lower temperatures and decreased in height. After aging at temperatures above about 200°C, the peak position remained constant while the height decreased very slowly. In quenched specimens, elastic after-effect measurements inhcated a rapid initial transient in peak position from low temperatures up to 155°C. The authors concluded that a stress induced growth and resolution of the clusters and the 7' was the most reasonable mechanism to account for the behavior. It would seem, however, very unlikely that both the clusters and the y' precipitate would provide damping contributions whose relaxation time and activation energies were identical, which is required for them to produce the same internal friction peak. The present investigation was motivated by this apparent anomaly and the development of a very low thermal inertia torsion pendulum5 capable of monitoring transient behavior. Low frequency internal friction measurements were made on four binary A1-Ag alloys nominally containing 5, 10: 15, and 20 at. pct Ag. The results of measurements made on a 10 at. pct Ag alloy in the quenched condition are shown in Fig. 1. There are two peaks apparent in the spectrum, one centered at about 160°C, the second at about 210°C. The two peak spectrum was observed in each alloy, but it was best resolved in the 10 pct Ag specimens. Because of the instability in the internal friction, 4 it seemed possible that the second peak was not a peak at all, but simply a manifestation of a single, sharply transient, peak. This effect has been observed in Au-Ni alloys.6 The existence of the higher tempera-

Jan 1, 1970

By R. P. Smith

The carbon content of a number of alloys ranging (before carburitation) from purified iron to purified cobalt was determined for fixed activities of carbon by equilibration with each of six CO-CO2 atmosphere at 1000°C. At fixed carbon activity, the carbon content decreases continuously with increasing cobalt content. For concentrations of 0 to 50 at. pct Co the results can be expressed by a linear interaction equation of the type In y2 = 7.76n2/(n1+n3)+ 2.30 n3/(n1+n3) where y2 is the activity coefficient of carbon (standard state such that y2— 1 as n2 — 0 in the Fe-C binary) and n1, n2, and n3 are the number of atoms of iron, carbon, and cobalt per unit weight of alloy. The results are also given in terms of the a functions. In the same concentration range, the results are in accord with the regular solution theory of Alcock and Richardson. THE carbon content of Fe-Si, Fe-Mn, and Fe-Ni alloys at fixed activities of carbon has been reported previously.'-, The present work extends R. P. SMITH, Member AIME, is Research Chemist, E. C. Bain Laboratory for Fundamental Research, United States Steel Corp., Research Center, Monroeville, Pa. these measurements to a series of Fe-Co alloys. These alloys, like the Fe-Ni alloys, are fcc ("aus-tenitic") over the entire range of composition at 1000°C. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The alloys were made from electrolytic cobalt and Plast-Iron in a small vacuum-melting furnace. A small amount of graphite was added to each melt to keep the oxygen content low. The ingots were analyzed for iron and carbon: the amount of cobalt was obtained by difference. Analysis of the top and bottom of the ingots indicated that they were uniform in alloy content. Except for the pure cobalt the ingots were hot-rolled to approximately 0.15 cm thickness, cleaned by sandblasting, then cold-rolled to about 0.045 cm. We were not successful in cold rolling the pure cobalt; therefore it was hot-rolled to the final thickness. The last traces of surface oxide were removed by acid pickel, then the samples were treated in a hydrogen-2 pct water vapor mixture at 1100°C to remove carbon and most of the oxygen. The carburizing procedure was similar to that previously described.1,2,4 The alloys in the form of strips about 1.7 cm wide, 7.5 cm long, and 0.04 cm thick, together with a similar specimen of purified iron, were equilibrated with each of six CO-CO2 mixtures of fixed composition, then quenched in the

Jan 1, 1965

By E. H. Crabtree

THE heavy-media separation plant at the Central mill of the Eagle-Picher Mining and Smelting Co., near Picher, Okla., was started in February 1939. Since that time twenty-four million tons of lead-zinc ore has been treated in the mill, of which approximately 70 pct has been treated by heavy-media separation. Until January 1945, galena concentrate from the flotation plant was used as the sink-float medium. At that time minus 100-mesh ferrosilicon was substituted for the galena, and its use has been continued. The purpose of this paper is to compare the operating results and the costs of operation of the two media. For the purpose of this comparison the period Jan. 1, 1943, to Jan. 29, 1945, has been taken to represent the operation using galena medium; the period Jan. 29, 1945, to Sept. 1, 1946, to represent the ferrosilicon medium. During the first of 'these periods about seven and one-half million tons was milled; during the latter, or ferrosilicon period, more than five million tons was milled. It is believed that these tonnages are large enough to give representative data. FLOWSHEET The Central mill has a capacity of 15,000 tons per day. Briefly, the treatment used consists of crushing the ore through 11/2-in. and wet-screening out the minus 3/16in. portion. The minus 1 1/2 plus 3/16in. washed product is treated by the heavy medium; the minus 3/16-in. product is deslimed and jigged. The heavy-media cone tailing is discarded and the cone .concentrate is recrushed and jigged for the production of a coarse lead concentrate. The cone concentrate, impoverished of lead, is then ground in ball mills and treated by differential flotation. The minus 3/16-in. jig product is similarly treated. HEAVY-MEDIA PLANT The heavy-media cone plant treating the minus 1 ½ plus 3/16-in. product consists of one open-top cone 20 ft in diameter by 20 ft deep, equipped with a central airlift. Concentrate is discharged from the top of the airlift to a 3 by 14-ft low-head Allis-Chalmers drainage screen. Medium drains back into the cone, from the first half of this screen. The last half of the screen is provided with washing sprays for further removal of medium. Cone tailing is similarly drained and washed. Undersize from the washing screen is thickened and then cleaned in the medium-cleaning plant. When galena was used as a medium, cleaning was done in Fagergren and Denver flotation machines. The ferrosilicon is cleaned in three 36-in. and one 24-in. Crockett magnetic separators. A flowsheet of the cone plant is shown in Fig 1.

Jan 1, 1947

The Gooseberry Mine is located 38 krn (24 miles) by road east of Reno, 13 km (8 miles) south of Interstate 80. The mine was originally discovered in 1906 and remained in the control of the Martin family of Fresno, who worked the-property with Mexican ranch hands for 68 years. Westcoast took over the property in 1976 from Apco Oil Corporation. During the time the Martins operated the mine, a 305 m (1,000 ft) inclined shaft was sunk with drifts developed on eight levels exceeding a total of 3,000 m (9,000 ft) in length. It is interesting to note that for over one -half century all development ore was stockpiled. West- coast, the United States mining subsidiary of Home Oil Company Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, completed sinking another vertical shaft to the 396 m (1,300 ft) level. Development work between 122 m and 305 m (400 ft and 1,000 ft) levels has proved the existence of a fine ore body over 300 m (1,000 ft) long. The silver-gold ore grade is fairly consistent in the vertical section, but copper, lead and zinc may show slight increases with depth. Average width of the ore bearing portion of the vein is 2.5 m (8.3 ft). Stoping is by cut-and-fill method. Average silver values within the ore zone have increased from the 152 m (500 ft) level to the 305 m (1,000 ft) level, although the gold values do show some decrease. It is not possible for the geological staff to predict the depth of the ore. However, several years of ore reserves have been proved in the existing mining areas. Important ore minerals are argentite, native gold, and electrum. Trace amounts of galena, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite are associated with the precious metal mineralization. The vein is mainly composed of calcite and quartz. Mine-run underground ore is dumped from the hoisting skip into a coarse ore bin followed by a jaw crusher, an impact crusher, and a 600 mt (650 st) fine ore bin. The mill has a capacity of 317 mt per day (350 st per day). Two-stage grinding is done by a rod mill followed by cyclones with the underflow sent to a ball mill in closed circuit with the cyclones. Cyclone overflow after conditioning receives a primary float in four 1.7 cu m (30 cu ft) cells and a second stage of conditioning ahead of 24 0.8 cu m (30 cu ft) secondary flotation cells. No cleaning stages are used. Flotation tailings are cycloned for a sand-slime separation with the sands used as underground stope fill and the slime portion to tailing dam storage.

Jan 1, 1981

By M. E. Wadsworth, R. L. Pearson

THE dissolution of UO, in carbonate solutions can occur only il the tetravalent uranium is oxidized to the hexavalent state. The carbonate system is of particular interest because it provides a means whereby the oxidized uranium may be dissolved by forming the complex ion UO,(CO3)3-1. In the presence of oxygen the over-all reaction may be written UO+1/2O,4CO3T+2HCO2UO,(CO4)11+H2O [1] UO, was used in this study because it could be obtained in high purity and also because it is representative of the most refractory of the primary uranium minerals. The mineral ulrichite is the natural counterpart of the synthetic UO, used. The kinetics of the leaching of UO, should be similar for any of the uraninite type minerals. A pressurized system was used not with the hope it could be extended to commercial systems as a primary purpose but simply to provide the means whereby important temperature and pressure parameters could be varied for the evaluation of the kinetic processes. The importance of such pres-

Jan 1, 1959

By N. A. Gokcen, S. Fujishiro

The dissociation pressure of Cr3C2 has been measured in the range of 1908" to 2237°K by means of graphite Knudsen effusion cells. It has been found that Cr3C2 vaporizes according to the following reaction: 1/3 Cr3C2 (s or 1) = 2/3 C (graph.) + Cr (g). The equilibrizcm pressure, P, of Cr (g) is found to be log Ps=- - (21,194/T) + 6.525 over solid Cr3C2 and estimated as log P, = - (19,535/T) + 5.76 over liquid Cr3C2. CARBIDES of chromium are of great importance in alloy steels and cemented carbides. The published data on their therm odynamic properties at high temperatures, however, are meager. The heat capacity and change in entropy of Cr3C2 were determined calorimetrically by Kelley and Moore1 in the range of approximately 50" to 300°K, and by Oriani and Murphy2 from 297" to 1188°K. The standard entropy of Cr3C2at 298.15°K, obtained by Kelley.7 was later confirmed by DeSorbo.4 Equilibrium in the reaction was investigated by Boericke.5 A recent tabular summary

Jan 1, 1962

By David Mitchell

THE production of fluorspar is one of the smaller nonmetallic indus-tries in the United, States with a capital investment-about $10,000,000. Shipments from United States mines1 in 1936 totaled 176,231 short tons valued at $3,111,268, an average price of $17.65 per ton. The United States produces about 40 per cent of the world's fluorspar, of which about 90 per cent comes from the Illinois and Kentucky deposits along the Ohio River.2 Further detailed information on the fluorspar industry in the United States is given by Hatmaker and Davis.28 Fluorspar is marketed according to the following relative quantities and specifications: Consump- Specifications, Per Cent Use Form tion in 1936, Per Cent CaF2 SiO2 Fe2O3 Metallurgical Gravel 79 +85 -5 or lump Ceramic.. Ground 10 +95 -3 -0.1 Acid Ground 11 +98 -1 The concentration of the coarser sizes presents relatively little diffi-culty, good recoveries being obtained with jigs and tables. However, sizes smaller than about 10 mesh cannot be successfully treated by ordinary gravity separation methods and so have been accumulating as

Jan 1, 1938

By J. A. Berge, R. S. Mateer, R. G. Aspden

IN a study of the cold-rolling characteristics of iron-base alloys with 3 to 12 pct Al, the influence of aluminum content on the cold-rolling textures was evaluated. This work was undertaken to determine if binary iron-aluminum alloys possessed cold-rolling textures similar to other body-centered-cubic alloys and to contribute additional information on the effect of solute concentration on the cold- rolling textures. Gradual changes in cold-rolling textures with an increase in solute content have been observed in copper1 and in titanium.2 Iron-base alloys containing 3.0, '6.0, and 12.0 pct aluminum were vacuum-induction-melted in a magnesia crucible and permanent-mold cast. The materials used were high-purity electrolytic iron and 99.99 pct grade aluminum. Each ingot was 1 in. square in cross section by 12 in. in height. The bottom half of each ingot was soaked for 1 hr at 1000°C and rolled at 1000°C to a thickness of 0.055 in. with the long axis of the ingot parallel to the rolling direction. The strip was reheated between passes to maintain a rolling temperature of 1000°C.

Jan 1, 1960

By H. W. McCue, Henry Rogatz

Oil.—During the year 1939, there were 365 oil wells drilled in the Texas Panhandle, with a total daily initial production of 130,968 bb1.— that is, 69 fewer oil wells drilled than in the previous year, with a decrease. in total daily initial production of 61,738 bbl. The total daily potential of the field on Dec. 5, 1939, as determined by the Texas Railroad Commission, was 1,344,677 bbl., an increase of 94,032 bbl. over the previous year. On Dee. 5, 1939, a daily allowable of 130,527 bbl., which was an

Jan 1, 1940

By Henry Rogatz, H. W. McCue

Oil.—During the year 1939, there were 365 oil wells drilled in the Texas Panhandle, with a total daily initial production of 130,968 bb1.— that is, 69 fewer oil wells drilled than in the previous year, with a decrease. in total daily initial production of 61,738 bbl. The total daily potential of the field on Dec. 5, 1939, as determined by the Texas Railroad Commission, was 1,344,677 bbl., an increase of 94,032 bbl. over the previous year. On Dee. 5, 1939, a daily allowable of 130,527 bbl., which was an

Jan 1, 1940

By Northcutt Ely

International developments affecting foreign in- vestments in 1960-61 were many, varying from region to region and differing with respect to various categories of investments. Total value of U.S. private investment abroad in 1960 was approximately $32.7 billion, an increase of $2.9 billion over 1959. Production and distribution of mineral resources was, by a sizeable margin, the most important function of American capital working in foreign countries in 1960. Investment in mining or petroleum interests totaled approximately $14 billion, or 42% of all direct foreign investment. In- vestments by industry for 1960 were as follows: Petroleum-10.9 billions, Mining-3.0 billions, Manufacturing-11.2 billions, Utilities-2.5 billions, other-5.1 billions. American investors found Canada and Latin America to be most desirable in 1960 with the greatest percentage of American capital in all areas centered in the petroleum and mining industries. The areal breakdown of total American investments is as follows: Canada-$11.2 billions, Latin America-$8.4 billions, Western Europe-$6.6 billions, Middle East-$1.2 billions, Far East-$1.2 billions, Africa-$.9 billions, other areas-$3.2 billions.

Jan 3, 1962

By R. C. Dorward

DIFFUSION considerations are necessary to describe many technologically important metallurgical and physical processes. Since most commercially important alloys are comprised of more than two components, diffusion calculations applicable to binary systems are often unjustified. However, in many instances the more general equations valid for three-component systems may be employed. The phenom-enological description of ternary diffusion is now well-established,1-4 and the theory has been applied with some success to a few practical situations.5"7 The flux equations for the solutes (components 1 and 2) of a ternary solution may be expressed by:

Jan 1, 1969

By Paul Billingsley

THE mining districts of the first and second order1 of the western United States (and borders) are those named on Fig. 1. These fall into four groups: (1) in the eastern outliers of the Rocky Mountain system; (2) in the Rocky Mountain system itself; (3) in the Great Basin; and (4) in the Sierras and Coast ranges. Of these four groups, the first three are almost entirely of Tertiary age and are within a belt of Tertiary compres-sive folding which we shall call the Rocky Mountain-Great Basin thrust arc. The backbone of this belt is shown by the line BAC. The position of the ore districts in this belt indicates a conformance to linear elements of the continental pattern. These are additional to the peripheral elements emphasized by Butler.2 NATURE OF THE THRUST ARC The thrust arc separates regions of contrasted kinds. To the east of it are flat-lying plateaus interrupted by earlier mountain folds; to the west, sunken basins, in which block-faulted ranges lie like an anchored fleet in a sea of desert wash or lava. The cross-sections are as shown in Fig. 2.

Jan 1, 1933

By E. W. Johnson, M. L. Hill

The dijfusiuity D was determined at 25° to 780°C- from hyd?-ogen evolution rates. Anomalous evolution from air-melted iron was att~zbztted to residual hydrogen, which is interpreted as a hydrogen compound that decomposes at a strongly temperature-(Ieperzdent rate above 500°C. Above 200°C, D = 0.0014 cm2sec-1 exp (-3200 cal per g atom/RT). Below, 200°C the diffusivity is anomalously low and represented by D = 0.12 cm2sec-l exp (-7820 cal per g atom/RT). It is postulated that at low temperatures the hydrogen in the metal is "trapped" with an energy 4.8 kcaL per g atom below- that of the interstitial hydrogen. 1 HE purpose of the present experimental study was to determine the diffusivity of hydrogen in a-Fe over an extended temperature range. As certain anomalies were encountered, attempts were made to understand the anomalies themselves. This research was in progress both before and after a determination of the diffusivity of hydrogen in nicke1.l The latter system was found to exhibit none of the anomalies of hydrogen in iron, and its description was far simpler. The experiments on nickel also

Jan 1, 1961

By W. Rostoker

PART of a program of research on the Ti-A1 system1 involved a study of the lattice parameters of the titanium-rich a solid solution, which has a hexagonal close-packed structure. For this work, a 14 cm Debye-Scherrer powder camera and filtered CuK, radiation was used. For each pattern, the parameters were calculated by a least squares solution of the five strongest high angle lines. This provides an accuracy of i0.005A or better. The results are shown graphically in Fig. 1. It will be seen that an unusual change of slope occurs in the curve for the C parameter at high aluminum contents. Such anomalous changes in slope have been recorded by RaynorV or several magnesium-rich solid solutions. The effects were interpreted in terms of a special contribution to the lattice distortion due to factors of electronic origin predicted by Jones." Jones' theory, in substance, suggested that an unusually large expansion of the lattice would begin when the electron per atom concentration in the alloy was increased to a value at which an overlap just began from one Brillouin zone to another. Con-

Jan 1, 1953