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By G. H. LeFevre

THE Metal Sales Department, with offices in New York, is responsible for the sale of the Company's products, with the exception of gold and coal. At present the department handles the sales of lead, zinc, silver, antimonial lead, , cadmium, bismuth, arsenic trioxide, and tellurium; gold is shipped direct to the United States Mint and coal is marketed by United States Fuel Company's own sales organization. The department keeps in close touch with the metal markets and collects information on marketing conditions, which it makes available to other departments of the Company. The electrolytic lead produced at the U. S. S. Lead Refinery, Inc., is a high-uality product marketed as corroding grade under the "U. S. S.-ELECTRO" brand. It is largely sold to manufacturers of paints, pigments, lead oxides, and storage batteries.

Jan 1, 1948

By A. Lee Barrett

AN accelerated trend toward mechanical mining was noted in 1940, calling for improvements in and better performance of transportation, hoisting, and ventilating equipment. One of the most interesting experi¬ments in transportation is the track shuttle-car operation first put into use by the Princeton Mining Co. in Indiana and later at the Montour 4 mine of the Pittsburgh Coal Co. This system is based on the use of 10-ton drop-bottom mine cars operating on track and han¬dled by an ordinary gathering loco¬motive. These mine cars are loaded and taken in trips of two to a central dumping station which serves four or less loading machines. The dumping station consists of two standard chain-and-flight room conveyors, approximately 50 ft. long placed side by side approximately 4 ft. below the track from which the drop-bottom cars are dumped. These conveyors are operated at low speed and discharge into two similar elevating conveyors which operate at a higher speed and convey the coal to a trip of standard mine cars. A dumping station is usually located so that approximately 500,000 tons of coal may be handled through it before a move is required. This plan appears to have considerable possibilities for the mine equipped with small mine cars and standard locomotives since the advantages of large mine cars can be secured at a fraction of the cost required to install such cars throughout the mine. It appears logical that the future will see a much wider use of this modification in transportation.

Jan 1, 1941

By Morris J. Elsing

FOR MANY YEARS lead and zinc have had the so-called protection of a tariff and it is the purpose of the following brief discussion to show what' such protection actually accomplishes with a view to forecasting the possible results of the present copper tariff. In analyzing the subject, tabulations of the United States production, consumption, imports and exports, including ore and concentrates and all of the metallic products, of both lead and zinc have been made for each year since 1900. Of these data, the relationship of the imports and exports and the relative foreign and domestic prices are shown in Table 1. The conclusions drawn from these figures are listed below. 1. The United States is an exporter of zinc. 2. The United States is an importer of lead. 3. The average price of zinc at St. Louis for the last 32 years has been no higher than on the London market even though zinc and zinc ore have "enjoyed" a protective (?) tariff of varying amounts per pound for 22 years of this period. 4. The average price of lead on the New York market for 32 years has been 1.2c. per pound higher than on the London market, the tariff varying from 0.75 to 1.5c. per pound of lead in ore, and 1 to 2c. or more on manufactured lead.

Jan 1, 1932

By H. M. Chance

Discussion of the paper of H. M. Chance, Bi-Monthly Bulletin, No. 23, September, 190S, pp. 791-808. CHARLES CATLETT, Staunton,Va. (communication to the Secretary *):-Mr. Chance's suggestions that the brown hematite ores of the Potsdam formation are due to the alteration in place of iron sulphide, and that their extension may reasonably be expected to contain valuable deposits of unaltered sulphide, are interesting; but the facts marshaled by him are too limited to justify more than the hope that they may serve as a commercial source of sulphur. It is true that these deposits have been the source of large amounts of iron-ore; and it. is common, as stated by him, for the mining operations to extend to a shallow depth only; but this is largely due to the fact that the surface-material represents an accumulation from the breaking down and collection of the ore which formerly reached a much higher level. With, increasing depth comes a decreasing thickness of valuable material. This is especially appreciated by a glance at Mr. Chance's drawings. This is the reason why so many disappointments have resulted when these ores have been followed to greater depths. Even if the ore is largely derived from oxidation in place, it is impossible to ignore the great number of concretionary forms, as well as those showing the evidence of secondary solution and deposition now taking place, such, for instance, as the part replacements of fragments of quartzite derived from the underlying beds. Concretionary form does not necessarily mean long transportation, and may be a variation of material in place; but commonly it is an evidence of collection, and tends to imply that more or less concentration has taken place. This fact would also argue against an equally extensive develop¬-

Nov 1, 1908

By L. S. Darken

IN the study of reactions occurring in liquid iron, alone or in contact with a liquid oxide or slag phase, it has been found that the experimental data over a limited range of concentration can in some cases be repre-sented satisfactorily by the simple equilibrium expression K - (p1)p1 (p2)p2 . (R1)r1(R2)r2 . where (P) denotes the concentration of a product and (R) the concentra-tion of a reactant in the reaction r1R1 + r2R2 + . . . Some of the reactions for which it holds are listed in Table 1. For others, however, the simple equation apparently does not hold. This has been attributed to an improper method of expressing concentration (for instance, weight per cent instead of mol fraction); or it has been supposed that the solutions are not ideal in the sense that the activity of a com-ponent is not proportional to its true mol fraction, But it may be that the problem has been oversimplified by neglecting some molecular species actually present; that is, by considering only the ostensible simple com-ponents and thus leaving out of account possible compound formation. It is the purpose of the present paper to point out how, in a group of related cases, a reasonable consistent assumption relative to the presence of a compound makes it possible to express the experimental data satis-factorily by the simple equilibrium expression when this compound is taken into account, and to bring into harmony data referring to different reactions in liquid iron. There are several a priori reasons for believing that solutions in liquid iron should not deviate far from ideality, provided that the concentration of solute is not too great and is expressed in proper terms. The factors that commonly lead to nonideality in systems at ordinary temperature as ionization or the occurrence of polar and nonpolar molecules-are presumably less effective in metal and in slag systems at high temperature. Again, the type of equation commonly used to express the value of

Jan 1, 1940

By Yuri D. Tretyakov, Robert A. Rapp

The stoichiometry ranges ofNiOl+y and LiFe,O,-d were established by high-temperatwe electrochemical meas7rements in a stabilized-zirconia electrolyte cell. The results were consistent with doubly ionized cation vacancies in NiO,+y and interstitial lithium or iron ions in . The defect structure of the ternary ferrite was derived from the consideration of equilibration with respect to oxygen between the solid and the gas phase. The absolute magnitudes of defect concentrations were calculated. Pavtial molar enthalpies of oxygen in the compounds were calculated and interpreted in terms of the enthalpy of defect formation in these crystals. NICKEL oxide (NiO,,?) is a metal-deficient, p-type, extrinsic semiconductor whose properties are consistent with a structural model based on the presence of cation vacancies as the predominant ionic defect at sufficiently high temperatures and oxygen activities. A survey of previously reported conductivity studies and the presentation of some more recent conductivity measurements will be given in a later paper.' The absolute magnitude of the equilibrium vacancy concentration in NiO has been reported from combined conductivity and thermogravimetric data of ' However, disagreement exists concerning the state of ionization of the nickel vacancies in NiO. Some authors3-' have proposed that the predominant defects in NiO are singly ionized nickel vacancies and positive holes (h') formed by the reaction where, accorhng to the notation of Kroger and Vink,6'7 Oq represents an oxygen ion on its normal lattice site. Other authors"27E have proposed that doubly ionized nickel vacancies (V{i ) and positive holes are predominant and are formed by the reaction One purpose of the present investigation was to establish the nature of the predominant defect in NiO,+? as well as its equilibrium concentration and thermo-dynamic properties at elevated temperatures and known oxygen activities. To accomplish this purpose, the coulometric titration of oxygen into and out of NiO was accomplished using a galvanic cell involving the calcia-stabilized zirconia electrolyte. The ternary oxide, lithium ferrite (LiFe50,-6) is ferromagnetic and has the inverse spinel structure LiFe,O,-d Thus, in the ideal stoichiometric XY204 lattice, Fe3 ions occupy one-eighth of the tetrahedral (A) sites, and i' and Fe3' ions share at random one-half of the octahedral (B) sites within the fcc sublattice of oxygen ions.g The structure and thermodynamics of the spinel structures have been comprehensively decribed.'-' A recent compilation of literature for lithium ferrite is also available. 15 Oxygen-excess LiFe50sis not expected to exist because both i' and 17e3& ions are in their highest normal valency states (positive hole formation is not favorable). As will be discussed, equilibration of the ferrite crystal with oxygen of a surrounding gaseous phase will result in the introduction of equilibrium concentrations of ionic and electronic defects. In the Results and Discussion section a defect model for LiFe50,-d is proposed. This defect model is tested by high-temperature coulometric titration experiments. EXPERIMENT The oxygen activities in nonstoichiometric NiOl+, (and also LiFe,O,-d) were measured by means of coulometric titration with the high-temperature galvanic cell The critical characteristic of a suitable experimental cell is the complete isolation of the phase to be investigated in a minimum sized chamber which is free from extraneous sources and sinks for oxygen (leakage). Then oxygen is only admitted to the chamber or removed from it in known amounts by coulometric titration, which involves the passage of oxygen ions through the solid electrolyte with electrochemical oxidation and reduction reactions at the platinum contacts to the electrolyte. The experimental cell is shown in Fig. 1. The cap of the cell was the tip from a closed-end alumina tube, which was found to be leak-free from a helium leak-detector test. This alumina cap was about 1.2 cm OD and about 1.5 cm high. A Zircoa calcia-stabilized zirconia tablet (crucible lid) of 1.5 cm diam and 0.3 cm thickness served as the solid electrolyte. A Pyrex ring of about 0.1 cm thickness was placed between the electrolyte and the cap. The electrolyte tablet was painted with platinum paste on the entire outer face and on that part of the inner face which would be within the enclosure; these electrodes were further prepared by heating in air at 1000°C for 2 hr. Nickel oxide powder, listed as 99.999 pct pure, was purchased from Leico Industries, Inc. Pills of the NiO were cold-pressed and sintered at 1050°C for 3 hr in a platinum crucible. This poorly sintered NiO was crushed, and chunks were wrapped in 52-mesh Pt gauze (to catalyze the solid-gas exchange) for place-

Jan 1, 1970

By B. E. Mix, L. M. Barker

THe present methods of unloading ore and coarse-crushing at the Magna plant of the Utah Copper Co. are the developments of the pas five years. Hand dumping and breaking have given way to the rotary car dump and large gyratory; and the bucket elevators and stationary screens have been replaced by conveyors and shaking screens. The coarse-crushing plant may be broadly divided into two units the primary crushing and the secondary crushing, or primary roll, unit The former was erected in 1923; with the exception of the excavation the construction was carried on by forces of the company. Excavation was started in the middle of March, the first concrete was poured July 16, erection of the steel building started Oct. 30, and the unit was com pleted and operating Dec. 30. The unit has a capacity of over 24,001 tons of ore per day, and cost more than a million dollars. Remodeling of the primary-roll unit extended over a period of years preceding this some of the work having been done as early as 1918. Delivery of Ore from Mine, Yard Storage, and Handling Ori Cars to and from Primary Crushing Plant The ore is transported, in steel cars of 80 tons capacity, from the min' to the mill, where a reserve tonnage of loaded cars is maintained. Malle locomotives, handling trains of 45 cars, or approximately 3600 tons o ore per train, deliver the trains to a storage yard which contains thre tracks—a passing track and two storage tracks. All of this trackage i equipped with an overhead trolley system, so that electric locomotive can be used in yard switching. The storage tracks have a total length of 4500 ft. and provide storag space for 140 cars. The passing track, besides permitting switchin room for locomotives, is used for storage purposes between train arrivals thus giving intermittently a total storage capacity for the yard of approxi mately 200 cars. The amount of ore stored at any one time, howeve

Jan 1, 1926

By George A. Komadina

From its modest beginning in 1957 with one mill grinding section handling 3000 tpd Pima has steadily expanded. In July 1966, work was completed that allowed the concentrator to treat in excess of 18,000 tpd. Almost immediately Pima embarked on another expansion program that will increase plant capacity to 30,000 tpd during the summer of 1967. This repeated expansion has corresponded with the development of additional low-grade ore deposits and with the improved operating economics realized by handling larger masses of material. Early in the life of Pima it was known that a mineralized area was present on the flanks of the high-grade orebody which systematic drilling had shown to be a low-grade copper orebody. Many months of engineering studies revealed that this was sufficient to allow Pima to compete with other large scale, low-grade copper operations in the Southwest.

Jan 11, 1967

By AIME AIME

MODERN metallurgy is an art and a science. The art is process metallurgy-extracting metals from their ores, refining them, and alloying them with one another and with certain nonmetals to produce thereby a variety of metallic materials which, owing to a wide range of useful properties, are for many purposes more valuable to man than the individual metals themselves; process metallurgy also includes shaping or otherwise treating metals and alloys to form objects useful to a complex industrial world. The science is physical metallurgy-organized knowledge of the constitution and internal structure of metals and alloys, of the relation of their composition and structure to properties, and of the laws, theories, and hypotheses that purport to explain this relation.

Jan 1, 1942

Jan 1, 1880

By G. F. Fix

Oil and gas activity reached a higher peak in Indiana during 1940 than for any like period during the past decade. Major activity, as during 1939, was in the southwestern part of the state, the Indiana portion of the Eastern Interior Coal Basin, where most of the increase was due to field drilling in previously proven areas. The amount of wildcat drilling was about the same as for 1939. No new fields of any apparent consequence were discovered during the year, with the possible exception of the College pool, in southwest Posey County. Only one well had been completed in this area at the end of the year. About 10 ft. of saturated Aux Vases sandstone was drilled in this well and the initial production was I00 bbl. of oil a day. Other discoveries during the year 1940 include: St. Thomas, in southwestern Knox County, where four McClosky wells, ranging from I00 to 300 bbl. a day initially, were com-pleted; Buff kin, in central Posey County, with 11 oil wells and 5 gas wells completed; and new developments in two old areas —Randolph County (part of the old Trenton field) and Gentryville, northwestern Spencer County, where some oil was found many years ago. The St. Thomas field proved disappoint-ing, with very spotty production from the McClosky horizon of the St. Genevieve limestone at a depth of about 1875 ft. The discovery well flowed 362 bbl. a day ini-tially. At the end of the year the field was pretty well outlined by dry holes and some inside locations were dry. The Buffkin pool also proved spotty, with production from shallow Pennsylvanian sands and from the Basal Pennsylvanian Mansfield sandstone, the latter at a depth of approximately I175 ft., with small production from the Cypress sandstone of Chester age. Oil wells in this pool are small, ranging from 25 to 75 bbl. a day. The Randolph County area, on the east side of the Trenton gas field, showed some promise for a commercial gas field, with four completed gas wells having cumulative initial flows of about 1,200,ooo cu. ft. a day. The area appar-ently was not depleted during the Trenton boom at the turn of the century, since casing pressures are about as high as the virgin pressure in the old field. Elsewhere the pressure has dropped as low as 5 pounds. The Griffin field received most of the drilling during 1940, with 163 completed oil wells. This field now covers about 3200 acres on the Indiana side of the Wabash River and is not as yet completely delimited. It produced the major part of Indiana's oil during the year—a total of 3,594,000 bbl. At the end of 1940, there were 253 producing wells in Griffin. New Harmony had five completions for a total of 24. The Rockport field, in Spencer County, continued to be actively developed and had a total of 45 gas wells and 9 oil wells at the end of the year. Oil in commercial quantities had not been found in the field previous to 1940. Total gas production for the year was 394,470,000 cubic feet. In all, 521 wells were drilled in the state during 1940, as compared to 377 for 1939. Of this number 248 were oil wells, 77 were gas wells and 196 were dry. Divided into

Jan 1, 1941

By G. F. Fix

Oil and gas activity reached a higher peak in Indiana during 1940 than for any like period during the past decade. Major activity, as during 1939, was in the southwestern part of the state, the Indiana portion of the Eastern Interior Coal Basin, where most of the increase was due to field drilling in previously proven areas. The amount of wildcat drilling was about the same as for 1939. No new fields of any apparent consequence were discovered during the year, with the possible exception of the College pool, in southwest Posey County. Only one well had been completed in this area at the end of the year. About 10 ft. of saturated Aux Vases sandstone was drilled in this well and the initial production was I00 bbl. of oil a day. Other discoveries during the year 1940 include: St. Thomas, in southwestern Knox County, where four McClosky wells, ranging from I00 to 300 bbl. a day initially, were com-pleted; Buff kin, in central Posey County, with 11 oil wells and 5 gas wells completed; and new developments in two old areas —Randolph County (part of the old Trenton field) and Gentryville, northwestern Spencer County, where some oil was found many years ago. The St. Thomas field proved disappoint-ing, with very spotty production from the McClosky horizon of the St. Genevieve limestone at a depth of about 1875 ft. The discovery well flowed 362 bbl. a day ini-tially. At the end of the year the field was pretty well outlined by dry holes and some inside locations were dry. The Buffkin pool also proved spotty, with production from shallow Pennsylvanian sands and from the Basal Pennsylvanian Mansfield sandstone, the latter at a depth of approximately I175 ft., with small production from the Cypress sandstone of Chester age. Oil wells in this pool are small, ranging from 25 to 75 bbl. a day. The Randolph County area, on the east side of the Trenton gas field, showed some promise for a commercial gas field, with four completed gas wells having cumulative initial flows of about 1,200,ooo cu. ft. a day. The area appar-ently was not depleted during the Trenton boom at the turn of the century, since casing pressures are about as high as the virgin pressure in the old field. Elsewhere the pressure has dropped as low as 5 pounds. The Griffin field received most of the drilling during 1940, with 163 completed oil wells. This field now covers about 3200 acres on the Indiana side of the Wabash River and is not as yet completely delimited. It produced the major part of Indiana's oil during the year—a total of 3,594,000 bbl. At the end of 1940, there were 253 producing wells in Griffin. New Harmony had five completions for a total of 24. The Rockport field, in Spencer County, continued to be actively developed and had a total of 45 gas wells and 9 oil wells at the end of the year. Oil in commercial quantities had not been found in the field previous to 1940. Total gas production for the year was 394,470,000 cubic feet. In all, 521 wells were drilled in the state during 1940, as compared to 377 for 1939. Of this number 248 were oil wells, 77 were gas wells and 196 were dry. Divided into

Jan 1, 1941

By D. Geiselman, A. G. Guy

Single cvystals were grown from high-purity magnesium containing known amounts of nitvogen in the range 0.0008 to 0.0048 wt pet. Crystals of known ovientation were tested in tension in an Instron ma chine to determine the yield strength and to obsevue wheather a yield point occurred. Slowly cooled crystals or those given a solution heat treatment did not show a yield point. However, crystals that were aged following a solution treatment showed a yield point for all of the nitrogen contents studied. It was concluded that nitrogen caused the yield point by the Cottrell mechanism. NITROGEN has been shown to produce sharp yield points in single crystals of cadmium, zinc,2'3 ß-brass,4 and iron,5,6 as well as in polycrystalline iron7 and molybdenum.8,9 Since magnesium has a structure similar to zinc and cadmium, it seemed reasonable that magnesium should also exhibit a sharp yield point provided it contained sufficient nitrogen. Bobalek and Shrader10 reported a total nitrogen content of 0.002 to 0.0065 wt pct in com- mercial magnesium alloys, an amount well in excess of that required by theory. However. magnesium differs from cadmium and zinc in that it forms a stable nitride, Mg3N2, which has a standard free energy of formation of -95,480 cal per mole at 25" c." If rather than being in solid solution, the nitrogen were predominantly combined as the nitride, it could not act to produce a yield point. This type of behavior is the basis for the elimination of strain aging and a yield point in steel by the addition of strong nitride formers such as titanium,12 columbium,13 aluminum,14 vanadium,15 and boron.16,17 Thus, there appeared to be factors both favorable and unfavorable to the production by nitrogen of a sharp yield point in magnesium, and the purpose of this investigation was to determine the actual behavior of magnesium crystals containing known amounts of nitrogen.

Jan 1, 1960

By C. M. Smith

DELEGATES from 26 Local Sections and- Divisions of the Institute had three stimulating sessions during the Annual Meeting, a few topics still remaining to be discussed after the two Monday sessions.. The final session was held on Thursday morning. An abstract of the discussion will be transmitted to each delegate present. The topics included: Student relations. Section operation, membership, employment, MINING AND METALLURGY, a new nonmetallic minerals Division. licensing of engineers, and increased allotments of money to Local Sections. Some of the Sections felt that the present limit of $250 allotted to them - from the national treasury was insufficient to carry on their activities, and that this maximum should he increased. A resolution to this effect was passed for transmission to the Board of Directors.

Jan 1, 1935

By T. R. Armstrong

Total crude oil production in Mexico in the year 1941 is estimated at approxi- mately 41,000,000 bbl.; a daily average of 112,700 bbl. and a decrease of about 5 per cent as compared with the daily average of 120,000 bbl. produced in the year 1940, and nearly 11 per cent decrease as com-

Jan 1, 1942

By T. R. Armstrong

Total crude oil production in Mexico in the year 1941 is estimated at approxi- mately 41,000,000 bbl.; a daily average of 112,700 bbl. and a decrease of about 5 per cent as compared with the daily average of 120,000 bbl. produced in the year 1940, and nearly 11 per cent decrease as com-

Jan 1, 1942

By NEWTON B. KNOX

THE Guianas region is a geological unit, consisting of the northern lobe of the Brazilian Shield, but political accident and the fact that rivers act as the principal means of transportation have divided the region between five separate sovereignties. Brazilian and Venezuelan Guiana have already been considered. The French, Dutch, and British colonies consist of a coastal plain some fifty miles wide, which, together with the lower reaches of the principal rivers, support the greater part of the population. Inland from this tidewater region is a wide area of low, forest-covered hills, under-lain by gneisses, schists, granites, and pegmatites of the Shield. As in Venezuelan Guiana, these rocks are overlain by a thick series of horizontal continental sediments intruded by moderately basic magmas. Gold, bauxite and diamonds have been the principal products of the colonies. The first metal is quite widespread in the hill country. The quartz mines are small, though occasionally rich; probably the greater number of veins remain undiscovered because of the thick mantle of decomposition product that covers the schists and gneisses. The greater proportion of the gold, therefore, is derived from placers which are exploited in all three colonies. Some geologists claim that they occur in two belts parallel to the coast; whether this feature has its origin in the location of the primary mineralization or in the gradients of the rivers is not clear. In some instances the river gravels grade into auriferous laterite. The laterites are well developed in the Guianas and represent the weathering products of the more basic rocks.

Jan 1, 1946

By Richard P. E. Hermsdorf

IN the nonferrous sessions this year, magnesium wiggled its way into a dace of prominence such as it has never before enjoyed. This was evidenced not only by the number of papers presented on that metal but by the attendance at the meetings. The atmosphere permeating these magnesium meetings was similar to that which exists in a family with a new baby. Everybody crowded around to see what it looked like and then wondered whether it would be a success and credit to the family. Well. magnesium appeared to be a vigorous youngster, full of life, and raring to go. A close relative of maenesium named " aluminum, although much more grown up, also attracted much attention. From the activity and spirit in these sessions

Jan 1, 1944

By Franklin G. Pardee

IN 1920 the Minnesota Tax Commission estimated a reserve of 1,341,674,538 long tons of iron ore in Minnesota, the Michigan State Tax Commission report showed 199,092,855 long tons in reserve in that state, and the Wisconsin Geological Survey set the Wisconsin reserves at 21,500,000 long tons. The total reserve that year for the Lake Superior District amounted to 1,562,267,393 long tons. Ten years later the reserves of iron ore in these same districts were Minnesota 1,235,227,510, Michigan 168,349,823, and Wisconsin 23,000,000, or a total of 1,426,577,333 long tons. The decrease in ore reserves in this ten-year period was 135,690,060 long tons, but the shipments were 520,746,975 long tons. In other words, the ten-year depletion in reserves was only 8.68 per cent. If similar conditions carry into the future this calculation would indicate a life for the ore reserves of the Lake Superior region of over 100 years.

Jan 1, 1933

By E. H. Crabtree

IN an ideal mill, with perfect milling operations, the mineral extraction would be 100 per cent, the, concentrate would be 100 per cent mineral, the tailing would assay zer.0 mineral and the milling cost would be zero dollars. Such an operation can, of course, never be attained. We can only strive to approach it as nearly as possible and in doing so most recognize .the fact that the three primary factors in milling: assay of concentrate, assay of tailing, and cost of operation bear a definite economic relationship to each other. This relation will change from time to time and will be different for different mills, depending on milling equipment, character and quality of feed, market conditions, and other factors. It is granted that for a given operation there is an economic point, but the location of this point is difficult. It is for the purpose of making some of these economic points a little more tangible that this paper has been prepared.

Jan 1, 1930