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By C. W. Purington, H. B. C. Nitze

The Kotchkar mining-district, known as the Kotchkar System, is situated in the Orenburg government, in Eastern Russia, in the great plateau- or steppe-country immediately adjacent to the eastern slopes of the Ural mountains. Its longer dimension is north and south about 27 miles, while in the widest (northern) portion the distance across is 22 miles. The district lies 40 miles southwest of Miass, a station of the Trans-Siberian railway, and half-way between this village and that of Troitsk. It contains also the not inconsiderable settlements of Kotchkar and Eosobrodskoit., the last a Kossak town. So far as explored, the district is known to contain from 300 to 400 auriferous veins. ? Although the topography is generally of an exceedingly flat character, the country is traversed by several small rivulets running from west to east, and flowing into the Sanarka and Kamenka rivers. Since 1844 placers have been worked in the district, but it was not until 1867 that veins were discovered, and these have been worked only since the impoverishment of the alluvial deposits. The deposit with which this paper especially deals is known as the Ouspensky mine, one of twelve owned by MM. de Zelenkoff & Cie., five of which are situated in the Kotchkar System. An opportunity of visiting this mine was afforded the writers, in eonnection with an excursion of the VII. session of the International Geological Congress; held in Russia during the summer of 1897. The mine is reached by a 40-mile '(troika" journey from the railway station of Bichkil, itself

Jan 1, 1899

By Albert Ladd Colby

PAGE I. Introduction,...........577 11. PRocess of Manufacture. 1. American Specifications. 2. Foreign Specifications, . ......... 580 III. Chemical Properties. I. Chemical Composition: (a) American Specifications ; (b) Foreign Specifications. 2. Chemical Analysis: (a) American Specifications ; (b) Foreign Specifications ; (c) Number of Analyses Required ; (d) Sample for Analysis ; (e) Check-Analyses Impracticable ; (f) Rejection Solely on Variation in Com-' position,............581 IV. Physical Properties. 1. Drop-Test and Drop-Testing Hachine: (a) American Specifications ; (b) Foreign Specifications ; (c) Limits in Deflection. 2. Tensile Test: (a) American Specifications; (b) Foreign Specifications ; (c) Test-Pieces are not Representative ; (d) Specified Tensile Strength is Affected by the Section ; (e) BpeciBed Tensile Strength is Often Inconsistent with Specified Chemistry ; (f) Specified Tensile Strength is Often Inconsistent with Specified Elongation ; (g) Amount of Tensile Testing Required is Excessive ; (11) Conclusions. 3. Dead-Weight Test: (a) American Specifications; (b) Foreign Specifications; (c) Number of Tests Specified. 4. Bending-Test: ((1) American Specifications ; (b) Foreign Specifications,..........589 V. Section. 1. American Specifications. 2. Foreign Specifications: (a) Templets ; (b) Sample Piece of Rail; (c) Allowable Variation from Templet,...........601 VI. Weight. 1. American Specifications. 2. Foreign Specifications,. . 603 VII. Length. 1. American Specifications. 2. Foreign Specifications, . . 604 VIII. Drilling. 1. American Specifications. 2. Foreign Specifications, . 604 IX. Finish. 1. American Specifications. 2. Foreign Specifications, . . 50.5 X. Branding. 1. American Specifications. 2. Foreign Specifications : (a) Data to be Rolled in Raised Letters on Web of Rail ; (b) Marking of the Blow-Number on Each Rail; (c) Additional Marking and Painting of Rails,........605 XI. Inspection. 1. American Specifications. 2. Foreign Specifications: (a) Prior Notice of Rolling; (b) Free Access to the Works ; (c) Cost of Inspection, Analyses and Tests to be Borne by the Manufacturer ; (d) Rails after Inspection by Manufacturer to be Sorted into Lots Prior to Inspection by the Engineer ; (e) Disposition of Rejected

Jan 1, 1907

By W. C. Knopf, G. Samsel

For several years International Minerals & Chem-ical Corp. has used a radiation method to assay potassium content of products from potash and feldspar beneficiation. The procedure is rapid, accurate, and inexpensive and is easily handled, if necessary, by nontechnical personnel. Data are presented to show the accuracies that may be expected if the technique is used for control of pilot plants or large-scale plants. Natural potassium is composed of three isotopes —K, K and K. Five other isotopes, artificially produced, have been detected. In natural potassium only the K isotope, with a half life of 1.4x10 years, is radioactive. Its modes of decay are beta and gamma rays, positrons, and x-rays. Only the more abundant beta rays, however, are important in radiation measurements using geiger tubes. Barnes and Salley' measured radiation of potassium salts in solution in 1943. Gaudin and Parnell2 first reported the use of solid salts arranged in a vessel surrounding the ß counter in 1948. Later, Scheel used the method to assay potassium content of various crude and finished potash salts. Experimental: Dip-type Geiger-Muller tubes (TGC-5) supplied by Tracerlab Co. were used in all radiation counting measurements. The tube was encompassed by a glass container about M in. larger in diameter than the tube. This container, which served as a sample holder, was closed at the bottom with a rubber stopper to facilitate removing the samples. Samples were not weighed, but about 40 g of sample were needed for each test. Electrical impulses from the tube were counted on either a Tracerlab scaler or a rate meter. To obviate the need for constant attendance, preset features were incorporated into the scalers, so that at a predetermined time or count the units were automatically deactivated. When rate meters were used, counting rates were read directly from instrument or from a recorder used in conjunction with the rate meter. Each tube was calibrated, according to the manufacturer's instructions, to determine the correct operating voltage to insure reproducible results. A linear calibration plot of percent K2O vs counting rate was also obtained for each tube by recording the counting rate plus background count of several standards of different K2O content chemically analyzed by the chloroplatinate method.' These standards were of approximately the same particle size distribution as samples to be assayed. Specific background count caused by cosmic rays and other surrounding radiation was checked periodically by counting a sample of pure NaCl. Fig. 1 is a representative calibration plot. Assays were determined directly from the standard plot or calculated by subtracting the background count from the counting rate, then multiplying by the slope of the line. Chemical assays of the test samples were made by the Sherril method," a flame photometric technique, or the chloroplatinate method. Data: The radiation assay method has been used for three years by International Minerals & Chemical Corp. in the laboratory and in pilot plants processing ores containing potassium. These dry concentration plants process sylvinite and langbeinite ores at Carlsbad, N. M., and feldspar ores at Top-sham, Maine. Sylvinite ore is predominantly a mixture of syl-vite (impure KCl) and halite (impure NaCl). Contaminants include sulfates, such as langbeinite (2MgSO - K2SO4), kieserite (MgSO H2O), poly-halite (MgSO4.K2SO, 2CaSO, . 2H2O), and slimes. Langbeinite ore is predominantly langbeinite and halite with small amounts of sylvite, sulfates other than langbeinite, and slimes. Several variables, in addition to correct calibration and standardization of tubes, were found to be important in obtaining reproducible results. Particle size distribution of standard samples should be

Jan 1, 1959

Table

Jan 1, 1910

By Henry S. Drinker

(Canal Zone Meeting, November, 1910.) FEW men reach middle life without having had the experience of failure in one or more undertakings; and most of us can look back with gratitude to help or advice given us by friends at critical periods of our lives. If, as men, we ask and take the benefit of such aid, why should we expect our sons to be stronger? A parent can make no greater mistake than to send a boy, however steady and intelligent he may be, off' to school or college, and expect the boy always to cope successfully with all the new conditions and new difficulties that may confront him. This is undoubtedly more the case with a freshman, in his first year at college, than in later years, or than it is with a boy at day- or boarding-school, where the boy receives a greater degree of care and oversight than can be given to the young man entering college; of all periods in life, the youth in his freshman year-fresh from the overshadowing care of home and school-may need judicious advice and timely aid. The change from the restraint of home and school to the freedom of college life is sudden and marked, and it is in this the first year of the boy or young man of 17, 18, or 19 years of age, that some tactful, judicious aid should be near him in his work and course. Some boys go to college so well prepared that they become careless and finally fall behind in their work from over-confidence. Others meet trouble from ambitiously trying to do more than their previous preparation, or physical or mental strength, can sustain. Others fall behind from illness-from injuries-from natural inability to grasp at first, without more aid than comes to them in the regular course of instruction, the higher mathematics-or mayhap the modern languages, or other subjects presented by the advanced curriculum of the present day. When a boy or youth begins to

Jan 1, 1911

F A. THOMSON, president of the Montana School of Mines, gave an interesting talk on mining schools of the past, present and his ideas of the future before a recent meeting of the Montana Section of the A. I. M. E. He covered the history .of the various mining schools and com- pared the three main types of schools; those attached to or forming part of an endowed college or university such, for example, as' the Columbia School of Mines, the Mining Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Mining Department of Stanford University. These resemble in a general way the second class, those attached to the state universities and colleges. The schools of this general type have had varied success.

Jan 1, 1928

By P. K. Lucke

ONE of the interesting features connected with the great continental uplift, which formed the table land of Mexico, is the great depth to which oxidation and secondary enrichment of orebOdies occurred. This table land lies at altitudes ranging from 4000 to. 7000 ft. (1219 to 2133 m.) above sea level. Several cases could be cited of oxidized zones in copper and lead mines which reached depths of upward of 1500 ft. (457 m.) below the surface, and it is universally admitted that the oxidized zone in a mine is limited by the permanent water level. FIG. 1. Mexico, however, like many other countries in which deserts occur, is visited at rare intervals by tremendous floods, which sometimes cause variable water levels over long periods. The following cases bear out the idea, and lead to interesting conclusions of commercial value. My paper demonstrates that carbonates of ores may occur below water level and sulphides above, and I will endeavor to explain the causes of the phenomena in certain specific instances.

Jan 6, 1918

By DR. DOUGLAS

Discussion of the Paper of Dr. Douglas, presented at the Toronto Meeting of the Institute, July, 1907 (Trans., xxxviii., 455 to 471). EDGAR HALL, Silverspur, Queensland, Australia (communication to the Secretary*) :-Dr. Douglas has written on this subject before, and his influence has had a powerful effect on the side of freedom among the younger generation of engineers. Moreover, it is not the first time that he has attributed the decline of the copper-smelting industry in Swansea to the secrecy maintained by the firms there engaged in smelting-operations. In this latter statement I think his conclusions are open to criticism. Whether the firms referred to have suffered by their secrecy is their own business-I. bold no brief for them ; but that the decline of the copper-industry at Swansea was inevitable seems to me to be proved conclusively by Dr. Douglas's own writings. In his paper on The Copper Situation,1 Dr. Douglas says "In comparing iron and copper mining, . . . it must be remembered that 2 tons of average iron ore from the most prolific source now available will make 1 ton of metal; whereas from 33 to 75 tons (say an average of 50 tons) of copper ore must be mined to produce 1 ton of copper." And further: "Last year's production of iron was made from approximately 50,000,000 tons of ore. Our copper mines, to yield a production of 900,000,000 pounds, must have handled approximately 22,000,000 tons of ore, or nearly half the quantity raised from our iron mines." Is not this the key to the whole situation ? In transporting the 50,000,000 tons of iron-ore, 25,000,000 tons of the metal iron were carried so much nearer to the market, but the transportation of 22,000,000 tons of copper-ore would have carried only 450,000 tons of the metal copper nearer to its ultimate destination. The small percentage of copper available in its ores makes

Sep 1, 1908

By A. B. Parsons

LAST YEAR (1934) saw the completion of a ten-year program of reconstruction and modernization of the world's largest lead- smelting plant, that of the ' Broken Hill Associated Smelters Proprietary, at Port Pirie, South Australia, which has a capacity for smelting and refining 220,000 (short) tons of lead per year. It deals with the entire output of lead concentrates from the famous Broken Hill district in Australia, being owned .jointly by the three leading companies: North Broken Hill, Broken Hill South, and the Zinc Corporation. These companies, together with the Sulphide Corporation, are credited with a production of 198,000 tons of lead in 1934. When one says regarding any metallurgical plant that modernization is "completed" he should add "for the moment." Development in the art of metallurgy and in the equipment used never ceases; that which seems close to the last word today is likely to be obsolete in a few years even in a process so well standardized as smelting and refining lead. However, the reconstruction at Port Pirie has altered the procedure materially. More im-

Jan 1, 1935

By AIME AIME

THIS journal is fully indexed-every issue, as soon as published-in a set of card?, which thus brings ready to your hand any article on any subject in this journal or in any one of 1700 other journals in all languages. This Engineering Index Service, instituted in January, 1928, is to be found in the Public Libraries of Newark, Cleveland, Bridgeport, Baltimore and the John Crerar Library, Chicago. Engineers in any field who live or work in New Jersey will find this mammoth index to the latest engineering literature in the Public Library of Newark, N. J.

Jan 1, 1929

By A. L. Mular

Two equations express the integral rate at which fines are produced from a homogeneous material: It has been demonstrated that the Gaudin-Meloy distribution for single fracture is equally applicable to multiple fracture and is related to the Gaudin-Schuhmann distribution at least when the distribution modulus a is close to unity. A, xoY was found to be independent of starting mass over the range studied when particle size was held constant. The equations are related to the input energy to the mill. In an earlier paper,' it was shown that when Mo g of uniformly sized homogeneous material is ground dry in a batch rod mill, the energy-size reduction equation is expressed at any time by the mass of unbroken starting material left at time t, ku is the size modulus of the portion Mo - Mt, and P is a constant that is generally equal to the distribution modulus a. If the power to the mill is constant, Et is proportional to time and Eq. 1 is rewritten where (Mo -Mt)/t is actually the integral rate at which fines are produced from a parent material, and A, is another constant. The size modulus, k,, is determined from the Gaudin-Schuhmann equation:2 where y is the cumulative fraction finer than any size x. Recently, Gaudin and Meloy derived a distribution equation for single fracture on the assumption that the random fracture of a homogeneous material produces daughter particles of similar shape. Their equation is given by where y is the cumulative fraction finer than size X, x, is the size of the unfractured parent, and r is designated the size ratio. Although Eq. 4 is derived for a single event, it should also approximately hold for a series of com-

Jan 1, 1962

By Franz Fohr

On July 27, 1919, there passed away a simple, unassuming gentle-man, who, throughout his life, allowed his intense modesty to keep him-self in the background and during his later years effaced himself so thoroughly that but few of his acquaintances knew aught of him. Yet he was one of our accomplished metallurgists, who did good work in the practice of his profession and lived an upright life. Now that he is no longer with us Franz Fohr cannot plead to be overlooked, and those who fondly remember him will be gratified by his receiving his due. Franz Fohr was born, Sept. 7, 1838, in Mannheim, Germany. Of his ancestry, education, and early career we know scarcely anything. We do not even know just when he came to America, or. what led him hither. The first record of his professional work in this country, found among his papers, shows that from July, 1870, to Jan. 1, 1872, he was superin-tendent of the Newark Smelting & Refining Works, then owned by Ed-ward Balbach & Son. At that time the Balbach works at Newark, established in 1850, and the Selby works at San Francisco, established about 1866, were the only important silver-lead refineries in the United States. Mr. Fohr may have been associated with the Balbachs for some time before he became superintendent of their plant or he may have come from Germany but a short time previously. At all events, it is certain that he was at that time an experienced and accomplished metallurgist. After leaving Newark and going to San Francisco, he soon formed a connection with Thomas H. Selby & Co. Early in 1874-this firm sent him to New York to procure information respecting the manufacture of white lead. His engagement in New York terminated on-Jan. 31, 1875. During 1875, Mr Fohr spent some time at Silver Islet and in the Lake Superior copper region, but of his work there no record remains. In the latter part of 1875, or early in 1876, he associated himself as metallur-gist with the Boston Silver Co., operating at Saint John's, Summit County, in which William L. Candler, of Boston, was the moving spirit. That company was developing its mine in 1875. At the end of that year it "had about 800 tons of ore on hand, about three-fourths of which is dress-ing ore, to be concentrated in its very systematic establishment and to be smelted into pig lead." Evidently Mr. Fohr was engaged for the latter purpose. Henry A. Vezin, erudite and painstaking, was the mechanical engineer for the company. In the fall of 1876, Anton Eilers took his family for the first time so far West as Denver and Mr. Fohr went with them. I do not think that Mr. Eilers had any connection with the Boston Silver Co., save possibly in a consulting capacity, but he visited Saint John's and the enduring friendship among Eilers, Fohr, and Vezin, which terminated only with their deaths, dated from that time.

Jan 12, 1919

By ALFREDO INTZAUGARAT, MIGUEL BERRO

During the years 1943 through 1945, there was a decrease in the total oil production in Argentina. In the fields of Comodoro Rivadavia (Chubut Territory) and Mendoza and Salta Provinces, the production obtained was as shown in Table I. The only place where there was a small increase was Plaza Huincul, in the Neuquen Territory and Lunlunta, in the Mendoza Province.

Jan 1, 1946

Safety and health are no longer secondary responsibilities but must be of paramount concern to every mining operation, according to Anthony J. Thompson, an attorney with Hamel, Park, McCabe & Saunders of Washington D.C. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) forecasts an estimated 19,000 inspections during 1979, and the economic and psychological impact of these inspections may he significant. To illustrate his point Thompson reviewed the experiences of a relatively large operation during a recent MSHA visit. The inspector was on the premises for two months, issuing between 250 to 300 "significant and substantial" (s&s) citations. During the most intensive period, about one month in duration, the operation experienced a production loss estimated between 2500 to 3000 tons; an accident rate up 30% over the previous month and 20% over the same month in the preceding year; 100% of the safety director's and safety engi¬neer's time was devoted to the inspection; 50% of top level management's time; and 90% of the mid-level or front line supervisory's time.

Jan 11, 1979

By F. C. Schora, H. P. Meissner

Both a graphical and an analytical technique are presented for calculating stream compositions and temperatures in adiabatic staged systems in which solids travel countercurrently to a gas stream. Such a system might be a tower containing several plates, on each of which the descending solid is fluidized by the rising gas stream. Examples are presented in which chemical reactions occur, including the oxidation of SO, by a solid catalyst and the gaseous reduction of iron oxides. COUNTERCURRENT staged processes involving reactions between solid and gas streams are becoming more common. These operations are generally carried out in a series of beds of fluidized solids, with each bed or "plate" acting as a stage. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of such a series of stages located in a column, down through which a solids stream moves from stage to stage counter to a rising gas stream. Typical reactions carried out in such systems are the dehydration of aluminum trihydrate, the calcining of limestone, and the gaseous reduction of iron oxides. Calculation of the performance of these counter-current systems rapidly becomes more complex with increases in the number of stages and in the number of chemical reactions occurring. Calcula-tional procedures for isothermal operations of such systems have been described.4 Actual tower operations, however, are generally adiabatic, and in consequence far from isothermal. The object here is to present both graphical and analytical techniques applicable to such adiabatic towers operating continuously and in steady state. In this introductory discussion, the graphical techniques presented are of the McCabe-Thiele type, rather than of the Pon-chon type. In all the examples presented, it will be assumed that both thermal and chemical equilibrium are attained in each bed. The assumption that the gas and solid streams leaving each bed are at the same temperature as the bed is in accordance with the familiar behavior of actual fluidized solid systems. Chemical equilibrium, on the other hand, is not necessarily attained in any given stage between these two streams, even with deep beds, since reaction rates may be slow. In the last section of this paper, discussion is presented of methods suitable for use when chemical equilibrium is not attained. The adiabatic tower in Fig. 1 has "n" stages numbered from 1 to n, starting with the bottom stage as number 1. In analyzing this tower's performance, it is important to express gas flow rates in terms of a key component or element which remains completely within the gas stream throughout the tower. Similarly, solid flow is best expressed in terms of a key compound or element which remains within the solid phase throughout the tower. Thus, in burning limestone with a hot flue gas, the gas flow might be expressed as G, the pound mols of nitrogen flowing through the tower per unit time, while solid flow might be expressed as S, the pound atoms of calcium in all forms in the solid stream per unit of time. Defined in this way, both G and S are constant throughout the tower. The enthalpy of the gas and solid streams are now best expressed in terms of these key components. That is, the gas stream enthalpy H is expressed as Btu in the total gas per mol of the key component in the gas. Similarly, the solids stream enthalpy h is expressed as Btu in the total solid stream per pound mol (or pound atom) of the key component in this stream.

Jan 1, 1962

By JOHN R. SUMAN

COMMENCEMENT exercises this year have a peculiar significance because the graduating students are entering upon their life's work at the most critical time in the history of the United States. We are engaged in a great struggle the outcome of which is none too clear even to the best informed students of international affairs. We are starting late in a vicious world conflict where it is generally recognized that our adversaries have distinct superiority over us in armament on the land, on the sea, and in the air. We have the gigantic task of building up our armed forces and armament and at the same time supplying our allies with equipment which they must have. We can do this job if we are given sufficient time, but there is a possibility that the war will be over before we are ready. Few realize the seriousness of this situation. If this fight is to be won-and we dare not try to visualize the future of this country if it is lost-all dissension and bickering between Congress, capital, labor, and agriculture must cease. When and where voluntary co-operation proves inadequate for the successful conduct of the war effort, laws must be enacted or strengthened to achieve our purpose.

Jan 1, 1942

By D. G. Swarthout, J. W. Savage, R. W. Guard

The Nb-N constitution diagvam has been examined from 1100° to 1450°C at 1 atm N2 pressure. On the basis of- our work plus that of Brauer and coworkers the stable nitvide Phases are: a) a solid solutlion, basic niobium (bcc) with nitrogen contained interstitially; NbN,, x = <0.40; b) ß NhNx,x = 0.39 to 0.45; hexagonal (W2C type) (NbzN); a =3.058A,c = 4.961 + 0.001A c) y NbNx x = 0.75 to 0.80; tetragonal (distorted NaCl type) (Nb4N3); a = 4.386A,c = 4.332 + 0.001A; d) 6 NbN,, x = 0.88 to 0.91; cubic (NaCl type); a = 4.3885 + 0.0007A; e) E NbNx x = 0.92 to 1.00; hexagonal (Tip type); a = 2.958A, c = 11.272 * 0.0015A. In addition, a metastuble transition phase 6&apos; has been observed and occurs only during the transition 6 — E. 6&apos; NbN has these distinguishing parameters: NbNx,x = 0.96; hexagonal (anti-NiAs type); a = 2.94A, c = 5 .46A. The high-temperature phase fields in the system are governed by two reactions: a) 6 + Y + E, a entectoid reaction occurring at 1270" ± 20° C; b) o + N2 = E, a 2 012 1 reaction occurring at 1370" ± 20° C. As part of a study of the electronic low-temperature. properties of transition metal nitrides, a number of specimens of niobium nitride were prepared. Preliminary observations on these specimens showed several points of disagreement with data already in the literature. It was, therefore, decided to determine the constitution diagram for the Nb-N system between 1100" and 1450°C. The objective of this research was to define the temperature and composition regions of stability of the various phases and to explain the differences among previously proposed diagrams. Review of Previous Literature. The research on the Nb-N system to 1964 has been summarized by storms.&apos; Although he does not present a phase diagram, his review covers the research on the system thoroughly. One of the earliest works on NbN is that of Ascher-mann and coworkers2 who studied the superconductivity of the cubic 6 NbN. Subsequent work by Horn and ziegler,3 Cook, Zemansky, and Boorse,1 Rögener:5 Schroder6 and sellmaier7 has qualitatively confirmed the first results on superconductivity, although their methods of preparation differed considerably. The constitution diagrams proposed for the system by Brauer and Esselborn8 and Elliott9 are shown in Fig. l(a)and (b). The diagram in l(a) has been modified by more recent results in Brauer&apos;s laboratory (private communication). Although 6&apos; is shown on this diagram, Brauer has indicated that he now believes 6&apos; to be a metastable phase in the temperature range shown. The diagram of Elliott, Fig. l(b), is based primarily on the results of Elliott and Komjathy10 on ni-trided niobium strip or rod specimens examined by X-ray diffraction and metallography. It will be noted that these proposed diagrams are in conflict with respect to the temperature and composition ranges of

Jan 1, 1968

By Philip S. Mathews

THE tremendous stimulus given to the mining industry by the gold and silver policy of the present administration has found the capital market for mines ill prepared to afford practical means of financing. Particularly has this been true of the host of abandoned high-cost producers and prospects which increased gold and silver prices have made potentially profitable. In a comparatively short time, experience has demonstrated abundantly that valuable properties have frequently failed to secure capital, while questionable properties have drawn to themselves and their promoters more of the public moneys than their prospects justify. Singularly enough the fault is usually attributable to faulty financing. Discussion and study of this problem are vital to the industry.

Jan 1, 1936

By R. V. Lundquist

Leaching manganese-bearing materials with NaOH to remove caustic-soluble silica has been demonstrated as a method for up- grading manganese. Those materials containing opaline varieties of silica respond most readily. Spent leach liquors are regenerated by treatment with lime to precipitate calcium silicate and to reactivate the NaOH for leaching.

Jan 4, 1953

By Hoyt Gale

RECENT work on borate deposits near Kramer, in the extreme southeast corner of Kern County, California, is of special interest to those who are making a study of the mode of origin of the borate minerals colemanite and ulexite. A valuable clue to the mode of origin of colemanite in its present known deposits is given in a paper by W. F. Foshag1, of the United States National Museum. Colemanite is found in or near original deposits of ulexite, from which it is supposed to have been derived by a change in the rate of movement or the character of the ground water. Indications that an alteration of this sort had produced colemanite were first recognized by the writer&apos; in specimens collected in the Kramer district in 1920, and sent to W. T. Schaller, at U. S. Geological Survey, for identification. The identity of the two borate minerals in these specimens was not at once determined, but the relations of the minerals as seen in the specimens afforded a manifest clue to the origin of the deposits. Similar specimens were obtained by the writer from deposits in death Valley soon after he had examined the deposits near Kramer. After studying the specimens submitted to him Dr. Schaller wrote as follows: "I have finally positively identified the boron minerals you sent me with your letter of Sept. 27. The `white fibrous mineral like ulexite&apos; is ulexite; the harder nodules&apos; in the clay are colemanite, apparently formed from the ulexite as a result of leaching, with recrystallization in place-a theory that Foshag is working on." The present paper is a report on the facts observed at. the deposits near Kramer, and some general observations on the geological relations noted, which, unfortunately, still form only a very incomplete record.

Jan 2, 1926