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Jan 9, 1950

Jan 10, 1951

Jan 5, 1950

Jan 1, 1950

Jan 3, 1950

Jan 8, 1951

Jan 4, 1950

By W. B. Finkeldey, C. H. Mathewson, C. S. Trewin

This paper was prepared upon request as a contribution to a symposium covering the manufacture, properties, and uses of the important non-ferraus metals. In approaching a subject as broad as this, there is a natural desire to build up a comprehensive and finished production which shall constitute a dependable source of information on all questions properly belonging to this branch of metal technology. There are, however, a number of circumstances, apart from the mere routine of labor and thought involved, which operate rather effectively against the possibility of completing such .an ambitious program at the present time. First of all, as far as any public record of results is concerned, the commercial rolling, drawing, and forming of zinc with relation to changes of structure and properties—and this we consider to constitute the clement~ of metal technology—might as well be an unpractised art. We have never seen a published photomicrograph showing the structural characteristics of either hard or soft sheet or strip, although the structure of castings has been frequently described, and other coarse-grained structures resulting from hard-hammering and annealing have been reproduced. Thus, an author in this field must proceed to his task without much assistance from the literature, and the outcome can represent only a personal estimate of principles, facts, or findings, and not a summary or survey of progress in the entire field as determined by varied experience, practice, and settled opinion.

Jan 1, 1921

By J. W. Mills

This paper's aim is to demonstrate, by reviewing findings and conclusions of earlier authors and through recording and interpreting the outcome of recent laboratory study of the ores, that the ores around the Gem stocks are metamorphosed equivalents of common siderite-sulfide ores far from the stocks, as was first proposed by Hershey (1912, 1913). That is, all the ores probably have the Precambrian age of 1250 million years reported by Long et al. (1960). Those near the Gem stocks, however, were extensively metamorphosed in Cretaceous time during the emplacement of stocks so their resemblance and relation to other veins in the district are camouflaged.

Jan 1, 1985

By A. S. Richardson

THE conditions that make necessary the mechanical ventilation of the Butte mines of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. are due to a number of causes, all of which are incidental to the depth at which mining operations are now carried on. The main object to be accomplished, of course, is the reduction of the temperature and humidity of the air in the working places. Ventilation fans, both surface and underground, have been used for many years, but increasing depth has made the problem much more difficult. Further improvement in both ventilation equipment and methods, therefore, became necessary; and it is the purpose of this paper to describe the work planned and done under the improvement program. The mines of the district have been frequently described in various technical publications, so a description is unnecessary here. From a mine-ventilation viewpoint, compared with coal-mine ventilation systems, the problem is complicated by the fact that the workings to be ventilated are situated on a large number of steeply dipping veins which frequently intersect and are faulted, and also by the fact that the extent, or existence, of orebodies is not definitely known in advance of actual development work. For these reasons ventilation work cannot be planned in advance of actual operations, nor can such regular systems of ventilation as are used in working the more uniform and continuous bodies of coal be developed. When operations are conducted at a normal rate, about 10,000 miners are employed on two shifts, so that about 5000 men will be underground at one time. But as ventilation is necessary to reduce high temperature and humidity due, mainly, to natural causes, the quantity of air per man per minute is not a governing consideration in determining ventilation requirements. Most important among the numerous sources of heat and humidity in the mines are : heat generated during decay of mine timber; heat and humidity given off by mine rock and water; heat generated by oxidation of sulfide minerals; heat given off by electrical equipment; heat generated by mine fires (in certain localities).

Jan 2, 1922

By H. E. Cline

Solidification of Pb-Sn alloys ranging in composition from 1.2 to 56 at. pct Pb ws observed with polarized light. Lamellar structures were observed over a larger range of compositions in alloys containing excess tin than excess lead, as expected from constitutional supercooling. The occurrence of pools of supercooled liquid surrounded by lead is explained by the difficulty in nucleating tin. Cells and dendrites weve observed in tin-rich alloys. Evidence was found that the degenerate structure formed at low growth rates, the formation of faults, and abrupt changes in composition and structure can be attributed to non-steady-state growth. The apparent interface shape was observed to have deep grooves at the interphase boundaries. HUNT and Jackson have observed the shape of the interface during growth of organic eutectics. They observed the formation of lamellar faults and shape instabilities upon changes in growth rate. The lamellar structure in these organic eutectics was not restricted to the eutectic composition. Recent work by Mollard and Flemings2 indicated that Pb-Sn alloys from 12 to 26 at. pct Pb could be solidified with a lamellar or rodlike structure if a sufficiently steep temperature gradient was used at a slow growth rate. Observations of the solid liquid interface of the Pb-Sn eutectic were made by Davies3 using polarized light. Photographs were at too low a magnification to determine the interface shape, but he has concluded that tin was the leading phase. In the following experiments, solidification of a range of Pb-Sn alloys from 1.2 to 56 at. pct Pb was observed using polarized light, to determine the factors controlling stability of the lamellar structure. EXPERIMENTAL Procedure. One hundred-gram ingots of alloys prepared from 99.999 pct pure Pb and Sn were cast into graphite molds under argon. The compositions of the alloys were 1.2, 6, 12, 26, 36, 46, and 56 at. pct Pb. Two-gram pieces were melted between two cover glass slides which were squeezed into a 1-mm separation. Samples were then observed under polarized light in a hot stage shown in Fig. 1. A long working distance objective designed for viewing at 500 times was used. Photography was made difficult by the lack of illumination and contrast at these high magnifications. By using an elliptical polarization compensator, as suggested by A. Holik, the contrast and illumination could be optimized. Photographs could be taken only at slow growth rates to avoid excessive interface motion during the 15-sec exposure used. The solidification rate was varied by increasing or decreasing the power to the heater. It was found that insulation was necessary to avoid undesired growth rate fluctuations. The temperature gradient, as measured with two thermocouples 1 cm apart, was 80" ± 20°C per cm during all the experiments reported here. The advantage of this procedure is in being able to observe solidification while it is occurring. However, the observations are restricted to the glass-metal surface and may be influenced by this surface. Also, one has no knowledge of the interior of the sample, in contrast to studies of the freezing of transparent organic eutectics.' Observations. The alloy near the eutectic composition (26 at. pct Pb) solidified in a lamellar structure when the growth rate was uniform. If the growth

Jan 1, 1968

By C. H. P. Lupis, Henri Gaye

There are m -I conditions for the stability of a solution of m components with respect to infinitesinzal flucturations. However, in most cases, only one of these conditions has to be considered to determine the domain of instability and the existence of this more restrictive condition greatly simplifies the calculations. It may be used advantageously for the prediction of miscibility gaps and the method is illustrated in details for the case of the Ag-Pb-Zn system. THE thermodynamic conditions for the formation of a miscibility gap may be viewed as a necessary consequence of the conditions for spinodal decomposition. A previous article1 has examined in detail the form of these conditions for multicomponent systems. There is only one condition for the stability of a binary system (with respect to infinitesimal fluctuations), but there are two conditions for a ternary system, and m — 1 conditions for an m-component system. The probability of violating a stability condition, and thus forming a miscibility gap, obviously increases with the number of components, a result which is rather intuitive since the atoms of the solution have now many more ways of redistributing themselves and introducing complexities in the form of the free energy hy-persurface. It is of interest to take advantage of this possibility of precipitating new phases and to examine which stability condition is the likeliest to be violated, that is, which stability condition is thermodynamically the most restrictive. The finding of such a condition would greatly simplify the application of the stability criteria since only one condition could then be considered, instead of m - 1. In Ref. 1, coherency strain energy terms were neglected, thus restricting the applications of the treatment to solutions where they are negligible, such as liquid alloys. In the following study the same assumption will be made. To generalize the treatment to systems where the strain energy terms are sizable, the reader is referred to Cahn's classical article on spinodal decomposition.2 Let us designate by Gij the second derivative of the Gibbs free energy with respect to the number of moles ni and n j. There are several equivalent sets of m — 1 stability conditions.' The one considered here expresses that the successive diagonal determinants of order 1, 2, ... m — 1, associated with the symmetric Gij matrix (for 2 5 i, j 5 m) are positive.' For a binary solution 1-2, the condition for stability is: O(u=G22^0 [1] For a ternary system 1-2-3, the condition [I.] is re- tained (the value of G22 will differ, of course, according to the concentration of 3) and another condition is introduced: £>(21 = G22G33 - Gl3 ^ 0 [2] In a composition diagram, these two conditions define two domains of instability. Starting at a point where the solution is stable (for instance at a point where the solution is very dilute) we gradually change the composition until the condition [I] or [2] is violated. As already noted in the literature, e.g., in the work of Prigogine and Defay,3 it is the boundary of the domain (2) which is first crossed. For if we assume that the boundary of the domain (1) is reached first, at this point G22 = 0 and the second condition is necessarily violated (D(2) = -& 5 0), in contradiction with our original assumption. An exhaustive study of the ternary regular solution case may be found in the work of Meijering.4 Moreover if the boundaries of the two domains have a common point, they also have a common tangent. For if the two lines were to cross each other as is illustrated in Fig. 1(a) any point M in the line QP would be such that £> = 0 and 0"' > 0 which, as shown above, are incompatible results. Thus, the two lines must be tangent at their common point Q as illustrated in the example of Fig. l(b). The reasoning of Fig. l(a) implies that the point Q is not a "singular" point for either boundary line. This singularity may be of two types. First, the lines meet without crossing each other and without being tangent. Second, the tangent at Q for D"' or 0"' is not single-valued. Other types of singularity are unlikely because of the usual analytical forms of D"' and 0"'. The exception to the common tangent requirement due to the first type of singularity was pointed out by John Morral;5 it occurs when the common point, Q' or (3" in Fig. l(b), is located at a boundary of the composition diagram, e.g., at the line X3 = 0. It may also be noted that at the common nonsingular point Q of D(1) and D(2), Fig. 1(b), G23 is necessarily equal to zero, whereas at a point such as Q' or Q", this conclusion is no longer valid because the product G22G33 is now indefinite (of the form 0. a). The exception to the common tangent requirement due to the second type of singularity occurs when two branches of the same boundary line intersect, for example when D(1)or D(2) decomposes into a product of functions, at a point which belongs to the boundary of the other condition. It is possible to show by a simple analytical calculation that, in this case, if Q is a singular point of D(1), then it is necessarily a singular point of D(2), and that the reciprocal is true except if G33 = 0 at Q. For the present article, however, more elaboration on these singularities appears to be unwarranted. To generalize the previous results to an m -component system, we use the mathematical theorem stating that if the diagonal determinant D(r) = 0, then

Jan 1, 1970

By Kenneth L. Cook

GEOPHYSICAL exploration is continuing to expand in scope and variety of methods, in experimental studies of specific applications, and in development of theory for complex situations. Aerial surveys have been made economically more attractive by simultaneous recording of magnetic and radioactivity data, and aerial electromagnetic surveys have been attempted. The most significant success of mining geophysics was the discovery of huge lead-zinc-copper sulphide ore deposits in New Brunswick, Canada. Spectacular geophysical astivity has occurred in the area as a result of these discoveries, and geophysics is expected to continue to play a large role in this drift-covered area. Other developments this year find the Atomic Energy Commission making available monthly reports of the location of anomalous radioactivity detected in aerial and ground surveys and the AEC is installing supersensitive radioactivity assaying instruments in about 25 localities in the U. S. Interest in helicopters is being aroused because of potentialities for near-ground surveys and better location control of anomalies. Japan can be added to the list of countries using geophysical surveys extensively.

Jan 2, 1954

By Sheldon P. Wimpfen, Ralph H. Sweefser

FOR centuries the pumping of water has been one of the chief problems to be overcome by the persistent men who win the mineral wealth of the world. Profitable operations have often been forced to suspend activities as the mine penetrated well below the water table or when sudden rushes of water were encountered. To operate below the local water level requires continuous pumping equal in volume to the amount of water flow¬ing into the mine workings. Often the water to be removed exceeds the tonnage of valuable material produced. To be above local water level is a valuable asset. Modern mining practice permits nothing short of the extraction of the last pound of profitable ore from a mineral deposit. In the days before the development of mechanical and electrical power as we know it today. water in any quantity was a major

Jan 1, 1948

By Thomas T., Read

T HE preceding chapter has recorded the initiation of mineral industry education during the period 1890-1910 in numerous institutions that had not previously offered it. It should also be emphasized that in many institutions where instruction had begun before 1890, as recorded in earlier chapters, but had not yet become firmly established,, this period was one of marked growth and development. This was not universally true, however, for at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Washington (St. Louis), Iowa, Vanderbilt and Tennessee, and at the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania, mineral industry instruction was being dropped during this period, instead of gaining in strength. It is necessary to emphasize this, because writers on the subject have not infrequently , attempted to make a much too simple correlation between mineral -discovery or production and the intensity of student interest in mineral industry curricula. It would naturally be true that periods of large mineral production would, in general, coincide with cycles of business prosperity, and the latter are conducive to starting new ventures, educational as well as business. It should be equally evident that opportunities for business and professional success might, in such periods, appear to increase at a more rapid rate in industries other than mineral, or in the utilization of minerals rather than in their production. The author has not been able to perceive any simple and clear relation between interest in mineral industry education and mineral discovery, production, and utilization, or general business prosperity. On the contrary, the more the problem is studied the more complex the factors involved in it appear to be. In a later chapter an attempt will be made to analyze them in more detail.

Jan 1, 1941

By H. De Cizancourt

The Pechelbronn (Alsace) field is the only important French producing field. During 1934, development was carried on as in previous years. The total output of this field reached 553,575 bbl. in 1934, showing a slight decrease from the 1933 figures. Of the total, 315,000 bbl. (56 per cent) was extracted by drilling, while 238,875 bbl. (46 per cent) was obtained by means of shafts and galleries. Exploration of deep Jurassic and Triassic horizons was still in progress at the end of 1934. A deep well reached the Upper Triassic at a depth of 34 m. (2736 ft.). (Information kindly supplied by M. S. Mena, Directeur Technique.) As mentioned before, the small Gabian field (Herault) is gradually being exhausted. No drilling operations were undertaken in 1934, the small production being restricted to the pumping of old wells. Two exploration wells, noted as "drilling" at the end of 1933, were completed in 1934; viz., Lavelanet (Ariége) at 3785 ft. and Santenay (Niévre) at 2578 feet. French Possessions Algeria.—No drilling at Tliouanet. Out of a total of 100 wells drilled in the area, only 8 are still producing. No exploration work is reported during 1934 in Algeria. Tunisia.—Two wells completed; one well drilling at the end of 1934. A total of 11 wells is reported to have been drilled before the beginning of 1935; out of these, 8 were completed before the present program was begun. Morocco.—Exploration work progressed actively last year. The outstanding event was the coming in of Ts. 26 well at 1243 ft. This well took fire, therefore great difficulties were encountered in the accurate measurement of initial production; the figure of 1500 bbl. of oil given here is a near estimate. Oil flowed accompanied by a great amount of water. The apparent decrease of drilling operations in 1934 is explained by the increase in field activities after the results of Ts. 26 were known;

Jan 1, 1935

By L. G. Sprague

THE fact that this latest and most modern of the Universal Atlas Cement Company's plants at Northampton, Pa., is the fifth to be built on these same properties, and their development has been coincidental with the development of the portland cement industry in the United States, makes it appropriate to sketch briefly the history of the successive steps. In 1889 the original Atlas Portland Cement Co. started its first plant at Coplay, Pa., which is just across the Lehigh River from the present operation. Here the first successful rotary kiln was operated. These kilns were 6 ft. in diameter and 60 ft. long; they used oil for fuel until 1895, when the company developed the first burner for pulverized coal. Shortly thereafter the Atlas company acquired property on the Northampton side of the river and built its plants Nos. 2, 3 and 4 within the following 10 years. During the same period the production of portland cement in the country was increasing rapidly; owing largely to the development of the rotary kiln and improved grinding machinery, which lowered the cost and improved the quality of cement. The general tendency has been to increase the length of the kiln and grind both raw material and finished product finer. In 1930 the Atlas Portland Cement Co. and the Universal Portland Cement Co. united to form the Universal Atlas Cement Co., and the same policy of improving the product has been continued. Because of the large amount of research carried on by manufacturers and consumers, including government agencies, there is a demand for cement of different chemical and physical characteristics for different kinds of structures. Hence many engineers in recent years have been asking for cements of certain definite chemical analyses, which they think are best for their particular jobs. This has compelled the manufacturer to make several different types of cement by variations of chemical composition. These are generally made by adding silica, iron and lime to the standard mixture, which necessarily increases the cost of the product. Therefore the Universal Atlas Cement Co., in planning the modernization of its Northampton plant, gave this particular phase of the problem considerable study. Research and experimentation have developed the practicability of making a wide variety of differently proportioned raw materials for cement by a process of subtraction rather than by addition. With such process, it is possible to discard the undesirable aluminates and silicates from the ample supply of impure limestone available from the company's property rather than by adding high-grade limestone obtained from distant sources. This procedure requires mineral separation by centrifugal sedimentation and froth flotation. Since the chemical and mineral constituents of Lehigh Valley "cement rock," together with the methods of separating them, have been thoroughly described in published

Jan 1, 1943

By E. J. Wasp, N. T. Cowper, R. A. Davis, W. F. McDermott

On October 26, 1967, the world's first long distance iron ore slurry line was put into service by Savage River Mines. The commissioning of this $5 million installation climaxed three years of development, testing, and construction. The mine and concentrator are located approximately 30 miles from the town of Waratah in a rugged semi-mountainous terrain. The open pit mine will produce approximately 5 million long tons a year of crude ore, which is ground in autogenous mills, separated magnetically, thickened and prepared for the pipeline. The 53-mile pipeline transports the 2,250,000 tons of concentrate north to Port Latta. The Port Latta facilities include the receiving, storage and thickening equipment for the slurry as well as filtering, balling and pelletizing equipment to produce the 2,250,000 tons of high grade iron ore pellets. Five vertical shaft furnaces are used for pelletizing.

Jan 1, 1969

By Alfred W. Gauger, George A. Burrell

The senior author of this paper, while in Colorado on other official business, made a trip to the Cripple Creek gold-mining district to get more data than are at present available regarding the composition of the gas that issues from the rock into the mines of the district. This was done at the suggestion of George S. Rice, Chief Mining Engineer of the Bureau of Mines. There are -many questions of interest and importance in connection with the ventilation of the mines in the Cripple Creek district, such as the menace to life and mining of a suffocating gas entering the mines from the rock, the danger due to powder smoke (from blasting operations), and danger of continued inhalation of rock dust by the miners. This report confines itself to the first problem, the gas from the rock, and principally to one phase of this question, the composition of the gas and its effects on men and lights. A more thorough study of this and other ventilation problems is planned. That the rock gas is a real menace is shown by the fact that miners (variously estimated from 25 to 50 by different persons interviewed) have been killed by it in the 25 years that mining has been vigorously carried on at Cripple Creek. Many men have had narrow escapes from death, some of them having been incapacitated for days. In addition, much loss of time results because at certain periods of the year or on certain days it is impossible to enter some workings. At a few mines, fans force air into the workings, thus supplementing the natural ventilation and much improving conditions, but the improvement is not entirely adequate at all times. Origin of the Gas Lindgren and Ransome1 think that the gas found in the rocks of the Cripple Creek mining district represents the last exhalations of the ex-

Jan 1, 1917

By T. D. Yensen

It is safe to say that of all the different materials that go to make up electrical machinery, iron is the most important. Upon its magnetic and electrical quality depends not only the efficiency of the machine but, to a very large extent, the cost. Aside from the mechanical strength, there are three characteristics of iron that are of importance in this connection, viz., magnetic hysteresis, electrical resistance, and magnetic permeability. In the homopolar machine, where the magnetic flux is unidirectional, permeability is the only important factor, but in all other machines the flux is reversed in one or more parts and causes losses due to hysteresis and eddy currents. The eddy-current loss depends largely upon the electrical resistance of the iron; the higher the resistance the lower the loss, under otherwise identical conditions. These hysteresis and eddy-current losses cause heating of the machine, and as they depend upon the magnetic density in the iron, this density must be regulated so that the heating shall not be excessive. If the hysteresis and eddy-current losses and the permeability of the magnetic circuit will permit an increase in the magnetic density, or, in other words, a decrease in the amount of iron, this in turn will mean a decrease in the amount of copper needed, with a consequent decrease in the copper loss. It is thus seen that, indirectly as well as directly, the above characteristics have an important bearing on both the efficiency and the cost of electrical machinery. In general, it may be said that iron for electrical machinery should have the following characteristics: (1) low hysteresis loss, (2) high electrical resistance, and (3) high permeability. These are the characteristics that investigators have been striving to attain since electrical machinery first came into use. Until the beginning of the present century, Swedish charcoal iron was regarded as the best grade of iron for magnetic purposes, and even now it ranks high among the various grades used. About that time Sir Robert Hadfield1 produced a number of iron alloys that revolution-

Jan 1, 1916