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By Pual M. Tyler

BLIZKRIEG tactics in the present war have consumed metals on such a profligate scale that some of the best-laid procurement plans for civilian and military needs of even a year ago seem in retrospect incredibly meager. Conservation of raw materials has reached an all-time climax in Germany, where metals are worth more than human life and throwing away an empty toothpaste tube may be legally punished by death. Even the United States and the British Empire, proud masters of nine tenths of the world?s known mineral reserves and processing plants, are being driven to metals and feverishly expanding production facilities that not long ago were deemed overbuilt. After the war is over and inevitable postwar readjustments are completed, it is reasonable to expect that purchasing power ? or at least the ability to procure the comforts and luxuries of life ? will be distributed among vastly larger population than ever before, accelerating the rising trend in demand for industrial raw materials in ever greater quantity and variety.

Jan 1, 1942

President Howe : It is not so clear to me that the facts which Dr. Waldo brings forward really argue that the nature of the combination between copper and aluminum differs from that of the combination between copper and zinc or copper and tin. As regards electric conductivity, I suppose that the fact, which he thinks points to a special intimate kind of union between aluminum and copper, is that the line in his Fig. 1 is neither straight nor uniformly curved, but that its curvature varies rapidly, not to say abruptly. But we find just such variation in like curves for the copper-zinc and copper-tin alloys. Thus, a slight addition of zinc or tin to copper causes a change in color wholly out of proportion to the quantity added; and, as we add zinc or tin to copper, the tenacity rises very greatly, only to fall off abruptly with further additions of either of these metals. Dr. Waldo : My curve related only to electrical conductivity. The President : If irregularity in one physical property argues

Jan 1, 1895

By Spencer S. Shannon

This chapter is concerned with the uses, geology, exploration, evaluation, preparation for markets, and future of 90thorium and 39yttrium, along with 14 rare-earth elements. The rare-earth metals or lanthanides were divided into three categories by Berzelius. The cerium subgroup is comprised of 57lanthanum, 58cerium, 59praseodymium, 60neodymium, and 62samarium. 61Promethium does not occur naturally. The terbium subgroup includes 63europium, 64gadolinium, and 65terbium. The remaining lanthanides are placed in the yttrium subgroup. Strictly speaking, yttrium is not a rare earth. Because the properties of yttrium resemble those of heavy rare earths, its name has been used as a designating adjective. The yttrium subgroup includes 66dysprosium, 67holmium, 68erbium, 69thulium, 70ytterbium, and 67lutetium. Rare-earth elements, especially those of the same subgroup, tend to occur together rather than in discrete minerals.

Jan 1, 1975

By John G. Hall

The pumping operations at the Chief mine have been unique in the respect that for many years the entire flow of water into the mine has been disposed of by pumping into natural underground " caverns" or "sinks." Volumes up to 4000 gpm have been pumped into these caverns with no apparent tendency for the caverns to fill with water, and it has never been proven that any of the water returns to the mine workings. Major pumping operations have been carried on during two periods, the first from 1918 to 1927, and the second from 1942 to the present time.

Jan 1, 1949

THE discussion at the annual meeting of the paper on "Devices for Detecting Dangerous Gases in Mine Air" (published in. MINING AND METAL-LURGY, February 1, 1927, p. 69) was prefaced by the following description of a new portable methane indi-cator, presented by D. C. Ashmead: Two comparatively recent disasters in Utah are directly responsible for the perfection of the new methane detector. The first of these occurred on May 1, 1900, when 200 work-men lost their lives. The second disaster did not occur for more than two decades, when, on March 8, 1924, at the Castle Gate Mine No. 2, 172 workmen were killed. A dis-sembled safety lamp was later found at the seat of the ex-plosion. This indicated, as a possible cause, that the safety lamp had gone out and the fire boss had tried to relight it. These two disasters brought, the mine operators of the State of Utah to the concentrated attempt to end the loss of life through mine explosions. The Governor of the State appointed a committee, known as the Utah Mine Op-erators Committee, to study the phases of the problem, and this Committee in turn enlisted scientists all over the country in cooperative research. One group, under the direction of E. K. Judd, of the Union Carbide and Carbon Research Laboratories, of Long Island City, New York, concentrated its efforts on develop-ing a methane detector which would be completely ade-quate. This is now successful, since in laboratory as well as actual coal-mine tests the apparatus has instantaneously and accurately detected the presence of extremely small amounts of methane.

Jan 3, 1927

By T. MacDONALD

ATHOUGH flotation has been a commercial process for over twenty years, the last two years have witnessed a sudden and phenomenal increase in our knowledge of how to separate minerals heretofore not considered amenable to flotation at all. As remarked by Professor Locke in the January issue. "Either commercial or laboratory flotation is reported on zircon, ilmenite, carnotite, kyanite, scheelite, chromite, fluorite, feldspar, cassiterite, wolframite, barite, and clay. Attractive patents on soap flotation are U. S. Nos. 2,000,656 and 2,040.187. A survey by Ralston in the February E. & M. J. adds many other minerals to this impressive list. The simple but pregnant fact is that any mineral can be coated, directly or indirectly, with a water-repellent coating, and since this is true, it follows that any mineral can be floated. Fundamentally, this is no new discovery, where, for instance, is the mineral that cannot he washed from a pair of dirty hands by means of soap and water, given the absence of refractory greases or oils which would have no proper place in flotation ?

Jan 1, 1937

By James Aston

A PROPER consideration of this subject is not confined to the technical channels of production and metallurgy. It concerns an industry, and should cover economic aspects which are of material importance in any program of development. The discussion may logically be treated under three subdivisions, as follows: (1) manufacture, (2) characteristics related to quality of material; (3) adaptability and exploitation of product. MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT IRON The manufacture of wrought iron is the most ancient art of the ferrous metal industry. The eighty years or less of existence of processes identified with our modern "Age of Steel" is a relatively brief interval compared with the several thousand years associated with the production of wrought iron by man. From the primitive early methods of production, manufacture for many centuries followed the line of direct reduction. There were developments as experience was gained through the years; but man's needs for a strong, ductile, forgeable product were met by reducing the ore to metallic iron in a single-stage operation. Following the development several centuries ago of what has become our modern blast-furnace operation, manufacture of wrought iron was gradually transformed into a two-stage method of first producing cast iron and then refining this to the desired degree of forgeability; the forerunner in principle of today's scheme of manufacture of steel. The product retained the essential characteristics of highly refined base metal with iron-silicate slag incorporation, which were associated with the material resulting from direct reduction methods. Cort's invention of the puddling process in 1784 is a landmark in wrought-iron manufacture. It consisted essentially in adapting a coal-fired reverberatory furnace to the refining operation; thus lifting the industry out of the slough of

Jan 1, 1935

By R. F. Mehl, J. T. Ransom

For many years the Metals Research Laboratory of Carnegie Institute of Technology has been concerned with the statistical nature of the engineering properties of steel from an experimental viewpoint, particularly those properties representing ductility.' In the past three years new work has been directed toward evaluating the statistical nature of the endurance properties. It has been shown that both the fracture curve and the endurance limit in fatigue are markedly statistical in nature. The S-N curve (and the endurance limit) of ferrous materials is often determined with specimens which number as few as ten. The common procedure is to test the first specimen at a stress well above the expected endurance hmit. Each succeeding specimen is then tested at a progressively lower stress, until, after five or six tests, a specimen runs ten million or so cycles without failing. Two or three more specimens are then used to find the highest stress at which failure will not occur; the limiting stress determined in this way is called the endurance limit. It has now been found, however, that the variability in the fracture curve and in the endurance limit in heat-treated alloy forging steels is so great that S-N curves must be drawn on the basis of distribution curves which can be appraised only by statistical methods. Two methods have been adopted in this study: (1) straightforward statistical studies of cycles to fracture of a number of specimens at each of a series of stress levels, and (2) a new abbreviated statistical method, known as "staircase testing."2 The latter corisists in testing a series of specimens, one by one, with the test stress for any given specimen automatically

Jan 1, 1950

By JOHN R. SUMAN

IT appears now that the conflict with the totalitarian states will be a long-drawn-out struggle. The course of this war up to now indicates that this may well be the first major conflict where man power has not been the vital and determining factor. Mechanized warfare has made it possible for relatively small, well-equipped groups to outmaneuver and defeat large armies which lack the necessary modern equipment. Under these circumstances, ultimate victory becomes a matter of resources and productive ability. The important question is not how many soldiers can he put into the field, but the volume and speed in producing the armaments essential to ensure a victory. The resources available to the opposing nations and the efficiency of their systems of enterprise and production will be primary factors in determining the ultimate outcome. Germany had a head start of eight years in the armament race, and it is not easy to overcome such an advantage overnight.

Jan 1, 1942

By Michael Tenenbaum

A REVIEW of process metallurgy of iron and steel during 1944 in many ways reflects the political and military developments of the year. Early in 1944 the tremendous wartime emergency expansion program was virtually completed and the industry directed its efforts to maintaining maximum production wherever needed. The vigorous production programs inaugurated to support the Normandy invasions did not persist as Allied armies approached Germany. General public apathy which developed with the prospect of an early ending of the European fighting was reflected in a general relaxation in armament programs. Toward the end of the year, as the prospect of a prolonged war became real, the entire program revived considerably and the need for steel became acute. Between January 1940 and October 1944 more than 12,400,000 tons had been added to the nation's steelmaking capacities, and over 12,700,000 tons added to the blast-furnace facilities. The total cost of this enormous program was more than two billion dollars. By July 1, 1944, total steelmaking capacity had exceeded 94,000,000 tons, with blast-furnace capacity rated at 68,400,000. Annual steel production, which was 88,900,000 tons in 1943, increased slightly during the past year and was estimated at 89,500,000. Production of pig iron also increased somewhat from 61,800,000 tons in 1943 to an estimated output of 62,500,000 in 1944. This review deals with a few of the numerous factors involved in maintaining the wartime iron and steel program at the level necessary to accomplish this enormous output.

Jan 1, 1945

By Edward W. Parker

IF one is to place any credence at all in the reports published in the daily press, the subject of conservation has been a very lively topic of conversation during the past 60 days, and it does not appear that the temperature of the summer months has been in any way moderated by the discussion. It is a subject in which we are all vitally interested and to which, so far as our mineral resources are concerned, both the Institute and the Geological Survey have liberally contributed. The report of the National Conservation Commission, appointed by President Roosevelt, contains a series of papers on the conservation of mineral resources, all of which were prepared by members of the Geological Survey and were compiled largely from information previously collected by that Federal bureau in the performance of its regular duties. It is not the purpose of this paper to reiterate in extenso any of the material already published. The contributions of the Survey officials to the Commission's report have been published in a separate document as Bulletin No. 394. This docunient is for free distribution and may be obtained upon application to the Director of the Survey. In the preparation of this paper I desire merely to make a few suggestions regarding the possible necessity of some restraint upon or control of one branch of the mining industry with which I have been somewhat closely associated for the past 20 years-that of coal. Most of the members of the Institute are cognizant of the suits brought by the government against the anthracite-operators in Pennsylvania, or the combination of interests commonly known as the ? hard-coal trust." No defense of any illegal combination in restraint of trade is intended, but there are some facts which should not be lost sight of, and unfortu-\

Nov 1, 1909

By E. M. Chance

HERBERT M. WILSON, Pittsburgh, Pa. (written discussion).-Permit me to endorse the author's conclusions and their form of presentation as ,being, in my judgment, the last word 'on the subject of lights for the illumination of coal mines. I also feel that the open-flame oil lamp has outlived its usefulness, and that it should go, in the interests not only of safety but of efficiency. Where an open-flame lamp can be used with safety in non-gaseous mines, the acetylene light adds materially to efficiency by its better illumination, and to safety for the numerous reasons given by Mr. Chance. The latter, however, lays chief stress on the value of the acetylene because of its non-fouling and non-obscuring effect on the atmosphere. Another important advantage over any other form of illumination is the clear, bright light projected at the point where the workman may look for danger. The better illumination materially safeguards the worker against obstacles over which he may stumble when traveling, and against dangers from falls of roof or of coal, weakness in timbering, and similar conditions. The acetylene lamp, where it may be used with safety, has advantages even over the present electric cap lamp, in that it gives a higher luminosity; and when the miner comes to learn its signals, as he will in time, just as he learns those given by the open-flame or the safety lamp, he will find that the acetylene lamp is a fair detector not only of methane but of carbon dioxide, as clearly shown by Mr. Chance. The only, serious objection, raised against the use of carbide lamps. has been recently in Pennsylvania, due to the belief of the State Mine Inspection Department that it endangered miners working on pillar work, or other places where carbon dioxide might accumulate, or where there is lack of sufficient ventilation, and because it was believed that the indications of the carbide lamp would not give the miner sufficient warning. On this point Mr. Chance has clearly shown the fallacies of the objections. I may add that for those unable to detect carbon dioxide with the acetylene lamp, the maximum of protection would be afforded by using an open oil lamp or a flame safety lamp in such places; or, because the miner might not watch his oil light, a better, protection still would be offered by a sufficient number of daily inspections of such working places by a fire boss or other official, with flame safety lamp.

Jan 4, 1917

By H. M. Howe

A Discussion of the paper of Professor Howe, presented at the London Meeting, July, 1906, and printed in Bi-Monthly Bulletin, No. 14, March, 1907, pp. 169 to 274. SECRETARY'S NOTE.-M. Beutter's introductory remarks, being simply a resume of Prof. Howe's paper, with a disclaimer of the intention to criticise it, have been omitted, and the remainder of this contribution has been somewhat condensed, without omitting any essential statements. M. BEUTTER, St. Etienne* (communication to the Secretary-+):-Professor Howe observes in paragraph 47 of his paper that the fluid-compression of steel. diminishes piping by forcing the liquid and viscous metal, while the pipe is forming, or after it has formed, into the space so produced, and proceeds to study the different systems of compression, alluding to the four principal ones: Whitworth, Illingworth, Williams, and Harmet. Having now for many years had in use the last-named process, that of M. Henri Harmet, I shall attempt to explain the difference between it and the three other processes named. The Harmet process does not diminish or close the pipe after it has formed, but prevents it from forming; and I may add that it is the only one of the four which produces this result. It is true that the Whitworth process diminishes the interior hollow by localizing it around the central axis of the ingot, which is afterwards removed by trepanning the hollow forgings for which this process has been, I believe, always exclusively used. The Illingworth and Williams processes, which, in my opinion, are applicable only to small ingots, of necessity allow the pipe to form, or (to use the expression of Professor Howe) they allow the surface of the lake of liquid steel to sink into the interior of the ingot, since they involve waiting a certain time before compression, so that (in the case of the Williams process) the ingot-mold can be opened without dan¬ger, or (in the case of the Illingworth process) so as to avoid the risk that the steel may enter the grooves produced by the removal of the distance-bars. During the time required for

Jul 1, 1907

By James A. McGurty, Walter J. Koshuba, Samuel G. Gordon, Gilbert E. Klein

ONE of the problems encountered in working with metals at elevated temperatures is the instability resulting from solid-solid diffusion at a -common interface. A determination of the nature and magnitude of this phenomenon is important as related to structural properties of materials potentially useful in high temperature applications. This paper is concerned with the solid state reaction between metallic molybdenum and beryllium at elevated temperatures. In the older literature,' there were no known inter-metallic compounds in the system Be-Mo, and the list of beryllium intermetallics was rather small. New compilations have been made by Smithells' and by Taylor," listing all the then known beryllium binary intermetallic compounds. In addition to these, some new phases have just been reported' in the system Zr-Be and some further compounds of the type MBe,3 have been currently described. The new compound MoBe,, which is reported upon in this paper differs considerably from the above mentioned MBe13 group, and will be discussed in detail. Diffusion Study The nature of the solid diffusion at a Mo-Be interface was determined by sealing a beryllium rod inside a molybdenum capsule and heating at a temperature of 2000°F' (1100°C) for 100 hr. The molybdenum capsule was fabricated from % in. swaged molybdenum rod obtained from the Fansteel Metallurgical Corp. The beryllium metal was obtained from Brush Beryllium Corp. as % in. cold-drawn rod. This material assayed 99.05 pct Be and contained as impurities 0.84 pct Be0 and 0.19 pct Be2C. The molybdenum capsule was % in. in OD x 2 in. long. To prepare it, a concentric hole 0.250 in. + 0.001 in. — 0.000 in. in diam was drilled and reamed in one end of a rod to a depth of 1 '/2 in. A 1 in. long beryllium rod 0.250 in. + 0.000 in. — 0.001 in. in diam was pressed into the molybdenum capsule. A molybdenum plug 0.250 in. & 0.001 in. in diam x 9/16 in. long was then used to seal the beryllium in place. The capsules were placed in a molybdenum resistance furnace and heated at 2000°F (1100°C) for 100 hr. On cooling, the specimens were cut and examined metallographically. Fig. 1 is a micrograph at X250 of a portion of the interface from a transverse section. Four phases are clearly visible, with sharp boundaries between them. Phase A is a section of the molybdenum capsule; phase B is the molybdenum-rich intermetallic composition MoBe,; phase C is the beryllium-rich compound MoBe13; phase D is a section of the beryllium rod. All phases were readily polished to a high metallic luster. The molybdenum-rich phase has a pronounced purple tinge. The beryllium-rich phase (C) is only slightly darker than the pure beryllium. In polarized reflected light, however, it shows striking birefringence between crossed Nicols. The black areas represent flaws or pores in the material. A small representative amount of powdered material from each of the phases was carefully removed under the microscope with a diamond tool. With this material, powder X-ray diffraction patterns were made for the identification of each phase. Table I lists the X-ray diffraction spacings and corresponding indexes characteristic of these intermetallic compounds. Synthesis To establish the formula of the new intermetallic compound, X-ray diffraction patterns were made from powders obtained from solidified melts of known composition. The syntheses were made by

Jan 1, 1952

By Ronald C. Whiting

SINCE the advent of what has been aptly called "chemical flotation," about 1920, the number and complexity of the various chemicals used in practice have increased enormously. Over 300 patents have been issued dealing exclusively with flotation reagents, and many of these embrace from two or three up to a score or more of specific compounds. The exact number of compounds actually finding a practical use in flotation would be difficult to determine, though the U. S. Bureau of Mines gives an annual list by groups.

Jan 1, 1938

By A. R. Sims

Are from the Greater Butte Project is hoisted through the new Kelley shaft. In 1946 when plans were formulated for the Kelley mine, two test cave blocks were mined by using the facilities of the old St. Lawrence mine. These blocks, known as the Adams No. 1 and Adams No. 2, produced more than half a million tons of ore. The experiment proved beyond all doubt that cave mining was possible- and economical-in Butte. Adams No. 1 was patterned after Inspiration cave blocks. Adams No. 2 was a slusher type, with the slusher lane on the first floor above the haulage crosscut and at right angles to it. Thirty-horsepower electric hoists slushed ore from 48-in. scraper buckets directly into cars for haulage to the shaft. These cars were the 57-cu ft Granby type hauled by 6-ton battery locomotives over 40-lb, 18-in. gage track. Prior to this time the largest slushing machines used at Butte were 15-hp electric hoists pulling 36-in. scrapers.

Dec 1, 1956

By J. M. Clark

(Wilkes-Barre Meeting, June, 1911.) For some years past, those interested in the development of the increasingly important mining industry of Canada, have urged the adoption by the Dominion Parliament of a federal mining-law, which would have the force and stability of statutory enactment. At present, placer-mining in the Yukon Territory, is governed by the Yukon Placer Mining Act. All other mining under federal jurisdiction is governed by 'Orders in Council and Ministerial Regulations. In the earlier stages of development, it is perhaps a matter of necessity that these important matters should be so dealt with; but it is now felt that the time has come when mining-rights in the extensive regions under federal control should be put on a permanent basis, -and that any changes required from time to time should be made only after full and open discussion in Parliament. A short sketch will suffice to indicate how vast and varied the interests affected really are. When the Dominion of Canada was constituted by the Imperial Statute known as the British North America Act of 1867 (which came into force by proclamation on July 1 of that year), it comprised only the present Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick; but provision was made for the inclusion of Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, Rupert's Land, and the North West Territories. Subsequently Rupert's Land and the North West Territories were acquired, the 'Crown Colonies of British Columbia and * SECRETARY'S NOTE.-Mr. Clark, an eminent Canadian lawyer, and joint author of the treatise on "The Law of Mines in Canada," has been requested by the Do¬minion Government to prepare a Federal mining-law, and presents this paper, by invitation of the Council, in order to obtain, if possible, useful suggestions from members of the Institute.-R. W. R.

Apr 1, 1911

By James H. TaVoularis, William J. Wiehagen

This paper discusses the application of commercially available microcomputers for assisting trainers in the delivery and evaluation of new hire, refresher, and occupational training. A brief overview of mine training highlights major issues facing the mine training community. The use of computer-based training has a potential for reducing costs and improving the transfer of conventional training to the job.

Jan 1, 1983

By Josiah Royce

To evaluate chemically the sample of rock obtained by diamond drilling, it has long been recognized that the analyses of the two components of the sample, core and sludge, must be given appropriate influence in computing the average analysis of any unit of depth. The purpose of this investigation is to set forth what means are available for apportioning the effect of core and sludge on the final analysis, what variables affect the problem, and what combination of applied mathematics will closest approximate the truth under each condition as these variables proceed within their limitations. A drill hole is bored in iron ore ex- ploration principally to test variations in rock composition with depth and is usually directed as nearly normal to the bedding of a horizon to be tested as possible. This practice has a tendency to minimize variation in composi- tion laterally which in any event is not likely to be great. It is obvious that the opportunity for change in analysis of a particular rock is not statistically as great radially in a diamond drill hole where the distance in which such a change may occur is from 0.719 in. (EX bit) to 1.469 in. (NX bit) as there would be longitudinally even in a run as short as 5 ft. Variations in composition of bedded or layered rocks are usually greater normal to the bedding than parallel thereto. Even in massive rocks, like porphyries, varia- tions are functions of distance. Hence, in either case, variations along the hole are of greater effect than across it.

Jan 1, 1949

By Fred P. Dewey

IN preparing material for the exhibit of the National Museum at the New Orleans Exposition in 1881, it was decided to attempt to photograph the interior of a coal-mine, in order to get a strictly truthful representation of a thick coal-seam, and to show incidentally the methods of mining. While we have many drawings, both mechanical and artistic, illustrating the subject, they are not satisfactory for these purposes, simply because they are drawings. Aside from this, much interest attaches to pictures of inaccessible places, and the enlarged copies (30 inches by 40 inches) of the photographs we succeeded in obtaining, have attracted a large amount of attention from the visitors to the Museum. The Kohinoor colliery, Shenandoah City, Pa., was selected as most suitable for the attempt, principally on account of the fine exposure of the Mammoth bed, and the comparatively level character of the workings, in that colliery. This is one of the many anthracite-mines of the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company. A detailed section of the fiftyfoot or Mammoth bed in this colliery is as follows: Feet. Inches. 1 0 Clod. 1 7 0 Coal. 1 0 Slate. Top Split. 8 0 Coal. 1 6 Slate divider.* 6 0 Coal. 1 0 6 Slate. 2 6 Coal. 0 5 Slate. 1 8 Coal. 1 2 Charcoal. 5 0 coal. 1 0 Bone and Coal. „ „ Coal. [ Bottom Split. 0 6 Bone and Slate. 3 0 Coal. 0 10 Bone and coal. 1 2 Coal. 0 2 Bone. 4 4 Coal. 0 1 Bone. 0 8 Coal.

Jan 1, 1888