Search Documents

By Carl Zapffe

THE object of the Bradley process is to free manganese oxide from its associated gangue and separate the contained iron oxide by dissolving the manganese and precipitating it from the solution. 'The fundamental features of the process are : making. both 1 a manganese ore and an iron ore; effecting a separation of manganese .and. iron by means of selective roasting; leaching- the manganese from the roasted ore by using ' ammonium sulfate; precipitating the manganese by using the ammonia gas generated during leaching; fixing the precipitate by oxidizing with air; breaking down and reforming the ammonium sulfate, so that daily very little additional ammonium sulfate beyond that originally charged into the system is required; washing the manganese precipitate and the iron-silica residue and evaporating the liquor to conserve the dissolved salts in the moistures of these two products and 'to reduce the sulfur content,; drying the precipitates; magnetic wet-concentration of the iron-silica residue; sinteriny the manganese-and .the' iron-concentrates.

Jan 1, 1929

By Richard Hunt

BINGHAM has produced 6 per cent. of this country's copper. In total production, it ranks fourth among the copper camps of North America, the order being Butte, Michigan, Bisbee, and Bingham. In its annual production, it held that same rank until 1919, when its production was exceeded by the combined production of the Globe-Miami district of Arizona. Bingham has also been a lead camp of the first order. Utah ranks third among the lead-producing states, and its production comes largely from three camps which, in the order of their productivity, are: Bingham, Tintic, Park City. Bingham's silver production is important, but it does not rank high as a silver producer. Utah owes its rank as first among the silver-producing states to Tintic, a camp 40 miles due south of Bingham. The United States Mineral Resources reports a total production from Bingham for the period 1865-1920 having a gross value of $528,043,432. Bingham is on the eastern flank of the Oquirrh range 30 miles south-west of Salt Lake City, from which it can be reached in an hour by auto, or by the Denver & Rio Grande or the Bingham & Garfield railroads.. The automobile route is a paved road across the floor of Great Salt Lake Valley, through farming country. The Bingham & Garfield railway leaves the level of Great Salt Lake at the northern end of the Oquirrh range, and in 20 miles it climbs 2100 ft., and deposits the traveler upon a shelf cut in the side of Bingham Canyon below most of the mines, which are farther up Bingham Canyon and its tributary Carr Fork. Below lies the town, a narrow ribbon running for a couple of miles along the bottom of a canyon 2000 ft. deep-an almost impossible site for a community numbering, in prosperous times, 5000 to 7000 inhabitants drawn from all quarters of the globe. Up the canyon and down, and beneath the steep slopes nearby, and beneath the town itself, are the mining operations of over half a century.

Jan 3, 1924

By W. F. Holbrook, C. E. Wood, E. P. Barrett

The Blast Furnace Studies Section, Metallurgieal Division, Bureau of Mines, has been working for several years on the mechanism of desulphurization of iron and steel by slags. The usual assumption that desulphurization takes place by diffusion of FeS from metal into slag and subsequent reaction of this FeS with CaO to produce CaS has seemed to us inconsistent with a number of experimental results we have obtained. We undertook, for example, to determine the proportion of sulphur in a slag present as FeS. An entirely satisfactory method of doing this has not yet been evolved. The results of extraction with metallic antimony led to an interesting conclusion, however. FeS is readily soluble in metallic antimony, either physically or by chemical reaction. On the other hand, CaS was found to be insoluble. Hence it would appear that by rapid extraction of the slag with antimony we might expect to determine the distribution of sulphur between iron and calcium. The results showed that much of the sulphur was present as FeS. In some instances the extraction of sulphur as FeS was almost quantitative. For example, in a slag containing 3.8 grams Fe and 3.7 grams S, extraction removed 1.18 grams S and 2.12 grams Fe. If all the iron present in the antimony had been FeS, 1.21 grams S would have been extracted. In another slag with 8.6 grams Fe and 0.06 gram S present, 0.14 gram Fe and 0.08 gram S were extracted. This was obviously extraction of sulphur as FeS within the analytical error and showed that FeS was present either in solution or as a dispersion. Attempts to determine the solubility of FeS and CaS in slag by quenching and ultramicroscopic investigation have indicated that the solubility of FeS is very low, and that reactions in the slag are probably not to be considered as homogeneous. A more detailed report on these theoretical considerations will be made at a later date.

Jan 1, 1940

By A. B. Kinzel

Precise knowledge regarding the effect of heat treatment on the properties of steel has made possible the detailed specifications and instructions covering optimum heat-treating temperatures and practices that are in current use. A distinct contrast is presented by the metallurgical treatment of steel adjacent to a fusion weld, as such steel is subjected to each temperature from room temperature to fusion temperature, and cooled at a rate that is not generally controllable but is predetermined by the nature of the assembly to be welded, the kind of welding used, and the surrounding conditions. This is true regardless of the type of fusion welding: oxyacetylene, electric arc, thermit or flash resistance. Therefore it seemed desirable to investigate the effect of this metallurgical treatment on the characteristics of carbon steels commonly used for welding, by a detailed study of metal subjected to each temperature range; i.e., each heat-affected zone. Oxyacetylene welding was chosen for the investigation because of the experimental facility of accurately segregating and studying each temperature zone. The nature of the zones produced by other types of welding is the same. The difference is primarily a matter of dimensions of each of the temperature zones involved. The advantages and disadvantages of the extent of the zone are of prime moment, and are discussed after the presentation of the detailed zone study. No mention is made of the fused metal proper, as this has been the subject of much published research and the nature of the solidified metal is fairly .ell known. General Method The scheme of procedure in the work herein reported involved the testing of the metal of each temperature zone adjacent to the weld in so

Jan 1, 1935

By L. J. Howell, R. C. Sommer, H. H. Kellogg

WORK described herein was undertaken with the aim of determining some of the physical-chemical properties of electrolytes suitable for the electrodeposition of pure zirconium metal. In this paper the phase diagram, vapor pressure, and activities in the melt are considered. In a companion paper,' the electrolytic conductivity of some of these melts is reported. The melts studied were mixtures of NaCl and/or KC1 with ZrC1,. Chloride melts were chosen for study because 1) if the electrolyte is to be useful for industrial electrodeposition of zirconium, the chlorides will be preferred to the relatively costly bromides and iodides; 2) fluoride melts were being studied in another laboratory (Horizons Inc., Cleveland); and 3) melts containing oxygen, in any form, are unsuitable for preparation of pure zirconium, because of the great affinity of this metal for oxygen. Unlike electrodeposition from aqueous solution, the fundamental behavior of fused-salt electrolysis is poorly understood. In most cases, such basic electrochemical information as the phase diagram of the melt system, activities in the melt, conductivity, the nature of the current-carrying ions, the equilibrium electrode potentials, and the overvoltage behavior of the electrodes is unknown to the researcher who would develop a new electrodeposition process employing a fused salt. This research project was designed to supply information about some of these basic physical-chemical properties so that an intelligent choice of electrolyte for electrodeposition studies could be made. Experimental The experimental difficulties-encountered in this work result from the properties of zirconium metal and ZrC1,. ZrC1, is a solid which sublimes at 334°C. It is rapidly hydrolyzed by moist air to HC1, ZrOCl,, and ZrO,. Unusual precautions were exercised in this work to prevent hydrolysis of ZrC1, and rigidly to exclude oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon from the melts under study. These elements are known to react with and contaminate zirconium metal. All melts were studied in vacuum systems, i.e., in the presence of ZrC1, vapor only. Transfer of ZrC1, to or from the melts was accomplished entirely by vacuum sublimation. In this way, neither the melts nor the ingredients thereof were permitted to

Jan 1, 1958

By W. F. Holbrook, C. E. Wood, E. P. Barrett

The Blast Furnace Studies Section, Metallurgieal Division, Bureau of Mines, has been working for several years on the mechanism of desulphurization of iron and steel by slags. The usual assumption that desulphurization takes place by diffusion of FeS from metal into slag and subsequent reaction of this FeS with CaO to produce CaS has seemed to us inconsistent with a number of experimental results we have obtained. We undertook, for example, to determine the proportion of sulphur in a slag present as FeS. An entirely satisfactory method of doing this has not yet been evolved. The results of extraction with metallic antimony led to an interesting conclusion, however. FeS is readily soluble in metallic antimony, either physically or by chemical reaction. On the other hand, CaS was found to be insoluble. Hence it would appear that by rapid extraction of the slag with antimony we might expect to determine the distribution of sulphur between iron and calcium. The results showed that much of the sulphur was present as FeS. In some instances the extraction of sulphur as FeS was almost quantitative. For example, in a slag containing 3.8 grams Fe and 3.7 grams S, extraction removed 1.18 grams S and 2.12 grams Fe. If all the iron present in the antimony had been FeS, 1.21 grams S would have been extracted. In another slag with 8.6 grams Fe and 0.06 gram S present, 0.14 gram Fe and 0.08 gram S were extracted. This was obviously extraction of sulphur as FeS within the analytical error and showed that FeS was present either in solution or as a dispersion. Attempts to determine the solubility of FeS and CaS in slag by quenching and ultramicroscopic investigation have indicated that the solubility of FeS is very low, and that reactions in the slag are probably not to be considered as homogeneous. A more detailed report on these theoretical considerations will be made at a later date.

Jan 1, 1940

Teamwork: The famous first sentence of an essay en- titled Aphorisms, by Hippocrates, is as follows: "Life is short, the Art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult." The future of science does not depend so much on the number of scientists or the number of colleges, but rather on the individual qualities and the degree of perfection of a limited group of leading scientists and colleges. These are individual factors which require inherent talent which in turn is a condition evolved after generations of culture. Thus, very elaborate higher education for indiscriminate masses of humanity or students may not necessarily show the expected results. In other words, it is possible that higher specialized education should be given only to the few talented individuals, and their capacity and worth should be judged by as highly qualified and talented teachers. Quality is the greatest of all competitive aids. An essential qualification that must be possessed by a quality mineral industries college is a high caliber teaching staff, for the mineral sciences will advance in the coming years only if the leading minds of today are made avail- able as the mental springboards for our scientists of tomorrow. Mineral industries schools are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a high caliber staff of instructors and administrators in competition with private business and governmental demands for similar

Jan 1, 1950

By A. B. Kinzel

Precise knowledge regarding the effect of heat treatment on the properties of steel has made possible the detailed specifications and instructions covering optimum heat-treating temperatures and practices that are in current use. A distinct contrast is presented by the metallurgical treatment of steel adjacent to a fusion weld, as such steel is subjected to each temperature from room temperature to fusion temperature, and cooled at a rate that is not generally controllable but is predetermined by the nature of the assembly to be welded, the kind of welding used, and the surrounding conditions. This is true regardless of the type of fusion welding: oxyacetylene, electric arc, thermit or flash resistance. Therefore it seemed desirable to investigate the effect of this metallurgical treatment on the characteristics of carbon steels commonly used for welding, by a detailed study of metal subjected to each temperature range; i.e., each heat-affected zone. Oxyacetylene welding was chosen for the investigation because of the experimental facility of accurately segregating and studying each temperature zone. The nature of the zones produced by other types of welding is the same. The difference is primarily a matter of dimensions of each of the temperature zones involved. The advantages and disadvantages of the extent of the zone are of prime moment, and are discussed after the presentation of the detailed zone study. No mention is made of the fused metal proper, as this has been the subject of much published research and the nature of the solidified metal is fairly .ell known. General Method The scheme of procedure in the work herein reported involved the testing of the metal of each temperature zone adjacent to the weld in so

Jan 1, 1935

AT the meeting of the Board of Directors held on June 25, 1926, and in response to numerous in-dividual suggestions for changes, a committee on Re-vision of the Constitution and By-Laws of the Insti-tute was appointed, consisting of C. F. Rand, Archi-bald Douglas and H. Foster Bain. Various confer-ences were held, much correspondence conducted and a preliminary draft was prepared. It proved imprac-ticable to complete the work in time to submit the matter to the membership for approval or disapproval at the annual meeting in 1927, and the Committee was continued with instructions to prepare a report as a basis of action in 1928. After Mr. Rand's death George Otis Smith was appointed in his place and the tentative draft herewith submitted has been pre-pared in its present form by Messrs. Smith, Douglas and Bain, though not differing in any material mat-ter from an earlier draft approved by Mr. Rand. In preparing this the Committee has kept in mind primarily the desirability of simplification and of making the By-Laws conform to the actual practice of the Institute as worked out through experience. The Constitution and By-Laws adopted in 1912, and which with minor amendments only still govern the Insti-tute, are full of specific provisions regarding pro-cedure; such as that laid down for guidance of the Papers and Publications Committee. Many of these have proved unworkable and in practice have not been always strictly followed. It now seems wise to write into the Constitution and By-Laws only the general fun-damental principles to he followed and to provide for such easy change in methods of following them out as will permit efficient conduct of the business. It is this thought that has guided the Committee in rewrit-ing many of the sections. With this in view also the Constitution, as such, has been shortened to the brief-est feasible statement of fundamentals. All matters relating to means of making these principles effec-tive have been put into the By-Laws or in the hands of committees whose work is subject to control and whose rules are subject to approval or disapproval by the Board of Directors. Many suggestions for changes have come to the Committee that have not been incorporated in this draft. Some of these are in themselves excellent but have not been incorporated here because the Commit-tee discovered no sentiment for them such as would be likely to secure their approval, or found them out of harmony with the general plan followed herein.

Jan 9, 1927

By Dermot M. Ross-Brown

Introduction Slope angles are one of the major factors affecting the shape of the final pit and the location of the walls Due to differences in geology, the optimum slope angles vary from pit to pit and within different parts of the same pit. Indeed, it is not unusual to have different slope angles for the top and bottom portions of the same cross section. The optimization of these slope angles is a major study in itself and this chapter is intended as a general introduction to the subject. It is not intended to be a comprehensive text for the absolute beginner The objective is to put the various aspects of slope stability analysis into relative perspective by describing the vari¬ous analytical techniques available and indicating when each may be most appropriately used References are made to the many excellent texts and papers on slope stability for the reader who does not have a formal training in soil or rock mechanics. In writing this chapter, an assumption has been made that a tentative mining plan has been drawn up, includ¬ing a preliminary estimate of the slope angles. It has also been assumed that all the necessary field and laboratory data has been collected and reduced to a form suitable for input into the stability analyses.

Jan 1, 1979

By C. W. Pritchett

Several years ago, during a trip from Jojutla to Huauatla, in the abate of Morelos, Mexico, I was told by my guide of the ruins of an old smelter near by, and my curiosity was excited to such an extent that I went out of my way several miles to see them. I found them very interesting; and, as I fortunately

Jan 1, 1902

By Willis H. Carrier

PARTICULAR interest in the ventilation of deep mines, especially those in South Africa, has been created by a very complete system of cooling of the world's deepest mine, the Turf shaft of the Robinson Deep in Johannesburg. The writer visited this mine in January, 1936, and again in 1937. During these visits and subsequently, a considerable part of the theory involved in rock cooling in tunnels was developed and this has been checked by practical observations of the rates of rock cooling made within mines. The purpose of this paper is to set forth the method of attack of the mine problem. The cooling or air conditioning of mines by the use of mechanical refrigeration was not wholly new 1-5 when the Robinson Deep installation was made. The first mine to be cooled was the Morro Velho mine, in Brazil. The first installation in this mine was put into operation in December 1920, the refrigerant being ammonia.5 The surface cooling gave considerable benefit but it proved inadequate as greater depths were reached, therefore in 1929 two centrifugal refrigerating machines were installed at the 6000-ft. level. These were used in conjunction with the surface cooling system to furnish additional cooling at the lower levels. This later installation used Carrene as a refrigerant. This nonflammable refrigerant, having a boiling point of 104º at sea level, insured reasonable safety, since all parts of the machine operated at subatmospheric pressure. Very favorable reports have been received on the effectiveness of this installation, but no recent data are available. An interesting feature of that plant is that the condenser water is cooled by spraying it into the exhaust air from the mine at the base of the ventilation upcast, which permits the water to be cooled within a few degrees of the wet-bulb temperature of the air entering the upcast, and the only water that has to be supplied for condensing purposes is that lost by evaporation, or about 0.5 per cent of the volume circulating through the condenser. This plan affords an ideal means for the removal of the heat load from the refrigerating system, and of course also from the mine itself. In many mines, however, especially those in South Africa, there is no

Jan 1, 1938

By John Mathews

IT is twenty years since the writer made his first molybdenum steels and others were making them commercially five years earlier but the prevailing opinion seems to be that molybdenum steels are new; from time to time the daily press speaks of important discoveries in Europe and intimates that American steel makers have much to learn in regard to alloy steels. The earlier experiments were largely confined to the use of relatively high percentages of molybdenum in tool steels and permanent magnet steels. Recent developments deal with the types of alloy structural steels used for airplane, automobile, and other engineering requirements; in these, the molybdenum content is usually less than 1 per cent. The earlier types generally have been unsuccessful commercially, but the newer types of steels are becoming of increasing importance. The war showed our dependence on foreign sources for alloying metals; molybdenum alone is widely distributed in the United States and seemingly abundant. Many deposits are not now of commercial interest, owing to location and relatively small amount of ore available, but other deposits are being developed and a stable source of supply seems well assured. In tool and magnet steels, it was early found that 1 part of molybdenum was equivalent to from 2 to 2.5 parts of tungsten. The permanent magnet steels investigated by Madame Curie,1 in 1898, contained from 3.36 to 4.05 per cent. molybdenum; in 1902, Dr. E. L. French and the writer thoroughly tested steels containing from 2:0 to 4.0 per cent. These steels gave satisfactory tests for permanence, but were low in residual density and much more sensitive to hardening than the corresponding tungsten products. We discontinued work with them, therefore, and have no advice that such steels have been used commercially here or abroad.

Jan 2, 1921

By A. L. Holley

The members of the society are doubtless aware that the production of American Bessemer steel works is constantly increasing; that the same converters and machinery are doing more work every year. This enlarged output is due to various causes, chiefly the following: 1st. Better organization—better knowledge on the part of both managers and men, of the plant and the process; of the way to economize the more exhausting labor, and of the arrangement of the details of labor and operations so that they shall not conflict; also, more pluck—a greater willingness to take risks, or, more properly, such an intimate knowledge of the nature and capacities of the refractory linings in various stages of disrepair, and the probable be- . havior of the fluid metal at various stages of its treatment, that the precise nature of the risk may be better known, so that the works may be crowded to their full capacity. In the early practice, after getting four or five consecutive heats in a day, the men preferred to " let well enough alone," and to devote the remaining time to preparation for another turn. Now, thirty, and sometimes forty heats are regularly made during the twenty-four hours, day after day, without the frequent occurrence and without the fear of breakdowns or " messes," as the spilling of steel charges was graphically named in Sheffield. 2d. Although no new refractory materials have been developed, improved means of preparing such as we have, and of imbedding

By V. Apraxine, J. Lakaye, J. J. Saquet, P. Troch

Union Minière du Haut-Katanga owns concessions for extracting copper and associated metals in the high plateau region of Katanga. The concession is about 188 miles long by 44 miles wide and has three principal areas: Southern area-The Prince Leopold mine is an underground operation from which a copper-zinc sulfide ore is extracted. The mine and associated concentrator are at Kipushi. Copper concentrates are smelted and converted to blister copper at the Lubumbashi smelter at Elizabethville.

Jan 12, 1962

By G. S. Hume

Production of petroleum and natural .gas increased in Canada in 1940 over the previous year. Alberta produced more than 97 per cent of the total Canadian production of 8,718,053 bbl. of oil, an increase for this province of nearly 12 per cent, whereas in Ontario and New Brunswick, where the production is relatively small, there was a slight decline. In Alberta the main producing field is Turner Valley, on the eastern edge of the foothills southwest of Calgary, and development continued in this field in 1940 with the completion of 36 wells, all of which obtained production. In the Red Coulce field, close to the International Boundary, near Coutts, no new wells were drilled and the seven producing wells showed a decline of 900 bbl. below the previous year. Also, in the Wainwright field of east central Alberta, four wells, yielding heavy crude oil, produced 4000 bbl. less oil than in 1939, owing possibly rather to discontinuous operation than to actual decline in potential yield. This decline was more than offset by production from a new field 40 miles northeast of Wainwright, at Borradaile, producing oil of 14" to I 5° A.P.1. There was a small increase in production during 1940 from the Del Bonita field, in southern Alberta, where the production is from two wells. The outstanding development of the year was the completion of Standard Oil Princess No. 2 well in the Steveville area, on the Plains 100 miles east of Calgary. This well was completed late in December with an initial flow1 of 520 bbl. of 26.3" A.P,I. oil, and 12,750 M cu. ft. of gas from the upper part of the Mississippian limestone. It has opened up a new field and given a further proof of the potentialities of the Southern Plains. The production of petroleum in Canada is shown in Table I. Since most of the yield comes from Alberta, the production is shown from the various fields in Table 2. The sale value of the petroleum produced in Canada in 1940 exceeded 11.1 million dollars, which is still somewhat less than the value of the natural gas production, shown in Table 3. Table i.—Production of Petroleum in Canada" Barrels Province 1939 1940 New Brunswick........ 20,101 21,161 Ontario............... 206,196 186,471 Alberta............... 7,595,000 8,493,237 Northwest Territories. . 17,013 8,493,23717.184 Total............... 7,838,310 8,718,053 Value............... $10,353,351 $11.113,000 0 Bureau of Statistics, Ottawa. Turner Valley, Alberta Turner Valley continues to be by far the largest producing field in Canada (details are given in Table 4), The limits of the Pr in- field are now Known. On the east the oil area is bounded by the gas cap, which in turn is cut off on its east side by a major overthrust fault; on the west, ii is defined by edge water at a level of 4roc

Jan 1, 1941

By H. M. Morse

This report covers the period from Jan. I, 1943 to Dec. 31, 1943. During the year, II2 wells were drilled in Mississippi, as foilows: wildcats drilled and abandoned, 54; wildcats producing oil, 4; oil wells drilled in oil fields, 26; oil wells drilled in fields, dry and abandoned, 10; sulphur-test wells drilled, 14; salt-water-disposal wells, 3; core tests, I. Prospecting Geophysical work in Mississippi during 1943 amounted to 1127 crew weeks, divided as follows: reflection seismograph, 809 weeks; gravity meter, 285; magnotometer, 30; torsion balance, 3. A considerable amount of core drilling was done over a large part of the state. The complete data on this activity are not available at the present time. Salt Domes To date, the following salt domes have been discovered in Mississippi: Midway, Edwards, Glass, Newman, Tatum, Oak-vale, Kings, Halifax, D'Lo, Hazlehurst, Byrd, Leedo, Prentiss, Carson, Moselle, Monticello, Ruth, Keno, Taylorsville. New Oil Fields Lincoln County.—On March 10, 1943, the California Company completed its Smith No. I in sec. 4, T. 7 N., R. 7 E., Lincoln County, as an oil well and produced 29 bbl. of 25" gravity oil in 24 hr. through a fi-in. choke. Two outpost wells have been drilled in this area by the California Company, and both have been abandoned as dry holes. Madison County. —Love Petroleum Co. completed its J. R. Anderson No. 2, sec. 2, T. 8 N., R. I W., Madison County, on Sept. 7, 1943. This well produced 135 bbl. of approximately 30" gravity- oil in 24 hr. through a )/4-in. choke. The production comes from a sand or porosity in the upper part of the Chalk formation of the Cretaceous age. Adams County.—The California Company drilled its National Gasoline Co. of Louisiana No. I in sec. 52, T. 7 N., R. I W., to a total depth of 10,383 ft., and at 10,280 ft, it perforated and obtained gas and a condensate. The well had several showings in the Wilcox of the Eocene age. Several of these showings were tested and the well finally was completed at 5888 ft. on Oct. 6, 1943, producing 44" gravity oil in the second sand in this formation. No other wells were completed in this field during the year. However, a number of wells are contemplated in the near future, and locations have been staked by the California Company. The Oklahoma Pipe Line Co. will market the oil through its pipe-line facilities. Wayne County.—The Gulf Refining Co. drilled Davis No. I in sec. 2, T. 9 N., R. 9 W. in Wayne County. After several stem tests 545'-in. casing was set at 6850 ft. and production was obtained in the so-called Massive Sand of the Lower Tuscaloosa. The well produced 359 bbl. of oil in 24 hr., and it Was completed on Oct. 4, 1943. Other locations have been staked ill this area and probably will be drilled in 1944 by

Jan 1, 1944

By E. R. Johnson

The copper concentrator of the Braden Copper Co. is at Sewell, Chile, on the westem flank of the main Cordillera of the Andes, at an air distance of approximately 50 miles southeast of Santiago, the capital of Chile. The region is mountainous and space is at a premium because of the rough terrain and the danger of snowslides. The ore, a porphyry copper, is mined by a block-caving method in the El Teniente mine. It is hauled to the crushing plant, a distance of 2.6 miles, through a tunnel because of the severe climatic conditions. The usual large, coarsely set, primary reduction machines found in many ore-treating plants are not required because of the mining method employed and the limiting 12-in. spacing of the grizzlies at the head of each ore pass in the mine. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the numerous improvements made in the crushing section of this large flotation concentrator during the past I5 years to increase the efficiency of the plant and to raise the daily output from around 20,000 to 30,000 tons. The reader should keep in mind that all changes were made within the existing building because of the limited space and the high cost of the heavy mill construction required to withstand the snow loads. The present plant, as well as the former, operates on a 24-hr, 7 days a week basis. The crushing plant commenced operations at its present site in 1921, the main equipment being No. 7½ gyratories, followed by 48-in. horizontal Symons disk crushers. Fines were removed by I-in. stationary grizzlies ahead of each unit. In 1924 a third stage of crushing was provided by the addition of 55½-in. rolls in open circuit. During 1925, the Symons disks were replaced by 73½-in. rolls. All the rolls were changed to closed circuit, with elevators and screens to give a final product of 9 pct plus 3-mesh. The flowsheet of a typical crushing section of this period is shown in Fig I. The ore was withdrawn from a common bill serving the five crushing sections in the plant by means of any number up to six 36-in. wide-apron feeders, which discharged onto a common conveyor belt. This conveyor was equipped with a magnetic head pulley and the crusher attendant was stationed near the discharge end to pick out pieces of mine timber that might be in the ore. The ore was discharged over a 13/4-in. spaced bar grizzly and the oversize of this grizzly was crushed by a No. 7½ McCully gyratory crusher set at 13/4-in. opening on the closed side. The grizzly undersize joined the gyratory discharge and was conveyed to a set of 73½ by 20-in. Garfield rolls set at I in. These rolls operated in closed circuit with a bucket elevator and two vibrating screens placed in parallel.

Jan 1, 1949

By B. W. Dyer

In 1924, the Crescent Eagle Oil Co., while drilling the salt section of the Paradox formation in Grand County, Utah, encountered a salt that did not appear to be sodium chloride. This salt was analyzed and showed the presence of potash minerals, both sylvite (KCl) and carnallite (KMgC12.6H2O). Because of the high potash content of the sample, there was considerable speculation: (I) as to whether the hole had been salted, and (2), if not, the extent, richness, and the depth at which the deposit occurred. The discovery caused a large amount of activity in the area. During the next few years, 68 potash prospecting permits were issued by the Government, 24 under the Act of 1917 and 44 under the Act of Feb. 7, 1927, each including about four sections of land. Several holes, all shallow, were drilled for potash. A number of holes were drilled for oil into the salt horizon and the cuttings collected at the oil wells were examined petrographically and chemically. The shallow test holes were not sufficiently deep to reach the potash horizon and revealed nothing of value, but several of the oil test holes gave some indication of where potash might be found. Location and Geology of Deposits The potassium and magnesium salts have been found in various places from the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad tracks about seven miles west of Thompsons, in eastern Utah, to Cane Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River— a distance north and south of about 35 miles. In this locality, there appear to be five separate deposits: the Crescent Eagle area, which is in T. 22 S., R. 19 E.; the Salt Valley area, in the vicinity of the north-south line of T. 23 S., between R. 20 E. and R. 21 E.; the Seven Mile area, in the eastern part of T. 25 S., R. 20 E.; the Cane Creek area, on the Colorado River, in T. 26 S. and T. 27 S., R. 20 E. and R. 21 E.; and the Salt Wash area, in T. 22 S. and T. 23 S., R. 16 E. and R. 17 E. (Fig. I.) The Crescent Eagle and Salt Valley areas are in the Salt Valley anticline, some of the wells being in the fault graben and others outside. Structurally, the Salt Valley anticline is very complex, and can be described in general terms as a northwesterly plunging collapsed anticline about 15 miles long. In the Crescent Eagle area, the valley graben is about 1 1/2 mile wide and the salt probably forms a plug, the apex of which is in the vicinity of the Crescent Eagle well. Owing to the complex structure, there has been every opportunity for flowage in the salt to cause local thinning or thickening of beds. The regular succession of formations in the general area* is: Cretaceous Mancos Dakota Jurassic Morrison Summerville Entrada Carmel

Jan 1, 1948

By L. S. Richardson, N. J. Grant

REACTIONS of oxygen and nitrogen at low pressures with titanium have recently been studied by a number of investigators.1-3 Gulbransen and Andrew' noted that the reaction with nitrogen followed the parabolic rate law whereas the reaction with oxygen deviated slightly from this law in the temperature range 300° to 800°C. In the work reported here, commercial titanium (75 A) was used as the test material. Cylinders 2.5 in. long and 0.25 in. in diameter were machined from heavier bar stock. The test pieces were given a metallographic finish, immersed for 30 min in cold concentrated HC1, washed in water, then acetone, and dried with lint-free cloth. Reaction rates were determined in a modified Sieverts type apparatus by measuring the decrease in gas pressure of the reacting gas contained in a constant volume. The amount of gas added could be measured in a calibrated gas burette to an accuracy of 0.01 mm. During the course of a run the temperature never varied by more than 10°C and then only for brief moments. After placing the specimen in the furnace, the system was first evacuated for 12 hr at room temperature, and then flushed with purified argon five times, adsorbed gases being discharged during this period from the glass system with a high frequency spark coil. The flushing and discharging were repeated at 400°C. This rather involved procedure was found necessary after a number of trial runs indicated extraneous effects traceable to the system. Reaction periods up to 2 hr were used, at initial gas pressures of 0.2 to 0.5 atm. Experimental Results Fig. 1 shows the decrease in oxygen pressure for tests at 0.5 atm at various temperatures as a function of the square root of the time. Deviations from linearity are minor and the parabolic rate law is obeyed. Fig. 2 shows the same plot for the nitrogen reaction. A definite deviation from linearity is noted; however, it is probable that the higher initial rates are caused by the presence of small amounts of oxygen contamination, the initial faster rate changing to the slower rate after about 5 to 10 min. Calculations of the rate constants were made on the basis of the latter portion of the curves. The parabolic rate law constants calculated from these curves are shown for oxygen and nitrogen in Fig. 3. In spite of some scatter the average curves are quite definite. Changes in gas pressure of the order of 20 pct did not result in a measurable change in the rate law constants. The activation energy for the oxygen reaction was calculated to be 47,400 cal per mol (above 700°C), which is not in agreement with the value quoted by Gulbransen and Andrew' for lower temperatures, their value being 26,000 cal below 600°C. The activation energy for the nitrogen reaction was calculated to be 45,400 cal per mol above about

Jan 1, 1955