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By T. Sterry Hunt

THERE are about sixty bodies which chemists call elements ; the simplest forms of matter which they have been able to extract from the rocky crust of our earth, its waters, and its atmosphere. These substances are distributed in very unequal quantities, and in very different manners. As regards the frequency of these elements in nature, neglecting for the present those which constitute air and water, and confining ourselves to the solid matters of the earth's crust, there are a few which are exceedingly abundant, making up nine-tenths, if not ninety-five hundredths, of the rocks so far as known to us. The elements of which silica, alumina, lime, magnesia, potash, and soda are oxides, are very common, and occur almost everywhere. There are others which are much rarer, being found in comparatively small quantities. Many of these rarer elements are, however, of great importance in the economy of nature. Such are the common metals and other substances used in the arts, which occur in nature in quantities relatively very minute, but which have been collected by various agencies, and thus made available for the wants of man. It is chiefly of the well-known metals, iron, copper, silver, and gold, that I propose to speak to-night ; but there are two other elements not classed among the metals, which I shall notice for the reason that their history is extremely important, and will, moreover, enable , us to comprehend more clearly some points in that of the metals themselves. I speak of phosphorus and iodine. You all know the essential part which the former of these, com-

By Kefton H. Teague

Attempts to locate domestic supplies of sillimanite have been unsuccessful until recently. This paper describes recent discoveries of sillimanite-bearing schists in the Southeastern States, with emphasis on geology of the deposits, mineral composition, origin, and reserves. Statements concerning possible methods of mining, milling, and utilization of sillimanite are given. Results from refractory tests on a laboratory scale are summarized.

Jan 1, 1950

By W. C. MENDENHALL

THE problem of maintaining the mining industry is two-fold; finding new supplies in the face of increasing difficulties, and making such advances in the arts of extraction and preparation as to use supplies of lower grade. Progress in mining and reduction methods and in transportation makes ore today of that which was waste yesterday. These are the fields of the metallurgists and the transportation engineers. The geologists and mining engineers must work together on the problem of ore finding. As the old prospector fades from the scene, men with equal hardihood and patience and equal power to meet the physical obstacles which confront the seeker after ore, must take his place, armed with all that has been learned from human experience about the causes, the controlling conditions, the indications, and hiding places of the metals. Such a seeker is dealing with some of the most complex and obscure of natural phenomena. In nature's laboratory, tremendous forces are at work. Tempera-

Jan 1, 1926

By CARLE R. HAYWARDC

BEFORE discussing this subject it is necessary to define somewhat the meaning of the tern metallurgical.. When I was a student at M. I. T. ore-dressing was not thought of as metallurgy in any sense of the word, but it was considered as more closely allied to mining, enabling the miner to market an otherwise unmarketable product, or at least to market it to better advantage. Progress in ore-dressing has gradually allied it more closely with smelting, for at present the raw material received by the smelter is predominantly concentrates and smelting practice has been profoundly affected by the products of the concentrating mill. It is not surprising therefore that in many schools ore-dressing is frankly considered as metallurgy and although there may be some dissenting opinions it will be considered as such in this discussion. Twenty-five years ago at M. I. T. metallography was taught in a few optional lectures. This subject has developed rapidly and been expanded into the new and increasingly important field of physical metallurgy. To many metallurgists the -term metallurgy means only physical metallurgy. They know little or nothing about smelting and leaching and even less about ore-dressing. Having then broadened the scope of the term metal¬lurgy to cover ore-dressing, smelting, leaching and phys-

Jan 1, 1930

By T. Sterry Hunt

THERE are about sixty bodies which chemists call elements ; the simplest forms of matter which they have been able to extract from the rocky crust of our earth, its waters, and its atmosphere. These substances are distributed in very unequal quantities, and in very different manners. As regards the frequency of these elements in nature, neglecting for the present those which constitute air and water, and confining ourselves to the solid matters of the earth's crust, there are a few which are exceedingly abundant, making up nine-tenths, if not ninety-five hundredths, of the rocks so far as known to us. The elements of which silica, alumina, lime, magnesia, potash, and soda are oxides, are very common, and occur almost everywhere. There are others which are much rarer, being found in comparatively small quantities. Many of these rarer elements are, however, of great importance in the economy of nature. Such are the common metals and other substances used in the arts, which occur in nature in quantities relatively very minute, but which have been collected by various agencies, and thus made available for the wants of man. It is chiefly of the well-known metals, iron, copper, silver, and gold, that I propose to speak to-night; but there are two other elements not classed among the metals, which I shall notice for the reason that their history is extremely important, and will, moreover, enable us to comprehend more clearly some points in that of the metals themselves. I speak of phosphorus and iodine. You all know the essential part which the former of these, com- * An address before the Polytechnic Association of the American Institute, during the meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers in New York. Printed in this volume by request of many members.

Jan 1, 1873

By Anthony Anable

HOOVER DAM, rapidly nearing completion in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River at Boulder City, Nev., taxes the superlatives of the vocabulary to describe. For by all odds, it is the largest construction project of its type ever essayed by man and the plants providing the essential materials of construction are also in a class by themselves not only in size but in advanced design, mechanization, and accurate control. Picture, if you will, the great aggregate plant, as it is called, situated about 4 mi. upstream from the site of

Jan 1, 1934

By P. D. Merica

ALUMINUM and its alloys have been the subject of much investigation, during recent years, in the course of which the principal features of the constitution of most of the binary alloy systems with aluminum have been determined. Except in the case of a few metals-silicon, bismuth, cadmium, lead, zinc, and tin-an aluminum-rich compound is formed in each binary system, which forms a eutectic with the aluminum or its solid solution with this compound. Thus such compounds as FeAl3, CuAl2, Mg4Al3, and NiAl3 are formed, which are found in aluminum-rich alloys of their respective series as eutectics with the aluminum solid solution. These compounds are, in all cases, hard and brittle and their presence affects profoundly the physical properties of the alloys in which they occur. Within the zinc-aluminum system a compound, Al2Zn3, is formed that decomposes at lower temperatures. Silicon and tin each form a simple eutectiferous series with aluminum; bismuth, lead, and cadmium are only partly miscible in the liquid state with it. The extent of the solubility in aluminum, in solid solution, of these compounds or of the elements themselves, in the case of those series

Jan 7, 1919

By Luckie. Peter T., Deurbouck. A. W., Harold L. Lovell, E. R. Palowitch, James K. Kindig

PART 1: DENSE MEDIUM SEPARATION by E. R. PALOWITCH and A. W. DEURBROUK INTRODUCTION During 1974, 43.9% of the 603,406,000 tons (549,099,000 mt) of bituminous coal and lignite produced was cleaned mechanically, of which 82,280,000 tons (74,875,000 mt) was cleaned by dense medium processes.l The percentage of bituminous coal and lignite cleaned mechanically by dense medium processes increased from 7 to 31 % between 1938 and 1974. Dense medium separations include those coal preparation processes which clean raw coal by immersing it in a fluid having a density inter- mediate between clean coal and reject. As there is a general correlation between ash content and specific gravity, it is possible to achieve the required degree of removal of ash-forming impurities from a raw coal by regulating the specific gravity of the separating fluid. Dense medium processes offer the following advantages over other coal cleaning processes: 1) Ability to make sharp separations at any specific gravity within the range normally required even in the presence of high percentages of the feed in the range of 2 0.1 sp gr units. 2) Ability to maintain a separating gravity that can be controlled with ± 0.005 sp gr units.

Jan 1, 1979

By Charles W. Frey

OF all the machinery used in mining work, mine cars are probably the most abused. They are hauled through water and muck, up hill and down grade, whipped around curves, bumped and jerked, and exposed to the ravages of the weather. However, as a general rule their lubrication is not altogether neglected. The mine operator may not heed the extra drag that a frozen conveyor bearing gives, but he is all too aware of the increased load that faulty mine car wheels put on his power plant. When the circuit breakers begin to fly, and when his mine loco- motives come out with only half the cars that they were able to carry a month before, then neglected mine car wheel lubrication becomes apparent, and woe to the person responsible.

Jan 1, 1938

By Leroy Gardner

EVERY reader of this paper is well aware of the fact that the prolonged inhalation of large amounts of free silica dust results in fibrosis of the lungs, and that other inorganic dusts, except those of asbestos and the mineral poisons, are thought to be relatively harmless. But probably few have had opportunity to visualize the effects of silica, asbestos and other minerals upon living tissues. The ideal demonstration would be based upon sections of lungs from human beings that had inhaled com-parable concentrations of different dusts for a unit period of time. Such material is generally difficult to obtain and in some instances is of ques-tionable value because the subject has been exposed to more than one kind of dust. A demonstration could be prepared from the lungs of animals. However, so many months or even years are required to com-plete the exposure to each kind of dust that enough material has not been accumulated. For a general survey of the action of different types of dust, I am therefore compelled to use the tissues of animals that have been injected with suspensions of dust particles. The injection method offers certain advantages. The quantity, the particle size and the state of dispersion can be controlled with sufficient accuracy so that the tissue responses to different minerals can be accu-rately compared. The method insures contact between the tissues and the mineral particles; protective mechanisms, which may prevent the inhalation of certain types of foreign body, never come into play. If the pathway of injection be one that minimizes nonspecific injury, the tissue responses may simulate those produced by inhalation but they develop somewhat more rapidly. It should always be remembered that injection methods merely demonstrate the capacity of various kinds of minerals to provoke reaction in the tissues; whether the same substances are inhaled from atmospheric suspension and accumulate in the lungs in dangerous quantities can be demonstrated only by inhalation.

Jan 1, 1938

By N. E. Grosvenor

The present and future activity of western coking coals is discussed. A general description of location, quantity, and quality is used as a basis for discussing development, mining, and marketing problems facing these reserves. As the need for coke from the West increases, solutions to the present mining and transportation problems will be forthcoming. Improved mining and blending technology, coupled with a more economical transportation solution, must precede a rapid development of the West's coke reserves. Ever increasing demands on coke production enhance the prospects of an accelerated development of these reserves.

Jan 1, 1976

By D. H. Wertz, R. R. Furlong

A. E. LEE*—I would like to ask Mr. Neale if he has determined the moisture content of his dried retort. Also, has he ever experienced difficulty with bending in the dry room where the green wel retorts contain 17 pet moisture and are placed 3 in. apart? M. M. NEALE (replying for authors)— I cannot answer your first question as we have had no experience with that. Setting the retorts 3 in. apart, we had no trouble with bending. We thought we would, anticipated we would, but did not. L. P. DVVIDSON*—You mention,

Jan 1, 1950

By Rudyard Kipling

Through the courtesy of the British Museum of Natural History we have received a copy of an address delivered by Rudyard Kipling at Folkestone, Feb. 15, 1918. We take pleasure in reproducing it in full, because its sentiments are just as appropriate here and now as they ever were. If you will allow me. I will tell you a story. Once upon a time, a. hundred years ago, there was a large and highly organised community in India who lived by assassination and robbery. They Were educated to it from their infancy; they followed it

Jan 9, 1918

By F. C. Blickensderfer

DURING 1914 and 1915 extensive experiments were conducted at the concentrator of The Detroit Copper Mining Co. of Arizona, at Morenci, Ariz., in order to test the relative grinding efficiencies of the Marathon, the Chilean and the Hardinge Mills. The Marathon mill used in the experiments was the first one ever built by the manufacturers; and since this was the first time that it was given a thorough tryout, with such remarkable results, the data have been, assembled in the following paper and submitted in the interests of the milling profession.

Jan 8, 1916

By J. R. Guard

Development of electrical power in coal mining has been an outstanding example of adaptability. It has accommodated itself to new inventions, changing mining methods, increasing demands, increasing safety requirements and many other new conditions. With the appearance of the continuous miner in the mining machinery picture, those engineers interested in the application of electricity to mining have been thinking about what new combination of electrical apparatus will best suit this newcomer. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the relative costs of supplying d-c versus a-c power to mining equipment with particular reference to continuous miner setups. Assume that a-c power will be delivered to the mine at some high voltage suitable for transmission to the various substation locations. Typical voltage for this purpose is 4000 volts. The problem then is to change the power to some kind of power suitable for driving the motors of mining equipment. For safety and other reasons the voltage to be delivered to the motor terminals must be under 600 volts.

Jan 1, 1950

By Tenney, J. B.

DEVELOPMENT of complex ores in the south- western part of the Rocky Mountain region has been retarded by the prohibitive distance to the nearest suitable zinc treatment plants. In the north- western and central Rocky Mountains the building, cluring tlie past decade, of electrolytic zinc plants at Anaconda, Great Falls, Trail, and Burke has tremendously stimulated the mining and exploiting of such .ores, greatly increasing the production of lead, zinc, copper, gold, and silver. Selective flotation permits the making of high-grade led, copper, and zinc concentrates. If the zinc concentrates could be made free from lead, copper, gold, and silver, they could be shipped economically to Mid- Western retort plants designed for such concentrates. Unfortunately a considerable proportion of the precious metal content accompanies the zinc blende in the ores of this region. Although some of it is saved in 'retort residues, the treatment cost is thereby increased so materially and the proportion saved so small, that .concentrates of ordinary grade cannot stand treatment charges and freight.

Sep 1, 1928

By J. E. Brantly

THE oil-producing industry may logically be 'divided into four independent branches: (1) Acquisition of possible productive lands by lease, fee purchase, concession, or otherwise and the perfection of titles thereto. (2) Studies of the geology of the properties, leading to the location of exploratory wells. These involve reconnaissance and detailed surveys and the use of geophysical instruments, where conditions do not permit surface determination. (3) Drilling of exploratory or test holes and, later, exploitation wells. (4) Actual recovery of the oil from the wells by flowing, pumping, or other methods. These four divisions of the industry are unrelated in detail of accomplishment, but they are entirely complementary, one to the other, and must, in any efficient' organization, harmonize in their respective efforts toward the desired ultimate end. The relative order for the first two branches is not necessarily the proper one; in fact one should have knowledge of the favorable possibilities of a given property before it is acquired, and preferably, also, final opinions as to then proper location for an exploratory well, if such is justified in the light of

Jan 1, 1937

By TRUMAN S. FULLER

THE GREAT INTEREST in decomposition and trans- formation, so evident in the study of alloys during the last two years, was reflected in the many papers on this subject, presented at the first session of the Institute of Metals, Tuesday morning. Dr. F. A. Thomson, of Montana State School of Mines, presented the first paper by C. Wilson, H. F. Silliman, and E. C. Little, "Rate of Precipitation of Nickel Silicide and Cobalt Silicide in the Hardenable Copper-nickel-silicon and Copper- cobalt-silicon Alloys." Dr. R. F. Mehl, in discussing this paper, stated that the title was somewhat deceptive, as it indicated that the rate of precipitation is determined; the method used is a measurement of electrical conductivity and hardness, neither of which is suitable for a quantitative measurement of rates of reaction or precipitation in the solid state. Hardness is also uncertain because it depends so much upon particle size. Of the various methods proposed for the study of rate of reaction and precipitation the evaluation of volume of reaction produced from the area of photomicrograph is the best.

Jan 1, 1933

By O. E., Kiessling

THE better control of production was made the topic for a special program of the annual meeting of the Institute last February. In the discussion at that meeting it was brought out that in many branches of the mineral industry (as in other industries), there was faulty industrial coordination. Those who were best informed by reason of their intimate connection with coal, copper, oil, iron, lead and zinc, and almost all other of the essential minerals pointed to a condition of chronic over-capacity, to the dissipating use of irreplaceable minerals, to an unstabilized price structure, and to over-stimulatecl production and the destruction of some mineral resources over and above what is thought to be the needs of prudent cur- rent consumption. The discussion went far enough to point out the existence of various problems, and the question then raised was "what can be done by way of self-coordination of industry?" by "production control from within?" or in other words, "how can the mineral industry protect its resources against waste and at the same time protect both the producer and consumer against loss from prices that are too low or too high?"

Jan 1, 1928

By E. E. Thurlow

The Geology Div. of Northern Pacific Railway Co. has adapted to its exploration efforts field procedures for geochemical sampling and semi-quantitative analysis which have been developed through research by the U. S. Geological Survey. The sampling is done in conjunction with reconnaissance geologic mapping on aerial photographs or during field checking of maps which have been prepared largely by photo-geologic interpretation. Stream sediment or soil samples are taken and readily soluble combined heavy metals are extracted with ammonium citrate followed by colorimetric titration with dithizone at the sample site. The effectiveness of this approach has been demonstrated both in positive and negative results, thereby assisting in the elimination of large areas of land from further immediate attention and in providing targets for followup exploration. An occa sional sample is submitted for spectrographic analysis as a check on the possible presence of other elements of economic significance. Field laboratory procedures are also being implemented for determining molybdenum, mercury, and other metals which may be valuable in themselves or useful as pathfinder elements in outlining mineralized areas. A lead-zinc occurrence in Oregon and a copper deposit in Montana were readily detected and outlined by stream sediment and soil sampling and a heavy metal anomaly that lacks obvious interpretation has been found in northwestern Montana. Detailed mapping and additional sampling are followed by other exploration techniques if warranted. Northern Pacific's program of reconnaissance mineral evaluation of company-owned lands and adjoining areas was outlined in a paper presented at the American Mining Congress meeting in Las Vegas four years ago. That report included policies and procedures with respect to mineral development on Railway Co. lands and may be referred to for information on these matters.1 In a sense this paper is a progress report on the use of geochemical prospecting in Northern Pacific's continuing mineral evaluation program. At this time there are positive results but as yet there is no real success story in the form of a minable ore body. GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING PROCEDURES The decision to use geochemistry as a reconnaissance exploration tool must be followed by research into sampling and analytical methods and into the interpretation of results. Various analytical methods were tried and evaluated by the Geology Div., including hot and cold acid extraction with and without fusion of the sample, panning and magnetic separation followed by dithizone testing of the magnetite, and cold aqueous extraction of metallic ions followed by indicator tests. Samples were first sent to the laboratory for analysis; later field laboratories were established and now virtually all testing is done at the sample site. It was concluded that, where applicable, the quickest dependable methods for reconnaissance use are the dithizone field tests for readily extractable heavy metals. This involves the simultaneous treatment of a sample, usually of soil or stream sediment, with two immiscible liquids; one a cold aqueous extractant (ammonium citrate) and the other a solution of dithizone in toluene or xylene.2 Dithizone is a colorimetric indicator that reacts quantitatively with copper, lead, zinc, and several other metals to form colored complexes in organic solvents. Results may be expressed in ml of 0.001 pct dithizone that are required to reach the blue end point, or calibration of the test results can be carried out with standard solutions of zinc; conversion factors would then be expressed in ppm, zinc equivalent. Calibration of dithizone solution with zinc standards indicates that 1 ml of 0.001 pct dithizone is equivalent to approximately 0.25 ppm of zinc. An authoritative report on dithizone field tests authored by H. E. Hawkes in the June-July 1963 issue of Economic Geology* states "The appeal of these techniques has been the simplicity and speed of the determinations as compared with more tedious laboratory determinations of trace metals in weathered rocks, soils, or plant materials. This obvious appeal, however, has often been more than matched by misuse of the method in such a manner that the results are

Jan 1, 1964