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By M. R. Geer, H. F. Yancey, P. S. Jacobsen

Two growing problems confront the preparation engineer—still further restrictions on stream pollution and a greater proportion of fine coal as more and more continuous miners come into use. The de-watering screens, centrifuges, and settling ponds that sufficed a few years ago must often be supplemented by more effective equipment, and in some instances the finest solids are now being recovered by vacuum filtration, once considered too costly in many coal washeries. Unfortunately not all slurries can be readily filtered. Some are virtually unfilter-able, and others do not permit the high cake rates needed to hold costs within reason. Often, however, these difficult slurries can be rendered filterable by flocculation. Starch and lime have long increased settling rate in thickeners and can also aid filtration. More recently there have been other flocculants, primarily synthetic polymers or gums. Reports of their great effectiveness prompted the U. S. Bureau of Mines to test their use in filtration as part of its program on recovering and cleaning fine coal. The object of the present work was to compare some of the newer flocculants with starch and lime and to test the reaction of different types of slurries to flocculation. Three natural slurries, three synthetic coal-clay mixtures, and five flocculants were tested, all with a laboratory filter leaf. Slurries and Flocculants Tested: First of the slurries was the thickener feed from the washed coal section of the Michel colliery of Crow's Nest Pass Co. Ltd., Michel, B.C. As shown by the screen and ash analyses in Table I, practically all this slurry was finer than 28 mesh, and about half the solids were finer than 200. Substantially all material coarser than 200 mesh was clean coal, but the ash content of 20.7 pct in the finest size indicates a moderate amount of impurity. This coal is medium-volatile bituminous in rank. Slurry was also obtained from the Black Diamond washery of Palmer Coking Coal Co., King County, Wash. This underflow of a 1/2-mm vibrating slurry screen is a waste product discharged to a settling pond. As shown by the data in Table I it contained about 20 pct material finer than 200 mesh, which analyzed 77.5 pct ash, indicating a high proportion of clay. The coarser sizes were also high in ash content because of the presence of bone and shale. Black Diamond coal is on the dividing line between bituminous and subbituminous rank. The third slurry, from the washery of Roslyn-Cascade Coal Co. in Kittitas County, Wash., was the underflow of a battery of 8-in. cyclones that is wasted with the coarser refuse from the plant. In both size and ash content this slurry was similar to the Black Diamond, but since it was a cyclone-underflow product, the fraction finer than 200 mesh undoubtedly contained a much smaller proportion of finely divided clay than was present in the Black Diamond slurry. The Roslyn-Cascade coal is high-volatile A bituminous in rank. Initially the slurry samples were stored in the laboratory at a concentration of 40 pct solids. A progressive change in filtration and flocculation characteristics during storage was noted, however, presumably because of progressive disintegration of the clay. After careful testing demonstrated that the slurry solids could be dried and then repulped without changing the original filtration characteristics, this procedure was adopted. The flocculants used were Separan 2610, Kylo 27, Jaguar MD-A, Idaho potato starch, and lime. The lime was used as a slurry, the Separan 2610 as a 0.10 pct aqueous solution, and the other flocculants as 0.50 pct aqueous solutions. The starch was causti-cized with sodium hydroxide before use. As some of the flocculants are reported to deteriorate on storage, new batches of flocculants were prepared every two days. Test Procedure: Fig. 1 diagrams the filter leaf apparatus employed. This consists of a test leaf having an effective area of 0.10 sq ft., a 60°, 8 1/2-in. diam cone to hold the slurry sample, a variable-speed electric stirrer, vacuum gage, bleed line for controlling vacuum, filtrate flask, moisture trap, and vacuum pump. Two filter cloths were selected—Saran SA 603, a monofilament, coarse-weave cloth, and polyethylene PO-801 HF, a monofilament, fine-weave cloth. The Saran was selected to provide maximum cake rate without regard to clarity of filtrate and the polyethylene to provide the best quality of filtrate without regard to cake rate. The test charge for the filtering vessel consisted of 800 g of solids (previously soaked for 24 hr) and

Jan 1, 1960

By Albert F. J. Bordeaux

(Cleveland Meeting, October, 1912.) THE immediate vicinity of the sea-shore, affording special facility for the exportation of ores, makes it possible to work certain mines in the Vladivostok district, which, in more remote places of Siberia, would remain unproductive. Outside of the city of Vladivostok the population is small and the country is very little prospected. Additional discoveries of valuable deposits like the large body of calamine which has recently been opened in the neighborhood of earlier worked lead-silver ores, in the Tetiuhe valley, are still in the field of possibilities. For many years gold alone was produced, in part from the coastal rivers and in part from a quartz-vein on Askold island near Vladivostok. But the production is diminishing, and prospectors are looking for other rivers in the interior, such as the tributaries of the Ussuri. These rivers are now more accessible than formerly, due to the slow but gradual development, of colonization by the Russian peasants. The few natives of the country, called Orodjones, are of the Chinese race. They resemble the North American Indian and are hardy fur-hunters. They have given some attention to placers and have already shown good specimens of gold-dust from the rivers Iman, Bikin, Noto, etc. Coal-mining was begun in the Vladivostok region more than 20 years ago, but in a somewhat irregular way. The industry is not as yet important and the best coal-seams are badly prospected, or ire even neglected. Copper, lead, and iron exist in several places. The amounts give some encouragement to the anticipation that the discoveries will give rise to important metallurgical works. I here present a review of the various deposits, based upon such safe information as is in hand, when I have not drawn upon my personal observations. Fig. 1 is a snap of Eastern Siberia, showing the mineral deposits.

Oct 1, 1912

By Harry Klemic

Zirconium and hafnium minerals are used industrially both as minerals valuable for their chemical and physical characteristics and as ores of zirconium and hafnium. The principal zirconium-hafnium-bearing minerals, their composition, and their ranges in content of zirconium and hafnium dioxides are listed in Table 1. The supply of zirconium and hafnium is based almost entirely upon the supply of the minerals zircon and baddeleyite. Eudialyte may eventually also be of importance as a source of these elements. Zircon, which generally contains nearly 49% zirconium and between 0.4 and 1.5% hafnium, is the principal industrial mineral of this group. Baddeleyite, a commercially important but less abundant mineral, contains as much as 73% zirconium and 0.4 to 1.7% hafnium. Eudialyte has a wide range in content of these elements, but analyses of material from several localities indicate values of 6 to 11 % zirconium and 0.07 to 0.4% hafnium. Zircon is a mineral consisting principally of zirconium, silicon, and oxygen that crystallizes from magmas during the formation of igneous rocks. Zircon also occurs in veins and in metamorphic rocks. It is in the tetragonal crystal system. It commonly forms as small well-developed prisms having pyramidal terminations but also occurs as irregular-shaped grains. Zircon has a hardness of 7.5 on the Mohs' scale. Its specific gravity is commonly between 4.68 and 4.70 (Dana, 1932), but the specific gravity varies somewhat depending upon com- position and state of alteration. Zircon has no good cleavage directions and is brittle, breaking with a conchoidal fracture. Zircon of the composition ZrSiO, would contain 67.2% Zr02 and 32.8% SiO2. However, in addition to about 1 % of hafnium, minor amounts of thorium, uranium, rare earth elements, yttrium, calcium, magnesium, iron, aluminum, phosphorus, and hydrogen, and trace amounts of other elements are commonly present in the mineral (Frondel, 1957). Radiogenic lead and other daughter products from the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium also accrue in the mineral. Radiation damage to the structure of zircons that contain appreciable amounts of uranium and thorium may alter the internal structure of the crystals to

Jan 1, 1975

By M. J. Pool, P. J. Spencer, R. V. Miner

The partial molar heat of solution of rhodiunz in liquid lin and Rh-Sn alloys has been measured as a function of rhodium concentration at 700" , 725" , 750" , and 775°K. The values at infinite dilution are very exo thermic, ranging from -29,950 to -28,260 cal per g-atom Rh at 700" and 775"K, respectively. At the solubility limit the heat of solution becomes sharply nzore exothermic and has permitted the liquidus boundary to be accurately established at each temperature. From the measurements in the two-phase region of liquid Plus RhSn, the heat of formation of RhSn,has been determined. A large increase in the heat of formation between 725" and 750°K suggests the possibility of a phase transformation in this compound. V ERY few measurements have been made of the heats of solution of transition metals in liquid tin; yet those values that are available are of great interest because of their very large exothermic nature. For example, the heat of solution at infinite dilution of palladium in tin has been measured as about -26,000 cal per g-atom (625" to 800°~),' while the heat of solution at infinite dilution of platinum is even more exothermic at -28,591 cal per g-atom (914°K).' These values are of the same order of magnitude as the heat of formation of many intermetallic compounds and as such clearly indicate that very strong bonding must exist between the solute and tin atoms in the liquid solutions. Rhodium might be expected to display similar solution characteristics in tin in view of its close electronic resemblance to palladium and platinum. Since no thermodynamic data are available for Rh-Sn alloys, rhodium was chosen as an appropriate solute for further investigation of transition-metal systems with highly exothermic heats of solution at infinite dilution. EXPERIMENTAL The heat of solution of rhodium in dilute Rh-Sn liquid solutions was measured as a functlon of rhodium concentration at 700°, 725", 750°, and 775°K. The liquid-metal solution calorimeter used in this work has been fully described elsewhere. At the start of each series of measurements, the solvent bath consisted of about 0.5 g-atoms of 99.9+ pct pure tin. To this was made a number of small rhodium additions, about 0.0005 g-atoms each, and the heat of solution was measured for each. Rhodium of 99.9+ pct purity in powder form was used in order to promote rapid dissolution in the liquid tin. The powder specimens were contained in tin foil stated to be purified (lead-free). This foil was found to have no measurable heat of solution in pure tin so the effect of any impurities could be neglected. The energy equivalent of the calorimeter was experi- mentally determined by dropping tungsten and/or tin specimens at intervals during each series of rhodium drops. The tungsten and tin used were 99.95 and 99.999+ pct pure, respectively. The only heat effect due to a tungsten drop, or a tin drop at low rhodium concentrations in the bath, is the sensible heat of the specimen. The heat content of these materials is well-established and is presented in the compilation of Hultgren et al. 4 As the rhodium concentration in the tin bath increases a small heat effect arises from the reaction: Sn (liquid, T) — & (soln, T) where T is the temperature of the tin bath. Where necessary, this heat of solution of tin was determined by Gibbs-Duhem integration, and corrections were made to the heat effect of the tin calibration specimens and the tin foil containing the rhodium specimens. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The calculated values of the heat of solution of rhodium in dilute Rh-Sn alloys as a function of composition are shown graphically in Fig. 1. The values have been corrected for the sensible heat of the specimens, initially at 273"K, and apply to the reaction:

Jan 1, 1969

By Benjamin C. Craft

As predicted, during 1937 South Louisiana witnessed one of the most active drilling campaigns in the history of the area, resulting in the discovery .of 14 new fields. The economic importance of 10,000-ft. production was far-reaching and the objective depths placed on some wildcats was 12,000 feet. Most of the important discoveries and deep tests were in the delta area between the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers, where the upper Miocene sands were found productive between 10,000 and 11,000 ft. The casing program on these wells usually called for a protection string of 95/8-in. casing at approximately 9500 ft. Drilling barges with the heaviest equipment were used where water transportation was available. The oil production for South Louisiana during 1937 was 62,147,690 bbl., as compared with 51,968,727 bbl. during 1936, an increase of 19.5 per cent. There were 281 oil and gas wells and 172 dry holes completed during 1937 as compared with 262 oil and gas wells and 135 dry holes during the previous period. New Fields Gibson.—The first discovery for the year was in the Gibson area, where Shell Petroleum Corporation's Realty Operators No. 1, sec. 18, 17 S., 15 E., Terrebonne Parish, was completed flowing 780 bbl. of 38° A.P.I. oil daily through a 14/64-in. choke with a tubing pressure of 1700 lb. Production is from upper Miocene sand found from 9461 to 9483 feet. Abbevil1e.—The discovery well for the Abbeville field was Continental Oil Company's Hebert No. 1, sec. 20, 12 S., 3 E., Vermilion Parish, completed flowing 50 bbl. of distillate and 2 million cubic feet of gas through a 3/16-in. choke with a tubing pressure of 2550 lb. The well was plugged back from 12,216 ft. in the Chickisawhay, and is producing through perforations from upper Miocene sand found from 7668 to 7682 ft. Later in the year, the same operators completed Brookshire No. 1, sec. 66, 12 S., 3 E., flowing 366 bbl. of 42° A.P.I. oil per day through a 3/16-in. choke with a tubing pressure of 1800 lb. This well was com-

Jan 1, 1938

By John B. Myers

VERMICULITE is a name used to describe micaceous material that exfoliates when heated. It is hydrated magnesium-aluminum-iron silicate. The chemical composition, color, physical appearance, and degree of exfoliation vary. COMPOSITION, PROPERTIES, AND ORIGIN Vermiculite has the characteristic micaceous structure of basal cleavage and readily splits into thin laminae, which are soft, pliable, and inelastic. The monoclinic crystal faces are often marked by triangular lines at 60° and 120°. Hardness is 1.5; specific gravity, 2.2-2.7; luster pearly to greasy; colors, amber, bronze, reddish brown, dark green, and black. Feel is soapy, particularly when wet. When heated it exfoliates by expanding at right angles to the cleavage into long wormlike pieces (the name vermiculite is from the Latin veamiculari, to breed worms). This important characteristic of expansion is believed to be a mechanical separation of the layers when the contained water is converted into steam. Warping of the unit layers may also contribute to the expansion. The increase in bulk volume of commercially prepared material is 8 to 12 times but individual flakes may increase in size more than this. Pure vermiculite is a distinct mineral and has the structural formula (OH), (Mg,Fe)3 (Si,Al,Fe)4 010.4H20. It rarely occurs in this pure form, but generally as a mixed mineral of varying structure. One explanation is that the mixed material is composed of unit layers of inter-stratified pure vermiculite and biotite. The essential difference between the two is that unit cell structure of vermiculite contains a layer of water molecules whereas the biotite cell contains potassium instead of the water. The water content of the mixed vermiculite is less than that of pure vermiculite but more than that of biotite. Pure biotite does not expand when heated. If the proportion of biotite layers in a vermiculite is too high it will adversely affect the degree of exfoliation. Within a given deposit, the great mass of material may approach a definite com-position with local areas of greater biotite content. It is not uncommon to find also small pockets of pure biotite but these are generally segre-

Jan 1, 1949

By F. M. Lewis, J. F. Myers

The selection of the proper type of flotation machine involves the consideration of a wide variety of factors. Under any condition, all types of machines will promote some kind of separation. Obviously, the correct way of deciding which type of machine is best suited for a particular problem would be to set up all types of machines and test them out in a competitive manner, but the vast number of small concentrating plants are unable to make such complete and exhaustive tests. The experience of the authors of this paper indicates that if all the factors involved in any particular problem can be determined, and if all the flotation-machine characteristics are understood, some basis for selection could be arrived at other than actual comparison. This paper is presented to show how the process factors and machine characteristics have been combined at the mills of the Tennessee Copper Co. from studies of several types of flotation machines. At the two mills of the Tennessee Copper Co. in the Ducktown Basin of Tennessee, four distinct flotation separations are made on the complex sulphide ore. Three different concentrates are produced from the ore—in the order of their importance: iron concentrate, copper concentrate, and zinc concentrate. Four different types of flotation machines are used. The selection of these four machines, for the plant operation, was based upon the study and operating experience of the machine units shown in the following list: Fagergren machine; square cell, size 56 inches Fagergren machine; level type, size 56 inches Denver machine; conical disk impeller, size 24 inches Denver machine; receded disk impeller, size 24 inches Minerals Separation Sub-A, size 24 inches Munro-Pearse deep cell, pneumatic Southwestern air machine, Hunt principle To date the study of flotation machines has been confined almost entirely to the rougher circuits. The various cleaning operations, being relatively a much simpler matter, have not been investigated so thoroughly. Table I shows a typical analysis of the two ores as well as of the mineral content.

Jan 1, 1947

By J. F. Myers, F. M. Lewis

The selection of the proper type of flotation machine involves the consideration of a wide variety of factors. Under any condition, all types of machines will promote some kind of separation. Obviously, the correct way of deciding which type of machine is best suited for a particular problem would be to set up all types of machines and test them out in a competitive manner, but the vast number of small concentrating plants are unable to make such complete and exhaustive tests. The experience of the authors of this paper indicates that if all the factors involved in any particular problem can be determined, and if all the flotation-machine characteristics are understood, some basis for selection could be arrived at other than actual comparison. This paper is presented to show how the process factors and machine characteristics have been combined at the mills of the Tennessee Copper Co. from studies of several types of flotation machines. At the two mills of the Tennessee Copper Co. in the Ducktown Basin of Tennessee, four distinct flotation separations are made on the complex sulphide ore. Three different concentrates are produced from the ore—in the order of their importance: iron concentrate, copper concentrate, and zinc concentrate. Four different types of flotation machines are used. The selection of these four machines, for the plant operation, was based upon the study and operating experience of the machine units shown in the following list: Fagergren machine; square cell, size 56 inches Fagergren machine; level type, size 56 inches Denver machine; conical disk impeller, size 24 inches Denver machine; receded disk impeller, size 24 inches Minerals Separation Sub-A, size 24 inches Munro-Pearse deep cell, pneumatic Southwestern air machine, Hunt principle To date the study of flotation machines has been confined almost entirely to the rougher circuits. The various cleaning operations, being relatively a much simpler matter, have not been investigated so thoroughly. Table I shows a typical analysis of the two ores as well as of the mineral content.

Jan 1, 1947

By Stanley J. Gasior, Albert J. Forney, Joseph H. Field

Most bituminous coal mined near Eastern industrial areas requiring high-Btu pipeline gas is caking and therefore unsuitable for fixed-bed pres- sure gasification by present techniques. If the caking property of such coal can be destroyed, the resulting fuel can be gasified in a fixed bed at pressure with steam and oxygen as a preliminary step in making a high-Btu gas. To find a practical way to convert strongly caking coals of granular or small lump size to noncaking fuel was the object of this study. In previous work, strongly caking coals of 1/8- to 1½ -in. size were converted to a noncaking coal char by treatment in a static bed in about 3 hours1 and coal of 18-100 Tyler mesh in a fluidized bed in about 5 min.2 An inert gas such as steam, nitrogen, carbon dioxide or a mixture of all three with a small amount of oxygen was used in both studies. In our work a strongly caking bituminous coal from the Pittsburgh seam of 4-8 Tyler mesh size was converted to a noncaking form in free-fall in about 2 sec by dropping it through a countercurrent flow of steam containing 4% to 7% oxygen at 1150º-1200°F and 300 psig. This method should also be applicable to smaller-sized material.

Jan 3, 1965

By James A. Roberson

THE mechanical behavior of molybdenum has become a matter of considerable interest in recent years because it has a reasonably high strength at high temperatures. Various aspects of its fatigue behavior have been investigated previously,1-3 and the results can be summarized as follows. Recrys-tallized molybdenum exhibits a fatigue limit which decreases continuously with increasing temperature. The ratio of fatigue-limit stress to ultimate tensile stress is high (0.6 to 0.8) and reasonably constant. The present work was undertaken to determine the effect of variations in environment on the fatigue of molybdenum stressed in fully reversed axial tension compression. In order to provide a basis to which these data could be compared, a complementary series of fatigue tests were made in vacuum. All of the specimens used were made from one mill lot of unalloyed molybdenum which had been vacuum-arc melted, worked down to 1-in.-diam bar, re-crystallized, then warm-worked to 5/8 in. diam. The interstitial content by weight was as follows: C—0.022 pet, 02-0.0026 pet, Hz-0.0001 pet, and N20.0002 pct. The average grain diameter in the transverse direction was about 0.035 mm, and the average grain length was about 0.15 mm. Typical tensile-test data are shown in Table I. None of the specimens tested exhibited an upper yield point.

Jan 1, 1965

By C. A. Stetefeldt

In a former paper (Runs., xxi., 286) I described the plant of the Marsac Refinery, and the manipulations of the process, but cou1d not, at the time, give reliable statistical results. To supply the latter is the object of the present paper. I shall give actual facts as correctly as possible, without any bias one way or the other. For all statistics I am indebted to Mr. W. G. Lamb, who has charge of the Marsac lixiviation-plant and refinery; to Mr. A. Luebeck, assayer at the Ontario mill; and to the Daly Office, Salt Lake City.* Before starting on the work of the year 1892, a most careful clean-up was made, and any remnants were charged to the refinery. During 1892 the Marsac lixiviation-works produced 48.8 tons of so-called "regular" sulphides, which contained, on an average, 11,449 ounces of silver per ton; 11.77 ounces of gold per ton; and 569.8 pounds of copper per ton. To this must be added, 266 pounds of sulphides and by-products left over from the product of 1891, which contained 1380 ounces of silver, 1.41 ounces of gold, and 63 pounds of copper. Before giving the results of the clean-up, a general discussion of the items of expense, methods of assaying, etc., is desirable.

Jan 1, 1895

Weiss Transit and Level The illustrations shown are the transits and levels manufactured by the Weiss Instrument Co. of Denver, Colo:, and they state that city and mining engineers are securing satisfactory results. It is claimed that their patented prismatic telescope gives increased illumination with an astronomical eye-piece. The prisms are set in a milled seat for this purpose, and cemented in so they can never come loose or out of adjustment. All adjustment for collimation is clone with the cross-hairs. This telescope is 8 in. long for magnifying power of 20 diameters against 12 in. for regular old style. The field is 1° 45' with a clear aperture of 1 1/8 in. The standards are 4 ¾ in. high from plate; to center of telescope axis. Weight 10 lb. Fig: 2. FIG. 1. FIG;. 3. The Light Mountain Transit of the same type, Fig. 1, has a telescope 6 ½ in. long, magnifying power 17 diameters; field 2° 15'; clear aperture 1 1/16 in.; weight 9 lb. The Mine Transit made by this ?company is interesting because it may be sighted directly down a shaft.. The principal advantage claimed for this type is the arrangement by means. of which vertical' sights can be had without an additional telescope.. As illustrated in Fig. 2 the telescope is in the position of a regular transit, and used exactly the same.

Jan 10, 1915

By Edgar S. Cook

The Warwick furnace at Pottstown, Pa., constructed for anthracite fuel, is, as may be remembered, 554 feet high, with 15; feet bosh. The actual working height from stock-line to bottom is only 474 feet, the bell-and-hopper taking up 8 feet. During the year 1886 we used mixed fuel, in the proportion of three-fourths anthracite and one-fourth coke. The total product of iron was 30,6299 tons of 2280 lbs., being a weekly average of 589 tons, including all ordinary and extraordinary stoppages. Deducting the latter, the weekly average would be about 600 tons. The fuel-consumption for the year was 1.2 tons per ton of iron, while the ore-mixture yielded 52 per cent. of iron. For about two months during the summer of 1887 we were obliged to run on anthracite exclusively, owing to the Connellsville coke strike. In the fall of 1885, in relining the furnace, the crucible had been built 8 feet 9 inches in diameter, with the view of using regularly one-quarter of coke (the largest previous diameter having been 7 feet 5 inches), and we felt somewhat apprehensive of the results when compelled to use anthracite only. The average of seven weeks' run on coal, as compared with the average of the seven corresponding weeks of 1886 (using one-quarter coke), was as follows:

Jan 1, 1889

By Howard N. Eavenson

The mines of the United States Coal & Coke Co. are located in the Pocahontas coal field, in McDowell County, West Virginia. Twelve plants have been opened and equipped, of which, by reason of the present business depression, only nine are now in operation. These twelve plants serve eighteen mines; some of the plants having several openings, in either the same seam or in different seams, tributary to the same tipple. Only nine of these mines are now being worked at the plants in operation. Construction work was begun in 1902, and coal from the first three plants started was shipped in December of that year. An additional plant was opened in 1903, two in 1904, two in 1905, two in 1907 and the last two in 1908. On Jan. 1, 1915, the plants have been in operation an average period of 8.8 years. The rules of the company, which have been in operation since work was first begun, are similar to those in use by the H. C. Frick Coke Co. at its mines in Pennsylvania, in which " Safety First" was incorporated as early as 1907; and it has always been the policy of both companies to look carefully after the safety of their employees. Although the field is an extension of the old Pocahontas field, the mines, located upon a new branch railroad, are away by themselves, and, as is usual in such cases, the class of labor attracted at first was temporary in character. The rapid development of the mines required the employment of many new men and officials each year; and, while the accident record from 1904 to 1909 was as good as the average of the field, it was felt to be not as good as it could be made, and a determined campaign was inaugurated for preventing accidents of all kinds. Fig. 1 shows the tonnage of coal produced per fatality, both total and for inside accidents only, at our mines; the tonnage per fatality of all West Virginia mines, and of those in the Pocahontas field. The purpose of this paper is not one of congratulation on the results so far accomplished, since the operating officials are not at all satisfied that the maximum is in sight, to say nothing of its having been reached; but to describe the organization and methods that have produced these

Jan 1, 1915

By J. Spotts McDowell

Preparation and Use.-Magnesite is an important refractory in open-hearth, heating, and electric furnaces for steel-making and in many of those employed in the metallurgy of copper and lead. It is sold in the form of brick, finely ground "furnace magnesite" for brick-laying, and dead-burned grains for making and repairing furnace bottoms. The latter are a mixture of granules varying in size from pieces of about 5/8 in. (1.6 cm.) diameter to very fine but sandy particles. Dead-burned magnesite results from calcining 'the crude or lightly burned mineral at a temperature that will not merely drive off practically all the CO2, but will also cause sintering of the particles. During this process the pieces shrink considerably and become hard, dense, and inert to atmospheric moisture and C02; under-burned material, on the other hand, will hydrate on exposure to the air. A small percentage of ferric oxide seems to be necessary for the production of a satisfactory sinter; from 4.5 to 8 per cent. in the dead-burned grains is considered the most desirable amount. Dolomite has been little used for brick-making in the United States, but it is prepared for use in the granular condition calcined or "double-burned" and is the principal ingredient of several materials offered for sale under various trade names for refractory purposes. Dolomitic refractories are almost wholly confined to the open-hearth and electric furnaces, where they are used for fettling and as substitutes for magnesite. Much more magnesite and dolomite are used for basic open-hearth steel-making than for all other refractory purposes. The hearth of the furnace is usually built up of magnesite brick and dead-burned grain magnesite so laid that the brick base is protected by a working bottom of the granular material. The latter is sintered into place in layers 1 to 2 in. (2.5 to 5 cm.) thick to a total depth of 12 to 18 in. (30 to 45 cm.) at the center of the furnace. After each heat, burned dolomite is thrown against the banks as high as it will stick, and all holes in the bottom are filled. At most plants such holes, at the end of each week, are also

Jan 2, 1919

By Jacques B. Wertz

Detailed structural studies in southeast Arizona have successively revealed (1) the local attitudes of individual fractures (with lateral and/or vertical displacements), (2) the patterns exhibited by groups of fractures, and (3) the trends and directions shown by fracture groups or zones on a regional scale. The results of the studies have been twofold: First, domes were locally determined from these fracture arrangements, even where other criteria failed; and, second, fundamental breaks brought out the breadth of the Texas lineament in southeast Arizona as well as major northwest- and northeast-trending fracture zones. Coincidence of one or several domes with the major intersections of fundamental breaks can be centers of important mineralization, as in the instances of Bisbee, Ajo and Morenci. THE OVER-ALL STRUCTURE OF ARIZONA A northwest-southeast trending anticlinorium has been suggested as the structural setting of Arizona. Starting in Triassic and culminating in late Cretaceous times, this deformation resulted from stresses of considerable magnitude with varying ratios of com pres sional and uplifting forces. However, the series of parallel flexures could just as well have been caused by isostatic movements involving dilation under tension with only incidental compression, as later emphasized by dike filling and block faulting (Fig. 1). The anticlinorial deformation, which is also suggested by the fact that the Pre-cambrian rocks to the southwest are all concealed by sediments, could be somewhat reminiscent of the conditions that affected the classical swarm of parallel dikes of wager.' ANALYSlS OF DATA As a first step in this analysis, all structural information obtained on such features as fractures and their relative displacements, faults, dikes, anticlines, synclines, and Precambrian and Laramide-Tertiary intrusives were plotted on maps along with structural trends inferred from aerial photographic mosaics. Next, the faults in southwest Arizona were classified according to time of occurrence and relative importance. The fault assemblages were then examined as to geometric or spatial arrangement and correlated with the occurrences of domes and existing Finally, the conjunction of fracture intersections and domes was analyzed and compared with locations of known ore deposits. Differentiation of Faults According to Time and Relative Importance: The faults encountered were grouped as follows: (1) Basin and Range faults, latest in time; (2) secondary faults; (3) primary faults; and (4) lineaments, earliest in time by inference. BASIN AND RANGE FAULTS- Generally concealed by alluvium, the Basin and Range faults are normal

Jan 1, 1969

By George W. Riter

OUR mineral-land laws need revising so as to provide definite title at the outset to the mineral deposits within any definite piece of land. The laws as they now stand, especially those applicable to lodes, breed uncertainty as to rights of possession prior to patent; and to my mind this is the worst feature of all, worse even than the apex bugbear. It is now almost impossible for anybody to tell-with certainty what mineral rights exist within any area that is not covered by patent, or whether any valid rights exist at all. Our system is unique in permitting individuals to appropriate and exploit mineral lands of the public domain without notice of any kind to the Federal government, and to relinquish them without any ceremony at all. The result is a clouded record that cannot be cleared up until each claimant is put to some sort of final proof. In order to accomplish this, new Federal legislation will be required. The requirements for a mineral survey and the proceedings for patent have always been cumbersome and expensive; and perhaps out of regard for the poor claim owner, who can ill afford the outlay for that sort of thing, the law does not require him to go. through it unless he chooses to do so. Consequently, every active mining district has become encumbered with tangled groups of doubtful or conflicting locations, whose rights and boundaries, when any valuable ore is found, must usually be determined by lawsuits that are as expensive and as distressing as the stakes are high. So deeply has litigation entered into our mining system that a claim whose rights have never been disputed would probably be set down offhand, by $miner of the old school, as of no value. Think of the litigation over rights of possession on the Com-stock lode—12 leading companies involved 'in an aggregate of 245 suits within a period of less than eight years! Ambiguous local records; the chance of erroneously placed or obliterated monuments; doubt as to the sufficient performance of the statutory annual labor; uncertainty as to prior conflicting or overlapping locations; anxiety as to the changing attitude of the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service—such considerations as these make an unpatented mining claim an unclean thing in the eyes of possible investors. Is it any wonder that they keep themselvesand their money at a safe distance,

Jan 1, 1915

By Waldemar Lindgren

No one would maintain that all ore deposits or all deposits of useful minerals have been formed by the same processes. Generally they have originated by special processes of concentration but these may be of many different kinds. Some deposits have their origin in chemical or biochemical processes of concentration in rivers, lakes or seas, others developed on land by means of chemical reactions of surface waters on various forms of rocks. Certain insoluble substances remained behind; others were dissolved and precipitated in favorable places. This action proceeded in the realm of the oxidizing surface waters or in the deeper zones to which the waters from the surface could find their way. Examples of the latter kind may be found in the extensive copper and vanadium deposits of some sedimentary beds or in the lead and zinc deposits of certain broad limestone strata. In these instances the evidence for any other mode of origin would seem to be very weak indeed.' Nor does it seem possible to deny that circulating waters may form deposits of the more common metals along fissures after having dissolved many constituents from paths traversed. Another very large class has been formed by magnetic processes of concentration. The last 40 years have been a period of intense activity in the investigation and description of a vast number of deposits; all modern methods have been employed and the result is an accumulation of data, difficult or impossible to master. It has been a period similar to that in petrography. The generalizations, the able deductions, have lagged behind. Evidently several geologists have become weary of this "infinite detail" and a mistrust of the microscope seems to have arisen. Although this feeling of being swamped in microscopic detail is a painful experience, nevertheless only through the detail in combination with the large features, and only by utilizing all the related sciences shall we

Jan 1, 1927

By E. P. Abrahamson

The effect of transition element binary solid solution additions upon the re crystallization temperature of nickel has been investigated. All additions raised the re crystallization temperature. Both the rate of change of re crystallization temperature with at. pet solute and the limit of initial linearity are found to correlate with the free atom ground state outer electron configuration of the solute element. A comparison of all of the correlations for the transition elements studied has yielded a set of empirical relations, which allows the prediction of the effect of dilute binary transition elements on the recrystallization temperature of other transition elements. The work of Abrahamson, et al.1-7 on dilute binary solution alloys indicated a correlation between the free atom ground state electron configuration of the solute and both the brittle-ductile transition and re-crystallization temperature. Further, it has been shown3,4 that the limit of initial linearity may also be correlated with the solute electron configuration. Since previous studies have dealt with bee and hexagonal base elements, this study is made to note what effect, if any, the fee base structure might have. Nickel also serves to give a solvent configuration which will allow the comparison of all of the transition element solvents. Olsen8 has studied the effect of some trace elements upon the recrystallization of nickel. He included only Ti, Zr, W, Mn, and Co of the transition elements. The differences in change of recrystallization temperature were attributed to the solute atom size and to the solubility of the solute in nickel. PROCEDURE All alloys were made using 99.9 + pet Ni with 0.003 C, 0.015 Fe, 0.007 0, and 0.0007 H. The solute elements were 99.9 + pet pure. According to the published binary phase diagrams9 and metallo-graphic examinations at X750, all solute elements were in solid solution. The alloys were arc melted and remelted four times in the form of cubic 200-g buttons under an argon atmosphere. They were then hot forged at 800oC to 0.750 in. diam, machined to 0.60 in., vacuum annealed for 1 hr at 700°c, swaged to 0.40 in. and annealed at 700oC for 1 hr in vacuum. The grain size was checked and found to be 77 * 20 grains per sq mm. The specimens were then swaged to 0.187 in., yielding 76 ± 1 pet cold work. All alloys were then chemically analyzed for the solute addition. The interstitial contents remained at the values of the starting material when checked on random alloy specimens. The swaged rod was cut into 8.25 in. lengths and heat treated in a gradient furnace for 1 hr. The gradient was maintained at 250" to 850°C over an eight inch length, recorded by twelve thermocouples. Control was ± 3oC, accomplished at the hot end. The recrystallization was determined metallo-graphically over the entire specimen. The criterion chosen was that point on the specimen showing the first recrystallized grain at a constant magnification, X200. Specimens were repeated, and the agreement was found to be generally ± 3oC.

Jan 1, 1962

By AIME AIME

CORROSION of tanks, pipes and other equipment in the oil fields is becoming worse as the production of high- sulfur crudes in the Texas panhandle and west Texas areas increases. It has been estimated that .in certain fields of that State one tank out of every five has to be replaced every year because of the high sulfur content of the crude. One suggested method for combating tank corrosion is the use of .materials which have a high resistance to the corrosive action of hydrogen sulfide and high-sulfur crudes; aluminum is one of these materials. As a result, the United

Jan 1, 1929