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By S. Pearson, L. Rotherham

Measurements have been made of the variation of internal friction with temperature for spectroscopically pure silver, and for o series of solid solutions of silver with cadmium, indium, and tin, using a Ke-type torsion pendulum apparatus. Some experiments have also been made to investigate the effect of nonmetallic impurity on grain boundary relaxation in silver. The effect of the alloying elements is to increase the grain boundary viscosity, and to raise the activation energy for grain boundary relaxation from 22,000 cal per mol for pure silver to 43,000 cal per mol for the solid solutions; the same value being obtained, within the limits of experimental error, for all the alloying elements and solute concentrations investigated. Results of the experiments show exactly the same trend as those obtained previously for a similar series of copper solid solutions. They are in agreement with the general theory of grain boundary relaxation developed by Zener and Ke, but do not seem to be in agreement with either of the mechanisms so far put forward to explain grain boundary slip. EXPERIMENTS described in this paper were made as part of an investigation into the effect of alloying elements in substitutional solid solution on grain boundary viscosity, measured by the internal friction method developed by Ke.&apos; The apparatus and experimental procedure have already been described.&apos; Preliminary work was done with spectro-scopically pure silver. Experimental Work Materials Used—All the materials were supplied in the form of % mm diam wire by Messrs. Johnson Matthey and Co. Ltd. The silver and all the alloying elements used were spectroscopically pure. Composition of the alloys is given in Table I. They were all melted and chill cast under the same conditions as the copper alloys. The ingots were rolled to 1/4 in. sq rod with intermediate annealing at 600°C in an atmosphere of cracked ammonia when necessary. These rods were then drawn to wire by standard procedure with intermediate bright anneals at suitable steps in the drawing operations. Specimens from the annealed wires were sectioned longitudinally. mechanically polished, and examined under the microscope. They were then etched and reexamined. Grain sizes were reasonably uniform for all wires, and no traces of a second constituent were observed. The wires were weighed before and after testing so as to measure any loss of the alloying element due to evaporation. The loss was less than the accuracy of measurement—< 0.1 pct of the total weight— for the Ag-In and Ag-Sn alloys, but appreciable loss of weight occurred in the case of the Ag-Cd alloys. The percentage loss is given in Table 11. X-ray diffraction photographs were taken of all thc wires after test to determine whether there was any marked preferred orientation. Results of the examination are given in Table 111. Experiments on Spectroscopically Pure Silver-— Experiments were made on specimens in which the grain diameter was small relative to that of the wire, and on one specimen in which the grains were grown by the usual strain-anneal method to extend across the full diameter of the wire. These large grained specimens will be referred to as single crystal specimens. The wires were annealed for 11/2 hr at 700°C, and experiments were made at two frequencies of vibration, 1.5 and 0.4 vibrations per sec. The variation of internal friction with temperature is shown in Fig. 1. Experiments on a second small grain specimen gave approximately the same results as for the first wire. It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the peak in the curve for the small grained wire, which is presum-

Jan 1, 1957

By C. D. Allman

Specifications for coal at the Grand Lake thermal electric station read in part: "Coal will be Rom Minto Bituminous (strip operation). Maximum lump 3x3x4 ft. Very corrosive, abrasive and when damp, sticky. Coal may consist of frozen lumps of coal, snow and ice." To maintain quality control it was necessary to develop an automatic sampling system capable of: 1) sampling from one 10-ton truckload every 1½ min; 2) permitting an operator to automatically take a sample from each truckload; 3) depositing the sample in a pre-selected container, one of a possible 10; and 4) performing the sampling operations in accordance with latest ASTM specifications for sampling coal with an ash content of 35%. This paper tells how these and other problems were resolved and describes the equipment used. The New Brunswick Electric Power Commission issued detailed specification No. 5351-5009 outlining the scope of work and general requirements for a mechanical coal handling system to be installed at the Commissions Grand Lake Generating Station. The thermal station is located at Newcastle Creek, some 40 miles east of Fredericton, N.B. Canada, on the shore of Grand Lake. This particular location is immediately adjacent to the Minto strip mining coal area of New Brunswick. Contained in the specifications, but not detailed specifically was an automatic coal sampling system. The system outlined, was to be designed and specified by the individual equipment tenderers. In conjunction with the Hardinge Co., the Barber-Greene Co. designed a sampling system which was contained in the general contract proposal. The system as designed originally, however, presented certain limitations to a continuous coal handling system and was ultimately changed. However, it was only through preliminary study and design that problems created by the specifications were determined, and these problems discussed and finally negotiated with the NBEPC engineering staff created the subsequent sampling system now being installed by Barber-Greene. It must be considered that where the original specifications did not detail the mechanical equipment, it was necessary to present a system which would correspond to the intent of specification and for which Barber-Greene would be responsible as to function, but remain in a competitive position with regard to the tender considered primarily on a price basis. The system now being installed, contains basically all the components which were detailed originally, with the exception of the holding bin arrangement, which was changed to allow a continuous operation of the entire coal handling system. SPECIFICATIONS The specifications covering the sampling system follow. 4.5 Sampler: An automatic sampling system shall be installed capable of sampling one-truck load of coal every 1½ min. When the coal is dumped into the receiving hopper, the operator shall push a button and the sampler shall automatically take a sample of that particular coal when it reaches the sampler. Then the sample taken shall be crushed and reduced in quantity to a workable sample and deposited in a pre-selected container, one of a possible ten. All samples and sampling operations shall be in accordance with the latest edition of ASTM designation 492 for sampling coal with an ash content of 35%. The coal for the initial sample shall have maximum sized lumps of about 3/4 in. and the final sample shall be adjustable from 2 to 5 lb per sample and capable of passing through a sieve with 1/8-in. diam openings. It should be noted that, because of the time delay between the time the sample is requested and when it is actually taken, the operator may call for one or two additional samples from different coal before the first sample is completely refined and in the final sample can. Coal is received from a number of different suppliers on the same day, therefore, the system shall be designed so that there is no possibility of mixing or contaminating the coal from the different suppliers. All coal rejected from the sample shall be returned to the main conveyor. All chutes, hoppers, etc. shall be designed in accordance with Section 4.6 of these specifications. 4.6 Chutes, Hoppers, etc. All chutes and hoppers

Jan 1, 1963

By B. G. Agnew

In evaluating fracture treatments, the need to answer such questions as "What zone or zones were actually treated?" and "What was the vertical extent of the treatment" is necessary, since determining effectiveness of the fracture treatwrent depends on knowledge of the reservoir portions stimulated and the vertical extent of the fracture system or systems. Injection of hot or cold fluids during fracturing operations will transfer heat to the surrounding formations and fracture faces mainly by heat conduction. Once injection ceases, temperature anomalies will develop opposite the zone fractured because the rate of temperature decay is less than that opposite zones heated or cooled by flow inside the wellbore or along the cement sheath. Thus, temperature surveys can he used to determine where fractures were generated outside the wellbore and to reasonahly estimate the vertical extent of the fractrires. This technique has been used successfully to evaluate over 344 fracture treatments at depths ranging from 1,500 to 15,700 ft. Examples of actual temperature surveys are presented to show how this method of fracture treatment evaluation can be used effectively and beneficially. INTRODUCTION Stimulation of producing or injection wells by fracturing is commonplace in the industry today. In evaluating these treatments, two basic questions which arise are "What zone or zones were actually stimulated?" and "What was the vertical extent of the treatment?". Knowledge of the reservoir portions stimulated and vertical extent of the fracture system or systems is vital to effect efficient and economical well completions and to assure maximum recovery from reservoirs. Not all fracture treatments are successful and many times the desired or anticipated results are not achieved. When this occurs, it is in most cases the engineer&apos;s job to determine why. The answer to this problem forms the primary basis for deciding whether to spend more money for development drilling and/or completion attempts or to forego additional expenditures to improve the particular zone. Also, knowledge of the reservoir portion actually stimulated is invaluable in planning future workovers. This is especially true in wells producing from reservoirs containing multiple porosity stringers or zones. For various reasons, all zones within a reservoir may not be perforated on initial completion with the thought of developing remaining zones through future workover operations. Because particular zones are perforated and fracturing fluid pumped down the wellbore, it cannot be assumed that all perforated zones are stimulated, and in turn drained. Occasionally, unperforated zones which are planned for future development are actually stimulated on initial completion. eliminating the need for future recompletion attempts or all zones perforated initially are not stimulated, thus requiring additional completion work to insure that these zones are adequately drained. In most cases, it is costly. if not impossible, to determine with assurance why a fracture treatment is unsuccessful after the job has been completed and the results tested. Further, unpredictable upper and lower fracture barriers. as well as possible borehole communications (cement channels), do not permit it to be taken for granted that the formation opposite the perforations is the only zone receiving the fracture treatment. Thus. evaluation of fracture treatments is necessary for efficient and prudent well completion practices and should be done simultaneously with the fracture job. Several methods have been used to locate fractured zones, all of which are based on detection of radioactive tracer materials added to either the fracturing fluid or the propping agent. These methods have been helpful in increasing knowledge of fracturing operations; however, they are seriously limited because of cost and inability to detect accurately radioactive tracer material more than a few inches away from the borehole. To develop a better diagnostic tool to pinpoint which zone or zones had actually been fractured, temperature surveys were run after fracturing with heated and cooled fluids. Significant temperature anomalies were found to exist opposite zones suspected of receiving the fracture treatment. From the analysis and examples to be shown, it can be seen that temperature surveys run in a stabilized wellbore several hours after a fracture treatment using hot or cold fluid will yield temperature anomalies which show the actual reservoir portion stimulated, the vertical extent of the fracture system or systems and a qualitative indication of the portion of fracture-fluid volume entering a given depth interval. The experience and illustrations used in this paper are based on evaluation of over 344 fracture treatments during the past three years using this diagnostic tool at depths ranging from 1.500 to 15,700 ft and fracture volumes ranging from 2.000 to 110.000 gal. Based on analyses of these temperature surveys, analyses of fracture gradients and evaluation of several open-hole packer impressions in the West Texas area,&apos; vertical fracturing is the predominant mechanism and horizontal fractures occurred frequently, if at all.

Jan 1, 1967

By A. L. Holley

It has been customary at our opening sessions, for the presiding officer to address you on the general development of one or another of our several professions, or upon some important feature of Mining or Metallurgical Engineering. It is somewhat embarrassing to his successor that our former President, Dr. Raymond, expert as he is in every one of these professions, has been accustomed to keep them all, in their turn, prominently before yon. In selecting for this occasion a subject necessarily connected with iron and steel, I have thought that a review of these manufactures, with reference to some of their more pressing needs for improvement, will be more timely than a general or statistical paper. I shall endeavor to confine my remarks to a few specific defects of practice and management, and to their equally specific and more or less developed remedies. That serious defects exist; that they must be remedied ; that the manufacture is indeed already on the verge of transition, will be generally admitted. But it cannot be revolutionized all at once, however desirable the technical results might he, for that would bankrupt the business at large. We cannot afford to pull down and rebuild all our blast-furnaces that do not make a ton of pig iron with 25 cwt. of fuel; nor to replace all our hand-puddling furnaces with revolving ones, even if we could select the best revolver. Although the soft steels promise to supplant iron for most structural purposes, there are neither money nor present market to warrant all at once replacing our iron works, or half of them, with steel works. Since, then, these manufactures can neither stand still nor be suddenly metamorphosed, their managers are saying to one another: " We must feel our way into larger development; we must work gradually into better practice; we must improve a little at a time."

By T. S. Fuller

MUCH study has been given by engineers in general, and investigators in particular, to the concentration of stress which occurs under load in structural members having irregularities in section such as notches, shoulders, key ways, tool marks, etc. The result of the effect of both fresh and salt water corrosion upon the endurance properties of various metals and alloys has been ably determined and the general laws underlying these phenomena carefully pointed out by McAdam. From a practical standpoint, &apos;however, it is after all the endurance value of corroded, non-symmetrical sections which is most pertinent. In the experiments about to be described rotating cantilever specimens of nickel steel of the 3.5 per cent nickel &apos; 0.35 per cent carbon type have been used. These were machined from bars l 1/8. in. dia. and 9% in. long and were heat-treated by quenching in oil from 825 deg. C. followed by reheating to 650&apos; C. and oil quenching. The tensile and impact properties of this material so heat- treated follow:

Jan 1, 1931

By N. B. Wittman

The working of blast-furnaces is always of interest to many members of the Institute, for which reason I present an account of the working of the furnaces of the E. and G. Brooke Iron Company, of which I have had charge for the past four years. Although there are no phenomenal runs to record, there have been long periods of satisfactory work, and also periods—altogether too long—when one of our furnaces has behaved in a way which may be described as "nagging." All the conditions were apparently normal,but only a very light burden could be carried, which of course resulted in a high fuel-consumption to the ton of iron, as well as increased cost of labor. The two active furnaces of this company have the following dimensions and equipment : No 2. No 3. Feet. Feet. Height ....55 60 Diameter at bosh,.....- 15, 16 " hearth,...... 8 74 " stock-line,..10 91/2 Height of bosh,..23 23 " tuyeres,. 5 5 Diameter of bell,.7 6 Front,....closed open Both furnaces are blown with I. P. Morris condensing-engines, sim

Jan 1, 1890

By Frank W. Bowdish, T. M. Plouf

The purpose of this writing is to make available additional data, not previously published, on the zeta potential at various pH values of chrysocolla from the Inspiration mine, Arizona. Much research has been performed on chrysocolla, its physical properties, and its flotation, the results of which have not yielded a commercially acceptable flotation process for its recovery. The present data were collected and are presented to further advance chrysocolla research. Experimental For this investigation a carefully prepared sample of chrysocolla was used. This sample was obtained by crushing specimens from the Inspiration mine and picking out by hand the solid blue particles at -3+8 mesh, by grinding these to 10 mesh and repicking the +28 mesh sizes, by cleaning this product using magnetic separation, and by grinding and screening the material into fractions for final magnetic treatment on a Frantz Isodynamic Separator. All testing was done on the -100+150 mesh fraction. A chemical analysis was made on a portion of this fraction which was washed in dis-

Jan 1, 1974

By D. C. Shelton, C. S. Ek

Corneille S. Ek (Assistant Professor in Ore Dressing, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium) — This is a very valuable paper, in that it shows how it is possible to take care of a multitude of laboratory routine tests, and derive from them successful modifications of flowsheets or of operating methods. The author and the Company appear to be test-minded and this is best seen through the case histories described. There are however some corrections to be made, and questions arise when one studies the paper. If all the equations are to be homogenous, one obviously has to write Eq. 4 On the other hand, it is difficult to accept the definition put on Eq. 7, for that equation, which represents the factor of transformation from tpd of solids to cu ft per min of pulp in Eq. 6, has nothing to do with conditioning. It is evidently assumed here that conditioning means, as Gaudin calls it,&apos; modulation of collection. One would prefer, for Eq. 7, the appel-ation "pulp conversion factor". Eq. 8 and 9, giving the amount of reagent to be fed

Jan 1, 1965

By Malcolm V. Lowry

At Balmat in northern New York State, the St. Joseph Lead Co.&apos;s 2100-tpd zinc mining and milling operation is utilizing a unique thickener in conjunction with conventional crushing, grinding and flotation methods. From 1930 through 1962, zinc concentrates went directly from flotation to the filtering, drying and loading facilities, all of which had to operate 24 hr per day. Wide fluctuations in tonnage also had to be accommodated due to variations in the grade of ore. Many problems were thus encountered in filtering and drying, but the cost of installing a conventional, large diameter thickener could never be justified. In 1963, after thorough investigation, an unconventional thickener that is unusual in several respects was installed at Balmat. The tank depth is 16 ft instead of the normal 8 ft. The rakes are raised and lowered by having the main drive gear located on a movable platform. Automatic controls are programmed to raise the drive platform and rakes during one shift of storage. During the next two shifts of withdrawal, the controls are programmed to lower the drive platform and rakes.

Jan 5, 1966

AT A MEETING of the Shareholders of the Russo-Asiatic Cons. Ltd., in London, Oct. 23, 1922, LESLIE URQUHART, chairman of the com- pany made the following statement:* I come now to our recent negotiations with the Soviet Government and to the agreement which has resulted from them. You will remember that the conference at The Hague broke up without having achieved anything very definite. It was not, however, a failure. It elicited from M. Litvinoff an offer which will, I think, come to be regarded as a milestone in the progress of Russia from a ruinous and unpracticable Communism towards a modified form of capitalism. The offer made by M. Litvinoff at The Hague amounted in effect to this: that in return for political recognition on our part the Soviet Government would first acknowl-edge its liability for Russia&apos;s national foreign debts, and, secondly, would give the original foreign owners of property in Russia effective compensation. A very great advance that. It showed-and there have been many other signs to confirm it-how real and persistent has been the internal evolution of Russia during the past year from Marxism to the economics of the Western world. I will not now detain you with the reasons why M. Litvinoff&apos;s highly promising and significant offer came to nothing. The fact that it had been made and the further fact that The Hague Conference had separated indefinitely were the important things. The first fact seemed to indicate that the Soviet rulers, after all, proved to be people with whom one could do business. The second fact rather emphatically showed that the way to do business with them was not by unwieldy poly-glot conferences of ministers, officials and experts representing a few dozen different governments and a few dozen different sets of national interests. That method had been tried at Genoa. It was tried again at The Hague. Each time it failed, and having failed it left the road clear for a simpler and more direct approach.

Jan 12, 1922

By W. F. Boericke

INTRODUCTION THE Wisconsin zinc district, or the Upper Mississippi lead. and zinc district as it is also termed, lies in the southwestern corner of Wisconsin, and embraces adjacent portions of Illinois and Iowa. It includes Iowa, Grant, and Lafayette counties in Wisconsin, and Jo Davies county in Illinois. In Iowa, Dubuque formerly produced considerable lead, but there has been little mining there in recent years. The map, Fig. 1, shows the entire district, with roads, railways, streams, and the various towns, or "camps," around Which the mines. are clustered. The hatchwork indicates the areas iii which lead and zinc have been mined. The district is about 60 mi. (96 km.) north and south and about 40 mi. (64 km.) east and west. Not all of the territory is mineral bearing, and there are considerable areas that are believed to be barren. The grouping of the mines is patchy and irregular, though certain broad zones of mineralization extend almost the full width of the district, as from Mineral Point west through Mifflin and Livingston, and from Shullsburg west through New Diggings and Hazel Green. It is worth noting that the best mines of the district have, to date, been found within 10 mi. east or west of the fourth principal meridian line, thus lying within a long, narrow, north-and-south belt extending the length of the district. In a field as large as the Wisconsin, which has only within com-paratively recent time been worked intensively for zinc, the. chances are good for, opening new and important orebodies in parts of the district not yet, or insufficiently, prospected. However, the prospecting has been most successful around, or adjacent to, the old lead diggings of nearly a century ago, and the camps that were well known then are still centers of activity. In their order of importance they are: New Diggings, Benton, Mifflin-Livingston, Galena, Linden, Hazel Green, Shullsburg, and Highland.

Jan 8, 1919

By K. Huessener

INTRODUCTION THIS paper attempts a survey of the principles involved in the com¬bustion of blast-furnace gas in boilers and stoves. I do not expect to be able to give much information which is actually new, since the laws and methods of calculation pertaining to this problem are contained in a number of handbooks; but, so far as I am aware, they have nowhere been treated exclusively with reference to this one problem of gas economy. The road which I follow is less that of strictly scientific research than that of the practical engineer, faced by operation problems which require a. quick solution by easily accessible means without a prolonged search in scientific handbooks. For this purpose I give a number of tables and diagrams, as well as the results of many years&apos; practical working experience as combustion engineer, which I trust will prove useful to my readers. HISTORICAL Considering the tremendous efforts made during the last 15 years to increase the efficiency of all kinds of power plants, it is highly surprising that until a comparatively very recent period, progress in the economical combustion of blast-furnace gas has been so slow. The explanation generally put forth, that fuel has been so cheap that it was hardly worth while to bother about this economy, will not hold good, for the greatest trouble was taken to improve the combustion of coal and to reduce the consumption of steam. The most plausible explanation appears to be the general impression, held as an accepted fact, that gas, especially hot, uncleaned, blast-furnace gas, was not a good boiler fuel. Many managers of high repute had tried unsuccessfully to improve the conditions of its use, and the dictum went forth that efficiencies of over 60 per cent., particularly with high loads, were impossible. This was the situation not only in the United States, with very cheap fuel, but also in Europe, where fuel prices are twice and three times as high.

Jan 2, 1916

By Walter Bradley

MINING by hydraulic process of the important gold-bearing gravels of the Sacramento Valley in the basins of the Yuba, Bear and American rivers began in 1853, and continued at an ever-increasing rate for 30 years. In its most active days it reached an annual production of $15,000,000, and averaged $10,000,000 per year over the 30 years. During that period no provisions were made to prevent the debris from being dis-charged into the water courses, and ultimately large quantities of silt, sand and gravel were washed down to the lower valleys; filling channels, causing overflow of agricultural lands and difficulty in maintaining navigable depths in the Sacramento River. Agitation and suits filed because of these damages finally resulted in the injunction decision of Judge L. B. Sawyer,1 in the U.S. Circuit Court, Jan. 23, 1884, which closed down practically all hydraulic mining operations not having means to restrain their debris. In 1893 (approved March 1, 1893), Congress passed the act introduced by Representative Anthony Caminetti, of California, creating the California Debris Com-mission, composed of three officers assigned from the Engineer Corps of the U.S. Army, and since that time it has been legal and possible within the drainage systems of Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers to conduct hydraulic mining of gold-bearing gravels behind dams built under this commission&apos;s permit and supervision. In the watersheds of the Trinity and Klamath rivers, which flow directly to the Pacific Ocean and do not affect navigation or agriculture, operating permits from the California Debris Commission are not required. There is a measure of restriction there, however,. through what is known as the Trinity and Klamath River Fish and Game Dis-trict. Chap. 215, Stat. 1931, in order to secure relatively clear water for the fishing season, provides that between July 15 and October 15 each year there must not be discharged into these rivers debris that will cause a turbidity greater than a content of 50 parts per million in the

Jan 1, 1936

By C. A. Pierce

STUDIES of roof and floor movement are of interest to those actively engaged in mining. This is especially true in the case of an entirely new area where there is no precedent for guidance. The potash deposit being mined is in the southeast corner of New Mexico, about 20 miles east of Carlsbad. The deposit was formed by the land-locked, shallow, Permian Sea that extended through parts of western Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, southeastern Colorado, and eastern New Mexico. The saline deposits vary from 500 to 4000 ft. thick. Neither of the companies operating in this area has delimited its com-mercial ore bodies. As all production so far has been from Federal and State leases, the Department of the Interior and the State of New Mexico have a direct interest in the development and extraction of these ore horizons. The ore is composed of an intimate mechanical mixture of sylvite (potassium chloride) and halite (sodium chloride). It lies generally in a horizontal bed varying from 5 to 12 ft. in thickness, and has a cover of approximately 1000 ft., consisting of about 500 ft. of salt beds and 500 ft, of sediments. The immediate mine roof for several feet is principally salt with some potash and clayey material. The next 500 ft. above, from the standpoint of structure, may be considered rock salt with a few inter-bedded potash members. The upper 500 ft. is of sedimentary (Permian and Triassic) origin and contains several water-bearing formations with flows varying from 10 to 500 gal. per minute. This water intensifies the interest in convergence problems as the ore and surrounding for-mations are water soluble. Potash salt (sylvite) and rock salt (halite) are plastic minerals. Plasticity is defined as a "property of solids by virtue of which they hold their shape permanently under the action of small shearing stresses but are readily deformed, worked, or molded under larger stresses."1

Jan 1, 1938

According to Vorwärts, the German Mining Commission sent to ascertain the damage done to the mines of France says that the work of restoring these mines will furnish work for all the unemployed in Germany for the next 8 years. The commission said the work of reconstruction would have to be clone from. "the ground up," especially in the Departments of Pas de Calias, Courriere, Lens, Lievin, Drocourt, Mourchin, Carvin, and Dourgas, where the destruction was pronounced "terrible." Most of the mines have been "drowned," and in rebuilding new shafts would have to be protected against the inward pressure of water. The Germans declared the work of restoration would not only be one of great difficulty, but that in many cases it was impossible to ascertain the extent of the damage clone to each mine. They also said it was not easy to fix responsibility for the destruction because it was done by nu-merous groups of troops and the records showing where each military unit was located and at what period were not complete or available.

Jan 12, 1919

By V. C. Allen

THE Tri-State Zinc, Inc., Galena, Ill., was confronted with the problem of securing ore from a deposit because the hoisting shaft was several thousand feet from the mill. The orebody is several thousand feet long, averaging 200 ft in width and 60 ft in height and opened up by vertical shafts some 300 ft deep. Mining is by the room-and-pillar method. During the initial operation the ore was loaded by conventional electric 1/2 -yd boom-and-dipper shovels and hauled to the shaft by 8-ton diesel trucks. This underground ore loading and hauling was well adapted to the conditions and productive of low costs per ton. However, with the mill situated as mentioned, a triple handling of all broken rock was necessary: 1-from the stope to the shaft by truck, 2-up the shaft by skip or can into the surface hopper, and 3-by truck from the surface hopper to the crushing plant at the mill. In addition to the repeated handling, serious troubles were encountered during the winter because of freezing in the shaft hopper.

Jan 6, 1951

By B. E. Mix, L. M. Barker

THe present methods of unloading ore and coarse-crushing at the Magna plant of the Utah Copper Co. are the developments of the pas five years. Hand dumping and breaking have given way to the rotary car dump and large gyratory; and the bucket elevators and stationary screens have been replaced by conveyors and shaking screens. The coarse-crushing plant may be broadly divided into two units the primary crushing and the secondary crushing, or primary roll, unit The former was erected in 1923; with the exception of the excavation the construction was carried on by forces of the company. Excavation was started in the middle of March, the first concrete was poured July 16, erection of the steel building started Oct. 30, and the unit was com pleted and operating Dec. 30. The unit has a capacity of over 24,001 tons of ore per day, and cost more than a million dollars. Remodeling of the primary-roll unit extended over a period of years preceding this some of the work having been done as early as 1918. Delivery of Ore from Mine, Yard Storage, and Handling Ori Cars to and from Primary Crushing Plant The ore is transported, in steel cars of 80 tons capacity, from the min&apos; to the mill, where a reserve tonnage of loaded cars is maintained. Malle locomotives, handling trains of 45 cars, or approximately 3600 tons o ore per train, deliver the trains to a storage yard which contains thre tracks—a passing track and two storage tracks. All of this trackage i equipped with an overhead trolley system, so that electric locomotive can be used in yard switching. The storage tracks have a total length of 4500 ft. and provide storag space for 140 cars. The passing track, besides permitting switchin room for locomotives, is used for storage purposes between train arrivals thus giving intermittently a total storage capacity for the yard of approxi mately 200 cars. The amount of ore stored at any one time, howeve

Jan 1, 1926

By C. B. Murray

"OUR experience from time immemorial has been that the furnace sampler and analyst usually find one or two, and sometimes more, points less iron than the Lake Superior shippers, but, fortunately, their contracts are `iron bound&apos;; and, generally speaking, analyses at this end are practically useless, for we are obliged to settle on basis figured out to a half dozen decimals, and, as a rule, without recourse in the event of flagrant discrepancies between the two analysts." The above is an extract from a letter received by the writer of this paper from the President of an iron company, discussing the question of sampling. It so well expresses the opinion of many blast-furnace owners and managers that it seems a suitable text for a discussion concerning the need of uniform methods of sampling. If all railroad cars were loaded the same, if all stock piles were the same shape, and if ore was received regularly each day, the problem of sampling would be comparatively simple. The conditions, however, vary widely at different places, and at the same place from day to day, and it is probably impossible to determine upon any one method of sampling which will apply at all times and in all cases. However, it would seem as though some general principles might be suggested which would tend to overcome these wide differences in samples of the same thing. The sampling of a cargo of iron ore begins at the breast of ore in the mine. The ore is sampled from the mine cars, from the stock piles, and from the railroad cars at the mines. At the lower Lake ports the ore is practically all sampled from the boat, occasionally from railroad cars. At the furnaces, the ore is nearly all sampled from railroad cars and occasionally from stock piles.

Jan 1, 1914

By J. B. Umpleby

PRoduction engineering in 1927 may be characterized by a great. clarification of fundamental conceptions, and many improvements in technique. During the year the profession has received tnarked recogni-tion by the industry and to an extent never before attained has become an integral part of it. History Petroleum production engineering is a new profession. Prior to 1925, when this Institute undertook the work, no forum existed for the open discussion of its technical problems. There was no attempt at a handbook of the subject prior to "Petroleum Production Methods by J. R. Suman, in 1921, and no textbook prior to Petroleum Production Engineering" by L. C. Uren, in 1924. As late as 1926, only six schools and universities offered special courses in petroleum production engineering. Prior to about 1923, engineers engaged by oil companies were used almost exclusively for construction and location work. Two of the leading production engineers in the Mid-Continent field, although with their respective companies more than twelve years, were not definitely assigned to production work until 1924. Both men now head large departments giving almost their entire time to production problems. Because of the newness of the profession, the leading production engineers of today have had their fundamental training in mining, civil, mechanical and electrical courses. Not unlikely this diversified training is in considerable part responsible for the amazing growth of the profession. I believe, however, that recognition is due principally to economic pressure within the industry which has directed attention more and more sharply on costs and efficiency. After all, the justification for the growth and continued development, of the profession is to recover more oil from a given unit of sand at less cost per barrel. In this new profession, it seems to me that greatest progress will result from focusing thought and effort on this single objective, and if I might offer one suggestion to the com-

Jan 1, 1928

By E. M. Elkin, J. H. Schloen

All known methods of treating and recovering the various components of copper refinery slimes are discussed. The slimes treatment processes presently used by five copper refineries are described and flowsheets are given. A bibliography is appended. THE recent increase in anode copper production at the Noranda smelter placed an additional load on the Montreal East plant of Canadian Copper Refiners Limited. The consequent increase in the amount of anode slimes led to a careful consideration of the various methods of slimes treatment. A critical review of these methods is presented here in the belief that it would be of interest to copper refiners. No such review has yet been published, although a number of individual flowsheets have been described. To make the information of greater value, a questionnaire was sent to all copper refineries. While the overall response to the questionnaire was not entirely satisfactory, the foreign refiners gave much detail in their answers and expressed willingness to cooperate further if needed. Although the data below do not cover all refineries, it is thought that examples of all flowsheets currently in use are included. A comparison of these flowsheets should prove of interest. The paper is divided into two parts. One part deals with a discussion of all known methods of treating and recovering the various components of the slimes. The second describes the processes now in use at various copper refineries for the treatment of raw slimes up to the production of Doré bullion. A brief description of the two main electrolytic methods of parting Doré bullion is appended. Since the first commercial application of electrolytic refining of copper by J. B. Elkington in 1865, the treatment of anode mud or slimes has undergone many changes. The object of treating slimes has always been the recovery and separation of precious metals. With the passage of time, increasing attention has been paid to improvement in recovery and quality of byproducts, mainly selenium and tellurium. The original methods of treatment were crude, although relatively direct. For example," the slimes were fused on a dolomitic clay bed in a reverbera-tory furnace; the slag was removed and the resulting metal cupelled to silver and gold. In another process, the dried slimes were oxidized and scorified on the lead bath of a cupelling furnace. Later, these pyrometallurgical methods were modified by sulphuric acid leaching, followed by fusion with niter in a reverb eratory furnace. A preliminary oxidizing roast improved the leaching step. Straight hydro-metallurgy has not found practical application. No matter what method is employed, the result is Dorb metal—a silver-gold alloy, with or without the metals of the platinum group. Characteristics of the Slimes Anode slimes are made up of those components of the anodes which are not soluble in the electrolyte. They contain varying quantities of copper, silver, gold, sulphur, selenium, tellurium, lead, arsenic, antimony, nickel, iron, silica, etc. The color of raw slimes is grayish black and the particle size is —200 mesh. However, Baraboshkin and Gaev (Ref. 1, p. 37), describe light gray colored slimes from the electrolysis of secondary copper which are composed predominantly of sulphates and of basic salts. In anode furnace practice primary and secondary metals are not usually segregated and such slimes do not commonly occur. Copper in the slimes originates to a large extent in the cuprous oxide of the anodes and is therefore dependent on the oxygen content of the latter: Cu2O + H2SO4 + CuSO4 + H2O + Cu [I] Opinions have been expressed that some of the copper is formed by decomposition of cuprous to cupric sulphate Cu2SO4 ? CuSO4 + Cu PI The product of either reaction is very finely divided. Depending on the slimes composition, much of the copper is combined with sulphur, selenium, tellurium, etc. The balance of the copper is in the free metallic state.

Jan 1, 1951