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By AIME AIME

Russell B. Paul, Chairman of the Special Committee on Divisional Relationships, presented the interim report of his Committee which was published in the September, 1945, issue of MINING AND METALLURGY and a copy of which is incorporated in the official minutes of this meeting. The following specific actions were taken by the Board of Directors in relation to the six recommendations in the Summary of the Report as published: (1) Mr. Haider, Chairman of the Petroleum Division, presented the formal request of his Executive Committee that the headquarters of the new Secretary of the Petroleum Division be established in Dallas, Texas. After lengthy discussion in which the point was made that the success of this program would depend upon effective co-operation between the Chairman of the Division, the Secretary of the Petroleum Division, and the Secretary of the Institute, the request was approved. The new secretary will be selected by the Division and will be employed by the Institute in the capacity of an Assistant Secretary. (2) The following item in the report was approved:

Jan 1, 1945

By T. L. Johnston

MUCH has been said and written about deep mine shafts and deep drill holes as man in his search for mineral wealth digs deeper into the earth's crust. Each year some new extra depth is heralded as a record, but with unlimited possibilities of going still deeper. In contrast to "digging deep," "mining high" is limited by the height of the mountains (Mt. Everest being the maximum with its 29,000-ft. elevation) and also by the extent of human endurance. An ex- ample of what might be called near- stratosphere mining in what is probably the highest mine worked by compressed air in the world is seen in a recent project in the Andes mountains of southwestern Bolivia.

Jan 1, 1939

By K. R. Garr, D. Kramer, A. G. Pard

EXPOSURE of steels to a fast-neutron flux results in helium generation by (n,a) reactions. The elements Fe, Ni, Cr, and N are major participants in the (n,a) reaction and helium concentrations of up to 5 x 10"5 atom fraction could accrue in fuel clads after a year of service in proposed fast reactors.' Such concentrations of helium can severely reduce the ductility of alloys at temperatures of reactor service. The phenomenon of helium embrittlement has been studied in austenitic alloys which were irradiated with particles as a rapid means of producing significant helium concentrations.2-5 The pres-ent work is a continuation of those studies and is concerned with helium effects in a ferritic stainless steel. I) EXPERIMENT Small sheet tensile samples with a gage length of 0.50 in. and a cross-section of 0.009 by 0.040 in. in the gage length were punched from cold-rolled type 405 stainless steel. The composition of the steel used in this work is given in Table I. Prior to helium injection, the samples were annealed 24 hr at 760°C which caused complete recrys-tallization with a resulting grain size of 40 u. This treatment rendered the alloy completely ferritic and carbide particles, 0.5 to 2 uin size, were present at a density of 1 x 1011 cm-3, Fig. 1. These carbide particles were probably a mixture of the M7C3 and M4C types.6 Helium was injected into the samples by irradiation with a particles from a cyclotron, which produced uniform concentrations through the center two-thirds of the sample thickness. Details of this procedure were previously described.' The average helium concentration, as measured on a gas-source mass spec- 11) RESULTS A) Tensile Tests. The results of the tensile tests are given in Table I1 where the values shown are averages of two samples. There was no significant effect of helium on either the yield strength or tensile strength at 550" or 650°C but an increase in both is apparent at 750°C. Samples with helium showed a 20 pct loss in total elongation at 650°C which increased to a 55 pct loss at 750°C. The uniform elongation is not affected by helium at 550" or 650°C but shows an increase at 750°C.

Jan 1, 1970

By H. W. Gillett

Unlike most previous Howe lecturers, I had not the good fortune to be associated with Henry Marion Howe, nor to be directly one of his students. Yet, through his writings, he has been my teacher, as he has of all American metallurgists. Instructive as his writings are—I use the present tense because Howe thought so keenly and reasoned so surely, seeing clearly, as if by intuition, what was hazy to lesser minds, that his writings are still vital—it is not those books and papers, nor even the minds he trained in his classes, that were his most outstanding service. It was the spirit of Howe in his approach to the problems of metallurgy, his broad-mindedness and fairness, his recognition of the need for theories and hypotheses to explain metallurgical phenomena, his willingness to use them as servants, as well as his questioning attitude—his refusal to accept them as masters—that comprise his greatest service. This most thoroughly warrants the honor the Institute pays each year to his memory. These traits I so respect and honor in any man that I glory in this opportunity to do reverence to him in whom they were so notably united. Howe's Discussion of a Creep Problem I have often wished that Howe were still with us to turn his keen insight upon the problems of the use of metals at high temperatures, a field much studied but still very hazy. Indeed, 53 years ago, in a paper1 before this Institute, Howe stated a problem closely allied to some that still perplex metallurgists and engineers dealing with the high-temperature field. Howe was intrigued by a report2 from another old master, Robert Henry Thurston, on the behavior of annealed vs. cold-drawn iron wire, and in order to broaden the foundation for metallurgical generalization, Howe made experiments of his own on copper and silver. In these tests by Thurston and by Howe, the wires were rapidly loaded to determine the

Jan 1, 1939

By S. P. Barber, G. W. Cutting, V. Alesse, M. Ciriachi

Just what is happening in the preparation and mineral separation stages are questions frequently asked about most processing plants. It is unusual to find the answers readily available in the operating metallurgical data. Knowledge is nominally available from metallurgical balances about the head ore grade, grade and recovery of the concentrates, and the plant tailings. However, the mechanisms which control grade recovery and losses are seldom monitored in such a way as to permit specific analysis: Thus, when questions about the effectiveness of the process are asked, the answers are based frequently upon intuitive professional judgments and local expertise. Detailed investigations of process functions are extensive in terms of manpower, time, and interference with production. An investigation method in which process operating conditions could be provided in a cost effective manner would assist in local process assessment and control. Such a collection of process operating data is defined as a process audit and the development of the necessary techniques forms the subject of this paper. A typical application to a lead-zinc concentrator highlights both the manner of implementing a process and the plant data made available for local use.

Jan 1, 1980

By E. Ray Webb

A interest to geologists and to mining and petroleum engineers is a laboratory method for determining the dip and strike of sub- surface structures, as well as the direction of fault planes traversing them. The information is derived by making use of the magnetic properties of borehole cores which must show visible representations of bedding or fault planes. Complete knowledge of these factors aids greatly in the successful exploitation of both ore and petroleum deposits.

Jan 1, 1940

By A. V. Henry, W. Harry Vaughan

THE kaolins of the southeastern United States were known to civilization as early as the latter part of the eighteenth century-and yet the [ ] commercial history of Georgia kaolins may be said to begin in the year 1900. The U. S. Bureau of Mines reported for that year a production of 6885 tons of "miscellaneous" clays in Georgia. A comparison of these figures with those of 1934, when the production rose to 284,556 tons (65 per cent of the domestic production), indicates the growing economic and technologic importance of this raw material. Fig. 1 clearly shows that a part of the increase is due to a normal growth in the use of kaolinitic clays and a part is due to replacement of clays formerly imported. Occurrence Georgia kaolin occurs in an irregular belt extending diagonally across the middle of the state, a distance of approximately 225 miles. This belt

Jan 1, 1937

By S. J. Hruska

Rate expressions for the formation of two-and three-dimensional nuclei on foreign substrates are developed, taking into account previously neglected contributions to the standard Gibbs free energy of formation of critical nuclei. The temperature dependence of critical super saturation data predicted using these expressions is in accord with data for cadmium on copper and sodium on CsCl. EXPERIMENTAL data on the heterogeneous nuclea-tion of metal crystals from the vapor phase1&apos;2 exhibit the temperature dependence predicted by a nucleation rate equation derived by Pound et al.3 In their treatment, the critical nuclei are visualized according to the Volmer4 model as cap-shaped (three-dimensional). Accordingly, it seems desirable to compare these data with a nucleation rate equation which is derived on the assumption of disk-shaped (two dimensional) nuclei. Further, Lothe and Pound5 have recently shown that the standard Gibbs free energy of formation of these critical nuclei contains a contribution which has heretofore been neglected. Thus it is necessary to re-examine these nucleation data using a rate equation which contains this contribution. The van&apos;t Hoff isotherm relates n(i), the concentration of nuclei of critical size i (i = number of atoms), to nil), the concentration of adsorbed single atoms: where standard Gibbs free energy of formation of critical nuclei given by is temperature insensitive and is the bulk free energy change/volume of transformed material], T = substrate temperature and k = Boltzmann&apos;s constant. Previously,3 was determined by considering only the contributions of bulk and surface free energies in transforming i atoms from the population nil) to a cluster of i atoms. It has been shown5 that this procedure does not take into account the free energy contribution arising from the multiplicity of sites, q, where the clusters can be situated. If this contribution, -kT In q/n(l),is added to iG3 [Note that this increases n(i) by a factor q/n(l).] Since the above does not affect the remaining terms in the rate expression of Pound et al., the details are referred to their paper. The resulting nucleation rate is If the experimental AGV and T values at some common value of are employed, a plot of vs T(ln C3/l + In p&apos;) should yield a straight line of slope k/B<p and intercept . The corresponding plots for / = 1 nucleus per sq cm sec and C3 = 1018 are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 for cadmium on copper1 and sodium on CsCl2 and the values of obtained therefrom are entered in Table I. It is apparent that the data yield reasonable straight lines with about the same scatter as found using the equation of Pound et al. When the configuration of minimum free energy for a nucleus is a circular monatomic layer, the standard free energy of formation is

Jan 1, 1963

By H. C. Johnson, J. K. Elliott

One of the primary requirements for successful operation of an enriched gas-drive project is to control the composition of injection gas. This can become a serious and difficult problem, particularly in cases where the enrichment material is being furnished from a number of field -produced gas streams. It is possible to effect control of the injection gas composition through frequent or continuous sampling; however, this can be extremely costly and, in many cases, impractical due to laboratory requirements of time. Another alternative would be to provide a calculation technique which would be flexible and sufficiently accurate to predict composition of the liquid and gas streams of interest at any point in the system. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a technique that was used successfully on an operating enriched gas-drive project for developing information which could be used for controlling composition of the injected gas. FIELD OPERATIONS The particular field (hereafter called Example field) in the example operation being discussed is composed of four oil reservoirs (A. B, C and E) and one gas condensate reservoir (D). Casinghead gas from the oil reservoirs and gas from the gas condensate reservoir are gathered through a field gathering system as shown in Fig. I for injection into Reservoir C. The gas mixture which is recovered from the five reservoirs for injection purposes is composed of gases liberated in 19 individual separators, each operating at a separate temperature and pressure. PROPOSED CALCULATION TECHNIQUE It is well known that vapor-liquid equilibrium calculations in general use throughout the petroleum industry can be used to predict reliably the phase behavior of hydrocarbon mixtures, particularly at pressures less than 1,000 psig. It is then a simple matter to account for the material on a ComPonent basis by m&apos;&apos;ing flash and material balance calculations at each separation point in a hydrocarbon system. Accordingly, it was proposed to use vapor-liquid equilibrium and material balance cal- culations with a medium-sized electronic digital computer as a basis for developing a control procedure for use in controlling injection gas composition in the enriched gas-drive project. Although the approach is a simple one, the numerous vapor-liquid equilibrium calculations involved make the problem laborious; in this particular case, it would have been impractical to make sutficiently complete analysis without the aid of digital computing equipment. SAMPLING AND VERIFICATION OF CALCULATION PROCEDURE To obtain representative gas and liquid stream samples and to provide a quantitative measure of overall system Performance for comDarative purpLses, a thorough test of the field and plant system was conducted in the summer of 1957. Oil production at each battery was sta-

By Mark R. Lamb

THE various methods of treating pulp in air-agitation tanks offer problems for experiment and study which are fascinating as well as practical. The usual method heretofore has been to fill each tank in turn, agitate the mixture the required period and then discharge the treated pulp into a storage-tank, from which it. is drawn to the filter as required. A later method is to run the pulp from the tube-mill, classifier, thickener, or settler into the first of a set of tanks, and thence continuously or in series through the remaining tanks, finally drawing off the pulp to a continuous filter, or to a pulp-storage tank if the filter is of the intermittent type. It is this method which I propose to discuss here in a preliminary way, with the idea of going exhaustively into the examination of the results of a series of experiments in a later paper. It may be of interest to note that the design of a cyanide-plant has recently been completed in which the estimated cost of the agitation-tanks, storage-tanks, and pumps was 30 per cent higher for the charge-agitation arrangement than for the series plan. The first question in studying the series method is, "What is the actual period of treatment undergone by the pulp?? One first supposes that by chance some of the pulp may get through with little or no treatment, while other portions may stay in the tanks a needlessly long period. The former is not probable or even possible, and the latter is, practically, true to only a limited extent. The greater the number of tanks the greater is the percentage of chance that all the pulp will be treated equally. Without going into the mathematical analysis of the problem (which is of little value, since it is based on problematical premises), its important terms may be clearly grasped by thinking of, or " visualizing," the conditions when,

Jan 1, 1910

APRIL 10-Officially, spring comes to the Great Lakes on March 21 as it does elsewhere in the country but in the Superior district continued snow and freezing until late in March have caused citizens in Duluth to place their bets on April 15 for the first ore vessels if the ice breakup is left to Mother Nature. North and west of Duluth and near the eastern end of the Mesabilies the little town of Aurora, population 1100. As the little v-nosed snowplow, pride of the community, shuttled back and forth clearing Aurora&apos;s few sidewalks, the crowd in Bradich&apos;s Cafe were more interested in the impending high school state championship basketball tournament in Minneapolis than in the outcome of Erie Mining Company&apos;s petition for water rights for their proposed 10 million ton taconite concentrating plant. Such a plant would employ 4500 workmen, and at the prevailing ratio of 10 people for every mine worker in Minnesota, this would mean a 45,000 increase in population for Aurora and the vicinity in the next few years. Downstate fishermen are alarmed at the flurry of activity by the mining companies in pushing plans for large scale recovery of iron from taconite. Inconvenience to these gentlemen will be inconsequential when compared with the vast increase in payrolls for range communities. Oliver is pushing the construction of a fine ore agglomeration plant at Virginia which will give them valuable experience for projected taconite processing. Oglebay, Norton & Co. is ready to go at Beaver Bay, north of Duluth, as the right of way for a railroad from Babitt to Beaver Bay is secured as well as permission to dispose of tailing into Lake Superior at the site of the proposed concentrating plant. This company is also doing research in agglomeration at Ashland, Ky., in cooperation with other interests. The financing is yet to be worked out. Of the four possibilities for agglomerating taconite concentrate-sintering, pellitizing, nodulizing and briquetting-the prospects for pelletizing appear the most favorable., It seems likely that 60 cents per ton can be saved by this process over sintering because only 1 to 2 pct of coal is required as compared with 7 pct for sintering. One reason for the lower coal consumption is that the chemical transition of magnetite to hematite which transpires in the pelletizing process is exothermic.

Jan 5, 1950

By AIME AIME

MONDAY, Feb. 21, evokes memories of the Silver Corridor at the Waldorf to be recalled and reflected upon for time to come when thoughts drift to the Annual Meeting of 1944. Crowded though it was, on occasion there lurked in the mind&apos;s eye a vision of what might have been had the 2886 persons who put in an appearance at one time or another milled around in the lobby of 29 West 39th Street. Some confusion resulted from difficulty in locating meeting rooms, but for the most part everyone found what he wanted. The usual bulletin board of members registered was missing this year and rumor has it that tile Waldorf didn&apos;t approve. Registration broke all previous records with many a busy engineer realizing that the program had something to offer that would be of use in his particular job. It might be noted here that "Arpad" co-operated nicely, previewing spring days on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday; Tuesday was a bit damp.

Jan 1, 1944

By AIME AIME

MINERALS and mineral resources are recognized as one of the things that nations are prone to quarrel about. The territory that was arbitrarily incorporated into the Polish Republic after the World War produces a variety of essential minerals on a substantial scale. The accompanying table has been compiled to give some idea of the relative importance of this production. Poland, before the recent war started, had an area of 150,000 sq.mi., just a little larger than the State of Montana. Its population was 32,000,000, equal to that of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Though not a highly industrialized country it nevertheless has important mines, steel plants, petroleum refineries, and sundry metal-fabricating manufactories. Coal, petroleum, iron and steel, zinc, lead, pyrite, potash, and salt are produced in excess of the country&apos;s domestic consumption. It has no appreciable production of copper, chromium, tungsten, nickel, tin, mercury, manganese, aluminum, magnesite, fluorspar, or graphite.

Jan 1, 1939

By AIME AIME

WHETHER by the Mohawk Trail, Sound steamer, air plane, railroad or any other route or mode of locomotion, all roads will lead to Boston the week of National Metal Congress, Sept. 21-25. The Institute of Metals and Iron and Steel divisions of the Institute are then to meet jointly at the Hotel Statler, and the American Society for Steel Treating, the American Welding Society, the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Iron and Steel Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers present carefully planned programs at their respective sessions. The National Metal Exposition will be held on Commonwealth Pier.

Jan 1, 1931

By Amitava Gangulee, Michael B. Bever

The effects of changes in short-range order on some thermodynamic, electrical, and mechanical properties of the silver-rich Ag-Mg solid solutions have been investigated. The heats of formation at 273°K of several alloys after two different thermal treatments were measured by liquid metal solution calorimetry. Their electrical resistivities were measured at temperatures ranging from 4° to 773°k. Tensile tests and microhard-ness measurements were carried out at room temperature. An effective short-range order parameter and an effective interaction energy are defined. The measured changes in the properties are interpreted in terms of these quantities. The short-range order parameter is evaluated separately from calorimetric and X-ray data; the results are in fair agreement. Increasing short-range order lowers the resistivity of- the silver-rich Ag-Mg alloys but does not measurably affect the temperature dependence of the resistivity. Short-range order increases the yield stress of these alloys but does not affect the ultimate tensile stress. Changes in the effective short-range order parameter independently obtained from measured changes in the heat of formation, resistivity, and yield stress are in fair agreement. THE thermodynamic, electrical, and mechanical properties of solid solutions have been investigated as functions of composition in many alloy systems, but the effects of configurational variables, such as short-range or long-range order, on these properties have received much less attention. The silver-rich terminal solid solutions in the system Ag-Mg are well-suited for the investigation of the effects of order. The composition of these solid solutions may be varied over a range extending to about 27 at. pct Mg.1 Appreciable short-range ordering is likely to take place in these solid solutions; the degree of short-range order can be varied by suitable thermal treatments. In the alloy Ag3Mg long-range ordering is possible.2 This paper is primarily concerned with the effects of short-range order on some thermodynamic, electrical, and mechanical properties of the silver-rich Ag-Mg solid solutions.-The long-range ordering transition is the subject of a concurrent paper.3 1) EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES 1.1) Preparation of Specimens. Ag-Mg alloys containing up to 26.4 at. pct Mg were prepared by melting 99.99 pct pure Ag (obtained from Baker Chemical Co.) and 99.99 pct pure Mg (obtained from Eastman Chemi- cal Co. or Johnson Mathey & Co.) in graphite crucibles under molten potassium chloride. The solidified ingots were homogenized at 823°K for 10 days in evacuated Vycor capsules. A surface layer 6 in. thick was then removed by machining. The ingots were swaged into rods (2.5 mm diam) which were drawn into wires (1.0 mm diam). The wire specimens were annealed at 773°K for 24 hr in vacuum and either quenched into iced brine or cooled to room temperature over a period of 15 days. The average grain diameter (obtained from the linear intercepts) was about 0.1 mm. 1.2) Calorimetry. The heats of formation of the alloys were measured in a tin solution calorimeter as the difference in the heat effects of alternate additions of samples of an alloy and the mechanical mixture of its component elements. The additions were made from 273°K to the bath at about 623°K. The heat effect on addition of the alloys was approximately 5.5 kcal per g-atom. The procedure and the method of calculation have been described.4 1.3) X-Ray Diffraction. Short-range order parameters of two alloys were calculated from diffuse scattering intensities,&apos; obtained with briquettes made from powdered specimens. A GE-XRD 5 diffractometer with filtered copper radiation was used. The absolute intensities were based on calibrations with paraffin. 1.4) Resistivity Measurements. The electrical resistivities were measured by a potentiometric method in which the potential drop across the specimen was compared with that across a standard resistance. For measurements below room temperature, the specimens were immersed in liquid helium (4°K), liquid nitrogen (78°K), dry ice and trichloroethylene (195°K), or ice and water (273°K). Measurements above room temperature were made on specimens held in a furnace under helium or in vacuum. The resistivity measurements were reproducible to ±0.5 pct or less. 1.5) Mechanical Tests. Tensile tests were carried out at room temperature with a Tinius-Olsen XY elec-tromatic Universal testing machine. Wire specimens (nominal gage length 1 in.) were used. The strain was measured with an extensometer, which had a sensitivity of 4 x 10-5; the strain rate was 10-3 min-1. Microhard-ness measurements were made with a square-pyramid indenter and a 100-g load.11 2) RESULTS AND DISCUSSION All measurements were made on two parallel sets of specimens, one quenched and the other slowly cooled from 773°K. The reported values are the averages of at least three measurements. In the range of magnesium concentration substantially below that of the composition Ag3Mg, quenched alloys have less short-range order than slowly cooled alloys. As the magnesium concentration approaches that of Ag3Mg, slow cooling develops long-range order. Quenching sup-

Jan 1, 1969

By William H. Mount

St. Joe Minerals Corp. has a long operating history of utilizing rubber-tired, trackless mining equipment in its Southeast Missouri Lead Belt underground mines. The company&apos;s first completely trackless mine, Hayden Creek, was opened in 1952, employing rubber-tired drill jumbos, electric shuttle cars, and articulated diesel trucks. The trucks were comprised of a conventional scraper tractor unit matched with a rear-dump rock wagon. These machines featured the first true earthmover tires to be used underground by St. Joe. The articulated truck concept proved to be very successful, and constitutes an increasing portion of the underground haulage today. St. Joe&apos;s second completely trackless mine, the Indian Creek property, was opened in 1954; conventional 9.1-t (10-st) rear dumps were used for haulage. Main haul roads were designed to be wide and fairly level to accommodate speeds of 32-40 km/h (20-25 mph).

Jan 4, 1976

By K. BRUCE DAVIDSON

-The North Central Texas area includes the following counties in Railroad Commission of Texas District 7-B: Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Coryell, Eastland, Erath, Fisher, Hamilton, Haskell, Hood, Jones, Lampasas, Mills, Nolan, Palo Pinto, Parker, S

Jan 1, 1946

By Robert K. Steunenberg, Irving Johnson, James B. Knighton

The activity coefficient of plutonium in liquid magnesium, over the temperature range 650° to 800°C, was obtained from measurements of the distribution of plutoninm between a 50 mole pct MgC12-30 mole pct NaCl-20 mole pct KC1 molten-salt mixture and liquid Zn-Mg alloys. For dilute solutions (0.08 at. pct Pu) the activity coefficient of plutonium was found to vary from 10.1 at 650°C to 12.2 at 800°C. The activity coefficients of plutonium in dilute liquid solutions of plutonium in uranium, silver, lanthanum. cerium, and calcium were estimated to be. The distribution data indicate a value of about 0.1 at 800°C for the activity coefficient of PuCl3 dissolved in the above ternary salt mixture. LIQUID magnesium and several liquid alloys of magnesium with metals such as zinc and cadmium have been shown to be useful solvents in pyrochemical processes for the recovery of uranium and plutonium from discharged nuclear fuels,&apos; and for the separation of transuranium elements.&apos; The present study was undertaken to determine the activity coefficient of plutonium in liquid Pu-Mg alloys in support of process-development work. The activity coefficient of plutonium in liquid magnesium was determined from experimental data on the distribution of plutonium between a liquid ternary MgC12-NaC1-KC1 salt mixture and various liquid Zn-Mg alloys. The distribution data were used to calculate the ratio of the activity coefficients of plutonium in liquid zinc and in liquid magnesium. The activity coefficient of plutonium in liquid magnesium was then computed from the known activity coefficient of plutonium in liquid zinc. It was not necessary to know the thermodynamic properties of the molten-salt system explicitly. The major features of the Pu-Mg system have been reported by Schonfeld.3 At the temperatures of interest in the present study, i.e., above about 600°C, the phase diagram indicates the existence of a wide liquid-miscibility gap, with the plutonium-rich liquid containing about 8 at. pct Mg and the magnesium-rich liquid containing about 10 at. pct Pu at the intersection with the solidus regions. Additional data on the compositions of the two equilibrium liquid phases obtained in this laboratory4 have defined the miscibility gap up to the consolute temperature (at about 1040°C). EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE AND RESULTS Materials. The 50 mole pct MgC12-30 mole pct NaC1-20 mole pct KC1 salt mixture was prepared by melting the required proportions of reagent-grade NaCl and KC1 with anhydrous MgC12. The molten salt was then purified by contacting it with liquid Cd-30 wt pct Mg alloy (at 450°C) to reduce oxidizing impurities, followed by filtration through a stainless-steel frit (pore size, 65 µ) to remove solid MgO formed during the reduction. The purity specifications of the zinc, magnesium, and plutonium were 99.999, 99.8, and 99.85 pct, respectively. Apparatus. The liquid salt and metal were contained in a tantalum crucible inside a graphite secondary vessel. The crucible assembly was located inside a resistance-heated stainless-steel furnace tube. The furnace tube was closed by means of a stainless-steel cover, which was attached by bolts, with a neoprene O-ring serving as a gas-tight seal. The top of the furnace tube was water-cooled to protect the O-ring. The furnace-tube cover was provided with a tantalum thermowell, a tantalum stirrer, and a port through which sampling tubes could be inserted and materials could be added to the melt without admitting air to the furnace tube. Vacuum and an argon atmosphere were available through a side-arm on the furnace tube. The furnace temperature was regulated by a proportional controller that was actuated by a chromel-alumel thermocouple between the furnace tube and the heating elements of the furnace. The melt temperature was measured by means of a chromel-alumel thermocouple in the tantalum thermowell. The accuracy of temperature measurement was ±3°C. The salt and metal phases were intermixed by a motor-driven tantalum paddle positioned at the liquid interface. The tantalum crucible was provided with four baffles to increase the turbulence. The sampling tubes consisted of 1/4-in.-OD tantalum tubing that terminated in a tantalum frit (Kawecki Chemical Co.; average pore size, 30 µ). Procedure. The zinc, magnesium, plutonium, and salt were charged to the tantalum crucible; then the system was evacuated and filled with argon. The melt was brought to the desired temperature, and agitated for 1 to 2 hr. After allowing the salt and metal to separate, both phases were sampled. Filtered samples were obtained by immersing the end of the sampling tube in the liquid and increasing the argon pressure sufficiently to force the liquid salt or metal through the frit into the tantalum tube. The sample was then partially withdrawn into the cooler portion of the furnace tube and permitted to solidify before being removed. The temperature sequence for sampling at each magnesium concentration was 800°, 700°, 600°, 650°, and 750°C. The composition of the liquid-metal phase was varied by incremental additions of magnesium in a series of experiments at low magnesium

Jan 1, 1967

Executive Committee, Board of Directors Augustus B Kinzel, Chairman, J L Glllson, Vice-Chairman, A W Thornton, Howard C Pyle, Grover J Holt Finance Committee, Board of Directors Andrew Fletcher, Chairman, J S Vanick, Gall F Moulton Investments Gail F Moulton, &apos;60, Chairman, Henry Krumb, &apos;59, J Loveloy, &apos;61, C R Dodson, ex off as Treasurer, Andrew Fletcher, ex off as Chairman, Finance Com¬mittee Endowment Andrew Fletcher, Chairman, N G Alford, H DeWitt Smith, W J Coulter, J V N Dorr, R B Gilmore, J B Haffner, O H Johnson, D H McLaughlin, J R McMillan, L F Reinartz, C E Weed, Wilfred Sykes, J R Suman Honorary Memberships H DeWitt Smith, &apos;59, Chairman, C E Reistle, Jr, &apos;59, Grover J Holt, &apos;59, L F Reinartz, &apos;59, M L Haider, &apos;60, D H McLaughlin, &apos;61, John M Lovejoy, &apos;62, Augustus B Kinzel, ex off as President

Jan 1, 1958

By George W. Pawel

OWING largely to its value as a toughener and strengthener of steel for both industrial and military purposes, nickel is playing, an important role in the current war. It is fine of the metals in which the Allies enjoy a definite edge over the Axis nations and this time there is no place to which the Germans may send another submarine "Deutsehland" and expect to pick up a cargo of nickel to replenish their exhausted supplies. Total world nickel production thanks almost entirely to the expanded operation of the International Nickel Co. of Canada at Sudbury must now be at the rate of around 175,000 tons a year scarcely more than 5 per cent of which is accounted for by Germany, Italy and Japan. This represents more than four times the world output at the end of the first World War.

Jan 1, 1943