Search Documents

By James F. Kemp

Jan 1, 1914

By AIME AIME

BESIDES commanding increasing importance as an alloying element in combination with ferrous and other nonferrous metals, the variety of uses for pure nickel continues to widen. For coinage it is growing in popularity. These coins have been minted for 27 countries in 72 issues representing 69 denominations. Approximately 3,000,000,000 pieces have been struck, the aggregate weight, of which amounts to nearly 14,000 tons. . Danzig, Iraq and Japan are the most recent governments to adopt, pure nickel coinage. France is adding the denomination of five francs to its other nickel currency; they replace silver pieces. Germany is now minting a new issue of one Reichsmark coins of pure nickel. The Japanese program for 1933 called for the issue of 35,000,000 10-sen pieces and 30,000,000 5-sen pieces. In radio tube manufacture the consumption of pure nickel was approximately twice that of 1932. During 1.933 the nickel plating process by which bright deposits may be plated

Jan 1, 1934

By AIME AIME

THE 123d meeting of the Institute was held in New York Feb. 14 to 17, 1921. The total registration was 1199, as compared with 1138 at the New York meeting in 1920. The weather was a strange and welcome contrast to that of last year, when New York was buried under six feet of snow as the result of the fiercest blizzard in its history. This year there was no snow, and the weather was said to be much more like an Arizona winter than New York. A complete program of the Technical Sessions is on p. 9. The discussions of the papers presented will be published in pamphlet form as soon as possible and will be noted in MINING AND METALLURGY in the usual way.

Jan 1, 1921

By H. C., Simpson

MANY metals by virtue of their place of occurrence as ore, and their uses are travelers! Iron and steel, for instance, is one of the greatest of travelers in the form of ships and the romance of iron in this respect is only just beginning to be superseded by the stories which can be told of the travels of aluminum and its alloys, used in the building of airplanes. Tin is a traveler from the Straits Settlements to this country and Europe, for use in the canning industry; afterward traveling all over the civilized world as a part of the container for preserved foods. Silver is somewhat of an aristocrat, when its uses are measured against those of the baser metals. From earliest times it has been used for adornment (first perhaps o4 the person and later for the embellishment of weapons and' buildings), for the making of fine ar¬ticles used in the household, and as money. While its uses have been widened by the discoveries in chemistry, electricity and other sciences, its early uses are still much in evidence in our modern life.

Jan 1, 1928

By Herman Poole

WHEN finely divided ferrous sulphide, FeS, is roasted at a moderate, carefully regulated temperature, the iron and sulphur are oxidized, the first products being probably ferrous oxide and sulphurous acid. In the presence of oxygen of the air the ferrous oxide soon becomes ferric oxide and in the presence of oxygen and the ferric oxide the sulphurous acid oxidizes to sulphuric acid. These facts are well known, having been established by Plattner many years ago. As a further reaction, some of the sulphuric acid parts with a portion of its oxygen to oxidize more ferrous oxide to ferric oxide, and a portion of it escapes uncombined or else unites with the iron oxides to form sulphates. Ferrous sulphate is usually soon oxidized to ferric sulphate and if the heat becomes sufficient this is then decomposed into sulphuric acid and ferric oxide. As a result of these reactions a mass of more or less pure ferric oxide is formed which is generally made porous by the escaping gases and, if rabbled properly, practically all the sulphur is expelled. If ferric sulphide or ordinary pyrites, FeS2, is roasted, a portion of the sulphur sublimes and usually burns to form sulphurous or sulphuric acid, although at times and under favorable conditions some of the sulphur is driven off uncombined and can be collected as such. Under ordinary methods of roasting, however, only a small portion escapes combustion. By the combustion of the sulphur an increase of heat is de¬veloped and, as a consequence, the reactions mentioned take place more rapidly and actively-more sulphuric acid is formed and the oxidation is more complete-nearly all the iron being left as ferric oxide with practically no sulphate or ferrous oxide. When the iron sulphide is in lumps the roasting proceeds generally as with fines, but with some changes due to mass. The

Sep 1, 1905

By Jasper L. Stuckey

PYROPHYLLITE, first identified as soapstone,' later as agalmatolite,2 and finally as pyrophyl-lite, has been known to occur in North Carolina for more than 130 years and has been produced intermittently in commercial amounts for the past 100 years. Pyrophyllite mining, however, has become a major industry in North Carolina only during the past 25 years. North Carolina and California are the chief producing states. Current annual production averages 125,000 tons, of which slightly more than 90 pct comes from North Carolina. Distribution and Geologic Setting: All known pyrophyllite deposits in North Carolina are associated with rocks of the Carolina Slate Belt,' which is composed of a vast series of metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary materials, occurring as two zones extending in a northeast-southwest direction across the state. The larger of these zones, lying in the central Piedmont region, varies from 8 to 50 miles wide. The smaller zone lies along the eastern edge of the Piedmont region and is partly covered by coastal plain sediments. The rocks in both zones consist of a great volcanic-sedimentary series, composed of air-laid and water-laid tuffs and breccias, lava flows, and slates. On the basis of composition, they may be classed into three groups: 1) tuffs, breccias, and lava flows of acid or rhyolitic composition; 2) tuffs, breccias, and lava flows of a basic or andesitic composition; and 3) water-laid slates composed of fine grained materials derived chiefly from the acid tuffs and breccias and

Jan 1, 1959

By AIME AIME

T HE 133rd meeting of the A. I. M. E., opening in New York on Feb. 15, promises to be as successful technically and socially as any in the past. The papers submitted for the various technical sessions are unusually excellent and insure something of interest to every group. Tentative programs have already been issued, and a concise resume of the various sessions, arranged chronologically, appears on page 48. Among the many interesting technical sessions arranged, attention is directed to those of the Petroleum Division, embracing the Symposium on Production that has come to be an annual feature, and new ones on refining practice, transportation and economics. The Institute of Metals program is similarly comprehensive. It includes 15 papers, 8 on copper, 4 on aluminum and its alloys, and one each on magnesium, lead, and fatigue of metals. The Coal Committee offers as a leading contribution its report, prepared under the direction of H. N. Eavenson, giving a new analysis of the capacity of the mines and a comparison of coal with other industries. This will be supplemented by a number of other papers of especial interest to operating men, among which are "Data on Use of Loading Machines in Bituminous Mines," by Graham Bright; "Evaluation of Coal," by R. H. Sweetser; "Selection of Coals for the Manufacture of Coke," by H. J. Rose; and "Relation of Origin and State of Carbonization of Coal to Problems of Low Temperature Carbonization," by S. W. Parr. The Iron and Steel Committee has scheduled seven papers, and there will be a special session on open-hearth practice, in which will be presented the first results of the two conferences, held by the sub- committee at Pittsburgh and Cleveland. A symposium on molding sands will be a special feature of the session on non-metallics.

Jan 1, 1926

By Francis Church Lincoln

I. SITUATION AND SURROUNDINGS. THE Promontorio mine is situated at the northern end of the Sierra San Francisco de Coneto, in the town of Promontorio, Partido of El Oro, State of Durango, Mexico. As shown in the sketch-map, Fig. 1, the nearest railroad station is Chinacates on the Mexican International Railroad, 82 miles north of the city of Durango. The mine is 16 miles north of the station by air-line. It is reached by means of a good wagon-road which first crosses the Guatimapé Plain, passing the ranches of San Antonio and San Julian, to Estacion-a distance of about 15.5 miles-and then entering the mountains crosses the Sierra to Promontorio-a further distance of 11.5 miles¬making in all a distance of 27 miles by road from railroad to mine. Promontorio is just beyond the summit of the range, at an elevation of about 8,000 ft. above sea-level, or 1,350 ft. above the Chinacates station. The Castillo de San Francisco, the highest peak in the Sierra, has an altitude of 10,000 ft., and the Promontorio road crosses the summit of the ridge at an elevation of 9,000 ft. by a pass just below this peak known as the Puerto del Almagre. The Promontorio mill is situated at Santa Ives, 2 miles by tram or 3 miles by wagon-road to the north of Promontorio and about 600 ft. lower. The Sierra San Francisco de Coneto decreases in height towards the north and west till it comes to an end at the Melchor Arroyo on the ranches of Melchor and Ramos. Beyond this arroyo another range, the Sierra de la Candela, begins. In the vicinity of the Promontorio mine the hills are very rugged and the surface is furrowed by ravines which contain running streams during the rainy season-July, August and

Jan 1, 1908

By H. O. Hofman

At the Lake Superior meeting, September, 1904, Messrs. A. Gibb and R. C. Philp presented a paper entitled " The Constitution of Mattes Produced in Copper-Smelting,"' in which they concluded that ferrous and cuprous sulphides formed the chemical compound, 5 Cu2S, FeS. They arrived at this inference from the observed fact that a matte containing Cu,S, 90.4, and FcS, 9.6 per cent. (or, in round figures, Cu2S, 90, and FeS, 10 per cent.), did not contain any metallic copper, while one with more than 10 per cent. of FeS readily dissolved copper, and with less than this amount retained copper in mechanical suspension. Although they determined the melting-points of five mattes containing from 32.6 to 80.1 per cent. of copper, they did not draw a freezing-point curve, as the necessary apparatus was not available. A microscopical examination of 11 polished samples gave them a grayish-black field of very uniform appearance, except that five of the specimens showed the presence of metallic copper. The object of the present investigation was to supplement the above paper by drawing the freezing-point curve of the ferrous sulphide-cuprous sulphide series, and to see how the constitution could be further revealed by microscopical work. The results obtained lead to conclusions very different from those of Gibb and Philp. While their paper bears the date 1904, it was published only in 1906.2 In the meantime, Bolles3 had presented his paper, " The Concentration of Gold and Silver in Iron-Bottoms." The raw material which formed the basis of the research was a matte containing Fe, 61.68, and Cu, 11.20

Jan 1, 1908

By AIME AIME

THE John Fritz Medal Board of Award, at its annual meeting on Jan. 21, 1921, awarded its gold medal and diploma to Sir Robert Hadfield for the invention of manganese steel. On June 1, announcement was made that the Board of Award had awarded its gold medal and diploma to Charles Prosper Eughe Schneider for "achievement in metallurgy of iron and steel; for development of ordnance, especially the 75-mm. gun, and for notable patriotic contribution ' to the winning of the war." The award to Sir Robert Hadfield is for the year 1921; the award to Mr. Schneider is for 1922. The latter was made at this time in order that the medal might be presented by the group of American engineers now visiting England and France.*

Jan 1, 1921

By JO. E. SHERID

THE Dawson coal-mines are owned and operated by the Stag Canon Fuel Co., of which Dr. James Douglas is President and E. L. Carpenter general manager. The property is situated in Colfax county, N. M., and the openings now in operation are in townships 28 and 29 N. R. 20 E., and township 28 N. R. 21 E., shown in Fig. 1. The mines are part of the southern end of the Raton coal-field, which extends north into Colorado and embraces many coal-camps of the Trinidad section. II. GEOLOGY. Geologically, the coal-measures, commonly known as the Laranmie series of the Cretaceous system, have a thickness of about 800 ft. in the vicinity of Dawson. The coal makes an excellent coke, and, according to some authorities, its coking properties are clue to the action of intruded sheets and sills of igneous rock, the sheets occasionally thickening into masses resembling laccoliths, at such places making nearer approach to the coal and sometimes producing small areas of natural coke. There are but few dikes through¬out the entire southern portion of the field and little or no faulting along the dikes. In some parts of this great coal-field the intrusive sheets are far removed in the green shales below the coal-measures, and are so much altered as to be difficult of identification. There is but little disturbance of the strata through¬out the Raton coal-field in as far as it extends into New Mexico. There are two workable seams in the coal-measures, and two or three smaller coal-seams, ranging from 1 to 2.5 ft. in thick-

Jun 1, 1909

By Henry M. Howe

(Cleveland Meeting, October, 1912.) Manuscript received Aug. 20, 1912. PROFESSOR RUFF'S most illuminating paper' describing his extremely valuable investigation of the carbon-iron equilibrium diagram assigns definite temperatures to certain very important lines in the diagram, viz.: the eutectic temperature EB (Fig. 1) and the " near-eutectic " temperature E'B', but without indicating clearly enough the reasoning which warrants these assignments. These temperatures are of such primary importance that it is well to indicate the apparent gaps in the reasoning, in the hope that they may be filled in. In his diagram, Fig. 1, the point X and the lines B'D'HI represent the experimental results reached by Ruff and Goecke; 2 AB, AEB, and SE represent the liquidus, the solidus, and the solubility of the carbon in solid austenite in the absence of graphite according to Gutowsky,3 AB being also in accordance with Spiecker's data;4 ,S'E' the solubility of carbon in solid austenite in the presence of graphite according to Ruer and Iljin; 5 GS the line A3 after Goerens and Meyer;6 I and EBC the true eutectic line as inferred by Prof. Ruff from Gutowsky's data. B'D' is the carbon content found in cast-iron which had apparently saturated itself with carbon in the presence of the graphite of the enclosing graphite crucibles in which the determinations were made. From its straightness and its sharp inflection near 6.67 per cent. of carbon, the carbon content of * Professor of Metallurgy in Columbia University. 1 Metallurgie, vol. viii., pp. 456 to 464 and 497 to 508 (1911). 2 Idem, vol. viii., pp. 417 to 421 (1911). 3 Idem, vol. vi., pp. 731 to 743 (1909). 4 Idem, vol. vi., p. 524 (Wüst) (1909). 5 Idem, vol. viii., pp. 97 to 101 (1911). 6 Idem, vol. vii., pp. 307 to 312 (1910).

Nov 1, 1912

New York State Museum, Albany, N. Y. D H. Newland, State Geologist. A complete list of publications or the latest lists of available publications will be sent upon application. A series of Bulletins on The Mining and Quarry Industry of New York are available as follows: Bulletin 51 (1910), 15 cents; 161 (1911), 20 cents; 166 (1912), 20 cents, 174 (1913), 20 cents; 190 (1915), 15 cents; 277 (1925-26), 50 cents; 295 (1927-1929), 40 cents. Another series discusses the Geology of the State by Quad¬rangles, available as follows: Bulletin 153, Broadalbin Quad (1911), 25 cents; 154, Sche¬nectady Quad. (1911), 20 cents, 170, North Creek Quad . (1914)

Jan 1, 1933

SME-AIME Fall Meeting and Exhibit

Jan 9, 1979

By AIME AIME

NEW place was assigned to the women for their headquarters at the annual meeting of the Auxiliary but they, as usual, occupied a large place in the activities of the annual meeting. The alcove on the Thirty-ninth Street side of the building was a busy place on Monday morning, as the members of the various sections from New York to California greeted each other. The registration was conducted under the supervision of Mrs. Wolfes, Miss Georgene Davis and Mrs. Jennings, while Mrs. Hursh, Mrs. Hyde, Mrs. Charlton Reynders, and others dispensed tickets to the various functions that had been provided for entertainment. There seemed to be the usual number registered, but when only one member of the District of Columbia Section made herself known everyone wondered why the large delegation of last year had so dwindled. The explanation appeared next day, when a number of others from that Section arrived, telling of a delightful reception on the night before, at the White House. Mrs. Hoover had honored the "Canaries"¬(the organization of Lone Girl Scout' workers) the officers of the Section, and their husbands, who for once became only "so and so's husband." Luncheon was served on the fifth floor on Monday, the hostesses for that day being Mesdames C. F. Ayer, Willis Burns, G. W. Farny, H. G. Moulton, and T. T. Read. A number of sight-seeing trips had been arranged for the afternoon. The most popular proved to be an expedition to the new Riverside Church; where Dr. Fosdick is pastor. Guides were there to conduct

Jan 1, 1931

By Harry T. Hamilton

THE genial assistant to the president of the New York Trust Co. is the latest addition to the Institute's board of directors, having been elected at the March meeting of the hoard to fill the unexpired term of the late E. E. Ellis. Usually when a banker is appointed to the board of a company the reason is obvious; the difference in this case is that the New York Trust Co. has some of the Institute's money, instead of vice versa. But Harry Hamilton is not really a banker-at least not primarily. Frefluently big financial institutions have a good mining engineer on their staffs to keep them from financing too many "cats and dogs." At any rate Mr. Hamilton gave up his consulting practice in San Francisco back in 1927, to accept his present position in New York. Until then, from the time he graduated from Yale in 1904, lie was constantly engaged in mining operations of one kind or another in the West and in Mexico. His first job was at Christmas, Ariz., where lie did "sampling and miscellaneous work" for the Saddle Mountain Mining Co. The writer tramped up to, all over, and through that property one hog day many years later, when it was run by the Christmas Mining Co., and carp assure the reader that without doubt the young Yale graduate got some good experience and was well broken in. From there Mr. Hamilton went to Cananea for a time, and then to the Copper Queen, at Bisbee, where he was a valued member of the rigging gang. An assignment of assaying and sampling for the Shan¬non Copper Co. at Metcalf lasted for a few months and then he accepted a job for a year with the geological department

Jan 1, 1936

By E. F. Koppe

The Upper Freeport coal in the Freeport and New Kensington quadrangles, Pennsylvania, varies from a bony streak to a thick coal deposit often exceeding ninety inches, the "Double" or "Thick Freeport". Distinctive basal partings, a central bone layer, and a canneloid top bench may be present. The appearance of a sandstone roof, sandstone rolls, and bony coal at the top of the main coal bench can be anticipated in thin Freeport areas when basal partings are absent. When the two basal partings are present, a shale roof is normal. These effects are correlated with the original topography upon which the coal was deposited. The original depositional high areas tend to coincide with present structural highs. Preliminary data indicate that coal quality, in part, is affected by the deposi-tional setting. In "high" areas, a tendency exists for the main coal bench to contain higher percentages of fusain and mineral matter. Within limits, some-what higher ash fusion temperatures appear to correlate with paleotopographic highs. As a result of these findings, critical examination of the paleotopography and related sediments is indicated in other areas and other coals. The Upper Freeport coal is quite variable both in thickness and composition in the Freeport and New Kensington quadrangles of Pennsylvania (Figure 1). The coal horizon in these quadrangles is marked either by a thin carbonaceous shale bed or by a single bed containing a variable number of partings (binders). The complex coal zone known locally as the "Double" or "Thick Freeport" contains the Upper Freeport Coal Bed at the base; but in addition, it has an overlying bone layer and an upper coal bed occasionally capped with a canneloid layer. The "Thick Freeport" often exceeds 90 inches in thickness, whereas the normal Upper Freeport coal usually varies between 34 and 50 inches.

Jan 1, 1961

By T. Egleston

The materials containing copper which are refined in the United Statrs, are, for the most part, the natiye noppers of Lake Superior. IJntil quite recently but little pig copper Was made for sale, and that came principally from the pure sulphorous ores of New England and the Sonth, and was generally sdd to reSneries not far from the ore filrnaceu. A stnall aiuoiint found its way into the'niarket which was produced either as the by-product of the treatment of gold and silver ores, or as the result of the treatment of impure copper ores; but both these grades, on account of the impurities they contained, were loolced on with stlspicion, and were not sought for. A11 the grtlGis of pig coppcr are sold by the unit of oopper contents, a great redtiction being made in the price when impurities are present. There are at the present time only three works which treat native copper, the two of the Detroit and Lake Superior copper Company, and the works of C:G. Hussey & Co., in Pittsburgh. There are a few works ivhich smelt sulphuroris ores and refine their pig; bo sides these t1le1-e arc a few siuall works where gig copper is refined uuly. Some of these purcIlase blscir copper, refine scrap, or simply refine such grades of ingot copper as are found in the market, but nlostly that from Lake Superior, for the purpose of getting it into swh shapes that can be handled cpmtriercially to advantage, such as in making large plates or high grades of wire fir electrical purposes. A nomher of such works are situated in the Xaugaturk Vatley aud elsewhcre in New England. The recent discoveryof vnlt~sblc ores in Ariarona makm it probable that within a few year8 the refining of capper In the United States will make great develupments. Up to the time of the discovery of the mines on Lake Superior, only a very small quantity of native copper had ever been foond, not sufficient to justify the erection of worlrs fbr its special treatment. It had, besides, never been found in very large maweq so that the discovery of greabblocks of it presented serious difficulties, not oolp in mining it,-I- but in bringing it into a merchantable condit'ion. It seemed a very simple process to melt these large maws,

Jan 1, 1881

THE Lehigh Valley Section is planning with a num-ber of other organizations a three-day conference, April 25, 26 and 27, with field visits to cement, slate and steel plants in the vicinity of Easton, Pa. W. B. Plank is chairman and D. Knickerbocker Boyd is sec-retary. Headquarters will be at Hotel Easton. Wednesday' will be cement day. In the forenoon A. S. T. M. Committee D-16 will meet and after luncheon the delegates will visit the Martin Creek plants of the Alpha Portland Cement Co. An evening dinner and general session on cement is being arranged. Thursday morning will be devoted to a technical ses-sion on slate, and the breaking of ground for the new John Markel mining building at Lafayette College. After luncheon various slate quarries will be inspected, the visitors being guests of the companies. In the eve-ning there will be a conference dinner at Hotel Easton with a number of distinguished visitors. Friday will be given over to steel and will include a visit to Lehigh University, an inspection of the plant of the Bethlehem Steel Corp., and a luncheon as guests of the latter.

Jan 3, 1928

By R. J. Brison, W. C. Bleimeister

The International Salt Company has long been interested in finding an efficient process for the removal of impurities from rock salt, and particularly from the rock salt produced at the Detroit mine. Methods which have been used previously at the Detroit mine included both hand sorting and differential crushing in a Bradford breaker with rejection of the oversize. Neither of these methods was adequately effective. The development of a new process for removal of impurities from rock salt has been described in the preceding article." Basically, the process consists of exposure of crude rock salt to radiant heating which selectively heats the impure particles. Subsequently the heated particles are removed by adhesion to a heat sensitive-coating on a conveyor belt. This method was found to be effective in improving both the quality and appearance of rock salt by the rejection of the dark, impure particles. The first commercial unit employing the new thermoadhesive method of dry separation of minerals was installed at the Detroit mine of International Salt Company in Detroit, Mich. (Fig. l). This unit was first put into operation in March 1957. The purpose of the Detroit installation was 1) to serve as a pilot plant for evaluating the process on a commercial scale and 2) to produce marketable quantities of rock salt of improved quality and ap- pearance. The design of this plant was based on the results and information obtained from a 1-tph pilot plant at Battelle Memorial Institute. DESCRIPTION OF PLANT Location: The separation plant was installed underground near the crushing and screening plant, for this was the most suitable location from the standpoint of material handling. Furthermore, ample space was availabe at this location. Because the process requires a relatively constant temperature, the uniform year-around temperature of the mine (57°F) gave an added advantage to an underground operation. Feeding: The rock salt is conveyed to a surge bin, from which it is fed to the heating unit by a conveyor. The feed-rate control consists simply of an adjustable gate at the bottom of the surge bin. The plant may be fed either No. 1 grade of rock salt (0.279 to 0.375 in.) or No. 2 grade (0.375 to 0.500 in.) with a maximum input capacity of 500 tons per 15-hour day. Heating Unit: The heating unit (Fig. 2) consists of a panel of infrared lamps suspended inside a low-speed revolving screen. The radiant-heat panel, which is curved for most effective utilization of the heat, holds 240 infrared lamps of standard industrial type, each rated at 500 watts. The position of the panel is adjustable so that it can be placed centrally over and to within 6 in. of the salt bed on the screen. The entire heat panel is suspended by rollers in ¦ R. J. Brison and O. F. Tangel: Development of a Thermo-adhesive Method for Dry Separation of Minerals.

Jan 1, 1961