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By S. A., Taylor

IT is very difficult to arrive at exact figures for the cost of maintaining excess capacity of coal mines, but we can approximate the various items. To do this, I will take the Pittsburgh district of Pennsylvania and the other districts can be compared to this one. I believe we can take the depreciation item of plant ac- count as a whole and discount it over a period of 20 years; while this is high for some items it is low for others and I believe it is not far from a safe basis. This equals 5 per cent per year, and this depreciation will take place about as rapidly when not in use as when in operation. A fair value in the Pittsburgh district to- day for plant and houses is close to $4 per ton per annum. At 5 per cent this will equal 20 cents per ton per year. The item of keeping the mine in condition, free from water, etc., will be close to an average of 2y2 cents per ton per annum.

Jan 1, 1928

By Joseph Chalmers, J. S. Desmond, R. Van A. Mills

[Because of the limited space in this volume and the fact that a description covering the oil recovery buildings and equipment (see page 4, Technical Publication No. 144) will be given in a forthcomnig U. S. Bureau of Mines publication, and because the paper was published in detail as Technical Publication No. 144, and is available as a separate at the Institute, it is impossible to include here more than the following brief extract.] Problems Being Studied The selection of the first problems to be studied was based largely upon the following very practical questions asked by several of the largest operators in the Mid-Continent field. 1. What are the causes for the formation of excessive amounts of bad thick oil on properties that are being repressured with compressed air and how can this trouble be prevented? 2. Why, in some areas, does the oxygen in the air injected into an oil sand during repressuring operations apparently change to carbon dioxide? Is carbon dioxide formed by the oxidation of some of the oil in the sand'? How can the formation of inert or low B.t.u. casinghead gas, loaded with nitrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen, be prevented? 3. What percentage of the oil originally present in an oil sand can be recovered by the ordinary methods of operation when the gas originally dissolved in the oil is the main propulsive agent? 4. What percentage of the amount of oil produced by ordinary methods can be recovered under average conditions by repressuring a so-called depleted oil sand? 5. What are the relative propulsive efficiencies of compressed air and natural gas in repressuring operations? 6. What are the practical advantages of pressure maintenance and early repressuring as compared with late repressuring?

Jan 1, 1929

By M. E. Hassan, J. C. Calhoun, R. F. Nielson

An apparatus was constructed for the measurement of inter-facial tensions over a range of temperatures and pressures. This apparatus utilized the pendent drop method, and resembles in construction similar apparatus recently described in the literature and in use in some petroleum research laboratories. The interfacial tensions of benzene, propane, n-pentane, n-hexane. n-octane. and iso-octane against water were measured at temperatures ranging from 26" to 82" C and at pressures ranging from 1 to 204 atm. Values of interfacial tensions for the henzene-water system and their variations with temperature and pressure are generally in good agreement with value? of previous investigations. The data in all cases showed a slight decrease of interfacial tension with pressure at constant temperature in the range studied. The effect of pressure became less as the pressure was increased, with an indication of a reversal of the effect at higher pressures. There was a decrease of interfacial tension with temperature at constant pressure in all cases, as would normally be expected. This rate of decrease became greater the higher the temperature. A general equation is presented for the interfacial tensions as a function of presPurp and temperature over the range studied, and the constants calculated for each system. A definite trend was found in the effect of molecular weight on the interfacial tension at a given temperature and pressure, for the homologous series from propane to n-octane. Data for n-decane from the literature fitted well into this trend. INTRODUCTION It has been recognized for many years that surface forces play an active part in the production history of an oil reservoir as well as in determining the amount of unrecoverable oil. The magnitudes of these forces are governed by the values of the interfacial tensions. These vary greatly with composition, pressure, and temperature. The effect of composition is greater than that of pressure and temperature over the ranges normally encountered. In fact, because of the variety of compounds present in a crude, no attempt has yet been made to correlate crude composition with its surface tension or with its interfacial tension against water. The amount of dissolved methane greatly affects the surface properties of an oil, and there are "surface-active" compounds in crudes which have a much greater effect on boundary tensions than do equal amounts of hydrocarbons. The purpose of the present work was partly to contribute data that would eventually be used in correlations applicable

Jan 1, 1953

By W. V. Vietti, W. A. Oberlin

Crude petroleum produced in the Texas Panhandle oil field is both an asphalt and a paraffin-base oil and is further characterized by being a high-gravity crude with an extremely high cold test,. An eight-well composite of Panhandle crude showed the following characteristics: Gravity, 36.6° A. P. I. Viscosity: 61 sec. Saybolt at 100° F. 170 sec. Saybolt at 75° F. 1560 sec. Saybolt at 50° F. (stirring) Cold Test, 60° F. Distillation Test: Per Cent. Per Cent. Gasoline........................ 28.8 Wax........................... 19.2 Kerosene........................ 4.8 Asphalt........................ 13 .0 Gas oil......................... 30.7 Sulfur1......................... 0.8 Fuel oil......................... 34.7 Subsurface Conditions The original pressure in the formation in the Panhandle field closely approximated 420 Ib. gage or 435 Ib. absolute pressure. Temperatures taken indicate that the formation temperatures do not exceed 90° F. The temperatures in Table I are typical measurements taken on one lease. * A contribrition from the research department of the Marland Refining Co. of Oklahoma and the production engineering department of the Marland Oil Co. of Texas. 1 Smith [Analysis of Panhandle and Rig Lake Crudes. U. S. Bur. Mines, Circular No. 6014 (December, 1926)] found an average sulfur content of 0.6 per cent.

Jan 1, 1928

Separates of all the Technical Publications published in 1931 are available at Institute headquarters. All the papers are on file in public, university and technical libraries, and when so indicated in the list, may be found in the Transactions. Copies of these papers have been mailed to those members of the Institute who are registered in the different classes: A-Metal Mining; B-Milling and Concentration; C-Iron and Steel Division; D-Nonferrous Metallurgy; E-Institute of Metals Division; F-Coal Division; G-Petroleum Division; H-Nonmetallic Minerals; I-Mining Geology; K-Mining Administration; L-Geophysical Prospecting. Other members may obtain copies by writing to the Secretary. Additional copies are sold at the rate of I cent per page; minimum charge, 25 cents. Metal Mining Tech-nical Publi- Title Author Meeting TRanb. cation Volume No. and Page* 411-A.43 Ventilation at the Portovelo Mines, J. P. Harmon New York. T31, 83 Ecuador (18) Feb., 1931 425-A.44 Use of Models for the Study of Mining P. B. Bucky New York, Problems (28) Feb., 1931 Milling and Concentration 375-B.32 Ball Mill Studies, I (53) A. W. Fahrenwald New York, H. E. Lee Feb.. 1931 401-B.33 Experimental Flotation of Oxidized H. S. Gieser New York. Silver Ores (9) Feb., 1931 410-B.34 Flotation of Minor Gold in Large-scale E. S. Leaver New York, Copper Concentrators (32) J. A. Woolf Feb., 1931 414-B.35 Effect of Particle Size on Flotation A. M. Gaudin New York, (23) J. 0. Groh Feb., 1931 H. B. Henderson 416-B.36 Ball Mill Studies, 11.—Thermal A. W. Fahrenwald New York. Determinations of Ball Mill Effi- G. W. Hammar Feb., 1931 ciency (13) H. E. Lee W. W. Staley Iron and Steel Division 38QC.59 Open-hearth Steel Process as a Prob- E. R. Jette New York, C31, 80, 111 Iem in Chemical Kinetics (34) Feb., 1931 381-C.60 Thermodynamic Study of the Phasial Yap, Chu-Phay New York. Equi1ibriain the System Iron-car- Feb., 1931 bon (26) 382-(3.61 Influence of Dissolved Carbide on the Yap, Chu-Phay New York, Equilibria of the System Iron-car- Feb., 1931 ban (19) 383-C.62 Research on Blast-furnace Slags. R. S. McCaffery New York, Three papers (88) Co-workers Feb., 1931 384-C.63 Statistical Analysis of Blast-furnace K. S. McCaffery New York, C31, 60, 70 Data (13) R. G. Stephenson Feb., 1931

Jan 1, 1931

One of the very simplest losses to overcome, and at small expense, is belt slip. To show the extent of the loss of money through slipping of the main belt alone, a chart, supplied us through the courtesy of the Cling-Surface Co., Buffalo, N. Y., is shown herewith, upon which this is easily ascertained. By glancing up and down column "D" of this chart it is evident that the "Cost of Avoidable Belt Slip per Year in Dollars" may vary all the way from the smallest sums into the thousands of dollars. Roughly, 2 per cent. of the potential power in the driving pulley of the engine is represented by "belt creep." Its loss is unavoidable because of the elasticity of the belt. This has been recognized and provided for in the chart, so the reader can go ahead and connect known values, while the intersection with column "D" gives the avoidable money loss. Simply zig-zag across the chart twice with a straight edge, as shown by the dotted lines and the money loss is immediately found. Thus if the total belt slip is 6 per cent. (column A) and the cost of coal per ton is $4 (column B), run a straight line through those two points and locate the intersection with column "C." Then from that point of intersection run over to the tons of coal burned per year (which in this instance has been stated as 1000 tons) and the cost of avoidable belt slip per year is shown by column "D" as being $160. To give a clear idea as to the meaning of "Total Belt Slip Per Cent." let us take an example. You find by means of a revolution counter that a given driven pulley is rotating only 940 times per minute. You figure that without slip it should rotate 1000 times per minute; 60 revolutions per minute, therefore, are absolutely lost. Dividing this 60 by the r.p.m. that pulley should make you get 0.060 or 6 per cent. which is the "Total Belt Slip." After having made this determination, it is a simple matter to apply it to the chart as has been done and determine the money loss per year due to such slip.

Jan 4, 1918

THE following employment items are made available to AIME members on a nonprofit basis by the Engineering Societies Personnel Service, Inc., operating in cooperation with the Four Founder Societies. Local offices of the Personnel Service are at 8 W. 40th St., New York 18; 100 Farnsworth Ave., Detroit; 57 Post St., Son Francisco; 84 E. Randolph St., Chicago 1. Applicants should address all mail to the proper key numbers in care of the New York office and include 6c in stomps for forwarding and returning application. The applicant agrees, if placed in a position by means of the Service, to pay the placement fee listed by the Service. AIME members may secure a weekly bulletin of positions available for $3.50 a quarter, $12 a year. MEN AVAILABLE Sales Engineer, 37, seven years experience Europe and Latin America both in underground work and administrative and sales work; speaks fluent Spanish, Portuguese, French. Desires responsible position preferably export in U. S. M-692. Superintendent, 46, married. Experience covers mining and metallurgy as mining engineer and as general superintendent; metallurgy of leaching, flotation, cyanidation; development, construction, operation. Presently available. Prefer U.S.A. M-693-333-E-1-San Francisco. Mine Manager, Superintendent, Consultant, 61, married. Design and erection of mining and mill plants-examinations. Many years as superintendent, manager, consultant, designer and builder of mining plants, flotation mills, concentration mills. Available one month's notice. Prefer U. S. but foreign acceptable if good climate. M-695-4211-E-9-San Francisco.

Jan 1, 1952

By Robert G. Nisle

In conducting a pressure build-up test on an oil well, it is often necessary to shut-in the well for a short time prior to initiation of the test. The effect of such a short tern shut-in on the resulting pressure build-up curve is derived. The derivation is based on the Kelvin point-source solution and is a straight forward extension of the fundarnental theory. The magnitude of the effect is evaluatecl and illustrated by an example. It is shown that if the production subsequent to the short term shut-in is at least 10 times the duration of the shrct-in, the effect will he less than 10 per cent. INTRODUCTION It often happens that before a pressure build-up test can be made an additional valve must be mounted on the wellhead, or on arrival at the well, it might be learned that the well had been shut-in several hours the previous day because of a shortage of tankage. In such cases the question is How will such an interruption of production affect the results of a pressure buildup test This work explains how to take account of such a short term shut-in in order that the test can proceed without further delay. The solution presented here makes use of the Kelvin point-source solution used by Horne1 in his treatment of the pressure build-up in wells. Use is also made of the super-position theorem. MATHEMATICAL DERIVATION The well is assumed to have been in production at a constant rate for a relatively long time (several days or more). It is then shut-in for a short time, after which it is again placed in production at the previous constant rate. It continues to produce at this rate until shut-in for a pressure build-up test. The Kelvin point-source solution is expressed by Eq. 1. The sequence of production rates is listed in Table I. TABLE 1 — SEQUENCE OF PRODUCTION RATES Time interval Production Rate At time AT the pressure will be the resultant of the sequence of production rates shown in Table 1. An expression for the super-posed effects may be derived from this table. (Effect of + q for T + ? T) + (Effect of - q for T + ?T-t,) + (Effect of + q for T + ? T - t,) + (Effect of - q for ? T) = Resultant........(2) The desired result is obtained by substituting the effect defined by Eq. 1 for the terms in Eq. 2. The result is Eq. 3. When the logarithmic approximation is made for the exponential integrals and the terms collected the result is Eq. 4. Let T — t2 = T = flowing time following short term shut-in t2 — t1 = 6 = duration of short term shut-in Then T - t1 = r + 6 Substitution of these quantities in Eq. 4 gives p(rw ?T) = P,, -When d<<t - AT then d—&apos;-, T— approaches 1. r + AT In this case the effect of the short term shut-in may be ignored. In order to get some idea of the numerical magnitudes involved take the worst possible case, when AT = 0, that is at shut-in. If the error is made less than some maximum acceptable value at this time, it will be less than the maximum for all subsequent times. d + r Let the difference between the value of y-— and 1 be less than 0.1. Then —6+r — 1 < 0.1 S < O.l T Therefore, if the flowing time following a short term shut-in is at least 10 times the duration of the short term shut-in, the error introduced by ignoring the short term shut-in will not exceed 10 per cent of T+AT A T

Jan 1, 1957

Thomas T. Read, New york, N. Y. (communication to the Secretary *):—At the meetings of English technical societies it not infrequently happens that, during the discussion of a paper, someone will arise to say that although he highly appreciated the material presented, nevertheless he believed it would have been better if some other phase of the question had been more highly emphasized. Assuming that this form of discussion is permissible in the Institute, I should like to reiterate the point made by Prof. A. J. Moses that conclusive proof of the identity of the minerals in question is an essential feature of the study of ores in this way. This is also expressed by Paul Krusch in his recent valuable paper on the sulphide ores (in which he arrives at conclusions diametrically opposed to those of Mr. Graton), as follows: "The diagnostic properties of the various ore minerals are known to but a limited circle of investigators." Many earlier investigators began the study of ores beneath the microscope by reflected light, but discontinued their work, in most cases, because they were unwilling to undertake the great amount of preliminary work necessary to securely establish a basis for their inferences. It is evident that Messrs. Graton and Murdoch realize that the promised later paper on diagnostic characters will be the more important of the two, but the point should be emphasized to forestall a flood of literature from other investigators who may gain the impression that the brief survey of polished specimens is a vade mecum to incontrovertible conclusions as to any given ore deposit.

Jan 1, 1914

By Charles Will Wright

Brief descriptions of the occurrence of the various deposits of strategic minerals then known in South America are published in "The Mineral Deposits of South America," by B. L. Miller and J. T. Singewald, 1919; in "Ores and Industry in South America," by H. F. Bain and T. T. Read, 1934; and in many publications on the individual countries. To give a gen.era1 idea of the situation today and possibilities for future output of strategic minerals in several of the countries, the following notes are offered. All tonnages are in metric units.

Jan 1, 1940

By A. S. Appleton, M. B. Bever, G. E. Dieter

A gold-silver alloy was deformed by explosive loading at shock pressures up to 510 kbars. The stored energy and hardness increased over the whole range of pressures; the largest rates of increase were observed between 120 and 150 kbars. In this range, markings rkavacteristic of defornation twins first appeared; higher pressures produced markings in all grains. These effects are compared with those of conventional deformation processes and are discussed in relation to probable structural changes. In recent years, increasing efforts have been devoted to the investigation of the effects produced in metals by the passage of high-intensity shock waves of explosive origin. By properly utilizing the energy released by the detonation of a high explosive, it is possible to generate pressure pulses of the order of 500 kbars and higher. (One kbar equals l0 9 dynes per sq cm or approximately 1000 atm.) The passage of a shock wave through a metal occurs at pressures which are very much greater than the yield strength. As the shock front passes a point in the metal, the pressure rises almost instantaneously, and continues to act at the point for a few microseconds. Thus, metals subjected to explosive shock loading experience a nearly instantaneous increase in pressure, and a subsequent release of pressure, which is almost as rapid. Under these conditions mechanical twinning and shear transformations occur readily. smith1 has investigated the metallurgical changes in copper and iron resulting from exposure to explosive shock waves. He found an appreciable increase in hardness in both metals. In copper, a hardness greater than that resulting from 95 pct reduction in thickness by rolling was obtained, yet in the explosive deformation, the thickness of the specimen decreased only a few percent. After explosive loading, the micro-structure of copper showed markings characteristic of mechanical twins. The amount of stored energy resulting from explosive loading is of interest. Measurements of the stored energy of cold work as a function of strain, temperature, strain rate, and composition have been made with gold-silyer alloys deforyed by rolling, orthogonal cutting,3 drilling,4 filing, wire drawing, and torsion. The investigation reported here was also carried out with a gold-silver alloy and its results can be compared with those for the deformation of this alloy by more conventional methods. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES An alloy containing 82.6 wt pct Au and 17.4 pct Ag was purchased in several batches from Handy and Harman Co., New York, as annealed rod 1/4 in. dim. The rod was cold-rolled to a sheet approximately

Jan 1, 1962

By Bradley Stoughton, M. Miyake

The importance of magnesium alloys as engineering materials has increased rapidly in the past few years. The most important properties of magnesium alloys are their lightness and strength, which result in their extensive use in aircraft and automobile construction. Recent progress in the metallurgy of magneaium seems to offer hope of the production of the pure metal at a reasonable cost. The use of magnesium would doubtless increase greatly if it could be produced at a cost comparable with that of aluminum. A preliminary survey of the magnesium-base alloys shows that the most promising from a practical standpoint are magnesium-aluminum and magnesium-zinc as binary alloys, and magnesium-zinc-aluminum as ternary alloys. The research reported in this paper is a preliminary study of binary magnesium-aluminum and magnesium-zinc alloys, as an introduction to a series of further investigations. Magnesium-aluminum System The magnesium-aluminum system was first studied by Boudouard,1 who merely determined the liquidus. An accepted constitutional diagram was given by Grube,2 who found a compound A13Mg4 (melting point = 462.7" C.) and two eutectics at 35 per cent. magnesium (451.6° C.) and at 68 per cent. magnesium (440" C.) Between the first eutectic and the compound a solid solution exists. This diagram was checked or supplemented by Pécheux,3 Broniewski,4 Eger,5 Schirmeister,6 Voge17

Jan 1, 1926

By A. J. Langhammer

A. J. Langhammer.—That is rather asking a question of the wrong man. However, I will reply to the question from our point of view. There is a considerable amount of iron powder available but the properties vary over a wide range. Powder metallurgy has progressed to the stage where we recognize certain requirements in powdered iron, and what may be a good powdered iron for one application will not necessarily fit the picture for the next one. Further, I believe that there is room for great improvement in the properties of powdered iron. Also, that there is only a limited quantity of powdered iron available having certain specific properties in which we are at the moment interested. F. P. Peters.—May I have a word? With all possible respect to the contributions of the Chrysler Corporation (and they have been tremendous) to the war effort, I think it is easy to get from part of Mr. Langhammer&apos;s discussion a false impression of vaster possibilities than really exist. It would be well if in addition to Mr. Langhammer some other manufacturers of machine parts&apos; might tell us in the next few minutes some of the limitations they have found. For example, what is the maximum tensile strength that is being produced in a commercial part in production today? And what is the actual size limitation on bearings that are in operation and are standing up well? We should always bear in mind the fact—and I think Mr. Langhammer will agree with me— that quoting on a particular part does not necessarily mean placing it in production. In many cases it may be several months before the quotation is resolved and we know whether the part can be made. Let us open up this thing for a little free-for-all discussion of some of the ceilings that do exist in the design of machine parts made by powder metallurgy. The ceiling is not unlimited, and Mr. Langhsmmer will agree with that, 3 am sure. H. Hendriks.*—I do not think that there is so much limitation in the making of powder metallurgic manufactured parts as mentioned. Last year we had the problem of making dies for a special machine used in the manufacturing of slide fasteners. This part was wearing out very fast. It was very hard to make, it had to be hobbed out of a special steel and it was a difficult thing to manufacture in general. The tolerances were one half of one thousandth of one inch on all dimensions. We submitted this die to a manufacturer of powder-metal parts. He thought that it was impossible, but we were not as skeptical as he was and decided to try it anyway. The Canadian General Electric Carboloy Division, in Toronto, gave us then the design for the dies, which we made to their specifications. When the first part was delivered, we submitted it to our Inspection Department and its check showed that all the tolerances were right on the dot. They delivered I9 parts of exact specification, then they went off the beam; they could not keep to the tolerances. It took them a long time to get back again. We do not know what happened, but the main point I want to&apos; make is that if a problem is attacked in the right may, the dies are made right and corrected as to dimensions found out by experiment, I do not think that there is so much diffculty in making powder-metal parts to close tolerances.

Jan 1, 1945

By A. V. UDELL

OF all the metals that have from time to time been called the "Wonder Metal," mercury, often called quicksilver, is probably the most deserving of this designation. A wonder metal it must have been to those workers of an earlier day who named it after that Latin god of commerce and gain, characterized as the fleet messenger of the gods and the conductor of souls to the lower world. The word mercury has been used to indicate a carrier of tidings, a bearer of news, a nimble or clever person, a hawker, and a skillful thief. All of these attributes, and more, are recognizable in this metal, the technical terminology of which is "Hydragyrum," meaning water-silver, and from which the chemical symbol "Hg" is derived. Fickle in its occurrence in nature, simple in its metallurgy, illusive in captivity, it serves man in life or death, in war or peace, in commerce, science and arts, in mining, agriculture, and forestry with a versatility found in no other element.

Jan 1, 1929

By T. R. A. Davey

IN 1947 the author became interested in the fundamental aspects of the desilverizing of lead by zinc, conducted some experimental work, and searched the technical literature for all available fundamental data. Since then a revival of interest in the subject in Europe resulted in the appearance of quite a number of papers. It became evident that it would be more profitable to collect together and examine thoroughly the results of various workers, than to attempt to duplicate the experimental determinations. There are many inconsistencies in the various publications, and it is opportune to review at this time the present status of knowledge on the Ag-Pb-Zn system. There is also a need for a clear description, in fundamental terms, of the various desilverizing procedures. This paper is presented in four sections: 1—There is an historical review of the origins of the Parkes process, of the results of many attempts to find a satisfactory fundamental explanation for the phenomena, and of the modifications proposed to date. 2—A diagram of the Ag-Pb-Zn system is presented. This is believed to be free of obvious inconsistencies or theoretical impossibilities, although thermodynamic analysis subsequently may reveal errors. 3—The fundamental bases of the various desilverizing procedures, which have been used up to the present day, are described; and a new method is suggested for desilverizing a continuous flow of softened bullion in which the bullion is stirred at a low temperature in two stages producing desilverized lead at least as low in silver as that from the Williams continuous process and a crust which, on liquation, yields a very high-silver Ag-Zn alloy. 4—A suggestion is made for the revival of de-golding practice, following a recently published account which does not seem to have attracted the attention it deserves. The terms "eutectic trough" and "peritectic fold" as used in this paper are synonymous with "line of binary eutectic crystallization" and "line of binary peritectic crystallization" as used by Masing.&apos; The German literature on ternary and higher systems is rather extensive and a fairly general system of nomenclature has arisen, whereas in English usage the corresponding terms are not as well established. For this reason the meanings of terms used in this paper, together with the equivalent German terms, are given as follows: 1—Eutectic trough—eutektische rinne: line at which a liquid precipitates two solids S1 and S2 simultaneously. If the composition of a liquid which is cooling reaches this line, it then follows the course of this line until a eutectic point is reached, or until all the liquid is exhausted. The tangent to the eutec-tic trough cuts the line joining S1S2. 2—Peritectic fold—peritektische rinne: line at which a solid S1 and a liquid L transform into another solid S2. If the composition of a liquid which is precipitating S1 reaches the line, on further cooling only S2 is precipitated. The liquid composition moves from one phase region (L + S1) into the other (L + S2), and does not follow the course of the boundary. The tangent to the peritectic fold cuts the line S1S2 produced nearer S,. 3—Liquid miscibility gap, or conjugate solution region—mischungslucke: the region within which two liquid phases coexist in equilibrium over a certain range of temperature. A system whose composition is represented by a point in this region comprises one liquid at high temperature; then as the temperature is progressively reduced, two liquids, one liquid and one solid, one liquid and two solids, and finally three solids. 4—Liquid miscibility gap boundary—begrenzung der flussigen mischungsliicke: the line along which the surface of the miscibility gap dome, considered as a solid model, intersects the surrounding liquidus surfaces. 5—Tie lines—konoden: lines joining points representing the compositions of two liquids, a liquid and a solid, or two solids, in equilibrium. In binary systems the only tie lines customarily drawn are those through invariant points, e.g., through the eutectics of the Pb-Zn and Ag-Pb systems, or the various peritectics of the Ag-Zn system, as in Figs. 1 to 3. In ternary systems it is desirable to draw sufficient tie lines to indicate the slopes of all possible tie lines. 6—Ternary eutectic point—ternares eutektikum: point at which liquid transforms isothermally to three solids, S1, S2, and S Such a point can lie only within the triangle 7—Invariant peritectic (transformation) point— nonvariante peritektische umsetzungspunkt: (a) — On the miscibility gap boundary, the point at which two liquids and two solids react isothermally so that L, + S, + L, + S2. (b)—On the eutectic trough, the point at which a liquid and three solids react iso-thermally so that L + S, + S2 + S3. Such a point must lie on that side of the line joining S,S which is further from S,. (c)—A further possibility, not found in this ternary system, is that the point is at the intersection of two peritectic folds when the reaction concerned is L + S, + S, + S Historical Introduction Karsten discovered in 1842 that silver and gold may be separated from lead by the addition of zinc.2 Ten years later Parkes used this fact to develop the well known desilverizing process which bears his

Jan 1, 1955

By D. W. Breck

Zeolites were first recognized as a new group of minerals by Cronstedt with the discovery of stilbite in 1756. The word zeolite was coined from the two Greek words meaning "to boil" and "a stone" because of the loss of water when heated in the mineralogist&apos;s blowpipe (Breck, 1974). In 1845 it was discovered that certain soils lave the power of retaining ammonium salts Way, 1850). These were the first ion exchange experiments. Later it was discovered that it was the hydrated silicates in the soil that produced this phenomenon. Several years later a paper was published dealing with the action of dilute salt solutions on silicates which showed that this base-exchange principle, which we now call cation exchange, is reversible. The quantitative cation exchange behavior of zeolite minerals, such as chabazite, was studied. As a result any aluminosilicate which exhibited the property of ion exchange was referred to as a "zeolite," even today the term has been applied to clay minerals as well as synthetic organic ion exchange resins.

Jan 1, 1975

By B. V. P. Rao, H. L. Lovell, G. Simkovich

In the study described here, flotation tests were conducted on pure CaF2, on CaF2 doped at several concentration levels with either NaF or YF3, and on natural fluorite samples containing various amounts of impurities in an effort to extend previous knowledge of the influence of crystalline point imperfections on the flotation properties of solids. The results of these tests showed that although recoveries generally decreased as impurities increased, the differences in recovery were not nearly as striking as those detected in earlier experiments. A number of experimentalists have shown an interest in the way in which crystalline point imperfections affect the flotation properties of solids. As long ago as 1953, Welch hypothesized that it might be possible to control surface imperfections and thereby also control the flotation of solids.&apos; A few years later, in some rather extensive work, Plaksin and his coworkers varied the surface imperfections of a number of compounds by oxidation or reduction processes and found that significant variations in flotation properties resulted.2-4 More recently, Simkovich showed that the recovery of both AgCl and PbS could be markedly varied by adding solid-solution impurities, which acted as doping agents, to these compounds.5 Then Mular studied the flotation of ZnO as a function of the doping agents Al2O3 and Li2O.6 Once again, it was found that these impurities, even in very low concentrations, had profound effects upon flotation recoveries. From an imperfection point of view, the defect structures of the compounds tested previously are as follows:7 PbS — amphoteric semiconductor with a Frenkel-type defect structure in the cation sub-lattice.8 AgCl - ionic conductor-Frenkel type defect structure? ZnO — n-type semiconductor, zinc ion interstitials and quasi-free electrons.10 All of these works undoubtedly bear some relation to the findings that the flotation properties of seemingly identical minerals from different ore deposits often exhibit extreme variation in flotation behavior, i.e., that small amounts of analytically undetectable impurities often have a great influence upon flotation

Jan 1, 1969

By ALEC CROWELL

This brief summary of oil and gas developments in Alabama, Florida and Georgia has been made possible through the courtesy of Stewart J. Lloyd, Assistant State Geologist of Alabama; Herman Gunter, Director, Florida Geological Survey, and Garland Peyton, Director, Georgia Department of Mines, Mining and Geology.

Jan 1, 1946

By Robert G. Woolery, S. Ramachandran, James A. Weber, Donald J. Hansen

Union Carbide began looking seriously at heap leaching in 1971. At that time some 1.6 million tons of mineral averaging 0.40 kg U3O8 /t) (0.80 lb U3O8) were stockpiled at various sites around the Gas Hills, Wyoming, uranium facility. Several alternatives for economically exploiting these reserves were considered and heap leaching seemed the most attractive. At the time, Western Nuclear Inc. was operating a heap leaching project nearby in which the low-grade ore was leached with sulfuric acid, the product liquor treated in an on site solvent extraction circuit, and the stripped product liquor re-acidified and recycled. The operators were most generous in allowing us to visit their site and in answering our questions. They were also helpful in discussing the problems associated with heap leaching. Their experience confirmed our belief that it was possible to operate a heap leach profitably on material too low grade for conventional milling. Based largely on what we had learned from Western Nuclear&apos;s experience, we undertook a program involving a laboratory study to determine the characteristics of the mineral stockpiles, as related to heap leaching, and to conduct a pilot heap leach adjoining our Gas Hill mill. Basically the pilot heap construction and leach procedure were similar to those described in the literature l, 2 with certain modifications to permit detailed monitoring of the operation. In May 1972, the decision was made to construct a test heap. The UCC plant at Gas Hills, Wyoming was selected as the most appropriate site for the following reasons: (1) The necessary equipment for heap construction was readily available. (2) Stockpiles of mineral from the various mining sites were on hand: (3) Construction of the heap could be made on an abandoned tailings pile minimizing problems associated with environmental approval. (4) Proximity of the mill would allow product streams to be absorbed into existing circuits. (5) Necessary utilities were available. (6) Tailings water from the existing circuit could be used for leaching. A program for the pilot heap leach was developed with the following primary objectives. (1) To confirm the data obtained in bench-scale tests particularly on uranium recovery, acid usage, and ore permeability. (2) To evaluate plastic liners used for base preparation. (3) To investigate heap configuration variables. (4) To determine heap leach amenability of the different mineral sources. (5) To establish the economics of heap leaching low-grade ores.

Jan 1, 1979

By Gordon E. Agar

Several correlations have been proposed to relate energy consumption and size reduction in comminution, and although these are arrived at from different starting points, it is postulated that they are all statements of the same basic concept. To test this postulate, the dry ball mill grindability of langbeinite was determined, and the results were analyzed according to the various methods. An examination &apos; of the energy-particle size relationships proposed in the recent past revealed that they had much in common. In fact, the conclusion was tentatively drawn that these expressions were essentially the same, even though they were arrived at from quite different basic premises. The equations attributed to Charles2 and Holmes3 were shown to re- duce to the same single equation, W - A K-3, and the simulated continuous test used by Maxson et al.4 was shown to give the best experimental value of the required empirical parameter, ß. Furthermore, the size distribution parameter a in the Schuhmann equation, y - (x/K)2, was shown to be equal to ß in many cases. The kinetic approach used by Arbiter and Bhrany5 should give the same results as the Maxson test procedure; however, the batch operation used by Arbiter and Bhrany could not produce data that would be as precise as the simulated continuous technique. To test the validity of these conclusions, the simulated continuous method was used to obtain data on the dry grinding of langbeinite. The results are discussed in terms of the various equations and approaches. APPARATUS AND MATERIAL A ball mill with internal dimensions of 17.5 cm (6 7/8 in.) in length by 19.4 cm (7 5/8 in.) in diam was loaded to 50% of its volume with balls 3.2 cm in

Jan 1, 1969