Search Documents

By John E. Riddell

This review is based on a questionnaire sent out in 1959 to 24 Canadian exploration companies, known to be active in the mineral exploration field, concerning their practice in the use of applied geo-chemical techniques in Precambrian terrains. Of the companies questioned, 21 returned completed questionnaires and of these, 15 companies stated that they had some experience in this type of work. Of the companies who stated that they had no experience in geochemical prospecting in glaciated Precambrian areas it is interesting to note that only three have reported that they do not use applied geochemistry at all. The others have reported that they make use of applied geochemistry in New Brunswick and in the Cordillera in areas of light glaciation. Their opinion is that it is a useful aid when accompanied by other techniques in evaluating mineralized areas. GEOCHEMICAL SURVEYS Table I reviews the type of geochemical surveys used by these companies, and the following points of interest should be noted.

Jan 11, 1960

By Louis E. Reber

Jan 1, 1922

By Colin M. Sargent

THE electron diffraction pattern as seen in the electron microscope represents an approximately plane section of the reciprocal lattice. Identifying the zone axis of a diffraction pattern is often laborious for a crystal of low symmetry, especially if several crystal orientations are present. A program has been written in FORTRAN II (Version 2) for the IBM 1620 which will assist in plotting out reciprocal lattice sections. The calculation is performed by choosing a zone axis [uvw] and determining the d spacings and angle between the planes (Ow - v) and (wO - u). (This procedure is varied slightly for zone axes with Miller indices equal to zero.) Cartesian coordinates for the reciprocal lattice points are then calculated for these planes and for (ww— [u + v]). Any reciprocal lattice points within the parallelogram formed by the origin and these three points are then computed. The input and output are best described by use of an example (Monoclinic ZrO2) used in the author's work. Input consists of two cards: 1) The crystal parameters: a, b, c, a, 8, y, e.g., 5.1477, 5.2030, 5.3156, 90.000, 99.380, 90.000. 2) Three numbers, D, E, F, e.g., 5, 3, 3.0710-the first is the limit of the sum (u + v + w) considered; the second limits the absolute value of u, v, and w to (E- 1), e.g., 2, so that zones (221) would be the highest order considered in this example; the third, F, is the required constant, yL. Output is in the format shown in Table I. The reciprocal lattice sections may then be plotted on standard graph paper and compared with the unknown diffraction pattern. (Note that no attempt has been made to deal with systematically absent reflections.) A card deck for the program is available from Colin M. Sargent, ARZ, W-PAFB, Dayton, Ohio, 45433.

Jan 1, 1969

By MCA Woolsey

(Butte. Meeting, August, 1913.). IN metallurgical circles it is known widely, but somewhat vaguely, that the ease of: reduction of metallic oxides depends largely on the way they have been prepared. It is likewise known that different forms of carbon have different and greatly varying reducing powers. It is the purpose of this paper to show somewhat more definitely and scientifically these facts. Some years ago the writer published an account of pyrometric determinations of the reduction- temperature of zinc oxides variously prepared and of several kinds.1 In said paper it was shown that the temperature it which zinc oxide evolves zinc according to the equation Zn0. +' C = Zn + CO depends upon the ;nature of:., the.' two reacting bodies. The determinations bad a range of accuracy of from 2° to. 6° C.,whereas differences were found to. amount to an extreme. of 90° C. :.86 the differences are real ones and must have, definite cause. The equation of boiling water, (H20)4 = 4 (H2O) has a fixed temperature for equilibrium of 100° C. at 760 mm. pressure. , In general, all equations. reacting e in .the liquid or the gaseous phase have-well-defined constant physical conditions which govern the equilibrium point and reaction velocities. In a reaction where we have one or more solid phases, the temperature conditions requisite for the unbalancing of the stable system are found to vary. These variations are due to the fact that in a solid there is a very complex molecule and it is not, a question solely of the tearing away of two interlocked atoms, but also of the destruction of a complex molecule containing hundreds, or possibly thousands, of smaller molecules.

Jan 7, 1913

By Frederic Benard

PRIOR to 1936, the Ontario Refining Co. received all incoming blister copper from The International Nickel Company's smelter in the usual form of 460-lb. cakes, or slabs. These were received in open cars in lots of 250 pieces. At the refinery the cakes were unloaded onto narrow-gauge cars, for convenient handling and pickup by charging cranes. In March 1936, an investigation was started on the feasibility of trans-ferring converter copper in the molten state from the smelter to the refinery anode furnaces, a distance of 114 miles. Although common in steel practice, the transportation of blister copper in this form had not previously been attempted and a preliminary study of the various factors involved was therefore necessary. For this purpose, a series of experiments was made in which molten copper, removed at different stages during the furnace cycle, was held in a small portable holding furnace. This vessel was essentially a refractory-lined steel cylinder provided with ports for filling and emptying, heated by an oil burner. Dimensions of the steel shell were 3 ft. 10 in. diameter by 7 ft. 3 in. long, and thickness of refractories depended oil the design and combination used for the particular experiment. The vessel was filled with approximately 2 ½ tons of copper at a predetermined temperature, the lining having been preheated to a definite point by means of an oil burner. All openings were well luted and temperature readings were made every 15 min. by means of an immersion-type thermocouple. In this manner the rate of heat loss resulting with different refractory design could be developed. The ratio of exterior surface to weight of metal was taken into consideration in comparing the experimental results with what might be expected for a full-sized unit, and observations were also made on type and degree of slag accretion. It was not possible to get as much information on this latter point as desirable, but all evidence showed that the problem would be control of slag build-up rather than attack oil refractories.

Jan 1, 1938

By T. Rosenqvist

From the chemical, metallurgical, and mineralogical points of view, the importance of thermodynamic data for metal-sulphides and sulphur dissolved in molten metal has long been realized. Such data will give a basis for thermo-dynamic calculations of processes such as roasting and the distribution of sulphur between molten metal and slags. Furthermore, it will help us understand the chemical forces which tie sulphur to the metal and to the melt. Thermodynamic studies of solid sulphides and the equilibria between solid sulphides and metals have been carried out in a rather large number of cases by several investigators. An excellent review of this work is given by Kelley.1 On the other hand, very little is known about the thermodynamic properties of molten sulphides and of sulphur dissolved in molten metal. The only system which previously has been investigated in this respect is the iron/sulphur system. The purpose of the present investigation was primarily to obtain further data for metalisulphur melts and the system silver/sulphur was chosen, not because this system was expected to be of special interest in itself, but because the silver/sulphur system is a typical example of a metal/sulphur system. Because of the low melting temperatures, the work could be carried out without appreciable furnace and refractory difficulties. The sulphur in this system possesses a rather high escaping tendency compared to most other metal/sulphur systems. By the method employed (reaction with hydrogen to form hydrogen sulphide) this gives ratios Ph2s/Ph2 up to 0.30, which may be determined accurately. 'rhermodynamic investigations of the heterogeneous reaction Ag2S +H2 —+ 2Ag + H2S have previously been carried out by Pelabon,2 Keyes and Felsing,3 Jellineb and Zakowski,4 Wat-anabe,6 and Britzke and Kapustinsky.6 Their results are in rather poor agreement. Experimental Part PRINCIPLE In the present invehgation the escaping tendency of sulphur from the condensed phase was determined by the reaction: S + H2 = H2S The ratio Ph2s/Ph2 is at constant temperature, directly proportional to the escaping tendency of sulphur and to its chemical activity in the condensed phase. (This ratio will subsequently be denoted by H2S/H2.) From this ratio and its variation with temperature and with change in the com- position of the condensed phase, thermodyrlamic quantities such as free energy and heat of reaction can be derived. The apparatus used is shown in Fig 1. The silver/sulphur alloy was placed in a crucible inside a refractory tube and mounted inside the furnace to the left. The tube was a part of a closed, gas-tight system in which the gas mixture could circulate until equilibrium was established. Circulation was maintained by the glass propeller to the right, driven by an external magnet, and promoted by the chimney action of the furnace. The gas passed up through the furnace, down into the crucible where it came in contact with the alloy, passed rapidly up through a narrow tube and out of the hot zone. After equilibrium was established between the gas and the condensed phase, the composition of the gas mixture was determined from its density. In its circulation, the gas mixture passed through a chamber (lower right on Fig 1) containing a buoyancy-balance, where the density of the gas was determined by magnetic balancing. From the measured density,

Jan 1, 1950

By W. H. Morris

I have been requested to present a paper on the slag from the basic Bessemer process, as prepared for fertilizing. Since Professor W. B. Phillips presented at the Birmingham meeting, in May, 1888, an able paper* on this subject, as it had been developed up to that time, there is little for me to add. Perhaps later practice may be best expressed by the homely proverb, " The proof of the pudding is in the eating." As the Pottstown Iron Company is the only concern manufacturing basic Bessemer slag in this country, the writer's personal experience in the use of it may be interesting. Our slag averages: P2O5, 21.37; SiO2,, 5.10; MgO, 5.90; Al2O3, 4.01; MnO, 5.56 ; FeO, 12.00; Na2O and K2O, 0.80; CaO, 45.26; total, 100.00. This gives over 76 per cent. of phosphoric acid and lime. In using this material for several years past on my lawn and garden, I have found it better than anything else I have ever tried ; and I am sure that any of you who had seen my green grass last month (January), wherever the ground was bare from snow, as bright as in early fall, would be forced to acknowledge the advantages of this soil-enricher. The grass on my private lawn, and around the company's office, is green the whole winter; and we have raised very good sod, by the use of this phosphate, where, without it, we were unable to get the grass to grow either from seed or by repeatedly sodding. The same statement applies to garden-truck; when the soil was first broken up, a good crop of vegetables was easily raised. My own gardener has had several premiums from Philadelphia seedsmen (notably, last year, the first premium for sugarcorn raised in the first part of July, being the first sample sent them). Our method of applying this material is to grind the slag very finely, so that at least 60 per cent. of it will go through a 150-mesh screen (i.e., say, 22,500 meshes to the square inch), and 90 per cent. through a 100-mesh screen (i.e., 10,000 meshes to the square inch). This fine grinding seems to be the main condition of success.

Jan 1, 1893

By M. G. Fowler

A GENERAL decline in copper production for most American producers occurred during the past year as a result of shortage in available labor. Few noteworthy technical developments have been reported; undoubtedly, many changes and improvements have been made but have not been reported because of lack of time. During the war years through 1944 the pressure for sustained high production has been of prime importance and during 1945, with slackening of production, many operators were faced with the problem of catching up on repairs and maintenance of plants, with inadequate labor supply. In hydrometallurgy there were some important developments that undoubtedly will be reported during 1946. Several operators in the Southwest have instituted experimental leaching programs to exploit low-grade oxidized and mixed ore bodies. The Bureau of Mines is conducting pilot-plant experimental work to determine the possibility of producing a satisfactory sponge iron at an attractive cost from deposits of iron ore and coal in Arizona. The sponge iron would be used for the production of cement cop¬per. The cell house of the Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co. at Inspiration,

Jan 1, 1946

THE committee in charge of arrangements for the meeting of the Institute in September has com-pleted its program. The headquarters of the meeting will be at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, and the registration committee will be at the hotel all day on Sunday, Sept. 24, and from 8 a.m. until noon on Monday. On Sunday afternoon, automobiles will be available for sightseeing trips around the city. Monday will be devoted to technical sessions. In the morning, there will be sessions on Mining and on Iron and Steel; in the afternoon, sessions on Mining and Milling. At these sessions, in addition to the papers mentioned in the tentative list printed in August, there will be presented three papers on the geology, mining and milling of the Comstock lode; one on the Aztec mine, Baldy, N. M.; one on the Colombian oil fields; and one on charcoal precipitation of cyanide solutions. The luncheon on that day will be Dutch Treat, for men only, at the Engineers Club. On Monday evening, there will be an informal buffet supper at the home of F. W. Bradley. On Tuesday morning, a party of 50 men will leave for Hetch Hetchy. During the four days of the trip, the party will see the Priest tunnel and earth dam under construction by steam-shovel and hydraulic-fill methods, the Big Creek shaft and tunnel, early intake power plant and tunnels and the Hetch Hetchy dam under construction. For those who remain in San Francisco, Tuesday will be "San Francisco Day." There will be motor trips to the Presidio, Cliff House, Golden Gate Park, and other points of interest, and shopping trips to Chinatown. On Wednesday, "University of California Day," the party will be guided through the university by members of the Mining Association, the affiliated stu-dent society, and will see the Greak Theatre and not-able buildings. Thursday will be "Leland Standford, Jr. University Day." Automobiles will leave the Palace Hotel at 10 a.m., and will return from the university at 4.30 p.m. Friday has been reserved for trips to the Selby Smelter, to Mt. Tamalpais, or to other points of interest. Arrangements will be made to visit the mines or gold dredges in California, if members desire to do so, but such trips must of necessity be considered special trips and arrangements will have to be made to suit the convenience of the individual or party. The Golf Committee will make arrangements for those who wish to play golf.

Jan 9, 1922

By D. Beregekoff

In the routine examination of a wide variety of metal specimens it is sometimes necessary to have special methods of polishing in order to retain and reveal certain details in each specimen. Among such special cases is the retention of graphite in malleable and gray cast irons, the preservation of all types of nonmetallic inclusions in both hard and soft steels, obtaining a scratch-free surface with soft metals, and avoiding the usual relief effects with very hard specimens such as tool metals con-taining various carbide and nitride phases. It is the purpose of this paper to give an account of some of these special polishing methods in use at the Union Carbide and Carbon Research Laboratories. The polishing procedures outlined have been found to give uniform results. It is obvious that only general rules and the most important working details can be given here. Following these rules, the polisher can obtain satisfactory results if he possesses the necessary patience and has a sincere desire to give as nearly perfect a finish as possible to his work.

Jan 1, 1939

By O. W. Shimer, D. C. Helms, C. E. Brown

THE early history and progress of anthracite stripping, from the first known operation at Summit Hill in 1821 through 1917, was covered in 1917 in a paper by J. B. Warriner,1 then chief engineer, now president of the Lehigh Navigation Coal Co., and stripping methods between 1917 and 1931 were the subject of a paper in 1931 by H. H. Otto,2 of the Hudson Coal Company. The present paper is confined to methods used today on pitching beds in the western middle and southern anthracite fields. The anthracite industry, not unlike other large industries, had been affected for more than a decade by the adverse economic conditions of the country. High development and operating costs and the competition of other fuels caused some collieries to be closed temporarily, while others were permanently abandoned. In order to obtain a larger tonnage at a lower development cost, a larger stripping program was put into effect by many companies. In 1932, stripping operations accounted for 334 million tons, or 7 per cent of the total anthracite production of the year, and in the next 10 years this increased until more than double that amount, or over 14 per cent of the total production, was from stripping operations. These figures represent the total production of the entire anthracite region; unfortunately, the figures have not been separated from the different fields. There are some operations in the southern and middle western fields where the tonnage obtained from stripping amounts to more than 30 per cent of the total colliery production. Stripping operations on pitching beds present difficult problems. Owing to the various geological formations, a different situation is encountered in nearly every stripping pit; and because of the proximity of an overlying bed, it is very often necessary to load the entire overburden into trucks and haul it out of the pit to the dump area, although back filling and casting is done whenever possible. Beds in the areas described in this paper pitch from 20° to 90° and some are on the invert in, many sharp folds and faults. PLANNING The more successful strippings have had adequate engineering analysis. Some work is being done without much preliminary planning, but many strippings would have failed completely if close supervision by the engineering department had not been maintained. Locations of stripping areas are determined as follows: 1. By constructing cross sections over the areas and drilling sufficient diamond-drill or well drill holes to study the strata and to determine the location, thickness and pitch of the beds.

Jan 1, 1944

By M. J. Blackburn

The ordering reaction and its effect on dislocation awangements in alloys based on Mg3Cd has been studied by transmission electron microscopy. Ordering occurs by the growth of ordered domains until they impinge, thus producing an antiphase domain boundary (APB) network. In the disordered alloy, slip is confined to the basal plane while in the ordered condition slip occurs on the basal, prism, and pyramidal planes. Superdislocations have been identuied on these planes and their origin and expected spacings are discussed and compared with the observations. The APBs between the dislocation pairs have been resolved and have proved useful in the identification of superdislocations. Observed slip structures are related to the changes in mechanical properties produced by ordering. At high temperatures magnesium and cadmium form a continuous series of disordered hexagonal solid solutions. At lower temperatures three ordering reactions occur; two based on the compositions Mg3Cd and MgCd3 are transformations to DO19-type superlattices while alloys based on the composition MgCd transform to a B19 lattice. The ordering process in alloys near the composition Mg3Cd has been studied by several workers'-4 and it has been shown to be a first-order type transformation. The variation of mechanical properties with the degree of order and temperature have been reported in some detail by Stoloff and Davies.5 It was shown that the disordered alloy was stronger and less ductile than the ordered alloy, the differences being attributed to changes in the number of active slip planes and to the presence of short-range order in the disordered alloy. In this investigation the ordering reaction has been qualitatively followed by transmission electron microscopy. The effect of this ordering transformation on the dislocation arrangements in deformed specimens has been studied in some detail. EXPERIMENTAL Alloys were melted in a stainless-steel crucible under a flux and chill cast; both melting and casting were performed in an argon atmosphere. The ingots were hot-rolled and tensile specimens cut from the resultant strips. Some large-grained specimens were grown by the strain-anneal method. Heat treatment was carried out in inert atmosphere furnaces and in oil baths at the lower temperatures. Thin foils for transmission electron microscopy were produced by electropolishing in a cooled solution (temp = -40°C) containing 50 cu cm of nitric acid and 180 cu cm of methanol at a potential of 10 v. The ordering reaction was followed by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray, and electrical resistivity measurements but this paper will be concerned chiefly with the electron-microscopy results. Much of the work described in this paper was performed on an alloy containing 26.10 at. pct Cd although two of the micrographs are taken from work on a 25.55 at. pct Cd alloy. RESULTS i) The Quenched Solid Solution. Specimens which were quenched from above the critical temperature showed diffuse superlattice reflections. sark-field analysis on these reflections failed to reveal the presence of ordered domains and thus the superlattice reflections were assumed to arise from regions of short-range order. Quenching from temperatures of 400" to 450°C results in the formation of dislocation loops and helical dislocations. Such defects have been observed and analyzed in detail in several hexagonal metals6-' and as the crystallography and interactions of such loops appear similar in this alloy they will not be reported in detail. Fig. 1 shows a high density of loops

Jan 1, 1968

By M. E. Bell

The term "operational research" was probably first used to describe work started under E. C. Williams, now Director, SHAPE Air Defense Technical Center, late in 1937 or 1938, at the Bawdsey Research Station of the British Air Ministry, a laboratory center concerned with the development of radar equipment. After the practicability of the early techniques had been demonstrated, a large (for those days) program of development and installation was authorized. It was very soon realized, both by the Royal Air Force and by the scientists that almost as important as the gear itself was the way in which it should be used. Accordingly, it was decided that some scientists should cooperate to study the way in which the equipment should be deployed and operated in conjunction with the Royal Air Force. To distinguish this work from the normal work of a research and development establishment, the term "operational research" was coined. It merely meant at this time that this particular section of scientists was to be concerned with the use of the gear rather than with its technical development and it seemed natural to those concerned to adopt the word "operations" which has a specific connotation in the armed forces.' This method was later extended to peacetime business enterprise, government operations and other human activities. Operations research appears to have penetrated the extractive industries more slowly and less completely than other industries, the military, or the government. This may be due (1) to a difference in the attitude of management towards operations research, or towards research of any kind, for that matter; (2) to unsuitability of the extractive industries for application of the operations research method; (3) to inaccessibility of the data; (4) or to a lack of trained personnel who are interested in applying operations research to the mineral industries.

Jan 8, 1963

By Alfred H. Bell

The upswing in oil production and drilling activity in Illinois that began in 1937 gained momentum in 1938 and promises to bring a new and higher peak in the state's annual production in 1939. In 1938 the production totaled 23,929,000 bbl., as compared with 7,426,000 bbl. in 1937, more than a threefold increase. The number of producing oil wells in the new fields was 230 at the end of 1937 and it increased to 2157 at the end of 1938. Daily production for the whole state increased from approximately 35,000 bbl. at the end of 1937 to approximately 135,000 bbl. at the end of 1938, nearly a fourfold increase. Of a total of 2539 wells completed in 1938 in Illinois, 1984 produced oil, 26 produced gas and 529 were dry holes. Of the total, 377 are classified as "wildcat" wells, defined as wells drilled outside of proved territory and more than one mile from the nearest production. The remainder, 2162 wells, were drilled in or near proved fields. Of the 377 wildcat wells (Table 2) 32 were successful in discovering oil or gas in commercial quantities, either new fields or extensions of old fields. Four of these discovery wells mere gas wells, which are not yet commercially productive owing to lack of pipe-line facilities. A special effort was made to ascertain the reasons for the locations of as many as possible of the wildcat wells and the results of this investigation are set forth in the following table:

Jan 1, 1939

By Alfred H. Bell

The upswing in oil production and drilling activity in Illinois that began in 1937 gained momentum in 1938 and promises to bring a new and higher peak in the state's annual production in 1939. In 1938 the production totaled 23,929,000 bbl., as compared with 7,426,000 bbl. in 1937, more than a threefold increase. The number of producing oil wells in the new fields was 230 at the end of 1937 and it increased to 2157 at the end of 1938. Daily production for the whole state increased from approximately 35,000 bbl. at the end of 1937 to approximately 135,000 bbl. at the end of 1938, nearly a fourfold increase. Of a total of 2539 wells completed in 1938 in Illinois, 1984 produced oil, 26 produced gas and 529 were dry holes. Of the total, 377 are classified as "wildcat" wells, defined as wells drilled outside of proved territory and more than one mile from the nearest production. The remainder, 2162 wells, were drilled in or near proved fields. Of the 377 wildcat wells (Table 2) 32 were successful in discovering oil or gas in commercial quantities, either new fields or extensions of old fields. Four of these discovery wells mere gas wells, which are not yet commercially productive owing to lack of pipe-line facilities. A special effort was made to ascertain the reasons for the locations of as many as possible of the wildcat wells and the results of this investigation are set forth in the following table:

Jan 1, 1939

THOSE MARKED THUS * ARE MEMBERS, MARKED THUS ?ARE ASSOCIATES. THESE SIGNS DOUBLED INDICATE LIFE MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATES RESPECTIVELY. THE FIGURES AT THE END OF THE ADDRESS INDICATE THE YEAR OF ELECTION. HEAVY-FACED TYPE SIGNIFIES HONORARY MEMBERSHIP. *AARONS, J. BOYD, Vivian Gold Mining Co., Ltd., Harris, West. Australia. '05 *ABADIE, EMILE R., Cons. and Min. Engr., 214 Union Savings Bank Bldg., Oakland, Cal. '76 *ABBOTT, CHARLES W., Min. Engr. Pioche, Nev. ?08 *ABBOTT, JAMES W., Min. Engr: Ploche, Lincoln Co., Nev. '94 *AOTT, ROBERT R., Met. Engr., Peerless Motor Car Co., Cleveland, Ohio. '12 || ARAHAMS, ALEXANDER I., Student.. .67 E. 93rd St., New York, N. Y. '13

Jan 1, 1917

By Norman J. Sather

LOCATION AND HISTORY The Bunker Hill Mine is situated on the south side of the Coeur d’Alene River in Shoshone County of Northern Idaho near the City of Kellogg. Kellogg, the largest in the Coeur d’Alene District cities, is at an elevation of 2,300 feet and has a population of approximately 7,000 people. It can be reached by air, railway or highway. The history of the Bunker Hill Mine dates back to August 26, 1885, when Noah S . Kellogg found the outcrop of the Bunker Hill ore body on the hillside above the present town of Wardner, Idaho, in Milo Gulch. A small concentrator was erected in 1886. Before the railroad came, the mine output was transported by mule teams to the head of navigation on Coeur d’Alene Lake. After ten years of production, an interest was purchased in the Tacoma Smelter at Tacoma, Washington, to which the entire output was shipped. In 1916 and 1917 a modern lead smelting plant and refinery was erected and in 1927 and 1928, a modern Electrolytic Zinc Reduction Plant was built and put into operation by the Sullivan Mining Company which was 50% owned and now totally owned by The Bunker Hill Company. GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY The Bunker Hill ore bodies are found in gray and greenish gray quartzite and argillaceous quartzite of Precambrian age and are known as the Revett and St. Regis formations. Most of the ore bodies are found in the St. Regis formation.

Jan 1, 1970

AT the meeting of the Board of Directors in March 1945, plans were discussed for a special General Meeting to commemorate, in an appropriate way, the founding of the Institute at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1871. It was decided that seventy-five years of growth, progress, and achievement; of service to the profession, to the mineral industry in all its branches, and to society at large should be fittingly celebrated. Harvey S. Mudd, then President of the Institute, was authorized to appoint a General Committee on Arrangements as well as necessary working committees. On June 6, 1946, Louis S. Cates, as President, at a special meeting of the Pennsylvania-Anthracite Section at Wilkes-Barre, officially announced plans or a three-day meeting to be held at The Waldorf-Astoria, in New York City, September 16-18, 1946. Four major sessions to be addressed by eminent speakers had been-planned in some detail to constitute a "World Conference on Mineral Resources." The U. S. Department of State had dispatched a 1500-word airgram to all its diplomatic posts giving worldwide publicity to the scope and importance of the meeting; and formal invitations had been issued to more than 150 institutions in 40 foreign countries to send official delegates. These included scientific and engineering societies, educational institutions, and sundry government agencies connected with the mineral industry. However, about a month later it was found necessary to postpone the celebration. The reason was an unforeseen expansion in the requirements of the United Nations for hotel living space in New York to accommodate delegates to the meeting scheduled to start September 3; and, of course, U.N. delegates would be given priority. It was decided to postpone the Celebration-conference to the week beginning March 17, 1947; t6 devote the first three days primarily to the Celebration; and to follow it with the technical sessions, committee meetings, and other functions, that are regular features of the Annual Meeting. To accommodate the combined "show" it would be necessary to hold some of the Annual Meeting sessions at another hotel;

Jan 1, 1947

By Philip W. Simmons

THE Colorado Plateau uranium province is in a mining boom rivaling the most colorful days of the early West. The application of scientific skills and the use of modern and novel mechanical equipment, however, is unique. No metal has ever received such concentrated effort from geologists and mining engineers. Moreover, no other metal has had the variety of tools available for finding and mining ores. Radiation detection equipment, bull- dozers, truck-mounted wagon and core drills, jeeps, airplanes, helicopters, tractor loaders, self -propelled 3-wheeled dump cars, front-end loaders and fleets of modern trucks are some of the present-day tools of the uranium prospector and miner. Because uranium is so vital to our national defense, the Atomic Energy Commission has offered many incentives for its mining. Through a series of circulars, the AEC has established base price schedules and various incentive payments. The incentive payments for acceptable ores from domestic mines are: (1) a guaranteed base price of $3.50 per Ib for ores assaying 0.20 pct U3O8 and more; (2) premiums based on grades above 0.20 pct U3O8 as for example, ores assaying above 0.50 pct U3O8 receive $1.00 per lb premium; (3) a development allowance of 506 per Ib of U3O8 contained in ores assaying over 0.10 pct U3O8 (4) an ore haulage allowance of 64 a ton mile for a maximum of 100 miles; and (5) an initial production bonus which may amount to as much as $35,000 in addition to all other payments. The producers have been guaranteed this policy until Feb. 28, 1957. The other four will continue until April 1962.

Jan 4, 1954

By N. A. Zeigler

GRaphitization phenomena occurring in solid cast iron have principally been studied from the angle of the reactions taking place during annealing of white castings in the manufacturing of malleable iron. The selected bibliography at the end of this paper presents the high spots of the published information in this field. Graph-itization of gray iron upon reheating has received much less attention, primarily because only on rare occasions is this material subjected to any kind of industrial heat-treating. Moreovcr, articles made from gray iron are seldom used commercially at temperatures when any graphitization can take place. When used in such conditions, it is assumed that the articles can be replaced at frequent intervals, which can be afforded because of the low cost of gray iron. However, there is at least one commercial process in which articles made from gray iron, during their manufacturing processing, are subjectcd to rather high temperatures; that is, manufacturing of cast-iron enamelware, which is glazed at about 1600° to 1700°F. (870' to 930°C.) From practical experience, it has been found that one of the convenient and economical compositions of gray iron suitable for enameling is, in round figures, as follows: Si, 2.50 per cent; Mn, 0.35; S, 0.07; P, 0.80; T.C., 3.35; C.C., 0.70. Since this iron usually is cast into thin-walled sections, the percentage of com- bined carbon in it is relatively high. Upon heating in the enameling furnaces, this combined carbon graphitizes, which causes permanent dimensional changes of the articles. Obviously, from practical considerations, it is desirable to maintain these dimensional changes as constant as possible. In the course of experimentation with this iron, two series of experimental heats were prepared in which the manganese to sulphur ratio of the standard cupola metal was offset by ladle additions of: (I) progressively larger amounts of sulphur, and (2) progressively larger amounts of manganese. Each one of these ladle charges was cast into experimental plates 8 by 4 in. and about 5/16 in. thick. All told, 13 ladle charges were thus treated. All of them are listed in Table I, together with their chemical analyses. It may be noted that the manganese to sulphur ratio in these samples ranges between 1.2 and 30.2. Every one of these compositions was subjected to thermal allalysis, using an automatic, self-recording differential dila-tometer. The specimens used in this instrument are 50 mm. long and 4 mm. in diameter. During the dilatometer cycle they are kept under a vacuum of about 3 microns. Each one of them was subjected to a thermal cycle by heating it to I830°F. (1000°C.) in 3 hr. and cooling to room temperaturc in 5 hr. Figs. I, 2 and 3 present three automatically recorded dilatometer curves for irons: Serial No. I (normal composition), Serial No. 6 (high sulphur), and Serial No. 13 (high manganese). All three of these figures are

Jan 1, 1945