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By Wing L. Lew

LEAD, silver, and zinc, in quantities of economic importance are found in the Aguilar ore. The lead occurs as galena and the zinc as sphalerite and marmatite. The silver occurrence is more complex. Pyrargyrite and proustite have been identified only occasionally. Galena is silver-bearing and so are the various other sulphides, though to a lesser degree. The principal nonsulphide gangue minerals include calcite, quartz, wollastonite, rhodonite, and various calcium, aluminum, and iron silicates. A typical analysis of, the ore is: Pb, 11.2; Zn, 12.3; Fe, 4.4; Mn, 2.2; Cu, 0.15; S, 11.2; CaO. 7.6; "Insoluble," 50.1 percent; and Ag 263 g per ton. Crushing is done in three stages. The primary crusher at the mine is set to deliver about a 5-in. product. The crushed ore is then transported to the secondary crushing plant by a 3-km cableway where the general practice is to hold the product of the first Symons to about 1 in., and of the second Symons to about 1/2 in. When the ore is soft and rich the product of the first Symons is by-passed directly to the ball-mill bins. Dust control in the secondary crushing plant is effected by enclosing the dust-emanating sources and exhausting the enclosures with a Clarage No. 18 fan driven at 1300 rpm by a 20-hp motor. Use is also made of spray water at one or two critical places. Every effort is made to keep the air free from visible dust. Dust counts taken at the working places show dust concentrations of less than six million particles ner cu ft. The composition

Jan 1, 1947

Henry Louis, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England (communica, tion to the Secretary): I have been much interested in Mr. Schmitz's description of the copper-ore bed in the Permian formation of Texas. He compares it with the Mansfeld Kupferschiefer; but it seems to me to present closer analogies with a small deposit on the same side of the Atlantic, in Nova Scotia, which I examined in 1877. I quote entirely from my fieldnotes, made then, and from specimens still in my possession. These copper-deposits are known in several places; but I examined them at the village of New Annan, on the banks of the French river. This district has been determined by Sir J. W. Dawson as being of Permian age, and this determination seems to have been confirmed as recently as 1891 by the operations of the Canadian Geological Survey. The following is the section, very imperfectly exposed in a few shallow levels, described in ascending order: Red sandstone, moderately fissile and markedly false-bedded. Lower nodule-bed, 1 inch to 6 inches thick, of fissile mica, ceous sandstone, containing obscure plant-remains converted into anthracite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite and iron pyrites. Very coarse grit or, in places, red sandstone; thickness and character variable. Upper nodule-bed, 6 inches to 2 feet thick exceptionally, generally about 10 inches. Soft, gray, friable shaly sandstone, with nodules of copper-ore. Red sandstone. All these strata lie flat, in places quite horizontal, in places dipping towards the river at 5° to 10°.

Jan 1, 1897

By G. L. Oldright

THE upper limit of richness of concentrates that can be smelted by means of the blast furnace without added diluents is fixed by the opera-tion of sintering. A sinter feed with normal gangue constituents, con-taining more than about 50 per cent of lead, tends to fuse; as a result, air does not come sufficiently into contact with the sulphides at roasting temperatures, and sulphur elimination is poor. Since most lead con-centrates now contain 55 to 80 per cent lead, it is necessary to add diluents to lower the grade of such sinter feed to about 50 per cent or less. This not only entails the expense of providing barren diluents when adequate diluents containing precious metals are not available but also appreciably lowers the capacity of the blast furnace to produce lead and increases slag losses. Attempts to desulphurize rich lead concentrates by methods other than sintering have not proved successful. Flash roasting, for example, converts much of the lead sulphide to lead sulphate rather than to oxide. However, this suggested the possibility that deliberate flash roasting of the concentrates to sulphate, followed by sinter roasting of the resulting product, might prove promising, particularly inasmuch as the elimination of sulphur from lead sulphate requires heat alone and not contact with atmospheric oxygen. The sintering of lead sulphate products has additional interest because important amounts of such products are now treated by lead smelters. Considerable quantities of lead sulphate are present in rich lead flue dusts and other by-products; lead-chamber sulphuric acid plants and other

Jan 1, 1940

By Hans Lundberg

IN ORDER to comprehend the help and information that may be expected from electrical prospecting, it is necessary to have at least a general knowledge of the methods and principles involved in preparing and interpreting results obtained in the field. Electrical prospecting is rather complicated, both in theory and practice, and in order to make a brief description clear to the practical mining man it has been necessary to idealize and generalize the problems, at the risk of having such simplification criticized by the theoretical man. This simplification must not be misinterpreted as showing a lack of theoretical knowledge. FIG. 1.-FLOW OF CURRENT IN AND AROUND A CONDUCTING BODY. For its operation, electrical prospecting mainly depends on-the fact that most metallic ores conduct an electric current much more readily than barren rocks. If an electric current flows through a block of ground within which a body of chalcopyrite is enclosed in country rock of schist, the current will find less resistance to its passage through the chalcopyrite than through the schist, even though the passage through the latter be much shorter. This is because the longer path through the chalcopyrite offers less resistance, owing to the superior electrical conductivity of the chalcopyrite (Fig. 1).

Jan 1, 1928

By Christopher G. Atwater

The object of this paper is to describe and discuss the progress that has been made, up to the present date, in the development of the modern by-product coke-oven. There are few members of the Institute who have not heard more or less of the by-product oven-installation, and there are many whose acquaintance with it is intimate and practical. Since the general opinion on the subject has hardly become crystallized as yet, it is hoped that this paper will at least furnish matter for discussion. In order to obtain an idea of the present status of the industry in the principal iron-producing countries, the following table has been prepared : Table Showing Proportion of Coke Made in By-Product Ovens in Various Countries. United Kingdom (1898, Mr. George Beilby). Short Tons. Per Cent. Coal coked in by-product ovens,. .. 1,400,000 7.9 Coal coked in blast-furnaces with by-product recovery,.......2,240,000 12.7 Coal coked in non-by-product ovens,. . 14,000,000 79.4

Jan 1, 1903

By Larry Kaufman, Morris Cohen

THE solid phase equilibria' and the martensitic transformation in the iron-nickel system have been the subject of considerable study. In addition, there have been numerous investigations on the calorimetric and thermodynamic properties of iron-nickel alloys. The purpose of the present work is to extend the existing information concerning the martensitic reaction in the iron-nickel system, and to develop a general thermodynamic treatment which will encompass the equilibrium and non-equilibrium phase

Jan 1, 1957

Jan 1, 1925

By John V. Beall

Copper production in the. United States in 1972 amounted to 1,658,000 tons according to the USBM. This figure is up over 1971 but falls below 1970 production of 1,719,101 tons. This report is essentially about the status of copper mining operations in the U.S. and is an update and expansion of the report "Southwest Copper-A Position Survey" published in [A=], October 1965. At that time, the trend was toward using larger equipment to mine lower grade ore and toward the expansion of dump leaching practice. That trend continues today but, it is overlain by intensive activity to comply with existing environ¬mental legislation and uncertainty over proposed revisions of venerable laws governing mining. In the U.S. today there is, practically speaking, no excess smelting capacity so that expansion of copper production through the startup of new mines is inhibited. Owners of a large undeveloped orebody would have to decide before going into production whether to sell the concentrates offshore, which has many problems, whether to try one of several unproved chemical processes for producing refined metal from concentrates or embarking on the construction of a traditional pyrometallurgical plant in the face of considerable uncertainty over the pollution standards that eventually must be met. The situation is such that not only is the present rate of U.S. copper production threatened but the ability to meet projected increased demand in the years ahead may have been severely retarded.

Jan 4, 1973

By Zay Jeffries

OF the new production of non-ferrous metals in 1930 gold will rank first in value. We usually think of copper as the most important non-ferrous metal. The copper industry as a whole, that is, adding copper production to copper fabrication, is the largest non-ferrous metal industry. Prior to the world war; however, gold led in value of new metal produced. During the war copper passed gold in value, but gold regained its position during the 1921 depression. For the past several years copper has again passed gold, but in 1930 gold promises again to regain the lead. The gold producer has at times been called a social parasite, largely because we ' cannot eat or drink gold, or because we cannot use it for clothes or for the construction of buildings. Let us briefly examine this accusation.

Jan 1, 1930

By F. E. Bachman

Although it has been apparent to me for a long time that too great weight was currently given to the silicon-contents of foundry-iron, and that the theory of the control by silicon of the carbon-contents of cast-iron is unsound, or that, at best, the influence of silicon is too small to be of much practical value as a guide in foundry-work, it never seemed to me desirable to enter the lists against either the " silicon-fad " or the theory, for the reason that I had neither the time nor the facilities to prove my position, nor any better theory to offer. But since Mr. Summers has taken the step, it seems but right that I should give such facts as are at hand in support of his contention. At the same time I do not think these are enough to prove the case if the contrary proposition were not itself, as it seems to me, based on insufficient evidence. Both Keep's and Turner's conclusions seem to be drawn from irons carrying less than the normal amount of carbon; Turner's " base " being, moreover, a steel rather than a pig-iron, and both the white base and the ferro-silicon of Keep being so low in carbon that compounds of them would not give a material approaching the carbon-contents of a normal casting, and having, therefore, little value as showing the effects of silicon on foundry-irons, even if his samples were treated under the same conditions as those to which pig-metal is subjected in making castings.

Jan 1, 1899

By A. F. Buddington

INTRODUCTION EVER since a genetic connection between many ore deposits and magmas began to be widely recognized, some two-score years ago, there has been much discussion of the complex and intricate problem of the genetic association of specific kinds of mineralization with specific kinds of igneous rocks. General discussions of the latter problem and pertinent data have been given by S. F. Emmons, Kemp, Lindgren, Niggli, Rastall, Spurr, Vogt, and others. In this paper no attempt is made to deal with mineral deposits genetically associated with volcanic rocks, but only with those presumed to be related to exposed intrusive masses. The writer is indebted to E. S. Bastin, F. F. Grout, Edward Sampson, and to the members of the committee in charge of the preparation of the volume, for a critical reading of the manuscript and many worth-while suggestions.

Jan 1, 1933

By Eugene Grace

IN THE careers of the men to whom I have referred we find typified the development of the chief prob-lems of engineering. The first is to shape and direct the forces of nature and thus to bring the world's resources to add to the comfort and welfare of man-kind. That, in a word, is the problem of production. Engineers have made a supreme contribution to the solution of that problem. But I feel that we have two somewhat newer branches of engineering which must command more and more of our attention. Those are what might be termed commercial and human engineering. Of what value is all our efficiency in pro-duction if we do not distribute efficiently, economically and effectively? And of what value is any of it unless we can add to the happiness and deeper satisfaction of those engaged in industry, as well as those who enjoy its -products? I predict that the outstanding advances in business over the next ten years will be in improved merchan-dising and distributing methods. Herein lies a wide field of opportunity for the engineer. We have briefly reviewed certain qualities of engi-neers who have become successful business executives. Is it possible for us to say that the material success of all these men was due to any one characteristic com-mon to each one of them? Indeed, I venture to assert that there is one quality which, in the last analysis, is determining as to whether any roan shall realize material success in this world of ours. That quality-so notable in the character of each one of the men I have named-is sound judgment. Moments arise in every life when it is necessary to say "yes" or to say "no" to a particular proposition or to a proposed line of action. It is the man who says "yes" at the proper time and "no" at the proper time who, in the final analysis, realizes business success. The ability to do this wisely is the mark of sound judg-ment, which is necessary in a business executive. I have known many business men seemingly slow in their mental processes, possessed apparently, of little imagination and of none of the flair which gives fasci-nation to so many characters, and yet who, when crises come-be they big or be they little-are able so to steer their business courses that they move in the right direction instead of into shallow waters or upon the rocks of trouble.

Jan 4, 1928

By E. P. Jennings

Large deposits of titaniferous iron-ore occur at Caribou, an old silver-mining camp in Boulder county, Colo., 17 miles west by south of Boulder, and a few miles northwest of the tungsten-mines. Professor Regis Chauvenet1 published a part analysis of the ore many years ago, but gave no description of the wall-rock. Caribou hill, which contains both the silver-bearing veins and the iron-ore deposits, is a low dome of gabbro surrounded by the Archæan schists and gneisses of the Front range of the Rocky mountains, the peaks of which, a few miles west of Caribou, attain an elevation exceeding 12,000 ft. The gabbro stock is roughly elliptical in outline, with approximate diameters of 1 and 3 miles. The crest of the dome is 10,500 ft. above sea-level, and the town and ore-cleposits are 500 ft. lower. Outcrops of the iron-ore occur in the town and extend NW. for 2,000 ft., where they disappear under the swampy meadows of Caribou park. Portions of the deposit are covered by drift, but one continuous outcrop is 900 ft. long and from 200 to 250 ft. wide. A second deposit is 0.25 mile south of the town along the eastern slope of the hill. It is not as well defined as the north bed, but is approximately 1,000 ft. long and from 100 to 200 ft. wide. The easily disintegrated ore does not form prominent outcrops, but the outlines of the deposits are readily traced by the large amount of ore fragments that cover the ground. Trenches and pits sunk on the outcrop expose a roughly banded magnetic iron-ore, with pyroxene as the principal gangue-mineral. The Gabbro. This rock was classified in the field as a gabbro from the presence of pyroxene and striated feldspars, and for convenience the field-name will be retained.

Jan 1, 1913

By J. L. Bray

IT is well known that iron markedly improves the physical properties and casting characteristics of aluminum bronzes. The use of 1 to 4 per cent iron as the principal modifying addition has become common practice in many foundries melting aluminum bronzes. Although the beneficial effects of iron are unquestioned, there is some uncertainty regarding the structural changes caused by it in the basic copper-alumi-num system. It is agreed that a new constituent appears in abundance when the iron content reaches 2 to 4 per cent. This constituent, which frequently occurs in shapes resembling clover leaves, is sometimes assumed to be an aluminum-iron intermetallic compound. If this were correct we might expect a change in the structural relationships of the matrix in the direction of decreased aluminum content. On the other hand, it has been reported that iron has a negligible effect in altering the fundamental relationships of copper-aluminum alloys1. Others2,3 have reported an additive coefficient. Apparently it will be necessary to know the equilibrium relationships between the phases of the copper-aluminum-iron alloy system to establish any such theory as fact. When this has been done it may very well be that a further revision in the structural relationships may be necessary to describe the changes to be expected in commercial cast alloys. It was with this latter problem before them that the authors attempted to

Jan 1, 1936

Jan 1, 1914

By Robert Mehl

METALLURGISTS are properly interested in papers dealing with subjects ranging from the theories of the metallic state to very practical details on the use of metals. A review of theoretical metallurgy naturally excludes papers concerned with the usefulness of metals and limits itself to those concerned purely with the science of metals. Even in this more limited field the reviewer is confronted with thousands of papers dealing with facts and theories of metallic behavior, from which he can select only a few hundred. The selection is necessarily highly arbitrary. Certain classes of papers definitely fall within the scope of this review. Thus, papers on the deformation of metals, on the structure of alloys, on recrystallization, to select only a few, are fully represented. Other subjects, which verge on what is generally accepted as the science of metals, such as the magnetic properties of metals, the less familiar electrical properties and theories, adsorption of gases by metal surfaces, and the like, are treated scantily. Particular attention is given to reviews of subjects that fall with in the groups chosen; in a summary such as this, which is largely in the nature of a progress report, capably written reviews are of importance, particularly since the monograph and text book literature is so meager in this field.

Jan 1, 1935

By T. L. MacKay

Oxidation rates of single-crystal and poly crystalline zirconium in oxygen at temperatures from 307° to 815°C obey the parabolic rate law for short ex-posure time, 4 to 6 hr. The activation energy for the oxidation of single-crystal zirconium between 420° and 790°C is 42.6 ± 0.7 kcal per mole, and in the temperature range 307" to 600°C the activation energy for oxidation of poly crystalline zirconium is approximately the same. The high-activation energy is indicative that diffusion through the bulk oxide film is the primary mode of mass transport for both types of metal. The higher oxidation rates for poly -crystalline zirconium in this temperature range were attributed to differences in the orientation of the grains in the metal with respect to the oxidizing surfaces. Above 600°C, vain growth was observed in polycrystalline zirconium, and the oxidation rates approached those of single-crystal zirconium. ThE kinetic data of previous oxidation studies1-' of zirconium in oxygen have been interpreted by both parabolic and cubic rate laws. There is some evidence that there is a transition from the parabolic to the cubic rate law at prolonged exposures, but the question is still controversial. For the parabolic rate law activation energies are reported in the range 18.6 to 35 kcal per mole, and for the cubic rate law in the range 38 to 47 kcal per mole. So far as the mechanism of zirconium oxidation is concerned, inert marker studies10,11 have indicated that the oxidation proceeds by oxygen (anion) diffusion through the oxide film toward the metal-metal oxide interface. Pemslerl2 observed that the orientation of the grains in the zirconium metal substrate affected the rate of formation of the oxide film on the surfaces of the grains and that the orientation dependence of the corrosion rate persisted beyond the initial stages of reaction. The rate of oxidation was a minimum when the c axis of the grain was parallel to the surface of the sample, and rose to a maximum when the c axis was inclined at about 20 deg to the plane of sample surface, and decreased again at higher inclinations. cox13 observed that in 300°C steam a thin oxide film was formed initially on zirconium and that this oxide film, which exhibited interference colors, became dark first along the grain boundaries and then over the whole surface in an inhomogeneous manner as the film thickened. Cox proposed a mechanism in which oxygen diffused along preferred paths created by grain boundaries in the metal and formed a much thicker film at or near the grain boundary than on the central zone of the grain. In the present study, the oxidation rates of single crystals of zirconium were measured in oxygen and compared with the oxidation rates of polycrystalline zirconium of the same bar stock. It was felt that such a comparison would elucidate the role of grain boundaries in the metal substrate. SAMPLE PREPARATION Single crystals of zirconium were prepared by following the procedure of I3apperport,14 starting with 1/4-in. rod purchased as crystal-bar zirconium. Zirconium rods 2 in. long were wrapped in tungsten foil and sealed in quartz tubes at pressures of less than 10-6 mm of mercury. Large single crystals were grown by thermal cycling above and below the a-/3 transformation temperature, 862°C. Several specimens were simultaneously subjected to the same cycling procedure, heating to 1200°C, holding for 4 hr, then cooling in the furnace and holding at a temperature of 840°C for 5 to 10 days. This cycle was repeated five or six times for each set of specimens. The grain size of the crystal-bar zirconium before thermal cycling was between 10 and 30 p. Fig. 1 shows the microstructure of an end section of as-received crystal-bar zirconium. A longitudinal section of each zirconium rod after thermal cycling was polished and examined under polarized light, see Fig. 2, and the largest single crystals were selected for this study. Zirconium rods 1/8 in. in diameter and 1/2 in. long with spherical ends were machined from the single crystals and from the as-received bar stock. An X-ray examination showed that the c axis of the single crystals made either a 34-deg or an 89-deg angle with the rod axis. The specimens were chemically etched for 2 min in solution consisting of 15 parts hydrofluoric acid (48 pct), 80 parts nitric acid, and 80 parts water. The chemical polish removed 1 to 2 mils from the surface. EXPERIMENTAL The Sartorius vacuum microbalance used in this study has a sensitivity of 0.5 pg and a capacity of

Jan 1, 1963

By John C. Calhoun, J. E. Warren

A study of waterflood efficiency, given in terms of oil recovery at water breakthrough and u1timate recovery, has been made on short, consolidated Pyrex glass cores rendered oil-wet by chemical treatment. Contact angle. interfacial tension, permeability and porosity were the variables considered. Oil and water viscosities, core length and velocity of flooding were held constant. The data permit interfacial tension, contact angle, porosity, and permeability to be grouped into a scaling coefficient along with viscosity, velocity of flooding and length of core. Correlation of the .scaling coefficient with recovery at water breeakthrough is found to follow prediction; correlations of ultimate recovery demand a scaling coefficient different from that which correlates breakthrough recovery. The work indicates that, with proper control, a group of similar natural cores, of permeability plug size, call he correlated 10 indicate basic flooding performance. INTRODUCTION The fraction of oil recovered from a porous medium is related to both reservoir conditions and production techniques. An investigation of all factors that enter into this relationship is necessary in order to arrive at the optimum method of exploitation for oil reservoirs. To define this relationship, laboratory studies have been made by a great many investigators. However. an important obstacle arises if the results of these experiments on water flooding are to be applied to practice. Ditferences in behavior are to be expected between reservoirs of the dimensions encountered underground and those used in laboratory work. Factors which play an important role under laboratory conditions may be of no consequence in reservoirs. Laboratory operating practices generally differ from field operating practices. Thus. a mere understanding of the mechanism of the displacement of oil by water is not enough. It is just as necessary that the process be analyzed dimensionally to give continuity and validity to the conversion from laboratory to field. The theory of oil displacement that has come to be accepted by the majority of those who are associated with reservoir mechanics had its beginning in the work of Leverett¹ and Buckley and Leverett2. The banking of oil, observed by many previous workers, was described by the "fractional flow" and the "frontal advance'' equations. The validity of the Buckley-Leverett theory was substantiated by the experimental and theoretical work of Terwilliger et al³; moroever, the theory was extended by the introduction of the idea of a "stabilized zone" to describe the banking of oil. Levine5 showed that the Buckley-Leverett equations gave reasonable agreement between calculated and experimental breakthrough recoveries only if the capillary pressure and gravity terms were included. Rapoport and Leas1 investigated the properties of linear floods and showed that both breakthrough and maximum recovery are related to a "scaling coefficient'' derived from the Buckley-Leverctt equations. Jones-Par-ra and Calhoun6 presented another scaling coefficient which included both viscous and capillary variables. Such scaling coefficients should suffice to predicl waterflood efficiency. However, some experimenters report data which does not appear consistent with the healing coefficient approach. For example, Engelberts and Klinkenberg7 conducted an extensive series of experiments on a dimensional model which contained a

Jan 1, 1956

By AIME AIME

THE 1941 fall meeting of the Iron and Steel and the Institute- of Metal, Division held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Philadelphia, during the first three days (Oct. 20-22) of the National Metal Congress was well attended as usual, and the seven technical sessions and the joint round table on order-disorder transformations were this year of considerably more than routine interest. Despite unseasonably warm weather, a scarcity of hotels (there were rumors, apparently well-founded, that , some of the metal man attending the Congress had to stay in tourist camp), and a multiplicity of technical and other ions of the co-operating societies that gave the Congress this year the general air of a three-ring circus the A.I.M.E. sessions attracted audiences that ragged from seventy or eighty up to 350

Jan 1, 1941

By R. B. Schluter, M. M. Fine

A process for winning copper from pelletized chalcocite concentrate without matte smelting and converting is under development at the Twin Cities Metallurgy Research Center of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The new procedure includes a two-stage fluid-bed treatment in which the pelletized concentrate with 33% Cu and 7% S is first desulfurized to about 0.5% S in an oxidizing atmosphere, and then metallized by reduction with hydrogen. The reduced product is melted with flux to separate metallic copper from the gangue. The metal must be refined to remove residual sulfur and iron. The pelletizing of the fine concentrate into mini-pellets prior to fluid-bed treatment is an important feature of the process, because it permits shorter reaction time, decreases dusting, and facilitates subsequent processing.

Jan 1, 1972