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By L. T. Leyson, U. C. Tainton

Some time ago, at ameeting of the Institute Prof. J. W. Richards1 said, "I take exception to the statement that all the factors in the production of electrolytic zinc were known long ago.... There is possible in my opinion an improvement of perhaps 50 per cent. in the new electrolytic processes." An examination of the literature of the subject will show the justness of Professor Richards' contention. The work of the earlier investigators was carried on in the shadow of difficulties that, today, are hardly more than memories. We seldom hear now of zinc sponge, that bête noir of the electrolytic-zinc pioneers. Zinc sponge was the name given to a peculiar, soft, black, non-adherent form of zinc deposit that was utterly useless for melting into ingot form. At the big plant at Cockle Creek, New South Wales, in 1897, Edgar Ashcroft2 said that the solution in the plant would suddenly, and without ascertainable cause, go' "bad" and begin to deposit spongy zinc. The most delicate, even spectroscopic, methods of analysis were unable to detect any difference between "good" solution and "bad" solution; either form might change to the other on being kept for a while. When it is added that an outbreak of this insidious disease (which appeared to be infectious, or at least contagious) could be dealt with only by discarding the solution and washing out all tanks and pipe lines, some idea may be gathered of the troubles of the zinc electrometallurgist in what may be spoken of as the "sponge age" of electrolytic zinc. Thanks to the efforts of a number of investigators, we are today able to diagnose with considerable certitude the nature of the malady that puzzled Ashcroft and his co-workers. The researches of Mylius and

Jan 1, 1924

By Richard E. McElvain

The mining and other industries have grown and changed with- respect to their requirements for slurry pumps capable of handling high percentages of abrasive materials. Greater solids concentration, higher heads and pressures, and increased flow arc not possible. Today's equipment delivers up to three times the flow-tonnage and 1.3 times the head per stage as compared with pumps of ten years ago. This results in four times the requirement in size and energy. The new centrifugal pumps are capable of handling these requirements at pressures up to 4826 kPa (700 psi), with 6895 kPa (1000 psi) or more being considered for future systems. The latest pumps, functioning at four times the operating requirement on flow-head, weight eight times more than the previous equipment. Efficiency is increased slightly, to about 75 % to 85%. A testing program on equivalent units has confirmed that the added strength and specific design of heavy-duty pumps can meet demanding engineering objectives. Operating life on difficult-to-pump materials is increased from 500 to over 5000 hours of continuous operation; the ten-fold increase in pump operating time is a major design objective.

Jan 12, 1976

By W. L. Saunders

It has been estimated that the value of the mineral products of the United States is about $2,000,000,000 a year; that about $25,000,000 is expended annually for explosives and that about double this sum is paid in wages where blasting is done. The value of the mineral products does not adequately express the importance of the industry involved in the excavation of rock and ore because of the enormous sums of money expended in tunnel driving, in quarries, and in open-cut excavation generally. We know that the Catskill Aqueduct in the neighborhood of New York, which is now nearing completion, has cost some $165,000,000 and that about one-third of this may be rated as rock excavation. These illustrations are given in order to call attention to the great importance of an industry the extension and development of which in our industrial life depend so much upon the economics of rock drilling. Reference has been made to the new Catskill Aqueduct. There are three aqueducts leading into New York, each built at periods separated by some 20 years of time. The first one, known as the Old Aqueduct, conveys the waters of the Croton river to New York City in a manner which reminds one of the old Roman aqueducts, the ruins of which are still in evidence. The engineers who laid out these old conduits sought to direct their lines around the hills and into the valleys, at all times avoiding the rock. When it was necessary to cross a river or a deep ravine, a bridge or causeway was constructed. High Bridge, over the Harlem river, is an arched masonry viaduct differing in no essential features from the aqueducts of the Romans. When the second Croton Aqueduct was built, about the year 1890, the art of drilling rock had been so far perfected, and the use of explosives, through the invention of dynamite, had become so general, that this waterway was planned and executed on straight lines, following rather than avoiding the rock. The second Croton Aqueduct is a tunnel through rock, about 32 miles in length; material gneiss, almost as hard as granite. Its construction was made practicable by sinking

Jan 1, 1914

By Robert B. Coleman

The recent surge in demand for uranium in the US, accompanied by a significant increase in price, has stimulated the search for and development of lower grade ore bodies. At the mill, this translates into much larger throughputs and-compounded by many recently enacted environmental considerations-has made the cost of milling a critical factor in today's uranium production economics. The three conventional milling methods employed in the extraction of uranium ores are reviewed in the following sections.

Jan 10, 1978

By E. W. Engelmann

A NEW and interesting type of drier has been developed and operated at the Magna plant of the Utah Copper Co. for the past year for the drying of a filtered concentrate in the molybdenum recovery plant of this company. The several units installed have ranged from 12 to 30 in. in width, and from 14 to 30 ft. long. Their economy was immediately apparent after the first one was installed. The machine is not only low in capital cost, but has proved efficient for the drying of fine concentrate at low operating cost. The Utah vibrating drier consists of a steel conveyor trough supported on flexible reeds from a structural steel foundation anchored in concrete. The steel pan, which is also the drying surface, is vibrated by a heavy Utah electromagnetic vibrator fastened either to the head or discharge end of the pan. The vibration thus obtained agitates the material and causes it to be conveyed over the heated surface.

Jan 1, 1938

By Harry C. Gatos, Frank J. Bachner

It was shown through high-pressure experiments that tin loss by volatilizatim is necessary for the degrada-tion of the superconducting transition temperature of Nb,Sn associated with high-temperature annealing. Crystallochemical analysis of the degraded Nb3Sn showed that it constitutes a new phase with ordered niobium-site vacancies, created by the migration of niobium atoms to vaccnt tin sites. This new phase was found to form when 4 pct Nb-site vacancies were present. It has a transition temperature of 6'K and a lattice parameter of 5.283A. A similar degradation effect was observed in Nb,Al. Its superconducting transition temperature dropped from 16.5" to 8" K following a high-temperature annealing. The superconducting temperature degradation in these 0-tungsten structure compounds is attributed to the disruption of the interchain d bonding by the periodic interruption of the niobium atom chains. By annealing the degraded Nb, Sn at 1000 C in nitrogen its normal superconducting behavior is restored most likely due to the incorporation of nitrogen atoms causing the elimination of the ordered vacancies. HANAK et al.' have observed low superconducting transition-temperature values (T, - 9"K) in some NbsSn samples deposited from the vapor phase. They attributed such low T, values to disorder in the 0-tung-sten structure. Much lower T values (down to 5.6"K) were reported by Reed et al.zC for NbsSn samples annealed at high temperatures. These authors also attributed this degradation effect to disorder (random occupation of the A and B sites by niobium and tin) but pointed out that such disorder could be brought about (by high-temperature treatment) only in samples containing niobium in excess of the stoichiometric composition NbsSn. Both groups reported that the normal superconductivity behavior could be rever-sibly restored by appropriate heat treatment. Courtney et al., also found that degradation in NbsSn requires excess niobium brought about by the loss of tin during the treatment. However, these investigators proposed that the degradation is due to niobium-site vacancies resulting from the migration of the niobium atoms to the vacated tin atom sites. They did not consider the reversibility of the effect. The present study attempts to establish the nature of the above degradation phenomenon. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES All compounds prepared for this investigation were made from the powders or filings of the elements which were intimately mixed, cold-pressed into a cylindrical pellet at approximately 50,000 lb per sq in., and then submitted to the desired heat treatment. The samples annealed under high pressure were placed in a MgO sample container which was mounted in a pyrophyllite tetrahedron designed for a tetra-hedral-anvil press. Details of the experimental arrangement are given elsewhere. This setup allowed heating at 1800°C or above under pressures in excess of 30kbars for 3 hr. The samples annealed in a vacuum were prepared in a high-temperature vacuum furnace which could reach temperatures up to 2400°C under a pressure of 2 x lo-' Torr. For annealing in a reactive atmosphere, a quartz tube was placed in a clamshell furnace and the desired gas ambient passed through the tube. Lattice parameters were determined using a Debye-Scherer 114.6-mm camera. Cohen's method, programmed for the IBM 7094 computer, was used to calculate the lattice parameter from the measured d spacings. X-ray integrated intensity measurements were made on several samples. These samples were ground to -400 mesh and the powder mixed with a solution of collodion in amyl acetate. The mixture was poured into a depression milled in a bakelite disc. When the mixture dried, the surface of the disc was ground flat leaving a diffraction surface defined by the face of the disc. The disc was mounted in a Philips rotating specimen holder which allowed the rotation of the sample in the plane of the diffraction surface and the integrated intensity measured using a scintillation counter and a pulse-height analysis sys-tem. The superconducting transition temperatures were determined by means of self-inductance techniques.' EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The Role of Tin Loss in the Degradation of Super-conductivity. The loss of tin during high-temperature annealing can be effectively suppressed by annealing under high hydrostatic pressures. Accordingly, a series of experiments were performed under pressures of approximately 30kbars. This pressure was the minimum under which high-temperature experiments could be safely performed in the particular pressure apparatus employed. Experiments were also designed to test high-pressure effects on the superconductivity behavior of NbJSn. The results of the high-pressure annealing experi-ments are summarized in Table I. All samples were prepared as described earlier. They were reacted and homogenized at 1000°C for 24 hr under argon at-

Jan 1, 1967

By George Bain

SOME problems concomitant with commercial exploitation of marble are presented as examples of interesting, useful and profitable fields for application of scientific knowledge. The marble industry is only one such field and is selected because its varying new aspects are familiar to the author. However, what is true for marble is equally so in principle for many industrial minerals. The problems of any stone industry are to maintain markets, create new outlets for stone already in demand, and develop varied uses for varieties that are not so popular. Here the geologist has a different role from most of his colleagues in metal mining. The producing branch may ask about the expectable variation in thickness or size of a deposit as development proceeds. The stock department may call for the available amount of a given type of stone before accepting a large order. The sales force requires data on the use for stone from certain parts of deposits in order to divert grades to the most suitable use. The service depart-ment wants defects rectified and the cause determined to avoid recurrence. The mills want data on durability and cutting quality of abrasives. The geologist occupies no special department; he is on general call, as may be illustrated by a few types of problems that may be classified as: (1) dominantly geological in character, (2) dominantly chemical in character, (3) dominantly physical in character.

Jan 1, 1940

With the exception of the mentions of coal in Illinois in the period 1660-1680, already referred to, the first coal found in the United States was in the James River, Virginia, field. In 1699 a large tract of .land above the present city of Richmond was allotted for a settlement of French Huguenots by the colonial, government, near the present Manakin, about fourteen miles above Richmond. They soon found coal, tradition says it was uncovered by a hunter pulling out a small tree in a. steel) bank near a stream, and Colonel William Byrd, F.R.S., the most prominent man of his day in the colony, wrote to the Colonial Council of Virginia, May 10 and 11, 1701: "The 10th of May, last., I with Coll. Randolph, Capt. Epes, Capt. Webb, &c., went up to the new settlements of ye French Refugees at ye Manaken Town.... We went tip to ye Cole, w'ch is not above a mile and a half from their settlement on the great upper Creeke, w'ch, riseing very high in great Raines hath washed away the Banks that the Coal lyes bare, otherwise it's very deep in the Earth, the land being very high, and near the surface is plenty of Slate.", Some of the Frenchmen were evidently familiar with the use of coal, as on May 22, 1702, "David Menestrier a black smith and one of ye french Refugees Inhabiting at Luciana Petitioning his Excellency that he may have leave to use ye coal mines lately discovered there for his forge his Excellency by and with ye advice of ye Council loth hereby give Leave to ye said David Menestrier to take what coales he shall want. out of ye said Coal mine for ye use of his forge according to ye Prayer of ye said Petition."2 There was some uncertainty about the grant of these lands to the Huguenots which caused the request for leave to use this coal, as a Virginia patent in its usual form allowed the owner to mine all minerals excepting gold and silver, which were subject to royalties for the Crown. After the visit to the coal above mentioned, "Wm. Byrd, understanding the land had not been granted to the French, took out a patent for 344 acres, including the same, (the coal) which patent was dated October 20, 1704".3

Jan 1, 1942

(Members are urged to send in for this column any notes of interest concerning themselves or their fellow-members.) Members and guests who called at Institute headquarters during the period August 1, 1916 to September 10, 1916: C. L. Cantley, New Glasgow, N. S. H. M. La Follette, La Follette, Tenn. D. A. Cowell, Columbus, Ohio. Montrose L. Lee, Montevideo, Uruguay. Alexander Deussen, Houston, Texas. V. H. McNutt, Billings, Mont. Chas. E. Dutton, Goldfield, Nev. J. W. Maller, New York, N. Y. H. S. Emlaw, Grand Haven, Mich. Edwin W. Mills, Tul. Mi Chung, Chosen, J. M. Gillette, Swatsburg, N. Y. Korea. E. Gorilla, San Antonio, Texas. Francis R. Pine, Elizabeth N. J. Bertram Grant, Kingman, Arizona. Frank A. Ray, Columbus, Ohio. Ruger W. Hay, Bisbee, Arizona. John A. Rice, El Paso, Texas. C. F. Hendricks, Cobalt, Ontario. W. E. Rice, Ringwood Manor, N. J. Stanley C. Herold, San Jose, Cal. W. H. Staver, Lynchburg, Va. Lloyd Hoffman, Pottersville, N. J. Ralph H. Sweetser, Easton, Pa. Charles Hunter, London, England. Kirby Thomas, New York, N. Y. G. Jansen, Benkoelen, Sumatra. Henry Traphagen, Union Hill. T. H. Jenks, Oatman, Arizona. M. M. Valerius, Tulsa, Okla. Warren jenny, Chanaral, Chile. Wilfrid B. Wainewright, London, Eng. Walter A. Barrows, Jr., of Brainerd, Minn., has been elected president and general manager of the Thomas Iron Co., Easton, Pa., to succeed Ralph H. Sweetser, whose resignation of several months ago becomes

Jan 10, 1916

By C. D. Woodward

The Anaconda Copper Mining Co. purchases 25,000 kw. of electric power for its mining operations at Butte, Mont. This power is delivered, over duplicate feeders, in the form of 60-cycle, 2400-volt, three-phase current, to five compressor plants, where most of the energy is used for driving air compressors. At the compressor plants are located the switching apparatus for controlling the 2400-volt power and distributing it to the various mines. At these points, also, there are a number of motor-generator sets for converting the alternating current to 275-volt direct current for the haulage systems. Pole lines convey the powcr from the compressor plants to outdoor transformer substations at most of the mines. When it is not economical to distribute the power at the lower voltages in the mines, transformers and motor-generator sets are placed at strategic points underground. All power is purchased on a maximum-demand basis; therefore there is installed at one of the compressor plants an eight-element totalizing graphic wattmeter. This instrument records simultaneously the value of all power taken at the numerous points of delivery, which not only climinates the diversity factor but permits load dispatching between compressor and pumping plants, and thus materially reduces the maximum demand from the power system. As most of the mine hoisting is done by 90-lb. compressed-air winding engines, the air-compressor equipment for the winding engines and mining operations is quite extensive. The standard air compressor has a rating of 7500 cu. ft. per min. of free air, and most of the compressors are directly connected to synchronous motors. The synchronous motors are designed for 80 per cent. loading power factor, thus facilitating power-factor correction of total mine load. Consequently by cooperation with the power company, the voltage of the power received at the compressor plants is constant. In the mines there are installed an induction motor load of approxi-mately 10,000 hp., and 4500 kv.-a,, in transformer capacity. It is the practice to install 2200-volt motors in the mincs, except those rated below 50 hp, hence there are in operation underground about 5000 hp., in the

Jan 1, 1923

By C. D. Woodward

The Anaconda Copper Mining Co. purchases 25,000 kw. of electric power for its mining operations at Butte, Mont. This power is delivered, over duplicate feeders, in the form of 60-cycle, 2400-volt, three-phase current, to five compressor plants, where most of the energy is used for driving air compressors. At the compressor plants are located the switching apparatus for controlling the 2400-volt power and distributing it to the various mines. At these points, also, there are a number of motor-generator sets for converting the alternating current to 275-volt direct current for the haulage systems. Pole lines convey the powcr from the compressor plants to outdoor transformer substations at most of the mines. When it is not economical to distribute the power at the lower voltages in the mines, transformers and motor-generator sets are placed at strategic points underground. All power is purchased on a maximum-demand basis; therefore there is installed at one of the compressor plants an eight-element totalizing graphic wattmeter. This instrument records simultaneously the value of all power taken at the numerous points of delivery, which not only climinates the diversity factor but permits load dispatching between compressor and pumping plants, and thus materially reduces the maximum demand from the power system. As most of the mine hoisting is done by 90-lb. compressed-air winding engines, the air-compressor equipment for the winding engines and mining operations is quite extensive. The standard air compressor has a rating of 7500 cu. ft. per min. of free air, and most of the compressors are directly connected to synchronous motors. The synchronous motors are designed for 80 per cent. loading power factor, thus facilitating power-factor correction of total mine load. Consequently by cooperation with the power company, the voltage of the power received at the compressor plants is constant. In the mines there are installed an induction motor load of approxi-mately 10,000 hp., and 4500 kv.-a,, in transformer capacity. It is the practice to install 2200-volt motors in the mincs, except those rated below 50 hp, hence there are in operation underground about 5000 hp., in the

Jan 1, 1923

By JOHN A. MALONEY

AS noted in the February issue of MINING AND METALLURGY, an advisory committee to the Museum of Science and Industry of Chicago was authorized by the Institute's Board of Directors, with W. R. Wright of Chicago, former Director of the Institute, as chairman. Since that time the committee has been undergoing organization, and held its initial meeting at the Museum offices in Chicago on April 11 and 12. Functioning as consultants to the Geology and Mineral Industries branch of this new institution, the advisory committee is aiding in building an exhibit which will tell the story of geology, mining, and metallurgy to millions of visitors a year. Although patterned to some extent

Jan 1, 1932

(Members are urged to send in for this column any notes of interest concerning themselves or their fellow-members.) Members and guests who called at Institute headquarters during the period Apr. 10, 1916; to May 10, 1916: Philip P. Baily, New York, N. Y. George W. Otterson Seattle, Wash. John M. Brooks, Jr., Knoxville, Tenn. C. Q. Payne, New York, N. Y. C. A. Burdick, New York, N. Y. Charles F. Potter, Los Angeles, Cal. W. N. Crafts, Oberlin, Ohio. Albert E. Rhoads, Harrisburg, Pa. Andrew B. Crichton, Johnstown, Pa. M. F. Sayre, Schenectady, N. Y. 0. P. Hood, Pittsburgh, Pa. H. V. Smythe, Northpines, Ont., Canada. W. McA. Johnson, Tulsa Okla. W. 0. Snelling, Long Island City, N. Y. G. H. Morgan, New York, N. Y. W. H. Staver, Ophir, Colo. E. G. Norton, Chicago Ill., A. W. Tucker, Salisbury, N. C. M. L. O'Neale, Coal City, Ala. Andrew Weisenburg, Philadelphia, Pa. Arthur H. Brown has resigned his position with the Dome Lake Mining & Milling Co., South Porcupine, Ont., Canada. Robert Sterling has resigned his position as chief engineer of the Goldfield Consolidated Mines Co., Goldfield, Nev., to accept the position of assistant manager of the vanadium mines of the Primos Chemical Co., Vanadium, Colo.

Jan 6, 1916

By Edwin Ludlow

I DEEPLY appreciate the honor which has been conferred upon me by my election to the presidency of this Institute, as I feel that it is the highest honor a mining engineer can receive, and I also feel that I am especially fortunate in being called to take the presidency in the year following Mr. Hoover, as I may be enabled in that way to carry on the work which he has initiated. The constructive work that Mr. Hoover has inaugurated has been of inestimable benefit in bringing not only this Institute but the entire engineering profession into a place in the public esteem to a degree which it had never before occupied.. This work Mr. Hoover will now carry on in the broader field of the Federated American Engineering Societies, of which he is president. Through that organization the engineers of this country, in all branches of the profession, will be welded into one compact body reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, making the united engineering profession a power for maintaining American . . ideals and standards throughout the land.,

Jan 1, 1921

By William J. Douglas, Jack T. Urie, Randall D. Metz

Production and financial planning for a new underground mine requires the coordination of equipment and coal reserves in a manner which assures that resources are utilized efficiently in achieving the target mine production. It is necessary to establish the productions which are attainable at the section level during different mining operations (advance, retreat, development) and under different mining conditions (roof, seam height, resource quality). It is also necessary to identify the interactions between production plans and ventilation equipment So that operations can be carried out without disruptions caused by inadequate ventilation. A set of computer models has been applied in planning a number of new coal, oil shale, and phosphate mines. A critical path production model, CPMINE, was used to determine face production levels for different cut sequences and seam heights, taking into account machine performance characteristics and operational availabilities under these varying conditions. The results formed a production data base for use in the mine sequencing model, MPLAN. This model processes each of the segments of a user-defined mine sequence network (strategy tree) taking into account the equipment available for mining operations and the previously determined production scheme devised by the mining engineer. Mine ventilation was analyzed with an expanded version of the Penn State MVS Ventilation model to determine fan and ventilation shaft requirements for supporting alternative production strategies. The MCOM mine cost analysis model has been applied to evaluate the economic performance of mining alternatives. The results of these studies were used to make decisions relating to equipment selection and acquisition schedules for both room-and-pillar and longwall mining systems. The approach and procedures which were used during these studies are described.

Jan 1, 1983

By L. G. Austin

My first contact with industrial milling was during the time I worked in the electricity generating industry in the United Kingdom. In visits to power stations to investigate either deposits in the boiler furnaces or polluting deposits settling around the stacks. I had to check the performance of the vertical coal pulverizers, since poor pulverization aggravated both problems. Naturally, then, when I came to the USA in 1957 to take a PhD in fuel technology at Penn State, I was put to work to review the science of coal pulverization. After this reviewing, I was completely confused. On one hand, there was a well-developed understanding of stress-strain equations, and a rapidly developing knowledge of how stressed, brittle solids fractured, based on the Grifith crack theory. On the other hand, reading in the grinding literature gave me: -Kick's Law, which was clearly not correct in the light of modem fracture theory; -Rittinger's Law, which was also clearly not correct; -Bond's Third Law of Comminution, which was claimed to have something to do with the Grifith crack theory, but where the connection between the two was made by intuitive pseudo-scientific reasoning I could not accept; -the choice of mill motor power for the most common type of coal mill, the Raymond pulverizer, was calculated from the fan power required to move air through the mill. Although I could accept the empirical connection between the two, it made no sense from the point of view of fracture energy. Even today, most books or review chapters on size reduction start from these laws. Incorrect statements abound in the literature, such as "the Hardgrove Index is based on Rittinger's Law," which it is not, "The Bond theory states that work input is proportional to new crack tip length produced in particle breakage," which is not true, etc. My own test work showed that these "laws" did not fit the data for grinding of coal. At about this time, Epstein (1948) and Broadbent and Callcott (1956), following the original work by R.L. Brown (1941) at the British Coal Utilization Research Association, proposed describing breakage as a series of fracture stages. I took their concepts and developed the basic differential equation for a batch grinding process continuous in time, analogous to a batch chemical reactor. Robin Gardner then joined the project and did his PhD on treating batch grinding in the same way as a batch chemical reactor. He found that the basic equation had already been partially derived by Sedlatschek and Bass (1953) in Ger- many. We confirmed experimentally the validity of the equations for describing batch grinding (1962) and formulated the equation describing steady-state continuous grinding in a fully-mixed mill. At about the time this work was published, Gaudin and Meloy (1962) and Filippov (1961) independently published essentially the same equations, but without experimental proof of the validity of the concepts. I will give a brief overview of what these beginnings had led to in the design of mills for size and power, and show some of the results of this more detailed understanding of grinding processes. Concepts of Fracture Mills such as tumbling ball, rod, pebble and autogenous mills and vertical mills such as the Raymond, and E-type, apply compressive stress to lumps or particles relatively slowly. Compressive stress applied to a particle of an elastic brittle solid imparts overall strain energy to the solid and produces local regions of tensile stress, [(Fig. 1)] (Berenbaum and Brodie, 1959).

Jan 1, 1985

By James T. Kemp

Some interesting and, to American eyes, rather unusual processes for refining impure aluminum derived from scraps were found by American and British investigators who went into Germany in 1945 for the Technical Industrial Intelligence Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. What was found was recorded in a series of reports (see page ), many of which have been released for general reading. This paper gathers under one title and summarizes the German work in refining light metal scrap. Reference must be made to the original reports for greater detail. Basically, the occasion and stimulus for the German developments in treating light metal scrap were hard necessity. Germany needed the metal for a rapacious war industry. Adequate supplies of new aluminum from reduction works were not assured. Great quantities of airplane and other light metal war scraps were forecast. It was evident that the scrap metal would have to be reabsorbed by the producing industry and would have to be kept of good quality. The normal current production of manufacturing scrap was being and could be consumed as generated. It offered no technical problem. The mixed scraps, especially those arising from crashed and decommissioned airplanes, however, presented problems of another kind. Airplane Scrap The recovery of usable aluminum alloy from the mixed assemblies that made up the piles of airplane scrap was attacked in different ways by different groups and with differing degrees of success. Three procedures actually were used on a commercial scale, one was in pilot-plant stage and another had come to a halt in the laboratory a year before Germany collapsed. Four of these five processes actually involved "refining"; that is, some measure of purification of the metal after melting. Sorting and Separation on a Sloping Hearth The simplest procedure for utilizing airplane scrap involved no refining in the strict sense of the word. This was the practice adopted by two representative plants visited by the author, the Leipziger Leichtmetalle Werke, Rackwitz, Saxony, and the Vereinigte Leichtmetalle Werke, Hanover. These firms did essentially the same thing that was done in England but not with equal success, to judge by their shorter experience, the smaller tonnage handled and by the number and quality of alloys produced. The two German firms named rough-sorted scraps by their easily recognizable alloys, essentially by part and shape. They used hand labor to chop and hack and tear apart. The easily separated heavy metal and nonmetallic scraps were discarded as they were found. Steel and the higher-melting-point metal parts riveted to aluminum or built into

Jan 1, 1947

By James T. Kemp

Some interesting and, to American eyes, rather unusual processes for refining impure aluminum derived from scraps were found by American and British investigators who went into Germany in 1945 for the Technical Industrial Intelligence Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. What was found was recorded in a series of reports (see page ), many of which have been released for general reading. This paper gathers under one title and summarizes the German work in refining light metal scrap. Reference must be made to the original reports for greater detail. Basically, the occasion and stimulus for the German developments in treating light metal scrap were hard necessity. Germany needed the metal for a rapacious war industry. Adequate supplies of new aluminum from reduction works were not assured. Great quantities of airplane and other light metal war scraps were forecast. It was evident that the scrap metal would have to be reabsorbed by the producing industry and would have to be kept of good quality. The normal current production of manufacturing scrap was being and could be consumed as generated. It offered no technical problem. The mixed scraps, especially those arising from crashed and decommissioned airplanes, however, presented problems of another kind. Airplane Scrap The recovery of usable aluminum alloy from the mixed assemblies that made up the piles of airplane scrap was attacked in different ways by different groups and with differing degrees of success. Three procedures actually were used on a commercial scale, one was in pilot-plant stage and another had come to a halt in the laboratory a year before Germany collapsed. Four of these five processes actually involved "refining"; that is, some measure of purification of the metal after melting. Sorting and Separation on a Sloping Hearth The simplest procedure for utilizing airplane scrap involved no refining in the strict sense of the word. This was the practice adopted by two representative plants visited by the author, the Leipziger Leichtmetalle Werke, Rackwitz, Saxony, and the Vereinigte Leichtmetalle Werke, Hanover. These firms did essentially the same thing that was done in England but not with equal success, to judge by their shorter experience, the smaller tonnage handled and by the number and quality of alloys produced. The two German firms named rough-sorted scraps by their easily recognizable alloys, essentially by part and shape. They used hand labor to chop and hack and tear apart. The easily separated heavy metal and nonmetallic scraps were discarded as they were found. Steel and the higher-melting-point metal parts riveted to aluminum or built into

Jan 1, 1947

DETAILED programs for the Regional Meeting to be held at Boston, on Aug. 29, 30, 31, will be available on arrival at the Copley-Plaza Hotel, where registration will begin at 10 a. m. on Wednesday morning. The opening session will be non-technical in character and will be called to order at 11 a. m. Hector J. Hughes, Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering of Harvard University, and others will speak, and in the afternoon visits are to be made both to Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Wednesday afternoon will be devoted mainly to the opening of an exhibit of geophysical instruments and methods at Tech. On the way back to the hotel a tour of Old Boston will permit the visitors to see many of the historic points of the city. A special meeting of the Board of Directors has been called to be preceded by the usual subscription dinner at the University Club at 6.30 p. m. Owing to limita-tions of room, invitations have been sent only to the usual list designated in the By-Laws, the Directors, past officers, chairmen of sections and of technical committees. The dinner and a brief business session of the Board will be followed by a technical session at the Copley-Plaza at 8 p. m. and this in turn by a buffet supper at the University Club at 10 p. m. Sep-arate entertainment is being provided for the women for the evening. Thursday will be devoted to technical sessions both in the morning and afternoon. If necessary to permit adequate discussion, an overflow session will be ar-ranged in the afternoon. In the evening, a subscription dinner will be given at the Copley-Plaza at which past-presidents John Hays Hammond and Robert H. Rich-ards will be guests of honor. It is promised that speeches will be short and dancing will be arranged for following. The women will be offered a luncheon and bridge party at one of the country clubs on Thursday, and Friday will be devoted to an all-day excursion for both men and, women. Members are asked to register promptly on arrival so that the various committees will know as early as possible for how many to provide. The major part of the technical program has been provided by the Committee on Geophysical Methods of Prospecting, and a series of papers of great value and interest in this new field has been brought together. Abstracts of substantially all of them are printed in this issue of MINING AND METALLURGY and the papers themselves will, with one or two exceptions, be avail-able in printed form at the meeting and later in the regular publications of the Institute.

Jan 9, 1928

By Henning Nielsen

SIX weeks ahead of schedule, the International Nickel Co. of Canada Ltd. has brought a 30-mile rail line into the newly born town of Thompson, Manitoba. Its construction spurs the development of a rich new mining region slated to become the world's second largest nickel-producing area-exceeded only by Inco's Sudbury, Ont., workings. Two mines, the Thompson and the Moak Lake, will be opened to meet International Nickel's scheduled annual production goal of 385 million lb of refined nickel by 1961. Accomplishment of this aim will mean an additional 75 million lb of the metal available to consumers. In addition, stepped-up out- put of Inco's Sudbury holdings may increase this figure by another 25 million lb. (For an earlier report on these developments see MINING ENGINEERING News, January 1957).

Jan 12, 1957