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By T. C. Campbell

Copper is extracted from the Chuquicamata oxide ore by a hydro-metallurgical process. The ore is crushed to 3/8-in. sizing, and leached with a sulfuric acid electrolyte. Chlorine is precipitated. and the ferric iron reduced in the enriched electrolyte, after which the copper is recovered by electrolysis with insoluble Chilex and lead-antimony anodes, the spent electrolyte being returned to leaching. Cathodes are melted and refined in market furnaces and cast into commercial wire-bar and cake shapes. Sulfuric acid for the process is supplied by the brochantite in the ore. Water for washing the ore is advanced through the solution system and finally after cutting by electrolysis to from 6 to 16.0 grams per liter is completely stripped by the cuprous chloride method and run to waste. The cuprous chloride so obtained plus that resulting from precipitation of chlorine from strong solution is dissolved in ferrous chloride brine and the copper cemented on scrap iron. The cement so obtained is in part used to reduce ferric iron in electrolyte, and as it is of exceptional purity is also furnace refined and cast into an exceptional quality of fire-refined copper. Fig. 1 is flow sheet of the operation. The reduction plant is composed of seven divisions as follows: (1) crushing, (2) leaching, (3) tailings disposal, (4) dechloridizing, (5) sulfur dioxide treatment, (6) electrolytic tank house, (7) smelting and melting. A brief description of each of these divisions will be given. Crushing Ore that is frequently blocky and up to 5 ft. in section is crushed in four stages to 3/8-in. mesh. The first stage of crushing is called primary and the next three stages are known as secondary crushing. The first stage is accomplished with two 60-in. Superior McCully gyratory breakers by which the ore is broken to 9 in. The second coarse gyratory breakers crush the ore to 3-in. sizing. There are seven No. 10 McCully gyratories in this service, for one of which recently has been substituted a No. 7 cone crusher. The third and fourth stages of crushing are accomplished by fifty 48-in. disk crushers. In the third stage 14 disk crushers break the ore to 1 in., and in the last stage 36 disk crushers turn out the final product of 0.371-in. sizing. Reference to the flow sheets of Figs. 2 and 3

Jan 1, 1934

By Ernst F. Eurich

(Cleveland Meeting, October, 1912.) ALEXANDER PARKES patented in England in 1851-52-53 a process for desilvering lead by means of zinc, making use of the greater affinity of silver for zinc than for lead, discovered by Karsten in 1842. The efforts in England to develop it commercially were not particularly successful, nor was the attempted introduction into the United States. This last was not surprising, as it was about the beginning of our Civil War, and at that period there was very little lead-bullion produced in the united States and there was no field for the process here. There was at that time on Staten Island an establishment that pattisonized lead, probably from Rossie, N. Y., and Chester, Pa., and possibly some Spanish lead, but the production of lead-bullion in the Far West had not yet begun. In 1864, Edward Balbach, of Newark, N. J., patented in this country a process for desilvering lead by means of zinc, and in 1867 Edward Balbach, Jr., patented a " movable black-lead retort with a neck, placed in a furnace," for the purpose of distilling the alloy of zinc, lead, and the precious metals. A brief comparison of the Parkes and the Balbach processes is interesting. The Parkes process as practiced in England consisted in stirring into silver-bearing lead, melted in a kettle, from 1 to 2 per cent. of zinc, cooling, skimming the alloy of lead, zinc, and silver that rose to the surface, liquating it in an iron retort, distilling the residual rich alloy in fire-clay retorts, thus regaining the zinc, and refining the desilvered lead at a low heat in a shallow cast-iron pan that formed the hearth of a reverberatory furnace. If the lead was too impure, it was first softened * Presented also at the Joint Meeting of the Institute and Section IIIa, Metal¬lurgy and Mining, of the Eighth International Congress of Applied Chemistry, New York, September, 1919, and here published by mutual agreement.

Dec 1, 1912

By H. B. Goodrich

In considering historically oil development in Oklahoma, it must be recognized that basic evolutionary factors interlock and have an effect in common throughout the whole oil industry, regardless of locality or minor problems. Oklahoma, as the third in rank of oil-producing states (Texas being first and California second in production for 1929) has, like the rest, advanced to at least a partial recognition of the words, "Conservation," "Unitization," "Curtailment," "Prora-tion," and especially "Cooperation." Whether through altruism (of which there have been examples) or by exercise of good business common sense, Oklahoma operators realize that the oil business can run itself by cooperative action for the good of all. In this long-continued period of overproduction, Oklahoma has brought the advancing output down to limit of market requirements at least temporarily. Sources of Statistical Data For this paper, figures published by four recognized authorities were consulted. Between themselves these vary only a negligible per cent, in their totals. To be consistent, and on account of earlier availability the estimates published by the Oil and Gas Journal are mainly used herein, supplemented from other public and private sources. General Oil ProdCction in Oklahoma In 1927 Oklahoma's peak of all years was 276,022,024 barrels. In 1928 Oklahoma's total production was 247,500,851 barrels. In 1929 Oklahoma's total production was 252,229,474 barrels. The efforts of proration and curtailment programs on flush and semi-flush districts such as Greater Seminole, Oklahoma City, Logan County and others, with the natural decline of older pools, kept 1929 below 1927, but still the total was greater than in 1928. The total United States production for 1929 is herein taken as estiiated at 1,004,266,723 bbl.† Oklahoma produced 25.1 per cent. Of

Jan 1, 1930

By Carl Thieme

INDUSTRIAL specialization has rapidly created a demand for new and better alloys. A more thorough understanding of the requirements of specific industries and the discovery of processes by which it has been made possible to utilize certain metallic elements in larger quantities, together with greater purity in most virgin metals, has resulted in a great increase in the number and variety of alloys. This increase in the number of elements entering into non-ferrous alloy manufacture has increased the contamination in secondary metals, as received by the smelter. In order to successfully refine scrap of a much more complex nature it has been necessary for the smelter to install new equipment and to constantly search for new methods of refining as well as to improve the methods already in use. In some instances it is largely responsible for specialization in the secondary metal industry. It is usually necessary to remove the contaminating impurities in scrap or eliminate to a degree not objectionable, no matter how introduced. In order to know what metals or elements are of an objectionable nature, the smelter must make a study of the effect of single elements and combinations of elements on many of the physical and mechanical properties, such as strength, ductility, color, hardness, casting soundness, etc. The smelter of secondary metals must be able to utilize scrap materials of all kinds, for, sooner or later, most fabricated metal parts and the waste products formed during the process of manufacture find their way to the smelter. In addition, the smelter, in contracting for salvaged material from the producer, gets some undesirable and unusual materials. The value of secondary metals and the importance of their recovery has increased in recent years and it is no longer sufficient to recover the base metal only, such as copper from copper-bearing material, but it inessential that other elements present be recovered and converted into useful form.

Jan 1, 1928

By K. L. Meissner

It is well known that the so-called pure aluminum contains noticeable amounts of impurities, chiefly iron and silicon, and many investigators have studied the forms in which these impurities exist. Hanson and Archbutt1 state that iron exists in aluminum as FeA13 and silicon as elementary Si. The solubility of FeA13 in solid aluminum is practically zero, or at least so small that the smallest trace of this compound is always visible as a separate constituent. Under the microscope an untrained eye can hardly distinguish, without etching, the two constituents FeA13 and Si, but they can be differentiated by suitable etching reagents. Anderson2 also found the same results. At the same time, Merica, Waltenberg, and Freeman3 found a constituent of unknown composition. They found a small thermal effect, at 610" C., on the cooling curves of aluminum with small amounts of iron and silicon. The intensity of this effect increased with increasing silicon content, until an effect occurred at 576" C. due to the eutectic between aluminum and silicon. The authors ascribed the effect at 610" C. to a compound, which they call "X constituent." It was thought to be a ternary compound containing iron and silicon and could be observed under the microscope as dark particles. Dix4 has published unetched photomicrographs of an aluminum with 0.51 per cent. iron, 0.99 per cent. silicon, and 0.32 per cent. copper that shows three constituents: the dark Si (black in the figure), the lighter FeA13, which appears in half tone and crystallizes in needles, and a constituent of the same color as FeAL3 but of different crystal form, often resembling Chinese script. This last constituent, Dix thought, is a compound of Fe and Si; not the compound FeSi but a compound containing a relatively small amount of silicon. Therefore an alloy of aluminum. iron, and silicon (the copper should not be regarded in the following considerations) must contain the following four constituents: Al, FeA13, Si, and a compound of Fe and Si. This, however, does not agree with the laws of chemical equilibrium.

Jan 1, 1926

By Cyril S., Smith

THE phenomenon of air-hardening is well known in connection with special steels. It occurs when the rate of decomposition of austenite to marten- site is so retarded that it takes place on free cooling in air rather than on more rapid cooling in a quenching bath. If an air-hardening steel is quenched sufficiently rapidly it will remain in the soft austenitic state, while if it is cooled very slowly it will again become soft owing to growth of the carbide particles. It depends on a critical adjustment of the decomposition velocity and diffusion rate, and such alloys are rather rare, especially in the non-ferrous field. In carrying out some experiments on some copper- rich copper-cobalt alloys, the author found that these possess very marked air-hardening properties. The alloys are covered by a patent issued to M. G. Corson (1,723,022-1919), which states that an alloy containing between 2 and 5 per cent cobalt is hardened by simple quenching from above 850° C.

Jan 1, 1930

By H. K. Birnbaum, H. B. Aaron

he authors suggest that a number of the types of yield phenomena which have been observed in high-purity fcc metals are due to dislocation interactions bccurring at the surface of the crystals rather than due to volume effects. Since rather different inter-pretationS2,7,12,14,15,21-23 of these effects have been suggested, it is of some importance to ascertain the role of the surface in these yield phenomena. It should be first noted that the high-purity fcc metals appear to exhibit several distinct types of yield phenomena. The "unloading yield point" which is observed on reloading the specimen after removing the applied load has been found to be independent of the time of holding in the unloaded condition. If however the specimen is aged while under load and re-tested without removing the load, a yield point is observed which does depend on the aging time and tem-perature. Feng and Kramer suggest that the removal of the unloading yield point on removing sufficient material from the surface of the specimen indicates that the effect is associated with dislocation interactions at the specimen surface. Their observations are counter to those of Haasen and Kelly5 and Birnbaum.12 Since the unloading yield points are extremely small (-2 pct of the flow stress) the results of the surface removal will depend on whether the material is removed uniformly over the gage length. The introduction of small etch pits or the removal of more material from one portion of the specimen than from another will result in preferential yielding and obliteration of the yield point. With the normal electropolishing techniques it would be difficult to avoid these effects. The data obtained by Aaron and Birnbaum, Fig. 10, on aluminum polycrystalline specimens indicate that, although the unloading yield point and the strain-aging yield point are not simply additive, a time- and temperature-dependent yield point is observed under conditions where no creep is observed. This does not agree with the results of Feng and Kramer but does agree with the results on copper15 and gold.7~23 The source of the discrepancy may be the procedure used by Feng and Kramer to correct their time-dependent yield points for the effect of creep. Since the strain-aging yield point is not independent of the pre-aging strain rate, Fig. 11, the effects of creep cannot

Jan 1, 1967

By Chester Lee

Introduction THE Atlin Mining District is in the northwest corner of the Province of British Columbia. Ruby Creek, where the operation to be described is situated, is 17 miles east of the town of Atlin and about 18 miles south of the south line of Yukon Territory (Fig. 1). Gold was discovered in the district in January, 1898, and the production to date from placer mines has been $4,518,000, according to the reports of the Minister of Mines for-the province. Geology The essential points in the regional geology are given in the following paragraphs. Long erosion produced a plane-like surface slightly above sea level with a few peaks and ridges.1 A gradual uplift followed and. erosion increased, the streams cut deeper, the cuts so made being afterward increased by glaciation. The ice straightened and planed the slopes of the main valleys and widened and lowered their floors, in some cases flooring the valleys with silt, sand, gravel, and clay. As the glaciers rapidly retreated, lakes were formed.

Jan 5, 1916

By A. B. Stevens, C. J. Coberly

The absolute porosity of a rock or sand may be defined as the volume of the interparticle space expressed as a percentage of the total rock volume. The effective porosity as contrasted with the absolute porosity is the volume of the interparticle spaces which intercommunicate with passages of sufficient size to permit the entrance or recovery of gas or oil, also expressed as a percentage of the total rock volume. A knowledge of effective porosity is of prime importance in estimating the ultimate recovery to be expected from oil and gas-bearing formations. The determination of the effective porosity of a rock includes the measurement of two values: (I) the volume of the rock as a whole, and (2) the volume of the grains and sealed pore space. This paper deals with a new apparatus which has been called a "hydrogen porosimeter" for determining the volume of the grains and the sealed pore space. This volume is determined by means of the pressure relations established in the instrument by the introduction of a known quantity of hydrogen. The Hydrogen Porosimeter The apparatus used in this work consists of an upper chamber for measuring the gas, a lower chamber for holding the sample to be tested, a gage for measuring the pressures, a tank of hydrogen, and the necessary connections. (Figs. 1 and 2.) Of the several gases that might be used for this work, hydrogen has been chosen for three reasons: (1) it deviates less from the gas laws than most gases; (2) it readily penetrates the sample; (3) it is absorbed less than most gases by the solids and liquids with which it may come in contact. Method of Operation After placing the sample to be tested in the lower chamber, the apparatus is thoroughly flushed with hydrogen to remove all air from the system, which is then brought to atmospheric pressure Po. The valve connecting the two chambers is next closed and the pressure in the upper chamber is brought up to a pressure PI by admitting gas from the tank.

Jan 1, 1933

By Raymond C. Moore

The oil-producing districts of Kansas comprise the northern portion of the so-called Mid-Continent field. As shown in the accompanying map, these districts are located chiefly in the southeastern and south central parts of the state. A considerable area in southeastern Kansas, extending northward nearly to Kansas City, has long been known as oil territory, the productive wells being distributed in patches or spots of irregular size and shape, the location of which is controlled by conditions of rock structure, and by the texture and porosity of the "sands" beneath the surface. In south central Kansas, there are a number of producing fields, the location of which appears to be controlled chiefly by well-defined structure. The most important districts are those in Butler County, especially that in the vicinity of El Dorado, which was for a time the most productive district in the entire Mid-Continent field. Recently new production of importance has been brought in the vicinity of Peabody and present development is active to the north across Marion County. Tests in the western parts of Kansas have not been successful in finding new petroleum fields. Histoby The first well drilled for petroleum, in Kansas, was near the town of Paola, Miami Co., about 40 mi. southwest of Kansas City, in the summer of 1860, only a few months after the completion of the famous "Colonel" Drake discovery well in Pennsylvania. Kansas appears to be the second state to engage in a serious attempt to find oil by drilling. The Civil War caused the temporary abandonment of attempts at oil development in the state. It was in the vicinity of Paola, where numerous oil seepages had been observed, that the first well producing oil in commercial quantities was drilled,' where also gas was first piped to the city for commercial use. Prospecting spread southward into Linn County and northward into

Jan 1, 1921

By D. Hnrrington

THE Dust Symposium was attended by approximately 100 persons, nearly all of whom remained from the starting hour (2 p. m.) until the use of the auditorium was demanded for another meeting at 5:30 p. in. In calling the meeting to order, D. Harrington made a few remarks as to the importance of the health dust problem in mining as well as in general industry and expressed gratification that the subject is now out in the open and that mining people are desirous of ascertaining the facts. B. F. Tillson acted as chairman of the meeting. The milling executive who desires to know what to do to prevent his workers from being unduly exposed to the dust hazard can get much out of the paper by D. E. Cummings, who has been doing much work in mines trying to keep -the dust in the air within safe limits. His recommendations indicate that the main protection of the worker in mines is by adequate ventilation, supplemented by the extensive use of water in drilling, as well as in water curtaining to condition air both in regard to dust content and to temperatures. Blasting was shown to be one of the chief causes for dust and it was recommended that whenever feasible all blasting should be delayed to the end of the working shift.

Jan 1, 1935

By H. J. Fraser

LIKE a runner catching his second wind, the mining geologist in 1944 has had some opportunity to appraise the result of three years of active and intense search for the metallic sinews of war and peace. The war period has been one of physical activity and accumulation of new data but has not so far resulted in the announcement of any profound or revolutionary theoretical concepts or techniques. Most technical publications during the year have been either descriptive or statistical. A review of accomplishments during the war years, although affording some measure of satisfaction in individual cases or regarding production of certain metals or' ores, is far from justifying any feeling of complacency regarding the growth of the profession either in fundamental knowledge or in application. During 1944 an abundant supply of all metals and minerals flowed steadily to smelters and fabricating plants. Also, during this and preceding years, adequate stock piles for war needs, in view of the improved foreign and domestic supply situation, were accumulated in many metals in such quantities that the mining industry has become concerned not with the problem of supply but with the effect these accumulated stocks, if maintained, might have on the postwar market. These considerations culminated in the enactment by Congress of the Surplus Disposal Act, which, admittedly a tempo-

Jan 1, 1945

By W. A. Schaeffer, Sidney A. Justin, Jr. H. D. Easton

Restriction and proration of petroleum production have increased materially the difficulties attendant upon the estimation of reserves, particularly in large, "flush" fields. Such practices preclude the use of decline or other curves, from which, under capacity production conditions formerly prevalent, much could be learned as to the ultimate recovery to be expected from a given field or lcase therein. In restricted fields that would produce at many times the low rate allowed by the regulations in force if allowed to flow without restraint, one is forced to use other information than production performance to predict the volume of oil recoverable. Examples are: at Kettleman Hills, California; the Conroc, Van and East Texas fields, Texas; the Iowa field, Louisiana. It is beyond the scope of this paper to apply a definite method to the determination of the reserves in any actual field, therefore the discussion will be limited to a consideration of available methods and an enumeration of important factors governing the accuracy of such estimates. The problem is to determine not only oil in place but recoverable oil in place, for a given field or tract, which is complex and depends not only on the characteristics of the reservoir but also on the plan of development, the production allocation scheme, the rate of production and many other factors. Many data must necessarily be considered, weighed as to inportance, and assigned quantitative values. Estimates of recovery in prorated fields have been discussed by Brace', Shaw2, Snider3 and others. The wide difference in estimates of ultimate recovery from a number of important recently developed fields demonstrates the inadequacy of

Jan 1, 1935

By Roland D. Parks

THERE are strong indications that chromium steel will one day hold the balance of power among all types of steel. Today, it is going to the forefront in military and civilian use. Stainless steel has received a tremendous impetus because of military demands. Chromium plays a primary, and possibly the most significant roll in the manufacture of stainless and other high temperature alloys. By any standard, chromium ranks among the most strategic of metals. Jet planes would still be on the drawing boards instead of flying in MIG Alley. Many of its more recent applications are the closely guarded secrets of the Pentagon and Government laboratories. Chromium has forged far ahead of the days when it merely decorated an automobile or made the American kitchen sparkle. The United States consumed one half of all chromium ores produced in the world during the past 50 years and 55 pct of those produced in the past decade. During those same periods, some 85 pct of world production of crude ores came from mines in the eastern hemisphere. Cuba is the only substantial supplier in the western hemisphere and most of the Cuban ore is suitable for use only in refractories. In presenting the strategic aspects of the chromium situation it will be helpful to give certain technical data as background without going beyond the detail needed for the survey. Use Pattern Ores containing chromium are consumed by the metallurgical, refractory, and chemical industries. In the United States, postwar consumption by these industries has been in the approximate proportions .of 47:37:16, respectively. In two industries, metal¬lurgical and chemical, the ores are first converted to intermediate products. . For metallurgical use, the ores are usually smelted in electric furnaces to ferrochromium, an

Jan 1, 1952

By J. A. SINGMASTERN

THE New Jersey Zinc Co.'s vertical retort plants are believed to have been in continuous operation through the whole year. At Palmerton metal purer than that made from the same ore in the old plant has been produced and has been able to compete successfully with very pure electrolytic metal in die castings and other special uses where extreme purity is worth money. A new plant using this process was put in production by the Grasselli Chemical Co. at Meadowbrook, W. Va., early in the summer. It is said to be working very satisfactorily. It is understood that this plant will not produce high-grade metal. Two patents issued to Bunce and Mahler (Nos. 1,749,126 and 1,749,127) describe a method of operating the vertical retort so that practically lead-free metal can be obtained from ores containing consider- able lead. The zinc vapors and other gases leaving the reaction zone are filtered through a column of material maintained at a temperature high enough to prevent much zinc from condensing. The filtering medium is either periodically or continuously changed.

Jan 1, 1931

By George S. Rice

GROUND movement and subsidence is an important matter from several points of view and it is regrettable that more papers have not been written on this subject in the past year. Damage may be done to surface buildings or to the higher workings of a mine, and a study of the subject gives valuable in- formation on hanging-wall or roof control. The latter objective is strikingly shown in a recent paper presented by Jack Spaulding on Oct. 21, 1937, before the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, of Great Britain, entitled "Theory and Practice of Ground Control in the Kolar Gold Field, India." All may not agree with some of his theories that were deduced from studies of the many violent rock bursts at depths of 5000 to 7000 ft., but the data obtained are of great value. His theories of symmetrical ring stresses and symmetrical domes which are pictured as perfect are rather hard to understand as such uniformity is un- likely in view of the irregularities in the formation due to folds and fractures of various kinds. All will agree in principle with this idea of domal effects, which have been observed in many countries, but they are generally irregular.

Jan 1, 1938

By J. S. Marsh, T. B. Winkler

THE past year, the first full one of peacetime production, proved that the process of beating swords into plowshares has increased in complexity in step with civilization. Further, judging by various remarks of our distaff departments, the crystal balls of certain radio and magazine oracles must have been cloudy, because we have been in formed from time to time that coveted items such as automobiles and refrigerators did not appear in great abundance. This seemingly extraneous matter is really not out of place here, however; the steel producer and the fabricator exist in a sort of symbiosis: the making of consumer goods produces scrap which is returned to the steelmaker who makes more steel, and so on and so forth. Thus, no abundance of automobiles, no abundance of scrap from this normal source; and other sources had been picked pretty clean during the war. To be short, so was scrap. Since the economy of the steel industry lean; as heavily upon iron from scrap as upon iron from ore, the statement on transformation of swords to plowshares follows. But this is not the whole story: after all, ingot production was a record for a peace year!

Jan 1, 1947

By D. R. Knowlton

IF I were a minister, and this were a sermon, and such a passage appeared in the Bible, I would choose for my text: "From whence cometh the oil for our war?" And no preacher was ever more serious than I am. You petroleum engineers recognize that the producing branch of the industry is passing through an era of plenty and inflated potentials into an era of scarcity and unmet allowables. Not too long ago the oil operators of Kansas, California, and Texas were appearing before operators' meetings and regulatory authorities asserting that these States were capable of producing at rates far in excess of what the demand at that time would absorb. Today every oil-producing area in the United States except the Texas Gulf Coast and West Texas is producing close to or in excess of its maximum efficient rate.

Jan 1, 1943

President Howe : It is not so clear to me that the facts which Dr. Waldo brings forward really argue that the nature of the combination between copper and aluminum differs from that of the combination between copper and zinc or copper and tin. As regards electric conductivity, I suppose that the fact, which he thinks points to a special intimate kind of union between aluminum and copper, is that the line in his Fig. 1 is neither straight nor uniformly curved, but that its curvature varies rapidly, not to say abruptly. But we find just such variation in like curves for the copper-zinc and copper-tin alloys. Thus, a slight addition of zinc or tin to copper causes a change in color wholly out of proportion to the quantity added; and, as we add zinc or tin to copper, the tenacity rises very greatly, only to fall off abruptly with further additions of either of these metals. Dr. Waldo : My curve related only to electrical conductivity. The President : If irregularity in one physical property argues

Jan 1, 1895

Jan 1, 1927