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By John M. Lovejoy

CURRENT production of petroleum on such a vast scale presents many interesting problems- the solutions of which are important not only to those directly interested in the business, but to the nation as a whole. The industry is relatively young. Until the discovers of the Lucas gusher at Spindletop in 1901 petroleum production had not exceeded 60,000,000 bbl. per year compared with 1,100,000,000 bbl. in 1936. In 36 years then, the modern oil business, production, transportation, refining, and marketing has developed. I will first present a brief history. of oil production as a background for consideration of the present situation.

Jan 1, 1937

By Charles H. Hopkins, J. M. Lohr

A commercial development requiring a suitable alloy or alloys for sealing into various grades of glass made it desirable to have a more exact knowledge of the expansion characteristics of the nickel-iron alloys than appeared in the published literature. The expansion of the more common types of glass under consideration varies from 2.7 to 10.4 X 10-6 per degree Centigrade, over the range 20" to 400' C. For reference, the t,hermal expansion curves of several types of glass used for sealing by the lamp and tube industries are given (Figs. 1 and 2). This paper covers a detailed investigation of the thermal expansion of a series of nickel-iron alloys in which the nickel content varies from 30 to 70 per cent. Particular stress is laid on the alloys that contain between 40 and 55 per cent Ni.

Jan 1, 1939

By Charles H. Hopkins, J. M. Lohr

A commercial development requiring a suitable alloy or alloys for sealing into various grades of glass made it desirable to have a more exact knowledge of the expansion characteristics of the nickel-iron alloys than appeared in the published literature. The expansion of the more common types of glass under consideration varies from 2.7 to 10.4 X 10-6 per degree Centigrade, over the range 20" to 400' C. For reference, the t,hermal expansion curves of several types of glass used for sealing by the lamp and tube industries are given (Figs. 1 and 2). This paper covers a detailed investigation of the thermal expansion of a series of nickel-iron alloys in which the nickel content varies from 30 to 70 per cent. Particular stress is laid on the alloys that contain between 40 and 55 per cent Ni.

Jan 1, 1939

By GLENVILTE A. COLLINS

(Presented at a Meeting of the Spokane Local Section of the Institute, Feb. 17, 1912, and accepted for publication in the Bulletin. ) WHILE I am not at the present time engaged in active mine-management, my duties permit of extensive study and examination of many mines, mills, and reduction-works in various places throughout the United States. Being much interested in efficiency-work in general, and an ardent reader of writings on this subject by Frederick W. Taylor and others, as applied to manufacturing-plants, and having served my apprenticeship from mucking to the engineering design of ore-dressing and underground plants, I hope that this paper will lead others to investigate the field more fully, to the improvement of general mine- and mill-operations, as well as the advancement, intellectually, physically, and financially, of the employee and his relations with the employer. If a man who is prepared to look closely and observe broadly starts in Canada and zig-zags from camp to camp to southern Mexico, taking time casually to inspect mines, mills, and smelters, he will be pitifully impressed by the great difference in customs, and the general waste of labor, time, and money throughout the country. He will so seldom observe a dollar's worth of results given in exchange for a dollar spent that he will form a poor opinion of operating-efficiency and management. This highly-scientific department, requiring an amount of skill and executive ability equaled in few, if any, of the professions, certainly falls short of the standard established in our greater manufacturing industries. It is easily said that this is due to the diversity of conditions in mining, milling, and smelting. But on second view it must be admitted that there is room for tremendous improvements in nearly every mining-organization. The proposal of such improvements is often met by the argument that any mine

Sep 1, 1912

By Albert Sauveur

IT is not without some hesitation, and even misgiving, that I venture into a discussion of the now classical Roberts-Austen Roozeboom diagram, lest I too fail, like so many other writers, in giving a satisfactory and logical explanation of these interesting curves. Roozeboom's original diagram is reproduced in Fig. 1. The generally accepted meaning of the various curves has been so often described before this Institute that it will suffice to recall it briefly before passing to my own interpretation of the changes involved.

Nov 1, 1906

By Sir Albert E. Kitson

The manganese ore deposits of the Gold Coast, British West Africa, occur in very ancient rocks, of both sedimentary and metamorphic types. In certain respects they have a strong resemblance to those of India and Brazil, as contrasted with those of Tertiary age in Georgia, but in this paper no careful comparison with them can be made. Viewed from the present condition of the manganiferous rocks, the oldest deposits are in the sediments. Later than these are the progressively metamorphosed representatives of these sediments. Youngest are the products of decay and degradation with the concentration of manganese oxide in the rocks of both groups. The oldest occurrences are in argillaceous and siliceous phyllites and slates, which show only a moderate degree of metamorphism. They belong to a series which also includes mudstones, sandstones, grits, conglomerates and subordinate limestones, with tuffs and lava-flows, largely of basic types. This has been named the Birrim System. Its age is unknown, for no definite fossils have been discovered in it. Since these non-fossiliferous strata at many plaees are of a character which in many parts of the world are suitable for the preservation of fossils, and which contain them, it is assumed that the Gold Coast deposits are pre-Cambrian. These rocks of the Birrim System have normally a northeast-southwest strike, and are folded, but not to any very great degree except in certain belts. From the Eastern Province of the Gold Coast they may be traversed diagonally across their strike for upwards of 600 miles, to the extreme northwestern corner of the Northern Territories. Thence they probably extend much farther into French territory.

Jan 1, 1927

NEW MEMBERS The following list comprises the names of those persons who became members during the period Feb. 10, 1919, to Mar. 10, 1919. ALLEN, ROLLAND CRATEN State Geol., Appraiser of Mines, Lansing, Mich. ALTMAYER, MAURICE ERNEST, Ingenieur des Arts et Manufactures, 145 Rue de la Pompe, Paris, France. AUSTIN, CHARLES L., Assayer, Highland Boy Mine, Utah Cons. Min. Co., Bingham Canyon, Utah. BARTLETT, ARTHUR J., Chief Engr., Louisville Coal & Coke Co. Goodwill, W. Va. BOIES, ORLOW W., Research Chem., Roessler & Hasslacher Chemical Co., 1632 Tenth St., Niagara Falls, N. Y. BRAGG, G. A., Mgr., Experimental Copper Leaching Plant, Mellon Inst. of Industrial Research, Thompson, Nev. BRUSCANTINI, GIOVANNI, Min. Engr., Gen'l Mgr., Sindicato Minero de Cuba, Box 370, Santiago, Cuba. COLONY, R. J Instructor in Geol., Columbia University, New York, N. Y. DAVENPORT, FRANK B., Cons. Engr., 806 Coal Exchange Bldg., WiIkes-Barre, Pa. EATON, S. FORD 120 E. 85th St., New York, N. Y. EBY, J. H., Min. Engr Box 433, Spokane, Wash. ENGELHARDT, EDWARD A., Mgr., Surinaamsche Bauxite Mij, Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana, S. A.

Jan 4, 1919

By M. van Swaay, C. E. Birchenall

Palladium has a large capacity for the dissolution or occlusion of hydrogen; the gas also diffuses very rapidly through the metal. Palladium thimbles are widely used in the laboratory for purification of hydrogen by diffusion. The use of palladium filters could be extended to several large-scale applications if greater stability of the permeation process could be attained. In this paper a number of aspects contributing toward this goal are discussed, and new data on solubility and diffusivity are given. Palladium sheets of 0.005, 0.010, or 0.020 in. thickness were prepared by three procedures: casting and rolling, sintering palladium powder, and sintering palladium powder to which 0.1 pct thorium oxide had been added. Half-inch diam circular specimens were cut and clamped in a stainless steel holder provided with knife edges to seal the palladium sheet with soft copper gaskets. The seals were tested for leaks at l0-5 mm Hg. No difficulties from this source were encountered even after many temperature cycles in the system. The holder was silver-soldered to Kovar-glass seals and attached to the system through glass ball joints. Each joint was sealed with Apiezon wax and was adjacent to a cold trap. In several experiments the holders were fused directly into the system, eliminating the ball joints, to show that the wax did not affect the filter. Three filter holders were supported in holes in a stainless steel cylinder, which also acted as a temperature equalizing block inside the resistance wound furnace. The measuring thermocouple was inserted in one of the holders. A potentiometric controller with control thermocouple on the furnace heater winding maintained ± 0.2oC. Electrolytic hydrogen was purified and stored as shown in the flow diagram, Fig. 1. It could be admitted to either or both sides of the palladium specimens. Only a mechanical pump was used, for even high pumping speeds would not bring the pressure on the off-gas side of the filter below 10 to 50p Hg owing to the rapid hydrogen flow through the filters. A series of steady-state permeability studies allowed identification of several conditions of permeability loss. A constant fore pressure was maintained while the low-pressure face was pumped. After enough time had elapsed for a steady flow to be established the pump was cut off, and the rate of pressure increase in a thermostated bulb was measured to determine the flow rate. The time delay method of Daynes1,9 was adopted since it offered the possibility of determining solubilities and diffusivities. For each measurement both sides of the filter were evacuated for 15 min, which gave about 10-4mm Hg residual pressure. Hydrogen was admitted to one side or the other of the filter at a fixed pressure. The pressure on the off-gas side was observed as a function of time. A

Jan 1, 1961

By G. L. Oldright

NEARLY all of the present schemes for treating complex (i. e. lead¬silver-zinc-copper) ores are based on the idea that lead holds, and will hold for some time, the strongest economic place from the viewpoint of supply and demand of all the non-ferrous metals. Copper, it is thought, will come back to its own when European affairs are stabilized, although at that time competition from Chile, Peru, and Katanga, in particular, will be more severe than in pre-war days. The future for silver and for zinc is uncertain. New uses are developing for zinc, and the market has remained better than many expected, but the stabilization of world markets will bring in foreign competition instead of relief. The cost of producing zinc from simple zinc ores, by the retort process, will, from the nature of the labor required and the increasing cost of fuel, increase steadily. As a result, the small producers of purely zinc ores around Joplin are shutting down their mines, even with a good market price for zinc; on the other hand, the producer of lead from complex ores, in the Rocky Mountain states, is confident of a profit from the sale of his lead, and is seeking means to make the zinc in his ore pay some part of the cost of treatment. However, the tonnage costs for mining and ore dressing are much higher in the Rocky Mountain states, as may be seen by comparing tax-return statements from the various states. Even before the recent drop in the price of silver, many mines were operating on a very slender margin of profit; labor and supplies cost more. Mining at greater depth has shown most orebodies to grow increasingly more complex, so that improvements in mining and ore-dressing practice have not been sufficient too compensate for the additional expense involved in beneficiating these ores. The smelters have had to meet the same general economic situation, so they can only give

Jan 3, 1924

Falconbridge Nickel, the one-time subsidiary that grew up to swallow its own parent, Ventures Limited, in 1962, is not about to be left behind by rising nickel consumption. At a cost of several hundred million dollars, this Canadian firm has undertaken a series of new projects that will not only ensure its present share of the market, but also lead it into new areas of the nickel business. Although Falconbridge Nickel Mines Ltd. was not formed until 1928, it actually had its start in 1917- 18 with the discovery of a large, good grade nickel- copper deposit in Falconbridge, near Sudbury, Ontario. However, due to several factors, financing could not be obtained and the orebody lay fallow. It was not until 1928, when the Thayer Lindsley interests bought the property from the original owner, that it was developed.

Jan 10, 1968

By H. D. Strain

Potash is a generic term used to describe a number of compounds containing the element potassium (K), which is one of the three major plant nutrients. Potash content of these compounds is commonly expressed as percentage potassium oxide (K20), and the market value of the products is usually dependent on contained K20. Most of the potash produced (approximately 95%) is used in agriculture as fertilizer. Potash products today are shipped by producing countries all over the world to meet the need for increased food production. WORLD POTASH RESERVES Apparent world potash reserves are shown in Table 15.2B.1 and total some 96 billion mt of recoverable potassium oxide. The Canadian reserves account for approximately one-half the known world reserves. The reserves shown represent the potassium oxide content of a variety of potash-bearing ores. The major ore is sylvinite (a mechanical mixture of KC1 and NaCl) from which KC1 or sylvite is recovered (63.2% K20 equivalent). Other ores, such as langbeinite (potassium, magnesium sulfate-22.7% K20) and carnallite (potassuim magnesuim chloride-17.0% K20) are also mined in various parts of the world, mainly for the potassium content. Theoretically, potassium is available in almost unlimited qualities from brines and saline waters. To date, the cost of recovery from salt brines has been greater than the costs by mining operations, but new technology could make brines and seawater an increasingly important source. POTASH PRODUCTION Potash production dates back to the 1860s in Germany, which was the only recorded producing country until 1912. By 1912 Germany was producing approximately 1 million tpy of K2O equivalent. Production began in France in 1913 and in the United States in 1915. World potash production and consumption are shown in Table 15.2B.2 for the years 1950-51 through 1967-68. In 1967 and 1968 the major potash-pro¬ducing countries in order of importance were those listed in Table 15.2B.3. By 1972 Canadian production had outstripped U.S. production. WORLD CONSUMPTION World consumption of potash for the years 1950-51 through 1967-68 is shown in Table 15.2B.2. Table 15.2B.4 shows total world consumption of potassium materials in 1967-68 by country. More than 70% of the world's potash is

Jan 1, 1976

By St. John, JOHN Ancel

AT THE New York meeting of the Institute of Metals Division in February, 1927, Jeffries and Tarasov presented a paper on Tungsten and Thoria,1 in which the experimental facts were interpreted in accordance with the prevailing point of view that the thorium is present as the oxide, thoria. In discussing that paper the writer of this article stated that his own investigations, which had been unavailable to Messrs. Jeffries and Tarasov, showed that the so-called "thoriated" tungsten filament failed to disclose any sign of the oxide when subjected to X-ray diffraction analysis, but did give plenty of evidence of the presence of metallic thorium and, in certain cases, of a material believed to bean alloy of tungsten in thorium. Since these results were completely at variance with the results reported in the paper under discussion and with other papers which had preceded it from time to time in the past, it was felt that further discussion should be withheld until the new evidence could be presented adequately. Arrangements were therefore made to present that evidence at this meeting. MATERIAL EXAMINED The material examined was high-emission filament such as is used in radio tubes, supposed to contain about 0.75 per cent. thoria. The actual analysis was not stated.

Jan 1, 1927

By George A. Miller

OIL, the abundance of it in the hands of the Allies and the lack of it in the hands of the Axis, played a major role in winning World War II. It bids fair to implement the winning of the peace. In fact the signing of the revised agreement on petroleum between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United States of America on Sept. 24, 1945, may be considered as the first step in establishing a new pattern in foreign relations by our Government. The significance of this agreement on petroleum is that it was arrived at on the part of the United States of America through the advice and consent of the most interested parties, the leaders of the petroleum industry and the Government, distinctly a first step toward unifying the power of business and the strength of the Government, which places us on a par with the British Crown which has always had the advice and counsel of its business leaders in formulating its foreign trade policies. And what is the thing so patently discernible in this new first step toward winning the peace? It is that the petroleum agreement, the first draft of which, signed in Washington on Aug. 8, 1944, almost caused an epidemic of apoplexy among the leaders of the oil industry, represents the desire of the people most concerned with the problems of petroleum both at home and abroad. This new agreement, which will come up before the Senate for ratification this month-hearings will commence in January - derives its "power from the consent of the governed," something about which our forefathers were vitally concerned once upon a time.

Jan 1, 1946

By E. A. Gulbransen, W. S. Wysong

THE behavior of tungsten and its surface oxides in oxidizing and reducing atmospheres and in high vacua at elevated temperatures is a question of considerable technical importance. The use of tungsten as a metal or as an important component in alloys in high temperature oxidizing atmospheres has been limited because of the unprotective nature of its oxide film and the volatility of its oxide. This paper will present results of a microbalance study1,2 of the following problems: (I) the oxidation behavior in the temperature range of 25 to 550°C (2) the reduction with pure hydrogen of thin oxide films formed on tungsten, and (3) the volatility of thin oxide films on tungsten. Tungsten is an interesting metal to study for the following reasons: (1) although the oxide to metal volume ratio is greater than one, the oxide is not considered protective, (2) the metal readily oxidizes at temperatures from 300° to 550°C (3) the oxides W02 and WO3 are reduced at temperatures as low as 500°C. by hydrogen, and (4) the oxide W02 is volatile at temperatures from 800 to 1100°C. LITERATURE The oxidation of tungsten in its thin film range has not been studied critically. In the thick film range Dunn3 has made the only systematic study. He found the oxidation rate to obey the parabolic rate law in the temperature range of 700 to 900°C. The temperature variation of the oxidation rate constant was found to follow an exponential law of the Arrhenius type. An inflection was noticed in the temperature plot of the rate law constant at 850 to 900°C. This was attributed to a phase change in the oxides. Scheil4 has studied the oxidation rate at 500 and 700°C over long periods of time and found a linear rate law. This result was interpreted as evidence for the presence of a nonprotective film. Pilling and Bedworth5 analyses of the oxide volume to metal volume ratio would indicate that a compact protective film should form. McAdam and Geil6 have studied the oxidation of tungsten in the thin film range using the interference color method. A parabolic rate law was found. Their curves showed that tungsten oxidizes faster than nickel but more slowly than iron. The lattice structures found in the oxidation of tungsten surfaces have been studied by Hickman and Gulbransen.7 They have reported that W03 is the stable oxide in contact with the metallic substrate up to approximately 600°C while W02 forms first at 700°C. Hägg and Magneli8 have recently reported a study of the lattice structures observed in the tungsten oxides using the X-ray diffraction method. In addition to an a-phase W03 and a d-phase W02, they reported the existence of two new phases. A ß' phase, homogeneous between

Jan 1, 1947

By T. A. Rickard

The question of the original extent of the anthracite-beds of Pennsylvania has often been raised; and even discussed with reference to the probability of their present existence under the New Red, a matter of immense practical importance. So high an authority as my revered master, J. P. Lesley, Honorary

Jan 1, 1903

Edward A. UehliNg, New York City (communication to the Secretary*):—In adding my mite to the discussion, I wish to touch on a few points which bear emphasizing and perhaps a little further elucidation. Mr. Grammer says that he "found the electric pig-breaker at Duquesne, if used in connection with the iron-chill, less expensive and more satisfactory " thau the casting-machine. The cost of handling the iron over the Duquesne casting-niachine is about double the average cost of the other Uehling machines at the several Carnegie plants. It is nearly as expensive to run as the Hey1 & Patterson machines, and while Mr. Grammer's statement is, no doubt, true, as applied to that particular machine and breaker, it should be borne in mind that the machine at Duquesne had embodied in it several new features, which were not improvements; also that it was taxed beyond its economic capacity. The machine at the Lucy furnaces under the management of Mr. Scott handled the output of the two furnaces, and saved

Jan 1, 1905

By Benjamin Smith Lyman

The question of the original extent of the anthracite-beds of Pennsylvania has often been raised; and even discussed with reference to the probability of their present existence under the New Red, a matter of immense practical importance. So high an authority as my revered master, J. P. Lesley, Honorary

Jan 1, 1903

By C. A. Heiland

WITH seventeen papers submitted. and thirteen presented in three sessions, the geophysicists had a most successful meeting at New York in February. The first paper on Monday morning dealt with the location of a diabase dike near Chapel Hill, N. C., by magnetic and resistivity methods. The magnetic indications were pronounced directly over the dike. whereas the anomalies of apparent resistivity were less distinct and displaced away from the dike. In the second paper, Professor Keys reported on the results obtained with four different methods of depth calculation on known portions of the Falconbridge

Jan 1, 1937

Jan 1, 1920

This brief resume of the events transpiring in Mexico, culled from the daily New York newspapers since the last Bulletin went to press, does not show any degree of improvement in the situation. U. S. WITHDRAWS ARMY FROM MEXICO The American invasion of Mexico lasted less than 24 hours. The troops which crossed the Rio Grande June 15 to put a stop to the firing that was causing death and injury in El Paso were back in their billets on the American side of the border the next night. They had broken up the battle between Villa rebels and the Carranza garrison and driven the rebel forces headlong out of Juarez and into the hills. The Carranza Consul, Garcia, and Gen. Francisco Gonzales are reported by American officials to be pessimistic, if not indignant, at the swift reprisals made by the Americans against the stray shots which were falling in El Paso during the Villa attack on Juarez. In announcing his action in ordering Americans into Mexico Brigadier General Erwin in a formal statement said he had done-so to prevent the indiscriminate firing into El Paso by rebel soldiers, endangering the lives of Americans. "But on no account were they to undertake an invasion into Mexico," continued the statement. Americans with interests in the vicinity of Chihuahua are alarmed lest Villa, smarting under the defeat administered his troops by the American forces, should make a campaign of destruction. General Candido Aguilar, President Carranza's confidential ambassador to the United States, issued to the press, on June 17, a formal statement that "the government and people of Mexico consider as a violation of Mexican sovereignty the crossing of United States soldiers into Mexican territory" and expressing the hope ?that the situation created by the latest occurrences in Juarez will be satisfactorily adjusted between the two countries." Discussion of Mexican affairs was evoked in both houses of Congress by the crossing of the Rio Grande by American troops.

Jan 8, 1919