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By Richard A. Boulay

The effects of capital, operating and debt cost variations on project performance criteria are examined using a theoretical model and an actual case history. On an after-tax basis, financial measurements are found to be most sensitive to operating cost changes, somewhat sensitive to reasonable changes in capital costs and relatively insensitive to interest rate fluctuations.

Jan 1, 1985

The following officers were elected by the Pennsylvania Anthracite Section of the A. I. M. E. on the evening of June 28th. Chairman, R. V. Norris; vice-chairmen, C. F. Huber, W. G. Whildin, W. J. Richards, Eli Conner; executive committee, Douglas Bunting,. W. W. Engle, Chas. Enzian, J. M. Humphrey, A. B. Jessup, R. A. Quinn; secretary and treasurer, Paul Sterling.

Jan 9, 1919

The papers that appear on pages 326 through 367 were presented at two joint meetings of the Mineral Industry Education Division, Geophysics Committee, the American Geophysical Union and the Committee on College Curricula of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, at the A.I.M.E. meeting in New York on Feb. 17 and 18, 1941. At the first meeting, the Mining Geology Committee, the Society of Economic Geologists and the Committee on Applications of Geology of the ilmerican Association of Petroleum Geologists also took part.

Jan 1, 1946

By R. T. Pepper

DURING an investigation into the effect of heat-treatment on the creep properties of the magnesium alloy ZW1, (1 pct Zn, 0.6 pct Zr), the previously published methods of final polishing were found to be unsatisfactory. A new diamond-polishing technique has been developed to facilitate the study of fine precipitates in this and other magnesium alloys, and is described in this note. The sectioning and coarse grinding techniques are those of Fox and Hall,' and Hess and Cieorge.' Pre- liminary mechanical polishing is done with 6-µ, and 1-µ( grades of diamond compound on 'Microcloth' using a lubricant of 'Hyprez' oil. When the conventional technique is used with a 1/4- µ diamond wheel for the final polishing of magnesium alloys, scratching is likely to result from the abrasive action of the 'Microcloth' nap on the soft metal surface. This problem has been overcome by the use of a cream on the wheel in order to separate the specimen surface from the polishing cloth. To prepare this cream, a solution of 6-ml tri-ethanolamine in 75-ml water is stirred into 12.5 g stearic acid at a constant temperature of 80° to 90°C. The cream is allowed to cool, and is then 'whipped' to a smooth consistency with 100-ml 'Hyprez' oil. Before polishing, the diamond loaded 'Microcloth' is moistened with a few drops of 'Hyprez' oil, then a small amount of cream is worked into the nap. For the best results a wheel speed of 500 rpm should be used for polishing, and the specimen should be held by hand with a light pressure while being rotated in the opposite direction to the wheel. After polishing it is necessary to swab the specimen thoroughly in methylated spirits to remove residual cream and oil from the surface in order to avoid uneven etching and drying stains. Fig. 1 shows the surface finish obtained on a specimen by polishing on a 1/4- ° diamond wheel using the cream, and Figs. 2 and 3 the precipitate observed in ZW1 after polishing, and etching for two seconds in nitric acid 15 pct in ethylene glycol. This new diamond-polishing technique has made a valuable contribution to the programme of metal-lographic research on ZW1 and has become a routine laboratory practice for other low alloy content magnesium alloys.

Jan 1, 1961

By George J. Young

DURing the spring of 1910 1 visited a number of open-pit brown-coal mines and underground workings in the vicinity of Halle, Halberstadt, Leipsic, Cologne and Bonn. The notes which I took and the observations which I made at the time have been condensed and make up the principal part of this paper. Certain supplementary information has been taken from several sources which are given in the paper. The mining of brown coal is one of the important industries of Germany. The coal varies in color from dark brown to almost black and is soft like loam. Pieces of wood and strips of bark and even parts of tree trunks are frequently encountered in the excavation although the coal for the most part consists of a pulverulent, more or less matted mass of small particles of vegetal matter. It is a product between peat and lignitic coal. An analysis, taken from Coal Resources of the World shows the approximate composition of the material: Moisture, 53.73 per cent.; ash, 4.98; fixed carbon, 18.08; volatile carbon, 23.31 per cent. Thc principal characteristic is the amount of moisture. This seldom runs less than 48 per cent. The ash is usually low and ranges from 5 to 10 per cent. The sulphur content is usually less than 0.5 per cent. The heating effect of the fuel ranges from 2,000 to 2,500 calories. The commercial deposits are confined to the Tertiary period although

Jan 1, 1916

By H. G. Doll

A new electrical logging method. called MicroLaterology is described. whereby the resistivity R of the invaded zone close to the wall of the bore hole is measured. This method essentially utilizes a system of concentric circular electrodes iml,edded in an insulating support which is applied to the wall of the hole. A beam of current of very small diameter is focused horizontally into the formations by means of an automatic control device. and then opens widely at short distance from the wall. with this method, R most often can be recorded directly. except when the mud cake is very thick. in which case a correction is easily provided. The basic role of factor R in the quantitative analysis of electrical logs in terms of fluid saturation and of porosity is explained. The paper is illustrated with field examples. INTRODUCTION In electrical logging. the resistivity of that part of the penneable and porous formations which is invaded by mud filtrate is an important factor in the interpretation. Measurements made with the conventional devices — normal. lateral — and also with improved systems as the Laterolog and induction logging' — are very often more or less affected by the presence of the invaded zone. and the knowledge of the resistivity of this zone is useful in the evaluation of the true resistivity of the beds. which itself is a basic element for the determination of fluid saturation. Moreover. the comparison of the resistivity of the invaded zone with the resistivity of the mud filtrate gives valuable indications on the magnitude of the formation resistivity factor — which in turn is necessary for the quantitative interpretation of the logs. both in terms of fluid saturation and of porosity. On the other hand. it is generally admitted that the invaded zone is not a homogeneous medium separated from the uncon-tamirlated part of the bed hy a well defined cylindrical boundary. but that the fluid distribution—filtrate. connate water. hydrocarbon — and hence. the resistivity. in the invaded zone varies progressively with the distance from the wall of the hole. The term "resistivity of the invaded zone" therefore corre-sponds to an average value which is a function of the distribution of the fluids Inasmuch as the law of this distribution is not exactly known, the resistivity of the invaded zone is not a well defined factor. A much better definition is obtained if the medium under consideration is limited to that part of the formation which is within a short distance from the wall of the hole. It seems likely a within a distance of at least two or three in., most of the fluids in in the pores of tile formation have been displaced by the mud filtrate. The connate water has almost certainly been flushed out. and the oil. if any has generally been reduced to a comparatively small amount. The resistivity witliir~ the radial limit of two to three in. is. therefore. prac.tically constant at an). given level: its value. at least when the proportion of conductive solids in the formation is negligible. is chiefly dependent on the resistivity of the filtrate and on the porosity of the formation, and is affected only to a relatively small degree by the presence of the small amount of residual oil. This part of the formation close to the wall of the hole will he designated in the following as the "flushed zone." a-distinguished from the more general term of "invaded zone'. which relates to the part of the formation extending from the wall out to the distance where the formation is completely uncontaminated. The symbol R,, will he used for the resistivity of the flushed zone. (The notation R is related to the radial distance from the hole. If x designates this distance. xo is the initial value of x, i.e., the value corresponding to the region very close to the wall.) The determination of R is difficult, if not impossible. from logs made with the conventional devices. The long normal and the long lateral are. of course. not suited for this purpose because their radii of investigation are by far too large. The short normal. and the limestone sonde—-after correction for the effect of the hole hole — give resistivity values which corre. spond to materials situated within a comparatively short distance from the hole, but this distance is still several time. as great as the thickness of tire flushed zone. The only value which can be obtained with these devices corresponds to an average resistivity of the invaded zone- — and this only provided the invasion is deep enough, since otherwise the meas "red values would also be affected by the uncontaminated region beyond the invaded zone. It should nevertheless be recalled that despite these limitations. the measurements given by the short normal and or the limestone sonde are always very useful for qualitative interpretation. and also in favorable cases for the qantitative analysis of the logs in terms of saturation and porosity. The MicroLog. which was primarily developed for the detection of permeable beds and for an accurate determination of their boundaries. provides a good approach towards the evaluation of R. In the case of hard formation.. however. The

Jan 1, 1953

By Eugene Guccione

FOREWORD-Back in October of last year, I approached three of the largest commercial banks in the country to solicit an article about the role of commercial banks in mine financing. "We'll be delighted to cooperate with you in any way we can," was the stock response. As the September 1975 deadline approached, however, every bank officer I had contacted almost a year earlier informed me that he couldn't write such an article be- cause of "prior commitments," "an excessive workload," or "vacation schedule," etc. This was not a total surprise. Any commercial banker will be truly delighted in talking with you, if you have a good mining prospect, a good reputation, a good batting average in your business-and if he has the capital you want to borrow. But what happens when banks themselves are illiquid? Much as they would like to help you, they simply can't. And most of them clam up.

Jan 9, 1975

By Chester Fulton

IN Polk County, Florida, the mining of raw phosphates began some 50 years ago with dredging operations on the Peace River, and in other near-by places by removal of shallow overburden with negroes and wheelbarrows, or with mules and scrapers, and the excavation and screen-ing of deposits found close to the surface. There were many individual operations of comparatively short life. Later steam shovels removed the overburden, and still later hydraulic methods were substituted for the steam shovel. Within the last 10 years large electrically operated drag-lines have almost entirely replaced hydraulic mining for overburden removal. The matrix is still mined by hydraulic giants and pumped to the washer or recovery plant. The many small operations have long since disappeared and the most desirable phosphate lands have gradually been acquired through purchase or merger by the seven companies that are operating in the field today. These companies are producing and selling about 2,000,000 long tons of phosphate per annum, or about two-thirds of what the industry likes to think is the normal output, with 1929 and 1930 in mind. To produce these 2,000,000 long tons of raw phosphate, they mine and treat about 1,000,000 tons of tailings from older and less efficient opera-tions, about 11,000,000 tons of matrix, and remove from above this matrix some 22,000,000 tons of overburden. The mining practice that has made possible the excavation and handling of 34 million tons of material to win but 2 million tons of merchantable product, selling for probably an average of only $4 per long ton when dried, should be of interest to the mining profession, though little has been written of it. The Florida Pebble Field, as it has come to be known, comprises an area (Fig. 1) within a radius of about 18 to 20 miles centering around Mulberry in Polk County, a small town 30 miles east of Tampa, Florida's largest port on the gulf coast.

Jan 1, 1936

By E. S. Bumps, W. F. Craig, M. Baeyertz

Metallurgists have looked at fractures macroscopically for many years and have evolved a vocabulary in which such words as "cleavage," "brittle," "shear," "ductile," "granular," "fibrous," and "silky" are used to describe the appearance of the fractured surface; but the meaning of these words in terms of metal structure is not well established. Observations of the structural meaning of "brittle" and "ductile" fractures in plate steels have been made, notably, by Kramer and coworkers1 and by Tipper.2 Grossman3 has studied the fracture of tempered martensite and combinations of ferrite and martensite. Notwithstanding these and other less concerted attacks on the problem, present understanding of fracture rests more on assumptions and logic than on experiment. It is the purpose of this paper to add a little to the growing fund of experimental observations of the nature of fractures in steel. The particular fractures to be described were obtained in conventional impact testing of an ordinary structural steel shape. In impact tests of the Charpy type, the specimens fail in a characteristic manner that depends on the steel and the temperature of testing. With ordinary structural and many other steel products, an appropriate range of testing temperature will cause a considerable change in the energy absorbed before fracture. This change is known as the energy transition and is accompanied, more or less closely, by alteration in the appearance of the fracture. At testing temperatures below the transition, the terms "brittle," "cleavage," or "granular" are used to describe the fracture; above it, "ductile" or "shear" are often used. Within the transition, the fracture changes from "brittle" to "ductile" by a progression in appearance, wherein the "brittle" portion of the fracture becomes restricted to a smaller and smaller central area of the fracture, as the testing temperature is raised and the "ductile" type of fracture is approached. All this is well known to metallurgists. The specimens under consideration are of the conventional V-notch Charpy type. They were taken from a structural steel shape of the following analysis: C Mn P S Si 0.17 0.46 0.009 0.029 0.03 Both longitudinal and transverse specimens were tested and examined. Fig 1 shows the energy values plotted against testing temperatures in the usual way. The curves for both longitudinal and transverse specimens show an energy transition, although the maximum energy absorbed at testing temperatures above the transition is greater in the case of the longitudinal specimens. Fig 2 illustrates the changes in the macroscopic appearance of the fractures that are associated with the energy transitions shown in Fig 1. Macrographs of the fractured surfaces of the specimens have been identified with the fracture ratings at intervals on each fracture curve. The numerical fracture rating on the ordinate of Fig 2 indicates the percentage of the area of each fracture that was considered to be "brittle" on macroscopic observation. Such rating of the fracture type in impact tests is now customary in many laboratories. Hereafter the specimens will be identified by reference to Fig 2 as 90 pct "brittle," 80 pct "brittle," and so on, in accordance with this macroscopic evaluation of the appearance of the fractured surface. The discussion of the fractures is divided into three parts. The first two are concerned with the mode of fracture and its relation to general structural features. As the same metal-lographic features occur in both longi-

Jan 1, 1950

By H. D. Keiser

Minor industrial minerals included in this chapter are: the alum minerals, bromine, calcium chloride, epsomite and other natural magnesium salts, iodine, meerschaum, quartz, industrial crystals other than quartz, and nonfuel gases (air, helium, carbon dioxide). Alum Minerals The natural alums comprise a group of hydrated double sulfates, the most important of which are potash alum, KAI(S04)2.12H20, the "alum" of popular usage; ammonium alum, (NH4)AI(SO4)2, known mineralogically as tschermigite; and soda alum, NaAI(SO4)2.12H20. Kalinite, KAI(SO4)2.11H20, and mendozite, NaAl(SO4)2, 11H20, are fibrous monoclinic alums, distinct from the isometric species potash alum and soda alum.4 Alunite, KAI3(S04)2(OH)6, also known as alumstone or alum rock, has been used as a raw material in the manufacture of alum since early times. All the natural alums are highly soluble and occur as surface evaporation products in arid regions or in sheltered places. Potash alum, together with the other natural alums, commonly occurs as an efflorescence or crevice filling in argillaceous rocks and brown coals that contain disseminated pyrite or marcasite. The mineral is derived by the action of sulfuric acid, formed during the weathering of the sulfide, upon alkali-rich aluminum silicates. Ammonia alum is found chiefly in lignite or broad-coal beds and bituminous shales. Alunite is most commonly associated with acid volcanic rocks, where the rock has been largely altered and alunite formed owing to the presence of sulfuric acid solutions or vapors. Aluminum sulfate, which for most uses is the essential ingredient of alum, may be found in saline residues resulting from the evaporation of natural water and may be formed by the action of acid waters upon aluminous rocks. A deposit of natural potash alum occurs in an irregular network of veins associated with sulfur in rhyolite in Esmeralda County, Nevada, about 35 miles west of Tonopah and 10 miles north of Silver Peak. Alum was recovered at a plant operated on the property between 1920 and 1923 by crushing the ore to ¾ in., grinding to minus 80-mesh, and counter-current leaching; the resulting alum solution was then filtered and crystallized. Alunite was of much interest during World War I as a source of potash and during World War II as a source of alumina. The wellknown deposits at Tolfa, Italy, are veins in trachyte and have been the basis of alum manufacture there since the middle of the fifteenth century. Pure alunite is insoluble in water and in common acids, but if it is heated to 500°C it loses its water of hydration, and the residue consists largely of anhydrous potash alum, part of which is readily soluble in water or acids. If the heat is increased beyond 500°C, most of the sulfur combined with the alumina is released as oxides and the residue consists of potassium sulfate and alumina. Thus, either potash alum (and aluminum sulfate) or potassium sulfate and alumina may be made. In the

Jan 1, 1960

By A. A. Venghiattis

A rational approach to the selection of the appropriate perforator to use in each specific zone of an oil well is presented. The criteria presently in use for this choice bear little resemblance with actual down-hole condilions. These environmental conditions affect the elastic properties of rocks. One of these elastic properties, acoustic velocity, is suggested as the leading parameter to adopt for the choice of a perforator because, being currently measured in the natural location of the formation, it takes into account all of the effects of compaction, saturation, temperature, etc., which are overlooked in the laboratory. Equations and curves in relation with this suggestion are given to allow the prediction of the depth of perforation of bullets and shaped charges when an acoustic log has been run in the zone to be perforated. INTRODUCTION When an oil company has to decide on the perforator to choose for a completion job, I wonder if it is really understood that, to date, there is no rational way of selecting the right perforator on the basis of what it will do down-hole. This situation stems from the fact that the many varieties of existing perforators, bullets or shaped charges, are promoted on the basis of their performance in the laboratory, but very little is said on how this performance will be affected by subsurface conditions such as the combination of high overburden pressure and high temperature, for example. The purpose of this paper is to show the limitations of the existing ways of evaluating the performance of perforators, to show that performances obtained in laboratories cannot be extended to down-hole conditions because the elastic properties of rocks are affected by these conditions and, finally, to suggest and justify the use of the acoustic velocity of rocks, as the parameter to utilize for the anticipation of the performance of a perforator in true down-hole environment. EVALUATING THE PERFORMANCE OF A PERFORATOR It is natural, of course, to judge the performance of a perforator from the size of the hole it makes in a predetermined target. Considering that the ultimate target for an oilwell perforator is the oil-bearing formation preceded in most cases by a layer of cement and by the wall of a steel casing, the difficulties begin with the choice of an adequate experimental target material. For obvious reasons of convenience, the first choice that came to the mind of perforator designers was mild steel. This is a reasonable choice for the comparison of two perforators in first approximation. Mild steel is commercially available in a rather consistent state and quality, and is comparatively inexpensive. The trouble with mild steel is that it represents a yardstick very much contracted; minute variations in depth of penetration or hole diameter and shape may be significant though difficult to measure. The penetration of projectiles in steel being a function of the Brinell hardness of the steel (Gabeaud, O'Neill, Grun-wood, Poboril, et al), it is often difficult to decide whether to attribute a small difference in penetration to a variation on the target hardness or to an actual variation on the efficiency of the projectile. Another target material which has been widely used for testing the efficiency of bullets or shaped charges in an effort to represent a formation—a mineral target as opposed to an all-steel target—is cement cast in steel containers. This type of target, although offering a larger scale for measuring penetrations, proved so unreliable because of its poor repeatability that it had to be abandoned by most designers. The drawbacks of these target materials, and particularly their complete lack of similarity with an oil-bearing formation, became so evident that a more realistic target arrangement was sought until a tacit agreement was reached between customers and designers of oilwell perforators on a testing target of the type shown on Fig. 1. This became almost a necessity about seven years ago because of the introduction of a new parameter in the evaluation of the efficiency of a perforator, the well flow index (WFI). The WFI is the ratio (under predetermined and constant conditions of ambiance, pressure and temperature) of the permeability to a ceitain grade of kerosene of the target core (usually Berea sandstone) after verforation. to its vermeabilitv before perforation. The value of this index ;or the present state if the perforation technique varies from 0 to 2.5, the good perforators presently available rating somewhere around 2.0 and the poor ones around 0.8, There is no doubt that, to date, the WFI type of test is by far the most significant one for comparing perforators. It is obvious that a demonstration of a perforator

By G. Sachs

According to Tammann,' the explanation of the effect of mechanical deformation in producing changes in the properties of metals is one of the most important problems of physical metallurgy, taking rank with the study of the constitution of alloy systems; and this problem has long attracted the attention of practitioner and scientist alike. Its solution was not advanced materially until Tammann2 set up his translation hypothesis with its crystallographic basis, while other hypotheses, such as the amorphous metal hypothesis of Beilby3 and Rosenhain,4 have been shown by more intensive studies to be less and less satisfactory. The principles of the Tammann translation hypothesis have proved to be useful even up to today and in spite of all of the recent accumulation of experimental data, while the differences of opinion which have arisen relate to the extent to which the hypothesis accounts for the observed changes Ïn properties and to what extent further assumptions are necessary. Stimulated by the proposals of Tammann, there soon developed a lively experimental activity which aimed at the elucidation of the structural or crystallographic changes produced by the mechanical deformation of metals. Parallel movements of crystal "blocks" along definite crystal slip planes had already been observed by Ewing and Rosenhain5 in 1900, in metals which had been moderately deformed but without shedding light on the crystallographic nature of the processes accompanying more severe deformation. The solution of this important problem was not advanced until a much later date, or until the methods of X-ray crystal analysis had become available. Shortly after the discovery of the diffraction of X-ray by crystals, symmetrical diffraction effects were

Jan 1, 1931

By S. M. M. Safvi, A. Jowett

Small-scale continuous flotation tests are described in which the influence of 1) pulp density and 2) feed rate on the rate of flotation are investigated. The results provide further evidence of first-order kinetics for flotation and indicate that tests at different feed rates provide a particularly simple method of determining rate constants. Flotation kinetics are discussed in general terms. Over a period of many years numerous research workers have studied the rate of recovery of valuable materials from flotation pulps with a view to deter-mining the mechanism of the froth flotation process. Froth flo ation is fundamentally a collision process involviug at some stage collision and then mutual attachment between air bubbles and mineral particles. It is possible to draw analogies therefore between the flotation process involving mainly macroscopic particles and the ordinary processes of chemical reaction kinetics involving collisions between atoms, molecules and ions. By adopting this analogy we may postulate a general equation representing the kinetics of the flotation process: -dC/dt =K.CC ,Aa (1) The rate constant, K, will be a complex function involving reagent concentrations, particle and bubble sizes, induction times and no doubt flotation cell design. However, these are factors which can be kept constant in any series of experiments, permitting investigation of the exponents a and c, which determine the order of the reaction occurring in flotation. The various research investigations carried out so far have all aimed at evaluating a and c and in the majority of cases only since the concentration of air has usually been kept constant in a series of tests, so that a relationship of the following type has been investigated: -dC/dt = K1 Cc (2) The techniques of both batch testing and continuous testing have been used to investigate this relationship. The technique of continuous testing, in which steady-state conditions are established, permits direct investigation of the above equation. In the case of batch testing, C is decreasing continuously

Jan 1, 1961

By E. W. Davis

Iron-ORE beneficiation methods are determined largely by blastfurnace requirements. There are still many millions of tons of direct furnace ore in the Lake Superior district and blast furnaces are designed and operated for the most efficient use of this material. Beneficiated ore must be so prepared that existing furnaces may use it without alteration in design or radical changes in practice. Many attempts have been made to develop new furnaces or processes for smelting iron-ore concentrate not suitable for blast-furnace use, but these processes have gained little importance. It is, therefore, the endeavor in beneficiating iron ore to make a product that will give at least as good results as direct furnace ore in existing blast furnaces. The term "beneficiation," as applied to iron ore, does not necessarily mean concentration, but more accurately means "dressing up" the ore so that it is more acceptable to the blastfurnace operators. In modern blast-furnace practice the structure of the ore is quite as important as the chemical analysis. Certainly, the higher the iron content and the lower the silica, phosphorus and sulfur, the more desirable the ore bccomcs; but if the structure is bad, that is, if the blast-furnace gases can penetrate the charge only with difficulty, the ore is undesirable regardless of its analysis. This means that the ore should be as uniform in size as possible and free from fines, and also that the individual particles of ore should be pervious to the reducing gases of the furnace. Structure and purity are the primary requirements for a furnace ore and structure is just as important as purity. Iron-ore beneficiation processes can be divided, therefore, roughly into two main classifications: (1) processes that primarily improve the structure, and (2) processes that primarily improve the chemical analysis. During the past 10 years approximately 25 per cent of the ore shipped from the Lake Superior district has been beneficiated. Of this about half has been crushed and screened, a simple operation that primarily improves the structure but in some cases also improves the analysis slightly. The other half of the shipment of beneficiated ore, amounting to an average

Jan 1, 1935

By E. L. Jr. Spain

THE deposits described in this paper occur over much of Wayne County and in the southeast portion of Hardin County, Tennessee, and in the northeast and northwest portions of. Mississippi and Alabama respec-tively. The presence of tripoli in this region has been known for some time and descriptions of various occurrences in Tennessee have been made by Jewell1 and Miser2, while Hilgard3, Lowe4 and Logan5 have treated the deposits that occur in the adjacent portions of Alabama and Mississippi, but there has not been a general survey of the entire field summarizing completely the geology of the deposits with respect to their origin and stratigraphic relationships. During 1934, while engaged in surveys of mineral resources through this region for the Tennessee Valley Authority, the writer collected data with this in mind, and has assembled them in this report. He is indebted to H. S. Rankin and N. A. Rose, of the Tennessee Valley Authority Geology Division, for field assistance.

Jan 1, 1936

By George Beavers

FLASH roasting of iron concentrate is in the experimental stage at Copperhill. The problem is peculiar in that the iron concentrate is predominantly pyrrhotite; the ratio of that mineral to pyrite being 5 to 1. Results so far indicate that the heat, generated in roasting a material containing 52.0 per cent iron and 38.0 per cent sulfur, requires special handling and for this reason the installation costs per ton of roaster feed may be too great to compete with hearth roasting. Interesting features of flash roasting at Copperhill are: 1. The sulfur dioxide content of the roaster exit gas can be varied between wide limits. Eight per cent sulfur dioxide gas, with 1.30 per cent sulfur in the calcine, has been common practice and gas up to 13.0 per cent sulfur dioxide has been possible. 2. Temperatures of the exit gases are very high. When roasting 60 tons or more of iron concentrate per 24 hr. in a modified Wedge roaster, the temperature in the roaster rises to 2000° F. and the calcine is lowered to 0.20 per cent sulfur. If the entire roaster system could be constructed to withstand such temperatures, ideal roasting conditions would obtain as regards sulfur elimination and tonnage roasted.

Jan 1, 1934

By John H. Melvin

THE Omaha District, Corps of Engineers, has been doing subsurface exploration work for a number of years, both by contract and with its own forces. Certain practices and procedures concerning the recovery of large diameter cores have been developed which will be described in this paper. GEOLOGY Most of the drilling to date has been in connection with structures on the main stem of the Missouri River above Sioux City, Iowa. A wide variety of subsurface conditions has been encountered. The bedrock formations appear in regular order from the oldest to the youngest, traveling upstream; or in other words, the general regional dip is to the northwest. The oldest formation is the Carlile shale, a compaction or noncemented waxy shale of Cretaceous age. Because of its uncemented, soft nature this shale has a tendency to grind or wash away when drilled. It also has a tendency to rebound or expand when the overlying pressures are removed. A 25-ft bed of sharp, friable sandstone called the Codell member is present near the top of the Carlile shale. This member is a cemented sediment, but in drilling, many of the sand grains are broken loose and exert extensive abrasive action on the core barrel and bit. Above the Carlile shale is the Niobrara chalk, a soft calcareous deposit with shaly horizons and some thin beds of bentonitic clay. The average thickness of this deposit is about 145 ft. It is soft enough to be sawed or bored with ordinary woodworking tools, yet is compact enough to be used as building block. The Pierre shale, the formation above the Niobrara chalk, is over 800 ft in thickness and is the most widespread material in the area. It is a dark colored, compaction shale containing numerous thin bentonitic clay seams and at certain horizons, hard manganese concretions. The shale has numerous faults and in addition, along the valley walls, has undergone considerable - slumping. Joints, fault planes and slickensided surfaces are common features encountered in drilling and add to the difficulties of high core recovery. East of the Missouri River the bedrock is generally covered with from 100 to 200 ft of glacial till, composed of clays, silts, sands, gravels and boulders. The valley itself is filled with alluvial deposits, mostly of the sand and gravel sizes, and contains a buried preglacial or interglacial channel over 100 ft in depth. The overburden deposits require sampling in connection with engineering studies and must also be cased before the underlying bedrock can be cored. The diameter of the required overburden samples can thus have an indirect effect on the size of core recovered from the bedrock. West of the river, which in most cases is the western boundary of glaciation,

Jan 1, 1947

ABIDE from the John Fritz Medal, in which the Institute participates through its representation on the John Fritz Medal Board, the Institute itself has three major awards to make annually and one special prize for excellence in technical papers, as follows. The Robert W. Hunt Medal and Prize, The J. E. Johnson, Jr., Award, the James Douglas Medal, and The Lewisohn Platinum Prize to senior members. ROBERT W. HUNT MEDAL AND PRIZE The partners of Robert W. Hunt established a fund which was presented to the Institute at a fitting' ceremony on May 27, 1920, to establish an annual medal and a sum of money to be awarded under the following rules ? 1 The award shall consist of two prizes, first of a gold medal, second of a sum of money, a certificate to accompany each prize. The money prize shall not be awarded to a member over 40 years of age, but under unusual circumstances, both prizes may be allotted to one person provided that he is not over 40 years of age In general it will be understood that the Committee shall award the money prize to the younger men, rather than the medal. 2 The awards shall be made not oftener than once a year to that person or persons contributing to the Institute the best original paper or papers on iron and steel The scope of the term "iron and steel" shall be determined by the sub-committee considering the awards In general, papers dealing with the practical side of the subject have preference over those dealing with the theoretical side in recognition of the fact that Captain Hunt's main contributions to the industry have been in the improvement of production and quality of material

Jan 1, 1923

By Herluf P. Nielsen, Robert I. Jaffee

IN recent years much attention has been given to high-melting alloy systems, It has been of interest in this respect to investigate the alloys of platinum and tungsten, which were known from the literature to have very high melting points up to about 50 pct tungsten, but about which little had been published on the high-tungsten side of the system. Powder metallurgical methods were used throughout this investigation for the preparation of the alloys, utilizing electrical sintering techniques such as are used for tungsten and molybdenum. In the course of the work it was found desirable to determine fusion temperatures of the alloys, and it was possible from these and other data to draw a tentative constitutional diagram (solidus, mostly) applicable to the high-temperature part of the system. No attempt was made to determine solid solubility vs. temperature data, nor to investigate the lower temperature transformations in the solid state. Data on the microstructure, hardness, and a note on oxidation resistance of the sintered alloys were obtained. PAST WORK Müller1 determined liquidus temperatures of platinum-rich alloys to 50 pct tungsten, using a radiation method employing a photoelectric cell, and found that the melting points increased progressively from 1771°C for platinum to 2350°C for the 50 pct alloy. Microscopic evidence by Müller that complete solid solutions exist to 50 pct tungsten was not checked by Kremer2 who, according to Vines and Wise,3 found that "although the 8 pct tungsten alloy was a solid solution, the 26 pct tungsten alloy contained a eutectic or an intermediate phase." Hultgren and jaffee4 using X ray methods found continuous solid solutions to at least 33.6 pct tungsten (35 at. pct) after annealing in vacuum for 6 days at 1000°C. Vines and Wise3 report work communicated to them by E. C. Rhodes on wrought alloys to 7 pct tungsten, which showed that tungsten hardened platinum extremely rapidly, and was one of the most potent hardeners of the binary additions to platinum. Considerable quantities of 4 pct tungsten platinum wire have been produced for grids in radar tubes and for aircraft spark plugs. Some of the alloy for the latter application is made by sintering, the remainder by smelting and casting. MATERIALS The platinum powder used in this work was kindly supplied by the research and Development Laboratory of the Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., Newark, Ohio, It was prepared from scrap platinum. After dissolving in aqua regia and evaporating almost to dryness, the solution was worked up several times with concentrated HCI. the resultant platinic chloride was diluted considerably, and metallic zinc was added, which precipitated the platinum in a very finely divided form. After dissolving the

Jan 1, 1948