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By Robert W. Thomas

LEACHING of mined-out areas at the Arizona property of the Ray Mines Division, Kennecott Copper Corp., was started on Jan. 20, 1.937, and by July 1, 1938, 10,000,000 lb. of copper had been produced by this method. Leaching operations at present are confined to the western portion of the ore body and over an area of approximately ten acres. The ore in this area was extremely high in pyrite and the copper content, which averaged slightly in excess of 1 per cent, was the result of incomplete secondary enrichment by solutions which apparently worked laterally from the main ore body. Above the ore was an unaltered zone of primary or protore averaging 125 ft. in thickness and containing approximately 0.6 per cent copper. Above this was the capping or leached zone averaging 50 ft. thick.

Jan 1, 1938

By Frank Corwin

It is the purpose of this article to give a brief account. of the experimental work and to show how the increase in efficiency was brought about. Part of the experimental work described in this paper was carried out by the writers, while in the employ of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., under the direction of M. W. Krejci, Metallurgist, and Arthur Crowfoot, Chief Sampler. Complete records of all of the MacDougall testing work have been placed at our disposal through the courtesy of A. E. Wheeler, Superintendent. II. BRIEF HISTORY OF PRESENT MACDOUGALL PLANT. The first change from the Brueckner cylinders used for roasting concentrates at Great Falls was the construction of a MacDougall roaster of the Herreshoff type. This furnace was first started on June 15, 1898. It bad eight hearths, was lined with fire brick, and had an air-cooled central shaft, but no provision was made for cooling the rabble arms. It was operated for a while, and accomplished the work of roasting, but ran so hot that the rabble arms became twisted and distorted out of shape. To prevent the furnace from becoming too hot a device was then installed to draw the heated gases away from the hearths. This consisted of a pipe connected to alternate hearths of the MacDougall furnace and also connected to the flue. It was equipped with dampers, 'so that the hot gases could be drawn away from any one of the alternate hearths directly into the flue.

Jan 7, 1913

By W. F. Campbell

One of the deepest coal operations today is the Springhill No. 2 mine of Cumberland Railway & Coal Co., subsidiary of Dominion Coal Co. Ltd. Mining is now conducted at a slope distance of 14,000 ft, with 4400 vertical ft of cover. The record of Springhill No. 2 can be said to contain the history of bumps in the Province of Nova Scotia. The Springhill coal field forms part of the Cumberland field of Carboniferous age. There are seven mineable fields in the area, numbered in the order they were discovered. Mining has been carried on in all but the No. 4 and 5 seams, but present operations are confined to the No. 2. Fig. 1 shows a vertical section through the seams. Opened in 1873, No. 2 mine was first worked from parallel slopes driven from the outcrop of No. 2 seam down to the 7700 level. As the mine went deeper, a two-place auxiliary slope was driven from the 6900 level to the present workings. A transfer level at the 7800 connects the main haulage with the auxiliary haulage slope. The No. 2 mine plan is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The seam is bituminous, averaging 8.5 to 9 ft thick. There is a well defined parting 14 to 16 in. from the roof, and this roof coal is harder than the rest of the seam. Average pitch at the outcrop is 30°; at the 6500 level, 20°; at the 7900 level, 16°; and at the 13,800 level, 10°. Immediate roof and floor strata consist of beds of variable thicknesses of shales, grading to arenaceous shales to shaly sandstones to sandstones. A characteristic of the strata is the appearance and disappearance of sandstone bands, of considerable thickness, over distances of several hundred feet. MINE HISTORY Entrance to No. 2 mine is obtained by three parallel slopes, separated by 100-ft pillars except in the upper portion of the mine where the pillars are smaller. Main haulage levels were originally driven 600 ft apart for room and pillar extraction. A parallel drainage and intake airway was driven below each haulage level and a parallel return airway (counter level) above. Pillars 80 to 100 ft wide separated these two servicing entries from the center haulage level. Inclines up to 700 ft apart were driven off the levels up pitch to the upper levels, and at 40-ft centers level rooms 12 ft wide were driven off each side of the inclines, separated by crosscuts every 50 to 100 ft. The rooms were driven up to 350 ft or until they were holed into the room from the adjoining incline—a plan followed until the level reached its boundary. When the entire area between two levels had been divided into pillars, the pillars were extracted from the boundary back to the slope pillars. As depth of cover increased, mining conditions required larger pillars, and at the 3300 level, where NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS FOR MINING AT DEPTH In Room and Pillar Extraction: 1) Pillars must not be too small. 2) Pillar size must be uniform. 3) Extraction lines must be kept as straight and as uniform as possible. If they are irregular they should be brought back into line slowly. 4) Peninsulas of coal surrounded by gob must be avoided. 5) Pillars should not be disturbed after they have been formed. If it is necessary to increase the width of an opening, stripping or ribbing should be done gradually over a long distance. If increased width of openings is necessary at certain locations and can be anticipated, the openings should be widened during development. 6) Under no conditions should small pillars be left in the gob that would interfere with caving. In Long wall Operations: 1) Pillars formed during development for retreating longwalls should be uniform in size and shape. 2) Pillars should not be split after development, but if pillar splitting does become necessary it should not be carried out within the zone influenced by the working faces. 3) Width of levels should not be increased after the levels have been developed. If it does become necessary to widen a level it must be done gradually over a long distance by stripping or ribbing the coal ribs. 4) Extraction lines should remain uniform. If several walls are worked together—one behind the other—a uniform distance must be maintained between them and the wall faces must be kept as straight as possible. If the walls do get out of line, they must be brought back into line gradually to allow for a gradual change in the stress distribution over the area. 5) Stumps of coal, roof supports, etc. must not be allowed to remain in the gob to interfere with caving. 6) Midwalls should be built as rigidly as possible and properly maintained.

Jan 1, 1959

By J. F. Abel, F. T. Lee

Subsidence is controlled by a complex com¬bination of mining and geologic factors. For example, a compilation of worldwide data shows that, as the percentage of shale in the overlying rock mass decreases and the amount of sandstone increases, the angle of draw (and the area affected by subsidence) decreases. Limestone in the over¬burden appears to cause a more than twofold decrease in the angle of draw compared to a like amount of sandstone. Increased amounts of sandstone were accompanied by a greater surface subsidence relative to the mining height. The total thickness of overburden did not appear to influence the subsidence magnitude above super-critical panels. The greater the thickness extracted, the smaller percentage of that thickness shows up at the surface as subsidence. The greater the percent of the seam extracted, the greater the subsidence reaching the surface. The maximum subsidence above room-and-pillar panels de¬pends on the pillar height and minimum width as well as the other factors listed.

Jan 1, 1984

By JAMES A. VEASEY

SINCE the World War, excepting for a few brief periods of relief, the American petroleum industry has been obliged to meet its important economic responsibility to this nation hampered by the maladjustment that inevitably follows a marked and unwholesome over-production of its raw material, crude oil. Despite the warnings of the Federal Oil Conservation Board and the endeavors of many of the leaders in the business to stem the flow of oil from the wells of the country, the evil ,not only persists but, at the moment, seems more malignant than ever before. Unless the local and temporary restraints on drilling and production now in effect in California, Wyoming, Texas, and Oklahoma are continued, and, indeed, unless stricter and more comprehensive measures of the same sort are imposed and adhered to by the industry in those States, over-production in the enterprise during the current year will be more pronounced than in any other period in history.

Jan 1, 1929

By Frederick Laist

THE object of the construction and operation of the 80-ton leaching plant was to test out the leaching of sand tailings on a large scale and, if possible, determine a definite method of operation, and the best construction for the larger unit which is now being built. It was also of importance to obtain some practical data as regards cost items. The 80-ton plant was not expected to be a commercial success. A leaching process on such low-grade material necessitates the treatment of a very large tonnage.. Such a cost item as labor, for instance, is entirely out of proportion in such a small plant. The amounts of acid, salt, scrap iron, and fuel for roasting, however, are the same per ton in an 80-ton plant as in a 2,000-ton plant. These costs were definitely established. Also the percentages of extraction and grade of tailings were definitely determined for a large-sized unit. Following will be found the description of the plant, the method of operation and the results obtained. A -general view of the plant is given in Fig. 1. The bins consisted of one coal bin with a capacity of 30 tons, one salt bin with a capacity of 20 tons, and a "mill tailings" or feed bin which held 70 tons. The coal and salt bins were placed with their floor level even with the firing floor of the roasting furnace. The feed bin, to give it greater capacity, discharged about 12 ft. below this point, to a 12-in. conveyor belt, which, in turn discharged into a pug mill. This fed another conveyor belt, which discharged into the top hearth of the furnace. The furnace was an ordinary six-hearth MacDougall roaster, .20-ft. in diameter. It was equipped with two fire boxes, on opposite sides, the flames entering on the third hearth. An induced draft was obtained with a Buffalo blower, worked as an exhaust fan. Just above the top hearth was an annular flue around the whole circumference of the furnace. Slots at intervals of about 18 in. led from this flue down into the top hearth. The slots were 2 in. wide by 6 in. long. This annular flue proved rather unsatisfactory, as it tended to fill up with flue dust and choke the slots, thus cutting down the draft. The volume of gas through

Jan 8, 1914

By P. Davey Wheeler

San Francisco meeting, September, 1915) IN an article in the General Electric Review, January, 1915, reference was made to the X-ray examination of a steel casting 9/16 in. thick. Fig. 1 shows one of the radiographs thus obtained. All these radiographs showed plainly the tool marks on the surface of the casting. All but one showed peculiar markings the shape of which strongly suggested that they were indeed the pictures of holes in the interior. A circular piece, 1 in. in diameter, was punched from the casting at a point where the radiograph shown in Fig. 1 indicated that a blow-hole should be found. (Location of sample shown by circle in Fig. 1.) Fig. 2 is a photograph of the end of the punching, showing the .hole that was found. Since that article was written it has seemed desirable: (1) to obtain data from which the exposure necessary for any thickness of steel could be at once calculated; (2) to find the thickness of the smallest air inclusion which could be radiographed in a given thickness of steel; (3) to determine in what direction to hope for further progress; and (4) to develop the technique of, radiographing metals. In order to gain some preliminary data, several pieces of ½ -in(12.5mm.) boiler plate were obtained, 5 by 7 in. (12.5 by 17.5 cm.) in size. In one of these, holes were drilled in such a way that the axis of each hole was midway between the faces of the steel and parallel to those faces. The diameters of these holes were as follows: Hole number Diameter 1 1/4 in. = 6.3 mm 2 1/8 in. = 3.1 mm. 3 1/16 in. = 1.6 mm. 4 1/32 in. = 0.8 mm. 5 1/64 in. = 0.4 mm.

Jan 8, 1915

By Cyril Wells, Robert F. Mehl

THE practical importance of a knowledge of the rates of diffusion of carbon and of alloying elements in steel has often been pointed out 1,13 This importance ties chiefly, though by no means only, in the study of carburizing and in the study of reactions involved in the eutectoid inversion in steel The present paper is one of a series in which the rates of diffusion of carbon and of alloying elements in y-Fe and their mutual effects are measured with precision The present paper reports the results of meas¬urements of diffusion coefficients D of manganese in -y-Fe over wide ranges of temperature, and concentration, and of the effect of carbon and impurities and of grain size upon these diffusion coefficients [$] Data on the rate of diffusion of manganese in y-Fe have been reported by Fry2 and by Paschke and Hauttmann 3 Claussen4 calculated the diffusion coefficient D from Fry's data as 3 X 10-10 sq cm per sec at 960°, which will be shown to be incorrect by many orders of magnitude Paschke and Hauttmann gave a rough value of 9 6 X 10-8 sq cm per sec at 1400° Neither of these workers considered the variation of D with concentration and with temperature, and neither studied the effect of carbon METHOD AND MATERIALS Method -The method employed is identical with that used earlier 5 Owing to the volatility of manganese and the consequent loss of manganese from the outer surfaces of the welded diffusion bars, these surfaces were discarded The diffusion anneals were performed in argon, except one (test 18) in which hydrogen was employed for purposes noted below The temperatures reported are accurate to about 3° and constant within I°C , the diffusion times are reported to the nearest half hour The specimens were furnace-cooled after the diffusion anneal at about 2° per min Layers, usually 0 004 in thick, parallel to the welded interface, were machined from the specimens after the diffusion anneal and analyzed for manganese to 0 01 per cent Mn, the distances of these layers from the interface was measured to ±0 0002 in The concentration-penetration curves obtained were analyzed by both the Grube and the Matano solutions e The D values calculated by these two methods do not differ appreciably 5 The Grube solution was used except in tests in which the effect of concentration upon D was greater than 50 per cent, in such cases the Matano method, which explicitly provides for the variation of D with concentration,1 is the more reliable In general, the number of layers machined from the zones of variable composition were large enough to permit the use of the average layer composition as that of the center of the layer In 3 of the 30 tests, however, this is not justified, and the D values

Jan 1, 1941

By S. R. Titley

The recent emphasis placed upon the use of molybdenum as a geochemical indicator has stimulated considerable inquiry into the behavior of molybdenum in the zone of oxidation. This paper represents a summary of recent and continuing experimental work and calculations in an investigation of a portion of the system Mo-Fe-S-H20 and treats the stability of various iron and molybdenum compounds with respect to oxidation potential and pH. Using experimentally determined free energy values for ferrimolybdite, diagrams of the stability fields of this mineral have been calculated with respect to ilsemannite (?), molybdenite, pyrite and limonite. This theoretical approach is the one utilized by Garrels3'4 in studies of the relationships of various minerals in the zone of oxidation. Use of this approach is particularly suited to the study of geochemistry in the zone of supergene processes because of the low temperatures, low pressures and other relatively easily determined and duplicated factors that exist in the near surface environment. Such a study of molybdenum, however, is complicated by several factors. One of these is the fact that the strong amphoteric behavior of molybdenum makes possible a wide variety of substances and complexes whose exact chemical natures are unknown. The second factor is the dearth of thermodynamic data for many of the simplest of the possible compounds and ions important to the study. For the purpose of this study, the problem of complexes has been approached through considering only the simpler possibilities realizing that the complexes and systems so treated may be gross oversimplifications. All the complexes considered, however, have been suggested in the chemical 2,7,9,12 or geologi-cal literature. EXPERIMENTAL WORK Studies of the behavior of molybdenum ions and ferrimolybdite have been carried out in aqueous sys- tems, and reactions have been followed by simultaneous measurement and recording of pH and oxidation potential. A major problem involved in this study was the long periods of time necessary for equilibrium to be established in some of the systems considered; in a few instances, these periods exceeded four weeks, that is, four weeks during which measured conditions changed continuously. Another problem, in some instances, was the indeterminate nature of the reactions that have taken place. Because of the tendency of molybdenum to complex, reactions which take place under some of the more extreme imposed conditions of oxidation and acidity or alkalinity are unknown. However, useful data for the present work were obtained from studies of the molybdate ion and ferrimolybdite between pH 2 and 8 and under only moderately oxidizing to nonoxidizing conditions. Instruments used in the experiments were a Hewlitt-Packard Model 412A VTVM, a modified Beckman Zeromatic pH Meter and two Varian model 11 recorders. pH was measured between glass and calomel electrodes and Eh was measured between calomel and platinum electrodes. Conditions of pH were varied with 1N H2SO4 and 1N NH4OH and 1N NaOH. Eh was varied with gaseous nitrogen, oxygen or aqueous H202. Ambient temperature was essentially uniform at 24ºC and was increased in the reaction vessel by the positioning of a magnetic stirrer whose temperature was sufficient to bring the temperature to 2S°C in the reaction. The temperatures of reaction did not vary more than 1/2ºfrom 25°C. Two reactions were investigated, the ferrimolybdite-limonite-water reaction and the reduction of molybdate ion. Studies of both reactions yielded useful data that were used in preparation of the Eh-pH diagrams. The traces of the reactions are shown on Fig. 1. Ferrimolybdite-Limonite- Water: Studies of this reaction involved analysis of the solution of ferrimolybdite and simultaneous formation of ferric hydroxide. The data are summarized on Fig. 1. In this reaction, equilibrium was attained at various pH's when coexistence of the two solid phases (ferrimolybdite and ferric hydroxide) was attained. At the proper pH, controlled by the amount of ferrimolybdite and thus the dissolved content of molybdate species, both phases were observed and reaction times to complete the transition were on the order of weeks. The reac-

Jan 1, 1963

By E. F. Kingsbury

ONE of the well-known and important uses of the noble or precious metals has been for electrical contacts. In fact, the elements of this group, comprising gold, silver and. the six platinum metals, have been called "noble" because of their ability to resist heat and corrosion, properties which. were early found to be of importance in good contacts. Of these, platinum and its iridium alloys, palladium, and silver, have been extensively used. In recent years the electrical industry has been responsible for about one-eighth of the total consumption of the platinum metals in the United States. Information is not available as to what part of this one-eighth has been used for contacts but it is certainly an important one. SUBSTITUTES FOR PLATINUM During the past 20 years a considerable number of contact alloys have been proposed in the patent literature largely with the aim of more or less replacing platinum by gold or silver, and some of these alloys are finding increasingly widespread application as the reliability of their performance becomes established. From even the partial data at hand it appears that this substitution by the less precious metals has replaced at least one-half of the amount of platinum that the entire electrical industry would otherwise be consuming at the present time. While the subject is of considerable interest to the metallurgist it is even more so to the electrical engineer and it is surprising that the literature records no systematic and' comprehensive investigation along these lines. Practically all the scattered work on noble metal contacts has centered around platinum as a standard and has had two more or less distinct aims. One of these has been the replacement of platinum by cheaper materials, and the other, the development of materials of superior electrical performance. The merit, of a contact metal has been assumed to be dependent on its infusibility, and since the more precious metals have the higher melting points there has naturally been an association of the two qualities in the sense that the more precious were

Jan 1, 1928

By James T. Gow, Oscar E. Harder, Anton de S. Brasunas

THIS paper deals with the results obtained and the techniques employed in determining: I. Liquidus and solidus temperatures of the HH and HT type heat-resistant alloys. † 2. The relation of true temperatures (thermocouple) to apparent temperatures (optical pyrometer) for the molten HH and HT type alloys. This work was the outgrowth of needing to know something definite about these temperatures in order to study the effect of pouring temperatures, shake-out times, and heat-treatments on the properties of some heat-resistant alloys. The information developed is thought to be of interest to industry for guidance in foundry practices and the industrial heat applications of the alloys. This paper is based upon work that has been done for the Alloy Casting Institute at Battelle Memorial Institute. LIQUIDUS AND SOLIDUS TEMPERATURES OF HH AND HT TYPE ALLOYS Experimental Procedures Temperature-time curves were obtained during the cooling and solidification of several HH and HT type alloys. The metal was melted in an Ajax high-frequency induction furnace and poured into a coresand mold for cooling. The temperature measurements were obtained by means of a platinum, platinumrhodium thermocouple contained within a fused silica sheath, which was extended through the side wall of the dry core-sand mold to a point at about the center of the mold cavity, which was 3 in. in diameter by 5 in. deep. The cold junction of the thermocouple was kept in an ice bottle, and the temperature was recorded automatically on a direct-reading potentiometer recorder. Through a switching arrangement, the temperature recorded was checked occasionally with a portable Leeds and Northrup potentiometer indicator. Less than a 5°F. variation in the two instruments was always found. This is within the limit of accuracy of readings. The thermocouple used was checked for accuracy against a standard couple, both before use on this work and after completion of the work, by the instrument laboratory. Temperature-time Cooling Curves Fig. I is an enlarged reproduction of a part of one of the cooling curves over the temperature range of 2600° to 2200°F. for an alloy of the HT type with 0.45 per cent carbon, 16 per cent chromium, and 36 per cent nickel. This is a typically shaped cooling curve as obtained for the alloys. It will be noted that two temperatures are shown on Fig. r for the liquidus temperature. It is thought likely that the higher temperature, A, at the point at

Jan 1, 1945

By L. G. Jones, A. S. Odeh

A theoretical developtment is presented which provides a straightforward method of handling the drawdown analysis for both oil and gas wells flowing at variable rates. In the past our inability to analyze variable-rate drawdowns has been a major obstacle in using them for formation evaluation. This method should permit wider use of these tests in the future. INTRODUCTION Pressure build-up analyses are widely used to obtain reservoir data such as the effective flow capacity of the formation. On the other hand. although pressure drawdowns have been run for a long time, they have not been used extensively to evaluate reservoirs because they are difficult to analyze. One of the difficulties in analyzing pressure drawdowns has been that the theory developed until now has required the test to be run at a constant rate. For both oil and gas wells this is a difficult requirement to satisfy. especially during the early period of a well's life when drawdown tests are usually run. In spite of this limitation, drawdown tests are often run with build-ups as a check. In this paper a theory, which handles the drawdown analysis for variable rates, is presented for both oil and gas wells. Thus, one of the biggest deterrents to running drawdowns is removed, and they should become a much more useful engineering tool in the future. THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS 011, RESERVOIRS The general equation used for describing the unsteady-state radial flow of slightly compressible fluids in homogeneous porous media can be written in cylindrical coordinates as where r is the radial distance in cm, t is the time in seconds, p is the pressure at r and t in atmospheres, + is the fractional porosity, p is the viscosity in cp, c is the compressibility in vol/vol/atm, and k is the permeability in darcies. There are a number of solutions of Eq. 1 for various boundary conditions. One of these is the so-called "point-source" solution, which approximates the case of an infinite oil reservoir with a well located at r = 0 and produced at a constant rate. The point-source solution of Eq. 1 is

Jan 1, 1966

By D. B. Kibler

Pill Florida hard-rock field extends from Suwanee and Columbia Counties in northwest Florida to south of Croom, Florida, in Hernando County this area is approximately 100 miles long and varies from 2 to 30 miles 1n width Florida hard-rock phosphate was discovered at Hale Springs, about one mile northwest of the town of Dunnellon Marion County, in the year 1888, by Albertus Voight who lived within a few hundred yards of the spring Soon after this discovery there was a great influx of land speculators and wildcat operators into the vicinity of Dunnellon A few years later phosphate was found in Alachua, Levy, Citrus and Hernando Counties, and a great number of small crude plants were built from Newberry, Alachua County, all the way to Croom, Hernando County Phosphate was found in many places as "outcrops " Looking for outcrops was the first method used by the early prospectors in searching for deposits Several years passed before any systematic method of prospecting was used EARLY MINING The early method of mining hard-rock phosphate was with picks and shovels, wheelbarrows, mules and wagons The pick-and-shovel method was used altogether until about 1900, when some of the larger operators began to use railroad-type steam shovels of from 1/2 to 1-yd capacity Picks and shovels, with negro labor loading the phosphate ore (called "matrix") into wooden side-dump skip-cars, was continued until about 1907 From the discovery of hard-rock phosphate until approximately 1905, overburden was removed with mules and scrapers At some places, the overburden was loaded into side-du nip skip-cars by negro laborers and the cars were then pulled up an incline with a steam hoisting engine The maximum depth of overburden that could be economically removed by hand labor mules and scrapers was approximately 15 feet About 1905 one of the companies erected a producer-gas powerhouse near Dunnellon and generated its own electricity and about the same time the larger companies began using hydraulic methods for the removal of overburden From the year 1888 through the year 1939, approximately 75 companies were operating at one time or another in the hard-rock territory, on approximately 500 locations The hard-rock deposits are more irregular and have higher mining costs than the pebble-rock deposits, therefore they have not been competitive in the domestic market, but because of the higher grade of the hard rock it is in demand for the export trade Discovery of phosphate outside of the United States has made it increasingly difficult in recent years for the hard-rock companies to survive, so today only three companies are operating These

Jan 1, 1941

By S. S. Clarke

LATE in 1942, the increasing demand for zinc, coupled with the growing shortage of miners and the knowledge that some abandoned mines would have to be reopened for prospecting and development, led to considerable thought as to the possibilities of further mechanization in order to conserve man power. The ore bodies, locally termed "sheet ground," are an important ore bed in some mines and are in the lower part of Boone formation of the Mississippian Series. Some mines contain interbedded layers of nearly pure galena and sphalerite in horizontal sheets ranging in thickness from a thin seam to several inches and is persistent over large areas. This type of ore body offered the best opportunity for study and experiments. The use of jumbo drill carriers was advanced but some doubt was expressed as to the adaptability of jumbos as then in use to mine headings as compared to post and arm mounting (Fig I). Another consideration was the introduction of truck haulage when several mines were trackless. A drill frame, built to carry 2 4-in. drifters, was mounted on a truck chassis. This design proved a failure as it was not rigid and the resiliency of the tires and springs allowed too much play. Long screw jacks were then used to hold the truck firmly in place, but placing the jacks and securing the truck required more effort and time than setting up post drills, so the truck carrier was abandoned. The use of a bull dozer underground had been under consideration for some time to be used in "brunoing" the broken dirt from behind pillars and other inaccessable places so the slusher drags could load without double dragging the dirt. A dozer with hydraulic blade lift was purchased and R. I. Tuthill, Superintendent of Section 30 Mines, suggested that a long drill arm be substituted for the blade, and the drills mounted on the cross member. The hydraulic lift would permit drilling holes at any required spacing. The "cat" was very mobile and answered the problem of a trackless mine. The initial tests showed that the "cat" would make a good carrier, but the hydraulic controls Were not positive enough to keep the drills in alignment while drilling. The next step was to build a small hoist. This hoist was attached to the power take-off on the "cat" and by means of sheaves and a double line of 3/8-in. hoist cable, a positive control for raising and lowering the boom was obtained. To avoid serious injuries to the drillers should the cable break, a safety chain was fastened to the drill boom and hooked into a slot in the back of the "cat" frame. A different power unit was obtained for the "cat," as a state law prohibited the use of internal combustion engines in mines. A custom machine shop had just placed on the market a small hoist powered by a Model A Ford engine that had been very ingeniously converted to a slide valve engine using compressed air. To use this unit on a "cat," our master mechanic de-

Jan 1, 1947

By F. B. Plummer

PETROLEUM ENGINEERING deals with the production, transportation, and refining of crude oil. Refining is chiefly the work of the chemical engineer; production, that of the petroleum engineer. Production engineering only is discussed in this paper. Petroleum production engineering is closest related to and, in fact, is a branch of mining engineering. Formerly, many petroleum engineers were trained as mining engineers or mining geologists. The profession is related also to mechanical and civil engineering to about the same extent that mining engineering is. Petroleum production draws upon the mechanical branch for drilling and pumping machinery and upon civil engineering for the construction of transportation lines, water supplies, and water-disposal plants. Fundamentally, petroleum production engineering deals with the removal of the oil from the reservoir rocks, just as mining is concerned with the removal of ore. The process of oil production demands a specialized knowledge just as distinct from mechanical and civil engineering as mining is distinct from operating a Diesel engine. Even though the chief tools of the petroleum engineer are the drill and the pump, these may be of little avail, and certainly not efficient, if their selection and use is not based on a knowledge of the physical chemistry of oil, the geology of the formations, the structure of the oil sand, the hydrodynamics of the reservoir, and the interrelation of all these many factors.

Jan 1, 1936

By J. W. Spretnak, R. Speiser

IT has been suggested that boron in steel may form a film entirely around the austenite grain and that this film is responsible for the boron hardenability effect. In this connection, it is of interest to examine some of the ramifications of the concentration range of boron usually employed in hardenable steels, namely 0.0005 to 0.003 pct in a grain size range of ASTM grain size No. 1 through No. 10. The ratio of the iron to boron atoms and the number of unit cells of y iron per boron atom are listed in Table I. Even at the highest concentration considered, there are 1600 unit cells of y iron per boron atom, assuming a uniform distribution of boron. To investigate the possibility of the boron film formation, the number of boron atoms required to cover the grain surface completely must be calculated. With some transition elements, boron crystallizes in sheets composed of equilateral hexagons very much like graphite.' The selected value for the length of a side is 1.80Å. A simple calculation shows that two boron atoms cover an area of 8.4x l0 -16 sq cm. Table II lists the number of atoms of boron required for the formation of the monatomic film and Table III lists the number of boron atoms per grain. The hypothetical cases of 100 pct and 10 pct adsorption are calculated (all boron atoms in a grain and 10 pct of all boron atoms in a grain are located at the grain surface respectively). In Table 111, all combinations of grain size and composition below and to the left of the solid line (100 pct adsorption) and the dashed line (10 pct adsorption) are excluded as to the possibility of covering the grain surface with a continuous boron film. Thus, even for 100 pct adsorption, the smaller grains can form the film only at the higher concentrations. For the best case, grain size No. 1 and 0.0030 pct B, the required degree of adsorption is 3.9 pct. The above calculations deal only with the number of boron atoms required to form a monatomic film and do not take into account the mechanism of concentration of boron at the grain surface and the possible limitations to the extent of this concentration at a constant temperature, as for example in the austenitizing process. The question next arises as to how this surface concentration can occur during an isothermal treatment. Such surface enrichment of boron must occur through the phenomenon of surface adsorption, i.e., the concentration of solute atoms in solid solution in the vicinity of the surface without precipitation. A solute atom will tend to concentrate at the grain boundary if it reduces the interfacial tension. The possibility of adsorption effects involving both boron and carbon in iron has been discussed.' In general, the tendency for a sol-

Jan 1, 1954

By Chas Dobbel

THE Chief Consolidated properties are situated in the Tintic mining district of Utah, being included in Juab and Utah Counties, about 70 miles south of Salt Lake City. The drilling referred to in this paper has been carried on in the Chief Consolidated No. 1 mine, the Gemini mine, and the Eureka Hill mine at Eureka, the Grand Central mine, above Mammoth, and the Apex Standard mine just south of Dividend. The occurrence of ore through the district is typically in lenses on bedding or breaks, and in connecting pipes, without accurate geometrical trend so that the ratio between the total length of development in drifts and crosscuts to the square feet of ore exposed is very high. A section of one of the western channels (Fig. 1) through the Tintic district, shows, roughly, the irregularities calling for excessive development work, so typical of the Tintic mines. This irregular trend of the ore constantly calls for excessive cutting up of the whole area for offshoots and the connecting links always present.. In the planning of prospecting and development, no regular system may be laid out without overlooking some orebodies or segments of orebodies. It was with these facts in mind that Cecil Fitch, the general manager of the Chief Consolidated Mining Co., decided that some method of drilling was the more feasible way of successfully cutting up and bringing about the discovery of ore believed to exist; yet this drilling had to compete with a great. margin of cost over crosscutting, as a crosscut in the Tintic district, even though barren, brings out geologic facts that, in many cases, are worth the price of the working itself. Diamond drills met with the success that might be expected in a district that has a reputation for the wear and loss of diamonds; after 6 or 8 months, this method was discarded on account of the high costs. Simultaneously, a small churn drill outfit was set up underground but a few shifts proved its inapplicability. At the same time, the ordinary hammer drill was usd to drive prospect holes with jointed steel.

Jan 9, 1925

By George E. Thackray

In December, 1894, the Cambria Iron Company made a number of heats of Bessemer steel to be used in structures by one of its customers, subject to inspection and tests by a firm of consulting engineers, one of the requirements being that the material should riot exceed .08 per cent. of phosphorus. In other respects the requirements were such that they could only be met by material of good quality; but the general spe cification is not introduced here, as it is not the purpose of this paper to deal with anything except certain difficulties encoun tered in determining the phosphorus-content of the material in a manner satisfactory to both seller and buyer. Preliminary determinations of phosphorus were made in sample-ingots from each of the heats from which material was rolled for the order in question, and these preliminary chemical tests, made in the laboratory of the Cambria Iron Company, showed that, with very few exceptions, every heat was within the prescribed limit of phosphorus. After the material had been rolled, sample-drilling8 of finished material were taken from the various heats in the regular manner in use at the works, these samples being thoroughly mixed and divided into two parts, one of which was analyzed at the works' laboratory and the other sent to the inspecting engineer. Several hundred determinations were made from this mate rial without reaching an agreement between the work of the inspector's chemist and that of the works' chemist; but as it is not the object of this memorandum to treat of this part of the subject at length, it is considered sufficient to present herewith only a few of these first determinations. The analyses given in Table I. are those of the original series made on the heats which were afterwards resampled for final determination by an arbitrator; and they are selected for this reason, as the entire " comparison is thus rendered more complete.

Jan 1, 1896

By Henry D. Hibbard

THIS article aims to clarify the use of some terms often occurring in writings on iron and -steel, and also to suggest several new short abbreviated names for some of the things related to the subject which now are indicated by phrases. Crude or Crude Iron The name crude or crude iron is recommended for the iron produced from ore by the blast furnace. When necessary it can be specified as pig iron when in the form of pigs (usually cold), or as molten iron, commonly called hot metal to distinguish it from cold iron in pigs. The product of a direct process of making wrought or malleable iron from ore is not included.

Jan 1, 1924

By J. R. Dawson, A. B. Kinzel

THE purpose of testing is to determine whether the material in question is identical in all essential respects with similar material which has given satisfactory service. The most common method of securing such information is to select samples as representative of the entire material and subject them to destructive tests. As the welding industry grew, service data were accumulated and tests of welds took on new significance. New tests were devised and old tests modified so as to be more pertinent to welding. Moreover, in some cases the generally accepted procedure of testing by sampling is not accorded the same degree of confidence when applied to welds as in the usual applications. Thus, in instances where great hazard would be involved should the material fail, means of non-destructive testing have been sought with favorable results. Accordingly, tests used today may be divided into two groups, destructive and non-destructive tests.

Jan 1, 1930