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By B. E. Field

COBALT is a silvery white metal with a slight bluish cast, strongly resembling nickel in its appearance and properties, notably its resistance to corrosion, although its alloys with other metals differ quite decidedly in their properties from those of nickel. The name cobalt was derived from the German "Kobold" meaning goblin and this came to be applied to the cobalt minerals which, although they resembled ores, did not readily yield metal when smelted by the primitive processes available in the Middle Ages. Cobalt minerals were used as pigments by potters and glass workers before the Christian era. Cobalt blue glass was found in the tombs of the Egyptians and in the ruins of Troy, and many colors used by the ancient Greeks and Romans contained cobalt. The ancients were entirely unaware that the colors they used were caused by cobalt and the metal itself was only isolated about the middle of the eighteenth century by Brandt although the preparation of cobalt compounds had been carried on in a small way ever since the opening of the silver-cobalt deposits at Schneeberg, Germany, in 1470. The metal is fairly hard, with a density when pure of 8.81 in the cast state and 8.92 after working. The com¬mercial grade of cobalt has a density of about 8.75 in the cast state. The atomic weight is 58.97. The Brinell hardness of the pure metal is 124; that of the commercial grade varies from as low as 100 to as high as 138, depending upon the impurities present. Pure cobalt has a sharp melting point at 1478°C. The tensile strength of the pure metal in the cast condition is said to be higher than that of any other pure metal. Kalmus gives it as 34,400 lb. per sq. in. for cast unannealed metal; the effect of annealing at 850 to 900°C. is to raise the strength slightly. The yield point is close to the ultimate strength and the reduction in area and elongation are both low. Mechanical working raises the tensile strength of pure cobalt rapidly and in the form of wire it will be over 100,000 lb. per sq. in. The presence of small quantities of carbon in the commercial metal raises the tensile strength to as high as 61,000 lb. per sq. in., the reduction in area and elongation being raised at the same time to approximately 20 per cent.

Jan 1, 1933

Edward Keller, Baltimore, Md. (communication to the Secretary): When, at the New Pork meeting, February, 1899, Mr. Douglas gave an abstract of his highly interesting paper on the Copper Queen mine, he invited the members of the Institute, in his usual progressive spirit, to make a full scientific investigation of the region of that mine during the prospective excursion to Bisbee, Arizona. I volunteered to examine some of the metallurgical processes and products of the works, and obtained from Mr. Douglas a valuable series of samples. Upon the issue of his paper, however, I found that he had already a considerable volume of analyses of those products, and that little was left for me to do in that respect, except to duplicate his results, the importance of which work would not have been commensurate to the time and labor involved. I selected, therefore, only some points which he had not made entirely clear, or concerning which I was skeptical. The details of most of my work will appear in a future paper. From Mr. Douglas's figures I have calculated the values for the elimination of impurities in the so-called Leghorn converter, introduced by him at the Copper Queen works, and have found them to be as follows: Percentage of Elimination of Impurities in Pour Blows of a Converter. No of ' Selenium Sulph'r Iron. Zinc. I Nickel. Lead. Antimony Arsenic. and Blow- ! Tellurium .. 1.......... 99.4 99.6 88.0 92.6 94.4 81.6 83.8 40.3 2.......... 99.0 99.6 98.1 92.5 96.8 71.9 76.6 38.1 3.......... 98.8 99.5 93.5 91.4 96.3 63.8 80.6 25.3 4.......... 99.8 99.5 95.8 95.8 97.5 65.3 76.9 36.3 Average 99.2 99.6 93.8 93.1 . 96.2 70.6 ! 79.5 35.0

Jan 1, 1900

By S. W. MEALS

TWENTY million people in this country and Canada in nearly four million homes can give thanks to our Creator for natural gas, that most wonderful natural fuel with which Dame Nature has so bountifully blessed us. It is a clean, healthy and cheerful fuel, made up almost entirely of carbon and hydrogen. There is no residue, no waste and there are no objectionable constituents; an ideal fuel for the home. It operates like magic, open the valve and it is there for your needs, winter or summer, night or day. You are not required to place your order 30 to 90 days in advance and you do not need to pay for your winter's supply in advance. No ashes to worry about, no flues or chimneys to clean, nor kindling wood to store or bother the housekeeper. We who have been so blessed do not realize what it would mean to be without it. If in place of opening a valve we had to go to the woodshed or coalhouse and then build our fire-carry out the ashes-well, some of us I am afraid would be late reaching our offices and perhaps would miss our hot cakes for breakfast. One cubic foot of gas produced from the White Sand formation contains 1130 B.t.u. and weighs 47/1000 lb.; there are about 24,000 B.t.u. in 1 lb. of gas. Temperatures of over 3400 deg. Fahr. have been obtained with natural gas. Not only is it a superior fuel for the home but it has no equal for use in many large manufacturing industries, especially with the making of glass, pottery and open-hearth steel. In an open-hearth furnace, properly constructed, 5000 cu. ft. will melt one ton of steel. It requires 1/3 ton of bituminous coal gasified in a producer to do the same work, or about 40 gal. of tar or fuel oil, or 11,000 cu. ft. of by-product gas.

Jan 1, 1926

By William P. Blake

THE phenomena of concentric arrangement of minerals in rock-masses, generally known as "orbicular structure," have of late received much attention from investigators. Lawson, of the University of California, has described the orbicular gabbro at Dehesa, San Diego county, Cal. Kessler and Hamilton, of Stanford University, working independently upon the same subject, published their descriptions,2 giving also a list of many other localities in Europe and America where orbicular rocks are found, adding copious references to the literature of the subject. The orbicular diorite of the type locality in Corsica., familiar to mineralogists and petrologists under the name "Napoleonite," was described by Vogelslang in 1862.3 Chrustschoff, of St. Petersburg, has also given much atten¬tion to the subject, and is the author of a classification of the various known forms of orbicular structure.4 No complete and satisfactory explanation of the origin of or¬bicular aggregations in rocks has yet been offered. The patent fact is generally recognized that the constituent minerals have crystallized from a more or less molten or plastic magma, but why these minerals should be arranged in concentric spheres or crusts has not been clearly shown. Vogelslang, for example,

Jul 1, 1905

By G. E. Keller, G. D. Coe

Several methods have been devised for rapid determination of sulfur in coal using a high-temperature combustion furnace. The fundamental principles of the various methods are similar but the techniques vary widely. The method described herein is no different in principle from some of its predecessors but varies considerably in technique. Originally devised to overcome the low-accuracy criticism leveled against the others, the tube-furnace method has proved successful for limited applications. Work is being done to widen the applicability of the technique. Subsequent to the work of A. Vita1 in 1920, a number of investigators have published data dealing with the rapid determination of sulfur in coal using a high-temperature combustion furnace.2-5 These, together with several unpublished methods, involve wide differences in technique although they are all similar in principle. Investigation of typical details of procedure showed that poor precision or accuracy could be attributed to one or more of the following: 1) inadequate quantity of sample to be representative, 2) a delivery tube temperature too low to confine condensation to a washable area of the tube, 3) no provision for back washing the delivery tube, 4) incomplete absorption of the sulfur compounds due to inadequate bubbler, and 5) the false assumption that all of the sulfur is evolved as sulfur dixoide. The method herein discussed is no different in principle from some of its predecessors; the differences are in technique. Although the method is rapid—a determination can be completed in 5 min— accuracy has riot been sacrificed in order to achieve speed. MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL WORK Fig. 1 shows the arrangement of the equipment. A metered volume of oxygen is passed through calcium chloride for removal of moisture, then through Ascarite for removal of carbon dioxide, and thence through a glass tee to the feed end of the combustion tube. Connected to the side arm of the glass tee is a rubber tube that is closed with a pinch clamp during combustion of a sample. The products of combustion are expelled through a Vycor bubbler, the end of which is submerged 3 cm below the surface of a 1 pct hydrogen peroxide solution contained in a 300 ml high-form beaker. At the completion of the 4-min combustion period the contents of the beaker are titrated to a yellow end point, using a methyl red indicator, with 0.05 N sodium hydroxide (or sodium tetraborate). The pinch clamp on the tube leading from the tee in the oxygen line is then opened and mouth suction applied to draw the hydrogen peroxide up into the bubbler past the ell, almost to the rubber tube connecting the bubbler to the combustion tube. This washing of the bubbler is repeated until no further acid reaction with the indicator is obtained. The hydrogen peroxide-sul-furic acid solution is then titrated to the final yellow end point. Test work conducted at the Robena Laboratory disclosed the following critical conditions that had important bearing on the precision of the method: Weight of Sample: Several series of tests wherein the sample weight ranged from 0.1 to 0.5 g of -60 mesh coal showed that the lowest variance (standard deviation squared) resulted from the use of 0.5-g samples; the variance was slightly greater when 0.3-g samples were used, and with less than a 0.3-g sample weight the variance increased rapidly with decrease in weight. Although the use of a 0.5-g sample invariably resulted in a very slight explosion as soon as the sample entered the hot zone of the combustion tube, this did not detract from the precision of the method. Temperatures: Mott and Wilkinson5 found that a combination of low temperature (1250°C) and low oxygen flow rate (less than 700 ml per min) tended to give high results due to formation of oxides of nitrogen. Although the method herein employs a much higher oxygen rate than 700 ml per min, as an additional precaution to assure accurate results, 1315°C (2400° F) is recommended as the most desirable furnace temperature. The temperature of the elbow of the bubbler should be at least 75°C to minimize condensation

Jan 1, 1961

ENGINEERS AVAILABLE (Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members) Graduate mining and metallurgical engineer now open for engagement. Member, 38 years old, married, 19 years' experience in United States, Europe, South America, Africa, in exploration work, surveying, assaying, mining, milling, ore-dressing, construction and management. Four languages mastered. No. 355. Member, aged 35, technical graduate, desires position -as superintendent or assistant superintendent of spelter or zinc oxide furnaces, or both. Gas producer experience, zinc metallurgical and laboratory experience. Can handle men. No. 356. Member, also Assoc. Mem. Am. Soc. of C. E.; excellent technical education, and best of references covering twelve years in responsible charge of work; experienced in surveys, construction, prospecting, mine examination and development and irrigation work; speak Spanish fluently, and can write a good report. Good executive. Available during June. Age 34; married. No. 357.

Jan 6, 1917

By P. W. Bridgman

THE thesis of this article is that the age of Newton is now coming to a close, and that recent scientific discoveries have in store an even greater revolution in our entire outlook than the revolution effected by the discovery of universal gravitation by Newton. The revolution that now confronts us, arises from the recent discovery of new facts, the only interpretation of which is that our conviction that nature is understandable and subject to law arose from the narrowness of our horizons, and that if we sufficiently extend our range we shall find that nature is intrinsically and in its elements neither understandable nor subject to law. The new experimental facts are in the realm of quantum phenomena. Comparatively little has been written for popular consumption about this new realm which has opened in the last fifteen years. The man in the street has been much more interested in relativity, which to him has seemed extremely interesting and revolutionary. Occasionally, however, there has filtered down to him the news that nearly all the theoretical physicists are occupied with a new order of phenomena which they find very much more exciting and revolutionary than any in the realm of relativity. For after all is said and done, the practical effects of relativity, measured in ,dollars and' cents or in centimeters and grams, are exceedingly small, and require specially de- signed experiments executed by men of the highest skill to show their existence at all. The phenomena with which quantum theory deals, on the other hand, are of the greatest practical importance and involve the simplest aspects of everyday life. For example, before the advent of the quantum theory no one could explain why a tea kettle of water boiling on the stove should not give out enough light in virtue of its temperature to be visible in the dark; the accepted theories of optics demanded that it should be visible, but every burned child knew that it was not.

Jan 1, 1929

By Elton A., Youngberg

The Holden mine operated by the Chelan Division of the Howe Sound Co. is on the east slope of the Cascade Range in north central Washington on the south slope of Railroad Creek valley at an elevation of 3500 ft. The mine may be reached by a 40 mile boat trip from the town of Chelan which is at the southern tip of Lake Chelan, to Lucerne at the mouth of Railroad Creek and an 11 mile bus ride up Railroad Creek to Holden. All freight and concentrate is moved over this route to Chelan Falls on the Columbia River which is on the railroad four miles below the town of Chelan. The mine is now producing 2000 tons of gold, copper, and zinc ore per day which is treated in the Holden mill. Gold-copper and zinc concentrates are made, the first of which is shipped to Tacoma, Wash., and the latter to Kellogg, Idaho, for smelting.

Jan 1, 1949

By W. M. Myers

Certain minerals possess inherent color and other properties that make them suitable for the pigmentation of paints, mortar, plaster, concrete, face brick, and other materials. Their production is one of the most ancient of mineral industries and their use by primitive man is well known. These natural pigments have some economic factors in their favor, particularly wide geographic distribution, low cost of production, ease of preparation, chemical stability, and permanence in use so that they continue to form the basis of a small but useful industry. When used in paints such pigments act as a filler and supply body and opacity in addition to color. Natural mineral pigments are prepared for the market by the comparatively simple operations of washing, grinding, blending, and calcining. Any one, or all of these processes may be applied to a single pigment. The development of synthetic pigments and the use of by- product materials have introduced competition with the products of nature and are having a growing influence on the economic position of the mined minerals.

Jan 1, 1949

By Frank J. Tolonen

BENEFICIATION of iron-bearing formations is one of the major problems of research at the Michigan College of Mining arid Technology. Funds for this purpose hate been supplied by the State of Michigan supplemented by contributions of labor and some supplies from the Federal Government during the depression. The iron-mining companies have cooperated in securing samples and have also furnished much valuable information relative to the various formations.

Jan 1, 1937

By E. R. Kaiser

COAL research during 1942 was directed in an important degree toward the solution of problems of wartime importance. A wider selection of coals for carbonization to meet the increased demand for coke, and the improved utilization of lower-grade coals for boiler fuel were made possible by fundamental studies on cod and ash behavior that had been started several years ago. The coal industry's interest in the work of the various laboratories brightened significantly as results were demonstrated on smokeless combustion in stoves, on stokers without coke trees, and on pulverized firing of forge furnaces. Despite the limitations of priorities and scarcity of materials, the mineral industries building of the West Virginia University was completed and equipped with facilities for research on coal min

Jan 1, 1943

By WILFRED SYKES

THE story of the rolling of strip steel is not limited to any one plant or individual or group of individuals. It is a story with many ramifications. First of all, it should be understood that the strip mills we are considering are continuous mills, in that the steel passes directly from one mill to the other in a more or less straight line. Continuous mills are not new; in fact, they have been used for many years in the rolling of a few simple shapes. They were, however, driven by one motor through jackshafts, and as a result the speed of each roll stand had a fixed relation to that of every other stand in the series. This in turn fixed the reduction that could be made in each stand. The mill could produce simple things, but was not satisfactory for the production of the variety of strip now required. It was, therefore, necessary to get away from the restrictions of that kind of drive. To accomplish this, the designer could either separate

Jan 1, 1936

By Russell C., Fleming

FOK, many years the officials of the Magma Copper Co. mine at Superior, Ariz., have had to contend with adverse conditions underground in the form of high rock temperatures, hot water, and high relative humidity. These conditions in the mine have been such that working the mine would have been impossible were it not for the constantly expanding and improved sys- tem of ventilation to produce bearable conditions in the working places. Results that have already been achieved make an interesting study of what can be done along those lines. From the time the mine was first opened in 1910 it has been hot. An idea of the conditions that have persistently been encountered can be obtained from parts of the mine that are not being worked at present or that do not yet have sufficient ventilation. Virgin rock temperatures as determined in drill holes at the faces range from 104° to 116°*. An observation made at the face of No. 5 West footwall drift on the 2800-ft. level.

Jan 1, 1930

By John P. Cosgro

The increasing use of internal furnace-boilers for power-plants at mines (doubtless due to the facility with which they may be installed by reason of their portability; the fact that they require no masonry setting, cast-iron fronts, buck-stays, etc., and practically no foundation; and the successful maintenance of their claim to equal and even superior economy, as compared with boilers of other types1) warrants this description of a method of remedying an injury which may occur, to such a furnace, even though it satisfies the requirements of the formula adopted by the U. S. Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam Vessels.2 I refer to the sagging and deformation which may result from overloading the boilers for a considerable period—say, several days. This is sometimes unavoidable under the exacting conditions of continuous day-and-night service, and (in spite of all rules and precautions) the occasional careless or unskillful work of attendants. Such a trouble is by no means unknown on shipboard, where this type of boiler is so largely employed.

Jan 1, 1906

By Gail F. Moulton

In spite of an increase of 7 cents per barrel in the posted price of oil for the Panhandle field effective June 16, 1943, there was less drilling during 1943 than ir, any of the several previous years. The drilling statistics are compiled as Table 2 and show the material increase in the percentage of the total number of field wells completed as dry holes. This increase suggests that the productive area of the field is largely drilled up on the well-spacing pattern now followed and that new discoveries will be required to permit any important new activity in the area. The fact that only four wildcats were drilled in the area during the year indicates that some new prospecting technique or some ncw point of view is required to stimulate exploration. No new producing areas were discovered during 1943 and no additions to oil reserves were made through extensions or discovery 'of new pays. Accordingly, the proven reserves in the area declined by the amount of the production, or nearly 31 million barrels. These results of drilling are similar to those obtained during 1942, whcn no new oil areas were discovered as a result of wild-catting, a total of five wildcat wells in 1942 resulting in four failures and one gas-fieid discovery of undetermined merit. sion. The number of oil-producing wells reported by the Commission increased during the year by 163 to a total of 5576 as of December.

Jan 1, 1944

By Gail F. Moulton

In spite of an increase of 7 cents per barrel in the posted price of oil for the Panhandle field effective June 16, 1943, there was less drilling during 1943 than ir, any of the several previous years. The drilling statistics are compiled as Table 2 and show the material increase in the percentage of the total number of field wells completed as dry holes. This increase suggests that the productive area of the field is largely drilled up on the well-spacing pattern now followed and that new discoveries will be required to permit any important new activity in the area. The fact that only four wildcats were drilled in the area during the year indicates that some new prospecting technique or some ncw point of view is required to stimulate exploration. No new producing areas were discovered during 1943 and no additions to oil reserves were made through extensions or discovery 'of new pays. Accordingly, the proven reserves in the area declined by the amount of the production, or nearly 31 million barrels. These results of drilling are similar to those obtained during 1942, whcn no new oil areas were discovered as a result of wild-catting, a total of five wildcat wells in 1942 resulting in four failures and one gas-fieid discovery of undetermined merit. sion. The number of oil-producing wells reported by the Commission increased during the year by 163 to a total of 5576 as of December.

Jan 1, 1944

By Eugene Guccione

"All engineering societies should encourage and motivate their members to take part in public affairs. And engineers, in turn, should learn to translate their technical knowledge in a language which politicians can understand," stated James Boyd last month as he received the Hoover Medal, which is awarded annually by four engineering societies-AIME, IEEE, ASME, and ASCE-to an engineer who has rendered important public service. James Boyd is no ordinary engineer (see box). A few weeks ago, Dr. Boyd took time out of his busy schedule to stop at MINING ENGINEERING'S editorial office for the following exclusive interview.

Jan 1, 1976

By Robert Linton

SPECIFICATIONS for clays serving raw materials in the ceramic industry usually contain the following items: (1) Chemical analysis, sometimes with mineralogical structure determined by microscopic investigation. (2) Maturing temperature and firing range, usually expressed in terms of pyrometric cone equivalent. (3) Shrinkage (drying and firing shrinkage separately). (4) Degree of plasticity. (5) Color after firing. Clays may be classified, according to the purpose of the classification, in several different ways, based on (1) Geological occurrence-transported, altered An place, indurated (shales). (2) Physical properties-plastic (bonding clays, ball clays) and nonplastic (flint clays, kaolins or china clays, bone clays). (3) Color. (4) Use. A common classification of clays for commercial designation, and one fol-

Jan 1, 1936

By Henry M. Howe

THIS paper gives the composition of the iron and slag at different stages in the "air-furnace" process of preparing "hard metal," or white cast-iron, for conversion into malleable cast-iron by annealing. The details of the process are given in an appendix. One of us had been trying for years to work some chemist of some of our malleable-iron works up to a degree of enthusiasm which would lead him to make such au investigation. It would have had the advantage of the greater familiarity with the conditions which one habitually on the spot must have. Failing in this, he made use of an opportunity which presented itself of taking samples here represented, with such fairness as the conditions permitted, holding firmly that a rough approximation to the truth is better than the complete lack of data, or that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. We hope that this attempt may stimulate others effectively to duplicate this work, and thus correct or confirm it. Our results are shown in Table I. and graphically in Figs. 1 and 2. Discussion.-At the time when the first two samples were taken, the metal and slag were still too sluggish to permit fair sampling, and not until sample 6 were the conditions really favorable, because at the time of the fourth sample the metal was not fully melted, and even at the time of sample 5 it was still sluggish. Indeed, the slag was probably very heterogeneous throughout, because it took up silica and alumina rapidly from the bottom, and because it was so siliceous as to be sluggish at this relatively low temperature. This hetero-geneousness is exaggerated in the two samples of slag 8, apparently by the great viscosity due to its extraordinary acidity. Note that the manganous oxide of one sample is about two and

Mar 1, 1909

By William Benzon

Bethlehem Steel's Cambria Division coal cleaning and preparation plant, operated by Bethlehem Mines Corp., is located in Cambria County, Pa., about 2 ½ miles southeast of Ebensburg. Here, above ground, is the most modern coal preparation plant in the world. Below the surface is a new coal mine also referred to as "the most modern that could be built today." The preparation plant has a capacity of 1370 tons of clean coal per hr. It serves three Bethlehem mines, Heisley No. 31, Revloc No. 32, and the new Cambria Slope No. 33.

Jan 12, 1965