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By P. L. Russell

The use of nuclear explosives for excavation has been demonstrated to be feasible and practical. Application of nuclear explosives for overburden removal from large ore deposits appears to offer economic advantages over present methods, but under the present pricing schedule, high-yield devices must be used to obtain an economic advantage. The use of nuclear explosives presents problems not inherent in the use of conventional explosives, and thus they can be used only in areas where large explosions and associated phenomena can be tolerated. Stripping of coal with nuclear explosives does not appear practical at this time, but stripping overburden from copper or iron ore deposits may be a potential use. Even here, however, the use of nuclear explosives would require isolation, favorable topography, favorable ground-water conditions, and a low population density. If these basic requirements can be met, the use of nuclear explosives for overburden removal would offer both economic and time advantages. The possibility of using nuclear explosives for peaceful purposes was a subject for speculation as early as 1945. The PLOWSHARE Program was formally established by the AEC in June 1957 for the purpose of developing and demonstrating peaceful applications for nuclear explosives. The technical direction of the program is the responsibility of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, Livermore, Calif. Mining and excavation were two fields that received early consideration as areas in which nuclear explosives might be used. Knowledge gained from underground weapons testing increased this possibility, and the development of the thermonuclear device which has a small fission-to-fission ratio, reduced the hazard of radiation, and spurred interest. Nuclear explosives appear to have the greatest potential in the following mining operations: 1.— Surface Mining a) Stripping of waste for open-pit excavation b) Breaking of ore in open-pit mining c) Quarrying d) Blasting for production of aggregate, riprap, etc. 2. — Underground Mining a) Block caving application b) Crushing of ore for in-situ leaching, etc. c) Preparation of underground waste disposal areas Of the potential applications, excavation is perhaps the most obvious and the best understood, and probably the most practical for use in the near future. Large quantities of rock and earth can be moved by proper emplacement of nuclear explosives, but economic and practical relationship must be determined between the known capabilities of nuclear explosives and the required excavating to remove overburden. REMOVING OVERBURDEN IN OPEN-PIT MINING Removing the overburden is one of the largest jobs in open-pit mining. In 1960 open-pit mines produced approximately 130 million tons of coal, 108 million tons of copper ore, and 135 million tons of iron ore. To obtain this much production, an estimated 3-billion tons of overburden were removed from the coal, 216 million tons from the copper ore, and 135 million tons from the iron ore. These figures do not include the initial stripping required before ore production. For example, the ASARCO Mission mine started stripping operations in August 1959 and by mid-November 1961 had removed 46.3 million tons of material including 1.2 million tons of ore.* Initial excavation of this type offers the most favorable conditions for utilizing the earth-moving ability of nuclear explosives. EXPLOSIVE CASTING FOR REMOVING OVERBURDEN The use of explosives to remove overburden is not a new idea. Conventional explosives have been used for this purpose for many years with varying degrees of success. Several small coal strip operators have used this idea to increase production. At these mines about one-third or more of the overburden is thrown by explosives across the pit and onto spoil piles. The additional costs of drilling more blast holes and more explosives are more than compensated for by a reduction in the time required to uncover the coal, and by an increase in coal production.

Jan 1, 1964

By V. R. Degner

The trend in both the metallic and nonmetallic mining industry is toward processing increasingly higher tonnages of lower grade ores, thereby resulting in a growing interest in progressively larger volume individual machines in the flotation circuit. Because of the relatively high cost of large flotation machine development and evaluation, it is important to establish a rational basis by which the existing smaller flotation machine experience can be extrapolated to establish the configuration of the next larger family of flotation machines with a minimum of development modification in the field. This Paper reviews the R&D approach used in translating smaller flotation machine experience to the configuration of a 28.3 m3 (1000 cu ft) induced air machine. Internal cell hydrodynamic principles, which governed this extrapolation, and cell (liquid) surface and froth management considerations will be reviewed, and prototype machine mill tests will be summarized.

Jan 1, 1981

By Bernard Moore

THE last few decades have witnessed the introduction of many new nonmetallic mineral products and changes in the use of many of those already well known. Among these is diatomite, formerly employed as a mild abrasive and, at one time, as the absorbent material in dynamite. Now nearly 100,000 tons a year are mined and milled into such things as filter aids, cement admixtures, insulants, fillers, absorbents, cosmetics, cleansers, etc. Pumice, commonly regarded as only an abrasive, is now also employed as an insulant, as light-weight aggregate and as a concrete admixture. With increasing use of insulants, light-weight aggregates, and acoustic stuccos and plasters in the building trades, both these mate-rials should find increased application. Very large deposits occur in eastern Oregon and have been studied by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Oregon State Mining Board.

Jan 1, 1934

By Y. Takahashi, I. Iwasaki, S. Tanabe

Supported by the vigorous capital investment of the heavy and chemical industries and by the ever-increasing demand for durable consumer goods in the past decade, Japan has now emerged as the world's third largest steel producer, surpassed only by the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1968, the crude steel production is expected to exceed 50 million tons; the per capita steel consumption at that time will reach 886 lb, approaching the level of Western Europe. Characteristics of the Japanese steel industry is the high dependence of raw materials on overseas sources. Before World War II the industry relied on North China and Manchuria for coking coal, and on middle China, Hainan Island, the Philippines and the Malayan Peninsula for iron ores. After the war, the major sources of iron ores were shifted to the Philippines and the Malayan Peninsula, supplemented by shipments from the United States, Canada, India and Goa. The United States, in addition, became the primary source of coking coal.

Jan 1, 1967

CHARLES CATLETT, Staunton, Va.-A great many important things have been said in an interesting way but the most startling, to me, is that for 25 years, the price has been in the neighborhood of $1.00, with a minimum of 86 cents and a maximum of about $1.25. It is evident that during all that time the price was inadequate. The amount paid to be divided between the land owner, the capitalist, and the laborer was too limited or too irregular to permit of a healthy condition; yet it is evident that the enormous industrial development of this country was fostered by this very cheap coal, probably the cheapest that has been provided in quantity in any country. I entered the coal business when the price was lowest and my interest and sympathy went out to the man who spent his days in the dirt and foul air of a mine and I was filled with schemes for helping. But at the end of the year, after exercising every economy and in blissful ignorance of proper depreciation and obsolescence, there was still only a profit of 1 cent per long ton for what I think is one of the best coals in the world, the best grade of New River coal. We are now paying a great deal more than we did a few years ago and probably will continue to pay more for some time; but any one who thinks we will not have low prices again is very young or very forgetful. Yet we must have larger profits if the industry is to be healthy, if the three parties to the production are to get adequate returns and be in shape to provide the improvements which will be needed to take the place of and supplement the man-power. This will come when the men are making so much money that the operator wants to replace the man by a machine, and when the operator is making so much money as to be in a shape to make the improvements. He will not put in machinery unless the machinery will save money. We have got to pay a higher prime cost for coal, but engineering skill will teach us how to handle it better and use it more economically, and the ultimate result ought to be of advantage to the public.

Jan 3, 1920

By Welton J. Crook

Unless present, in considerable praportion, metals of the precious-metal group—other than gold and silver—are not readily detected by the methods of fire assaying usually applied to ores and metallurgical products. Platinum, when present in small quantity, will ordinarily be reported as silver unless special methods of parting are used. Other elements occurring in the gold itself are all fluxed and slagged in the assay operation and if analyses are made on bullions the melting and slagging operations to which the bullion has been subjected may eliminate most of the associated elements. On the other hand, the analysis of precipitate from the cyanide treatment of gold ores may reveal the presence of many unexpected elements, such as tungsten and molybdenum. It is uncertain, however, whether many of the elements present in the precipitate are derived from the ore gangue or from the gold itself. No very general survey of the distribution of metallic elements in gold seems to have been made. Rose and Newman,l in connection with the composition of native gold, say in part as follows: Gold is occasionally found alloyed with copper and sometimes also with iron, bismuth, lead, mercury, tin, antimony, palladium or rhodium. Rhodium gold from Mexico was found to be of the specific gravity 15.5 to 16.8 and contained 34 to 43 per cent of rhodium. The native alloy of palladium, gold, and silver from Porpez contains 85.98 per cent of gold, 9.85 per cent palladium and 4.17 per cent silver. Mal-donitk, from Victoria, contains gold 64.5 per cent, bismuth 35.5 per cent (Louis). Dana2 says that native gold is usually alloyed with silver in varying amounts, and that sometimes it also contains traces of copper and iron. Rare varieties contain palladium, rhodium and bismuth. Other authors, for instance Zeigler3 and Clark,4 give similar information. Most references on the subject agree that ordinary native golds contain, in common, the elements silver, copper and iron. After completion of the work of which this paper is a record, the conclusion is reached that all ordinary native gold probably does contain these elements and, although in certain cases other elements may be found to be present, that it is difficult to

Jan 1, 1943

By Welton J. Crook

Unless present, in considerable praportion, metals of the precious-metal group—other than gold and silver—are not readily detected by the methods of fire assaying usually applied to ores and metallurgical products. Platinum, when present in small quantity, will ordinarily be reported as silver unless special methods of parting are used. Other elements occurring in the gold itself are all fluxed and slagged in the assay operation and if analyses are made on bullions the melting and slagging operations to which the bullion has been subjected may eliminate most of the associated elements. On the other hand, the analysis of precipitate from the cyanide treatment of gold ores may reveal the presence of many unexpected elements, such as tungsten and molybdenum. It is uncertain, however, whether many of the elements present in the precipitate are derived from the ore gangue or from the gold itself. No very general survey of the distribution of metallic elements in gold seems to have been made. Rose and Newman,l in connection with the composition of native gold, say in part as follows: Gold is occasionally found alloyed with copper and sometimes also with iron, bismuth, lead, mercury, tin, antimony, palladium or rhodium. Rhodium gold from Mexico was found to be of the specific gravity 15.5 to 16.8 and contained 34 to 43 per cent of rhodium. The native alloy of palladium, gold, and silver from Porpez contains 85.98 per cent of gold, 9.85 per cent palladium and 4.17 per cent silver. Mal-donitk, from Victoria, contains gold 64.5 per cent, bismuth 35.5 per cent (Louis). Dana2 says that native gold is usually alloyed with silver in varying amounts, and that sometimes it also contains traces of copper and iron. Rare varieties contain palladium, rhodium and bismuth. Other authors, for instance Zeigler3 and Clark,4 give similar information. Most references on the subject agree that ordinary native golds contain, in common, the elements silver, copper and iron. After completion of the work of which this paper is a record, the conclusion is reached that all ordinary native gold probably does contain these elements and, although in certain cases other elements may be found to be present, that it is difficult to

Jan 1, 1943

By G. W. Brock

Experiments in the form of aging of overstrained tension specimens and elevated temperature tension testing, have been carried out on recrystallized arc-cast molybdenum. The aging behavior of molybdenum was found to be strongly dependent on the degree of plastic strain present in the lattice: the reason for this being the low solid solubility for the common interstitial elements in molybdenum. GEORGE W. BROCK, formerly Research Associate, Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, University of Illinois, Urbana, III., is Research Associate, Department of Engineering Sciences, IBM Research Center, Yorktown Heights, N. Y. Manuscript submitted January 19, 1961. IMD THE term strain aging is familiar in connection with the recovery of the yield point in mild steel after tensile overstraining, and there are other instances where it is known to exert an appreciable effect on mechanical properties. For example, steel exhibits a greater tensile strength at mildly elevated temperatures than at room temperature and serrated stress-strain flow curves occur under certain conditions. It has been known for a number of years that the phenomenon of strain aging is directly connected with the presence of carbon and nitrogen in the lattice; and extremely small amounts of either element are sufficient to produce the effect. In this study, the aging behavior of overstrained tensile specimens of recrystallized molybdenum has

Jan 1, 1962

By N. A. Stockett

SOUTHEAST Missouri is the largest and oldest lead-producing district in the United States. For the year 1941, the statistical picture of pig-lead production, stated in short tons (partly estimated by the Engineering and Mining Journal) is as follows. [Tons World production 2,000,000 United States production 460.000 Southeast Missouri production 242,000] The consumption of primary lead in the United States in 1941 was approximately 900,000 tons, or almost double the country's production. The largest previous year's consumption in the United States was 718,000 tons, in 1926. The largest quantities of lead are used for cable sheathing, storage batteries and white lead. During 1941 tetraethyl lead for auto and aviation gasoline consumed 50,000 tons of lead. The entire lead production of Southeast Missouri is now mined by the St. Joseph Lead Co., whose dominant position as the largest producer in the United States of lead directly from ores is best shown by the fact that in 1941 it produced approximately 31 per cent of the lead production of the United States from its mines in southeast Missouri, where 22,000 tons of ore, averag¬ing over 3.00 per cent lead, is mined per working day. It is known that lead was mined at Mine La Motte, Madison County, Missouri, by Renault in 1723. Other white men and Indians probably did some mining prior to that time. Since 1865, the recorded production to Jan. 1, 1942, shows that the St. Joseph Lead Co. and the various other companies that have operated in St. Francois County mined lead ore, which, after milling and smelting losses produced 5,00,000 short tons of pig lead. About 95 per cent of the present lead production of Southeast Missouri is mined in St. Francois County. The northern part of this area is 60 miles south of St. Louis. The remainder of the lead is obtained at Mine La Motte, about 25 miles southeast from the center of the producing area in St. Francois County. PROSPECTING In this district, most of the ore is discovered by surface and underground diamond drills and by prospect drilling underground with rock drills. Each 2-ft. length of the cuttings from these Jackhamer prospect holes is assayed for lead. These holes are marked and the records are entered on maps. It has been found that close drilling--100-ft. centers of holes, and sometimes less-is necessary in order to locate most of the smaller commercial ore bodies, many of which previously had been missed by drilling the areas with holes spaced 200-ft. centers or more.

Jan 1, 1943

By Eizo Yabuuchi, Yukito Imanaga

INTRODUCTION In treatment of mine drainage, it is well known that the neutralization by calcium carbonate is far better than by slaked lime because of cheaper cost and better precipitability of its deposit. However, in case of iron ion contained in the mine drainage consists of ferrous salt, the ferrous salt must be oxidized to ferric salt before neutralization, because the ferrous salt does not react with calcium carbonate. At Yanahara Mine, during the period of 1950 through 1956, ferrous ion in the mine drainage had been oxidized to ferric ion, simultaneously neutralized by adding calcium carbonate into the aerated drainage. During the period of 1961 through 1974, after passing through many kinds of treating methods, the neutralization had been carried out by addition of calcium carbonate into the drainage after oxidized its ferrous ion to ferric by using nitrous gas as an oxidizing catalyzer. Meanwhile we had made an experiment on the oxidation of ferrous ion by utilizing iron bacteria, and developed a method which oxidized ferrous ion in large quantities briefly by cultivating and concentrating iron-oxidizing bacteria. Since 1974, we have been operating successfully for treating the drainage at Yanahara Mine by means of utilizing these bacteria.

Jan 1, 1976

By H. H. Podgurski, Hsun Hu

Large cryslals of high-purily iron (99.996+ pcl) cannot be obtained by the usual strain-ameal technique. Repealed phase transformation by thermal cycling prior to crilical deformation improves the capabilily of cryslal growith but fails to yield satisfactory crystals. Imperfect columnar crystals can be produced by the phase-transition method. The addition of a small amounl (0.005 wl pet) of nilrogen IT was reported'-4 that for metals of very high purity the usual procedures of the strain-anneal technique fail to produce large crystals. This was eliminates practically all the difficulties in crystal growth by the normal strain-anneal procedures. An actual example is presented, showing that most parts of a strip have been converted into a large crystal by this method. The addition of nitrogen, which can be removed from iron with less difficulty, is believed to be more desirable than carbon additions for the same purpose. thought to be due to the strong tendency for recovery in the high-purity metals: hence the critically strained matrix undergoes polygonization instead of recrystallization upon annealing for crystal growth. Talbot1,2 succeeded in overcoming this difficulty by adding 0.03 to 0.04 pct C to high-purity iron before critical deformation. followed by annealing in hydro-

Jan 1, 1965

By F. E. Jaumot, R. L. Smith

Self-diffusion in zinc has been used as an instrument for comparison of the absorption and sectioning techniques as a means of studying diffusion. Single crystal as well as poly-crystal samples were used asanda the temperature range of diffusion extended from 200° to 415°C. For temperatures above 200°C, the data indicate that the results obtained from the absorption technique agree with those obtained from the sectioning technique. The effect on the values of the diffusion coefficient of electroplating vs evaporation as a means of applying the tracer was investigated and no significant difference observed. It was found that an excess or deficiency of tracer did not materially affect the results obtained from the sectioning technique, but invariably caused errors with the absorption technique. NEARLY all self-diffusion experiments and many alloy diffusion experiments have employed radioisotopes as the instrument for following the diffusion. Of the various techniques in which radioisotopes are applicable, the two most widely used are the sectioning and absorption techniques. In the former, the diffusion coefficient is obtained from a curve of log concentration vs the square of the mean penetration depth. In the latter, the diffusion coefficient is calculated from a knowledge of the decrease in activity at the surface after diffusion. In spite of the importance of knowing the reliability of the diffusion data and the widespread use of these two techniques, they had not been directly compared experimentally on the same samples. Thus, such a comparison was worthwhile. The specific system chosen for this comparison was the self-diffusion of zinc, since the metal was readily obtainable in high purity, single crystals were easily grown, and the anisotropic features of the diffusion added an additional factor of interest to the comparison. Self-diffusion in both single and polycrystals was investigated, since the possibility existed that grain boundaries and grain boundary diffusion might produce different effects for the different techniques. Also, the effects of electroplating vs evaporation as a means of applying the radioactive tracer, and the effects of applying an excess or deficiency of tracer material were studied. The general experimental procedures and the mathematical analyses of both techniques have been described previously in some detail, and only those points essential to an understanding of the present work will be discussed here. The mathematical analysis of the sectioning data requires only a knowledge of the solution of Fick's equation. where C,, is the initial concentration, C is the concentration at depth x, D is the diffusion coefficient, and p is the absorption coefficient of the solvent metal for the radiation from the solute. Having obtained F from the experiment, the value of z can be read from a plot of F vs In z, and D can then be calculated if is known. The necessity of knowing the absorption coefficient causes most of the criticism of the absorption technique. It is very difficult to measure accurately under the conditions existing in the diffusion experiment, but it is absolutely necessary, as will be indicated briefly later. Portions of this problem have been discussed in detail elsewhere." The difficulties involved in the measurement of the absorption coefficient arise from three principle factors: the physical characteristics of the absorber, the geometry, and complex radiation spectra. The first two are heavily dependent upon the third. If

Jan 1, 1957

By William D. Klopp

A study was conducted of the tensile and creep properties of are-melted and electron-beam-melted tungsten over the temperature range 2250° to 4140°F. The tensile and creep strengths vary with pain size, the finer -grained materials being stronger. The activation energy for transient creep at 2250° to 3500°F is 95,000 cal per (g)(mole), while that for steady creep at 3300o to 4000°F is 141,000 cal per (g)(mole). At 2875o to 3300°F the apparent activation energy for steady creep decreased with decreasing temperature. It is suggested that cross slip is rate controlling during transient creep, while dislocation climb is rate controlling during steady creep above 3300° F. ALTHOUGH considerable data have been generated on the high-temperature tensile properties of powder-metallurgy tungsten,1 relative few data have been published on the properties of are-melted2 or electron-beam melted tungsten.3 Furthermore, the available data show a fairly large amount of scatter at high temperatures. The effects of structure and purity have not yet been defined, aside from observations that high-purity electron-beam (EB)-melted tungsten3 and single-crystal-plasma-flame tungsten4 are weaker than less pure powder-metallurgy tungsten. The creep behavior of powder-metallurgy tungsten has been studied, but no data are available on the creep behavior of tungsten consolidated by melting. Green5 found that powder-metallurgy tungsten exhibited linear creep at 4082° to 5072°F with an activation energy of 160,000 cal per (g) (mole). The similarity of this activation energy to that of 153,000 cal per (g)(mole) for volume self-diffusion6 suggests that recovery of strain hardening by dislocation climb is rate controlling in this temperature range. In studies at 4800°F, Sutherland and Klopp7 concluded that grain size significantly affected the creep behavior of commercial powder-metallurgy materials. This grain-size effect was suggested by sherby,8 although the opposite relation had been reported for aluminum.' The purpose of the present study was twofold: first, to provide baseline data on high-temperature tensile and creep properties of are-melted and EB-melted tungsten for concurrent tungsten alloy studies, and, second, to determine the phenomenolo-gical effects of structural and purity variables on the high - temperature mechanical properties of tungsten. EXPERIMENTAL The are-melted tungsten materials were prepared by melting sintered 1-1/4-in.-diam electrodes into 2-1/2-in.-diam by 5-in.-long ingots. The are-melting facility has been described previously.' Eight ingots were melted, machined, and hot-extruded at

Jan 1, 1965

By Charles Eichrodt

THE ore that is being treated by the present plant lies between the leached zone, or capping, and the mixed sulfide and oxide zone. The principal copper minerals are chalcanthite (CuSO4.5H20), brochantite (CuS04 3Cu (OH)2) and atacarnite, (CuC12.3Cu (OH)2). There are, in addition, some other minerals such as cuprite and kröhnkite (CuSO4. Na2SO4.2H20). These minerals, with many others, occur in a greatly crushed granodiorite rock. Most of the copper-bearing minerals occur in the cracks and veinlets, but there are disseminated values and it is probably the relative proportion of these that accounts for some otherwise unexplainable variations in extraction. The entire mineralization of the ore is complex and varies with depth. This variation, the problems presented thereby, and the effect of various constituents of the ore will be taken up in detail. An analysis of an unweighted composite of the ore treated during 1927 follows:

Jan 1, 1930

By Wilhelm Borchers

In all special branches of the chemical and metallurgical industries, in which large electric furnaces became necessary for carrying out new processes or for the improvement of old ones, the development of the electric furnaces took place on much the same lines. The endeavors to make a success of a new idea brought forth many ingenious designs, which, however, almost without exception, furnished the proof that the safest and shortest way to practical success is the utmost simplicity of construction of the necessary apparatus. Our knowledge of the qualities of materials for building electric furnaces and of the constituents of the furnace-charges, especially their electric conductivity and their chemical affinity towards one another at high temperatures, is still far from being complete, and from this fact we must conclude that the smaller the number of elements in the construction of a furnace, the fewer the number of unreliable factors both in the construction and in the operation of the electric furnace. This conclusion deserves special attention when an electric furnace for making steel has to be chosen from the constantly-growing number of inventions, inasmuch as the chief constituent of steel, the element iron, is a substance which in its liquid phase has so great an affinity for those elemen'ts which are to be removed from the charge, that it is very difficult to comply with the following conditions: 1, to heat the refining-slag to the highest point of its chemical activity ; 2, to prevent the iron from entering the slag, or, where this cannot be done, to make it enter so that it finally appears in the end-product

Jan 1, 1911

By L. H. Robinson

A proposed method of drilling utilizes sequential detonation of two types of explosive charges delivered to the hole by a conventional drilling fluid through pipe. A shaped charge first produces a long thin hole. A second charge, called a gauging charge, is pumped into the thin hole, explodes, and enlarges it to full gauge. In one suggested configuration, the explosives are contained in cylindrical capsules 4- to 5-ft long. A drilling head is positioned 2- to 3-ft off bottom. When a capsule is pumped to the bottom of the hole and stops, pressure inside the drill pipe increases and differential pressure detonates the explosive. Primacord along the length of the capsule disintegrates the capsule. The debris circulates out of the hole with the drilling fluid. The gauging-charge action was examined using 2-ft cubes of Berea sandstone. The sandstone (18 per cent porosity) was vacuum-saturated with water and surrounded by concrete. To prevent reflected tensile pulses, the acoustical impedance of the concrete matched that of the sandstone. A 750-psig pressure was applied to a drilling fluid within a shaped-charge-formed hole before detonating the gauging charge. In these tests, 190 gm of rock were removed for each gram of explosive detonated. A similar series of experiments on low-porosity (0.40 per cent) metamorphic limestone provided a more rigorous test. Extensive fracturing from the gauging-charge action prevented an estimate of the volume of the expanded hole. The diameter of the hole was irregular, ranging from about 2 to 4 in, or about fivefold larger than the hole created by the shaped charge. INTRODUCTION In the past, explosives have found a varied but somewhat limited use in the oil field. An early well stimulation technique, still in use today, in vo lves shooting ni troglycerin to en large the borehole and to increase matrix permeability near the wellbore. Bullets and jets are now the conventional method of perforating casing and tubing. Detonations are frequently used to "back off" or "shoot off" stuck pipe and, of course, seismo-graphic work has long depended on explosive-generated pulses to find attractive earth structures. Efforts to use explosives in drilling operations have received limited examinations1-3 which, in one respect, is surprising because explosives offer one way to transmit large amounts of energy directly to the bottom of the hole. Recently, Ostrovskii l described a Russian method of drilling with explosives that utilizes small capsules containing explosives which are pumped into the mud stream to the bottom of a borehole. As the capsules leave the end of the drill pipe, a detonation mechanism is armed. Impact detonates the explosive. In another configuration, two liquids (an oxidizing agent and fuel) in the capsule are separated by a frangible membrane. Separately, the liquids are nonexplosive. Near the bottom of the drill pipe, the capsule passes through a narrow constriction which ruptures the membrane. The mixing of the liquids produces an explosive. Impact is again used to detonate the explosive. About the time Ostrovskii was developing his method, Humble Oil & Refining Co. was independently doing research on another explosive drilling concept based on the sequential detonation of two types -of explosive charges. The proposed technique consisted of alternately pumping a shaped charge and then a "gauging charge" down a well. The shaped charge should drill a long, tapered hole, and the gauging charge should expand it to full gauge. This paper presents the visualized drilling concept and gives results of laboratory work which showed that sequential firing of charges can form hole at an attractive charge-to-rock removal ratio. An important finding was that increased environmental pressure, which is to be expected in wells, increases rock removal efficiency of the gauging charge.

Jan 1, 1966

By J. B. Morrow

WITH numerous plans under consideration for coal classification, and with the advent of the Bituminous Coal Code, the intelligent sam-pling of coal has become increasingly important. To us it is rather significant that there have been very few fundamental studies of coal sampling in American technical literature since those of E. G. Bailey, which appeared in the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry in March, 1909. He covered the subject up to that time so thoroughly and in such an excellent manner that perhaps many other later students have felt that they could add very little to his findings. The recent studies of the British Engineering Standards Association have indicated the possibility of a somewhat different interpretation of Bailey's results, permitting the taking of smaller samples, and perhaps it will now be helpful to reopen this question. C. W. H. Holmes, in an informative series of articles on coal sampling recently published in Colliery Engineering, makes two rather interesting statements, as follows: It is scarcely surprising to find a lack of interest and knowledge regarding the sampling of coal not only in the mining industry itself but also among consumers of industrial fuel: at its best coal sampling is a dirty business, regarded as a nuisance and an expense by the commercial man, and usually as a nuisance and nothing else by the chemist. The writer can conceive only two classes of people who have never experienced any difficulty in obtaining representative samples of coal from wagons; those who have never tried to, and those who have never had the necessity or desire to check the accuracy of their work. The primary purpose of this paper is to present some tabulated data of the more significant results of a sampling investigation undertaken during the last four years to obtain certain fundamental data on the variables connected with coal sampling and to point out that often assumptions have been made that are not in accordance with the facts. One of the standard sampling methods states:

Jan 1, 1935

By H. S. Cannon, F. N. Rhines

IT. H. Hausner( Sylvunia Electric Products Inc., Bay-side, N. Y.)—The results reported by the authors are interesting because they contribute some information on the principles of sintering and also because of a certain practical value for the manufacture of powder . metallurgical parts in production. Pressed powder compacts are frequently sintered in a boat in several layers so that the lower layers are actually sintered under the weight of the upper layers and, therefore, are frequently deformed. The authors gave information on this deformation process by determining the effect of the load on the density. The experimental setup of the authors, however, has a disadvantage—that the sintering occurred in a cylindrical container so that the deformation was stopped in the direction of the diameter. The authors should have rather called this a study of hot-pressing than of sintering. I want to call the attention of the authors and others interested in sintering under load to the experimental work described by Dawihl and Rix.' These authors sintered cylindrical compacts under a lengthwise ten-sional load of 0 to 25 g and found that the shrinkage in length and diameter changes considerably with the load, but that the volume shrinkage is affected very little by the load. H. S. Cannon (authors' reply)—We wish to thank Dr. Hausner for calling attention to the experimental work of Dawihl and Rix. The fact that they found volume shrinkage little affected by varying tensional loads during sintering seems to support the contention that the forces due to loading are equivalent to and additive to the forces which cause densification. This contention is the basis of our comparison of sintering and creep.

Jan 1, 1952

By T. E. Leontis

The specific effect of various rare-earth metals on the room- and elevated-temperature properties of magnesium has been evaluated. Alloys containing didymium exhibit the highest tensile and compressive strengths at room and elevated temperatures. All the rare-earth metals increase the creep resistance of extruded magnesium at temperatures in the range of 400° to 600°F, but the degree of enhancement depends on the temperature and on the concentration of the added metal. THE effects of rare-earth metals on the properties of sand-cast magnesium were discussed in some detail in earlier paper by the author.' The present paper deals with the effect of the same alloying elements on the properties of extruded magnesium. This investigation also had as its aim the development of a wrought alloy having a better combination of room-temperature strength and ductility and elevated-temperature strength and creep resistance than is found in magnesium-Mischmetal-manganese alloys, which have been reported earlier.2-5 The only known attempt to study wrought magnesium alloys containing pure cerium instead of Mischmetal was made by Mellor and Ridley.6 They found that in the form of rolled bars there is a definite, optimum cerium content for creep resistance at 200 °C and that the creep resistance of these alloys at 200 °C is significantly Improved by heat treatment at 550" to 580"C. In the present investigation the compositional variation in mechanical properties of the following alloy systems is presented: I—magnesium-Misch-metal. 2—magnesium-cerium-free Mischmetal. 3— magnesium-didymium. 4—magnesium-cerium. 5— magnesium-lanthanum. Alloys containing predominately praseodymium are not included in this series because of the lack of this material. Experimental Procedures The alloying ingredients used in preparing the alloys described herein are the same as those reported in the earlier paper.' Cerium-free Mischmetal is the rare-earth mixture remaining when the cerium is removed from Mischmetal, which contains all the rare-earth metals as they occur naturally in mon-azite sand, the ore from which Mischmetal is produced. Removal of both cerium and lanthanum from Mischmetal leaves what is commonly called "didym-ium," consisting predominantly of neodymium and praseodymium. Although the composition of the particular batch of each metal used may differ somewhat from the analysis presented previously, these differences are not great enough to warrant repeat- ing the specific composition of each material. The electrolytic magnesium used as the starting material in these alloys has the same typical analysis as that given in the earlier paper.' The alloys were prepared in small laboratory melts applying all the necessary precautions for alloying rare-earth metals with magnesium described by Marande.' Most melts were large enough to cast one 3 in. diam billet 10 in. long. In a few cases, particularly the didymium-containing alloys, the lack of sufficient amounts of the rare-earth metal limited the size of the billet to 6 to 8 in. All billets were scalped to a diameter of 2 15/16 in. and faced to a length of 9 ¼ in. as limited by the size of the extrusion container. The alloys were extruded into ½ in. diam rod on a 500-ton direct-extrusion press using a 3 in. container. The details of the extrusion step are: billet preheat, 925°F (2 hr); container temperature, 900°F; die temperature, 900°F; extrusion speed, 10 ft per min; reduction ratio, 36:1; and percent reduction, 97.3. The lower melting point of alloys containing didymium' necessitated reduction of the extrusion speed to 5 ft per min in order to prevent hot shorting during extrusion. Adequate lengths were cropped from both ends of each extruded rod to assure that all the material used for tests was extruded under uniform conditions. Tensile and compressive properties at room temperature are reported in the several conditions of heat treatment. The ASTM designations are used to distinguish these conditions as follows: T5—Direct age at 400°F (16 hr) T4—Heat treat at 950°F (4 hr) for alloys containing didymium T4—Heat treat at 1050°F (4 hr) for all other alloys T6—T4 + age at 400 °F (16 hr) The lower heat-treating temperature for alloys containing didymium is necessitated by the lower melting point of these alloys. All heat treatments were conducted in electrically heated, circulating-air furnaces. A protective atmosphere containing 0.5 to 1.0 pct sulphur dioxide was used for the high temperature heat treatments. Tension and creep specimens 6 Yz in. long and compression specimens 1½ in. long were cut from the extruded rod. A reduced section of ? in. diam was machined on the tension specimens, whereas on the creep specimens a reduced section of 0.450 in. diam

Jan 1, 1952

By W. W. Stephens, W. J. Kroll, H. P. Holmes

THE only two methods for producing commercial quantities of malleable zirconium, up to now, have been using magnesium reduction of the anhydrous chloride under a neutral gas, and using purification of raw zirconium by the iodide dissociation method on a hot filament. The purity of the metal obtained by the latter process is about the same as that resulting from the chloride reduction, with the exception of the oxygen content, which may be about 0.05 pct lower in the iodide metal. Even traces of oxygen have a strong hardening effect on zirconium. Since, in the iodide process, the impurities, Si, Al, Fe, Ni, and Mg in the raw zirconium used, are carried over, it would appear uneconomical to use this method of refining solely to eliminate the traces of oxygen, unless very soft metal is desired. One important step to improve the iodide method, namely, dissociating pure iodide made from carbide and recycling the iodine, which would change this refining process into a method for extracting zirconium from the ore, has not yet been made. The Bureau of Mines, by using the chloride reduction, wanted to produce quantities of a reasonably pure and malleable metal at low cost for large-scale industrial use. This aim has been achieved, and a pilot plant permitting production of 600 lb of malleable zirconium per week will be described (fig. 1). Briefly, the Bureau of Mines process consists of reducing purified gaseous anhydrous zirconium chloride with fused magnesium under a noble-gas atmosphere. The reaction product, magnesium chloride, and any excess magnesium metal present are removed from the sponge zirconium in the next step by fusion and evaporation in a good vacuum at about 925°C. In this process, care is taken to keep air out of contact with the hot metal, which otherwise would contaminate the product with oxygen and nitrogen. Both these impurities embrittle zirconium even when present in an amount as low as 0.1 pct. A number of previous reports1-3 describe the method and the various improvements that finally led to a workable process. The major steps made were the production of large quantities of carbide, which is the raw material for producing the chloride, its chlorination with reasonable efficiencies, and the elimination of iron trichloride contained in the raw chloride, as well as that of the zirconium oxide which is always present in this product. The physical nature of the anhydrous chloride, which sublimes at 331°C at atmospheric pressure and melts at 420°C under a pressure of 25 atm, made it necessary to provide a special safety device on the purification and reduction vessels in the form of a lead-alloy seal, permitting escape of excess gases if pressure tended to build up. The main difficulties encountered in the reduction and in the following step, salt separation in a vacuum at elevated temperature, were caused by the material from which the reaction pot was constructed—iron. This metal reacts with zirconium at about 940°C with formation of a eutectic. The last step, salt separation by evaporation of the magnesium and magnesium chloride in a vacuum, is quite unconventional and has not been used before on such a scale. It is only due to the improved construction of high-vacuum pumps, especially oil-diffusion pumps, that such a method could be used. The various steps of the Bureau of Mines process, as described in the general outline above, may be summarized as follows: (1) production of the carbide, (2) chlorination of the carbide, (3) purification of the raw chloride, (4) reduction of the pure chloride with fused magnesium, (5) separation of excess magnesium and magnesium chloride in vacuum at elevated temperature, and (6) melting of the sponge obtained. Production of Carbide The arc furnace, described in a previous report,' was improved both to reduce the graphite consumption caused by the burning of the bottom plates and to concentrate the heat in order to obtain better power efficiency. This was achieved by providing the bottom with graphite plates entirely embedded in refractory bricks, the contact with the current being made with three water-cooled copper plugs. Figs. 2 and 3 show the arrangement. The crucible, made

Jan 1, 1951