Search Documents

By Charles E. Barker

Jan 1, 1985

By J. E. Howard

On Aug. 25, 1911, a rail failed on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, causing a disastrous wreck. The surface of the fracture was in a plane at right angles to the length of the rail. There was a dark-colored, oval spot on this surface, located on the gage side of the head, representing the part of the rail which was the first to fracture. The nucleus of this spot showed that the fracture had an interior origin. Other fractures of this kind, the peripheries of which had not reached the surface of the rail, presented surfaces having a (silvery luster. The darkened surface of the present fracture was caused, doubtless, by the air having had access to it. This fracture was recognized as a fatigue fracture, of a modified type, its interior origin having been due to a component in the rail which is not usually present in cases of fatigue fractures. The metal next the running surface of the head of the rail was in a state of internal compression, this being the component not commonly met with in other cases, and which caused the fracture to have its interior origin. For the purpose of giving this modified type of fatigue fracture a specific name, for identification, the term "transverse fissure" was applied. No mystery was thought to attach to its formation, or to its development. The explanation of its occurrence seemed obvious in the light of common knowledge upon the behavior of steel under repeated alternate stresses.' By reason of the state of internal compression at the running surface, the maximum tensile stresses in the head, ander bending loads, were along an interior element. Here the tensile strains were higher than in the fibers more remote from the neutral axis. Under such conditions the fracture of the rail would be expected to have an interior origin. A discussion of the subject of transverse fissures essentially becomes a discussion of fatigue fractures, since they are believed to be identical. The descriptive term employed, merely for the identification of this type of fatigue fracture, had the appearance of creating alarm. Apprehensions arose that a new phenomenon in the physical properties of steel had presented itself, the explanation of which was sought in every

Jan 1, 1918

AT the meeting of January 28 which was held too late to be reported in the February MINING AND METAL-LURGY, Messrs. Taylor, Barron, Bassett, DeGolyer, Hutchinson, Norris, Rand, Reynders, Smith, Sweetser and Callow were present. Aside from routine matters, relating to finances and membership,, the Board author-ized establishment of a payroll account and payment by check. It also approved plans for a regional meeting to be, held at Cleveland on April 19 and 20 under the auspices of the Ohio Section and the Iron and Steel Committee. Following a report from the Committee on increase of Membership, Messrs. Barron, Bassett, and Sweetser were appointed as a special committee to con-sider the feasibility of increasing the dues. Mr. Read was made secretary of this Committee. A pleasant feature of the meeting was the presence of past-presi-dent Olcott and the presentation by him to the Institute of an elaborate scrap book, covering the excursion through Mexico made by the Institute in 1901. The meeting was preceded by a dinner at which Scott Turner spoke of the problems of the Bureau of Mines and the large volume of service work for the govern-ment it was now called on to perform. M. L. Requa discussed the need of more exact data covering our national reserve of minerals. E. N. Cooper gave a vivid picture of conditions in Mexico. W. H. Bassett told of the problems before the Institute of Metals, and Zay Jeffries told of the plans for that Division now being formulated. Max W. Ball reinforced what Mr. Requa had said relative to the importance and value of conservation studies as relates to minerals.

Jan 3, 1927

THE gold medal of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America was presented, on Jan. 10, 1922, to Charles Warren Goodale, "for signal services in furthering the welfare and safety of workers in the mining and metallurigical industries of America." The presentation was made by Dr. J. E. Spurr, presi-dent of the Society for the year 1921, at the annual meeting held in New York City. Dr. Van H. Manning, formerly director of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, made the first address. Toward the close of his brief speech, he said, "It has happily been suggested, ?Let us balance our praise of war heroes by pausing to honor a hero of peace.' We have with us tonight a man who has been a leader and inspirer of thousands of his contemporaries. . . . His zeal in the great work of increasing the safety of men engaged in mining and metallurgical operations has become an obsession with him. . . . That lie has been success-ful is evidenced by the great work, of which I have personal and intimate knowledge, done by him in con-nection with the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. and its subsidiaries." Dr. J. F. Kemp gave a brief sketch of Mr. Goodale's career, in the course of which he said, in speaking of .the consolidation of the Boston and Montana, the Anaconda, and smaller companies, "at the same time electric current was introduced for haulage in the mines and on the surface for the running of air compressors and the hoisting of the cage. . . . We can see that there was great danger to the miner and that safety first became a very important feature of the work. . . .

Jan 2, 1922

By William Hall

THE product obtained by roasting stibnite is likely to contain some unoxidized antimony trisulphide and a mixture of antimony trioxide and antimony tetroxide. It was desired to determine, as accurately as possible, the condition of the antimony as well as the total quantity present. Attempts were made to separate the trisulphide and the two oxides by methods based upon their varying solubilities in different solvents, but no satisfactory results were obtained in this way. It was found, however, that by determining the total antimony content, the antimony present as trioxide, and the antimony present as trisulphide, a good idea of the chemical composition of the roasted product could be obtained. The total antimony was determined by dissolving the sample in concentrated hydrochloric acid, reducing the antimony entirely to the trivalent condition by means of hydriodic acid and eventually titrating the antimony back to the pentavalent condition by means of iodine in the presence of sodium bicarbonate.' The details of the procedure are as follows: Weigh out 0.25 gram of the roasted product into a trapped flask (Fig. 1), add 4 grams of powdered tartaric acid, 2 grams of potassium iodide and 40 c.c. of concentrated hydrochloric acid. Boil the solution gently for 5 min. and then cool to room temperature by shaking the flask while holding it under running water. Then, very carefully discharge the iodine color by the cautious addition of 0.05-normal sodium thiosulphate solution, adding a little starch toward the last. Nearly neutralize the acid with ammonia solution, but leave the solution distinctly acid. Pour the slightly acid solution into 200 c.c. of water con-

Jan 1, 1916

By Reno Sales

INTRODUCTION. THE geology of Butte possesses especial interest on account of the magnitude of the ore deposits, their extraordinary richness and persistence in depth. Since its discovery in the early 60's the district .has yielded, in round numbers, 6,000,000,000 lb. of copper, 260,000,000 oz. of silver, 1,250,000 oz. of gold, and a large but not definitely known number of pounds of zinc. This enormous metal production has been derived from an ore tonnage estimated roughly at 65,000,000 tons. At the present day, most of the important mine shafts have reached a depth of. 2,400 ft., while several are more than 3,000 ft., deep. At these-great depths rich bodies of copper ore are being exploited, showing no diminution in metal content as compared with the ores of the higher levels. The present (1913) daily rate of production is approximately 14,000 tons, of which 13,250 tons may be regarded as copper ore, although a small percentage of this is minable only because of the presence of

Jan 8, 1913

By Stanley D. Michaelson, Norman Weiss

This was a year of realization. Some years are for planning and development, some for designing and building, others for fulfillment. With greater hopes and plans for the future than ever before, the year 1954, nevertheless, will be remembered principally because of project completion. Among copper mines, for example, there were Silver Bell, Copper Cities, Bisbee, Yerington, and White Pine. In iron, there were the Humboldt, Coleraine, Cerro Bolivar, and Eagle Mountain. In asbestos, Johns-Manville's new mill at Asbestos, Que. In uranium, completion of the ninth mill on the Colorado Plateau-Kerr-McGee's at Shiprock, N. M. In research, 1954 marked the completion of Kennecott's Research Center in Salt Lake City, one of the historic forward strides in the science of minerals beneficiation. The year was fruitful in other directions as well. Investigations of a fundamental nature were on the upswing, and pilot plant projects have also increased in size and number. Progress in new reagents and equipment was greater than normal. It can already be conservatively predicted-from the technological point of view-that 1955 and 1956 will be tremendous years.

Jan 3, 1955

By Chas. A. Ashburner

The occurrence of oil- and gas-springs in the State of New York has been a fact of historical record since 1627, when the existence of the Cuba oil-spring was first recorded. The utilization of natural gas at Fredonia in 1821 attracted the attention of the public to the possibility of obtaining an illuminating gas by digging and drilling into the rocks. No active search was made, however, for oil or gas by the drilling of wells until after the discovery of commercial oil in Pennsylvania in 1859. In 1862 a well was drilled at Bradford, McKean County, Pennsylvania, but a few miles south of the New York state line, to the depth of 200 feet, in search of the oil-sand which had been found at Titusville, Oil City, and at other points in Western Pennsylvania. Immediately subsequent to this, other wells were drilled in search

Jan 1, 1888

Aalde, Kaare, (S'40) Box 827, Socorro, N. M. Aase, Glenn D., (S'40) Engr. Experiment Sta., Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. Abadesco, Enrique A., (S'39) Student. College of Engrg., Univ- of the Philippines, Manila, P. 1. Abbott, John L., (S'40) Met. Engr., Engr. Trainee. Wright Aeronantical Corp., Paterson, N. .J. Abbott, Robert H., (S'42). Agricultural & Mech. College of Texas, College Sta., Tex. Abreu, Ovidio M., (S'38) Dept. of Geol., Compauia Cousulidada de Petroleo, Caracas, Venezuela. Acomb, Allen, (S'41) 3921 Chestnut St., New Or¬ leans, La. Adam, Howard W., (S'41) Montana School of Mines, Butte, Mont. Adams, Charles E., (S'42) Uuiv. of California, Los Angeles, Calif. Adams, Charles W., (S'39) Student, Michigan Col¬ lege of Min. & Tech., Houghton, Mich. Adams, H. Travis, (S'39) 310 South 5th St., Bur¬ bank, Calif. Adams, John W., (S'42) Univ. of Texas, Austin, Tex. Adams, Rob L., (S'40) Lt., B. 0. C. No. 12, Fort Sill, Okla. Adamson, Charles R., (S'41) Uuiv. of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Jan 1, 1942

By Walter Harvey Weed

Introductory.............449 Summary oF Types............452 I. The Virgilina Type...........452 The Virgilina mines...........452 Location.............452 History.............453 The rocks of the district..........453 The veins.............454 Notes on the mines.... 458 The Holloway. 458; Yancey and Durgy. 465 ; Copper World. 467 ; Frazier. 467 ; Thomas. 467 ; Anaconda. 468; Blue Wing. 468; High Hill. 472; Dorothy.......474 II. The Gold Hill Type...........474 The Gold Hill mine...........475 Location.............475 History............• 475 Surface improvements.......... 476 The rocks............478 Vein.phenomena...........478 Character of the ore..........481 Origin of the ore...........481 Notes on the mine.workings.........482 Other occurrences of ore-deposits of the Gold Hill type.. .. 483 III. The Ducktown Type..........484 The Ducktown mines...........485 Other examples of the Ducktown type....... 494 Alabama mines...........494 North Carolina examples : Ore Knob.......496 Virginia examples..........497 IV. The Catoctin Type.. ......... 498 General characteristics,......... 498 The Linden district...........499 General distribution of the Catoctin type.......503 Introductory. In the early history of this country the existence of copper in the Appalachian region was well known. but no mining mas attempted until the discovery of the Ducktown deposits in

Jan 1, 1901

By AIME AIME

Report of Committee 24, of the International Association for Testing Materials, presented at the Brussels Congress, 1906. Republished for use at the 94th Meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, New York, N. Y., February, 1908. Discussion by letter is requested by the Secretary of the Institute. The Committee appointed for the solution of Problem 24 consisted of the following members Prof. H. M. Howe, New York, N. Y. (Chairman); L. Levy, Paris, France (Vice-Chairman) ; Prof. D. Tschernoff, St. Petersburg, Russia (Vice-Chairman) ; Prof. Albert Sauveur, Cambridge, Mass. (Secretary) ; Van Drunen, Ixelles, Belgium; Lieut.-Col. H. Tusen, Copenhagen, Denmark ; E. P. Martin, Abergavenny, England ; A. Pourcel, Paris, France ; H. Brauer, Dortmund, Germany ; Dr. Prof. H. Wedding, Berlin, Germany; P. Verole, Milan, Italy ; A. Baalsrud, Christiania, Norway ; A. R. v. Dormus, Vienna, Austria ; A. Sailler, Vienna, Austria; Bureau des Forges, St. Petersburg, Russia; Prof. N. Belelub-sky, St. Petersburg, Russia ; N. Jossa, St. Petersburg, Russia ; Maj.-Gen. M. Korobkoff, St. Petersburg, Russia ; S. Smirnoff, St. Petersburg, Russia ;.Ladislaus v. Tetmajer, Budapest, Hungary ; H. H. Campbell, Steelton, Pa. Early in February, 1905, a list of species and varieties of iron and steel, with definitions, drawn by the Chairman and Secretary of Committee 24, was sent to every member of this Committee with a request for comments and suggestions. A special request was sent to the following gentlemen . for the equivalents in their several languages of these species and varieties : A. , Pourcel, Paris, France; Prof. H. Wedding, Berlin, Germany ; J. A. Brinell, Stockholm, Sweden ; Prof. H. I. Hannover, Copenhagen, Denmark; Prof. P. Kley, Delft, Holland; P. Verole, Milan, Italy; Col. Cubillo, Trubia, Spain. This present report, which is based upon our original list and definitions, and upon the replies to these requests, consists of four parts I. A polyglot, which gives the names of the chief classes of iron and steel in English, French, German, Swedish, Danish and Dutch. We .regret that we have failed to get the Italian and Spanish names. II. English definitions of principal classes of iron and steel. III. A glossary of special sizes and shapes of iron and steel. IV. A note on the boundary between steel and cast-iron. I. POLYGLOT, IN ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, SWEDISH, DANISH AND DUTCH, OF THE CHIEF CLASSES OF IRON AND STEEL, AND OF THE APPARATUS IN WHICH THEY ARE MADE. This list is not intended to be complete, but rather to include only those varieties which are of interest to the Association.

Mar 1, 1908

By L. C. Graton

I. INTRODUCTION. The Relations of Scale in Geologic Work. MANY features of human accomplishment rest upon the possibility of representing natural objects on a scale of different magnitude from the actual one. Most drawings, for example, are of very different scale from that of the object depicted, and indeed are useful mainly on this account. More important than the question of mere convenience, however, is that of meeting the physical limitations of vision.1 Thus, a mural

Jan 5, 1913

By W. H. Bassett, C. H. Davis

The late J. P. Sparrow, chief operating engineer of the New York Edison CO., carried out a series of practical tests on condenser tubes of several copper alloys and reported on the results to the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies at its meeting in September, 1913. In the preparation of these tubes the senior author had the pleasure of cooperating. Copper-zinc alloys in the proportions of 60-40,70-30,80-20, 90-10, and Admiralty metal, which is in effect 70-30 with 1 per cent. of tin, were tried. Monel metal and several copper-nickel alloys, and 8, 5, and 3 per cent. aluminum bronze were also tried. At the time of this report, the aluminum bronze had been in service for 4 1/2 years and seemed to be giving especially good results but later it began to fail and showed no substantial improvement over Admiralty metal. Monel metal was unsatisfactory and the nickel alloys apparently did not give better service than the Admiralty alloy. Previous to the publication of the report, and after considerable discussion, it was agreed that a test where tubes of different kinds could be under laboratory observation would be advisable, so the apparatus described here was set up in The American Brass Co.'s Waterbury Laboratory. This was fitted with tubes of copper, brass, bronze, nickel silver, cupro-nickel and other alloys, and the test started on Oct. 11, 1912. Salt water from East River, New York harbor, was barrelled and transported to the laboratory for the test. A fresh supply, completely replacing the water in service, was obtained at the end of each six months period. Plan of Procedure In general, the procedure was to inspect the tubes at short intervals and to remove those that had begun to leak. The tubes removed were carefully examined and a photographic and microscopic record of the

Jan 1, 1925

By George Krauss, Seth R. Thomas

One complete cycle, allstenite to martensite to aus-tenite, of Martensitic transformation was induced in a commercial 18 Cr-8 Ni stainless steel. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the reverse transfarmation, martensite to austenite, perpetuated the dense defect substructure of the martensite produced by the direct transformation, austenite to 'martensite, and reproduced the retained austenite matrix orientation. A general precipitation of lathlike M,,C, particles was noted to be present in, and is suggested as cause for, regions of martensite that Izad formed after a complete cycle of transformation. The habit plane of the precipitate particles was found to be within 5 a plane previously established as the habit of nitride precipitates of similar morphology in bcc iron. The direct transformation of austenite (y) to martensite (a) in metastable 300 series stainless steels has received considerable attention in the past,'-8 and the martensite product given special emphasis in recent years,9"*u but little information has been published about the reverse martensitic transformation during which bcc a martensite is converted to fcc y austenite."-" The reversal mechanism and the resulting crystallographic relationship between parent and product austenite are of fundamental concern. The reversal product, fully austenitic, and hereafter referred to as reversed austenite, exhibits a defect structure far different from its virgin counterpart. Some studies have been reported in which the structure of reversed austenite in iron nickel alloys is compared to annealed austenite with respect to austenite strengtheningM and Stabilization.' The martensite in these Fe-Ni alloys, however, shows a basic difference from that produced in stainless steels. Structurally, the Fe-Ni martensite is profusely twinned," while the (low-carbon) Fe-Cr-Ni martensite contains a high density of tangled dislocations and is apparently twin-free.I0 reediis" has recently shown in an Fe-16 Cr-12 Ni stainless alloy that this typical martensitic defect structure and the reverse transformation directly influence the structure of the reversal product. He found that much of the reversed austenite had returned to the orientation of the virgin austenite and that fine twins were formed in the austenite after the reverse transformation. This investigation was undertaken in order to describe as completely as possible the structural changes produced by a cycle of transformation in a typical 18-8 stainless steel. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The 301 stainless steel under investigation (17.44 Cr, 7.75 Ni, 0.80 Mn, 0.60 Si, 0.40 Mo, 0.40 Cu, 0.08 C, 0.03 N, bal Fe)was received as 0.060-in.-thick

Jan 1, 1968

By T. D. Yensen

It is safe to say that of all the different materials that go to make up electrical machinery, iron is the most important. Upon its magnetic and electrical quality depends not only the efficiency of the machine but, to a very large extent, the cost. Aside from the mechanical strength, there are three characteristics of iron that are of importance in this connection, viz., magnetic hysteresis, electrical resistance, and magnetic permeability. In the homopolar machine, where the magnetic flux is unidirectional, permeability is the only important factor, but in all other machines the flux is reversed in one or more parts and causes losses due to hysteresis and eddy currents. The eddy-current loss depends largely upon the electrical resistance of the iron; the higher the resistance the lower the loss, under otherwise identical conditions. These hysteresis and eddy-current losses cause heating of the machine, and as they depend upon the magnetic density in the iron, this density must be regulated so that the heating shall not be excessive. If the hysteresis and eddy-current losses and the permeability of the magnetic circuit will permit an increase in the magnetic density, or, in other words, a decrease in the amount of iron, this in turn will mean a decrease in the amount of copper needed, with a consequent decrease in the copper loss. It is thus seen that, indirectly as well as directly, the above characteristics have an important bearing on both the efficiency and the cost of electrical machinery. In general, it may be said that iron for electrical machinery should have the following characteristics: (1) low hysteresis loss, (2) high electrical resistance, and (3) high permeability. These are the characteristics that investigators have been striving to attain since electrical machinery first came into use. Until the beginning of the present century, Swedish charcoal iron was regarded as the best grade of iron for magnetic purposes, and even now it ranks high among the various grades used. About that time Sir Robert Hadfield1 produced a number of iron alloys that revolution-

Jan 1, 1916

By Homer W. Riley

ANTHRACITE SMALL power-driven, toothed, cast-iron rolls were used first to break anthracite in 1844. Prior to that time, men with hammers, who stood on perforated cast-iron plates, broke the large lumps into commercial sizes. In order to convert run-of-mine into the various sizes required by the anthracite industry, about 20 million tons must be broken, annually, into smaller sizes. This phase of anthracite preparation is of major importance, because the degradation accompanying reduction in coal sizes should be kept at a minimum. The exclusive use of toothed rolls for that purpose indicates that comminution by rolls is the best solution of the problem. Many improvements have been made in tooth design, but the most important was a reduction of the peripheral speed of the rolls from 1000 to 300 ft. per minute. The higher speed was based upon and approximated the velocity of a falling piece of coal when it entered the rolls, Exhaustive roll tests at the slower speed showed that the same size reduction could be affected with less degradation. The adoption, therefore, of slow-speed, compound geared rolls, especially for breaking the larger sizes, became quite general after 1912. A high-speed roll is shown in Fig. 1 and a slow-speed roll in Fig. 2. Anthracite Crushing Problems.-Crushing anthracite presents the problem of selecting a series of rolls that will produce the greatest percentage of the prepared sizes of nut and over. The size distributions to be expected are shown in Table 1. Coal breaking and crushing practices in anthracite breakers involve the use of equipment for comminuting the following classes of material: 1. Run-of-mine-plus 6 ½ -in. coal. 2. Sized coal-steamboat, broken, egg, stove, nut, and pea. 3. Flat coal--coal that is flat and hence not suitable for the market. 4. Bone--a piece of laminated coal and slate, crushed for the purpose of reclaiming the coal. 5. Breaker refuse, reduced to a size suitable for flushing into a mine for back-filling purposes.

Jan 1, 1950

By Richard E. Chism

If internal commotion can be called life, the Mexicans have certainly lived more in the last seventy-five years than any other people. To the oppression of the Spanish viceroys succeeded the sanguinary tumults of the Revolution of Independence, after which the Supreme Congress bequeathed its heritage of uncertain power to the empire of Iturbide, the only one ever established by Americans upon American soil, with an American at its head. That shortlived reign mas followed by years of ceaseless, bloody, and, to the superficial observer, meaningless revolutions—the deeper political and ecclesiastical significance of which it is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss. Then came foreign intervention, the ill-fated Austrian's brief supremacy, and the final triumph of the patriot cause under rugged old Benito Juarez, who crowned the victory of arms by a series of reforms breaking forever the temporal power of the Church and ushering in the calmer era which has lasted from the first accession of Diaz to the present day. During all those troublous times, the revolutionary ocean, that rolled so deeply over all other relics of Spanish dominion, had left almost unaltered the ancient laws of Spain, still lifting themselves above the tide, like landmarks of a flooded world. Many of these laws were obsolete ; some were absurdly inadequate to the demands

Jan 1, 1886

By H. O. Hofman

The mining and metallurgical laboratory, as we understand the term in this country, is a place .in which mechanical and chemical working-tests are made on ores, fuels and furnacematerials. It is of quite recent origin. The first laboratory of this kind to be used in connection with teaching was put into operation in 1871 at the Massachusetts Institute of Techilo1ogy. † The idea had already existed in the mind of President W. B. Rogers when he wrote, in 1864, his pamphlet 'on " The Scope and Plan of the School of Industrial Science of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology;" but several years elapsed, and an extended visit to the mines and mills of Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California was required before this idea could take a form adapted to the purposes of original research as well as of instruction. The laboratory was given from the first into the charge of Prof. R. H. Richards, who, by improving its methods and enlarging its scope, has brought it to the position which it occupies to-day as the leading representative of its class. Private laboratories for making tests upon ores had previously existed here and there, especially on the Pacific coast, for silver and gold ores; but in the educational field the

Jan 1, 1896

By T. A. Wright

The sampling of waste materials containing copper, lead and tin has taken on a new significance within recent years, and is of increasing importance, on account of the entry of some of the copper refineries into this field and the tendency towards consolidations among the smelters. In the past, such material was sold on the basis either of a rough or grab sample or of casual inspection of the lot. The two principal sources of this waste are the processes of fabrication and the scrapping of automobile, electrical, plumbing, railroad and other equipment. In both cases much material can be sorted, salvaged and sold by classification and grade to be melted "as is" or with the addition of new or virgin metal. The increasing care in classifying exercised in the large manufacturing plants tends to increase the proportion of this usable scrap; on the contrary, the increasing use of more complex and special non-ferrous alloys tends to make sorting and grading more difficult in turnings, borings, clippings, etc., and consequently is making sampling of more moment. In tin, lead, aluminum, and zinc furnace by-products such as ashes, drosses, skimmings, etc., the trade practice of evaluation has not varied much. For instance, tin drosses, battery lead, and aluminum skimmings are ordinarily sold on what is called "metallic button" or "metallic recovery" or ('metallic yield." Copper and lead waste, however, is being sold more and more on actual copper and lead contents based on sample and chemical analyses. This paper will be devoted chiefly to the sampling of materials suitable only for refining and recovery of one or more of the metals present. The methods described are often based on the fact that but one metal, such as copper, is to be paid for. The loss of volatile constituents in melting does not appreciably affect the final copper result, as the "after-melting" assay can be readily calculated to the "before-melting" basis, but if smelter efficiency continues to increase, so that in time zinc, for instance, may be recovered on a paying basis, the method of sampling dirty brass, for example, will have to be changed also. As a matter of fact, we may expect that improved refining processes will make possible the partial recovery of lead and tin which are now lost.

Jan 1, 1928

By F. L. Bosqui

The history of the development of gold metallurgy in South Africa is divisible into two periods: That preceding the introduction of the cyanide process on a commercial scale in 1890; and the 24 years intervening between that important event and the present time. The period between the discovery of the banket reefs of the Witwaters-rand and the year 1890 was one of phenomenally rapid progress in mining development, but of no special interest to the metallurgist, There were no strikingly original or distinctly local advances in the treatment of gold ores. Californian practice in stamp milling and amalgamation prevailed, in mills ranging in equipment between 5 and 50 stamps, operating within a wide range of efficiency, and under the trying conditions usually encountered in a new and isolated field. The somewhat incomplete records of gold output of that period show that in December, 1887, there were 20 producing companies in the Witwatersrand district, of which 10 had mills, the largest being of 20 stamps. The only official record of returns for May, 1887, was that of the Wemmer mine, whose modest achievement with a 5-stamp mill was 100 tons crushed, producing 887 oz. 3 dwt. of gold. This is interesting in view of the present-day output of this field, which in 1913 reached 8,430,998 oz. The rapid increase of production during this first period (May, 1887, to January 1891) is shown by the following summary for the year 1890:1 Total tone crushed.................................. 702,828 Number of stamps in operation....................... 1,046 Average number of tons crushed per stamp per day..... 2.36 Yield of gold, ounces................................ 494,817 Yield per ton, pennyweights.......................... 13.36 The stamp duty ranged between 11/2 and 4 tons per day, according to weight of stamp, fineness of screen, and operating skill available. The prevailing weight of stamp was about 900 lb., and the screen, 900 meshes to the square inch.

Jan 1, 1916