Search Documents

Discussion of the paper of L. W. BAHNEY, presented at, the New York meeting, February, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 9S, February, 1915, pp. 339. to 344. E. J. HALL,* New York, N. Y. (communication to the Secretary+).- The Chiddy method for determining gold and silver in cyanide solutions has been subjected to so many proposed modifications, of which L. W. Bahney's is one, it is natural to suppose the method is defective. There is no denying that this method is capable of giving inaccurate results, but so is any other method of quantitative determination. However, proof has not come to my notice that the troubles are inherent and not in the detail application, and I am inclined to think from our experience that in many cases it is the latter. Errors in this method may be occasioned by: (1) The retention of zinc in the sponge, which tends to desilverize the molten lead in cupellation, similar to the action in the Parkes process, removing gold and silver in a crust of zinc oxide. Failure to remove zinc may result from lack of concentration of hydrochloric acid, clue to neutralization by salts present, volume of liquid too great for the specified amount of acid, or the use of weak acid. (HCl rapidly loses its strength unless kept in perfectly tight containers. The HCl gas escapes even from the ordinary glass-stoppered acid bottles after the plaster seal has been broken.) Undissolved zinc, is likely to be held in the upper part of the lead sponge, which floats above the liquid, and unless the solution is boiled it will escape action. Mr. Bahney's modification makes this

Jan 5, 1915

By Sherwin F. Kelly

PLAIN mining engineers usually avoid any gathering of geo¬physicists because of the incomprehensibility of their discussion to the uninitiated. This being so, gradients, gravity and gammas will be deferred to the end of this review, the first part of which will be devoted to what has been done in applying geophysics to the solution of real field problems. From the West, J. J. Jakosky reports that International Geophysics has had its activities fairly well 'divided between mining (both placer and lode), oil structural work, and clans-site and reservoir investigations. In oil exploration, electrical methods are used for depths down to 2500 ft., beyond which they utilize seismic methods. They find in their placer work that the many 'magnetic anomalies encountered in the bedrock of the Southwest render the electrical techniques more satisfactory, and with them they are obtaining thickness and tonnage of gravels, depth to and contour of the underlying bedrock as well as important structural features therein, and water-table elevations.

Jan 1, 1934

By Roscoe W. Stensrud

Marcona Mining Company operations are located 500 kilometers south of Lima, Peru, on the Pacific Coast, at approximately 15º-22' latitude south and 75º-11' longitude west. The terrain is sandy rolling hills ranging from sea level at the coast and rising sharply (escarpment) to an elevation of 800 meters at the mine area. The climate is arid and windy with a moderate year-round temperature, ideal for a year-round mining operation. San Juan, a new and modern community of 14,000 inhabitants and developed by Marcona, houses the working forces and their families.

Jan 11, 1968

By Frank Haas

THE public generally has-become aware that there is something wrong with the coal industry and a clamor has arisen for an explanation if not a remedy for this disorder. It is only reasonable that this Institute be looked to for a diagnosis to show the way for some other .agency to prepare the patient for prescription or operation. The subject is extensive, widely diversified, and beyond the efforts of an individual to cover completely; one of the objects of this paper is the initiating of a symposium on the non- technical factors essential to an understanding of the bituminous coal industry. The present condition of the coal industry cannot be described in a few words but, in effect, it resolves itself into a simple statement: The average coal operator is losing money notwithstanding a firm conviction on the part of the consumer that he pays too much for his coal. Without enumerating the many and varied. factors which contribute to this condition, this paper will be devoted to the interrelation of taxation and ownership of coal and its effect on finance

Jan 1, 1930

By E. B. BESSELIEVRE

THE great work of Gorgas in stamping out yellow fever in Panama during the construction of the Canal was one of the chief factors contributing to the ultimate accomplishment of the task, two previous attempts having failed largely through the demoralization of workers by epidemics of contagious diseases. Mining camps, rapidly constructed during the boom days of the rushes to new fields, have been frequent sufferers from typhoid when, as so often used to be the case, little or no attention was given to bacterial examination of the water supply or to the method used for disposing of the sewage.

Jan 1, 1930

At their last meeting, the Directors of the Institute passed the following resolution regarding Robert W. Hunt, who was president of the Institute in 1883 and 1906. This resolution was engrossed and presented to Captain Hunt at a dinner given to him in Chicago, December 9, on the occasion of his eightieth birthday. Resolution At that time it was announced that $5000 had been guaranteed as the nucleous of a fund, the income of which will be used for prizes to be awarded each year, under the supervision of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, for the best papers on iron and steel subjects. The Board of Directors of the American Institute of Mining Engineers extend to their distinguished colleague, Robert W. Hunt, a hearty greeting upon his eightieth birthday anniversary. They congratulate him upon his notable achievements as a pioneer in ,the manufacture of iron and steel, and his long and admirable service both as a practical director and as a wise critic and counselor in that art. They remember with gratitude his successful administration, for two separate periods, of the Presidency of the Institute, and they recall with pride the honor conferred upon it through the award to him of the John Fritz Gold Medal. Not least is their satisfaction in the retrospect of forty-four years of his membership in the Institute, with its unbroken record of loyal friendship acid delightful companionship; and they pray, that this record may be continued for happy years to come. In witness whereof, they have ordered this minute to be entered upon the records of the Board, and a copy duly attested to be sent to Captain Hunt.

Jan 1, 1919

By T. D. Mueller

Many investigators have used the response of the "dimensionless aquifer" to a unit pressure drop or a unit fluid-withdrawal volume to calculate the performance of an aquifer in supplying water influx to an oil reservoir. In the past, these response functions have been calculated with the aid of the Laplace transform. With the advent of ultra highspeed digital computers, it becomes practical to solve for the response functions with finite-difference techniques. The computer method also permits extension of the dimensionless-aquifer concept to include the nonhomogeneous aquifer wherein the permeability and other properties vary as a function of the space co-ordinates. This paper gives results of calculating the response functions for a series of nonhomogeneous aquifers. Response functions are presented for both linear and radial aquifers whose thickness, permeability-viscosity ratio and porosity-compressibility vary. These functions are new and should prove useful to the petroleum engineer in analyzing the behavior of nonbomogeneous aquifers. Results are presented in the form of charts that can be easily used by the field engineer. INTRODUCTION Aquifers which surround many oil and gas reservoirs have the ability to supply water influx to such reservoirs as oil and gas are withdrawn. This water influx, called natural water drive, provides one of the most effective driving mechanisms for the production of oil and gas. In producing a reservoir, therefore, it behooves one to make the maximum use of natural water drive. To achieve the maximum use, the reservoir engineer must be able to predict the performance of an aquifer under a variety of production schemes that may be proposed for the reservoir. Unfortunately, the physical properties which dictate aquifer behavior often are known only within limits. Seldom do wells penetrate the porous strata of the aquifer. Even when they do, quantitative information regarding porosity, permeability and water compressibility is seldom available. It is known, however, that the water efflux from most aquifer systems is governed by a single, relatively simple, linear, partial differential equation. Also, the general physical location of the aquifer boundaries often are known. A technique originall proposed by Hurst1 and van Everdingen and Hurst2 has been found useful in analyzing reservoirs in this situation. The idea was later expanded by van Everdingen, Timmerman and McMahan3 to include the mathematical technique of least-squares fitting. This latter method will be referred to as the VTM method. The basic assumptions of the VTM method include the following. 1. The location of the physical boundaries of the aquifer are known. 2. The flow conditions at these physical bound-daries are also known. 3. The aquifer is homogeneous; e.g., thickness, permeability, water compressibility and porosity are constant throughout. In the VTM method, a material balance is made on the fluids entering and leaving the reservoir. In the balance equations, the water-influx term is represented as the product of the water influx from an arbitrarily-selected, dimensionless aquifer system times an unknown conversion number. This balance can be formed as many times as there are data points in the history of the reservoir. Each time, the conversion number can be evaluated. If the reservoir engineer has picked the correct dimensionless aquifer to represent the real aquifer, the conversion number remains constant for all balances that have been made over the history period. If such a situation occurs, the reservoir engineer can then predict the performance of the reservoir for any type of production scheme by using the function associated with that particular dimensionless system and the derived conversion number. These functions will be referred to as the response function of the aquifer. If the aquifer is nonhomogeneous (e.g., if the porosity, permeability, thickness, porosity, or

By F. L. Toy, C. E. Sims

PNEUMATIC processes for converting molten pig iron to steel were the major producers of steel during the latter half of the 19th Century and until shortly after the turn of the century, when these processes began losing ground to their rival—the basic open hearth process. The first pneumatic process for converting molten pig iron to steel was introduced almost simultaneously by Sir Henry Bessemer in England and by William Kelley in the United States during the decade 1850-1860, but it was Bessemer who pushed it to a successful commercial operation. The process itself is so basically simple that it has not lent itself to many extensive or revolutionary improvements since its inception. During the first 30 yr, numerous' designs of vessel and many modifications of practice were tried before the industry standardized on something resembling current practice. The evolution in construction has resulted in proportions and arrangements based more on mechanical expedience than on metallurgical requirements. Many of the early converters were stationary and had to be tapped similarly to the cupola or open hearth furnace. Such types were used for many years in Sweden and Germany, but the rotating or tilting types were favored in England and the United States. There was evident trouble with bottom tuyeres, becAuse about half of the early designs were constructed for side blowing with tuyeres submerged below the metal-bath surface. Even portable tuyeres, introduced from above, were tried. The principal advance, which made bottom blowing practical, was the invention, in 1863, by Henry Bessemer, and subsequent improvement by A. L. Holley, of a detachable bottom so that the tuyere section could be renewed. In the meantime, it was the demonstration, by Robert Mushet, of the value of manganese in overcoming hot-shortness in converter steel, that made the process metallurgically feasible. At first, only the acid practice was used, and Swedish pig iron, because of its low sulphur and phosphorus, was in great demand. The development of a suitable basic lining, by Sidney G. Thomas and Percy G. Gilchrist in 1876-1879, made the process applicable to the high-phosphorus ores of Europe. From the beginning of the use of the Thomas-Gilchrist process, trouble was experienced in obtaining sufficiently high temperatures in the blown metal, particularly in small heats. It is necessary, of course, to have the low-carbon blown metal at a considerably higher temperature for handling from vessel to ladle to molds than is needed for the molten pig iron. All of the increase in temperature in a pneumatic process must be obtained from the heat of combustion of the elements contained in the pig iron plus that from silicon when ferrosilicon is added. In bottom blowing practice, carbon is almost completely burned, but inasmuch as it cannot be oxidized to a higher state of oxidation than to CO when in contact with liquid iron, only a minor portion of the heat-producing capacity is utilized. Under such conditions, it is not considered to be an efficient source of heat. In the acid practice, therefore, silicon and manganese are the large heat producers, are quickly oxidized, and are efficient fuels. Too much manganese, however, thins the slag greatly and tends to promote excessive slopping or throwing of slag and metal from the converter during the blow. Most operators, therefore, like to keep the manganese content of the iron below 0.60 pct, and thus the main source of heat is the silicon, which must be at least 1 pct and sometimes 2 to 3 pct for small blows such as for castings. Ferrosilicon is sometimes added during the blow to obtain an adequate temperature level. In the basic (Thomas) practice, even more heat is required, because cold lime is added to flux the phosphorus after it is oxidized, and the basic slag must be maintained at a proper temperature. Silicon

Jan 1, 1951

The selection of a particular machine for production drilling is the most critical drill evaluation the pit engineer is called upon to make. It is a true engineering design problem requiring value judgments. Generally, the procedure follows these steps: (1) Determine and specify the conditions under which the machine will be used, including such service factors as labor, site, weather, etc. (2) State the objectives for the rock-breakage phases of the production cycle of operations--considering excavation and haulage restrictions, crushing capacity, production quota, and pit geometry-in terms of tonnage, fragmentation, throw, etc. (3) On the basis of blasting requirements, design the drill-hole pattern (hole size and depth, in- clination, burden, spacing, etc.) (4) Determine the drillability factors and select the drilling methods which appear feasible for the kind of rock anticipated. (5) Specify the operating variables for each system under study, considering drill, rod, bit and circulation fluid factors. (6) Estimate and compare performance parameters, including costs. Major cost items are bits, drill depreciation, labor, maintenance, power and fluids. (7) Select the drilling system that best satisfies all requirements with the lowest over-all cost.

Jan 10, 1967

By J. L. Lytton, T. E. Tietz

The recovery of flour stress of recrylstallized are-cast molyhdenum after 10 pet prestrain at 150°C was studied for recovery temperatures of 725o 801o and 901oC. The yield phenomenon observed after recovery was such that the yield drop diminished and disappeared as recovery proceeded. A fractional flow-stress recovery parameter fr, was developed and it was shown that, independent of recovery ternperatzwe, equal f, values of about 0.16 produced superposition of stress-strain curves except for the initial yield phenomenon. The activation energy for low degrees oj recovery was found to he 32,600 cal per mole, in close agreement with a reported valzie for difjzdsion of carbon in molybdenum. For values of fr greater than about 0.15 where recovery was thought to predominate over strain aging, the activation energy varied from 43,600 to 82,500 cal per mole and increased with increasing recovery and recovery temperature. A 10 pet pre-strain shifted the ductile-brittle transition temperature, as indicated by tensile elongation, from 10°C. to about -22"C. A 100-hr recovery anneal at 801oC was shown to shift the transition temperature to about —5oC, the major shift occurring during the first hour of recovery. ThE recovery of cold-worked metals is accompanied by changes in the arrangement of the dislocations generated during cold work. In recent years, the use of transmission electron microscopy has allowed direct observation of some of the dislocation configurations formed, such as "tangles", networks, cells, subboundaries, and loops. These observations have recently been reviewed by Keh and Weissmann.' Accordingly, some understanding has been gained concerning the nature of the dislocation rearrangements involved. The relationship between recovery and the decrease of mechanical strength, however, has only recently been explored. Previous efforts of the authors were directed toward investigating the decrease of tensile flow stress of aluminum and Al-1 pet Mg during recovery2 and the effects of concurrent elastic and plastic strain on the flow-stress recovery of aluminum.3 In addition, an investigation of the effect of four different solute additions on the tensile flow-stress recovery of aluminum has been made.4 Many important metals, however, have the bee crystal structure, e.g., iron, molybdenum, tungsten, vanadium, columbium, tantalum, and chromium. These metals might be expected to behave differently during recovery from those with other crystal structures for two reasons. First, the previous and present investigations of aluminum and its alloys have shown that tensile flow-stress recovery is strongly affected by foreign atoms in the lattice. In the bee metals, interstitial impurities are usually present and might be expected to have various effects upon both flow behavior and recovery. For example, heterogeneous yielding might occur during prestraining. The diffusion of these interstitials can also relock dislocations during recovery so that a yield point might be obtained upon restraining (strain aging). Second, some of the bee metals (e.g., iron, molybdenum, and tungsten) undergo the familiar structure-sensitive ductility transition and exhibit brittle fracture at suitably low temperatures. It is of considerable interest to determine the effects of recovery on the transition temperature of such metals. The purpose of the present investigation was to extend our knowledge of flow-stress recovery to the bee metals and to study the effects of recovery on the ductile-brittle transition temperature. Unalloyed recrystallized are-cast molybdenum was chosen as a test material, since it exhibits a well-defined ductility transition near room temperature. As in the previous studies, the degree of recovery was measured in terms of the decrease of tensile flow stress. Prestraining and restraining were carried out at 150°C to avoid the possibility of brittle fracture. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The are-cast molybdenum sheet used in this investigation was obtained from the Climax Molybdenum Co. of Michigan. It was 0.060 in. thick by 10

Jan 1, 1964

PLANS are underway for the annual meeting of AIME, to be held in New York, February 17 to 21. The technical program includes meetings of all divisions of all three branches, Mining, Metals, and Petroleum. The bulk of the technical sessions will be held at the Statler Hotel, and the annual banquet will be held at the Waldorf-Astoria, Wednesday evening, February 20. The technical program of the Mining Branch activities is included in this issue. While it is not complete in every detail, it shows general interest groupings as well as subjects to be discussed. The program for each division is shown separately to facilitate following the activities of these special interest groups. Then, after a full scale and possibly somewhat strenuous technical meeting, a post-meeting feature will appeal to many of the members. A restful cruise to Bermuda and Nassau is offered at special rates to AIME members and friends. The schedule is a 3:00 pm departure from New York on the Queen of Bermuda on Saturday, February 23; arrival at Bermuda at 7:00 am Monday, February 25; arrival at Nassau at noon, Wednesday, February 27; and the trip ending again in New York at 9:00 am, Saturday, March 1. Rates begin at $202.10 per person, with higher rates depending upon accomodations desired. The base rate includes outside room with private bath and all meals, as well as Federal, Bermuda and Nassau taxes. Reservations for the trip should be made immediately through Leon V. Arnold, 36 Washington Square West, New York 11, who is in charge of arrangements.

Jan 1, 1952

By F. C. Greene

Development work in western Missouri was continuous during 1933, owing to the shallow depths at which production is obtained and the low operating costs. Unfortunately, no statistics covering the total production of oil and gas during the year are available. No new oil-producing pools were opened in 1933, but the Knoche area in 1.46 N., R.33 W., Cass County, was extended. There are probably less than 100 producing oil wells, all in Cass and Jackson counties, with a combined production of possibly around 150 bbl. daily. Several new gas areas were developed and there were several extensions of old areas, in 1933. Production was extended north by an entirely new pool—the Hammond pool, north of Plattsburg in Clinton Co. (sec. 18, T.55 N., R.31 W., and sec. 13, T.55 N., R.32 W.) where 13 wells were completed, the largest producing 2,332,000 cubic feet. In the Bartle and Marshall pool in secs. 3-4-9-10, T.47 N., R.33 W., Jackson County, four wells opened a new area. The largest well was 1,000,000 cubic feet. There were some small extensions near Independence, Jackson County. Two wells of about 300,000 cu. ft. were completed at a depth of 700 ft. in Kansas City and in a deeper sand than is usually productive. The Shaler area, in secs. 27-34, T.44 N., R.33 W. in Cass County, was extended with several wells, the largest of which was 300,000 cubic feet. The production in the pools mentioned is obtained chiefly from the Henrietta and Cherokee formations of the Pennsylvanian age.

Jan 1, 1934

By E. J. Harris

Mathematical solutions to complex mine ventilation problems are possible, but often the airway network is so complex that the mathematical solution becomes tedious and impractical. A fluid network analyzer, designed and built for analyzing mine ventilation problems has been in service at the Bureau of Mines' Pittsburgh station for approximately nine years. Using this analogue as a model, the mine ventilation network is simulated electrically by a combination of series and parallel circruits laid out to conform with actual mine airways. A tungsten filament lamp, referred to as a Fluistor, is used to simulate mine airway resistance. With the analogue ventilation model established, voltages of the proper amplitude to represent ventilating pressures are impressed across the circuit at points where mine fans and airshafts are located. Comparison of mathematical solutions of complex systems against analogue results showed a maximum variance of 3% for pressures and 2% for quantities. An electrical fluid network analyzer, designed and built especially for analyzing mine ventilation distribution problems, has been in service at the Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, for approximately nine years. It is a nonlinear, low voltage, fluid network analyzer of the type developed by the late Malcolm S. McIlroy, Professor of Electrical Engineering, Cornell University, who cooperated with G. E. McElroy, of the Bureau of Mines, in adapting the instrument to mine ventilation systems. Several modifications have been made since the original installation, but a considerable part of this paper is drawn from G. E. McElroy's original description of the analogue.' The analysis of water or gas distribution systems2,3 led to the development of this type of network analyzer. Several similar units are now employed by utility companies for this purpose; however, the Bureau of Mines unit is the only one designed specifically for mine airflow problems. Other airflow analogues employing a similar principle have been used at the Central Research Station of the Netherlands State Mines,4 in England,5 and in South Africa.6 Information on these devices indicated they were somewhat inflexible because commercial lamps with a sufficient range of resistance are difficult to obtain. Computers for mine ventilation analysis have been developed in Germany which instead of lamps use a variable resistance to adjust for turbulent flow laws. These units are expensive, but excellent results have been reported in their application. THE ANALYZER Theory of Application: As airflow generally follows the law of turbulent fluid flow, resistance to flow is nonlinear; consequently, the problem has been to find a nonlinear resistance element of suitable range that can be used for electrically simulated airflow. Tungsten filament lamps operated on alternating or direct current approximate the square-law resistance characteristics of mine airflow over a large range below maximum or rated voltage; that is, the voltage drop varies approximately as the square of the current. Consequently, the heart of the network analyzer is a nonlinear resistor known as a Fluistor, which is simply a custom-made low voltage, tungsten filament lamp that is available in a progressive series of relative resistance values ranging from 0.05 to 500 in nominal 5% steps. However, variations in manufacturing large groups result in differences of 1 to 3%, but series arrangements required for high-loss branches can be matched within about 1%. Utilizing a combination of Fluistors and load circuits, the mine ventilation system is duplicated electrically. Intake load circuits are connected from power intake to primary points of the circuit network; segments of unregulated flow along intakes and returns are represented by Fluistors, regulated splits and leakage paths are represented by load circuits and Fluistors of proper capacity; and mine exhausts are connected to ground from the last point of the network to complete the circuit. For the special purpose of representing booster fans or natural draft conditions, boosters or separate source circuits are provided that can be inserted between any two points of a network to increase voltage to the required value. Physical Layout: The analyzer consists of three 42

Jan 1, 1963

By Thomas C. Wilder

ALTHOUGH there is an abundance of thermodynamic information available in the literature today, no experimental data on the standard molar properties of formation of zinc oxide have ever been reported for the temperature range 419.5" to 908°C. This is the temperature range for which zinc metal is a liquid. so that the formation reaction is: Data have been reported for Reaction [I] where zinc is a solid or a gas. Maier. Parks, and nderson' measured the electromotive force of the cell: in order to obtain the free energy of the reaction: over a limited temperature range. With the known properties of H2O, those of ZnO were calculated. These workers found that t;j of ZnO is -75,930 ± 150 cal per gfw and Mtf is-83,000 300 cal per gfw at 25°C. akolkin made similar measurements to obtain ilF7 and AH; of -75,870 and -82,540 cal per dw respectively at the same temperature. Truesdale and arirlg and Kitchener and 1gnatowicz4 measured the equilibrium of the reactions: respectively, in order to determine Ff of ZnO from the known values of CO, CO2, and H/X The thermodynamic properties of ZnO, presumably taken from the above investigations, are tabulated by Kubaschewski and vans' and Wicks and Block" The latter reference also gives values for the range where zinc is a liquid. These numbers are probably acquired from the known extremities of the range plus Cp data of the components. In the present work the electromotive force of the cell: was measured in order to calculate the properties of ZnO from the well known values of NiO for the temperature range where zinc is a liquid. In Cell [B] the cathode reaction is: and at the anode: The overall reaction is: for which the free energy change is: where is the electromotive force in volts of cell [B] after correction for the Pt-Ta thermocouple. The standard molar free energy of formation of NiO is very well known as a function of temperature. Kiukkola and agner's data are used in most tabulations. The error is probably less than I00 cal per gfw, The latter authors were the first to use solid mixed oxide electrolytes in galvanic cells. Their work with NiO and other oxides was performed with cells similar to Cell [B] using a variety of reference electrodes of fixed oxygen potential. There may be a small composition range for which either NiO, ZnO or both exist. If nonstoichiometry does exist for these oxides, then the properties described herein are those for the metal saturated compositions. The simple cell design was the same as described elsewheres except that the molten metal electrode was about 125 g of pure zinc including a small (0.25 to 0.50 g) amount of ZnO. The mixture of pure nickel and NiO powders making up the reference electrode was contained in a tube of the ZrOl + CaO electrolyte which was immersed in the molten zinc. A platinum contact was made to the reference electrode; tantalum to the zinc. A refractory cement plug was necessary at the open end of the electrolyte tube in order to prevent zinc vapor from contaminating the reference electrode. Experimental details such as the vessel containing the cell, furnace, temperature control and measurement, and electromotive force determinations of the cell have all been outlined previously. The temperature was varied randomly in the range between the freezing and boiling points of zinc. After each temperature change, time was allowed for the drift at the new temperature to be less than +;"c whereupon a series of three cell readings was taken at least 10

Jan 1, 1970

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 R. F. Mehl, G. T. Horne

Diffusion coefficients and mobilities were determined as functions of concentration in the a phase of the Cu-Zn system. Use was mode of incremental diffusion couples to determine the Kirkendall effect at various concentrations. Darken's analysis was used to calculate the individual diffusion coefficients and mobilities from these data. The general diffusion coefficient is a single-valued function of the concentration in this system to within the limits of accuracy of the experimental methods used. The form of the various functions (diffusion coefficients and mobilities) of concentration is the same in every case: it is essentially the same as the usual D vs c curve. AS Darken' has pointed out, the knowledge that the movements of different atoms diffusing in the same lattice need not proceed at the same rate is old. Ionic lattices are the classical examples; application of the generalization to lattices with metallic bonding was much more slowly accepted. It remained for Kirkendall'' to show clearly that metallic diffusion need not be symmetrical with respect to both species. Several investigators" have confirmed the initial observation of a "Kirkendall effect:" marker movement accompanying diffusion. They have extended it to other systems and conditions. The theoretical interpretations have been many; ne of the first and simplest of these is that of Darken"' which is essentially mechanism independent. Darken has shown that the Kirkendall experiment permlts a calculation of the individual diffusion coefficients and, coupled with activity data, offers a means of measuring the mobilities of the separateatoms in a binary diffusion process. There is no published information on the effects of concentration and temperature on the individual diffusion coefficients or on the mobility values in binary solid solution; this paper provides such information for zinc and copper in a brass. For purposes of clarity, the overall D value obtained, for example, from the Boltzmann-Matano solution to Fick's law, will be designated as the "general diffusion coefficient;" and the diffusion co- efficients for the separate diffusing species will be designated as the "individual diffusion coefficients." Experimental Procedure The authors have accepted Darken's analysis and have measured mobilities on this basis. The findings of da Silva and Mehl are accepted: that the Matano interface, defined as the origin of coordinates for the Boltzmann-Matano solution to Fick's law, coincides with the original weld interface; that the "shift" of a marker is the distance between the Matano interface and the marker; that the observed porosity is too small sensibly to affect this result; and that the shift is a linear function of the Matano area, the area defined as the absolute magnitude of the area on either side of the Matano interface. Alloys: The a-phase of the Cu-Zn system was chosen for investigation. The measurements were made on incremental couples for two separate reasons: l—it has been questioned whether D, the general diffusion coefficient, is a single-valued function of concentration (a comparison of the D-values for couples with small concentration range, e.g., 10 vs 20 pct Zn, against those from a wide concentration range, e.g., 0 vs 30 pct Zn, will answer that question); and 2—on the Darken analysis, the mobility can be determined only at the concentration at which the marker is observed to lie (this is but one concentration in a single couple) but choosing a series of incremental couples in the range between 0 and 30 pct Zn provides mobility values at several concentrations, thus giving mobility as a function of concentration. Four alloys were chosen; nominally, pure copper, copper with 10 pct Zn, copper with 20 pct Zn, and copper with 30 pct Zn. This allowed six different types of diffusion couples to be prepared, promising mobility determinations at six different concentrations, but having a minimum range of 10 pct Zn. The copper was an especially prepared pure copper supplied through the courtesy of the Ameri-

Jan 1, 1956

By T. B. Massalski, C. S. Barett

THAT metals and alloys of the body-centered-cubic structure tend to become unstable at low temperatures is so nearly universal that any exceptions are worthy of special attention. Studies of the exceptions may disclose unrecognized examples of metastability or may shed light on the nature of some of the factors that stabilize the body-centered-cubic phase. Among the structurally analogous body-centered-cubic 3/2 electron compounds, the ß-phase in the Cu-Zn system deserves further attention for, although this phase is known to undergo partial mar-tensitic transformation on cooling below room temperature to the temperature of liquid nitrogen when the composition is less than about 42 wt pct Zn, it does not transform on cooling .when there is more than this amount of zinc present.1-4 The present authors recently found that an alloy containing 48.35 wt pct Zn could be transformed, however, if deformed severely at room temperature or lower temperatures.V his discovery led to the suggestion that the jerky flow of ß-brass single crystals6 and some of the unusual temperature variations of the yield strength and hardness are due to strain-induced transformation during the tensile tests. The present investigation is an extension of that work to cover the entire available range of compositions of Cu-Zn ß-phase alloys and certain interesting compositions of the ß-phase in the Cu-Zn-Ga system. Particular attention is given to the structure of the transformation product resulting from cold work, which is found to vary with alloy composition, and to the temperature range in which transformation can be induced in the various alloys. The composition limits of the body-centered-cubic phase in the Cu-Zn system, based on a recent review by Raynor7 and the precision determinations of Beck and Smith: are shown in Fig. la; in the ß region the alloys are disordered and in the ß region they are ordered. The rate of ordering is so rapid that a high degree of order is found in any of these alloys immediately after quenching. Experimental The nine binary and four ternary alloys of this investigation were prepared from cathode copper (99.99 pct purity), electrolytic zinc (99.99+ pct), and gallium (99.98+ pct). All alloys were cast in transparent Vycor tubing, homogenized at temperatures between 800° and 890°C, and quenched in water. Ternary alloys were cast in small amounts (-5 g) to predetermined compositions to fall along a line of constant electron concentration in the ternary system. Changes of weight during the casting operation of the ternary alloys were not greater than 1 part in 2500 from the intended nominal weights and therefore their compositions were accepted without chemical analyses. All binary alloys were cast in larger amounts (100 to 150 g), homogenized, and hot rolled after preheating to 800°C. The central portion of the rolled strip of each alloy was annealed for eight days and quenched in brine. All binary alloys were analyzed chemically. The compositions, heat treatments, and metallographic appearances of all alloys are tabulated in Table I. Various samples were subjected to heat treatment or cold work at several temperatures and were then examined metallographically or by means of X-rays. Specimens about 6x6x3 mm in size were examined metallographic ally to confirm the presence of the ß-phase after quenching. Cold work was introduced by fastening each sample between two pieces of steel, cooling the assembly to the desired temperature, and transfering it rapidly to a vise where moderate or severe compression was immediately applied. Cold working at liquid helium temperature was done by a chisel-shaped tool mounted on an X-ray spectrometer, described elsewhere.% A!! metal-

Jan 1, 1958

By R. T. DeHoff

A general method for determining the geometric properties of structures composed of particles which are all the same shape and size is presented. The application of the method requires a knowledge of' the qualitative shape of the particles in the structure, ad a maximum of three simple counting measurenzents, which are made on a representative plane section taken through the structure. It is also shown that the number of different kinds of measurements necessary JOY the complete description of the structure can be decreased if some independent information about individual particles is available. The geometric properties that can be determined quantitatiz~ely from counting measurements for susch structures are size, shape, number, surface area, vlolume, ad such extensive properties as volume Mction and surface area per unit volume. THE simplest kinds of measurements that may be made on a metallographic section are counting measurements. There are three such simple counting measurements, which are determined by sampling the microstructure with a point, a line, and an area. The first of these, the point count, is probably the most familiar among metallographers. The second count, the number of intersections a test line makes with particle outline, is somewhat more recent in its origin and application. The third counting measurement, the number of particle sections observed in unit area of the plane of polish, has long been used in the estimation of grain sizes. The real utility of these three counting measurements lies in the fact that they are rigorously and unambiguously related to certain extensive geometric properties of the three-dimensional structure of which the metallographic section is a sample. These relationships will be reviewed briefly below. Of somewhat secondary importance to the fundamental relationships is the observation that, if some simplifying assumptions about the geometry of the three-dimensional structure are introduced, manipulation of the counting measurements gives a more complete description of the structure. Specifically, in addition to the extensive properties which these measurements rigorously estimate, the number of particles, their size, and their shape may be determined. The purpose of the present paper is to explore the consequences of introducing the assumption of constant size and shape. A later paper will deal with the estimation of geometric properties of structures which may be characterized by a two-parameter size distribution. It should be mentioned that the introduction of this simplest of assumptions, while clearly not generally justified in metallurgical structures, is not without precedent. For example, many estimates of the number of particles per unit volume of structure, based upon a single counting measurement, are scattered throughout the literature.13 Virtually all of these developments assume a constant particle shape, e.g., spherical or polyhydral, and constant size. That such an assumption is necessary is evident from the fact that, for more general structures, more than a single parameter is required to describe the three-dimensional structure, so that the determination of a single parameter on a section would be insufficient to specify the structure. Similar developments for the estimation of particle size from a single counting measurement, e.g., routine grain-size determinations, make the same very limiting assumption,435 but have nonetheless proven of practical value. The present paper embodies a generalized approach to the development of relationships among the two-dimensional counting measurements and the three-dimensional geometry of the structure, subject to the assumption of constant particle size and shape. It is the hope of the author that by presenting the relationships and the assumptions involved in dealing with this approximation, in a single, unified treatment, the reader may be impressed with the usefulness of the counting measurements, may be guided in their application to the estimation of details of the geometry in specific structures in which he may be interested, and may be moved to apply the results, with understanding, to new structural problems. Several authors6, 7 have demonstrated independently that it is possible to obtain unbiased estimates

Jan 1, 1964

By A. D. Mutch

IT has long been known that there are wide variations in the thermo-electric potential of pyrite. In the last few years a study of this variation and other properties of pyrite was carried out at the University of Toronto by F. G. Smith on specimens of pyrite from many localities.1-3 As a result of these studies the pyrite geothermometer was developed by Professor Smith. The calibration of the pyrite geothermometer is based on the assumption that "crystals of any one electronically conducting mineral species deposited at a high temperature have a more positive thermo-electric potential than crystals deposited at a low temperature, and the thermo-electric potential varies continuously between any given limits of the temperature of deposition." The cause of the variation was postulated to be crystal discontinuities, such as lineage boundaries. As yet this postulated relationship has not been established as fact. On theoretical grounds it is indicated that the thermo-electric potential of pyrite or any other partial conductor is dependent upon a number of factors as well as the temperature of formation. For this and other reasons there is ground for doubt as to the validity of the relationship postulated above. To date a large number of readings have been made with the pyrite geothermometer which have been recorded in terms of the calibration of the instrument in degrees centigrade. So far most of the pyrite tested by this technique has been in association with gold ore. The values for the temperature of formation obtained in these tests appear to be reasonable and, in relation to geological problems, to vary in the right sense. Determinations on some specimens not in association with gold ore have given readings that appear to be much too high, taking into account the probable maximum temperature of the host rock. To sum up, although many determinations made with the. pyrite geothermometer appear to give reasonable values for the temperature of formation of the pyrite, there are at the same time other readings which seem anomalous. On the basis of an examination of available results of work with the pyrite geothermometer, two problems must be considered: 1-the validity of the calibration of the pyrite geothermometer; and 2-the nature of the distribution of the thermo-electric potentials of pyrite in relation to the specific problems that have been examined. In this paper the academic problem relating to the validity of the calibration of the pyrite geothermometer will not be discussed. Instead, the variations of thermo-electric potential of pyrite in association with gold veins will be discussed with regard to specific examinations. The first of these two examinations deals with the distribution of thermo-electric potentials of pyrite in association with a gold vein and was carried out in the McIntyre Porcupine Mine, Schumacher, Ont., in the summer of 1949 as part of a study with this technique. The second problem deals with variations of thermo-electric potential of pyrite in gold ore specimens from all over the world. The specimens used in this study were part of the private collection of Frank Ebbutt, geologist for Howe Sound Exploration Co. Results of Detailed and Reconnaissance Studies In discussion of the results of determinations made in these two studies the values of thermo-electric potential in millivolts will be used. It will be noted that in some of the diagrams the determinations are recorded in terms of pyrite geothermometer temperatures. Fig. 1 is a calibration chart relating, pyrite geothermometer temperatures and thermo-electric potentials. A full discussion of the technique is given in the original paper by F. G. Smith.' Briefly, the determinations are made by placing two stainless steel probes, one hot and the other cold, against the surface of the pyrite crystal being tested. The thermo-electric potential that is developed is read with a null-point potentiometer that is calibrated in what

Jan 1, 1952

By John G. Hall

The unstable metal market during 1949, with resulting lower metal prices, has focused every mine operator's attention on the problem of reducing operating costs. Improvement in mining, methods, use of modern mechanical mining equipment, and increasing the efficiency of the labor force are the tools with which we will have to work. Careful planning is necessary to coordinate all phases so that no one phase is overdone. A mine may become over-mechanized if, for instance, capital charges against new equipment exceed the savings in labor costs, or where a large enough tonnage is not produced. The cooperation, of labor is essential to any mechanization program. There have been too many instances where mechanization and improvements have done nothing more than make up for a decrease in labor efficiency, thus bringing the production of labor back to its old standard. The operator has gained little and labor has gained only a "softer job." In any mechanization program there are gains to be had by both the operator and labor. By the efficient application of modern equipment and improved mining methods the operator should gain by decreased costs, and labor may profit by receiving a share of these decreased costs.

Jan 1, 1950