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By W. E. Ruder

It has been pointed out by Stead1 that grains of considerable coarseness may be developed in steels containing from 3 to 5 per cent. of silicon, and in a previous paper2 the present author has shown that under the proper conditions of annealing single grains having an area of 50 sq. cm. may be obtained. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss in more detail the conditions promoting the growth of these grains, in the hope that the experiments described may throw some additional light upon the general problem of grain growth in metals. These silicon steels lend themselves particularly' well to such experiments because of the ease with which the change in structure may be followed and because of the fact that the effect of the carbon present is largely obliterated by the high percentage of silicon. This forms a solid solution with the iron, which acts very much like a pure metal. This alloy has been found to have but one critical point, viz., Ar2. This point, determined by Roberts-Austen for Hadfield's 4 per cent. Si alloy, was found to lie at 703" C. Vigouroux3, in working with pure Fe-Si alloys, finds this point to rise from 750" C. for 0.5 per cent. Si to 860" for 6 per cent. alloy, with a flat region in the curve from 3 to 4 per cent. Si. No accurate determination of this point has been undertaken by the present author, but it has been roughly determined to lie between 730" and 750:. In the preliminary experiments, some of which have been described in a previous paper, it was found that practically all of these steels, when annealed to 1,200" C. or higher, showed grains of comparatively large size. These grains varied in size, however, from about 4 sq. mm. to 50 sq. cm. (see Figs. 1 and 2) under the same conditions of anneal, and it was for the purpose of determining the cause of this difference in size that the experiments herein described were undertaken. From a preliminary study of the chemical composition of the specimens

Jan 1, 1914

By William H. Bassett, C. J. Snyder

Cable sheaths made from common lead have been used to protect underground cables since the beginning of the power-cable industry. Only within the last few years, however, has a systematic study of the production methods and of the causes of failures in cable sheathing been undertaken. Recent increases in the use and demands for service made upon power cables have emphasized the importance of high-quality cable sheaths. It was customary for the users to attribute the cause for their sheath failures to the lack of purity of the lead, but this contention has not been borne out by field and laboratory inspection of the sheaths. During the past two years the writers have had an opportunity to examine various types of sheaths that were removed from power cables after failure. These samples were obtained from various parts of the country and represent, it is supposed, the production of the principal cable manufacturers. Aside from corrosion, the common field difficulties can be classified either as mechanical or structural, as outlined below, and when structural irregularities are found they can all be attributed to manufacturing causes and in no way reflect the purity of the lead. Clasxification of Cable Sheath Failures Other Than Corrosive Mechanical Irregularities A. Splits caused by excessive internal pressure B. Injuries such as nail holes, cuts, tsars, etc. C. Intercrystalline cracks caused by vibration Structural Irregularities A. Splits C. Voids in wall of sheath a. Caused by imperfect welds a. Blisters 13. Holes through sheath b. Laminations a. Caused by yellow oxide inclu- D. Questionable structures sions in sheath wall a. Prominent flow lines b. Blowouts by entrapped gases b. Large areas filled with suboxide during manufacture c. Scattered yellow oxide or dirt C. Caused by inclusions of dirt and

Jan 1, 1933

By Stewart R. Wallace

Members of the Society, it is a very great honor for me to be here today and to have the opportunity of telling you about some things that have been accumulating in the back of my mind for some time. Before attempting to do so, I should acknowledge my debt to the many people who are responsible for my presence here this afternoon. To do this properly, however, would consume much of my allotted time and I will therefore mention only two men, both of whom were directly involved in the discovery of the Henderson ore body. The first of these was Robert Henderson, now dead, who at the time the work was going on was vice president of Western Operations of the Climax Molybdenum Co. Truly, he provided the environment that permitted the exploration program to function effectively, and the deposit appropriately bears his name. The second man I meant to mention was resident geologist at Urad at the time of the Henderson discovery. I think I should explain right here that the Urad ore body and the Henderson ore body, although entirely separate, are closely related deposits, and that both are located at Red Mountain in Clear Creek County, Colo.

Jan 6, 1975

By E. Miller, K. L. Komarek

Equatiorzs have been derived which related maximum solid solubilities in semicondcting compounds having retvograde solidus curves with 1iqllidus data. Liquidus curves in Lke Pb-Te, Pb-Se, ard PB-S systetris have been defermined by thertrzal aralyses. Fvotrz expevimental maximum solibilities ia CdTe, PbTe, uxd PbS vetvograde tetrperatures hale beep1 calculated. TIze resllts support the concept that under certaiz conditiots pronounced itjlections in the liquidis curves arc indzcatiz:e of retropade solidus curves and that the tenlperatltre of the lmaximum solid solubility will be close to the temperature of the point of inflection in the liquidus curve. The maximum solid solihility within a gvoup of homologous cottrpoods SeetlLs to increase with increasing flatness ol the liquidus curvres. The phenomenon of retrograde solubility in metals, i.e., maximum solubility in a solid terminal phase in equilibrium with a liquid phase, has been theoretically predicted by Van aar' in his calculations of hypothetical binary phase diagrams. It was not until 1926, however, that retrograde solubility was experimentally verified in the Zn-Cd system.' Since then many sys- tems with retrograde solubility have been found, so that at present approximately fifty binary diagrams with a retrograde solidus curve are known.3 Meijering4 has critically appraised the accumulated data and has presented calculations which alloy predictions as to whether or not a solidus line will be retrograde. Interest in retrograde solubility increased when it was found that the solidus curves of germanium and silicon alloyed with a great many doping elements are retrrade. The problem was treated thermody-namically by odkinson,% d all available data on solid solutions in germanium and silicon were summarized by Trumbore.7 Although it is to be expected that intermetallic compounds will also exhibit retrograde solubility, experimental evidence is much more limited. Until now retrograde solidus curves have been reported for the compounds de,' be, Ps:" ne," SnSe," and SnS.13 All these compounds are semiconductors, and the solidus curves were usually obtained by determining the carrier concentration at room temperature of samples equilibrated at elevated temperatures and then quenched. It has been hown,'' however, that it is not always possible to quench in the equilibrium compositions from above a certain temperature. Theoretical discussions have either explicitly excluded intermetallic compounds4 or not treated them with respect to retrograde slubilit.j In the following a thermodynamic treatment of retrograde solu-

Jan 1, 1967

By A. B. Hersberger, R. S. Dean

Although it is obvious that in any flotation process we must have a froth, in recent years the development of collecting reagents has caused the possibilities of better frothing agents to be overlooked. Some investigators have even gone so far as to say that the number of satisfactory frothing agents was sufficient. A little consideration will show, however, that the reagents available in the past were far from ideal frothers. The properties of an ideal frother for flotation work may be set down as follows: 1. It must form in low concentrations a copious but not too persistent froth. 2. It must be insensitive to hydrogen-ion concentration of the pulp; that is, it must froth equally well in an acid or alkaline medium. 3. It must be insensitive to salts, even in high concentration. 4. It must be absolutely noncollecting to both sulfides and nonsulfides. 5. Its frothing properties must not be affected by collecting reagents, including soap, the most generally used nonsulfide collector. 6. It must readily emulsify and disperse any insoluble collecting agent that is likely to be used. Clearly the existing frothers do not qualify. Pine oil, for example, is an acceptable frother for many purposes but if used in soap flotation a delicate balance between pine oil and soap must be struck because, as pointed out by Coghill1, these two reagents are incompatible in certain concentrations. The objections to soap itself as a frother are obvious, and the cresols and their substitution products all have some collecting power and very little emulsifying power. The mechanism of frothing in flotation was early explained on the basis of the Harkins-Langmuir theory of oriented molecules.2 These investigators showed that if an organic compound having an unsym-metrical molecule (in which one end of the molecule contained water-

Jan 1, 1939

By George Sachs

THE process of recrystallization has not as yet been explained satis-factorily. Some definite conclusions could be drawn from recent investi-gations, such as, for example, that recrystallization is a process of nucleus formation and crystal growth 1and that the orientations of the nuclei correspond to some fragments of the original crystals, which have been considerably distorted during deformation.2 There are, however, a number of metals and alloys crystallizing in the face-centered cubic system, which form a particularly simple orientation if recrystallized as a sheet.3 Such a sheet is almost a single crystal with the cubic axes parallel to the rolling, transverse, and normal directions of the sheet. This preferred cubic or (100) orientation of the recrystallized sheet has been considered to be very different from the rolling structure of the same metals,4 but there are two reasons why this last supposition remains open to controversial discussion. The first reason is academic: In practically all cases except the one mentioned above, close correlations and similarities between rolling and annealing orientations have been observed; for instance, in iron and steel sheet.6 Secondly, no deformed metal actually forms a-simple orientation. In any thoroughly investigated case a number of different orientations and considerable scattering or deviations from the ideal orientations have been found., It is generally true that investigations on single crystals have shown that a definite orientation is approached in stretching or in compression of an originally undisturbed crystal.7 In the special cases, however, where the initial orientation was close to an important crystallographic direction that differed from the final "ideal" orientation, the resulting orientation changed very little by deformation, staying somewhere in the vicinity of the initial orientation." Such deviations

Jan 1, 1940

By R. S. Dean, A. B. Hersberger

Although it is obvious that in any flotation process we must have a froth, in recent years the development of collecting reagents has caused the possibilities of better frothing agents to be overlooked. Some investigators have even gone so far as to say that the number of satisfactory frothing agents was sufficient. A little consideration will show, however, that the reagents available in the past were far from ideal frothers. The properties of an ideal frother for flotation work may be set down as follows: 1. It must form in low concentrations a copious but not too persistent froth. 2. It must be insensitive to hydrogen-ion concentration of the pulp; that is, it must froth equally well in an acid or alkaline medium. 3. It must be insensitive to salts, even in high concentration. 4. It must be absolutely noncollecting to both sulfides and nonsulfides. 5. Its frothing properties must not be affected by collecting reagents, including soap, the most generally used nonsulfide collector. 6. It must readily emulsify and disperse any insoluble collecting agent that is likely to be used. Clearly the existing frothers do not qualify. Pine oil, for example, is an acceptable frother for many purposes but if used in soap flotation a delicate balance between pine oil and soap must be struck because, as pointed out by Coghill1, these two reagents are incompatible in certain concentrations. The objections to soap itself as a frother are obvious, and the cresols and their substitution products all have some collecting power and very little emulsifying power. The mechanism of frothing in flotation was early explained on the basis of the Harkins-Langmuir theory of oriented molecules.2 These investigators showed that if an organic compound having an unsym-metrical molecule (in which one end of the molecule contained water-

Jan 1, 1939

By E. C. Harder

BAUXITE is known mainly as the ore from which aluminum is smelted but it has large use also in the manufacture of artificial abrasives and as a basis for certain chemical industries. A small amount is used for refractories and for other purposes. COMPOSITION Dana and others give the mineral formula of bauxite as A1203.2H20 and the composition as A12037 73.9 pct; H2O, 26.1 pct. It has been definitely shown, however, that bauxite does not exist as a specific mineral but rather as a rock. The term is now used synonymously with aluminum ore and it embraces gibbsite (hydrargillite or alpha trihydrate), A1203.3H20 (A12037 65.4 pct; H2O, 34.6 pct); boehmite (alpha mono¬hydrate), A1203.H20(Al203) 85 pct; H2O, 15 pct); diaspore (beta monohydrate), A1203.H2O(A12037 85 pct; H2O, 15 pct), and mixtures in various proportions of any two of them. Bauxite of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic in Europe is predominantly a mixture of gibbsite and boehmite, subordinately a mixture of boehmite and diaspore, or gibbsite and diaspore. The bauxite of North and South America, tropical Africa, Asia, and Australasia consists largely of gibbsite. Corundum (A1203) is not included under bauxite, although gradations from bauxite to emery or corundum exist. All bauxite, irrespective of the aluminum minerals composing it, contains certain impurities, including silica, in the form of clay minerals (kaolinite, halloysite, and others) or quartz, iron oxide (as hematite or goethite), titania (as leucoxene or rutile), iron sulphide (as pyrite or marcasite), iron carbonate (siderite), and calcium carbonate (as calcite); the last three mentioned in minor amount and of local occurrence only. Bauxite belongs to a group of partly consolidated materials called laterites, formed by surface weathering. This group includes also impure siliceous and ferruginous bauxite and siliceous and

Jan 1, 1949

By Howard N. Eavenbon

The low-volatile, or smokeless, coal field of southern West Virginia is in Fayette, Raleigh, Wyoming, Mercer, Summers and McDowell counties, in the extreme southern portion of the state, and extends into the adjacent counties of Tazewell and Buchanan in Virginia. McDowell County is the largest producer, with Fayette and Raleigh counties next. The total area of the field (Fig. 1) is approximately 1600 square miles, or 1,024,000 acres. The percentage of volatile matter in the various seams ranges from 15 to 26 per cent, The upper limit of true low-volatile coal is usually considered to be 23 per cent volatile matter; above this point, the coal usually is classed as medium volatile. This limit will be used in this paper. Geological Position of Seams The smokeless seams are among the oldest coal seams in the country, as the Pocahontas group of rocks is the lowest member of the coal-bearing series and rests on top of the Mauch Chunk red shale, in or below which no coal seams of any importance occur. The Pocahontas group, or Lower Pottsville measures, has a thickness of 750 ft. in southern McDowell County, which decreases to about 350 ft. at Prince, on the New River, in Fayette County, 50 miles to the northeast. In this group, at various points, 12 coal beds have been found, of which 4 have been found in workable thickness and are now being mined. The New River group, or Middle Pottsville measures, is just above the Pocahontas group and varies in thickness from 1300 ft. in southern McDowell County to about 700 ft. along New River. At various places, 16 beds of smokeless coal have been identified in this group, of which 5 have been found in workable thickness and are now being mined. A general columnar section of these strata is shown on Fig. 2. The workable seams in these strata, arranged in geological sequence, are as shown on page 77.

Jan 1, 1932

By M. W. Von Bernewitz

AN important regional meeting of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers was held, at Salt Lake City on Aug. 22 to 26, jointly with the fifth annual meeting of the Western Division of the American Mining Congress. The whole meeting was marked by enthusiasm, keen attention to the subjects under discussion, and many renewals of personal contacts. The trips to the various plants were well attended and the local press paid much attention to the meeting. The A. I. M. E. sessions began Aug. 23, with a non-technical morning session. J. 0. Elton, manager for the International Smelting Co., presided. The purpose of this session was to present in a non-technical manner the relation of flotation to mining, smelting, and the State. Ernest Gayford, metallurgist with the General En-gineering Co. of Salt Lake City, gave the definitions of flotation as suggested by Rickard, the dictionary, Weinig, and Taggart. The active agent in flotation is the air bubble, and the two prime requisites are the formation of bubbles and the creation of selective action of the bubbles for metallic particles instead of for gangue particles. Broadly, all the sulfides are floatable minerals, but the oxides, carbonates, silicates and sulfates are not. As far as Utah is concerned, flotation has been one of the greatest means of conserving its natural re-sources, because it has converted millions of tons of waste rock into pay ore; it is recovering millions of pounds of metal formerly lost in tailings; it has con-verted the zinc from a liability into an asset; and has kept thousands of men at work and distributed millions in dividends for the benefit of the State. As to the future of flotation, Mr. Gayford can con-ceive that the next 5 or 10 years may see as much, if not more, advance than was made in the preceding period. The big problem is dressing oxides, carbonates, silicates, and sulfates, and simplification of the number of reagents, also the separation of different gangue min-erals from one another.

Jan 10, 1927

By Wheeler O. North

The United Eastern Mining Co.'s property is in the Oatman, Gold Roads mining district of Mohave County, Ariz. The mine and mill are 26 mi. (41.8 km.) southwest of Kingman, the nearest railway connection. The ore consists of a mixture of calcite and quartz with some andesite. The values, which are mainly gold, alloyed with approximately 34 per cent., by weight, of silver, are extremely fine so that fine grinding is a most important factor in extraction. The milling process, briefly, consists of single-stage, coarse-crushing, two-stage ball milling in cyanide solution, followed by combined mechanical and air agitation, and by straight counter-current decantation. The Merrill zinc-dust precipitation method is used to recover the values, and is preceded by the Crowe vacuum treatment of the solution. The most notable features of the plant are the absence of filters, and the use of short peb mills loaded with steel balls, for fine grinding. As originally designed, the capacity of the mill was to be 200 tons per day, although the grinding end was to be capable of handling double that amount. By adding extra agitators and thickeners and by some alterations to the grinding end, the daily capacity has been raised to 285 tons. This, it is hoped, may be increased to 300 tons during the warm months of the present year. Tonnage Milled per Day 1917 average....... 234; maximum month.... 272; minimum month..... 146 1918 average....... 253; maximum month,... 276; minimum month..... 217 As this article primarily deals with plant operations, those interested in the mechanical description are referred to the article by Mr. Otto Wartenweiler,1 the designing engineer, which gives the details and costs of design and construction. The following changes have been made since that article was published: Two special simplex Dorr classifiers have been substituted for the two duplex Callow screens and bucket elevator, which classified the Marcy discharge and returned the oversize for regrinding. Three Dorr

Jan 1, 1920

By W. Rogers Wade, Alfred Wandtke

The Pilares mine of the Moctezuma Copper Co. is situated at Los Pilares de Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico, about 75 mi. (120.7 km.) south of the international boundary and about 7 mi. (11.26 km.) east of the town of Nacozari de Garcia. It is situated at an elevation of 5000 ft. (1524 m.) in one of the northward trending ridges that form part of the mountain mass that culminates in the Sierra Madre de Mexico. To the east, south, and west, the topography is rugged and diversified; to the north less diversity exists, ranges of mountains rise sharply out of almost level ground and give the basin range structure characteristic of the Southwest. The climate is dry, the average rainfall of 15 in. (38 cm.) being confined almost entirely to the months of June, July, and August. The winter consists of a few days of disagreeable weather when a little snow may fall; the remainder of the year is thoroughly delightful. Vegetation is typical of a semi-arid region. In the canons near the mine, where water flows intermittently, willows thrive; on the northern slopes of some of the mountains and in some of the broader canons pines may even become abundant. The dominant rocks are flows and pyroclastics which are cut by dykes, stocks, and batholiths. The mountain just west of Nacozari is, in part, composed of limestone of an unknown age which occurs as a syncline and is undoubtedly a part of a prevolcanic land surface. Overlying the limestone and faulted against it, are the volcanics; cutting the limestone is a coarse biotite granite. Whether the granite is older or younger than the volcanics has not been definitely established. No attempt has been made to differentiate the rock types of the volcanic~, of which there are exposed 3000 ft. (914 m.) in thickness of basic and acid flows (andesites, latites, and rhyolites) and andesite and latite tuffs and breccias. The latite breccias, the youngest of these volcanic~, cover the highest mountains in the immediate vicinity. The

Jan 1, 1920

By Ellsworth Daggett

THE ore smelted in the Winnamuck furnace during the year 1872 consisted, for the most part, of oxidized ores from the Winnamuck mine, only sixty tons of outside ore (from the Spanish mine) having been smelted. The latter, like the principal Winnamuck ore, was oxidized or so-called carbonate ore. There was mixed with these oxidized ores three hundred to four hundred tons, or 7 to 10 per cent. of galena, some of which was mined with the oxidized ore, while a part was mined separately from the lower portion of the mine, and afterwards mixed with the ore, with a view of preventing the formation of deposits of metallic iron in the furnaces. The average assay in silver of all the ore handled was 51.46 oz. per ton, most of it existing as chloride of silver. The lead contents were 34.98 per cent., all, or nearly all, in the form of carbonate of lead. The relative amount of silver is not at all constant, the best silver ore often being poorest in lead. The predominant gangue was silica, several determinations of which have been made on representative samples, yielding in three such samples 26, 38, and 58 per cent. silica, the latter test being ore containing but little lead. The average contents in silica are about 35 per cent., with 6 to 7 per cent. sesquioxide of iron, and small quantities of alumina and lime. Mechanically, the ore was very fine, and so thoroughly disintegrated that it presented few distin¬guishing characteristics, rendering sorting or separating of ore from waste difficult, and often impracticable. Experiments on a small scale have been tried, with a view to separate the silica by washing; but these were unsuccessful, as the finest slime, requiring a long time to settle in still water, contained a large amount of silver; and on a careful sizing and washing of the sands and coarser parts, the silver contents were found to be less dependent upon specific gravity

Jan 1, 1874

By W. Mostowitsch

Lead sulphate occurs as anglesite, and is formed in every roasting of lead sulphides or sulpho-salts containing lead. In smelting in the blast furnace an ore containing natural or artificial lead sulphate, a large part of the sulphur present goes to the formation of the intermediary product matte which requires further treatment for the recovery of the values it contains. It is therefore of importance to study the behavior of lead sulphate at elevated temperatures, both without and with reducing agents, especially as the information available gives data which are more or less conflicting. 11. Decomposition of PbS04 by Heat The dissociation of PbSO4 into PbO and SO3 or SO2 and 0 has been discussed by many metallurgists. The following data are considered to be representative. Doeltz and Graumannl found that PbS04 was not affected-by heat at 800" C.; that dissociation began at 900" C., and was rapid at 1,000° when the salt lost in 1 1/2 hr. 14.3 per cent. of its weight, the dry salt containing 26.43 per cent. SO3. Hofman and Wanjukow2 summarize their work upon the dissociation of metallic sulphates with the statement that the decomposition of PbS04 begins at 195' C., but progresses very slowly, with the formation of the basic salt 6PbO.5SO3 at 705"; that this salt undergoes a transformation at 847") begins to be decomposed at 888") to sinter at 896", and to fuse at 910"; rapid dissociation begins at 952") and is accompanied by volatilization of PbO; retardations at 958" and 962" indicate an acceleration of decomposition which, however, is not complete. Proske3 found that PbSO4 gave off at 900" C. in 30 min. only 0.63 per cent. of its 803, and that the loss increased with

Jan 1, 1917

By D. Argyriades, G. Derge, G. M. Pound

The electrical conductance of molten FeS was studied as a function of temperature and composition. It was found that stoi-chiometric FeS (36.5 pct S) shows a minimum specific conductance of 400 ohm-1 cm-1. For the Fe-rich melts the conductivity increases with increasing amount of iron to about 4850 ohm-1' cm-I at 26 pct sulfur. For the sulfur-rich melts the conductivity increases with increasing amount of sulfur until it reaches a maximum of 1300 ohm1 cm-1 for 37.4 pct S and decreases to 800 ohm-1 cm-1 for 38.3 pct sulfur. It is concluded that molten stoichiometric FeS is an intrinsic semiconductor in which the forbidden gap in the electron energy level diagram is quite narrow. Excess sulfur acts as an acceptor impurity in providing a component of positive hole conduction, while excess iron acts as a donor impurity to increase the n-type conduction. K. Bornemann and G. von Ftauschenplatl used a four-terminal, direct-current cell to study the electrical conductance of molten copper sulfide. Their measurements showed a high conductivity, of the order of 100 ohm-1 cm-" and a positive temperature coefficient. From electrolysis studies, Savelsberg2 concluded that molten Cu2S and molten FeS are electronic conductors. Further. he found that molten FeS has a high specific conductance, of the order of 1500 ohm-' cm-', and a small negative temperature coefficient. Pound, Derge, and Osuch,3 using an ac Kelvin circuit and a four-terminal cell, measured the specific conductance of molten Cu,S, molten FeS, and various mixtures. They found that the specific conductance of the solutions followed a roughly additive rule of mixtures. Yang, Pound, and Derge4 showed from electrolysis measurements that the mechanism of electrical conduction in molten Cu2S, FeS, and mattes is primarily electronic. Further, they observed that small additions of CuCl suppress the electronic conduction whereupon the system behaves ionically.

Jan 1, 1960

By George Holderer

THE Enos Coal Mining Co. owns an area underlaid by coal, of approximately 5000 acres. This property is situated 9 miles from Oakland City, in the southern part of Indiana. The mine has been in operation 5 years, during which time some 350 acres have been stripped, and stripping is now proceeding at the rate of about 100 acres per year. TOPOGRAPHY These coal lands consist of gently-rolling agricultural fields which in times past were farmed for wheat. There is no timber and but very little brush to contend with. The overburden varies from 10 to 60 ft. in depth. A thin bed of slate overlies the coal, followed by limestone, which varies from 3 to 15 ft.; this, in turn, is followed by sandstone, slate, shale and clay. There is a very wide variation in the thickness of all of these beds. The coal has an average thickness of 5 ft., and is a good grade of high-volatile bituminous. MINING OPERATIONS Briefly, the sequence of operations is: drilling holes with churn drills; blasting with L. 0. X.; stripping overburden to uncover coal and, finally taking up the coal, which is sent to a tipple for cleaning and sizing. In order to show what is being accomplished by the use of L. 0. X., results will be shown from May to November, 1926, inclusive, and compared to the same period in 1925. No work was done in No. 1 pit during May, 1925, hence all figures are unduly low for this month. Drilling There are in use 8 No. 44 Loomis clipper drills, caterpillar traction with gasoline engines; recently these were equipped with extra heavy stems, measuring 26 ft. overall and 4 ½ in. dia., to increase the speed of drilling. In addition, 4 No. 1 ½ G non-traction drills have been acquired, and are used to save the time of the larger drills when recleaning is necessary.

Jan 1, 1927

By Albert E. Wiggin, Frederick Laist

Early ill 1914 it was decided to test, on a fairly large scale, the treatment by flotation of Anaconda slime and mill tailing. For this purpose a standard-type Minerals Separation machine was installed at the Washoe Reduction Works during May and June, 1914. This was followed by the installation of a full-size Callow pneumatic machine plant. Experiments were also made, on a smaller scale, with the Froment, the Towne, the Fields, and the Anaconda flotation machines. The last-named machine was developed at this plant. In addition to the tests made in the standard-type Minerals Separation machine some tests were made using a Minerals Separation machine of the sub-aeration type. During the series of experiments a large variety of oils was tested. Experiments were also conducted using both round-table feed and tailing to determine whether it would be better to displace the round tables by flotation for the treatment of the slime, or to supplement the round tables by flotation of the round-table tailing. A series of tests was also made on the treatment of the mill tailing by grinding followed by flotation to determine the relative merits of flotation and leaching for the treatment of this product. In addition, flotation tests were made on mixtures of mill tailing and slime. The round-table feed referred to above is the total slime from the mill. It contains about 35 per cent. colloidal solids and approximately 90 to 95 per cent. of the total solids will pass through 200 mesh (0.067 mm.). It assays from 2.3 to 2.6 per cent. Cu. The mill tailing referred to above is the total discard from the mill, exclusive of the slime. It is all finer than 2 mm. and about 90 to 95 per cent. will remain on 0.25 mm. It assays about 0.60 per cent. Cu. A brief summary of the experimental flotation results follows:

Jan 1, 1917

By Percival Roberts

I DESIRE to present this evening a few notes from the standpoint of a manufacturer upon the subject of tests of iron for structural purposes; not that I have any new facts to which to call your attention, but rather a statement of a few of the objectionable features of the present modes of operation, showing the absolute necessity of important and very radical changes. At the present time, as most of you are well aware, proposals for materials are accompanied by certain specifications as to quality and tests to which the manufactured article must conform. Evolved in many cases from the inner consciousness of some one more expert in theory than in practice, we find a few of the specifications to be good, many bad, and some indifferent. Appended are specimens of specifications of the most prominent engineers and railroad companies, which may be taken as representing the best and most intelligently framed specifications which we now have, arid yet in some pints scarcely satisfactory, owing to misunderstanding of tests as now made. To show the very varied opinions held as to proper quality of iron for bridge-work, I give the tests of two lots of fron made by inspectors with the results, which were referred to the maker with the following commensts : Lot No. 1. Teat of Iron for Eyebars. Reduced area. Elongation. Size. Per cent. Per cent. Breaking load. 4" x 1 3/8 26 25 68,500 Bent 120° around 1 1/2" bar with fracture. Reduced area. Elongation. Size. Percent. Percent. Breaking load. 6" x 1 7/15 24 24 48,820 Bent 110° around 2" bar. This iron should bend 180° without fracture, and is therefore rejected. Lot No. 2. Test of Iron for Brirlye. All measurements taken upon a parallel section of 10". Iron for tension members. Breaking load Elongation. size. per aquare inch. Percent. 1 5/8 49,600 20 14 61,600 27

Jan 1, 1882

By Raymond M. Howe

Additional data have been secured on the disintegration of furnace linings and the spalling of stove brick. The first article on the disintegration of furnace linings appears to have been written by John Pattinson in 1876.l The furnace involved was 85 ft. (25.0 m.) higher and 27 ft. (8.2 m.) in diameter at the boshes; after being in blast five years, the top brick became contaminated with carbon and disintegrated. An examination of the lining showed that the discolored, disintegrated brick were in a zone found from 35 to 67 ft. (10.6 to 20.4 m.) above the hearth; immediately below, in a zone extending from 22 to 40 ft. (6.7 to 12.1 m.) above the hearth, the brick were hard and porcelain-like in appearance. Analyses of samples taken from the different sections are given in Table I. The water-soluble portion found in the sample taken 39 ft. (11.8 m.) above the hearth had a composition approximately as follows: silica, 0.50 per cent.; lime, 0.04 per cent.; potash, 0.78 per cent.; soda, 0.20 per cent.; potassium chloride, 6.19 per cent.; moisture, 1.03 per cent.; total, 8.74 per cent. The carbon Table 1.—-Analyses of Samples Taken from Diferent Sections of Furnace . I ii In Iv v Section 67 Section 45 Seotion 39 Section of Original ft Above ft above ft above vitrified Lining Hearth Hearth Hearth Portion Per Cent. per Cent per Cent per cent. per Cent Silica........................... 55.70 55.60 55.67 47.60 37.07, Alumina........................ 35.50 35.40 30.00 26.47 23.18 Ferric oxide..................... 3.00 1.32 0.96 Lime........................... 0.23 0.06 0.17 Magnesia....................... 1.22 0.95 0.86 0.00 Potash......................... 2.60 2.10 5.30 7.54 21.59 Soda.........,.................. 0.45 0.42 1.67 0-76 6.28 Ca1bon ......................... 2.05 3.24 5.97 Carbon dioxide.................................. 2.. 17 Water...................................... 7.70 Water-soluble........................... 8.74

Jan 1, 1920

By R. V. Whetsel, Valentin R. Garfias

Mexican petroleum production for 1928 was approximately 50,000,-000 bbl., the lowest in 12 years, showing a decrease from 1927 of over 14,000,000 bbl. The steady downward trend for the past 7 years has allowed Russia to outrank Mexico by a wide margin for third position and if the expected decline continues during 1929 it should place Persia ahead of Mexico as fourth in rank. The year 1928 was characterized by a continuation of the reentrench-ment previously begun by the oil industry in Mexico in an attempt to adjust itself to the adverse conditions caused by the steady depletion of the fields, the rapidly increasing competition from Venezuela and the United States and the as yet unsettled petroleum legislation and taxation situation. With the exception of the Isthmus of Tehuantepee, drilling in proved fields was considerably curtailed and although the number of wildcats completed exceeded those of the previous year, no extensive drilling programs were undertaken. Practically without exception, the major companies reduced personnel and operations to a point where they could meet existing conditions and mark time while awaiting a more stable basis for the future testing of unexploited regions. Many terminal and transportation facilities were abandoned during the year. Development Only 371 wells were completed during 1928, as against 583 in the previous year and 808 during 1926, and although the percentage of producers in 1928 was 34 per cent., compared to 26 per cent. in 1927, the initial production of -wells was considerably lower than during the previous year, a great number of the wells showing salt water and becoming "strippers" from the time they started to flow. Development is summarized in Table 1. Drilling in the Northern fields did not prove any new pools of importance, the most successful wells being located in the old producing areas of Cacalilao, Panuco and Topila. (Fig. 1 Very few of the producers made more than 1000 bbl. daily, and a great many less than 300 bbl. a day.

Jan 1, 1929