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By Best W. N.

Discussion of the paper of W. N. BEST, presented at the San Francisco meeting, September, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 104, August, 1915, pp. 1527 to 1537. WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS, San Francisco, Cal.-I would like to ask whether .Mr. Best ever had any experience with an oil burner that used neither air nor steam? W. N. BEST, New York, N. Y.-Yes. This type is commonly known as the "mechanical spray burner" and uses oil heated under high pressure to above its vaporizing point. These burners are not as efficient as the atomizing type for the following reasons: 1. They produce a round flame which; as with any other type of burner, must pass over a flat surface. A round flame cannot fit a flat surface. 2. They do not evenly distribute the heat, resulting in localized heat. 3. The outlet through which the fuel passes is very small; so all gravities of oil, especially oil containing sand, cannot be burned. 4. Their construction is such that they must be cleaned frequently, as the residuum in the fuel clogs the burner. 5. The oil opening being small, the capacity of each burner is small, so that many burners must be used in a boiler or furnace. (The fewer burners there are, the more accurately they can be regulated.) In marine boilers, these burners are largely used, because they do not require either steam or air for atomization. However, there are other methods by which this objection to other types can be eliminated, such as by the use of a rotary blower and steam turbine engine, the exhaust front the engine passing into the engine condenser, thus obviating loss of water. Mechanical burners are rarely used in shops. I know of but one power plant using them. With mechanical burners, the fuel must be maintained at a high pressure. On board naval vessels, some mechanical burners demand an oil pressure of from 100 to 6001b. It is advisable to reduce the pressure as much as possible, as fractured pipes or fittings are particularly dangerous, for the heated oil escapes as a vapor. In such cases there is liability of an explosion caused by spontaneous combustion.

Jan 12, 1915

By J. A. Goebel, S. Rosen

IN the NiAl phase diagram the NiAl (CsC1-type) phase field extends over a large composition range. At elevated temperatures the nickel-rich phase boundary extends to a composition of about 70 at. pct Ni, a value which is within 5 at. pct of the Ni3A1 (Cu 3 Au-type) phase boundary.' At room temperature, however, the maximum nickel content is only about 60 at. pct. Experiments have shown that alloys containing greater than 63 at. pct Ni when quenched from temperatures below 1000°C contain the equilibrium phases NiAl and Ni3A1. On the other hand, when these same alloys are quenched from temperatures above 1000°C and examined microscopically, a typically martensitic decomposition product appears in the microstructure as shown in the micrograph of Fig. 1. The structure of the martensitic phase has been determined by employing powder X-ray diffraction techniques to be an "ordered" AuCu type (Strukturbericht Llo, space group P/4 mmm - DL). The diffraction pattern of this phase differs from that of AuCu in the appearance of superlattice lines. The structure is shown in Fig. 2. The open circles represent nickel atoms and the half-shaded circles represent nickel and aluminum atoms which are randomly distributed. The sites represented by half-shaded circles would be occupied solely by nickel atoms at a stoichiometry of Ni3A1. The alloys used in this investigation were prepared from 99.99 wt pct Al and 99.99 wt pct Ni by arc melting charges of varying compositions in a water-cooled copper hearth using a tungsten electrode in a gettered argon atmosphere. In all cases chemical analysis agreed within $ at. pct with the nominal compositions of the alloys. Annealing treatments were carried out in a vertical resistance furnace through which a stream of argon gas was flowing. Specimens, which were wrapped in tantalum foil, were quenched by allowing the specimens to drop into a bucket containing iced brine. X-ray diffraction patterns were obtained from -325 mesh powder specimens by using a 114.8-mm

Jan 1, 1969

By Ralph Nichols

The mines are near the town of Gilmore, in the Texas mining district. This district was organized in 1880. The present producing mines are near the terminus of the Gilmore & Pittsburg railroad. This railroad connects with the main line of the Oregon Short Line at Armstead, Mont. The distance from Gilmore to Armstead is 70 miles. The town of Gilmore is near the head of the Lemhi river at an elevation of 7,000 ft., while the mines are from 400 to 1,300 ft. higher. The range of mountains upon which the mines are situated forms the water shed for the Little Lost river on the west and the Lemhi river on the east. The winters are severe and the snow fall is heavy, but the mines ship right through the year. There is an abundance of timber suitable for all mining purposes in the immediate vicinity. Water is piped into the camp from a lake about 2.5 miles distant. This lake is about 1,400 ft. above the town of Gilmore. The water is exceptionally good for boiler and domestic purposes. The mining companies now producing are the Pittsburg Idaho Co., Ltd.; the Latest Out Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd.; and the Oilmore Mining Co., Ltd. Besides the above propertiea, there are a number of prospects in different stages of development. The producing mines of the district are fissures in limestone, with a general northeast-southwest course and a dip to the west of from 40' to 70°. These fissures are at about right angles to the bedding of the limestones. The veins are regular and the ore shoots strong, both laterally and in depth, so far as developed. The ore shoots have a rake or pitch to the south. The character of the formation is shown in Fig. 1, a section of the Latest Out mine. Character of Ore. The ores of the district are oxidized, carrying an excess of iron over the silica (insoluble matter). The vein filling is a mixture of limonite and hematite, which is replaced by shoots of lead-silver ores. The lead minerals consist of carbonate of lead principally, but with small quantities of sulphide, sulphate, and other lead minerals.

Jan 1, 1914

By J. A. Solomon, H. E. Shafer

As a result of the great demand for metallic aluminum and the scarcity of domestic bauxite, numerous processes have been proposed and developed to extract the oxide of this metal (Al2o3) from clays, shales, and other low-grade raw materials.1-4 An exploratory study was made to extract alumina with sulfuric acid from relatively impure coal-associated draw-slate and to establish an optimum calcination temperature for maximum recovery. Draw-slate is the term used to describe the hard, slaty material directly overlying many coal seams and may range from a few inches to a few feet in thickness. Alumina content of these draw-slates may range from as low as 15% to over 35%. Although the following results are limited in scope, some of the data should prove beneficial for further work. Coal-associated clay, shale, and gob heretofore have been considered nuisance products; any successful alumina extraction process would greatly enhance the worth of these almost limitless resources. This research demonstrated that an optimum calcination temperature for alumina extraction could be established for a coal-associated draw-slate and that this temperature was lower than those suggested in previous work with unspecified clay types. It should be noted that slightly higher acid concentrations and somewhat finer particle sizes were used in this series of tests as compared to previous work. EXPERIMENTAL WORK Essentially, alumina extraction proceeded in four steps: 1) grinding, 2) calcining, 3) acid leaching, and 4) precipitating of aluminum sulfate. An initial series of reference tests to determine the optimum temperature of solubility for alumina was run using relatively pure kaolin. Kaolin forming clays are hydrous aluminum silicates of the approximate composition 2H2O A12O3 2SiO and kaolinite is the mineral that predominates in most kaolins. 5 The kaolin was ground to -30 mesh and subsequently calcined at temperatures ranging from 100°C to 700°C. Each sample was calcined for 1 hr in a muffle furnace and in turn subjected to sulfuric-acid leaching (H2SO4, 9 molar) for a 2-hr period. The filtrates were analyzed for the amount of dissolved alumina recovered.637 Also, each sample of leached or barren residue was

Jan 1, 1968

By Donald Gilbert

PRIOR to July, 1919, the sampler at each mine of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. in Butte did his work in his own way and was responsible to the mine foreman only. At that time, the sampling at all the company's Butte mines was placed in charge of a member of the geological department and stand-ardized methods of doing the work, were adopted. These standards were incorporated in a set of instruc-tions accompanied by blueprints representing typical conditions. The main features of the instructions were as follows: All samples to be cut at breast height and horizontally, regardless of dip of vein, and the horizontal width reported. A single sample to include not more than a 5-ft. width of the breast and to weigh not less than 4 lb. for this width. Where the vein is made up of two or more streaks of different hardness or mineral content, each streak is to be sampled sepa-rately and the average value of the combined width figured. If two streaks of ore are separated by a streak of waste, which is not sampled, in obtaining the average value of the breast the waste must be figured in with a zero assay. Drifts to be sampled in the breast after each round. Raises to be sampled for each floor raised. Each end to be sampled separately and the average width and value of the two ends to be used as the average of the floor. All veins cross-cut to be sampled along the side of the cross-cut, at breast height and horizontally. Where the vein strikes at an acute angle to the line of the cross-cut, the width of sample must be corrected to show the horizontal width at right angles to the line of strike of the vein. Rill stopes must be sampled across the full mining width. In square-set stopes, each set must be sampled separately along the line of the caps. Waste portions of the vein which are mined for filling must not be included in the sample.

Jan 2, 1922

Prof. J. W. Richards, South Bethlehem, Pa. (in reply to several questions):—The cut representing some of the round briquettes which were under test shows that, at the brcaking-stresses, they break into lumps, and do not disintegrate into powder. The process is simplicity itself. I have followed the different processes for sintering iron-ores and flue-dust, am interested in all of them and wish them all success; but this process appealed to me strongly by its simplicity. It is in line with a method which I once tried to work out myself, but which never came to anything, namely, the agglomeration of fine iron-ores by means of Portland cement. As small an amount as 5 or 6 per cent. of Portland cement will enable fine ore to agglomerate and set into a briquette, but when I came to estimate the cost, I found it was a little too high. The Schumacher process, curiously enough, does not work well on iron-ore, but flue-dust thus treated does harden and give a strong briquette. In my attempts to find a reason for this difference, it has occurred to me that possibly the particles of flue-dust had been coated over with some sublimed silica, which might be an agent in the setting. But I found by experiment that neither sublimed silica, nor ordinary silica, nor ordinary alumina, would briquette. Chemically pure iron oxide briquetted quite hard; but the application of pressure is a necessary part of the operation. If simply moistened with the solution and allowed to stand it does not set hard, but the more pressure applied to it the hardcr it sets. Evidently the flue-dust particles must be pressed very close together in order to get the small proportion of active material wet, so that the particles shall act at their points of contact; for it is evident that only at the points of contact does the cementing action take place. The reactions are facilitated by considerable pressure, bringing the acting particles close together, and may go on with

Jan 1, 1913

By William Newnam

LEAD mining has been carried on in several localities of the Province of Ontario in a desultory fashion for the past 60 years, but up to 1916 the results have not been of much commercial importance. The most ambitious attempt was made by an English company which built a lead smelter at Kingston, Ont., in, 1880 to treat the- concentrates from the . Frontenac mines. After 2 years' operation, the -mines and smelter were abandoned. Up to the present there has not been a sufficient tonnage of concentrates to support an efficient blast-furnace plant and as most of the small properties could not stand the heavy freight and duty charges into the United States, development work has not been carried on in a, systematic manner. As a result the industry has languished. At, Galetta, in southeastern Ontario, considerable prospecting and development work has been carried on in the last few years and very promising deposits of galena have been found in the Chats Island group by the James Robertson Co., Ltd., of Montreal. The chief deposit is that of the Galetta or Kingdon lead mine, located on Chats Island in. the Ottawa River about 5 miles east of the town of Arnprior. The rocks' in the vicinity of -the mines consist of an interbedded series of crystalline limestone and biotite gneisses of pre-Cambrian age. This part of the Ottawa River' basin has been severely faulted and the overlying Paleozoic limestones may be seen in normal fault contact with the pre-Cambrian. The vein filling is of a very well-marked fault fissure type and although the amount of displacement is not determined at this point, similar faults to the east show a displacement of from 1,500 to 1,800 ft. which would indicate mineralized fault fissures of considerable depth. The ore occurs in a highly crystalline calcite with some barite and fluorite, and the galena occurs more or less richly disseminated in clusters and crystal aggregates. In some cases these masses weigh several hundred pounds. Small amounts of sphalerite are occasionally encountered.

Jan 4, 1917

AT THE beginning of February the British Government announced acceptance of the American terms for funding the war debt, the main features-being as follows: Interest rate of 3 per cent. for the first 10 years and then 3 ½ per cent. up to the final extinguishment of the debt at the end of 62 years. The interest from the time since the loans were made to the actual beginning of the funding arrangement to be recomputed at 4 1/4 per cent. instead of the 5 per cent. rate now in effect. Congress ratified the contract respecting the British debt. The ship subsidy bill was relegated to the rear, which is indeed an end to the project. The natural consequence of this will be a liquidation of the Govern-ment's shipping business. The joint committee on the reorganization of Govern-ment departments made its report to the President. In general this seems to offer a well-considered plan for the coordination of Government service. The pro-posals respecting the bureaus that are particularly associated with the mining industry may be subject to criticism. According to the committee's plan, the Geological Survey remains in the Department of the Interior, but the Bureau of Mines and the compilation of the statistics of mineral production are transferred to the Department of Commerce. The Lausanne conference among the European powers came to an end early in February, without any treaty having been signed, owing to the refusal of the Turks to accept the ultimatum of the Allies. Theoreti-cally this left conditions in a state-of war between the Allies and Turkey. However, no actual movements have resulted. The French and Belgians continued to hold the Ruhr district of Westphalia, extending their lines and administration of the region. The Germans adhered to the policy of passive resistance. In the Parliament of Great Britain the French and Belgian policy was plainly declared to be unwise and dangerous. French and Belgian industries, moreover, were troubled by strikes among their own coal miners for higher wages. The Poles and Lithuanians engaged in border war-fare;. the civil war in Ireland continued. The rest of the world was quiet insofar as military operations are concerned.

Jan 2, 1923

By H. A. Wentworth

The Huff electrostatic plant of the United States Smelting CO., operated in conjunction with its wet concentrator at Midvale, Utah, was the second plant of substantial size installed using the Huff process, and the first plant to be put in operation on the so-called Western complex ores. , In spite of the machinery being of early design and consequently embracing many of the mechanical weaknesses incident to a pioneer plant the mill has operated steadily and uniformly since the summer of 1909, about five years now, without any material change other than some rearrangement of the machinery for better handling of the sizes. The ore, at present coming almost entirely from the company's mines in Bingham, is of practically the same composition as that upon which the plant was first put in operation. The crude ore, consisting of the sulphides of copper, lead, zinc, and iron, and containing small amounts of gold and silver, is brought by train and delivered to the hoppers of the wet concentrator, where by jig and table treatment, there are produced a shipping lead concentrate, a tailing, and a middling product, the latter being conveyed in push cars to the adjoining electrostatic mill. The crude ore delivered to the wet concentrator contains from 6 to 9.5 per cent. zinc. At times the plant is used also for the treatment of custom ores from the Bingham district and elsewhere, and at such times the results of the plant vary according to the material in use, but as by far the larger portion of the product is that from the company's own mines, the results given below are fairly indicative of the general work obtained. The diagram, Fig. 1, illustrates graphically the flow of the ore through the electrostatic mill. The middling coming from the wet mill, containing from 15 to 18 per cent. moisture, is hoisted while on the cars by an elevator, and delivered from the top of the elevator to a hopper over the drier. The drier first installed was of too low capacity to take care of the moisture present in the tonnage to which the mill was later

Jan 1, 1915

By Gary P. Thomason

INTRODUCTION One may have heard about how various projects were financed or certain companies were successful in obtaining a bank loan, but there are many more projects and companies who fail to get the money they need. At least a portion of these failures, and a large percentage of the frustrations connected with even the successful financings, are a result of not understanding the process of obtaining money. Recent years have seen a proliferation of debt financing sources available to finance minerals operations (see the next Chapter 11), but these represent only a minor portion of the minerals financing market. The fundamental source of borrowed money to many minerals related companies remains the banks. Therefore, understanding the "Loan Approval Process" can easily mean the difference between getting the money or not. LOAN APPROVAL PROCESS The initial stages of the loan approval process should begin long before the bankers, and the organizations they represent, enter upon the scene. The loan approval can be broken down into six stages: 1) Generation 2) Preparation 3) Presentation 4) Evaluation 5) Approval 6) Documentation As you can see in Figure 1, the bank is only directly involved in the second half of the process. The perils in obtaining financing for the smaller minerals venture are primarily in the first three stages, not the last three. The minerals venture making application for a loan can, in almost every case, improve its chances of success by carefully planning and preparing itself and the information that will be required of it in the loan approval process. Generation This first step in the process is deciding on the need for a loan. (Earlier papers in this Book and in Chapter 11 provide some guidance.) It is surprising how many ventures confuse the need for money with the need for a loan. Suffice to say that the equity investor risks both the timing of the yield on his capital and, ultimately, his capital. The lender, on the other hand, advances temporary funds which he expects to be repaid on a specific schedule with a fixed

Jan 1, 1985

By Horace F. Silliman, Curtis L. Wilson, Eugene C. Little

The change in electrical resistance and Rockwell hardness (16-100-B) of copper alloys containing Ni2Si and Co2Si was determined by annealing the quenched solid solutions at various temperatures for various lengths of time. The rate of precipitation of Nisi, as measured by the rate of decrease of electrical resistance and increase of hardness, increased with annealing temperature up to a certain point, depending on the percentage of Ni2Si present. At these temperatures discontinuities in the rate: change occurred. Similar discontinuities in the Co2Si alloys were no The solubility of Co2Si in copper was found to be 5 per cent at 970" DISCUSSION (Robert F. Mehl presiding) R. I?. Mehl, Pittsburgh, Pa. (written discussion).—The electrical conductivity and hardness curves reported in this paper are interesting, particularly because many of the anomalies of the precipitation processes are evident from such curves. The title of the paper, however, is deceptive, for it implies that measurements of electrical conductivity and hardness are suitable to determine the rate of precipitation. Neither of these methods is suitable for a quantitative measurement of rates of reaction or of precipitation in the solid state. Electrical conductivity in some alloys shows an anomalous increase during the first stages of aging at low temperatures; it is notably sensitive to strain and to state of subdivision. I have plotted the conductivity curve representing the decomposition of the phase at 555" C. in the copper-aluminum system, given in the paper by Smith and Lindlief (Fig. 47, p. 93) as a rate of reaction curve, and compared it with the curve determined by area evaluation (Fig. 7); these two curves are not coincident. Hardness is likewise very uncertain, for it is so much dependent upon particle size. Of the various methods proposed for the study of rates of reaction and precipitation, the evaluation of volume of reaction product from the respective area of matrix and reaction product on the photomicrograph is the most trustworthy; suffering, perhaps, only from low sensitivity during the early stages. This method, used originally by Davenport and Bain and now by Smith and Lindlief, is suitable for

Jan 1, 1933

By Rodney P. Smith

THE solubility of columbium nitride in ? iron has been determined for the temperature range 1191o to 1336°C from the nitrogen content and metallogra-phic examination of a series of Fe-Nb alloys.* (0.0 to 0.92 pct Nb) equilibrated with a purified gas mixture of 1 pct hydrogen in nitrogen. The method is the same as that used by Darken, Smith, and Filer' to determine the solubility of aluminum nitride in y iron. The variation in the furnace temperature during an equilibration period was about ± 2.0°C. Each sample was approximately 1/2 in. wide, 2 in. long, and 1/16 in. thick. A time series at 1200°C using samples of highest columbium content indicated that one day was sufficient for equilibrium; however, to be on the safe side all samples were left in the furnace for either two or three days. Afterequilibration, the samples were brought to room temperature by quenching in water. The experimental results are shown in Fig. 1. To be in accord with the values reported by Wriedt and Gonzalez2 and the temperature coefficient of our results at higher temperatures, the nitrogen content of iron at 1191oC is assumed to be slightly lower than our experimental value. Our data for the single-phase regions are not sufficiently accurate to establish an interaction coefficient for nitrogen in these alloys. However, the change in nitrogen content with change in alloy content for a number of systems (Fe-N-A1;3,1 Fe-N-Ni;372 Fe-N-Si.3949 Fe-N-V;3,5 Fe-N-Cr;3,6 Fe-N-Mo3,7) has practically the same value for the liquid alloy at a temperature near 1600°C as for the solid alloy at temperatures near 1200oC when the alloy content is below a few percent. On this basis the lines through the single-phase regions have been drawn with a slope corresponding to an increase in nitrogen of 0.0013 pct per 0.1 pct Nb.3 The straight lines through the two-phase regions were drawn with a slope corresponding to a one-to-one atom ratio of nitrogen to columbium in the nitride. The X-ray

Jan 1, 1962

By Mark Sheppard

DURING the winter of 1937, the writer visited a West Virginia stone, quarry at which the overburden is stripped hydraulically. The quarry is in a bed of limestone, about 200 ft. thick, which outcrops on a hillside above a small river; the quarry face is 175 ft. high. The top of the stone is cut in all directions by erosion channels, which are filled with a tough, red clay. Some of the larger channels are 30 ft. deep and 8 ft. wide, The thickness of the clay overburden ranges from a few inches to 10 ft., the average being estimated as less than 3 feet. The topography of the district is rugged, and the hillside above the quarry face is not suited to the use of the usual mechanical methods of moving dirt. Until hydraulicking was started 10 years ago, the over-burden was dug by hand labor, dumped to the quarry floor and trans-ported to the dump in quarry cars, Cleaning deep channels was a slow and expensive process. When hydraulicking was started, the top of the quarry face was over 200 ft. above the level of the river. The pipe line was carried in a semi-circle around the top of the quarry about 200 ft. from the face and about 50 ft, above it. As there is no adequate supply of water above the quarry, the water must be pumped from the river: As quarrying pro-gressed the pipe line was moved until the discharge points are now over 300 ft. above the river. Water is pumped from the river by a four-stage centrifugal pump having a 5-in. intake and a 4-in. discharge. It is direct-connected to a 200-hp,, 2300-volt, 1760-r.p.m. induction motor. At 1760 r.p.m. the rated capacity of the pump is 750 gal. per minute under a head of 600 ft. The pump is installed in a house of frame construction on the river bank, about 10 ft, above normal water level, which also houses the pump for the mill-water supply. Above the pumps are hoisting hays into which the motors are raised whenever the river reaches flood stage.

Jan 1, 1938

By H. W. Kerr, B. Soutiere

THE possibility of using unidirectionally solidified eutectic alloys as high-strength composite materials has been investigated by several workers. Unidirectionally solidified lamellar and fibrous eutectics have been shown to have good short-time structural stability at temperatures close to the eutectic melting temperature.'-4 Several investigations of both short-time high temperature tensile properties and creep properties of eutectic alloys have been carried out,3-" with promising results. Little work has been reported, however, on the thermal stability of eutectic alloys which have been unidirectionally solidified and subsequently deformed in compression. Since processes such as rolling and grinding introduce compressive stresses, and since the properties depend on the spacing and perfection of the composite structure10,11 this aspect is of definite importance if unidirectionally solidified eutectic alloys are to be considered for commercial use. A Cd-Zn alloy made from 99.999 pct starting materials was cast into a graphite boat and zone levelled12 to obtain a completely lamellar structure at one end of the bar. Sections from this region of the bar were removed, recast into 6.5 mm I.D. Pyrex tubing, and solidified unidirectionally upwards at a rate of 2.8 cm per hr. Specimens were cut from the solidified rods, heated in air at 200°C (0.88 of the eutectic melting temperature) for various lengths of time, and examined metal-lographically. Compression specimens were also cut from the solidified rod carefully machined to a length of & in., and deformed with the compressive axis parallel to the original growth axis to produce a total longitudinal strain of 12 pct. Some of these specimens were examined metallographically; others were heated in air at 200°C for various lengths of time and then examined. Metallographic examination of the deformed specimens showed the two types of deformation previously described; slip lines13 (smoothly bent lamellae) and kinks13,14 (sharply bent lamellae). Very close to the specimen ends there were a large number of deformation bands, but at a distance of about -re- in. the deformation was very localized, as shown in Fig. 1.

Jan 1, 1970

GEORGE S. RICE (written discussion *).-An interesting and important question arose during the coal famine of last winter as to whether the development of new mines should be discouraged on account of the need of labor for the necessary construction and development work at a time of scarcity of labor, more especially as there was an apparent overcapacity of existing mines. The question was referred to the author for his comments, which led to the study of the statistics. The essential results of this study are indicated on the accompanying chart, which illustrates, among other things, the increase in production or consumption, and the estimated maximum production capacity of the bituminous and sub-bituminous mines of the United States. The curves shown are based on data published in the "Mineral Resources" of the United States Geological Survey, and cover the period from 1900 to 1916 inclusive. The following curves have been drawn from the data secured: 1. Average number of days that the mines worked. 2. Yearly total production of bituminous and sub-bituminous mines. 2a. Yearly production of machine-mined coal. 3. Average annual production, equivalent to consumption, for a period of 17 years. 4. Number of coal mine employees each year. 5. Estimated capacity of mines, on basis of 300 working clays in the year. 6. Estimated drop in capacity if no new mines are opened. Considering these curves and the data from which they were constructed: It will be noted that the average number of days the miners worked varied from 193 in 1908 to 234 in 1900, the average being 217. The causes for so many idle days out of the possible total number of working days in the year are well known, namely: (a) Lack of business; (b) lack of cars. Taking the country as a whole, (a) is the important factor, which might otherwise be expressed as being an excess of productive capacity. The yearly production of the mines, which is practically synonymous with consumption, has shown a steady increase, with a few set-backs. An average line has been struck which indicates that the average annual increase of production has been 18 million short tons (16,330,000 metric tons).

Jan 5, 1918

By D. H. Forbes, H. M. Manasevit, F. L. Morritz

Single-crystal thin films of molybdenum have been grown. by the pyrolytic decomposition of molybdenum hexafluoride in a hydrogen ambient on various insulating substrates at temperatures front 650° to 900° C. Single-crystal discs of various orientations of magnesium aluminate spinel, a aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, and the natural facets of beryllium oxide were all observed to exert epitaxial control on the depositing film. Determinations of the crystallographic relationships existing between film and substrates have been made, using X-ray diffraction three-circle goniometry and Laue back-reflection techniques. Using these data, crystallographic overlays have been constructed which suggest a possible interfacial geometry on the basis of a match between metal deposit atoms and metal ion sites in the substrate. A continuing program has been in effect in the Auto-netics Laboratories over the past several years aimed at the development of electronic materials in new and useful forms using chemical vapor deposition techniques. During the course of these investigations, the epitaxy of silicon1"5 and tungstenep7 on single-crystal metal oxide insulators was studied extensively. The deposition of molybdenum is a logical extension of the tungsten work since the crystal structure is identical and the lattice dimensions differ by less than 1 pct. The pyrolytic decomposition of molybdenum hexafluoride in hydrogen was used to grow molybdenum films on the oxide substrates AlzOs, MgA1~04, MgO, and Be0 at from 650" to 900°C, depending on the substrate material. Under the experimental conditions to be described, monocrystalline films of controlled orientation were obtained. The materials investigated and their crystal structure are listed in Table I. EXPERIMENTAL The molybdenum depositions were effected by the hydrogen reduction of molybdenum hexafluoride (MoFe) in a flowing system of hydrogen at atmospheric pressure. The schematic of the apparatus is shown in Fig. 1. The hydrogen, purified by passage through a heated palladium thimble, was mixed with the vapor of the liquid MoFe maintained in a steel bottle at room temperature (25°C). The mixture was passed over the substrate, which was heated by rf induction of a sup-

Jan 1, 1969

By D. B. Myers

The consistent upward trend in crude oil production prevailing in California throughout the greater part of 1929, was effectively checked in November by a curtailment program instituted by mutual agreement between operators in four of the major fields. This program artificially reduced daily production to approximately the same daily figure as prevailed in December, 1928. The large amount of deep drilling during the later part of 1928 and during 1929 has established a potential, however, which is far in excess of refinery needs in the state. Low prices for crude oil which prevailed in California during 1928 continued during 1929. General curtailment continued in the older fields in San Joaquin Valley. The number of wildcat and exploratory wells drilled throughout California was materially increased, but no major field was discovered unless the recent bringing in of the Ohio Oil Co.'s Recreation Gun Club No. 1 well, near Venice in Los Angeles Basin, during the closing days of 1929 results in such a field. Significant developments during 1929 were: (1) The discovery of three deeper zones in the Santa Fe Springs field known as the O'Connell, Clarke, and Hathaway; (2) Kettleman Hills development and unanimous agreement to restrict production; (3) developments along the Santa Barbara Coast and the drilling of tideland permits; (4) extensions of some of the older producing areas in the San Joaquin Valley; (5) the Lawndale and Santa Barbara Mesa structures, the former discovered in Los Angeles Basin in 1928, the latter in Santa Barbara County in 1929, proved to be failures; (6) intensive exploration throughout the state and the drilling of a large number of deep wildcat wells; (7) discovery of oil by the Ohio Oil Co. in the Los Angeles Basin at Venice; (8) Long Beach and Ventura Avenue fields maintained steady production throughout the year. As a natural sequence to the discovery of high-gravity oil fields in Kettleman Hills and at Elwood in 1928, a tremendous amount of exploratory work was done in 1929 in areas underlain by rocks of lower Miocene age, particularly along the Santa Barbara Coast area, the San Joaquin Valley, and the Salinas Valley, where the Vaqueros and Temblor sands were considered to hold possibilities for production.

Jan 1, 1930

By Carl Beal

THE most important factors that should be given consideration in valuation of oil land are: (1) the amount of oil the property will produce; (2) the amount of money this oil will bring (based upon the future prices of oil) ; (3) development and production costs; (4) the rate of interest on the investment; (5) the retirement or amortization of invested capital; and (6) the salvage or "scrap" value of the equipment when the property is exhausted. These factors are of varying importance, and some of them may not enter all valuation problems, but most of them should be given consideration in any valuation even though only a rough estimate of the value of the property is desired. The value of a property may be changed over-night by the completion of important test wells, by the sudden water flooding, or by a change in the price of oil. The best a petroleum engineer can give is the value of the property under the conditions existing at the time the appraisal is made with a fair forecast of future action of the wells and of the price of oil. Our experience in the scientific valuation of oil lands is not broad and there is very little published information on the subject; it, therefore, becomes necessary in studying such problems to form comparisons with the factors involved in the valuation of mines-the closest parallel. One of the reasons for the lack of substantial progress in oil-land valuation methods has been the necessity of making an estimate of the future production of the oil property to be valued. Oil men and accountants have not generally conceded that such estimates could be made with any degree of accuracy. It has been shown, however, in several recent publications that with certain data available reasonably close estimates can be made. The accuracy of an appraisal depends chiefly on the accuracy of the estimates of future production and of the future price of oil. The accuracy of the former is sometimes necessarily based on geological inferences. Geology is not an exact science and geological data in connection with oil production cannot always be mathematically evaluated.

Jan 9, 1919

By Elliott J. Roberts

In spite of the fact that the percentage of true colloids in an ore grind is very small,' these pulps exhibit many of the properties of true colloidal suspensions. A quartz particle, appreciably finer than 10 microns in diameter, has a settling rate so low that at a dilution of 5:l or over, the capacity of a settling tank to settle such particles would be uneconomical if the individual particle rate prevailed. However, by grouping the finer particles into aggregates or flocs, the settling rate can be increased to an economical value. The colloidal chemistry of pulp thickening is thus chiefly concerned with particles having diameters of between 1 and 10 microns, although particles as coarse as 40 microns in diameter are more or less involved. These particles must be associated in such a manner that they settle at an economical rate and give a clear, supernatant liquid or overflow. The treatment of the subject may be divided into three phases, cach phase having a more or less different colloidal aspect. The first phase is the problem of getting the pulp or suspension into the proper condition of flocculence; the second is the behavior of the flocculent pulp in its initial and intermediate stages of settling; the third is the behavior of the flocs in the find period of settling or thickening stage. Let us look first into the methods and mechanism of obtaining the flocs and then consider their behavior and properties. Flocculation Colloids are merely ordinary substances reduced to a very small particle size, the upper limit being placed by definition at 1 micron (0.001 mm.) diameter by the soil chemists and at from 0.2 to 0.1 micron by various other colloid chemists. The lower limit is reached only when the particles approach molecular dimensions. The term L'colloid" should not necessarily imply lack of crystallinity. Particles as small as 0.01 to 0.02 micron give perfect X-ray patterns, while with 0.005 micron particles the bands on the powder photograph are merely broaderled and diffused.2

Jan 1, 1935

By T. M. Chance

THe necessity of adopting improved methods of bituminous-coal cleaning at many collieries is recognized by all familiar with the requirements of the various bituminous markets, the approaching exhaustion of the relatively small areas of inherently high-grade coal, and the difficulties encountered in maintaining a uniform grade of shipped coal. Many coals lose much of their market value by degradation in size, and, in any event, if the cleaning .process is to contemplate wetting the coal the minimum amount of fines should be produced to prevent sludge losses and the difficulties resulting from the moisture content of the wet fines. Hence, it is desirable to bypass the finer coal dry, if this can be done without too great increase in impurities in the final product. This procedure has given excellent results at washeries at Steelton and in the Birmingham district. If the raw fines are too impure to permit admixture with the washed coal, it may be desirable to use dry methods, such as the pneumatic table, rather than to wet an excessive amount of such fine material. The bituminous-coal cleaning plant should therefore: (1) Treat the raw coal in as large lump as possible and without sizing; (2) eliminate degradation of pure coal in the washing process; (3) avoid wetting the fines, if possible; (4) produce washed coal practically free from mechanically included impurities; (5) crush the refuse and retreat, if much intergrown coal and refuse are present, rather than precrush the entire feed. Ordinary gravimetric methods of concentration, whether hydraulic or pneumatic, will not meet all of these requirements, as the large lump includes those sizes now sent to the picking tables, if it is desired to treat material of such size. I do not know of any prior commercial method, based on the falling velocity, coefficient of friction or resistance to fracture, that permits the production of clean coal varying in size from, say, 10-in. lump to 1/16-in. mesh. The effect on the specific gravity of any given coal as a result of variations in ash and pyritic sulfur content is well known; in fact, it has been made use of in commercially ascertaining ash content by deter-

Jan 1, 1924