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By K. S. Benson

DEPLETION is a subject of vital importance to the mining industry. Yet, in spite of its importance, its significance is not generally understood. The purpose of this discussion is to clarify the main aspects of the subject from the viewpoint of a metal mine taxpayer. To define the term depletion, it is necessary to distinguish among its various uses. In the economic or geological sense, depletion means the exhaustion of a natural resource. A mineral deposit is a wasting asset and once exhausted is nonrenewable. Millions of years were needed to produce an ore deposit, which may be consumed in a few years and which cannot be replaced except by the discovery of new sources of supply. The wasting asset feature of the mining industry has a vital bearing on the impact of the Federal Income Tax Law on this industry. This is recognized in the law by the various provisions dealing with the depletion allowance, and in this sense the term depletion has an income tax meaning. Depletion from the tax viewpoint means the statutory deduction from gross income designed to permit the return to the taxpayer of the capital consumed in the production and sale of a natural resource. The mining enterprise realizes income on the extraction and sale of minerals and a portion of the income realized represents capital consumed. As the resource is exhausted, the mining enterprise approaches the end of its existence unless new sources of supply can be acquired. Depletion from the tax viewpoint is a creature of statute with limited meaning and application and, in essence, is a method for amortizing the value of the primary asset of a mining enterprise. An example can best illustrate the significance of depletion from the tax viewpoint. Compare a manufacturing concern with a mining company. In computing taxable income of a manufacturing concern, consideraion is given to the cost of producing such income, the principal costs being capital investment for plant and equipment, labor, and raw materials going into the products produced. A mining enterprise, on the other hand, is faced with a different problem because its principal asset is the natural resource which it is producing. In computing its taxable income, consideration is given also to its capital investment for plant and equipment and the cost of labor; but in addition, recognition must be given to the fact that a portion of the proceeds realized on the sale of mineral represents capital. Without such recognition, the mining company would be taxed not on income but on capital and income, and Congress has never intended that capital be taxed as income. Thus, when depletion allowable is referred to in the mining industry, it means the statutory deduction allowable in computing taxable income of a mining enterprise. For guidance the appropriate provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, Income Tax Regulations, and the judicial decisions interpreting and construing them must be examined. It is important to identify and distinguish three methods of determining the allowance for depletion: 1—Cost depletion, 2—Discovery depletion, and 3—Percentage depletion. The basic method is cost depletion and in addition some taxpayers may be entitled to use discovery depletion and other taxpayers may be entitled to use percentage depletion. Discovery depletion and percentage depletion, however, are mutually exclusive and if a taxpayer is entitled to percentage depletion, he is not entitled to discovery depletion. By statute, a metal mine taxpayer is entitled to use cost depletion or percentage depletion, whichever produces the highest deduction. Thus, discovery depletion is merely of academic interest to such taxpayers and to most others. Briefly and broadly speaking, these methods of determining depletion may be described as follows: 1—Cost Depletion: Under this method, the allowable deduction for depletion is based upon the cost of the particular deposit to the taxpayer, unless the deposit was owned prior to Mar. 1, 1913, in which case the taxpayer may use the fair market value of the deposit on that date or actual cost, whichever is higher. This method is sometimes described as basis depletion or adjusted basis depletion, but in this discussion it will be referred to as cost depletion. 2—Discovery Depletion: Under this method, the allowable deduction for depletion is based on the fair market value of the deposit at the date of discovery or within 30 days thereafter and was originally designed to take into account deposits discovered subsequent to Feb. 28, 1913. 3—Percentage Depletion: Under this method, the allowable deduction for depletion is based on a specified percentage of the income realized during the taxable year from a particular property. As stated, the concept of depletion is based upon the exhaustion of a natural resource as distinguished, for example, from the concept of depreciation based on the exhaustion of property used in trade or business. From the tax viewpoint, depletion first became important in the administration of the Corporation Tax Act of 1909, which provided for an excise tax on net income. As soon as this act went into effect, mining taxpayers attempted to claim a deduction for depletion in computing net income although there was no specific mention of a deduction for depletion in the statute. The courts in these cases uniformly held that the statute did not permit an allowance for depletion in computing net income and also held that the provision permitting a reasonable allowance for depreciation did not include depletion. These early cases are quite significant because they establish the principle that the

Jan 1, 1952

CHICAGO SECTION CHAS. H. MACDOWELL, Chairman, LUTHER V. RICE, Vice-Chairman, HENRY W. NICHOLS, Secretary-Treasurer, GEO. P. HULST, ALEX. K. HAMILTON, FREDERICK T. SNYDER, HENRY P. HOWLAND. The Field Meeting of the Chicago Section proved to be the most enjoyable meeting ever held by the Section. It took the form of a visit to the Northern Indiana Industrial District where the day was spent inspecting metallurgical plants in Indiana Harbor and East Chicago and in amusement at the Hammond Country Club. The weather was perfect and about 50 members and ladies attended the meeting. An inspection of the plant of the Inland Steel Co. occupied the morning. The plant was decorated in honor of the occasion and the company provided attractive souvenirs. It was noticed here that many of the ladies displayed an interest in the inspection and an understanding of the processes that would not have shamed professional metallurgists. While the members of the Section seemed to be most interested in the by-product coke ovens and the by-product recovery plant, the ladies enjoyed especially watching the snake-like antics of the red-hot rods in the wire mill. Leaving the steel plant, the Section enjoyed a ride through the district by automobile and arrived at the Hammond Country Club in time for lunch. In the afternoon some of the members inspected the plant of the International Lead Refining Co., at East Chicago, while the rest spent the time at the Country Club in golf, tennis, trap shooting, bridge and other amusements. During the dinner at the Hammond Country Club an informally organized male quartette led the singing in real college boy style. In the evening, E. E. Billow talked on the use of oil burners in metallurgical furnaces, Mr. MacDowell told of the present status of the Potash Industry and the Secretary told of some of the happenings at the Arizona Meeting. HENRY W. NICHOLS, Secretary.

Jan 12, 1916

By Arthur B. Cummins

Mineral fillers are employed in United States industries to the extent of more than seven million tons annually, valued in excess of a hundred million dollars. This substantial usage involves a wide variety of mineral materials. To this may be added products manufactured from minerals, such as carbon black, portland cement, lime or chemically precipitated calcium carbonates, which would add substantially to the total. The purposes for which fillers are used differ considerably. Minerals used as fillers are mostly silicates, silicas, and carbonates as referred to hereinafter. The term "mineral filler" has various meanings in mineral technology and in the arts. Fillers are comparatively inert and their action is mainly physical. Materials that are employed primarily for chemical reactivity, or for pigment or abrasive functions ordinarily would not be considered to be fillers when used for these purposes. Nearly all filler usages are based on advantages which are gained by desired modification of composition properties or by improvements in processing. A simple definition for a filler is an inert material that is included in a composition for some useful purpose. This definition may be amplified or made more specific for each of the filler usages, the major ones of which are: paints, paper, plastics, rubber, bituminous compositions, pesticides and fertilizers. There are in addition a whole host of minor usages. Powdered minerals when employed as components in paints, varnishes and lacquers are considered as extender pigments or low refractive index pigments. In paper, the term loading material as well as filler is used; in pesticides, the terms diluents and carriers connote different functions. For bituminous compositions, rubber and plastics, the usage of the simple word "filler" is more usual, but the designation loading material is sometimes used. Minerals Used as Fillers Most of the industrial minerals, and many rock powders are employed to some extent for different filler uses. These usages vary from year to year depending on availabilities, costs, technologic trends and advancements. For the major applications, however, and for the more particular requirements at any given period, there are general trends which favor a more or less restricted group of filler products for each of the major consumer fields. This selection of materials is determined by the characteristics of the individual filler products, their effectiveness in fulfilling the primary function or functions for which they may be employed, and the cost after incorporation in the finished product. The mineral-bearing materials of major importance as fillers are: limestones, clays of several types, talc, pyrophyllite, mica, barite, diatomite, crystalline silicas, asbestos, slate and other rock dusts. Others of secondary importance include: gypsum, vermiculite, phosphate rock, perlite, and pulverized wastes, such as slag and fly ash. A considerable number of other minerals are used to lesser extent. Among these minor mineral materials are: feldspar, pumicite, wollastonite,18 tripoli, nepheline syenite,6 coal, altered volcanic rock and others.2 Indeed, most mineral materials, when reduced to fine particle size may have some potential usage as fillers, depending on their properties, availability and price. On the other hand, the more exacting filler requirements

Jan 1, 1960

Joseph Esrey Johnson, Jr., had already achieved rare distinction as an able metallurgist, clear thinker, brilliant author, and wise consulting engineer to bankers and operators; he had achieved the essentials of a great career when dcath cut short his activities on Apr. 4, 1919, in the forty-ninth year of his age. He belonged to a family of iron blast-furnace men and mine managers. His father, Major J. E. Johnson, after serving with distinction in the Army of the North, identified himself with the iron mines and blast furnace at Longdale, Va., with which he was connected during almost his entire business life. It is significant, that, during those troublous times of reconstruction in the South, he enjoyed always the affection and respect of his neighbors and associates alike. From him his son obtained not only a thorough training in blast-furnace practice and iron mining, but great personal courage and force of character. His mother, who survives both her husband and sons, possesses rare intellectuality, humor and a tenderness and human sympathy which those who were privileged to know well J. E. Johnson, Jr., recognized beneath his exterior of aggressiveness and will power. In a recently published analysis of the qualities which characterize the world's great men, three traits stand out preeminently; viz., independence, courage, and intellectuality. Each of these characteristics J. E. Johnson, Jr., possessed in extraordinary degree. His early education was obtained under a private tutor at Longdale, and this circumstance probably enhanced a natural tendency to independence of character and individuality which, however, under the control of his unusual power of straight thinking and clear analysis never allowed him to go far astray. It has been said of him that if once he set his mind to a problem, however knotty, he scored a bull's-eye before the subject was dropped. His manner of attacking a subject involved first mastering the details of the available knowledge; then, putting this acquired information to one side, with an untrammeled mind blazing out a path of his own, so clear, so well-defined, and expressed in such simple terms that he illuminated the whole subject without distorting the original data or discussion. His two books, "Blast-furnace Construction in America" and "The Principles, Operation, and Products of the Blast Furnace, "on the iron blast furnace together form the most comprehensive, the most enlightening, and the most useful treatise on the subject ever produced in any language. But his ability did not end with the mastery and elucidation of principles enunciated by his predecessors; his own

Jan 1, 1920

By Dorsey Hager, G. W. McPherson

The rapid increase of water troubles in the Mid-Continent oil fields is causing much alarm. Troubles occur at Towanda, Eldorado, Augusta, Cushing, Blackwell, and Healdton, although they had not been acute in the Mid-Continent field until about two years ago, when the unusual conditions in the deeper oil fields were first encountered. California faced the same situation, but, thanks to aggressive measures, has largely overcome the dangers. The following analysis of water trouble may throw some light on the subject and be of assistance in solving the problems involved. Water Troutles Classified The presence of water in large quantities in oil sands has the following results: 1. Diminishes oil production. 2. Diminishes casing-head gasoline production: (a) By curtailing the gas flow. (b) By making the use of vacuum pumps unsuccessful. 3. Increases lifting costs: (a) By making it necessary to pump large quantities of water, which requires a fast motion and long stroke (third hole). (b) By requiring the use of compressors for air lift. (c) By causing break-downs and delays due to the high speed necessary to pump water. (d) By making it necessary to treat "cut" or emulsified oil. Oil production is seriously curtailed by the presence of large quantities of water. Lease records show that wells are shut down 40 to 60 per cent, of the pumping time where serious water trouble occurs. While a small quantity of salt water may cut the paraffine and keep the oil moving, several hundred feet, or a hole full of water, effectually "kills" the oil and gas. The quick return of wells to production, once the water is shut off, shows how wells have been affected. The killing of gas sands

Jan 1, 1920

By Samuel Daniels

THE Al-Cu-Ni-Mg alloy is much benefited by heat treatment and, in such con¬dition, is preferable to the Al-Cu-Fe-Mg alloy either as cast or as heat-treated, when both are reheated to temperatures of from 400° to 600° F. and compared, cold, with respect to strength and to hardness. The main differences between the alloys do not arise until the reheating temperature exceeds 400° F., above which they gradually soften. This softening is characterized metallographically by the appearance of intragranular precipitate. The Al-Cu-Ni-Mg alloy is weakest and least hard after being reheated at 600° F., the AI-Cu-Fe-Mg alloy at about 700° F. The former starts to reharden at 700° F., the latter at 800° F. There is a tendency for both alloys to lose strength and hardness with prolongation of time at the reheating temperatures of 500° and of 700° F. The Al-Cu-Ni-Mg alloy is considerably stronger and harder than the Al-Cu-Fe-Mg alloy when both are heat-treated and reheated for long periods of time at 500° and 700° F. Although the latter can be made harder initially than the AI-Cu-Ni-Mg alloy by suitable quenching and aging, heat treatment, in general, favors the retention of this initial (strength and) hardness after reheating to a much greater degree in the Al-Cu-Ni-Mg alloy. The percentage of elongation of the two materials in any condition is very small. CERTAIN aluminum alloys have been used for pistons and other parts operating at temperatures up to 650° F. because of their lightness, high thermal conductivity and specific heat, fair strength and hardness at elevated temperatures, excellent machineability, and moderate resistance o corrosion. In the piston, the inertia forces and the bearing loading and with this the vibration are decreased. The piston head functions at a lower temperature (about 200° F. below one of cast iron), so that, because of the lessened tendency toward carbonization and detonation, higher compression ratios may be used. On the other hand, the aluminum alloys do not have the wearing and bearing qualities of cast iron; also they have a large coefficient of expansion, allowance for which must be made in the design.

Jan 2, 1926

By Bruce A. Kennedy

This is an opportune time to examine the disposition of practical rock mechanics in the mining industry. The rock mechanics world has put on steam with publication of a number of books and the organization of a large number of symposia and teaching seminars. SME has just published Stability ill Open Pit Mining. proceedings of a conference held In November 1970 in Vancouver, R.C. R book entitled Planning Open Pit Mines covering the entire range of open pit mining with emphasis on slope stability has just been published by the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. The Thirteenth Symposium on Rock Mechanics was held at the University of Illinois. Urbana-Champaign, during the last week of August. The University of British Columbia's Division of Continuing Education is holding a symposium and specialty seminars on stability in open pit mining during the first week in November. A tremendous planning effort has started to organize the Tl3ii.d Congress of the International Society of Rock Mechanics in Denver in 1974. This meeting is held every four years in the country of origin of the president of the Society. This third congress comes to the U.S.A. with Leonard Obert of the 17. S Bureau of Mines as president of the Society. The previous two were held in Lisbon. Portugal and Belgrade. Yugoslavia.

Jan 1, 1971

By James L. Poole

INTRODUCTION Companies in the mining industry are subjected at times to currency exchange rate risks and interest rate risks. The former occurs any time a firm deals in more than one currency. The latter occurs anytime a firm is financing itself with borrowings that have a floating interest rate (although a fixed rate can be a problem at times). FOREIGN EXCHANGE RISKS There are two general reasons why exchange rate risks (FX risk) can occur: First, a firm may be building a mine or plant in another country where financing for the plan is denominated in funds other than the country hosting the plant. For example, if a Canadian firm is building a smelter in another country which is being financed with Canadian dollars, the C$100 million for labor, which must be paid in the local currency, has subjected the firm to a C$100 million FX exposure risk. If after the cost estimates were made the local currency appreciates 30% against the Canadian dollar, the cost of labor has increased to C$130 million. (Of course, the local currency could also devalue during this period making the labor cost component less than estimated.) The other reason exchange rate risk arises is due to the fact that the costs of production in one country producing minerals may be incurred in one currency while the production is sold in another currency, such as coal being exported from Canada to Japan under contracts denominated in Yen. In this example, the Canadian firm is exporting coal to Japan and being paid in yen in 30 days at a contract price of 100 Y per ton. Furthermore, assume that the mining firm anticipates a depreciation of the yen against the Canadian dollar of 5% in the next 30 days. Therefore, the mining firm stands to lose 5% of the value of its shipment in a month's time not including carrying costs. In both cases, the mining company risks an adverse change in the exchange rate, that is, the currency the company holds may decrease in value relative to the other currency. There are a number of ways to mitigate the exposure to foreign exchange which can be utilized by the mining company. Optimally, a company should try to match all their inflows and all their outflows in the same currency. For example, if a Canadian firm has mining costs and debt service costs both denominated in Canadian dollars then 100% of their receipts would need to be in Canadian dollars. If a Canadian firm has 70% of its cash outflows in Canadian dollars and 30% of its cash outflow in American dollars in the form of a loan amortization then their receipts would need to be 70% in Canadian dollars and 30% in U.S. dollars. This general principle of matching cash receipts and cash costs in the same currency works fine in a perfect world but what of the real world when these cannot be matched? In actual practice, however, the financial markets have developed a number of ways in which foreign exchange risks can he managed or reduced. FORWARD MARKETS One method is to use the forward markets which are made on a world-wide basis by the commerical banks for foreign exchange. If a firm wanted to lock in the current exchange rate for the receipt of a foreign currency at some point in the future, they could do so by contracting on the forward market with a bank selling that foreign currency at the current rate at the future date. For example, assume that a Canadian firm is exporting coal to Japan which would pay yen in 90 days. If a firm wanted to lock in today's exchange rate they could contract with a bank to sell on the forward market yen in 90 days. When the yen was received the contract would be executed by selling the yen to the bank and receiving the previously agreed upon number of Canadian dollars. Generally speaking, the forward market can be used to sell forward about 12 months. The costs of selling (or buying) forward

Jan 1, 1985

Discussion of the paper of Dorsey A. Lyon and Robert M. Keeney, presented at the Butte meeting, August, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 80, August, 1913, pp. 2117 to 2149. C. D. WOODWARD, Butte, Mont.:-We constructed a small blast furnace, and used first carbon electrodes and an alternating current of about 50 to 75 volts. We were able to smelt the material which was fed to the furnace, but we did not carry on experiments far enough to see just exactly what the power consumption was and compare it with the amount of material treated. We found that the blast seemed to help materially in reducing our charge and cutting down our power consumption. There were several other experiments tried at the time, and I do not call to mind now just what they were. We were trying to do away with the carbon electrode and replace it with an iron one, and it also seems to me we tried to use the ore for an electrode; but I believe that the electric furnace in the reducing end is simply a question of British thermal units per kilowatt-hour compared with British thermal units in a pound of coke. Now, if a pound of coke costs us 0.5 c. and a kilowatt-hour costs us in the neighborhood of 1.5 c., I think there is a big advantage in using coke instead of the electrical current for copper reducing. We tried steam, and a number of other methods, to throw copper down, but it has been some time ago and I am not very familiar with them now. The outlook of the experiments did not seem to be very promising, and we took it more as a thermal problem than an electrical one. PROF. JOSEPH W. RICHARDS, South Bethlehem, Pa.:-Mr. Woodward has spoken of the question as a thermal problem. I would call attention to the fact that electric furnaces usually utilize the heat of the electric current at from four to ten times the efficiency with which the heat generated by fuel is utilized; so it will not do simply to compare by thermal units generated. Your total thermal units may cost much less from coke than from electricity, yet you will find the electrically generated thermal units utilized in a properly designed furnace from three to ten times more efficiently than in the combustion furnace. You must make that allowance is comparing the cost of thermal units generated electrically and thermal units from coke.

Jan 11, 1913

By J. B. Cheatham, J. G. Yarbrough

Although adequate removal of cuttings from beneath a drill bit is important for efficient drilling operations, very little basic data are available relative to the fundamentals of chip removal by hydraulic jets. A discussion is presented in this paper of an experimental investigation of the jetting action of hydraulic jets in removing loose particles from the bottom of a cylindrical hole. Conditions for which the jet is no longer capable of removing chips from the bottom of the hole are determined. This situation represents equilibrium between the chip removal force and chip Bolddown forces such as gravity and pressure. In most of the tests loose particles were jetted with water or a water-glycerine mixture to determine the dependence of chip removal on hole size, jet size, height of jet off bottom of hole, flow rate, particle density and fluid viscosity. ,A test with a pressurized mud system indicated that relatively low pressures can completely overcome the removal action of a hydraulic jet. Although the system studied herein is not directly applicable to a rotary drill bit, the work with such simplified systems can provide a better understanding of the chip removal action of jets, and with logical extensions it may provide a reasonable basis for the best use of fluid jets in drilling. INTRODUCTION The primary deterrent to maximum drilling rates is the inability of the drilling system to remove rock cuttings efficiently enough to prevent interference with the drilling action.1-2 The objective of chip removal studies is to permit predicting and controlling removal forces under downhole drilling conditions. Conditions at the bottom of a hole during rotary drilling are exceedingly complex and are not likely to be described in a quantitative way by investigations in terms of the total drilling action until a better understanding is developed of the simplified components of the problem.3 The present study is concerned with the elementary condition of removal of chips by a single central jet. Even this relatively simple model provides mathematical difficulties because of the turbulent nature of the flow from the jet and because of the shape of the bottom of the hole beneath the jet. Theoretical and experimental studies have been made of turbulent jets impinging normally on an infinite body and deductions based on analytical solutions to simplified problems can give some insight into the problem of cutting removal by a jet. However, because of the present lack of understanding of the behavior of the interaction between the fluid jet and the chips being removed, an experimental approach was chosen for the present study. Methods have been developed for maximizing hydraulic horsepower, impact force and jet velocity; but whether maximizing these parameters maximizes chip removal with present drilling bits has not been demonstrated. Simplifying the problem of chip removal may make it possible to develop some understanding of the manner in which the jet velocity is dissipated. Better understanding of a simple case should materially assist in extending analysis to more complicated cases. Thus, we are not concerned in the present study with the rock fracturing process itself but only with the removal of the debris from the bottom of the hole. A problem which is quite similar to the chip removal problem is the suspension of solids in stirred vessels. This problem has been studied by the chemical industry and correlations have been obtained by dimensional analysis which permit the design of mixing vats7 An approach similar to that used in the mixing vat problem is used in the analysis of the jetting data in the present paper. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The test equipment arrangement shown sche-matically in Fig. 1 allows the jetting action to remove particles until an equilibrium height is attained for each combination of hole size, jet size and flow rate.*** Equilibrium conditions require that the removal force is unable to remove additional particles. This balance between holddown and removal forces implies a relationship between the two forces which is constant for the particular system. When the holddown forces are constant,

Jan 1, 1965

By F. X. Tartaron

This paper deals with basic physical phenomena, which when combined and interpreted, lead to the same mathematical equations that describe comminution phenomena. Thus, a physical model is described that corresponds to the mathematical model presented in the writer's previous papers. '12 In the mathematical model, the energy consumed in breakage is related to the volume or weight of material broken and the size of particles broken. The equation E=2.303 Ck-a log x1/x2 was derived by multiplying the volume or weight of each size in an ideal Gates-Gaudin-Schumann size distribution by an energy factor. The product of these two factors gives the energy distribution among the different sizes in a single size distribution. The energy of breakage of a specific constant weight of one size distribution to another size distribution is given by the equation E = constant/kn-1. In this case, where the volume or weight is constant, the energy is proportional to the size factor 1/kn-1. In what follows, a physical theory will be presented showing that the energy consumed in comminution is proportional to the volume or weight of the material broken and to the reciprocal of the size of this material raised to a constant exponent. THE VOLUME FACTOR The atomic theory of matter reveals that in solids, atoms or ions are arranged so as to be in equilibrium at specific distances from one another. Although the atoms or ions are oscillating, there is a definite determinable mean distance between them and this distance is a balance between repulsive and attractive electrical forces. It therefore requires force to separate the atoms or ions and when an outside force is applied, it first produces strain in increasing the distance between the atoms or ions. This strain increases to the breakage limit on application of sufficient force. In brittle materials, there is negligible plasticity and when an elastic limit is exceeded, breakage takes place. The work done is the force applied per unit area times the cross sectional area of the ideal particle multiplied by the maximum strain per unit length at right angles to the area times the length of the particle. Thus the work done is proportional to the area times the length, which is equivalent to the volume of the ideal particle. If more than one feed particle is considered broken, each particle must be subjected to sufficient strain so that the breakage limit of its contained atoms or ions is reached in order for the particle to be broken. Thus, the energy of breakage is proportional to the total volume of the particles broken. If the particles are of different sizes, the size factor must be included to get a correct determination of energy of breakage. In the preceding, it has been assumed that there is a constant binding force between the atoms throughout the volume being strained. This, of course, is not true. It is known that there are many irregularities in the structure of matter and the binding force differs markedly in different portions. But the differences are only discernible by examining extremely small subdivisions of matter. In one order of magnitude of volume, cracks can be discerned separately from non-cracked neighboring material. In a smaller subdivision of volume, lattice dislocations can be isolated. When these situations are brought into focus, mechanisms of their behavior can be learned, leading to a fuller understanding of phenomena that occur in larger scale subdivisions of matter. Very often, however, the mechanisms that operate in small scale subdivisions have negligible effect in those of large scale, and there still is a place for deriving a mechanism for large scale conditions. The quantum theory is extremely valuable for use with photons and electrons, but is of negligible use with ordinary atoms and molecules. This paper deals with relatively large scale subdivisions of volume present in comminution phenomena. Hence, the effects of cracks, lattice dislocations, misplaced atoms, etc., are smoothed out in an average, constant for each relatively large subdivision of volume. This attitude is supported by experience. If two 10 cc samples of the same ore were ground identically, the same product would be obtained. However, if two samples, each a cubic micron, were conceived to be broken, then one sample might contain a crack and the other not, hence a different product would be obtained. Experience shows that ordinary samples used in comminution, behave as though no irregularity existed

Jan 1, 1964

By James W. Shaffer

Aluminum is the most abundant metallic element and forms 8% of the earth's crust. Because of its chemical activity it does not occur in nature in a metallic form but principally in the silicates, feldspar, mica, shale, and clay. Bauxitic raw materials-bauxitic clay, aluminous laterite, and bauxite-develop from these aluminum silicate sources. Bauxite and aluminous laterite are naturally occurring mixtures of aluminum hydroxides and mineral impurities, and they are the major sources of aluminum. End Uses Bauxite is the basic ore of the aluminum industry. It is refined into aluminum hydroxide and calcined for feed stock to electrolytic smelters. Over 90% of the tonnage mined is refined and smelted into aluminum. The total tonnage consumed by other industries is small in comparison, but bauxite and alumina are important for the manufacture of refractories, ceramics, chemicals, abrasives, pharmaceuticals, catalysts, cements, dessicants, and flame retardants. Some aluminum-containing industrial products are made from clays and other materials but the majority originate from bauxite directly or from aluminum hydroxide and alumina refined from bauxite. Lateritic type bauxite is also used as building and decorative stone. Geology Mineralogy and Properties Bauxite is a mineral raw material composed principally of one or more aluminum hydroxide minerals and impurities of silica, iron oxide, titania, and other elements in minor or trace amounts. The important aluminum hydroxide minerals are gibbsite, boehmite, and diaspore. Bayerite, nordstrandite, and tucanite are naturally occurring aluminum hydroxides but are rare and not commercially important. Mixtures of gibbsite and boehmite are common, boehmite and diaspore less common, and gibbsite and diaspore rare. Gibbsite is aluminum trihydroxide. Boehmite and diaspore are aluminum oxide hydroxides and have essentially the same composition, but diaspore has a greater hardness and a more tightly bonded and denser atomic structure. Although not technically correct, the commercial terms trihydrate and monohydrate are frequently used to distinguish types of bauxite. If bauxite is all or nearly all gibbsite, it is referred to as a trihydrate ore; if boehmite or diaspore or a mixture of both are the dominant minerals, the bauxite is called a monohydrate ore. If substantial amounts of both gibbsite and boehmite are present, the bauxite is frequently referred to as a mixed ore. Properties of major bauxite minerals are shown in Table 1. Silica, iron oxides, and titania are major impurities always present in deposits of bauxitic raw materials.. Silica impurities usually occur as clay minerals, micaceous minerals, or quartz, but cristobalite and feldspar are found in some deposits. The most common clay minerals are kaolins; however, illites and chlorites are often found in small quantities. Varying proportions of aluminum, iron, and clay minerals make bauxite, aluminous laterite, ferruginous laterite, and bauxitic clay deposits gradational with each other. Hematite and goethite are the common iron mineral impurities in many bauxites. Magnetite and ilmenite occur in deposits derived from basic igneous rocks. Other iron minerals associated with bauxite are maghemite, pyrite, siderite, and marcasite. The titanium minerals found in bauxites are anatase, leucoxene, rutile, ilmenite, titaniferous

Jan 1, 1983

By Daniel Martin

THE dendritic pattern of steels shown by deep etching is used exten-sively as a guide in the inspection and control of the great majority of steels used in ordnance construction and for many applications in indus-try. The value of macroexamination lies in the fact that it enables a qualified observer to make deductions concerning the general quality of relatively large pieces of metal. Not the least of these general character-istics is the nature and extent of the dendritic segregation in the steel, either in the cast condition or after mechanical or thermal treatments. PREVIOUS WORK Detailed methods for macroetching were outlined by Yatsevitch1 and have been standardized by the American Society for Testing Materials. A comprehensive study of the occurrence, origin, and the chemical and crystalline nature of the dendritic structure was given by Keshian.2 The marked persistence of dendritic segregation in nickel steels is fully recognized and has been discussed by Sauveur and Reed' and by others. Very little, however, has been written on the effect of the various elements on the macrostructure of steels, and the purpose of this report is to submit evidence concerning the influence of chromium, nickel and molybdenum on the macrostructure of some 4 by 4-in. ingots cast and treated under closely controlled conditions.

Jan 1, 1939

By P. O. Metz, E. L. Wiehe, J. S. Foster

BASED on their analyses of growth kinetics, ibbs' and Harris et al.' have recently proposed that the rate of subcritical graphitization of steel is controlled by the rate of diffusion of carbon in ferrite. illert has concluded that this is the rate controlling growth mechanism when the growing graphite particles are relatively large. Harris et al.' also propose that the matrix surrounding a growing graphite particle is plastically deformed to make room for the growing particle. If this plastic deformation does occur, then preferred recrystallization may be observed around the larger particles. If diffusion of carbon in ferrite is rate controlling, then a graphite particle growing in a matrix of, say, tempered martensite or pearlite, should be surrounded by a carbide depleted zone. Thus, the simple metallographic experiments reported here are sufficient to determine whether or not diffusion of carbon in ferrite is the dominant mechanism for the growth of graphite in steel. The present investigation considers graphitization in five alloys. The compositions are given in Table I. Graphitization was carried out at three temperatures: 900°K (627"C), 950°K (677"C), and 990°K ('717°C). Samples were reacted in both the martensitic and the pearlitic initial conditions. In the hypoeutectoid steels, Sets 7 and 8, .and in the hypereutectoid Fe-C binary, Set 6, graphitization was very limited after 1000 hr at temperature. In these samples graphite particles observed were less than 10 p in diam. In the hypereutectoid commercial steels, Sets 1 and 3, large graphite particles (100 p) did not appear until after 250 hr at temperature. The limited number of graphite particles observed and the range of sizes obtained prohibited measurement of growth rates in this investigation. However, in all samples showing graphitization, neithe a carbide depleted zone nor recrystallization was observed. illert's model predicts that diffusion of carbon in ferrite should become dominant for graphite particles larger than about 300 p in diam. The largest graphite particle observed in this investigation was approximately 450 p in diam. No evidence of carbide depletion was noted. Fig. 1 shows a typical graphite particle. This nodule is from an initially pearlitic sample from Set 3 after

Jan 1, 1970

By F. R. Wadleigh

It is generally realized and very often admitted by both producers and consumers of coal that there is great need for a revision of existing commercial classifications, and this will involve, of course, determination of a standard classification and a constant revision of marketing practices as they are affected by coal classification. I recently sent out some 200 letters to producers and consumers with a request for their views on the subject of commercial classification. Nearly all of the replies from both sides were that there was needed some change in the present method. There were three or four dissenting voices but the great majority of opinion was in favor of the formulation of some standard commercial classification. The classifications in commercial use today can best be described as a hodgepodge. They are made upon different bases, have different names and have different ways. There are, for instance, about 11 single bases of classifications as used commercially and some 17 or 18 combination bases. Then there were the Tidewater Pool Exchanges. The classification which they put in force is still used in the tidewater markets and has several different bases of its own. It will be considerable of an undertaking to bring about a change in marketing methods as affected by coal classification but it is well worth doing and I think the committee which has been appointed under the auspices of the American Society for Testing Materials realizes the importance of the subject and is on the way to at least bring about some provision for adjusting matters. By way of starting, each member of the Committee on Commercial Classification has been assigned to a general market district and each member is now engaged in collecting the commercial market practice data for submission at the next meeting of the Committee. About a year ago I made up a list of the commercial classifications in the different markets and the total was 171. The 11 single bases I found used in commercial practice were:

Jan 1, 1930

By G. L. F. Powell

g samples of Cu-20 wt pct Ag alloy have been mdercooled to a maximum of 197°C by melting under a slag of commercial soda-lime glass in a vitreous silica crucible. No grain refinement of the primary copper was observed in samples undercooled to the maximum of 197°C. When the samples contained a small amount of oxygen, the copper dendrites were partially recrystallized at undercoolings greater than 97°C. In previous papers'-3 reporting the grain structure of undercooled silver and copper, it was observed that grain refinement was dependent on both undercooling and oxygen content. Grain refinement occurred in undercooled silver when the degree of undercooling exceeded the range 153" to 175"C, while in Ag-0 alloys (0.12 wt pct) fine equiaxed grains were exhibited when undercooling was greater than 50°C. Similarly, copper samples undercooled as much as 208°C displayed fan-shaped growth from a single nucleation site, while the grain structure of Cu-O alloys (0.08 wt pct) was fine and equiaxed at undercoolings larger than 150°C. Thus the presence of oxygen greatly reduced the undercooling at which grain refinement occurred. It was also observed that the change in grain size resulted from recrystallization and was not due to an enhanced nucleation rate in the liquid-solid transformation. It is possible that the influence of oxygen on recrystallization is due primarily to its presence as a solute element. walker4,' reported that, although a grain size change did not occur in pure nickel until the undercooling exceeded 150°C, small grains were observed in samples of Ni-Cu alloy solidified at small and large degrees of undercooling. Jackson et al.6 suggested that the fine grained structure of the Ni-Cu alloy resulted from the melting off of dendrite arms during recalescence. This remelting process may occur in alloys as a result of segregation during freezing which causes a variation in liquidus temperature from point to point within a dendrite. It was therefore decided to undercool copper with a metallic alloying element to ascertain whether the presence of a metallic solute would have a similar effect to oxygen in inducing grain refinement. A Cu-Ag alloy was chosen, since both metals had been shown to behave similarly on undercooling. The alloy Cu-20 wt pct Ag was selected since the eutectic constituent outlines the initial growth form of the primary copper, so that the as-frozen grain structure is not obscured if subsequent recrystallization occurs. This paper describes the results of undercooling experiments carried out with Cu-20 pct Ag samples undercooled to a maximum of 197°C and the effect of oxygen content on the grain structure of the undercooled samples. EXPERIMENTAL Melting was carried out in a small cylindrical resistance furnace using "fine" silver granulate and oxygen-free high conductivity copper. The procedure adopted was to melt the required quantity of silver in air in a clean vitreous silica crucible for approximately 15 min, freeze, and add granulated commercial soda-lime glass to form a complete surface slag cover, after which the sample was melted and frozen several times to reduce the oxygen content. The glass slag cover was approximately 3 in. thick. Pieces of copper (=50 g) were added to the crucible until the required quantity to make 350-g samples of alloy had been charged. Each piece was added quickly to the crucible which was held at a temperature slightly above the melting point of silver. The piece was quickly pushed beneath the glass to minimize oxidation and any oxide coating usually decomposed before the piece had settled down into the silver. After the full quantity of copper had been added, the melt was stirred with a silica rod to hasten homogenization and a Pt/Pt 13 pct Rh thermocouple enclosed in a vitreous silica sheath inserted for temperature measurement. Heating and cooling curves were recorded on a potentiometric chart recorder fitted with a zero suppression unit. The milli-voltage range of the recorder was adjusted so that temperatures could be read to 1°C. Heating and cooling curves were taken every hour until three consecutive readings gave the same solidus-liquidus range, consistent with the solidus-liquidus range for this alloy composition by reference to Hansen and Anderko.7 Metallographic examination of samples frozen at this stage, failed to show any variation in composition from bottom to top of the ingot. Consequently, it was considered that the melt was homogeneous at this stage and undercooling experiments were then car-

Jan 1, 1970

By Thomas Wright

No symposium on die casting could be complete without consideration of the methods of formula and impurity control. No consideration of control would be complete without discussion of that new tool of the analytical chemist and inspector, the quartz spectrograph. Just as there is an increased appreciation of the possible applications of the die-casting process and of die castings, so too is there, slowly but surely, of the spectrograph. At present the role of the instrument might well be compared with that of brass or magnesium die castings. Neither is as widely understood or known as they will be. Product specifications are increasing and are getting more explicit and often more rigid. The designer, metallurgist and production engineer or superintendent will be forced to depend more and more on the chemical laboratory. Sampling, as well as analyses, testing and inspection problems will grow. The chemical laboratory must meet its increased responsibility and use of the spectrograph will become more common. Advantages of increased precision, greater speed, lessened labor and often lower costs cannot be ignored. It will be the purpose of this paper in part to outline the respective fields of chemical and spectrographic analyses and to indicate where one may overlap the other and in part to indicate certain possible sources of contamination of zinc-base die-cast alloys in particular.

Jan 1, 1935

By T. Reed Scollon

With some uncertainty as to the type, rate and scope of adoption of air pollution control regulations, and with limited information on the availability of low-sulfur fuels, it is possible at best to make only a rough assessment of the impact of such regulations on coal. It is apparent from the following discussion that regulations of the type already effective or being considered, if adopted and enforced on a widespread basis over a short-term period and if substitute fuels were available, both quantitatively and economically, could result in a loss of more than one-half of coal's markets. Depending on the areal sequence of adoption of such regulations, some areas would be able to obtain limited amounts of low-sulfur coals. Others would not. Because of the usually greater distances from the large industrial coal consuming areas to new sources of coal supply, and because of the higher mine prices for low-sulfur coals, the delivered prices of such coals as might be available would be much higher than those for high-sulfur coals. A large and sudden demand for low-sulfur coals would exert further upward pressure on prices.

Jan 1, 1970

By Ming-Kao Yen

S. E. MADDIGAN*—I think Mr. Yen should be complimented on doing a very excellent and a very comprehensive piece of work. I was particularly pleased to note the use of X rays in a somewhat less tedious technique than pole figures. In the past I think many workers have been diverted away from the use of X rays in such investigations because of the large amount of work involved in pole figures if one is dealing with a great number of specimens. The same thing, I think, applies to the determination of orientations by counting of twins which is also a very tedious procedure; as a result several papers which have otherwise been of excellent quality have depended upon etching techniques for determination of orientation. The present paper indicates that the results reported in those previous papers were correct, but I think the use of etching techniques alone is a rather shaky basis for setting up theories in the literature. W. M. BALDWIN, JR.*—This discussion will be a short note of correction and apology. In my discussion of Brick, Martin and Angier's paper I incorrectly reported the orientation of phosphorus deoxidized copper annealed at temperatures. When I learned that Mr. Yen was preparing the present paper I asked that he correct this previous error, which he most graciously consented to do. However, through my ambiguity the correction noted on p. 59 of Mr. Yen's paper is still not the proper one. For this I take full responsibility. The orientation which I observed in phosphorus deoxidized copper at high temperatures is the (112) [111] which agrees with the pole figure given in Fig 8a, on p. 65 of Mr. Yen's paper. Our observations were made on the basis of twin counts rather than X ray determinations and therefore serve as an independent confirmation of Mr. Yen's data. M. K. YEN (author's reply)—The author wishes to thank Dr. Maddigan for his comments in regard to the application of glancing technique to textures. As a matter of fact, considerable work has been done recently in connection with

Jan 1, 1950

By C. A. Pierce

STUDIES of roof and floor movement are of interest to those actively engaged in mining. This is especially true in the case of an entirely new area where there is no precedent for guidance. The potash deposit being mined is in the southeast corner of New Mexico, about 20 miles east of Carlsbad. The deposit was formed by the land-locked, shallow, Permian Sea that extended through parts of western Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, southeastern Colorado, and eastern New Mexico. The saline deposits vary from 500 to 4000 ft. thick. Neither of the companies operating in this area has delimited its com-mercial ore bodies. As all production so far has been from Federal and State leases, the Department of the Interior and the State of New Mexico have a direct interest in the development and extraction of these ore horizons. The ore is composed of an intimate mechanical mixture of sylvite (potassium chloride) and halite (sodium chloride). It lies generally in a horizontal bed varying from 5 to 12 ft. in thickness, and has a cover of approximately 1000 ft., consisting of about 500 ft. of salt beds and 500 ft, of sediments. The immediate mine roof for several feet is principally salt with some potash and clayey material. The next 500 ft. above, from the standpoint of structure, may be considered rock salt with a few inter-bedded potash members. The upper 500 ft. is of sedimentary (Permian and Triassic) origin and contains several water-bearing formations with flows varying from 10 to 500 gal. per minute. This water intensifies the interest in convergence problems as the ore and surrounding for-mations are water soluble. Potash salt (sylvite) and rock salt (halite) are plastic minerals. Plasticity is defined as a "property of solids by virtue of which they hold their shape permanently under the action of small shearing stresses but are readily deformed, worked, or molded under larger stresses."1

Jan 1, 1938