Search Documents

By W. J. C. Venter

The use of activated carbon to improve the selectivity in the separation of base metal minerals from bulk concentrates played an important role in the development of separation techniques employed at Tsumeb and Kombat mines. The Kombat mine, owned and operated by Tsumeb Corp. Ltd., is located in the Otavi Valley in the northern part of South West Africa, approximately 213 air miles north of Windhoek and 38 air miles south of Tsumeb, at latitude 19° 43'S and longitude 17º 41'E. The mine is linked to all major centers by both national railroad and tarmac highway systems which pass right through the town. The Otavi Minen- and Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (OMEG) mined ore on the farm Asis from 1908-1925. Tsumeb Corp. Ltd. acquired the mineral rights in 1947, started diamond drilling in 1954 and commenced mine development in 1960. The mill started production in 1962 when proven ore reserves were 3,378,084 st containing 2.85% Cu and 2.90%Pb. Annual production of 248,411 st was increased in May, 1967 to the rate of 422,990 st, which was still being maintained in 1971, when ore reserves stood at 3,054,701 st of grade 1,91% Cu and 2.5% Pb.

Jan 4, 1973

By Paul F. Kerr

QUARTZ of a certain kind, is one of our strategic minerals, and Brazil is probably the one important available source. Crystals of quartz of suitable size and perfection for piezoelectrical application are rare; their most outstanding use is in radio work. Clear quartz, or "crystal," free from twinning, cracks, foreign particles of other disturbing lines of growth, and gaseous or liquid inclusions, is cut into plates which provide excellent control of frequency in broadcasting. The squares or rectangles are less than a millimeter in thickness and ordinarily on the order of 1 in. along each side. They are cut at definite angles with respect to the axes of the crystal, and ground with opposite surfaces parallel. Each small slab must be a section of one crystal, uniform throughout in atomic alignment. The thickness of the chip controls the frequency of a broadcast and it is most important to have the plates oriented and ground with utmost precision. Opposite surfaces are parallel to within 0.001 mm. and expansion or contraction due to the temperature is limited to one part in a million.

Jan 1, 1942

By C. H. Jr. Herty

IT Is well known that manganese will desulfurize molten iron through the formation of manganese sulfide, which, being only slightly soluble in the metal, rises to and enters the slag where it remains as such (mixer slag) or is converted partly or wholly to calcium sulfide (basic open¬hearth slag). The reaction by which manganese sulfide is formed is Mn + FeS = MnS + Fe. This reaction is generally considered to be reversible, although McCance1 states- that such is not the case. The experimental work was carried out to confirm the results of Rohl2 as to the reversibility of the reaction. Six trials are herein considered. In each 200 grams of electrolytic iron free from manganese and sulfur were melted in a pure zirconia crucible in a carbon resistance electric furnace. To the melted iron in runs 2, 3 and 4 metallic manganese and manganese sulfide were added to give 1, 2 and 4 per cent. manganese respectively, with 0.50 per cent. of sulfur in each. In runs 5, 6 and 7, metallic manganese andiron sulfide to give the same proportions of manganese and sulphur as in runs 2, 3 and 4, were added. The melts were held molten in the furnace for an hour and then cast into small ingots.

Jan 2, 1925

By Henry A. Wentworth

(New York Meeting, February, 1912.) ELECTROSTATIC separation of ores in its present form is generally known as the Huff' process from the name of Charley H. Huff, of Boston, Mass., through whose constant and persistent labors (with the invention of Clinton E. Dolbear as a basis) the successful commercial process embracing separative machinery and the various electrifying devices has been developed step by step, and the finances for the long period of development provided, and the method finally established and recognized throughout the world as an important and successful addition to the ore-dressing department of metallurgy. The permanent field-success of electrostatic separation began in 1908 with a 20-ton Huff experimental mill built specially for the purpose by the American Zinc, Lead.& Smelting Co., in Platteville, Wis., a plant which was a success from the start and was gradually increased in capacity as the market-conditions warranted to 100 tons of concentrates per day. Much credit is due to the above-mentioned company for its initial venture, and for its assistance in applying the process to field use. Prior to 1908 electrostatic separators had been installed and operated (but for a comparatively short time, however) in a number of places; some under the patents of Mr. Dolbear by himself and associates, and some under the patents of Lucien I. Blake and Lawrence N. Morscher, by W. G. Swart, mining engineer, of Denver, who has always been a courageous advocate of electrostatic separation. Due to the difficulties experienced in the generation of the electrical charges, the primitiveness of the separators, the wooden construction instead of iron as at present, the lack of control of the electrical fields and other difficulties overcome by the later inventions of the Huff Electrostatic Separator Co.,

Jun 1, 1912

World Petroleum Consumption. By V. R. GARFIAS AND R. V. WHETSEL. (Trans, vol 107). A tabulation showing world consumption of gasoline, kerosene, gas and fuel oil, lubricants, and miscellaneous petroleum products by counties in the years 1931, 1932 and 1933 , Totals are given; for instance, Cuba consumed 3,998,000 bbl of all petroleum products in 1933, in 1933; the world consumed 1,366,291,000 bbl. of all petroleum products, etc. Domestic Production. Annual Symposium of Petroleum Division, February Meeting, 1934 (Trans, vol. 107. 181 pages.) The symposium consists of reports on petroleum and gas developments and production in the producing states of the United States. This year the statistical information is presented in a new and far more comprehensive form. The reports on domestic production are as follows: Arkansas, by B C Craft; California, by V H. Wilhelm and H. W. Miller, Colorado, by C. E. Shoenfelt, Illinois, by A H Bell, Indiana, by W. N Logan and P. Simpson; Kansas, by Marvin Lee; Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia, by V. C Smith; Louisi¬ana, by B C Craft, Michigan, by Theron Wasson; Mississippi, by B C Craft; Missouri, by F C Greene, Montana, by H. N Hickey, New Mexico, by C. E Shoen¬felt and D E Winchester, New York, by D. H. Newland, Oklahoma, by L. G. E. Bignell, J 0 Lewis and E. A Hanson, Pennsylvania, by G H Fancher, Tennessee, by L. C Glenn, Central Texas, by R B. Kelly and P R Martin, East Texas, by A R. Denison, Gulf Coast, by L P Teas, North Texas, by H B Fuqua and B. E Thomp¬son; North Central Texas, by J M. Armstrong, Panhandle, by R H Lynn and T. C. Craig, Southwest Texas, by 0. G. Bell; West Texas, by C W. Reith, Utah, by E S Shaw, Wyoming, by J G Bartram.

Jan 1, 1935

By E. C. Wright

FOR many years the cost of making pig iron and steel in the Birmingham district has been about the lowest in the United States. The close proximity of the important raw materials such as coal, iron ore, limestone, and the large available scrap supply made it possible to assemble all of the important ingredients necessary for steel- making with only nominal costs for transportation. Both iron ore and coal were being mined in this district at one time for about $1 per ton from underground operations. At that time mining wages were low everywhere and the labor rate in the South was considerably below that of other mining districts. This situation persisted until the emergence of labor unions as an economic and political force, emigation of southern labor to northern plants, and continued growth of industry in the South in the years following the depression of 1932. Since that time union organizing of miners and steel workers throughout the nation has increased labor costs in mining and steelmaking. This influence has been felt particularly in underground mining operations since the proportion of labor cost to total cost is still high. The previous advantage in basic labor rate in the South has been almost entirely eliminated by the equalization of labor rates in basic industries by national unions. Since 1945 these influences have been especially noticeable in increasing the cost of mining coal and iron ore in the South. The northern steel districts are still being largely supplied with iron ore from the Minnesota open-pit mines and the cost of this ore has not increased nearly as much as the cost of ore obtained from underground mines in Birmingham. A similar situation exists in coal mining; the thinner seams in Alabama are not so amenable to mechanization as the northern mines and, as a result, the output per man-day in southern mines is only about three tons of coal as compared to five or six tons per man-day in the large captive mines of West Vir-

Jan 1, 1950

By J. J. Bodmer

THE four different modes, more or less practiced for subdividing slag (that is, producing slag sand), are the following : 1. Crushing the slag from the lump in Blake's crusher, by edge runners or other suitable means. 2. Blowing water, steam, cold or hot air, into the stream of viscous slag whilst it runs from the furnace. So treated, the slag takes

Jan 1, 1874

By C. K. Leith

THE resolution presented at the Annual Meeting of the A.I.M.E., calling on Congress to provide now for postwar accumulation of mineral stock piles under Government control, expresses, I think, the nearly unanimous view of the mining industry. As a result of the trying experiences of the first World War, Mr. Baruch, in his report of Dec. 24, 1919, to the President, urged that steps be taken at once to ensure adequate supplies of raw materials for future emergency. In the twenty years that followed, the same program was vigorously urged on Congress by many individuals and agencies, public and private, including the Secretaries of War and Navy, many members of Congress, the Bureau of Mines, the Planning Committee for Mineral Policy appointed by President Roosevelt, the A.I.M.E., the Mining and Metallurgical Society, and others.

Jan 1, 1943

By F. B. WEEKS

I HAVE chosen for my subject a mining district which in an article published four years ago I referred to in the following words: "One of the un- usual anomalies of mining development and history is that a district having added thirty or more millions of wealth to a principal mining state, situated within four to six miles of two transcontinental railways and two auto highways, and within 150 miles of the most widely advertised part of the United States, should have been so completely lost sight of that probably not one mining man in ten can tell offhand where it is situated." But this district never was a dead one: it was only slumbering. During the past four months, day by day, it has been emerging from that state of slumber.

Jan 1, 1929

By Frederic K. Bunton

The smelting plant of the British Columbia Copper Co. at Greenwood, B. C., now closed because of the decline in the price of copper due.to the European war, is of special interest to metallurgists for several reasons. It was successfully smelting in blast furnaces the lowest grade copper ore of all plants in America. In order to do so, it had to run at very hig~; efficiency, which necessarily required a large tonnage per square foot of hearth area, together with the minimum amount of labor and other costs. The furnaces smelted daily 2,250 tons of ore (6.62 tons per sq. ft. of hearth area), carrying 0.85 per cent. of copper, at a smelting cost of 81.18 per ton. The entire plant required 130 men to operate it and keep up repairs, showing a labor efficiency of about 17.5 Dons per man per day. In the present paper, the method of obtaining these results is shown. Most of the information contained in this description I obtained as Assistant Superintendent, during the two years preceding the present shutdown. Other sources of information to which I am indebted are: The British Columbia Copper Co., Ltd., by ALfred W. G. Wilson, in The Copper Smelting Industry of Canada; Greenwood Smelting Worlrs, by J. E. McAllister, Engineering and Mining Journal, vol. xci, pp. 1011 to 1015 (May 20, 1911); and Description of the Copper Smelter of The British Columbia Copper Co., by W. L. Bell, in Transactions of the Canadian Mining Institute, vol. xvi, pp. 151 to 154 (1913). II. Location and Connections The smelter of this company is about half a mile south of GreenGood, in the Boundary district of British Columbia, on the Columbia & Westerg branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was originally built in 1900 by Paul Johnson, to handle 600 tons of ore a day in two small furnaces of 300 tons capacity; but in 1907 the old furnaces were torn out, the plant was remodeled, and three blast furnaces, 48 by 240 in. at) the tuyéres, were installed. In 1910, two of these were enlarged to 51 by

Jan 1, 1916

By Tenney, J. B.

DEVELOPMENT of complex ores in the south- western part of the Rocky Mountain region has been retarded by the prohibitive distance to the nearest suitable zinc treatment plants. In the north- western and central Rocky Mountains the building, cluring tlie past decade, of electrolytic zinc plants at Anaconda, Great Falls, Trail, and Burke has tremendously stimulated the mining and exploiting of such .ores, greatly increasing the production of lead, zinc, copper, gold, and silver. Selective flotation permits the making of high-grade led, copper, and zinc concentrates. If the zinc concentrates could be made free from lead, copper, gold, and silver, they could be shipped economically to Mid- Western retort plants designed for such concentrates. Unfortunately a considerable proportion of the precious metal content accompanies the zinc blende in the ores of this region. Although some of it is saved in 'retort residues, the treatment cost is thereby increased so materially and the proportion saved so small, that .concentrates of ordinary grade cannot stand treatment charges and freight.

Sep 1, 1928

By Leland Wemple

PREVIOUS to 1915, zinc refining had not become a general practice among the zinc smelters in the United States. Such refining as had been carried on was confined chiefly to remelting very high-leaded zinc, such as third-draw metal from the retort furnaces, and slab dross, and hard spelter from galvanizing pots. In this remelting operation, the lead and iron were settled out and the refined spelter obtained graded fifth class, i.e., Prime Western. Owing to the presence of lead in most zinc ores, the bulk of the spelter produced by direct smelting is of this Prime Western grade. Careful selection of ores of low lead content gave purer grades of spelter, i.e., Brass Special and Intermediate; and smelters which could secure ores carrying practically no lead produced high-grade spelter. Thus, in general, the grade of spelter produced by any smelter was pre-determined by the purity of the ore it could obtain. The needs of the warring nations of Europe for enormous quantities of cartridge and other high-grade brass resulted in such a demand for the purer grades of spelter that the available supply of lead-free and low-lead ores could not produce the quantity required. Prime Western grades went begging, so to speak, while high grades sold at times from 5 to 15 c. per pound over the Prime Western market. The great demand, coupled with the wide market margin, which permitted the inherent costs and losses, resulted in the conversion of the lower grades into higher grades by processes of refining. These conditions also accentuated the development and size of the electrolytic plants, which were being worked out at the time this increased demand for pure grade of metal occurred. The electrolytic process, where available, produces a higher grade of spelter from impure ores than does the fire process; a large portion of those impurities in the ore, which by the distillation process would be carried into the spelter, are removed in the leaching of the ores and the purification of the solutions. The refining process, adopted at a number of smelters for the purpose of converting low-grade spelter into "grades suitable for brash was that of redistillation.

Jan 11, 1917

By W. R. Ingalls

DUPING the last two years, and especially during the last six months, a number of important articles upon the new methods for the desulphurization of galena have been published in the technical periodicals, particularly in the Engineering and Mining Journal and in Metallurgie. I proposed for these methods the type-name of "lime-roasting" of galena as a convenient metallurgical classification,' and this term has found some acceptance. The articles referred to have shown the great practical importance of these new processes, and the general recognition of their metallurgical and commercial value which has already been accorded to them. It is my present purpose to review broadly the changes developed by them in the metallurgy of lead, in which connection it is necessary to refer briefly to the previous state of the art. The elimination of the sulphur-content of galena has been always the most troublesome part of the smelting-process, being both costly in the operation and wasteful of silver and lead. Previous to the introduction of the Huntington-Heberlein process at Pertusola, Italy, it was effected by a variety of methods. In the treatment of non-argentiferous galena concentrate, the smelting was done by the roast-reduction method (roasting in reverberatory furnace and smelting in blast-furnace); the roast-reaction method, applied in reverberatory furnaces; and the roast-reaction method, applied in Scotch hearths 2 Precipitation-smelting, simple, had practically gone out of use, although its reactions enter into the modern blast-furnace practice, as do also those of the roast-reaction method.

Sep 1, 1906

Arkansas Geological Survey, Rooms 443-447 State Capitol, Little Rock, Ark George C Branner, State Geologist A list of available publications will be sent upon request Publications issued by the U. S Bureau of Mines, U S Geological Survey and Oklahoma Geological Survey, pertaining to' Arkansas, are also available through this Survey office. Annual Reports may be had for the following years. 1890, 3147, 1891, 81 35; 1892, $1 10 Other available publications: The slates of Arkansas, by A H. Purdue, with a bibliography of the geology of Arkansas by John C Branner (1909), $1.10, Coal mining in Arkansas, pt 1, by A A Steel (1910), 3175, An outline of the physical features of Arkansas, by George C Branner (1927), free, An outline of the metallic minerals of Arkansas, by George C Branner, free, Bulletin 3, The geology of the Arkansas Paleozoic Area, by Carey Croneis (1930), $3 20, Bulletin 4, St Peter and older Ordovician sandstones of northern Arkansas, by A W Giles (1930), $1 95, Bulletin 5, A geomagnetic survey of the bauxite region of Arkansas, by Noel H Stearn (1930), 80 cents, Information Circular 1, A barite deposit in Hot Spring County, by B Parks and George C Branner (1932), $1, Information Circular 2,

Jan 1, 1933

By F. T. Havard

(Canal Zone meeting, November, 1910.) I. INTRODUCTION. THE present truce in litigation between Western smelting and ranching interests gives opportunity for a summary of the results achieved by metallurgists in condensing fume and de-acidifying furnace-gases. In the absence of complete records of past experiments, there has been a good deal of unnecessary duplication of attempts and' failures. Yet, especially under the recent policy of our large corporations, looking to the economic recovery of the values of by- and waste products, original and, in some cases, effective measures have been developed by American metallurgists. In the case of Bliss vs. the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., the Montana Supreme Court, recognizing the progressive efforts made to render the flue-gases innocuous, and the value to the community of the smelting company's operations, refused to hamper its work, and returned a verdict in favor of the defendant. In the trial, the experimental firms of the company in the so-called "affected region" were proved to be thriving perfectly, showing that immunity was guaranteed to vegetation and stock by the wide distribution of the sulphurous acid gas in the dry air of Montana. Indeed, L. S. Austin has proved that by the time the fume is 4,000 ft.. distant from the stack, the percentage of sulphurous acid has been diminished from 2.28 to 0.00045; and Angus Smith has shown that rain must contain 40 parts per million of free acid before vegetation is affected. The arsenic in the stack-gases is but a very small part of the original content of the ore, of which 80 per cent. and over is rejected in the concentrator and furnace waste-products or recovered in the flues. Nevertheless, neither the peace in Montana nor the armistice

Aug 1, 1910

Spencer Gulf takes off from the Great Australian Bight cutting a 200 mile deep wedge of water into the South Australia coastline. A pale winter sun shines yellowly on the choppy surface of this body of water which is progressively more salty as it approaches Port Augusta at the head of the Gulf. Once Port Augusta thrived as a grain port and the speedy clipper ships began or ended their legendary races there. On the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, farm land spreads away from the water's edge. The western side of the gulf meets marginal grazing land of acacia tree and salt bush. Part way down the gulf, there are two industrial towns facing each other from opposite shores; Port Pirie on the east and Whyalla on the west. These towns are like half brothers, the common parent being the founders of Broken Hill Pty. Ltd., (BHP) who began lead smelting at Port Pirie and discovered iron ore near Whyalla needed for the lead smelting process. The iron deposits later became the inspiration for BHP's iron and steel business.

Jan 10, 1964

By John V. Beall

BROMO Seltzer blue has gone to war. The blue of the Bromo Seltzer bottle is a product of cobalt, the Nation's No. 1 strategic metal. When the National Production Authority, on Nov. 21, 1950, ordered a 70 pct cutback in domestic use of cobalt, a stab of pain was felt in the hearts of the glass, porcelain enamel, steel, paint, pottery, and electrical and electronic equipment industries. The reason: A full-scale wartime economy with astronomical requirements for jet engines, high velocity projectiles, armor plate, electronic equipment, and the many products needed to win a war. There is little potential comfort for cobalt users in nonessential manufacturing, and the military will be pinched for optimum supplies of the metal. However, if proper measures are taken immediately and current plans are completed, in two years there will be far more cobalt available than ever before. When normal times return, cobalt supplies should be sufficient to meet peacetime military requirements, and greatly expanded domestic requirements that will result from new technological development for wartime but adaptable to peacetime products. The pres-

Jan 1, 1951

By Gordon MacVean

THE adoption of rock dusting, as a safety measure, has made notable progress in the West Virginia coal mines since May, 1925. At that time there were but two mines in the State that were thoroughly rock dusted, mines No. 2 and No. 12 of the Boone County Coal Corp., at Sharpless. Since then it is probable that 75 per cent of the coal operators in the State have given consideration at one time or another to rock dusting. This growth of interest followed the meetings of the various mining institutes all over the country, during the summer of 1925, at which papers were presented, drawing the attention of the coal mining operators to the merits of this safety measure. Yet outside of the experience with rock dusting at the Old Ben Coal Corp., of Southern Illinois, and the Carbon Fuel Co., of Rains, Utah, there had been no actual occurrence in the coal mines of the United States, which could be taken as positive evidence of the efficacy of rock dusting in the prevention of the propagation of coal dust explosions. The U. S. Bureau of Mines, however, had run innumerable tests under conditions which closely approximated actual coal mining conditions and had clearly shown that rock dusting was effective.

Jan 1, 1926

Upon the recommendation of its Technical Committee, The Com-pressed Air Society has adopted the following definitions of, certain terms. Displacement.-The displacement of an air compressor is the volume displaced by the net area of the compressor piston. Capacity.-The capacity should be expressed in cubic feet per minute, and is the actual amount of air compressed and delivered, expressed in terms of free air at intake temperature and at the pressure of dry air at the suction. Volumetric Efficiency.-Volumetric efficiency is the ratio of the capacity to the displacement of the compressor, all as defined above. Compression Efficiency.-Compression efficiency is the ratio of the work required to compress isothermally all the air delivered by an air compressor to the work actually clone within the compressor cylinder, as shown by indicator cards, and may he expressed is the product of the volumetric efficiency (the intake pressure and the hyperbolic logarithm of the ratio of compression), all divided by the indicated mean effective pressure within the air cylinder or cylinders.

Jan 8, 1918

By E. C. Houston

The phosphate ores mined in middle Tennessee typically consist of granular rock phosphate particles disseminated in a clayey matrix. In the TVA plant near Columbia, Tenn., the phosphate ore is mined, made into a slurry with the addition of a small amount of sodium hydroxide as dispersant, and treated in a hydroseparator to remove minus 10 micron material. The hydro-separator underflow, comprising a rough concentrate, is transported by pipeline to the plant; the hydro-separator overflow, comprising a tailing, is flocculated by addition of calcium sulphate and is discharged to settling ponds at a rate of about 1400 gpm. Sedimentation in the ponds produces a clarified effluent, which may be recycled for use as process water or discharged to surface drainage. This method of tailing treatment is not entirely satisfactory since poor sedimentation characteristics of the tailing result in poor ultimate utilization of pond storage volume.

Jan 1, 1949