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By Mason K. Banks

A process has been developed which produces spodumene concentrates assaying 6.0 pct Li20 and 0.45 pct Fe203, with 70 to 75 pct recovery of spodumene. Two flotation separations are required: the simultaneous removal of mica, feldspar, and quartz as a froth product using a cationic collector, and the subsequent removal of iron-bearing minerals as a froth product while spodumene is depressed as a tailing.

Jan 2, 1953

By E. D. Gardner

IN 1947 the metal-mining industry . passed through a year of readjustment; catching up on development work has caused production to suffer. Skilled labor has been short in most mining districts, notwithstanding the highest wage rate paid in the history of the industry. The trend has continued toward increased mechanization and refinements in practices and methods to increase the tons produced per man-shift. Improvements in procedures, however, have not kept pace with rising labor rates; and, in general, labor costs per ton mined have steadily increased since the war years. Prices of base metals have been the highest in a generation, but most producing companies can afford to pay the high wages. Capital expenditures have been approved for improvements to increase the output per man, both to reduce unit labor costs and to increase output. Surveys indicate a continuing

Jan 1, 1948

By George E. Roberts

THE gains of society from the state of primitive conditions in the past to the standard of living which prevails in the advanced countries today have been accomplished mainly by the increasing productive capacity of the population under the leadership and services of the engineer. Without improvements in the arts and industries the growth of population tends to place succeeding generations always at a disadvantage. In this country we have been exploiting with reckless prodigality a wealth of soil and minerals and timber that has been in preparation for thousands of years. We know that the prices of all national products have been advancing, and were on a rising scale even before the phenomenal increases resulting from the war. Over against this depletion of natural wealth we have the influence of improvements made in the methods of production and distribution-and the accumulation of wealth in the form of productive equipment. The net result of these opposing influences determines whether society moves forward or backward.

Jan 1, 1926

By K. A. Natarajan, I. Iwasaki

With a platinum electrode the Eh-pH response in aqueous systems follows an empirical relation [Eh = E- 0.059 pH](1) where E usually carries a value between 0.8 and 0.9 v. The same potential (E) is observed with a number of other noble metal electrodes in the absence of surface poisoning and of other well-defined redox couples. Many sulfide mineral electrodes also respond in a similar manner in solutions containing their respective ions over wide pH ranges, especially in the alkaline pH region. Such a parallelism between noble metal and sulfide mineral electrodes points to certain implications of their surface conditions, and the flotation and leaching behaviors of sulfide minerals under aerated conditions may be inferred with respect to the foregoing Eh-pH response. Comparison of Sulfide Mineral and Noble Metal Electrodes [Fig. 1] shows the Eh-pH response of pyrite, galena, chalcocite, and pyrrhotite electrodes, reported by Sato, and some experimental points obtained with a platinum electrode in distilled water. [Eq. 1] is seen to be followed by all these electrodes. It is interesting to note that the response of the pyrite electrode as shown is identical to

Jan 1, 1973

By Dever C. Ashmead

COAL companies in the anthracite region are studying various methods of mining that will permit a considerably shorter life of gangway and therefore a decrease in the maintenance charges. Maintenance charges in the upkeep of gangways where the measures are steeply pitching are high due to the excessive cost of the replacement of timbers and the cleaning up of falls. Therefore, if the length of gangway in the coal beds can be decreased and the mining more concentrated, the life of the coal gangways will be decreased and consequently the maintenance charges will be lower per ton of coal produced. Customary practice in the anthracite region is to drive long coal gangways and to work the breasts as the gangway from which they were driven is advanced.

Jan 1, 1925

By William B. Plank

AN outstanding development in the field of education for the mineral industries during the past year has been an unprecedented eagerness by young men for college training in this field. The enrollment of students in the 53 mineral technology schools in the United States in 1936-'37 reached the all- time high of 7190. This represented an increase of 43 per cent in two years and was about ten per cent of all engineering students. Of these 7190 students only 980 graduated and were available - for positions in the industry. That the supply of graduates did not equal the demand can be substantiated by every school dean and by the personnel agents of many mining, metallurgical, and petroleum companies. Some of these companies last summer inaugurated the plan of employing, for the

Jan 1, 1938

By Frank Rieber

EVERYONE is familiar with the story of the poor Indian and his leaking tepee. He couldn't repair the leak while it was raining, naturally. And when it wasn't raining, where was the incentive? Even if this traditional Indian was apochryphal, his counterparts are certainly alive today, and operating on a world-wide scale. - A recent issue of the Wall Street Journal, for example, carried an impassioned letter from an old cocoa planter, who wants the world to know why the price of cocoa has gone skyrocketing. For years, he says, British and American interests have bought cocoa at the cheapest possible price and, incidentally, from growers willing to sell at that price. Between them, they didn't put enough money back into the business, either to fight disease in the cocoa groves or to plant new cocoa trees. Until new trees are planted and come into bearing, we will be paying exorbitant prices for our cocoa, and getting less of it.

Jan 1, 1948

By Sherwin F. Kelly

GEOPHYSICS may be considered a vice (albeit, I submit, a comparatively harmless one) whose career is aptly described by Pope's lines: Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As to be hated needs but to be seen; Yet too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace. Although there may be some that have not yet succeeded in emancipating themselves from the first stage of horrified contemplation, geophysicists may be duly thankful that there are mining men and geologists that have arrived at a state of apparently irretrievable damnation.

Jan 1, 1936

By Arthur E. Focke

IF a metallurgist employed in an industry producing mechanical parts or assemblies wishes to make the most of his opportunities he will be concerned with every use of metals in that industry. He will not only take part in the testing and treating of the metals used but will assist in their selection and study their behavior in processing and in service. In addition, he will attempt to develop an understanding of the problems involved in the use of the metals in all plant tools and equipment. Metallurgists that follow this course will soon recognize that frequently too little thought is given to the effect of the design of parts on the way the metal in them is expected to behave in service. He will come to realize that changes in the design of a part will often be much more useful than changes in the hardness, strength, composition, or structure of the metals used in them. Does this mean that a metallurgist is out of place in these industries and that he should leave the field to others or be content to fill only a minor role?

Jan 1, 1947

By D. K. Crampton

THE object of this work was to obtain and correlate information on effect of internal stress in variously drawn tubes on several properties. Also, a simple approximate method of comparing types of stress distribution in such variously drawn tubes was sought. There is also included some work on comparison of single and polycrystalline materials and effect of different types of operation and preferred orientation. PREPARATION OF MATERIAL A series of tubes was drawn to study the effect of the type and degree of final reduction on various physical properties and the approximate distribution of stress intensity across the tube wall. The material used all came from a single heat of 70-30 brass melted in a regular production Ajax-Wyatt induction furnace. The analysis of the metal as cast was: copper, 70.36 per cent; lead, 0.04; iron, 0.02; zinc, balance. The material was cast in "shells" with 4 in. outside diameter and 3/4 in. wall thickness. It was drawn part way down according to the usual standard mill schedule and then by suitable individual schedules to finish by a variety of types and degrees of drawing to the same final cases in every instance; namely, 0.750 in. outside diameter by 0.080 in. wall thickness. The exact final draws, together with the percentage area reductions, diameter reductions and gage reductions are given in Table 1.

Jan 1, 1932

By Eric Jette

The nickel-chromium alloys form the base f for many industrial heating alloys, so that this system is of considerable practical importance. The literature on these alloys, however, contains much conflicting evi-dence, not only regarding the solubility limits of the terminal solid solu-tions at different temperatures but even regarding, the number of phases existing in the system. Part of the difficulty undoubtedly arises from the fact that chromium of sufficiently high purity has been available only during the last few years. A second and possibly even more impor-tant difficulty arises from the ease with which chromium reacts with silicon and carbon compounds and the atmosphere to form silicides, carbides, nitrides and oxides. Pilling and kihlgren1 in 1929 reviewed the existing scanty information. They did not consider the diagram by which they summarized the various bits of information to be entirely satisfactory. Matsunaga2 investigated the system by thermal analysis, microscopic examination and other means. Electrolytic nickel of 99.9 per cent purity and thermit chromium containing 0.30 per cent al, 0.40 per cent fe, 0.25 per cent si and 0.04 per cent c were used. A tammann furnace with hydrogen flowing through it was used for melting. Sekito and matsunaga3 reported an x-ray, investigation presumably on these same

Jan 1, 1934

By Robert A. Rapp

The standard molar free energy of formation of MOO,was determined between 750o to 1050o C in galvanic cell measurements involving the solid electrolyte Zr0.85 Ca0.15 O1.85. Use of the reference electrodes Fe + FexO and Ni + NiO Provided two independent determinations of FoMoo2. The data may be represented by the equation FMoO2 = -137,500 +40.0T(°K) which is in good agreement with previous CO/CO, gas equilibrium measurements of Gleiser and Chipman. The standard molar free energy of formation of molybdenum dioxide has recently been reported over a large range of high temperatures from the calorimetric experiments of King, Weller, and christensen.' Gleiser and chipman2 have also recently determined ?FmoO2 from 926o to 1068oC in CO/CO2 gas equilibrium measurements. Earlier gas equilibrium studies have been made and reviewed by Gokcen.' Over the temperature range studied by Gleiser and Chipman their values for ?FoMoO2 differed from the calorimetric data by about 700 cal. This investigation was undertaken to resolve this difference and thereby establish the two phase mixture of Mo + MOO, as an electrode of well-known oxygen potential for galvanic cell applications at very high temperatures. The galvanic cell technique involving the Zr,.,, Ca,0.15 01.85 solid electrolyte was introduced for the

Jan 1, 1963

By Colin Rae

THE absence of paraffin and other oil hydrocarbons in the soil, although they are concentrated in extensive deposits in some localities, the common distribution of plant remains through many formations that .are not productive for oil, and many other factors, seem to indicate the existence of an intermediate organic compound between the complex plant compounds and the petroleum hydrocarbons; and much evidence points to the humus acids or associated organic compounds, which are probably collected by surface waters and concentrated in certain areas by means of precipitation by electrolytes, which would be contained in sea water or possibly in various inland seas or lakes. PRESENT-DAY EVIDENCE There are many present-day evidences of the association of petroleum with humus acids. Binney, in 1912, made observations without explanations on the peat mosses of Down Holland, England, where he found petroleum being formed by decomposition, in the presence of an infiltration of sea water. The analysis of a typical peat will show its relationship to the humus acids under consideration. SAMPLE 'No. 1, SAMPLE NO. 2, PER CENT. PER CENT. Water : 20.0 29.5 Ash 3.0 3.05 Fiber 47.0 54.95 Humus acids 30:0 12.50 J. D. Haseman and others have noted the association of asphalt and hydrocarbons with the swampy, boggy areas, particularly adjacent to the sea.

Jan 2, 1922

By G. L. Oldright, F. W. Schroeder

Very great changes were made in the dimensions of the smelting hearths of the furnaces in the period from about 1800 to 1906, the length increasing from about 11 to 116 ft., and the width from 8 to 19 ft. During this time the tonnage smelted increased from about 9 to 250 tons per 24 hr., and the tons of charge smelted per ton of coal increased from 0.77 to 4.3. Dr. Mathewson3 noted no great difference in the "fuel ratio" (i. e., the amount of charge smelted per ton of coal) as the furnace at Anaconda was increased in length by stages from 85 to 116 ft. (The percentage of copper in the slag, however, was lowered from 0.42 to 0.36 per cent. The other components of the slag were not given.) Lump coal fired on grates was the fuel used during this period. The practice in operating the furnaces over such a length of time naturally varied considerably, and there were differences in composition and nature of the charge, yet it may he considered that the improvements made were due largely to increases in the size of the furnace used. Doubtless some credit should be given to improvements in operating technique, like changes in the methods of firing the lump coal. However, the greater part of the advance was probably due to factors influencing the

Jan 1, 1928

By R. S. Busk, R. F. Marande

The magnesium-aluminum-zinc 'system contains most of the magnesium-base alloys used commercially, although in practice the ternary alloys are usually modified by the addition of a small amount of manganese. Table I contains the magnesium-base commercial sand-casting alloys most widely used throughout the world, together with their typical tensile properties. These alloys may be regarded as a single family of varying aluminum and zinc content, disregarding manganese. A concise means of presenting data for them is by means of iso-property lines plotted on triangular coordinate paper. Constitutional, casting, and mechanical properties are presented in this manner. The data are given with the obiect of providing reference material, and to aid in the choice of a commercial alloy to serve a particular purpose. Detailed, critical analysis of the commercial alloys has been covered in a previous paper.' All alloys reported were made in rj-lb. melts, superheated to r700°F. for 15 min., cooled to r400°F. and poured in sand molds. The test bars produced had a 1/2-in. reduced section and were about 6 in. long. Except for the data represented in Figs. I and 3 the alloys used were of commercial purity and contained 0.1 to 0.2 per cent Mn in addition to the aluminum and zinc. Constitutional Data Under the heading of Constitutional Data are included all known data on con-

Jan 1, 1946

By R. F. Marande, R. S. Busk

The magnesium-aluminum-zinc 'system contains most of the magnesium-base alloys used commercially, although in practice the ternary alloys are usually modified by the addition of a small amount of manganese. Table I contains the magnesium-base commercial sand-casting alloys most widely used throughout the world, together with their typical tensile properties. These alloys may be regarded as a single family of varying aluminum and zinc content, disregarding manganese. A concise means of presenting data for them is by means of iso-property lines plotted on triangular coordinate paper. Constitutional, casting, and mechanical properties are presented in this manner. The data are given with the obiect of providing reference material, and to aid in the choice of a commercial alloy to serve a particular purpose. Detailed, critical analysis of the commercial alloys has been covered in a previous paper.' All alloys reported were made in rj-lb. melts, superheated to r700°F. for 15 min., cooled to r400°F. and poured in sand molds. The test bars produced had a 1/2-in. reduced section and were about 6 in. long. Except for the data represented in Figs. I and 3 the alloys used were of commercial purity and contained 0.1 to 0.2 per cent Mn in addition to the aluminum and zinc. Constitutional Data Under the heading of Constitutional Data are included all known data on con-

Jan 1, 1946

The Ortiz Mountain property is located approximately 40 km (25 miles) southeast of Santa Fe and 13 km (8 miles) from the village of Cerrillos. The property embodies a Spanish mineral grant from which Gold Fields acquired about 2, 200 hectares (900 acres of surface and mineral rights. Following a period of exploration, metallurgical testing and development of a feasibility study in 1974, the decision was made, because of the higher gold price in the fall of 1978, to place the property into production. the gold is confined in a quartzite breccia; it is an unusual occurrence because the gold in this host rock is leachable at minus 19 mm (3/4 in. ). Total ore reserves are estimated at approximately 3.6 million mt (4 million st) averaging 1.89 g per mt (0.055 oz per st) based on a cut-off of 0.7 g (0.02 oz). The ore will be recovered by open pit mining at a stripping ratio of 1. 2:l. Production is scheduled for 13,600 mt (15,000 st) of ore per week or approximately 680,000 mt (750,000 st) per year. Primary crushing of pit-run material is by a 1,070 by 1,015 mm (42 in. by 40 in.) jaw crusher. Crushed ore is conveyed to stockpile and then to a 2.13 m (7 ft) standard crusher with the screened over- size crushed in a 1.5 m (5 ft) tertiary cone crusher. The screen undersize, the final product for leaching, is minus 19 mm (3/4 in. ). A 1, 360 kg (3,000 lb) sample is cut from the crushed ore stream, further crushed in a small jaw crusher and then sampled in two more stages by Vezin samplers to produce a final 13.6 kg (30 lb) sample for assaying. Pebble lime is then added to the ore on the belt as it is sent to the conveyor gantry spanning the leach pads. A tripper on this moving gantry stacks the leach ore without compaction. The entire crushing plant and conveying system is of open-air construction. Leach pads have a total length of 515 m by 60 m (1,700 ft by 200 ft) wide with usable dimensions of 490 m by 58 m (1,600 ft by 190 ft). The directional length slope is 3. 870 with 370 on the width. The pad is constructed of 175 mm (7 in. ) thick asphalt containing a rubberized asphalt membrane. It is divided by a 300 mm (1 ft) high curb into eight segments. Each segment is loaded with 13,600 mt (15,000 st) of ore, which is one week's production. Optimum working height of a pad is considered to be 3. 0 m (10 ft) with a maximum height of 4. 0 m (14 ft).

Jan 1, 1981

By J. Wright, R. J. Tyler

Changes in the pore structure of hematite pellets during reduction to iron were investigated under a variety of experimental conditions. Pore structures were determined by a mercury penetration technique. The reduction temperature was found to be the major influence on structure, the pore system being bimodal below 7.50°C and unimodal above 900°C. Pore sizes ranging front 0.04 to 20 m were observed in complete metabolized pellets produced over the temperature range 650 - 1050°C. Gas composition and reduction rates also influenced the pore structure of the metabolized pellets, although to a lesser extent than the reduction temperature. An apparent activation energy of 24 kcal/mole was derived for the pore formation process.

Jan 1, 1979

By K. D. Jacob

IN the decreasing order of the tonnages involved, the uses of phosphates can be grouped conveniently into three general classes, namely, fertilizer; chemicals for military, industrial, and technical purposes; and mineral feed for livestock. The quantity of phosphate used as fertilizer, principally in the form of superphosphate, has always exceeded by far that used for all other purposes, though in recent years a marked increase has occurred in its consumption for the other two general classes of uses. Prior to the present century large quantities of superphosphate, as well as a considerable portion of the production of phosphorus chemicals, score made from bone materials which were plentiful and cheap in some areas and which could be more easily processed than phosphate rock for the manufacture of chemicals. Today, however phosphate rock has almost completely displaced bone as a raw material for the manufacture of chemically processed phosphates in nearly all countries of the world.

Jan 1, 1944

By K. D. Jacob

MONTANA Phosphate Produucts Co., a subsidiary of The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. of Canada Ltd., operates three properties near Garrison, Mont., known as the Anderson, Graveley, and Luke mines. All three are underground operations, mining the same narrow bed at points several miles apart. The Anderson, the oldest and largest of the three, has produced about 700,000 long tons since 1929. The Graveley has produced slightly over 100,000 long tons since 1940, and the Luke, acquired in 1943, is still in an early stage of development. The great bulk of the output has been shipped to the Trail, B. C., plant of Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. for use in the manufacture of fertilizers. The phosphate seam is the basal member of the Permian Phosphoria formation. In all three mines it has a uniform thickness of 3 to 4 ft. of oulitic phosphate, with a few shaly partings. The overlying part of the formation comprises about 50 ft. of chert and the immediate footwall consists of a few feet of shale and sandstone. underlain by the Quadrant quartzite.

Jan 1, 1944