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By T. A. Boyden

The Free World uranium market is now characterized by production nearly twice that of consumption result- ing in a rapid build-up of uranium inventories. Low- cost production from high-grade deposits in Australia and Western Canada will gradually add another 10 to 15 million pounds U308 annually into Free World production throughout the 1980's. This latter material cannot be absorbed in further inventory build-up and can only displace higher cost production. The result is a restructuring of the Free World producer industry. United States and Eastern Canadian producers have the higher cost production which gradually will be displaced from the market during this decade. As United States production declines, United States utilities must increase their reliance on foreign supplies in order to meet their needs. This paper reviews the elements that will cause the restructuring of the Free World producer industry and the expected response of the United States utility industry to that developing situation.

Jan 1, 1982

By Edward B. Durham

The refinery at the San Francisco Mint takes the bullion purchased by the receiving department, and carrying Illore than 200 parts of precious metals in 1,000, or, in mint parlance, over 200 fine, and separates and refines the various metals contained therein, using electrolytic processes exclusively. Bullion containing silver is treated in cells charged with a nitric electrolyte. These cells produce fine silver and leave a residue rich in gold. The residue from the silver-cells, together with crude gold-bullion, is treated in cells having a chloride electrolyte. These produce fine gold and leave a residue containing silver chloride. The latter is reduced to the metallic state with zinc and is then treated in the silver-cells. The various waste solutions and the wash-waters, after being freed from the bulk of their precious metals, still contain copper and other metals. These are removed by scrap-iron, and are then treated in the copper-cells, having a sulphate electrolyte. These cells produce pure copper, and collect a residue containing lead, some gold and silver, and all the metals of the platinum gronp that were in the bullion. This residue is relatively small, and is melted into bars and stored until suEcient accumulates to warrant treating it for platinum, etc. The refinery occupies three large and three small rooms. The large ones are, a melting-room, 30 by 34 ft.; a cell-room, 39 by 46 ft.; and a wash-room, 30 by 33 ft. The small rooms are used as foreman's osce, laboratory, and , re- spectively. The methods here described are those in use in December, 1909, when notes for the present paper were taken.

Jan 1, 1912

By L. A. Roe

Magnetic separation occupies an attractive position in the field of ore beneficiation. It is a simple yet effective method, used for some 150 years and steadily growing more important. This type of beneficiation orginated in 1792, when William Fullarton was issued a British patent covering the separation of iron ore by magnetic attraction. What is magnetism, and why are some materials capable of being magnetized and others not? The study involves many unknowns, and even a partial answer to these questions would be a dissertation in solid state physics and perhaps other fields of science. But the last two decades have revealed basic facts as to why certain materials are magnetic and what happens to them when they are magnetized.

Jan 12, 1958

INCREASING realization that pouring and ingot-mold practices involve many factors of fundamental importance to ingot quality and general steel-mill operations has caused these phases of steelmaking to become major concerns of operators and metallurgists engaged in control of quality and costs. Methods of pouring steel from the ladle into the ingot molds have some direct effects on ingot quality. The mold itself governs solidification and dimensions of the ingot and in so doing exerts some very tangible influences not only on ingot quality but also on product yields and general steel-mill processing. In addition, practices are employed in the handling of molds during daily open-hearth operations that are important to quality and production costs. Therefore, pouring and mold practices must be considered highly specialized and important steps in steel-mill operations. MOLD DESIGN Mold design is difficult to discuss in a precise manner because it varies greatly throughout the industry, both in theoretical concepts and practical application, and few well developed data are available. Most ingot molds are designed to meet conditions peculiar to a given plant wherein quality standards are dictated by end-use requirements, which may differ considerably even for the same grade of steel. The mold designer must also consider the equipment available to process ingots and the product obtained from them. Such equipment, used for stripping, heating, blooming and finishing operations, is seldom, if ever, exactly the same in any two steel plants. Thus, pronounced contrasts in mold designs can be expected to continue, even among plants making strictly comparable types of product, particularly because some producers are just beginning to realize the benefits possible from specialized designs. Certain fundamentals are used in mold design but even these

Jan 1, 1964

By Paul E. Dorr, Kenneth P. Pavlich

This paper covers the practical aspects of economic analysis of mineral ventures and the application of a publicly available computer program. The paper touches briefly on the time value of money concepts and the phases of project evaluation. The most comprehensive port ion of the paper deal s with the requirements for economic evaluation, including capital expenditure categories, operating expenses, required geological and engineering data, and tax considerations. Highlights of the 1981 and 1982 tax laws are covered. A case study using the MINECO computer program will be used to illustrate the economic evaluation concepts developed. Guidelines and goals of sensitivity analysis and Monte Carlo simulation will be discussed and demonstrated on the MINECO example. The MINECO software system will be displayed as an example of a "user-friendly", interactive, and flexible computer tool available to the mining professional today.

Jan 1, 1983

By R. U. Jackson

Belt conveying is a method of transportation that requires proper servicing and maintenance if completely economical results are to be obtained from the system. With a trucking system, it is common practice to deliver the trucks to a servicing station each day or at the end of each shift. With railroad transportation there is a similar procedure. Sufficient credit is seldom given to this periodic inspection and maintenance procedure, yet it is the key to the successful operation of trucking and rail haulage systems. How about the belt conveyor transportation system? Here is a system that requires no operator for each individual unit. It requires only a main switch and an adequate sequence interlocking system, and the system is so simple to operate that maintenance is considered as only a casual requirement-nothing is done about it until after trouble has developed.

Jan 1, 1956

Sec. 1. The membership of the Institute shall comprise six classes, namely: 1. Members; 2. Honorary Members; 3. Senior Members; 4. Associates; 5. Junior Members; 6. Rocky Mountain Members. All shall be equally entitled to the privileges of membership, excepting that no member of any class whom residence shall be outside of the United States of America, except those residing in Mexico and Canada, shall be entitled to vote. SEC. 2. Members: A person to be eligible for election or transfer into the claw of Member must be at least 27 years of age and must have had at least six years' employment in the practice of engineering, mining, geology, metallurgy, or chemistry, during at least three years of which he must have held positions of responsibility in one or more of these fields. This shall not apply to Rocky Mountain members.

Jan 1, 1944

By K. V. S. Sastry, V. P. Mehrotra

A laboratory investigation was carried out to study the influence of asphalt, bentonite, and corn starch binders on the pelletization kinetics of coal fines and on the quality of the resulting pellets. Pellet quality was evaluated in term of the compression strength, impact resistance (drop test), abrasion resistance, and resistance to severe weather conditions. The amount of binder addition did not significantly influence the pellet growth kinetics. However, the pellet quality varied markedly depending upon the type and the amount of binder wed. Experimental results are explained on the basis of the mechanism of interaction between the coal particles and the binders. Of the three binders tested, corn starch proved to be the best in all respects but for the resistance to water penetration. Finally, a combination of corn starch (imparting strength) and asphalt emulsion (imparting resistance to water penetration) was found to yield the best quality coal pellets.

Jan 1, 1983

As one surveys the extensive taconite operations on the Mesabi Range, he may find it difficult to believe that only 15 years ago, the iron ore mining industry here was staring at its own imminent demise. Due to the high demands for iron ore during World War II the postwar period of 1946-1950, and the subsequent "police action" in Korea, there was rapid consumption of the Mesabi's already depleted ores, and some economists were giving the Range only 20-25 years of life. In the 13-year period 1941-1953, more than 850 million tons of iron ore were shipped to steel mills, an amount almost equal to the total production during the preceding 30 years. Proven ore reserves dropped from 1.1 billion tons in 1940 to 8.3 million tons in 1954, the largest decrease being recorded in the famed direct shipping ores.

Jan 9, 1968

By Prakash C. Kapur

Many balling and gradation system6 generate self- similar size distributions of the agglomerates. Inspection of the experimental data shows that this is also true of the steady state distributions resulting from the granulation of coarse, partially wet powders, for example, the fertilizer feeds. This result is exploited in the derivations of a number of simple and useful relationships that are pertinent to the analysis of these agglomeration systems. The bonding liquid demand of the granulating charge is a third order polynomial function of the dimensionless ratio of feed particle size to median granule diameter in the weight-fraction distribution. The median size, in turn, is the scale factor or characteristic size parameter in the similarity distribution. The granule size distribution, therefore, is completely specified by the liquid content and the similarity function, and so are the process efficiency and the ungranulated component In the product at steady state.

Jan 1, 1977

By P. B. Bucky

IN previous publications1 it was shown that a scalar model of any weighty structure, where the stresses produced are mainly due to gravita-tional forces, will behave similarly to its prototype if the model and proto-type material are the same arid the model is placed in a centrifugal field of force (substituted for the gravitational field) which has been increased in the same proportion as the linear model scale is decreased. This principle is now being applied to a study of the behavior of mine structures in an attempt to determine the laws that control them. The importance of using models as a means of solving mining problems has been discussed previously, yet it may be well to reiterate here that this method of research and type of solution have been productive of far-reaching results in other engineering fields, notably those of hydraulics and aerodynamics. Model research is a comparatively cheap and time-saving method of checking practical experience. Up to the present time the best guide to what will happen underground has been the judgment of the man who has observed most and been longest acquainted with the local conditions. His experimental work underground is limited by the elements of cost, time and danger, while failure is seldom permissible. In a model, as in a test tube, all elements that affect the solution of a problem are under definite control. Each element may be varied independently at will and its effects noted. Experimental work on a small-scale model may there¬fore be performed at a comparatively small expenditure of time and money, instead of on a full scale in the mine, where the cost, time, and danger elements are necessarily great. The experiments described in this paper are to be considered as part of a progress report and a continuation of Technical Paper 425. One object of the research program is to make each experiment point the way for further research on that particular phase of the general problem. The results and conclusions presented here are therefore not to be considered as final, but are to be interpreted as

Jan 1, 1933

By John E. Greenawalt

In view of the increasing importance of sintering in the beneficiation of iron ores preparatory to their reduction in the blast furnace, the writer believes the time is opportune for an up-to-date, though brief, discussion of the general principles of sintering, as well as a discussion of some of the recent improvements and mechanical developments that have been achieved in this industry, its present trend and future possibilities. Sintering may be defined as the agglomeration of fine mineral particles into a porous mass by incipient fusion caused by heat produced by combustion within the mass itself. Its first successful application, in connection with the treatment of lead sulphide ores, was known as blast roasting. In this process the lead ore was given a preliminary roasting in a reverber-atory furnace, then the incandescent mass was placed in a pot with a grate and an updraft was applied. It was soon discovered that much better results were obtained by cooling the ore, moistening it, and placing it upon an incandescent layer of fuel previously placed upon a grate, and then applying the updraft blast of air until the charge was converted into a more or less agglomerated mass. The fuel was sulphur and the process one of desulphurization, which was the principal result desired. The application of downdraft to blast roasting brought about tremendous results; the principal one of which was that an air blast of high pressure could be passed through a layer of ore deposited on a grate, or on a grate covered by a layer of coarse porous material, without disturbing the particles of which the layer is composed. The air current is compelled to filter through the pores of the charge, whereas if the same pressure applied to the top surface of the charge with downdraft were applied to the bottom of the charge with updraft, the charge would be completely blow11 off the grate. Another result of reversing the draft was that a flame could readily be applied to the top surface of the charge for igniting purposes. Broadly speaking, sintering is an oxidizing or burning process, therefore the volume of air passing through the charge is the all-important factor. The air must pass through with sufficient rapidity to produce the necessary heat, and if sufficiently rapid the combustiorl will take place

Jan 1, 1938

By F. Weinberg

It has been suggested, for some time, that the behavior of metals under high-temperature creep conditions is strongly influenced by the behavior of the grain boundaries present in the material. This has led to a number of investigations1-6 in which attempts were made to measure the properties of the grain boundaries themselves, both to determine their contribution to the creep process and to obtain further knowledge of their intrinsic structure and properties. The present investigation was undertaken to extend the observed data under more closely controlled experimental conditions and to attempt to clarify sonie of the discrepancies in the literature. A brief report of the preliminary results has been published.7 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE For the present investigation, controlled orientation specimens were used having plane boundaries which terminated at the specimen surface. Trierys-tal specimens were used instead of the bicrystal type of Puttick and King,' in order to simplify the gripping technique required to apply a shear stress along the boundary. The aluminum used was obtained from the Aluminum Francaise and was of 99.994 pct purity, containing 0.002 pct each of Cu, Fe, and Si. The aluminum tricrystals were grown horizontally from the melt, in graphite boats, and in an argon atmosphere, following the technique developed by Chalmers.' The orientation of the tricrystals was controlled by using seed crystals separated by mica inserts. Thermal conditions were adjusted to produce tricrystals having boundaries which were macroscopically straight, parallel to the growth direction, and perpendicular to the top surface. Following growth, the tricrystals were carefully cut with a jeweller's saw to the test specimen shapes shown in Fig. l(a) and l(b). In Fig. 1(a), the boundaries subjected to shear stresses are indicated AB and CD: Points A and C are the ends of the mica inserts separating the seed crystals; points B and D are at lateral cuts made in the specimen. It was found that the slots left by the mica inserts at A and C had to be enlarged slightly, by cutting, to ensure that the boundary terminated freely at these points. A shear stress was applied to the boundarks by gripping the upper two legs in file-faced Inconel grips and suspending a weight from the lower part of the specimen held in similar grips, as shown schematically in the diagram. The test specimens shown in Fig. 1(b) were cut from long

Jan 1, 1959

By John E. Greenawalt

In view of the increasing importance of sintering in the beneficiation of iron ores preparatory to their reduction in the blast furnace, the writer believes the time is opportune for an up-to-date, though brief, discussion of the general principles of sintering, as well as a discussion of some of the recent improvements and mechanical developments that have been achieved in this industry, its present trend and future possibilities. Sintering may be defined as the agglomeration of fine mineral particles into a porous mass by incipient fusion caused by heat produced by combustion within the mass itself. Its first successful application, in connection with the treatment of lead sulphide ores, was known as blast roasting. In this process the lead ore was given a preliminary roasting in a reverber-atory furnace, then the incandescent mass was placed in a pot with a grate and an updraft was applied. It was soon discovered that much better results were obtained by cooling the ore, moistening it, and placing it upon an incandescent layer of fuel previously placed upon a grate, and then applying the updraft blast of air until the charge was converted into a more or less agglomerated mass. The fuel was sulphur and the process one of desulphurization, which was the principal result desired. The application of downdraft to blast roasting brought about tremendous results; the principal one of which was that an air blast of high pressure could be passed through a layer of ore deposited on a grate, or on a grate covered by a layer of coarse porous material, without disturbing the particles of which the layer is composed. The air current is compelled to filter through the pores of the charge, whereas if the same pressure applied to the top surface of the charge with downdraft were applied to the bottom of the charge with updraft, the charge would be completely blow11 off the grate. Another result of reversing the draft was that a flame could readily be applied to the top surface of the charge for igniting purposes. Broadly speaking, sintering is an oxidizing or burning process, therefore the volume of air passing through the charge is the all-important factor. The air must pass through with sufficient rapidity to produce the necessary heat, and if sufficiently rapid the combustiorl will take place

Jan 1, 1938

By John T. Dickman, Ralph E. O’Dette

Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) is in the process of evolving a computer-based information system which will process all of the material selected for abstracting in the area of chemistry and chemical engineering and its related fields such as the earth sciences and technologies. This system is already operational to some extent and is expected to be fully utilized by 1971. The objective of CAS is to make chemical and related information more readily available, more usable and more used. Chemical Abstracts handle some 5000 abstracts weekly from 13, 000 journals and patents from 25 nations. These cover all of the 80 CA subject sections which relate to chemistry and also extend into areas of interest to geologists, mineralogists, and mining engineers. In this way, CAS fulfills its objective of complete coverage of its major fields, informative abstracting, and indexing to maximum specificity. The concept of a computer-based information system is that of a single machine-language data base into which the results of intellectual analysis of the literature are entered and from which computer programs produce a variety of publications and services applicable to the needs of a wide range of users.

Jan 1, 1969

By F. S. Crawford

IRON and copper are mined in the Lake Superior district. The iron mines of the district have the best safety record for that industry in the country as a whole, while the copper mines of the district rank second in two of the four years recorded (Table 1). In Utah copper comes mainly from open-pit mines, which enables that state to lead easily in safety. All of the Michigan production comes from deep underground workings. About 60 per cent of the iron miners in St. Louis County, Minnesota, are employed at open-pit mines; this favorably affects the combined open-pit and underground accident-frequency rate, as this county provides most of the Minnesota-mined iron ore. In Michigan, however, there are few open-pit mines, the bulk of the production coming from underground mines, while all of the Wisconsin production, just across the state line from Michigan, is from underground mines. In spite of the fact that fewer mines in Michigan use the safer open-pit method, the iron-mining industry of that state maintained a consistently low record from 1931 to 1934; however, it was many points behind its nearest competitor, Minnesota, with its much greater production from open-pit mines.

Jan 1, 1939

By M. E. Wadsworth, R. D. Groves, B. W. Madsen

Experimental results obtained from large-scale (7 ton), long-term (500 days) leaching of low-tenor copper sulfide ores were interpreted by a geometric model involving the movement of a reaction zone through the ore fragments. The postulated leaching mechanism involved mixed kinetics and included diffusion of the reacting species through the host rock and a chemical reaction at the surface of the mineral particles. Ore properties which were considered were Ore particle size and shape, grade of ore, and mineral content. Excellent agreement between the mixed kinetic model and the laboratory leaching results was obtained when -1/2-in. ore particles were not included in the leach. Also, a satisfactory prediction of copper recovery from +1/2-in. ore with a different particle size distribution was made; however, it was necessary to modify the shape factor in the model. Prediction of copper recovery from an ore sample which included the -1/2-in. fine fraction and leaching for 460 days was 56.5%, and the recovery from leaching was 47.0%. The presence of fines caused solution channeling and a deficiency of oxygen which inhibited the leaching rate. Also, compaction of fines around coarser particles interfered with circulation around the ore particles, and bulk solution transport probably was a rate controlling factor.

Jan 1, 1976

By J. B. Morgan

The mechanical behavior of MgCu2 from 20 o to 725°C has been determined by "brittle-ring" tensite-test techniques, axial compression, and bending experiments. Compressive ductility begins at 450°C (0.65 T/Tm) and slowly increases with increasing temperature white the tensile ductility is characterized by an abrupt brittle-ductile transition at 600°C (0.8T/Tm). The compressive strength increases eightfold from room temperature to 400°C with a "normal" decrease as the temperature is further increased. The tensile strength goes through a rather abrupt threefold increase above 600°C with a subsequent decrease at higher temperatures. The slip system is (111)[110] and the twinning system is (111)[112]. At high temperatures MgCu2 is quite rate-sensitive, and dynamic yield points are observed that are extremely orientation-dependent. The high-temperature creep behavior under constant load is characterized by an increasing strain-rate with time. The general characteristics of the mechanical behavior make it possible to classify MgCu2 with those materials in which initial mobile dislocation density and the dislocation velocity-stress dependence are significant in determining mechanical response. Mgcu2 is the C15 prototype of the cubic Laves phase. Its range of homogeneity extends from 32.8 to 35.5 at. pct Mg at 500°C and narrows at lower temperatures. The lattice parameter is reported to vary from 7.02 to 7.05A,1 and the compound is completely ordered to the melting point of 819°C. MgCu2 has a brassy metallic appearance, is extremely brittle, and many of its physical properties are intermediate between those of the constituent elements: the electrical resistivity is 3.5 x 10-6 ohm-cm, Young's modulus is 10x 106 psi, the shear modulus is 6 x l06 psi, and the thermal coefficient of expansion is 18.7 x 10-6 cm per cm per "C from 20" to 250°C. Usually, properties of intermetallic compounds as functions of temperature have been determined by hardness, compression, or impact behavior, and almost all of these experiments have been performed on polycrystalline materials. Tammann and Dahl,2 for instance, determined the onset of ductility in a series of binary intermetallics by ball-hardness measurements and found the onset to range between 0.71 and 0.96 T/T,. Lowrie's3 investigations included some tensile properties, and he found ductility beginning around 0.65 T/Tm for most materials examined. His work did include some data on polycrystalline, nonstoichiometric MgCu2, however. The present work is an attempt to extend the examination of the particular compound MgCu2 in single-crystal form in order to aid the formation of general concepts about mechanical be-

Jan 1, 1965

By C. S. Barrett, D. B. Masson

Martensitic transformations have been found in AgCd both upon cold-working at room temperature and cooling to lower temperatures. The crystal structures of the transformation products were found to be close-packed hexagonal in the first case and or-thorhombic in the latter. The transformation characteristics also were studied. Similar treatment of AuZn alloys failed to yield any transformation. THE literature on martensitic transformations of body-centered cubic metals and alloys indicates widespread instability of this structure at low temperatures, a tendency which merits further study. The body-centered cubic ß-phase of CuZn, for example, when it contained less than 42 wt pct Zn, was found by Greninger and Mooradian' and others' to transform on cooling to subzero temperatures to a phase that was tentatively considered to be tetragonal. Further work by Massalski and Barrett" demonstrated that cold work at low temperatures causes a partial transformation of ß CuZn of higher Zn content. The structures of the strain-induced transformation products were found to be different from those induced by simple cooling. Another well-known martensitic transformation among body-centered cubic phases is that of ß AuCd, first studied with X-rays by Olander,' then very thoroughly by Chang and Read.5,6 Here again transformation was found to occur both as a result of cooling and of strain. The alkali metals Li and Na, as well as certain Li-Mg alloys, also undergo transformation from their normal body-centered cubic structure, both on cooling and on cold-working. The phase AgCd, the subject of the present report, should be expected to behave quite similarly to CuZn for a number of reasons. It is the chemical analogue of CuZn, silver being directly below copper and cadmium directly below zinc in the periodic table. The size factors (percent difference in size) of the atoms, possibly a consideration in the stability of the ß-phases, are +3.1 in AgCd and + 4.2 in CuZn. Likewise the relative electronegativities of the two pairs of metals are about the same, CuZn possessing an electronegativity difference of 1.0 and AgCd one of 0.8. These values are from a table of electronegativities given by Darken and Gurry." The phase diagrams of the two systems around 50 atomic percent are similar, both possessing a disordered body-centered cubic phase, ß, at high temperatures and an ordered bcc phase, ß, at room temperature; however, the ß and ß' phases of AgCd are separated by a hexagonal phase, [, stable in the range 220-440oC, which has no analogue in CuZn. There has been confusion in the literature as to the structures of the ß' and [-phases. The phase diagram in the ASM handbook'" has the structures of the two phases interchanged; however, Hansen" reports the correct relative positions and Muldawer" verified that ß', the low-temperature phase, is body-centered cubic. Work by the present authors also

Jan 1, 1959

By Thomas M. Drown

THE means relied on to attain uniformity in Bessemer steel may be enumerated as follows I. The appearance of the flame. II. The appearance of the slag. III. The spectrum of the flame. IV. Examination of the steel itself. At present, I wish briefly to bring forward a few considerations with reference to the last two mentioned, namely, the conditions favoring the employment of the spectroscope and examination of the steel. From the amount of careful investigation which has been devoted to the examination of the Bessemer flame by the spectroscope, both on the part of scientists and practical metallurgists, one might reasonably expect some results definite and satisfactory in their nature, first, as regards the nature of the flame, and second, as to the practical value of the spectroscope as a guide in conducting the process. We find, in fact, however, that uncertainty and confusion still exist. In Germany, where this subject has received the greatest attention, it is now very generally conceded that manganese is the cause of the well-known groups of dark bands that characterize the Bessemer spectrum. Nor is it easy to see how we can avoid accepting this conclusion, when Wedding and Von Lichtenfels have produced the manganese spectrum and found it to correspond closely with that shown by the Bessemer flame. But it is evident, on a moment's reflection, as Roscoe has recently brought forward, that manganese cannot be the only cause of the Bessemer spectrum, for we notice the characteristic bands quite as

Jan 1, 1873