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By John 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 com-bustion within the mass itself. Its first successful application, in connec-tion 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 tremen-dous 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 blown 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 ignit-ing purposes.

Jan 1, 1938

By I. R. Kramer

The apparent activation energy, U, JOY plastic deformation of aluminium, copper, and gold single crystals and polycrystalline aluminum was found to he dependent upon surface condition. At low strains, the value for U for aluminum single crystals was 4200 cal per mole ; however, this value decreased to 920 cal per mole when the specimens were polished during the test at a rate of 50 X 10-5 win-1 The activated volume also was found to increase with the rate of metal removal. That the surface plays an important role in plastic-deformation processes has been adequately demonstrated.1-4 Of particular interest at this time are the observations4 that the creep rate of single crystals of fee metals is increased markedly when specimens are polished during the deformation process. These observations were interpreted in terms of a dislocation debris layer at the surface regions of the crystal. This layer, which appears to be a region containing a high concentration of dislocations or segments of dislocations, not only will impede the egress of dislocations on the primary slip system, but will also provide a barrier against which dislocations may pile up. By this means, a stress which opposes the motion of dislocations will be generated. It is considered that this stress must be taken into account in any theory which describes the plastic-deformation process. Although a detailed dislocation model cannot be given at this time, it may be stated that the stresses opposing the motion of dislocations arise from the dislocations in the debris layer, Ts, and ti due to the resistance to motion imposed by internal obstacles such as Lomer-Cottrell barriers, subgrain and grain boundaries, forest dislocations, and so forth, as well as the resistance due to the presence of jogs on dislocations and the interaction of the stress fields of dislocations, and so forth. In essence, we have added an additional term, ts, to the usual form of the equation T = Ta- Tb, where Tb is the back stress due to the various types of obstacles which impede the motion of dislocation. Accordingly, the net stress, t, acting on a dislocation may be written as where Ta is the applied shear stress. For deformation which occurs by a thermally activated process5,8 ?=Ae-u/kT = A e(u,-VT)/kT [2] and U = Uo- Vt PI where U = activation energy for plastic flow, y = shear strain rate, Uo = activated energy for plastic deformation in the absence of stress and depends upon the particular deformation process, V = activated volume, k = Boltzmann constant, T = temperature, OK, and A = frequency factor. From Eqs. [I] and [3], U = Uo- V(Ta - Ti - TS) [4] and it is seen that if Ts decreases, the activation energy, U, must decrease if V remains constant. However, as will be shown, V is a function of the surface conditions. In their work on aluminum, Lytton and coworkers7 reported that at low strains the activation energy was 3400 cal per mole and at high strains it was 28,000 cal per mole. The lower value was interpreted in terms of the energy necessary to overcome the Peierls force, while the higher value was associated with the energy necessary for dislocations to move by a cross-slip process. It will be shown that the lower activation energy is associated with the surface debris layer rather than with the Peierls force. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Single crystals having a nominal cross section of 1/8 in. and a 3-in. gage length were prepared by a modified Bridgman technique using a multiple-cavity graphite mold. The initial purity of the metals was 99.997, 99.999, and 99.999 pet for aluminum, copper, and gold, respectively. The orientation of the specimens is given in Fig. 1. The measurement of the activation energy as a

Jan 1, 1964

By C. H. Reynolds, Robert C. Pruess

Late in 1954 exploratory drilling indicated a substantial orebody on the Rattlesnake claims of Woodmont Inc., a Continental Uranium Inc. subsidiary. Woodmont holdings are located about 35 miles southeast of Moab, Utah. Only a few miles north of Big Indian Valley and other Chinle-sand uraninite deposits, the claims are in an entirely different geologic environment. Detailed development drilling continued until the Deep North orebody was outlined, covering an area approximately 300 x 450 ft. All exploratory drilling and about 80 pct of development drilling was wet core. Chemical assays for each hole sample, applied at 1-ft intervals against the measured core length, were put into a conventional ore calculation formula. Forty-six holes were drilled to delineate the Deep North orebody.

Jun 1, 1956

COLORADO SECTION CHARLES M. MACNEILL, Chairman, GEORGE M. TAYLOR, Vice-Chairman, FRED CARROLL, Sec.-Treas., State Museum Bldg., Denver, Colo. WALTER W. CASE, H. E. COLLBRAN. The annual meeting of the Colorado Section was held on the evening of Jan. 24, at the University Club, Denver, Colo.; SO members and guests were in attendance and the meeting was considered one of the most interesting ever held by the local section. After the usual dinner, the officers whose names are given above were elected for the ensuing year. Dr. David T. Day and Dr. G. H. Clevenger, of the Bureau of . Mines, were present and enlightened us with short talks on oil shales and other work of the Bureau. Mr. J. V. N. Dorr was home from a visit to New York and Washington, and told us something of the war work now going on at our National Capitol. Retiring Chairman Loughridge had been insisting for months that this meeting should be given up chiefly to listening to someone who could give his personal experience in going "over the top" in western France; after a long search he succeeded in finding Sargt. F. C. Strickland, M . M., of the Second Canadian Mounted Rifles, who had very recently been discharged from the hospital with permanent disabilities and has accepted recruiting service rather than a discharge. The success of this plan was evidenced by the close attention accorded the speaker for almost two hours, during which he described conditions, hardships, successes and failures of warfare on the western front. Hardly a listener moved during this talk, and all left with a. feeling that they would have liked to hear more. FRED CARROLL, Secretary.

Jan 4, 1918

By Horace L. Wells

The gravimetric determination of titanium in irons and steels is extremely difficult. It may be well, therefore, to call the attention of those members of the Institute who are interested in the chemistry of iron to a colorimetric! method, which I have slightly elaborated to adapt it to the case under consideration. Schön * discovered that hydrogen peroxide produces, in certain solutions of titanic acid, a very intense color similar to that of ferric

Jan 1, 1886

By Burt A. Waite

The new OSM regulations for ground water monitoring of underground coal mines have been the source of many concerns for the mining industry. Because the regulations were initially written at the federal level, but are being administered at the state level, considerable confusion still exists within the industry as to what is really required. Based on submission and/or approval of more than 30 monitoring plans for existing mines in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, three basic sections are necessary. They are: 1. background data on the hydrogeologic setting of the mine, 2. the monitoring plan itself, and 3. mining procedures to minimize adverse effects on ground water. Like all of the OSM requirements, ground water monitoring will be a new burden the coal industry must bear, but with proper planning and communication with the regulatory authorities it need not be as bad as originally feared.

Jan 1, 1983

The following is an incomplete list of members and guests who called at Institute headquarters during the period Sept. 10, 19188 to Oct. 10, 1918. Thomas J. Adams, Rahway, N. J. A. N. Mackay, London, England. Henry M. Ami, Washington, D. C. A. W. MacNichol, San Francisco, Cal. Chester Atkinson, Peru, South America. Ernest Marquardt, Casper, Wyo. Bennett R. Bates, Berkeley, Cal. Lieut. S. A. Mewhirter, Denver, Colo. Robert S. Botsford, Petrograd, Russia. William A. Nelson, Nashville, Tenn. Juan Felix Brandes, Santa Barbara, Cal. Robert W. Olinger, Bahia, Brazil, So. G. A. Collins, Seattle, Wash. Amer. C. V. Corless, Coniston, Ont., Canada. G. Preumont, La Paz, Bolivia, So. Amer. F. T. Eddingfield, Washington, D. C. William H. Rettie, Yonkers, N. Y. C. Mason Farnham, Barre Plains, Mass. . Julius Segall, Minneapolis, Minn. F. N. Flynn, Trail, B. C., Canada. Robert Y. Seip, Franklin, N. J. Duncan D. Forbes, Humboldt, Ariz. H. M. Schleicher, Boston, Mass. Alexandre Gouvy, Paris, France. Chester Steinem, Ft. Monroe, Va. Henry G. Granger, Cartagena, Colombia, A. L. Sweetser, Pittsburgh, Pa. So. Amer. . H: E. Treichler, Creighton Mine, Ont., E. Harms, El Paso, Tex. Canada. Alfred G. Heggem, Tulsa, Okla. Frank A. W. Tullock, Yumbo, Colombia, H. B. Henegar, Mascot Tenn. So. Amer. A. M. Kivari, Denver, Edward I. Williams, Ft. Monroe, Va. T. M. Kniffin, Brookline, Mass. Alfred W. G. Wilson, Ottawa, Canada. Charles Lehman, London, England. Donald H. McLaughlin, Camp Meade,Md. C. E. Addams, who recently resigned as general manager for the Arizona Hercules Copper Co., has leased the Ray silver-lead property three miles from Ray, Ariz. Bennett R. Bates has resigned his position as general superintendent of the Cubo Mining & Milling Co., in order that he may take the examination for an officer of engineers.

Jan 11, 1918

August 10 to 14, 1914, inclusive Headquarters will be at the Hotel Utah. The following program of the meeting has been arranged y the Local Committees: Monday, August 10.-Members and guests will register at the Secretary's desk in Room C-38, Hotel Utah, and receive the official badges, booklets and programs of the meeting. At 2:30 P. M., there will be an organ recital at the Mormon Tabernacle, after which members and guests will be taken for a trip around Salt Lake City in sight-seeing motor cars. At 8:30 P. M., the ladies will assemble in the lobby of the Hotel Utah, where they will be met by the members of the Ladies' Entertainment Committee, and will be taken for an automobile drive about the city. At 8:30 P. M., a technical session will be held in the ballroom of the Hotel Utah. The following papers will be presented: F. W. BACORN: An Amendment to Sales's Theory of Ore Deposition. C. W. GOODALE: Drumlummon Mine, Marysville, Mont. I. B. JORALEMON: The Ajo Copper-Mining District. STUART CROASDALE: Leaching Experiments on the Ajo Ore. FRANK R. VAN HORN: The Occurrence of Bournonite, Jamesonite, and Calamine at Park City. HOWLAND BANCROFT: Dip Chart. M. N. ALLING: Ancient Auriferous Gravel Channels of Sierra County, California. B. S. BUTLER AND H. D. MCCASKEY: Copper Ores of the New London Mine. GEORGE A. PACKARD: Rope Idlers in the Raven Shaft. ARTHUR CROWFOOT: Development of the Round Table at Great Falls. FREDERICK LAIST AND A. E. WIGGIN: The Slime-Concentrating Plant at Anaconda. W, L, AUSTIN: The Treatment of Copper Ore by Leaching Methods. W. L. AUSTIN: Leaching Copper Products at the Steptoe Works.

Jan 8, 1914

By Robert M. Dreyer

AGGREGATE With an annual domestic production of over 1.6 billion tons at a value of over $2 billion (see Table 15.1.1), the production of aggregate (crushed rock, sand, and gravel) is a basic industry of utmost economic importance. Because of the role of aggregate materials as essential ingredients of concrete, asphalt surfacing, and plaster, their delivered prices are major factors in determining the cost of construction. The annual domestic production comes from nearly 10,000 plants. About 15% of these plants account for over one-half the production. In a rapidly inflating economy, the average mine sales price of aggregate has remained relatively stable. The actual mine sales prices, however, vary greatly depending on quarrying costs in various parts of the country. Of much more importance in construction costs, however, is the delivered price of aggregate. This varies for each job, depending on the distance from the quarry and resulting transportation costs, as well as the initial cost at the mine. Because of a proliferation of regulations limiting new quarries in the vicinity of the encroaching urban sprawl, the average distance which aggregate must be transported has been increasing rapidly. Although it is impossible to derive an average delivered cost for aggregate, it should be noted that even an increase of only $1 per ton in average delivered cost over the last decade (probably a minimal assumption) would mean an annual cost $1.5 billion higher than ten years ago. In recent years, structural engineering considerations, as well as an increasing use of lightweight concrete blocks, have resulted in a rapidly increasing demand for lightweight concrete and plaster, the essential ingredient of which is lightweight aggregate. Principal lightweight aggregates are: pumice, slag, perlite (thermally expanded hydrous volcanic glass), vermiculite, and expanded shale, formed by the thermal expansion of shale and slate. The United States now has the capacity to expand, annually, over 13 million tons of shale and slate and to expand over 600,000 tons of perlite. In locating a site for aggregate production. the following factors must be considered: (1) tonnage available; (2) quality of aggregate (including local variations); (3) distance from major use areas; (4) transportation costs, including those resulting from present and possible future haulage restrictions; (5) zoning regulations; (6) operating costs, including the cost effects of compliance with local regulations governing blasting, air pollution, water pollution and drainage, noise levels, and operating periods. At one time, locating a suitable site for the production of crushed rock, sand, or gravel, in most areas, was regarded as an extremely simple task. In the past few years, however, finding a site for profitable production of aggregate has assumed ever-increasing com-

Jan 1, 1976

By Smith Bracewell

First evidence of bauxite in Jamaica resulted from an analysis of a soil sample collected at Bull Savannah in 1938 during a systematic local investigation of the island's soil types. Results of subsequent work indicated the possibility of the occurrence of deposits of commercial grade and dimensions, and in 1942, with a view to emergency development of the deposits as a war measure, the Jamaican Government declared all bauxite in the colony to be Crown property.

Jan 10, 1958

By Rosewell H. Johnson

Discussion of the paper of ROSWELL H. JOHNSON, presented it the San Francisco meeting, September, 1915, And printed in Bulletin No. 102, June, 1915, pp. 1291 to 1294. WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS, San. Francisco, CaI.-A sliding. scale of royalties was proposed to the Department of the Interior in connection with the fixing of royalties to be charged upon oil leases made on the Osage Reservation in Oklahoma. The possibility of evasion and difficulty of enforcement required close inspection to satisfy all interests, particularly in connection with the exemption from royalty on oil to equal maintenance and interest on the junk. Mr. Johnson discusses the block method, the period method, and the cumulative method, and favors the adoption of the cumulative method with a proviso that the wells should be permitted to be pumped until the gross income is as low as the maintenance cost, which would mean exemption from royalty on the smallest wells. He recommends that depth be the variable factor upon which the sliding royalty is based and suggests that on partially developed territory in the Osage, the royalty be one-sixth for oil wells averaging less than 2,000 ft. in depth, one-eighth for wells from 2,000 to 3,000 ft., and one-twelfth above 3,000 ft.; for the rest of the Osage he suggests one-eighth above 2,800 ft. and one-twelfth below that depth. The net result, if Mr. Johnson's suggestions had been accepted in the Osage, would have been to reduce the then existing rate of royalty and considerably increase the cost of administration. The difficulties in determining the size of wells to be exempt and the possibility of obtaining oil at different depths in the same well might lead to complications which are avoided by charging a flat royalty as now universally charged throughout the United States. It is not uncommon to reduce the royalty when the production of the wells becomes unprofitable at an existing rate of royalty, accomplishing very much the same results as Mr. Johnson has attempted to accomplish by the cumulative royalties, and probably in a manner far more satisfactory to the operator and the lessor. A. C. MCLAUGHLIN, San Francisco, Cal.-The net revenue of the well depends, first, on the cost of production; second, on the amount of oil produced; therefore it would be impossible under Mr. Johnson's system to set a royalty which would be fair to all concerned. If it is impossible to set it at the beginning, it is certainly further impossible to do it from day to clay. I think it is entirely impracticable of application.

Jan 12, 1915

By R. E. Grace, H. W. Schadler

DARKEN1 has established the theoretical relation between the self-diffusion coefficients and the Boltzmann-MatanO Or interdiffusion coefficient: D is the Boltzmann-Matano or interdiffusion coef-

Jan 1, 1960

THE following statement is contained in an article entitled "Mortgaging the Future." by Walter C. Teagle, president of the Standard Oil Co. of New Jer-sey, appearing in the current issue of the Lamp, the official organ of the Standard Oil Co.: "During the last eight months the domestic daily production. of crude oil has risen 300,000 bbl.. which means that no less a volume than 2,500,000 bbl. now are coming to market each day. . . . Every twenty-four hours 250,000 bbl. more than the consumer required are being added to our surplus oil storage. The temporary advantage of cheap petroleum products and the availability of fuel .oil, for a widespread use as a substitute for coal are not being weighed against the time when scarcity may follow on the heels of plenty and the public of tomor-row may have to pay for today's excesses. The over-production of crude and its consequences constitute a problem of national import which far outweighs the temporary advantages either to a part of the industry or to sections of the public.

Jan 8, 1927

By Henry F. Cooper, Scott E. Blouin

Large jacking test procedures that have been applied to obtain static in-situ rock properties (Ref. 1) have shown that the in-situ rock modulus and strength can be considerably less than what would be obtained from laboratory tests on intact samples. This trend is also expected to be true for dynamic properties, but few dynamic in- situ rock property tests have been conducted. During the past several years, high explosive test procedures have been developed to simulate the airblast and direct induced ground motions (Ref. 2) produced by nuclear explosions . These test procedures load large volumes (up to 10 7 f t3) of the earth with stress levels sufficiently high to produc5 feet of particle displacement over surface areas up to l0 5 ft2. This paper discusses some of the data obtained, and the implications of these results for our understanding of the dynamic response of in-situ rock. DESCRIPTION OF TEST PROCEDURES As shown in Fig. 1, the High Explosive Simulation Technique (HEST) consists of a cavity of uniform height bounded on the sides by a soil berm, above by an overburden of uniform thickness, and below by the test bed on the earth's surface. Horizontal racks of detonating cord are placed in the cavity and detonated at one end of the test bed. This detonation produces an explosive wave that propagates across the test bed, loading the earth with an overpressure pulse that decays with time because of the compression and lifting of the overburden. Since 1964, there have been approximately 40 such tests on test bed areas ranging from a few hundred to l0 5 sq ft., simulating peak overpressure conditions between about 100 and 6000 psi and specific impulses between a few and over 100 psi-sec.

Jan 1, 1971

The following is an incomplete list of members and guests who called at Institute headquarters during the period Nov. 10, 1918 to Dec. 10, 1918. Arthur C. Adair, Camp Meade, Md. L. S. Mitchell, Montreal, Canada. Arthur K. Adams, Camp Humphreys, Va. T. E. Mitchell, San Francisco, Cal. Toner Antisell, Chevy Chase, Md. H. Mortimer-Lamb, Montreal, Canada. V. W. Aubel, New Castle, Pa. Edmund Newton, A. C. Black, El Paso, Tex. Paul T. Norton, Jr., Columbus Ohio. 0. F. Brinton, Baxter Spgs., Kans. Elmer W. Pehrson, San José, Cal. C. S. Corbett, Minneapolis, Minn. Joseph E. Pogue, Washington, D. C. W. M. Corse, Mansfield, Ohio. T. C. Roberts, E. Orange, N. J. G. C. Crossley, Toms River, N. J. D. R. Semmes, Richmond, Va. H. S. Emlaw, Grand Haven, Mich. H. L. Slosson, Jr., San Francisco, Cal. Rudolph Emmel, Boston, Mass. W. H. Staver, S. G. Garrett, U. S. N. R. F. A. L. Sweetser, Boston, Mass. Lt. Francis Geib, Denver, Colo. Lt. H. B. Taylor, Kansas City, Mo. Wm. E. Hubbard, Wichita Falls, Tex. Kirby Thomas, New York. Arthur Iddings, Wichita Falls, Tex. Benj. F. Tibby, Salt Lake City, U. Zay Jeffries, Cleveland, Ohio. J. L. Towne, Whitepine, Colo. S. J. Kidder, Mogollon, N. M. Chas. W. Tubby, St. Paul, Minn. Lt.-Col. W. H. Lanagan (Engrs.). A. G. Waite, Brookline, Mass. Major W. F. Lewis (Engrs.). Timothy D. Walsh, Denver, Colo. 0. M. Lewyn, Thomas Warner, Phoenix, Ariz. A. McClintock, DeKalb June., N. Y. J. P. B. Webster, London, England. Major Donald G. Miller, N. M. E. W. Westervelt, Los Angeles, Cal. C. E. LeN. Arnold, formerly with the Inspiration Cons. Copper Co. at Inspiration, Ariz., has accepted a position with the Consolidated Arizona Smelting Co. at Mayer, Ariz.

Jan 1, 1919

Jan 1, 1888

By C. T. Butler, W. W. Kay, R. D. Boddorff, R. L Ash

DRILLING and blasting in anthracite open-pit mines is a continuous problem to contractors and explosive engineers because of the diverse conditions caused by the nature of the geological formations, the extensive mining of the portions of coal beds near the surface, and the proximity of many strip pits to populated areas. Pennsylvania anthracite occurs in four separate long and narrow fields totaling only 480 sq miles. The coal measures are rock strata and coal beds that are considerably folded and faulted. The crests of the anticlines are eroded extensively. The beds outcrop on the mountain sides and dip under the valleys. At first only the upper portions of the syn-clines could be stripped. Now stripping to increasingly greater depths is economically possible, as is indicated by the fact that the proportion of freshly mined anthracite produced by strip mining has increased from 3.7 pct of the total tonnage in 1930 to 29.6 pct in 1950. Much of the rock overlying the deeper beds now being stripped is so extensively broken that considerable difficulty is experienced in drilling satisfactory blast holes and in using explosives in such manner as to insure a uniformly broken material easily removed by the excavating machinery. Such breaking of rock strata has occurred because the bed now being stripped has been mined extensively in former years by underground methods, and tops of gangways and chambers have subsequently failed. Draglines are used to uncover coal where the overburden can be moved with little or no re-handling. These machines range in size from those having a 2 cu yd capacity bucket on a 60-ft boom to those handling a 25 cu yd bucket on a 200-ft boom. Draglines are also used to strip to the bottom of the coal basins if the depth and the distance between the crops are not too great. For this type of operation blast holes are drilled full depth to the bed. These holes are commonly 30 to 90 ft deep; however, in exceptional cases, holes may be as shallow as 12 ft or as deep as 130 ft. Drilling is normally done for blasts of 12,000 to 60,000 cu yd of overburden, 30,000 cu yd being considered an average blast if vibration is not the controlling factor. Where the stripping of wide basins or the exposure of a moderately pitching vein makes the use of draglines impractical, dipper front shovels equipped with 4 to 6 cu yd buckets load into trucks. Overburden is removed in benches of 25 to 30 ft with blast holes drilled 4 or 5 ft deeper than the planned floor of the bench. For shovels under 5 cu yd bucket capacity the volume blasted varies from 8000 to 12,000 cu yd, whereas a volume of 30,000 to 50,000 cu yd of overburden is frequently blasted at one time for the larger shovels where vibration is not an important factor. During the past decade the churn drill, generally the Model 42-T Bucyrus-Erie blast hole drill equipped for drilling 9-in. diam holes, has become the most common blast hole drilling machine. Electricity powers half the churn drills in use and is preferred on the large strippings where electric shovels are operated and the working area is concentrated. On these operations the cost of additional electricity for the drills is less than the cost of fuel to operate diesel units because of the existing large demand load of the excavating equipment. Moreover, electric motors start more easily in cold weather and generally are less expensive to maintain. Diesel driven units are employed where a higher degree of mobility is required. The average drilling speed is 8 ft per hr, although in softer rocks a rate of 15 ft per hr is attained. Where rock is hard and strata is badly broken, drill speeds may be less than 2 ft per hr. Low drilling production results under these circumstances when loose material falling from the upper portion of the drill holes causes drill stems to be jammed. Rock formations vary so greatly in the region that a 9-in. diam churn drill bit may become dull after drilling only 2 ft or may drill satisfactorily for 56 ft; however, an average of 35 ft is usual in sandstone of medium hardness. Dull bits are hoisted to flat bed trucks by the sand line of the drill and are usually sharpened in the contractor's bit shop adjacent to the job. Care is generally taken to cover the thread end of the bit with a cap. To facilitate handling of bits around the drill, a heavy thread protector having an eye top is becoming more popular than the flat-top rubber or metal cap furnished with new bits. The 9-in. diam blast holes for a 25 to 30 ft bench are normally on 18x18 ft to 20x20 ft spacings, depending on the character of the overburden, although in broken ground 15x18 ft centers may be used to obtain better breakage and a more even bottom for the bench. The patterns of holes for shots

Jan 1, 1953

By R. D. Boddorff, R. L. Ash, C. T. Butler, W. W. Kay

DRILLING and blasting in anthracite open-pit mines is a continuous problem to contractors and explosive engineers because of the diverse conditions caused by the nature of the geological formations, the extensive mining of the portions of coal beds near the surface, and the proximity of many strip pits to populated areas. Pennsylvania anthracite occurs in four separate long and narrow fields totaling only 480 sq miles. The coal measures are rock strata and coal beds that are considerably folded and faulted. The crests of the anticlines are eroded extensively. The beds outcrop on the mountain sides and dip under the valleys. At first only the upper portions of the syn-clines could be stripped. Now stripping to increasingly greater depths is economically possible, as is indicated by the fact that the proportion of freshly mined anthracite produced by strip mining has increased from 3.7 pct of the total tonnage in 1930 to 29.6 pct in 1950. Much of the rock overlying the deeper beds now being stripped is so extensively broken that considerable difficulty is experienced in drilling satisfactory blast holes and in using explosives in such manner as to insure a uniformly broken material easily removed by the excavating machinery. Such breaking of rock strata has occurred because the bed now being stripped has been mined extensively in former years by underground methods, and tops of gangways and chambers have subsequently failed. Draglines are used to uncover coal where the overburden can be moved with little or no re-handling. These machines range in size from those having a 2 cu yd capacity bucket on a 60-ft boom to those handling a 25 cu yd bucket on a 200-ft boom. Draglines are also used to strip to the bottom of the coal basins if the depth and the distance between the crops are not too great. For this type of operation blast holes are drilled full depth to the bed. These holes are commonly 30 to 90 ft deep; however, in exceptional cases, holes may be as shallow as 12 ft or as deep as 130 ft. Drilling is normally done for blasts of 12,000 to 60,000 cu yd of overburden, 30,000 cu yd being considered an average blast if vibration is not the controlling factor. Where the stripping of wide basins or the exposure of a moderately pitching vein makes the use of draglines impractical, dipper front shovels equipped with 4 to 6 cu yd buckets load into trucks. Overburden is removed in benches of 25 to 30 ft with blast holes drilled 4 or 5 ft deeper than the planned floor of the bench. For shovels under 5 cu yd bucket capacity the volume blasted varies from 8000 to 12,000 cu yd, whereas a volume of 30,000 to 50,000 cu yd of overburden is frequently blasted at one time for the larger shovels where vibration is not an important factor. During the past decade the churn drill, generally the Model 42-T Bucyrus-Erie blast hole drill equipped for drilling 9-in. diam holes, has become the most common blast hole drilling machine. Electricity powers half the churn drills in use and is preferred on the large strippings where electric shovels are operated and the working area is concentrated. On these operations the cost of additional electricity for the drills is less than the cost of fuel to operate diesel units because of the existing large demand load of the excavating equipment. Moreover, electric motors start more easily in cold weather and generally are less expensive to maintain. Diesel driven units are employed where a higher degree of mobility is required. The average drilling speed is 8 ft per hr, although in softer rocks a rate of 15 ft per hr is attained. Where rock is hard and strata is badly broken, drill speeds may be less than 2 ft per hr. Low drilling production results under these circumstances when loose material falling from the upper portion of the drill holes causes drill stems to be jammed. Rock formations vary so greatly in the region that a 9-in. diam churn drill bit may become dull after drilling only 2 ft or may drill satisfactorily for 56 ft; however, an average of 35 ft is usual in sandstone of medium hardness. Dull bits are hoisted to flat bed trucks by the sand line of the drill and are usually sharpened in the contractor's bit shop adjacent to the job. Care is generally taken to cover the thread end of the bit with a cap. To facilitate handling of bits around the drill, a heavy thread protector having an eye top is becoming more popular than the flat-top rubber or metal cap furnished with new bits. The 9-in. diam blast holes for a 25 to 30 ft bench are normally on 18x18 ft to 20x20 ft spacings, depending on the character of the overburden, although in broken ground 15x18 ft centers may be used to obtain better breakage and a more even bottom for the bench. The patterns of holes for shots

Jan 1, 1953

By Paul M. Tyler, Carle R. Hayward

DOES it pay to do really good work? Quite likely the practical millman will answer that it does not. The preparation of ores for market is primarily a business enterprise, and by and large the individual operator does not bother his head about squandering our national resources or making easier the job of the smelterman. Having accepted such ore as he may get fro111 the mine, his job is to make the best possible showing with his mill fro111 the standpoint of financial return. His success is measured in dollars and cents, and he has no rightful reason to expect more than scant acknowledgment of any other achievements from the stock- holders of his company who in the last analysis are his employers.

Jan 1, 1936

By P. R. Sperry, M. L. Holzworth, P. A. Beck

The basic work of Z. Jeffries 1,2,3 has long ago established the main features of grain growth in the presence of a dispersed second phase. Working with sintered specimens of initially fine grained tungsten, to which various amounts of thoria had been added, Jeffries found that grain growth was inhibited, that is, practically prevented, up to a certain annealing temperature. When this temperature, which increased with the thoria content, was exceeded, extremely large grains developed abruptly from the fine grained matrix. such a a temperature" was later found by Gross-mann~3,14 in certain types of steel, while ~~i~ showed15 that in other steels grain growth was gradual, without inhibition and abrupt coarsening. Later work demonstrated the connection between coarsening and aluminum additions. The viewpoint that the direct cause of inhibition and coarsening in aluminum killed steels is a fine dispersion of aluminum oxide21 appears to be held quite generally, although some doubts have been voiced even very recently, 20 In steels with Ti additions the titanium carbide phase is considered responsible for the inhibition effects found.20 The coarsening temperature increases with the titanium content. That coarsening may occur, as a result of, certain heat treatments, even in low carboil rimmed sheet steel, was shown by Samuels. He also detected coarsening in a steel ingot of similar composition, after giving it the same heat treatment as that used by him for the sheet material. In this instance the identity of the inhibiting phase has not been determined. However, Tangerding found23 that even the few small carbide particles, which occur in carbonyl iron, have a very marked inhibitive effect. As a result of an oxidizing anneal at 850°C, large grains begin to form at the surface of the carbonyl iron specimen, and gradually grow inward as the subsurface oxidation of the carbide particles progresses and eliminates the obstruction. The carbide particles Can be removed also by annealing in hydrogen, with similar results. But if the oxidizing anneal of 10 hr at 850°C in air is followed between in hydrogen for 75 hr at the Same temperature, grain growth is more hibition usually the whole specimen is transformed into a single crystal (approx. 1.5 cm X 5 cm). The reversed procedure, that is, hydrogen annealing followed by oxidizing annealing leads to smaller grains. Tangerding arrived at the logical conclusion that there must have been in his specimens some additional obstruction to grain growth hibition from a minor impurity, other than carbon. It seems likely that this obstruction was caused by an oxide formed during the oxidizing anneal and gradually reduced rtain the subsequent hydrogen-annealing. Other instances of grain growth inhibition of varying severity, associated with a dispersed second phase, have been described by several authors. Notable examples: lead with 0.06 pet Cu or Ni,24 cartridge brass with 0.12 pct Cr,25 or with up to 0.15

Jan 1, 1949