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By C. Y. Garber

Interest in the sink-float plant operated by the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining and Concentrating Co. at Kellogg, Idaho, has recently been largely confined to the preparation and reconditioning of the galena medium. The ease and simplicity of these operations in a concentrating mill producing a flotation lead concentrate has occasioned enough comment to possibly justify a brief description. The subject is treated from an operator's viewpoint only; no effort is made to discuss it in a theoretical or technical manner. Plant at Bunker Hill The sink-float plant was first operated in December 1941. It was built for the purpose of quickly increasing mill capacity with a minimum of equipment. It is the Huntington-Heberlein sink and float process using galena medium and is operated under license from the Sink and Float Corporation, New York city. Lead-zinc ore from the Bunker Hill mine is crushed to pass a 1¼ in, screen and is then washed and separated on vibrating screens having 4½-mm. round-hole punched plates. The screen under-size, amounting to 33 per cent of the mill feed, is dewatered and sent to the ball-mill feed bins. The screen oversize goes to the sink-float plant, where 50 per cent of the oversize, or 33 per cent of the mill feed, is float, which is washed free of medium and disposed of as a tailing. The remaining 33 per cent is sink, which, after washing, is crushed to pass 36 in. and joins the under-size in the ball-mill feed bins. The normal plant capacity is 1700 tons per 24 hr. About 1.7 per cent of the total lead and 3.3 per cent of the total zinc in the feed is lost with the sink-float tailings (Table I). More complete descriptions of the H. H. process and Bunker Hill sink-float plant are given in several recent articles, listed at the end of the paper. Preparation OF Medium at Bunker Hill New medium is made intermittently as needed, usually 12 hr. in each 6 days. A small portion of the current mill flotation concentrate is diverted from the lead cleaner cells to a I-in. vertical sand pump and pumped to a two-cell 36-in. Agitair flotation machine, where NaCn and ZnSO4 are added and the grade of concentrate is improved as shown in Table 2. Tailing from this operation is returned by gravity

Jan 1, 1947

By Wilbert G. McBride

Two Also 3 1/2-ton motor trucks were used by Young Bros. while operating at the Mammoth Collins mine at Shultz, Ariz. One was equipped with an oil tank holding 1,075 gal. and was used for the transportation of "tops." The other was fitted with a stake body and used to carry machinery, wood, rails, pipe and all classes of miscellaneous supplies. The bodies were made of oak with maple flooring and were attached to the frame of the chassis by U-bolts, to avoid drilling the main members of the frame. Most of the hauling was done from Tucson, a distance of 47 1/2 miles. During the first 3 months, part of the road was in very bad condition and the tire cost was excessive. After this part was repaired the road was in fair condition, but never good. There were no excessive grades or bad sand, but wagon ruts, too narrow for the truck wheels and of a different gage, caused heavy tire loss; while chuck holes, sharp curves and stones, both imbedded and loose, were objectionable features. During wet weather the trucks could not get sufficient traction to climb some of the hills and were likely to stick in the mud in certain places, so that no attempt was made to run them unless they were on the' road when the rain started. This lost time amounted to about 5 per cent. of the total, but, whenever possible, it was utilized in making minor repairs. The price of gasoline was from 17 to 21 c. per gal. Rubber tires were used throughout. Drivers were said $4.50 to $5 per shift, and a return trip to Tucson was counted as two shifts even when made in one day. Drivers were provided with a room in Tucson and were paid for a11 time lost due to causes beyond their control. Trucks were loaded one way only. Speedometers were placed on both trucks but the excessive vibration soon caused them to fail. For this reason, and because no account was taken of the distance covered in picking up a miscellaneous load or in other minor ways, the mileage given is under the actual distance traveled. Some of the weights had to be estimated, but care was taken to have the number of ton-miles low rather than high, to avoid underestimating the costs. The cost of hauling from Tucson to the mines was $12 per ton

Jan 1, 1917

By Hans W. Schreiber

INTRODUCTION At the end of the day, the decision by the sponsor to proceed with a project and to seek financing, or the decision by the financier to grant financing are made on a judgmental basis. Cash flow projections, sensitivity and risk analysis, the innumerable ratios applied by the financier, the so-called feasibility study, etc. are all only tools, and the degree to which they affect decisions is as highly varied as are the personality differences and business conduct and outlooks of the persons who render the decision of "go or no-go". The independent consultant, then, is expected to provide an additional increment of credulity and/or reliability to the "tools" which others will use in reaching a decision; the consultant is really not in a position to directly recommend a "go or no-go". PROJECT FINANCE INGREDIENTS The project finance situation has basically three ingredients: - The project; - The inherent risks attendant with project failure; - The parties. The project, to be viable for financing, will have certain essential characteristics, namely: 1. Clear title or rights to the mineral; 2. Proven definition/establishment of mineral quantity; 3. Financial viability; 4. Physical access consistent with financial viability; 5. A market for the product at a price and for the quantity consistent with financial viability; 6. Transportation/shipping from the project facility to the market at a cost consistent with financial viability; 7. Availability and demonstrated expertise of the developer of the facility; 8. Demonstrated expertise of the operator of the facility; 9. Production processes do not involve unproven new technology; 10. Availability of management personnel; 11. The property and the facilities have value (and thus can be used as collateral); 12. Government approvals/support, as required, will have been obtained; 13. The political environment is essentially friendly and stable; 14. The owner(s) of the project have the financial, strength to make equity contributions consistent with total required investment capital and project risk; 15. Backing by credit support other than that of the financier (i.e. guarantees); The inherent risks of failure are (Nevitt, 2nd Edition); 1. Completion delays with consequent delays in the generation of revenue 2. Cost overruns 3. Technical failure 4. Financial failure of contractors 5. Government interference 6. Uninsured losses 7. Increased price or shortages of raw materials, supplies 8. Technical obsolescence 9. Loss of competitive position in the market place 10. Expropriation 11. Inadequate/poor management The parties directly or indirectly integral to the project financing are: - The mineral rights owner - The developer - The operator - The equity investor

Jan 1, 1985

By A. A. Smith, J. S. Smart

THE elements silver, cadmium, tin, antimony and tellurium either are found as impurities in commercial coppers or are intentionally added to produce coppers for special uses, When present in small quantities, each of these metals exerts a significant effect on the properties of copper, but despite considerable experience and investigation much remains to be learned about their specific behavior. The presence of extraneous elements, particularly oxygen, complicates the study of individual additions of impurities in the range 0 to 0.05 per cent, and the use of high-purity copper has been found extremely helpful in circumventing these difficulties. It has also been found that individual behavior can be satisfactorily determined from measurements of two commercially important properties, conductivity and softening temperature, according to methods that have been described previously.1,2 Data of this type, obtained in the course of a general investigation of the effects of impurities on the properties of both oxygen-bearing and oxygen-free copper are presented herewith. All samples except those containing cadmium were prepared as 3/8-in. continuously cast oxygen-free rod from pure copper and weighed amounts of a similarly synthesized master alloy. Composition was checked by chemical methods, which in every case verified the calculated analyses. Test wires were cold-drawn one B. and S. number per pass on a string-up machine using four 30-min. 600°C. anneals at 0.3125, 0.257, 0.204 and 0.162 in. and a final cold reduction of 75 per cent to 0.081 in. Some oxygen-bearing samples were produced directly from the 3/8-in. oxygen-free rods by diffusion from a surface scale at 850°C. and drawn to size as listed above, but most of the alloys were remelted in pure graphite and cast through air into a I-in. round mold, The slugs were then hot-rolled to 5/16 in., drawn to 0.162 in., annealed as listed above, and drawn to 0.081 inch. Conductivity wires were annealed for I hr. at 100°C. intervals between 300° and 800°F., using a hydrogen atmosphere for oxygen-free samples and purified nitrogen for the oxygen-bearing type, All samples were quenched from the annealing temperature in 10 per cent H2SO4 and conductivity was measured on a Hoopes bridge that had been checked against a Kelvin bridge. The softening temperatures represent the half-hard stage of the annealing curve as determined by a standard procedure.1 EFFECT OF SILVER Numerous excellent studies of the argentiferous coppers are found in the literature, and these have been adequately

Jan 1, 1943

By M. E. Lombardi

ThE Coalinga oil field is located on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, California. The structure is in general a monocline, the edges of the oil horizon resting on the foot hills and dipping gently toward the east. One prominent anticline occurs plunging southeast. The earlier drilling was done in the foot hills comparatively near the outcrop and the wells were shallow. The sands were followed eastward and, in the case of the anticline, along the plunge, the wells becoming deeper and deeper until the depth of 4,000 ft. was reached and passed. There is nothing to show that the oil will not be found in quantity at still greater depth. In fact, some of the best producers have tapped the sand at close to 4,000 ft. The recovery of oil still farther to the east, and therefore at greater depth, seems to be mainly a question of drilling. In this territory the formations drilled through are chiefly sands and shales; they will not "stand up" in an open drilling hole; the casing has to be carried close to the bit, and it is always difficult to keep the casing free for any considerable distance. Ability to carry casing of comparatively large diameter without conductor pipes for distances of 2,000 or 3,000 ft. or over is desirable in such territory chiefly for two reasons. It makes it possible to enter the oil sand with a pipe of ample diameter; it eliminates one or more expensive strings of casing which act only as conductors for the water string, and furthermore, in territory where waters are encountered which corrode steel rapidly, it makes possible the construction of a rust- and alkali-resisting water string. It is always desirable to shut off top waters, which may lie within 100 ft. or less of the oil sand, with 10-in. pipe. Where the depth is so great that a practical weight of 10-in. pipe will not withstand the probable collapsing pressures, 81/4 in. at least is desirable. About the limit of rotary drilling to date in California seems to be the setting of the 10-in. string at 3,200 ft., although the rapid advance in rotary work during the past year seems to indicate that this depth may soon be increased. It is my purpose now, however, to treat only of cable-tool drilling. The problem is to reach a depth of 4,000 ft. or more with a string of

Jan 1, 1915

By R. L. Huntington, Frank P. Vance, George F. Russell, Robert Thompson

With the advent of higher pressures in the operation of natural-gas transmission lines, the removal of water vapor from the gas has become increasingly important in order to prevent condensation or formation of gas hydrate from slowing down or stopping the flow of gas. Intelligent design of these dehydration or gas-drying plants has been hampered through the Iack of experimental data on the water vapor content of natural gas at elevated pressures. In view of this need, this present investigation was sponsored by the Southern Natural Gas Co. in the Chemical Engineering laboratories at the University of Oklahoma Research Institute. Experimental results were obtained on the water-vapor content of natural gas up to 2000 lb. per sq. in. at atmospheric temperatures. The water content at 2000 lb. is approximately two thirds as much as it is at 1000 Ib. Deviations from the ideal gas laws vary directly with pressure and indirectly with temperature. Introduction The removal of water vapor from natural gas is an important operation in connection with the production and transportation of this commodity because: I. Liquid water accelerates internal corrosion of a pipe line. 2. Accumulation of water at low points in a pipe line reduces markedly its capacity. 3. Gas hydrates, icy snowlike growths, form readily under high pressure in the presence of the lower hydrocarbons and water, often plugging up the pipe line. In order to design dehydration plants for stripping the gas of its water content, it is essential that the engineer. have a knowledge of the saturated or equilibrium water-vapor content of the gas to be processed. With the gradual increase of operating pressures around gas-producing wells and pipe lines, it was observed that the quantity of water recovered from dehydration plants or condensed in colder lines was considerably greater than had been expected from calculated contents, based on vapor-pressure data taken from steam tables. This observation prompted a number of investigators, for instance, Laulhere,3 Dea-ton,l and Hammerschmidt2 to carry out experimental work at pressures up to 600 lb. per sq. in. in order to determine quantitatively the water content of various gases. Sage, Lacey, et al.4,5 have recognized more recently the need for such data at higher pressures, but their work was done at temperatures of 100ºF, and higher. Since hydrate formation usually, if not entirely, occurs at temperatures below 100ºF., the present investigation was confined to the . lower temperature range at pressures from 600 to 2000 lb. per sq. in. gauge.

Jan 1, 1945

By Geoffrey Gilbert

THE Montana Phosphate Products Co., subsidiary of the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, operates three phosphate properties north and northeast of Garrison, Powell County, Mont. Production of all three is from the same phosphate bed, a 3 to 4-ft. member of the Phosphoria formation, whose outcrop is traceable across the mountains of the Garnet Range in a series of southeasterly pitching folds. Because of topographical differences and of variations in the attitude of the bed, each property has its own mining methods and problems. Most of the phosphate rock produced since I930 has been shipped to the plant of the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. at Trail, B.C., where it is treated with sulphuric acid for conversion to phosphoric acid, which in turn is used to produce various fertilizers. HISTORY The occurrence of rock phosphate in Montana has been known. since 1910, and the Garrison area was mapped by the United States Geological Survey in 1913In the nineteen twenties William Anderson, owner of a ranch 8 miles north of Garrison, discovered phosphate on his land, and the Montana Phosphate Co., which later became the Montana Phosphate Products Co., was formed to work the deposit. Montana Phosphate Products Co. later obtained United States leases on two adjoining parcels of ground, and this combined property, known as the Anderson mine, has been the main source of Consolidated's phosphate rock. The mine now includes an adjoining parcel leased from Anaconda and mined from the Anderson workings. In 1940, the Graveley mine, a small privately owned property 6 miles east of the Anderson, was leased from the owner by Montana Phosphate Products Co., and a U. S. lease held by Graveley on some adjoining ground was subleased. In 1943 the Luke mine, on the Mineral Hill property, 1 ¾ miles south-southwest of the Graveley, a U. S. lease, which previously had produced a few thousand tons, was optioned from the lessees by Montana Phosphate Products Co., and is now being developed. At both these mines the rock is appreciably higher grade than at the Anderson mine. GEOLOGY The Phosphoria formation is the Permian member of an extensive sequence of Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks. It is underlain by Pennsylvanian (Quadrant) quartzite and Mississippian limestone, and overlain without any marked unconformity by Jurassic (Ellis) shale and Cretaceous shale and sandstone. In the Garrison area, the Phosphoria itself consists mainly of about 50 ft. Of gray to yellow chert. Immediately below the chert is the phosphate, usually 3 to 4 ft. thick. Below the phosphate occur a few

Jan 1, 1945

By T. E. Ockershauser

The Southwest Antioch Oil Field located in T2&3N - R2&3W, Garvin County, Okla., was discovered in February, 1946, by The Globe Oil & Refining Co. and The Vickers Petroleum Co. at their Melinda Gibson No. 1. Oil production was encountered at a depth of 6,525 ft in 14 ft of lower Pennsyl-vanian sandstone. The producing sand, locally called the ."Gibson" or "Third Deese," is a sand bar deposit strung along the west flank of the Pauls Valley uplift in a northwest-southeast direction. The oil reservoir is defined to the east by the edge of sand deposition along the uplift and to the west by the gradation of sand into shale. Within the Antioch Unit, the sand dips from 150 to 400 ft per mile southwesterly and has a pay thickness varying from 10 to 55 ft and averaging 28 ft. Several areas of Gibson production have been developed, including the Katie pool on the south, the Elmore Area of the Southwest Antioch Gibson Sand pool. the Southwest Antioch Gibson Sand pool proper, the Southwest Maysville pool and the New Hope pool on the north. Production extends over a belt 22 miles long by about two miles wide and is continuous except into the Katie and New Hope pools. It appears that drilling will soon prove these intervening areas productive. To March 1, 1950, approximately 18,000 acres have been developed with 450 Gibson wells. It is likely this count will ultimately reach 32.000 acres with 800 wells. RESERVOIR The natural production of oil from the Gibson reservoir is primarily due to solution gas expansion though gravity also plays a part. There is no indication of water drive or evidence that an initial gas cap existed. Gibson oil has a stock tank gravity of 43" API and was saturated at the original reservoir pressure of 2.925 psi. It contained 1,3440 cu ft of gas per bbl in solution and had a high shrinkage of 70 per cent. Connate water amounts to 15 per cent. Reservoir temperature is 130°F. Porosity averages 15.5 per cent and permeability ranges from less than one md to over 1.000. Based on meacurement of 400 core plugs from 15 wells, 78 per cent of the permeabilities fell within the 10 to 1,000 md bracket and averaged l67. Primary oil recovery is estimated at 140 bbl per acre-ft or 22 million bbl for the present 137-tract unit. Due to unitization

Jan 1, 1951

By T. E. Ockershauser

The Southwest Antioch Oil Field located in T2&3N - R2&3W, Garvin County, Okla., was discovered in February, 1946, by The Globe Oil & Refining Co. and The Vickers Petroleum Co. at their Melinda Gibson No. 1. Oil production was encountered at a depth of 6,525 ft in 14 ft of lower Pennsyl-vanian sandstone. The producing sand, locally called the ."Gibson" or "Third Deese," is a sand bar deposit strung along the west flank of the Pauls Valley uplift in a northwest-southeast direction. The oil reservoir is defined to the east by the edge of sand deposition along the uplift and to the west by the gradation of sand into shale. Within the Antioch Unit, the sand dips from 150 to 400 ft per mile southwesterly and has a pay thickness varying from 10 to 55 ft and averaging 28 ft. Several areas of Gibson production have been developed, including the Katie pool on the south, the Elmore Area of the Southwest Antioch Gibson Sand pool. the Southwest Antioch Gibson Sand pool proper, the Southwest Maysville pool and the New Hope pool on the north. Production extends over a belt 22 miles long by about two miles wide and is continuous except into the Katie and New Hope pools. It appears that drilling will soon prove these intervening areas productive. To March 1, 1950, approximately 18,000 acres have been developed with 450 Gibson wells. It is likely this count will ultimately reach 32.000 acres with 800 wells. RESERVOIR The natural production of oil from the Gibson reservoir is primarily due to solution gas expansion though gravity also plays a part. There is no indication of water drive or evidence that an initial gas cap existed. Gibson oil has a stock tank gravity of 43" API and was saturated at the original reservoir pressure of 2.925 psi. It contained 1,3440 cu ft of gas per bbl in solution and had a high shrinkage of 70 per cent. Connate water amounts to 15 per cent. Reservoir temperature is 130°F. Porosity averages 15.5 per cent and permeability ranges from less than one md to over 1.000. Based on meacurement of 400 core plugs from 15 wells, 78 per cent of the permeabilities fell within the 10 to 1,000 md bracket and averaged l67. Primary oil recovery is estimated at 140 bbl per acre-ft or 22 million bbl for the present 137-tract unit. Due to unitization

Jan 1, 1951

By Arthur F. Taggart, T. C. Fitt, A. W. Thomas

IT was noticed early by operators that high recoveries and flocculation of the sulphide minerals were closely correlated in agitation-froth flotation. Later, this readily visible flocculation was found almost invariably to be due to the binding together of the oiled sulphides by minute air bubbles, and is now known to be characteristic of pulps in which at least one of the mineral species is coated with an insoluble collecting oil. In 1930 it was reported1 that in differential flotation a correlation exists between Brownian movement of particles in the pulp and their nonfloatability, and that Brownian movement and dispersion are likewise correlated, whence it would appear to follow that dispersion of a mineral particle in a flotation pulp denotes a particle condition unfavorable to flotation. In 1934 it was postulated2 that Brownian movement, dispersion and nonfloatability all flow from the condition of the surface of the dispersed particles. It was also postulated at that time that the surfaces of dispersed particles are ionized, the ionized compound being a product of reaction between a component of the particle and a. component of the pulp, of a mass solubility of the general order of a fraction of a milligram to 15 to 20 mg. per liter. It was then further asserted, and has since been confirmed by Bankoff,3 that sulphides so conditioned with soluble collectors as to be floatable flocculate without the intervention of air bubbles as binding media. The present paper comprises an inquiry into the nature of the bound and counter ions in zinc sulphide dispersed by sodium arsenate. A part of its findings was mentioned in the 1934 paper above cited.2 The tests show that: I. When powdered granular zinc sulphide is immersed in aqueous solutions of sodium arsenate, arsenate ion is abstracted from solution and anchored to the solid surface, while sulphate and lower sulphoxy ions are concurrently displaced therefrom in substantially stoichiometric quantities. 2. The ion counterbalancing the anchored arsenate ion is zinc. 3. Dispersion and Brownian movement of zinc sulphide are concurrently maxima at an arsenate-ion concentration lying between 0.01 and 0.001-molar sodium arsenate. 4. Any condition or reaction that tends to remove the zinc arsenate coating from the zinc sulphide particles decreases dispersion and Brownian movement concurrently. EXPERIMENTAL Three samples of zinc sulphide were used. Lot I was C.P. zinc sulphide, washed well beyond absence of chloride, as shown by test with silver ion. Lot 2 was prepared by precipita-

Jan 1, 1943

By James Norman, O. C. Ralston, John Dasher

Most mineral products are used in the finely divided state, but some are sold in larger sizes. Coal, gravel, metallurgical fluorspar, phosphate rock, hematite, chro-mite, and other products are sold in sizes coarser than can be treated by many mineral-dressing methods. Gravity separation of coarser sizes by log washing and jigging is probably as ancient as any process now in use. The performance of jigs on a feed with sufficient difference in density of the minerals is excellent, but many families of minerals are too similar in density to be separated effectively by this method. The use of heavy suspensions of fine solids to separate coarse coal from bone and slate has been in use for some years. This separation by sink-and-float was limited until recently to light minerals. Development of galena and ferrosilicon as suspension media, by Minerals Beneficia-tion, Inc., at Mascot, Tenn., Pitcher, Okla., and Crosby, Minn., under patents granted during and since 1938, has permitted excellent results to be obtained on minerals of very similar densities up to 3.3. This process has been put In the hands of American Cyanamid Co. for exploitation, and further research now in progress may increase the density of suspension obtainable so that separations at a density of 4.0 may be practicable before this is published. The Huntington-Heberlein dense-medium process, developed in England, is also being commercialized in the United States by Sink and Float Corporation. Du Pont has developed a sink-and-float separation using halogenated hydrocarbons as parting liquids; at this writing, the method is used commercially only on coal but has been successful in the pilot plant on many other minerals using tetrabrom-ethane at densities up to 2.95. While these processes were being developed to extend the range of separation by difference in density to the coarser sizes, the Bureau of Mines was engaged in developing a process that will extend the range of separation by difference in wettability up to 2-in. size. War work has pushed aside its further development indefinitely. The results are published here with the hope that some use may be suggested that will justify post-war development, and so that readers that may be able to make immediate use of the scheme may have the information. Earlier Work It has been known since the time of Herodotus (B.C. 484(?)-425) that water-repellent particles will adhere to sticky surfaces. That early historian reports the recovery of gold from the mud of a lake

Jan 1, 1943

By James Norman, O. C. Ralston, John Dasher

Most mineral products are used in the finely divided state, but some are sold in larger sizes. Coal, gravel, metallurgical fluorspar, phosphate rock, hematite, chro-mite, and other products are sold in sizes coarser than can be treated by many mineral-dressing methods. Gravity separation of coarser sizes by log washing and jigging is probably as ancient as any process now in use. The performance of jigs on a feed with sufficient difference in density of the minerals is excellent, but many families of minerals are too similar in density to be separated effectively by this method. The use of heavy suspensions of fine solids to separate coarse coal from bone and slate has been in use for some years. This separation by sink-and-float was limited until recently to light minerals. Development of galena and ferrosilicon as suspension media, by Minerals Beneficia-tion, Inc., at Mascot, Tenn., Pitcher, Okla., and Crosby, Minn., under patents granted during and since 1938, has permitted excellent results to be obtained on minerals of very similar densities up to 3.3. This process has been put In the hands of American Cyanamid Co. for exploitation, and further research now in progress may increase the density of suspension obtainable so that separations at a density of 4.0 may be practicable before this is published. The Huntington-Heberlein dense-medium process, developed in England, is also being commercialized in the United States by Sink and Float Corporation. Du Pont has developed a sink-and-float separation using halogenated hydrocarbons as parting liquids; at this writing, the method is used commercially only on coal but has been successful in the pilot plant on many other minerals using tetrabrom-ethane at densities up to 2.95. While these processes were being developed to extend the range of separation by difference in density to the coarser sizes, the Bureau of Mines was engaged in developing a process that will extend the range of separation by difference in wettability up to 2-in. size. War work has pushed aside its further development indefinitely. The results are published here with the hope that some use may be suggested that will justify post-war development, and so that readers that may be able to make immediate use of the scheme may have the information. Earlier Work It has been known since the time of Herodotus (B.C. 484(?)-425) that water-repellent particles will adhere to sticky surfaces. That early historian reports the recovery of gold from the mud of a lake

Jan 1, 1943

By J. H. Frye, R. M. Treco

ONE of the chief hindrances to an understanding of the hardness of solid solutions is the sparsity of suitable hardness data. There is great need of a large body of hardness data obtained from many different alloys of high purity by identical testing methods and corrected to correspond to a single grain size. A considerable amount of such data has been obtained by means of the Meyer analysis on copper-rich and silver-rich solid solutions. There are enough of these data to permit comparison of numerous alloys at equal solute concentration in these two solvents, but only in a few cases is it possible to construct hardness-concentration curves for any given alloy. Therefore additional hardness work on most of these alloys is desirable. The primary solid solutions of silver with cadmium, indium, tin, or antimony as solute are of special interest, since all elements are from the same period of the periodic table and since, as shown previously,1 the hardening effect of equal percentages of these solutes is proportional to the lattice expansion produced by them. This paper presents the relation between hardness and concentration in the silver-antimony system from very dilute to nearly saturated solutions of antimony in silver. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Alloys were made from silver, 99.99 per cent pure, and antimony, 99.975 per cent pure. Silver and antimony were placed in graphite crucibles that had an ash content of less than 0.75 per cent. These metals were melted and allowed to solidify in a vacuum, which, after melting was complete, was usually equivalent to 3 mm. Of mercury. A high-frequency furnace was used. The ingots so obtained were worked and annealed to lessen segregation and to control grain size. Annealing was done in evacuated and sealed glass tubes. Hardness measurements on specimens from these ingots were by means of the Meyer analysis.3,4 Using a 4-mm.. ball, impressions were made under seven loads from 25 to 400 kg. The diameter of impression made under each load was measured. This enabled calculation of the constants in the well-known formula of Meyer. L=ad¬n where L = load, d = diameter of impression, a = a constant, n = a constant The Meyer hardness is defined as P = L/(1/4pd2) or P = 4adn-2/p Meyer hardnesses corresponding to d = 1 and to d = 4 are of especial interest, since the first corresponds to comparatively slight plastic deformation and the second to the maximum plastic deformation producible by penetration of the ball. These

Jan 1, 1944

By O. Vartianen, R. T. Hukki

A preliminary investigation of the collecting effects of various fatty acids in tall oil has led to a conclusion that the collecting power of fatty acids used in flotation increases with increasing un- saturation of the hydrocarbon chain. Linoleic acid was found to be an excellent collector for oxide minerals. TALL oil is a mixture of fatty and resin acids extracted as byproducts in the sulphate pulp industry. In the field of flotation a well-known example of this type of product is Reagent No. 708 of the American Cyanamid Co. Its successful use as a flotation collector with many nonsulphide minerals has been described by Falconer and Crawford.' The composition of crude tall oil varies within wide limits.' " By a number of methods the crude oil may be refined to produce a variety of refined products. This investigation presents a preliminary comparative study of collecting properties of the fatty acids in tall oil. In Finnish tall oils these constituents are primarily palmitic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids.:' The first is a saturated fatty acid having 15 carbon atoms in its hydrocarbon chain, plus one in the carboxyl group. The others have 17-carbon-atom chains and are unsaturated. It is of particular interest to note that palmitic, oleic, lino-leic, and linolenic acids represent increasing degrees of unsaturation with 0, 1, 2, and 3 double bonds, respectively. To test the collecting properties of the four fatty acids separately, the vacuum flotation technique described by Schuhmann and Prakash4 was used. By this method the boundary between flotation and non-flotation conditions was approximately delineated, with the use of ilmenite and several other minerals. Collector concentration and pH were the principal variables. On the basis of information obtained, actual flotation tests were run on an ilmenite-bear-ing ore in a laboratory flotation cell. Through the courtesy of P. Kajanne from the Department of Chemistry, Finland Institute of Technology, the following reagents were obtained for this investigation: 1—Palmitic acid, of Judex, had a purity of 95 pct as determined by parallel iodo-metric and spectrophotometric measurements. 2— Oleic acid, product of May and Baker Ltd., indicated purity of 98 pct. By iodometric and spectrophoto-metric determinations the oleic acid content was found to be 83.8 pct. In addition, it contained 6 pct linoleic, 1 pct linolenic, and 9.2 pct saturated fatty acids.' 3—Linoleic acid was prepared from soybean oil by low-temperature crystallization. Its linoleic acid content was 95 pct by the methods indicated above. 4—Linolenic acid was prepared from linseed oil by low temperature crystalIization. Its linolenic

Jan 1, 1954

JOHN H. NELSON, Worcester, Mass.-At our plant we have done considerable work on notch-bar testing and are farther at sea now than when we started. So far, we have been unable to get the notch-bar test to be consistent with any other known test. Lately, I have been investi-gating the effect of the position of the notch-bar specimen in a, bar. To do this I took a 3, ½ in. square bar and quartered it, then heat treated the four quarters. Each of these pieces was again quartered and a specimen machined and notched. "In this way we would have notch-bar tests from the exterior to the interior of the bar. These were made of such lengths that it was possible to make four impact tests on each speci-men. Extreme care was taken in marking the position of these test speci-mens in the original bar. The notches were then cut with relation to position of the specimen in the original bar. The second notch was cut 90° from the first, and so on around the specimen. In this way, we have found that, with a 3 ½ in. bar of 0.4 or 0.5. per cent. carbon steel when properly heat treated, we could get impact values ranging from 15 to 100 ft.-lb. Just why this is the case we are unable to state; but it does appear to be a fact that along the outside of the original bar the notch-bar test seems to be low and increases toward the center, but it is not always consistent. For instance, we may have, on a single specimen; one notch-bar test giving us 15 ft.-lb. and another 100 ft.-lb. We have not found such inconsistencies in alloy steels. Alloy steel is consistently good or consistently bad. If it. is good, you cannot readily destroy the impact value, no matter what you do; if it is bad-that is, if it is a poor notch-bar steel-and you have sufficient latitude in your draw, you may correct it. In other words, if the hardness you are working to will allow you to draw to about 1050° F.(561° C.) or over and then quench this steel from the draw heat, you. can raise the im-pact value of the steel from about 4 or 10 ft.-lb. up to-40-or 50 ft.-lb: Just what occurs I do not know. There is evidently a critical-point in steels that have poor impact value, in the neighborhood of 1000 F. to 1050° F. (536° to 561° C.).

Jan 12, 1919

By James Norman, O. C. Ralston, John Dasher

MOST mineral products are used in the finely divided state, but some are sold in larger sizes. Coal, gravel, metallurgical fluorspar, phosphate rock, hematite, chromite, and other products are sold in sizes coarser than can be treated by many mineral-dressing methods. Gravity separation of coarser sizes by log washing and jigging is probably as ancient as any process now in use. The performance of jigs on a feed with sufficient difference in density of the minerals is excellent, but many families of minerals are too similar in density to be separated effectively by this method. The use of heavy suspensions of fine solids to separate coarse coal from bone and slate has been in use for some years. This separation by sink-and-float was limited until recently to light minerals. Development of galena and ferrosilicon as suspension media, by Minerals Beneficiation, Inc., at Mascot, Tenn., Pitcher, Okla., and Crosby, Minn., under patents granted during and since 1938, has permitted excellent results to be obtained on minerals of very similar densities up to 3.3. This process has been put in the hands of American Cyanamid Co. for exploitation, and further research now in progress may increase the density of suspension obtainable so that separations at a density of 4.0 may be practicable before this is published. The Huntington-Heberlein dense-medium process, developed in England, is also being commercialized in the United States by Sink and Float Corporation. Du Pont has developed a sink-and-float separation using halogenated hydrocarbons as parting liquids; at this writing, the method is used commercially only on coal but has been successful in the pilot plant on many other minerals using tetrabromethane at densities up to 2.95. While these processes were being developed to extend the range of separation by difference in density to the coarser sizes, the Bureau of Mines was engaged in developing a process that will extend the range of separation by difference in wettability up to 2-in. size. War work has pushed aside its further development indefinitely. The results are published here with the hope that some use may be suggested that will justify post-war development, and so that readers that may be able to make immediate use of the scheme may have the information. EARLIER WORK It has been known since the time of Herodotus (B.C. 484(?)-425) that water-repellent particles will adhere to sticky surfaces. That early historian reports the

Jan 1, 1942

The ability of activated charcoal or carbon to adsorb complex metal ions has been recognized for many years, but it wasn't until the late 1940s and early 1950s that attempts were made to employ carbon-In-Pulp or C. I. P. processing to the recovery of gold. Early plants using the process were those at the Golden Cycle in Cripple Creek, Colorado, the Getchell Mine near Golconda, Nevada, and at the Idria Mine in Honduras. Recovery of the carbon from the pulp was done by screening or flotation, and recovery of gold from the carbon was done by burning the carbon (a very difficult task) or by sending it to a smelter. Unfortunately at the time, the price of gold was still fixed at $3-5 per ounce and labor costs were rising to the point where these mines were no longer able to operate. Consequently, C. I. P. treatment was temporarily forgotten. In the early 1970s, however, Homestake Mining Company at Lead, South Dakota, were being forced by environmental regulations to discontinue the use of mercury for amalgamation in their 7,500 ton per day plant, and at the same time were encountering high labor costs in the slime circuit of the plant, where over 2,000 tons of slimes were filtered each day in Merrill plate and frame filter presses. Shortly before that, researchers of the United States Bureau of Mines had developed the caustic -cyanide method of stripping gold from activated carbon and an electrolytic cell (now known as the Zadra cell) to recover gold from the carbon strip liquor. Homestake and the United States Bureau of Mines then jointly operated a C. I. P. pilot plant at Lead. Results were immediately favorable and a 2,400 ton per day C. I. P. plant was then built to treat the slime fraction of the Homestake ore. (See Au and Ag Cyanidation Plant Practice, Volume I, SME of AIME, 1975. Later, Homestake built a second plant at Creede, Colorado, to treat the slime fraction of the tailings from a silver-lead flotation plant. Next was Duval Corporation's 3,000 ton per day C. I. P. plant at Battle Mountain, Nevada. Both of these latter plants are described in this volume. C. I. P. operations under construction at the time of this writing are as follows: Pinson Mining Co. , Nevada Gold Freeport Gold Company, Nevada Gold Compania Minera El Indio, Chile. Silver and Gold

Jan 1, 1981

The Atlanta Mine is located in east central Nevada, in Lincoln County, 116 km (72 miles) south of Ely and 80 km (50 miles) northeast of the old mining town of Pioche. From this famous district, high-grade copper ore was mined and shipped to a smelter in Wales in the 1850s; an early day lead blast furnace was also in operation. The Standard Slag Company began operations in May 1975 on the well known Atlanta Mine, which was operated by Roy Hardy in the 1930s. The mill is currently processing 450 mtpd (500 stpd) of gold-silver bearing ore. Mining by open pit is in a brecciated zone occurring between limestone-dolomites on the foot wall and tertiary rhyolites on the hanging wall. The quartz breccia is considered among the most abrasive in the world - shovel teeth must be replaced every week. Stripping ratio is 3.9 to 1.0. Because of the hard abrasive ore, the crushing plant consists of four units: two jaw crushers in series, one Hydrocone, and one Gyradisc. Mine feed to the primary crusher is limited to 610 mm (24 in.) in size. The remaining crushers work in closed circuit with screens to produce a mill feed of 6 to 13 mm (0.25 and 0.50 in.). Hardness of the ore is demonstrated by the fact that the reversible liners of the primary jaw crusher had to be replaced in early 1978 after handling only 39,000 mt (44,000 st) at a cost of $0.095 per mt ($0.086 per st). Another example of the extreme abrasiveness of the breccia ore was the total cost per ton in 1977 for all wear parts in the comminution circuit, including screens and grinding media. This amounted to $2.84 per mt ($2.58 per st). The Atlanta grinding plant consists of three ball mills to grind the 7 mm (1 /4 in.) crushing plant product to 85 to 90% minus 150 microns (100 mesh). Feed rate to the primary Tricone mill is determined by maintaining a cyclone overflow at 28 to 38% solids, which controls the grind mentioned above. A mixture of 90 and 65 mm (3.5 and 2.5 in. ) balls are charged to this primary mill. Both the secondary mills are charged with 50 mm (2 in ) balls. Total ball consumption is 2 kg per mt (4 lb per st). All three ball mills use rubber liners. Primary mill cyclone underflows are fed to the secondary mills close circuited with the same cyclones.

Jan 1, 1981

By Philip D. Pearson

CALAND Ore Co.'s dredging program has reached the halfway mark. The goal is to remove more than 160 million cu yd of lake bottom material overlying the iron orebody in Falls Bay of Steep Rock Lake, Ont. Two large dredges were constructed to remove this overburden, a layer of soil about 90 pct varved clay some 400 ft thick. Moisture content of the clay is high-approximately at the liquid limit of the soil. A few years ago, searching for additional reserves of ore, Inland Steel Co. looked toward Canada and the newly developed Steep Rock iron range. To this end an option agreement was signed Dec. 30, 1949, between Steep Rock Mines Ltd. and Caland Ore Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Inland Steel. Several drilling programs were conducted between this date and Jan. 1, 1953, when a 99-year lease was signed covering an area of 1249 acres. This lease calls for ore production to begin in 1960, with full production of 3 million tons per year by 1969.

Jan 8, 1957

By S. R. Goodman, Hsun Hu

The rolling texture of an 18-8 stainless steel (Type 304L or 304) has been found to change gradu -allv from the (110)[112] brass type to the (123)[412] copper type as the rolling temperature increases from 200° to 800°C. This texture transition is accompanied by a change in the stacking-fault frequencv or probability, similar to those found pre- In a series of previous publications, it was shown that the rolling texture of high-purity silver changes gradually from the brass type to the copper type with increasing temperature of deformati~n. A similar temperature dependence of rolling texture transition was found in electrolytic copper3—by lowering the temperature of deformation, the normally observed rolling texture of copper changed gradually viously in nonferrous fcc metals—the stacking-fault frequency decreases rapidly with the formation of the copper type texture. These results strongly indicate that the temperature dependence of copper type == brass type texture transition and its correlation with stacking-fault frequency is a general phenomenon in fcc lattices. to the brass type.* In both of these metals, the

Jan 1, 1964