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By L. D. Anderson

IN STUDYING Utah as a lead producing state one is immediately confronted by the fact that few, if any, of the ores of the state are valued for their lead contents alone. More correctly the ores from which this metal is recovered are characterized as silver lead. Even then the whole story is not told for many of these ores carry also gold, copper, zinc, bismuth, antimony, arsenic, tellurium, and other metals. It becomes apparent, therefore, that the production of lead i11 Utah is influenced by many factors. For example, i11 the early part of 1923 there was a marked increase in the production of the lead by reason of the efforts made by silver mines to produce as much silver as possible before the termination of purchases under the Pittinan Act in June, 1923. As nearly all silver ores carried more or less lead the production of that metal was increased with the increase in silver production. Very few, if any, ores of the State are mined for their lead contents alone. Important as Utah's contribution to the lead output of the country is nevertheless it is bound up to some extent with the production of gold, silver and copper.

Jan 1, 1925

By R. Ruka, E. A. Gulbransen

ONE of the interesting questions in the understanding of the reaction of iron with oxygen is the kinetics and the mechanism of the crystal structure changes occurring in the formation and breakdown of the oxide film. In a recent work' the electron diffraction method was applied to the study of the solid phase reactions occurring internally in the oxide film on iron above 570°C and under vacuum conditions. The higher oxides which form under oxidizing conditions are reduced internally by the diffusion of iron into the oxide leaving the bulk of the oxide FeO (wüstite). This paper will ask and consider three questions. These are: (1) What is the nature of the depressed transformation temperature for the Fe3O4 + Fe ? 4Fe0 reaction in very thin oxide films?; (2) What is the mechanism of the forward transformation of Fe3O4 to FeO at or near 570°C?; and (3) What is the nature and mechanism of the slow reverse transformation of FeO to Fe3O4 and Fe below 570°C?. The composition of the oxide as well as its electrical, magnetic, mechanical, and chemical properties depends upon the kinetics of these reactions. Literature Survey The composition of the oxide film on pure iron at temperatures up to 570°C has been studied extensively by the electron diffraction method. Nelson,' Jackson and Quarrell,3 and Gulbransen and Hick-man4 have shown that Fe3O4 and a-Fe2O8 are formed in the temperature range of 225" to 570°C, while y-Fe,O, is most likely formed below 225°C for long oxidation times. In very thin films FeO (wüstite) is found to form at temperatures as low as 400°C, and its existence depends essentially upon the extent of initial oxidation. FeO is not found in the formation of thick films below 570°C. On the other hand X-ray5 and micrographic8 studies show that Fe3O4 may exist as the main com-ponent in thick films up to 650°C, well above the equilibrium temperature for the reaction Fe3O4 + Fe ? 4FeO. The kinetics of the forward and reverse trans-formations of the reaction Fe3O4 + Fe ? 4FeO have not been studied in oxide films. However, analysis of the data of Gulbransen and Hickman4 on the heat-ing and cooling of iron oxide films of known thick-nesses in high vacua shows that the forward reac-tion proceeds rapidly even for a 4000 A film at temperatures of 575" to 600°C. The reverse reaction or decomposition of wüstite (FeO) occurs at tem-peratures below 450°C. Thus, there appears to be a slow process in the decomposition which is in marked contrast to the rapid forward reaction. The decomposition of a bulk sample of FeO free from the metal has been studied extensively by Chaudron, Benard and coworkers using the micro-graphic, X-ray diffraction, and thermomagnetic methods. Chaudron7,8 first observed that the de-composition of FeO (wüstite) below 570°C occurs by the reaction 4FeO ? Fe3O4 + Fe. Later work by Chaudron and Forestier5 showed that the rate of de-

Jan 1, 1951

Jan 1, 1879

By Oliver Bowles

STRIKING new developments in the field of industrial minerals include the employment of lime, salt, coal, and air for the manufacture of stockings, and the substitution of paper for granite and marble in making tombstones. Certain minerals that have heretofore been regarded as valueless except as museum or laboratory specimens, are now being applied commercially. Serpentine, in forms neither fibrous nor ornamental, massive topaz, pinite, and zoisite are examples. For certain other minerals, notably pyrophyllite, bentonite, vermiculite, and sulphur, extension of established uses into new fields has occurred. Substitution takes a toll in many industries, but producers of industrial minerals as a class have gained more than they have lost in recent years. Encouraging progress has been made in developing at long last a suitable substitute for certain of the uses of mica, the only industrial mineral on the strategic list of commodities established by the War. and Navy Munitions Board. Some of the more important developments in process, equipment, and use .that have come

Jan 1, 1940

The Mineral Industry, Published by McGraw-Hill Book Co, New York, N Y. The Mineral Industry is an annual review of the mineral industry It is a standard and complete reference on the mineral industry for the year covered Through the cooperation of the A I M E its publication in 1933 was made possible Mineral Industry for 1930 contains sections devoted to the production, consumption, trade, market, uses and technology of the following headings: Abrasives, aluminum and bauxite, antimony, arsenic, asbestos (b), asphalt, barium and strontium, chromium (b), coal and coke, cobalt (b), copper, diatomite, fluorspar, gold and silver, graphite, gypsum, iron and steel (b), lead, magnesite, manganese, mica, molybdenum, nickel, petroleum and petroleum products, phosphate rock (b), platinum group metals (b), potash, precious and semiprecious stones (b), quicksilver, radium (b), uranium and vanadium, slate (b), sodium salts, sulfur, pyrite, sulfuric acid, talc and soapstone, tin, titanium and zirconium, tungsten (b), zinc, minor metals, minor nonmetals, ore dressing and coal washing (b). Sections marked (b) have appended a bibliography of recent literature on the subject. Each section is written by an acknowledged expert. Other volumes contain similar material Prices -The Mineral Industry, 1892-1930, vols. 1 to 39. Complete sets of this work, uniformly bound, except vols 25 and 26,

Jan 1, 1933

By John A. Church

Jan 1, 1903

By Alfred H. Brooks

LESS than a decade ago the consumption of coal in Alaska was practically limited to the salmon canneries and the few lode-mines and settlements along the Pacific coast of the Ter¬ritory. The sparse population of the interior depended on the forests, that of the shores of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean on driftwood for fuel. All this has changed. The thousands who have sought and mined gold on the Seward peninsula since 1898 have much impoverished the long-accumulated supply of driftwood, and at the same time the constantly increasing demand for fuel, on the part of the placer-camps and steamers, has resulted in heavy inroads being made on the accessible timber of the Yukon and its tributaries. While on the one hand the immediately available store of wood has decreased, on the other the consumption of fuel because of the rapid expansion of the mining and fishery industries and the attendant growth of population has much increased. Alaska, therefore, offers a constantly growing market for coal and other fuels. As the local coal-production has been insignificant, the demand has been met by importations from Washington, British Columbia, and even from Pennsylvania and Australia. Fuel-Consumption Mr. D. H. Jarvis, Collector for Alaska, has kept systematic records of the trade of the Territory since 1903. The statistics of the coal-importations of the past two years are shown in Table I. If data were available for a longer period of years, the increase of coal-importations would be much more striking.

Jul 1, 1905

By Robert Pack

INTRODUCTION SOONER or later in the development of any natural resource it becomes highly desirable to know the quantity of this resource in the country as a whole, as well as of the part that is being developed, for the general course and. conduct of the development work must be governed to some extent by the total supply available. An accurate estimate of the quantity of any natural resource is difficult to make; yet if one is diligent enough one can obtain a pretty accurate idea of the quantity of marketable timber, the acreage of tillable land, or the horsepower that may be developed from the streams, for these are things that may be measured. But any attempt to estimate the quantity of some mineral in the ground appears to enter the realm of imagination and it seems that the estimate can be nothing more than a blind guess. It may appear to be especially futile to attempt to determine the quantity of oil and gas that is available in the ground, for these minerals are so vagrant that even if the quantity now available should be known quite exactly, the quantity that will eventually be obtained may be much less, for certain losses in the extraction of both oil and gas are unavoidable, and just what these losses will be cannot be predicted. Though necessarily inaccurate, estimates of such mineral reserves are, however, of distinct value, for they summarize the existing knowledge of the deposits of the mineral and thus enable those who are interested in some industry that depends in one way or another on this mineral to formulate a rational commercial policy. Some time ago, when the price of gasoline suddenly rose in a rather spectacular manner, the writer was one of the U. S. Geological Survey geologists called upon to help to estimate the quantity of oil that could be obtained in the United States, for the fear had become widespread that perhaps the rate of increase in the price of gasoline was a measure of the rate of depletion of the supply of petroleum. It thus became his

Jan 8, 1917

By B. D. Harden

FOR over fifty years the Spanish mine, 21 miles northeast of Nevada City, in Nevada County, California, has been one of the Bradley properties. Between 1883 and 1889 it was operated by the late Frederick W. Bradley and P. R. Bradley. The ore averaged only about $1 a ton at that time but the mine was credited with a production of about $900,000 in that period. The property was then closed down until 1922, when the Bradley interests reopened it and continued development for the next nine years, when a 50-ton mill was built. This began operation in April, 1931. This was a selective flotation plant, with the tailing treated on Wilfley tables, and operated on ore from the No. 4 and No. 16 tunnel stopes. This ran from $3 to $6 in gold, 2 to 3 oz. of silver, copper 0.6 per cent, lead 1.5,

Jan 1, 1935

By Rudolph G. Wuerker

THE Krupp-Renn Process,[1] has been successfully used to treat low-grade iron ores, laterites, titaniferous sands, and other minerals, and before World War I1 25 units were built by the Krupp-Grusonwerk, Magdeburg, Germany. J. J. Howard[2] has shown theoretical advantages of the pyro-metallurgical treatment over conventional approaches; and the process was described by R. Durrer[3].

Jan 1, 1951

By E. M. Norris

Phosphate deposits are distributed widely over the earth's surface. Of the known areas of deposit, eight fields are of particular interest because of their vast reserves of high grade phosphatic material and the volume of their production that goes to the world's great consuming areas. These fields, in the order of their present economic importance, are situated respectively in Florida, French Morocco, Kola Peninsula of U.S.S.R., Tunisia and Algeria, Tennessee, Montana-Idaho-Wyoming-Utah, Ocean and Naru Islands in the Gilbert group, and in Egypt. The Rocky Mountain deposits have a comparatively low ranking in the phosphate trade of today, but this field contains one of the largest known reserves of phosphatic material, associated with which are recoverable trace minerals, which are of increasing importance in our national economy. The first discoveries of phosphate rock in the western states were recorded in Cache1 and Rich2 counties in Utah, respectively in 1889 and 1897. Mining operations were begun on these deposits near Montpelier, Idaho, in 1906. During the latter year geological studies of the phosphate beds were started by Weeks and Ferrier of the U. S. Geological Survey. These studies have been continued to the present day by a distinguished roster of the Survey's technicians. As a result of this systematic exploratory program, the Survey has published a series of bulletins, papers, and maps, which provide the mining public with a comprehensive study of the exposed

Jan 1, 1949

By John Jermain Porter

(San Francisco Meeting, October, 1911.) THE value of any particular ore, coke, or limestone, for iron-making, depends upon its effect, first, upon the quality or value of the resultant product; and second, upon the cost of smelting. The factors under the first head are the percentages of phosphorus, manganese, and other elements, which remain in the pig-iron ; while those under the second head are the percentages of iron, carbon, or lime, the slag-forming constituents, which must be fluxed, and any other ingredients which give rise to variations in cost of fuel and flux. The first of these criteria of value is perhaps not capable of being reduced to a general formula embracing all cases, since it must vary to a great extent with market-fluctuations. For example, Bessemer pig is worth sometimes more and sometimes less than foundry-pig ; and the premium paid for high manganese varies within wide limits. The second, or smelting-value, however, can be expressed numerically with a fair degree of accuracy; and it is with this phase of valuation that the present paper is concerned. The utility of a means of comparing numerically the relative smelting-values of different ores, cokes, and limestones, is self-evident, although it may not have importance in Northern practice, where materials are largely standardized. On the other hand, there are, especially in the South, many furnace-managers who must use a great variety of materials of widely varying grade; and it is with special reference to this district, and in connection with the efficiency-methods which I have elsewhere proposed,1 that the methods herein described were devised.

Mar 1, 1912

Jan 1, 1966

Jan 1, 1967

By AIME AIME

THE stage is set for the 1930 Annual Meeting. It will take place in the Engineering Societies Building. Feb. 17, 18, 19 and 20, and an unusual pro- gram of technical papers, symposia, lectures and addresses, interspersed with luncheons, dinners, excursions and worthwhile entertainment for the four days has been arranged. The curtain rises on Monday morning and the first act is by the entire company-registration. Then the meeting hits its stride, for there are ten technical sessions on Monday, and the range of subjects includes most of the Institute membership. The Committee on Coal and Coal Products, which is about to become the Coal Division, presents a symposium of a dozen or more papers on Coal Classification, concluding its afternoon session with several papers on general subjects. At its luncheon between sessions, C. E. Bockus, president of the National Coal Association, will be the honored guest. Papers of theoretical character will be discussed at the morning session of the Committee on Geophysical Prospecting; at its afternoon session there will be presented summaries of results obtained at various properties by methods described at previous meetings of this group and permanently recorded in "Geophysical Prospecting," published by the Institute early in 1929. Members of the Petroleum Division should not overlook the paper by Theodor Zuschlag, on this Committee's program. It is entitled, "Oil Structure Mapping by the Sundberg Method." Members of the Iron and Steel and Institute of Metals divisions will find it profitable to attend the session on Engineering Education on Monday afternoon. E. A. Holbrook has arranged a program of ten-minute talks on Metallurgical Education which are designed to get down to "brass tacks." and the practical man may, in discussion, contribute as well as learn. At 5 p. m. Thomas T. Read will lecture+ at Columbia University, on "Recent Progress in Economics of the Mineral Industries."

Jan 1, 1930

The Board of Directors, at its meeting on March 22, 1918, extended an invitation to the American .Institute of Metals to become the Institute of Metals Division of-the American Institute of Mining Engineers in accordance with the terms of By-Law VII. This invitation was presented to the membership of the American Institute of Metals for letter ballot, and, at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Mining Engineers on April 26 191 ,it-was reported that the replies had been in favor of accepting the invitation. The American Institute of Metals therefore becomes a division of this Institute and the members thereof are entitled-to all privileges of regular

Jan 6, 1918

By Frank G. Snyder

The Precambrian of Midcontinent United States includes a metamorphic belt of probable Middle Precambrian age, a belt of Keweenawan volcanics and sediments, and widespread igneous activity that extended from Iowa to Texas. Most of the present structural configuration of the Midcontinent was developed by epeirogenic movements during the Paleozoic. The dominant elements are basins and arches. Three major metallogenic provinces occur in the Midcontinent. They include the Missouri Precambrian iron ores, the Lake Superior copper ores, and the Mississippi Valley lead-zincbarite- fluorite deposits. Several large iron deposits, occurring in rhyolite and andesite host rocks, are known. Both discordant massive bodies and replacement- type bodies occur. The iron deposits are believed to have been formed during the period of igneous activity. They are essentially the same age as the volcanics and older than the granites that intrude the volcanics. The Lake Superior copper ores include two established districts, the Keweenawan district and White Pine, and the copper-nickel deposits in the Duluth gabbro. The lead-zinc-barite-fluorite deposits include four major districts, Southeast Missouri, Upper Mississippi Valley, Tri-State, and Illinois-Kentucky, and at least eight minor districts. Ore may occur in stratiform deposits and in veins. The major districts all contain stratiform deposits, but several have produced appreciable quantities of vein ore. Only vein deposits are known in some of the smaller districts. The major features of all districts can be catalogued in terms of host rocks, structural patterns of districts, types of ore-bearing structures, and mineralogical characteristics. From these features, a Mississippi Valley type ore body, in its type area, can be defined.

Jan 1, 1968

By C. H. Lieb

ONE astounding fact in the production of petroleum is the comparatively recent realization by producers that flowing production is the cheapest crude produced. About 1910 or even later, operators actually endeavored to get a producing well to pumping as quickly as possible after completion. A well was not really considered to be completed until it was operating on the pump. Remarkable progress has been made since then. It was not until about 1920 that producers began to take a serious interest in pressures and to think a little about proper methods of handling oil wells. Pressure gauges were installed, and records of pressures maintained, which was quite an innovation. Desultory experiments were made with tubing of different sizes, as well as experiments with placing the bottom of the tubing string at different levels in the well. Probably the first important departure from customary procedure was about 1926, during the Seminole development, when gas lift

Jan 1, 1936

Jan 1, 1911