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By John E. Latz

QUICKSAND far below the surface, stopped two attempts by the Potash Co. of America to sink a third shaft to a potash bed that lies 1000 ft below the southern New Mexico desert. Virtually all methods of grouting were employed in the two failures without any indication of consolidation of the flowing sand. Sinking the South Shaft at the Carlsbad potash mine seemed an almost insurmountable task, until freezing was employed as a final resort. This process that proved to be the answer may be defined as "the sinking of a shaft by freezing, consists of the formation, in the water-bearing strata, of a large block of frozen ground in which it is possible to sink a shaft without danger of an influx of water, providing the ice-wall between the water outside and the shaft itself is strong enough to resist the hydrostatic pressure." Freezing Method Used Extensively in Europe Successful frozen ground shaft sinking projects had been completed in Europe, and Russel G. Haworth, resident manager of the Potash Co. of America, went abroad in search of the know-how needed for the New Mexico undertaking. The freezing process, with a history of two failures at the time, was first successfully employed by Poetsch in 1885 at the Houssu Collieries near Haine St. Pierre, Belgium. Poetsch contracted to sink the remaining 64 ft of an uncompleted shaft through water laden strata from a depth of 190 ft to a depth of 254 ft. This work was in progress until 1887. The freezing and sinking consumed more than two years. As a result of early failures, the process was not favorably received until soon after the turn of the century. The accurate prediction of success in a given application was made possible by the concerted effort and study of a group of European engineers. Means of accurate deviation measurement and control were devised, the nature and properties of frozen water laden soil (the ice wall) were investigated, a thorough and rational basis of refrigeration load calculation developed, and concurrently the efficiency and dependability of refrigeration machinery was greatly advanced. Numerous shafts in Germany, Belgium, France, and England today testify to the reliability and economical surety of the freezing method. Applied to the South Shaft, which is circular in cross-section and 15-ft diam, the freezing method consisted of drilling holes 350-ft deep, through the water bearing strata into impervious ground-the freeze hole pattern being concentric with the shaft and 31-ft diam. The holes were cased with pipe closed on the bottom end. Smaller tubes were placed inside these casings and connected to a header supplying chilled brine from a refrigeration plant. The brine descended in the tubing to the bottom of the hole and ascended through the annular space between the two pipes to the top of the casing; flowed into the return header and back to the refrigeration plant. Under these conditions, each of the freeze hole casings became surrounded by a cylinder of ice

Jan 1, 1952

By Frederick Prime

The Great or Cumberland Valley, which (under a variety of names) extends from Canada, through Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and East Tennessee, to Alabama, is composed in part of limestones lying immediately above the Potsdam sandstone. Geologically, they belong to the era between the Potsdam and Trenton, and are commonly termed Calciferous. A peculiarity of these limestones is their great richness in limonite or brown hematite ores, which form a large part of the charges of the many blast-furnaces situated on their outcrops. The mines from which the ores are obtained are (properly speaking) only pits or quarries, from which 'the ore is extracted by means of picks or shovels, powder being rarely employed. The ore does not occur casually at any point in the limestone, but forms regular lines, following apparently the outcrops of certain beds. In Lehigh County, Penn., where 1 have been engaged on the Geological Survey of the State, during the past season, there are three or four of these lines. During the progress of the survey I was much struck by the fact that the two most important and promising lines of outcrop were, one at the base of the crystalline schists (forming the South or Lehigh Mountain), and overlying the Potsdam sandstone conformably; the other, near the line of junction of the calciferous limestone with the slates of the Cincinnati epoch. The mines along these two lines, following the topography of the country, were in place, richer and more permanent than those of the belts between, which were generally leaner. A peculiarity of these two lines of outcrop, and one to which I particularly desire to draw attention, is the occurrence of what I at first mistook for a highly altered slaty limestone, but which subsequent analysis proved to consist in great part of damourite (hydrated potash mica). The following are analyses of this damourite slate: I. From Fogelsville, Lehigh County, within a few hundred feet of the contact of limestone and slate, by Dr. F. A. Genth. 11. From Hensingerville, Lehigh County, within 300 feet of gneiss, by Mr. Sydney Castle, of the University of Pennsylvania. 111. From Allentown, Lehigh County, within 150 feet of con

By E. G. SINCLAIR

DRILLING wildcat wells in Wyoming differs a little from methods used in any other field. Here it is always advisable to start the hole as large as is convenient in order to carry each string of pipe as far as possible, so that drilling can be continued a thousand feet deeper if necessary, as there is always sand a few hundred feet ahead that really ought to be tested. This plan may seem ambitious, but if it is adhered to, it will save a great deal of trouble before the well is completed. In making the location, one representative from the operating department and one from the geological department should work together, so that the well may be in the best possible place for obtaining oil and the most feasible place to drill for the operating department. In Wyoming nearly all wells are drilled with standard tools, as with them a better log can be kept and better time made in completing the hole. The shales of Wyoming are very hard and do not mix well in a wet hole. The shale cuts into large pieces, too large to be circulated out of the hole, and forms a mat on the rotary which soon cuts off circulation. Then if this mat cannot be jarred from the bit, the drilling string has to be pulled and the mat cut off from the bit with a pick or an axe. I have seen standard tools come out of a wet hole with 10 to 16 in. of mat on the bottom of the bit. Rotary tools have drilled wells satisfactorily in the Big Muddy field and at Billy Creek, but in the other fields the wells have been drilled much more economically with cable tools.

Jan 1, 1926

By M. H. Yoo

Possible interactions of the perfect dislocations of six slip systems or the c dislocation with the (10i2f (ioii), {ioIi}(ioiZ), {1122}(1123), and {1121}(ii26) type twins in hcp metals have been analyzed from the crystallographic and the energetic points of view. Twenty-six distinct types of possible interactions were identified, and those selected based on crystallographic constraints were examined for their energetic feasibilities by use of the anisotropic energy factors. No long-range elastic interaction exists for a dislocation when its Burgers vector is parallel to the twin interface. Under a suitable applied stress, a screw dislocation can cross slip at the twin interface. For basal mixed dislocations in cadmium and zinc, the interaction with {1012} twins is found to be attractive, indicating that incorporation of these dislocations into the twins is energetically feasible and that twin growth will result. On the other hand, the interaction between both basal and Prism mixed dislocations and the {1012} and (1121) twins is found to be repulsive in Mg, Co, Re, Zr, Ti, Hf, and Be. This indicates that under an applied stress a local stress concentration will develop due to a dislocation pileup at the interface, which may result in a site for either the nucleation of other twins or the formation of a crack, depending on the cleavage strength. WHEN a metal undergoes plastic deformation, a certain configuration of slip dislocations will result in a state of dislocation pileup against an obstacle. The stress concentration thus developed may enhance the process of twin nucleation and also twin growth. Furthermore, once formed and dispersed in the crystal, twins can act as effective barriers against slip dislocations. The degree of such mutual influence or interrelation between slip and twinning is generally known to be pronounced in the case of hcp, metals. It is also known that deformation by twinning occurs more commonly in hexagonal metals than in cubic metals. In fact, under suitable stress states, all hexagonal metals exhibit {1012) <1011> type twinning.&apos; In addition to this common type, deformation by (1151) <1126> type twinning occurs in zirconium, titanium, and rhenium, which show remarkable ductility.&apos; The importance of twinning during general deformation to the ductility of hcp polycrystals has been briefly discussed in recent review works.2&apos;3 The purpose of this paper is to analyze the interaction between slip dislocations and twins in the hcp structure and to discuss the nucleation and growth processes of twinning and the role of twinning in the <"°" noil) o, 1/3[112O] (OOO2) 1/3[1123] Fig. l—-Slip systems in hcp structure. ductility of hexagonal metals. The problem will be discussed from the geometric and the energetic points of view in a manner similar to that of the previous work on zinc.4 Since hcp crystals deform by several slip and twin systems, numerous interactions result as possibilities. The Burgers vectors of six slip systems and the c dislocation shown in Fig. 1 and the four twin systems listed in Table I are considered here. A complete tabulation of the possible interactions is followed by discussion of those that are more likely to occur on the basis of crystallographic constraints and energetic considerations. 1) CRYSTALLOGRAPHY OF TWINNING The crystallographic elements, K1, K2, n1, and n2, for the four compound twin systems are now well established.= A unit cell with the base vectors n1, and n2 is shown in Fig. 2 for each twin system. The unit cell before twinning is shown in solid line, and the corresponding unit cell after twinning is shown in dashed line. Also shown in Fig. 2 are the following crystallographic parameters: S is the plane of shear, d the interspacing of the twin habit planes K1,Ø Iis the acute angle between n1, and n 2, e is a numerical factor, and q is the number of K, lattice planes intersected by 17&apos;. These parameters can be expressed in terms of the axial ratio, y = c/a, as listed in Table 11. The macroscopic shear strain of twinning, s, and the magnitude of a "unit twin dis-l~cation,"4 bt, are also expressed in terms of y and given in Table 11. In Table 11, K1 and q1 are given in both Miller-Bravais and Miller indices. In double lattice structures, shuffling of atoms in addition to a homogeneous shear of the lattice is generally required if the original crystal structure is to be restored after twinning. The extent of current understanding on this problem of atom shuffling is per- Table I. Four Twin Systems in Hcp Structure

Jan 1, 1970

By FRANK COLE

THE territory covered in this discussion includes all the states west of the Mississippi river. Agriculture is expanding each year in this section, but until recent years the application of commercial fertilizers as an aid to crop production was not practised to any great extent. The use of commercial fertilizers has increased somewhat, but is still on a small basis as compared with the tonnages used else- where in the United States. During 1928 these western states used 665,100 tons of all classes of fertilizer as compared &apos;with 7,933,600 tons used in the whole United States; or this western area, compromising near- ly two-thirds the land area, uses about 5 per cent of the total fertilizer. To show how large a tonnage one state may consume, North Carolina for the year 192s used 1,349,360 tons of commercial fertilizer or about twice the amount used by 22 western states.

Jan 1, 1930

By H. R. MacMichael

IN the Chihuahua district of Mexico the first smelting was that inaugurated by the early Spaniards for the production of silver bullion. The ores treated were high in silver and lead. Silver-lead bullion was first produced and the lead then cupelled to waste, with the slag produced running from 5 to 10 per cent in lead and about 25 to 40 per cent silica. The ore was mined by peon labor, often being carried out of the mine on the backs of the men, and then transported by burros. Furnaces were of primitive construction, adobe or rock being used in the earlier period and some iron later when it became available. Blast was originally supplied by bellows manually operated. Such smelting was carried on to a greater or lesser extent until the latter part of the last century, and so extensive was it that many hundred thousand tons of leady slag remained to be treated in modern furnaces. In 1908 a smelter was placed in operation at Chihuahua by the American Smelting & Refining Co. At that time the ore was practically all oxidized and by a little selection, self-fluxing mixtures could be made, but with an average lead content usually under 10 per cent and sometimes as low as 7 per cent. The bullion produced would carry from 150 to 300 oz. silver per ton. The slag made approximated 30 per cent SiO2, 42 per cent FeO, 21 per cent CaO, and perhaps 3 per cent Zn. The ores varied from hard, coarse material which was passed through a crusher, to a considerable quantity of fines which had to be smelted as it came, as crushing the coarse was the only preparation for smelting.

Jan 1, 1933

By J. E. McConnell

No. 1 Electric Furnace and Billet Casting Shop, located in Plant No. 4 adjacent to our new 12 inch merchant bar mill, represents Inland Steel Company&apos;s first venture into both electric furnace steelmaking and continuous casting. Construction of the shop began in September, 1968 with excavation and foundation work, followed by awarding of general construction and major equipment contracts from December, 1968 to April, 1969. The first heat was tapped from No. 90 furnace on December 18, 1970, and the first cast attempted on December 29, 1970. The rated shop capacity is 500,000 tons per year of semi-finished billets and blooms, and was justified on the basis of approximately 85 percent of the product mix falling into the special bar quality category of steel grades. Auxiliary equipment has been designed into the shop to pursue free machining steels, including leaded and tellurized grades. The start-up and operation of the shop for the first year was essentially based on a two-part philosophy: 1. Initially operate with the "open stream" casting technique to accomplish machine shakedown and operator familiarization and training. 2. Operate with special bar quality, or "submerged casting", practices, make necessary refinements and gain customer acceptance

Jan 1, 1972

By G. W. Preckshot, N. G. DeLisle, C. E. Cottrell, D. L. Katz

MOST crude oils contain asphaltic substances that may be naturally or artificially precipitated. In the Greeley field, California, this asphaltic bitumen is precipitated during the flow of the oil from the reservoir to the stock tank. The mechanism of such precipitation is not well understood. This paper presents the progress that has been made by using the electron microscope as a new tool and by observing the effects of the streaming potential on the formation of bitumen particles. Crude oils at atmospheric pressure viewed in the electron microscope in very thin films under a vacuum showed no asphaltic particles. A technique of preparing slides of thin films by dilution of the oil with benzene and washing in petroleum ether was used at first, and these observations showed that the solvents caused the formation of the particles, varying from 0.01 to 0.2 micron in diameter. The electrical effects of fluids flowing through porous solid were studied, with emphasis on the formation of colloidal particles by the streaming potential. The streaming potential of crude oil flowing through sand was measured and was shown to be responsible for the formation of bitumen particles. These results bring out a new phenomenon, which may occur when crude oil flows through the porous oil reservoir.

Jan 1, 1942

By CLARESCE CARLETON SEJIPLE

(Wilkes-Barre Meeting, June, 1911.) AT a number of mines in eastern Nicaragua, 3.5- and 5-ft. Huntington mills are used for grinding gold-ore after a preliminary breaking in jaw-crushers. The smaller mills are made sectional to facilitate transportation to the more difficultly accessible mines. The capacity of the smaller mills is about 20 or 25 per cent. that of the larger, but in proportion to the quantity of ore ground they require more power and are subject to greater wear. The notes herein given are from records of the performance of the larger mills, but, in general, apply to the smaller also. THE NATURE OF THE ORE. The ore occurred as a series of flat veins in a highly-decomposed rock, probably alaskite. The primary mineralization comprised pyrite, pyrrhotite, marcasite, chalcopyrite, and quartz; the oxidation-products of which were chiefly hydrated iron oxide or limonite, chrysocolla, azurite, and malachite. The kaolinization of the feldspar of the country resulted in the admixture of a great quantity of clay with the oxidized ore. The quartz was sandy, imbedded in the clay; and probably the greater part represented the residue from the crushed rock in the fissures after leaching, and kaolinization of the feldspar. There was little vein-quartz in the unaltered primary sulphide ore. Only the oxidized ore was mined for the gold that it contained in amounts that averaged $4 per ton. No specks of gold were ever seen in the ore, and the gold obtained by panning was always exceedingly fine. The amalgamation-bullion was about 800 fine in gold and 60 to 80 in silver. The ore delivered at the mill contained from 5 to 15 per cent. of moisture; during the rainy season the quantity was much greater. The moisture and clay made the ore so sticky that it had to be raked over steeply-inclined grizzlies; it hung in the ore-bins,

Oct 1, 1911

By H. Vincent Wallace

ALTHOUGH it is universally accepted that free oxygen is A necessary in a cyanide solution for the dissolution of gold and silver-in accordance with Elsner&apos;s equation that 2Au + 4KCN + 0 + H20 = 2KAu (CN), + 2KOH- little has been written and insufficient attention paid to the drop in extraction due apparently to loss of dissolved oxygen in mill solutions. Aeration or oxygenation of cyanide solutions has been more or less successfully accomplished by various types of agitators such as the Dorr (with or without air lifts), Pachuca tanks and more recently "Turbo-mixers" and Denver "Super- agitators"; also by the introduction of chemical oxidizing agents such as Solozone (Na,O,) . At the Wright-Hargreaves and other mines in the Kirkland Lake camp, the introduction of this reagent at the rate of about 1.25 oz. per ton of ore applied to the feed of the ball mills has certainly been beneficial.

Jan 1, 1932

Abbey, Robert Graham, District Mgr.. The W. W. Sly Mfg. Co., 50 Church St.. New York, N. Y. &apos;21 Abbott, A. N., Mines Supt., Mazapil Copper Co., LtdConcepcion del Oro, Zac., Mexico. &apos;28 *Abbott, Argyle Campbell, Dev. Dept., E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Wilmington, Del. &apos;29 Abbott, Clarence E., V.P., Charge of Raw Materials, Tenn. Coal, Iron & R. R. Co., 1242 Brown-Marx Bldg.. Birmingham, Ala. &apos;04 Abbott, Louis Benjamin, Chief Engr., Elkhorn Div., Consolidation Coal Co., Jenkins, Ky. &apos;16 Abeel, George H., Jr., Cons. Min. Engr Box 427, Santa Monica, Cal. &apos;18 Abel, Albert E., Asst. to Pres., Valley Mould & Iron Corp Hubbard, Ohio. &apos;19 Abel, Raymond L., Asst. Prof., Dept. of Pet. Refin., Univ. of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh. Pa. &apos;28 Abeel, Leo M., Research Engr., Sullivan Concentrator Chapman Camp, B. C., Canada. &apos;31

Jan 1, 1929

By HOMER L. WILLIAMS

WHILE some of the mining companies have been pumping a small amount of water for some time, it is only in recent years that large quantities of water have been encountered in the Tonopah district. The water appears to be in different zones or belts so that the draining of one property does not necessarily affect the one adjoining. Consequently, each company has its own pumping plant and its own conditions. The companies panes handling the largest amount of water are the Tonopah Extension Mining Co., Halifax Tonopah Mining Co., West Tonopah Consolidated Mining Co., and Great Western Consolidated Mining Co. The Halifax shaft is on the eastern end of the district and the other three properties on the western. The ore-bearing formation occurs at greater depth on -the eastern and western ends, hence the water problem in these properties.

Jan 1, 1921

By AIME AIME

TRAINED as a mining engineer and with no little experience in the field of mining, his interests and activities later transferred to the alloying, fabrication, and physical metallurgy of nonferrous metals, principally silver, Robert H. Leach represents in his professional life both of the major phases of the fraternity of mining and metallurgical engineers. In his personal characteristics, his wide circle of true friendships, his kindly, sympathetic interest in the problems of his fellow engineers, be they the junior men of the mineral industries or the mature and experienced men, he typifies the characteristics and attitude so desirable in the professional man.

Jan 1, 1939

By F. F. McINTOSH

STEEL is a general name applied to the alloys of iron and carbon. These alloys always contain , other elements such as manganese, silicon, sulfur, and phosphorus. Manganese and silicon are usually considered to be alloying elements. Sulfur and phosphorus are regarded as impurities. Tradition has damned them both and, in addition to classifying them as impurities, has established the general impression that many of the ills of steels are the result of the presence of one or both of these elements. Metallurgists are inclined to question the soundness of this tradition. The fact that one blast-furnace plant is devoted entirely to the production of ferro-phosphorus which is used to rephosphorize basic open-hearth steel, and that sulfur is added to many heats of steel, indicates that these so- called impurities might also be classed as alloying elements, and that the tradition which damns them may not be altogether fair and well founded. A critical search through the technical literature on the effect of phosphorus on steel will disclose many references to its harmful effect. Most of these are general in character, but there has been a strong tendency to accept this traditional belief in the harmful effect of the element.

Jan 1, 1926

By Peter N. Blakey, Thiann R. Yu, Douglas O. Tansey

A flexible, efficient, and relatively low-cost drilling and blasting operation has evolved at Texasgulf Canada, Ltd.&apos;s Kidd Creek underground mine. Located 32 km (20 miles) north of historic Timmins, Ontario, the underground operation utilizes a sublevel open stoping method developed with large-diameter blastholes. Over the years, Kidd Creek engineers have experimented with various drill-and-blast techniques, leading to the present-day practice. Continuing work is being conducted to further mechanize the blasting operation.

Jan 6, 1976

By Francois Clerf

IRON ORE fields are situated in both the East and West of France (see maps). The eastern deposit is by far the most important from a tonnage point of view, not only in France, but in all Europe. The ores of this region are known as minette, and are situated in the Lorraine ore fields and the Briey plateau. The iron ores of the West are those of Normandy, Anjou and Brittany. Before the war, a large number of important German companies had acquired considerable interests in these western fields and a heavy trade with Westphalia had begun. Recently, however, conditions have changed and some of the mines of Brittany and Anjou are now idle. From a geological point of view, in Anjou and Brittany, a series of synclines extends from the northwest to the southeast, containing a number of seams of varying thickness and generally intercalated in Silurian and sometimes in Devonian formations. The ore is generally a hematite or a magnetite. The composition varies from 48 to 52 per cent of iron and from 8 to 12 per cent of silica. Con¬servative estimates indicate a con¬siderable tonnage of workable ores (150,000,000 metric tons).

Jan 1, 1936

By Howard N. Eavenson

WASTE of coal, or perhaps more properly the percentage of its recovery in mining, has keenly interested me during an experience of over a half century in coal mining. In the early part of that time and until a few ears after World War I the use of better mining plans and supervision resulted in an increased recovery. Since then, and particularly since controlled prices have been effective and mechanized mining has been extensively practiced, the tendency has all been toward lesser recovery in mining. The purpose of this paper is not to criticize the methods being used, which after all are the result of economic forces, nor to point to any particular mining method or to any locality where the best recovery is obtained. but to call attention to the tremendous waste of our national coal resources that is constantly continuing. A possible method of reducing this loss will be suggested. but without any illusions that it will be followed or that much attention will be paid to it.

Jan 1, 1946

By George F. Weaton, Carleton C. Long, H. I. Najarian

Partial descriptions of the operation of the St. Joseph Lead Company&apos;s Joseph-town smelter have been published. In, 1936 the electrothermic production of zinc oxide was described;&apos; in 1939 appeared a description2 of the electrothermic method of producing zinc metal. Inasmuch as the plant capacity has more than doubled, and in view of the fact that operating practices have improved greatly since these publications, it seems worth while to prepare a fresh description of the present-day elec-trothermic zinc plant and practice. Josephtown smelter is situated on the south side of the Ohio River about 3 miles below its confluence with the Beaver River. In addition to river barge, the smelter is served by Pennsylvania state highway No. 18 and by a spur line of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad (N.Y.C.). A recent extension of this spur line connects with the Pennsylvania Railroad. As originally contemplated the plant was to handle only the product of the com-pany&apos;s own mines in St. Lawrence County, New york, but owing to the incessant demand for zinc and zinc oxide, it has been necessary to supplement New York concentrates with foreign ores (principally from Quebcc and the Argentine). The general operational procedure followed comprises roasting the sulphide con-centrates, converting the sulphur dioxide into sulphuric acid, preparation of a strong-structure sinter from the calcine, crushing &lid sizing of coke, reduction of coke-sinter mixture by electrothermic means, condensation of the evolved zinc vapor to make zinc metal or burning of the zinc vapor to make zinc oxide, collection and packing of the zinc oxide. Dusts recovered by the roaster and sinter Cottrells are treated in the leach plant for separation of lead sulphate, cadmium metal and zinc sulphate. The general flowsheet is shown in Fig. I. Principal Items OF Equipment Roaster Plant Concentrate drier, 6-ft. &apos;ia. by 4O ft. 5 in., countercurrent, direct gas-fired. 3500-~on concentrate storage in three vertical steel tanks. Five modified Nichols-Herreshoff twelve-hearth roasters, 21 ft. 6 in. in diameter. Four fans for shaft-cooling air. One threedrum Stirling water-tube waste-heat boiler, 4&apos;8 hp., 200 1b. Per sq. in., with connections to upper and lower balloon flues. Direct gas-fired countercurrent rotary-kiln roaster for Cottrell dust. Necessary conveying equipment, described below. Instrumentation consists of: draft indicators, (3d hearth); various manometers; pyrometer served by thermocouples in each hearth, entrance and exit of waste-heat Joseph. entrance and exit of each hot Cottrell; roaster draft recorder and shaft air-pressure controller; temperature recorder and controller (10th and 12th hearths); SO* recorder (waste-heat boiler n

Jan 1, 1944

By J. Chipman, G. G. Hatch

One of the important functions of the iron blast furnace is the desulphur-ization of pig iron before it enters the steelmaking furnaces. However, the increasing concentrations of sulphur in the metallurgical coke, source of approximately 90 pct of the sulphur present in the blast furnace charge, and demands for higher rates of production within recent years have increased the need for greater desulphurization within the iron blast furnace. Furnace operators are beginning to look for desulphurizing agents other than blast furnace slag to accomplish the desired degree of desulphurization. A considerable amount of work has been done on desulphurization outside the furnace with soda ash, calcium carbide and various synthetic slags. Whether the desulphurization of pig iron is accomplished wholly inside the furnace or partly inside and the remainder outside, will be determined by the economics involved. Regardless of which is the case, it is believed that it is necessary to have a better understanding of the physical chemistry of desulphurization by blast furnace slags. To this end, it is the object of the present investigation to attempt what is believed to be the first equilibrium study of the distribution of sulphur between liquid pig iron and a wide range of blast furnace slag compositions. Review of Literature There is a considerable amount of information in the literature concerning the desulphurizing power of iron blast furnace slags, the solubility of various sulphides in the slags, and the effect on desulphurization of temperature, of elements dissolved in the liquid iron, and of viscosity. However, there is nothing to indicate that the equilibrium distribution of sulphur between liquid iron saturated with carbon and iron blast furnace slags has been studied experimentally. Wentrupl has made probably the most detailed study of the desulphurization of pig iron to date. He considered that there are three distinct aspects involved, namely: 1. Desulphurization within the blast furnace (by lime and manganese). 2. Subsequent desulphurization by manganese. 3. The effect of subsidiary reactions on the desulphurization by manganese. The experimental work carried out by Wentrup was devoted mainly to obtaining a better understanding of how desulphurization by manganese was accomplished in the mixer and the ladle. Particular attention was given to the part played by carbon, silicon, and phosphorus associated with manganese in the iron, and the effect of temperature on desulphurization. The experimental results indicated that desulphurization by manganese is purely a process of crystallization of manganese sulphide. The addition of silicon to iron melts containing 3.5 pct carbon and less than 0.5 pct manganese had no noticeable effect on desulphurization, but with 1-2 pct manganese the silicon additions improved the desulphurization. Additions of phosphorus also resulted in improved desulphurizati011 by manganese, but the effect was not as marked as in the case of silicon. It was also found that desulphurization by manganese was further improved by lowering the temperature. In order to explain desulphurization inside the blast furnace, Wentrup considered the system iron, sulphur, calcium, oxygen, manganese. (silicon). The distribution of sulphur between the metal and slag was represented by the following equation: (SS) _ (S)Fe + (S)Ca + (S)Mn .... [S] = [s] [1] The parentheses and the brackets represent the equilibrium concentrations in weight per cent of the slag and metal constituents, respectively. Since FeS D (FeS) _ (FeS) (S)Fe LfeS - [FeS] [S] [2] (CaO) + S e (FeO) + (S)Ca _ (FeO)(S)Ca. (S)Ca _ (CaO) Kl = (CaO)[S] [S] ~K1(FeO) [3] Mn + S D (S)Mn (S)Mn (S)Mn K&apos; = [MnpT "1ST = *lIMnJ !4) Substitution of Eq 2, 3, and 4 into Eq 1 resulted in if = L- + *> (Sol + K^ (S) [51 Eq 5 was used to calcu1;lte -f^j and [S] at 1480°C for slags containing 30-50 pct lime, 0.1-2.5 pct iron oxide, 0-26 pct silica, 2 pct sulphur and iron analyzing 1.5 pct manganese. The value for LFaB at 1480°C was found to be equal to 4.5, based on the experimental work of Bardenheuer and Geller.2 The results of the calculations are shown in Table 1. Although the slags are hypothetical and do not represent the range of compositions found in ordinary blast furnace practice, the calculations indicate that lime is effective in controlling desulphurization only if the iron oxide and silica contents of the slag are kept low. Schenck3 did not claim K1 to be a true equilibrium constant, but an empirical value which varied with the silica content of the slag.

Jan 1, 1950

By William T. Folwell

The Lucky Friday mine east of Mullan, Idaho, is an outstanding example of a property in the Coeur dlAlene district where a small and insignificant-appearing silver-lead-zinc vein at the surface has changed at depth into a large vein of great importance. The Lucky Friday vein has little if any surface expression and above the 1200 level the ore shoots are small and discontinuous. Between the 1200 level and 2450 level, the lowest developed level, the main ore shoot has shown remarkable improvement on each succeeding lower level, and today the mine is one of the major lead-silver producers in the Coeur d&apos;Alene district. History: The Lucky Friday property is on the north side of the South Fork of the Coeur d&apos;Alene River in sections 25, 26 and 35, T. 48 N., R. 5 E., Hunter mining district, Shoshone County, Idaho. This is about one mile east of the town of Mullan, which serves the eastern portion of the Coeur d&apos;Alene district. The southern part of the property is crossed by a branch line of the Northern Pacific Ry. and by U. S. Highway 10. This highway is the principal road crossing the panhandle of Idaho and connects the district with Spokane, Wash., on the west and Missoula, Mont., on the east. The main portal and surface plant of the Lucky Friday mine is at an elevation of 3365 ft, only a short distance above the valley floor and a few hundred feet from U. S. Highway 10. so the mine is readily accessible for year-round operation. The property is comprised of six claims, known as the Lucky Friday group, owned outright by the Lucky Friday Silver-Lead Mines Co. There are four patented claims, Good Friday, Lucky Friday, Northern Light, and Lucky Friday Fraction No. 2 (Mineral Survey No. 3028), and two unpatented claims, Hunter and Creek. In addition, Lucky Friday owns an undivided one-half interest in the Hunter Creek property. which adjoins the Lucky Friday group on the north: a 90 pct interest in the mineral rights in the Jutila Ranch (160A), which adjoins the Lucky Friday group on the east; and a 60 pct interest in the Lucky Friday Extension claim group, which adjoins the Lucky Friday group on the west. The company also has a long-term mining lease on the Hunter Ranch, which adjoins the Lucky Friday group on the west. The claims of the Lucky Friday group were located between 1899 and 1906. The Lucky Friday Mines Co. was organized in 1906 and did considerable exploration work by surface trenching and shallow underground workings, only to see the property sold by the Shoshone county sheriff to satisfy labor claims totaling $2000 in 1912. Another firm, Lucky Friday Mining Co., bought the claims in 1914 and spent 12 years driving what is now known as the tunnel level crosscut. This tunnel intersected a vein previously exposed in a higher tunnel, but it was only a few inches wide. The vein was followed a short distance westerly but was so unpromising that the work was discontinued in favor of extending the main crosscut tunnel several hundred feet north. No ore was found and all work was discontinued. The property was held in such low esteem by the firm that it let taxes amounting to less than $15 a year go delinquent for nine years. Then the property lay idle for two more years until in 1938 John Sekulic, a Mullan service station operator, took a lease, with a $15,000 purchase option, on the advice of an old miner who had worked in the mine. Sekulic re-opened the tunnel level crosscut and explored the vein with an easterly drift for about 200 ft. The vein was too narrow to be of commercial value but was believed interesting enough to warrant further exploration at depth. Lacking funds to explore the vein at depth, Sekulic tried to get the district&apos;s larger operating companies to take over his lease and option. They were not interested because of the lean tunnel level showing and the fact that the property lay between the White Ledge fault on the north and Osburn fault on the south, an area which geologists always considered unworthy of exploration. Sekulic then organized the present company and assigned his lease and option to it for stock. This was in 1939. Enough stock was sold locally to finance sinking of a shaft 100 ft from the tunnel level east drift. The vein at this additional depth still was not commercial but showed some improvement. Treasury stock was offered at 5 to 10C a share

Jan 1, 1959