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The members of the Institute will recall the account given in the March Bulletin of the inauguration exercises of the Engineering Foundation which was inhibited by an initial gift of $200,000 by Mr. Ambrose Swasey, to be administered by the United Engineering Society as trustees. The Engineering Foundation Board is now constituted as follows: GANG DUNN, Chairman, EDWARD D. ADAMS, Vice-Chairman FREDERICK R. HUTTON, Secretary, JOSEPH STRUTHERS, Treasurer, American Society of Civil Engineers. J. WALDO SMITH, CHARLES WARREN HUNT.

Jan 12, 1915

By J. E. Castle

THE title of this article is descriptive, but not complete, for psychological evaluation is almost as important as rigid economic evaluation. This refers to those human traits that cause people to be too optimistic about the projects they are sponsoring, to overlook obvious weaknesses, to base decisions on incomplete and inaccurate data, and to gloss over embarrassing problems. Investment of capital in a new industrial mineral project is warranted only after rigorous economic analyses based on unquestionable facts. A plunge into production cannot be justified solely because these minerals have been deposited in the ground and are therefore free. There are no specially favorable economic laws that make the business of industrial minerals more attractive than any other. The factors of supply and demand, marketing, technological changes, taxes, competition, and fluctuating prices apply as much to industrial minerals as to other business enterprises. What is more, industrial minerals are subject to the higher risks that all mining enterprises face.

Jan 6, 1958

By Harry L. McNeill

The Selective Media Process was developed by the author in a laboratory provided by The Steams-Roger Manufacturing Co. It is the outcome of an investigation into the possibilities of coarse beneficiation by sink and float without using the conventional heavy media. Commercial work to date has been limited to the treatment of minus 3/8-in. iron ore at the Hill Trumbull washing plant of the Cleveland Clifis Iron Co., at Calumet, Minnesota. Two cut away prints of the machine are shown (Figs. I and 2). A rotary conical impeller is mounted within a stationary cone (Fig. 2). This impeller is adjustable vertically by a 12-ton screw jack. The speed of the impeller can be varied from 14 to 32 r.p.m. by the Reeves variable-speed motor pulley mounted on the 7½-hp. motor drive. Attached to the bottom of the stationary cone is the automatic control valve for sink product, actuated by a ¼-hp. gear motor. The sink product is dewatered in a conventional drag driven by a 7½-hp. motor and discharged onto an inclined conveyor containing from 6 to 10 per cent moisture. Two plants are operated at the Hill Trumbull property. All the ore is first treated in a typical washing plant (Fig. 3). when treating "wash ore" a finished concentrate can be produced by the log washers and Akins classifiers, as the separation involves only fine silica (minus 48-mesh) and free iron. However, when "jig ore" is led to the washing plant the coarse

Jan 1, 1947

By Harry L. McNeill

The Selective Media Process was developed by the author in a laboratory provided by The Steams-Roger Manufacturing Co. It is the outcome of an investigation into the possibilities of coarse beneficiation by sink and float without using the conventional heavy media. Commercial work to date has been limited to the treatment of minus 3/8-in. iron ore at the Hill Trumbull washing plant of the Cleveland Clifis Iron Co., at Calumet, Minnesota. Two cut away prints of the machine are shown (Figs. I and 2). A rotary conical impeller is mounted within a stationary cone (Fig. 2). This impeller is adjustable vertically by a 12-ton screw jack. The speed of the impeller can be varied from 14 to 32 r.p.m. by the Reeves variable-speed motor pulley mounted on the 7½-hp. motor drive. Attached to the bottom of the stationary cone is the automatic control valve for sink product, actuated by a ¼-hp. gear motor. The sink product is dewatered in a conventional drag driven by a 7½-hp. motor and discharged onto an inclined conveyor containing from 6 to 10 per cent moisture. Two plants are operated at the Hill Trumbull property. All the ore is first treated in a typical washing plant (Fig. 3). when treating "wash ore" a finished concentrate can be produced by the log washers and Akins classifiers, as the separation involves only fine silica (minus 48-mesh) and free iron. However, when "jig ore" is led to the washing plant the coarse

Jan 1, 1947

By L. Delatour, K. Voltaire

This paper presents various aspects of the legal and economic settings that govern the exploration for mineral resources in Haiti.

Jan 1, 1980

By L. T. Larson, P. M. Basinski

In the northern Reese River Valley uranium is corroded with Middle Pliocene zeolites. These zeolites were diagenetically derived from rhyolitic volcanic glass deposited in a saline- alkaline lake. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and chemical studies reveal clinoptilolite, analcime, and enonite to be pesent and that these minerals can concentrate at least 0.7% uranium from solution. Most anomalous drill cuttings contain zeolite and zeolites are believed to host the uranium. Research suggests the uranium mineralization is conceptually analogous to the Tono mine, Japan.

Jan 1, 1981

By T. L. Joseph

Charcoal was the predominant blast-furnace fuel until 1838, when it was found, by the operation of a 2-ton experimental furnace, that anthracite could also be used. This information was a stimulus to the iron industry, particularly in eastern Pennsylvania where anthracite was available at low cost. The production of anthracite pig iron increased steadily and, in 1855, its tonnage exceeded that of charcoal iron. Of the 680 furnaces in operation in 1874, the 226 using anthracite produced nearly one-half the total tonnage. In 1869, the production of coke furnaces exceeded that of charcoal furnaces and, in 1875, coke surpassed anthracite as a metallurgical fuel. In 1907, the output of anthracite pig dropped well below a million tons and its present significance is largely historical. In recent years, the production of coke has gone hand in hand with the production of pig iron and it has gradually attained the position it now occupies as a universal blast-furnace fuel. Charcoal, however, has great merit as a blast-furnace fuel chief1y because of its freedom from ash and sulfur. The harmful effect of the latter and the necessity of keeping the percentage of this element in pig iron at a minimum are well recognized. Other contaminating elements can be reduced to specified limits in the steel-making process, but the control of sulfur belongs essentially to the blast furnace. The purpose of this paper is to point out the distribution of this impurity in blast-furnace materials and to indicate how its presence alters the composition, quantity, and free-running or critical temperature of the slag, and the relation between these factors, fuel economy, and the cost of iron. Sulfur Distribution in MateRials Table 1 shows the distribution of sulfur in charcoal practice. Similar figures taken from coke practice are given in Table 2. These data were

Jan 1, 1925

By E. Seidl

THE basic material for testing aluminum, copper and zinc is a cast metal, principally in the form of wire bars (Figs. 1 to 3) and plates for the produc- tion of sheets or strips, (Figs. 4 to 7). Experience has proved that the chemical and crystallographic proper-ties of such cast metal exercise a certain influence when it is being worked, which is usually done while the metal is hot. In a chemical sense the slight impurities, which even the purest industrial metal contains, have a disturbing effect. They settle either along the outside limits of granulation, as in the case of aluminum and copper, or else in the interior of the crystal, as in the case of zinc; but frequently are also found accumulating at certain points (formation of the blowholes and skin) (Fig. 7). The crystallographic character of the metals is either that of uniformly fine granulation, or else there occurs a certain distinct casting texture marked by sharply defined cooling conditions and consisting of crys-tals of a pronounced stalk-like or blade form. Since we generally distinguish between a crystal texture and a crystal structure, the term crystal texture is used here for the arrangement of the crystals relative to each other and their microscopic composition; crystallic structure is used to mean the radioscopically ascertain-able structure of the crystal. The influence of the impurities and of the crystalline character on the working of the metals has been fre-quently pointed out in practice as well as in science.

Jan 11, 1927

The General Electric Co., in cooperation with the Montana School of Mines and under a research grant from the Anaconda Co., is presently experimenting on a new non-explosive method of breaking rock with radio-frequency electrical power. The method is known as electrothermal forcing. It must be understood that present equipment has not been designed to perform primary blasting functions. Its conceived use will be restricted to small pieces of rock too large to pass through a chute or grizzly. However, even this use is still far in the future. Experiments to date have been limited mostly to rock smaller than 18 in.

Jan 11, 1961

By S. R. Gilbert, B. W. Burdett, L. B. Hales

INTRODUCTION Grinding control is currently the most publicized control subject in the minerals industry. Flotation control and crushing control have not as yet received the widespread attention that grinding control has. The primary reasons for this center around the high capital costs of grinding equipment and the fact that grinding mills are extremely energy inefficient. In a typical copper concentrator the energy requirements to produce refined copper are: (1) [Total Energy Distribution (Kw-hr/yr)% Mining4.93 x 10817.3 Mineral Processing9.63 x 10833.8 Smelting and Refining13.9 x 10848.9] One-third of the total energy used for copper production is for mineral processing. A breakdown of this energy into process steps yields the following: [Total Energy Distribution (Kw-hr/yr)% Crushing and Grinding 7.16 x 108 73.8 Flotation 0.76 x 108 7.8 Materials Handling1.78 x 10818.4] It is apparent that comminution operations consume the largest proportion of the energy for processing and as such become major targets for improvements in efficiency. Unfortunately, size reduction operations are extremely inefficient. Efficiency calculations for grinding range from less than 0.1% to about 5% depending on the evaluation criteria. Because of these facts, grinding control has been and will continue to be the focus of major process control efforts. OBJECTIVES AND BENEFITS All benefits achieved as the result of grinding control are derived from modifying physical parameters which improve the efficiency of the grinding mill. These parameters include:

Jan 1, 1982

"The chief aim in style ought to be absolute precision", said Flaubert. "There is only one noun that can express your idea, only one verb that can set that idea in motion, and only one adjective that is the proper epithet for that noun." Let this be your motto. The engineer tries to be exact in all his measurements; he should measure his language with similar exactness. The technical term is a word of precision. It is not only precise, it is a word-saver. To the unscientific the earth is "a ball slightly flattened at the poles, something like an orange". To the scientific it is "an oblate spheroid". A similar contrast between the precision of the technical term and the vagueness of common words is afforded by a conversation between Ivanhoe and Rebecca: " ' What device does he bear on his shield?' asked Ivanhoe. 'Something resembling a bar of iron, and a padlock painted blue on a black shield.' 'A fetterlock and shacklebolt azure', said Ivanhoe"-using the technical terms of heraldry. It is good style in writing, however, to adapt your manner of expression to the intelligence and experience of the person or persons to whom the writing is addressed. The description of a mine should be worded differently according as it is intended to inform a mining engineer, a director, or a bishop. REMEMBER THE READER. It is as incorrect to write in a technical way for a non-technical reader as to write in a popular way for a technical or scientific reader. That style is best which enables the writer to place himself in the closest mental touch with his reader, to establish the maximum of sympathetic understanding. Let your precision be proportioned to your accuracy. You should not try to be precise in matters that do not admit of

Jan 1, 1931

By Howard Eavenson

IN a discussion in the Transactions of the Institute (vol. xl, page 835 et seq.) the writer gave some data about explosions of gas and dust in the coal mines of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, among which was a table showing all explosions in the countries mentioned, in which five or more fatalities occurred, which had been reported from Oct. 2, 1871, to Mar. 28, 1908. Since the elate of publication of this discussion, as opportunity has presented, this table has been extended by the addition of explosions occurring since that time, by including several explosions which occurred prior to 1871, and by adding to the list all explosions of gas or dust in which less than five fatalities occurred, this having been clone by a search through the various mine reports, partly by the author and partly by the Librarian of the United Engineering Societies, and by correspondence with mine inspection officials of the various States, to all of whom acknowledgment of assistance is made: The accompanying list, Table I, is believed to be as nearly correct as such a statement can be made, and, while only extending to Dec. 20, 1912, contains all of the data now available in reports. An analysis of Table I, showing the occurrence by months of all explosions of gas or dust, including those in which less as well as those in which more than five fatalities occurred, is given in Table II. The statements are frequently made, in technical papers, that the number of explosions, particularly the larger ones, is increasing more rapidly than the number of mines, and that the number of fatalities caused by mine explosions, particularly the more disastrous ones, is increasing faster, proportionally, than the production of coal. To investigate the correctness of these statements Table III was prepared, in which the number of accidents and fatalities is taken from Table I, using those in the United States only, on account of lack of other data for Canada and Mexico; the production is from the records of the U.S. Geological Survey, and the number of mines, from 1909, from the same source; previous to 1909, the number of mines, for the decennial periods, was furnished by the U. S. Census records.

Jan 10, 1914

By T. F. Archbold, W. H. King

THE diffusivities of gold in polycrystalline copper have been determined in the temperature range from 700° to 1000°C by the utilization of the neutron-activation method. Martin, Johnson, and ~saro' used this method for their investigation of the diffusion of gold into copper at 375° and 550°C for 59 days in order to circumvent the experimental difficulties imposed by the 2.7-day half-life of Au-198. They employed the conventional technique of depositing Au-198 on copper specimens for short-time dif-

Jan 1, 1965

By E. C. Pechin

THE Lucy furnace, owned by Messrs. Carnegie, Kloman & Co., and located on the Alleghany River, on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, is a splendid modern furnace, 75 feet high, and 20 feet bosh. She had been working well on low grade ores of about 50 per cent., producing daily 68 to 75 tons. There was on stock 500 tons of Republic ore, one of the purest and best of the Lake Superior ores, averaging over 68 per cent. of iron, which had been procured for the purpose of making a trial for Bessemer iron. This was charged by itself, and Mr. Skelding, the founder, reports that he did not succeed in getting a single cast when it came down, before the furnace chilled from the hearth to the top of the boshes, some 25 feet. Every effort was made to save her, without avail, and the disagree-

Jan 1, 1874

POSITIONS VACANT The National Bureau of Standards needs men to fill metallurgical positions with salaries varying from $1200 to $2000, depending upon the training and experience of the candidate. Experience either in ferrous. or, non-ferrous metallurgy. Duties will be almost entirely of an investigational nature, in connection with problems of military importance. Qualified men are urged to send to the Bureau of Standards at once a statement of training and experience, names of references, acid minimum salary that would be accepted, so that they may he advised of appropriate civil service examination for which to file papers. Until further notice, such papers are received by the Civil Service Commission at any time and ratted promptly.

Jan 10, 1917

By HENRY FA

HENRY FAY (communication to the Secretary*).-In reply to the discussion of my paper, I wish to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the Chairman and the various gentlemen who have taken part. I regret that others have not offered criticism, for honest differences of opinion often lead to the truth, and suggest new lines of work. An experiment has been made which bears on Prof. Sauveur's discussion and which helps to emphasize the conclusion that cementation is not a factor in the hardening of: the surface. Dr. Langenberg, of the Watertown Arsenal, has heated for me, in vacuo at 1,000° C., a piece of the metal containing a hard surface. The microstructure shows uniform distribution of carbon throughout the metal, showing that no carbon has been added to .the surface and heating in vacuo has prevented any oxidation of the surface.

Jan 6, 1917

By E. W. Davis

IF the tonnage of merchantable iron ore remaining in the Lake Superior district is divided by the average of the annual shipments for the past 20 years, it will be found that this ore supply will be exhausted in approximately 35 years. This computed exhaustion period would be an indication of the future activities of the iron-mining industry if it were not for the fact that merchantable ore is being manufactured from low-grade ore, of which there is an almost inexhaustible supply in the Lake Superior district. It is true that at present only the simplest of these low-grade ores are being concentrated to any considerable extent, but progress is being made with the treatment of the more complex ores, and now, in addition to 20 washing plants on the Mesabi Range, three plants are equipped with jigs for the treatment of ore that cannot be concentrated simply by washing. The latest addition to the ore-treating plants of the Mesabi Range is a magnetic roasting and concentration plant at Cooley, Minn., in which ore that cannot be concentrated either by washing or by jigging is roasted to the magnetic state and concentrated on magnetic separators. This plant is beginning its third season of operation, and while it is too soon to make definite predictions, there are strong indica-tions that this new process may make commercially possible the manu-facture of high-grade, merchantable iron ore from large quantities of low-grade ore now considered worthless. After the iron oxide contained in an ore has been converted to mag-netite, almost any desired grade of concentrate can be produced, using magnetic-concentration equipment of the types now in general use for the concentration of the natural magnetites of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The conversion of hematite (Fe203) to magnetite (Fe304) is easily accomplished by heating the ore to a dull red tempera-ture in a reducing atmosphere. The reaction is slightly endothermic, and while it requires 200 B.t.u. to heat to 900° F. one pound of hematite ore containing 45 per cent Fe, it requires only 100 B.t.u. to convert the oxide into magnetite. In the laboratory, using small quantities of ore, this conversion is very simple, but large furnaces suitable for commercial

Jan 1, 1936

By S. Nenno, T. Saburi, Y. Mizutani, M. Yomarnoto, K. Komatsu

In the equilibrium phase diagram of the Ni-Mo sys-tem1,2 available at present, intermetallic compounds (or ordered phases)ß(Ni4Mo) and ?(Ni3Mo) are known to exist to the nickel rich side. In our recent investigations on Ni-Mo alloys, however, it has been found that the quenched alloys from the high temperature region containing more molybdenum than the Ni4Mo do not decompose directly into 0 and when annealed isothermally below the peritectoid temperature, i.e., 865°C. This note is to report the existence of Pt2Mo type superlattice (possibly ordered Ni2Mo) as a metastable phase in the early stage of decomposition. Alloys containing 20.1, 22.7, and 24.4 at. pct Mo were prepared by vacuum-melting electrolytic nickel of 99.9 pct purity and molybdenum powder of 99.9 pct purity in an alumina crucible. From the resulting ingots, sheets 0.3 mm thick were obtained by forging, hot-, and cold-rolling. The sheet specimens were water-quenched from ! region and subsequently annealed for various periods of time at temperatures below the peritectoid temperature. On these specimens were made optical-microscopic and transmis-sion-electron-microscopic observations. Fig. 1- Optical micrograph of the 22.7 at. pct Mo specimen annealed for 100 hr at 700°C after quenching. (ß + ?) region, B, nucleated along a grain boundaries are invading the preexisting (ß + Ni2Mo) region, A. Details of A are observable only by electron microscopy. Etchant: 60 pct HNO3-40 pct CH3COOH.

Jan 1, 1970

By I. Sheinhartz, H. M. McCullough

DURING the course of a lubrication study in relation to the compacting of metal powders, it became desirable to measure the thickness of sprayed graphite coatings on steel dies for hot pressing. The thickness of these lubricant coatings ranged between 0.0001 and 0.002 in. In their particular case, the authors were interested in a method for measuring the lubricant thickness on tapered die inserts having curved surfaces. The lubricant was sprayed on the inserts at an elevated temperature and it was desirable to measure the thickness as soon as possible after application. Various standard types of commercial equipment were tried. Most of the available devices operated on either a mechanical or magnetic principle. The mechanical devices, such as micrometers, dial indi-

Jan 1, 1956

By Gerard Matthes

WITHIN the last three years, aerial mapping has made wonderful progress. Its three sources of development in North America may be enumerated as follows: (1) The work of the U. S. Army Air. Service and Corps of Engineers at the McCook Experimental Field, Dayton, Ohio. This is generally regarded as the backbone of this class of endeavor in the United States. (2) In Canada, a great deal has been accomplished in a practical way by methods that have not even been tried out in the United States. Under the leadership of the late Doctor Deville, the Dominion Land Surveyors have turned out reconnaissance maps of large areas at very, small cost. (3) Private capital has contributed a great deal toward development of aerial mapping in a practical way in the United States. Prominent in this regard stands the Fairchild Aerial Surveys, Inc. which has spent large sums in research and development work, especially in the construction of aerial cameras. Its camera is, at present, the official camera of the U. S. Army and Navy Air Services, also, of the Canadian and Brazilian governments. Aerial photographic surveying is a flexible process and adapted to a variety of uses. To date, it has proved. of direct practical value for engineering projects such as reservoir and power transmission surveys, railroad location, drainage, harbor front studies; also, for many commercial purposes, tax assessment, city planning, forest surveys, and lawsuits. In a few instances, aerial photographs have been used successfully by geologists as base maps on which to record field observations, thereby dispensing with pacing and compass surveys. There is reason to believe that, eventually, the aerial map will find wide application in the work of geologists. The reason for advancing this opinion is that aerial maps have, in other fields, proved more complete as regards detail than maps made by standard processes of surveying and drafting, and often are more accurate than the latter. At the present time, five distinct uses are being made of aerial photographs: There is the "oblique" photograph taken at an angle with the horizon; it is used extensively for illustrations in newspapers, magazines, and advertisements. Also, for reconnaissance purposes, it has been found of great practical value. For illustrating reports of engineers and geologists, it offers many obvious advantages. In the Canadian Surveys, maps have been compiled from oblique photographs.

Jan 3, 1925