Search Documents

By W. E. Wrather

DURING the war the mineral industry, and metal mining in particular, extended itself more than any other to attain the limit of its productive capacity. Likewise, probably no other industry went quite so far toward jeop¬ardizing its own economic future through depletion of material reserves. Once we looked to Europe for most of the manufactured goods we needed. Our own limited mineral requirements were easily supplied from mines near the Eastern seaboard. With expansion and industrialization, our mineral needs increased in proportion, and the centers of mining activity moved westward to Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Tri-State district, where seemingly inexhaustible high-grade deposits of iron, copper, lead, and zinc ores were opened and rapidly developed.

Jan 1, 1946

By Albert Ladd Colby

A GLANCE through the Bibliography appended to this paper will show that the Transactions of this Institute contain what virtually contitutes a history of the development of the manu¬facture of steel rails in this country and abroad. It is, therefore, fitting that this paper, bringing one branch of this important subject down to date, should be here presented, and it is also appropriate to select this joint meeting of our Society with the Iron and Steel Institute to compare the specifications covering the rails produced in these two countries, and to propose a standard specification to govern the manufacture of American rails for export. During the last ten years the production of Bessemer steel rails in the United States and Great Britain has amounted to 32,128,720 gross tons. Nearly 19,000,000 tons have been rolled in the past five years. The next five years will see an even larger output, owing partly to the extension of railway projects in the Orient, in South and Central America, in Mexico, and in Australia and the other British Colonies. Of late years, the American rail-mills have so largely increased their daily output, that trade conditions have often made possible the delivery of American rails to foreign ports. The tenders submitted by American mills, however, have always been accompanied by requests for changes in the foreign specifications, chiefly in the reduction of the amount of testing required; and it has only been natural, especially at first, that the engineer, whose specification had always been accepted without question by British mills, should interpret American tenders 'as an evidence that an inferior rail would be furnished

Sep 1, 1906

By K. M. Busen, J. Lindmayer

A heterojunction model is suggested for descrihzng the electronic conditions at oxide -semiconductor interfaces. Detailed study of the silicon oxide-silicon interface shows that the heterojunction model explains many experimental facts; however, it is necessary to assume that a transition layer exists at the interface. It will he demonstrated that ionic contrbution way also he present. Extended low-temperature heating stabilizes the oxide to a charge carrier density in the order of 10' cln-: determined by the heterojuncton model. OXIDIZED semiconductor surfaces are widely used, since they offer technological advantages and "passivate" the surfaces of semiconductor devices. However, it has been recognized that there are always n-type inversion layers formed in the silicon oxide-silicon system, which must be regarded as a definite disadvantage. An added complication is the "instability" of these inversion layers;' the inversion layer appears to vary with the processing and they change at temperatures as low as 100" to 200°C This paper will point out that the inversion layer is a result of the dissimilarity of the contacting materials and therefore must always be present. The dissimilarity is the essence of the heterojunction or electronic model and involves directly the structure of the materials involved. In addition, one finds the contribution from ions; this disturbance, however. can be eliminated for the case of silicon oxide-silicon interface. The strength of the inversion layer or channel will be expressed in terms of the density of elementary charges per square centimeter, N*, maintaining the channel. The next section contains the formulation of the heterojunction model by assuming a contact between two homogeneous materials. This calculation should not imply that silicon oxide is homogeneous; it serves only to point out the general properties of the electronic model. Following the electronic model, the practical case of the silicon oxide-silicon interface will be discussed. I) THE HETEROJUNCTION MODEL Contacting an oxide with a semiconductor, a work-function difference must be accommodated. Fig. 1 represents the oxide and the semiconductor before and after contact. When the contact has been made, one finds that qVi + qV, = A@; i.e., the work-function difference is distributed between the oxide and the semiconductor. Normally, the work-function difference appears on the wide-bandgap material, but in the present case the oxide is thin and far from being a single crystal. Accordingly, a significant fraction of the work-function difference must appear on the semiconductor. The work function of silicon2 is about 4.8 ev, but we shall not assign any particular work function for the oxide as it may vary. However, oxides usually have lower work functions and therefore the potentials must build up in the manner shown in Fig. 1. Such an argument predicts that the inversion layer must be n type, as opposed to the clean surface which is p type. Another important factor to be considered is that the oxide is disorderly and therefore contains many trapping levels. As a result, the charges in the oxide arise primarily from the change in trap occupation, while on the semiconductor side the space charge is composed of mobile free electrons. The consequence of this fact is that a change to another thermal equilibrium will require some time, dictated by the traps in the oxide. The conditions can easily be calculated on the semiconductor side. Assuming an intrinsic semiconductor, Poisson's equation is

Jan 1, 1965

By LIONEL E. BOOTH

ORE tests are made for the purpose of determining the correct methods of treatment for any particular ore. They should be conducted so as to insure that the results obtained in actual mill practice, on ore of similar grade and physical nature, will duplicate the results obtained in the test work. As the expenditure of many thousand of dollars may be involved in the building of the necessary mill, the testing of ores calls for extreme care and skill in handling laboratory machines, and a knowledge of actual practice to guard against the danger of obtaining results in test work that would be impractical to duplicate on a commercial scale. The importance of a correct sample of the ore is at once apparent. No matter with what degree of care the test 4rk is done, it loses its value when made on an unrepresentative sample. It is the first safeguard against future disappointments in the loss of capital and time. A number of failures in the past have been traced directly to faulty or lax methods in obtaining the ore sample.

Jan 1, 1924

By James L. Hendrix, Pat Vreeland, Hamilton Vreeland, Marcel F. DeGuire, Peter L. Comanor

A study of the ground area surrounding the Getchell, Nev., gold mine mill tailings was conducted so that a better understanding of the effects of arsenic toxicity on Upper Sonoran vegetation could be obtained. The Getchell area was selected because of the known high values of arsenic currently contained in the tailings waste (1% or higher). Mill wastes as well as the scrubber product As2O3 are contained in the tailings pond. In order to determine the effect of the tailings disposal on the surrounding vegetation, plots and line-transect techniques were employed to obtain plant ecological information on the area surrounding the ponds, and also non-affected control plots. Data for percent ground cover, species frequency, and plant vitality as a function of distance from the tailings ponds were collected. In an attempt to isolate naturally occurring factors for varying plant communities from induced factors derived from the close proximity of the tailings, soil cores were

Jan 1, 1975

By G. E. Pralle

INTRODUCTION The decade from 1969 to 1979 saw the crest of a wave of investments by companies and investors, primarily from the major industrial nations, in the metals and minerals industries of the so-called lesser developed countries. This was brought about by two major considerations: 1). The higher ore grades and therefore the higher profit potential of the mineral deposits in the third world countries, and 2). The desire, particularly by the European countries and by Japan, to ensure a safe supply of raw materials not available in their own countries. The decade began with the start of the Toquepala mine in Peru and the major investments in the Bougainville mine in Papua New Guinea and the Ertsberg mine in Indonesia. It ended with the start-up of Southern Peru Copper Company (SPCC) Cuajone mine in Peru and Inco's Soroako mine in Indonesia and the investments in several major alumina or aluminum projects in Australia and Brazil. Concurrent with this huge flow of funds into the mineral resources industry of the developing world was the build-up of a psychological fear in the host countries of exploitation/domination by the foreign investors. This resulted in an increasing trend towards: 1). Nationalization of existing mineral ventures, and 2). Tougher legal/fiscal frameworks for new ones. NATIONALIZATION Nationalization appeared in its earliest form as "Mexicanization" of the petroleum industry in Mexico in the 1930's, followed later by Mexicanization of the mining industry in general. This was enacted with the Mexican Mining Law of 1961 which required that 51% of the equity be owned by Mexican nationals. Later in the decade the equity share for foreign investors was reduced to 33 1/3% for the developers of the Frasch sulphur operations in the Isthumus of Tehuantepec. However, the law was not fully implemented in the copper industry until late 1970 with the purchase of 51% of the ownership in the Cananea Mining Company. The trend toward nationalization of the copper industry progressed to Chile where in 1967 under the Government of Eduardo Frei the major North American copper companies were induced to sell a one-half interest in their Chilean mines to the State. Likewise, in 1970, "Zambianization" took place, when the two major operating companies Roan Selection Trust (Amax) and Zamanglo (Anglo American) were restructured into Roan Consolidated Mines (RCM) and Nchanga Consolidated Mines (NCCM) providing the government with 51% of the equity ownership. Whilst the earlier forms of nationalization in general constituted a fairly priced buy-out (El Teniente, Chile for US$80 million, RCM for US$117.8 million, NCCM for US$178.7 million), the total nationalization of the Chilean mining companies in 1970 under Salvador Allende did not. Later, "Western" countries joined this trend and on October 29, 1973, Mr. Gough Whitlam proclaimed that "overseas capital must continue... in partnership with Australian capital" and "in some special energy cases we have an objective of 100% Australian ownership". In 1974 Mr. Pierre Trudeau stated: "The Liberal Party of Canada sets as an objective that new resources projects in the natural resource field should have at least 50% and preferably 60% Canadian equity ownership". FOREIGN INVESTMENT The situation for the foreign investor in the worldwide resource industry rapidly deteriorated from then on. New features appeared in mineral exploitation and operating agreements, centering not only on local government/local companies ownership but also on increased taxation. The new tax rate (mineral tax, royalty, and income tax) for the semi-government companies NCCM and RCM in Zambia became an effective 73%. Likewise the much publicized and discussed renegotiated Bougainville agreement brought dramatic increases in the total "take" by the PNG Government. More innovative forms of indirect taxation made their appearance and were added to the normal tax burdens of the mineral industry which already

Jan 1, 1985

NEW MEMBERS The following list comprises the names of those persons who became members during the period Mar. 10 to Apr. 10, 1914. Members ADAMS, DANIEL T., Mining 1416 Westminster Bldg., Chicago, Ill. BLICKENSDERFER, FRANK CLEVELAND, Sampler Morenci, Ariz. CAVERS, THOMAS WILLARD, Met Copperhill, Tenn. CLAPP, CHARLES H., Geol Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. CLARK, PATRICK T., Pres Bullwhacker Mine, Spokane, Wash. COMSTOCK, HARRY, Mining Mineville, Essex Co., New York. COOKE, JOSEPH H., Gen. Mgr Mono Dev. Co., Gisborn, Tooele Co., Utah. COOPER, DEXTER P., Civ. and Hyd. Engr 101 Park Ave., New York, N. Y. DEGOLYER, E. L., Geol Apartado 269, Tampico, Mexico. DESHAYES, ERNEST F., Mine Foreman Baldy, N. M. DOUGLASS, WILLIAM CRAWFORD, Min. Engr 107 Leonard Hotel, Butte, Mont.

Jan 5, 1914

By H. H. Lowry

SCIENCE attracts the attention and interest of an individual or an industry in general only in proportion to the apparent direct application to its immediate welfare or benefit. Engineering accomplishments, as applied science, therefore receive more recognition than the scientific discoveries on which they are based. Even self-evident truth needs endless repetition before recognition: engineering as applied science cannot advance beyond the science on which it is founded. Scientific research, and discovery, is sometimes forced by the limitations recognized by those active in its development for the use of society and industry and sometimes results from an apparently superficially illogical curiosity about natural phenomena. Research has received inadequate support except in industries born in the laboratory, the chemical and electrical industries, from which many lessons might well be drawn by their elder associates. The rapid growth of these industries has been largely due to close cooperation of scientists and engineers. Most rapid advance is made when the research worker and the engineer keep in close touch with each other's ideas and problems. Many of the developments of modern industry are based on dis-coveries buried for years in scientific journals because the "time was not ripe" at their discovery. The situation with regard to utilization of coal is quite the opposite. The fundamental facts in regard to the scientific aspects of the problem of developing the energy from coal are scarcely known. The engineer, without much scientific cooperation, has accom-plished much in increasing the number of kilowatt-hours per pound of coal from 0.31 in 1919 to 0.69 in 1934, in increasing the 1000 gross ton-miles of freight hauled from 6.1 to 8.3 per ton of coal in the same period, in fuel economy in production of coke, and in developing the production of motor fuel in Germany and England by hydrogenation of coal. This lack of scientific research on the utilization of our most important natural resource, coal, has been due undoubtedly in large part to the reluctance of investigators to study the interrelationships involved in, the complicated processes in which coal is used. These complexities are made

Jan 1, 1936

By Henry D. Hibbard

THIS article aims to clarify the use of some terms often occurring in writings on iron and -steel, and also to suggest several new short abbreviated names for some of the things related to the subject which now are indicated by phrases. Crude or Crude Iron The name crude or crude iron is recommended for the iron produced from ore by the blast furnace. When necessary it can be specified as pig iron when in the form of pigs (usually cold), or as molten iron, commonly called hot metal to distinguish it from cold iron in pigs. The product of a direct process of making wrought or malleable iron from ore is not included.

Jan 1, 1924

By H. P. Leighly, J. W. Marx, H. L. Walker

A relationship between recrystallized grain size and prior deformation is predicted from elementary statistical considerations, and reasonable agreement with experiment is obtained. RECRYSTALLIZATION phenomena have received much theoretical and experimental attention, and very adequate discussions of the various mechanisms suggested have been given by Anderson and Mehl,' Cook and Richards,' and Burgers," and others. It suffices to note here that the initial concepts fitted one of two general hypotheses: I—The new crystals are nucleated within microscopic regions at which there is a concentration of internal stress, i.e., volume elements of maximum strain energy. 2—The new crystals have their inception in volume elements of minimum strain energy. In a comprehensive early review of the subject, van Arkel' considered both possibilities and came to the conclusion that hypothesis 2 was inconsistent with the experimental fact that the number of nu-cleations increased with increasing deformation. He suggested that, if allowance was made for a preliminary atomic rearrangement at the points of large internal strain, hypothesfs 1 provided the more reasonable concept. Following the initial observations of Collins and Mathewsonb nd Crussard,Y he systematic X-ray investigations of Cahn' and Guinier and Tennevin" established the existence of a polygonized structure in metals that had been cold-worked, and subsequently annealed, under conditions such that re-crystallization did not occur. This new experimental evidence by no means disproved the first nucleation hypothesis, a fact recognized by both Beck" and Cahn,10 who independently suggested nucleation mechanisms based on the idea that regions of large strain might polygonize before the bulk of the less deformed material. These mechanisms, together with others recently proposed," are dependent upon the prior existence of some degree of polygonization in the deformed material. On the other hand, a critical examination of the published data leads to the supposition that polygonization may not be the necessary precursor of recrystallization, but merely its favored energetic competitor. In regions where the lattice distortion is not too severe, the limited adjustment afforded by polygonization may permit the lattice to drop to a relatively stable low energy state in which the nucleation of a new crystal becomes improbable, even at elevated temperatures. Such structures, of course, might provide a fertile field for the growth of nuclei, if these could be introduced. In regions of concentrated lattice distortion, polygonization alone may not be able to accomplish an adequate strain reduction, and in these volume elements sufficient thermal activity permits the more drastic atomic rearrangement involved in nucleation. Completely polygonized structures are known to withstand extended heating close to their melting points," with no other effect than a slow enlargement of some of the subgrains at the expense of others. Once started, macroscopic recrystallization might be expected to go to completion in a matter of minutes under similar heat treatment. Crussard12 and his coworkers have found that recrystallization may occur in single crystals of impure (about 99.7 pct) aluminum without any detectable prior polygonization. The indication here is that large Cottrell impurity atmospheres inhibit dislocation movement, thus suppressing polygonization to such an extent that the alternative process, recrystallization, dominates the lattice restoration. Experimental studies relating recrystallization directly to stored energy have not, at the present time,

Jan 1, 1954

By Maurus Seet

Mainland China, with one-fourth of the world's population and one-tenth of its coal production, can no longer be ignored as a considerable force on the world energy scene. In terms of annual productivity, China's 300 million tons of coal rank third behind the Soviet Union with 655 million and the United States 557 million (1968 Minerals Yearbook. USBM). When viewed from another angle, 1967 figures show that increased productivity from all coal-producing continents, with the exception of North America, was led by Chinese-dominated Asia with a 19% gain. Not unpredictably though, China, on a per capita basis, is closer to the bottom of the list among members of the industrial community. Despite its misspent youth, and despite the set- backs caused by the Big Leap Forward of the late 50's and the Cultural Revolution of the late 60'S, the People's Republic has managed to make some impressive strides in developing its coal industry over the past twenty years.

Jan 1, 1971

By Ch. J. Raub

A review will be given on the electrodeposition of Au, Ag and Pd and their technically important alloys focusing on recent work at the Forschungsinstitut. Special emphasis will be given to the influence of impurities on the behaviour of the electrolyte and the properties of the deposits, e.g. on resistance and on thermal and mechanical behaviour. The importance of C in gold and silver deposits and of H2 in Pd and its alloys at normal and high speed deposition rates will be discussed. Among Pd alloys attention will be focused on the Pd-Ni and Pd-Ni-Co systems. Comments will be made on deposition of Rh and Pt.

Jan 1, 1984

By AIME AIME

THE annual meeting of the A.I.M.E. was fittingly closed with a joint meeting of the Metropolitan sections of the four National societies on Feb. 18, at which this subject was adequately discussed by leading engineers before an audience that completely filled the Engineering Auditorium. The large amount of publicity that has been given the Diesel electric loco- motive, and the often garbled reports of its performance and possibilities that have been circulated, makes it particularly fitting that the facts should be given the profession as determined by those who have aided in developing and operating this latest form of prime- mover in railroad operation. C. A. Stein, general manager of the Central R. R. of New Jersey, opened the meeting with a discussion of the problem of electrification, and the relation of the short haul, switching, and terminal service to heavy electrification. Referring directly to the problem of the Central R. R. of New Jersey, some subtitution for the steam locomotive is necessary within the city limits of New York because of local ordinances against the smoke nuisance. While the improvement in the design of the steam locomotive has been marked-the efiiency today is over fifty times that of the locomotive of 100 years ago-it has now probably reached the point of maximum perfection. If anything, it is open to the criticism of having Coo many appliances to get out of

Jan 1, 1926

By S. C. Robinson

International interest in storage and retrieval of geological data stems from a desire to tap this large and potentially valuable, but little-used resource. The data will be used primarily for development and testing of geological concepts and theory; secondarily as a basis for assessing mineral potential and even individual mineral deposits; thirdly for establishment of world-wide norms averages and standards; and fourthly as a search tool leading to sources of specific data and to repositories of specimens etc. International committee activities are designed to establish acceptable general standards for reference numbering, geographic location, geological terminology, coding etc. ; and to develop progressively the types of data (parameters) that should be recorded in specialized archival files in such fields of world-wide interest as palaeontology, mineral deposits, petrochemistry, stratigraphy, mineralogy, palaeomagnetism, physical geochronology etc. Establishment of world data banks analogous to those in oceanography may come later; for the present we hope to achieve some degree of agreed consistency in national and local data banks throughout the world, and to establish an international index to these banks as first steps in facilitating international exchange. For purposes of this paper, data are defined as facts, reproducibly measured or objectively described.

Jan 1, 1969

P. Herasymenko (New York University, New York) —The authors' experiments on equilibria between water vapor and liquid synthetic slags represent a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the nature of liquid slags. They can be regarded as a proof of ionic splitting of water molecules dissolved in slags. The assumption that water dissolved in slag was com- pletely ionized was made in my report on hydrogen equilibria in steelmaking as early as 194010. In that paper, the first systematic data were given on the content of ionized hydrogen in acid and basic open-hearth slags. The paper probably escaped the notice of the authors, although they mention the articles published later by other investigators who reported erratic and

Jan 1, 1958

By Arthur Notman

TO present some idea of the magnitude of the gold-mining industry of Canada and the world, the records of 106 gold-mining companies currently paying dividends have been studied. Forty of these are in Canada, and 37 on the Rand in South Africa, these being all the straight gold-mining companies that paid dividends in the two areas in 1938. None of the base-metal companies that produce gold as a by- product, or even as a major fraction of the value of their total product, have beezl included. In addition, a group of 29 similar companies from Southern Rhodesia and the Gold Coast in Africa, India, Australia, Manchuria, Philippine Islands, the

Jan 1, 1939

By Donald C. Branford

The place of geophysics in the curriculum of a college or an engineering school has been much discussed. There is uncertainty as to whether the graduate may be called a "geological geophysicist" or a "geophysical geologist." Some have used the term "geophysical engineer." The question of the specialized undergraduate curriculum versus a general undergraduate training in the parent sciences with the addition of cultural electives has been and is still being argued. The literature during the past Io years shows that there are two rather definite schools of thought on this subject. The prospective employer, engaged in active geophysical exploration, visualizes the graduate in terms of the routine work he will do in the field. The school administrator, grounded in many years of tradition in the cultural type of education, visualizes the graduate in terms of his position in a political and cultural society as well as in his work as a professional geophysicist. Both are right and both wrong. A third school of thought, that of the student himself, has been almost totally ignored. It would seem best, for the purpose of this paper, to treat these various points and allied material separately, and then to integrate the conclusions as a set of conditions that should be fulfilled as far as possible in the ideal curriculum. At the end the relationship of our findings to the curriculum that has been tentatively adopted at the University of Pittsburgh will be considered. Divisions in Definition or Field of Geophysics Geophysics is that field of science in which geological and earth problems are solved with the use of physical and chemical techniques. Altogether too much attention has been paid to the artificial separation in this science of the commercial applications from the so-called "pure" or academic geophysics. The only real difference in the two types of work is one of scale of operations. In the commercial field the scale is large in terms of fmancial backing, immediate economic importance, and speed of operations. In the academic field the scale is large in terms of breadth of interests, in eventual economic importance, and length of time allowable for theoretical investigations. In exploration work the scale is small in terms of dimensions, since the methods are applicable only to the outer 20,000 ft. or SO of the earth's crust. In academic work, the student is not pressed for results of immediate economic importance, and therefore can afford to spend more time on problems that seem unimportant at the time. In the sense of background knowledge of the parent sciences necessary to the geophysicist, no essential difference can be found. Physics, chemistry, geology, and mathematics together, and in their proper proportionate amounts, form the matrix from which geophysical ideas and methods may spring.

Jan 1, 1946

By Donald C. Branford

The place of geophysics in the curriculum of a college or an engineering school has been much discussed. There is uncertainty as to whether the graduate may be called a "geological geophysicist" or a "geophysical geologist." Some have used the term "geophysical engineer." The question of the specialized undergraduate curriculum versus a general undergraduate training in the parent sciences with the addition of cultural electives has been and is still being argued. The literature during the past Io years shows that there are two rather definite schools of thought on this subject. The prospective employer, engaged in active geophysical exploration, visualizes the graduate in terms of the routine work he will do in the field. The school administrator, grounded in many years of tradition in the cultural type of education, visualizes the graduate in terms of his position in a political and cultural society as well as in his work as a professional geophysicist. Both are right and both wrong. A third school of thought, that of the student himself, has been almost totally ignored. It would seem best, for the purpose of this paper, to treat these various points and allied material separately, and then to integrate the conclusions as a set of conditions that should be fulfilled as far as possible in the ideal curriculum. At the end the relationship of our findings to the curriculum that has been tentatively adopted at the University of Pittsburgh will be considered. Divisions in Definition or Field of Geophysics Geophysics is that field of science in which geological and earth problems are solved with the use of physical and chemical techniques. Altogether too much attention has been paid to the artificial separation in this science of the commercial applications from the so-called "pure" or academic geophysics. The only real difference in the two types of work is one of scale of operations. In the commercial field the scale is large in terms of fmancial backing, immediate economic importance, and speed of operations. In the academic field the scale is large in terms of breadth of interests, in eventual economic importance, and length of time allowable for theoretical investigations. In exploration work the scale is small in terms of dimensions, since the methods are applicable only to the outer 20,000 ft. or SO of the earth's crust. In academic work, the student is not pressed for results of immediate economic importance, and therefore can afford to spend more time on problems that seem unimportant at the time. In the sense of background knowledge of the parent sciences necessary to the geophysicist, no essential difference can be found. Physics, chemistry, geology, and mathematics together, and in their proper proportionate amounts, form the matrix from which geophysical ideas and methods may spring.

Jan 1, 1946

By Robert B. Kistler, Ward C. Smith

The borate industry is one of the few sectors of the mining and mineral-processing industry which the United States still dominates. Since about 1927, the United States has supplied over half of the world's total boron and borate raw materials, and many of the chemical derivatives as well. Chiefly responsible for this record are companies producing sodium borates from two large deposits in southern California, at Boron (Kramer) and Searles Lake. The sodium borates, or products derived from borax and borax-containing brines, are the preferred borates for industry because they are soluble in water and combine readily with most other chemicals. Calcium borates are required for certain end uses, and these are produced from smaller colemanite-ulexite-probertite bodies. Sodium-free borate compounds also are produced from boric acid, which can be manufactured from either sodium or nonsodium borate minerals. During the past hundred years, the use of boron compounds throughout the world has risen from a few tons per year to the equivalent of over a million tons of B2O3. Leadership in supplying borates shifted from country to country and from region to region during this period, generally as the result of the development of newly discovered deposits that were better in quality, more accessible, or more economically exploitable than previous sources (Table 1). Primary Products and End Uses The principal borate products offered by primary producers in the United States are listed in Table 2. In general, these products are utilized worldwide by almost all consumers, regardless of the original source of the primary borates, In the United States, the primary borates all originate in southern California. Colemanite is produced as crude or processed crude ore from the Death Valley area and is utilized by the fiber glass and ceramic industries without further treatment. Production from Searles Lake, CA is from brines that are processed in chemical plants where borax and other compounds are recovered and the principal borate products are produced. At Boron, CA, the world's leading producer is mining a deposit of mineral borax and operating a chemical refinery. The mineral borax is mined together with included clay, and refined borax or "10-mol" is one of the refinery products. The mineral and the chemical compound are identical, Na2B4O7 • 10H2O. In addition to ship¬ping all major refined borate products from [ ]

Jan 1, 1983

By Joseph C. Buchen

IN principle, production of salt from sea water is a simple operation. Sea water is trapped in ponds, the sun and wind cause evaporation of the water, and what is left is principally salt. Commercial production of solar salt, however, requires a careful consideration of many factors. Obviously, sufficient evaporation must take place throughout the making season to produce an economically adequate crop. Other factors are density of soil, contour of ground, height of ground above sea level, minimum dilution from fresh-water streams, and distance from market. Unfortunately, in the United States the localities of greatest evaporation, allowing for the other factors, are not the most suitable for the manufacture of sea salt by solar evaporation. The south end of San Francisco Bay most

Jan 1, 1937