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By James W. Neill

The occurrence of minerals of nickel and cobalt at Mine La Motte is probably known to every mineralogist. I will not attempt to describe these minerals, but, before entering on my subject, will briefly mention the ores, etc., which call for metallurgical treatment and enter into the composition of our mattes. Our staple lead-ore, the dressed galena, is the chief source of nickel and cobalt. It carries but a small percentage of these metals, viz.: 0.2 to 0.3 percent. usually, though when much copper pyrites is contained in the gangue, the amount of nickel and cobalt may be as great as 1.0 to 1.5 per cent. Next in importance is the ((middle product" of the dressingworks, consisting of the sulphides of iron (and copper) with gangue and galena. This usually carries 20 to 23 per cent. of lead, 0.5 to 1.0 per cent. of copper and 2.5 to 3.5 per cent. of nickel and cobalt. A larger percentage of copper always carries with it an increase of nickel and cobalt. In some few cases 12 to 15 per cent. of copper gives 6.5 to 8.0 per cent of these metals. Resides these products of the dressing-works, there is a small quantity of true nickel-cobalt-ore

Jan 1, 1885

By Edward Keller

In a paper, " A Study of the Elimination of Impurities from Copper-Mattes, etc.," presented to the Institute at the Atlantic City meeting, February, 1898, I gave certain figures which I called the relative slaggability in refining copper. In that paper* will be found the following pertaining to this subject: Relative Slaggability in Refining Converter-Copper. Cu. Pb. Bi. Sb. As. Se, Te. 1 129.5 1.13 7.30 5.22 0.81 and Relative Slaggability in Refining Electrolytic Copper. Cu. Pb. Sb. As. 1 41 9.97 7.13 Since there is a, possibility of misinterpretation of the above values, the following supplementary information may seem justified in explanation. As the contents of impurities in the unrefined or crude copper were unknown, the contents of the refined copper were substituted therefor, merely in order to obtain the two series of figures for comparison. These figures are higher than they would be had I been able to take the correct ones for the unrefined copper. The high figure, 129.5, for lead, in the case of converter-copper, means simply that more lead was slagged from the crude copper than remained in the refined copper; or, in definite values, that to 1 per cent. of copper slagged, the ratio of the lead gone into the slag and the lead remaining in the refined copper is 129.5 : 100. It is possible to approximate the true slaggability much more closely by adding the quantities of impurities in the refined copper to those in the slag, thus obtaining values for the crude copper in which the amounts volatilized are ignored (the latter

Jan 1, 1901

By Y. Nakahiro

The removal of heavy metal compounds from a synthesized waste cyanide solution is achievable by a precipitation-flotation method. However, the differential separation of constituting metals by this method was thought to be very difficult. The present author found that addition of ferrous salt to the synthesized waste cyanide solution of cadmium and copper can modify the separation characteristics of these metals. In this paper, the separation of cadmium from copper in the synthesized waste cyanide water by the precipitation-flotation method is discussed. This differential flotation uses ferrous salt as a precipitant and sodium oleate as a collector. Based on a series of fundamental flotation tests, actual differential flotation tests were made. The separation of cadmium from copper in the synthesized waste cyanide water was found to be satisfactory. This method can be effective for the removal of difficult-to- separate colloidal precipitates from liquids by the sedimentation method, provided the applicability of this method to the separation of the other metals is promising. This consists of the intensive studies which have been conducted at author's laboratory.

Jan 1, 1980

HENRY A. VEZIN, Denver, Colo. (communication to the Secretary, February, 1897): I have read Mr. Austin's paper with considerable interest, more especially as the designing and study of such works have been an attractive occupation for me during the last twenty-five years. Mr. Austin says that a " plant on a terraced site has generally been considered the most advantageous," and also that " many advocate a level site," while he himself " is disposed to advocate a modification of the latter plan, utilizing an extended surface with a moderate slope."* Among the advocates of the terraced sites as against level ones, I do not recollect ever meeting a metallurgist who had even made an attempt to plan his works for level ground, or who had, in a lucid interval, figured how much he gained or lost by one or the other method. The average metallurgist starts with the assumption that it is rational to conduct his material down hill because its movement is aided by gravity, while to elevate ore or furnace-material by machinery he vaguely believes to be not alone wrong in principle, but also unnecessarily expensive. Let us look into the expense of elevating and see whether it really is prohibitory of the successful operation of smeltingworks on a level site. Hoisting or elevating material in the

Jan 1, 1897

By Charles R. Isaacs

In 1972 Kennecott Explorations, Inc. conducted a three month cruise to the central Pacific as part of a study of deep-ocean manganese nodules. One of the objectives of the voyage was to collect at least 200 tons of nodules for use in extractive metallurgy research and various engineering tests. It was determined to cut off production at a maximum of 200 tons, should we reach that amount before the end of the 38 on-station days. We were able to reach that goal; 200 tons of nodules were collected, representing an average return of 2340 lb from 171 dredge runs. Once equipment and techniques were refined, normal returns consistently exceeded 2 tons per haul. Up to this time, Kennecott had sampled extensively with the use of small free-fall devices using wire rope and winch equipment. These devices have never offered a viable method for collecting nodules in bulk, and we sought to develop a dredging capability which would give some assurance of meeting future requirements with efficiency and economy. After testing a series of increasingly complex dredge designs at sea, it was decided to utilize two of the simpler configurations, which after modification provided the basic design for the dredge used.

Jan 4, 1974

By H. Scott

SINCE Böhler discovered, in 1903, on cooling certain alloy steels, the phenomenon of a new and lower temperature transformation than the usual Ar3_2_1 obtained by increasing the maximum temperature to which the material was heated, much has been published' connecting this phenomenon with a large number of dissimilar steels of high alloy content. From the fact that the transformation divides itself, taking place at two widely separated temperatures, it has been called a "split transformation." The, significant facts established by recent investigators' are: that when the' transformation occurs at the higher temperature Ar', troostite or a decomposition product is formed, and that when the transformation occurs at the lower temperature Ar", the resulting structure is martensite. The terminology Ar' and Ar" adopted here is that of Portevin.3

Jan 2, 1919

Still, the subject of iron ore is associated in peoples' minds mostly with the Lake Superior region and this is as it should be. The Minnesota Section meeting exposed the forces that over a period of two decades, 1950 to 1970, are revolutionizing the industry. The Lake Superior region has been at the center of these changes and has been deeply affected by them. The rise of foreign sources of iron ore that did not require beneficiation and taxation considerations were for a number of years a giant setback for the Lake Superior region and Minnesota in particular. However, the companies in this region have led the drive to improve the quality of ores which are culminating in the tailored pellet. This is a product in which iron content, silica, without significant impurities, is manufactured for optimum blast furnace performance. The oxide pellet does not seem to be the end as partially or prereduced pellets are closer at hand.

Jan 3, 1966

By R. G. McQueen, E. G. Zukas

THE production of isotropic fine-grained ingot iron would be most useful since physical measurements associated with the elastic properties of iron are influenced by the size and orientation of the individual grains. This can be accomplished at present for small samples by established metallurgical procedures, but for large samples (in excess of 2 in. diam by 1 in. thick) it is virtually impossible to produce reasonably small uniform grains with random orientation. Such pieces can, however, be produced by impulsive loading followed by a suitable recrystallization treatment. The shock loading system employed is diagrammed in Fig. l. Here the 3/8-in. iron plate is accelerated by the plane-wave initiated high explosive charge through a 1 5/8-in. air space. Collision of this plate and the specimen of interest generates a shock wave in excess of 300 kbars which passes through the specimen. For this type of work it is not necessary to use machined parts: for example, the ingot iron pieces are saw cut from the billet so that they can be inserted in short sections of iron pipe. The recovered specimens are less distorted, however, if the air gap between the iron sample and pipe is filled with Woods metal. The dimensional changes resulting from this type of loading technique are minor, usually less than a 10 pct reduction in thickness. Compressive yield

Jan 1, 1962

Beyond the industrial suburbs of Melbourne to the southeast are brown coal deposits just under the fertile soil of the Latrobe Valley. These deposits rank as one of the wonders of the world. The manner in which this resource is put to use is one of the great engineering accomplishments of our time and also a prime example of Australian elan. The brown coal, with over 60% water content, occurs in beds from 200 to 400 ft thick, under 50 ft of cover. Fifty thousand tons of coal per day move in a nearly continuous stream from mining face to boilers. The power plants supply two thirds of the State of Victoria's requirements, about 800 megawatts. Surge capacity between mine and power plant is sufficient for 12 hr steaming time! Victorian brown coals have been known since the middle of the 19th century. However, it took a strike of bituminous coal miners in 1915 to bring brown coal permanently into the picture as a fuel for power generation. In Australia, power generation is a State function. The great development of brown coals has been under the State Electricity Commission of Victoria.

Jan 10, 1964

By Philip W. Guild

Approaching exhaustion of areas where traditional prospecting methods can pay off and sharply rising costs require increasing sophistication in planning exploration. Most outcrops, not only of ore and gossan but also of obvious zones of alteration, have been examined; many of the anomalies readily detectable by geophysical means have been drilled; geochemical surveys now cover extensive tracts. How should the explorationist proceed to find the ores that will keep his company in business and supply the world with the energy and raw materials it needs? Two courses are open to him: (1) saturation coverage by geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and drilling in the expectation that something will turn up or (2) critical analysis of the factors responsible for the concentration of valuable minerals in the earth's crust. The successful explorationist applies both methods to the limit of his resources. The second course, analysis of geologic factors, also comprises two principal lines of research: (1) ever more detailed study of the chemistry (including isotopic analysis) of the ore and gangue minerals of known deposits in an effort to understand how they were formed and (2) increasingly detailed mapping of their environment to determine the reasons for their localization. Again, both are very necessary.

Jan 1, 1971

By R. V. Ramani, George W. Luxbacher

Computer simulation of mine ventilation systems, after a slow start in the early sixties, is gaining increasing acceptance for planning, design, and evaluation purposes. Numerous programs are readily available from government, university, consulting, and industry sources. The computer adage "garbage in, garbage out" is as applicable in ventilation engineering as in any other application of computers, and has been responsible for the questionable results obtained in some instances. The source of input data for a ventilation simulation is most often a pressure-quantity survey of the mine, or, in the case of a new mine, information derived from a survey of an existing mine which has conditions similar to those expected in the new mine. The crucial step is to generate simulation input data from the ventilation survey. Problems such as quantities that do not balance, pressure gradients opposite to measured air flow, differences in the pressure datum in a multi-shaft mine, modeling of leakage, and deviations in flow from the square law (H=RQ2) are frequently encountered and must be resolved. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these aspects and to propose procedures which can lead to input data for valid simulations of mine ventilation systems.

Jan 1, 1982

By T. A. Read, M. S. Wechsler, D. S. Lieberman

IN the formation of martensite in steel, it has been observed that the habit plane does not change continuously as the alloy content is varied. Instead, it appears that discrete habits correspond to certain ranges of composition. Greninger and Troiano' found that in low-, medium-, and high-carbon steels, the habits are approximately (1l1), (225), and (259), respectively.* The work of Mehl and Van Winkle2 indicated that the change from the (225) to the (259) habit is fundamentally a consequence of the lower transformation temperature rather than the higher carbon content. Also, Otte and Read3 observed that the habit plane orientation for a chrome-carbon steel scattered within a cone of semivertex angle of 5 deg, which was outside of the experimental error in the determination of the habit plane. These observations suggest the importance of investigating what factors in the crystallography of the formation of martensite account for the several types of habit and the inherent scatter in the precise orientation of the habit plane. A theoretical treatment of the austenite-martensite transformation has been given,4 which considers the total transformation distortion to be composed

Jan 1, 1961

By Jack C. Bokros, Philip C. Rosenthal

DEVELOPMENT of the autoradiographic method in metallurgical research has been directed mainly toward gaining higher resolution, i.e., toward being able to locate segregation of a radioactive isotope on a finer scale. In the investigation reported, the liquid emulsion autoradiographic technique' used in the biological science was adapted to the autoradiography of metals. The distribution of carbon-14 in pure iron after various treatments was studied using this technique. Amorphous carbon uniformly labelled with carbon-14 at a specific activity of 6.95 microcuries per millimole was obtained from Tracerlab Inc. Carbon-14 emits P particles having a maximum energy of 157 kev and an average energy of about 50 kev. These ßs have a maximum range of about 30 mg per cm' and a half-thickness of about 3 mg per cm2. The iron used was spectroscopically pure electrolytic iron prepared by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Unhardened nuclear track emulsion, type NTB, was kindly supplied by the Eastman Kodak Co. This emulsion contains approximately 80 pct Ag halide,

Jan 1, 1957

By A. U. Seybolt

Precipitation of FeO from Fe-O solid solutions has been studied by metallographic methods. Such precipitation, which is visible, is composed largely of barely resolvable spheroidal particles. No metallographic evidence has been found for grain boundary oxide films. Oxygen diffusion into a iron does not occur chiefly by inter-granular penetration. IN an earlier communication' dealing with the solid solubility of oxygen in a iron, it was shown that under one set of conditions it was possible to show FeO precipitated from supersaturated solid solution. However, to assist in rationalizing the effect of an FeO second phase upon the mechanical properties of iron, it would be desirable to have more information on the possible modes of precipitation and on the thermal treatments required to produce precipitation.

Jan 1, 1955

Melbourne, capital of sedate Victoria, is oddly enough the home of a game known as "Australian Rules." Euphemistically described by devotees of the game as a cross between Rugby and Soccer, it appears to the novice to be more akin to organized mayhem. They don't even play it in some parts of Australia, but in Melbourne 60,000 to 80,000 whooping spectators throng the Cricket club of a Saturday afternoon to see a match. Actually, the game is fast and grueling but the victory laurels always go to the skillful team, the one that plays the ball rather than the man. Australians also play the ball in their ground rules affecting those interested in mineral exploration and mining. Prospecting Rights: Throughout the island continent, nearly all mineral rights are reserved to the Crown, administered by the individual states and, in the case of the territories by the Commonwealth government. The owner of the surface rights cannot sit on his minerals, and the term minerals even includes sand and gravel. Prospectors are protected by mining codes or ordinances of the various governments, which are quite similar from state to state.

Jan 10, 1964

By Robert Glass Cleland

THE CLOSING years of the nineteenth century witnessed a rapid expansion in Phelps Dodge activities in Arizona and other parts of the Southwest and a corresponding decline in its exporting and importing interests in New York. Before the close of another decade, this process had gone so far that the company was committed lock, stock, and barrel to its western undertakings. By 1910 the evolution that began with the tentative investments at Bisbee and Morenci was complete. An enormous increase in the domestic production of iron and copper, which made it increasingly difficult to find markets for imported cargoes of those metals from English mills, accounted in part for this radical shift in Phelps Dodge activities and interests. In the case of tin plate, the change was even more spectacular. In 1890 a seventh of the world's supply of pig tin passed through the hands of Phelps Dodge agents. In 1906, thanks chiefly to the McKinley Tariff of 1890 which imposed a duty of over two cents a pound on tin plate imported into the United States, the company received its last shipment of tin from England, and thus ended a form of

Jan 1, 1952

By Arthur C. Spencer

ThRee great deposits of iron-ore, in Camaguey and Oriente Provinces, Cuba, are well known to me through careful field-examinations executed in the years 1901 and 1907. In 1901 I visited the Cubitas iron-ore district, which lies about 12 miles distant from the city of Camaguey in a northerly direction, and the Mayari district, which includes the Sierra Nipe, lying opposite Nipe bay on the north side of Oriente Province. In 1907 I again visited the Cubitas district, and also made a sojourn of several days in the Moa district, where the extensive deposits of iron-ore were observed and studied. The observations of 1901 were made under the auspices of the then Military Governor of Cuba, Gen. Leonard Wood, and my conclusions concerning the value of these deposits were incorporated in a report.' The examination of certain denouncements of iron-ore in the Moa district in 1907 was made in behalf of iron-masters operating in the United States, to whom I reported the existence of large amounts of easily-workable limonitic iron-ore, properly designated " brown iron-ore " in the terminology now current among iron-ore producers in the United States. In 1908 I published a paper entitled, Three Deposits of Iron Ore in Cuba, outlining the occurrence and origin of the surfi-cia1 ores existing in the Cubitas, Mayari, and Moa districts.2

Jan 1, 1912

By G. J. Wolga, W. W. Tyler, A. C. Wilson

THE physical properties of uranium have been reviewed by Katz and Rabinowitch.1 Their review includes thermal conductivity data for ternperatures above 375°K. Recently, Mendelssohn and Rosenberg' have published data on the thermal conductivity of uranium from 2" to 20°K. Our measuremerits indicate the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity in the temperature interval from 20" to 300°K. Electrical resistivity and thermoelectric power were measured on the same sample. The material studied was normal uranium which had been heated at 700°C in a lead bath for 10 min and then quenched in a water bath held at 50°C. From this material a rod M in. in diameter and 2 1/2 in. long was machined. Two 0.040 in. holes were drilled into the rod 1 3/4 in. apart. Copper-constantan thermocouples for temperature and potential measurements were soldered to copper pins which were pressed tightly into these holes. Details of the equipment and experimental techniques used in making the measurements have been described elsewhere." Fig. 1 shows micrographs of a section of the sample studied. Fig. la was taken with unpolarized light and shows impurity inclusions, probably uranium carbide. Fig. lb, showing the same field, was taken with polarized light and gives some indication of the grain size and twinning within the grains. Experimental Results Thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity data are shown in Fig. 2. Table I shows values of

Jan 1, 1954

By D. A Dahlstrom

THE necessity for slime elimination from valuable mineral and coal products has become increasingly significant within the past 5 years.' , Most of the mechanized mining and present beneficiation methods have resulted in larger tonnages of extreme fines, silts, and clay, commonly called slimes, processed by the preparation plant. Economics in turn have forced the plant operator constantly to lower the bottom size of effective beneficiation, necessitating an almost complete recovery of valuable solids regardless of particle size. When these important factors are considered, the need for an efficient slime removal method for fine solids becomes self-evident. Ordinarily slimes have been classified as ranging from 75 microns, or 200 mesh, down to colloidal dimensions of less than one micron. At the same time there is general agreement that the most troublesome slimes are primarily clays, silts and extreme fines, so that the actual top size may be placed at approximately 30 to 40 microns. This immediately restricts any desliming operation to classification, as screening or other methods would be both uneconomical and grossly inefficient at such dimensions. The liquid-solid cyclone has been recognized as one of the most efficient fine size classifiers available to the mining industry. Applications of cyclones to thickening, high efficiency solid recovery, degritting,

Jan 1, 1953

By Bernard Schneider

The diversity of methods available to engineers and geologists for studying rock masses is a reflection of the fact that, despite the rapid and encouraging progress made over the last few years, there is still no unified and comprehensive method which can be used to predict the over- all behavior of a foundation. Nevertheless, it is agreed that the fundamental characteristic affecting the engineering properties of rock is fissuration, and this paper de- scribes a few new or improved methods of studying fissuration and its influence on major engineering factors such as permeability, deformability, or internal stresses in the rock volume. TESTS ON SAMPLES Conventional tests on samples using thin slices can be improved by staining the slices before cutting with certain ionic dyes which have an affinity for certain types of surface. This shows up the microdiscontinuities. For example (quoted terms are French trade names) : "Turquoise Motylhne JSA" will show up porous alteration of basic feldspars. "Vert brillant SA" is used for acid feldspars. "Fushine ASA" will show up voids in all rocks. A mixture of "Turquoise" and "Rhodamine BSA" will show up zones of alteration in all types of feldspars. With this technique, it is easy to make an optical classification of the different structural types, e.g.: (1) rocks completely free from voids; (2) rocks with microfissures, which in turn can be subdivided into (a) rocks with microfissures secant to the mineral structure, (b) rocks with microfissures parallel to the mineral structure, and (c) rocks with ran-

Jan 1, 1970