Search Documents

By S. R. Maloof

In 1945, Hollomon' showed that after plastic yielding and prior to necking under simple tension, both ferrous and nonferrous materials are approximated by an equation of the following form: where, a = true stress K = strength coefficient 5 = true strain n = strain hardening exponent If a material is stress free, a plot of log o vs log 6 would be expected to be a straight line, the slope of which is the strain-hardening exponent (n) and the intercept on the ordinate axis for 6 = 1. is the logarithm of the strength coefficient K. It can be easily shown that the strain-hardening exponent in the above equation is equal to the total uniform elongation prior to necking. Thus, one can determine the total uniform elongation prior to necking from such a plot and, as pointed out by C. W. MacGregor, 2 it is the amount of strain prior to necking which determines the extent to which a material may be deep drawn. In the view of the current interest in the fabrication of beryllium shapes, it was thought that a knowledge of the strain-hardening exponent of cross-rolled beryllium sheet would be of general interest. Load-strain data after yielding and prior to necking was taken from the work of Greenspan,3 converted to true stress and true-plastic strain, and plotted on log-log paper as shown in Fig. 1. The value of Young's modulus E for beryllium was taken as 43 . l06 psi. The slope of this plot gave a value of 0.212 for the strain-hardening exponent (n) and the intercept on the ordinate axis a value of 105,000 for K. The total uniform elongation is thus 21.2 pct, in excellent agreement with the value estimated by Greenspan (about 20 pct). Furthermore,

Jan 1, 1960

By H. E. Rowen

As high grade iron ore deposits dwindle and costs rise, sintering becomes more and more important. The steel industry is now faced with beneficiation problems once peculiar to nonferrous work. Succeeding articles describe recent advances in this field. Here is presented the first chapter of a history still being written. SINTERING, for the purpose of this discussion, is defined as the art of burning a solid fuel with 90 to 95 pct ash content. Considering problems of combustion involved in keeping a home furnace burning properly with 12 to 20 pct ash in the fuel, it is evident that combustion represented by the definition has to be right or nothing is going to happen. Our forefathers discovered that many ores containing metals essential to the steadily rising standards of living were associated with elements such as sulfur and arsenic, which had to be removed before refining. This they did by utilizing the solid fuels they had available-the sulfur or other readily combustible components-to create roasting heat. One of the early methods is demonstrated in an old woodcut of the roast heap, Fig. 2. Ore was broken into chunks, piled on an ignition layer of solid fuel-logs in this case-and then. ignited. The sulfide ores roasted as the sulfur burned out. As shown in the background, the countryside was rapidly denuded of all vegetation by the great quantities of SO2 and other liberated gases.

Jan 1, 1961

I. N. KNAPP, Ardmore, Pa. (written discussion *).-The writer would first call attention to the fact that the mid-Continent field was credited from 1900 to 1915 with a production of about 641,000,000 bbl. of oil with-out any burdensome water troubles being reported. In fact, the authors say the conditions were not acute until about two years ago when the unusual conditions in the deeper oil fields were first encountered. The writer disclaims any personal knowledge of the district mentioned but, from the experience he has gained in directing drilling in various fields by both the cable-tool and the rotary methods and also in plugging and cementing wells, he fails to see how the analysis of water trouble given in the paper under discussion could be of any practical assistance in solving the problems so vaguely outlined. Possibly it might induce academic discussion, if not limited to practical operating conditions. A recent bulletin of the Bureau of Mines gives definite and practical statements that can be easily understood by one skilled in the art of drilling wells and heading off water troubles. From an operating standpoint subsurface knowledge must be based on logs of completed wells. Absolutely no one can have such knowledge as that indicated in Fig. 1 of the paper in question without drilling wells, and no one can question such facts when disclosed by the drill. Under classification of water the paper states "This water (primary) cannot be exhausted from the sands, but its encroachment can often be checked and so directed that wells need not be abandoned, until most of the available oil is secured." This is a live question to the writer. A couple of years ago he had some wells drilled and found the conditions comparable with sands A and D of Fig. 1 with B and C left out; but nothing in the paper, so far as can be found, indicates how this water encroachment is or can be checked or directed particularly under the High heads named.

Jan 5, 1919

By Foster Bain

THOUGHTFUL people have raised questions as to how long nature's bank could continue to accept our drafts. These questions came to the fore so persistently, and there were so many evidences -such as the failure of natural gas in Indiana, the increasing scarcity of lumber in the Lake Superior region, the progressive sterility of Southern farm lands, the choking of the Sacramento River by tailing-point-ing to possible danger from overdraft or to misuse of resources and opportunity, that President Roosevelt called a conference which assembled at the White House on May 13, 1908, to consider these and related questions. This, the first great Conservation Congress, had a wide and beneficial influence on the thought of the world. It profoundly influenced the course of succeed-ing events and, while even yet there are sharp dis-agreements as, to the wisdom of much that has been done in the name of conservation, I believe that thoughtful men, and engineers especially, agree that the time had come when sharp attention was properly called to the waste that accompanied development of our resources. RESOURCES LARGE BUT NOT INEXHAUSTIBLE In 1908 there was a surprisingly large number of men, who should have known better, prepared to argue that our resources are "inexhaustible." No competent mining engineer, of course, believes that, as regards minerals at least. They may be, and, in most cases, fortunately are, large; as to many of them our knowledge is too general to permit measuring the reserves; but we know now, and I think the public appreciates, that there is a limit to our supply of gas, oil, coal, iron, and metals. Indeed, with the inten-sive study made necessary to meet the demands of the war, and the more careful accounting required by the newer systems of taxation, depletion has become a common word, and that mines are wasting assets has become a platitude.

Jan 8, 1922

By L. C. Morganroth

CARBONIFEROUS CLAYS FROM a geological standpoint, but scant attention has been paid to fire-clay beds. Only within the last few years have they been the subject of individual investigation, prior to this time having been considered only in their relation to coal seams. While the relative importance of coal and fire clay is still immeasurably in favor of coal, yet an industry as large as that of fire clay is entitled to a measure of attention. A discussion of the Carboniferous clays is practically a discussion of the clay beds in the Appalachian basin, since more than 90 per cent. of these clays mined are from this region. The clays are confined to the northern end of the basin, or the States of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland and West Virginia, ranking in importance about in the order named. The clay deposits of the Carboniferous period have been divided into two classes; those found in the Pottsville conglomerate series of rocks, and all those that are found in the formations above, for the reason that the clay beds above the Pottsville series all resemble each other in properties, composition and appearance, and all are distinctly different from the bed found in the Pottsville formation. The bed of clay found in the latter formation is unique in that flint clay is practically restricted to it. (A variety of flint clay is occasionally found in these upper deposits but this is in such small amounts as to be negligible.) Carboniferous clays occur between stratified rocks; sandstones, limestones, etc., in the same manner as coal veins. They are often accompanied by a coal vein although where the clay is of a workable thickness the coal is generally too thin to work. The clay beds are sometimes known by the name of the coal seam at which horizon they occur. Clay beds may be from a few inches up to 20 ft. in thickness. They may consist of all soft clay all flint or both soft and flint.

Jan 2, 1916

By Peter Q. Nyce

Law is as old as civilization. In its early stages the so-called law of the jungle, "the survival of the fittest," was entirely operative. Man was quite largely a law unto himself and was likewise his own lawyer. As civilization developed and individuals segregated themselves into bands or communities, man-made laws became a reality, the individual sacrificing certain privileges for the benefit of the band or community in which he was privileged to live. Our present system of law is a continued development of that process. Very early in this development the exigencies of the occasion called into being classes of individuals who were given to study the laws then existing, and this group became known as lawyers. They advised what could or could not be done under existing laws. They were the aggressors in formulating new laws and principles under which the communities must live. Concurrently with the development of the law and the lawyer, the engineering profession was born. In our early civilization, each man was his own engineer; he built his own home, constructed his own bridge, and provided his own means of conveyance. As civilization became more complex, technical study was required to consummate projects and thus meet the requirements of an expanding community. The engineering profession assumed this burden. Both groups were human and thus susceptible to human mistakes and errors. It was Macaulay who said: "The world generally gives its admiration not to the man who does what nobody else ever attempts to do, but to the man who does best what multitudes do well." BiRth of Petroleum Industry In 1859, by the completion of the Drake well in Pennsylvania, the petroleum industry as we know it was born. Its rapid progress since that time has been both extraordinary and remarkable. The zeal of the individual operator to secure all possible oil in the shortest time, even to the extent of bringing into possession a part of the oil underlying a neighbor's property, developed unnecessary drilling, wasteful methods of recovery, great loss of gas, the early abandonment of property with much unrecovered oil thereunder. Such methods, plus

Jan 1, 1931

By G. C. Gester

Oil has been produced in Persia and India for many years, but it was not until 1932 that Arabia entered the arena as a potential oil-producing area. In 1930 the Standard Oil Co. of California acquired a concession covering the rights of exploration and exploitation for oil in the Bahrein Islands and in June, 1932, the first commercial production was discovered by the bringing in of a well known as Jebel Dukhan No. 1 on the Island of Bahrein. Since then the Standard Oil Co. of California through its wholly owned subsidiary, The Bahrein Petroleum Co. Ltd., has been carrying on a systematic survey and development program of its concession in the Bahrein Islands. This group of islands, of which Bahrein is the largest, is in the southwestern portion of the Persian Gulf, approximately 25 miles from the mainland of Arabia. Although geographically a part of Arabia, the islands are not a part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Their government is essentially independent but certain special rights have been granted to Great Britain through a series of treaties. The Island of Bahrein is 32 miles long by 9 1/2 miles wide and covers an area of 215 square miles. Approximately three-fourths of the island is occupied by a relatively low, broad, elliptically shaped dissected hill, the central part of which is slightly depressed with inward-facing cliffs but culminating in the Jebel Dukhan (Hill of Smoke), which rises to an elevation of 443 ft. above sea level. The topography of the island is a good index of its geologic structure. Structurally the island is an elongated dome or quaquaversal fold composed of rocks of Eocene age. The major axis of the fold strikes N.5W. All of the topographic high portion of the island is a part of the structural uplift. The crest of the fold is broad and flat with the dips increasing on the flanks. How far tilted strata may continue beyond the line where the Eocene beds are covered by recent sands and detrital material is not known. Superimposed on the general structure are a few small irregularities in the form of minor folding and faulting. There is, however, no evidence of any major faults. The largest of the irregularities lies to the south of Jebel Dukhan and has the appearance of a sink

Jan 1, 1934

By H. l. Burghoff

During the course of preparation of crystals of alpha brass for an investigation of their creep characteristics, a number of critically oriented crystals were produced. In each of these specimens, Po, the specimen axis, lay near some important crystallographic direction or on or near the border of two possible slip systems. Because of the unusual nature of their orientations, it was considered of interest to deform these specimcns in simple tension and to study orientation changes and any unusual occurrences, different from what would be expected for specimens ill which only one slip system had distinctly the highest maximum resolved shear stress. Choice of actual operating slip system in a crystal offering an immediate possibility of two slip systems would be expected to be due to chance., defeet, or some inhomogeneity. Even in an ideally perfect crystal so oriented, the natural oscillations of the atoms about their lattice positions would give rise to a condition wherein one slip system would be farored over the other at the critical shear stress. In the large, nonperfeet crystals of the present investigation, slip on both systems, but in different portions of the specimen, might occasionally be expected. Determination of Orientation and Operating Slip System Orientations of specimens before and after deformation were determined by Greninger&apos;s back-reflection Laue method.&apos; Elam2 has shown that deformation of alpha brass crystals proeceds as with crystals of aluminum and of copper; that is, the slip plane is a {111) plane and the slip direction is a <110> direction. There are, however, four possible slip planes of {111) form and each plane has three possible slip directions, so that there is a, total of 12 possible slip systems in a face-centered cubic lattjce. It is evident that the system for which the tangential component of shear is maximum will function

Jan 1, 1940

By Lewis W. MacNaughton

The North Texas district, as herein defined, includes the counties of Archer, Baylor, Clay, Cooke, Foard, Hardeman, Knox, Montague, Wichita, and Wilbarger. This area covers generally the crest and south flank of a system of buried mountains known as the Red River uplift. The oil and gas accumulations along this feature arc in traps, which, although localized by structures incident to the regional uplift, are usually modified by stratigraphic changes in the sediments. Excepting the fields in southeastern Baylor, southern Archer, and southwestern Clay counties, all the fields within the district are on this Red River uplift. These exceptions, which have the same type of oil and gas accumulation as the other fields, are on the extreme north end of the Bend arch, which is a broad anticline plunging northward from the Llano uplift in central Texas to Archer County. The larger part of past oil and gas production has come from Pennsylvanian strata, with less important amounts from the Permian, and minor but increasingly important quantities from the Ordovician. Developments during 1939 With the later stages of development being reached in the K.M.A. field during the first half of the year, some 400 fewer producing wells were drilled in North Texas in 1939 than in 1938, when some 1750 wells were drilled. Despite this decrease in activity, production in 1939 increased about 3½ million barrels over 1938 figures, and at the end of the year the oil reserves were somewhat larger than on the first of the year. As is usually characteristic of the district, this resulted from the discovery of a large number of relatively unimportant fields. Owing principally to no appreciable abatement in wildcat drilling, more new fields and extensions to old fields were discovered this year. Although none of these discoveries was of such magnitude as to be important to the oil industry, the new developments in Montague and Cooke Counties portend greater and probably more important operations in these areas.

Jan 1, 1940

By Wallace Ralston

DuRing the year of 1937, the East Texas district produced 211,194,467 hbl. of oil and marketed more than 22,329 million cu. ft. of gas; 3377 oil and gas wells were completed. During this same period 106 exploratory wells were drilled, discovering three new oil fields and one gas-distillate field. Fields East Texas Field.—The East Texas field again led the district as to production and number of wells completed. During the year, 2420 oil wells were completed, making a total of 24,382 producing wells, which produced 171,336,854 bbl. of oil, for a total of 1,156,352,834 bbl. since the beginning. During the year the average bottom-hole pressure dropped 49 lb., making the average bottom-hole pressure 1119 lb. Approximately 3500 wells are making salt water, 20 per cent of them making over 80 per cent of the water. During the month of December, the daily average production of salt water was 119,000 barrels. Talco Field, Titus and Franklin Counties.—The Talco field produced 9,780,948 bbl. of oil during the year, from 637 wells. During the year 472 wells were completed. All of the wells are pumping and 241 are making salt water. This field has followed a normal development and did not exceed the estimated number of acres reported last year. Rodessa Field, Cuss and Marion Counties.—The Rodessa field was extended about 13 miles southwest into Marion County, which added approximately 4000 acres to the field. During the year 260 wells were completed, making a total of 416 producing wells, which produced 12,646,-970 bbl. of oil. The author was unable to obtain figures for the amount of gas produced. The field has two gasoline plants, which had a daily average of 16,558,000 cu. ft. of gas during December, averaging 0.83 gal. per M cu. ft. As of Jan. 1, 31 wells were making salt water. The bottom-hole pressure varies greatly, depending upon the pay from which the well is producing. The average bottom-hole pressure from the Young

Jan 1, 1938

By H. M. Boylston

METALLIC manganese was first produced in 1773, by Sven Rinmann, a Swedish mineralogist. In 1799 William Reynolds, of Ketley, England, obtained a patent on the use of manganese dioxide in the manufacture of steel, and in 1808 an English patent was granted to John Wilkinson covering the use of manganese ore, or manganiferous ore, as an addition to iron ore in the blast furnace for the production of a superior grade of pig iron. Karsten showed in 1816 that manganese increased the hardness of iron without decreasing its malleability or toughness, while it caused pig iron to be more white in fracture and more fusible. The first practical application of manganese to steel-making, however, is attributed to Josiah Heath who discovered in 1839 (less than 90 years ago) that manganese conferred upon steel the properties of being more easily worked and welded under the hammer. When Bessemer invented the pneumatic process of steel-making which now bears his name he was at first successful because, as it afterward developed, he was using. a Swedish pig iron high in manganese. When his supply of this material ran out, he used a low-manganese pig from English sources and failed signally to produce a steel which could be rolled, while his Swedish licensees were continuing their successful application of his method. And it was not until Robert Mushet, in 1856, suggested the addition of manganese in the form of spiegeleisen to the molten product of the converter that success again came to Bessemer. In 1866, William Siemens patented the use of ferro-manganese as an addition to molten steel to counteract the bad effects of sulfur. It was in 1888, that Robert Hadfield published at some length his account of the effect of manganese as an alloying element in steel and described the unique properties of the now famous Hadfield manganese steel containing about 12 to 14. per cent. manganese and 1.25 per cent. carbon.

Jan 5, 1927

By Joseph C. Kieffer

THE Duquesne property of the Callahan Zinc-Lead Co. is about 20 miles east of Nogales, in southern Arizona. One mine is near the mill, but most of the mill feed is hauled in by truck from a number of small mines. The same sulphides are found in all the ores, in general, but the amounts vary considerably. All ores contain silver, copper, lead and zinc minerals but one mine ships ore high in silver and lead and low in copper and zinc; while another mine ships ore high in copper and zinc, and low in silver and lead. The common sulphides are galena, carrying most of the silver; chalcopyrite; sphalerite, carrying iron in solid solution; and pyrite, in a gangue consisting of limestone, quartz and garnet. Mineralization, is fairly coarse. At the present grind of about 66 per cent minus 200 mesh most of the sulphides are liberated. A small amount of chalcopyrite is locked up with the sphalerite and cannot be liberated at an economic grind, and the copper carried into the zinc concentrate with the sphalerite accounts for the comparatively poor recovery of copper in the copper-lead concentrate. PRODUCTION OF TWO CONCENTRATES The milling problem, which was complicated by the extreme variation in the grade of the feed, was first attacked with the idea of producing a silver-copper-lead concentrate and a zinc concentrate, both with satisfactory grades and recoveries. By February 194I, it was felt that these objectives had been attained, when the grades of the various products and the recoveries were as shown in Table I. [ ] A rough outline of the flowsheet and reagents used is as follows: Minus ¾ -in. feed to a 7-ft. by 36-in. Hardinge ball mill working in closed circuit with a 36-in. Wemco classifier. The classifier overflow passes to the second cell of an 8-cell bank of No. I8 Special Denver Sub-A flotation machines (volume, 22.5 cu. ft. per cell). A rougher concentrate is removed from the second to the fifth cells inclusive, and returned to the first cell, which is the cleaner. A scavenger concentrate is removed from the sixth, seventh, and eighth cells, and returned to the third cell. Consump-

Jan 1, 1942

By A. K. Knickerbocker

PRACTICALLY all underground work on the Minnesota iron ranges is done by miners working on a so-called contract wage system. This system, while it has certain advantages over the straight day&apos;s pay or company-account method of wage payment, has serious and vital defects. In view of the scarcity and demands of labor, it is important that employers of labor scrutinize their systems of wage payments carefully, not only to save losses and trouble, due to labor disturbances, but also to secure the greatest efficiency of their workmen and reduce their operating costs. It is admitted that an adequate, just, and equitable wage is the prime factor in bringing about these benefits. The wage of labor and its method of application and payment have been, and always will be, the main factors in the unrest and dissatisfaction of labor. Not only does labor want and need an adequate wage, assuming that work is adequately performed, but it wants and is entitled to a just and equitable wage. Labor must have respect for the fairness of the wage and for the fairness of the management in the application of the wage. It is conceded that the Minnesota iron miners are now, and have been, in the main paid adequately, but the inherent defects of the so-called contract system prevent any just or equitable application of this wage to the various units of the labor body. The defects of the contract system, with its obvious inequalities, favoritisms, and injustices, are cancers in the brain of labor. Every thinking miner realizes these defects and knows just what they are; the unthinking do not realize the details of the subject, but each month they are forcibly reminded of these defects through the pay envelope. As practiced on the iron ranges, however, the so-called." contract" system is not a contract and the name is a misnomer. No true contractual obligation exists.

Jan 2, 1920

By Cyril Wells, Robert F. Mehl

The two earlier papers in this series1,2 presented data on the rate of diffusion of carbon and of manganese in gamma iron. Apart from their scientific interest, these data are needed chiefly in order to treat data on carburization, on rate of formation of pearlite, and on rate of austenit-izing in a quantitative way.1&apos;2&apos;9&apos;10 In the present investigation rates of diffusion of nickel in ?-Fe over wide temperature and concentration ranges have been determined, and the effects of carbon, of im- purities, and of grain size on these rates have been studied. Claussen,3 using the data of Fry,4 has calculated the diffusion coefficient of nickel in y-Fe as 9.2 X 10-11 sq. cm. per sec. at 1200ºC., but had no data from which to calculate the variation of D with concentration, temperature, and percentage of carbon. Method and Materials Method.—Nickel was diffused along the axis of a cylindrical specimen across a concentration gradient, concentration-penetration curves were determined and D values calculated from Grube or Matano solutions.5 Details of the method are given

Jan 1, 1941

By Arthur H. Redfield

The West Indies are the summits of a submerged mountain chain, the continuation of which must be sought in the mountains of central Honduras. In Haiti, the chain divides, one branch passing through Jamaica and the other through Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and the Misteriosa bank. Suess divides the West Indies into three zones: The first zone is entirely of volcanic origin and includes many recent volcanic cones. It includes the arcuate string of islands, which extends from Saba and St. Kitts to the Grenadines and Grenada. The western half of Guadeloupe belongs to this group. The second zone consists of a geanticline, of which the sedimentary rocks range from the Jurassic to the Quaternary, but consist chiefly of Lower Tertiary sediments. In the west it is broad, including the whole of the Greater Antilles; but in the east it is restricted to a narrow belt, which includes the Virgin Islands (except Anegada), Anguilla, St. Bartholomew, Antigua, the eastern part of Guadeloupe and part of Barbados. The islands that compose the third zone are flat and low. Like the second, this zone is broad in the west and narrow in the east; it includes the Bahamas, Anegada, Sombrero, Barbuda, and part of Barbados. Geologically, Florida and the plain of Yucatan may be regarded as belonging to it. Trinidad and Tobago, though geographically adjacent to the Lesser Antilles, are geologically a detached part of the South American continent. The crystalline complexes of northern Trinidad and of Barbados are a continuation, en echelon, of the crystalline axis of the promontory of Paria. The folded Cretaceous and Tertiary of the central and southern parts of Trinidad represent a continuation of the folded sedinlents of the Paria district of Venezuela. Possible Oil-bearing Areas The volcanic islands of the inner arc of the Lesser Antilles may be excluded from consideration; these include Saba, St. Kitts, Nevis,

Jan 1, 1923

By Junius D. Edwards, Cyril S. Taylor

Magnesium is the lightest metal used for structural purposes, for which reason perhaps more than usual interest is attached to measurements of its density. Although the density of solid magnesium has been det,ermined frequently, no measurements of the density of the liquid metal are available. Because of unusual experimental difficulties in measuring the density of the liquid, only a limited number of measurements of good precision were secured. The results, especially the value for the crystallization shrinkage, are of great interest in connection with the casting of the metal. A number of samples for these measurements were made available through the courtesy of the American Magnesium Corp. They were in the form of extruded bars 3/8 in- in diameter and several were of exceptional purity, as indicated by careful analyses. Table 1 gives the density values (at 20" C.) for magnesium of varying degrees of purity. The density was measured at room temperature by comparison of the weight in air, and when immersed in distilled water. The necessary buoyancy corrections were applied, so that the density could be expressed in absolute measure—grams per milliliter. The effect of the buoyancy of the immersed suspension and the surface-tension pull of the water upon the suspension were eliminated from the results by a preliminary weighing of the suspension immersed to the working depth. Great care was necessary to prevent the introduction of a significant error by the formation of gas bubbles upon the clean magnesium surfaces; these are sometimes very minute and easily escape observation. They may be detached by raising the specimen from the water and again immersing; this should be done just prior to completing the weighing. Their formation may be almost entirely prevented during a measurement by previously immersing the specimen in a solution of paraffin in petroleum ether. The thin film of paraffin remaining after the evaporation of the solvent prevents wetting of the magnesium surface by the water. In one such determination, the paraffin coating on a 22-gm. Specimen

Jan 1, 1923

By R. V. Wheeler

A matter of much concern at present to the coal-mining industry of Great Britain is the effect of the working of the Coal Mines Act, 1930. This Act, which received the Royal Assent on Aug. 1, 1930, contains five parts: (1) production, supply and sale of coal; (11) the reorganization of the coal-mining industry; (111) hours of work; (IV) the Coal Mines National Industrial Board; (V) general. The first three parts are of major interest and discussion can be confined to them. Part I.—Production, Supply and Sale of Coal Under Part I of the Coal Mines Act, 1930, provision is made for central and district schemes to regulate the production, supply and sale of coal by the fixation of standard tonnage, quota and minimum prices. By Nov. 1, 1930, all the district schemes came into force with the exception of that for Scotland, where the majority of the coal-owners did not see their way to accept the amendments to their draft scheme demanded by the Mines Department. A compulsory scheme for Scotland was thereupon prepared by the Mines Department and put into force on Nov. 24, 1930. It is administered by the coal-owners of the district. The essence of the schemes is the allocation of tonnage for each district by a Central Council, and the allocation of quota for each pit in a district by an Executive Board for that district. Up to Dec. 31, 1930, the various bodies of coal-owners engaged in administering the schemes were employed in work preliminary to their full operation. Standard tonnages had to be determined and coals had to be classified. In consequence, it was not found possible to put the regulation of output into force until Jan. 1, 1931. The determination of minimum prices proved to be an even longer process, and only in a few districts were minimum price schedules operative during the first quarter of this year. The working of the schemes during the March quarter, 1931, has been reviewed in an official publication by the Mines Department,&apos; which can be summarized as follows:

Jan 1, 1932

By L. O. Howard

TWO or three years ago there were submitted to me some reports of tests that had been made on a semi-oxidized ore of silver looking to its treat-ment by combined flotation and cyanidation, together with a sample of the ore, with a request that I check the tests and confirm them, if possible. These tests had been made by a machinery-supply house and with them was a flow-sheet for a proposed mill, with full details of equipment to be used in the mill. The limited data on which this was based at once attracted my attention and have caused me from time to time to put various groups of students at work to develop simpler methods of obtaining data, which it appeared should be at hand and could be obtained by simple tests before attempting to treat these ores commercially. A brief discussion of the working out of such methods may be of interest and may contribute somewhat to the de-velopment of better testing methods for the small operator who has not at his command a staff of metallurgists. Of several tests on samples of varying assay and mineralogical composition, by cyanidation alone, by flotation alone, and, by combinations of the two, the following report was perhaps the most complete and may well serve as a typical example: METALLURGICAL TEST REPORT Silver Mines Co. Semi-oxidized Ore Procedure: Ore ground to 65 mesh, given flotation treat-ment using pine oil and potassium xanthate. Flotation tailing was thickened and given cyaniding agitation in solution strength of 5 lb. cyanide per ton and 2 lb. lime per ton.

Jan 12, 1927

THE increased demand for titanium alloys with improved high-temperature creep strengths has stimulated interest in silicon as an alloying addition to titanium. Silicon is a potent solid-solution strength-ener and, if added in sufficient concentration and properly heat-treated, can also dispersion-strengthen titanium by eutectoid decomposition.&apos; However, better understanding of the nature and distribution of the resulting silicide dispersion in more highly alloyed titanium matrices is necessary for the development of useful titanium alloys which utilize the latter strengthening mechanism. This note describes the chemical and crystallographic characteristics of the silicide phase as it occurs in a typical high-temperature near-a titanium alloy matrix. Several Ti-6A1-3Sn-3Zr a11oys containing various amounts of silicon ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 pct were melted as 10- to 20-lb ingots and processed into 1/2-in.-diam bar stock. The microstructures of specimens annealed at various temperatures were conveniently summarized by the (Ti-6Al-3Sn-3Zr)-Si pseudobinary phase diagram illustrated in Fig. 1. Comparison with the Ti-Si equilibrium diagram indicates the substitutional solutes (Al-Sn-Zr) increase the eutectoid temperature and decrease the a terminal solubility. Annealing at temperatures sufficiently high to dissolve the silicon in a ß solid solution and cooling rapidly enough to preclude coarsening generally produced a uniform dispersion of fine silicide particles, whereas annealing at temperatures near but below the ß transus produced relatively coarse silicide particles. Annealing in the limited a, plus 3 region produced a duplex coarse and fine silicide array. Several a-annealed specimens were examined by X-ray diffraction to determine the crystallographic identity of the precipitate phase. Copper Ka X-ray diffraction patterns of bulk specimens which contained 0.5 and 0.8 pct Si were virtually identical to that of the silicon-free Ti-6Al-3Sn-3Zr base alloy except for a slight shift in some of the high-angle diffraction lines. Apparently the silicide volume fraction was too low to be detected in bulk specimens. X-

Jan 1, 1969

PRIOR to the World War most of the barite used in the United States for manufacturing lithopone and barium chemicals was imported. Germany, by virtue of an abundance of high-grade ore and low labor costs, was in a position to dominate the world market. With the cessa-tion of imports and with the war demand for barium chemicals, the barium chemical industry and the mining of barite became well; estab-lished in the United States. This industry has continued to expand because of the increasing use of lithopone. In 1914 the sales of domestic crude barite was 52,919 tons and in 1934 it was 209,850 tons. Barite deposits of economic importance occur in at least 20 states, but the principal producers in 1934 were Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia, California and Arizona. The main mining centers are located near the crude barite markets of the three principal marketing districts-the Pacific Coast, the Midwestern area, and the Eastern area. The Pacific Coast is supplied entirely by California, Nevada, and Arizona. The Midwestern area uses most of the Missouri crude and a small amount from the southern states. The eastern market is the chief competitive area. Practically all of the imported crude is marketed there; also the bulk of the southern crude and ground barite. In addition, this area absorbs a small part of the Missouri crude and 80 per cent of the ground barite. Besides the advantage of low delivered costs and purity of product, the imported barite has commanded a price differential because it is soft rather than hard, like many of the domestic ores. The inherent physical properties of the southern ores remain, but the purity can be controlled to a great extent by beneficiation. Simple washing or gravity concentra-tion has sufficed in the past, but in many cases a more efficient process now becomes imperative to remove impurities not amenable to these methods. Certain deposits now being opened are of lower, grade and require more precise milling conditions. In some ores, the kind of impurities has changed as the mining advanced.

Jan 1, 1936