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By M. H. Gidel, D. C. Bard

These notes are based on the megascopic study of a suite of 2,400 specimens of minerals and ores from the Butte mines, combined with field observations at intervals over a period of several years. The estimate of average vein composition is based on field acquaintance with the veins. It is probably correct in its broader proportions, and should be of use for comparison. Chemical and Mineral Composition of Unoxidized Vein Matter. Per Cent. Oxygen,......48.00—Quartz, rhodonite, rhodochrosite, sericite, kaolinite, barite, calcite, and hübnerite. Silicon,...... 36.O0—Quartz, rhodonite, sericite, kaolinite, and willemite (very rare). Sulphur,.....5.0—Sulphides of iron, zinc, copper, lead, and sulphates of barium and rarely calcium. Iron,.......5.00—Ferric sulphides (pyrite, bornite, chalcopyrite), also in sphalerite, tetrahedrite, and rarely hematite and siderite. Manganese,.... 2.00—Rhodonite, rhodochrosite, and hübnerite. Zinc,.......1.00—Sphalerite, very rare wurtzite and willemite, and tetrahedrite and tennantite. Carbon,......0.50—Rhodochrosite and calcite. Capper,......0.75—Cuprous ( + ) and cupric (—) sulphides. Aluminum,.... 0.50—Sericite and kaolinite. Hydrogen,.... 0.50—Water, sericite, and kaolinite. Potassium,.....0.20—hicite. Lead,....... 0.20—Galena. Arsenic,......0.10—Tennantite and enargite. Barium,......0.10—Barite. Calcium,.....0.10—Fluorite, calcite, and rare gypsum. Antimony,.... 0.02—Tetrahedrite, famatinite, and silver sulphantimonites. Fluorine,.....0.05—Fluorite. Silver,.....1 —Argentite, and sulphantimonites. Tungsten,.... —Hübnerite. Phosphorus, • —Wavellite. Bismuth,' .... 0.05—Sulphide (?) Tellurium,... 1 —Telluride (?) Selenium,.... —Selenide (?) Cadmium,.... —Sulphide (?) Gold,..... —Native and telluride (?)

Jan 1, 1914

(Members are urged to send in for this column any notes of interest concerning, themselves or their fellow-members.) Members and visitors who registered at institute headquarters during October A. Adiassewich, St. Petersburg, Russia. Charles W. Merrill, San Francisco, Cal. A. F. Lucas, Washington, D. C. Carl J. Trauerman, Butte, Mont. Allan J. Clark, Lead, S. D. Herbert B. Cox, Boston, Mass. Prof. Loewinson-Lessing, St. Peters- James W. Malcolmson, Kansas City, Mo. burg, Russia. A. E. Sunderhauf, Paramaribo, Dutch F. Maury Gillespie, Abangarez, Costa Rica. Guiana, S. A. M. Gardner Talcott, Irvington-on-Hudson, N. Y. D. W. Brunton, Denver, Colo. A. P. Watt, Newark, N. J. Dwight E. Woodbridge, Duluth, Minn. S. A. Taylor, Pittsburg, Pa. Alexander Fyfe, Boston, Mass. Ralph Wilcox, Miami, Ariz. Robert A. Seip, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. William J. Cox, Denver, Colo. A. J. Eveland, Boston, Mass. E. P. Ross, Duquesne, Pa. M. F. Sayre, Brewster, N. 1. H. Mortimer-Lamb, Montreal, Canada. Albert Sauveur, Cambridge, Mass. F. L. Grammer, Leesburg, Va. Robert H. Leach, Brockton, Mass. R. R. Moore, Mexico City, Mex. Steinar Foslie, Kristiania, Norway. Charles E. van Barneveld, San William A. Wong, Honolulu, Hawaii. Fran¬cisco, Cal.

Jan 11, 1913

By Charles A. Ashburner

DURING the early part of August, 1880, I was directed by Prof. J. P. Lesley, State Geologist, to assume charge of the geology and mapping. of the Second Geological Survey of the anthracite codfields. I visited the region uninaumbered by any instructions other than this,—that I should submit a plan for making the sur-

Jan 1, 1881

E. R. Buckley, Flat River, Mo. (communication to the Secretary*) :—Some statements in the paper of Mr. Keyes relative to the nature and formation of the Ozark lead- and zinc-deposits seen1 to me erroneous and misleading, and I respectfully present the following criticisms, placing Mr. Keyes's original statements in quotations. Referring to the Ozark dome: (p. 192.) "It is a region that has been repeatedly upraised and planed off, until in the middle portion the oldest known rocks only are exposed." Does he mean that the St. Francois mountains, which have always been considered as lying on the eastern flank of the Ozark dome, are the middle of the dome ? Or does he mean that the Cambrian rocks of the generally-accepted middle are the oldest known rocks ? Certainly not the latter, and if the former, his idea of the middle of the dome is not in accord with that of others who are familiar with the region. (p. 203.) "... the ore-deposits are definitely associated with, or localized by, geologic structures of some kind that produce in effect basins in which the underground waters are impounded, or their flow retarded." This statement does not appear to be altogether consistent with the facts, since the ore bodies of the Joplin district, as the rule, occur in those parts of the Mississippian formation which have a tendency to accel erate the flow of ground-water rather than retard it. I migh name the open, brecciated ground near Joplin, Webb City, and Oronogo as especially noteworthy illustrations. The ore-bodies, everywhere, occur in positions where there must have been a free and copious circulation of dilute lead- and zinc-solutions in the presence of reducing constituents. The inequalities in the distribution of the ore-deposits are

Jan 1, 1910

By Knapp. Arthur

THE ORDINARY well log is subjected to a great deal of criticism, much of which is well founded. Sometimes, though, the difficulty in interpreting the log is due to the fact that the geologist or engineer using the logs does not know the limitations of the drilling method used. The rotary drill, especially, has inherent limitations that make it difficult, to secure .definite information at all times. The identification of well-defined key beds is about all that can be expected from the rotary log. The formation in a drilled hole, as reported by the driller; has a direct relation to the speed with which the drill makes the hole or to the reaction of the various strata on the bit, called the "feel of the bit." When this is not thoroughly understood by the geologist or engineer endeavoring to interpret the log, the result is an erroneous correlation with other wells or a discarding of the log as worthless. GENERAL TERMS Hard and Soft.-Hard and soft are relative terms. In the case of well logs, they are very misleading as they are used in connection with both resistance to abrasion and resistance to percussion. In technical rock classification, hardness is relative resistance to abrasion. The term brittleness is used in connection with resistance to blows. These terms are misleading to the geologist or engineer who is not familiar with both the cable-tool, or standard tool, method of drilling and the rotary method. In the case of the standard tools, the driller's report of the hardness of the formation is in terms of its resistance to blows. For instance, a cable-tool driller might be able to make from 30 to 50 ft. a tour in a brittle limestone, which he would call soft and at the same time he might call a relatively soft (from a purely mineralogical standpoint) gypsum hard, because it is somewhat elastic and is not readily broken by blows. The rotary driller would reverse the terms. The limestone is hard in that it resists the abrasive action of the bit, while the gypsum might be soft in that it is readily cut by the rotary bit. It is rare that wells drilled by the

Jan 2, 1920

By H. E. Swanson

A description of the field apparatus has been published by D. G. Brubaker. Data from laboratory model studies of the in-line and broadside methods of operation are detailed. The conductor models include a single sheet conductor at several strike and dip angles and a schistose-type conductor. In addition, data on the effects of the strike length and of the depth of the conductor are presented for the broadside method of operation. All of the data show that the inclintion reverses direction over the top edge of dipping single sheet conductors. Differences between anomalies over conductors dipping between 90" and 30" are subtle,but flat-lying sheets can be readily distinguished from steeply dipping sheets. Schistose conductors are easily distinguished from single sheet conductors, and a procedure is given for determing the direction of schistosity. The depth of penetration under ideal conditions is 0.7 of the coil separation. In 1950, The New Jersey Zinc Co. (of Pa.) developed a lightweight apparatus for electromagnetic prospecting. A description of this apparatus has been published by D. G. Brubaker.1 It consists of a small, battery-powered vertical source coil and a direction-finding receiving coil. Source and receiver are kept a fixed distance apart and move as a unit along the survey lines. At each receiver station the inclination of the magnetic field created by the source is measured. Two methods of operation are used, in each of which measurements are taken with a constant source-to-receiver distance and with the plane of the source oriented to pass through the receiver station. In one procedure, called the in-line method, source and receiver travel in tandem along the same line. In the other procedure, called the broadside method, source and receiver move along adjacent lines, with the source-to-receiver direction oriented parallel to the assumed strike direction. The data recorded in either case are the inclinations, measured in degrees from the horizontal, of the magnetic field created by the source. These data are plotted at the receiver stations on a map. Scale-model studies of both methods of operation have been conducted in the laboratory and are reported in this paper. APPARATUS Small source and receiving coils wound with many turns of fine copper wire were used to produce and measure an alternating magnetic field in the same manner as the field apparatus. The model source coil was mounted in a vertical position and oriented so that the receiving coil was in the plane of the source. The receiving coil was mounted in a frame so it could be rotated to obtain the inclination measurements. The source coil was excited by a 100-kc signal generator. A tuned amplifier and a voltmeter were used to detect the null position of the receiving coil. The coils used in the field apparatus are usually spaced about 400 ft. The coils used in the model work were spaced from 4 in. to 4 ft apart. Thus the scale of the model work ranges between 1/1200 to 1/100 natural size. The model conductors were aluminum-coated building paper supported on wooden frames. The conductivity-thickness product was measured using a four-electrode system and was found to be about 300 ohms-'. CONDUCTIVITY CONSIDERATIONS The electromagnetic response from a thin sheet conductor is a function of the product of the conductivity of the sheet times the thickness of the sheet times the frequency of the alternating electromagnetic field times some linear dimension of the system such as the coil separation which indicates scale. The secondary electromagnetic field produced by the conductor increases in amplitude from zero at zero conductivity to a maximum value for infinite conductivity, while the phase of the secondary field with respect to the primary field shifts from 90" at zero conductivity to 0" at infinite conductivity. Several authors2-' have shown that most of both the increase in amplitude and the change in phase of the secondary field takes place over a three-decade range of the conductivity-thickness-frequency product. Only small changes in the amplitude and

Jan 1, 1961

By G. D. Gemmell

Effects of solid-sdutidn alloying with titanium, molybdenum, and tungsten at concentrations up to 10 pct on the strength of pure columbium at elevated temperatures (mainly 2000°F) have been investigated by means of creep-rupture, hot-tensile, and hot-hardness testing and recrystallization studies. ThIS paper presents some results from the initial part of a study of the effects of alloying on the high-temperature strength properties of columbium. The elevated-temperature strength characteristics of pure columbium were first studied. Binary alloys of columbium with titanium, molybdenum, and tungsten containing 1, 5, and 10 pct of the solute elements were chosen on the basis of their high melting points, their known solid solubility in columbium, and results of separate oxidation-resistance studies of columbium alloys. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE All the materials used were of highest purity. A typical analysis of the columbium is shown in Table I. Compositions of the alloys are also given in Table I. To evaluate the strength properties of pure co-lumbium and the alloys at elevated temperatures, creep-rupture, hot-tensile, and hot-hardness testing was done on recrystallized material. To prepare the pure metal and the alloys for these tests, 1- 1b buttons were made in a water-cooled copper crucible, inert atmosphere, tungsten arc furnace. Tapered ingots, 3 in. long, were made from these buttons by a skull-casting technique and these were machined to 1/2 in. diam, swaged to 50 pct reduction (pure columbium at room temperature, alloys at lowest temperature possible without cracking, generally in range 1100" to 1800°F) and heated in vacuum (lo-' mm Hg) for 16 hr at 2550°F for re-crystallization and homogenization. The resulting grain diameter was 0.1 to 0.3 mm. The 10 pct Mo alloy casting was not successfully swaged at temperatures up to 1800°F without cracking and was not included in the test program. Creep-rupture testing was done at constant load in vacuum on cylindrical specimens of 0.16 in. diam, using Instron capsules. The pressure at test temperatures was less than 10-1 mm Hg. Hardneas readings taken on the test specimen before and after testing were used as a check on possible gaseous contamination. Hot tensile tests in vacuum on cylindrical specimens of 0.125 in. diam were also made with Instron equipment at a strain rate of 0.067 min.-l. Hot-hardness measurements were taken with a unit constructed at the Du Pont Experimental Station. The test piece, supported on an alumina anvil, and the molybdenum indenter shaft with sapphire tip is heated in a platinum-wound furnace. The load applied to the pyramid indenter is measured by strain gages attached to a proving ring located outside the hot zone. In the measurements reported here the load was I kg. The tester operates in a vacuum of about 10"5 mm Hg and is capable of temperatures up to 1400°C.

Jan 1, 1960

AIME 1953 DIRECTORY SUPPLEMENT COMMITTEES NOMINATING E. H. Rose, Chairman R. E. Byler J. F. Myers Grover Molt S. W. Engelmann S. J. Swainson EDUCATION A. C. Dorenfeld, Chairman G. P. Lutjen A. E. McHugh H. Rush Spedden T. G. Chapman T. M. Morris T. Barker S. R. B. Cooke W. O. McClintock

Jan 1, 1953

By W. A. Alexander, L. M. Pidgeon

Metallic magnesium and similar meta!s near the top of the electromotive series have been commercially produced by the electrolysis of a suitable molten salt. Despite the success of electrolysis, sufficient inherent objections exist to justify the search for a direct reduction method. Such a method would widen the choice of raw materials, relax the rigid electrolytic requirements of raw-material purity, and, by obviating direct current, over simplicity of plant equipment. This paper describes the pilot-plant development of one such method, which has subsequently formed the basis of operation of six commercial plants-—one in Canada and five in the United States. Unlike aluminum, magnesium is volatile at relatively low temperatures. This physical property, which produces its greater inflammability, also offers possibilities of direct reduction that are not available with aluminum. In the basic reaction MgO + X = XO + Mg if X is nonvolatile, the reaction may be forced to the right at high temperatures by the evolution of magnesium vapor, despite the large negative value of the heat of reaction which is almost bound to follow the use of any available commercial reducing agent. The cheapest X, of course, is carbon, but this notable advantage is modified by the production of a volatile oxide CO, so that both Mg and CO are evolved simultaneously. Elaborate devices are required to shock-cool the equilibrium mixture in order to prevent back reaction. At best, a pyrophoric powder is produced, requiring redistillation to provide marketable metal. The practical development of this process, is due to F. Hansgirg, and his methods have recently been given a trial on a grand scale in the plant at Permanente, California, and smaller plants were previously built in Austria, England and Japan. A second class of reducing agents is available, those which produce nonvolatile oxides. When XO and X are relatively nonvolatile, magnesium is the only volatile member of the system. It may be evolved in a simple distillation step and condensed without the formation of powder. Two basic requirements must bc fulfilled in order that such a reaction may proceed: I. The reducing agent when heated to a reasonable temperature in presence of MgO must cause the production of an appreciable equilibrium vapor pressure of magnesium. This magnesium must be removed continuously. z. A supply of heat must be maintained. In order to fulfill the first requirement, operations must be conducted in vacuo or in a stream of Hz. Owing to its greater efficacy and relative safety, vacuum has been employed in the work to be described. The choice of a suitable reducing agent formed the subject of an extensive series

Jan 1, 1944

By T. A. Rickard

T HE life and career of Daniel Cowan Jackling constitute a distinctive part of a passing era, marked by the intensive exploration and exploitation of the mineral resources of the western regions of the United States. In the development of his abilities and in the use of his opportunities, he typifies the initiative, the energy, and the skill of a modern captain .of industry. Daniel C. Jackling was born at Hudson, Mo., on Aug. 1.4, 1869. He was the only child of Daniel Jackling, born in England of English parents, and Lydia Jane (Dunn) Jackling, born in the United States, but of Scottish ancestry. His father died a few months after he was born, and he lost his mother less than two years later. The orphan boy was adopted by his aunt. He went to school as soon as he was old enough to walk the two miles, and back, alone. As opportunity offered, he went

Jan 1, 1937

By T. H. Oxnam

The predominating value of the ores now being treated by the Palmarejo and Mexican Gold Fields, Ltd., is silver, although some gold also is carried. The present method of treatment consists of wet-crushing and concentrating, followed by the cyanidation of the un-roasted sands and slimes. The sands are treated by leaching, and the so-called " accumulated slimes " by a system of agitation and decantation. It is only within very recent years that the cyanidation of unroasted silver-ores has been commercially successful. In fact, at the time operations were begun at the cyanide-plant at Chinipas, February, 1902, I knew of no other leaching-plant treating similar ores successfully. The cyanide treatment of the Palmarejo ores differs but little from the ordinary practice in cyaniding gold-ores; and perhaps but little, if any, new information concerning the metallurgy of silver is to be gleaned from it. Palmarejo Mines. The Palmarejo mines are located in the southwestern part of the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, on the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains, at an elevation of 3,200 feet. The mills, 12 miles distant, are situated on the Chinipas river, near the town of Chinipas, which is about 150 miles northeast of Agiabampo, on the Gulf of California. Supplies are shipped via this port as this route is the best and most direct to the property. The ore-bodies in the Palmarejo mines have been deposited along a series of rock-fractures, caused by an intrusion of eruptive rock. The most important of these fractures or fissures, both in width and value, are the Prieta and Blanca veins, which

Jan 1, 1906

By C. N. Schuette

The material presented in this paper has been gathered by the writer during a long and varied experience on matters pertaining to the quicksilver industry. During the past 18 years he has visited practically all of the quicksilver mines of the United States and has had occasion to review the literature on quicksilver mining the world over. In a previous publication1 the conclusion was expressed "that the greatest opportunity for increasing the economy in quicksilver production lies in giving more attention to the geology of the deposits ... " The present paper is a contribution toward that end. Due to a lack of correlation of the observed facts, a great deal of confusion exists in the views of various writers concerning the mode of occurrence of quicksilver ores. This paper attempts to show that certain common factors underlie the formation of all quicksilver orebodies. It attempts to present a framework on which to marshall the observed facts and thus make clear the interrelation of various observations which at first sight appear to be contradictory. The material presented is fragmentary in many respects and it is hoped that readers familiar with the deposits mentioned may supply the deficiency. The reader is asked to refer to the publications cited for maps and additional information on the individual orebodies, as this review, in covering so much territory, must necessarily confine itself to a bare outline of the facts concerning each occurrence. The writer hopes that this paper will elicit comment and criticism from the many competent men interested in the quicksilver industry and to all of them he would express his indebtedness for the many courtesies that they have extended to him at various times in the past. Theory op Primary Concentration The mode of occurrence of any given orebody presents an individual problem to the miner engaged in exploiting it. No two orebodies are exactly alike in their geological relationships, therefore an understanding, in detail, of the geology is necessary if the orebody is to be exploited in the most economic manner.

Jan 1, 1931

NORTH AMERICA Number Members Alaska 31 Canada 333 Mexico 186 Newfoundland 2 United States Alabama 60 Arizona 171 Arkansas 10 California 769 Colorado 196 Connecticut 106 Delaware 21 District of Columbia 139 Florida 17 Georgia 6 Idaho 72 Illinois 260 Indiana 63 Iowa 10 Kansas 33 Kentucky 38

Jan 1, 1932

By AIME AIME

The name and address of the school are given first, followed by the length of the regular undergraduate curriculum, the degree granted, types of courses giben, and the name of the man in charge. This covers only work for the first or Bachelor degree in each case. The following abbreviations are used: B. Bachelor Cer. Ceramic. E. Engineer or Engineering Eng. Engineering or Engineer Geol. Geologist, Geological, or Geology M. Mines or Mining Met. Metallurgy or Metallurgical Mng. Mining Pet. Petroleum Ref. Refining S. Science Tech. Technology or Technical

Jan 1, 1939

By E. H. Phillips, A. F. Keenan

6.2-1. Historical Development. Hammering on hand-held drill steel was the earliest type of percussion drilling. It was not until 1838 that Singer developed a steam-operated drilling machine that lifted a drilling bar and let it drop by gravity. J. J. Couch of Philadelphia patented the first percussion drill in 1849. His machine was a steam drill which literally hurled the drill bar at the rock and retracted it by means of a ratcheted wheel. Later J. W. Fowle added automatic rotation of the steel. In 1871, Simon Ingersoll patented a rock drill mounted on a tripod which permitted drilling holes at any angle, vertical to horizontal. Up to the turn of the century, percussion drills in use were piston-type drills. The drill steel was solid and attached to an extension of the drill piston. Hole cleaning was accomplished by the pumping action of the steel in the hole. Down-holes were drilled wet and cleaned with a blow pipe while up-holes were drilled dry, allowing the cuttings to drop out by gravity. The forerunner of our present hammer drill was the free-piston drill which was first patented in 1884, by Sargent. Because solid drill steel was used, it did not successfully clean down holes. J. G. Leyner solved the problem of applying the hammer drill principle to down-hole and horizontal-hole work in 1897. The key was to pass com- pressed air and water through hollow drill steel to clean the hole. Leyner's work on valves and rotation mechanisms increased the blows per minute of hammer drills from 300 or 400 up to 1800 and more blows per minute and made possible the first lightweight drilling machines. The development of automatic feeds followed. 6.2-2. Percussion Drills. TYPES OF DRILLS. There are two types of percussion drills in use today; the piston drill and the hammer drill. In the

Jan 1, 1968

By James W. Neill

Bituminous coal has for many years been used for the smelting of iron-ores in the blast-furnace. In some districts in Scotland it is used alone, in others it is used mixed with coke. The similar use of certain bituminous coals in the United States has been repeatedly mentioned in the Transactions. (See, for instance, as to the Hocking Valley coal, the papers of Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, Trans., ii., 275, and vii., 313; and as to Indiana "block-coal," the paper of Mr. J. S. Alexander, Trans., i., 225.) Phillips (Elements of Metallurgy, p. 250) says: " Raw coal for blast-furnace use must be of a non-cokiog kind, and, when of suitable quality, is perhaps the most advantageous fuel." In the first

Jan 1, 1892

By Samuel Wyer

THE art of natural-gas compressing is now over 25 years old, and has grown at practically the same rate as the increase in domestic natural-gas consumers. There are now over 200 natural-gas compressing stations in North America, aggregating more than 320,000 hp. of compressor capacity and representing a property value of more than $22,000,000, and compressing more than 85 per cent. of all the gas used. The age and magnitude of the art make it evident that the use of gas compressors is a recognized integral part and universal custom of the natural-gas business. The public also is not without its rights and vital interests in this problem. Approximately 1,700,000 domestic natural-gas consumers in North America are dependent upon gas compressors for their natural-gas service. That is, if the use of compressors were to be prohibited, the majority of these consumers would be unable to secure adequate natural-gas service. Each consumer represents between four and five persons, and it therefore follows that the comfort and well-being-as far as natural-gas service is concerned-of at least 8,000,000 persons would be affected if the use of natural-gas compressors should be prohibited. These 1,700,000 consumers have invested, in services, house piping, fixtures, and appliances, an average of about $90 each, or an aggregate of $153,000,000, which is much more than the companies' investment in gas compressors. Furthermore, in all cases where the rate paid by the consumers is fair to the gas company-considering the value of the service rendered by the gas company-the consumers are entitled to continued service and protection of the investment they have made on the faith that the gas service would be continued in the future.

Jan 2, 1916

By CARLE R. HAYWARDC

BEFORE discussing this subject it is necessary to define somewhat the meaning of the tern metallurgical.. When I was a student at M. I. T. ore-dressing was not thought of as metallurgy in any sense of the word, but it was considered as more closely allied to mining, enabling the miner to market an otherwise unmarketable product, or at least to market it to better advantage. Progress in ore-dressing has gradually allied it more closely with smelting, for at present the raw material received by the smelter is predominantly concentrates and smelting practice has been profoundly affected by the products of the concentrating mill. It is not surprising therefore that in many schools ore-dressing is frankly considered as metallurgy and although there may be some dissenting opinions it will be considered as such in this discussion. Twenty-five years ago at M. I. T. metallography was taught in a few optional lectures. This subject has developed rapidly and been expanded into the new and increasingly important field of physical metallurgy. To many metallurgists the -term metallurgy means only physical metallurgy. They know little or nothing about smelting and leaching and even less about ore-dressing. Having then broadened the scope of the term metal¬lurgy to cover ore-dressing, smelting, leaching and phys-

Jan 1, 1930

By John Mitchell, C. C. Hanninen, L. D. Clark

INTRODUCTION Certain rock types can be fractured thermally by spallation and thermal cracking. Spalling occurs in the regions subjected to thermal shock temperatures and cracking takes place in the adjacent cooler regions. The analysis of the heat-affected zones requires that heat transfer calculations be made where the thermal conductivity of the rock is a function of temperature and direction. Generally, accurate thermal conductivity data is not available for the high temperatures and rise rates associated with most thermal rock breaking methods. This paper describes a method for determining the thermal conductivity of an orthotropic material whose conductivity is a linear function of temperature. The necessary data is obtained from one test which makes it especially useful for in situ applications. The properties data are determined through an iterative process of comparing theoretically computed values of temperature for assumed conductivity parameters with data measured in the laboratory. The conductivity of the rock is determined when the results of the assumed parameters yield computed temperatures which agree with those obtained experimentally. Transient temperatures are computed using the explicit numerical method at given points in a three-dimensional semi-infinite solid whose surface is symmetrically heated on a circular spot. The thermal conductivity is assumed to be a linear function K = [a] + Bt; however, if necessary, any reasonable linear or non-linear function might just as well be used. The stability, convergence, node size,

Jan 1, 1971

By D. C. Reynolds

Recent experiments with II-VI compounds have shown that they hazle considerable potential for laser applications over a broad region of the optical spectrum. It may be possible to cover the spectrum continuously from 3200A (ZnS) to the far infrared (CdHg:Te) since HgTe is a semimetal. At this writing laser action has been observed in ZnS, Zn0, CdS, CdSe, CdS:Se, CdTe, and some of the CdHg:Te alloys. Of particular interest are those lasers operating in the zlisible and near ultraciolet regzons of the spectrum where detectors of high sensitivity are available. The lasing transitions in II-VI compounds are bound exciton transitions some of which have been identified in auxiliary experiments. High efficiencies and low thresholds for lasing hare been achieved almost exc1usively in plutelet-type crystals. The greater crystalline quality exhibited by the phtelet-type material is shown to result from the crystal growth habit. Phonon scattering- of conduction electrons to the ground-state exciton is discussed ill relution to Lou thresholds and high efficiencies for lasing- observed in the CdS:Se solid solutions. The first successful semiconductor laser operation was achieved in the III-V compounds. It is possible to choose a material in this group that will operate between approximately 0.65 and 8.5 . There are at least two reasons why one would like to have a laser operating at shorter wavelengths. First, it would be easier to experiment with a laser operating in the visible region of the spectrum, and also more desirable to have high-in tensity visible light sources. Second, the most sensitive photomul-tiplier detectors are available in the visible and near ultraviolet regions of the spectrum. It is known that II-VI compounds are direct-band-gap semiconductors and as such offer the potential of operating at any specified wavelength between 3200 (ZnS) and 7772A (CdTe). Light emission from II-VI compounds has been the subject of numerous investigations for many years. These investigations were all primarily concerned with noncoherent emission. It has been only recently that coherent emission from these compounds has been observed. To date, laser operation has been demonstrated in CdS, CdSe, and the solid solutions of CdS:Se, ZnS, ZnO, and CdTe. These compounds cover an appreciable portion of the optical spectrum from the ultraviolet to the near infrared. In considering laser applications, the use of lasers in communication's systems offers many desirable features. In any operation of this type one must consider the losses in transmitting the radiation from the source to the detector. Atmospheric absorption in the visible and near ultraviolet is variable and greater than in certain regions of the infrared. It might be concluded that for long-range communication systems an infrared laser operating in a spectral region that is coincident with a transmission window in the atmosphere would be preferable. However, one cannot overlook the possibility of operating a system in the sensitive region of a highly sensitive photomultiplier detector or other light-amplifying system. LASER CONSIDERATIONS To produce a source of coherent radiation it is necessary to achieve a population inversion. In the case of semiconducting materials it is necessary to raise the electrons from one energy state to a higher-energy state relative to it. In semiconductors, this population inversion can be achieved by three different techniques: 1) Current Injection. This technique uses a p-n junction biased in the forward direction. Large numbers of electrons are injected from the n region into the p region, and recombination occurs close to the junction. An inverted population is obtained in this region and the recombination radiation propagates parallel to the junction. This type of pumping has been used in the GaAs junction-type lasers but has not been successfully employed in the II-VI compounds. 2) Optical Pumping. In this case, one uses photons to obtain a population inversion by exciting electrons to higher-energy states. The pump sources are flash lamps or arc lamps and, occasionally, other laser sources when such sources have the appropriate energy for exciting the electrons. The disadvantage of this type of pumping is that flash lamps put out a rather broad spectrum of radiation, whereas the laser material has a rather narrow region of absorption. This results in an inefficient process. Laser sources provide efficient pump sources but the number of usable wavelengths is limited. 3) Electron Beam Pumping. In this technique, the laser sample cavity is bombarded with electrons having energies in the range from approximately 10 to a few hundred kv. The bombarding radiation excites electrons from valence to conduction band states in the semiconductor, giving rise to an inverted population. This type of pumping has been used successfully in several 11-VI compounds.

Jan 1, 1968