Search Documents

By S. C. Termes, P. E. Richardson, R. L. Wilfong

This paper discusses recent Federal Bureau of Mines research on the selective flocculation of various minerals with insoluble cross-linked starch xanthate (ISX). ISX is insoluble, has a shelf life of more than a year when kept cold, and has a higher molecular weight due to cross-linking than the soluble, non-cross-linked starch xanthate used in previous flocculation studies on nonsulfide minerals. ISX readily flocculates a number of sulfide mineral fines, but no silicious gangue. Floc formation, floc size, and settling rate are dependent on pH. The pH dependence, however, differs for each mineral. Bornite has been selectively flocculated from bornite-quartz mixtures, and the bornite-containing flocs were separated from the unflocculated quartz using decantation and washing procedures.

Jan 1, 1984

Discussion of the paper of H! M. CHANCE, presented at the Pittsburgh meeting, October, 1914, and printed in Bulletin No. 91, July, 1914, pp. 1461 to 1466. R. V. Norris, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.-In his resume of coal-taxation methods Mr. Chance has apparently confined his investigation to bituminous coal, so a summary of the anthracite situation as to coal assessment should be of interest. The anthracite region of Pennsylvania in its 484 square miles of measures lies in the counties of Wayne, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Carbon, Schuylkill, Northumberland, and Dauphin, and in each of these different methods of assessment have been adopted. The assessments for taxation in Pennsylvania are made under Acts of the Legislatures of 1841 and 1842, under which the assessors are re¬quired to "assess rate and value every subject of taxation according to the actual value thereof, and at such rates and prices as the same would bring at a bona fide sale after due notice." Under this general law coal land has been assessed as such, but up to about 25 years ago the coal was assessed at rates so low as to be unimportant, though the rates in each township and municipality, even in the same county, showed no agreement or ascertainable basis. In the late '80s, the need for greater revenue drew attention to the possibilities of collecting much larger taxes from the coal lands and, spurred by public demand, the assessing authorities in some counties undertook a reassessment of coal. The method pursued was to demand from each owner a statement of the area and average remaining thickness of coal on his lands. On this return, made in some cases under oath, an assessment based on foot-acreage was levied, with a resulting great increase in valuation, but the valuation per foot-acre was low and no serious objection was made. This assessment with occasional increases of rate remained in force until 1907, when, in the triennial assessment of that year, a complete revision of the valuation was again attempted, engineers were employed by the counties to check the accuracy of the returns from the owners, and, based on the foot-acreage thus obtained, an enormous increase, to $65 per foot-acre, was made in the valuation. This assessment was resisted in the courts by appeals resulting in very extensive litigation, and a final determination of the validity of the 1907 and all subsequent assessments has not yet been obtained. In the first appeals tried the rate calculated on a foot-acre valuation was reduced by the Luzerne County court to about $45, while the. Lackawanna County courts reduced a larger rate to $67. The county authorities were, how-

Jan 4, 1915

By Richard W. Greene, Joel S. Hirschhorn

MATERIALS containing very large amounts of porosity, in the order of 50 to 90 vol pct, are extremely difficult to evaluate according to conventional mechanical behavior tests. This is usually a consequence of their low strength and brittleness, and the difficulty of preparing standard test specimens. A simple fatigue test has been developed and used successfully on porous nickel sheet materials requiring no specimen preparation; it could also be used for configurations other than sheet or plate. Samples of the sheet. 2 in. sq and about 0.025 in. thick, are placed in a vessel that is evacuated to about 50 f Hg by a mechanical pump. Distilled and deairated water is allowed to enter the vessel thereby filling the porosity (virtually all the porosity in these nickel ma-

Jan 1, 1970

By Jennifer Drake, Edward T. Moriuchi, Jennifer A. Hill

SEAMSYS and CSD/SMP are sets of computer programs that assist geologists and mine engineers in modeling and evaluating coal properties. The systems are tailored for treatment of waste and coal quality data, including metallurgical coal product capabilities. The gridded SEAMSYS model honors all drillhole data and incorporates user- defined mining parameters, losses and dilutions, and operational constraints. A variety of reserve reports and graphic displays are available from the model. Preliminary mine planning is accomplished through automatic cut generation and production targeting. CSD/SMP refines the preliminary plans to help anticipate the consequences of various mine schedules and evaluate equipment capacity requirements.

Jan 1, 1983

By R. W. Callen, W. A. Hockings

This paper describes a computer program which calculates material balances for complex steady-state material flow circuits encountered in mineral processing. The program determines mass flows in the various process streams of a flowsheet from multicomponent analytical data obtained from samples of the streams. The program, Metallurgical Balance System (MBS), has been used extensively in treating Pilot plant test data, in production evaluation and control, and in plant design. The program performs well even on ill-conditioned data. Input to the program is easily accomplished by unskilled personnel and the output appears in well-formatted tables.

Jan 1, 1981

RAYMOND M. Howe (author's reply to discussion*).-Dr. Unger states that magnesite will hardly supersede dolomite in fettling after a heat; that it is hard to believe a slag composed of oxide of iron containing about 6 per cent. of phosphorus is the active corroding, agent in a boil in a furnace; and that boiling cannot be said to be the result of the chemical action of a high-phosphorus slag on a basic bottom. These are well-established facts that no one would venture to question. The authors were misinterpreted in the statement that "in the summary, it is claimed that magnesite low in lime, or of greatest purity, ranks first in resistance to slaking," etc. On the contrary, the position has been taken throughout that while a low lime content is advantageous, the presence of several per cent. of iron oxide (an impurity), is necessary in order to confer the proper bonding and sintering properties in dead-burned grain magnesite to be used for furnace hearths. We cannot subscribe to the view that pure magnesia is no better fitted for a refractory than pure lime,' nor that the pure natural varieties of magnesite; such as Grecian or Washington, must necessarily be burned with silica and oxide of iron to produce a satisfactory material. On a small scale, pure magnesia has been satisfactorily used as a refractory in the form of crucibles. In the production of dead-burned grain magnesite from the Grecian or Washington mineral, iron oxide is added but the addition of silica is neither customary nor desirable. It is possible to manufacture brick of good quality from both the Grecian and the Washington material without adding either silica or iron oxide, providing they are burned at a sufficiently high temperature. This is regularly done on a commercial scale both in America and abroad when brick of. exceptionally high refractoriness or special purity are desired. The following analysis is of an English brick of Grecian magnesite which is extremely low in all impurities.1

Jan 6, 1919

The work of the Committee during the year 1914 was especially directed to the securing of a larger representation in the Institute of those engaged in coal mining and coking. While these industries exceed in volume and in monetary importance all other mining industries in the United States, the membership of the Institute representing them has in recent years been relatively small. It was thought that an increase in the membership of the Institute obtained from among those engaged in these industries was desirable in order to increase interest in the work of the Institute, for this result can only be reached by securing the presentation and publication of a larger number of papers relating to these industries. It is evident that the reading of such papers will tend to increase the attendance at the local and general meetings of the Institute. Sessions of the Coal and Coke Committee were held and a number of papers relating to these subjects were presented at the meetings at Butte, Salt Lake, and Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh meeting especially being planned with this in view. The activities of the Local Section of the Institute organized in the Pennsylvania Anthracite region have reawakened interest in that district and it is hoped that the same object can be obtained in the bituminous coal fields, either through the organization of one or more. local sections, affiliation with some of the local coal-mining societies, or through activities of the Coal and Coke Committee. Referring to the work of the Committee in its efforts to increase the membership of the Institute, the Committee desires to acknowledge the services rendered by many members scattered throughout the various coal-mining districts of the United States, in compiling lists of those qualified for membership in the Institute, but who have not yet become members. The lists so compiled comprised about 1,100 names, which were furnished to the Committee by the co-operation of 40 or 50 members of the Institute.

Jan 3, 1915

By J. Menashi, D. A. Douglas, A. S. Rappas

A process has been developed for recovering the refractory metals chromium (Cr), vanadium (V), molybdenum (Mo), and tungsten (W) in mixed secondary source materials, such as contaminated grinding wastes. The wastes are calcined with sodium carbonate in air to yield water-insoluble oxides of the base metals iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), and copper (Cu) and water-soluble salts of the refractory metals. An aqueous leach separates these two classes of metal values. Cobalt, nickel, and copper can be recovered from the oxidic residue by conventional processing methods. The leach solution is purified and then treated to recover the refractory metals. The process can accommodate a wide range of feed compositions and generates a minimum of aqueous effluents.

Jan 1, 1985

By D. G. Brubaker

IN the history of geophysical exploration by the electromagnetic method many procedures and types of equipment have been used. Source arrangements for surveying on the ground have included long wires grounded at both ends, large loops laid on the ground, small horizontal loops, and vertical loops of moderate to small sizes. Receivers have ranged from simple direction-finding coils to combinations of coils and a bridge circuit to measure quantities related to both amplitude and phase of the received signal. Primary considerations in choosing a survey method are effectiveness, speed, and economy. In work on the ground in which locating and out- lining conducting bodies is the objective, methods using a vertical coil and a simple direction-finder have been found the most satisfactory. Mason1 and his associates applied such a method by setting up a vertical source loop, fed with low frequency alternating current by an engine-generator set. With a direction-finding receiver they surveyed lines along the ground in the plane of the loop, taking measurements at each station of the azimuth and inclination of the magnetic field direction. Deviations of this direction from the normal direction, that is, from horizontal and perpendicular to the traverse line, indicated a conducting body. Recent advances in design of light-weight generating equipment have encouraged using this and similar methods.

Jan 7, 1957

By G. Hasenfus, M. Karmis, G. Goodman

Surf ace subsidence is rapidly becoming an important environmental consideration of active as well as abandoned mining operations. The damages attributed to this phenomenon have been witnessed in both rural and urban areas and include land settlement and fracturing, structural damages to surface buildings or facilities and disruption or contamination of ground water supplies. The problem of mining subsidence has gained considerable emphasis in the Appalachian coalfield. The increased mining activity over the past few years and the particular topographic conditions, lithologic and structural environment, mining methods and hydrological patterns are all factors which have contributed to specific subsidence characteristics in this region. The objective of this paper is to discuss and review the most widely accepted methods of subsidence prediction above longwall as well as partial extraction systems in Appalachia. These include an accurate and easy to apply empirical method, which has been developed entirely from field information pertaining to the Appalachian coalfield and incorporates both geometrical and geological information of the panel in question. The second method is a development of influence functions and is founded on the zone area approach. Both methods, originally derived for longwall mining, have been expanded to include room and pillar applications and have been widely used by the mining industry in the Appalachian coalfield.

Jan 1, 1984

By T. M. Chance

The first bituminous coal cleaning-plant to use the sand-flotation process1 was placed in operation on Oct. 1, 1925, at the tipple of the East Broad Top Railroad & Coal Co., at Mt. Union, Pa. The general principles governing the design of plants of this type and typical operating results of anthracite sand-flotation units have been previously outlined.2 I will, therefore, confine myself to a description of this particular plant and to some of the elements of design it incorporates. The Original Mt. Union Tipple The plant was installed to transfer coal.from steel narrow-gage cars of 60,000 and 70,000 lb. capacity to standard-gage equipment. The coal was hauled about 30 miles from the East Broad Top field. This coa1, mined by the Rockhill Coal & Iron Co. and other operators, is a low-volatile slow-coking coal with ash of high-fusion point. It is normally a high-grade coal that does not contain an excessive amount of free impurities, but it requires careful handling to secure a fair domestic yield, and, naturally, the need for narrow-gage transshipment increases the difficulty of the problem. The narrow-gage cars were discharged into an 8-car track hopper equipped with two feeders passing the coal to two 42-in. apron intake conveyors. Twin units were installed throughout the original plant, two lump-and-egg shaking screens, two lump picking-tables, two egg picking-tables and two stoker conveyors. The stoker coal was loaded without cleaning. The loading tracks and booms were in duplicate and, with the layout as originally installed, either unit could be run independently, each unit shipping a different class of coal or both units making the same product.

Jan 1, 1927

Discussion of the paper of L. W. BAHNEY, presented at, the New York meeting, February, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 9S, February, 1915, pp. 339. to 344. E. J. HALL,* New York, N. Y. (communication to the Secretary+).- The Chiddy method for determining gold and silver in cyanide solutions has been subjected to so many proposed modifications, of which L. W. Bahney's is one, it is natural to suppose the method is defective. There is no denying that this method is capable of giving inaccurate results, but so is any other method of quantitative determination. However, proof has not come to my notice that the troubles are inherent and not in the detail application, and I am inclined to think from our experience that in many cases it is the latter. Errors in this method may be occasioned by: (1) The retention of zinc in the sponge, which tends to desilverize the molten lead in cupellation, similar to the action in the Parkes process, removing gold and silver in a crust of zinc oxide. Failure to remove zinc may result from lack of concentration of hydrochloric acid, clue to neutralization by salts present, volume of liquid too great for the specified amount of acid, or the use of weak acid. (HCl rapidly loses its strength unless kept in perfectly tight containers. The HCl gas escapes even from the ordinary glass-stoppered acid bottles after the plaster seal has been broken.) Undissolved zinc, is likely to be held in the upper part of the lead sponge, which floats above the liquid, and unless the solution is boiled it will escape action. Mr. Bahney's modification makes this

Jan 5, 1915

By Waldemar Dyrssen

BEFORE discussing the relation between air pre-heaters and waste-heat boilers in conjunction with the open-hearth furnace, it is necessary to have a clear idea about what a preheater can accomplish and what effect it has on the open-hearth furnace, especially from a thermal point of view. It is generally recognized now that the heating of the combustion air in the checker chambers of the open-hearth furnaces is not as efficient as it is-desirable to make it. It is also generally recognized that heating of the air in checker chambers of ordinary construction has its limitations. These limitations are mostly the .space occupied and the cost that would be involved if checker chambers were made larger than according to present practice. There are, however, other. reasons why checker chambers cannot give the highest possible air temperatures. Checker chambers are capable of heating air to very 'high temperatures by using waste gases of extremely high temperatures and, in fact, higher temperatures can be reached with checker chambers than with any other means available. The temperature to which we can heat, air, however, is limited very materially by -the temperature at which the air enters the checkers, be-cause of the fact that checker chambers, as at present constructed, are not efficient in heating air through a wide range of temperatures. In other words, if air in-stead of entering the checker chambers at atmospheric temperatures could enter at about 1000 to 1200 deg. F., the resultant air temperature at the top of the checker chambers would be materially increased. There are now on the market metallic air preheaters which are ex-tremely efficient for preheating air to about 1200 deg. F. Such heaters occupy very little space and can usually be installed at a relatively low cost.

Jan 1, 1928

By Edward F. Divers

Face ventilation is generally the most critical area in the coal mine ventilation system. Various studies have repeatedly shown that good ventilation is by far the most effective and least costly method of controlling dust and gas problems created during face operations. The Bureau of Mines has recently developed and assisted in the development of several new concepts in face ventilation systems, and in methods to accurately evaluate these systems underground. A new type of scrubber and ventilation system design built into the auger support frame of a continu- ous miner was developed. The objective was to improve face ventilation and reduce respirable dust concentrations. With this arrangement, one scrubber is mounted into each side of the boom. Laboratory and underground tests of various scrubber discharge arrangements showed good to excellent dust and methane control. Combined face ventilation systems, using both blowing and exhaust curtain, potentially offer dust and gas control and deeper cutting. Bureau tests at a mine using a combined face ventilation system and remote- control-operated continuous miners showed excellent dust and methane control. The advancement of line curtain systems beyond permanent supports without exposing workmen to roof fall hazards can be accomplished only with specially designed extendable devices. Numerous concepts for line curtain extension have been developed and tested. For the past several years, the Bureau has been testing various types of extensible face ventilation systems. These extensible systems can generally be classified as floor-, roof-, machine-, and rib-mounted systems. In the past 6 years, approximately 40 systems have been evaluated for feasibility. From these, several have been selected as practical or innovative and are presented herein. A technique developed by the Bureau to accurately and safely evaluate the effectiveness of face ventilation is also presented.

Jan 1, 1982

By C. V. Millikan

When a flowing oil well is being drilled in with cable tools, it is difficult to determine when an additional streak of pay sand is drilled. By placing a gas meter on the gas-release line from the oil and gas separator, any increase in volume of gas that comes with oil production is recorded. In addition to the better knowledge of sand conditions, these data are a valuable aid in determining the size and depth of shots, plugging off water, and estimating ultimate production. The meter also gives a record of operation while the well is drilling in; and if allowed to remain on the well after completion will give information that may lead to a more efficient recovery of the oil from the sand. A VERTICAL cross section of any oil sand will show great variation in porosity and oil content. In some sands, the entire thickness contains oil, the variation being only the degree of porosity or oil content, but more often the pay streaks are distinctly separated by shells or barren streaks. These pay strata vary in number and may be thin or thick. The total thickness of the sand may be several tens of feet while the part containing oil may be only 1 or 2 ft. thick. The amount of production is not proportional to the thickness of the sand but rather the thickness of the pay streaks. If the total thickness of the sand or the amount that can be drilled is small, or if the initial production is small, the depth at which each stratum of pay is encountered can be determined sufficiently accurately for all present economic purposes. However, when drilling through sand of considerable thickness, giving large initial production, especially where conditions necessitate that the production go through the same gas trap with that from one or more wells already producing, it is difficult to determine the depth at which the pay strata are encountered even accurately enough to guide the placing of shots, and small pay streaks are apt not to be recognized at all.

Jan 9, 1925

By Richard J. Mainiero

INTRODUCTION Because of the hazards associated with flammable methane gas and coal dust, the shooting of mudcaps (adobes) or other unconfined explosive charges in underground bituminous coal mines is prohibited; all explosives must be fired in stemmed boreholes. However, there are situations where it would be advantageous from a safety standpoint to fire open shots. This would be in the areas of dislodging loose roof slabs, overhangs, rock-fall leveling, slab or boulder breaking, crib removal, and crevice shooting. The Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, has been developing an explosive charge that is non-incendive; that is, detonation of the charge will not ignite a flammable atmosphere. This explosive charge could be applied to the blasting conditions mentioned above. As of this writing, the explosive charge has not yet been certified as "permissible" for use in flammable atmospheres, but the necessary protocol is being finalized with the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), U.S. Department of Labor. The explosive charge described in this paper is merely a prototype sheathed rock-breaker charge (sheathed permissible explosive rock- breaker charge) demonstrating the feasibility of such a device. Industry may modify the design and composition of the charge in producing a commercial product so long as it is still safe, as defined by a testing schedule being developed by the Bureau of Mines and MSHA.

Jan 1, 1984

By Walter Knox, J. D. Doherty

In 1939, at the request of The Koppers Coal Co., the Koppers Company Research Department established a Stoker Coal Research Laboratory for the purpose of investigating the performance characteristics of stoker coals in typical domestic stoker installations. Fig. I is a photograph of part of the laboratory. The material in this paper deals with the performance of one coal in a single installation. Presented are details of this installation, mechanical characteristics of the stoker, and the results of a series of burning tests in which adjustments were systematically varied. Summary OF Results Mechanical Features I. A large percentage of the total power consumed by a domestic stoker is used to operate the gear case and motor (Fig. 3)- 2' The power consumption per ton goes down with an increase in rate of coal feed (Fig. 4). 3. The automatic air control in this stoker showed advantages Over manual control (Fig. 5). 4. The air velocities through the retort tuyeres were uniform around the retort, but varied between the rows of tuyere rings (Fig. 6). 5. The crushing of coal with this stoker increased the minus 1/8-in. from 11.6 per cent to 19.2 per cent. There was a notice- able segregation of coal as it came from the retort and distribution was not uniform (Fig. 7). 6. Measurement of air entering over the fire showed that with some not uncommon adjustments this air may be a high percentage of the total air supply (Fig. 8 and Table I). Operating Performance ,. The, removal of clinker was shown to give a period of poor performance characterized by a high fuel-bed resistance and a high percentage of carbon monoxide in the flue gases (Fig. 10). 2. The fuel-bed resistance was found to decrease as the fuel bed built up in a normal response to heat demand after a prolonged hold-fire (Fig. II). 3. with intermittent operation the burning rate was almost always less than the feeding rate, The wide variations were found to be greatly dependent upon the length of the On period and the length of the intervals between On periods (Fig. 12). 4. The maintenance of a low furnace draft led to less fly ash, better clinker formation, and higher efficiencies (Fig. 13). 5. The maintenance of a minimum of excess air also resulted in less fly ash, better clinker formation, and higher efficiencies (Fig. 14). Guiding Principles In planning the investigations, the following principles were adopted: Selection of Heating Equipment.—Use only standard models of stokers and furnaces representative of those widely used.

Jan 1, 1942

By Walter Knox, J. D. Doherty

In 1939, at the request of The Koppers Coal Co., the Koppers Company Research Department established a Stoker Coal Research Laboratory for the purpose of investigating the performance characteristics of stoker coals in typical domestic stoker installations. Fig. I is a photograph of part of the laboratory. The material in this paper deals with the performance of one coal in a single installation. Presented are details of this installation, mechanical characteristics of the stoker, and the results of a series of burning tests in which adjustments were systematically varied. Summary OF Results Mechanical Features I. A large percentage of the total power consumed by a domestic stoker is used to operate the gear case and motor (Fig. 3)- 2' The power consumption per ton goes down with an increase in rate of coal feed (Fig. 4). 3. The automatic air control in this stoker showed advantages Over manual control (Fig. 5). 4. The air velocities through the retort tuyeres were uniform around the retort, but varied between the rows of tuyere rings (Fig. 6). 5. The crushing of coal with this stoker increased the minus 1/8-in. from 11.6 per cent to 19.2 per cent. There was a notice- able segregation of coal as it came from the retort and distribution was not uniform (Fig. 7). 6. Measurement of air entering over the fire showed that with some not uncommon adjustments this air may be a high percentage of the total air supply (Fig. 8 and Table I). Operating Performance ,. The, removal of clinker was shown to give a period of poor performance characterized by a high fuel-bed resistance and a high percentage of carbon monoxide in the flue gases (Fig. 10). 2. The fuel-bed resistance was found to decrease as the fuel bed built up in a normal response to heat demand after a prolonged hold-fire (Fig. II). 3. with intermittent operation the burning rate was almost always less than the feeding rate, The wide variations were found to be greatly dependent upon the length of the On period and the length of the intervals between On periods (Fig. 12). 4. The maintenance of a low furnace draft led to less fly ash, better clinker formation, and higher efficiencies (Fig. 13). 5. The maintenance of a minimum of excess air also resulted in less fly ash, better clinker formation, and higher efficiencies (Fig. 14). Guiding Principles In planning the investigations, the following principles were adopted: Selection of Heating Equipment.—Use only standard models of stokers and furnaces representative of those widely used.

Jan 1, 1942

By Alexander Gow

THE object of this paper is to discuss the fundamental principles of ball milling and to present some observations which have been made in laboratory and plant investigations. The discussion will be limited to wet grinding of ores in cylindrical mills, but doubtless many of the principles involved will be equally applicable in the other fields of fine grinding in which mills of the same type are used. In the concentrators of the United States there are about 650 ball, rod, or pebble mills, operating or ready to operate, and these have about 100,000 connected horsepower. For grinding in cement plants there is about three times this connected horsepower, and other industries have an unestimated amount, all used for the general type of grinding that is to be discussed here. It is true that these figures do not represent stupendous amounts of power, but when one considers that ball milling is often the "bottle neck" in a concentrator and that it often accounts for the largest single item in the cost sheet, the importance of a compre-hensive understanding of the principles of ball milling can be appreciated. Much of the past literature devoted to the subject has been concerned with the Kick-Rittinger dispute over evaluating grinding, or with dissertations on ball paths and the closely allied impact versus attrition hypotheses, or with the exclusive consideration of certain specific varia-bles, such as mill speed or circulating load, irrespective of the other factors in operation. Such subjects may be dismissed with but little discussion in what may be called, by comparison, a new philosophy in the study of ball milling. Briefly, this "new philosophy" consists of using power as an index of the mill operation, and investigating grind-ing from the standpoint of set and induced variables, with emphasis on the latter.

Jan 1, 1934

By Godfrey T. Vivian

Very often important discoveries are made in one industry that may be used to advantage in another, but, owing to the rarity that men step out of one industry into another, these discoveries remain unknown outside of the trade or profession in which they are made. The present paper is written solely with the object of bringing to the notice of mining and metallurgical engineers a centrifugal ore-concentrator which eventually may have a great application. Ore- Grading. Fig. 1 represents the action which takes place when solids of different dimensions are stirred up in a box and allowed to settle as minerals of the same size but of different specific gravity. This principle is applied practically in grading china-clay and in enriching tin-slimes. In the latter case the slimes are stirred around in a tub with water and allowed to settle while at the same time the side of the tub is struck with a hammer. The colloidal slimes are then poured off and various slices taken off horizontally. The great drawback of this process is that the particles are deposited horizontally and all the colloids are lost. Fig. 2 represents the action in which the particles are deposited side by side. Here the drawback is the great length of the box needed in order to prevent excessive loss. The alternative to lengthening the box is to increase the force of gravity. Centrifugal force may be regarded practically as the force of gravity augmented. Fig. 3 illustrates the Gee centrifugal machine for grading ores. The drum, A, fitted with a box, B, is mounted on a shaft or spindle, C, the whole being suspended from a ball-bearing of special design at D, supported between girders, E. Rota-

Jan 1, 1913