Search Documents

By Grover J. Holt

A DETAILED description of the many variations in iron mining and transportation practice in Minnesota would require much space. Since a fairly detailed description of the practices then in use was published in the guidebook issued in connection with the meeting of the Institute on the iron ranges in I920, and subsequent developments have been described by E. E. Hunner,1 M. H. Barber,2 and A. E. Anderson, J. M. Riddell and G. J. Holt,3 it will not be necessary here to do more than review the highlights of current practice. Details on any points of interest can be obtained through correspondence with the operators involved. [T] The iron ores of Minnesota, which have been formed through enrichment of the iron formation in which they occur, largely by the removal of silica, are usually covered by a blanket of glacial drift known locally as "surface." Surface material, including sand, clay, hardpan and boulders, makes up the greater portion of the stripping in open-pit operations. In some instances, stripping also includes taconite and "paint rock," directly below the surface material and overlying the ore. Taconite is the iron formation, a ferruginous chert with interbedded slate layers. "Paint rock" is a local term for oxidized slate layers interbedded in the iron formation, high in phosphorus, alumina and moisture. The iron ores fall into two classes: (I) direct shipping (merchantable ores or ores requiring no treatment except possibly crushing or screening to make an acceptable sized product), and (2) ores requiring beneficiation (such as sintering, drying, washing, jigging, high-density treatment, or magnetic separation in the case of magnetite). The Mesabi Range produces chiefly soft Bessemer and non-Bessemer ores. The Cuyuna Range produces mainly low-manganese brown ore and high-manganese black ores, with some iron ore. The Vermilion Range yields mainly Besse¬mer and non-Bessemer iron ore, with some hard or lump ore that finds use in the open hearth. Open-pit mining is limited to the Mesabi and Cuyuna Ranges but underground mining is done on all three. The choice of mining methods is determined by the relative economics of overburden¬-removal and shaft-mining costs. STRIPPING PRACTICE Common practice has been to remove the bulk of the overburden during the winter season and to mine during the summer. In the present emergency many operators are forced to forego the economies attained by year-round utilization of equipment and to equip for, and carry on, stripping and mining simultaneously. In the normal years or lean years to come, most properties probably will be over-equipped and high depreciation charges will have to be absorbed.

Jan 1, 1942

By S. E. Haszko

SEVERAL new XGa2 intermetallic compounds, Table 1, where X is a rare earth, having the AlB, structure were prepared as part of a continuing study of the magnetic and structural properties of rare-earth alloys.' In this note, the crystallographic results of these compounds are presented. Chart, Eq. 121 for the data in Fig. 1 can be adequately represented by The corresponding standard free-energy change is AF; = -4.576 T log K = -20,900 + 10.20T [5I At low nitrogen concentrations the ratio of mole fraction to weight percentage is a constant so that the mole fraction X of nitrogen is given by X = 0.0392 [%NJ. At low values of X, the activity and the concearation approach each other, hence K, = 0.0392 K,, where K, is expressed in terms of the mole fraction of nitrogen. Hence Eqs. [4]. and [5] become

Jan 1, 1962

By H. E. Sadler, Prof. Silliman

The research here recorded was undertaken early in the present year, and has been prosecuted steadily for about eight months. While the work has been under my constant supervision and advice, the labor has all been performed by Mr. Sadler, to whom is chiefly due the development of the successive steps which have led to the final result. The process is better than I dared to hope, and we are able to place at the command of chemists and engineers interested in the matter an apparatus of continuous and uninterrupted action, and methods of analysis by which the daily averages of the two variable and inconstant factors of illuminating gas, ammonia and sulphur, may be determined with all needful accuracy, even by those little skilled in chemical manipulation, and with very little loss of time. This research has been carried out in the laboratory of the New Haven Gaslight Company.

By C. L. Magee, H. W. Paxton

The effects of testing temperature, frorn 77" to 420" K, and volume fraction of martensite on the micro-plastic response of unaged Fe-31Ni martensite-austenite aggregates have been determined. The kinetics of the aging phenomena which lead to a decrease in the microplastic response were also characterized. These determinations, supplemented by other experimental results, show that at least two mechanisms of plastic deformation give rise to the apparent softness of the quenched structures. Only one of these mechanisms is fully discussed in this paper The transformation of retained austenite to martensite during the application of stress leads, in specified conditions, to large microplastic strains. This deformation behavior cannot be described by normal transformation plasticity theory but is shown to result from the fact that stress-assisted formation of martensite is a possible deformation mode. The present results and further considerations of previous work lead to the conclusion that it is unnecessary to postulate a special work-hardening mechanism to explain the mechanical properties of unaged martensite. It is now generally accepted that dislocation motion can occur in many solids at stresses very much below the L'macroscpic" yield stress, e.g., 0.1 pct offset. This phenomenon has been investigated by a variety of techniques including measurements of elastic limit,' effective static elastic modulus,~ and irreversible deformation following stressing at low levels.3"5 Of particular interest to the work to be described are exper -iments conducted on the deformation of martensite in attempts to decide whether freshly quenched ferrous martensites are "hard" or "soft".6 Muir, Averbach, and cohenl and McEvily, Ku, and ~ohnston' have shown that as-quenched ferrous rnartensites can be plastically deformed at relatively low stresses. A difference between these two sets of experiments exists in that some diffusion of carbon would take place before testing in the experiments of Muir et a1. because the plain Fe-C alloys which they have tested transform to martensite well above room temperature. McEvily et a1. examined Fe-Ni-C alloys with Ms of about -30"~ and tested the alloys directly after quenching to — 195" ~ —a technique which obviates any appreciable carbon diffusion. Unfortunately, a characteristic of the alloys which transform below room temperature is that they do not transform entirely to martensite. The results discussed below will show that, because the transformation of this retained austenite under stress leads to plastic deformation, one cannot investigate the properties of martensite by such experiments. The existence of a second deformation phenomenon, which is not caused by retained austenite, is also established in the present work. In line with a previous suggestion,' it is believed that the second microdefor-mation mode is principally due to the internal stresses generated by the formation of martensite. To avoid confusion in the present report, the evidence we have found for this interpretation will be discussed separately in a brief note.7 EXPERIMENTAL Materials. The alloys were induction-melted and cast under vacuum; the resulting compositions are given in Table I. The ingots were hot-swaged to 2-in.-diam bar and further cold-swaged and/or cold-rolled prior to specimen preparation. The standard tensile specimens were machined from sheet. The gage section was 0.05 by 0.2 by 5 in.; 0.75-in.-wide ends had 0.2 5-in. centered holes for pinloading. The three-point bend samples were 0.075-in. thick and 0.6 in. bide. The distance between the outer loading points was 5.5 in. In order to establish a standard starting condition, all specimens were quenched to 77°K prior to annealing in vacuo for austenitizing. The temperature of the austenitizing anneal was controlled to + 5"~. The testing and aging temperatures were maintained by various liquid baths (nitrogen, 77"~; freon, 130° to 200°K; acetone, 200 to 300°K; silicone oil, 300' to 450°K) to better than il°K. Strain Measurement. The results herein were derived from both uniaxial tension and three-point bending experiments. For bending tests, the stresses and strains reported are those corresponding to the maximum fiber values. Normally, because of the small strains involved, very sensitive strain measurements are necessary to make microplastic measurements. However, because of the magnitude of the dilatation and shear involved in the martensitic transformation, the requirements in the present experiments proved to be less rigorous. In most experiments the plastic strain was evaluated by measuring stress relaxation and modulus defects. In this method, specimens are loaded rapidly to some predetermined load on an In-

Jan 1, 1969

By Charles Reed

WITH the increasing importance of clay in drilling operations which demand more precise and exacting control over its behavior, there has come the realization that most of our present methods of control over many of its important properties still represent more of an art than a science. Such a situation with respect to a material of such industrial significance is unfortunate, and naturally many investigations have been conducted to improve our knowledge. In general, these investigations have revealed the complex nature of clay behavior and while sometimes they may not have seemed to contribute directly to a solution of the field operator's problems they have been of inestimable importance in bringing to light the broad fundamental scientific principles upon which must be based any effective working theory correlating the known facts of clay behavior and predicting profitable new lines of attack for its improvement.

Jan 1, 1938

By Waldemar Lindgren

CONTENTS. [ ] I. INTRODUCTION. THE precious metals, gold and silver, are the basis of the monetary systems of the world. It is, therefore, natural and inevitable that widespread interest should be manifested in their production and in the various classes of deposits in which they are contained. At times a great scarcity of the precious metals has prevailed; at other times the production has seemed so abnormally large that fears have been entertained regarding their ultimate retention as standards of value. Since most nations have adopted the gold standard, and the remaining ones appear likely to do the same in the near future, the question of available supply of gold for the present and future very naturally arises. This necessarily involves a consideration of the characteristics of the gold-deposits. After the absorption of the gold treasures of the New World by the conquistadores, the gold-placers of Brazil and Russia

Jan 1, 1913

By Robert Linton

THE Sierra Consolidated Mines Co., organized in 1909, owns, together with other holdings, practically all of the productive mineral area in the Ocampo district. Lying within this area are 15 mines, large and small, that had previously been worked and appear to have yielded, since the discovery of the camp, about 100 years ago, bullion of a total value of over $50,000,000. The deepest mine, the Santa Juliana, had been worked to 1,100 ft. below the outcrop. The reopening of the mines involved, first, extensive and thorough development to open up the known ore-shoots at greater depth and explore the ledges for additional shoots, and, second, a revision of existing equipment and methods, so as to increase output and reduce cost of production. This paper will give some account of the metallurgical treatment and a description of the new mill to be built at El Salto.

Jan 2, 1914

By R. H. Heinen

Introduction Drilling is the initial operating step In open pit mining. It goes hand-in-hand with the blasting operations to ensure adequately broken material for the excavation equipment employed. The drilling effectiveness is highly dependent on the quality of the drill evaluation. This discussion will center on the parameters that are needed to evaluate drill requirements for a new mine The procedure that is generated can, however, be used to evaluate whether to expand existing operations and replace existing equipment. Methods of breaking ground, other than blasthole drilling and blasting, such as ripping, will not be discussed. The importance of correct drill evaluation extends to the other facets of open pit mining. Inadequate fragmentation, the direct result of poor drilling and blasting techniques, results in oversized, hard digging for the excavating equipment. The result is higher secondary blasting costs, reduced excavation efficiencies, higher excavation costs, higher road repair costs, and higher haulage equipment costs. The main objective of evaluating drill fleet requirements, therefore, is to determine the equipment needed to minimize the operational constraints, caused by blasthole drilling, on other facets of open pit mining at the lowest cash flow costs.

Jan 1, 1979

CHARLES SCHUCHERT,* New Haven, Conn. (written discussion?).- I embrace ace the opportunity to take part in a discussion of Mr. Woodruff's paper because a successful discerning of what actually constitutes pet-roliferous areas from the geologists' standpoint is worthy of our endeavors, not only from the intellectual side, but also because it may lead, as Mr. Woodruff hopes, to the more certain establishment of principles that can be applied to other continents in exploiting them for petroleum. This discussion will also embrace the results of two other recent papers, one by Alexander W. McCoy and one by Maurice G. Mehl.1 Sources of Petroleum.-Mr. Woodruff is agreed that petroleum comes from plants and animals, or possibly from both, and that it has ac-cumulated by migration into reservoir rocks. These reservoir rocks must of course be porous to become catch basins for the oil and gas, and then, too, their present structures are variable, as they occur in anticlines, domes, terraces, etc. , The structures, he states, are more widespread than are the oil pools, and the same is true for the reservoir rocks. Accordingly, there must be many good sands and structures

Jan 11, 1919

By J. F. Martin, J. E. Friedline, L. M. Melnick, G. E. Pellissier

A method has been developed for determining gases in steel in which the gases are extracted by vacuum fusion and analyzed by mass spectrometry. This method is especially applicable for determining small amounts of oxygen and nitrogen. The lower limit of detection for both oxygen and nitrogen is 0.0001 pct with an average deviation of about 0.0001 pct for oxygen and 0.00008 pct for nitrogen. Hydrogen analyses by this method are in good agreement with analyses by vacuum tin-fusion. A complete analysis of all gases extracted from a steel sample can be accomplished in 40 min. It has long been known that certain of the gaseous elements exert particular effects on the physical and mechanical properties of steel. With the recent advent of new experimental steelmaking practices it is now possible to obtain steels with extremely low contents of such elements as oxygen and nitrogen. Present methods for determining these two gases are of insufficient sensitivity as applied to steels made by these newer practices, and therefore a new technique was considered necessary. A review of the literature showed that the conventional vacuum-fusion method1 was the procedure most suitable for modification to obtain a sensitive method for determining the gaseous elements present in steel simultaneously. However, for trace amounts of gases it is impractical to increase the sample size because of the physical limitations of the apparatus and the increased degassing time which would be necessary. Also, when only one of the desired gases is present in trace amounts, quantitative separation by conventional vacuum fusion is almost impossible. Since small analytical mass spectrometers are now commercially available, it was decided to use this instrument in conjunction with conventional vacuum fusion for both qualitative examination and quantitative determinations of the gaseous elements in steel. This technique has already been used with success for the analysis of copper and lanthanum.2"4 APPARATUS A vacuum-fusion unit was first designed and built, Fig. 1. This unit was designed especially for the determination of small amounts of nitrogen and/or oxygen in steel since an acceptable method (vacuum tin-fusion)5 was already in use for the determination of hydrogen in steel. The vacuum system was con- structed of Pyrex glass throughout. Mercury check valves were used in place of stopcocks in the high-vacuum section of the system. Ferromagnetic samples are normally introduced into the vacuum system through a mercury lift. In case of a break in the lift, the mercury is prevented from entering the furnace by a self-locking, mercury safety check valve, Fig. 2. This check valve, developed at our laboratory, is a modified T/S ball-and-socket joint placed in the sample inlet system between the mercury and the furnace. A sudden entry of mercury or air pushes this valve into the closed position, completely blocking the top of the mercury lift. The check valve is held in the closed position by the vacuum of the apparatus. A separate entrance tube also was placed in the system, so that samples which would amalgamate with mercury, or which are nonmagnetic, could be introduced into the furnace. A slightly modified Guldner-Beach furnace is used in this system.8 The optical flat was connected to the system by a ground-glass joint to facilitate cleaning, a quartz delivery tube was substituted for Pyrex, and the crucible was used uncovered. Fusion takes place in a high-purity graphite crucible insulated by — 200-mesh high-purity graphite powder. The crucible set (crucible and funnel) is suspended in a quartz crucible. The furnace envelope and the sample inlet system are exhausted by 2 single-stage, mercury-diffusion pumps in series. The first of these is a high-speed pump, which will work only with a very low backing pressure. This pump is used to exhaust the gases from the furnace as rapidly as possible. The second mercury-diffusion pump is used as a backing pump for the first; the capacity of this pump is much lower. However, it will work efficiently against a back pressure of 3 mm of mercury. To assure positive pumping, a modified Naughton and Uhlig condenser7 is used. With the use of proper valving the second pump is also used as a circulation pump in the catalyst system.

Jan 1, 1959

By G. H., Wigton

THE present milling operations of the Chief Consolidated Mining Co. consist- of flotation of oxidized minerals from siliceous ores of the Tintic Mining district, Utah. As the lead, silver, and gold minerals that give the ores economic value are almost entirely oxidized; their successful flotation has necessitated the solution of many new problems. Laboratory effort resulted in the selection of a, natural float for the oxidized minerals. 'By "natural float," I mean that no reagent was added to produce a sulfide film on the osidized minerals before or while subjecting them to flotation operations. As compared to methods involving sulfide filming, the natural float was selected because it promised successful treatment of a larger variety, of ores without change in quantity or kind of reagents, as well as a better economic balance between metal recovery and concentration ratio. In explanation, I can, state that with sulfide filming, the efficiency of the method decreases rapidly with increase of hydrated, iron osides in the ore, whereas with the natural float the same effect has not been noted. Evidence shows that although sulfidizing can produce greater metal recoveries, it yields a concentrate so much lower in grade that no advantage results.

Jan 1, 1928

By Harold V. Pearce

THE plant of the Boston and Colorado Smelting Company, at Argo, Colo., has not received special notice in technical or scientific publications for some time past. Dr. Peters' described the development of the reverberatory furnace used at Argo, but he dealt almost exclusively with the increase in size and the corresponding gain in capacity. Since the time of his description the changed conditions have led to a modification of the former smelting practice, and this modification forms the basis of the present paper. No claim is made for personal originality in connection with these improvements, in fact, I expressly disclaim any such intention, since nearly every successful step in the development of the process now used at Argo has been suggested by Dr. Richard Pearce at various times during the past 12 years, though perhaps in a different manner of exe¬cution. These changes would undoubtedly have been made before, were it not that many problems of greater metallurgical importance and momentarily of more urgent need thus had to be solved. At the time to which I refer, economic conditions demanded mainly an increase of capacity. Moreover, the determination and placing of exact losses in smelting were not so imperative as they now are. About three years ago, the time of my appointment to the - management of. the works of the Boston and Colorado Smelting Co., the great decline in the price of copper occurred; the Argo plant, in common with all others engaged in the copper-industry, lost heavily in the market-value of the stocks on hand of ore and furnace-products. Added to this was the unfortunate circumstance that the copper-supply of the Argo plant from general sources began to dwindle; in fact, it almost entirely ceased. About this time the smelting-plants in the west-

Mar 1, 1905

By P. Barnes

EXACT accounts have been kept of the cost of these chimneys, and it may be a matter of some possible interest that the plans and details of cost should be laid before the Institute. The statement of cost herewith submitted does not give minute particulars of the weights or quantities of material used, although these are noted upon the company's books.

Jan 1, 1876

By C. W. Parisi

Use of high-expansion foam for controlling mine fires was first made known in a published announcement in June, 1956, by representatives of the Safety in Mines Research Establishment, Buxton, England. In 1957, the United States Bureau of Mines, interested in this new method of controlling mine fires which could not be approached or extinguished by conventional methods, began to investigate the practicability of the foam-plug technique under American mining conditions at its experimental coal mine in Bruceton, Pa. Results of these experiments proved the potentialities of controlling mine fires with foam. The USBM conducted numerous demonstrations at its experimental mine to show this foam-plug method to groups of coal mining men, many of which were impressed by the action of the foam as it moved away from the netting toward an open fire and its ability to control the fire in a very short time.

Jan 2, 1961

By AIME AIME

THIS year's Chairman of the Mineral industry Education Division is, like his predecessors, no novice in that field, having been in 1928 Chairman of the Engineering Education Committee which labored so well that it was enlarged into a Division of the Institute's activities . For almost a quarter of a century lie has been a dean in mining and engineering schools, with considerable experience before that as a teacher. A native-born New Englander (June 23, 1881), he naturally went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received the Bachelor's degree in mining in 1904. Just why a Fitchburg. Massachusetts boy yearned to he a mining engineer he has never explained, but why should any boy ever have to explain why lie wants t? be a mining engineer? Like the old rhyme about the reasons why a man should drink, "any other reason why" is adequate..

Jan 1, 1945

By John Shelton

ONE of the heaviest burdens uselessly cast by our mineral land laws upon the holder of the title conveyed by a patent from the United States is due to the provision excepting known veins from land patented as placer. In many instances the expense of defending such titles from the assaults of the owners of lode locations made upon the theory that the veins so located were known to exist at the date of the placer application for patent has exceeded many times the value of the land in question. Neither the lapse of time, however long after the issuance of the patent nor repeated adjudications by the courts serve to quiet such titles or to prevent them from being questioned. In the passage of laws providing for the acquisition of title to the mineral lands of the United States, Congress provided that the title to known veins should not pass from the United States by a patent based upon a placer location. As construed by the courts, the law (Sec. 2333 R.S.U.S.) provides that the applicant for a patent upon a placer claim may, if any vein of sufficient value to justify the expenditure of money in its development is known by him to exist within the boundaries thereof, include in his patent application an application for patent upon the vein as a lode claim; and failure to do so is to be deemed a conclusive declaration that the applicant makes no claim to the vein nor to an area of surface ground extending for 25 ft. (7.6 m.) on each side of its middle or center. As to such vein and, such area of enclosing surface ground under the circumstances stated, the title remains in, the United States notwithstanding the issuance of a patent that purports to convey the entire surface of a described area and everything beneath it, excepting only the segments of veins the apices of which lie outside of such area. Such known veins with such area of enclosing surface ground are, of course, at any time, so long as they remain unlocated, subject to location and appropriation in the same manner as other veins upon the public domain. The history of the operation of this law in one district will serve to illustrate its effect generally throughout the mining regions of the United States. In the Butte district, the mineral that first attracted the atten-

Jan 8, 1919

By R. T. Keyes, R. B. Clay, L. L. Udy, V. O. Cook, M. A. Cook

Based on compressibility and stress wave velocity in rock, initial explosive loading conditions, the thermochemistry of the explosive and reasonable description of the pressure-distance relations behind the shock front, the distribution of energy between the products of detonation and the burden are estimated as a function of time for various loading conditions. These include 'powder factor', loading density A (fraction of borehole occupied by explosive), and the explosive itself. Factors responsible for rock fragmentation are discussed in terms of: 1) 'release wave fracturing', 2) 'shear wave fracturing', and 3) 'release of loading fracturing' or 'rock bursting'. Release wave fracturing appears to occur only in the immediate vicinity of free faces, and shear wave fracturing only adjacent to the borehole under normal blasting conditions. Rock bursting is thus considered to be the most important means of rock fracturing in blasting. Means for maximizing it are considered. The most important factors to consider include maximum available energy A, explosive density p1, loading density A and 'powder factor'. Maximum efficiency is attained in general by maximizing the A . p1 product. This is achieved by using high density explosives at a loading density of unity (A = 1.0). Ways for achieving this condition are discussed. The bulk-handled aluminized slurry blasting agents have the desired properties for achieving optimum conditions for high blasting efficiency based on the theory outlined herein. Factors considered most important in the blasting of rock are: 1) The maximum available energy A, determined by the heat of explosion Q and the mechanical efficiency ?, a factor intimately associated with the mode of application (A = Q at highest gas concentrations). 2) The 'borehole pressure', pb, or the maximum pressure developed in the borehole after passage of the detonation wave and before the burden has had time to move or become compressed appreciably. (Owing to the short duration of the detonation wave at any particular point in the borehole, the fact that the explosive may not always fill the borehole completely and the further fact that the burden may not actually see the detonation pressure, the borehole pressure is considered more significant than the detonation pressure p2 as a performance factor in borehole blasting.) The borehole pressure is determined by the explosion or adiabatic pressure, p3 , and the loading density, A, or the fraction of the borehole filled by explosive. 3) The physical conditions important in the application of the explosive are: a) The 'powder factor,' (We/Wr), or the ratio of the wt of the explosive to that of the rock being blasted expressed as lb per ton or more generally in lb/cu yd. b) The bulk density, p1 ?. c) The 'burden' or 'line of least resistance,' the spacing between boreholes, the geometry of the borehole pattern and sequence of firing. d) The physical and chemical properties of the rock, most significant of which are possible heterogeneties, such as faulting, prefracture, and greater than micro-scale chemical heterogeneities. (This factor is not considered here but deserves a great deal of careful consideration.) All of these factors need to be carefully considered in the most economical engineering of a blast. Here is considered firstly an outline of the present status of dynamic rock mechanics, particularly as it pertains to blasting. The factors pertaining to the most efficient application of blasting agents are also considered, followed by a discussion of methods of application to achieve optimum explosives performance. ROCK MECHANICS Dynamic rock mechanics is currently a rapidly developing science contributing greatly to a better understanding and consequently the more effective application of explosives in blasting of rock.1-22 Basic to the development of the science of dynamic rock mechanics were the advances of Goransen23 and the Los Alamos and NOL groups24-28 concerning rock and stress wave phenomena and the transmission and reflection characteristics of stress waves at interfaces between different media. Basing considerations on this new knowledge as well as new experimental methods of study (ultra-high speed streak and framing cameras and electronic timers) the theory of fracture and failure of solids under impulsive loading by stress waves developed rapidly.14,16,27-29 Also the

Jan 1, 1967

By P More

US 4,132,621-In the electrowinning of aluminum, the cells are aligned in a lengthwise direction so as to lessen the harmful influence of the induced magnetic fields Each cell is supplied with current from the preceding cell both via the head arid at least one side riser The output of the cathode bars is divided into two separate groups, the upstream group supplying the head of the subsequent cell arid the downstream group supplying the side risers of the subsequent cell This produces a substantial improvement in cell efficiency arid a greater regularity P Morel, J P Dugois, arid B Langon, assigned to Aluminium Pechiney. Jan 2, 1979 12 pp. (204¬243M) Filed 1-12-78 (868,861) Priority: France, 1-19-77 (77/2,213) US 4,134,806-Cells, anodes, arid methods for use in the electrowinning of nickel, cobalt, copper, zinc, or other metals from an acid ore leach solution or the like The cell is provided with vertically immersed stationary cathodes and stationary rod anodes which are noncorrodible by the electrolyte arid are electrocatalytic to the anode reaction. The spaced parallel anode rods are connected to electric current supply bars The anode rods have an electroconductive core made of a metal alloy arid a surface coating of an oxide of platinum or a platinum group metal The ratio of active cathode surface area to active anode surface area is preferably at least 3 0. De Nora arid C Traini, assigned to Diamond Shamrock Tech¬nologies, SA Jan 16, 1979 13 pp. (204-105R) Filed 9-15-77 (833,661) Priority Italy, 1-29-73 (19738 A/73). Same British 1,434,334-5, dated May 5, 1976 US 4,135,994-In the electrowinning of aluminum at a high current efficiency, the electrolytic bath is a mixed molten salt consisting of 2-15% by weight of aluminum trichloride, 15-83% of sodium chloride, 15-70% of combined calcium chloride arid magnesium chloride but riot more than 40% of calcium chloride, arid optionally up to 10% of barium chloride Preferably, plate-shaped graphite electrodes used for both cathodes and anodes are arranged in parallel inclined relation so that the axis in the lengthwise direction makes an angle of from 10° to 45° to the horizontal. T Ishikawa arid H Ichikawa, assigned to Nippon Light Metal Co Ltd Jan 23, 1979 4 pp (204-67) Filed 11-15-77(851,632) Same British 1,550,502, dated Aug 15, 1979

Jan 1, 1980

By John S. Brown

AT opposite ends of a mineralized belt of northeast-southwest trend, and ten miles apart, are the Edwards and Balmat zinc minas, in St. Lawrence County, New York, west of the Adirondacks. The principal town is Gouverneur, fifteen miles west of Edwards, eight miles northwest of Balmat, and the area is often referred to as the Gouverneur district. (See Fig. 1.) At various times the district has been noted for its hematite mines, pyrite mines, and marble quarries, all now abandoned. At present, in addition to zinc, it is the country's largest source of industrial talc. A short distance to the east important magnetite mines are operating. Geologically the district lies at the southern margin of the Canadian shield, where this great expanse of Pre-Cambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks merges into the foothills of the Adirondacks. The rock formations in approximate order of areal extent and importance are as follows:

Jan 1, 1947

By John A. Shelton

One of the heaviest burdens uselessly cast by our mineral land laws upon the holder of the title conveyed by a patent from the United States is due to the provision excepting known veins from land patented as placer. In many instances the expense of defending such titles from the assaults of the owners of lode locations made upon the theory that the veins so located were known to exist at the date of the placer application for patent has exceeded many times the value of the land in question. Neither the lapse of time, however long after the issuance of the patent. nor repeated adjudications by the courts serve to quiet such titles Or to prevent them from being questioned. In the passage of laws providing for the acquisition of title to the mineral lands of the United States, Congress provided that the title to known veins should not pass from the United States by a patent based upon a placer location. As construed by the courts, the law (Sec. 2333 R.S.U.S.) provides that the applicant for a patent upon a placer claim may, if any vein of sufficient value to justify the expenditure of money in its development is known by him to exist within the boundaries thereof, include in his patent application an application for patent upon the vein as a lode claim; and failure to do so is to be deemed a conclusive declaration that the applicant makes no claim to the vein nor to an area of surface ground extending for 25 ft. (7.6 m.) on each side of its middle or center. As to such vein and such area of enclosing surface ground under the circumstances stated, the title remains in the United States notwithstanding the issuance of a patent that purports to convey the entire surface of a described area and everything beneath it, excepting only the segments of veins the apices of which lie outside of such area. Such known veins with such area of enclosing surface ground are, of course, at any time, so long as they remain unlocated, subject to location and appropriation in the same manner as other. veins upon the public domain. The history of the operation of this law in one district will serve to illustrate its effect generally throughout the mining regions of the United States. In the Butte district, the mineral that first attracted the atten-

Jan 1, 1920