Search Documents

By George C. Reynolds

INTRODUCTION The overall importance of the minerals industry during the next 20 years was highlighted In "The Global 200 Report to the President" (Barney, 1982) in the following terms: "The industrial and agricultural processes that are taken for granted today would be severely disrupted of any one of dozens of critical minerals ceased to be available in dependable, reasonably priced supply. Supply in turn has become highly energy intensive and international In scope ...... because resources are not uniformly distributed geographically, political considerations (also) become an Important determinant of price and trade patterns." In attempting to determine Australia’s contribution of bauxite raw materials to the world of the future, this paper necessarily also concerns itself with the alumina and aluminium industry to which it supplles the raw material. It is an industry which is energy intensive, International in scope and heavily influenced by political considerations. The aluminium industry has shown a remarkably rapid growth during the past 20 years (Fig. 1).

Jan 1, 1982

By Richard P. Rothwell

THE anthracite coals of Pennsylvania are all mined from large veins. A seam less than four feet. in thickness is generally considered as unworkable, those from which most of the coal now comes being from 8 to 30 feet thick. The system of mining employed is, almost without exception, that known as "chamber and pillar work;" that is, the coal is taken out of chambers of from 18 to 30 feet in width, and pillars of from 12 to 20 feet are left between these to support the roof. In general, the entire thickness of the seam, even

Jan 1, 1875

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 Alexander L. Holley

Jan 1, 1879

By AIME AIME

This section contains announcements of general interest to the members of the Institute, but not always of sufficient permanent value to warrant republication in the volumes of the Transactions.

Sep 1, 1906

COUNCIL OF SECTION DELEGATES A J Duff G H Ruggles E D Gardner E H Torgersen F W Strandberg, Chairman W I Garms H C Weed R D Chapman, Vice-Chairman H M Lavender J A Wilcox F T Moyer. Secretary W C Lawson C F Willis EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE J E Kastrop L Thiessen Past Chairmen R H Smith E H Wisser P D I Honeyman R W Hughes C H Kuzell

Jan 1, 1951

By R. R. Sayers

VENTILATION may be defined as the process by which vitiated air of an inclosed or partly inclosed space is continuously replaced by fresh air. Fresh air has been defined as invigorating pure air. Pure dry air at sea level contains the following gases:1 Analysis of Air at Sea Level PER CENT. Oxygen 20.94 Nitrogen 78.09 Carbon dioxide 0.03 Argon 0.94 Helium, krypton, neon, xenon, hydrogen, hydrogen peroxid, ammonia, ozone traces CARBON DIOXIDE LIMIT For many years carbon dioxide was used as an index of the purity of the air vitiated by the metabolism of people. It was, however, well known that the untoward effects produced on those exposed to such air was not due to the concentration of the carbon dioxide. It has been found that the untoward effects on the comfort and efficiency of those so exposed are due to the increased temperature and humidity. It has been found that men can breathe air containing many times the amount of carbon dioxide found in our worst ventilated theaters and assembly halls, which, according to Rosenau, do not contain above 0.5 per cent. carbon dioxide.

Jan 7, 1926

By D. L. McCain

Slurry transportation of coarse coal from the mining face to the preparation plant has proved successful in a West Virginia underground mine. Coal has been pumped from the mining section for several months. The system is currently being provided with the flexible link to the face to allow for continuous transportation. Some future plans for coal mines and projections for broader applications of the transportation method are given.

Jan 1, 1976

By H. R. Tunnell

EVERY ONE connected with a mine knows that it is hard to keep down the costs of moving ore from the place where it is broken to the shaft or portal. Considered broadly, the subject of handling would cover all work done in a mine, but here it has been limited to handling ore in stopes and drifts, through chutes, and on levels. Good Ventilation and a strict enforcement of rules for the prevention of dust safeguard the health of the men and lower transportation costs. HANDLING ORE IN STOPES AND DRIFTS The object of all stoping is to mine ore of good grade at low cost. In Butte, the major part of the ore is mined, from Veins dipping from 60° to the horizontal to those which are vertical, by means of, square-set, rill, -timbered-rill, and back-filling stopes. When blasted, a part of the rock is carried by gravity to the grizzlies over the chutes, the rest is shoveled. Rock, when broken in a stope, may be deflected by inclined floors or slides toward the top of a chute leading to the level below. Ore broken clean enough to ship should be carried, by the force of its fall, into a chute or as nearly into that chute as the safety of the stope and the men permits. Ore that requires sorting, about 80 per cent. of all ore mined, is caught on a grizzly and the waste picked out. Waste rock broken in a stope is used to fill that stope and should be blasted into the gob with as little handling as possible.

Jan 2, 1922

By R. C. Wilcox, R. V. Lawrence, P. A. Calhoun

The V-Rh-Si, Nb-Rh-Si, and Cr-Rh-Si systems were investigated to evaluate the extent of solid solubility between binary Cr3O structures. All Cr3O components lie within the favorable atomic size range1 for the formation of the Cr3O structure. Previous studies indicated complete solid solubility between V3Si and V3Sn2 and no solubility between Sn and cr3si3 or Si and Nb3Rh.4 The Cr3O structure is not found in the Cr-Sn and Nb-Si binary systems. Powder compacts were are-melted under argon, homogenized in a vacuum at 1000°C, and water-quenched. Alloys containing greater than 15 at. pet Si were annealed 100 hr. X-ray diffractometer methods were used to study all systems utilizing copper radiation for the Cr-Rh-Si system and chromium radiation for the other two systems. V-Rh-Si System. The alloys prepared in the V-Rh-Si system and the measured lattice parameters for the Cr3O structure found in each alloy are listed in Table I. The characteristic Cr3O diffraction pattern was found in all binary alloys. The measured lattice parameter of V3Rh (VRS-1) is in agreement with the reported value5 while the value for V3Si (VRS-5) is only in fair agreement.' In

Jan 1, 1965

By A. M. Gaudin

THIS paper presents, with the help of colored photomicrographs, the new method of mineral identification termed "selective iridescent filming." This method pertains to the field of determinative mineralogy, which it provides with tools for: (1) phase identification, (2) solid solution analysis. The method should be particularly useful in the applied fields of: (1) paragenesis of ore deposits, (2) mineral dressing, (3) mineral synthesis and study of phase equilibria.

Jan 1, 1938

By Samuel S. Wyer

The installation of the gas-producer power-plant in America has been so unusual that all engineers have viewed it with interest; a large majority, however, regard it with a lack of confidence and many with positive distrust. Despite the fact that

Jan 1, 1906

By A. V. Henry, W. Harry Vaughan

THE kaolins of the southeastern United States were known to civilization as early as the latter part of the eighteenth century-and yet the [ ] commercial history of Georgia kaolins may be said to begin in the year 1900. The U. S. Bureau of Mines reported for that year a production of 6885 tons of "miscellaneous" clays in Georgia. A comparison of these figures with those of 1934, when the production rose to 284,556 tons (65 per cent of the domestic production), indicates the growing economic and technologic importance of this raw material. Fig. 1 clearly shows that a part of the increase is due to a normal growth in the use of kaolinitic clays and a part is due to replacement of clays formerly imported. Occurrence Georgia kaolin occurs in an irregular belt extending diagonally across the middle of the state, a distance of approximately 225 miles. This belt

Jan 1, 1937

By George F. Becker

Complexity of Rock-Fractures.—The strains to which rocks have been subjected are manifestly very complex, and it is entirely safe to presume that every possible mode of deformation and rupture is exemplified. The most superficial inspection of any ordinary mountain region is sufficient to assure the observer that the rocks have been pressed, stretched, bent, buckled, twisted, and shorn. The study of torsional rupture cannot fail, therefore, to throw light on geological phenomena. The question is how areas which have been broken in this manner are to be distinguished from those which have yielded to other systems of forces. Phenomena of Joints.—It is well known that a large part of the more homogeneous rocks and some very heterogeneous rocks are intersected by partings often ailed joints. These partings are frequently flat surfaces even when seen in very large exposures, but are sometimes surfaces of moderate, single, or double curvature. Joint, usually occur in groups, in each of which the several partings are parallel to one another, and several such groups often intersect the same rock-mass. In such cases the different systems make large angles with one another. Nearly all students of the subject of jointing have reached the conclusion that joints are faulted surfaces, the dislocations usually being of small amplitude; and this conclusion receives abundant support from the study of thin sections under the microscope. It has thus been shown that much even of what would be regarded in hand specimens as mere slaty cleavage

Jan 1, 1895

By Fredrick C. Kruger

Anthropological diggings have revealed that the American Indians carried on intertribal trade in flint, obsidian, ochre, and other mineral commodities, indicating that mining was practiced before the arrival of the white man from Europe Carbon datings from the native copper pits on Isle Royal and Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, have yielded dates as early as 5555 BC for this mining. As early as Pliocene time, Eolithic-man fashioned artifacts of stones probably found on the surface, but by late Quaternary, Neolithic man was sinking shafts and mining underground for flint. Because placer gold was easily recognized and easily worked, it was used for ornamental purposes by nearly all cultures before other metals were discovered The Chaldeans hammered copper objects approximately 4500 BC and copper was used in India and China about 3000 BC. An ancient trail from the Nile to the Sinai led to the mines of copper and turquoise Paintings and bas-reliefs of Egyptian tombs dating around 3000 BC depict maps, mining, and smelting in this area. It is interesting that despite this widespread and long history of mining, Agricola records that the first mining laws were developed by the Greeks at Laurium about 700 BC. All of the base metals are known to have been produced in small quantities during the Colonial period in America, but perhaps the first commercial production was the iron ore shipped from Virginia to England in 1608, followed by lead in 1621. Among the earliest companies formed in America that still survive (according to the standard reference yearbooks), were: the Jackson Mining Co., predecessor of Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co. on the Marquette Range, Michigan, in 1844; the Sussex Zinc and Copper Mining & Manufacturing Co., fore-runner of New Jersey Zinc Co. in 1848 (although the Franklin-Sterling body was discovered in 1640); the five companies, Pittsburg and Boston, Quincy Mining, Pewabic, Huron Mining, and Minesota all formed in the decade (1844-1855) that followed the rediscovery of Keweenaw copper, were combined into Calumet and Hecla; and Vermont Copper Mining Co. in 1853 Although southeast Wisconsin lead-zinc was discovered in 1690, Mine La Motte in southeast Missouri in 1720, placer gold in California in 1848, Comstock Lode in 1859, Leadville in 1860, Cripple Creek in 1891, no surviving companies of those early mining periods exist. The first strong producer in the Mississippi Valley was St. Joseph Lead in 1864; Homestake and Pickands-Mather, were formed in 1877, Phelps-Dodge in 1881; Pittsburgh Reduction, the predecessor of Al-

Jan 1, 1976

By W. C. Browning

The influence of the hydroxyl factor is more damaging to formations penetrated and causes greater consumption of drilling mud additives than previously realized. This hydroxyl effect on clays is essentially independent of the cations present in the drilling fluid and thus differs from the base exchange reactions that have preoccupied mud chemistry with sodium and calcium bentonite concepts for nearly two decades. The new organic polyelectrolyte-con-ditioned muds haw made it possible to use materials other than sodium hydroxide to maintain the alkalinity of such muds. The properties of silicates, as indicated by their dissociation characteristics and buffering action, are such that they can control he pH and alkalinity of drilling muds at the desired level and, at the same time, minimize undesirable hydroxyl effects associated with sodium hydroxide. This use of silicate compounds is different and distinct from prior applications of silicates as deflocculants or shale preservers. Laboratory and field data presented in this report show that silicate compositions can be utilized to adjust the alkalinity of drilling muds and, at the same time, minimize hydmxyl-promoted clay cleavage. INTRODUCTION Studies for improving the efficiency of rotary drilling techniques must consider the chemistry of drilling fluids and of the formations being penetrated. The chemical aspects of drilling must be studied in conjunction with and in relation to the mechanical factors if, for example, penetration rates are to be optimized. Drilling fluid technology has been largely influenced by chemical reactions of the montmorillonite (bentonite) clay minerals. Most of the literature of mud chemistry concerns the properties of bentonite. Clays of the kaolin or illite type, which are nonswelling, are not generally regarded as sources of drilling mud problems. If these nonswelling shale clays are considered, they are commonly regarded as inert solids. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the relation of surface and colloid chemistry to massive shale bodies has received only scant attention from drilling technologists. Clay studies reported in the drilling mud literature have dealt, for the most part, with the properties of clays in a finely divided state, and often in very dilute suspensions. Yet frequently during drilling, shale problems not related to the rheology of clay suspensions develop in massive non-bentonitic shale sections of zero or near zero permeability. This paper is concerned with surface chemical reactions that can influence the behavior of these non-bentonite clay masses in such a manner as to adversely affect drilling operations. Browning and Perricone1,2 have pointed out that some of the most troublesome shales to drill, such as the Atoka, contain no montmorillonites. They also pointed out that mud problems can frequently be mitigated by reduction of clay cleavage achieved by using drilling fluids with a minimum of available hydroxyl ions. If pronounced clay cleavage occurs during drilling, the borehole may soften, increasing the possibility of sloughing. In addition, the resulting increased incorporation of high-surface-area clay solids into the mud system can reduce penetration rates and necessitate greater chemical treatment. This increase of shale, of colloidal or near-colloidal dimensions, into the drilling mud is due to clay aggregate cleavage and not to base exchange or swelling reactions, such as occur with bentonites. Searle and Grimshaw3 point out the difference between cleavage or slaking reactions of nonswelling clays (such as illite and kaolinite) and the swelling of bentonite. They further state that the speed of slaking is increased in alkaline water. Eitel1 cites Salmang and Becker, who recognized that clay surface reactions impart plasticity and workability to clay masses. Their results clearly show that all liquids which contain hydroxyl groups in their molecules favor the workability of clays. The ancient technique of aging clays in the moist condition to increase their "workability" is evidence that these clay cleavage phenomena are of considerable importance. The same hydration cleavage that occurs during the aging of nonswelling clays for ceramic use also acts to break up cuttings and soften the borehole during drilling operations. The mechanism of cleavage of the crystalline aggregates of illitic, kaolinitic and other nonswelling clays; and the chemical means of controlling this cleavage are therefore of considerable significance to the drilling mud chemistry. Inasmuch as there is little reference in the drilling mud literature to the cleavage reactions of nonswelling clays, the structure of these clays and certain properties that relate to the mechanism of clay cleavage will be reviewed briefly. STRUCTURE OF NONSWELLING CLAYS Clays such as kaolinite, illite and montmorillonite are compmed of alternate layers of (1) silicon-oxygen tetra-

Jan 1, 1965

By C. E. Reinhard

A USEFUL accelerated weathering test should be capable of placing any series of metals quantitatively in the same order of endurance as that noted under a particular set of actual exposure conditions. The development of such a test must necessarily depend to a considerable extent upon data obtained from a wide variety of exposures. This paper offers preliminary data from exposure tests on nine metals placed in 11 locations in the Lehigh Valley, within a radius of 20 miles from Palmerton. The exposure conditions vary from a severe industrial atmosphere to a pure rural atmosphere. The data are offered as evidence of the necessity for the identification and evaluation of the variables of corrosion and as illustration of some of the variations to be considered in the development of a useful accelerated test. It is quite clear, from this evidence, that a useful accelerated test must be versatile to the extent of showing the probable variations of corrosion resulting from differences in atmosphere as well as from differences in the metals. The paper is presented solely with the object of pointing out the wide variations in relative merits of several common metals in resisting corrosion and without any thought of initiating controversy regarding the, merits of particular metals. For this reason the metals are designated only by symbols in the tables and no key is given to these symbols.

Jan 1, 1929

By J. Gordon Parr, G. R. Purdy

The phase boundaries of "TiNi" have been accurately determined by high-tewperature X-ray diffraction and metallo-graphic techniques. The phase (centered at 51 pct Ni) has a restricted range of homogeneity at 500°C, and a much greater range at 800°C. "TiNi" in all alloys containing less than 51 pct Ni decomposes rapidly and reversibly at 36°C to form a previously unreported phase. ThE region of the titanium nickel system corresponding to the phase "TiNi" has been the subject of several investigations.1,2,4-7 Laves and wallbaum1 reported "TiNi" as a body-centered cubic (a2) Phase, and Duwez and Taylor2 determined its para- meter to be 2.986. Duwez and Taylor also reported that "TiNi" decomposed into "Ti2Ni" and "TiNi3" on prolonged heating at 650" and 800°C, which led McQuillan3 to suggest a sluggish eutectoid reaction between "TiNis" and "Ti2Ni". Margolin, Ence, and Nielsen,' working with higher purity alloys, found no evidence of this decomposition. They showed the "TiNi" phase region extending from 49 to 54 pct*

Jan 1, 1962

By S. E. Clay

In the chemical reaction control regime employed in the laboratory dissolution experiments, calcined trona ore dissolves in aqueous solutions according to a first order, irreversible reaction rate. The study showed that the reaction is first order with respect to solution NagCO3 concentration. The activation energy was determined to be 20.233 kJ/g. mol with a rate constant equal to 1235 mm/s (2917 in. per min). The dissolving particle may be described by shrinking particle behavior.

Jan 1, 1986

By A. H. Kline, E. B. Zimmer, Zay Jeffries

It is well known that many properties of a given metal vary with the size of grain or cell. For most industrial purposes, where high ultimate strength and high elastic limit are desired, the manufacturer tries to produce a fine-grained structure. For some purposes, for example in transformer iron, a coarse-grained structure is desirable. The terms fine-grained and coarse-grained are used only in a relative sense. For example, a fine-grained cast copper might have grains 100 times larger than coarse-grained high-speed steel. Similarly, a finegrained steel rail might have grains or cells 100 times larger than coarsegrained wire, which was made of steel from the same heat. In some metals, the change in grain size is more appreciable khan the changes in any of the properties determined by the tensile test. Furthermore, in metals which have been annealed or subjected to high temperatures, grain size may prove to be a better indication of the life of the metal in use than the tensile test. One of the authors was able to supplant the tensile test with grain-size determinations in the control of metal for a specific use, the latter determination being more indicative of the life of the metal part than the tensile test. A grain-size determination with a tensile stest is, of course, more valuable than either singly. At present there is a decided dearth of data on actual grain-size determinations in metals, and consequently a corresponding lack of ability to interpret the determinations after they are made. It would be desirable to have correlation made between grain size and properties of metals, comparing thousands of determinations. In this way, grain-size determinations might be interpreted in much the same manner that tensile tests are now. Several Methods of Measuring Grain Size One of the chief reasons why more grain-size measurements have not been made is the excessive work involved in making a determination.

Jan 1, 1916