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By D. J. Schmatz

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS The qualitative correlation between low-temperature ductility and prior high-temperature creep strain in nickel obtained in this investigation confirms the result obtained on high-purity brass by Chen and Machlin. However, the quantitative effect is much smaller in nickel. Comparison can be made on the basis of a prior high-temperature strain that is a certain percentage of the total high-temperature elongation to rupture. In the research of Chen and machlin, the prior high-temperature strain of 1/2 pct equaled 8.5 pct of the total high-temperature elongation at rupture. For nickel, in our experiments, 8.5 pct of 21.2 pct equals 1.8 pct. For eh = 1.8 pct, the loss in ductility in percent equals x 100 = b.5 pct. That is, for equivalent bo Formation of Beta Manganese-Type Structure in Iron-Aluminum-Manganese Alloys D. J. Schmatz IRON-aluminum alloys have gained much interest in the past few years for use as a base material for elevated-temperature alloys because of their excel- high-temperature strain the loss in low-temperature ductility is 8.5 pct for nickel as compared to 60 pct for pure a, brass. It is also interesting to note the observation that in nickel the low-temperature fractures, even at the most extreme high-temperature pre-strain, were partly trans crystalline and partly intercrystalline. In the case of a brass, these fractures were completely intercrystalline. According to the data on the percent of the grain boundary area that is cracked, at 22 pct high-temperature elongation, about 12.5 pct of the grain boundary area does not carry load. Thus, the inter-crack areas are carrying a stress that is about 11 pct higher than the nominal stress. A simple model predicts that the overall elongation, which is primarily the elongation in the bulk of the specimen, will correspond to the nominal stress when the stress in the intercrack area equals the tensile strength. Quantitatively this model predicts the equation The form of this equation will agree with that found if the strain-hardening exponent, n, equals unity. Actually this model is too gross an approximation to yield good quantitative results. The question naturally arises as to whether in ordinary hot-working, such as hot-rolling, intercrys-talline cracks are introduced that affect the low-temperature properties. It appears that the answer is that such a possibility cannot be overlooked, if the hot-working induces tensile stresses at temperatures above the equicohesive temperature and if the material tends to be notch sensitive at low temperature. ACKNOWLEDGMENT This research was supported by the Aeronautical Research Laboratory, Directorate of Research, Wright Air Development Center, United States Air Force. REFERENCES lC. Zener: Fracturing of Metals, 1948, Cleveland, ASM. 'H. C. Chang and N. J. Grant: Mechanism of Intercrystalline Fracture. AIME Trans., 1956, voL 8, p. 544; lownal of Metals, May, 1956. 'E. S. Machlin. CreepRupt ure by Vacancy Condensation, AIME Trans., 1956, vol. 8, p. 106; lownd of Metals, February, 1956 'C. Chen and E. S. Machlin: On a Mechanism of High-Temper at ure Inter-crystalline Cracking, lownd of Metals, July. 1957. p. 829. Alloys lent oxidation resistance. Binary alloys of aluminum in iron are ferritic and consequently have poor hot strength. Alloys of iron-aluminum-manganese were made in an attempt to produce an austenitic alloy containing sufficient aluminum to retain the oxidation resistance of binary alloys of iron-alumi-

Jan 1, 1960

[Title PAGE 1 Contents Page 1 Officers and Directors5 Standing Committees 6 Professional Divisions7]

Jan 1, 1928

By W. C. Smith, P. J. Hickey

After a short historical background of the process evolution, this article descvibes present-day plant facilities and operating techniques utilized for high-purity bismuth production. The plant is one of the world's largest, with an annual output of some one million pounds of refined bismutlz. PREVIOUS papers1 written by staff members of Cerro de Pasco Corp. have referred briefly to the production of refined bismuth. Since the Corporation is one of the world's foremost producers of high-purity bismuth, a detailed description of the process for extracting the metal may be of general interest. Following a short historical background of the development of the actual process, this presentation will trace the progress of bismuth from its entry into the primary smelting circuits to its concentration in electrolytic lead cell slimes. Our facilities for the treatment of anode muds will be described and the extractive methods given in some detail, with particular emphasis on the techniques which result in the production of refined metal. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Shortly after Cerro de Pasco began smelting operations at Oroya, Peru in 1922, it became apparent that the dust carried by copper converter gas contained appreciable amounts of bismuth. Although dust collection efficiency was poor prior to building of the 550-ft stack and installation of the central cottrells in 1938, a large stock of dust was accumulated during the intervening years, having the following approximate composition: Oz. per ton Ag - 11.0 Pct Sn — 0.5 Pct Pb - 49.0 Pct Zn - 6.5 Pct Bi - 2.0 Pct Insol. - 1.5 Pct Cu - 0.7 Pct Fe - 2.3 Pct Sb - 3.0 Pct S - 10.0 Pct As - 7.5 In the mid-1920's, experimental crucible melts of this dust with carbon indicated that most of the bismuth and silver, and some of the lead, could be reduced to a fairly clean bullion. Other products were a small amount of leady copper matte and a slag high in zinc, arsenic, antimony, and lead; this slag contained some tin but only small quantities of silver, bismuth, and copper. After the laboratory results had been confirmed by operation of a small reverberatory, a dust reduction furnace was constructed. The ±10 pct Bi-Pb bullion produced from this operation was stocked until 1930, when an Oroya-designed converter type furnace3 was installed for the elimination of arsenic, antimony, and some lead from the bullion. This process concentrated the bismuth from 10 to about 60 pct. By means of the bismuth process developed4 by W. C. Smith at East Chicago (1909-1914) and the discovery of a method5 for separation of lead from bismuth with chlorine gas in 1929, it became possible to begin production of refined bismuth. Unfortunately, bismuth deleaded with chlorine always contained residual chlorides, and the removal of the chlorides by caustic soda left a lead content of 0.02 to 0.04 pct. This final problem was solved6 by substitution of air-blowing for the caustic treatment, which effectively removed all excess chlorine and gave bismuth which was practically lead-free. In 1934, a pilot electrolytic lead refinery began operations at Oroya. Lead smelting was resumed in 1935 and two years later a 100-ton-per-day lead refinery was put into service. In conjunction with the latter, the present-day Anode Residue Plant was constructed. Until 1940, the plant treated both lead anode slimes and dust reduction bullion. The dust reduction furnace was shut down in that year, and all cottrell dusts (with the exception of the product from the arsenic cottrell) were mixed with pyrite and treated in a Wedge roaster to eliminate all possible arsenic. Calcine from this operation joined the sinter plant feed; hence the bismuth from the copper and lead circuits was collected in the lead bullion and subsequently in lead anode slimes from the electrolytic lead refinery. The latter source has been the only bismuth-bearing material of any consequence entering the Anode Residue Plant from late 1940 to the present. A copper refinery began operating in 1948, and the cell mud from this plant is mixed with lead slimes and processed through the same circuit, though only a small quantity of bismuth is present in electrolytic copper cell residues. BISMUTH INTAKE Present-day routes which are followed by the new bismuth feed from its entry into the primary smelting circuits to its arrival at the Anode Residue Plant are traced schematically in Fig. 1. As illus-

Jan 1, 1962

By E. A. Wieselmann

This chapter presents a successful approach for achieving mine entry stability at the Cane Creek potash mine by the utilization of closure measurements. The mine is located in southeastern Utah (Fig. l). Mining is being conducted at depths in excess of 3000 ft under structurally complex geologic conditions typical of the Paradox salt basin. The closure measurement systems described have definite application for determining relative entry stability in other nonelastic rocks which are similar in behavior to potash. Similar types of closure measurements have been taken in various underground openings throughout the United States, Canada, arid Europe. Application of this closure data has previously met with varying degrees of success as a tool for design of under- ground openings in both elastic and nonelastic media.1-32 Closure measurements can be made easily and economically and they provide a practical solutiori to a practical problem. They are in-situ measurements which do not necessarily require laboratory correlation. Simple closure measurements have special significance in potash because "steady-state" ' closure rate, or creep, of the entries is measured. These closure rates can be utilized because nonelastic media such as potash will never achieve absolute stability around a mine entry. The potash will tend to creep or deform until all entries are closed and the overburden stress is redistributed over what was previously the mine area. The time for this ultimate effect to occur is dependent on a number of mining and geologic variables. Percentage of mine extraction, mining

Jan 1, 1972

"In the spring of 1927, six members of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers met for dinner at the Chemists' Club in New York to discuss the possibility of setting up a committee within the Institute to further the current interest in the science of steelmaking. Attention' to this subject had been crystallized by a symposium held by the Faraday Society in 1925. ' After a prolonged discussion, ranging from thermodynamics to slag conditioning, it was decided to approach the Institute with the request that a standing committee on "The Physical Chemistry of Steel Making" be set up. This committee proposed to promote scientific and practical papers on the subject, and was designed to cooperate with the Open Hearth Committee of the Institute in bringing scientific developments to the attention of open-hearth operators throughout the country... . "As the life of the [Physical Chemistry of Steelmaking] Committee lengthened and general interest in the technical phases of steelmaking grew, it became evident that there was a distinct need for a book that might serve the open-hearth interests to better advantage than standard texts whose scope is necessarily wide and whose detailed exposition of the open-hearth process is, therefore, somewhat limited. With this thought in mind, the Committee, after some years of consideration and debate, embarked on the venture of writing a manuscript on `Basic Open Hearth Steelmaking'." The foregoing paragraphs, taken from the introduction by C. H. Herty, Jr. to the first edition, well describe the circumstances which led to the publication of "Basic Open Hearth Steelmaking" in the spring of 1944. The book consisted of nineteen chapters contributed by twenty-three authors and edited by the staff of Alloys of Iron Research and T. S. Washburn, B. M. Larsen, and J. S. Marsh with Frank T. Sisco as consulting editor. The Engineering Foundation and the Open Hearth Steel Committee of the Iron and Steel Division, AIME, made financial grants; steel companies and other organizations supported the publication by contributing time and expenses of staff members in their capacity as authors or editors. The volume was sponsored by the Seeley W. Mudd Memorial Fund and appeared under the

Jan 1, 1951

CONTENTS PAGE WARNER, ROBERT K.-Efficiency of Screening. Discussed by Robert C. Canby,Robert K. Warner, W. 0. Borcherdt, V. E. Flanagan 1 FAHRENWALD, A. W.-Surface Reactions in Flotation. Discussed by Arthur F. Taggart, A. M. Gaudin 7 Efficiency of Screening Discussion of the paper of ROBERT K. WARNER, presented at the New York Meeting, February, 1924, and issued, as Paper No. 1293-M, with MINING AND METALLURGY, January, 1924. ROBERT C. CANBY, Wallingford, Conn.-On page 2, the author speaks of the importance of using a testing sieve clothed with the same material as the screen being studied; does he regard this as essential? In practice, how does the screen efficiency calculated by the difficult-grain method compare with those computed by the usual undersize method? Is it possible by the author's method, to obtain a measure of efficiency that can safely be compared with that of another screen sizing a different ore? ROBERT K. WARNER.-The use of a testing sieve clothed like the mill screen being studied is desirable but not essential for routine work about a mill where the character of the feed varies little, as regards the shape of the grains and the sizing test. Close agreement in size of aperture between the sieve and the screen is, however, important if the data obtained are to be valuable to others working on a different feed. If the testing sieve is coarser than the mill screen, the efficiency will appear unfairly low; whereas if it is too fine one might get efficiencies greater than 100 per cent. because of the apparent oversize in the undersize. In either of these cases the usefulness of the difficult-grain method of calculation would be reduced. As screens wear, the undersize grows appreciably coarser so that it is desirable to test screens only when the cloth is new or else to provide testing sieves that are worn about the same amount. The futility of making efficiency observations on a. distorted or broken screen surface is obvious.

Jan 6, 1924

By J. J. Carrigan

IN all mining operations a considerable portion of the work performed, especially underground; is accomplished under artificial light, yeti this subject is often not given proper attention. Poor illumination decreases mining efficiency, impairs the sorting or grading of ores, and increases the risk of accidents. In the beginning, and for several years afterward in the metal-mining industry of Butte, Montana, candles placed in candlesticks were carried by the men. Sconces or holders for candles were also provided at stations and curves in drifts to furnish better light for men engaged in. hand tramming. It was also common practice to place clusters of candles on the ground, with no provision for guarding against an underground fire other than the exercise of sufficient care by the men themselves. An accumulation of candle grease from this source was the direct result of the first serious fire in the Anaconda mine, in 1889.

Jan 1, 1936

By S. R. B. Cooke, R. O. Huch, C. S. Chang

IN the flotation of iron ores laurylamine derivatives have been used for considerable time.12 To effect satisfactory separation of the gangue, predominantly silica, from the iron oxide minerals, the addition of specific depressants for the iron oxides has been found necessary. Starches and starch products have been used for this purpose. 3 There is, however, very little published information on the effects of these materials and other variables on this process. In some cases it has been found that prior acid scrubbing and desliming are essential, 4 and depending upon the efficiency of the subsequent washing step, there will be accompanying changes in pH. It was the object of this investigation to test and observe the effects of the above factor as well as to examine and compare the action of various starches and starch products.

Jan 12, 1953

By J. Parke Channing

WE are accustomed to think that we are efficient in the United States, particularly with respect to such things as mining and manufacturing. The conduct of the war has demanded in England and in France a complete readjustment of manufacturing methods and plans, and today England is probably as efficient a country as there is in the world, not even excepting Germany. This is all the more remarkable because it has been notorious for years that England has been inefficient in her manufacturing and the country has been flooded with things "Made in Germany." Today England is almost a socialistic community and the State is doing almost everything. England is now in such a position that practically everyone in the country is engaged in industry necessary for the conduct of the war, and this has been accomplished by increasing the efficiency both of her tools and of her man power. In the United States we certainly have been efficient so far as machines and perhaps so far as methods have been concerned, but we have not been efficient iii the utilization of our man power. Before the war, our labor was undoubtedly far more efficient than that of England, but it certainly was not so highly efficient as it should have been, and the problem that confronts us today, and will all the more confront us after the war, is to make our man power efficient. England has had a taste of what you may call State Socialism, and her laboring men are not going to be content to return to the old order of things. There is one feature of the labor problem in England which has permitted her to reach this condition of state socialism with comparative rapidity; this is that practically all of her laborers are English; she has little or no foreign population. While an Englishman may he a strong union man and ready to fight his employer tooth and nail, at heart he is still a British subject, and when his country was in danger he rose to the occasion.

Jan 5, 1918

By D. V. Fites

Criteria for deciding when rock should be ripped and what ripping equipment and techniques should be used in given situations are discussed in this article. The relation between ripper performance and seismic wave velocities in various types of rock is also discussed. The ripper is not a new tool. In fact, it dates back as far as the Roman Empire. The Roman's ripper-mounted on wheels and shaped something like a plow — was pulled by oxen and used to loosen the earth for the shovelers and basket carriers building the Appian Way. There are records of rippers being used in this country in railroad construction between 1860 and 1880. However, the ripper as we know it today did not appear until about 1930. Tractor-drawn models were in use in 1931 on the Hoover Dam project. At that time they weighed about 7500 lb and were pulled by tractors with about 75 flywheel hp and up to 30,000 Ib total weight. The chief shortcomings of trailed

Jan 1, 1969

By G. A. Vissac

MoIstuRe in coal must be considered as an impurity, just the same as ash, from the standpoint of utilization of the coal. Being incombustible, it reduces directly the heating value of the coal, and in addition absorbs heat for its evaporation. Its presence means useless expenditures in handling and transportation. In coke plants, extra moisture reduces capacity and may cause damage to brick work and equipment. Accordingly, the removal of extra moisture can be considered just as important as the removal of other impurities, such as ashes, in the modern coal preparation plant. Moisture, which can be removed by heating the coal up to a temperature of 100°C, may be retained in various forms: 1. As a film, on the surface of each coal particle, and in the interstices between particles, retained by capillary forces. 2. Or "occluded" inside the coal particles. This occluded moisture may be either free moisture (as in a sponge), or hygroscopic moisture which varies with atmospheric conditions, (also called "regain"). These latter forms of moisture are particularly common in "young" coals (subbituminous and lignites); bloom coals (seam outcrops); fusain; and carbonized products. In our study of coal drying, we shall consider only the removal of free moisture, exclusive from hygroscopic moisture. Dewatering If we reserve the name of drying to the removal of water by evaporation, we must consider the initial phase of the mechanical removal of free moisture as a distinct operation covered by the term dewatering. In all cases the free water carried over the surface of the coal particles or in their interstices, or in their pores, is retained by capillary forces. Dewater-ing is accomplished by breaking or counteracting these capillary forces; removal of as much water as possible by dewatering methods is usually advisable, as the cost of these operations is generally much less than by evaporation. The most common methods of me-chanical dewatering are: 1. "Pressure piling," which reduces the interstitial spaces, accomplished in dewatering bins or over dewatering screens. 2. Or dynamic methods, such as used in centrifuges or over vibrating screens. We shall only mention the " preferential wetting" method, in which surface water can be displaced by hydrocarbons, as offering possibilities, but which, to our knowledge, has not reached yet a practical development. But we must point out that the capillary forces retaining water on the coal surfaces, decrease considerably with increased temperatures. This is the principle used in all modern dishwashing machines; by using very hot water, dishes are extracted almost dry. In line with this development, we favor the type of dryers including a dewatering section; as the coal enters the dryer and is gradually brought up to higher temperatures, its dewatering ability is increased and advantage can be taken of this conditioning, resulting in increased drying efficiencies and reductions in drying costs. Heat Drying In the final phase, the remaining moisture must be evaporated. Coal and water must be brought up to the chosen temperature of evaporation, and heat must be supplied to fill the requirements of the latent heat of evaporation of the water to be removed. Accordingly, drying becomes largely a problem of heat transfer, and drying methods can be classified accordingly, namely: 1. Radiant transfer. 2. Transfer by surface contact and conduction. 3. Transfer by hot gas contact. The first method is not applicable to coal drying; the second method is used in the old type rotary dryer. The third method, the most commonly used in modern coal dryers, will be the only one considered here; and, of course, we shall deal with continuous types of dryers only. The mechanism of complete drying is really very complex-—several phases are involved: 1. The constant rate period. 2. The uniform falling rate period. 3. The varying falling rate period. As most of our practical coal drying problems deal with wet coals (over 6 pct of moisture), and do not require complete drying (under 1.5 pct), we shall deal with the first condition only, namely the constant rate drying. Dryer Calculations Instead of presenting the algebraic formulas, we believe a concrete example will provide a clearer illustration. Assume a feed of wet coal at the rate

Jan 1, 1950

By R. W. Raymond

That the death of Martin Coryell, which occurred at Lambertville, New Jersey, on Monday morning, November 29th, touched the sympathies of a wide circle of professional associates and personal friends, was amply testified by the gathering at the funeral services on Friday. Like his distinguished friend and neighbor, the late Ashbel Welch, Mr. Coryell was one of those pioneers in American engineering to whom we owe the great railway and canal systems which lie at the base of our national prosperity, and who have consequently enjoyed the respect and esteem of their successors of the present generation. Martin Coryell was born July 20th, 1815, at New ope, Rucks County, Pa., and was educated principally in the schools of his native town arid of Lambertville, New Jersey, to which place he returned for permanent residence fifty years later. With the exception of a brief period in youth, during which, to restore his failing health, he learned and practiced for a few months the carpenter's trade, and another brief period, later in life, when he read law for a time in the office of B. H. Brewster, of Philadelphia, afterwards Attorney-General of the United States, Mr. Coryell may be said to have spent his life as an active civil and mining engineer. Even these two episodes can scarcely be said to have been deviations from that profession, since they served to give him more thorough preparation for constructive and administrative work. The Delaware Division Canal, the Raritan Canal, and the Brunswick Canal, are among those upon which Mr. Coryell was employed. For the Raritan Canal Company, under the superintendence of Ashbel Welch, he located the greater part of the Belvidere Railroad (now the Belvidere division of the Pennsylvania Railroad), and directed its construction from Trenton to Lambertville. He was also active as a mining engineer, being one of the early pioneers of mining in the Lake Superior copper region, and had much to do with the development of the Hazleton coalfield and the railroad which has since expanded into the Lehigh Valley system. In 1862, he removed to Wilkes-Barre, where, in 1864, he became manager of the Warrior Run Mining Company. One of the editors

Jan 1, 1887

By P. H. Mell

AMONG the minerals exhibited at the Atlanta Exhibition of 1881, soapstone, kaolin, and asbestos were well represented. The first two occur in large quantities, of very pure quality, throughout the South. The last is somewhat limited in amount, get in certain localities it exists in masses sufficiently large to pay for working; in North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama it has ken mined with some profit. I would, in this paper, call special attention to the minerals soapstone and kaolin, because their many valuable qualities seem to have been almost entirely overlooked by our Southern manufacturers. Steatite, particularly, occurs in such large quantities, and generally in such close proximity to the great iron regions of Alabama and Georgia, that it is anlazing that the iron companies will persist in sending abroad under heavy expense for firebrick. It would require a much smaller sum of money to quarry this rock and place it at the various furnaces ; and the results obtained, I am sure, would prove its superiority over the majority of firebrick brought into this region. Soapstone, as well as kaolin, is found throughout the metamorphic regions of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Below will be found seven analyses that I have made of this mineral, taken from various points in the four States above mentioned. I have also subjected these same specimens to severe fire-tests, and the results were very satisfactory. The tests mere canducted in the following manner: Small portions of the compact variety were carefully weighed and placed in a Fletcher's new crucible furnace for gas, and subjected for half an hour to a heat that will in 12 minutes fuse iron. The only effect upon these specimens was a slight change in color to a darker shade, a small loss in weight, due evidently to the evaporation of water, and, in one or two specimens, a slight degree of fusion on the sharp edges. The first specimen subjected to investigation was taken from a large outcropping in Tallapoosa County, Alabama. Specific gravity, 2.88 ; hardness, 1.9; color, blue gray. Composition: Water,....2.68 Silica,..........65.48 Iron oxide,.........2.10 Alumina,.........15.02 Magnesia,... 15.35 10061

Jan 1, 1882

Executive Committee. ROBERT H. RICHARDS, Chairman. ALBERT SAUVEUR, Vice-Chairman. TIMOTHY W. SPRAGUE. HENRY A. WENTWORTH. AUGUSTUS H. EUSTIS, Secretary, 131 State St.., Boston, Mass. The twelfth meeting of the Boston Section was held at the Engineers' Club, 2 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, on Monday evening, May 5, 1913, fifteen members and three guests being present.. The meeting Was called to order by Vice-Chairman Albert Sauveur, Who introduced the speaker of the evening, Utley Wedge, of Ardmore. Pa. Mr. Wedge read a, paper on the chloridizing roasting of copper ores, Which lie illustrated With a stereopticon, and Which will be published in full by the Institute. After Mr. Wedge had closed his paper, Which was received with great interest by all the members. the following discussion took place: Professor Hofman said that iron was formerly thought to bo essential to the Henderson process, but that it is not absolutely essential. Mr. Wedge said that., as far as he knew, the presence of some sulphates Was an absolute necessity, and that lime ores can be worked satisfactorily, although lime has an effect on the subsequent leaching. He added that the low fuel consumption of the latest Wedge furnace is a result of direct application of the combustion gases to the ore. Ten per cent. of fuel Was needed with the muffle furnace. By direct firing lie has been able to reduce the fuel needed to from 2 to 4 per cent. In the latest types of furnaces the uses from the upper hearth are not used. There is doubtless some tem-perature at Which the loss from copper chloride volatilization becomes serious, but in practice on Rio Tinto ores troublesome losses are not experienced.. The copper apparently does not become volatile at the temperatures where we would expect that it would. There are doubtless ores in which there would be serious danger from losses from this source. The latest furnaces do not use the high temperatures that Were needed in the former single-hearth Wedge furnaces.

Jan 7, 1913

By Kenneth Schellinger

THE terms surface tension and surface energy are well known when applied to liquids and are generally described by referring to the excess energy of the air: liquid interface as a result of unsaturated molecular forces surrounding the surface molecules of the liquid due to the presence of the air phase on one side. Such unbalanced forces produce the familiar water droplet of spherical form and are generally summed up as a surface tension measured in dynes per centimeter which can be shown mathematically to be equal numerically to a corresponding surface energy expressed in ergs per square centimeter. A specific surface energy, however, is best thought of as the energy necessary to produce one unit, of new surface on a substance. Hence, in producing a bubble in a flotation cell the impeller must supply surface energy corresponding to the air: liquid interfacial area on the interior of the bubble. Inasmuch as it is relatively easy to extend or contract the surface of a liquid, there are a number of successful methods for liquid surface tension, or energy, measurement based upon surface deformation. This happy state of affairs does not, however, extend to solids, which are considered to possess surface energies for the same reasons as do liquids, i.e. because of unsaturated ionic bonds at the solid: gas interface. As in the case of the flotation cell producing surface on liquids as new bubbles, it takes energy to produce new surface on solids as new particles. As every mill man knows, this surface is produced on mineral solids in a grinding mill by the action of a tumbling mass of iron balls. But here so much energy usually is wasted by the inefficient action of these balls that a large amount of heat is generated, and the surface energy production may be easily confused with the energy necessary to produce this ineffective heat. The tumbling balls and fracturing minerals ultimately take their energy from a rather large electric motor. It has been variously estimated that from 10 to 20 pct'" only of this energy from the motor does not appear as heat and may be presumed to appear as surface energy on the min- erals present. Such a production of new surface on the mineral phases is accompanied, of course, by a size reduction that is inevitable as more and more mineral interior molecules become surface molecules by the fracture exposure. This size reduction of mineral particles, although the most obvious feature and perhaps the sole object of the milling operation, is from this energy viewpoint the outward manifestation of the production of surface energy only. Measurement of the characteristic surface energies of pure minerals and their various mixtures in ores would be a step towards understanding of the energetics of the commercial grinding operation. In addition, the characteristic surface energy of a mineral is probably a physical property specific for that mineral, and therefore, from a scientific standpoint, should be measured. It is interesting to note that, in contrast to the large body of work on the surface tensions of liquid systems and biological systems, the field of solid surface energies has been neglected. Prior to 1920 it is difficult to find more than one or two references to work on solid surface energies in Chemical Abstracts. Since 1920 such references number somewhat less than 100, while those on liquid systems are numbered in the thousands. Much of this apparent neglect of the field of solid surface energies (the term is intended to be somewhat inclusive at this point and refers both to the solid: gas, and the solid:liquid interface) is because of the lack of a reliable method of measurement rather than any lack of scientific curiosity. It was, and still is, difficult to produce new surface on a solid without the simultaneous production of interior changes in the same solid which may consume part of the energy used. The extension in the surface area can be measured, but the interior crystal-

Jan 1, 1953

By Kenneth Schellinger

THE terms surface tension and surface energy are well known when applied to liquids and are generally described by referring to the excess energy of the air: liquid interface as a result of unsaturated molecular forces surrounding the surface molecules of the liquid due to the presence of the air phase on one side. Such unbalanced forces produce the familiar water droplet of spherical form and are generally summed up as a surface tension measured in dynes per centimeter which can be shown mathematically to be equal numerically to a corresponding surface energy expressed in ergs per square centimeter. A specific surface energy, however, is best thought of as the energy necessary to produce one unit, of new surface on a substance. Hence, in producing a bubble in a flotation cell the impeller must supply surface energy corresponding to the air: liquid interfacial area on the interior of the bubble. Inasmuch as it is relatively easy to extend or contract the surface of a liquid, there are a number of successful methods for liquid surface tension, or energy, measurement based upon surface deformation. This happy state of affairs does not, however, extend to solids, which are considered to possess surface energies for the same reasons as do liquids, i.e. because of unsaturated ionic bonds at the solid: gas interface. As in the case of the flotation cell producing surface on liquids as new bubbles, it takes energy to produce new surface on solids as new particles. As every mill man knows, this surface is produced on mineral solids in a grinding mill by the action of a tumbling mass of iron balls. But here so much energy usually is wasted by the inefficient action of these balls that a large amount of heat is generated, and the surface energy production may be easily confused with the energy necessary to produce this ineffective heat. The tumbling balls and fracturing minerals ultimately take their energy from a rather large electric motor. It has been variously estimated that from 10 to 20 pct'" only of this energy from the motor does not appear as heat and may be presumed to appear as surface energy on the min- erals present. Such a production of new surface on the mineral phases is accompanied, of course, by a size reduction that is inevitable as more and more mineral interior molecules become surface molecules by the fracture exposure. This size reduction of mineral particles, although the most obvious feature and perhaps the sole object of the milling operation, is from this energy viewpoint the outward manifestation of the production of surface energy only. Measurement of the characteristic surface energies of pure minerals and their various mixtures in ores would be a step towards understanding of the energetics of the commercial grinding operation. In addition, the characteristic surface energy of a mineral is probably a physical property specific for that mineral, and therefore, from a scientific standpoint, should be measured. It is interesting to note that, in contrast to the large body of work on the surface tensions of liquid systems and biological systems, the field of solid surface energies has been neglected. Prior to 1920 it is difficult to find more than one or two references to work on solid surface energies in Chemical Abstracts. Since 1920 such references number somewhat less than 100, while those on liquid systems are numbered in the thousands. Much of this apparent neglect of the field of solid surface energies (the term is intended to be somewhat inclusive at this point and refers both to the solid: gas, and the solid:liquid interface) is because of the lack of a reliable method of measurement rather than any lack of scientific curiosity. It was, and still is, difficult to produce new surface on a solid without the simultaneous production of interior changes in the same solid which may consume part of the energy used. The extension in the surface area can be measured, but the interior crystal-

Jan 1, 1953

By Roscoe C. Clark

In a previous technical note' by Walter Rose, evidence is offered in support of the contention that "the possibility of describing oil recovery features in terms of capillary pressure phenomena has not been established entirely." It is not the purpose of this note to present further discussion of this possibility but rather to point out that the argument presented there does not appear to be generally valid. In the cited note' reference is made to the experiments of Welge2 wherein it was shown that when water was displaced by oil from a core the pressure in the water phase was less than in the oil phase but that when this oil was then produced by water drive the pressure in the water phase was greater than in the oil phase. Rose has concluded from these observations that conditions of static equilibrium did not obtain since the fluid saturations were such that phase discontinuities seemed unlikely. The argument from which this conclusion was drawn is based on the contention that "the pressure is always greatest in the non-wetting phase at each static interstitial interface of contact with the wetting phase." This premise appears to have been reached from a consideration of capillary phenomena in cylindrical tubes, although it may a1so hold for other types of pore geometry, hut as will be shown below it does not hold for all pore shapes and hence is not generally applicable. Since the pore structure of porous media such as reservoir rocks i- in general so complex as to defy exact description. it is undoubtedly of great value to establish a model in terms of pore shapes of known geometry, provided of course that the limitations of the model are recognized. That the limitations of the capillary. or cylindrical, tube model have not always been fully recognized will be evident from the following discussion of a pore of different shape hut one which may a. logically he considered a.; the capillary tube. The pore space to be considered is that shown in Fig. 1, which may be thought of as the "hole in a doughnut."* Consider the interface, A-B-A', between two immiscible fluids, P, and P2, which interface meets the solid alone a line, A-C.A'-C'. The interface A-B-A' is the surface of a spherical segmen† while the line of mutual contact be-

Jan 1, 1950

By Georges Caraghiaur

INTRODUCTION A small, independent mining enterprise (SIME) is an independently owned and operated business concern engaged primarily in mineral development, from the exploration to the production stage. A SIME may or may not be listed on stock exchanges. By definition, a SIME is not dominant in its field and has no long-term financial backing. As such, it is not a major producer of minerals, nor is it a petroleum company, a government organization or a subsidiary of such organizations. The survival and growth of a SIME is most often controlled by an independently minded entrepreneur, who not only conceives and carries out new projects, but is materially affected by the success or failure of these projects. Usually, a SIME does not have a large or constant cash flow. Such a lack of long-term financial backing forces the SIME to meet the challenge of finding capital for its activities on a step-by-step basis. Its survival strategy is thus based on finding funds at the right time, of the right type and in the right quantities. The purpose of this paper is to show that the type of venture in which a SIME is involved affects the difficulty of raising new capital and the choice of possible sources of funds. The Small, Independent Mining Enterprise The SIME, also called small miner, junior mining company, speculative mining company, and pennystock mining company, is not a figment of the imagination of financial speculators. In Canada, there are more than 1,800 small mineral enterprises which spend on the average less than $1,000,000 per year on activity which is directed at bringing forth new mineral supply. In the United States, 64 percent of the non-fuel mining operations are conducted by nine or fewer men, and the coal industry is characterized by several thousand smaller independent producers, still predominantly family-owned or controlled. In Chile, 80 percent of the mines can be classified as small mines. In the Philipines, approximately 60 percent of metal mining operations are classified as small mines. The SIME is actively engaged in mining all over the world, and very much so in the Pacific Rim. The Mineral Supply Process The whole process of bringing forth new mineral supply involves a dynamic sequence of activities, ranging from the initial exploration for a mineral occurrence to the production of a marketable product. A typical sequence is outlined in Figure 1. At the grass-roots exploration stage, a series of geological, geophysical and geochemical tests is aimed at locating a mineral occurrence. Especially in the early phases of such activities, the uncertainty (risk) surrounding a venture is high, since only general geological information exists on which to base a judgement of the economic viability of the venture. Such risk is attractive to few investors.

Jan 1, 1982

By D. V. BURR

THE ORIGINAL HUDSON RIVER TUNNEL. NOT quite forty years ago a man of uncommon character entered New York. He had several hundred thousand dollars earned by railroad building in the Nest. He was not an engineer, but he had ideas of engineering work which he was destined to prove correct.. He introduced new ways of tunneling, but his plans had only one distinguishing feature-they were simply interesting as showing how such work could be done; they added nothing to the science, have never been used since his clay, and never will be used again. Engineers of repute ridiculed his proposition ; he was an Ishmael in the profession. But if engineers looked askance at him, he certainly returned their contempt in the heartiest fashion, and had no hesitancy about expressing his views of them individually and collectively. This worked to. his disadvantage when he afterward tried to raise the means to go on with the work. He found that the opinion of engineers was respected by financiers, and that money would not flow contrary to their advice. While his conception of large constructions was distinguishingly original, much more marked was his method of demonstrating the feasibility of, his schemes. In the present clays of great undertakings it is the custom to make the other man pay for the experiments. But the man from the West had other notions of how the thing ought to be done. Having wonderful confidence in his own ability and in his perception of the task before him, he used up all his own money before seeking outside assistance. By building several hundred,, feet of tunnel he proved the correctness of his theory, and the tunnel then dug forms a part of the present tube. The result-he failed to finish the tunnel. He was blind in

Mar 1, 1908

By Strathmore R. B. Cooke, Thomas E. Ban

MUCH experimental work has been performed on the mechanism of agglomeration and pelletizing of moist ore and concentrates and on the process of firing agglomerates, but except for the work of Tigerschiöld and Ilmoni1 much of the published information is empirical, and the literature contains no information concerning the structure of fired pellets. Results of a preliminary study of the microstructures occurring in pellets produced both in the laboratory and on a pilot-plant scale are presented in this paper. Most of the results were obtained from pellets prepared from Mesabi magnetic taconite, but through the courtesy of the staffs of the Minnesota Mines Experiment Station and the Bethlehem Steel Co., fired pellets produced from limonite and hematite ores and from Lebanon magnetite have also been examined. The work has been restricted almost entirely to pellets produced without additives, the exceptions being those in which coal was. added to the filter cake before rolling. Schwartz has described the microstructures occurring in ore sinters produced under reducing conditions.2 Many of the structures and constituents he describes are common to fired pellets, but the constituents normally occur in markedly different proportions. His statement that "in all satisfactory sinter the amount of hematite is small, perhaps not over 2 or 3 per cent" is inapplicable to pellets produced by pilot plant operation or by any process in which air is not deliberately excluded. Pilot plant pellets contain over 90 pct by weight of hematite, and those produced in the smaller furnaces of the Minnesota Mines Experiment Station contain more than 80 pct of that constituent. Preparation of Specimens It is difficult to examine unfired pellets microscopically because of their insufficient coherency to withstand sectioning and polishing. Fired pellets sometimes lack coherency and frequently contain holes which are troublesome during polishing. Impregnation of both air-dried and fired pellets is readily accomplished by the use of methyl methacrylate monomer.3 The dry pellets are covered in a test tube with excess monomer, to which a small amount of accelerator has been added. When the test tube is placed in a cooling bath and evacuated with an aspirator, most of the entrapped air is removed, and disruption of weak pellets by boiling of the monomer is reduced to a minimum. Polymerization is then effected by immersion of the test tube in a water-bath at about 45°C, this temperature being held for 4 or 5 days. The test tube may then be broken away from the solidified mass and the pellets sectioned by a carborundum wheel or a diamond saw. Where time is important, impregnation is carried out at a higher temperature by Meyer's method.4 Air-dried pellets must be impregnated with especial care; otherwise swelling occurs and the solids are displaced. It is more important to be certain that the monomer forms a reasonably complete network throughout the specimen than that all entrained air is removed, and for this reason the vacuum technique may be omitted. Impregnated agglomerated products and pellets are extremely coherent, section well, and may be polished either by hand or by machine. Hand polishing is not satisfactory for the examination of conditions existing at the boundaries of grains, and for this machine polishing must be used. The Graton-Vanderwilt machine gives excellent results, provided that pressure on the specimen is considerably in excess of that recommended by the manufacturer. Mineralogy of Fired Pellets Only two opaque iron minerals, magnetite and hematite, have been recognized in pellets. The complete identity of these artificial minerals with their corresponding natural counterparts is shown by their mineralographic characteristics and their X-ray structures. Wüstite has not been found. Slag is the most common transparent constituent of fired pellets. Occasionally conditions have been appropriate for the crystallization of fayalite from the slag, and at other times another crystalline sil-

Jan 1, 1952