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By P. Somasundaran, I. J. Lin

There are several methods described in the literature for the determination of the order and the rate constant for the flotation of minerals. These often involve some type of computational or graphical procedures. A relatively simpler method developed on the basis of a technique used by Chang" in chemical kinetics is described in this paper. Chang's technique, like most others in chemical kinetics," is based on the law of mass action which states that the rate of a chemical reaction is proportional to the active masses of the reacting substances at any given time. Application of this law to the flotation of minerals would involve the adaptation of the terms "flotation" for "chemical reaction" and "floatable amount of the minerals" for "the active masses of the chemical reactants." There are indeed a large number of physical processes controlling the actual flotation rate. The most inefficient one of these could be considered equivalent to the slowest reaction in a series of chemical reactions. If variables such as aeration rate and agitation are kept at constant levels, the rate of flotation under free flotation conditions (i.e., conditions under which the suspension is dilute) will be given by the following equation: where C is the concentration of the floatable minerals in the pulp at any given time t, K is the rate constant, and n is the order of the reaction. If we represent the floated fraction of the floatable mineral at time t as m (0 m - 1) and C at t = 0 as Ca, integration of Eq. 1 yields

Jan 1, 1974

By H. B. Charmbury, D. R. Mitchell

Recovery of fine coal from solids reporting to wash water has become increasingly important. These solids range from about 28 mesh to 0 and constitute 3 to 7 pct by weight of the feed tonnage to a coal preparation plant. In the past they were usually wasted to streams, but present clean stream legislation makes it necessary to remove them from the wash water and, if economically possible, recover the associated coal as a saleable product. Where these solids are not wasted to streams or to slime ponds they are recovered by thickeners and filters. Since filter cake is often high in ash or sulfur, or both, it is not readily marketed or used. Common practice is to mix it with other plant products, generally slack or cleaned run-of-mine. Uniform blending is difficult, not only because the impurity is usually high, but also because during certain operating periods it is possible to get a concentration of this filter cake in a railroad or barge. At some plants filter cake has been derived from the froth flotation clean-up of Dorr thickener underflow. The operating circuits required for a froth flotation plant make this a comparatively high-cost treatment, and in the last few years experiments have been carried out with bulk oil methods. These also are quite expensive and lend themselves only to special situations. Table I gives some characteristics of thickener underflows for plants in the Pittsburgh area treating Pittsburgh seam coal. It will be noted that there is a concentration of impurities in the -200 mesh sizes.

Jan 1, 1960

By William E. Hubbard

During the last decade the known reserves of petroleum in the United States have increased from about five billion to over thirteen billion barrels. From the standpoint of public welfare the existence of these known reserves presents an undeniably favorable picture, but viewed from the position of many a harassed operator the blessing has not always been considered an unmixed one. Along with this increase in excess reserves, curtailment of production has come into being as a matter of necessity and the principle of proration as a matter of equity. As a practical matter it has been considered necessary to curtail the production of old wells as well as that of new wells in a pool. The right of new pools to produce has been recognized, and the allowable for them has come partly from increased market demand and largely from the allowables already enjoyed by the developed pools. The natural result—a downward trend in daily per-well allowables—has been especially felt by Texas operators. This trend may be illustrated by Table 1, which comprises the five active areas in Texas, and from which may be noted the following: 1. The average daily allowable per well has decreased about 53 per cent in three years. 2. Of the 184,000-bbl. increase in total allowable for the five areas, 29,000 bbl. came from the increase in state demand and 165,000 from the combined allowables of the remaining pools in the state.

Jan 1, 1937

By Nathaniel Herz

The formula very frequently used for computing the economical size of pipe to transmit compressed air is that of D'Arey, as follows: D = cV w1l Where, D = the volume of compressed air delivered in cubic feet per minute, at the final pressure. c = an experimental coefficient determined for the various sizes of pipe, d = the diameter of the pipe in inches. 1 = the length of the pipe in feet. p, = the initial gauge-pressure in pounds per square inch, p2 = the final gauge-preesure in pounds per square inch. w1 = the density of the air, or the weight in pounds per cubic foot at the initial pressure, p1. The most common case is that in which the given quantities are: the quantity of air required, the length of the pipe, and the initial pressure. The method of solution is to assume a pressure-loss and to compute the remaining factor, cd5, thus giving the size of pipe corresponding to the assumed loss of pressure. It is always desirable to try two or more pressure-drops, in order to find the combination that is most satisfactory, since often a small change in the size of pipe will reduce or increase the loss of pressure several pounds. An alternative method is to assume a size of pipe and calculate the corresponding pressure-drop. Each method involves a series of tedious calculations to arrive at the most economical solution, and also requires the use of tables giving the constant, c, the density of the air, w1, and often, for convenience, a table giving the values of the expressions p1-p2 and c J I hare constructed a graphic chart, Fig. 1, for the solution of

Jan 1, 1913

By Charles F. Herbert

In February of this year at the Washington, D.C., hearings of the Interior Department on the Alaska pipeline, the author was amazed to hear speaker after speaker oppose not only pipline construction but any development whatsoever in the State of Alaska. In one case, a man objected to development in Alaska because his neighbor in Maryland had cut down some shade trees. Another man recited at length from the poems of Robert W. Service. While it seemed inconceivable that such thoughtless opposition should have any effect, a check with the offices of some congressmen showed that mail was largely against any development of Alaska. In the barrage of words and redundant phrases directed against Alaska, it is difficult to find a thought worthy of study. Fortunately, there is a statutory guide towards resolution of the problem of development versus non- development. This law, the Environ- mental Protection Act of 1969, has indeed given much of industry the jitters; copper smelters see no way to comply with the new sulfur- emission standards, the Alaska Department of Highways estimates that the Act has nearly doubled the cost of planning and engineering for highway construction. In spite of these and many other troubles and costs, the Act provides a sound legal basis for defeating nihilistic emotions and, since Alaska is relatively undeveloped, adoption of environmental safeguards will be simpler than correcting longstanding abuses.

Jan 1, 1971

Resident Instruction: The character of an institution, the varying demands made upon it, its geographical location, its own internal organization, all are factors that predispose against rigid standards, curriculum-making, research programs, and extension services. Mineral industries educators must keep in mind that the under- graduate is the core of the college, a philosophy that implies a set of inviolable principles.1 They will want to turn out graduates with overwhelming talent in their field, together with incorruptible ethics, prepared to deal with people, as well as with theories and things. Curriculum-making is a popular educational pastime. No course makes or breaks a curriculum. The particular qualifications and interests of individual students must find expression. However, selection must be made under guidance so that the student's individual needs are realized. In this way, specialization can be introduced into curricula previously conceived to be of general science or engineering nature only. In its essence, formal education is society's endeavor to put old heads on young shoulders, to implant the experience of centuries in the youthful generation. Seen in this light, it is evident that isolated facts have little

Jan 1, 1950

By J. S. Jacobi

Treating copper ores by heap-leaching and similar hydrometallurgical means is a time-honored practice, which was well known even in the 19th century. Later the method lost ground to better ore dressing processes, particularly selective. flotation. More recently there has been a distinct reversion to leaching techniques, particularly for scavenging operations in old mining stopes, in connection with LPF systems, irrigation of tailings dumps and similar situations. These hydrometallurgical techniques will gain further ground because processing is simple and permits better extraction of copper, particularly from low-grade or partly oxidized ores. In the lixiviation of primary ores at some major operations, copper-bearing liquors may undergo re-circulation in heap-leaching arrangements or the ores may be subjected to systematic percolation treatment. The liquors resulting from this source usually are quite strong (above 10 gpl copper) and copper would normally be reclaimed by electrowinning or cementation. These processes fall out- side the scope of this paper which is concerned with recovery of copper from weak 1iquor.s containing from 0.1 to about 3 gpl copper.

Jan 9, 1963

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Jan 1, 1938

By Jos D. Weeks

On the extreme fringe of' the great Appalachian coal-basin is a long narrow detached coal-field, which is, in some respects, one of the most important in the United States. This field, about 90 miles long by 2½ to 16 miles wide, extends from the southwest corner of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, through Allegany and Garrett counties, Maryland, Mineral, Grant and Tucker counties, West Virginia, into Randolph county, West Virginia. In this distance four distinct sub-districts are recognized, the Wellersburg in Pennsylvania, the Cumberland-Georges creek in Maryland, and the Elk Garden and the Upper Potomac in West Virginia. The output of coal from the whole field including steam, domestic, smithing and coking-coal of the best quality, is about 4,500,000 tons annually. It is the nearest to tide-water of all the bituminous coal-fields which supply the great coal-markets of the Northern Atlantic seaboard ;

Jan 1, 1895

By Alden B. Greninger, Alexander R. Troiano

The crystallographic mechanism for the austenite-to-martensite trensformation has been deduced from the results of the following new experimental determinations: (I) the accurate evaluation of the lattice relationship between austenite and individual crystals of martensite—and thus the relationship between the martensite lattice and the martensite plate, and (2) the measurement and analysis of the change in positions that a volume of austenite unclergoes when it transforms into a crystal of martensite. For the latter study, a new tool was developed, the stereographic analysis of shear. Lattice relationship.—Thirty-five separate 50-gram melts of an alloy containing about 22 per cent nickel and 0.8 per cent carbon were prepared in a high-vacuum furnace. This alloy is all-austenite at room temperature; grain size was about I cm. Specimens of the alloy were cooled to about — 70°C. to form a few martensite crystals, and suitable specimens were ground and polished on a surface parallel to a single martensite plate, exposing the martensite crystal for an area of 1 mm. or more. Four martensite cystals from four diffierent ingots were prepared in this manner; the largest crystal of this group is illuslratecl in Fig. I. Back-reflection Laue patterns were obtained from martensite crystals (and the matrix austenite) both before and after tempering. The locations of the basal-plane pole of martensite was checked by means of oscillating crystal X-ray patterns. All four crystals studied yielded the same solution ( ± 0.5°), and these relationships are expressed in gnomonic projection in Fig. 3.* The narrow dark-etching bands often visible in martensite "needles" were found to be parallel to (112) and thus are undoubtedly twin bands in the martensite crystal.

Jan 1, 1941

By H. Foster Bain

The recent admirable paper on the general subject of coalcutting machines presented to the Institute by Mr. E. W. Parker* leaves but little to be desired so far as the well-proven and widely-used machines are concerned. The general character of the machines in use and the range of their adaptabilities have been very well stated. It will be noted that in all cases these machines are being used in room-and-pillar work, and indeed (though attention was not directed especially by Mr. Parker to that point) they are practically confined to that work. It is probable that neither the chain breast- nor the pick-machine is, or can be, used to any great advantage in long-wall work.

Jan 1, 1900

By F. C. Schrader, Alfred H. Brooks

Last fall (1899) we had the good fortune to be able to spend a few weeks in the new placer gold-mining region of Alaska, which is known as the Nome region. Cape Nome, after which the region has been named, and which forms the southeastern corner of the Nome Mining District, is an unimportant promontory on the southern coast of the Seward Peninsula (see map, Fig. 1). The name Seward has recently been given to the great peninsula which forms the northwestern extremity of Alaska. To the north of it is the Arctic ocean, to the south Bering sea, while its wesbernmost extremity, Cape Prince of Wales, is separated from the Asiatic coast by the Bering straits. The coast line of the peninsula is of a cuspate character, consisting of a succession of sandy, crescent-shaped beaches and rocky headlands. The interior has been but little explored; but we know that it is comparatively rugged, the higher mountain peaks rising probably from 4000 to 5000 feet in elevation. The mountains have an easterly and westerly trend, and the water-shed between the two oceans probably nearly bisects the peninsula. At Golofnin bay, the southeastern part of the Seward peninsula, some spruce is found, but to the west the region is entirely timberless, except for a sparse growth of stunted

Jan 1, 1901

By C. A. Heberlein

C. A. HEBERLEIN, New York, N. Y.-The results stated by Rey and Brevers are so startling that they are of great interest, as the concentration of a low percentage of cinnabar by differential flotation yields a high-grade concentrate in the presence of either arsenical or iron pyrite. The authors say: "Cyanide can thus be used to depress arsenopyrite and make a good cinnabar-arsenopyrite separation. A cinnabar-pyrite separation could probably be effected in the same way." Corrosive sublimate at the present price of mercury would be a very expensive reagent but the expense would be justifiable if a high rate of concentration could be obtained with a high extraction. On my request, special tests were made in the Punitaqui mill in Chile along the line suggested by the authors, without any improvement of either grade or extraction. As the recovery of the cinnabar in a complex sulphide of chalcopyrite and pyrite gave unsatisfactory results, I had tests made at the testing laboratory of the American Cyanamid Co. at Stamford, Conn. As these tests turned out to be highly satisfactory, not only at Stamford but later at the mine, they are presented here. [ ] The pulp had a density of 22 and a pH of 7.8. Total time of conditioning was one minute. The reagent added was Texas fuel oil, 0.116lb. of 33.7 Bé. gravity containing 0.9 per cent sulphur. Frother, 0.062 lb. of No. 5 pine oil. Rate of concentration of mercury was 25.7: 11. [ ]

Jan 1, 1941

By R. P. O’Shea

AS part of a program to investigate phase relationships in ternary systems containing semiconducting elements and compounds, an X-ray survey of alloys in the system Pb-Te-Bi was carried out which revealed that the pair PbTe-Bi probably formed a quasibinary system. This portion of the ternary was examined fully by thermal analysis, X-ray, and microscopic procedures. More than twenty-five alloys were made by melting together the proper combinations of the elements in quartz tubes at a temperature of 1000o C. The compositions which were high in PbTe content were prepared in evacuated, sealed, quartz tubes, allowed to freeze in vacuum, and then transferred to Crucibles for thermal analysis. The bismuth-rich alloys were made directly in the crucibles under a protective gas cover. The starting elements were obtained from the American Smelting and Refining Co. and had a purity greater than 99.99 pct. Cooling curves were made with about 50 g of alloy in graphite crucibles which were placed in a covered quartz container in which a protective atmosphere of helium or nitrogen was maintained. The thermocouple protection tube was made of mul-lite and served as a stirring rod when connected to a reciprocating stirring motor. Temperatures were

Jan 1, 1962

By V. T. Stringfield

ONE of the earliest investigations of ground water in Florida was made in 1513 when Ponce de Leon arrived at St. Augustine in search of the Fountain of Youth. The history of the development of the water resources of the State shows that the large artesian reservoir that underlies Florida was discovered in the latter part of the last century. Part of that history is given by L. C. Johnson1 who states that the first successful artesian well in Florida was drilled at St. Augustine between 1880 and 1882. After the City of Jacksonville failed to obtain a flow of artesian water at a depth of nearly 400 ft and abandoned the drilling, R. N. Ellis, City Engineer, and L. C. Johnson, using Johnson's knowledge of the geologic structure of the artesian reservoir, estimated correctly that artesian water could be obtained at a depth of about 500 ft. Thus began the development of the large artesian system in the northeastern part of the State. In 1908, the Florida Geological Survey issued its first report on the ground water of central Florida.

Jan 6, 1951

By Bernard Kopelman, C. C. Gregg

THE reduction of tungstic oxide to tungsten metal powder by hydrogen is a process by which one might expect the resultant metal powder to be porous. In- [ ] deed, sponge iron, prepared by reduction of the oxide in a reducing gas, is generally accepted as quite porous, with pores large enough to be seen readily under the optical microscope at relatively low magnifications. However, any pores that may exist in tungsten metal powder are not resolved by the optical microscope, and apparently, not even by the electron microscope. Fig I shows commercial tungsten powder magnified at 10,000X by the electron microscope,1 both etched and unetched. In an earlier paper by one of the authors,2 the existence of pores in tungsten powder [ ] was required to explain adequately the particle size changes occurring during the reduction of tungstic oxide. The inability to detect these pores under the electron microscope at 10,000 X implies that these pores are of a size of 100 A units or less. (This in itself is by no means proof that pores above 100 A would not exist, since polishing effects on the specimen might smear up holes of such small magnitude). If, then, these pores are less than 100 A, and of the order of molecular size, then the density of the metal powder should be

Jan 1, 1948

By William Daly

THE application of artificial refrigeration, or air-conditioning, to the ventilation of deep, hot mines has long been a subject of interest to the operators of such properties. Artificial cooling of the air in theaters, railroad coaches, and various industrial plants has been so successful within recent years that it has been natural to assume that the adoption of similar methods would afford a ready solution to the difficult problem of mine ventilation. It should however, be obvious, that although there may be nothing technically impossible in the application of this process to mine ventilation there is a great economic distinction between the maintenance of a high standard of comfort for a large number of people in a relatively small space such as a theater and the cooling of air to improve working conditions for miners scattered throughout the extensive workings of a large mine. Many methods of air-conditioning have been considered by the management of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. at various times, but until the development of the process to be described in this paper none has seemed economically practicable.

Jan 1, 1934

By L. W. Kempf

THE thermal conductivity of aluminum alloys is of considerable indus-trial importance. This is particularly true in such applications as inter-nal-combustion engines where one of the principal reasons for the use of these alloys is their relatively higher thermal conductivity. In spite of this, relatively few data are available on this property of aluminum alloys. The reason is quite apparent to anyone concerned with the experimental determination of coefficients of thermal conductivity. This determina-tion, in theory so simple, is extraordinarily difficult if any high degree of precision is desired. Fortunately, some knowledge of the relationship between thermal and electrical conductivity has permitted the use of the latter physical property in deducing the relative approximate-values of the thermal conductivities of metals. This fundamental relationship, first enunciated by Wiedemann and Franz1 as applying to metallic elements and later shown by Lorenz to be applicable to alloys within a single metallic system, has been of service in the industrial application of metals. The electrical conductivity of metals is easily determined with a high degree of precision. It is, therefore, quite desirable that the relationship between electrical and thermal characteristics be determined with the greatest possible precision. This paper presents data on the electrical and thermal conductivities of a number of aluminum alloys of industrial importance.

Jan 1, 1937

The annual meeting of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America was held on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 1918, at the Engineers' Club, New York, to elect officers and councillors for the ensuing year, to receive the reports of its retiring officers, and for the transaction of any business which might properly be considered. As usual, the meeting was divided into two sessions; the first, more properly the business session, was called to order at 2:30 p.m., with an attendance of 17 members; the second session took place at 8:30 p. m., immediately following an informal dinner, at which 40 guests and members participated. The latter was particularly interesting because it gave the meeting an opportunity to absorb first-hand information regarding the present crisis in Russia. Messrs. F. W. Draper and J. P. Hutchins, the latter a member and long resident in Russia, were the speakers of the evening.

Jan 3, 1918

By Cyril Smith

ALTHOUGH alloys of copper and silicon were examined several years ago,1 and their excellent mechanical properties were shown, it was not until C: B. Jacobs2 introduced manganese in small quantities to the alloys that they became of commercial importance. A few years ago The American Brass. Company took over the patents and commenced to manufacture the alloy under the name "Everdur." The present study of the constitution of the ternary system was undertaken in order to reach a fuller understanding of the behavior of the alloy. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS WORK ON, THE BINARY SYSTEMS There have been no papers published dealing with the constitution of the ternary system, although some tests of the mechanical properties have been described,3 which indicate that there is a change insolubility with temperature.

Jan 1, 1930