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By W. F. Holbrook, T. L. Joseph

The problem of sulfur control is important in all blast-furnace operations but particularly for certain grades of steel because of the rigorous specifications. During the past decade the tendency has been to produce pig iron and hot metal of lower sulfur content. As most of the sulfur in the iron originates in the fuel, the use of high-sulfur coke demands modifications in practice to meet sulfur specifications. While it is generally known that high temperatures and more basic slags favor desulfurization, operators as a rule produce the most acid slag that will permit proper desulfurization. The viscosity of blastfurnace slag has been thought to be related to desulfurization and has been investigated by Feild and Roysterl, also McCaffery and his associates*, but apparently no systematic effort has been made to determine the relative desulfurizing powers of slags over the range of composition encountered in practice. Development of Testing Method Because slag and metallic iron are immiscible, the desulfurization reaction is heterogeneous, occurring only at the interfaces between slag and metal bodies. In the blast furnace the newly reduced iron, containing FeS, descends through the slag bath probably either as small drops or streams, at the interfaces of which desulfurization occurs. After its descent through the slag the iron collects to form a bath of metal, at the top surface of which desulfurization reaction probably occurs. These two steps have been thought to account for all desulfurization in the blast furnace. Kinney3 found that metal removed from the blast furnace just above the tuyeres contained three to four times as much sulfur as the iron at cast. Herty and Gaines4 conclude that most of the sulfur is removed while the metal is passing through the slag. Mund, Stoecker

Jan 1, 1936

By S. Mukai, Y. Shah, T. Zshikawa, T. Wakamtsu

In order to recover coal concentrate of low ash and low iron content, the electrostatic separation of coal was studied. It is more successful in the corona discharge field to recover the coal concentrate of low ash and low iron content than in the field without corona discharge. The effect of humidity on the electrostatic separation of coal was then studied. From the experimental results, it was clear that the electrostatic separation was excellent in about 60% relative humidity of atmosphere. Thus, the separation of vitrite from coal is practicable by electrostatic separation. In recent years the demand for high quality coal containing low ash, low iron, and low sulfur has increased. To fulfill this requirement, a higher grade coal concentrate must be produced. Study on the electrostatic separation of coal has been performed for several years in the author's laboratory. From the results of this research, it was considered that the behavior of coal particles in the electrostatic field relates closely to the ash and iron content in coal. In the present paper, the electrostatic separation of coal in corona discharge field was studied in order to recover the high quality coal concentrate and then the effect of humidity on the electrostatic separation was investigated. PREPARATION OF COAL SAMPLES The coals from the Akabira mine, the Kushiro mine, the Miike mine, and the Oshima mine which are famous coal mines in Japan were used in this study. The ash contents of these coals are shown in Table I. From the results of the analysis of the coal samples by the Norelco X-ray diffractometer, it is recognized that the Miike coal includes mainly pyrite, quartz, kaoline, calcite, and epidote; the Kushiro coal: kaoline, quartz, and montmorillonite, and the Oshima coal: siderite, dolomite, and other substances. For the preparation of samples, the coarse pieces of coal were crushed to about 2 mm in diam and then ground in an agator mortar. The ground products were sieved and fractions of 10 — 14 mesh, 14 — 20 mesh, 20-28 mesh, and 28-35 mesh were prepared, respectively. APPARATUS OF ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION The principal part of the apparatus of the electrostatic separation used in the experiments is shown in Fig. 1. In order to generate the corona discharge field, a needle-shaped electrode combined with a pole electrode is installed as the high tension electrode. In the case of investigating the effects of the humidity on the electrostatic separation of coal, the needle-shaped electrode was combined with a plate electrode instead of the pole electrode as shown in Fig. 2. The pole or the plate electrode was installed to promote the repelling of the charged particles by producing the electrostatic field between this electrode and the grounded roller. It seems to be very useful on the coal separation to install these combined high tension electrodes. SEPARATION OF COAL PARTICLES IN CORONA DISCHARGE FIELD The separation testings on the coal samples in the corona discharge field were performed by the apparatus as shown in Fig. 1. These experiments were carried out under the following conditions: feed size 20 — 28 mesh, room temperature, normal humidity and applied voltage 15-20 KV, and the combined electrodes including the needle-shaped electrode were negatively charged. The results of these testings are

Jan 1, 1968

By Frederick J. Pope

The protaxis of the North American continent consists, as is well known, of a large V-shaped area of Archæan rocks, which lie for the most part in the Dominion of Canada, and occupy an area of not less than 2,031,000 square miles. The western limit of this area extends from 'Lake Superior in a northwesterly direction to the Arctic Ocean, the southern is found along the Lower St. Lawrence as far as Labrador. A minor area, spoken of as the Adirondack region of northern New York, has a somewhat broken connection with the main body in a narrow band of igneous rock, which crosses the Upper St. Lawrence where it leaves Lake Ontario. The ancient crystallines are also presumably beneath all the later sediments, hut the above brief description outlines their principal exposures. This great rock-complex consists, for the most part, of a series of gneisses, which present great variations in both structure and composition. In certain sections areas of gneisses of the general composition of granite, and remarkably uniform in character, prevail. They consist largely, if not exclusively, of crystalline rocks in which a banding or foliation has been induced by pressure. These rocks constitute the basal member of the Laurentian system, and by later writers have been referred to as the Ottawa gneiss. In other and quite extended areas, gneisses, regarded by many as composed of altered sediments, are associated with crystalline limestones, quartzites, and much injected igneous matter. To this series the term Grenville has been applied. Both of these series of gneisses are penetrated by various igneous masses, of which the most important are great intrusioiis of several members of the gabbro family, such as anortho-sites, norites, pyroxenites, and gabbros proper; the whole form-

Jan 1, 1900

By Cyril Stanley Smith, Earl W. Palmer

A complete discussion of the literature on the subject of the influence of copper on iron and steel will be published elsewhere.' The present paper is concerned especially with the precipitation-hardening of copper steels, and brief mention will be made here only of the work of Kin-near,2,3 Nehl4 and Buchholtz and Koster,5 who alone have studied this phase of the subject. Kinnear found that normalized low-carbon steel castings containing about 1.0 per cent copper on drawing at temperatures in the neighborhood of 530" C. (1000" F.) increased in tensile strength and yield point, with little decrease in ductility. The maximum effect was obtained with about 0.9 to 1.0 per cent copper, and when the copper exceeded 3 per cent no improvement occurred on reheating. Kinnear did not study the effect of time of reheating—an all important factor where precipitation is concerned. Neh1,6 who apparently was unaware of Kinnear's work, recognized the change as due to precipitation and studied the interdependence of time and temperature of reheating, the temperature of the initial solution heat treatment, and the speed of cooling necessary to retain the bulk of the copper in supersaturated solution and to give an increase in hardness and tensile strength on reheating. Nehl found that if the final rolling or forging temperatures exceeded 700" C. (1300" F.) it was not necessary even to normalize the steel, but full precipitation occurred on merely reheating the forged or rolled shapes at 500" C. (930" F.). Buchholtz and Koster7 studied in detail the precipitation-hardening of a mild steel containing 1.0 per cent copper and 0.5 per cent chromium. From data on the electrical and magnetic properties of copper steels, they drew the portion of the equilibrium diagram in Fig. 1, assuming the

Jan 1, 1933

By M. H. Mueller, P. A. Beck, W. P. Chernock

HARRIS introduced the term inverse pole figure for the diagrams previously used by Barrett' to represent the volume fraction p(a,ß) of material in various orientations with respect to the fiber axis in a specimen with fiber texture. The direction of the fiber axis with respect to the crystal lattice is specified by the two independent angle variables a and ß. In such a diagram p gives the fiber axis density distribution over the various crystallographic directions. The p(a,ß) may be given in a two-dimensional diagram by means of contour lines (p=con-stant) in a stereographic projection. The inverse pole figure incorporates in a single contour line diagram all the information given conventionally in pole charts for various (hkl) reflections and, therefore, it represents a considerable degree of condensation. Also, it gives this information directly in terms of the volume fraction of the specimen in various orientations, and it obviates the necessity of referring back and forth between the various pole charts in an attempt to interpret them in terms of orientations. Inverse pole figures undoubtedly represent the most adequate method for describing a texture in a quantitative manner and, at least in the case of fiber textures, this method is certainly a practicable one. Harris described1 a simple procedure for determining at least the rough outlines of a quantitative inverse pole figure. This method depends on the measurement of the intensity of X-ray reflections from various (hkl) planes lying parallel to the same specimen surface. In the case of a rod, reflections from a plane specimen surface perpendicular to the rod axis (fiber texture axis) are to be used. Harris has shown that the measured intensities I,,, reflected by crystal planes (hkl), aligned perpendicularly to the fiber axis of a specimen with unknown fiber texture, and the corresponding intensity Iu nkl from a random specimen are related to the p(a,ß) value for the unknown texture by the following equation IAkl/I°Aklw=c/c°.p(a, ß) [1] where C and C° re parameters depending on the crystal imperfections (extinction), surface preparation (e.g., thickness of oxide layer), the absorption coefficient in the specimen, effective line breadth, and instrumental factors. The values of the variables a and ß1 defining the crystal orientation, depend only on the indices hkl of the reflecting plane perpendicular to the fiber axis. Since p, as described by Harris1, is normalized in such a way that upon integration over the total orientation range its mean value is 1, the parameter C/C may be calculated approximately by the summation of Eq. l over all available X-ray reflections hkl, corresponding to a set of discrete orientations (rather than by integration over the complete range of orientations represented by the continuous variables a and ß). From the summation of Eq. 1 1/n SI AKL/I° Akl = C/C. SP(a,ß)/n is obtained where, as stated above 2p(a,ß) =1. n Therefore

Jan 1, 1959

By Edward Wichers

THE purpose of this paper is to set forth the matters of principal interest in connection with work done in the past few years on the purification of the metals of the platinum group, including the study and modification of methods already in the literature and the development of new procedures. For the most part, the results will be given in summary form, reserving the publication of detailed data and directions for a forthcoming paper to be issued by the Bureau of Standards. In recent years increasing interest has been shown in the preparation of the pure platinum metals, both by those concerned with the manufacture of the metals and their alloys for scientific and industrial purposes and those who are engaged in the study of the chemical or physical properties of the elements. The purification of the metals usually has been regarded as a matter so involved and difficult as to require the attention of specialists. It is hoped that this paper will show that any of the metals can be prepared in any desired degree of purity by relatively simple straightforward chemical methods. For the most part, it is thought that the methods given are suitable for small-scale refineries as well as for the laboratory; also, that they will bring the time required for the purification of any of the metals within reasonable limits. The new procedure suggested for purifying platinum should prove to be much shorter than any methods described in the literature.

Jan 1, 1928

By Paul L. Burkhart

THOUGH at an earlier period brief studies had been made by the Lehigh Navigation Coal Company Inc., it was not until 1924 that J. B. Warriner, then general manager, called for a comprehensive study of timber treatment, treating solutions, and related operations. Because of the impossibility of procuring accurate costs and other pertinent treating data, the American Wood Preserving Co. agreed to treat a car of mine timber at the Port Reading plant of the Reading Railroad. Fig. I shows the treating data collected at the treating plant on this timber, which was installed in two of the Lehigh mines in 1925. Table i.—Results of Timber Survey in 1925 before Treated Timber Was Introduced Length of tunnels and gangways ft..... 522,987a Length of tunnels and gangways timbered, ft.................................. 224.880 Number of steel mine sets in use......... 2,412 Number of timber sets in use............ 63,834 Number of timber sets with evidence of rot 50: 419 Number of timber sets with evidence of squeeze..... ...................... I3,415 Percentage of all timber sets showing evidence of failure: BY wet rot........................ 6.0 By dry rot........................ 73.0 By squeeze....................... : Average life of wood set in Panther Valley, years............................... 5.3 • 99.05 miles. In the latter part of 1925, a survey of the tunnels and gangways of the company's Panther Valley mines was made to determine the proportion of gangways or tunnels timbered, cause of timber failures, approximate life of the average wood set and the approximate percentage of treated timber that it would be profitable for the company to use. Results of this survey appear in Table I. Because of the high percentage of timber that gave evidence of failure by rot, as noted in Table I, and a further study of the life of the sections where timbering was necessary, it was deemed advisable to fill 25 per cent of the yearly gangway timber requirement with treated timber. Quantities and Treatments OF Treated Timber Purchased In the early days of the program, none of the large treating companies would accept orders for small quantities of treated timber and the company was compelled to state the quantity of timber it would require at each operation in each month of the year. Table 2 is an example of the tabulation given to the various treating companies to assist them in making a yearly bid on the minimum quantity of timber required by the company during the year 1931. A bill of timber was calculated for each car, the weight of which would be between the minimum and maximum weight permitted for railroad-car loading. The treating company was paid for timber upon delivery at the operation specified. As extra cars of timber were required, they were ordered from the treating company, and payment was required On their receipt, on the basis of the piece or tonnage

Jan 1, 1942

By Henry D. Hibbard

At the beginning of a Henry M. Howe lecture it seems fitting to refer to Howe's great contributions to steel metallurgy, and particularly to the literature thereof. Most of my predecessors in this role have been able, from their association with him, to give direct testimony as to his great services; but although connected with him for years in a business way, I am less familiar with what might be called his academic side, except as it is embodied in his utterances, written and oral. Howe was adept in his genial way in extracting information in any line which, at the time, was of interest to him. In a technical lecture one expects as a rule new knowledge—something about recent advances relating to the subject. On this occasion, however, I will ask you to go back with me to the primary department of steel lore, as the title of my lecture shows, to review the more fundamental features in that field for the purpose of seeking some gaps which we can fill and so give the subject renewed interest. In thus going back one must inevitably repeat many familiar facts, but that seems to be necessary in order to reach a clear understanding of the unrecorded matters. The full interpretation of a steel analysis is at present unattainable, though much progress toward that end has been made. The ultimate analysis, giving the percentages of the five commonly determined elements, does indeed usually give a fair idea of what the steel is, and is ordinarily enough, with knowledge of its history and physical condition, to enable it to be assigned to some purpose or use for which it is reasonably suitable. But discrepancies arise. Every maker and every user of steel knows, from at least occasional examples in his own experience, that the ultimate analysis is insufficient by itself to enable one to tell positively, from its interpretation, either the mechanical properties of the steel or its adaptability to the purpose for which it was made. Further, if, while having the specified composition, it is abnormal or unsatisfactory, why it is so. Good, bad and indifferent steels may have substantially the same ultimate analysis.

By E. S. Moore

The Kolar gold field has been for a long time the most important gold-producing area of India. It is situated in the Skate of Mysore, southern India, and not far from the City of Bangalore. The productive field is about 3 miles long and in it a gold-bearing quartz vein varying in width from 1 in. to over 10 ft. is worked. The vein carries high values to great depths and many of the mines have paid large dividends. Geological Formations In KolaR Region The rocks of the Kolar region are pre-Cambrian in age and bear a close resemblance to some of the pre-Cambrian formations of America. The oldest rocks seen are basic lavas, now mostly altered to hornblende-schists, with which is associated some banded iron-formation; these rocks are similar to the Keewatin schists and iron-formation in the Lake Superior region. The schist is cut by the gold-bearing quartz vein. In certain parts of the area there is also a conglomerate containing pebbles of granite, jasper, and schist. The matrix resembles a hornblende-schist and is intruded by small granite dikes, which in some cases have been pinched off by squeezing of the rock. This has led Dr. W. I?. Smeeth, Chief Inspector of Mines of Mysore, to whom the writer is greatly indebted for information regarding this area and for his hospitality while visiting the field, to regard this conglomerate as a breccia due to crushing of granite dikes in the schist. Dr. J. W. Evans has regarded the conglomerate as probably a squeezed glacial boulder clay. From analogy with pre-Cambrian conglomerates in America, the writer regards it as a metamorphosed rock similar to our basal Huronian conglomerate. However, the main bearing which it has upon the problem under discussion is the apparent fact that it is younger than the schist and that it indicates the presence of a syncline in the rocks cut by the quartz vein. Surrounding the area of schist and conglomerate is a large mass of granite-gneiss resembling the Laurentian gneiss of the Lake Superior region. Still later than the rocks mentioned above are basic intrusions which cut the quartz and schists; in the mines these are known as trap. One dike of this type is 50 to 60 yd. wide.

Jan 1, 1920

By William Johnson

IT is now recognized that several important types of reactions in metallic systems proceed by the formation of nuclei and the growth of these nuclei. The process of freezing is a simple example of this, as Tammann pointed out years ago.1 Tammann held that ' the rate, of freezing is determined by a rate of nucleation, expressed as the number of nuclei formed per unit volume of unfrozen liquid per second, and a rate of growth of these nuclei, expressed as the linear rate of radial growth in units of length per second. For isothermal freezing the conception is simple; for ordinary freezing, extending over a range of temperature, it is not as simple, for the values of the two constants must change with change in temperature. There is ample evidence that the postulated mechanism is correct even though a quantitative derivation of the rate of isothermal or of ordinary freezing in terms of the two constants has been lacking. In recent years other reactions have been found to proceed in a similar fashion. It has been well established, particularly by Bain,2-8 that. the formation of pearlite from the eutectoid decomposition of the solid solu-tion austenite proceeds in such a way, and Polanyi and Schmid, Tammann and Crone, Karnop and Sachs, and others9-11 have shown that the process of recrystallization proceeds in a similar way. Isothermal reaction rates have been determined for eutectoid decom-position by a number of investigators. Bain's2-8 work on the formation of pearlite from austenite is especially valuable in this respect-the type of isothermal reaction curve obtained, as illustrated in Fig. 13, showed an initial slow rate, accelerating to an intermediate maximum rate which then decelerated to the completion of the reaction; similar curves have been obtained by Wever and his collaborators.12 Other eutectoid decompositions show similar behavior: for example, the decomposition of the beta eutectoid in the copper-aluminum system, studied by Smith

Jan 1, 1939

By Spurr

CONTENTS. [ ]

Jan 1, 1913

By Charles Hart

The art of electric smelting came with the turn of the present century and owes its existence to the introduction of alternating current, which found its first wide use in the establishment of the great power plants at Niagara Falls, N. Y. Prior to that time current was largely direct. The furnaces were electrolytic in nature and found their first metallurgical use in the production of aluminum, and this process still prevails. The normal production of pig iron up to that time was carried on in blast furnaces in which charcoal, coke and anthracite were used as the fuel. This new electric process called for sufficient carbonaceous material to reduce the oxides and impregnate the pig iron with sufficient carbon, but the remainder of the energy was to be supplied by electric power. The chemical reactions are essentially the same in electric smelting as obtains in the older blast furnace. All of these data are so well known in both methods as to need no discussion at this time, for they can be found in scientific : publications and books written during the first two decades of this century. Types of Furnaces The 40 years devoted to the practice of electric smelting may be divided into two . periods of 20 years each. The first was devoted to experimentation with furnace types and with many publications on theories and processes. The second half of this term was devoted to perfecting the types of furnaces and their active commercial operation. The arc furnace may be found in three types: (1) the direct-heating arc furnace with the positive electrode included in the bottom and the other electrode suspended above; (2) the independent arc furnace with its electrodes entirely above the charge, which of necessity depends upon heat reflected from the roof; (3) the direct-heating series arc furnace equipped with two or more electrodes suspended from the roof. Of these three types, only the last is used in electric smelting of iron ore at the present time. The elimination of the other types automatically removed many of the early designs, to the end that there are now only two general types in operation: (I) the " Electrometalls" or high-shaft furnace of Sweden, and (2) the low-shaft or pit-type furnace as offered by Tysland-Hole and Siemens-Halske. The "Electrometalls" furnace takes its name from the corporation formed by the engineers that had undertaken its perfection. After trying several designs they brought forward the furnace shown in Fig. I, which by the way is the highest development of this type of furnace as of today.l Note the trend in the lines, which have kept pace with modern blast-furnace design. The high-shaft furnace lends itself to skip filling and is fitted with tuyeres immediately under the crucible roof, whereby the gases are recycled and the roof preserved. The failure of the Electrometalls furnace in Norway, because of its inability to meet

Jan 1, 1941

By W. C. Phalen

Introduction............................... 100 Production and Exportation of Phosphate Rock.............. 101 Methods of Conservation........................ 101 Introductory Note........................ 101 Mechanical Methods of Conservation............... 103 Grades of Brown Phosphate Rock............... 106 Preparation of Phosphate Rock for Market, with Phases of Conservation Involved..................... 106 Removal of Overburden.................... 106 Methods of Mining...................... 107 Reworking Deposits..................• 107 Working "Cutters"................... 109 Washing and Drying..................... 111 Conservation of Fines .................... 113 Chemical Methods of Conserving Phosphate Rook.......... 113 Application in the West.................... 113 Chemistry of Process.................... 114 Substitutes for Phosphate Rock..................... 115 Natural Substitutes........................ 115 Phosphatic Limestone..................... 115 Apatite, Nelsonite and Other Minerals Containing Phosphate ... 116 . Apatite in Virginia................... 117 Guano........................... 118 Greensand (Marls)...................... 118 New Jersey....................... 118 Kentucky........................ 119 . Tennessee........................ 120 Alabama........................ 120 Excrement.......................... 120 Bones............................ 121 Artificial Substitutes....................... 121 Basic Slag......................... 121 Phosphate Rock Reserves....................... 122 Florida............... 122 .

Jan 1, 1918

By Forrest F. Craig

Both early and more recent1 laboratory measurements of gas-oil relative permeabilities were made by subjecting oil-saturated cores to external gas drives. In these runs it was generally assumed that the flowing gas/oil ratio was constant at every point throughout the core. Using this assumption, the resulting equation for the gas-oil relative permeability ratio becomes A where Q is the flow rate at the producing end of the system. This relative permeability was then specified for the average saturation of the core. The assumption and resulting equation fail to recognize that in an external drive, the oil flow rate varies from zero at the injection end to a maximum at the producing end. The assumption also fails to consider the existence of a saturation gradient during an external drive. This saturation gradient is due solely to non-steady-state flow. Some authors2,3,4 have used this erroneous method of calculating relative permeability ratios from external drives. Other authors5,6,7 have used relative permeability ratios in calculating expected field performance by external drive, using Equation (1) and making the incorrect assumption that the saturation is uniform within the driven portion of the reservoir. To find the correct relation between the relative permeability. ratio at the average saturation and the produced gas/oil ratio, the insertion in Equation (1) of a factor, F, to adjust it for oil velocity gradient has been considered. The equation then takes the form Assuming that the oil velocity is directly proportional to the distance from the injection point leads to the conclusion that, for a linear system, the average oil velocity is one-half that at the producing end. Thus, the average gas/oil ratio is twice the produced gas/oil ratio, and Equation (2) is transformed into However, here again the existence of a saturation gradient is not recognized. The produced gas/oil ratio is related to the relative permeability ratio at the saturation of the outlet end of the system. It can be shown quite readily that, if the true log k,/k, saturation relationship is linear over small ranges of saturation, then d log kjko Where aaxv and u2 are the average and outlet saturations, respectively. Examination of Equation (3) shows that the factor F cannot have a single value over the whole saturation range. Another method of dealing with external drives is that of Buckley and Leverett.' Their method, which assumes no gas expansion and outlet end effects, considers fully the saturation gradient present due solely to the displacement mechanism during an external drive, and applies Equation (1) to each point along this gradient. The calculation of production history using relative permeability ratio is straightforward. However, the calculation of relative permeability ratios from production history by this method is impractical. In a recent paper, Welge,1 using an approach similar to that of Buckley and Leverett, presents a simplified method for determining the saturation at the producing end of the system. At thi; saturation, the relative permeability ratio calculated by Equation (1) applies exactly, after breakthrough of the stabilizej front. By this method, relative permeability ratios or production history may be calculated with equal ease. Use of this method as a laboratory tool in determination of relative permeability ratios by external drive requires the knowledge of the total injected fluid volume; in addition to the average saturation and producing ratio. As a preliminary test of this method of calculation, laborntory external gas drives were run on a 3% in. diameter, 11 in. long sample of Nellie Bly consolidated sandstone. This core sample had a permeability of 824 md and a porosity of 28.1 per cent. The driving fluid was air. Three different oils were used, having viscosities of 1.4, 9.8, and 125 cp, respectively. The runs were made under identical pressure differentials,

Jan 1, 1952

By Hans W. Schreiber, David W. Neuhaus

INTRODUCTION The Sunshine Mining Company's 16-to-1 silver deposit and mine project are located 384 kilometers (240 miles) southeast of Reno and 360 kilometers (225 miles northwest of Las Vegas, near Silver Peak in Esmeralda County, Nevada, at an elevation of about 2,300 meters (7,000 feet). The deposit was being developed, in 1980, with an anticipated mining and milling rate of 150,000 tons per year (500 tons per day). Mining is by underground, blast-hole open stoping with rubber-tire haul-age out of the mine to a straight cyanide plant about 5.5 kilometers (3.5 miles) from the mine. The product is a gold-silver dore which may be further refined at Sunshine's new refinery in Kellogg, Idaho. The cash required for investment was obtained through the sale of $25 million worth of 6 l/2h silver-indexed bonds. Some $15.0 million were directed toward development of the 16-to-1 Mine. These bonds, which were underwritten by Drexel Burnham Lambert of Chicago in April of 1980, are redeemable on or after April 15, 1985 or payable at maturity on April 15, 1995 at the greater of either $1,000 or the market price of 50 ounces of silver. Behre Dolbear acknowledges the kindness of the Sunshine Mining Company (Sunshine) for allowing the presentation of the subject material for this Case Study. APPLICABILITY AS CASE STUDY Reasons for Choosing 16-to-1 The reasons for choosing the 16-to-1 Mine as a case study follow: 1. The project is simple and compact. 2. The mine is small -- thus relevant to other contemplated precious metal operaions in the western states. 3. The areas of risk are readily identifiable. 4. A change to project financing was under consideration. 5. A substantial decline in the price of silver was experienced during development. 6. Behre Dolbear undertook one of the first feasibility studies of The 16-to-1 and thus has some familiarity with the project. Historical Summary The following history serves as a setting: 1. Late 1920s -- minor "production"(?) via shallow pitting. 2. Mid-1930s -- neighboring Nivlok Mine successfully put into production. 3. Late 1950s (?) -- Callahan Mining Company acquired rights and drilled -- results inconclusive; Callahan turned property back to Arthur Baker, who had originally interested Callahan in 16-to-1 on the basis of its similarity with Nivlok Mine.

Jan 1, 1985

By R. T. Hukki

The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of the unit operation of grinding and the circulating load, of the unit operation of classification and the circulating load, and of the two superimposed into one operation to clarify the overall trend of events relating the circulating load to the capacity of the closed circuit grinding system, to the specific surface area of the final fine product, and to the energy consumption in the closed circuit grinding process. The capacity of the closed circuit is frequently, if not always, determined by the classifier, not by the mill." With these words a startling idea was expressed in 1934 by Dorr and Anable.1 Today, some 30 years later, grinding in closed circuit is universally accepted. The basic curve presenting the capacity factor versus circulating load by Dorr and Anable has obviously been so convincing that not a single authoritative investigation regarding its validity seems to have been conducted. The only major subject of discussion appears to have been the relative merits of the 'high' and 'low' circulating loads. It seems to be universally agreed that much still remains to be hoped for regarding sharpness of classification. BASIC CURVES FOR CONSTANT MILL LOADING Fig. 1 presents a series of basic curves for constant mill loadings in function of new feed rate and circulating load. The mill loading indicated by each curve is the sum of hourly tonnages of new feed and circulating load. For example, at point 0 where the new feed rate is 100 t/h and the circulating load 300%, or 300 t/h, the mill loading is 400 t/h. In closed circuit grinding, the new feed rate corresponds to the rate of finished classified material produced. Although at this stage the effect of classification is excluded in construction of the basic curves, the trend indicated by these curves is strongly in favor of closed circuit operation under relatively small circulating loads. A study of the curves reveals that, e.g., a mill operating under a load of 200 t/h at point P where the new feed rate is 50 t/h and the circulating load 300% will also operate under the same total load at point Q where the new feed rate is 100 t/h and the circulating load 100%. In other words, a reduction of circulating load from 300% to 100% would lead to doubling of the new feed rate and doubling of the rate of production of finished material, without a change in the total mill loading. The obvious question is, is it also possible by a reduction of the circulating load in a closed industrial grinding circuit to increase the production of finished classified material and, if so, how and to what extent? GRINDING TESTS BY DORR AND ANABLE In a series of open circuit grinding tests reported by Dorr and Anable1 limestone was ground at various feed rates in a 3-ft ball mill. The original data are reproduced in Table I. It can be seen that with the increased feed rate production of -65-mesh material increased and the energy consumption per unit weight of the -65-mesh product decreased in the reverse ratio. The data shown in Table I have been reproduced for our purposes in Table II for a scale corresponding to grinding in a large industrial mill. This reproduction

Jan 1, 1968

MARCEL R. DALY (communication to the Secretary?).-The fundamental disagreement between Eugene Coste and the writer proceeds essentially from the contradictory views they hold on the origin of petroleum. This difference cannot be bridged, nor can inorganic and organic theories be discussed here. The writer has suggested that the proper thing in such a case would be to agree to disagree. Coming to the detailed objections further presented by Mr. Coste, the writer feels that, in the main, they take their source in a wrong interpretation of the theory, and the writer is sometimes too generously invested with views that are not his own. 1. The only requirement for the theory is that the oil proceeding from organic remains be distributed in a water-laden sediment, and that this sediment be submitted to the increasing compression due to the continuous accumulation of superimposed strata, which would tend to squeeze out the liquid contents (p. 1152). This squeezing out would be further aided by the distortion of the strata (p. 1148, a). Nothing here makes impossible the slow formation of the oil, if this is considered necessary, as the piling up of the strata in the syncline would require by itself a protracted length of time, and, further, the squeezing-out process is a slow one. Possibly the formation of the oil may even continue during part of the process of distortion. But the mode of formation of the oil and the time and temperature required for it are left to the chemist to decide. The diastrophic theory, which is essentially a theory of motion and accumulation dependent on the laws of mechanics, is not directly concerned with them, provided the general points heretofore outlined be agreed upon. Perhaps it would be wise not to claim too many "eons" for the formation of the hydrocarbons, if the statement made by Sir Boverton Redwood is correct that "the coral reefs of the Red Sea are charged in places with recent petroleum, formed in that torrid climate from the swarming organisms occupying the shallow pools."1

Jan 5, 1917

By E. H. Bronson

PROPERTY of Malartic Gold Fields Ltd. is situa-ated in the great clay belt in the northern part of the Province of Quebec. This belt represents the floor of the glacial lake Barlow-Ojibway. The clay blanket has a gently rolling, almost flat surface, with here and there projecting knobs and ridges that outline the large irregularities of the surface on which the clay was deposited. At irregular intervals glacial eskers dominate the landscape. The ore-bearing country rock is covered by strata of clay, sand, and silt to a depth varying to 40 ft. There are serious structural problems when it is necessary to place loads of unequal intensities on this surface to support buildings and machinery for a modern mining plant. Earlier mining companies and their engineers paid little attention to the science of soil mechanics, partly because they believed it unnecessary and partly because they knew little of the subject. The results are evident in some of the tottering structures in older camps. Careful analysis of soil problems is well worth-while, since cost of foundations may vary from 20 to 50 pct of the final cost of a structure. Low operating and maintenance costs can be achieved only in this way. If it is definitely established that a plant will be in operation for only a few months, this limited time factor will probably influence the design of the foundation, and rightly so. If sensitive and complickted equipment is to be mounted on these foundations and the plant is to operate for several years, there should be a thorough study of foundations and a very careful design. A familiar problem is presented by the difficulty of operating a permanent plant originally designed for a few months' work. The engineer must beware of these hazards and disassociate himself from them if he cannot prevail on the promoter to spend the proper amount for a thorough foundation study. Laws of certain provinces and states hold the engineer equally responsible with the contractor for any 'damage that may be caused to building through inadequate study-ignordnce of the facts is no excuse in the eyes of the law. Types of Soil: The engineer should be familiar with such terms as silt, clay, peat, and varved clay, as well as perpafrost, especially if he is to work in the far northern reaches of the country. He should also be familiar with soil attributes such as porosity, texture, consistency, permeability, compressibility, consolidation, and shearing resistance. The design of any foundation requires an accurate knowledge of the physical properties and location of the soils involved. Older textbooks on the subject outline various empirical methods to determine the carrying power of soil. Tables are given in reference books. The modern ehgineer should be wary of these modes of thinking. He should analyze his problem carefully, calculate to what depth of soil the loads may be transmitted, and then check the bearing value of all soils to that or greater depths. If the strata are water-carrying, he must determine the possibility of this water being accidentally re-

Jan 1, 1958

By J. T. Griffith, Walter S. Lutz

The rainfall during the last six months of 1942 in Scranton and vicinity was 24.06 in.—only 4.35 in more than the average for this district in any equivalent period—yet that rain forced The Hudson Coal Co. to handle 38.8 tons of water for every ton of coal mined. It filled to overflowing, or to a higher level, 14 flooded mine areas holding, in total volume, 8.3 billion gallons of water in storage; brought about a pumpage of 11.4 billion gallons in the months of December 1942 and January, February and March 1943 Half of the total energy generated or purchased (44,322,980 kw-hr.) was required to keep the mines sufficiently free of water to permit the mining of coal during a period of much needed output. Fig. I shows the extent to which this flooding of exhausted and idle properties has proceeded, and is known to be proceeding further, at the upper end of the Northern field. This rainfall (24.06 in.) means 80,559,444 tons of water on approximately 46.2 sq. miles of area tributary to the pumping plants. During the high rainfall period, 72,687,661 tons went underground, being pumped at the stations in this territory. This means an inflow of 88per cent, a runoff of 12 per cent compared with 64 per cent during normal conditions in a normal region. During this period no floods, either surface or underground, had to be dealt with, although the streams and rivers were high on several occasions. In general, the rainfall for the first three months of 1943 can be described as heavy but not abnormal.9 These figures not only indicate the large volumes of water to be handled but, by their very size, they also emphasize that the mine-water problem is not to be conquered, at least from an economical standpoint, by merely buying and installing more and more pumps. Into the solving of this water problem must go much planning, adhering to the principle of keeping the highest percentage of water at the highest possible level for the longest period of time; the storage of huge volumes in sumps capable of being reduced after the flood inflow and at rates less than the inflow; plans for prevention of surface inflow; provision of the minimum of pumping capacity arranged to as nearly 100 per cent pumping load factor as is possible; intercompany joint pumping plants; the conducting of water from one plant to another and from one property to another over distances measured in miles; priorities in power to the threatening situations; and. balance of the necessities and dangers existent in one colliery over another, day by day, when quantities of water are running high. Despite these astronomical figures of water volumes, their disposal to the surface is accomplished reasonably cheaply because, although the annual cost of $575,020 is a large sum, the cost per ton is about 0.1168 cents. Credit for this goes

Jan 1, 1947

By F. J. Lecznar

An investigation of the problem of separating two minerals by a moving inclined plane has revealed that only minerals with considerable difference in sliding friction coefficients separate readily; that it is possible to separate two minerals when only one of them has a rolling friction coefficient; that difference in geometrical shape of the minerals is important to separation which improves as grain size increases; and that the thickness of the stream falling on the belt influences the grade of separation - the thinner the stream, the smaller the interference between the grains of the minerals to be separated and the higher the degree of separation. The problem of separating two minerals with different friction coefficients and shapes by a moving inclined plane has been investigated. Friction separators can be used to separate two materials that differ in shape and in friction coefficient. 1,3 Gladkov has presented some theoretical aspects of using a moving plane to clean corn and podded seeds; this method, however, did not result in practical application. When considering the separation of minerals, only those with considerable difference in sliding friction coefficients can be taken into account. Furthermore, it is possible to separate two minerals when only one of them has a rolling friction coefficient. The difference in geometrical shape of two minerals is also important to separation. It has been found that the separation of two minerals improves as the grain size increases. For example, coal and slate over 2 in. in grain size separate much better than materials of smaller grain size. As Table I indicates, the slate grains smaller than 25 mm gradually lose their flat shape with decreases in size and are more rounded than larger grains, which are almost flat. The smallest grains of slate in first and second fractions slide down the belt since their friction coefficients decrease and approach the value of the rolling coefficient. The percentage of separation of the first fraction is, therefore, low. Thickness of the coal stream falling on the belt also influences the grade of separation; the thinner the stream, the smaller the interference between the grains of the two minerals to be separated and the higher the degree of separation.

Jan 1, 1963