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By A. N. Winchell

In connection with law suits between mining companies at Bingham, Utah, a few years ago, the writer made petrographic studies of more than 1400 rock and mineral samples in thin sections, and also careful studies of their field relations. In petrographic studies, even when an area is studied intensively, attention is commonly centered very largely on the unusual features of special interest, so that the relative abundance of rock types (or minerals or textures) can only be determined by a study of map areas outlined largely by field methods, and cannot be based directly on microscopic work. It is very uncommon, and usually impossible, to take samples at regular short intervals along and across formations. It is precisely because such methods were used at Ringham that the work presents a rare opportunity for determining, on a microscopic basis, the relative abundance of rock types and the continuity of gradations between rock types. At the same time, a study was made of the alteration of sediments under the influence of igneous intrusions, with results that are believed to be of interest and importance. • Sandstone-limestone Gradation The sedimentary rocks of the Bingham district are chiefly sandstones, with some beds of limestone, all now lying with their strike nearly east and their dip nearly north at an angle of about 30°, near the surface. The limestone beds are remarkably irregular in thickness in some places, but usually change very slowly in composition along the strike. However, the most interesting results are obtained from a study of a section across the beds at right angles to the strike. In some places, such sections show the usual alternation of pure sandstone with nearly pure limestone, in the simple manner assumed in most geological discussions.

Jan 1, 1924

By T. Sterry Hunt

I HAVE in a previous communication called the attention of the Institute to the geognostical relations of the crystalline iron ores belonging to the Eozoic rocks of North America, at which time I noticed (1) those associated with the gneisses of the Laurentian series, (2) those of the crystalline schists of the Huronian, as seen in Northern Michigan and in many localities along the Appalachians ; (3) those of Southeastern Missouri associated with petrosilex porphyries and schistose rocks, and presumed to be nearly of the same age with those of the Huronian schists; and (4) the highly titaniferous ores of the Norian or Labradorian series from Essex County, N. Y., and from various parts of Canada. It may here be remarked that, although the presence of titanium is most marked in the Norian ores, this objectionable element is sometimes found in the schistose ores of the Huronian, and to a lesser extent in certain Laurentian magnetites. The ores of each of these geological divisions have their individual peculiarities, which serve to distinguish them to such a degree that the magnetites and specular ores of the Laurentian are as dissimilar to those of the Huronian as are the crystalline silicated rocks of the two series. As it happens that these mineralogical dissimilarities correspond to differences in composition and in adaptability to different processes of manufacture, which, in the present condition of the iron industry, are objects of special consideration to metallurgists, it will be seen that these geognostical distinctions become of great practical importance. During the past year I was desired by the Geological Commissioners of Pennsylvania to devote a few weeks to certain geological studies in the eastern part of the State, in the course of which I was enabled to make, with regard to its crystalline iron ores, some observations to which I desire to call the attention of the Institute. I may mention, in passing, that the great South Mountain belt, from the Schuylkill to the Delaware, is composed of Laurentian rocks, in which are found the characteristic ores of the series like those of the Highlands of New Jersey and New York, and of the Adiron-

Jan 1, 1876

By T. Sterry Hunt

I have in a previous communication called the attention of the Institute to the geognostical relations of the crystalline iron ores belonging to the Eozoic racks of North America, at which time I noticed (1) those associated with the gneisses of the Laurentian series, (2) those of the crystalline schists of the Huronian, as seen in Northern Michigan and in many localities along the Appalachians; (3) those of Southeastern Missouri associated with petrosilex porphyries and schistose rocks, and presumed to be nearly of the same age with those of the Huronian schists; and (4) the highly titaniferous ores of the Norian or Labradorian series from Essex County, N. Y., and from various parts of Canada. It may here be remarked that, although the presence of titanium is most marked in the Norian ores, this objectionable element is sometimes found in the schistose ores of the Huronian, and to a lesser extent in certain Laurentian magnetites. The ores of each of these geological divisions have their individual peculiarities, which serve to distinguish them to such a degree that the magnetites and specular ores of the Laurentian are as dissimilar to those of the Huronian as are the crystalline silicated rocks of the two series. As it happens that these mineralogical dissimilarities correspond to diflerences in composition and in adaptability to different processes of manufacture, which, in the present condition of the iron industry, are objects of special consideration to metallurgists, it will be seen that these geognostical distinctions become of great practical importance. During the past year I was desired by the Geological Commissioners of Pennsylvania to devote a few weeks to certain geological studies in the eastern part of the State, in the course of which I was enabled to make, with regard to its crystalline iron ores, some observations to which I desire to call the attention of the Institute. I may mention, in passing, that the great South Mountain belt, from the Schuylkill to the Delaware, is composed of Laurentian rocks, in which are found the characteristic ores of the series like those of the Highlands of New Jersey and New York, and of the Adiron-

By Zay Jeffries

Page Introduction............................. 474 Nature of Experiments ........................ 476 Materials Used in Experiments..................... 476 Description of Samples........................ 476 Details of Tests and Apparatus .................... 486 Determination of Elongation...................... 488 Determination of Reduction of Area .................. 488 Results of Tests........................... 489 Quantity and Arrangement of Amorphous Phase............. 497 Properties of Amorphous and Crystalline Phases............. 501 Intercrystalline Fracture........................ 530 Trans-crystalline Fracture....................... 531 Rupture ............................... 535 Explanation of Beilby's Results..................... 536 Mechanical Properties of Copper Wires................. 537 Mechanical Properties of Tungsten Wires................ 542 Mechanical Properties of Iron Wire................... 546 Effect of Diameter of Wire on Mechanical Properties........... 554 General Considerations on Properties of Metals at Very Low Temperatures .. 556 General Considerations on Physical Properties of Complex Alloys...... 557 Summary.............................. 559 Discussion.............................. 562 Introduction DuRing the period 1914 to 1916. the writer observed many times that tungsten wire could be drawn hot until it became brittle but on cooling to room temperature it became ductile again. In searching the literature for parallel cases. it was found that Beilbyl had produced hard-drawn wires of gold. silver. and copper that showed less than 1 per cent.

Jan 1, 1919

By Benjamin Talbot

The problem of segregation and cavities in steel ingots is a subject which has given and is still giving metallurgists, engineers, and operators matter for serious consideration. This question has come more into prominence lately in the United States, due largely to the desire of railroad engineers to secure a better rail than they have obtained ill the past, as the service they demand is increasing in severity; and no doubt manufacturers will be able to meet what is required of them. The rails here are as good as those made in other countries, but the conditions of service and the extremes of climate are more Revere and consequently more breakages occur. Various reasons have been advanced to explain why rails may not be as good in quality to-day as in the past. Some engineers consider that modern methods of manufacturing, designed chiefly to obtain large output, tend to reduce the standard of excellence of more deliberate methods. Others think that 4-ton ingots are worse than those of 2 tons. Again, it is stated that the 100-ton heat in one ladle is too large, and is a step in the wrong direction in casting. My experience upon the question of the size of the ingot is that in rolling rails of from 85-to 100-lb. sections, the range of ingot is only practically such that the difference in the size does not help in the question of segregation, cavities, or blow-holes. I call attention to two ingots from work done at Pencoyd, Pa., 16 years ago. These ingots were bottom-poured, cast at the same time from the same center-runner, the one being 20 by 24 in. and the other 13 by 16 in. in size. The steel was acid open-hearth, and contained C, 0.43; P, 0.062; S, 0.069 per cent. At the same place in each ingot where seg-

Jan 1, 1914

By Donald E. Ackerman, Norman B. Pilling

The solubilities of a series of experimental alloys covering the range 0 to 100 per cent. Ni, 0 to 30 per cent. Cr have been studied under conditions of complete submersion in several fully aerated acid solutions, and in solutions containing sulfurous acid. In nonoxidizing, hydrogen-discharging acids, if the nickel content is below a certain critical amount, chromium increases the rate of solution and nickel decreases this rate; this critical content of nickel is about 13 per cent. Alloys containing more than this corrode at a constant minimum rate independent of iron, nickel or chromium contents. Austenitic chrome-nickel steels may thus have a resistance to these acids equal to that of nickel-chromium alloys. In nitric acid and in unaerated sulfurous acid rather sharp limits of attack occur which are principally dependent on chromium content. In the former the limit of attack is not related to a particular chromium content but varies continuously with acid concentration. The action of sulfurous acid on these alloys is highly dependent on the presence of small amounts of other substances in solution, and many sulfurous acid mixtures rapidly attack alloys to which the pure acid is wholly inert. The observed effects are not compatible with Tammann's theory relating corrosion resistance to lattice structure but are believed to be concordant with current views of the electrochemical nature of corrosion. Introduction The discovery, development and engineering application of iron alloys resistant to corrosion may well claim a place among the important developments in metallurgy of the past two decades. The varied demands of industry coupled with the skill of the metallurgist have resulted in the production of an extensive group of steels and alloys ranging from the now familiar "stainless " chromium steels of the kitchen to special alloys of great chemical complexity for particular, exacting needs. Any adequate description of the important properties of these-— physical, chemical and economic—would be a formidable undertaking.

Jan 1, 1929

By Donald E. Ackerman, Norman B. Pilling

The solubilities of a series of experimental alloys covering the range 0 to 100 per cent. Ni, 0 to 30 per cent. Cr have been studied under conditions of complete submersion in several fully aerated acid solutions, and in solutions containing sulfurous acid. In nonoxidizing, hydrogen-discharging acids, if the nickel content is below a certain critical amount, chromium increases the rate of solution and nickel decreases this rate; this critical content of nickel is about 13 per cent. Alloys containing more than this corrode at a constant minimum rate independent of iron, nickel or chromium contents. Austenitic chrome-nickel steels may thus have a resistance to these acids equal to that of nickel-chromium alloys. In nitric acid and in unaerated sulfurous acid rather sharp limits of attack occur which are principally dependent on chromium content. In the former the limit of attack is not related to a particular chromium content but varies continuously with acid concentration. The action of sulfurous acid on these alloys is highly dependent on the presence of small amounts of other substances in solution, and many sulfurous acid mixtures rapidly attack alloys to which the pure acid is wholly inert. The observed effects are not compatible with Tammann's theory relating corrosion resistance to lattice structure but are believed to be concordant with current views of the electrochemical nature of corrosion. Introduction The discovery, development and engineering application of iron alloys resistant to corrosion may well claim a place among the important developments in metallurgy of the past two decades. The varied demands of industry coupled with the skill of the metallurgist have resulted in the production of an extensive group of steels and alloys ranging from the now familiar "stainless " chromium steels of the kitchen to special alloys of great chemical complexity for particular, exacting needs. Any adequate description of the important properties of these-— physical, chemical and economic—would be a formidable undertaking.

Jan 1, 1929

By Walter Mathesius

The use of high blast heats on furnaces melting Mesaba ores is still the exception, the average blast temperatures carried on Mesaba stacks seldom reaching 1,100" F. Some 15 years ago, when the use of fine Mesaba ores in larger proportions to the total burden first came into practice, it was found difficult to employ even those blast heats which it had been possible ' to carry with the Old Range ores. The furnaces refused to "take" high heats, and would persistently labor with irregular stock movement, which impaired the practice and increased the coke consumption. By lowering the blast temperature, the working of the furnace became smoother, and experience taught that with the softer and more easily reduced Mesaba ores, satisfactory practice could be obtained with comparatively low blast heats. Therefore a large number of Mesaba furnaces have ever since been operated on very low blast temperatures, ranging between 800" and 1,000" F. In the face of these difficulties, furnace men were slow to recognize that furnaces could be so designed as to permit a free movement of the charges in combination with the use of higher heats. Since higher blast temperatures did not seem to offer great advantages in the smelting of Mesaba ores, investments in hot-blast stoves were not as attractive to the furnace man as labor-saving devices and means of obtaining greater tonnages. The effect of this preference is keenly felt at the present time. It has brought about the peculiar situation, that the majority of our furnace plants (among them some of the most progressive) lack modern and efficient stove equipment. The result is that, even where the proper furnace lines have been adopted and conditions are now favorable to the successful employment of higher blast temperatures, the heats required for the greatest fuel economy are not available. In an endeavor to obtain results, even with inadequate equipment, we find that, at many plants, the stoves are worked far beyond their capacity. This leads, in many instances, to a situation in which the coke saving in the

Jan 1, 1915

By J. E. Dorn, L. A. Shepard

LOW and Gensamer' demonstrated a number of years ago that the yield point phenomenon in mild steels was associated with the presence of fer-rite soluble carbon or nitrogen. More recently the yield phenomenon in body-centered-cubic metals containing interstitials was rationalized by Cottrell' in terms of a simple dislocation model. Interstitial atoms interact with dislocations in two ways; they cause not only local expansions but induce local tetragonality in the lattice. Consequently, interstitial~ interact with the hydrostatic tension and shear components of the stress about dislocations. They tend to migrate toward the expanded regions of edge dislocations and to assume sites that relieve the shear stresses of screw dislocations. Thus, a dislocation saturated with solute atoms constitutes a lower free energy state than that obtained when the dislocation threads through the average composition regions of the matrix. A greater stress will be required to separate the dislocation from its atmosphere than to move the dislocation through the matrix. This factor gives rise to the upper yield stress, which is required to unleash a series of dislocations in a localized region. This local yielding is propagated across the specimen to form a thin band of plastically deformed material known as a Lueder's band, making an angle of about 45" to the stress axis. Once the band has formed, deformation continues at the lower yield stress by the spreading of the Lueder's band in the direction of the applied stress. Undoubtedly the spreading of Lueder's bands at the lower yield stress is accomplished by the high stress concentrations at the band fronts, which serve to induce continued unlocking of new dislocations in advance of the migrating band fronts. Cottrell and Bilby have shown that the dependence of the yield point on temperature can be deduced by assuming that thermal fluctuations aid the stress in unlocking small dislocation loops from their solute atmospheres. Once a loop that exceeds a critical size has been nucleated, the entire locked diqlocation is released and can migrate. Fisher4 simplified this analysis by assuming that the locking forces were short range, so that if the dislocation loop were displaced only one Burgers vector from its atmosphere, it would be unlocked. Applying his model to the special case of delayed yielding under a constant stress of the order of the upper yield strength, he demonstrated that the delay time 7 for yielding should depend on stress and temperature according to where A and B are constants, G is the shear modulus, and u and T are the resolved shear stress and absolute temperature, respectively. Cottrell and Bilby, Fisher, and Fisher and Rogers' have shown that the above deductions are at least in qualitative harmony with the experimental facts. A number of investigators5-0 have shown that the yield point phenomenon can also be induced in sub-stitutional alloys of face-centered-cubic metals. In general such yield points are not as pronounced as those encountered in body-centered-cubic metals containing interstitials. The yield point phenomenon in these materials is usually enhanced by prestrain-ing at low temperatures and aging at intermediate temperatures. Undoubtedly the yield point phenomenon induced by strain aging substitutional alloys also results from locking of dislocations. But the locking of dislocations in substitutional alloys of face-centered-cubic metals differs somewhat from interstitial locking of dislocations in body-centered-cubic metals. Substitutional elements in face-centered-cubic lattices cause only radial displacements of the adjacent lattice points. Consequently, only the edge components of dislocations can be locked by the mechanism suggested by Cottrell. Additional locking, however, can be obtained by the Suzuki mcchanism.10 In face-centered-cubic metals, dislocations exhibit lower energies when they are present in the

Jan 1, 1957

By Alexander L. Field

The Bureau of Mines is investigating the problem of slag viscosity, its variation with the temperature and with the composition of the slag, and its effect upon the distribution of the sulphur between molten iron and slag, as introductory to a series of contributions to the theory of the metallurgical processes. The method of measurement, viscosity apparatus, furnace and other accessories mentioned in this paper have been described fully in s Bureau of Mines report.1 The Literature on Slag Viscosity The viscosity of blast-furnace slag had not been measured previous to the investigation described in this report. A number of investigators have determined the "fusibility," or softening temperature, of slags by means of the cone method .or other deformation method, but these methods supply only limited information regarding the temperature-viscosity relations of the slag in question. Any deformation method that may be employed indicates only the temperature at which the slag attains a more or less definite viscosity., the magnitude of the value obtained depending on the method used. For details of the various methods used by different investigators, see the Bureau of Mines paper already referred to. An isolated measurement by Doelter on a single mixture at 1,300" C. represents the highest temperature reached in the various viscosity investigations previous to those described in this report, in which results have been referred to absolute units. Arbitrary deformation tests have of course been made at much higher temperatures.

Jan 1, 1917

By R. S. Archer

The proper representation of equilibria involving graphitic carbon in the constitutional diagram of the iron-carbon system is admittedly an unsolved problem, the complete solution of which will probably require the establishment of more experimental evidence than is at this time available. The object of this paper is to present the author's observations on some of the phenomena in question and his interpretation of this and other recorded evidence. The chief of the recently disputed questions upon which the author has experimental evidence concerns the occurrence of graphitization at temperatures below the Al point. In a paper1 presented at the September, 1919, meeting of this Institute, the following is found: "the results given would seem to indicate that the graphite eutectoid lies at a smaller value of carbon content than has been previously supposed. At least this is true unless there is either a marked formation of graphite eutectoid at these rates of cooling, or a decomposition of pearlite into graphite, both rather unlikely suppositions, but not impossible ones." In a discussion of this paper, H. A. Schwartz2 takes the position that the possibility of graphitization occurring below the A1 point is an open question, but that complete graphitization (to less than 0.10 per cent, combined carbon) commonly occurs above this temperature. Another opinion from the malleable castings industry is found in a recent paper3 by Touceda: "Also the carbide of iron can be broken up into its two soft constituents at the temperature referred to. This temperature is called the critical temperature, or critical range, and for air-furnace hard-iron castings it is in the vicinity of 1440" F. It is the

Jan 1, 1922

By R. S. Archer

The proper representation of equilibria involving graphitic carbon in the constitutional diagram of the iron-carbon system is admittedly an unsolved problem, the complete solution of which will probably require the establishment of more experimental evidence than is at this time available. The object of this paper is to present the author's observations on some of the phenomena in question and his interpretation of this and other recorded evidence. The chief of the recently disputed questions upon which the author has experimental evidence concerns the occurrence of graphitization at temperatures below the Al point. In a paper1 presented at the September, 1919, meeting of this Institute, the following is found: "the results given would seem to indicate that the graphite eutectoid lies at a smaller value of carbon content than has been previously supposed. At least this is true unless there is either a marked formation of graphite eutectoid at these rates of cooling, or a decomposition of pearlite into graphite, both rather unlikely suppositions, but not impossible ones." In a discussion of this paper, H. A. Schwartz2 takes the position that the possibility of graphitization occurring below the A1 point is an open question, but that complete graphitization (to less than 0.10 per cent, combined carbon) commonly occurs above this temperature. Another opinion from the malleable castings industry is found in a recent paper3 by Touceda: "Also the carbide of iron can be broken up into its two soft constituents at the temperature referred to. This temperature is called the critical temperature, or critical range, and for air-furnace hard-iron castings it is in the vicinity of 1440" F. It is the

Jan 1, 1922

By D. Harrington

During the past few years, there has been a trend toward the use of rock-dusting, rather than relying on humidifying, or the use of water, to limit or prevent explosions in the coal mines of the United States. This is partly because British coal mines have adopted rock-dusting and, at least in a sense, have condemned the use of water. Moreover, during the past few years, particularly in the latter part of 1922 and in 1923 and 1924, several explosions with heavy loss of life occurred in coal mines of the United States that were known to have more or less extended sprinkling, or humidifying, systems. The sentiment created by these disasters quickly caused a distrust of explosion-prevention methods requiring use of water and simultaneously caused more or less of a stampede into rock-dusting. Much of the wholesale condemnation of watering methods was without adequate knowledge, or at least without adequate consideration, of local conditions in each case, and rock-dusting was adopted largely without sufficient knowledge of how to rock dust safely or correctly. However, mines that had been using watering methods and had suffered these recent serious disasters (notably Dolomite, Dawson, and Castle Gate) instead of abandoning the use of water when operations were resumed after the disaster, greatly extended their watering systems. At the same time they took other precautions as to electricity, ventilation, blasting, etc., and supplemented the watering system with rock-dusting where the latter was likely to be the more effective. The trend toward rock-dusting during the past year or two (succeeding the recent mine disasters) is very similar to the rapid movement toward watering, or humidifying, methods, about 1910 to 1912, after a series of disastrous mine explosions. The Phelps-Dodge Corpn., which operates a large property at Daw-son, N. M., after an explosion in its No. 1 mine in February, 1923, decided that it is dangerous to have all its "explosion-prevention eggs in one basket" and so adopted what may now be termed the Western coalmine explosion-prevention system, in which both rock-dusting and watering are used, supplemented by other up-to-date mining methods and practices; such as exclusive use of modern electric safety lamps, with magnetically locked flame safety lamps for testing purposes; use of

Jan 1, 1925

By T. D. Ledyard

SIR WILLIAM LOGAN, our great geologist, predicted that Canada would become eventually one of the greatest iron-producing countries of the world. Although possessed of numberless deposits of iron-ore, we have not yet done much to verify this prediction. Causes can be found for our backwardness, the principal one being

Jan 1, 1891

By Eckley B. Coxe

In making surveys in the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania, the ordinary engineer's chain (50 or 100 feet long) is generally used, both above and below ground. Sometimes, where it is difficult to chain, as, for instance, across a chasm, a wire is stretched from one station to the other, the distance is marked on the wire and its length is then measured with the ordinary chain. Having had occasion lately to make some surveys where it was necessary to determine with great accuracy the position of the land or property line, not

By K. D. Hester, A. W. Fletcher

A nickel-copper sulphide concentrate was treated in a pilot plant at Warren Spring Laboratory during 1961, by a hydrometallurgical roast-leach-solvent extraction process devised to cleanly separate the metal values and produce acid sulphate liquors containing the metals. It is shown that 86 pct of the nickel and 95 pct of the copper could be leached from the calcine, after a sulphatizing roast on finely ground flotation concentrate. Iron was removed from the leach liquor by limestone neutralization with a small loss of values. Copper and nickel were separated by solvent extraction with naphthenic acid in kerosene after partial neutralization of the iron-free liquors with ammonium hydroxide. Hydrogen sulphide and chlorine were used to remove zinc (and residual copper) and cobalt impurities respectively. The recovery of pure copper and pure nickel, by electrowinning, from the acidic solvent extract strip liquors finally produced, appears technically feasible. An economic analysis of production costs shows that small, geographically isolated, nickel-copper sulphide deposits cannot usually be worked profitably by established processes. The requirements for profitable operation on a comparatively small scale could possibly be met by a flotation-roast-leach process. Two difficulties, obtaining satisfactory extraction of nickel from a sulphide concentrate and separating the copper and nickel in solution, have prevented the previous use of this method. A solution to the first problem, dissolution of the nickel, was described in a recent paper by Thornhill.1 It was shown in this paper that copper and nickel in a flotation concentrate could be oxidized to water soluble sulphates by roasting in a fluidized bed with added salt cake. Workers at the Warren Spring Laboratory have shown that the separation of copper and nickel can be accomplished by solvent extraction using a relatively inexpensive carboxylic acid, naphthenic acid. Moreover, the mineral acid required to strip values from the loaded solvent could be produced, and the metals recovered, by electrowinning; thus the latter section of the process was regenerative. The removal of iron from the leach liquor and the elimination of impurities such as zinc and cobalt before nickel electrowinning would be necessary to complete the flowsheet. The process under investigation could therefore be summarized (Fig. 1) as follows: 1) Flotation to produce a bulk sulphide concentrate. 2) Fluidized bed roasting to sulphate the nickel and copper minerals. 3) Leaching of roaster calcine to extract soluble nickel and copper. 4) Precipitation of iron from the separated leach liquor by air oxidation after the adjustment of pH and temperature. 5) Recovery of copper from the iron-free Liquor by pH adjustment and liquid-liquid extraction. 6) Purification of the copper raffinate by removing zinc and residual copper as insoluble sulphides and cobalt as cobaltic hydroxide. 7) Recovery of nickel from the purified liquor by pH adjustment and liquid-liquid extraction. Laboratory and pilot plant studies detailed below, were carried out at the Warren Spring Laboratory, to test the feasibility of each one of the unit processes and to obtain preliminary plant design data. FLOTATION The ore was an altered basic rock containing concentrations of magmatic sulphides.

Jan 1, 1964

By G. Don Sullivan

Surface mine operators have organized a voluntary group known as the Mined-Land Conservation Conference for the specific purpose of developing and expanding reclamation programs on mined land. As a part of the Conference program, a Voluntary Industry Program was adopted and subscribed to by its membership. This program stated: "The basic approach to a sound conservation program is the restoration of mined land to its most practical and productive use within the shortest possible time . . . reclamation of mined lands, including planting to grasses or tress, should be done on a planned basis, under technical guidance by personnel trained in this field."

Jan 7, 1965

By W. H. Emmons

Most mineral deposits change as they are followed downward on their dips. Some of these changes are due to primary arrangement; different ores were precipitated at different depths when the deposits were formed. Other changes are due to weathering or secondary enrichment. The chief changes resulting from weathering, in the main, are understood and standard changes are recognized. The processes are relatively simple. They take place at ordinary temperatures and pressures and can be duplicated in the laboratories. Moreover, there are thousands of deposits available for study, because the processes take place near the surface where the development of mines is begun. The changes due to primary arrangement of the deposits of the metals are not so well understood. Deposition has taken place at higher temperatures and our knowledge of the chemistry of the processes leaves much to he desired. Very few experimental data are available. The deposits, moreover, offer fewer examples because many mines are not developed to depths where the changes can be studied and a change to unprofitable material usually results in stopping work. Most students of ore deposits now accept, as confirmed, the hypothesis that nearly all lodes and related deposits were formed by solutions originating in intrusive igneous masses. Outward from these masses, the deposits at many places are grouped in zones and the arrangement noted from the intrusions outward are commonly the reverse of the changes noted from the surface downward in a single lode. A study of the changes in groups of deposits, from the parent intrusion outward, will throw light on the changes to be expected in a single lode downward. Recause the changes in series of deposits from the intrusive outward may all be observed near the surface, where more data are available, it is possible to increase the number of examples many fold and to apply the statisttical method of study with greater confidence of avoiding error. It is not everywhere possible to identify the parent igneous body to which a group of ore deposits are related. Several kinds of criteria are available; certain groups are superior to others. By applying the

Jan 1, 1924

By Thomas Egleston

The ores of mercury of North California are composed of metallic mercury and cinnabar. They are found in serpentine, and are very often associated with chalcedony, in masses more or less irregular, often concentrated enough, however, to furnish ores yielding from three to ten per cent., and sometimes richer. This deposit makes its appearance in Vallejo where it has been worked. North of here the mines are more developed. Most of the quicksilver mines, however, are situated in Sonoma and Napa Counties. On its outcrop the serpentine rocks have become decomposed, and have often been washed away to a considerable depth, so that in many cases in their neighborhood, what is apparently nothing but ordinary dirt, will frequently contain from two to three per cent. of metallic mercury, with but a trace of cinnabar, in which case, as at the Sonoma mine, it is made up into adobes and distilled. Such material does not require to be mixed with dirt to be made into adobes. Very often, also, the outcrop of the rock, where it is not decomposed, is filled with metallic mercury, so that by striking a pick into it, as at the Rattlesnake mine, a pound or more of mercury at a time will sometimes spurt out. Such rock as this is found in several localities in every stage of impregnation, and usually makes very rich ore. There is generally, however, very little of it, and it is found only in the first workings; the ore in depth is always cinnabar. At the Rattlesnake mine near Pine Flat, where large quantities of metallic mercury are found, the rock contains so much petroleum that it has been necessary to make special arrangements to burn the carbides of hydrogen, since the distillation of the petroleum causes an extra quantity of poor soot to be formed in the condensation-chambers. At the Geysers the ore is associated with large quantities of sulphur and gypsum, so that in a hand specimen there is often more sulphur than cinnabar, which is a serious impediment to working, especially for the modern style of furnace with iron condensers, and causes so much soot to be formed that it has been known to penetrate as far as the blower, and to so completely clog it as to prevent its revolution. The ore coming from the mine is more or less hand-picked. In one or two cases attempts have been made to treat the poorest, and especially the very fine ores, mechanically as at the California works.

By M. H. Loveman

The orebody described below has been rediscovered and developed within the last 3 years. It has, however, been known and worked by the Chinese for hundreds of years. When assay values and size are considered, it contains what is probably one of the largest single bodies of zinc and lead sulphides yet found. The tonnages developed at other places, as at Broken Hill, are much greater but the average zinc and lead sulphide contents are considerably lower than at Bawdwin. Bawdwin is situated in the semi-independent State of Tawng Peng, one of the numerous units which make up the Northern Shan States. These States are under British rule and are generally considered as a portion of Burma. They are governed as a separate administrative unit, however, under the Lieutenant Governor of Burma. Each State is under its own chief, or Sawbwa, who has considerable power over his own subjects. Bawdwin is approximately in latitude N 23°6', longitude E 97°201, about 50 miles south of the nearest point on the Chinese border and 450 miles north of Rangoon (Fig. 1). The period at which mining was first begun at Bawdwin is unknown. The most reliable records have been obtained by deciphering local Chinese inscriptions and from these it is concluded that the work dates back to at least the beginning of the 15th century. The first undoubted reference to the mines by a European is by Syrnes in 1795. Crawford in 1827 estimated the output of silver from the mines at $600,000 anually. At about the middle of the 19th century the rebellion of the Chinese Mohammedans in the neighboring Chinese province of Yunnan so weakened the power of the Chinese that the incursions of hostile tribes (Kachins) made work extremely dangerous. The mines were finally abandoned by the Chinese about 1868. The . closing down of the mines was probably not entirely due to outside causes but may have been influenced somewhat by the increasing difficulty of handling the water, as the workings gradually descended below the water level of the district. Several attempts were made by the Burmese kings, Mindon Min and Thebaw, to resume operations, but because of a

Jan 1, 1917