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By Robert Glass Cleland

WITH the acquisition of the Nichols Copper Company ' and the development of the large Copper Products manufacturing and selling organization, the Phelps Dodge Corporation had attained two of its important goals. But at that particular time both its immediate and long-range prospects were giving the company serious concern. The financial panic that began late in 1929 was growing worse instead of better. Neither raw materials nor finished products could find a market. In 1932 the price of copper fell to the almost unprecedented figure of four and eight tenths cents a pound. Domestic production of copper in the United States was further threatened by a large low-cost output from the mines of Africa and the Andes. Canadian copper mines, with their large yield of other valuable metals from the same ores, added to the difficulties of the American companies. After a hard-fought campaign, however, the producers of domestic copper finally induced Congress to levy a duty of four cents a pound on copper imported into the

Jan 1, 1952

By W. T. Hicks

The oxidation of CbO was studied by a gravimetric technique from 400° to 1200°C in oxygen. In this temperature range the oxidatiotz is characterized by an irlductive period of low oxidation rate, which becomes shorter as the temperature increases, followed by a rapid parabolic oxidation. The oxidation of CbO cannot be rate controlling in the oxidation of Cb metal in the temperature range, 800° to 1200°C. A thin optically inactive layer has been observed between the metal and Cb2O5 layer of Cb oxidized at 700°C or higher temperatures. Figs. 1(a) and 1(b) show the edge of a sample of Cb reacted to 50 pct of complete oxidation at 800°C. Fig. l(a) taken under bright field illumination shows a layer of oxide adhering to the unoxidized metal core. Fig l(b) taken under polarized light shows that this oxide layer is

Jan 1, 1962

By Christopher W. Schram, Allan B. Tanner, Frank E. Senftle, George R. Boynton, Philip W. Philbin

A borehole sonde using a 252Cf neutron source and a Ge(Li) gamma-ray detector was field tested in a coal bed in Belmont County, Ohio, to ascertain whether such a device could be useful as a coal-exploration tool. As the sonde was lowered into the borehole, successive spectra were accumulated over short time intervals. The intensities of the capture gamma rays from hydrogen and of decay gamma rays from aluminum were determined simultaneously in each spectrum. A log of the intensities versus depth shows the depth and thickness of the coal bed. With the sonde stationary at points above, in, and below the coal bed, capture gamma rays were measured to show the variation in concentration of certain elements. From the spectrum recorded in the bed, a complete ultimate analysis, the percent ash content, and the heat content were determined without recourse to an external standard. Delayed gamma-ray analyses of the core were also made on the surface in the vicinity of the borehole in a fixed-geometry irradiation facility wing the detector in the borehole sonde. The concentrations of 10 elements were determined by this method on a coal split from the drill core. These experiments show that it is feasible to use a 252Cf- Ge(Li) borehole sonde as an aid in coal exploration.

Jan 1, 1979

By R. A. Meussner, R. T. DeHoff, F. N. Rhines

ZINC diffuses through copper more rapidly than does tin. Accordingly, when a ternary diffusion couple is made, by bringing an 0 copper-zinc brass into contact with an a copper-tin bronze at fixed high temperature, it is to be expected that zinc will diffuse into the bronze faster than tin diffuses into the brass. Adjacent to the brass side of the couple the total alloy content (zinc plus tin) should diminish, therefore, while next to the bronze side the alloy content should increase. Since the path of compo- sition change must be continuous, in a single-phased alloy, it should follow a curved and, in general, an S-shaped course. The realization of this prediction is demonstrated in Fig. 1, where the composition paths of two ternary diffusion couples are plotted on the appropriate isotherm of the copper-tin-zinc phase diagram. The diffusion couples were both made from a binary copper-tin alloy analyzing 5.0 pct tin placed against binary copper-zinc alloys analyzing 18.9 and 29.3 pct Zn, respectively. These alloys were produced from electrolytic grades of copper and zinc and a pure grade of straits tin, melted under borax in clay-graphite crucibles and cast in a vertical iron mold. Cylindrical pieces 1 in. in diam and 1 % in. long were machined from the casting and were faced by metallographic polishing to good matching end surfaces. Pairs of the cylindrical pieces were held

Jan 1, 1959

By B. A. Chomyn, P. Lapointe

Current work within the Magnetic Properties Task of the Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program has indicated that a relation exists between the measured bulk magnetic susceptibility and fracture and lithological characteristics of granitic cores from the Lac du Bonnet batholith in Manitoba. Susceptibility minima correspond to fractured and associated altered rock; uniform background levels coincide with unaltered, non-fractured homogeneous rock; and susceptibility maxima denote the presence of xenoliths and intervals of core containing large and coarse-grained magnetic minerals. The observed variation in bulk susceptibility is largely controlled by the gram size and the relative abundance of iron-titanium oxide minerals of which magnetite is the most important. The magnetic minerals occur as monomineralic grains of magnetite and hematite, as aggregates of magnetite and ilmenite, hematite and ilmenite and as examples of either of these two categories but exhibiting evidence of oxidation and alteration. The degree of alteration of the oxides is commensurate with the alteration of the enclosing rocks. Susceptibility minima characteristic of fractured rock reflect decreases in oxide gram size and abundance, as a result of the oxidation of magnetite to hematite and the development of titanium-rich phases. Correlations between boreholes indicate the possibility of continuous fracture zones at 80 m and 150 m from the surface and another one at a greater depth.

Jan 1, 1984

By Alden B. Greninger

Although the crystallography of lattice transformations has been studied extensively during the past few years, these studies have been limited, with few exceptions1'2, to specimens in which the transformed lattice appears as a segregate phase. A realization of the technical importance of the segregation mechanism, especially in the formation of martensitic structures and in age-hardening phenomena, has undoubtedly stimulated research in this direction. In the crystallographic studies of segregation, the general problem has been to relate the orientation of the parent crystal to that of the segregate crystals. The technique has been complicated by the fact that it has been necessary to deal with the presence of as many as 24 ideal segregate orientations within one parent lattice; furthermore, the segregate lattices are invariably scattered (seldom less than ±2º, often as much as 15" or 20') about these ideal positions. It is probable that a more complete picture of phase transformations may result from a study in which complete lattice relationships between individual grains are evaluated, thereby providing an additional parameter which when it is necessary to work with multiple segregate orientations, cannot be evaluated. The present paper presents the results of such a study, ? wherein a peritectic reaction is made use of to produce the transformed lattices. Matebials and Methods Pem'tectic Reaction.—In Fig. 1 is reproduced a portion of the copper-zinc equilibrium diagram, which includes the peritectic reaction a + liq. —ß. A liquid of composition between B and D upon solidifying will

Jan 1, 1937

By G. M. Swinkels, A. Vizsolyi, E. Peters

A process is described utilizing ferric chloride leaching followed by reduction of the cupric content to cuprous by cement copper, with CuCl obtained thereafter by crystallization. The residual liquor is cemented with sponge iron to produce cement copper and a copper free ferrous chloride solution. The latter is oxidized in an autoclave with oxygen to regenerate ferric chloride and to precipitate excess iron as a granular, filterable hematite. Cuprous chloride crystals are reduced to high purity metal with hydrogen, while sulphur reports almost quantitatively in residues in the elemental form. Pyrite and molybdenite are not leached. This paper describes the important variables in the process, as well as the deportment of minor elements as silver, gold, selenium, tellurium, bismuth, nickel, lead, zinc, magnesium, etc. An elegant method of isolating silver from CuCl crystals is described, as well as recovery of gold from residues by a chloride reagent The process is described as non-polluting and capable of producing refined copper, ore grade iron oxide, elemental sulphur, and yields of minor metals as good or better than obtainable by conventional smelting, without the use of solvent extraction or electrochemistry.

Jan 1, 1981

By W. S. Steele

Vermiculite is a nonmetallic mineral of the mica family, probably related to biotite mica. Its occurrence has been noted at numerous places in the United States and in some foreign countries, but it can be said that vermiculite is of only moderately wide distribution. A laboratory and field survey of over 60 deposits in the United States by F. 1;. Schundler & Co., of Joliet, Ill., indicates that the purest deposit represented in this survey is on the property of the Zonolite Company at Libby, Montana The Zonolite Company is commercially active and the vermiculite it produces is sold as Zonolite. Hereafter, in this report, the word "Zonolite " will be used to designate the vermiculite produced by the Zonolite Company. Values given herein to Zonolite are peculiar to the vermiculite produced from the Zonolite Company's deposits. References to " vermicullite," are to he interpreted as covering the broad field covered by the Schundler survey. Composition and Characteristics of Vermiculite Vermiculite is an aluminum-nmgnesium silicate. The following typical analysis is published by the United States Bureau of Standards: silica, 41 per cent; iron oxide, 7; aluminum oxide, 18; magnesium oxide, 21; calcium oxide, 1; alkalis (sodium and potassium), 1; moisture, 11. Vermiculite breaks down into platelike formation in crushing and grinding operations. Its cleavage is basal. Crude, screened, dry Zonolit,e weighs between 80 and 90 Ib. per cubic foot; its specific gravity is 2.8 and its specific heat is approximately 2. The fusion point of Zonolit'e is 2462" F. Crude vermiculite contains between 7 and 9 per cent of chemically combined moisture. The instantaneous introduction of crude Zonolite into an expansion furnace at a temperature of between 1800" and 2000" F. transforms the combined moisture into steam, which in an effort to liberate itself forces all explosive expansion of the platelike crude material

Jan 1, 1934

By J. F. Kemp

PAGE Introduction,............170 I. The Competence oF the Igneous Rocks to Supply the Materi als oF Veins,...........171 The Demonstrated Presence of the Metals in the Igneous Rocks,. . 171 The Presence of the Metals in the Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rocks, 173 Conclusions,...........175 The Abundance in Igneous Racks of Vapors or Dissociated Gases which will Yield Water on Emission and Cooling,. 175 The Sequence of Eruptions,. .. . 1 . • .. 78 The Sequence of Vein-Formations,.......1 79 Contact-Metamorphism,.........180 Pegmatites,............181 Frequency of Pneumatolitic Minerals in Veins,.. 183 Surface-Flows of Igneous Rock Unfavorable to Vein-Formation,. . 183

Jan 1, 1902

By T. A. Rickard

MILLING is one of the metallurgical arts whereby the extraction of the largest possible proportion of the value in an ore is effected at the least possible expense. Stamp-milling* is that particular process in which a heavy body of iron is caused to fall upon the ore so as to disintegrate it and thereby induce a separation between what is valuable and what is worthless. The latter is usually less in specific gravity, and is therefore, by the further aid of water, removed from the former, which is then collected by the use of mercury. Several similes have been employed to describe this process. The stamp has been likened to a hammer of which the stem is the handle and the die the anvil. The ore upon which the stamp falls has been compared to a nut awaiting the descent of the hammer whose blow is to separate the valueless shell, the quartz, from the valuable kernel, the gold. When we begin to pursue our inquiries, however, we find that the analogy is just sufficiently true to emphasize the departures from it. The hammer falls, the anvil is fixed; so with the stamps and the mortar. The anvil is made of softer metal than the hammer; so also the die is often, and should be always, of steel or iron less hard and more tough than that of the shoe. The movement of the hammer and the drop of the stamp are both intermittent. In regard to their intermittent action, as in many other respects, stamp-mills arrange themselves under two types, which, though apparently contradictory, have both been evolved from a common original, and are united by a great variety of intermediate modifications. The slow speed and the high drop of the mills of Gilpin county Colorado, appear to have very little in common with the fast speed and short drop of those of the main gold belt of California; yet the practice of the one was largely derived from that of the other,

Jan 1, 1894

By N. O. Johnson

THE Hog Mountain mine is a pyritic-gold property in the north central part of Tallapoosa County, Alabama, at an elevation of 800 ft. in the southern Appalachian region. It is 13 miles by a good secondary road from Alexander City, a station on the Central of Georgia Railroad. Since its discovery in 1839, the mine has been worked intermittently. The records of past operations are few and are scattered over a long period of time; however, available information indicates a production of approximately 12,000 oz. of gold prior to the present company's activities, which started in 1933. Additional 7844 oz. has been produced under the direction of the present management. The ore from stopes has averaged 0.200 oz. gold per ton; the ore from development, 0.136 oz. gold per ton. Silver, copper, iron and sulphur are also present but to date are of minor importance. The grade of ore in comparatively narrow veins makes necessary extreme vigilance in the methods of mining. Geology Wall Rock.-Hog Mountain consists of a quartz-diorite intrusion approximately 5000 ft. long by 1200 ft. wide. Its resistance to weathering, as compared to the surrounding schists, has led to the formation of a conspicuous ridge rising 400 ft. above the adjacent country. All the mining operations are confined within the limits of this quartz-diorite formation. . Except where there is excessive shearing, either parallel or at flat angles to the quartz veins, all the walls of the stopes within the limits of the veins are strong enough to make timbering unnecessary. Where shearing exists, there may be a sloughing off of the walls, especially in the process of drawing the ore. When this occurs, stulls are placed in the stope, either while the stope is advancing, or while ore is being drawn from a completed stope. In general, very little timber is required. Veins.-The quartz veins have been deposited along fracture planes in the quartz diorite. There are 20 principal veins, all of which are roughly parallel and strike at right angles to the long axis of the formation.

Jan 1, 1937

By K. Unrug, G. Herget, A. Smith

SUMMARY Statistics on roof falls indicate that the cost of just removing the unwanted waste from roof falls in US coal mines amounts to about $20 M per year. Almost 40 percent of fatal accidents occur under permanently supported roofs, indicating that the assessment of roof stability is still a very difficult task. In an effort to obtain a better understanding of roof fall occurrences, rock strength and ground stresses were determined in the roof of one mine each in Western Kentucky, northern West Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky. Triaxial ground stress determinations clearly show that horizontal stresses were higher than vertical stresses, and that maximum stresses in the horizontal plane were concentrated between the NE-SW to E-W direction, with the exception of the Eastern Kentucky site which was above the drainage. Magnitudes of stress components may vary considerably in one drlll hole. Strength tests of roof strata materials were done on core samples. Mapping of roof falls showed that the geometry of an opening or maximum span were not the overruling factor because in the same general area, a roof fall was observed in a room (entry) which connected two stable four-way intersections. It should be noted that, in very wet areas, the roof can break up to the bed where water is carried, and a very low ratio between extent of roof fall to height of roof, fall is observed. Geometry is, however, a contributing factor because nearly 70 percent of roof falls are intersection falls. The frequency of fractures parallel to bedding in failed roof strata is much higher than that observed in the original strata, indicating a significant amount of working in the roof before failure.

Jan 1, 1984

By R. J. P. Lyon

It is usually assumed1,2 that ore deposition is relatively slow, taking place over tens of thousands of years. Yet many syntheses and phase changes can be completed in the laboratory in a matter of hours, under essentially the same pressure and temperature conditions to be expected in nature. Much has been written about geothermometry, and Ingerson's recent summary2 an hardly be surpassed. Rather than review the whole field, this article will deal specifically with diffusion rates in solid solutions* of the sulfide minerals. In the study and application of temperature-indicating phenomena to problems of ore genesis, the time factor has often been neglected. In the particular case of sulfide systems, the speed of unmixing and diffusion of the constituent phases in the solid solutions has seldom been considered when laboratory data are applied to the genesis of natural sulfide ores. Chalcopyrite and Bornite Intergrowths: Chal-copyrite and bornite are copper iron sulfides often found in association. In many ores the individual grains appear to have mutual boundaries, but bladed intergrowths are quite common. Early workers in the field, " deduced that while these patterns could have been formed by replacement, they could be experimentally reproduced from the unmixing of solid solutions of the two previously homogenized at 475°C. Much of the ore from Roan Antelope mine in the Rhodesian Copper Belt exhibits these bornite-chalcopyrite intergrowths, from which it has been deduced that the ores could have been subjected to a minimum temperature of 475°C. In several recent interpretations,' this temperature rise has been considered to result from a regional metamorphism of an original syngenetic copper-bearing sediment. The same temperature rise to 475 °C was suggested from similar intergrowths in the sulfide- • The general subject of solid solution in structurally similar minerels is treated in many texts'. :' ' and will not be further elucidated. bearing ore from the Happy Jack uranium mine8 on tile Colorado Plateau, although this temperature had a different origin. In 1931 SchwartzV etermined that 475°C represented the unmixing temperature of his bornite-chalcopyrite solid solutions but, more important, that the characteristic intergrowths of bornite and chalcopyrite could be preserved only if the solid solution were chilled quickly to room temperature. This significant corollary has been almost completely neglected by both Davis and Miller.7,8 By suitably decreasing the cooling rate, Schwartz found that the original pattern of the intergrowth was reformed (Fig. 1). The cooling rate was critical. In cooling from 475°C to room temperature in

Jan 1, 1960

Jan 1, 1943

Jan 1, 1961

By W. L. Zeigler

The Galena mill of the Callahan Zinc-Lead Co. is of 150 tons daily capacity and is situated at Lake Gulch, 2 miles west of Wallace, Idaho. (Fig. 1. It was constructed during the summer of 1926, work having been started late in June and the plant placed in operation Oct. 15, following.

Jan 1, 1928

By T. L. McCall

THE late Walter Herd1 in 1929 gave a full description of past and present conditions in No. 2 mine, Springhill, Nova Scotia, developed theories regarding the cause of these bumps and made certain suggestions regarding possible methods of future development. Recapitulating briefly from Mr. Herd's paper, the seam is bituminous coal, averages 9 ft. in thickness and has a well defined parting containing fusain about 14 in. from the roof. This roof coal is somewhat stronger than the rest of the seam and has a tendency to cling to the roof. The pitch of the seam where it is now being worked is about 20°. The first manifestations of bumps began when the room and pillar workings had reached a depth of cover of 1900 ft. and under continuously increasing depth of cover these bumps increased to such an extent, both in number and severity, that in the year 1924 it became apparent that some change in the system of extraction was necessary. After closely studying all the factors involved and benefiting largely by valuable out-side advice obtained by the Provincial Department of Mines of Nova Scotia,2 the system of working was changed from room and pillar to longwall retreating. Mr. Herd's paper described in detail three remarkable bumps in the year 1928 in April, July and October that affected the 5700-ft. and 5900-ft. East levels, the last bump being so severe both in intensity and in extent of damage done that this district was abandoned. The longwall workings to the west of the slope had been stopped in the year 1926 owing to an inbreak of water, coming from the flooded waste of No. 3 seam lying some 400 ft. vertically overhead. This inflow was not excessive, but a large quantity of water being impounded in the old workings it was considered advisable to take the prudent course and not incur the risk of possibly increasing the flow by further working. This district has remained idle ever since.

Jan 1, 1934

Jan 1, 1892

Jan 1, 1922

ASIDE from the John Fritz Medal, in which the Institute participates through its representation on the John Fritz Medal Board, the Institute itself has four awards it may make annually, as fol¬lows: the Robert W. Hunt Medal and Prize, the J. E. Johnson, Jr., Award, the James Douglas Medal, and the William Lawrence Saun¬ders Medal. ROBERT W. HUNT MEDAL AND PRIZE The partners of Robert W. Hunt established a fund which was presented to the Institute at a fitting ceremony on May 27, 1920, to establish an annual medal and a sum of money to be awarded under the following rules 1. The award shall consist of two prizes: first of a gold medal, second of a sum of money; a certificate to accompany each prize. The money prize shall not be awarded to a member over 40 years of age, but under unusual circum¬stances, both prizes may be allotted to one person provided that he is not over 40 years of age. In general it will be understood that the Committee shall award the money- prize to the younger men, rather than the medal.

Jan 1, 1923