Search Documents

By Alfred H. Bell, George V. Cohee

In 1939 Illinois produced 94,302,000 bbl. of oil—almost three times the amount of oil produced at the peak in 1908, when development in the southeastern Illinois field was at its height (Fig. I). It represents nearly a fourfold increase over the 24,075,000 bbl. produced in 1938 (Table 6). This rapid increase in oil production in Illinois is largely due to development in the Salem and Louden fields (Table I). During 1939 daily production for the state increased from 135,000 to 332,572 bbl. A notable increase in production for 1940 is expected as a result of the drilling of the Devonian limestone in the Salem and Centralia fields,

Jan 1, 1940

By Paul E. Blackburn, Joan B. Berkowitz-Mattuck, Edward J. Felten

The oxidation behavior of MOSi2 has been studied between 450° and 650°C, the temperature region where "pesling" occurs. Disintegration ("pest-ing") of MoSi2 is shown to occur in the presence of oxygen, but not nitrogen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide. or argon. The rate of disintegration is extremely sensitive to oxygen pressure. The crack density of polycrystalline MoSi2 increases ivith lime at temperature. All kinds of cracks are observed: THE excellent oxidation resistance of MoSi, at temperatures of 1000 to 1700°C promises to have important technological benefits. However. the ap- Ihose which are confined within a single grain, those that ci'oss grain boundaries transversely, and those that follow grain boundaries. Laue photographs verify the existence of Iranscryslalline cleavage. Single crystals of MOSi2 do not "pest". Tlrcd solrlbility of oxygen in MoSi2 is extremely low, no lattice changes being observed as a result of exposure of MoSi2 to oxygen in the "pest" temperature range. plicability of MoSi2 is somewhat restricted by the occurrence of a completely destructive oxidation of the intermetallic phase at intermediate temperatures (300" to 6003C). This phenomena was ternled to be the "MoSi2 pest" by Fitzer who first observed it.' Molybdenum disilicide is a metallic material in both physical appearance and electrical properties.

Jan 1, 1965

By Robert N. Eli

The application of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to support the planning, design and analysis of coal mines is discussed. Traditional two-dimensional GIS structures are modified to produce a three- dimensional GIS system that combines the efficient topologic description of a cubic grid cell skeletal structure with the precision surface representation of a Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN). The surface terrain and any subsurface strata, such as a coal seam, are represented by separate TIN'S. Any attribute data to be assigned to the TIN'S are stored in polygon overlays. Any remaining spatial data are stored as link strings or nodes in a global data set. The most valuable application of the system is the production of map products. Both projections and cross-sections of surface or subsurface structures are possible, in either horizontal or vertical planes. Engineering data, including lengths, areas, or volumes, can be calculated.

Jan 1, 1983

By R. P. Carreker

THE experiments described in this report were conducted as a part of a general program designed to document the deformation behavior of pure metals over a wide range of temperature. Material The silver used in this investigation was obtained from the Handy and Harmon Co. as 99.97+ pct pure. It is from the same length of wire as that designated H-H silver by Hoffman and Turnbull in their investigation of self-diffusion in silver.' The silver was drawn at room temperature from 0.060-in. diam to 0.020-in. diam wire without intermediate annealing. Seven-inch lengths of cold-drawn wire were annealed in groups of ten by placing them in individual quartz tubes spaced circumferentially about and near the vertical furnace axis. Dry nitrogen was passed through the furnace to lower the partial pressure of oxygen. The three annealing temperatures used were 700°, 800°, and 900°C, producing grain sizes of 0.017, 0.040, and 0.250 mm diam after 30 min at temperature. Testing Procedure The details of the testing procedure have been described in the reporting of results of a similar investigation of Copper. Annealed specimens of 5-in. gage length were gripped between grooved plates. Tests were performed using an Instron tensile-test-

Jan 1, 1958

By L. A. Jr. Norman

ANOTHER chapter in the history of Mother Lode mining is being written by operations in the Old Eureka mine near Sutter Creek, Amador County, California. During a two-year period (1938-1939), 85,517 tons of ore averaging 0.62 oz. gold per ton were mined and milled, as compared to the production of approximately 210,000 tons of 0.315-oz. gold ore during the preceding seven years. This is a repetition of mining history in the Mother Lode, where a period of prosperity has followed a long period of lean production. The location of this new ore in the hitherto unproductive hanging-wall greenstones and its mining and geological developments are most interesting.

Jan 1, 1939

By R. Taggart, R. H. Ericksen, D. H. Polonis

MarTENSITIC a has been observed to form spontaneously from the retained ß phase during the preparation of thin foil specimens of metastable Ti-Cr alloys containing from 6.9 to 20 wt pet Cr. Similar spontaneous martensite reactions have been reported in thin foils of 0 brass' and other alloys.2 4 The absence of retained austenite in iron-based alloys has also been attributed to spontaneous decomposition during thinning.5 The present work indicates that a unique situation occurs during which the spontaneous transformation takes place when the transitional ? phase is present in the as-quenched or partially aged ß phase. Alloys containing 6.9, 7.0, 8.0, 12.0, and 20.0 wt pet Cr were prepared by the levitation melting of "io-chrome" chromium and iodide titanium. The 0.5-in.-diam ingots were vacuum-annealed at 1000oC, and wafers 0.020 in. thick were then cut from the ingots. These wafers were wrapped in molybdenum foil, encapsulated in Vycor under a reduced pressure of purified helium, and then held for 30 min at 1000°C. The specimens were quenched in water to retain the metastable high-temperature ß phase. The quenched alloys were thinned by mechanical grinding to about 0.005 in. thick, then electropolished in a solution of 300 ml methyl alcohol, 175 ml n-butyl alcohol, and 30 ml perchloric acid at a temperature of -40°C. Needle specimens 0.005 to 0.010 in. diam were taken from each ingot and heat-treated with the foil specimens. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated the structure of the 6.9, 7.0, and 8 wt pet alloys to be a

Jan 1, 1968

By R. F. Frantz, T. P. McNulty

The upper-level mineralization of the din Buttes, Arizona copper orebody consists primarily of dilute copper silicate impregnation in fault clay and throughout the altered limestone hostrock. Cuprite and native copper are minor with true chrysocolla rare. Owing to the high calcium carbonate and to the hydrogen ion exchange capacity of the clays, acid leaching would be economical only with cheap acid available. Leaching of the silicate copper with reagents other than sulfuric acid is slow and incomplete unless the ore is first heated to disorder the mineralized grains and to reduce partially the contained copper. Following heat treatment, 70 to 90 percent of the nonsulfide copper can be dissolved in aqueous anrmonium carbonate. Recovery of a pregnant solution by counter-current decantation is effective provided ammonium carbonate solution is added to the washing stages in order to oppose adsorption of dissolved copper by clays in the residue. Thermal stripping of the pregnant solution permits recovery of ammonia and carbon dioxide while precipitating copper either as oxide or carbonate. The research program was carried from batch tests through continuous miniplant operation to a five-month campaign in a 20 TPD continuous pilot plant. Pilot plant results, the relationships among key varibles, and a detailed flowsheet are given.

Jan 1, 1973

The following is an incomplete list of members and guests who called at Institute headquarters during the period Sept. 10, 19188 to Oct. 10, 1918. Thomas J. Adams, Rahway, N. J. A. N. Mackay, London, England. Henry M. Ami, Washington, D. C. A. W. MacNichol, San Francisco, Cal. Chester Atkinson, Peru, South America. Ernest Marquardt, Casper, Wyo. Bennett R. Bates, Berkeley, Cal. Lieut. S. A. Mewhirter, Denver, Colo. Robert S. Botsford, Petrograd, Russia. William A. Nelson, Nashville, Tenn. Juan Felix Brandes, Santa Barbara, Cal. Robert W. Olinger, Bahia, Brazil, So. G. A. Collins, Seattle, Wash. Amer. C. V. Corless, Coniston, Ont., Canada. G. Preumont, La Paz, Bolivia, So. Amer. F. T. Eddingfield, Washington, D. C. William H. Rettie, Yonkers, N. Y. C. Mason Farnham, Barre Plains, Mass. . Julius Segall, Minneapolis, Minn. F. N. Flynn, Trail, B. C., Canada. Robert Y. Seip, Franklin, N. J. Duncan D. Forbes, Humboldt, Ariz. H. M. Schleicher, Boston, Mass. Alexandre Gouvy, Paris, France. Chester Steinem, Ft. Monroe, Va. Henry G. Granger, Cartagena, Colombia, A. L. Sweetser, Pittsburgh, Pa. So. Amer. . H: E. Treichler, Creighton Mine, Ont., E. Harms, El Paso, Tex. Canada. Alfred G. Heggem, Tulsa, Okla. Frank A. W. Tullock, Yumbo, Colombia, H. B. Henegar, Mascot Tenn. So. Amer. A. M. Kivari, Denver, Edward I. Williams, Ft. Monroe, Va. T. M. Kniffin, Brookline, Mass. Alfred W. G. Wilson, Ottawa, Canada. Charles Lehman, London, England. Donald H. McLaughlin, Camp Meade,Md. C. E. Addams, who recently resigned as general manager for the Arizona Hercules Copper Co., has leased the Ray silver-lead property three miles from Ray, Ariz. Bennett R. Bates has resigned his position as general superintendent of the Cubo Mining & Milling Co., in order that he may take the examination for an officer of engineers.

Jan 11, 1918

The difficulty of finding new ore bodies, the complexities of patenting them when they are found, and the absence of incentive legislation for exploration have limited mining exploration in the United States mostly to the big companies. This situation, coupled with ECA spending abroad, has caused American capital to look outside our national boundaries for investment opportunities which are further made attractive by some relaxing of restrictions to gain American dollars and patronage.

Jan 1, 1950

Discussion of the paper of Godfrey T. Vivian, presented at the Cleveland meeting, October, 1912, and published in Bulletin No. 76, October, 1912, pp. 1103 to 1109. COURTENAY DEKALB, Tucson, Ariz. (communication to the Secretary*) :--Mr. Vivian's paper is interesting as an evidence of renewed attempts to solve the problem of adapting the centrifugal machine to the uses of the metallurgist. It would not seem that the Gee machine has solved the problem, because it is manifestly of use only with quite high-grade material, since low-grade pulp could not stand the cost of treatment by a discontinuous process. The mechanism, however, would seen to accomplish grading more perfectly than the ordinary centrifugal basket. This is an entirely different thing from concentration, which is intended to yield a finished marketable product. The real problem is to design a successful continuous centrifugal machine. Ten years or snore ago a machine, which might be described as having an inverted step-basket, offered much promise, and was constructed and tested at considerable cost, but it presented insuperable difficulties. The construction of a successful continuous centrifugal would be welcomed by the whole industrial world, since its uses would be most extensive. Mr. Vivian suggests the utilization of the centrifugal machine as a substitute for slime filters in the cyanide process, but he, has apparently not tried the experiment. I tested the efficiency of centrifugal machines for this purpose in 1897-8, having to extract the cyanide solution from a highly argillaceous slime of the sticky kind which the Mexican call ?lama." Our filter-presses yielded cakes containing usually :30 per cent. of moisture, and so dense as to preclude washing. The centrifugal machine readily Brought the moisture content down to 9 per cent. and permitted fairly successful washing. Despite these advantages, the cost of power, labor, and repairs, and the loss of time in discharging the cake, exceeded the costs and

Jan 5, 1913

By James J. Scott, John J. Reed

In a year fraught with difficulties, especially to small operators, the more stable mining organizations have shown a dynamic readiness to plunge ahead in the development of new mines, new and ingenious equipment and new tools for management to take the guesswork out of important decisions. New Mining Equipment The mining equipment display at the American Mining Congress in San Francisco demonstrated some rather radical new design concepts and a new willingness to use imagination to come up with ingenious new applications and adaptations of standard equipment.

Jan 2, 1963

By Samuel S. Wyer

The following description of methods for conducting gas-producer tests is probably the first attempt to give the subject an analytical, thorough and comprehensive treatment. In some cases where tests have been made, the methods have been so unsystematic and ambiguous that it has been impossible to secure comparable results. To eliminate this difficulty, the following provisional code of gas-producer tests— which has some resemblance to the code of boiler-trials of the American Society of MechanicalEngineers—has been developed. The primary object in testing a gas-producer is to determine whether the producer is working satisfactorily or, what is the same thing, to see if the efficiency is as high as it should be with the type of producer in question; and also to find out if the composition of the resulting gas is adapted to the work it has to do. In order that the test shall be of any value, it must be thorough and comprehensive, and must be conducted with skill and care. When so conducted, the test will reveal the economy of the'producer; and, by making suitable changes, the efficiency will often be increased very much. As a result of the tests made by Jenkins,' the efficiency was raised from 56.2

Jan 1, 1906

(Members are urged to send in for this column any notes of interest concerning themselves or their fellow-members) Members and guests who called at Institute headquarters during the period Feb. 10, 1917 to Mar. 10, 1917: F. H. Armstrong, Vulcan, Mich. G. Komar, Staten Island, N. Y. Franklin Bache, Philadelphia, Pa. H. M. LaFollette, LaFollette, Tenn. R. A. Bingham, W. Orange, N. J. H. Mortimer-Lamb, Montreal, Canada. G. S. Blair, Pittsburgh, Pa. J. S. Lane, New York, N. Y. Graham Bright, Pittsburgh, Pa. D. H. McLaughlin, Cambridge, Mass. C. A. Burdick, New York, N. Y. F. J. McMahon, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Frederick P. Burrall, Dawson, Y. T. F. Oskar Martin, San Francisco, Cal. William Campbell, New York, N. Y. C. Mentzel, New York, N. Y. G. L. Carlisle, Jr., New York, N. Y. T. C. Merriman, New Haven, Conn. J. Murray Clark, Toronto, Canada. K. -A. Pauly, Schenectady, N. Y. Wayne Darlington, Philadelphia, Pa. , Francis R. Pyne, Elizabeth, N. J. Ralph W. Deacon, Elizabeth, N. J. C. S. Robinson, Youngstown, O. P. St. Jon Dixon; So. Porcupine, Canada. W. A. Scheuch, New York, N. Y. A. E. Drucker, New York, N. Y. Jesse Scobey, New York, N. Y. Lucien Eaton, Ishpeming, Mich. Dunbar D. Scott, Rochester, N. Y. W. E. Goldsborough, New York, N. Y. W. C. Smith, Elizabeth, N. J. C. Marshall Gravatt, Port Royal, Va. Charles Spearman, Mt. St. Patrick, Can. C. N. Hickok, Cleveland, O. . - Harold C: E. Spence, Duncan, Ariz. C. Vey Holman, Rockland, Me. M. M. Thompson, Morsemere, N. J. W. F. Jahn, Kirkland Lake, Canada. Benjamin F. Tibby, Salt Lake City, Utah. F. E. Johnesse, Boise, Ida. J. S. Unger, Pittsburgh, Pa. E. C. Johnson, Chicago, Ill.

Jan 4, 1917

By M. E. Volin, F. H. Erbisch, G. M. Wenberg

Bacterial leaching of copper and uranium is practiced under acidic conditions in environments furnishing sulfur and iron. However, many mineral deposits do not have these conditions; the chalcocite and native copper deposits in Michigan's Upper Peninsula are examples. Species of bacteria and fungi isolated previously from samples taken at the White Pine Copper Co. tailings pond and mine, were screened for solubilization of copper from chalcocite ore and flotation concentrate and from native copper jig concentrate. Certain Penicillium species solubilized significant amounts of copper under neutral to slightly acidic conditions in a carbon and nitrogen-enriched medium. Leaching apparently was accomplished by release of metabolites which chelated with the copper. The copper yield was highly dependent upon the medium composition and the concentration of copper in the source material. The standardized procedures which were developed in an attempt to maximize copper yield in leaching times of three to five days are described. This preliminary research indicates a biological leaching process for copper which is different from those in use, but whether it can be applied economically remains to be determined.

Jan 1, 1972

By Kenzo Murao, Sei Nakao

HISTORY OF ASHIO SMELTER The Ashio copper mine, which formed the main part of Furukawa mining industry, is located inland of Kanto area, and is known as the oldest copper mine of Japan. The mining started even since 1610, and Mr. Furukawa began management in 1877. Afterwards, within a short period, the mine became to have the highest productivity in the Far East. The total quantity of mined copper reached approximately more than 800 thousand tons. The mother rock of the ore deposit in Ashio was rhyolite, and was formed of sissurefulling and irregular clod that was called Kajika deposit. The lode was nzrrow of 6 to 7cm. The mineral was formed mainly of chalcopyrite, including also pyrite, pyrrhotite, and arsenopyrite that were not favorable. After the founding of the copper mine, the Ashio smelter started the operation of Mabuki process as the beginning in 1611, and subsequently adopted the processes of the blast furnace, reverberatory furnace, and flash smelting furnace of the present use. As indicated above, the copper ore of Ashio mine included arsenic. For the purpose to remove it, the operation of the arsenic trioxide production using MacDougall's multiple hearth roaster was started in 1918, and it maintained the status of having the most qualified technique within the country. However, as the completeness in the disposition of anti-pollution and safety had been requested in those years, we studied and developed a unique equipment in 1970. It excludes the heavy metals especially arsenic and copper from the waste water of sulfuric acid process of Flash Smelter's exhaust gas.

Jan 1, 1976

By Franklin Bache

It is appropriate to the place of meeting, and of interest to those members of the Institute whose attention has been more or less directed to Virginia during the past eleven years, to know the result of recent developments of the Virginia coal-field. While, during the late " boom," the attention of the industrial pioneers of Virginia was mainly directed to iron-ore deposits and manufacture, it is safe to say that the coal to which, at that time, comparatively little attention was turned, and which did not directly foster a growth of " boom " towns, will prove the most reliable source of mineral wealth in the State. At the time of the last Virginia meeting of the Institute, held at Roanoke, in 1883, the Wise county coal-field was untouched by a railroad, and its economic existence was scarcely considered. Although, in the meantime, a number of reconnaissances had been made, and a fair estimate of the value of the field formed, it was not until 1891, when the Norfolk and Western and the Louisville and Nashville railroads, respectively, completed their Clinch Valley and Norton extensions to a junction at Norton, Wise county, that any development took place, and not until 1892 were shipments of any importance made. The coal-measures of Virginia are confined to the seven counties of Buchanan, Tazewell, Dickenson, Russell, Scott, Wise, and Lee,

Jan 1, 1895

By W. W. Dudley

Inflow of ground water is an important engineering and safety consideration during construction of large openings underground. The initial step in predicting groundwater inflow involves hydraulic tests in exploratory drill holes. Zones within the area of interest are isolated in the drill hole by inflatable packers and are tested by measuring the water level responses to applied hydraulic stresses. These responses may then be translated into significant hydraulic characteristics of the tested rocks such as transmissivity, hydraulic conductivity, hydraulic potential, and storage coefficient by using a type-curve solution. Once the geometry and necessary hydraulic characteristics have been determined for the rock in the vicinity of the proposed opening, a model can be developed using certain assumptions that will lend itself to treatment with available mathematical methods. The mathematical method applied to the model considers conditions of partial penetration and nonsteady-state, leakyartesian, constant-drawdown discharge of ground water. A type-curve solution results in a curve that gives the variation of discharge (inflow) with time. This technique of predicting ground-water inflow has been used in planning construction of cylindrical chambers for use in underground nuclear experiments by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. These chambers have been constructed in low-permeability rocks at depths as much as 6000 ft and under hydraulic heads of thousands of feet.

Jan 1, 1973

By John L. Baum

GEOLOGISTS and engineers working around a diamond drill rig have often had the opportunity to observe the magnetic attraction of drill rods pulled out of the hole for core removal. This is sometimes an amusing pastime, but this same magnetic force inadvertently applied to a compass needle can cause it to lose its polarity entirely or to become reverse polarized when placed in the immediate vicinity of stacked rods. The first recommendation, of course, would be to avoid the rods, but in surveying an operating drillhole this is not always possible; therefore steps must be taken to neutralize the magnetic effect of the drill rods. Early in the summer of 1949 the geological department of the New Jersey Zinc Co. undertook at Franklin, N. J., an extensive program of surveying the course of deep diamond drillholes. The majority of the holes were surveyed while in the process of being drilled, and considerable difficulty was encountered. A pattern for the deviation of drillholes had been established for the district from surveys in holes from which the drill rig had been removed. It was observed that a certain operating deep drill- hole being surveyed did not fit this pattern. In the resulting confusion of repeated surveys and cementing a plug for wedging operations, the lower 1800 ft of the hole was lost. Because of this incident studies were initiated to determine the source of the difficulties and to develop safeguards against recurrence of faulty surveys.

Jan 12, 1954

By K. R. Weller

The Ardlethan Tin Ltd. concentrator typically recovers 55% of the tin in a gravity concentrate at 51% grade from fresh ore assaying 0.5% Sn. Coarse gravity concentration is performed in a complex circuit involving Reichert cones, spirals, shaking tables and two regrind mills. The paper describes how flow and size-by-size sample data from a steady-state survey were used to construct a computer model of the plant involving 46 process streams. The data reduction involved a computer- aided mass balancing technique, recovery-size modelling of gravity concentrators and the use of a mineral dressing flowsheet simulator. The model was used to simulate possible rearrangements of the available equipment. Early simulations indicated that improved performance could be obtained by using spirals to-treat cone middlings or tailings rather than cone concentrates. A test spiral rig was used at Ardlethan to determine typical performances for all cone product streams and the results were incorporated in new simulations. A revised circuit was recommended and implemented by Ardlethan Tin as far as physical restraints within the plant would allow. Production figures show that a substantial increase in tin recovery and 10-15% increase in milling rate were achieved following the circuit changes, and these improvements were sustained over a six month period.

Jan 1, 1984

By David Reger

ONLY a few small pools of oil were found in West Virginia during 1924. The price of oil was so low that there was no incentive for active effort toward the discovery of new pools or the exploitation of reasonably certain productive areas. At present, several encouraging edge-pool developments are being held in reserve in the hope that a more favorable market is not far distant. In the old pools, wells are being carefully tended; there being little tendency toward abandonment. even in cases where production is temporarily unprofitable. In natural gas, however, the total value of which at the well mouth is now more than that of oil, the year has been busy and profitable. , The decline of old pools, together with the increasing demand, has caused the large operators who carry their gas to the consumer to make great efforts to preserve or increase the rate of production; while the small operators, who sell their product to the large companies at the well mouth, have been stimulated toward the same effort by more favorable prices. These conditions brought about the completion of a greater number .of gas wells in 1924 than in 1923. Few pools of gas have been discovered during the year, the principal production having been obtained in old areas and in the unusually large new territory that was revealed as potentially productive by the drilling of 1923. Some of these latter areas are still without pipelines but definite plans for getting most of this gas are now being executed.

Jan 3, 1925