Search Documents

What is a conflict, as it is understood by men of the extractive industries? And what are the circumstances out of which these conflicts arise? A start can be made with the notion of economic conflict, which can be defined as rivalry over the use of economic resources. Such rivalry is a central part of all economizing activity. It is present within the individual, within the family, and within the business firm. In each of these units there are multiple goals competing for use of a limited income. And economic rivalry is present among individuals and firms who are competing with one another for use of the limited quantity of economic resources available to us as a society.

Jan 7, 1961

By J. L. Rodda, R. L. Wilcox, E. C. Truesdale

IN recent years various problems in connection with research work on the preparation and properties of zinc-base alloys have required reliable information concerning the constitution of the zinc-rich portion of the iron-zinc equilibrium diagram. On numerous occasions rather positive indications were obtained that, for example, the solubility of iron in zinc was incorrectly represented on .the current equilibrium diagrams.. A careful study of all the available literature relating to the iron-zinc system led to the conclusion that much of the early work was unsatisfactory as measured by present standards of experimental accuracy, and as a result it was decided to redetermine the location of the liquidus curve and of adjacent portions of the diagram. Part I. of this paper comprises a description of the experimental methods and a summary of the results by means of which the zinc-rich end of the iron-zinc diagram has been revised in the following ways: 1. Measurements of the solubility of iron in liquid zinc by several different sampling methods, leading to a relocation of the liquidus curve. 2. Microscopic, conductivity, and X-ray studies of the solid solubility of iron in zinc, which, together with thermal analyses, have resulted in new values for the solid solubility and the eutectic temperature and composition. 3. Heating and cooling curves, obtained by a refined differential method, leading to new locations for the two peritectic horizontals. In Part II of the paper the attempt is made to review all of the published work having a bearing on the constitution of the iron-zinc system, and to correlate the present results, and some recently published data

Jan 1, 1935

By Lewis T. Wright

I have long been aware that ferruginous copper furnace-slags if fused in the electric arc will yield metallic iron containing copper, and in order to confirm this knowledge, and to obtain further information of the behavior of such slags in the high temperature and reducing conditions of the electric furnace, a number of samples of slag were fused in an experimental electric furnace. The results obtained, given in Table I., show that a very large amount of metallic iron was produced, and that this iron carried with it practically all the copper, gold, and silver, and more than 50 per cent. of the sulphur, of the original slag. The metallic buttons formed in the electric furnace were clean, hard, but not brittle.

Jan 1, 1911

By E. C. Truesdale

IN recent years various problems in connection with research work on the preparation and properties of zinc-base alloys have required reliable information concerning the constitution of the zinc-rich portion of the iron-zinc equilibrium diagram. On numerous occasions rather positive indications were obtained that, for example, the solubility of iron in zinc was incorrectly represented on the current equilibrium diagrams. A careful study of all the available literature relating to the iron-zinc system led to the conclusion that much of the early work was unsatisfactory as measured by present standards of experimental accuracy, and as a result it was decided to redetermine the location of the liquidus curve and of adjacent portions of the diagram. Part I of this paper comprises a description of the experimental methods and a summary of the results by means of which the zinc-rich end of the iron-zinc diagram has been revised in the following ways: 1. Measurements of the solubility of iron in liquid zinc by several different sampling methods, leading to a relocation of the liquidus curve. 2. Microscopic, conductivity, and X-ray studies of the solid solubility of iron in zinc, which, together with thermal analyses, have resulted in new values for the solid solubility and the eutectic temperature and composition. 3. Heating and cooling curves, obtained by a refined differential method, leading to new locations for the two peritectic horizontals. In Part II of the paper the attempt is made to review all of the pub-lished work having a bearing on the constitution of the iron-zinc system, and to correlate the present results, and some recently published data

Jan 1, 1935

By AIME AIME

THE annual meeting of the A.I.M.E. was fittingly closed with a joint meeting of the Metropolitan sections of the four National societies on Feb. 18, at which this subject was adequately discussed by leading engineers before an audience that completely filled the Engineering Auditorium. The large amount of publicity that has been given the Diesel electric loco- motive, and the often garbled reports of its performance and possibilities that have been circulated, makes it particularly fitting that the facts should be given the profession as determined by those who have aided in developing and operating this latest form of prime- mover in railroad operation. C. A. Stein, general manager of the Central R. R. of New Jersey, opened the meeting with a discussion of the problem of electrification, and the relation of the short haul, switching, and terminal service to heavy electrification. Referring directly to the problem of the Central R. R. of New Jersey, some subtitution for the steam locomotive is necessary within the city limits of New York because of local ordinances against the smoke nuisance. While the improvement in the design of the steam locomotive has been marked-the efiiency today is over fifty times that of the locomotive of 100 years ago-it has now probably reached the point of maximum perfection. If anything, it is open to the criticism of having Coo many appliances to get out of

Jan 1, 1926

By William B. Senseman

For reasons well known to mining engineers, wet grinding is quite universal in plants having to do with the extraction of metallic values from crude ores. In the processing of the nonmetallic and industrial minerals, dry grinding is the more common method. The crude materials usually contain less moisture than is required for wet grinding and the products usually are marketed in dry form; most of them as powders. To grind wet, therefore, would entail the addition of water and an expense for drying the product, which is not justified. Furthermore, the material would be a dried cake that would still have to be pulverized or disintegrated before use. For producing fine products, air separators have largely replaced the earlier practice of sizing with screens and bolting reels. Mills in which the air-separating feature is an integral part of the design are now commonplace. Mill designs are many and air systems have developed along various lines, but for the purpose of this discussion, only the fundamental idea need be emphasized— the idea of using air for sizing and removing pulverized material from a grinding mill. About 20 years ago, when the use of mills equipped with air separation had become common practice, heated air or gas was introduced to such a system for the removal of moisture. The purpose of this discussion is to outline the developments and trends that have followed this experiment. It is an important development, for mills equipped with air separation are now universally used for pulverizing not only nonmetallic and industrial minerals, but a great variety of other materials. All such mills are essentially the same. Dried material is pulverized, removed by an air stream, trapped in a cyclone collector, and relatively clean air from the cyclone is returned through a fan to the mill. There is no theoretical need for a vent from the system. The practical need is to vent the air that leaks into the system, and, since the cyclone is not 100 per cent efficient as a dust collector, this vented air carries some dust with it. The initial attempt at drying was made on a system like that described, by the addition of a furnace. The minus pressure within the mill draws hot gas from the furnace. Infiltration air, along with the drying gases and evaporated moisture, is vented as before. The first application was made to a mill used for pulverizing coal. The coal contained very little moisture, so very little drying effect was needed for the success of this experiment. Actually, some calculated efficiencies of over 100 per cent were obtained before due allowance was made for the conversion of mill power into useful heat. When moisture is low, the heat obtained from the conversion of mill power is an appreciable part of that required. That drying can be effected in the short time interval available in a grinding mill of this type is better understood by visual-

Jan 1, 1947

By William B. Senseman

For reasons well known to mining engineers, wet grinding is quite universal in plants having to do with the extraction of metallic values from crude ores. In the processing of the nonmetallic and industrial minerals, dry grinding is the more common method. The crude materials usually contain less moisture than is required for wet grinding and the products usually are marketed in dry form; most of them as powders. To grind wet, therefore, would entail the addition of water and an expense for drying the product, which is not justified. Furthermore, the material would be a dried cake that would still have to be pulverized or disintegrated before use. For producing fine products, air separators have largely replaced the earlier practice of sizing with screens and bolting reels. Mills in which the air-separating feature is an integral part of the design are now commonplace. Mill designs are many and air systems have developed along various lines, but for the purpose of this discussion, only the fundamental idea need be emphasized— the idea of using air for sizing and removing pulverized material from a grinding mill. About 20 years ago, when the use of mills equipped with air separation had become common practice, heated air or gas was introduced to such a system for the removal of moisture. The purpose of this discussion is to outline the developments and trends that have followed this experiment. It is an important development, for mills equipped with air separation are now universally used for pulverizing not only nonmetallic and industrial minerals, but a great variety of other materials. All such mills are essentially the same. Dried material is pulverized, removed by an air stream, trapped in a cyclone collector, and relatively clean air from the cyclone is returned through a fan to the mill. There is no theoretical need for a vent from the system. The practical need is to vent the air that leaks into the system, and, since the cyclone is not 100 per cent efficient as a dust collector, this vented air carries some dust with it. The initial attempt at drying was made on a system like that described, by the addition of a furnace. The minus pressure within the mill draws hot gas from the furnace. Infiltration air, along with the drying gases and evaporated moisture, is vented as before. The first application was made to a mill used for pulverizing coal. The coal contained very little moisture, so very little drying effect was needed for the success of this experiment. Actually, some calculated efficiencies of over 100 per cent were obtained before due allowance was made for the conversion of mill power into useful heat. When moisture is low, the heat obtained from the conversion of mill power is an appreciable part of that required. That drying can be effected in the short time interval available in a grinding mill of this type is better understood by visual-

Jan 1, 1947

The Du Pont Magazine for August and September gives the following interesting information regarding recent progress in the use' of explosives. Blasting -Clay.-"The place where I tried blasting down clay for a brick yard had been worked for some years by old-time pick and shovel method. There was a large shallow pit, irregular in shape, with a perpendicular face at one end. I put down a line of holes 3 ft. deep and 6 ft. back from this face, loading each hole with one and one-half car-tridges of Red Cross Extra 40 per cent. dynamite. The charges were connected up to a blasting machine circuit and fired electrically. "Two of these shots kept the brick yard men very busy for two days taking out the loose clay. "I am convinced that if any brick yard man will try this method he will always have a blasting machine and dynamite on hand thereafter, because it cuts labor cost almost in two to get down the clay in. this way." In some clay pits the practice is to blast a large amount of clay in the fall, allowing it to freeze and thaw through the winter. Such clay is much easier to puddle in the spring than freshly dug or blasted clay. When the clay contains stones, the blasting loosens them and makes their separation-easy. Well-Drill Holes in Quarrying.-The well drill or cable drill method of working a quarry face is now in quite common use. The use of large drills is constantly increasing among quarrymen. In fact the growing tendency is for large machinery of all kinds such as mammoth crushers, steam shovels, etc. Volume is what is wanted nowadays. The advantages of the big drill over the piston driven drill are numerous. By carrying the holes the full depth of the face the stone is loaded and treated on one working floor. It eliminates the cost of bench cleaning. Loading operations are less frequent, thus lessening the danger. Stone can be shot down in greater volume and in better shape, making it economical to use a steam shovel. No bench cleaning makes it safer for the men. It is cheaper and can be used in outlying and temporary operations where the cost of installing a power plant would be out of the question. It permits a greater spacing of bore holes and eliminates the necessity of "squibbing" or springing. In this method usually holes from 4 in. to 6 in. in diameter are drilled the full depth of the face from 15 ft. to 2,0 ft. apart, and as far back and the whole face shot down at one time. The cost of well drilling may vary all the way from 20 cents to 75 cents: per foot, and in extremely hard rocks up to $1.50 per foot.

Jan 10, 1916

By R. I. Jaffee, C. M. Craighead, G. A. Lenning

THERE has been considerable discussion among A metallurgists and others interested in the development of titanium alloys as to the nature of the fine line markings which appear in the microstruc-tures of unalloyed titanium and a titanium alloys. These markings have been variously called x phase, etching pits, and twins. Figs. 1 to 3 show typical examples of the line markings as they appear, respectively, in high purity iodide titanium, commercial purity titanium rod, and a high purity a alloy containing 0.2 pct N. The commercial purity titanium sample, shown in Fig. 2, contains both line markings and some spheroidal retained-ß phase. The ß phase seen in this micrograph should not be confused with the line marking, since it originates from the iron present as an impurity in the sponge metal. It will be noted that the line markings seem to have a definite orientation pattern with respect to the grains and in titanium noticeably resemble the precipitation occurring in artificially aged high purity Al-Cu alloys. This similarity led to the hypothesis that the line markings observed in titanium and a titanium alloys resulted from precipitation of some unknown phase. With the work of Hägg1 and McQuillan2 as background, there was little reason to suspect hydrogen of being responsible for the line markings. Hagg reported that up to 33 atomic pct H was soluble in a titanium, and McQuillan reported an a solubility of up to 8 atomic pct. Furthermore, McQuillan examined metallographically a 5.1 atomic pct H alloy quenched from 300°C and stated that the structure appeared to be a single-phase a solid solution. Line markings have been observed frequently and were first noted by Jaffee and Campbell3 in 1949. They did not observe them in vacuum-annealed titanium and a Ti-O and Ti-N alloys, but did observe them in Ti-H alloys containing 0.25, 0.5, and 1 atomic pct H. They stated that it was doubtful that the markings were a second phase based on hydrogen, because 1 atomic pct was far from the accepted solid solubility of hydrogen in titanium. Finlay, Resketo, and Vordahl,4 in 1950, concluded that the markings were a true second phase as a result of observations on their etching characteristics. Anderson5 Commenting on these markings in titanium was inclined to associate them with hydrogen, but was loath to call them titanium hydride, because of the reported high solubility of hydrogen. Work at Battelle Memorial Institute for the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics," done concurrently with the work described in this paper, provided information on the experiment converse to that described by Jaffee and Campbell in 1949. This work showed that the amount of line markings in unalloyed titanium could be decreased by vacuum annealing at elevated temperature. It was suggested that this was the result of removal of hydrogen; previously, the data of Jaffee and Campbell9 howed that the markings appeared when hydrogen was added. Recent work at Battelle for the Ordnance Corps, Department of the Army, which is described here, now establishes the identity of the markings as a titanium hydride phase. A sample of high-purity titanium rod 1/4 in. diam, 0.009±0.001 wt pct H (0.43 atomic pct), Fig. 1, was resistance heated in a 0.05 micron vacuum for 41/2 hr at 1500°C. During the early states of heating, the pressure increased to 150 microns, indicating that gases were being evolved. After cooling in vacuum, the iodide titanium rod was analyzed for hydrogen. Vacuum-fusion analysis showed 0.0006 ±0.0003 wt pct H (0.03 atomic pct) to be present.* Metallographic examination of the vacuum-annealed rod showed only a transformed ß structure. There was no evidence of fine line markings, Fig. 4. A section of this vacuum-annealed rod was cold rolled to 0.040 in. thick sheet and annealed for 1 hr

Jan 1, 1953

By R. Bainbridge

THE Consolidated Mining and Smelting CO. of Canada Ltd. has operated a lead smelter at Trail, B. C., for many years. In order to take advantage of metallurgical advances, as well as to improve materials handling methods, this company, commonly known as "Cominco," commenced planning a program of smelter revision and modernization some years ago. The first stage of this program involved the design and construction of a new blast furnace gas cleaning system. The selection of equipment, the design of facilities, and preliminary operating details of this system will be dealt with in this paper. The essential problem was to clean and collect 100 tons of dust daily from 153,000 cfm* (12,225 lb per min) of lead blast furnace gas which varied in temperature from 350º to 1100°F. Because it was desired to collect the dust dry, either a Cottrell or a baghouse cleaning plant was to be selected. Comin-co's many years of experience with both systems provided a background for choosing the most satisfactory installation. All information pertinent to the two methods of dust recovery was carefully investigated, and it was decided to replace the existing equipment with a baghouse. Very briefly, the reasons for this decision were as follows: 1—A baghouse installation would be practical because the SO2 content of the gas was low and corrosion would not be a problem if the baghouse operating temperatures were held sufficiently above the dew point. 2—Variations in the physical characteristics of fume and dust, which are inherent in this blast furnace operation, should not substantially affect the operating efficiency of a baghouse. 3—For the same capital cost, metal losses (stack and water losses) would be appreciably less in a baghouse. 4—A baghouse would be easier to operate, and would not require the use of highly skilled labor. 5—Operating and maintenance costs of a bag-house would be lower. 6—The only available space for reconstruction was relatively small, and not suited to a Cottrell installation. Once the baghouse system was decided upon, detailed design of the installation was begun. Baghouse Design Gas Cooling: Before the required capacity of the baghouse could be determined, the method of cooling the gas to the temperature necessary for bag-house operation had to be chosen. The problem confronting the design engineers was how best to cool 153,000 cfm of gas from a temperature ranging from 350°F to brief peaks of 1100°F, down to 210°F, the maximum safe baghouse inlet temperature. A survey of existing blast furnace gas temperatures in the outlet flue showed that the normal range was as given in Table I. The obvious choices of cooling method were: 1— cool completely by the addition of tempering air; 2—utilize a heat exchanger; 3—cool by radiation; and 4—cool with water spray in conjunction with the admission of tempering air. The advantages and disadvantages of the various cooling methods were: Air Addition: To cool completely by the admission of tempering air involved tremendous volumes, Fig. 1. For example, to cool 1 lb of blast furnace gas at 450°F requires 1.84 lb of air at 80°F or 1.60 lb at 60°F. As it is necessary to design for peak conditions, it can readily be seen that volumes of tempering air in the order of 1,500,000 cfm would have to be handled. Using the normal design figure of 2.5 cu ft per sq ft of bag area, a baghouse installation comprising some 600,000 sq ft of filter cloth would be necessary. Such design requirements would be prohibitive, not only from a standpoint of capital expenditure, but also because of space limitations. Heat Exchanger: The utilization of a heat exchanger was given serious consideration. A horizontal tube unit using air as the medium to cool the required volume of blast furnace gas from 400" to 250°F was investigated. Cooling above 400°F would be done by water spray, and below 250°F by admission of tempering air. The estimated capital cost of such a unit was found to be prohibitive. From an operating standpoint, there was considerable doubt as to whether the soot blowing equipment provided would effectively keep the dust from building up on the tube surface. The performance of heat exchangers operating on dusty gas in other company operations had not been too favorable. Radiation Cooling: Although somewhat cumbersome, gas cooling by radiation from 'trombone' tubes or other similar equipment (cyclones) is employed in many metallurgical operations. Such an installation was also considered. However, calculations showed that an installation much larger than the space available would be required to handle the gas volume involved. For example, to cool 153,000 cfm of blast furnace gas from, say, 600' to 250°F (i.e., remove in the order of 58,500,000 Btu per hr with heat transfer rates varying from 1.1 Btu per sq ft per hr per OF for the higher temperature ranges to 0.88 Btu per sq ft per hr per OF for the lower ranges) would need a cooling area of some 175,000 sq ft.

Jan 1, 1953

JUST as I have told you that it is impossible to give an exact rule for the bell scale, so I say the same concerning the clappers. Yet, if one wishes the bell to sound well, it is necessary that it have a proportioned blow; for if it is struck with a clapper that is lighter than it should be, it will not give out all the sound that it contains, and if it is struck with a heavier one than it can support, it is forced and the sound is made crude and harsh, in addition to the danger of breaking the bell. Therefore-the clappers must be made so that they bear a certain proportion to the bell, and in order not to proceed by chance, I have diligently tried to find the method as well as possible. I have found that experienced masters [99] have given to bells weighing ten pounds a clapper of one and a half pounds [and, to larger ones, clappers as tabulated on the next page].* Larger numbers than these I have not found because, in truth, few of the extraordinarily large ones are made in our regions. In my opinion, the masters should not be limited to these rules for the differences in clappers but should proceed according to the kind of bell, using a certain discretion for it is not possible to give a definite rule.

Jan 1, 1942

By William Campbell

(Cleveland Meeting, October, 1912.) THE structure of iron and steel, though the object of so much study and research for the past 25 years, is by no means thoroughly understood. In the first place, we have three or more distinct iron-carbon thermal diagrams, each with its own supporters, and each representing a theory of the structure and constitution of cast-iron. In the second place, by reason of the fact that austenite, the solid solution of carbon in iron, decomposes in the solid state into ferrite, or pure iron, and cementite (Fe3C), and that quenching from above this transition-range, no matter how rapid, cannot entirely prevent the change and thus preserve the austenite by itself at ordinary temperatures, it happens that under the microscope we find, in addition to the ferrite, Fe3C, and austenite, which the thermal diagram of steel requires, it series of transition-products with distinctive structures, to which have ,been given the names martensite, troostite, sorbite, etc. Now these transition-products, in addition to the solid solution, austenite, have been the source of much controversy, at times very bitter. One side would insist that, say, troostite was an entity, which the other side would deny, pointing out that it must be a transition-mixture, with a particular structure. That austenite was a solid solution of carbon in iron has been denied by one school ; we have been told that Fe24C dissolved both Fe3C and Fe, and thus gave rise to a whole series of quenching-products-all this in spite of the fact that no matter how the thermal diagrams differ in regard to cast-iron, they all agree in regard to the solid solution, austenite, for Fe24C finds no place on the diagram. Thus it happens that while the authorities fight both in regard to the iron-carbon diagram and the structures met with in hard- * Associate Professor of Metallurgy, Columbia University in the City of New York.

Dec 1, 1912

By J. L. Lehman, J. D. Sudbury, J. E. Landers, W. D. Greathouse

A full scale field experiment on cathodic protection of casing answers questions concerning (1) the proper criteria for determining current requirments, (2) the amount of protection provided by different currents, and (3) the transfer of current at the base of the surface pipe. Three dry holes in the Trico pool in Rooks County, Kans., were selected for cathodic protection tests. The three holes were in an area where casing failures opposite the Dakota water sand often accur in less than a year. Examination of the electric togs showed the wells to be similar to other wells in the field where casing in four of seven producing wells has failed. The three holes were cleaned out and cased with 75 joints of new 51/2-in. 14-tb J-55. Each joint was visually inspected and marked before it as run. The casing was bull plugged and floated in the hole 50 that the inside might remain dry and free of excessive attack. Also, if a leak occurred, a pressure increase could be observed on gawge at the surface. Extensive testing was done, including potential profiles, log current-potentid curves and electrode measurements from both surface and downhole connections. Based on these data, a current of 12 amps was applied to one well and 4 amps to mother. The third well was left to corrode. During the two-year period when the casing was in the ground, [he applied current was checked weekly, and reference electrode measurements were made about every two months. Three sets of casing potential profi1e.c were run. When the three strings were pulled, each joint was examined for type of scale formed, presence of sulfate-reducing bacteria, extent of corrosion nttnck and pit depth. Since the pipe was new when run, quantitative determination of the protection provided by current was possible. This is the first concrete field evidence to help resolve the many arguments about the proper method for selecting adequate current for cathodic protection of oilwell (-using. INTRODUCTION A casing string is run when a well is drilled. This pipe is supposed to protect this valuable "hole in the ground" for the life of the well. Often the casing does not last the life of the well; it is with these casing failures that this work is concerned. The cost of repairing a casing failure varies from field to field—from as much as a $30,000 per leak average in California to $5,000 per leak in Kansas. Additional costs other than actual repairs are also important. These include formation damage, lost production, etc. Casing damage caused by internal corrosion is important in some areas. Treatment normally consists of flushing inhibitor down the annulus, but further research is being done on control measures. The test described in this paper is concerned only with external corrosion. The problem of casing failure from external attack has appeared in several areas including western Kansas, California, Montana, Wyoming, Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi. Cathodic protection is currently being used in an attempt to control external corrosion. From reports in the NACE there are thousands of wells currently under cathodic protection. The quantity of current being applied ranges from 27 amps on some deep California wells to a few tenths of an amp being supplied from magnesium anodes on wells in Texas and Kansas. Considerable field and laboratory effort1,9,5,6 was exented on the problem of cathodic prctection of casing, and it became fairly obvious that this method could be used to protect wells. Early workers showed that current applied to a well distributed itself over the length of the casing and was not concentrated on the upper few hundred feet. Basic cathodic protection theory had shown that corrosion attack could be stopped by applying sufficient current. The problem resolved itself, then, into one of trying to decide just how much current was necessary. Various criteria were utilized in installing the many existing cathodic protection installations. These methods included the following. 1. Applying sufficient current to remove the anodic slope as shown by the potential profile." 7. Applying enough current to maintain all areas of the casing at a pipe-to-soil potential of .85 v.' 3. Applying the current indicated by a log current-potential (or E log I) curve." 4. Supplying the current necessary to shift the pipe to-soil potential .3 v." 5. Applying 2 or 3 milliamps of current per sq ft of casing."

By F. W. Rols-Hausen, F. W. Jessen

It is the purpose of this paper to present data on brines occurring in the Frio formation of the Texas Gulf Coast, and to show how their composition varies, (1) with depth below the surface, (2) with depth below the top of the formation, and (3) along the approximate strike. The brines vary in chloride content from 3,180 to 73,000 p.p.m., though the average salinity of the salt waters is shown to vary with total depth; the concentration being 35,000 to 40,000 p.p.m. at 3500 to 5500 ft., slightly less than 50,000 p.p.m. chloride at 5500 to 6500 ft. and average 38,000 to 40,000 below 6500 feet. From the analyses available, it appears that the highest concentration of salts occurs in the upper 300 ft. of the formation, while lower salinity is found with increasing depth below this point. The salt waters from wells in Starr County show less concentration of dissolved salts than in any other group of wells farther north along the strike. In all, 116 analyses from 63 fields and 14 wildcats, from depths ranging from 1300 to 11,400 ft. below the surface and from z to 3240 ft. below the top of the Frio, are recorded. Introduction Brines have been studied for many Years in an attempt to solve some of the geologic and production problems associated with the production of oil and gas. One practical application of study of . water analyses is the correlation of waters occurring above, in, or below the producing sand in the same field or throughout the same formation. The Frio formation, the series of sands and shales occurring below the Marginulina zone and above the Vicksburg, is one of the major oil and gas-producing formations in the Texas Gulf Coast. Fossils are rare or absent in the upper Frio throughout most of the area. When available, cuttings and cores, and electric logs were used to determine the top of the Frio. A change in lithology was used to determine this point in most of the wells, and fossils were used in some of the deep wells. It is realized that a change in lithology is not perfect for correlation purposes over long distances and some of the trends may be influenced by the inability to differentiate between the nonfossiliferous Marginulina zone and the Frio. It underlies virtually all the area shown on the accompanying map (Fig. I). Although it is not productive in the updip facies, it has been explored to a limited degree below I2,000 ft. Further more, toward the coast line future drilling to deeper depths should encounter this formation. Although thousands of wells have penetrated or drilled entirely through the formation, very few water samples have been secured from the many sands occurring in this formation and analyzed. Previous Investigation No previous published study has been made of the chemical composition and concentration of waters from the Frio formation. However, one water analysis

Jan 1, 1944

By F. W. Jessen, F. W. Rols-Hausen

It is the purpose of this paper to present data on brines occurring in the Frio formation of the Texas Gulf Coast, and to show how their composition varies, (1) with depth below the surface, (2) with depth below the top of the formation, and (3) along the approximate strike. The brines vary in chloride content from 3,180 to 73,000 p.p.m., though the average salinity of the salt waters is shown to vary with total depth; the concentration being 35,000 to 40,000 p.p.m. at 3500 to 5500 ft., slightly less than 50,000 p.p.m. chloride at 5500 to 6500 ft. and average 38,000 to 40,000 below 6500 feet. From the analyses available, it appears that the highest concentration of salts occurs in the upper 300 ft. of the formation, while lower salinity is found with increasing depth below this point. The salt waters from wells in Starr County show less concentration of dissolved salts than in any other group of wells farther north along the strike. In all, 116 analyses from 63 fields and 14 wildcats, from depths ranging from 1300 to 11,400 ft. below the surface and from z to 3240 ft. below the top of the Frio, are recorded. Introduction Brines have been studied for many Years in an attempt to solve some of the geologic and production problems associated with the production of oil and gas. One practical application of study of . water analyses is the correlation of waters occurring above, in, or below the producing sand in the same field or throughout the same formation. The Frio formation, the series of sands and shales occurring below the Marginulina zone and above the Vicksburg, is one of the major oil and gas-producing formations in the Texas Gulf Coast. Fossils are rare or absent in the upper Frio throughout most of the area. When available, cuttings and cores, and electric logs were used to determine the top of the Frio. A change in lithology was used to determine this point in most of the wells, and fossils were used in some of the deep wells. It is realized that a change in lithology is not perfect for correlation purposes over long distances and some of the trends may be influenced by the inability to differentiate between the nonfossiliferous Marginulina zone and the Frio. It underlies virtually all the area shown on the accompanying map (Fig. I). Although it is not productive in the updip facies, it has been explored to a limited degree below I2,000 ft. Further more, toward the coast line future drilling to deeper depths should encounter this formation. Although thousands of wells have penetrated or drilled entirely through the formation, very few water samples have been secured from the many sands occurring in this formation and analyzed. Previous Investigation No previous published study has been made of the chemical composition and concentration of waters from the Frio formation. However, one water analysis

Jan 1, 1944

By AIME AIME

THE autumn is the time that nearly all the special groups within the broad field of the Institute's activitives chose for their own special meetings. The big annual meeting in New York in February has its own special advantages, but to realize them involves sacrificing others. A meeting of a smaller group with the subjects brought up for discussion much more closely limited to a single field of interest has some advantages that a big general meeting cannot possibly have. And so the custom has gradually developed of having these smaller meetings in the autumn, at con¬venient places, so the men will not have to travel too far from the job to be present. Sometimes the meetings have for their field of interest a single phase of mineral technology, and are called divisional, and at other times they cover a diversity of topics that are locally important in that geographical area, and are then called regional meetings. Of the five meetings to be held this fall, four are divisional and one regional. Two of the divisional meetings are to be held in the same place at the same time, but with programs so arranged that they do not conflict.

Jan 1, 1930

By Attilio Ligasacchi

The production of magnetite in copper smelting has been the subject of wide investigation in the past.1-9 It is accepted that most of the magnetite is produced in the converters and returned to the re-verberatory furnace with the converter slag. Part of this magnetite is circulated back to the converters in the matte. As a result, if proper fluxing practice is not followed, and temperatures in the converting process are not strictly controlled, an undesirable circulating load of magnetite may occur. This might ultimately lead to saturation in the reverberatory bath with consequent settling of the magnetite at the furnace bottom. This paper contains the cumulative results of a series of investigations on the formation and control of magnetite presently being conducted by the metallurgical department of the Chino Mines Division of Kennecott Copper Corp. THE METHOD USED FOR THE DETERMINATION OF MAGNETITE AND OTHER MAGNETIC MATERIALS Conventional wet chemical magnetite analyses are neither reproducible nor theoretically sound. These analyses are sensitive to time, temperature, and heating rate-all factors which tend to decrease their accuracy and reproducibility. To overcome the unreliability of the above method, H. W. Mossman1 developed an inductance bridge magnetite "meter" which completely replaces the wet chemical analysis with the advantage of quicker and reproducible results. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the meter in use in the Chino metallurgical laboratory. When a pulverized specimen with magnetic properties is placed in coil A of the inductance bridge circuit, the permeability of the core is increased, causing a voltage drop across the coil. The unbalance is amplified to operate the balancing motor which adjusts the movable iron core in coils C and D to bring the bridge back to balance. An indicator arm connected to the movable iron core indicates directly the percent, or weight, of the magnetic material in the specimen. Coil B acts as a reference coil and a zero adjustment. The meter is standardized with a set of various amounts of -100 mesh pure magnetite crystals (99.8 pet Fe3O4) thoroughly mixed in a test tube with -100 mesh quartz sand. These mixtures are combined with inert transoptic powder and heated to 140° to 160°C (melting point of the powder) and subsequently cooled to room temperature, solidifying the whole mixture, in this manner eliminating any possible preferential orientation of the magnetite grains. In order to determine the effect of the particle size" of the magnetite and other magnetic materials on the meter determinations, five size fractions were obtained by wet screening of the 99.8 pet pure magnetite and several reverberatory matte and slag samples. The following size fractions were investigated: -80 + 100; -100 + 150; -150 + 180; -200 + 250; -250 + 300 and -100 mesh. The deviation of the meter readings for the various sizes of each sample never exceeded ±0.3 pet. This deviation is considered well within the accuracy needed for common smelter operation procedures. Further investigation proved also that grinding slag and matte samples in our laboratory disc grinder normally produced a powder constituted of 95 pet -200 + 300 mesh. For practical purposes a - 100 mesh size was used as standard for our studies. It was also found that for rapid determinations tamping of the sample in the test tube was sufficient and gave comparable results with those samples solidified with transoptic powder. For the purpose of this study we define the magnetite content in copper smelter slags and matte as the equilibrium amount of crystalline Fe3O4 existent in the specimen at a given reference temperature, excluding any secondary magnetite precipitated in the specimen during nonequilibrium conditions. MAGNETITE DETERMINATION IN SLAGS Since it is impossible to ascertain the status of equilibrium of a conventional slag sample, due to

Jan 1, 1965

By Wallace Pratt

INTRODUCTION IRON-ORE deposits in the Philippine Islands became the subject of official record as early as 1664. Undoubtedly iron ore was known and recognized by the Filipinos long before the earliest Spanish records. It is even possible that the Filipino practice of smelting iron ore is, like the native copper smelting, older than the Spanish conquest of the islands. The first records have to do with the magnetite-hematite ores near the towns of Santa Inez and Bosoboso in Rizal Province, from 15 to 20 miles east of Manila. The magnetite-hematite ores of Bulacan were exploited in 1783. Similar ores near the town of Mambulao in Camarines Province yielded a number of specimens to be exhibited in Spain in 1834. With the exception, then, of the lateritic iron ores on the eastern coast of northern Surigao, the true nature of which was not recognized until 1914, the important iron-ore deposits of the Philippines had all been discovered before the islands came under the dominion of the United States. Indeed, in the Spanish documents relating to the history of iron mining are statements which, if their accuracy be not questioned, leave us in the Philippines today with much less iron ore than the Spaniards found. To quote, for example, a report submitted to the Superior Government in Spain in 1835 by one of its emissaries, Don Lorenzo Calvo: "The Philippine Islands, most excellent Sir, possess iron and exhibit it in nearly every known mineralogical combination, and in such abundance that the cordillera of the island of Luzon, from Montufar Point in San Bernardino Straits to Cape Bojeador, is composed of no other mineral than iron, its ranges, of the third order, being in content and structure totally iron of the best quality, the more valuable in that its combinations are such as to facilitate its fusion and to render its reduction to metal simple."

Jan 2, 1916

Discussion of the paper of W. G. MATTESON, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1918, and printed in Bulletin No. 134, February, 1915, pp. 429 to 468. WILLIAM KENNEDY, Fort Worth, Tex. (written discussion*). -In his discussion of this paper, Mr. Sherburne Rogers offers voluminous figures to show that the salt forming the. cores of the various domes could not have been derived from sea water, and gives as an illustration the immense quantity of water required to form the salt found in the Humble dome. He refers to the theory advanced by Van der Gracht apparently in support of this contention, and claims to have disposed of the views held by some that the domes were, in a great measure, formed by lateral secretion. Van der Gracht says the immense salt plugs found throughout North Germany and other countries in that region were apparently formed by orogenic movements acting upon what he calls the Mother Bed of Salt, which he gives a thickness of about 1000 ft., and an extent of several thousand square miles. The age of this "mother bed" is given as Permian. Harris, in addition to his growing-crystal theory, also says probably a great portion of the salt found in the Coastal dories may have been derived from the salt water of Permian time. Both of these theories require an abundance of water, and consequently oppose Mr. Rogers' idea that the immensity of water required disproves the formation of the salt from that source. I do not suppose, however, that either Van der Gracht or Harris absolutely limits his view to the Permian as being the only source from which the salt could have come, but would probably agree to consider any other age as being the beginning. Although the Permian is very strongly represented throughout North Texas, we have none anywhere throughout the region from which the salt may be considered as having been derived. Many deep wells have been drilled along the eastern outcropping of the Carboniferous and each has passed directly from Cretaceous to Carboniferous formations. Thus we may eliminate the Permian as a source of salt in this region. But, although the Permian may be absent, we have with us the Carboniferous with probably a thickness of 3000 to 4000 ft., and something like 3000 ft. of Cretaceous, to say nothing of approximately 8000 ft. of Tertiary and later beds, all of which, if we may judge by the quantity and density of the waters obtained from the numerous wells drilled, carry immense quantities

Jan 7, 1918

By Arthur C. Spencer

(Glen Summit Meeting, June, 1911.) THREE great deposits of iron-ore, in Camaguey and Oriente Provinces, Cuba, are well known to me through careful field-examinations executed in the years 1901 and 1907. In 1901 I visited the Cubitas iron-ore district, which lies about 12 miles distant from the city of Camaguey in a northerly direction, and the Mayari district, which includes the Sierra Nipe, lying opposite Nipe bay on the north side of Oriente Province. In 1907 I again visited the Cubitas district, and also made a sojourn of several days in the Moa district, where the extensive deposits of iron-ore were observed and studied. The observations of 1901 were made under the auspices of the then Military Governor of Cuba; Gen. Leonard Wood, and my conclusions concerning the value of these deposits were incorporated in a report.1 The examination of certain denouncements of iron-ore in the Moa district in 1907 was made in behalf of iron-masters operating in the United States, to whom I reported the existence of large amounts of easily-workable limonitic iron-ore, properly designated " brown iron-ore " in the terminology now current among iron-ore producers in the United States. In 1908 I published a paper entitled Three Deposits of Iron Ore in Cuba, outlining the occurrence and origin of the surficial ores existing in the Cubitas, Mayari, and Moa districts.2 . 1 A Geological Reconnoissance of Cuba, by C. Willard Hayes, T. Wayland Vaughan and Arthur C. Spencer, printed as a part of the report of the Military Governor of Cuba for the year 1901, vol. i. 2 Bulletin No. 390, U. S. Geological Survey, pp. 318 to 329 (1908).

Mar 1, 1911