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By M. G. Taverner

Research was conducted into cold briquetting dross arisings and metallurgical coke fines from an Imperial Smelting Furnace (I.S.F.) as an economic means of agglomerating fine materials for smelting in a blast furnace. A mechanism was postulated whereby strong bonds were developed within the briquettes; laboratory scale smelting trials and full scale plant trials are included in the paper with a description of a two tonne/hour briquetting pilot plant. Benefits from smelting briquettes in an I.S.F. were measured directly in metallurgical coke savings and, indirectly, by a significant improvement in sinter plant productivity.

Jan 1, 1977

By L. H. Van Vlack, T. Y. Tien, R. J. Martin

The phase relationships of the MnTe-MnS system were studied by DTA procedures. There is an eutectic at 810°C with about 10 mole pct MnS-90 mole pct MnTe. An eutectoid occurs at about 710°C with approximately 7 mole pct MnS where the MnTe(NaCl) solid solution dissociates on cooling to MnTe(NiAs) and MnS. There is very little solid solubility of MnTe in MnS. ALTHOUGH MnS may exist in three different crystal forms,' only the NaC1-type phase is stable.2 Above 1040°C, MnTe also has the cubic NaC1-type structure. Below that temperature, MnTe changes to the NiAs-type structure.3 This phase transition is rapid for both heating and cooling. As a result the high-temperature crystal form of MnTe cannot be retained at room temperature. Because MnO, MnS, and MnSe are all stable with the NaC1-type structure, and MnTe has this structure at high temperatures,4 solid solution formation could be expected among these compounds. It is interesting to note, however, that a complete series of solid solutions exist only in the MnS-MnSe system,' and that the solid solution is quite limited in the MnO-MnS system.' The MnSe-MnTe system possesses a complete series of solid solutions at high temperatures with separation at lower temperatures.7 Although ion size may be critical in the miscibility of MnO-MnS, it is quite possible that the bond type plays a more important role with the miscibility of MnSe-MnTe. This would permit us to speculate that the miscibility gap would be extensive in the MnTe-MnS system. EXPERIMENTAL Preparation. The samples were prepared by mixing and compacting MnTe and MnS powders. The MnS was previously prepared through the sulfur reduction of Mnso4.8 The MnTe had been prepared by mixing and compacting double vacuum distilled metallic manganese and high-purity tellurium in stoichiometric ratio modified with 1 wt pct excess tellurium. The compacted powders were put in a graphite crucible which was sealed in an evacuated vycor tube. The free space in the vycor tube was made minimal to reduce the loss of tellurium. The sealed assembly was then heated slowly to about 500° C where the free manganese and tellurium reacted vigorously, melting the MnTe which formed. Only one phase, MnTe, was detected by X-ray powder patterns and metallographic techniques. Each compact of MnTe-MnS was placed in a graphite crucible and then sealed in an evacuated vycor tube. The samples were heated at 1250°C for 4 hr and furnace-cooled. Microscopic examination revealed no third phase beyond MnS and MnTe. A typical microstructure is presented in Fig. 1. Identification. X-ray powder patterns were obtained using 114.6 mm Debye-Scherrer camera and Fe-Ka radiation. Mixtures of cubic MnS and hexagonal MnTe were observed in all of the compositions prepared. No lattice parameter change was noticed among different compositions, indicating no solid solution could be retained at room temperatures between these two end-members. A lattice parameter of 5.244Å for MnS was obtained by the Nelson and Riley9 extrapolation method using the diffraction lines of (h2 + k2 + 12) equal 12, 16, 20, and 24. The values, a = 4.145Å and c = 6.708Å, for hexagonal MnTe were obtained from the (006) and (220) lines in the back-reflection region. These values agree well with the values reported by Taylor and Kag1e.10 Differential Thermal Analysis. A differential thermal analysis procedure was used to determine phase relationships since the high-temperature equilibrium conditions could not be retained for examination at room temperature, even when the sealed samples (~0.5 g) were quenched in water. The samples were sealed in an evacuated 4 mm vycor tube with a recess in the bottom to accept a thermocouple. An Al2O3 reference was similarly prepared and the two placed within a piece of insulating fire brick to dampen spurious temperature changes within the furnace. The furnace was controlled by a mechanically driven rheostat which increased the temperature at a rate of about 15°C per min. Known phase changes in the Pb-Sn system1' and the a-to-ß quartz inversion12 were used for calibration

Jan 1, 1969

By Paulo Santiago

Redução dos custos de operação e a produção de aço com menor impacto ambiental são diretrizes unânimes na siderurgia atual. A tecnologia das Turbinas de Recuperação de Topo (Top Recovery Turbines – TRT) é um aliado importante para seguir nessas direções. As TRTs produzem energia elétrica a partir do gás de alta pressão proveniente do topo dos Altos Fornos, gerando energia elétrica sem impacto em emissões. Durante a campanha de operação da turbina, a mesma pode perder eficiência operacional devido a, dentre outros, deposição sobre as palhetas. Com o intuito de melhorar o desempenho da turbina estabilizando sua geração durante toda sua campanha, foi desenvolvido um trabalho de dosagem de polímero dispersante na água de spray da turbina (para turbinas com tecnologia de água de spray na admissão do gás). A dosagem do polímero dispersante visa reduzir a deposição e incrustração nas palhetas, reduzindo assim a perda de performance durante a campanha causadas pelo incremento de massa nas palhetas. Os resultados alcançados em um teste de campo em uma siderúrgica no Brasil foram um incremento de 52% na geração durante a campanha onde o polímero dispersante foi aplicado. Com a aplicação do polímero, uma melhora significativa na confiabilidade e performance da turbina assim como a possibilidade da redução no consumo de água foram atingidos

Oct 30, 2017

By B. Samanta

LHD (load haul dumper) is now used as a loading machine for intermediate mechanization in underground coal mining. For survival in the intense competition in the global business environment in recent years it is essential that LHD machine should be reliable and maintained effectively and efficiently. This paper seeks to study the reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM)of an LHD machine with failure and repair data by Markov modelling. The constraints and reasons for machine unavailability are outlined. The reliability and maintainability of an LHD and its subsystems are evaluated. Possible modification or design alternatives are highlighted. Reliability and maintainability of an LHD system are disappointing. There is room to take decisions on optimal maintenance planning and machine improvement from this analysis. Keywords: reliability, availability, maintainability, Markov model, LHD

Jan 1, 2004

By M. M. Fan

In Florida?s phosphate industrial practice, the most favorable upper size limit of froth flotation is 1.18 mm which corresponds to particle weight of about 2.8 mg. Conventional froth flotation is not efficient in upgrading coarse particles (+0.425-1.18 mm). A limited number of studies have been devoted to understanding and improving coarse particle flotation. We have shown that the coarse particle flotation performance can be significantly improved by the presence of picobubbles generated by hydrodynamic cavitation. In this study, the size of picobubbles produced under certain hydrodynamic conditions was measured by a laser particle size analyzer. A size-by-size flotation performance analysis of coarse phosphate froth flotation in the presence of picobubbles is conducted in terms of flotation kinetics, selectivity and recovery. It was found that picobubbles doubled the flota-tion rate, increased the P2O5 recovery more significantly for +0.85-1.18 mm particles than +0.425- 0.6 mm and +0.60-0.85 mm particles. At a given acid insolubles (A.I.) rejection, the presence of picobubbles increased the P2O5 recovery by up to about 25%.

Jan 1, 2014

By E. Czech

Hydrogen generated through aluminum-assisted water split reaction is a novel, efficient and environmentally friendly method. It has been found previously that the passivation of aluminum can be prevented in neutral (pH=7) or near neutral pH conditions in water by grinding aluminum with a catalyst, such as A12O3, SiO2 or SiC. Recently, the best results have been obtained by using water-soluble inorganic salts (WIS), ground with aluminum. The massive, rapid corrosion reaction of the Al-WIS system which takes place in regular tap (or marine, or ground) water can be utilized to produce hydrogen by aluminum-assisted water split reaction, in-situ, on-demand. The reaction offers clean, low-cost, environmentally benign and entirely recyclable technology for on-board on-demand hydrogen generation. Besides pure gaseous hydrogen, only pure solid aluminum hydroxides AlOOH or Al(OH)3 are formed as the reaction products. The hydrogen yield and Al-WIS reaction efficiency are high. From 1 g of mechanically alloyed aluminum powder, up to 1.25 liters of hydrogen were generated, i.e. efficiency up to 92% was achieved. The amount of hydrogen and hydrogen generation rate depend on various reaction parameters. The effect of chemistry and concentration of additives, water temperature, powder particle size and milling conditions on the reaction kinetics will be presented and the possible process mechanism will be discussed.

Jan 1, 2005

By M Zhu, G Tranell, J You, K Tang, X Ma

The thermal conductivity of slag is critical for the efficiency of high temperature metallurgical processes such as the smelting reduction of ferroalloys, the ladle refining and the continuous casting mold flux in steelmaking. Experimental determination of slag’s thermal conductivity is fraught with challenges, as seen in yielding data for the SiO2-Al2O3-CaO system that are often inconsistent and widely dispersed. In molten slags of this system, thermal transport occurs via phonons within the network structure. To quantitatively describe thermal conductivity based on the microstructure, hightemperature Raman spectroscopy was employed to measure the silicate tetrahedra Qi (i = 0, 1, 2, 3), with Q4 species inferred from mass balance. This study also integrated molecular dynamics simulations to provide a fundamental understanding of the microstructure units distributions. Machine learning algorithms, especially deep neural networks, were applied to establish the relationship between slag composition and the configuration of tetrahedra. The thermal conductivities were then connected with silicate tetrahedra Qi using an Arrhenius-type formalism. This study sets the stage for extending our findings to more complex, multicomponent slags, enhancing their practical application in industrial processes.

Aug 21, 2024

By Danny A. Riley, James R. Sanger, Hani S. Matloub, Michael Agresti, David Rowe, Lin-Ling Zhang, Yuhui Yan, Paula Galaviz, Judith Marchant-Hanson, Ji-Geng Yan

Until now there has been controversy about which tests should be performed to diagnose early Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS). Initial screening questions, especially about tingling and numbness, routinely given to patients prior to examinations proved to be a very important tool in the diagnostic process1, 4. However, standardized tests that are simple, quick, valid and reliable are needed to support a diagnosis of HAVS. Purpose: To find the most valid and reliable tests to diagnose HAVS. Material and Methods Five major tests were performed on Group I and Group II. Group I: Control group of 12 volunteers including students, nurses, secretaries and physicians with no history of using vibrating tools (age 20 to 50y, mean age 38.5y; 5male, 5 female.) Group II: 12 workers (age 17 to 65y, mean age 39y; 9 male, 3 female) were sent by a local trade union with a history of using vibrating power tools on their jobs for varying amounts of time (mean 12.2y, from 0.5 to 35y.) Pre-enrollment survey showed that each had more than 4 complaints commonly associated with use of vibrating tools (including numbness, tingling, weakness, pain, finger color or nail changes, temperature change, and difficulty moving.) 1. Sensory nerve conductive tests: Amplitude and nerve conductive velocity (NCV) were evaluated. 2. Cold Stress-Temperature recovery time tests were done on the index finger of the dominant hand following these steps: Confirm water bath is within 4-5º C. Place the finger temperature probe on pad of the index finger of the dominant hand. Record temperature every 15 seconds. Place subject’s hand in the cold- water bath for exactly five minutes. Record temperature every 15 seconds for ten minutes. 3. Blood test: Venous blood was taken by a 21-gauge needle with the yellow collection tube adapter. S-ICAM, Sera Thrombomodulin, Norepinephrine levels were evaluated by Henderson Research Centre, Canada. 4. Finger Sensory Evaluation: Semmes-Weinstein monofilament test and 2-point discrimination tests were performed on bilateral fingers. 5. Digital blood pressure test: blood pressure was measured in bilateral index fingers. Results 1. Median nerve sensory conductive amplitude from palm to wrist : GI: mean 96 ± 31µm; GII: mean 43± 30µm; for dominant hands. GI vs GII: P<0.001

Jan 6, 2006

By A. S. Griffiths, J. E. Evans

Noise processing experiments with ELF (3 to 300 Hz) atmospheric noise and signals in the 40 to 80 Hz range are described. The primary purpose of the experiments was to record and analyze wideband ELF noise in order to design the noise processing portion of a receiver which minimizes the required transmitter power. The application of appropriate theory and extensive simulations led to a noise processor which consists of the following functions: (1) a compensating (or whitening) filter, (2) a prenotch filter clipper, (3) notch filters at frequencies of manmade interference (e. g., power lines), (4) a post-notch filter clipper, and (5) a phase-coherent linear matched filter. The nonlinear processing provides considerable gain relative to a linear receiver (i. e. , a receiver consisting only of a matched filter and appropriate whitening filters). It is convenient to measure sys tem performance in terms of an "effective noise level" which is equal to twice the received signal energy divided by the signal to noise ratio at the matched filter output. For example, the highest effective noise levels observed at 45 Hz with the nonlinear processor were about -134, -131 and -137 dB wrt 1 amp/m [Hz] using Saipan, Malta and Norway data, respectively, compared to 1 percent exceedance levels of effective noise for the linear receiver of about -115, 115 and -130 dB wrt 1 amp/m [Hz] respectively.

Jan 1, 1973

By H. D. Kline

This paper is one of a series being prepared by the Bureau of Mines on methods, practices, and costs in various mining districts in the United States. The paper describes mining and ore recovery methods common to the Batesville manganese district, Independence County, Ark., and gives the costs of producing merchantable ore by three operators whose methods were more or less typical of those of many other local manganese producers. The operating costs reported were those of Leonard Baxter at mines on Brooks Hill for the calendar year 1958 and Arkansas Mining and Exploration Corp. at Section 16 mine and the Searcy group of mines and Miller-McGee Corp. at the Diener mine during the first 6 months of 1959. Manganese are was mined in the district as early as 1849 and almost continuously thereafter until August 1959, when termination of the Government&apos;s domestic manganese purchase program resulted in complete cessation of mining activity. During those years, production came from more than 189 mines and properties, of which only a few produced as much as 30,000 tons of merchantable ore.

Jan 1, 1962

By Carl Hendricks

Aquila Mining Systems Ltd., is the world leader in drill monitoring, control and GPS-based machine navigation systems for the mining industry. This paper will review the design and application of AQUILA’s drill monitoring, control and positioning systems currently in use throughout the world and some of the benefits that derive through their use. In 1993, AQUILA became the first company to install a high precision, cm level, real-time GPS receiver on a blasthole drill. In fact, this was likely the first application of GPS on any form of production mining equipment. To date, AQUILA has installed over 90 GPS based drill monitoring systems worldwide. Since 1992 AQUILA has continued to lead in the advancement of new technologies for drilling including real-time geology recognition and automated drilling control systems. The AQUILA DMseries drill systems offer mines the ability to collect and transmit to the mine office; drill production statistics, ore and waste intersections, exact collar elevations, hole positions and depths, maintenance information and consumables tracking. Unique office software developed by AQUILA provides an encompassing Windows environment within which to manage and coordinate all aspects of data communications and information management between the drills and various mine departments. AQUILA and Caterpillar, along with Mincom and Trimble Navigation are partners in a technology alliance that is providing the surface mining industry with vehicle tracking and navigation systems for all mobile production equipment.

Jan 1, 2000

Slurry flow, including flow through the charge, through the discharge grates, along the pulp lifters and its discharge from the mill is an important contributor to the efficiency of the grinding process within a SAG mill. Poor transport of finer ground material can adversely affect grinding leading to excess energy consumption and over-grinding of fine material. This paper extends a 1-way coupled DEM-SPH method to three dimensions and applies it to a 1.8 m diameter by 0.6 m long AG/SAG pilot mill. This provides detailed information on the internal flow of slurry within a SAG mill, including the prediction of dry regions and of slurry pooling. Full 3D analysis also allows the pulp flow patterns into and out of the mill via pulp lifter chamber to be investigated.

Jan 1, 2012

[ PRESIDENTS DAVID THOMAS 1871 &apos;R. W. RAYMOND 1872-1874 &apos;A L. HOLLEY 1875 &apos;ABRAM S. HEWITT 1876 &apos;T. STERRY HUNT 1877 &apos;ECKLEY B. COXE 1878-1879 &apos;WILLIAM P. SHINNY 1880 &apos;WILLIAM METCALF 1881 &apos;RICHARD P. ROTHWELL 1882 &apos;ROBERT W. HUNT 1883 &apos;JAMES C. BAYLES 1884-1885 ROBERT H. RICHARDS 1886 &apos;THOMAS EGLESTON 1887 &apos;WILLIAM B. POTTER 1888 &apos;RICHARD PEARCE 1889 &apos;ABRAM S. HEWITT 1890 &apos;JOHN BIRKINBINE 1891-1892 &apos;H. M. Hows 1893 &apos;JOHN FRITZ 1894 &apos;J. D. WEEKS 1895 &apos;E. G. SPILSBURY 1896 &apos;THOMAS M. DROWN 1897 &apos;CHARLES KIRCHHOFF 1898 &apos;JAMES DOUGLAS 1899-1900 &apos;E. E. OLCOTT 1901-1902 &apos;ALBERT R. LEDOUX 1903 &apos;JAMES GAYLEY 1904-1905 &apos;ROBERT W. HUNT 1906 &apos;JOHN HAYS HAMMOND 1907-1908 &apos;D. W. BRUNTON 1909-1910 &apos;CHARLES KIRCHHOFF 1911]

Jan 1, 1940

By Tatiane Aparecida Rocha Gonçalves

Dentro da caracterização tecnológica do minério de ferro, percebe-se o aumento da realização de ensaios de moagem em escala de laboratório, em função do empobrecimento das principais jazidas de minério de ferro e consequentemente redução do grau de liberação do quartzo. Esse é o principal mineral de ganga do minério de ferro, e para sua liberação é necessário moagem. O Centro de Pesquisas Tecnológicas da Vale tem como procedimento a execução de ensaios exploratórios de moagem para a definição do tempo necessário partindo de um top size de 2 mm até obter um produto com determinado % retido em 0,15mm, a malha de controle da moagem primária. A definição desse tempo era realizado por tentativa e erro, ou seja, fazia-se uma moagem em um tempo inicial, e posteriormente variava-se o mesmo até alcançar a granulometria desejada no produto moído. Este processo torna a atividade morosa, sendo necessário a realização em média de até 5 ensaios para a definição do tempo de moagem. De uma forma simples aplicando a equação de Donda-Rosa utilizando o tempo de moagem, a determinação do tempo de moagem para chegar à granulometria desejada é normalmente atingida na segunda moagem. Os resultados obtidos até o momento são promissores, mostrando ser possível a utilização dessa equação para prever o tempo de moagem. Com isto, obteve-se um ganho de produtividade uma vez que a quantidade média de ensaios exploratórios necessária reduziu-se de quatro para no máximo dois.

Aug 2, 2018

By Kenneth S. Johnson

Oklahoma is the only; state in the nation that is currently producing iodine. The iodine is extracted from iodine-rich natural brines being pumped from deep wells drilled into Pennsylvanian sandstones in the Anadarko basin of northwestern Oklahoma. Woodward Iodine Corp., started in 1977, was the first plant in the United States built for iodine recovery since the 1930s. At present, three companies are operating four iodine-producing facilities in northwestern Oklahoma. The combined production of these facilities, 1,321,000 kg in 1997, is about 26% of the U.S. annual consumption. Iodine is present in concentrations ranging from less than 100 ppm (parts per million) to as much as 1,560 ppm in brines in various Paleozoic strata in the subsurface of northwestern Oklahoma; these concentrations are exceptionally high, and are well above those of any other known brines in the world. Strata with the highest iodine content in the area (Mississippian limestones) have low permeabilities, and thus would yield only small amounts of brine. On the other hand, the lower Morrow sandstones (Lower Pennsylvanian) have a relatively high permeability and are capable of yielding large quantities of brine that average 300-350 ppm iodine. The Morrow brine reservoir was deposited in shallow-water-marine and intertidal-shelf environments and now is buried 6,000-10,000 ft below the land surface. Production is localized to Morrow channel deposits confined to an Early Pennsylvanian paleovalley that is 1-2 mi wide, is about 70 mi long, and is referred to informally as the "Woodward trench." All three companies are producing iodine-rich brines from Morrow sandstones in three different parts of the Woodward paleovalley, and one of the companies also is extracting iodine from oil-field brines coming from several petroleum reservoirs near Dover, about 80 mi east of Woodward. The basic extraction method employed by Woodward Iodine Corp. was used in Louisiana and California operations in the late 1920s. This method is commonly called the air-stripping process. Lower Morrow brine containing dissolved sodium iodide is pumped to the plant through a series of pipelines, where by-product natural gas is separated and processed. The brine is then acidified and subsequently oxidized with chlorine to convert the iodide to iodine. The iodine is air stripped and reabsorbed with sulfur dioxide and water, converting it to hydriodic acid, or process liquor. The process liquor is then processed, using chlorine once again, to crystallize the iodine as a solid. This is then melted and frozen to form a solid product, which is packaged in 110-lb (50-kg) drums and shipped to end users throughout the world.

Jan 1, 1999

By H. Deveci, E. Y. Yazici, A. D. Bas

The leach solutions of waste of printed circuit boards (WPCB) may contain a wide range of base and precious metals with different concentrations due to heterogeneity of these wastes in composition. Therefore, selection of a suitable metal recovery method is of practical importance for downstream processing of pregnant leach solutions of WPCB. Sulphuric acid leaching of WPCB in the presence of a suitable oxidant is capable of dissolving base metals as well as precious metals such as silver. In this study, cementation of silver from sulphuric acid leach solutions of WPCB using metallic copper, aluminum and zinc was studied. The WPCB sample was assayed to have a silver content of 694 g/t. A synthetic leach solution containing 20 mg/L Ag in sulphuric acid solution (0.51 M H2SO4) was prepared based on the silver concentration in pregnant leach solutions of oxidative sulphuric acid leaching tests. Total sulphate concentration ([SO4 2-]T) was kept constant using sodium sulphate at 1 M. Metallic powders of copper (-850 +600 µm), aluminum (-425 +45 µm) and zinc (-45 µm) were used in the cementation tests. The effects of metal type (Cu, Al or Zn), dosage of metal powders (above the stoichiometric ratio by up to 2000-fold) and temperature (20-80°C) on the rate and extent of silver extraction from the solution was investigated. The effect of presence of copper on the cementation performance was also tested. Under suitable conditions high silver recoveries (>90%) was achieved using metallic copper and zinc while aluminum yielded the lowest silver recovery (i.e. 40% Ag). The kinetics of cementation by zinc was comparatively higher than that of other metals. Increasing the temperature was observed to significantly enhance both the rate and extent of silver cementation. SEM-EDS studies were performed to characterise the metallic powders after cementation.

Jan 1, 2016

By A. C. T. Bigg, Y. Kocak, N. K. Bodur

The Gumuskoy silver mine, owned by the Etibank, in the province of Kutahya, Turkey, has been operating since 1987 with primary, secondary and tertiary crushers, and two parallel single stage ball mill circuits. Continuing problems with crushing and feeding of the ore to the ball mills, because of the moisture retaining and sticky nature of the ore, prompted an investigation into the possibility of converting the grinding circuit to an autogenous or semiautogenous grinding circuit. This would remove the bottleneck associated with the secondary and tertiary crushing. At the same time the target feedrate is to be raised from 140 t/h to 175 t/h. This paper demonstrates the response of five ore types, and blends of ore types in an onsite pilot plant test program, and also suggests how the variations can be handled in a SAG mill/ball mill circuit incorporating just one of the present ball mills.

Jan 1, 2000

By Niander Aguiar Cerqueira

A construção civil é um setor de extremo impacto na economia brasileira, tanto em termos de empregos quanto no consumo de matérias-primas e geração de resíduos. Resíduos de Construção Civil (RCC) representam uma grande parte da massa total de rejeitos sólidos em médias e grandes cidades. Neste trabalho, um estudo foi realizado para produzir concreto com substituição de areia por RCC, em diferentes porcentagens, a fim de reduzir, reciclar e reutilizar esta grande quantidade de rejeitos da indústria da construção civil. Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar as propriedades mecânicas de concreto estrutural com substituição total e parcial (25%, 50%, 75% e 100% de substituição de areia). Os resultados do teste de compressão indicaram boa qualidade para os concretos com substituição em massa de até 75% de RCC.

Oct 30, 2017

By Howard J. Smith

At the meeting of this Institute in February 1933,I presented a paper on potash development in southeastern New Mexico1, which contained a brief review of the Geological Survey&apos;s 20-year search for commercial sources of soluble potash minerals and of the events that led to the discovery, exploration, and first development of the deposits in that state. AS a more comprehensive review of the subject was published in December2, the present paper is intended only to discuss recent developments in the domestic potash industry, particularly in New Mexico. A summary of the findings of potash in the Permian Basin, by G. R. Mansfield and W. B. Lang, geologists of the United States Geological Survey, is now in process of publication by the University of Texas and will be omitted from this paper. In New Mexico prospecting for potassium salts during the past two years has increased materially the known area of commercial deposits; development has resulted in an increase from one to three in the number of shafts and the starting of a fourth; an increase of annual productive capacity to 1,000,000 tons of crude salts, or 250,000 tons of K2O; and an increase in annual refining capacity to 140,000 tons of muriate of 62.5 per cent grade. Construction has been completed to increase still further the production of high-grade salts. In California the American Potash & Chemical Co., operating on Searles Lake brines, has increased its plant capacity from about 100,000 tons to 180,000 tons of muriate a year and is now producing soda ash and salt cake in addition to potash and borax. Potash production from cement-plant and industrial-alcohol wastes remains unimportant.

Jan 1, 1938

By Howard J. Smith

At the meeting of this Institute in February 1933,I presented a paper on potash development in southeastern New Mexico1, which contained a brief review of the Geological Survey&apos;s 20-year search for commercial sources of soluble potash minerals and of the events that led to the discovery, exploration, and first development of the deposits in that state. AS a more comprehensive review of the subject was published in December2, the present paper is intended only to discuss recent developments in the domestic potash industry, particularly in New Mexico. A summary of the findings of potash in the Permian Basin, by G. R. Mansfield and W. B. Lang, geologists of the United States Geological Survey, is now in process of publication by the University of Texas and will be omitted from this paper. In New Mexico prospecting for potassium salts during the past two years has increased materially the known area of commercial deposits; development has resulted in an increase from one to three in the number of shafts and the starting of a fourth; an increase of annual productive capacity to 1,000,000 tons of crude salts, or 250,000 tons of K2O; and an increase in annual refining capacity to 140,000 tons of muriate of 62.5 per cent grade. Construction has been completed to increase still further the production of high-grade salts. In California the American Potash & Chemical Co., operating on Searles Lake brines, has increased its plant capacity from about 100,000 tons to 180,000 tons of muriate a year and is now producing soda ash and salt cake in addition to potash and borax. Potash production from cement-plant and industrial-alcohol wastes remains unimportant.

Jan 1, 1938