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By S. F. Emmons

[The following notes of observations made during a visit of a few days in the month of October, 1886, which was cut short by a sudden summons East, are offered, in spite of their incomplete and tentative character, in the hope that they may aid the members of the Institute, in their coming visit to this region, to a clearer understanding of the general geological conditions under which the ore-bodies occur.] The Butte mining region lies in a sort of a depression in the mountains which is drained by Silver Bow creek and its various tributaries. On the east it is bounded by high north and south ridges of granite, and on the west by lower ridges, also running north and south, which, as far as examined, were found to consist of rhyolite. High mountains also inclose the depression on the north and south, but at a greater distance than the more immediate bounding ridges on the east and west, the distance between which is hardly more than six miles.

Jan 1, 1888

By D. J. McAdam, G. W. Geil, D. H. Woodard, W. D. Jenkins

INTRODUCTION IN a series of papers, the authors and their associates have shown that the resistance of a metal to fracture is a function of all three principal stresses. 10-18,20,21,23,[1] Consequently since a technical cohesion limit is defined as the technically determinable resistance to fracture, under a specific stress system, the technical cohesive strength comprises an infinite number of technical cohesion limits corresponding to the infinite number of possible combinations of the principal stresses. As shown in the previous papers, the technical cohesive strength increases with plastic deformation, with decrease in temperature, and with increase in the strain rate. The technical cohesion limit, therefore, is affected by the same factors that affect the flow stress,§ namely, the stress system, plastic deformation, temperature, and the strain rate. The effect of each of these factors on the fracture stress is qualitatively the same as its effect on the flow stress. The effect of any of the factors may be represented by a curve of cohesion limits, although only one point on the curve may represent actual fracture. Since the term "fracture stress" has come into general use with the same significance as technical cohesion limit; the authors are here using the' shorter term with the understanding that it, does not always refer to actual fracture. In the general investigation described. in the previously-mentioned papers,10-18,20,21,23 the influence of the stress 'system on the fracture stress was studied by means, of tension tests of notched specimens. When a circumferentially notched cylindrical' specimen is subjected to longitudinal ten-, sion, the minimum cross section is under " transverse radial tension. The mean radial stress increases with the depth and sharpness of the notch, but is always less than the longitudinal stress. The greatest principal stress (S,), therefore, is longitudinal, and since the radial stress is effectively equal to the circumferential stress, the transverse principal stresses are equiaxial in that plane (S2 = S3). By the use of notched specimens in tension tests it was shown that the fracture stress increases with increase in the radial stress ratio (S3/SI). The evidence is based not only on the results of tests to fracture at various constant temperatures, but also on. results of two-stage tests, in which each specimen was plastically deformed a predetermined

Jan 1, 1948

By Frank Drake

Manganese-ores are known to exist in the Caucasus in a number of localities, viz., in the government of Kutais, near the village of Chiaturi; in the same goverilment near the Choruk river, southward from Batum; and in the governments of Erivan and Tiflis. In smaller quantities they are found in various other places also. The first-mentioned deposits are by far the most important; the others being not only less extensive, but remote from present means of communication, and, from their character, expensive to work, although in some cases the ore is of a superior quality. All the manganese-ore now known in the market as a Caucasian " ore comes from Chiaturi, no other deposits in the Caucasus having been worked commercially; movements have been made, however, towards the exploitat,ion of some of those on the Choruk river. The Manganese-Ore District of Chiaturi. General Remarks, Statistics, Etc.—No other known deposit of manganese-ore can approach that of Chiaturi in capacity for producing large quantities of high-grade ore at a low cost. The deposit is said to have been discovered in 1848, by the geologist Abich, but the first shipments were not made until 1879, when 871 tons* were produced. Since that time, the production has steadily increased, until now the world relies on this deposit for about one-half its supply of manganese-ore. The industry is also of great importance locally, and aftords a livelihood to a considerable proportion of the population of the district in which the deposit is situated.

Jan 1, 1899

By J. J. Arps

This paper reviews the methods currently in use for estimating primary oil reserves and discusses the principles on which these methods are based. Particular emphasis is placed on how these methods change with the type of information available during the life cycle of an oil property. This paper contains various novel estimating methods and shortcuts heretofore unpublished. INTRODUCTION Estimating oil reserves is one of the most important phases of the work of a petroleum engineer since the solutions to the problems he deals with usually depend on a comparison of the estimated cost in terms of dollars, with the anticipated result in terms of barrels of oil. His recommendations to management regarding the best course of action are therefore normally based on the most favorable balance between these two. Specific engineering problems which require such a knowledge of recoverable oil reserves and a projection of future rates are: [a.] the exploitation and development of an oil reservoir; [b.] the construction of gasoline plants, pipelines and refineries; [c.] the division of ownership in unitized projects; [d.] the price to be paid in case of a sale or purchase of an oil property, and the magnitude of the loan which it will support; [e.] the proper depreciation rate for the investment in oil properties; and [f.] evaluation of the results of an exploration program. This discussion will be confined to the various methods and tools which are currently in use for estimating oil reserves to be obtained during the primary phase of an oil-producing reservoir and for a projection of the future production rates. Reserves which may be obtained by secondary recovery methods or fluid injection programs and gas and gas condensate reserves will not be discussed in this paper. Unfortunately, reliable oil reserve figures are most urgently needed during the early stages when only a minimum amount of information is available. Management's interest in the oil recovery from a property—aside from its use for accounting purposes—usually declines when the property approaches its economic limit, just at the time when the reliability of the estimates is at its best. To illustrate this general idea a chart is presented (Fig. 1) showing the three periods in the life of an imaginary oil property. Time is shown on the horizontal axis, while the cumulative production and estimated ultimate recovery are plotted vertically. No particular units are used and this schematical chart is not to scale. During the first period, before any wells are drilled on a property, any estimates will of necessity be of a very general nature, based on experience from similar pools or wells in the same area, and usually expressed in barrels per acre. This will

Jan 1, 1957

By E. C. Houston

The presence in the Tennessee Valley of extensive deposits of olivine, a silicate of magnesium and iron that contains approximatcly 28 per cent magnesium, has been recognized since 1896 when Lewis8 published a survey of basic magnesium rocks of western North Carolina. A recent field survey by T.V.A.7 showed that more than two hundred million tons of high-grade olivine occurs above local drainage levels in western North Carolina and northern Georgia. Except for sporadic attempts to work the olivine for its nickel and chromium contents,10 the ore received little attention industrially until 1926 when Goldschmidt3 suggested its use in the manufacture of refractories. Only one instance is recorded of an attempt to utilize the ore commercially for its magnesium content;11 in this case a process was used in which olivine was treated with sulphuric acid, the resultant mixture was leached with water, and the leach solution was purified and evaporated to form epsom salts, which was the end product. As a part of its program of contributing to the development of the natural resources of the region, the Tennessee Valley Authority became interested in the olivine deposits as a source of metallic magnesium because of their high magnesium content and proximity to hydroelectric power. Studies were undertaken to determine the feasibility of producing magnesium chloride by extraction of olivine. The experimental work was carried out successively at the T.V.A. Minerals Testing Laboratory, Norris, Tenn., at the Georgia State Engineering Station,* Atlanta, Ga., and at the T.V.A. laboratory at Wilson Dam, Ala. The present paper describes a process, developed through the pilot-plant stage, whereby magnesium chloride suitable for reduction to metallic magnesium can be prepared from olivine by extraction with hydrochloric acid and subsequent purification. Research on the magnesium-from-olivine process, originally intended for peacetime use, was given impetus by the shortage of magnesium that existed at the beginning of the current world war. By the time the process was sufficiently developed to justify a proposal for its inclusion in the war program, the shortage had been met by expansion and development of other processes. However, it is believed that the magnesium-from-olivine process may have advantages that will warrant consideration of its use after the war, when the. economics of the various processes rather than production on a wartime scale will be the criterion for commercial production of magnesium. Description of Process Metallic magnesium is produced electro-lytically by the Dow and the Elektron

Jan 1, 1948

By E. C. Houston

The presence in the Tennessee Valley of extensive deposits of olivine, a silicate of magnesium and iron that contains approximatcly 28 per cent magnesium, has been recognized since 1896 when Lewis8 published a survey of basic magnesium rocks of western North Carolina. A recent field survey by T.V.A.7 showed that more than two hundred million tons of high-grade olivine occurs above local drainage levels in western North Carolina and northern Georgia. Except for sporadic attempts to work the olivine for its nickel and chromium contents,10 the ore received little attention industrially until 1926 when Goldschmidt3 suggested its use in the manufacture of refractories. Only one instance is recorded of an attempt to utilize the ore commercially for its magnesium content;11 in this case a process was used in which olivine was treated with sulphuric acid, the resultant mixture was leached with water, and the leach solution was purified and evaporated to form epsom salts, which was the end product. As a part of its program of contributing to the development of the natural resources of the region, the Tennessee Valley Authority became interested in the olivine deposits as a source of metallic magnesium because of their high magnesium content and proximity to hydroelectric power. Studies were undertaken to determine the feasibility of producing magnesium chloride by extraction of olivine. The experimental work was carried out successively at the T.V.A. Minerals Testing Laboratory, Norris, Tenn., at the Georgia State Engineering Station,* Atlanta, Ga., and at the T.V.A. laboratory at Wilson Dam, Ala. The present paper describes a process, developed through the pilot-plant stage, whereby magnesium chloride suitable for reduction to metallic magnesium can be prepared from olivine by extraction with hydrochloric acid and subsequent purification. Research on the magnesium-from-olivine process, originally intended for peacetime use, was given impetus by the shortage of magnesium that existed at the beginning of the current world war. By the time the process was sufficiently developed to justify a proposal for its inclusion in the war program, the shortage had been met by expansion and development of other processes. However, it is believed that the magnesium-from-olivine process may have advantages that will warrant consideration of its use after the war, when the. economics of the various processes rather than production on a wartime scale will be the criterion for commercial production of magnesium. Description of Process Metallic magnesium is produced electro-lytically by the Dow and the Elektron

Jan 1, 1948

By Elmer W. Pehrson

THE founding of the American Institute of Mining Engineers in 1871 came at an unusually significant moment in the life of our country. The industrial revolution, in which mineral production played a major role, was just getting underway. The iron industry, established several decades earlier, was reaching sizable proportions. In 1871 pig-iron production was approaching 2 million tons, and the industry had spread as far west as Missouri and Wisconsin. The chief sources of iron ore were Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Michigan. The age of steel was in its infancy; production had not yet reached 100,000 tons per annum. The gold rush to California two decades earlier and the discovery of other gold and silver bonanzas in the West paved the way for the transcontinental railways, which were then being built and which contributed much to the subsequent development of the great copper, lead, and zinc districts of the Rocky Mountain area. Regular production of copper in the Michigan peninsula and of lead in Missouri and the upper Mississippi region had been established for many years but on a scale dwarfed by the quantities later required as technical progress, invention and enterprise made possible the rapid expansion of industry. Discovery of oil in Pennsylvania in 1859, the growing recognition of the

Jan 1, 1947

By J. A. Heskett

NEW ZEALAND is dependent on the outside world for its ferro goods, yet it can boast of at least two well-defined iron-ore deposits; namely, Para Para limonite, 3 Fe203 + 21120 also found as lower hydrated oxides, and Taranaki iron-sand, a combined magnetite and ilmenite, 2FeO + 2Fe203 + FeO + Ti02. The former is of massive variety and the FIG. 1.-VIEW OF WORKS SHOWING IRON-SAND DEPOSITS, ALSO WHARF AND BREAK¬WATER IN THE DISTANCE. latter granular and mixed with various proportions of fine shell and siliceous sand well water-worn. This latter deposit forms the greater portion of the beach sands of the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is so fine that the whole of a sample passed through a sieve of 40 meshes to the inch. The ilmenite cannot be detected by the microscope, as in the titaniferous ores of the Adirondacks, nor can it be magnetically separated, as in the titaniferous ore of Natashkwan, Canada. To all appearances it is a chemical compound of the double oxides of iron and titanium and not a mechanical mixture, as is the ore of the Adirondack deposits.

Jan 8, 1920

By H. Foster Bain

FROM time to time geologists and mining engineers, impressed by the heavy demands made on our mineral reserves' by modern industry, and particularly by the steadily mounting rate of production necessary to meet that demand, have issued warnings as to the danger of exhaustion. There can be no dispute as to the fact that mineral deposits are exhaustible. New mineral, is not created to replace that taken from the earth and when a crop of mineral is once harvested another cannot be grown in the same area. The evidence of exhaustion 'of particular oreshoots, deposits, or even of whole districts is familiar to all who have mined. If one were to judge solely from the abandoned mills and prospect holes he would rightly conclude that mining is but a short-lived industry. If one were, furthermore, to assemble the data as to known reserves of almost any of the commonly used minerals, and divide them by the annual tonnage mined, he would come to the same conclusion. If, again, one were to consider the most carefully made estimates of competent men seeking to measure the earth's reserves of minerals and plot against them a projection of the curve of past consumption, he would be justified in viewing the situation with alarm.

Jan 1, 1930

By Joseph W. Richards

This method of briquetting flue-dust, or flue-dust mixed with fine ores, or, in a few exceptional cases, coke-dust, has come into large commercial use in Europe, and a small plant is already in operation in the United States. It promisea to become of such great importance to the iron industry of the United States that the following description will certainly interest the majority of our pig-iron producers. Discovered in 1908, the process Tests upon the observation of Dr. Schumacher that blast-furnace flue-dust, while possessing of itself no binding or cementing properties, acquires strong cementing properties if mixed with a very small amount of certain salt solutions, the amount of which is so small that the resulting cementation appears to be rather by catalytic action of the salts added than by the mass-action of such chemicals. To be more specific, fresh blast-furnace flue-dust mixed with from 5 to 10 per cent. of its weight of magnesium chloride or calcium chloride solution—that is to say, with from 0.25 to 2 per cent. of its weight of magnesium chloride or calcium chloride—acquires the property of setting within a short time, from 15 to 60 min., and forming a hard cemented briquette. Alkaline solutions appear to have no action such as described, and they even interfere, if present, with the action of the magnesium and calcium solutions. When treated in this way the flue-dust briquette sets very hard, apparently from pure excess of cementing- and setting-power. It is, therefore, possible to mix with the flue-dust a considerable proportion of inert ore or like material, which has no setting-power by this process, and thus to make a compound briquette containing large quantities of ore mixed with flue-dust, but in which the flue-dust may be regarded as the cement or binding-material. A particularly strongly cementing flue-

Jan 1, 1913

By Raymond Mancha

The purpose of an accurate underground pressure survey is to obtain a pressure gradient along the circuit or circuits under investigation. The pressure gradient shows the rate of pressure drop between various observation points along a circuit. This determines excessive resistance regions and the economic feasibility of correcting such conditions by cleaning airways, driving additional airways, or modifying existing airways. A pressure gradient is useful for predicting the effect on other parts of the circuit when adjusting the air regulation on any one split or when planning a field airshaft or slope or a new drift to the outcrop. A single-compartment airshaft often produces disappointing results because it relievcs only a part of the circuit instead of the over-all mine pressure. It is valuable to know how the circuit pressure drop is distributed. The underground pressure survey is used also to determine the friction coefficient for various types of airway. High precision work is required to establish these vital data for predicting the characteristics of mine pressure volume when projecting new mine developments. Methods Regardless of the type of instrument used to conduct a circuit pressure survey, the work should preferably be performed at a time when the mine is idle, in order to avoid air-flow disturbances from moving trips and cages or from the opening or closing of trap doors. Preferably the survey should be made when the barometer is comparatively steady, to restrict variation in the air specific weight at observation stations while the circuit is traversed. The two most commonly used instruments for underground pressure surveys are: (I) the altimeter; (2) the inclined manometer with hose extensions. The altimeter is sufficiently accurate for determining the underground pressure gradient and is preferable to the nianometer for such work because of greater flexibility and shorter time required for the traverse. With the altimeter it is possible to select more widely separated observation stations than is practical with the manometer, with its restricted hose extension lengths. The altimeter also permits easier travel along haulage roads between airway observation stations, avoiding badly obstructed airways. The inclined manometer is more reliable than the altimeter for establishing friction coefficients in mine airways. Manometer readings are unaffected by differences in elevations between stations, which require corrections to altimeter data. The manometer provides direct reading without temperature correction, which may or may not be true with the altimeter, depending upon the make of instrument used. The elimination of correction factors combined with the instantaneous, simultaneous and

Jan 1, 1947

By Raymond Mancha

The purpose of an accurate underground pressure survey is to obtain a pressure gradient along the circuit or circuits under investigation. The pressure gradient shows the rate of pressure drop between various observation points along a circuit. This determines excessive resistance regions and the economic feasibility of correcting such conditions by cleaning airways, driving additional airways, or modifying existing airways. A pressure gradient is useful for predicting the effect on other parts of the circuit when adjusting the air regulation on any one split or when planning a field airshaft or slope or a new drift to the outcrop. A single-compartment airshaft often produces disappointing results because it relievcs only a part of the circuit instead of the over-all mine pressure. It is valuable to know how the circuit pressure drop is distributed. The underground pressure survey is used also to determine the friction coefficient for various types of airway. High precision work is required to establish these vital data for predicting the characteristics of mine pressure volume when projecting new mine developments. Methods Regardless of the type of instrument used to conduct a circuit pressure survey, the work should preferably be performed at a time when the mine is idle, in order to avoid air-flow disturbances from moving trips and cages or from the opening or closing of trap doors. Preferably the survey should be made when the barometer is comparatively steady, to restrict variation in the air specific weight at observation stations while the circuit is traversed. The two most commonly used instruments for underground pressure surveys are: (I) the altimeter; (2) the inclined manometer with hose extensions. The altimeter is sufficiently accurate for determining the underground pressure gradient and is preferable to the nianometer for such work because of greater flexibility and shorter time required for the traverse. With the altimeter it is possible to select more widely separated observation stations than is practical with the manometer, with its restricted hose extension lengths. The altimeter also permits easier travel along haulage roads between airway observation stations, avoiding badly obstructed airways. The inclined manometer is more reliable than the altimeter for establishing friction coefficients in mine airways. Manometer readings are unaffected by differences in elevations between stations, which require corrections to altimeter data. The manometer provides direct reading without temperature correction, which may or may not be true with the altimeter, depending upon the make of instrument used. The elimination of correction factors combined with the instantaneous, simultaneous and

Jan 1, 1947

By H. H. Stoek

Mine models have three distinct uses: 1. As exhibits in expositions and museums. 2. As exhibits in law suits. 3. As illustrations in teaching mining engineering. All three uses are in a sense educational. The third, or distinctively teaching function, has not been extensively developed in America as it has been abroad, chiefly because of the cost of the models and the scarcity of model makers. In connection with expositions, such as the Columbian, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Panama-Pacific, a number of very good mine and metallurgical models were prepared with funds furnished by State commissions, by mining organizations or mining companies. At the close of these expositions, some of these models have been deposited in National or State museums or in educational institutions, but too many of them haw been lost, or have been stored away in some mining company's office or in the basement of some State building, where they have been lost sight of and have gradually fallen to pieces. A visitor to a German mining school is impressed by two facts: 1. The mining laboratories are in general inferior to those in America. 2. The mining museums are infinitely superior to ours, particularly in models exhibited. One may reply to this comparison by saying that a museum is necessarily a work of time. From the historical standpoint this is, of course, true, but it is not necessarily true in connection with a working museum intended to illustrate current practice. For instance, the oldest mining school in Germany, that at Freiberg, has much excellent historical material, but very little on modern practice, while Berlin, one of the youngest German mining schools, has a most extensive and valuable collection of modern appliances and models. This is true in spite of the fact that one of the best-known model shops is at Freiberg, from which many of the models to be seen in America have come. Because many of the models in American mining schools have come from

Jan 1, 1918

By Howland Bancroft

This article is not presented as a treatise on tin mines and mining in Bolivia. It deals primarily with the tin situation, and but fragmentary information is given regarding individual properties, generalizations being necessary in so short an article. Data on general subjects related to tin mining in Bolivia are necessarily abbreviated and very incomplete. It is believed that the references to be found in this article will help those interested to a more thorough under-' standing of the general conditions extant in Bolivia. Bolivia produces from one-fifth to one-fourth of the world's supply of tin. The United States consumes about one-half of the world's supply and produces practically none. Tin ore is not reduced in the United States. These facts are not generally appreciated by American mining men. Many conflicting data have been published regarding tin in Bolivia. The Transactions of the Institute contain practically no mention of this subject.1 I have made a study of mines and mining conditions in the west coast republics of South America and have been particularly impressed by the possibilities of the Bolivian field.2 In consequence the thought seems justified that the present meeting would, present a fitting occasion to bring the tin situation in Bolivia to the attention of American mining men.

Jan 9, 1913

By R. J. Sandrea, S. M. Farouq Ali

The results of an experimental and theoretical study of the effects of rectilinear impermeable barriers and highly permeable channels on the sweep efficiency and conductivity of a five-spot network are presented. The study was carried out using Hele-Shaw, and conductive sheet analogs for both. normal and inverted flood patterns. A functional relationship was developed which provides quantitative prediction of the above parameters; i.e., sweep efficiency and conductivity, for the nonhomogeneous system. To evaluate this, it is necessary only to measure the interference modulus of the obstacle using a simple expression. The results indicate that impermeable barriers, with an interference modulus greater than zero, always cause a decrease in the conductivity and the sweep efficiency of the pattern. On the other hand, permeability channels do not have a significant effect on these parameters, unless they are located along the streamlines. The study also discusses a method of formulating the difference equations pertaining to the two-dimensional Laplacian in a system containing rectilinear barriers. In addition, a technique is described for tracing the progress of a free surface, using marked particles, in a stream containing discontinuities SuCh as those occurring at the extremities of barriers. The above computational scheme was used in a digital computer program to simulate results of the Hele-Shaw analog. The computed values of sweep efficiency mere in good agreement with the experimental values. INTRODUCTION At the present time waterflooding remains the most widely used technique for the secondary recovery of oil. Among the numerous factors that affect the performance of a waterflood, the areal sweep efficiency constitutes one of the most critical parameters. It is a function only of the geometric distribution of the wells for a homogeneous medium and unit mobility ratio. Geological considerations, however, such as the presence of sealing faults or solution channels in the rock matrix, would generally exert an adverse effect on the areal sweep efficiency of a waterflood network. Surprisingly little information is presently available on the quantitative implications of such permeability interferences. It was the object of this investigation to consider the presence of rectilinear, impermeable and highly permeable interferences in an otherwise homogeneous five-spot pattern, and to analyze their effects on the resulting sweep efficiency and pattern conductivity. The experimental phase of the study was conducted using two different models: the Hele-Shaw flow cell and the field plotter. For experimental convenience, the geometric boundaries of the five-spot were assumed to constitute streamlines even in the case where the interference was asymmetrically placed with respect to a repeated five-spot pattern. A second object of the study was to develop a computational scheme for numerically calculating the pressure distribution in a five-spot flow pattern containing rectilinear, impermeable barriers, and to use this distribution to compute the sweep efficiency. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE HELE-SHAW ANALOG The Hele-Shaw analog was used both as a visual model and for determining the sweep efficiency for systems involving impermeable barriers. The physical limitations of this model as a means of experimentally studying the motion of a fluid in porous medium have been adequately discussed elsewhere.2,7 Likewise, it can be easily verified that the analogy remains valid when a portion of the region between the plates contains an obstacle of the same thickness as the distance between the plates. The model used in this study was composed of

By C. B. E. Douglas

In an interesting article on evaluation of the water problem at Eureka, Nev., W. T. Stuart describes how a difficult water problem, or one phase of it, may be evaluated by means of a small scale test. Test data are plotted by a method rendering, under certain conditions, a straight-line graph that can be projected to show how much the water table will be lowered by pumping at any specified rate for a given time. A formula is then used to determine the size of opening, or extent of workings, necessary to provide sufficient inflow to enable pumping to be maintained at that rate. At first glance this might seem the answer to a miner's prayer, but a word of caution is in order. It may not be the whole answer. Moreover, results obtained by the method described are reliable only for conditions approximating those assumed. Even where conditions do not meet this requirement, however, it may be possible to draw helpful inferences from the results, perhaps enough to facilitate another approach to evaluation of a problem.

Nov 1, 1955

By C. H. Mahoney, P. E. LeGrand, A. L. Tarr

MAGNESIUM, it is now generally realized, differs in some important aspects from most other structural metals, not excepting even its close neighbors, the aluminum-base alloys. This is particularly true with respect to the effects of elevated temperatures on the two light metals when in the molten state. Aluminum, on the one hand, should not be raised above its melting point any higher than is absolutely necessary if one is to avoid danger of gas absorption and a tendency toward grain growth in the resultant casting.1 Magnesium alloys, in sharp contrast, actually benefit by being heated to temperatures considerably above their melting point. It is a commonly accepted practice to establish the desired fine grain in the industrial magnesium alloys of the aluminum-bearing group by raising the temperature of the melt after the refining treatment to some 25e C (482°F.) above the melting range. To recall briefly the typical practice for magnesium alloys, the molten metal is refined by fluxing at about 730° C. (1350 F.), and after the melt has been covered with a suitable flux, the temperature is raised to between 870°C. (1600°F.) and 930°C. (I700°F.). It is then cooled as quickly as possible to the casting temperature. This superheating, as it is called, results in a fine-grained cast metal structure which has superior mechanical properties, enhanced amenability to solution heat-treatment, and better machinability than cast metal that has not been superheated. The minimum temperature of superheating varies to some extent with the composition of the alloys to be treated and usually increases with the percentage of magnesium in alloys containing the same constituent metals.2 It should be noted that the grain-refining effect of superheating is markedly apparent only in connection with the alloys containing aluminum as an alloying constituent-the binary alloy containing r.5 per cent manganese, for example, is not refined in grain to any noticeable extent by a superheating effort. While the phenomenon of superheating is well known in the magnesium industry, the mechanism of the process has remained a mystery. During the superheating cycle something occurs that forces a fine grain upon the solidifying metal. The process has been controlled in an empirical manner, and occasionally, especially on large-scale melts, and for no apparent cause, no grain refinement is obtained from a superheating treatment. Only a few papers of importance have been published on the subject. Of these, one of the most helpful is the paper by Achenbach, Nipper and Piwowarski,3 which gives considerable data concerning the effect of superheating on various properties such as fluidity, shrinkage and hot crack formation, as well as grain size, and a discussion without any definite conclusions on the theoretical aspects of superheating. A short article by Murphy, Wells and

Jan 1, 1945

By Persifor Frazer

A classification of natural objects is usually based either upon some fundamental and permanent attribute of the thing itself (as in the case of scientific classifications), or it embraces one or more generalizations convenient for use in ordinary life. Thus, it suffices for the statistician to know that so many tons of fish are annually taken by our fishermen, and that they realize so many thousands of dollars, whereas to the student of natural history the anatomy, habits, and relationships of the animals are of chief interest, as settling their respective places in the scale of animate nature. Many different classifications of coals have been attempted, as one would naturally anticipate from the immense extent of the coal trade, and the different localities whence the supply was derived. The English divisions were prevalent up to the date of the publication of the last geological survey of the State, except so far as they were modified by local designations. Indeed, Rogers' classifications made very little alteration in the English nomenclature, as may be seen by comparing the tables given below. To commence with the different kinds mentioned in Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines of 1845 : " 1. Cubical Coal.—Black, shining, compact, moderately hard and easily frangible. Comes out in rectangular masses, of which the

Jan 1, 1879

By Theodore Simons

(Butte Meeting, August, 1913.) DURING the last half century a great amount, of ingenuity and energy has been devoted to the invention of appliances for the recovery of valuable minerals from very fine sands and-slimes. The reason for this is that in almost every, dressing plant the greatest losses of values, considered relatively as well as absolutely, occur in the treatment of slimes. The natural aim of mill operators to minimize these losses has in recent years received another impetus,, from the fact that the gradually diminishing occurrence of high-grade ores makes a more intense recovery of values from existing resources absolutely necessary for profitable operation. The results of such attempts are found in the appearance of a great number of machines and appliances which make it profitable to-day to rework old dumps, containing the tailings of older processes. A constantly growing difficulty of obtaining skilled labor and the increase in wages made it prohibitory to employ those types of machines which required much attention, and in the middle of the nineteenth century the various concentrating tables of the percussion type, which automatically discharge their products, began to take the .place of the intermittent tables, on which, when the bed had reached a certain thickness, operation had to be stopped in order to allow the skimming by hand of the separate layers formed on the table. In the course of. years, two general types of machines evolved for the treatment of fine sands and slimes :- The so-called concentrators and vanners, on the one hand, and the huddles and round tables on . the other.1 For the profitable treatment of the very finest slimes, round tables have as a last resort proved more satisfactory and economical than other machines.

Jan 7, 1913

By B. D. Crawford, S. A. Falconer

ONE of the outstanding achievements in connection with this country's war efforts has been the ability of our mining industry to supply from domestic sources many of the minerals of strategic importance that formerly were obtained principally from abroad. In order to meet the war-born demands for these scarce minerals, it has frequently been necessary to develop special methods for treating ores and waste products hitherto considered too low-grade to be workable; and to improve the efficiency of older beneficiation processes. Important in this respect have been the recent technological advances in the field of froth flotation of nonsulphide minerals. Because of the refractory nature of many of these domestic ores, and, in many cases, the limited available technical data regarding their treatment, much research work has been necessary. The following examples describe the procedures and reagents used, and the results obtained, in certain laboratory flotation investigations conducted by American Cyanamid Company's engineers at the Cyanamid Ore Dressing Laboratory on ores containing such minerals as scheelite, manganese oxides and carbonate, ilmenite, brookite, kyanite, garnet, spodumene, mica, feldspar, celestite, fluorite, chromite, corundum, and cassiterite. In presenting these data, we wish to point out that many of the minerals listed have previously been tested, and their amenability to flotation reported, by other investigators-notably those of the United States Bureau of Mines. In some instances the procedures and reagents used in the treatment of some of the following described ores follow rather well-established lines, and with one or two exceptions, the reagents used were well known. However, many of the ores tested did not respond well to simple conventional procedures and it was necessary to adopt special methods of conditioning and desliming, reversal of the usual order of floatability of some of the minerals, multiple cleaning, etc., in order to secure separations. Except where otherwise noted, all numbered and trade-marked reagents mentioned in this paper are marketed by the American Cyanamid Co. or the American Cyanamid and Chemical Corporation. TUNGSTEN ORES Tungsten minerals, vitally important in the war industries of the United States, rank high in the list of those we formerly had to import in order to supply our needs. Most of our domestic ores of tungsten contain scheelite as the valuable mineral. Today there are in the neighborhood of twelve tungsten operations in this country where flotation is used as the main or accessory form of benefication. It has, of course, been known for some time that scheelite and other tungsten minerals respond to treatment by flotation.

Jan 1, 1944