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By Louis A. Panek

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY With respect to the geomechanics aspects, the primary technical objectives in mining by an undercut-cave method are to achieve a controlled, sustained caving of the mineral body and to remove the fragmented ore with a minimum of dilution from surrounding unmineralized rock, while maintaining stability or control of the rock structure around the access openings. The structurally ideal ore body probably does not exist. If the rock mass is so weak as to cave on a short span, it may tend to be too sticky for easy drawing and handling, or create special problems in regard to support of the access openings. If the ore is strong, caving may be difficult and the caved fragments may be of such a large size as to require special equipment for transferring the ore from the caved zone. Given enough time and money to generate data and conduct trials, engineering and ingenuity can devise an appropriate combination of mine layout, sequence of extraction, and mechanical equipment to achieve a technically successful caving extraction operation to meet the foregoing requirements in many types of deposits. The large capital investment involved, however, reduces the freedom to make major changes once the mine development is well under- way, and the penalties for failure to accurately anticipate operating conditions militate against selecting any but the most obvious candidates for mining by an undercut-cave method. The demonstrated capability to extract large, deep, economically marginal deposits by this low-cost, high-volume method of mining provides an incentive to develop a rationale for predicting the cavability and stability characteristics of a deposit prior to mining, so that the undercut-cave method may be extended to a much wider range of mineral deposit characteristics. The ultimate goal is to establish as explicitly as possible the quantitative interrelationships between the measured rock-mass characteristics, the caving span, the size distribution of caved ore fragments, and the sizes and locations of stable access openings. Lacking an understanding of these relation- ships, a designer may readily change some factor in the wrong direction (e.g., excessively reduce the distance between the extraction level and the undercut to increase the convenience of operations for the undercutting crew, increasing the frequency of repairs to the extraction-level support system) or create unnecessary problems elsewhere in the system by introducing a design change that can achieve only minimal improvement in the factor of direct interest (e.g., unnecessarily complicate the ore-transfer system by changing the orientations of the openings, with- out succeeding in the objective of improving the ground support conditions). Although successful predesign is the prime objective, subsequent modifications in mine lay- out and sequence of extraction operations are inevitable. In developing the modified solution, systematic experimentation based on an understanding of the underlying structural relationships, coupled with monitoring measurements of selected diagnostic structural-behavior parameters, can achieve an acceptable solution in a minimum number of steps, which is far superior to the typical operational trial-and-error approach, in view of the cost of implementing each successive change. Since a drill-core sample of ore rock from a successful undercut-cave operation may exhibit a uniaxial crushing strength in excess of 100 MPa, the caving of such a rock mass is now commonly believed to be ascribable to the presence of discontinuities such as joints or fractures throughout the ore body. An essential part of the present investigation was therefore to characterize the natural discontinuities at each of the test sites by measuring their attitudes and spacings. The term "fracture" is used herein in a general sense to include any planar discontinuity without implication as to its suggested mode of origin. Most, but not all, of the fractures are properly termed joints. As a point of departure we may consider the possibility that the rock mass is transected by three families of joints, each family possessing a distinct orientation, such that parallelepipeds of intact rock are delineated by the jointing. Even if cementation is absent between adjoining parallelepipeds, the undercutting of the rock mass will not necessarily initiate sustained caving--owing to the all-around confinement, an arch may tend to stabilize over the undercut unless prevented from doing so by the failures of key blocks of intact rock. Thus, although the jointing can be assumed to weaken the rock mass, creating preferred directions of

Jan 1, 1981

By M. Adnan Goksel

The paper describes the most common cold bond processes including the Carbonate-Bond, Grangcold, Cobo, MTU and others, and outlines these along with bonding mechanisms, physical and chemical characteristics of the products, and applications to various minerals and waste materia1s.

Jan 1, 1977

Jan 1, 1935

United Engineering Society WILLIAM L SAUNDERS,, President GEORGE H PEGRAM, 1st Vie-president ALFRED D FLINN, Secretary J V W REYNDERS, 2d Vice-president JACOB S LANGTHORN, Treasurer HENRY A LARDNER Assistant treasurer Finance Committee House Committee GEORGE H PEGRAM, Chairman ALFRED D FLINN, Chairman J 'VIPOND DAVIES FREDERICK F SHARPLESS BANCROFT GHERARDI . JOHN H DUNLAP WILLIAM L SAUNDERS CALVIN W RICE W F M GOSS, ex-officio F L HUTCHINSON

Jan 1, 1923

By F. N. Kissell, R. A. Jankowski

The US Bureau of Mines, in close cooperation with the mining industry, has recently established several improved face ventilation techniques for longwall mining systems. These include coursing the primary face intake from tailgate to headgate, installing curtains at the intake end of the longwall face, and identifying improved techniques for measuring face ventilation parameters on longwall sections. Applying these techniques throughout the mining industry should reduce the health hazard associated with excessive exposure to respirable dust.

Jan 1, 1984

By M. G. F. Söhnlein

IN THE metallurgical treatment of sulfide silver-tin ores mined at Oruro, Potosi, and Chocaya, the most important and difficult step is chloridizing-roasting. The ores are chiefly mined from veins in rhyolite, a detailed description of which can be found in most textbooks on ore deposits. The chief gangue minerals are Pyrite and quartz, and the silver content is derived from tetrahedrite, jamesonite, stibnite, and cylindrite. Most of the tin is present in the form of a rather impure cassiterite, which forms microcrystalline aggregates of varying richness with quartz and pyrite; occasionally, some tin is found as stannite, cylindrite, and other complex sulfantimonates. The silver content of the minerals that compose the ore is approximately as follows: Pyrite, 3 to 5 oz. per ton; jamesonite, 30 to 50 oz. per ton; stibnite, 30 to 150 oz. per ton; cylindrite, 200 to 300 oz. per-Jon; tetrahedrite, 500 to 3000 oz. per ton. Occasionally, some ruby silver ore is found, but it is very rare. In the mines of Oruro, which are the deepest in the sulfide zone, tetrahedrite has nearly disappeared, stibnite, jamesonite, and, in the deepest levels, cylindrite taking its place. At present, there are six mills treating this ore, two at Potosi, two at Chocaya, one at Poopo, and one at Machacamarca. The ore is crushed dry, given a chloridizing roast, leached with water and hyposulfite solution (or with brine) to extract gold, silver and copper, and concentrated for tin with or' without regrinding.

Jan 8, 1920

By Milton E. Wadsworth, Daniel B. Brimhall

Column leach studies of a low-grade porphyry copper ore were made. The technique used involved alternating oxygen absorption and copper leach cycles. The leach solution was displayed from the column with oxygen. The volume of oxygen reacting with the ore was measured with a gas burette. The copper released as a result of exposure to oxygen was correlated with the oxygen uptake. The oxidation rate was found to be dependent on the pH of the solution wetting the particles and was markedly increased by increasing the temperature of the system. Decreasing the particle size of the sample increased the oxidation rate. A material balance on the system indicated 1 mole of oxygen yielded in excess of 1 mole of copper in solution. A discussion of the important parameters is presented and the results are related to dump leaching in general.

Jan 1, 1974

Jan 1, 1912

By M. H. Mueller, P. A. Beck, W. P. Chernock

HARRIS introduced the term inverse pole figure for the diagrams previously used by Barrett' to represent the volume fraction p(a,ß) of material in various orientations with respect to the fiber axis in a specimen with fiber texture. The direction of the fiber axis with respect to the crystal lattice is specified by the two independent angle variables a and ß. In such a diagram p gives the fiber axis density distribution over the various crystallographic directions. The p(a,ß) may be given in a two-dimensional diagram by means of contour lines (p=con-stant) in a stereographic projection. The inverse pole figure incorporates in a single contour line diagram all the information given conventionally in pole charts for various (hkl) reflections and, therefore, it represents a considerable degree of condensation. Also, it gives this information directly in terms of the volume fraction of the specimen in various orientations, and it obviates the necessity of referring back and forth between the various pole charts in an attempt to interpret them in terms of orientations. Inverse pole figures undoubtedly represent the most adequate method for describing a texture in a quantitative manner and, at least in the case of fiber textures, this method is certainly a practicable one. Harris described1 a simple procedure for determining at least the rough outlines of a quantitative inverse pole figure. This method depends on the measurement of the intensity of X-ray reflections from various (hkl) planes lying parallel to the same specimen surface. In the case of a rod, reflections from a plane specimen surface perpendicular to the rod axis (fiber texture axis) are to be used. Harris has shown that the measured intensities I,,, reflected by crystal planes (hkl), aligned perpendicularly to the fiber axis of a specimen with unknown fiber texture, and the corresponding intensity Iu nkl from a random specimen are related to the p(a,ß) value for the unknown texture by the following equation IAkl/I°Aklw=c/c°.p(a, ß) [1] where C and C° re parameters depending on the crystal imperfections (extinction), surface preparation (e.g., thickness of oxide layer), the absorption coefficient in the specimen, effective line breadth, and instrumental factors. The values of the variables a and ß1 defining the crystal orientation, depend only on the indices hkl of the reflecting plane perpendicular to the fiber axis. Since p, as described by Harris1, is normalized in such a way that upon integration over the total orientation range its mean value is 1, the parameter C/C may be calculated approximately by the summation of Eq. l over all available X-ray reflections hkl, corresponding to a set of discrete orientations (rather than by integration over the complete range of orientations represented by the continuous variables a and ß). From the summation of Eq. 1 1/n SI AKL/I° Akl = C/C. SP(a,ß)/n is obtained where, as stated above 2p(a,ß) =1. n Therefore

Jan 1, 1959

By B. R. Hollebone

The chemical action of molten anhydrous pyridinium chloride (pyridine hydrochloride) on oxy salts and ores of some Group IV and V metals are discussed-in particular zirconium, hafnium, niobium (columbium) , and tantalum. Laboratory-scale experiments are described whose results suggest that this reaction might provide a practicable means of converting ores of these metals to the anhydrous metal chlorides. Experimental results are given which provide some insight into the nature of the reactions and some of the compounds which could be present at intermediate stages. The treatment of ores of the more refractory metals is difficult and expensive and often demands the use of gaseous chlorine, hydrogen fluoride, or other reagents which are, if nothing else, expensive and dangerous to use. This situation is, of course, due to the strong metal-oxygen affinity resulting from the high charge and the small size of the metal ion which combine to produce such high lattice energy in the metal oxide as to defeat standard reduction methods. Thus, the characteristic of these metals which leads to one of their most important properties—corrosion resistance—is the main hurdle in obtaining the metal. Many common methods' for treating ores of zirconium and niobium (columbium), for example, proceed as directly as possible to the preparation of anhydrous halides. These halides are purified by now standard processes of solvent extraction, fractional distillation, and so on. This paper reports on preliminary stages in the development of a method of treating these ores—particularly of niobium—so as to prepare the anhydrous, volatile halides by the use of chemical reagents which are much more easily handled than those used at present. CHEMICAL PRINCIPLES The solvent action of aminium halides has been referred to periodically in the literature over several decades. The chemistry of pyridinium chloride has been discussed particularly by Audreith2 and Starke.3 However, since this is not familiar chemistry in its nonaqueous setting, it is perhaps well to point out some general metallurgical principles and applications. One can use, as point of departure, the fact that HC1 dissolved in pyridine is an acid very much the same as aqueous HC1. It thus gives essentially all the reactions of the HC1 with which we are familiar. However, when the ratio of HC1:pyridine reaches 1:l (a ratio far higher than is possible with H2O) the solution becomes solid C5F5NHC1, pyridinium chloride.* Inter- estingly, the acidic properties of HC1 persist in this medium, although they are manifest only in the molten state of the compound. Some typical reactions of divalent metal compounds which we have carried out in our laboratories are the following: 2PyHCl + Zn — (ZnCl2) + H2 + 2Py 2PyHCl + MnO — (MnCl2) + H2O + 2Py 2PyHCl + CuS — (CuCl2) + H2S + 2Py 2PyHCl + CaCO3 — (CaCl2) + H2O + CO2 + 2Py In these equations, the parentheses indicate a solvated compound which in water would be predominantly a hydra ted cation but which in molten PyHCl will more likely be a complex chloro-anion of the type MC14-. Some important physical properties of pyridinium chloride (PyHCl) are given in Table I. One sees from the data in Table I that at the temperature of molten pyridinium chloride both water and pyridine will boil away. Thus the system will be kept anhydrous. For this reason the reaction 2NbCl5 + 5H2O— Nb2O5 + 10HC1 has no counterpart in molten PyHCl. Instead, the chloride is made even more stable by the formation of a hexachloro complex: Nb2O5 + 12PyHC1 — 2PyHNbC16 + 5H2O + 10Py One interesting property of these complexes is their thermal instability which for the case of niobium can be illustrated as PyHNbCl6 — PyHCl + NbCl5 With a view to possible use of this chemistry in ore treatment, we have attempted to dissolve Pyrochlore (essentially FeO - Nb2O5) and recover the NbC15 from it.

Jan 1, 1968

By W. G. Woolf, A. Y. Bethune

Filtration of hot (60°C) supersaturated zinc sulphate solution (sp gr 1.540) from slimy leach residues at the electrolytic zinc plant of Sullivan Mining Co., Kellogg, Idaho, is described. Separation of liquids and solids in the finished leach is by Burt filters modified to meet conditions of high-acid, high-density process for electrolytic zinc. Operating characteristics of the Burt filter on this pulp are presented.

Jan 5, 1950

By M. G. F. Söhnlein

In the earlier clays, these ores were treated by chloridizing-roasting followed by amalgamation, with satisfactory results, according to the information now available. Material from old tailing dumps from ore treated by this process, which are found at several places in the vicinity of Oruro, seldom contains more than 5 to 6 oz. of silver per ton. As ore with less than 100 oz. per ton was not treated, the extraction of silver must have been good. Reports of the operating companies published about 1890 asserted that over 90 per cent. of the silver was recovered, but in these calculations, as a rule, no allowance was made for silver lost during roasting and the figure referred only to the extraction of silvcr by amalgamation from the roasted ore.

Jan 1, 1921

By A. C. Bulnes

This paper applies the methods of statistical analysis to the interpretation of core analysis data of dolomitic limestone from the San Andres formation at Wasson and the Clearfork formation at Fullerton. Probability relationships are shown to connect the porosity and the permeability and the porosity and the fluid saturation. For example, the porosity-permeability relationship expresses the probability that a sample of porosity,f, will or will not be permeable. The over-all porosity frequency distribution of the reservoir together with the frequency curves of permeability (one for each class interval of porosity) provide a precise basis for computing the weighted average productive porosity of the reservoir for any assigned value of the minimum productive permeability. The probability that the permeability of a core specimen from Fullerton will exceed a given value appears to be dependent on the percentage porosity of the specimen, its void structure type (i.e., porosity in the qualitative sense), and the given value of the permeability. If continuous profiles of void structure type and porosity are available together with the appropriate porosity-probability of permability plots, the nes pay thickness may be estimated. The Invasion Index of a well is defined in terms of the porosity and permeability data. This index is suggested as a basis for comparing wells as regards their suitability as fluid-injection wells. Three problems of importance in the exploitation of limestone reservoirs may be stated as follows: 1. The determination of the productive porosity of the reservoir. The productive porosity is defined as f = fPVP/V [II in which Vp, is the volume of the reservoir that is sufficiently permeable to oil to give up an appreciable fraction of its original oil in place during the economic life of the reservoir; fp, is the arithmetic mean porosity of the permeable volume v*, and V is the total volume of the reservoir. 2. The determination of the number of feet of oil-bearing porous rock that will produce at a commercial rate into the well bore; i.e., the net pay thickness. 3. The choice of fluid-injection wells in a secondary recovery program. The ultimate recovery of the reservoir is proportiona1 to the productive porosity. The productive capacity of the well is proportional to the net pay thickness. The principal purpose of this paper is to show that the methods of statistical analysis when applied to core analysis data of dolomitic limestones offer a useful approach to the solution of these three problems, as well as others of importance in reservoir engineering. The use of these methods was suggested by the work of Jan Law.1

Jan 1, 1946

By A. C. Bulnes

This paper applies the methods of statistical analysis to the interpretation of core analysis data of dolomitic limestone from the San Andres formation at Wasson and the Clearfork formation at Fullerton. Probability relationships are shown to connect the porosity and the permeability and the porosity and the fluid saturation. For example, the porosity-permeability relationship expresses the probability that a sample of porosity,f, will or will not be permeable. The over-all porosity frequency distribution of the reservoir together with the frequency curves of permeability (one for each class interval of porosity) provide a precise basis for computing the weighted average productive porosity of the reservoir for any assigned value of the minimum productive permeability. The probability that the permeability of a core specimen from Fullerton will exceed a given value appears to be dependent on the percentage porosity of the specimen, its void structure type (i.e., porosity in the qualitative sense), and the given value of the permeability. If continuous profiles of void structure type and porosity are available together with the appropriate porosity-probability of permability plots, the nes pay thickness may be estimated. The Invasion Index of a well is defined in terms of the porosity and permeability data. This index is suggested as a basis for comparing wells as regards their suitability as fluid-injection wells. Three problems of importance in the exploitation of limestone reservoirs may be stated as follows: 1. The determination of the productive porosity of the reservoir. The productive porosity is defined as f = fPVP/V [II in which Vp, is the volume of the reservoir that is sufficiently permeable to oil to give up an appreciable fraction of its original oil in place during the economic life of the reservoir; fp, is the arithmetic mean porosity of the permeable volume v*, and V is the total volume of the reservoir. 2. The determination of the number of feet of oil-bearing porous rock that will produce at a commercial rate into the well bore; i.e., the net pay thickness. 3. The choice of fluid-injection wells in a secondary recovery program. The ultimate recovery of the reservoir is proportiona1 to the productive porosity. The productive capacity of the well is proportional to the net pay thickness. The principal purpose of this paper is to show that the methods of statistical analysis when applied to core analysis data of dolomitic limestones offer a useful approach to the solution of these three problems, as well as others of importance in reservoir engineering. The use of these methods was suggested by the work of Jan Law.1

Jan 1, 1946

c

Jan 1, 1918

By John C. Sawyer

The mechanism of catastrophic oxidation of chromium and 446 stainless steel is examined. Data are presented to show that accelerated oxidation of these two materials, as caused by lead oxide, can occur in the absence of a liquid layer contrary to presently accepted theory. An alternate theory is proposed in which the rate of accelerated oxidation is a function of the rate at which lead oxide destroys the protective oxide formed on the base metal. An example of the application of the theory is given for the catastrophic oxidation of chromium in the presence of lead oxide. WHEN stainless iron-, nickel-, or cobalt-base alloys are heated in air to moderate temperatures in the presence of certain metallic oxides, oxidation will proceed at an accelerated rate. This phenomenon, often called "catastrophic oxidation", is most pronounced for the stainless steels. With these alloys the condition is so severe that large masses of oxide will form on the surface of the alloy in 1 hr or less at temperatures of 1200o to 1700oF. While a number of oxides are known to cause this effect, PbO, V2O5, and Moo3 are the most familiar, having been the subject of one or more investigations which have appeared in the literature.1-7 In presenting the results of these investigations, many of the authors have offered possible explanations to account for the more rapid rate of oxidation observed; however, the liquid layer theory as proposed by Rathenau and Meijering 2 has been the most commonly accepted mechanism. The liquid layer theory proposes that a low-melting oxide layer is formed on the surface of the alloy as the result of the interaction of the alloy oxide and the contaminating oxide. When the temperature of oxidation is above the melting point of the oxide on the surface, a liquid layer will form and oxidation will proceed at an accelerated rate. At temperatures below the melting point of the surface oxide, oxidation will proceed more slowly in the normal manner. It is argued that the rates of diffusion of oxygen and metal ions through the liquid layer are extremely rapid thereby accounting for the high rate of oxidation. Various experimental data have been presented to show that the temperature at which accelerated oxidation first becomes apparent coincides with the melting point of the eutectic oxide which would be present on the surface. Some exceptions have been observed, e.g., silver will oxidize in the presence of Moo3 at temperatures below the lowest melting eutectic; on the other hand, stainless steel will not be catastrophically oxidized at 1500oF in a molten bath of PbO and SiO2. In reviewing the various theories which have been used to explain catastrophic oxidation, Kubaschewski and Hopkins 8 favor the liquid layer theory, but note that, ".. .as experimental observations are not altogether in agreement with this theory (liquid layer theory), one should consider it a necessary but not a sufficient condition." In contemplating the liquid layer theory, it appears that sufficient evidence has not been presented to establish the theory beyond question. As a means of further clarification, a program of research was undertaken to determine in greater detail the mechanism of accelerated oxidation as caused by lead oxide. The first part of the program deals with a comparison of the oxidation of both AISI 446 stainless steel and chromium metal in the presence of lead oxide, vs the oxidation of these two materials in air alone. These comparisons are made at a number of different temperatures, most of which are below the melting point of the surface oxides. The second part of the program is concerned with a presentation of an alternate theory of accelerated oxidation exemplified by the system Cr-PbO-Air. PROCEDURE AND RESULTS Several experimental methods are commonly used to follow the progress of oxidation. One of these, the weight-gain method, was chosen for this work. This procedure requires that a specimen of the alloy be weighed, oxidized for a given period of time at an elevated temperature, and reweighed—the difference between the two weights being noted. The weight gain of the specimen represents the amount of oxygen acquired from the atmosphere to transform a portion of the specimen to oxide. In those cases where there is a tendency for the specimen or oxide to volatilize at the testing temperature, additional data must be collected so that a correction factor can be determined. This factor must be applied to the weight change in order to ascertain the actual amount of oxidation which has taken place. The specimens used for this work were 1 1/2 in.

Jan 1, 1963

By L. K. Borrett ond C. S. Yusi

The authors have made extensive use of a modern field of mathematics, topology, to give a new approach to the study of sintering. They present a topological model for the sinter body and the void space, and establish a relationship between them. However, in an interdisciplinary paper of this nature it is important that the material be presented, insofar as possible, in

Jan 1, 1967

By Lester F. Engle

Books have been written, complex charts drawn, great batches of punched cards handled by ever increasing numbers of computers, and innumerable meetings held-all for the purpose of making effective the ultimate objective of new, revised or improved process facilities. It is to the credit of management, engineers, and others that in the vast majority of cases, the outcome of their work has been technically sound and economically rewarding. There is a way, however, to insure even better results.

Jan 5, 1966

By D. G. Westlake, D. T. Peterson

The saturation solubility of thorium dihydride in thorium was studied by saturation of samples and subsequent analysis. The solubility increased from about 1 at. pct at 300°C to above 20 at. pct at 800 °C. Over this temperature range the log of the solubility was a linear function of the reciprocal absolute temperature for thorium of good purity. The heat of solution of thorium dihydride was found to be 7.9 kcal per atom of hydrogen in crystal bar thorium and 6.6 kcal per atom of hydrogen in Ames thorium, The important effect of hydrogen on the physical and mechanical properties of many metals is receiving increasing recognition. The basic physical and chemical data necessary to help explain the observed effects of hydrogen on the mechanical proper ties of metals are all too often not available. The solubility of hydrogen in thorium metal was determined to provide a portion of this basic data for the thorium-hydrogen system. The absorption of hydrogen by thorium metal and the formation of thorium hydrides was studied by several investigators, beginning in 1891, and their work is summarized in Gmelin's Handbuch.1 No effort was made to determine the extent of solid solubility in the metal in these early investigations and the impure metal available made interpretation of the results uncertain. Nottorf2 reported the results of a careful study of pressure-composition isotherms for the thorium-hydrogen system. The principal interest in this work was in the composition and dissociation pressures of the thorium hydrides. Mallett and campbel13 reported the pressure-composition isotherms for the thorium-hydrogen system up to the composition of thorium dihydride. The saturation solubility of thorium dihydride in thorium was reported to be 13 at. pct at 650°C and 23 at. pct at about 900° C. Mallett and Campbell used thorium metal which had been prepared by the calcium reduction of thorium tetra-fluoride or thorium oxide. The results obtained with thorium of these two types agreed within the experimental error. PROCEDURE AND MATERIALS Procedure—The method used to determine the solubility was to saturate a sample of thorium with hydrogen and analyze a portion of the saturated sample. This method was chosen rather than a determination of pressure-composition isotherms since it was much less time consuming and could be applied at temperatures at which the equilibrium hydrogen pressure was too low to measure. The

Jan 1, 1960

By J. J. Kramer, W. A. Tiller, G. F. Bolling

The solidification of poly crystalline zone-refined lead has been examined. A novel casting technique was used, with several advantages such as unidirectional heat flow, atmosphere control, and decanting of the liquid during any stage of growth. The experimental results show the separate existence of two textures, a (111) surface texture at the chill surface and a texture in the columnar zone, in the absence of conditions which would produce dendritic growth. WALTON and chalmers have most recently shown that the dendrite direction is the preferred axial orientation for the solidification of many metals in casting. Experimentally, for aluminum and lead, they showed that in the columnar zone the dendrite direction, <l00>, predominated, developing from an equiaxed chill cast layer that exhibited no preferred orientation. A reasonable description of the way in which grains closer to the dendrite orientation were able to encompass other grains was then set forth. For their materials, it was also shown that high superheats could inhibit a preferred axial orientation from developing, presumably by inhibiting dendrite growth. The observations of Rosenberg and iller, on the other hand, showed that zone-refined lead, cast under conditions similar to those of Walton and halmers,&apos; had a definite <111> texture in the columnar zone. However, no examination was made of the chill surface to find out if the columnar zone texture was independent of the orientations at the surface. Since the existence of preferred growth in Upure" lead is thus in doubt, a reexamination of the casting of zone-refined lead is presented here, using a novel casting technique. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES AND RESULTS Zone-refined lead was prepared from two starting materials;99.999+pct supplied by ASARCO, and 99.999pct supplied by COMINCO. The manner of zone-refining and the phenomenological tests for purity after refining, have been describedelsewhere.&apos; The casting apparatus is shown schematically in Fig. 1. The following general procedure was used: The metal was cut directly from the best parts of

Jan 1, 1963