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By E. A. Jones

THE Southeast Missouri division of the St. Joseph Lead Co. normally hauls and hoists over 5 million tons of lead ore each year. This ore is mined in the stopes and headings of 20 mines, hauled to a main line system, see above, and transported up to 6.4 miles to ore-hoisting shafts. Average haulage distance is 2.16 miles. A few years ago a distinguished mining engineer visiting this area for the first time remarked, "You do not have a mining problem; yours is a haulage problem." Its relative importance may be gaged by the fact that mine haulage represents about 25 pct of the total cost of mining ore, the most costly single underground operation

Jan 4, 1953

By J. O. Lewis

Oil wells usually reach their maximum daily output shortly after they are completed. From that time they decline in-production, the rapidity of decline depending on the output of the wells and on other' factors governing their productivity. The production curve of a well shows the mount of oil produced per unit of time for several consecutive periods; if the conditions affecting the rate of production are not changed by outside influences, the curve will be fairly regular, and, if projected, mill furnish useful knowledge as to the future production of the well. By the aid of this knowledge the value of a property may he judged, and proper depletion and depreciation charges may be made on the books of the

Jan 2, 1918

By Ellsworth Daggett

THE system of pitwork used with the Cornish pumping engine, and which, for want of a better name, we may call the Cornish system of pitwork, consists essentially of a series of plunger-pumps, situated one below the other, in a shaft or incline, the plungers being operated by a rod called the pitman or pump-rod, which must, therefore, extend from the motor at the surface to the lowest pump. The subject will be best understood by reference to Fig. 1, in which k may be taken as typical of the ordinary plunger-pump, in which S is the suction pipe, u, the lower valve situated in the H piece T; v, the upper valve situated in the valve-box O; I, the mounting-pipe or column through which the water is carried to the surface; L, the plunger-barrel, and P, the plunger working through the stuffing-box, and actuated by the branch rod r, which is attached to the main pump-rod, R. The action of the pump is as follows : On the ascent of the plunger, acting now by suction, the water flows from the reservoir through the valve u, into the barrel, L. On the descent of the plunger, the water is forced up through the valve, v, which acts merely as a check valve, into the pipe, I, through which it is, at each successive down-stroke of the plunger, forced upward until it reaches the next reservoir, from which it is taken by another similar pump, and so on until it reaches the surface or drain-tunnel. The pump is obviously only single-acting, i. e., it acts only during one-half of its entire stroke. The weight of water raised during the up-stroke of the plunger is equal to the weight of a column of water whose base is the area of the plunger and whose height is the mean distance between the plunger-face and the surface of water in the lower reservoir, a distance not usually exceeding 12 or 15 feet, and which obviously cannot under the most favorable circumstances, exceed 25 or 30 feet. The water forced up during the down-stroke is equal to the weight of a column of water whose base equals the area of the plunger and whose height equals the length of the mounting column above the mean position of the plunger-face, say from 150 to 300 feet. Almost all of the useful work, therefore, is done on the de-

Jan 1, 1879

Discussion of the paper of COURTENAY DEKALB, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 98, February, 1915, pp. 331 to 337. HORACE V. WINCHELL, Minneapolis, Minn.-Mr. Dehalb summarizes the reasons which he believes are important for the revision of the mining laws, as follows: "1. The conceptions as to the characteristics of orebodies that were held at the time the statute of 1872 was enacted have since proved to be in many respects erroneous." We all appreciate the force of that suggestion. The idea of the old prospector who made rules and regulations in the early days, which were attempted to he incorporated, so far as possible, in the Mining Act of 1872, was that all of the veins in a certain district outcropped upon the surface, or approximately parallel to each other upon the surface, and maintained that parallelism beneath the surface. Therefore, it seemed perfectly proper and natural for each man to stake his claim upon an outcropping, and have the right to follow that vein in working downward, with the general expectation that his workings would always remain just as far away from those of his neighbor as the outcroppings upon the surface. This does not happen to be the case. Dr. Raymond has very ingeniously referred to the subject in one case, in words which read as follows: "If all mining properties presented this beautiful simplicity of structure (ideal location of ideal vein), and all mining locators exhibited a corresponding simplicity of purpose, the application of the law would be easy, but the naiveté of the statute fares badly between the freaks of nature and the tricks of man."

Jan 5, 1915

By Ellsworth Daggett

Jan 1, 1879

By C. A. Heiland

IN the third year of war, geophysical oil exploration broke all records to keep pace with the demand for increased reserves. Geophysical prospecting for strategic and other minerals also grew in scope. The trend of geophysical oil exploration throughout the war is indicated in Fig. 1. This figure resembles the one presented in the last annual review issue of M&M (February 1944, p. 62), corrected for data on-operations in the last months of 1943 and extended into 1944. The average number of geophysical oil prospecting crews in the field in 1944 was 451, whereas the total in 1943 was 340. An upward trend in the use of all geophysical methods is clearly evident throughout the year. Seismic operations were 67 per cent, gravimeter surveys 28 per cent, and other methods 5 per cent of the total. Seismic reflection and refraction crews increased 181/2 per cent over the 1943 average, gravimeter operations increased 73 per cent, and other methods gained 92 per cent. The increase in seismic and gravimeter operations, particularly the latter, is probably due to an increased production of equipment and the organization of new service companies. Miscellaneous methods gained largely through a revival of magnetometer work, and an increase in the use of torsion balances and electrical equipment. In comparison with the prewar average of 1941, it is noteworthy that seismic operations increased 58 per cent, gravimeter operations 88 per cent, and miscellaneous other methods gained as much as 283 per cent. Unfortunately the expansion in the number of geophysical crews does not indicate a proportionate increase in efficiency or in areal coverage, as will be brought out later.

Jan 1, 1945

By Paul D. Conatore

INTRODUCTION There are important reasons for a discussion of tungsten resources, reserves, and production in the Circum-Pacific area. First, the world's chief tungsten deposits, as well as most of the world's tungsten reserves and production, occur in this region. It is well known that the world's largest tungsten reserves are located in southeastern China and that for many years, the largest individual mine in the world was there. Although China still has the world's greatest tungsten production, the very high-grade scheelite mine of Canada Tungsten Mining Corporation in the Northwest Territories is the largest producer of tungsten today. There is certainly a great quantity of tungsten in Asia, but the strategic importance of this fact is now offset by the wide distribution of mines and production facilities throughout the world, especially in other parts of the Circum-Pacific area such as Australia, Canada, and the United States. In addition, much of the Circum-Pacific area is comprised of Mesozoic-Cenozoic orogenic belts. These global tectonic units are regarded as very favorable for additional tungsten deposits, particularly scheelite-bearing tactites, and consequently, prospecting and exploration will most likely be concentrated in the Circum-Pacific area. Second, tungsten must be regarded as one of the, most important metals of modern industry because of its very special properties. It has the highest melting point, the highest tensile strength at elevated temperatures, and the smallest compressibility of any metal. The metal also possesses a very high density, excellent corrosion resistance, good thermal and electrical conductivity, and a low coefficient of expansion. As a result, tungsten has found increasing importance in a wide range of industries. From the filament in an electric lamp, to cutting tools and drilling bits, to the exotic radiation shields that protect supersonic aircraft and spacecraft, tungsten plays an indispensable role in our daily lives. The primary objective of this paper is to present an overview of important facets of known and suspected tungsten in the Circum-Pacific area. Resources, reserves, current production, planned capacity expansions, and new operations, as well as an assessment of the probability for development of deposits in the Circum-Pacific area, are discussed. RESOURCES The average crustal abundance of tungsten has been estimated at 0.0015 kilograms per tonne. A comparison of the abundance of various metals in crustal rocks to that of tungsten is presented in Table 1, which shows that tungsten abundance is similar to that of its commonly associated metals, tin and molybdenum. Table 1. AVERAGE CRUSTAL ABUNDANCE OF VARIOUS METALS (Grams per Tonne) [ ] With careful thought, it can be realized that tungsten ore deposits result from the concentration of the metal, through normal geologic processes, to levels substantially greater than its average crustal abundance. The minimum technologically and economically workable tungsten concentration, or cutoff grade, is a function of (1) deposit tonnage, (2) mining and milling methods, (3) production tonnage, (4) capital and operating costs, (5) tungsten market conditions, and (6) value of associated recoverable metals. The tungsten cutoff grade that is currently exploitable at a profit varies from 0.09% W03 to 1.55% W03, reflecting concentration factors from 470 to 8200, as shown in Table 2. Table 2. CURRENT TUNGSTEN CUTOFF GRADES [ ]

Jan 1, 1982

For the seventh consecutive year, the value of nonfuel mineral raw ma¬terials produced in the US set a new record, reaching almost $20 billion-up 12.7% from the previous year, according to the US Bureau of Mines. The Bureau reported that this mineral production was the basis for about $200 billion worth of processed materials of mineral origin.

Jan 5, 1979

THE first session, on alloys, took place on Feb. 20, Mr. Hibbard presiding in Mr. Campbell's absence. The session covered papers on manganese, chrom-ium, and silicon-iron systems. The paper by Mr. Wohr-man was presented by title. This paper showed that manganese produced many of the effects generally at-tributed to carbon and indicated that our ideas on manganese-bearing carbon steels will have to be modi-fied. Mr. Krivobok discussed this paper at length, the gist of the discussion being that Mr. Wohrman had not taken sufficient precautions in carrying out some of his work, particularly as to the effect of silicon content. Mr. O'Neill's paper was also submitted by title and no discussion was presented. Mr. Kinzel showed an accu-rate determination of .the carbon-free chromium-iron loop obtained by means of a specially constructed tele-scopic dilatometer. The loop ends at 12.2 per cent chromium and the A-3 line at 900° is unaffected by chromium content. The A-4 line runs from 1400° to 900° at 12.2 per cent chromium as an oblique hyperbola. Mr. Armstrong noted that the brittleness in high chromium alloys is often attributed to the gamma trans-formation and, according to Mr. Kinzel's diagram, this was impossible, as the alloys contain a great deal more than 12 per cent chromium. Mr. Kinzel pointed out that the presence of carbon in the commercial alloys caused the elongation of the loop and made possible local austenite transformation. Mr. Styri discussed the relations of the coefficients of expansion as shown in Mr. Kinzel's diagram. Mr. Corson presented the iron-silicon diagram as he has worked it out, showing a pre-viously unknown intermetallic compound, Fe3Si, to-gether with characteristic martensitic microstructure varying with the heat treatment. This compound formation is the real cause of brittleness in certain re-gions of the iron silicon system. Dr. Hoyt believed some of the evidence presented by Mr. Corson to be in contradiction to the phase rule. Mr. Corson, however, explained that true equilibrium does not exist under the conditions at hand so that the diagram was accurate in spite of the discrepancies. The meetings of the subcommittee on the physical chemistry of steel making were interspersed through-out the day. Mr. Feild presided and a program of future activities was outlined. This includes plans for a symposium at the next annual meeting and methods for interesting physical chemists, particularly those in the universities, in the steel man's problems. This committee has been newly formed and bids fair to be especially active. The Iron and Steel Committee met at lunch at the Engineers' Club at noon, with Dr. Mathews presiding. After disposing of the food the report of the Nominat-ing Committee was called for, and the following were elected as officers for 1928: R. H. Sweetser, chairman; F. C. Langenberg and W. J. Priestley, vice-chairmen; and T. T. Read, secretary. The report of the commit-tee appointed at the last meeting to consider publica-tion and general policy for the committee was then called for and freely discussed, after which it was unanimously voted to instruct the new chairman to se-cure from the Board of Directors the necessary author-ization for the Committee to recognize as a Division. This action was reported to the Board at its meeting the following night and the authority granted.

Jan 3, 1928

By Benjamin Tillson

To MOST mine operators, it seems evident that there is a drill-steel problem, although under certain conditions the amount f drill-steel breakage does not appear serious. What is at fault? It may be one or a combination of circumstances. The development of rock drills to the hammer-drill type in place of the old reciprocating piston drill, probably is one important cause for the greater steel breakage. Perhaps the manufacturers of drill steel have failed to realize what alloys are needed for this new service or have overlooked the changes in the art of rock drilling. Although suitable alloys are provided, they may not be so handled in the manufacturing process as to be in the best condition to withstand the demands of rock drilling. The mine operator may be at fault in desiring to use the smallest possible drill-steel section in order that the gage of the drill bits may be correspondingly small and the amount of footage drilled per unit of labor may be greater; or the black-smithshop practice at the mines may need improvement. The miner who uses the drill steel may also require more intensive supervision and education. Again, the manufacturer of rock drills may have failed to study the types of blows the steel alloys will withstand satisfactorily and which their tools are delivering and so he may not know whether or not a different design of rock drill would equal or excel their present drilling speeds without treating the drill steel so severely. All of these hypotheses probably have their supporters. On the other hand, perhaps we are seeking too much service from drill steel and we need a fuller realization of the fatigue strains developed and should prepare to relieve these by a periodic heat treatment of the steels. However, we do not find any proof that any of these suppositions may be held responsible for the drill-steel breakage attendant to mining. The proposed investigation of this matter by the U. S. Bureau f Mines is fully warranted in the promotion of the conservation of labor and material, and the safety of the workmen. The great range of field conditions, as well as the scope of the research, requires the energetic cooperative support of many interests. Various manufacturers of steel,

Jan 5, 1921

By W. E. Bearce

The recent concern for the recovery of even the finest fractions of coal preparation plant feeds has created needs for new equipment. Thermal dryers currently available have difficulty reducing the filter cake moisture on down to the desired point. This difficulty involves 1) the physical problem of handling this wet, sticky material and making each particle accessible to the hot gases, and 2) removing the extremely fine dried particles from the cooled gases. The dryer described in this paper handles the first of these problems, and eliminates the second by the substitution of steel balls for air as the heat transfer medium. As a general statement, the cost of preparing coal for market is inversely proportional to the size of the lumps or particles. In the not too distant past the finer sizes were discarded as being uneconomical to treat and this practice might be still continuing if it were not for the insistence of the public that this material be kept out of our streams. This being the only cost-free outlet, the disposal of fine refuse became a significant item of expense in every preparation plant. When this happened it was only reasonable to look to the recovery of the values in this material, not only to defray this expense, but to reduce the tonnage which had to be wasted. There seemed to be no device available suited to reducing the moisture in this material to what the market requires. All of the fine coal dryers commonly employed make use of air to bring the heat of combustion into contact with the coal particles. Any device employing air as a heat transfer medium, has the following two strikes against it in attempting to handle 28 mesh by 0 filter cake: 1) It is practically impossible to bring the hot air into intimate contact with the enormous number of fine particles stuck together in the cake. 2) Even if this can be effected, it is impossible to remove the dried coal from the air. A wet scrubber must be employed, the discharge of which must go back to the filter and dryer as a circulating load of the most objectionable sort, being the extreme fines. Various compromises have been used to cope with the problem of drying this relatively small tonnage of high moisture coal. Often some of the dried coal is mixed back with the feed to the dryer in an attempt to make the mixture more handleable and more available to contact with the hot air than the filter cake alone would be. This may help to some extent with the first problem but it does nothing about the second and a dryer operated in this way has to be oversized. Sometimes the filter cake is mixed with a coarser fraction for the same reason. Here again, while this may make a mixture (the particles of which are more readily brought into contact with the hot air), the problem of getting the fine coal out of the air remains and a larger percentage of the total coal to be dried is handled by the most expensive means. Mechanical dewatering has accounted for more and more of total coal drying lately and in many cases would satisfactorily handle the whole load, down to 28 mesh, if there were a means available for doing a good job on the —28 mesh by itself. The dryer which is the subject of this paper was designed expressly for doing this job — drying fine material by itself regardless of how wet it may be to start with, how fine it may be, or how gummy and sticky these properties in combination may make it. The essential features are depicted in Fig. 1. A rotating cylinder is supported on a frame in such a way that one end may be raised or lowered by hy-

Jan 1, 1968

By G. D. Marshall, D. K. Sarin, V. E. Hampton

Ground support at the Thompson Mine emphasizes scaling, rock bolting and wire mesh screening on the backs and walls of all underground stoping and development areas and also full column grouted cable bolting in the bulk mining areas. This paper describes the equipment for the point anchored rock bolts as well as the full column cable bolts. Modifications in design and testing of all components and procedures has ensured a safe and efficient method of ground support for the mining conditions existing at the Thompson Mine.

Jan 1, 1983

By Alan J. Strauss

The Group IV elements germanium, tin, and lead form nine 1:1 compounds with the Group VI elements sulfur, selenium, and tellurium. This paper reviews the properties of the pseudobinary solid solutions formed by these compounds, including the extent of mutual solid solubility, temperature-composition phase diagrams, transport properties, deviations from stoichiometry, optical properties, and energy band structure. Particular emphasis is placed on the Pbl-xSnxTe and Pb1-xSn,Se alloys with rocksalt structure, because of current interest in these malerials for generating and detecting infrared ,radiation. ThE Group IV elements germanium, tin, and lead form nine 1:1 compounds with the Group VI elements sulfur, selenium, and tellurium. Some of the physical and electronic properties of these compounds, including their melting points1-8 and energy gaps,4'9-12 are listed in Table I. Four compounds (SnTe, PbS, PbSe, and PbTe) have the cubic rocksalt (Bl) structure. At room temperature GeTe has a rhombohedra1 structure closely related to the B1 structure, into which it is transformed at about 400°C. Four compounds (GeS, GeSe, SnS, and SnSe) have the orthorhombic B29 structure. In samples which have not been intentionally doped with impurities, the electrical conductivity is due primarily to electrons or holes produced by the ionization of donor or acceptor lattice defects associated with deviations from stoichiometry. Undoped samples of PbS, PbSe, and PbTe may be either n type or p type, depending on whether they contain excess lead or an excess of the Group VI element, respectively, but only p-type samples of the other compounds have been reported. This paper will review the properties of the pseudo-binary solid solutions formed by the nine 1:l compounds. The topics to be considered include the extent of mutual solid solubility, temperature-composition phase diagrams, transport properties, deviations from stoichiometry, optical properties, and band structure. Particular emphasis will be placed on the Pb]-xSnxTe and Pbl-xSnxSe alloys with B1 structure, which are promising materials for generating and detecting infrared radiation in the 8 to 14 µm atmospheric window and beyond. MUTUAL SOLID SOLUBILITY The extent of mutual solid solubility in the pseudo-binary systems has been investigated for fourteen of the eighteen ternary systems (in which the two terminal compounds have a common element) and for nine of the eighteen quaternary systems. In most cases, X-ray diffraction measurements made at room temperature were used to determine the structure and lattice parameter(s) of the phase(s) present in samples of various compositions prepared by freezing from the melt. In many investigations, including the extensive studies of Krebs and co-workers,13'14 the samples were annealed at elevated temperatures before X-ray measurements were made. In some cases, metallographic examination and thermal analysis have also been employed. The results for the ternary and quaternary systems are summarized in Tables II and III, respectively. (The original references should be consulted for the annealing temperatures.) The solubility of one compound in the other is at least 5 mol pct in all cases, and is often much larger. Complete solid solubility has been observed in all systems so far investigated in which the terminal compounds have the same structure, although in the PbS-PbTe system complete solubility is limited to elevated temperatures. Thus complete solid solubility occurs in five systems where both compounds have the B1 structure (SnTe-PbTe, PbS-PbSe, PbS-PbTe at temperatures above 805°C, PbSe-PbTe, and SnTe-PbSe) and in three where both compounds have the B29 structure (GeS-SnS. GeSe-~n~e-, and SnS-SnSe), as well as in two involving GeTe and a compound with B1 structure (GeTe-SnTe and GeTe-PbTe). On the basis of thermal analysis data, complete solid solubility at sufficiently high temperatures has also been reported for the GeSe-GeTe2 and SnS- pbS22 systems. This seems unlikely, however,

Jan 1, 1969

By T. G. Decker, A. F. Witt, A. M. Gaudin

The historical development of the concept of contact angle hysteresis is reviewed. The measurements of contact angles reported in literature have all been made under static conditions. For the measurement of dynamic advancing and receding contact angles, four methods are described together with an evaluation of their precision. Three of these methods were adapted from devices already used for the measurement of static contact angles. The fourth method uses a new principle and apparatus and is the most accurate. While the relationship between surface tensions and the contact angle was extablished as early as 1805 by T. Young,' it was only in 1890 that the existence of contact angle hysteresis was reported by Lord Rayleigh. His observations, however, remained almost unnoticed. With the invention of froth flotation, the contact angle and its behavior became the subject of investigation. In 1907, L. Sulman and collaborators investigated the cause of discrepancies between recorded values of contact angles. They found that certain variations existed in most cases, but that definite maximum and minimum values of contact angles are obtainable. The difference between the maximum and the minimum contact angle in a given system was termed "hysteresis" by Sulman. First attempts to explain hysteresis were made by E. Edser. In the following years extensive studies of contact angles in various three-phase systems

Jan 1, 1963

By G. R. M. Del Giudice

A survey of the flotation literature of the past 10 years indicates an increasing use of the microscope as a tool for investigation. Thus, the metallurgical microscope has been used by Tucker and Head;' Taggart, Taylor and Ince;2 Ince,3 and del Giudice4 to examine mineral surfaces that had been subjected to the action of various flotation reagents and to the action of slime pulps. It has also been used by Gaudin, Groh and Henderson;5 Martin;6 Morrow and Griswold;7 and others to examine bakelite briquets of mill products. The microscope with transmitted light, both with bright-field and dark-field illuminations, has been used by Taggart, Taylor and Knoll8 and by Ince9 to observe Brownian motrement and flocculation in flotation pulps. The use of the microscope at low-power magnifications with incident illumination for the examination of mill products has been known for years.10 Finally, del Giudice11 has used a relatively new type of illumination, the Ultropak, for the examinntion of slime-coatings.

Jan 1, 1935

By Robert E. Bush, E. S. Mardock

The objective of this paper is to present practical methods of applying radioactivity logs to problems of interest both to those engaged in evaluating fundamental reservoir data as well as to those engaged in subsurface structural work. The basic theories underlying the operation of radioactivity logging methods are briefly discussed along with some of the problems arising in the interpretation of the log. Relative methods of quantitative interpretation are described, with a discussion of relative reference lines and specific examples are given showing the application of these relative quantitative interpretation methods. To show the variation of the methods described, specimen wells penetrating formations widely divergent in point of geologic age were selected to demonstrate the application. A relative reference line is determined for the Neutron Curve and by comparison to known petrophysical data such as porosities from diamond cores, a direct quantitative relationship is developed. The application of this relative calibration curve to logs of unknown wells will permit a reasonably accurate determination of porosity in limestone and dolomite formations. Specific examples are given showing the application of these relative methods of interpretation to logs of the Smackover limestone in Louisiana, the Edwards limestone and dolomites of South Texas, and Permian dolomites of West Texas. Radioactivity logs have been used extensively by the petroleum industry for a number of years and recognition of their value has grown steadily, not only as tools to aid in the solution of specific stratigraphic problems, but also as potential sources of the basic data necessary for the estimation of net pay and reserves. The value of radioactivity logs for stratigraphic work has been pointed out in the literature,1,2,4,5,6 and now has long been recognized by the industry, but the quantitative application of the logs has advanced but little beyond the stage of a strong conviction that radioactivity logging curves will some day provide the information on such important quantities as the porosity and the liquid saturation of the formations. During the past few years the staffs of the Lane-Wells Company and Well Surveys, Incorporated, have devoted a great deal of time, thought, and experimentation to the relationships existing between radioactivity curves and the lithologic conditions encountered, and this paper is, in a manner of' speaking, intended as a progress report of this work and includes suggestions which the authors have found useful in the interpretation of radioactivity logs. The section on theory is not intended as a complete exposition of the physical processes involved, but rather as a brief introduction to the reader of these processes so that he may acquire a better understanding of the behavior of the radioactivity curves under the varied conditions encountered in normal well logging. Three relative methods for using neutron logs for the quantitative estimation of porosity in limestone or dolomite are presented. These methods are based on the comparison of logs and porosity data from wells in Louisiana, South Texas, West Texas, and New Mexico. These areas were selected because not only were there more core data available from these areas but also the majority of these data were from limestone or dolomitic zones. The correlation between core data and logs is simpler for limestones and dolomites than it is for sandstones due to the fact that sandstones are more complex than limestones and differ more widely among themselves as to composition of cementing materials, siltiness, etc. When data applicable to the various types of sandstones are available, the authors hope to present a discussion similar to this paper covering sandstones or possibly a more general discussion covering all types of reservoir rocks. The relative methods for estimating porosity which are presented in this paper fall short of the absolute method sought. However, these methods possess the advantage that they can be applied to almost any neutron log as long as the range of application is held within the limits imposed by the local lithologic conditions which prevailed during calibration, i.e., these methods are for short range application only. THE THEORETICAL BASIS FOR RADIOACTIVITY LOGGING The two redioactivity logging curves commercially available today are the

Jan 1, 1950

By George W. Harris

In the earlier period of anthracite-mining, much coal was wasted, both underground and in the culm-banks on the surface. Such waste is common in the development of new mining-districts, in which, as a rule, only the richest material can be profitably treated. In the anthracite-region, special causes operated to increase this evil. The mines were generally worked under 20-year leases, and royalties were paid upon such coal only as was actually marketed. The lessees consequently cared for immediate profit solely. They were not bound to win all the coal they exposed, or to leave it in such condition that their successors could win it. Nor was it their interest or duty to educate consumers in the use of their product. The market called for coal of large sizes; and such coal they furnished, throwing away the rest. Any pains taken by them to bring about a more rational use of coal by their consumers would have borne fruit, after their leases had expired, to the benefit of somebody else. A full statement of the situation was given in 1893, in the report of the State Commission, appointed in 1889 to investigate the subject.' That body included the names of Heber S. Thompson, William Griffith and the late Eckley B. Coxe.2 Its report gives special attention to the utilization of the old culm-banks.

Jan 1, 1906

By J. E. Johnson

The general construction of blast-furnaces has undergone no radical change in more than a generation. When the old style of masonry construction was replaced by the steel shell, the masonry piers were simultaneously replaced by columns, never lese than 6 and frequently 12 or 16 in number, set under the mantle-ring. These columns were at first unvaryingly made of cast-iron, but in more recent years have frequently been made of structural steel. The furnace itself has recently been the subject of radical changes; in some cases the thin-lined construction has been adopted for the whole furnace, and in other cases it has been adopted for a zone immediately above the bosh, raising the mantle several feet to make this possible, but still the style of construction with columns set immediately under the mantle has been universally followed. In spite of the apparent fixity of this type of construction it is open to grave disadvantages from the operating point of view, which may be briefly outlined as follows: The slope of the bosh and size of the crucible are such as to leave scant room inside the columns for the necessary water-piping, etc. The bustle-pipe must necessarily be outside the columns and the penstocks have to pass between them, with the result that the columns are frequently much in the way when changing the tuyeres or otherwise handling the penstocks. Moreover, the hearth-jacket requires a diameter but little smaller than the circle of the inside of the columns, and as a result the cooling-water ditch for protection against breakouts is exceedingly limited in width. As a consequence of these conditions, when any work requires to be done around the furnace, such as changing a tuyere or working on the cooling-water pipes, the amount of room left between the columns, pen-

Jan 1, 1913

By Paul D. Merica, R. G. Waltenberg

Although nickel was discovered and isolated as early as 1750 and its valuable properties recognized, many years passed before it was used commercially for wire, sheet, rods, etc., in the pure form. This was due partly to its high cost at that time and partly to the fact that it was not possible to refine and cast nickel into ingots sufficiently malleable to be amenable to the usual forging, rolling, or drawing processes. So remarkable was this fact, and so different from the experience at that time with metals such as copper and iron, that it has left its impress on the nomenclature within the nickel industry. To this day, furnace-cast nickel produced in such a manner as to be suitable for rolling and forging is called malleable nickel to distinguish it from the ordinary pig and shot nickel of commerce. In 1878, the firm of Jos. Wharton, of Philadelphia (which later became The American Nickel Works, a constituent of The International Nickel Co.) exhibited at the Paris Exhibition specimens of rolled pure nickel strip and of drawn nickel wire. About this time, there was considerable activity in the study of the refining of nickel and several methods were described, some of which were patented, for the production of furnace-cast malleable nickel including the use of manganese (Boed-dicker,1 Selve and Lotter2), the use of potassium permanganate (Berns-dorfer Metallwarenfabrik3) and the use of phosphorus (Garnier4). By far the most efficient method was discovered by Th. Fleitmann in 1879;5 it consisted in adding to the molten nickel, just before pouring the castings, from 0.05 to 0.125 per cent. of metallic magnesium. This soon became the recognized final malleableizing treatment for furnace-cast nickel.

Jan 1, 1925

DAVID COLE, El Paso, Tex. (communication to the Secretary*).-I notice that Mr. Callow takes issue with me on certain points I have previously contributed to the Transactions, to which I would reply," follows: Regarding Inspiration: Mr. Callow's refinements of gravity methods made just prior to the advent of flotation in the Southwest were intended to be "down to the minute," and the gravity flow sheet for Inspiration ores which he brought out at that time as the result of his long campaign of experimentation was regarded by many as the last word in wet gravity work. It was not my intention to discredit this good work when I said "he threw small light on slime treatment." "Minus 200 mesh," however, is not-synonymous with "real slime." Repeated treatments by gravity methods will result in the separation of a very large percentage of the fine granular sulphides in sizes much finer than 200 mesh, and I gave him due credit for that. The unavoidable losses were made in the "real" slime which I mentioned in the paragraph which Mr. Callow refers to as my "statements on page 1871," and his refinements were not a solution to the real slime problem. Mr. Callow has called attention to the fact that his best results at. Inspiration in gravity work were obtained on Joe Bush ore and he presents a table, viz., Tests Nos. 68, 71, and 72; and asks us to consider and compare these results, made by his refined gravity methods, with the results obtained by 'flotation methods in the new mill "during the second half of 1915 and in August, 1916." Of course, the ore treated in the mill was what happened to come. It was not Joe Bush ore, and therefore comparisons of detail figures are of no value. In regard to Mr. Callow's statements under the caption "Callow Cells Adopted by Arizona Copper Company," I would say that those who have been sufficiently interested to read my paper and' his remarks will notice what amounts to contradictory statements on several points which I cannot allow to go unchallenged. I was on the ground constantly and got my information at first hand. The tables published were the official ones. Mr. Callow was not present during the period and has been laboring under that disadvantage.

Jan 5, 1917