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By William A. Kennedy, Jonathan R. Stahl

This paper deals with the phenomenon of water held in a leach dump due to capillarity. Water is shown to be retained in the fine pores of the ore as well as in the interstices between the rock and soil particles. Upon drainage, Chino leach dump material shows two distinct capillary systems and a double capillary curve is often obtained. Both the igneous and the sedimentary rocks composing the leach material are shown to have appreciable porosity but little permeability. Fluid flow is, therefore, restricted to the interstices between the rock and soil particles. The irreducible water saturation for the aggregate is found to be 884 for the -48 mesh material and 235 for the448 mesh to one inch material. The composite sample of minus one inch dump material had an irreducible water saturation of 52 percent. The irreducible water saturation in the fine pores of the ore was found to be between 73 and 76 percent. Very coarse pores or channels between large rocks exhibit essentially zero capillary retained water. The presence of fine material in a dump can cause high water saturations to be retained and these saturations may be mistaken for perched water tables. Perched water tables can be drained but capillary water will be retained. Capillary pressure data can aid in distinguishing between perched water tables and capillary retained water.

Jan 1, 1974

By S. Wallden, R. Lindstrom

The electrolytic copper refining process is an excellent method for producing high-purity metal for electric conductors and other demanding applications. However, the process involves very high capital expenditure, especially the amounts of metals bound in the process. Efforts have therefore been made for many years to increase the production rate by increasing the current density, without impairing the quality of the copper. One of the approaches has been to diminish the polarization by mechanical means, while another was to "polish" the cathode surface by periodic brief reversals of the current. Reversed current electrolysis was first developed for electro- plating purposes and in 1952 Boliden AB and the Dept. of Electrochemistry at the Royal Inst. of Tech., Stockholm tested the method for copper refining with good results. However, no suitable electrical equipment for current reversal was then available. The thyristor-controlled silicon rectifier became available during the '60s and provided the scope for industrial application of the process and the first large-scale development was made by the Bulgarian copper refinery in Pirdop. Many copper refineries are now studying or adapting the reverse current process. Further lab and pilot investigations have been carried out at Boliden AB during the past 4 years and these were mainly aimed at studying the optimization of factors influencing the quality of copper. A production unit containing two tank sections with a total of 56 cells and equipped with a rectifier for cur- rent reversal has been installed and will be started during 1973.

Jan 1, 1973

By John B. Pearse

IN view of the great importance of accurate knowledge respecting the chemistry of iron and steel, as related to their physical properties, I come before you with a paper showing the great mass of work which has been heretofore done on the subject. I have tabulated the more important data I bring at this time, so as to draw out the results clearly. This information is accessible to all who will seek for it. I have made it the basis of my own practice throughout, and such knowledge is undoubtedly the only foundation, for the successful practice of metallurgy. As is well known the ordnance corps of our army, after 1841, made exhaustive experiments on the properties of cast-iron. The investigations were undertaken in order to obtain necessary information on the reorganization of the corps. I wish to call your attention to the results obtained by a comparison of the chemical and physical properties of cast-iron for guns, to describe certain characteristic peculiarities of steel, and to give a brief history of the chemical work relating to carbon in iron. The Reports on Experiments on the Strength and other Properties of Metals for Cannon, published by H. Carey Baird, Philadelphia,

Jan 1, 1876

By William Ian Wark, Alwyn Birchmore Cox

DIFFERENT parts of the world in which mineral separation by flotation is practiced experience vastly different natural temperatures, and in some districts there is a big difference between summer and winter temperatures. It will be shown in this paper that the temperature is of considerable importance where it is desired to separate pyrite or arsenopyrite from other minerals. It is probable that some of the differences obtained in the flotation of these minerals at plants working under otherwise similar conditions are due to temperature variations. The influence of temperature on the flotation of galena, chalcopyrite and sphalerite by xanthates is less marked than its influence on pyrite flotation. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD The methods used have been described previously.1-4 In each test the clean mineral specimen was immersed in a solution prepared by adding the reagents in the following order: (1) sodium carbonate and hydrochloric acid as necessary to buffer the solution and to give approximately the pH value desired, (2) sodium cyanide, (3) copper sulphate, (4) ethyl xanthate, followed by (5) a final adjustment of pH value. After ½ hr. the mineral was tested for a xanthate film by bringing a bubble of air into apparent contact with the submerged polished surface. If true contact (spreading) was not obtained within ½ min. and after cleaning the surface by wiping with a small linen pad, it was concluded that the adsorption of a xanthate film had been prevented. Following the method already described (ref. 2), curves have been constructed such that for a solution ' composition corresponding to any point below the curve, contact between mineral and air is possible, whereas for a solution composition corresponding to any point above the curve, contact is impossible.

Jan 1, 1938

By J. T. Eash, E. M. Wise

Many of the platinum metal alloys are hot-forged in the early stages of reduction from ingot and substantial quantities of platinum alloys are commercially employed at very high temperatures in ammonia oxidation units, orifices for forming glass rods and fibers and as cathodes in long-life thermionic amplifiers. They are used also for electrical heating resistors, safety blowout disks, thermocouples and crucibles. The tensile properties at elevated temperatures are important in many of these situations but data on the subject are limited. Creep data also are important, but will not be covered at this time. Scope and Conclusions Tensile tests were carried out at room temperature and elevated temperatures up to 1100" C. on previously well annealed samples of platinum. palladium and several of their important alloys with compositions shown in Table 1. The results are presented graphically in Figs. 1 to 4. The tensile strengths of platinum and the platinum-base alloys (with the exception of the 10 per cent rhodium-platinum alloy) at 1100" C. are from 16.6 to 18.8 per cent of the strengths of the same alloys (well annealed) at room temperature. The strength ratio of the 10 per cent rhodium-platinum alloy is 22.3 per cent, which is appreciably higher than that of the other materials tested. The tensile strengths of palladium and the palladium alloy at 1100" C. are from 10 to 11.2 per cent of the room-temperature values. The elongations of platinum and its alloys tend to increase at temperatures above 600" to 800" C., while the two samples of pure palladium show a maximum at 600" C.

Jan 1, 1938

By Oliver Halston

THIS paper reports the results of the use of salt in some research work carried on during the past 3 years at the Salt Lake City Station of the Bureau of Mines, which is quartered in the University of Utah, whose Metallurgical Research Department cooperates with the Bureau. Only the work involving the use of salt is described. The authors wish equal credit given to J. F. Cullen, C. L. Larson, C. Y. Proutz, C. E. Sims, H. C. Neeld, R. W. Johnson, F. G. Moses, N. C. Christensen, and G. H. Wigton, who have all in some way contributed toward the success of this work. Lead Metallturgy Popularly Supposed to be Without Problems In bead metallurgy it is difficult at first to find metallurgical problems, as the prevailing conception has been that bead is so easily concentrated in its various ores and so easily reduced to its metallic form that the only progress possible is that involved in cheapening methods of mining and of reduction. Most of the problems usually considered are of minor nature and do not involve radical metallurgical changes. During the 3 years of work of the Salt Lake Station, the following classification of problems in the metallurgy of bend has been made: Those involving Oxidized Ores. 1. Ores containing only bead. s. Ores containing bead and silver or gold. 3. Ores containing bead and zinc, with or without silver. Sulphide Ores. 1. Ores of pyrite carrying some bead. 2. Ores of complex zinc-bead-iron sulphides. 3. Complex sulphides containing in addition precious metals.

Jan 8, 1917

By Carroll F. Hardy

THE position of the coal industry has been affected by a wide variety of developments in the production and use of energy. The tempo of development and change has been increasing and the end is not in sight. Legislation is currently being proposed for commercial use of atomic power, and the employment of atomic energy in significant quantity will probably occur about the same time as the decline in production of petroleum and natural gas. But these developments are in the future and have little immediate effect on utilization and marketing of coal. While no one should try to suppress or retard the development of a new and economical source of energy, both the coal and private utility industry should be allowed to question how the nuclear power is to be used, who is to use it, and who is going to pay for it. The taxpayers have a monopoly on fissionable material and the knowledge to employ it. Any commercial use must stem from this source. It is not hard to visualize either taxpayer- subsidized private utility atomic power plants on one hand and super TVA's on the other. In view of the gains of gas and oil in the home heating field, it is interesting to compare the 1940 and 1950 census reports on the kind of fuel used for heating in occupied dwelling units. Table I shows that whereas coal provided 77 pct of the fuel for central heating (furnaces and boilers) in 1940, it was down to 45.4 pct in 1950. However, only about 1 ½ million units were lost in this 10-year period.

Jan 3, 1954

By Robert Ignouf

MY REMARKS, which I feel highly honored in being invited to make, shall be limited to a consideration of -the mining and metallurgical problems involved in this question; in fact, these problems alone might well be considered as suffi¬cient to explain the existence of the Ruhr situation and to justify the steps taken by France in this affair. Comparing the France of pre-war days with the France of the period following the Versailles treaty indicates clearly how the Ruhr question is a direct consequence of the new economic conditions which have prevailed in Europe since peace was signed between the Allies and Germany. Before the war, in 1913 for instance, the French out¬put of iron ore was 22,000,000 tons. This output, which decreased considerably during and immediately after the war, has about regained its previous level. It should be noted that 96 per cent. of the production of iron in France is obtained from the eastern part of the country, in the districts of Nancy, Briey,. Longwy, Metz, and Thionville. This concentration of practi¬cally all the iron mines into one district creates a very serious problem for France, involving strategic and economic consequences. The strategic problem arises from the fact that the whole iron resources of France lie close to the frontier of Germany, at a distance of only a few miles; hence it is of the' utmost importance for France to be assured that her eastern frontier shall not be at the mercy of a sudden invasion by an army which could in a few hours deprive France of her iron resources and render her powerless to defend herself. Invaded by her Eastern neighbor three times during the past 100 years, France has had dire experience with what such invasions mean for her. Wherever the German armies have passed, they have left an inefface¬able trail of desolation. France, therefore, intends to protect herself by sufficient and efficient guarantees against renewed invasions of her territory.

Jan 5, 1923

By A. Eilers

Although the process to which I refer in this paper has been in successful operation for nearly five years, during which time it has been introduced, superseding all other processes having in view the same end, in almost every lead refinery in the country, no description of it, giving economical data, has ever appeared in print, nor has the process been known in its details to any considerable number of engineers beside those conducting it at their works. A discussion of this subject at the present time becomes especially interesting in view of a late publication in the Prussian ministerial organ for Mining and Metallurgy, by Dr. Wedding, in which the method of treating the zinc-silver-lead alloy by distillation, as finally settled upon at Tarnowitz, is very minutely and fully described. It is the more interesting, because in that article reference is made to the American method in an unfavorable light, while, at the same time, it is clear from the article itself, that the most important details of the process, besides the one that it is conducted in black-lead retorts, mere not at all understood. In publishing herewith the details of our American method, one of my objects is to invite comparisons between our simple and direct process and the elaborate one at Tarnowitz. In extracting the silver from work-lead by means of zinc, it is always the intention, in this country, to obtain a zinc-crust so rich in silver that the rich lead resulting from subsequent distillation

NEW MEMBERS The following list comprises the names of those persons who became members during the period Mar. 10 to Apr. 10, 1914. Members ADAMS, DANIEL T., Mining 1416 Westminster Bldg., Chicago, Ill. BLICKENSDERFER, FRANK CLEVELAND, Sampler Morenci, Ariz. CAVERS, THOMAS WILLARD, Met Copperhill, Tenn. CLAPP, CHARLES H., Geol Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. CLARK, PATRICK T., Pres Bullwhacker Mine, Spokane, Wash. COMSTOCK, HARRY, Mining Mineville, Essex Co., New York. COOKE, JOSEPH H., Gen. Mgr Mono Dev. Co., Gisborn, Tooele Co., Utah. COOPER, DEXTER P., Civ. and Hyd. Engr 101 Park Ave., New York, N. Y. DEGOLYER, E. L., Geol Apartado 269, Tampico, Mexico. DESHAYES, ERNEST F., Mine Foreman Baldy, N. M. DOUGLASS, WILLIAM CRAWFORD, Min. Engr 107 Leonard Hotel, Butte, Mont.

Jan 5, 1914

By Zay Jeffries

THE object of the present paper is to enlarge somewhat on the general principles advanced in my discussion 1 of Mathewson and Phillips' article on. The Recrystallization of Cold-Worked Alpha Brass on Annealing.2 It will also serve as an acknowledgment of Prof. Howe's3 most important remarks on my contribution. In this paper the writer has adopted Prof. Howe's suggestion to substitute the term "germinative temperature" for "critical temperature for grain growth." Instead of being an exact or certain temperature it should be considered that the germinative temperature phenomenon exists throughout a small temperature range. Factors Influencing Fast Growth Phenomena The development of grains of macroscopic size at the germinative temperature should be considered the extreme condition of a general rule. When considered in this light it is not strange that the development of these large grains should be the exception and not the rule. The principal factors influencing the operation of the laws of fast growth temperature are as follows: 1. Rate of heating.

Jan 10, 1916

By J. F. Myers

THE Tennessee Copper Company's operations are in the Ducktown Basin, in the extreme southeast corner of Tennessee. The ore is of the heavy sulphide type, the predominating sulphides being pyrite, pyr-rhotite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite. The gangue is a micaceous schist, with varying amounts of free quartz. The mining operation develops two classes of ore, each of which is concentrated by the flotation process in separate mills. Table 1 shows a typical analysis of the ore treated in each mill. TABLE 1.-Typical Analysis of Ore Treated Composition, Per Cent Mill Tons Capacity Cu Fe S Zn London 1,350 1.41 28.4 20.2 1.10 Isabella 850 0.69 44.7 31.6 0.31 LONDON MILL The London mill was built in 1922, with a capacity of 400 tons per day. This was gradually increased to 600 tons by 1926, to 900 tons in 1928, and to 1350 tons in 1938. Fig. 1 shows the crushing and grinding flowsheet in 1928, when the capacity was 900 tons; Fig. 2, the crushing and grinding flowsheet that was developed by 1938, for the treatment of 1350 tons per day. A comparison of these flowsheets reveals that this increase in tonnage, with a subsequent improved operation, was accom-plished with identically the same major equipment. Improving a concentrator's capacity, metallurgical results, and costs as time goes by is a commonplace practice, and is accomplished in various ways, depending upon the local conditions. The reason for presenting the data of how this was accomplished in the mills of the Tennessee Copper Co. is that a fast-running rod mill plays such an interesting role

Jan 1, 1940

By A. H. Bell

The general principles of the gas-lift will not be described in this paper. Only specific details that have not been fully discussed in previous papers, or results that do not fully coincide with conditions previously described, will be dealt with. The principal points to be emphasized and for which supporting data are furnished are as follows: 1. Gas-lift installations usually have comparatively high efficiencies as compared with standard pumping equipment, when reduced to a basis of barrels produced per horsepower installed. 2. Advantages of high-pressure plants from the standpoint of operating efficiency and for the application of the gas-lift early in the life of flowing wells. 3. Evidence of increased ultimate yield through conservation of gas by the gas-lift. 4. Possibility of development of new equipment to increase efficiency of the gas-lift. 5. Indications of the advantages of repressuring as a means of stabilizing gas-lift wells and as a means of increasing ultimate yields. TyPes of Installation The gas-lift installations of the more important companies in California have been of the central-plant type wherever field conditions would permit. This has resulted in greater flexibility and lower installation costs per well than could be obtained with individual well units. In general discussions of the gas-lift method of production, the installation costs are frequently referred to as being too high for economical operation. If the field conditions are carefully analyzed and the plant designed with the idea of obtaining high operating efficiencies, the installation cost per well can be lowered sufficiently to compare favorably with individual well-pumping units, when the operating advantages are considered. Much greater production per horsepower can be obtained with the gas-lift than is possible with pumping equipment. Table 1 shows the unit sizes and costs of gas-lift installations of three companies in the Los Angeles basin. The cost of walking beams, rods,

Jan 1, 1928

By Frederick J. McGarry, Fred Moavenzadeh

An experimental investigation of the thermal and mechanical responses of rock materials to laser radiation is described. Specifically, the following three topics have been studied in detail: 1. Temperature measurements on thin discs subjected to laser radiation. 2. Strain measurements on thin discs subjected to laser radiation. 3. Observation and evaluation of cracking and spalling phenomena in constrained and unconstrained thin discs respectively, subjected to laser radiation. In conjunction with the experimental work done, use was made of a heat flow analysis and a stress analysis program developed for this purpose. It was possible to theoretically predict the thermal and mechanical responses of a rock specimen to laser radiation and then compare them with experimental observations. Good correlations were obtained.

Jan 1, 1971

By L. I. Cothern

THE introduction of mechanized mining has created a demand for long working faces. It has also prompted mining men to contest the old theory that longwall methods can be used only where roof conditions are ideal and where pack-wall material is plentiful. "Longwall" as used in this paper means "modified longwall," "semi-longwall," or any of the various "wall" or "long-face" methods of mining. Many mines are now using long conveyor faces that differ only in their methods of development, types of roof support and method of loading coal onto the conveyor. Some types of longwall operations are being carried on successfully under conditions heretofore considered impossible by men experienced in longwall mining. With possibly one or two exceptions, long-face methods in Alabama are a direct result of the need for lower mining costs. The advantages over room-and-pillar systems were clearly expressed in an article by Messrs. Fies and Lacy of the DeBardeleben Coal Corporation1 as follows: (1) increased tonnage per miner; (2) increased percentage of lump coal; (3) reduction in cost of development; (4) elimination of the cost of room yardage; (5) reduction in the cost of haulage, from ability to use larger cars; (6) reduction in the cost of machine cutting; (7) reduction in cost for tracks; (8) reduction in the cost of deadwork; (9) reduction in the cost of supervision. An attempt on the part of the operator to gain these, advantages by changing from room-and-pillar to longwall requires considerable courage, and credit should be given to those men who have done their bit to meet the competition of rival fuels. The initiatory problems to be solved are in reference to: (1) retreating or advancing system, (2) length of wall, (3) method of roof support, (4) method of entry development, (5) type of conveyor or loader, (6) hand vs. machine loading (onto conveyors), (7) hand vs. machine loading in entries, (8) control of roof pressure,

Jan 1, 1940

Jan 1, 1954

By Roy Hardy

THE Getchell mine is a comparatively recent discovery in the old Potosi mining district, Humboldt County, Nevada, a district organized in the seventies and eighties, in which some prospecting was done in several metamorphic zones along a monzonite-sedimentary contact. The district had no production in the early days and no further work was done until the same metamorphic zones were prospected for tungsten (scheelite) in 1917 and 1918, when a few small lots were shipped. It again lay dormant until 1934, when prospectors investigated a large siliceous escarpment at one end of the old district where outcroppings were a prominent feature of the topography. Undoubtedly, during the early prospecting of the district, the outcroppings had been investigated for mineral, probably by panning, with negligible results because the gold later found is invisible in the concentrate and is refractory. A fire assay revealed the presence of sufficient gold to warrant develop-ment work. The outcroppings were easily prospected by short tunnels having their portals in the siliceous material on the hanging-wall side, with a maximum distance to crosscut to the footwall of 135 ft., or a distance at right angle to dip of 60 to 90 ft. Development work, reaching a depth of over 600 ft. on the dip of the vein, was done by means of various crosscut tunnels, winzes and laterals. A churn-drill hole was also sunk, which intersected the vein at a depth of 1100 ft. on the dip. Sufficient development work of this character was completed by 1937 to justify the erection of a reduc-tion plant to roast the sulphide ore and cyanide the calcine, and to treat the oxidized ore by straight cyanidation, to make a doré bullion for shipment to the mint. The erection of the plant was started that year and finished early in 1938, with a combined capacity of about 800 tons per day. It has operated continuously since erection and recently was enlarged to handle 1000 tons per day. The vein dips with the slope of the mountain, and by stripping the hanging wall the ore may be mined by power shovel for several hun-dred feet below the outcrop. Thereafter underground methods will be necessary.

Jan 1, 1940

By L. C. Campbell

The purpose of any accident-prevention program is the curtailment or entire elimination of injuries and fatalities. It is a job that is never finished in the coal-mining industry. Day by day, on shift and off shift, men are exposed to injury and death in varying numbers. Seldom is it possible to lock up at the end of the shift and leave a mine plant in the care of a sleepy watchman, as can be done at most manufacturing plants. Even on off shifts there are maintenance and supply crews, coal cutters, pumpers and ventilation men exposed to danger. The prevention program of The Koppers Coal Co. recognizes two primary facts: First, no program can be successful without the full support of the management and complete knowledge of the job at hand on the part of every supervisor. Second, and equally important, is the full cooperation of every employee in observing the safety rules and practices set up by the management. Conscious day-to-day concern for his safety by the individual worker is the longest stride toward a good safety experience. How to accomplish the education of the individual worker and supervisor for safety is the problem of The Koppers Coal Co., as it is the problem of all coal companies. Safety Rules A simply stated set of Safety Rules and Practices for the government of employees is the starting point with The Koppers Coal Co. There are but 13 of these rules, which are short, easily understood and followed by a campaign of education and inspection. Each employee receives a set of these Safety Rules and Practices and signs a receipt for them, which is bound in at the back of the booklet, and this receipt becomes a part of his employment record. These rules and practices are as follows: Introduction The following rules have been compiled for the safety of employees and are established according to rules number one and number two of the official bulletin

Jan 1, 1940

By Robert S. Dalzell, Ernest A. Curth

Following the introduction of shields to the U.S. longwall mining scene and the steady increase in the number of shield faces during recent years, the occurrence of longwall -ground-control -associated accidents has shown a welcome downward trend. But even though the accident experience is favorable, problems exist. New mining systems, however efficient, have run afoul of roof control. Shield faces have suffered extended stoppages because of roof cavities. Therefore, the Bureau of Mines has reviewed foreign remedial techniques to evaluate their potential for domestic application. Such technology includes cribbing, strain absorbent modules (SAM'S), inflatables, wire meshing, chemical rock stabilization, synthetic foams, and monolithic fills.

Jan 1, 1984

By Edwin C. Holden

In making the original estimates for a report recommending the cyanidation of Ymir stamp-mill tailings, the writer was unable to find in any of the standard works on cyanide-practice certain data applicable to the local conditions; nor has he as yet seen quite the same practice recorded in the rapidly growing literature of cyanidation. To present these figures, together with a few novel features of local practice, the present paper is offered. The ore treated is obtained from a fissure-vein of steep dip, occurring in a slate country. The ore-body is lenticular in plan, swelling from 4 ft. in width at one end to a maximum of 42 ft., and tapering irregularly to less than 18 in., where payvalues cease. In the wider portions of the fissure the ore is mixed with more or less horse-matter from the walls. The clean ore is white, massive quartz, with from 8 to 12 per cent of sulphurets; the latter being pyrite, sphalerite and galena, the predominance being in the order given. The precious metal tenor is variable, the gold more closely following the pyrite, the silver the galena. The present mill-supply is practically all from below the oxidized zone. The unavoidable admixture of horse-matter and stope-filling with the ore as mined, affects more or less the character of the mill-feed, which sometimes contains from 10 to 25 per cent of slate. During the last three months of 1902, the mill-feed carried 0.3977 oz. gold and 1.903 oz. silver per ton of 2,000 lb., 2.65 per cent lead and 2.92 per cent zinc. The iron, unfortunately, was not determined. The Ymir mill and mine have been fully described elsewhere;* suffice it to say of the milling that the crushed ore,

Jan 1, 1904