Search Documents

By G. E. Agar

In the April issue of Mining Engineering there is a technical note "New size laboratory ball mill for Bond Work Index determination" written by M. Nematollahi which is very confusing. My recollection is that a description of an experimental procedure should be such that someone skilled in the art should be able to reproduce the results. Applying this test to this particular article would according to me cause a failure to be registered. There are apparently three batch laboratory test procedures referred to in the article. One of these is the traditional Bond test with all its limitations such as dry grinding followed by exclusively dry screening, two attributes which fail to simulate conventional industrial grinding. There is a second procedure (NSBM) which the author is advocating as an improvement of the Bond procedure but from the description I doubt that anyone would be able to repeat the procedure. For instance, is the grinding to be done wet or dry, if wet at what pulp density, and how is the screening to be done, wet or dry or a combination?

Jan 1, 1995

By J. A. Richardson

J. A. RICHARDSON[t]-Mr. Stuckey's account of the geology of the kaolins of North Carolina suggests that they exhibit some features similar to those of the Malay Peninsula. About one half of British Malaya (some 26,000 square miles) is occupied at the surface by igneous rocks, of which granite and its associated derivatives constitute fully 90 pct. The average granite is a biotic variety. It is predominantly potassic but carries, in addition, notable amounts of soda and lime so that albite and albiteoligoclase are generally common constituents of the rock. The minor derivatives from granite "magma" likewise include potassic and sodi-potassic members. Decomposition of the granitic rocks has led to the formation of kaolin in many localities, but, in general, the deposits are rather small and, at present, none is exploited commercially. True primary or residual kaolins (as defined by Stuckey; p. 48 Vol. 173, p. 2 TP 2219) have been developed from feldspar veins, pegmatites and from other granitic differentiates which cut through the larger masses of granite; they are usually small and narrow. Kaolin has been derived from aplite, quartz porphyry, quartz micro-porphyry, felsites and microgranites belonging to a complex known as the Chegar Perah-Pulai intrusion in northwest Pahang and southwest Kelantan. The bulk of the component rocks has been more or less strongly sheared. Kaolin-like end products have been formed from both sheared and nonsheared varieties. Kaolin has been formed also by the complete breakdown of trondjemite flanking the northwestern and western margins of the complex Bukit Ranjut syenite intrusion in northwest Pahang. These trondjemites range in composition from essentially quartz-free albiteplagioclasites to quartz-free microcline rocks; they are, in effect, the syenitic homologues of white sodic and potassic granite-aplites. The granites in Malaya have generally undergone more or less severe surficial weathering leading to the production of a spongy and rather cellular or a soft "mealy" material (sandy clay) down to depths of about 100 ft; in places the granite is strongly decomposed down to 150 ft. There has occurred, therefore, widespread partial kaolinization, but, in general, no extensive deposits of good quality kaolin seem to have been formed by these processes of decay. Frequently, the katamorphic processes of desilicification have advanced beyond the production of kaolin towards the formation of lateritic end products. The more important Malayan kaoiins seem to be confined to the western alluvial plains, particularly in areas either where granite crops out at surface, or where it forms the bedrock of the alluvium. There are numerous excellent examples around Gopeng and elsewhere in the Kinta Valley of Perak. Such kaolins belong to Stuckey's groups of secondary deposits, and, like them, these also may be bedded. Field observations have established the existence of what for want of a better name is referred to by the Malayan Geological Survey as "granite wash." It is believed that granite, undergoing extensive deeply penetrative and probably rather rapid destruction under humid tropical weathering (temperature around 90°F; rainfall about 100 in. per annum; high humidity) "flowed," was moved by "creep" and, in addition, probably slumped in large waterlogged masses of sandy clay from topographic salients onto the adjacent flats. Either during this period of transmigration or later when the sludged granite detritus, after having more or less come to rest, was attacked by flowing water, differential sorting and erosion took place with the result that the resorted debris was moved and later deposited as bedded alluvium. In this way, banded "granite wash" was produced comprising alternating bands of clayey sand (resorted granite sludge) and white

Jan 1, 1947

By D. Leppert

Mr. Garrett brings up several interesting points with respect to the proposed API specification for "nontreated bentonite." However, although not explicitly stated, these specifications are being written based strictly on bentonites from the Wyoming/South Dakota area. Other sodium bentonites may be suitable for use as drill mud but will be unacceptable since the specifications are designed for Wyoming bentonites. Regardless of the API's intent that its specifications are intended only as guidelines, they are generally adhered to on an international basis and, for practical purposes, might as well be chiseled in stone. Estes (1986) notes that the quality of bentonite available from Wyoming producers has steadily declined since the early 1960's. The plastic viscosity: yield point (PV:YP) ratio was included in the current API 13A specification primarily to prevent excessive polymer treatment of lower quality bentonites to make drill mud. However, with development of polymers designed to control YP, this specification cannot ensure that only high-quality bentonites are used for drill mud. Nor will the new specifications for untreated bentonites. Other sodium bentonites are available. Bentonite produced in southeast Oregon demonstrates superior performance characteristics without addition of polymer or other chemicals. However, the exceptionally high purity of these deposits leads to a relatively high YP:PV ratio since the naturally high YP probably results from the higher purity and smaller particle size of this bentonite (Rath, 1986 and personal communication). These bentonites typically have a smectite component exceeding 90% (Rath, 1985), compared with 70% to 75% smectite for typical Wyoming bentonites, as determined by X¬ray diffraction and tests for colloid content. As evident from the accompanying table, the untreated Oregon bentonite has excellent rheological properties, though different from Wyoming bentonites due to the high purity. Additionally, this bentonite reacts well with polymers typically used in the oil industry, making it eminently suitable for use in a low-solids mud system. The extremely low grit content, less that 0.5% on a 75 mm (200-mesh) wet sieve, greatly exceeds the standards set for Wyoming bentonite. Optimum rheological properties are obtained at a higher moisture content than Wyoming bentonites. At 10% moisture, API 13A maximum, the clay is overdried, again reflecting the high smectite content. In summary, the specifications proposed by the API Task Group will ensure that only Wyoming producers can supply "nontreated" bentonite to the oilfield since specifications are

Jan 1, 1989

By J. Parker

Gentlemen; Rainy day in Upper Michigan, a good time to catch up on reading. Am doing that, and have a couple of questions concerning the K and P paper on roof problems and supports. I wonder if the authors can enlighten me. The compressive strength of the coal was reported as 4.4 MPa (633 psi) and compressive stresses measured in the coal seam were reported at around 27.6 and 48.2 MPa (4000 and 7000 psi ). Can such a soft coal actually contain such a high level of stress? Can it be measured as if the material were elastic, or does the coal behave plastically? Can that stress level be confirmed with hydraulic load cells? And if the coal is so soft, and if it is plastic, why is the stress field not hydrostatic? The intact roofrock appears to be unusually strong, with compressive strength reported at around 145 MPa (21,000 psi), and some failures were noted as soon as the rock was exposed. Were tests run to find out how that rock responded to the addition

Jan 1, 1991

P. W. BRIDGMAN.-Owing to a misunderstanding, I did not see Dr. McAdam's and Dr. MacGregor's remarks on my paper on Flow and Fracture (Metals Technology, December 1944, Pp. 32-38), until after their publication. Both Dr. McAdam and Dr. MacGregor speak of my analysis for the stress distribution at the neck of a tension specimen as containing several assumptions; in particular, that the strain is uniform across the section of the neck, that there is no hoop tension at the periphery, and that the plasticity conditions of von Mises hold. As far as the mathematics goes, the situation is no different in this problem of plastic flow than in a conventional problem of elasticity. That solution is unique which satisfies the boundary conditions on the stresses, the stress equations of equilibrium, and in addition the constitutive equations connecting stress and strain in the elastic case, or a corresponding set of equations, of which the von Mises relations are a special form, in the plastic case. In the particular case of the necked tension specimen I have found that there is a solution satisfying the boundary conditions, the stress equations of equilibrium, and the von Mises plasticity conditions in which the strain is uniform across the section, and there is no hoop tension at the periphery. This is therefore the solution, and the uniformity of strain and vanishing of hoop tension at the periphery are to be described as discoveries, over which the operator has no control, rather than as assumptions. The only part of the solution that can properly be described as an assumption is the von Mises plasticity condition. With regard to this it is to be noted that the condition is needed only in a much weakened form, for the analysis uses the condition only at the neck, where the strain is approximately constant. Thus, in the extreme case referred to in a footnote of my paper (p. 37, Met. Tech. Dec. 1944) the actually measured strain across the section varies from 2.4 to 2.6. Obviously it is a much weaker assumption to postulate that the von Mises condition holds in the strain range 2.4 to 2.6 than to assume it to hold for the entire range of strain from o up to 2.6, which would be necessary if the solution applied to the entire tension specimen rather than to the immediate region of the neck only. Furthermore, it is to be commented that under the special conditions of this problem the von Mises condition becomes identical with the maximum shearing-stress criterion of plastic flow; this amounts also to a weakening of the restrictions imposed by the von Mises condition. Dr. MacGregor refers to actual experiments of his own in which the strain was found not to be uniform across the neck. It is to be emphasized, however, that these were experiments on bars of rectangular section, and that the nonuniformity established was a nonuniformity around the perimeter, not a nonuniformity from the surface toward the axis. My method of solution applies only to a circular cross section. It can be said that the solution that satisfies the boundary conditions, etc., would definitely not be expected to demand a uniform strain for noncircular sections. In discussing my results, Dr. McAdam uses a definition of "flow stress" different from mine, so that the immediate applica-

Jan 1, 1945

By Dan Plazak

The authors are to be congratulated for presenting a simple and practical tool for quick estimates of ground water flow rates. At the risk of detracting from the simplicity of the method, I would like to suggest a slight refinement to the equation as presented. As the authors noted, the Jacob-Lohman equation (1952) assumes confined-aquifer conditions. To use confined-aquifer equations in water-table aquifers, Jacob (1963) presented a correction to convert water-table aquifer drawdowns [ ] to equivalent confinedaquifer drawdowns [ ]:

Jan 1, 1994

Page The Cobaltchromium Binary System (paper by A. R. Elsea, A. B. \Yesterman, and G. K. Manning, Met. Tech. June, 1948, Mechanism of Precipitation in a Permanent Magnet Alloy (paper by A. H. Geisler and J. B. Newkirk, Met. Tech. Aug. 1948, Tp 2444)................................................................................................. 300 Some Effects of Applied Stresses on Precipitation Phenomena (~aper by W. L. Finlay and W. R. Hibbard, Jr., Met. Tech. Sept. 1948, Tp 2470)....................................................................................... 301 Diffusion of Carbon in Austenite with a Discontinuity in Composition (paper by L. S. Darken, Met. Tech. Sept. 1948, TP 2443) 304 An Electron Diffraction Study of Oxide Films Formed on Nickelchromium Alloys (paper by J. W. Hickman and E. A. Gul- bramen, Met. Tech. June 1948, Tp 2372)..................................................................... 305 An Electron Diffraction Study of Oxide Films Formed on Copper-nickel Alloys at Elevated Temperatures (paper by J. W. Hickman and E. A. Gulbransen, Met. Tech. June 1948, TP 2391)................................................ 307 Decarburization of Chrome Nickel Alloys by Their Surface Oxides in High Vacua and at Elevated Temperatures (paper by E. A. Gulbransen, W. S. Wysong, and K. Andrew, Met. Tech. Sept. 1948, TP 2438)................................ 307 Fractographic Study of Cast Molybdenum (paper by C. A. Zapffe, F. K. Landgraf and C. 0. Worden, Met. Tech. Aug. 1948, TP 2421)................................................................................................. 308 Effect of Composition on Grain Growth in Aluminum-magnesium Solid Solutions (paper by L. J. Demer and P. A. Beck. Met. Tech. June 1948, TP 2374)............................................................................. 309 Effect of a Dispersed Phase on Grain Growth in Al-Mn Alloys (paper by P. A. Beck, M. L. Holzworth and P. Sperry, Met. Tech. Sept. 1948, TP 2475)................................................................................. 310 Statistical Rate Theory of Metals—Mechanism of Flow and Application to Tensile Properties (paper by J. W. Fredrickson and H. Eyring, Met. Tech. Aug. 1948, TP 2423)............................................................... 315 Nucleation of Slip Bands (paper by J. G. Leschen, R. P. Carreker, and J. H. Hollomon, Met. Tech. Sept. 1948, TP 2476) and.. 318 Transient Plastic Deformation (paper by R. P. Carreker, J. G. Leschen, and J. D. Lubahn, Met. Tech. Sept. 1948, TP 2477).. 318 Plastic Deformation of Large Grained Copper Specimens (paper by W. R. Hibbard, Jr., Met. Tech. Sept. 1948, TP 2469). ... 323 Plastic Flow in Anisotropic Sheet Steel (paper by L. R. Jackson, K. F. Smith, and W. T. Lankford, Met. Tech. Aug. 1948, TP 2440)................................................................................................. 323 The Effect of Thermal-mechanical History on the Strain Hardening of Metals (paper by J. E. Dorn, A. Goldberg, and T. E. Tietz, Met. Tech. Sept. l948, TP 2445)....................................................................... 325 The Room and Elevated Temperature Properties of Some Sand Cast Magnesium-base Alloys Containing Zinc (paper by T. E. Leontis, Met. Tech. June 1948, TP 2371)..............................................................., 327 The Low Temperature Properties of Tin and Tin-lead Alloys (paper by H. S. Kalish and F. J. Dunkerley, Met. Tech. Sept. 1948, TP 2442)............................................................................................335 Thermal and Electrical Properties of Ductile Titanium (paper by E. S. Greiner and W. C. Ellis, Met. Tech. Sept. 1948, TP 2466).................................................................................................... 335 Property Changes during Aging (paper by A. H. Geisler, Met. Tech. Aug. 1948, TP 2436)............................... 337 Factors Affecting the Tensile Notch Sensitivity of Magnesium Alloy Extrusions (paper by I. Cornet, Met. Tech. Aug. 1948, TP 2419)................................................................................................. 338 Effect of Grain Size on Tensile Strength, Elongation and Endurance Limit of Deep Drawing Brass (paper by H. L. Walker and W. J. Craig, Met. Tech. Sept. 1948, TP 2478)............................................................. 339 A Copper-base Alloy Containing Iron as a High-strength, Highconductivity Wire Material (paper by W. Hodge, R. I. Jaffee, J. G. Dunleavy, and H. R. Ogden, Met. Tech. Aug. 1948, TP 2422).............................................. 340 A High Strength-High Conductivity Copper-silver Alloy Wire (paper by W. Hodge, R. I. Jaffee, J. G. Dunleavy, and H. R. Ogden, Mel. Tech. June 1948, TP 2366)...................................................................... 340 The Effect of Chronlium on the Ma Point (paper by J. B. Bassett and E. S. Rowland, Met. Tech. Aug. 1948, TP 2417.... 341 The Kappa Eutectoid Transformation in the Copper-silicon System (paper by W. R. Hibbard, Jr., G. H. Eichelman, Jr., and W. P. Saunders, Met. Tech. Sept. 1948, TP 2441).............................................................. 343 Stabilization of the Ausknite-martensite Transformation (paper by W. R. Harris, Jr. and M. Cohen, Met. Tech. Sept. 1948, TP 2446)................................................................................................ 344 Secondary Hardening of Tempered Martensitic Alloy Steel (paper by W. Crafts and J. L. Lamont. Mel. Tech. Sept. 194,8, TP 2439)................................................................................................. 345

Jan 1, 1950

By J. M. Hodge

This paper represents a start on the problem of choosing alloy steels for a given application on the basis of toughness as indicated by the room temperature notched bar impact value at the desired hardness level, and as such, is very useful. I believe, however, that the authors will agree that it is only a start on this problem. The authors state that neglecting temper brittleness or other possible effects of the tempering temperature level, the impact values at a given grain size level will be determined principally by the hardenability. This is, of course, true inasmuch as the hardenability determines the microstructure, but it serves to emphasize the broad field that hardenability now covers, since this study apparently includes mi¬crostructures ranging from full martensite to coarse pearlite. Furthermore, the + or - 20 ft-lb spread in the correlation with hardenability, which certainly limits the usefulness of these results for many applications, indubitably reflects the wide range of microstructures corresponding to a given value of hardenability in terms of the difference between full martensite and asquenched hardness.

Jan 1, 1947

By Evans E. C.

Discussion of the paper presented at the Manchester Geological and Mining Society' general meeting held in Manchester, March 14th , 1916, with Leonard R. Fletcher, President, in the Chair included contributions by Fletcher L.R., Paton J.D., Orchard A.J.A., Ross A., Gerrard J. and Stephenson H., with the author's responses

Dec 1, 1916

Discussion of the paper presented at the Manchester Geological and Mining Society's general meeting held in Manchester, April 11th 1916, with Mr. Leonard R. Fletcher, President, in the chair, included questions asked and points for discussion raised by Bramall V., Paton J.D., Fletcher L.R., Siddall F.N., Stoker A. and Stone T., in particular on how to eliminate dust

Dec 1, 1916

Discussion of the paper presented at the North Staffordshire Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers' general meeting held in Stoke-on-Trent, March 27th 1916, with Mr. John Gregory, President, in the chair, included contributions by Gregory J., Cadman J., Hartley J.W., Wain E.B. and Henshaw A.M., followed by the author's reply

Dec 1, 1916

By Groom P.

Discussion of the paper presented at the Midland Institute of Mining, Civil, and Mechanical Engineers' general meeting held in Leeds, March 21st, 1916, with T. Beach, vice-president, in the chair included contributions by Beach T., Fearnsides W.G., Lloyd W.D., Gill J. and Nadin R.

Dec 1, 1916

By Gibson J.

Written discussion contributions to the paper presented at the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers' general meeting held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 12th February 1916, with Mr. T.Y. Greener, President, in the chair, comprise comments by Kilpatrick W.M., Routledge W.H., Watson J. and Smith W., along with the author's reply. Also briefly noted are the demonstration of two pieces of equipment, an incline chock and a cage arrestor

Dec 1, 1916

J. W. Tomlison—It seems probable that the author's conclusion, that the conductivity of the slags decreases with increasing content of FeO, is erroneous due to the method of plotting the data. Thus, the results of other workers2,3,13,15 show that the conductivity of molten oxide slags increase with increasing temperature, indicating that the trend of the curve shown by the authors is due to the fact that the data for the slags containing relatively small amounts of FeO are at higher temperatures than those for the slags containing relatively large amounts of this oxide. In this connection the work of Wejnarth2 may be mentioned in which in an investigation of a series of iron silicate slags, the conductivity was found to increase with increasing content of FeO; the fact that the author's slags contained TiO2 probably does not affect the issue since it has been shown15,16 that, at least as far as conductivity is concerned, this oxide behaves essentially the same as silica and that mixtures of the oxide with silica have a very low conductivity of the order of 10-4 mhos at 1750°C. In connection with the experimental technique it may be noted that bubbles of carbon monoxide would probably be produced at the surface of the graphite electrodes in contact with the melts thus rendering the accuracy of the measurements somewhat open to question. J. L. Wyatt (author's reply)—Dr. Tomlinson makes reference to works by Martin and Derge, which indicate that slag systems containing no TiO2 are characterized by an increase in conductivity with an increase in temperature. Further, I have cited his examples, which indicate a drastic increase with small temperature change. The results of Dr. Derge's work have no bearing whatsoever on the results of this paper, since the slags under study here contained up to 70 pct TiO2 One cannot generalize on slag systems as a whole on the basis of any one family, for there are definite compounds of ionic nature formed in each system, and the ionic mobilization of these is something that cannot be determined without actual experimentation. Dr. Tomlinson makes reference to an unpublished work which, he claims, shows that titanium dioxide behaves the same as silica in regard to conductivity. Since I have not had 'an opportunity to see the paper I cannot make any comments, but unless the same slag system was studied there can be no specific comparison of results. If the decrease in conductivity of the slag was due entirely to temperature phenomena, as Dr. Tomlinson indicates, then one is without an explanation of the values shown in the paper for slags containing from 10 to 20 pct FeO. I cannot agree that the deviation in findings was appreciably related to temperature change; further, I believe this point was completely covered in the paper. References 13 Endell and Hellbrügge: Glasstech. Ber. (1942) 20, 277. 14 Bockris, Kitchener, Ignatowicz and Tomlinson: Faraday Society. Discussion (1948) 4, 265. 15 Tomlinson: Thesis, London 1949. 10 Bockris, Kitchener, Ignatowicz, and Tomlinson: Unpublished work.

Jan 1, 1951

Jan 1, 1951

Jan 1, 1951

J. R. Lane (Metals Research Laboratory, Washington)—A new type of deformation called "kinking" has recently been described. Is there any relation between the "rumpling" described in this paper and "kinking?" D. C. Jillson (author's reply)—Both are manifestations of bending about [210] axis. The difference is one of degree. W. C. Ellis (Bell Telephone Laboratories, New York) —Some observations of deformation in zinc recorded in this paper may be applicable generally to flow in metals. One of these, deformation in torsion without evidence of slip or twinning in the early stages and with startling ease, when the twist is about the hexagonal axis, adds another method of flow to the presently increasing list of mechanisms. This illustrates again that a crystal will utilize any realizable process to flow and relieve stress. The process is not necessarily classical directional slip—& this case, it is rotational slip. The question naturally occurs: Will face-centered cubic metas stressed by twisting about an octahedral axis flow in a similar manner by rotation on an octahedral plane? I would like to ask Dr. Jillson if he has made any experiments or knows of any experiments of this type on face-centered cubic metals? Face-centered cubic metals possibly would behave differently from zinc, since, for one thing, the stacking sequence is different for the two structures. The results of such experiments, however, would be instructive in providing more information about deformation processes. D. C. Jillson—Dr. Roy E. Swift, working in the Hammond Laboratory at Yale, performed a twist test on a single crystal of brass. The work has not been published, and I do not know the crystallographic direction of the axis of the specimen used. Lo-ching Chang (Columbia University, New York)— Observations similar to Figs. 1 and 2 of the paper were obtained by us during the bending and unbending of an orthorhombic Au-Cd alloy.'l This orthorhombic alloy is the product of diffusionless transformation from a single crystal of p Au-Cd alloy (CsC1 structure) containing 47.5 atomic pct Cd on cooling to about 60 "C.62 Referring to the effects of annealing, has the author tried any loilg time high temperature anneal, such as 150 to 200 hr at 40O°C? D. C. Jillson—No. C. Crussard (Ecole des Mines, Paris: France)—I

Jan 1, 1952

G. A. Moore—The tin-fusion method has been a very favorable possibility for many years. The authors apparently have settled the question that delayed the method for a long time by showing that no hydrogen is absorbed in the tin. This, of course, is very important. I want to make a few remarks concerning the absolute accuracy of analysis, which must be the final basis for deciding among the various methods. From the figures in the paper, there seems to be some re-maining slight discrepancy on the actual amount of hydrogen present in various samples which may be presumed essentially identical. (This is of the order of the precision of individual analyses but appears in averaged results.) From the analyst's viewpoint, the tally of hydrogen content can be regarded as occurring in three portions. First is a large portion which comes off easily and automatically during sample storage and later on heating in the apparatus. This is fairly easily analyzed. Second is an item which may be either positive or negative in the tally sheet. In warm or hot evolution, this is a portion which, in practice, can never be re-

Jan 1, 1951

T.B.King (Depaytment of Metallurgy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)— A valuable contribution of the authors is in the factual information which they have been able to gather; this type of information is quite difficult to obtain. In many respects, however, it would have been better if they had not subsequently embarked on a discussion of the chemistry of the converter process. It seems inconceivable that the authors do not refer to the papers of Schuhmann and his associates14 which have set the thermodynamic foundation for the whole copper smelting operation. In addition, a very useful review on the physical chemistry of copper smelting by Ruddle 5 appeared as long ago as 1953. An examination of this literature would have convinced the authors that there is no cause to be surprised at a correlation between the magnetic content and the silica content of converter slags, though they rightly point out that one should distinguish between the total magnetite content of the slag and the amount of magnetite which may be considered to be in solution. It is not true that the lowest melting converter slag is that corresponding to the eutectic between ferrous oxide and silica. The simplest slag system which can be considered is a three-component system, since both ferric and ferrous iron are present. As Schuhmann, Powell, and Michal have shown, there are lower melting compositions than this eutectic in the ternary system. The most unfortunate impression given by this paper is that the driving force for chemical reaction is determined by the heat of reaction: of course the entropy change must be taken into account. It would have been more correct to list, in Table VI, values for free energies of formation. Nor can it be said that the data in Table VI represent the "best available data." They do not corregtond with any of the recent, acknowledged sources. F. E. Lathe and L. Hodnett(author's reply)— We are pleased that Dr. King finds the factual information in our uawer of some interest. Dr. King suggests that it would have been better if our analysis and discussion of the data had been omitted, largely because our list of references is so. incomplete. If he will carefully read our introduction, he will see that the questionnaire was sent out in the hope of obtaining data which would throw light on certain questions relating to the use of converter refractories. We did not attempt (nor would the AIME have published!) a complete review of the literature on copper converting, as Dr. King has apparently assumed, nor indeed a complete analysis of the data submitted, but tried only to find a sound basis for the choice of refractories, taking into consideration common variations in converter practice. We hope our paper indicates that, by raising the silica content of the converter slag and operating at a higher temperature, the normal circulating load of magnetite can be greatly reduced, and the whole reverberatory-converter operation improved to a major degree, with resultant important savings. Under such operating conditions, chrome-magnesite brick may be expected to stand up better than those of straight magnesite. Regardless of the choice as between these brick types, however, we find the cost of converter refractories to be so low in comparison with other converter costs as to justify operation under the more severe conditions suggested. Valuable as are the papers by Schuhmann and associates and the book by Ruddle, we make no apology for omitting reference to them, nor for using heats of reaction without mention of entropy changes or free energies of formation. Our primary object was to interest the practicing copper metallurgist, with whose language we may claim to be fairly familiar; we think it would have been unwise to include the highly theoretical phases of the subject which Dr. King suggests. The interest shown in our preliminary paper presented at the New York meeting in 1956, and the trends in practice whtat we have observed since that time, suggest that we did not wholly miss the target. In conclusion, we sincerely hope that Professors King and Schuhmann will independently review the data obtained in our questionnaire and submit a paper giving their own recommendations as to the choice of refractories and the particular converter operating conditions which will result in the lowest overall cost of copper smelting and converting.

Jan 1, 1960

DISCUSSION, A. Y. Bethune presiding M. E. Wadsworth and W. M. Fassell (University of Utah, Salt Lake City)—The authors of this paper should be complimented on the experimental techniques they have employed to investigate the rate of solution of galena in sodium hydroxide solution. Studies of this type are important not only as a practical means of leaching normally non-leachable substances, but also to determine the mechanism of solution at the solid-aqueous solution interface. There is some question, however, as to the conclusions which have been drawn by these authors concerning their proposed mechanism. Unfortunately, the contribution of OH- was not definitely established in their work, and concentrations less than 0.5 N NaOH evidently were not investigated. The pressure data at 123°C and 0.5 N NaOH were used to determine pressure dependency and the subsequent model proposed was taken as correct on the basis of the three points presented in Fig. 5 of the paper. In developing the

Jan 1, 1954