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By Alan F. Stewart, Douglas R. Piteau, Dennis C. Martin

Three examples of open pits where toppling failure controls the stability and design of the slopes are described. Two examples involve the design of overall slopes in base metal mines. The third example concerns the analysis and design of remedial measures to prevent toppling failure from occurring in a critical slope in a coal mine. The analytical techniques for assessing toppling failure on a rational basis are discussed for the three examples. This includes an assessment of the important parameters which govern the stability for the toppling failure mode. The geological setting and input data for each example are described, as are the important external or limiting factors pertinent to the sites in question. A statistical cumulative technique was used to assess one of the most important input parameters in the two examples involving overall slope design. Both deep-seated toppling failures, involving the entire slope, and shallow bench failures are considered. Results of the stability analyses and their related engineering significance with regard to slope stability and design are discussed. A sensitivity analysis of various parameters is effectively utilized. Design charts are developed and evaluated accordingly. In the example where toppling failure was unavoidable, the rationale for design of stabilization techniques to prevent toppling is discussed.

Jan 1, 1983

By Frederick N. Rhines

Because of the nature of the environments in which metals are handled, it is natural that gases should be suspected of intruding into metallurgical operations, there to produce effects both beneficial and detrimental. The problem of tracing and controlling such effects is often made difficult by the complexity of the conditions surrounding their occurrellce, even though the fundamental mechanisms invalved may be simple and of familiar type. Many gas-metal reactions are known to be implemented by Processes of diffusion. These form a homogeneous group of phenomena which become more readily understandable when viewed together, in that the knowledge gained from one serves to interpiet the next. It is the purpose of the present Paper to present, by means of examples drawn from practice, a brief survey of the ways in which gas-metal diffusion serves and obstructs the Purposes of the metal-fabricating industries. The selection of the cases described was made by consulting more than thirty-six practicing experts whose combined experience provided an extensive coverage of the field and who were in a position to supply examples of occurrences of present day interest. The response was generous and it is regrettable that space permits the description of only a limited number of typical examples with ' but brief mention of parallel cases. The Nature of Gas-metal Diffusion The term ugas-metal diffusion," although commonly used, is ambiguous in so far as it implies that a definite group of " substances may be identified as gases and may be expected to behave in a manner distinct from other substances in association with metals. "Gases" such as oxygen and hydrogen when diffusing through a liquid or solid metal are properly components of the liquid or solid solution; they behave as alloying elements and are not to be distinguished in their diffusion characteristics from other elements, except that each has an individual rate of diffusion. On the other hand, a number of metals in certain.temperature ranges are volatile to the extent that they may appear in the form of vapor in metallurgical operations. For the sake of greater definiteness, therefore, it will be convenient to regard as "gas-metal diffusion" any process in which the result depends upon one or more of the diffusing elements appearing, at some stage, in the gaseous state, or as a compound gas. NO element, gaseous or otherwise, can diffuse through a liquid or solid metal unless it is at least slightly soluble in that metal. The elements of low atomic number

Jan 1, 1944

By H. J. R. Way

The work to be described was undertaken at various periods from 1937 to 1939 on the Busia gold field, in the eastern province of Uganda. It was decided to examine the possibility of reef prospection by the resistivity method, for it was not known how far the usually disintegrated nature of most reefs in the ubiquitous laterite near the surface would obscure indications obtained by resistivity traverses. The work at the commencement was therefore largely experimental, but the results obtained thereby were satisfactory, and a survey was started at the Government closed area at Amonikakine. With the limited time and resources at the writer's disposal, it was not possible to complete the survey to his satisfaction or to follow up exhaustively all the geophysical indications, but some of the results of the experimental work and the survey were of sufficient interest to be worth recording; in particular the relation between the width of reef, electrode separation and shape of the curve, and the interference effect of constant separation curves over zones of float are significant and useful. Three new veins were located, but only one contained sufficient gold to warrant detailed prospection. This was called the Geophysical reef, and was uncovered over a strike distance of 1140 ft., and there are indications that it extends over a distance of 1990 ft. These results and the recom- mendations consequent therefrom were embodied in a special report to the Uganda Geological Survey. History OF the Field The Busia field is in the southeastern corner of Uganda near the Kenya-Uganda border, and is about 17 miles north of the northeastern corner of Lake Victoria. Gold was first discovered in the area in the stream beds by Davies1,2 in 1932. Subsequently numerous small alluvial claims were worked by prospectors and the area was prospected for reef by a company for periods varying from three to nine months, but was finally abandoned, as the results were considered unfavorable. Further prospecting by the Geological Survey in 1935-1936 under Davies8 and later under the writer4 uncovered three reefs with sufficient gold values to be of economic interest. These were finally taken over by a company known as Borderland Syndicate, which still owns the area, and from September 1937 to the end of 1941 about 13,000 oz. of gold was extracted from reefs of the area proved by the Geological Survey. Opencast mining operations are still proceeding (February 1943). The Amonikakine area lies to the immediate north of that of Borderland Syndicate. A certain amount of prospecting had been done when the writer started work there. As a result of his report, this area was taken over by another syndicate, but little further work was accomplished before it ceased operating because of difficulties of wartime working.

Jan 1, 1946

By Frederick N. Rhines

Because of the nature of the environments in which metals are handled, it is natural that gases should be suspected of intruding into metallurgical operations, there to produce effects both beneficial and detrimental. The problem of tracing and controlling such effects is often made difficult by the complexity of the conditions surrounding their occurrellce, even though the fundamental mechanisms invalved may be simple and of familiar type. Many gas-metal reactions are known to be implemented by Processes of diffusion. These form a homogeneous group of phenomena which become more readily understandable when viewed together, in that the knowledge gained from one serves to interpiet the next. It is the purpose of the present Paper to present, by means of examples drawn from practice, a brief survey of the ways in which gas-metal diffusion serves and obstructs the Purposes of the metal-fabricating industries. The selection of the cases described was made by consulting more than thirty-six practicing experts whose combined experience provided an extensive coverage of the field and who were in a position to supply examples of occurrences of present day interest. The response was generous and it is regrettable that space permits the description of only a limited number of typical examples with ' but brief mention of parallel cases. The Nature of Gas-metal Diffusion The term ugas-metal diffusion," although commonly used, is ambiguous in so far as it implies that a definite group of " substances may be identified as gases and may be expected to behave in a manner distinct from other substances in association with metals. "Gases" such as oxygen and hydrogen when diffusing through a liquid or solid metal are properly components of the liquid or solid solution; they behave as alloying elements and are not to be distinguished in their diffusion characteristics from other elements, except that each has an individual rate of diffusion. On the other hand, a number of metals in certain.temperature ranges are volatile to the extent that they may appear in the form of vapor in metallurgical operations. For the sake of greater definiteness, therefore, it will be convenient to regard as "gas-metal diffusion" any process in which the result depends upon one or more of the diffusing elements appearing, at some stage, in the gaseous state, or as a compound gas. NO element, gaseous or otherwise, can diffuse through a liquid or solid metal unless it is at least slightly soluble in that metal. The elements of low atomic number

Jan 1, 1944

By M. A. Whiting, H. Kenyon Burch

One of the advantages presented by electric drive in many classes of work is the ease with which the electric motor can be controlled automatically. In a large number of cases certain features of the control are automatic—for example, the rate of acceleration may be limited automatically or the equipment may be stopped automatically at the limit of travel—but the equipment is started and ordinarily is stopped by hand. In other cases the motion of the machinery is utilized to start, control the speed, and stop the motor automatically, independently of any operator. A considerable proportion of the large mine hoists now in use have certain automatic features, particularly protective devices against overwinding, and, in some classes of electric hoists, devices for preventing excessive acceleration or retardation. The large automatic hoists discussed in this paper, however, are completely automatic, i.e., capable of making their trips without the presence of an operator at the control levers. According to circumstances, various advantages may be obtained . by automatic control, chief of which are decreased power consumption, increased precision and safety of operation, and decreased cost of attendance. The first step in the analysis of a prospective automatic mine hoist is to determine whether automatic operation is feasible at all. If men are to be hoisted, or levels changed, the attention of an operator is required for these purposes; but under some conditions it may be entirely practicable and advantageous to build the equipment so that, while provision is made for hoisting men or changing levels, ore can be hoisted automatically from any one level. If, however, an operator's attention is required every few minutes for changing levels, handling men or drills, or other work requiring hand control, it is obvious that automatic operation between times will not be of any practical benefit.

Jan 1, 1917

By H. P. Leighly, J. W. Marx, H. L. Walker

A relationship between recrystallized grain size and prior deformation is predicted from elementary statistical considerations, and reasonable agreement with experiment is obtained. RECRYSTALLIZATION phenomena have received much theoretical and experimental attention, and very adequate discussions of the various mechanisms suggested have been given by Anderson and Mehl,' Cook and Richards,' and Burgers," and others. It suffices to note here that the initial concepts fitted one of two general hypotheses: I—The new crystals are nucleated within microscopic regions at which there is a concentration of internal stress, i.e., volume elements of maximum strain energy. 2—The new crystals have their inception in volume elements of minimum strain energy. In a comprehensive early review of the subject, van Arkel' considered both possibilities and came to the conclusion that hypothesis 2 was inconsistent with the experimental fact that the number of nu-cleations increased with increasing deformation. He suggested that, if allowance was made for a preliminary atomic rearrangement at the points of large internal strain, hypothesfs 1 provided the more reasonable concept. Following the initial observations of Collins and Mathewsonb nd Crussard,Y he systematic X-ray investigations of Cahn' and Guinier and Tennevin" established the existence of a polygonized structure in metals that had been cold-worked, and subsequently annealed, under conditions such that re-crystallization did not occur. This new experimental evidence by no means disproved the first nucleation hypothesis, a fact recognized by both Beck" and Cahn,10 who independently suggested nucleation mechanisms based on the idea that regions of large strain might polygonize before the bulk of the less deformed material. These mechanisms, together with others recently proposed," are dependent upon the prior existence of some degree of polygonization in the deformed material. On the other hand, a critical examination of the published data leads to the supposition that polygonization may not be the necessary precursor of recrystallization, but merely its favored energetic competitor. In regions where the lattice distortion is not too severe, the limited adjustment afforded by polygonization may permit the lattice to drop to a relatively stable low energy state in which the nucleation of a new crystal becomes improbable, even at elevated temperatures. Such structures, of course, might provide a fertile field for the growth of nuclei, if these could be introduced. In regions of concentrated lattice distortion, polygonization alone may not be able to accomplish an adequate strain reduction, and in these volume elements sufficient thermal activity permits the more drastic atomic rearrangement involved in nucleation. Completely polygonized structures are known to withstand extended heating close to their melting points," with no other effect than a slow enlargement of some of the subgrains at the expense of others. Once started, macroscopic recrystallization might be expected to go to completion in a matter of minutes under similar heat treatment. Crussard12 and his coworkers have found that recrystallization may occur in single crystals of impure (about 99.7 pct) aluminum without any detectable prior polygonization. The indication here is that large Cottrell impurity atmospheres inhibit dislocation movement, thus suppressing polygonization to such an extent that the alternative process, recrystallization, dominates the lattice restoration. Experimental studies relating recrystallization directly to stored energy have not, at the present time,

Jan 1, 1954

By C. K. Stoddard, R. G. Knickerbocker, E. T. Leidigh, R. R. Lloyd, K. L. Mattingly

DURING July 1941, a study was initiated at the Boulder City Experiment Station of the Bureau of Mines on proposed methods for the production of magnesium metal. The major emphasis was placed upon development of a process that required minimum reliance upon the sale or utilization of by-products to meet economic competition from processes already in operation. It was felt that only through the development of such a process could the nation's vast resources of dolomite and low-grade magnesite that are contiguous to large blocks of firm power be properly utilized. During the course of exploratory tests on electrolytic and electrothermic processes, it was noted that fused magnesium chloride would dissolve appreciable quantities of magnesium oxide in the presence of small amounts of boric oxide. The use of such a solution in an electrolytic cell employing a graphite anode and a steel cathode caused the deposition of magnesium at the cathode and the evolution of carbon oxides at the anode with minimal amounts of chlorine The original results were sufficiently encouraging to justify further investigation on an enlarged scale, since the process seemed to present advantages over other proposed processes 1.2 for the direct use of magnesium oxide in a fused chloride electrolyte. When work on a larger scale was initiated it was found that the addition of boric oxide to the electrolyte resulted in dispersion of metal and constantly decreasing current efficiency. However, by this time solubility studies had shown that magnesium oxide was sufficiently soluble in magnesium chloride melts containing no boric oxide to effect the same anode reactions, and development work was continued. Over two years of development work have been carried out, and considerable work remains to be done. It is desired to emphasize the fact that many of the difficulties met require a long period of continuous operation before they become serious enough to affect operation of the cell. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This paper is one of many reporting on various aspects of the Bureau of Mines' program initiated in August 1939 by passage of the Strategic Minerals Act the scope of which was greatly expanded by subsequent legislation. Some of these papers are published as war minerals reports. others as bulletins, technical papers, reports of investigations

Jan 1, 1945

By E. B. Olds, B. P. Burt

The mines of the Consolidated Gopper-mines Corporation are at Kimberly, in the Robinson mining district, White Pine County, Nevada. The blanket-like ore body is a disseminated copper deposit occurring in monzonite porphyry and, in general, is thoroughly fractured, altered, and soft. Contained in the porphyry ores of the extreme westerly end of the ore body are pendants of hard garnetized limestone. A younger monzonite porphyry underlies the ore-bearing porphyry, which in turn rests on limestone and shale. Block caving is the standard method of mining. Because of the undulating top and bottom contours of the ore body, the main haulage level was selected and driven at an elevation calculated to be the most economic depth below the major tonnage sections of ore. Fig. I shows a general section of the Emma Nevada ore body taken through its long axis, which lies roughly in an east-west direction. Mine openings in either type of porphyry require heavy timbering and constant maintenance and repair, particularly in horizons at or near the ore body contact. Where the ore lies close to the haulage level, slusher hoists and scrapers are used to transport horizontally the ore to the main haulage drift (Fig. 2). For the extraction of high-lying ores, a system of branch raises is used; and the ore is mined by gravity. Slushing methods are used also on the high-lying ore-body fringes. Slusher drifts are often driven from the fringe branch raises that have already served their purpose, in order to minimize the cost of the preparatory work in mining the thinner portions of the ore body (Figs. 3 and 4). When a block of ore is developed and undercut, it is economical to mine it as rapidly as the ore will cave efficiently; and this procedure often presents safety problems because of men with equipment working in a relatively congested area. The single-track main haulage drift is about 11/2 miles long, and lateral haulage drifts are driven under the ore body at intervals determined by the height of the ore body above the haulage level. In order to minimize repair and maintenance, the

Jan 1, 1949

By H. J. R. Way

The work to be described was undertaken at various periods from 1937 to 1939 on the Busia gold field, in the eastern province of Uganda. It was decided to examine the possibility of reef prospection by the resistivity method, for it was not known how far the usually disintegrated nature of most reefs in the ubiquitous laterite near the surface would obscure indications obtained by resistivity traverses. The work at the commencement was therefore largely experimental, but the results obtained thereby were satisfactory, and a survey was started at the Government closed area at Amonikakine. With the limited time and resources at the writer's disposal, it was not possible to complete the survey to his satisfaction or to follow up exhaustively all the geophysical indications, but some of the results of the experimental work and the survey were of sufficient interest to be worth recording; in particular the relation between the width of reef, electrode separation and shape of the curve, and the interference effect of constant separation curves over zones of float are significant and useful. Three new veins were located, but only one contained sufficient gold to warrant detailed prospection. This was called the Geophysical reef, and was uncovered over a strike distance of 1140 ft., and there are indications that it extends over a distance of 1990 ft. These results and the recom- mendations consequent therefrom were embodied in a special report to the Uganda Geological Survey. History OF the Field The Busia field is in the southeastern corner of Uganda near the Kenya-Uganda border, and is about 17 miles north of the northeastern corner of Lake Victoria. Gold was first discovered in the area in the stream beds by Davies1,2 in 1932. Subsequently numerous small alluvial claims were worked by prospectors and the area was prospected for reef by a company for periods varying from three to nine months, but was finally abandoned, as the results were considered unfavorable. Further prospecting by the Geological Survey in 1935-1936 under Davies8 and later under the writer4 uncovered three reefs with sufficient gold values to be of economic interest. These were finally taken over by a company known as Borderland Syndicate, which still owns the area, and from September 1937 to the end of 1941 about 13,000 oz. of gold was extracted from reefs of the area proved by the Geological Survey. Opencast mining operations are still proceeding (February 1943). The Amonikakine area lies to the immediate north of that of Borderland Syndicate. A certain amount of prospecting had been done when the writer started work there. As a result of his report, this area was taken over by another syndicate, but little further work was accomplished before it ceased operating because of difficulties of wartime working.

Jan 1, 1946

By J. Phillip Neal, Kefton H. Teague, Carroll P. Rogers

Feldspars, the most abundant minerals of the igneous rocks, occur in numerous forms and mixtures. The feldspars of commercial significance are found in widely distributed pegmatites as large crystals usually free of iron-bearing impurities and thus suitable for hand-cobbing, and also in larger bodies where the ore contains various types of feldspar intermingled with quartz and relatively free of iron-bearing impurities, or at least readily unlocked from impurities present at relatively coarse mesh. The latter type of ore includes some pegmatites, and the "alaskite" bodies so common in the Spruce Pine district of North Carolina. On the west coast of the US and in Oklahoma there is-or has been-commercial recovery of natural feldspathic sand as a source of alumina in glass and ceramics. "Aplite" in commercial terminology is a light-colored igneous rock with a granitic composition and a fine sugary texture, often banded with readily removable iron impurities. Only one area in Virginia produces aplite for the glass industry; it is located near Montpelier in Hanover County. According to Deer et al. (1966) the word feldspar derives from the Swedish feldt or jolt (field) and "spath:" chunks of rock appearing in tilled ground overlying granite. Castle and Gillson (1960) indicate a Germanic origin, citing "spat," which is said to refer to any transparent or translucent material which is readily cleavable. The term "spar" has in the past been applied to minerals other than feldspar, such as barite, calcite, and fluorite. It is correct to call the latter "fluorspar." There is a true barium feldspar, but it is rare and of no present economic importance. What is recognized as feldspar or "spar" by present producers and consumers consists of three silicate minerals which, if pure, would have the formulas KA1Si3O8 (microcline or orthoclase), NaAlSi3O8 (albite), and CaAl2Si2O8 (anorthite). These are almost never found in pure form in nature, but occur together in great abundance in a three-component system. A considerable number of different combined ratios of these three exists, with the exception that isomorphism between potassium spar and calcium spar is very limited. User specifications for feldspar products are largely built around the prevalent naturally occurring ratios. Passages following will refer to "K-spar," "Naspar," or "Ca-spar." Nomenclature and Descriptive Terms Relating to both the mineralogy and the economics of feldspar are certain terms whose coverage it is useful to specify. Commercially, aplite is a feldspathic rock mined and beneficiated in one location in Virginia, in which both titanium and feldspar minerals are present-the latter now being the major, if not the only, economic product. Technically, the term aplite when applied to this rock is of questionable accuracy. But, in light of accepted commercial usage, the term will be here used to designate it. Regarding the Virginia rock, Ross (1941) is cited. Alaskite is another term requiring understanding if not precise use. A distinctive rock type customarily called by this name is found near Spruce Pine, Mitchell County, North Carolina. An important major feldspar source, it contains somewhat higher levels of plagioclase feldspar and quartz than alaskite as defined in the Glossary of Geology and Related Sciences, which states that `orthoclase, microcline, and subordinate quartz are the principal

Jan 1, 1983

By F. E. Harris

IT has been said that carbon is "ubiquitous" with reference to iron alloys. Certainly at temperatures where carbon and iron form the solid solution, austenite, it may be readily added to, or removed from, steel surfaces. Differences in concentration potential are the sole requirements for carbon flow. To measure the rate of carbon flow, a proportionality factor, D, is arbitrarily expressed in units of (length)2 X (time)-1. If the term used for carbon concentration is weight pct C, as is customary, then a factor must be found, changing this term to one of weight per unit volume when the diffusion coefficient, D, is used in flow formulae. The determination of D values for carbon is complicated since D varies with the concentration itself. The Matano method has often been employed for systems involving a variant D. This method expreses an evaluation of unsteady flow whereby .0 is given a relationship with the numerical value of C-X slopes. The author contends that this solution is incorrect, except when D is invariant. The primary purpose of this paper is to support this contention. Here diffusion is controlled under two conditions of flow. The first part deals with the steady state; the second part considers unsteady flow under definite restrictions. Beginning with the fundamental concept, the development is continued until equations for C-X curves are obtained. The solution is then subjected to experimental data. It is realized that a great amount of reliable data is required for a rigorous proof. No such research is claimed. Instead an attempt is made to set forth the physical significance of the diffusion mechanism, and particularly to express the factors which influence the flow of carbon in austenite. Of equal significance is the implication that gaseous media may be employed with reasonable accuracy in making these determinations. THE STEADY STATE DIFFUSION OF CARBON IN AUSTENITE The fundamental experiment defining diffusion in solid metals may be readily performed for carbon in gamma iron.1 For this experiment a thin plate of medium carbon steel is chosen. The surfaces of this plate may be taken as two parallel planes which may be considered infinite for points well in the center of the planes. These two planes are held at different concentrations of carbon at a constant temperature. This temperature, 1700°F for example, is one where the single phase, carbon in solution with gamma iron, exists. When these conditions are held for a sufficient time the concentration of carbon of the different points of the solid settles down towards its steady state value. At points well removed from the ends, the concentration will remain the same along planes parallel to the surfaces of the plate.

Jan 1, 1947

By Henry Sturgis Drinker, Rossiter W. Raymond

Jan 1, 1914

By W. H. Newhouse

DURING the past few years the writer has been impressed by the close relation of many epigenetic orebodies with anticlinal structures. In the literature on ore deposits there is occasional mention that an oreshoot or district is on an anticline, but in most of the descriptions no weight or significance is attached to the relation, and usually the fact is concealed in a mass of structural detail. A few writers have stressed the relationship in a few districts or on a certain type of deposit. Church, Spurr, Butler, Stahl and Schuette have called attention to certain features, but the general extent of such a correlation has not been made known in any publication that the author has seen. A recent article1 on the localization of ore deposits, by well-known geologists, does not consider this common association. The author has seen in the field a number of the structural features described, and in addition has made a fairly complete review of the literature. This paper presents enough of the examples found to show the frequency of the relation to anticlines, and since only a few deposits on synclines are known, all of these of any importance of which the writer knows are mentioned. With certain qualifications which are discussed later, epigenetic ore deposits of replacement or vein type are mostly found where local upwarps of the earth's crust have taken place. Where formations antedating the ore deposits are present in the proper attitude to demonstrate vertical warping (i. e., more or less horizontal beds) the structural feature on which a mineral district, or mineralized area is located is almost always anticlinal, or domelike in nature. Some or even most of the ore deposits in a given district may be on the flanks of the upwarp, but few major districts are located definitely on downwarped areas. Synclinal basins within certain limits of size appear to be unfavorable to the type of fracturing that admits ore-bearing solutions.

Jan 1, 1931

By Warren B. Davis

Introduction If a subject this broad were to be covered in even moderate detail, it would require a set of books about the size of an encyclopedia. Since an acceptable length for this paper is a small fraction of one book, it will have to consist of a few samples of the subjects that I think are the most pertinent to World Fossil Fuel Economics. I plan to discuss the trends in world energy demand, particularly in the U. S. and Europe; the consumption patterns and cost patterns of oil, gas and coal; the prospects of synthetics; and some of the effects of government regulation of fuel economics. World Energy Demands Fig. 1 shows Free World energy consumption by principal areas for the period from 1950 to 1970 and a forecast for the period from 1970 to 1985. These figures include only the measurable forms of energy. An example of energy consumption that is not measured is the wood a peasant might cut in the forest and bum in a fireplace to heat his home. This omission probably is a very small part of the total. This forecast is not identical with that of Wayne E. Glenn (see Page 22), but the differences in total energy consumption are not significant. The U. S. consumption, which was 55 percent of the world total in 1950, had declined to 45 percent by 1970, and is expected to decline further to 38 percent by 1985. Western Europe has consumed 28 percent of the total from 1950 to 1970 and is expected to lose share slightly between 1970 and 1985. The most spectacular gainer is Japan, which increased consumption from 2.5 percent in 1950 to 7.5 percent in 1970, and is expected to reach nearly 17 percent by 1985. The over-all Free World total has grown from 62 quadrillion Btu (equivalent to 29 million B/D of crude oil) in 1950 to 151 quadrillion by 1970, an average growth rate of 4.5 percent/year. This total is expected to grow at a rate of 5 percent/year between now and 1985, reaching 315 quadrillion Btu (equivalent to nearly 150 million B/D). Fig. 2 shows which fuels supplied this energy between 1950 and 1970, and gives an estimate of how it will be supplied between 1970 and 1985.

Jan 1, 1971

By E. A. Reilly, G. R. Gardner, F. P. Lasseter

THE methods that may be applied to the treatment of slurries and water, as these are related to practical coal-preparation problems, are concerned essentially with the movements of solids suspended in water. It is assumed that there are no fundamental differences between the principles involved in the treatment of coal slurries and the phenomena encountered in general mineral-dressing practice, and the latter are presented in some detail. Basic principles are correlated with present practice for both the anthracite and the bituminous coal. fields, and meth¬ods are discussed which are designed to utilize best all the material subjected to treatment and suggest a sound approach to the solution of problems relating to the return of clear water to process or to streams. In order to approach the practical phases of the subject with sufficient understanding of the basic principles, it is necessary to discuss two types of phenomena that are applicable. The first is flocculation and the second is sedimentation. Descriptive matter is given covering the various meth¬ods and types of equipment employed to conduct these operations, with emphasis on their application to water and coal-slurry treatment.

Jan 1, 1943

By C. E. Nighman, R. S. Foster

The following is a description of the methods used in rescuing men and extinguishing the underground fire at the Pennsylvania mine, Butte, Mont. , This fire, which cost the lives of 21 men, began about 9 p.m., Feb. 14, 1916, at or near a ventilating fan on the 1,200 air-shaft station. This shaft at that time was downcast, while the main hoisting shaft was upcast. Owing to the proximity of the fire to the air shaft, the air in the latter soon became heated, and as the fan on the level was not running— the power having been cut off shortly after the outbreak of the fire—the air shaft became upcast to the 300 level. At this point a blanket of cold air from the surface caused the smoke and gases to be drawn in on that level and carried down again through the workings to the 1,200. A short time after the discovery of the fire, water was turned down the air shaft through a series of pipes around the collar of the shaft, which caused the smoke to recede below the 300, so that within 2 hr. it was possible to search that level for the missing men. From the above it will be apparent why the air shaft was upcast instead of downcast, as under normal conditions, and why men were suffocated at considerable distances from the seat of the fire. The smoke and gases that came up the main hoisting shaft did not diffuse through the workings to any extent. There are doors on all levels in the connections to the main hoisting and air shafts, but in the confusion and running around many of these doors were left open, and this undoubtedly caused the smoke and gases to spread more rapidly than they would otherwise have done. It was necessary for most of the men on the various levels to pass close to the air shaft in going to the hoisting shaft, and when they encountered the smoke and gases in that vicinity a number turned back and climbed down with the direction of the air currents and were then suffocated, while all those who passed through the pall of smoke to the main shaft were saved. There were 220 men in the mine that night, and all but 25 were hoisted to the surface within 30 min. after the discovery of the fire. Of the 25, five went out through the Tramway mine, and one through the Moun-

Jan 1, 1918

By G. R. Gardner, D. H. Davis

Increasing realization of the importance of dust control, and the recommendations of various agencies, have led the mining industry to become actively concerned with this problem. The background and necessity for adequate dust-suppression measures have been discussed in a number of publications, including those of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, and the use of spray water to reduce dust at the face and on roadways has been recommended. The problem resolves itself into obtaining adequate dust reduction at a reasonable cost. Inasmuch as the term "adequate dust suppression" has never been clearly defined, nor have permissible limits of dustiness (in terms of dust count) been established, it is apparent that any method selected may be required to meet additional demands. Until the industry has been given some indication of permissible limits of dustiness, no permanent solution is possible. Progress will be somewhat handicapped until such information is available. In addition, dust reduction must be obtained without the addition of any excessive moisture to the coal, since consideration must often be given to: I. Quality standards, particularly reduction in heat value. 2. Handling characteristics, particularly in regard to unloading from railroad cars and bins. 3. Application of dry methods of coal cleaning. 4. Necessity for fine screening within specified limits of oversize and undersize. Little detailed information is available as to the advantages and disadvantages of the several methods of water distribution, the location and protection of sprays, operating data on pressure, quantity of water, and so forth, and results obtained. In 1940 an investigation was undertaken to determine and evaluate the principal factors involved. This paper constitutes a progress report on this work and cannot in any way be regarded as complete on any one of the several phases. Classification of Dust Sources The various sources of underground dust may be classified as primary or secondary. A primary source is one associated with appreciable degradation of size, that is, where the greater part of the actual fines capable of becoming air-borne dust are produced. A secondary source may be considered as one in which the greater part of the fines have been produced at some previous operation and are in such condition that they can be dispersed as air-borne dust. These conceptions appear to be of practical significance, as experience indicates that when dust is controlled at the primary sources the importance of secondary sources is minimized. For these reasons, investigations to date have been concerned principally with the primary sources of dust, and this paper is concerned particularly with one of these—namely, undercutting. In accord with the foregoing definitions, the sources to which the following opera-

Jan 1, 1942

By Arthur Fleischer

THE Kalunite process? for the production of metal-grade alumina from alumina-containing ores is applicable, considered from a general point of view, to any aluminous raw material that can be converted to potassium alum or equivalent normal alum. This result of modern technology has been the subject of a continuous study and development since 1929, on a laboratory and test-plant scale, with initial emphasis on the utilization of alunite as the raw material. The research and developmental program was carried out by the Kalunite Company and its successor, Kalunite, Inc., an affiliate of the Olin Corporation of East Alton, Illinois. The process is now approaching the time for a major test in its history with the completion of construction of a plant having a capacity of zoo tons of alumina per day in Salt Lake City for the conversion of Marysvale, Utah, alunite ores to alumina and potassium sulphate. The Salt Lake Alumina Plant is a Defense Plant Corporation project. PRODUCTION OF ALUMINUM The known existence of alunite deposits, especially in the Marysvale district, furnished the motive for the original inquiry into the utilization of this raw material for aluminum production. The deposits in this region were actively explored during World War I and utilized for the production of potassium sulphate, an essential fertilizer, of which a shortage of monumental proportions then existed. Up to the twentieth century for alunite is a mineral with an ancient history-it was used in Europe and in China as a source of potassium alum. It never had been used successfully in. this country as a source of oxide for reduction to metal. Although the known reserves of this ore, which undoubtedly will be greatly expanded with a commercial outlet for this ore, are recognized to be sufficient for only a part of the present-day needs of aluminum, it has a definite place in the aluminum industry. Academically it points the way for future raw materials. The aluminum industry has undergone a remarkable growth in the past few years as a result of defense and war requirements. Its expansion in many ways has been beyond belief and prediction, both in volume and location. This wartime status of the industry has accelerated the consumption of bauxite to such an extent, that a re-evaluation of the raw material reserves for the future peacetime industry and for eventual wartime reserves is seemingly of concern. The generally accepted picture of bauxite ore reserves in the United States, especially in raw material suitable for treatment by the Bayer process, focuses attention on other possible sources of raw material of metal-grade oxide. The perspective for the development of a suitable process may have changed in the interim

Jan 1, 1944

By H. I. Aaronson

Isothermally formed plates of proeutectoid a, lengthen at approximately the rates predicted by the Zener-Hillert equation, indicating that their lengthening kinetics are controlled by the volume diffusion of chromium in the ß matrix. Solution annealing treatments in the vicinity of the transus introduce a second mode of transformation, in which the lengthening rate is at least 1.8 x 104 faster than predicted by this equation. Little or no volume diffusion appears to accompany the latter transformation. The Presence of oxygen is evidently a Prerequisite for the occurrence of this reaction. X HE effects of thermal history prior to the initiation of transformations which proceed by nucleation and diffusional growth are currently evoking considerable interest. The rate of nucleation (but not the rates of growth) of pearlitel and of bainite,2 and the over-all rates of aging reactions in Al-cu3 and Al-si4 alloys have been shown to be appreciably dependent upon thermal history in the solid-solution region"' or in the two-phase region prior to the onset of pre~ipitation.3,4 In none of these reactions, however, was the transformation mechanism changed by variations in the temperature-time path used to reach the reaction temperature. Preliminary experiments reported by M. K. McQuillan5,8 and a systematic investigation by Farrar and Margolin7 have disclosed that the transformation behavior of hypoeutectoid Ti-Cr alloys is considerably more sensitive to thermal history. Qualitative evidence strongly suggests that not only the rate of nucleation but also the rate of growth and even the mechanism of the ß — a reaction can undergo remarkable changes when a solution annealing treatment in the vicinity of the ß/a +ß, or transus temperature, is interposed between a high-temperature solution anneal (conventionallq at 1000°C) and the isothermal reaction treatment. The present investigation was undertaken in an attempt to ascertain the nature and origin of these effects. Study of the changes in the kinetics and morphology of the ß - a, reaction produced by varialtions in thermal history was the primary means employed for this purpose. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The compositions of the alloys used in this in~esti~ation are given in Table I. These alloys were homogenized for 5 days at 1050° C in evacuated (2 x 10 -5 mm of Hg), zirconium-gettered fused quartz capsules. The capsules themselves were enclosed in a porcelain chamber evacuated with a mechanical pump during the homogenization anneals. Upon completion of homogenization, the alloys were cooled to room temperature and then reheated to 550°C for 3 1/2 days in order to transform the alloys to a finely divided mixture of a and TiCr2, and thus provide an approximately constant initial mi-crostructure. Individual specimens were sealed in evacuated and internally gettered Vycor capsules and heat treated as previously described.8,9 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS Ti-10.64 Pet Cr. This investigation was largely performed on the 0.64 pet Cr alloy. The "base"

Jan 1, 1962

By H. E. Lee, P. C. Feddersen, D. R. Gittinger, G. W. Dunn, J. B. Schuettenhelm

The new Bunker Hill slag-treatment plant, designed ior, a capacity of 300 to 400 tons of hot slag per day, was "blown in" April 5, 1943. In the ensuing I5-months period, 157,530 tons of slag was processed, with an average recovery of over go per cent of the zinc and practically all of the lead contained. In addition to this high metal recovery, utilization of the waste heat in the gas and fume venting, the process has enabled the generation of 231,376 tons of steam at 250-lb, gauge. Over the first six months opcration the volume of slag treated averaged somewhat under 300 tons per day. Reclaimed dump slag made up only about 1 5 per cent of the plant feed. In October 1943, preparations for the smelting of additional tonnages of dump slag were completed and the plant capacity was increased to an average of about 420 tons of slag per day. During the nine-months interval since that date, monthly averages of 450 toils per operating day have been maintained several times. The new plant (Fig. I) is constructed in close proximity to blast-furnace operations. The fuming furnace and other necessary equipment are housed in an eastward extension of the existing blast-furnace building. Beyond this housed extension the dust-laden gas is conveyed about the perimeter of a large rectangle formed by the flues, cooling towers and baghouses. The course of a 10-ft. balloon flue, which transports the fuming furnace gas, describes the west and south perimeters. This flue connects with a set of cooling towers located at the southeast comer. The flue and cooling-tower system serving the deleading kiln constitute the north side and the two baghouses, serving the kiln and furnace operations, -border the east side. From these baghouses the several discharge gas flows are come biped and conveyed in to the rectangle, being vented to atmosphere by means of a fan through a centrally located zoo-ft. brick stack. In general, the plant design and operation follow quite closely that dictated by experience gained in years of slag-fuming practice by the Anaconda Copper Mining Go., at East Helena, Mont., and the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Co. of Canada, Ltd., at Trail, B.C., and more recently by the International Smelting and Refining Co. at Toocle, Utah. : Fuming operations at the East Helena and the Tooele plants are more or less identical. Trail practice differs chiefly in the methods employed for the storage of the hot feed slag and in the methods utilized for the handling and cooling of the fuming furnace gas. The new Bunker Hill fuming plant closely follows Trail procedure in the treatment of the furnace discharge gas while East Hclcna methods have been adopted for the storage of feed slag.

Jan 1, 1944