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By Fred J. Miller

FRED J. MILLER was born in Ohio, in 1857. He had a common and high school education, supplemented by personal study and special instruction. After serving a 4-year apprenticeship and working in various capacities in machine shops, he became a contributor to mechanical journals and finally a member of the editorial staff of The American Machinist, where he remained for twenty years, the last ten years as editor-in-chief of the magazine, and vice-president of the publishing company. On retiring from journalism, he was for nine years general manager of a group of typewriter factories, and was then commissioned Major of Ordnance in the U. S. Army, being stationed during most of his service at Rock Island Arsenal, where he organized the Civilian Service Division of the Arsenal. He is now a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the War Claims Board at Washington. Major Miller became a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1890, and has always taken an active interest in its affairs, having served on a number of important committees, and as a member of Council from 1904 to 1907, inclusive. He was elected President in December, 1919.

Jan 1, 1920

By AIME

TITANIUM-RICH ilmenite deposits, situated in the Allard Lake area in Quebec some 400 miles down the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City and 28 miles north of Havre St. Pierre on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, are undergoing an intensive development program by the joint efforts of the Kennecott Copper Corp. and The New Jersey Zinc Co. Easily accessible ore, amounting to about 125 million long tons and carrying from thirty to forty per cent titanium oxide, has been delimited. Plans are being made for construction of an electric smelter at Sorel, on the south bank of the St. Lawrence midway beween Montreal and Three Rivers, which will produce 650 long tons of high-grade titanium slag and 500 long tons of iron per day from 1500 long tons of ore. Occurrence of ilmenite ore in this area has been known since J. A. Retty reported his geological work in the lower Romaine River area for the Quebec Bureau of Mines in 1941. In this report Dr. Retty mentions the presence of anorthosite rocks, some of which were rich in ilmenite. Claims were staked by several interests but the small showings and complex metallurgy were too formidable for any organization not adequately equipped with capital, metallurgical knowhow, and market outlets. However, Kennecott became interested and through a newly formed Canadian subsidiary, Kennco Explorations Ltd., options were taken up under the direction of A. H. Robertson. An area of 300 square miles was traversed in the summers of 1945 and 1946. During 1946 and 1947 geophysical and diamond-drill prospecting disclosed a num-

Jan 1, 1948

By Edgar C. Bain

A NUMBER probably a sizable group of person with a dominant interest in metals maintain contact with the developments in ferrous metallurgy by reading week by week, as time permits, some four or five periodical devoted in considerable part to this field. It seems possible that some of these, like ourself, find it difficult to see the net results of the development day by day in clear perspective, The impression sometimes seems blurred by the uninterrupted succession of so many accounts, or out of focus from the very impact of so many reports of new things enthusiastic, well written, and understandable though they usually are. It is at times almost as though one were trying to observe, from a fastmoving vehicle, objects all too near at hand. Or perhaps this impression is merely a manifestation of our individual hyperopia ; in which case we should content ourself with an observation that it would be more satisfactory on the whole to discuss in 1941 the metallurgical advances of 1930-35 than those of

Jan 1, 1941

By J. Spotts McDowell

J. W. RICHARDS, So. Bethlehem, Pa.-The paper is certainly an exceedingly, valuable one and it gives detailed information which should be utilized in the following way. There are probably twenty different circumstances or conditions under which silica bricks are used. Sometimes they are used under high pressure, at others under low pressure, at times for low temperatures and others for very high temperatures. If the methods of this paper are followed out, and if the precise mechanical and thermal properties are determined and can be reproduced, the industry can furnish the proper brick for any particular purpose. There is at present only an imperfect classification made as to properties and uses, but we need a "much more scientific classification of the uses to which the bricks are to be put and then should manufacture the bricks suited particularly for each of those purposes. There is one property which is not mentioned in the paper and which is of considerable importance, that is, the 'electrical conductivity. There may be other properties besides, which a good research laboratory can determine, and when we have listed all the various properties and noted the way in which they can be reproduced, the maker can then specify his exact requirements and the corresponding quality of brick can he selected or made to meet them. H. D. HIBBARD, Plainfield, N. J.-About a year ago I had some experience in another country, in melting steel, where silica bricks made in that country failed, but in a different way from those in America. Here, when the bricks get too hot, they are partly melted and string down

Jan 4, 1917

By James L. Calver

Fuller’s earth is an inexact term applied to certain clays that have a marked ability to adsorb coloring materials from animal, vegetable, and mineral oils. Many clays have this adsorbing power to a slight or very limited degree, and certain other clays, chiefly bentonites, as well as minerals such as bauxite, can be made highly adsorbent by activation with acids or alkalies, but the term fuller's earth is generally reserved for clays that are naturally highly adsorptive. In most fuller's earths and practically all activable clays montmorillonite is a dominant mineral. No definite clay mineral or group is implied in the name fuller's earth, and the distinction between fuller's earth and other clays that have more or less bleaching power is not sharply drawn. The name as generally used has no genetic or mineralogical significance. The fuller's earth produced in the Florida-Georgia district contains the clay mineral attapulgite. This mineral name was first used in 1930 by DeLapparent to apply to a hydrous aluminum magnesium silicate found in the fuller's earth from Attapulgus, Ga., and Quincy, Fla. An essential component of its structure, determined by Bradley in 1940, is that the silica chains of the molecule are arranged similarly to those of the amphibole minerals. The fibrous nature of the lath-like crystals of attapulgite is apparent under magnifications reached by the electron microscope. The ideal formula, [(OH,), (OH), Mg, Si, 0,-4H,O], contains no aluminum, but there is considerable replacement of the magnesium by aluminum. In the classification of clay minerals, attapulgite is associated with sepiolite and polygorskite rather than with mont-morillonite.

Apr 1, 1956

By Robert H. Richards

My first paper, read at the Cobalt Meeting of the Institute,' July, 1907, dealt with the behavior of a small Wilfley table when collceiltrating galena from quartz, the table being fed with natural products, with sized products, and with classified products. Since galena, having a specific gravity of 7.5, is among the heaviest minerals ordinarily concentrated by Wilfley table, it was desirable that a similar set of tests upon a mineral of lighter weight should be made. Chalcopyrite, of a specific gravity of 4, would have been the best mineral for this purpose, on account of its great importance as an economic mineral, but in carrying out the test I was obliged to content myself with a cupriferous pyrite, the specific gravity of which was 4.68 and the content in copper 8.80 per cent. Through the kindness of H. 0. Cummins, this material was obtained from Shasta, Cal., in very pure, clean, homogeneous condition. It was broken by rolls to 2 mm. in size, taking care to make a minimum of slimes. The quartz used to mix with it was pure, white, New England quartz, broken in the same way to the same size. In studying the accompanying tables, it should be borne in mind that the material concentrated was of low copper-content, and in many cases the quantity fed to the machine was 1 kg. or less. As a consequence of the smallness of the quantity treated it was very difficult to adjust the table and get it in condition to do its best work before the feed became exhausted, and for this reason many results were obtained which appear irregular.

Jan 1, 1909

AT the meeting of January 28 which was held too late to be reported in the February MINING AND METAL-LURGY, Messrs. Taylor, Barron, Bassett, DeGolyer, Hutchinson, Norris, Rand, Reynders, Smith, Sweetser and Callow were present. Aside from routine matters, relating to finances and membership,, the Board author-ized establishment of a payroll account and payment by check. It also approved plans for a regional meeting to be, held at Cleveland on April 19 and 20 under the auspices of the Ohio Section and the Iron and Steel Committee. Following a report from the Committee on increase of Membership, Messrs. Barron, Bassett, and Sweetser were appointed as a special committee to con-sider the feasibility of increasing the dues. Mr. Read was made secretary of this Committee. A pleasant feature of the meeting was the presence of past-presi-dent Olcott and the presentation by him to the Institute of an elaborate scrap book, covering the excursion through Mexico made by the Institute in 1901. The meeting was preceded by a dinner at which Scott Turner spoke of the problems of the Bureau of Mines and the large volume of service work for the govern-ment it was now called on to perform. M. L. Requa discussed the need of more exact data covering our national reserve of minerals. E. N. Cooper gave a vivid picture of conditions in Mexico. W. H. Bassett told of the problems before the Institute of Metals, and Zay Jeffries told of the plans for that Division now being formulated. Max W. Ball reinforced what Mr. Requa had said relative to the importance and value of conservation studies as relates to minerals.

Jan 3, 1927

By Eugene Rabinowitch

The Chemistry of Uranium. By Joseph J, Katz and Eugene Rabinowitch. Published by McGraw-Hill, Book Co. of New York, 1951. 609 P. $7.15.--This volume is the first half of a comprehensive treatise on uranium chemistry. It contains a detailed summary of the properties of the element uranium, including its occurrence in nature, extraction from ores, and the physical and chemical properties of uranium metal. Binary compounds of uranium with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and the halogens, among others, receive extensive discussion, including methods of preparation and physical properties such as crystal structure, thermochemistry and volatility. A very large proportion of the material in this volume is based on the results obtained in the laboratories of the Atomic Energy Project, much of it not published before. In addition, all of the open literature has been critically surveyed and integrated with the results of the Atomic Energy Project studies. Principles of Geology. By James Gilluly, Aaron C. Waters and A. O. Woodford. Published by W. H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco, Calif., 1951.640 P. $5.75.-This book attempts to summarize some of the knowledge that geologists have won from the study of the earth. It covers such subjects as movements of the earth's crust, records of earth movement, stream erosion and deposition, deserts, the ocean and mineral resources of the earth. The authors have concentrated on the analysis of processes that are at work upon and within the earth. rather than to present a catalog of descriptive facts and terms. The development of stratigraphy is also outlined. Pictures, maps, and tables are used to illustrate the major points of each chapter.

Jan 9, 1951

By R. C. Canby

The American water-jacket furnace is the outgrowth of lead-smelting at Eureka, Nev., subsequently developed in Utah and Colorado. Early smelting in Virginia, New England, or the Missouri-Kansas-Illinois district seems to have had no direct influence in the development of this furnace. First Decade, 1870 to 1880. In 1870, the draft-furnace was used in Nevada, coincidentally with the first crude sandstone blast furnaces, which were 2 or 3 ft. sq., with Sturtevant fans or small Roots blowers, and sheet-iron or water-cooled tuyeres. Stetefeldt, Liebenau, Albert Arents, and 0. H. Hahn mere the early metallurgical leaders. Arents's siphon-tap and the re-establishment of the furnace-bosh mere the most important improvements of the decade. Second Decade, 1880 to 1890. At first there were ,many small local plants; but by the time Eureka had reached its maximum production of lead-ore, two custom works (the Eureka and the Richmond) were treating all the ore, the miners having learned the economy of smelting at larger and well-constructed plants. In the early eighties, most of the features of modern practice were already discernible at Salt Lake, Leadville, Denver, and Pueblo. The small square sandstone furnaces had been replaced by rectangular water-jacket furnaces, mostly 36 in. wide, and from 60 to 80 in. long at the tuyeres, which entered between cast-iron water-jackets. Subsequently, Franz Casin, at the Holden works, Denver, put the tuyeres in the middle of the jackets, and many other improvements were made by him and others, so that the cast-iron jacket became the favorite, until the possibility of

Jan 1, 1913

By R. S. Dean

True careful work of Gross and Zimmerley1 has established the fact that the energy actually used in grinding is proportional to the new sur-face produced. This confirmation of Rittinger's law was made by crush-ing quartz in a frictionless drop-weight machine and determining the surface of the quartz by its rate of solution in hydrofluoric acid. The details of this procedure have been described adequately elsewhere and need not be repeated here. The resultant data furnish the only available basis for comparing accurately the efficiency of grinding machines. This method is so cumbersome experimentally that it has been little used. As an alternative all sorts of approximations have been proposed. The best of these is complete size analysis by sieving and elutria-tion. Such procedure is very lengthy and difficult to carry out accurately. Furthermore, any sizing method becomes very inaccurate for determining surface with very fine sizes where the ratio of surface to volume becomes very large. To avoid the lengthy and difficult technique of elutriation it has been proposed to estimate the size distribution below 200 mesh from various probability formulas. Such a procedure is at best an engi-neering approximation; at worst it is a mere guess. Some time ago Dr. V. H. Gottschalk2 found that the coercive forces of magnetite powders were directly proportional to the surface area, regard-less of size distribution. It was at once apparent that this furnished a method for determining grinding efficiency quickly and accurately. The only requirement was a single determination of the relation between the work input of the Gross-Zimmerley drop-weight machine and the coercive force of the resultant crushed magnetite.

Jan 1, 1936

George H. Abeel, Hurley, Wis. (communication to the Secretary) : Doubtless Mr. Boss did not mean to be understood as saying that the dikes of this range are everywhere overlaid with iron-ore. I know of places where the dark, massive dike is found near the surface, but no ore is found on it. And his statement (p. 557) that a wherever the slightest inclination is shown it is always to the east," should be modified to " usually." There are several instances of a westward pitch, e.g., at the Palms, Newport and Odanah properties, and also at the Montreal mine, where we encountered in the ore a small dike pitching west. Mr. Boss's statement (p. 559) that. the ore of the Pence mine lens " has all been removed from the Pence and Father Hennepin lands, and practically from the Montreal property, and is now being wrought by the Montreal Mining Company on the ' Sec. 33' property," does not convey the exact state of the latter company's operations. We are still mining ore on the Montreal property from the lens referred to, and expect to continue doing so for some little time to come. On the other hand, we are getting a shaft down to the ore on the " See. 33 " property, but ye have not yet encountered the dike. This can hardly be considered as working the ore. I do not understand upon what evidence Mr. Boss can consider the correctness of a previous hypothetical location of the dike to have been established " within 2 feet," when the dike has not yet been reached. Possibly he has been misled by hearsay reports.

Jan 1, 1898

Charles H. Morgan, Worcester, Mass. (communication to the Secretary): In connection with Mr. Douglas's mention of the continuous charcoal kiln used at Kopparberg, some further data concerning this important invention may be of interest. Before giving these, however, I will say a word or two concerning other features of Swedish practice. In 1894 I spent two days at Soderfers with Mr. Tom Bergendal, the manager of the works, and was specially interested in the gas-producers and wood-drying kiln, illustrated in the paper contributed to our Transactions by Mr. Odelstjerna in that year.* The wood-drying kiln is, however, quite different in design and construction from Ljungberg's charcoal kiln. In the summer of 1894 it was discovered that by placing the gas-producer as close as possible to the open-hearth furnace, and working the producer hot, ordinary weather-dried wood, still containing a considerable percentage of moisture, could be used to advantage in the melting-furnace. Hence, the dryingkiln was needed for wet wood only. One of the iron-works of the Udeholm Go. was the first to adopt the Lundin saw-dust gas-producer and condenser, enabling them to make gas from saw-dust containing 45 per cent. of moisture, and convey the gas from the condenser through wooden pipes to the Siemens steel-melting furnace.† This sawdust gas gave very satisfactory results in iron-works; but the proprietors experienced much trouble by reason of the pollution of rivers by the tar-water from the condenser. On my visit, in 1894,I found that the Udeholm Co. had put in for their steel-melting furnaces the same wood-gas producers

Jan 1, 1899

A. A. CENTER*—This paper reminds me of the beginning of the work of the Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia. Early work for this Company, as some of you may know, was done at the Bully Hill Plant in California. After working there for some time Herbert Gepp, now Sir Herbert, came to the Anaconda Co. plants in Montana where I met him. He spent some months there, in fact almost a year if I remember rightly. That was when we were breaking in the new electrolytic zinc plant at Great Falls, Montana. From there he went back to Australia and started in on the plant there. I believe they had an original plant of about 20 tons per day of cathode zinc. We heard from them for some time, until they were able to go along on their own, and they have done very well ever since as you have heard. Their practice, (the flow sheet, the leaching practice), has been quite different as reported in the paper and apparently they are still following that practice to some extent. While the earliest work on selective flotation was done down in Australia, the big companies there, strange to say, were far behind the American companies in taking it up; and it is only in comparatively recent years they have gone to the alkaline circuit and dropped out thereby more of their iron and lead. The zinc plant now is up to a capacity of 100,000 tons a year and I believe that may be notched up to about 105,000. T. H. WELDON*—I would like to ask

Jan 1, 1950

By S. W. Ross

A. A. CENTER*—This paper reminds me of the beginning of the work of the Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia. Early work for this Company, as some of you may know, was done at the Bully Hill Plant in California. After working there for some time Herbert Gepp, now Sir Herbert, came to the Anaconda Co. plants in Montana where I met him. He spent some months there, in fact almost a year if I remember rightly. That was when we were breaking in the new electrolytic zinc plant at Great Falls, Montana. From there he went back to Australia and started in on the plant there. I believe they had an original plant of about 20 tons per day of cathode zinc. We heard from them for some time, until they were able to go along on their own, and they have done very well ever since as you have heard. Their practice, (the flow sheet, the leaching practice), has been quite different as reported in the paper and apparently they are still following that practice to some extent. While the earliest work on selective flotation was done down in Australia, the big companies there, strange to say, were far behind the American companies in taking it up; and it is only in comparatively recent years they have gone to the alkaline circuit and dropped out thereby more of their iron and lead. The zinc plant now is up to a capacity of 100,000 tons a year and I believe that may be notched up to about 105,000. T. H. WELDON*—I would like to ask

Jan 1, 1950

The following letter has been received from Prof. Alfred C. Lane, of Tufts College, who is now in charge of the department, of mining in the College of Engineering, American E. F. University, Beaune, France. My DEAR MR. STOUGHTON: I have had a very interesting time here. We were received fast Saturday with great courtesy by the Schneiders at the Creusot plant, and saw many interesting things, from the mammoth guns clown. In one trip I saw a coal mine, an iron mine, an oilshale mine, a gypsum mine, and a most beautiful fluorspar mine. So you see we were not badly located. A mine like Epinac, which has a washery, a briquetting plant, and great central electric plant where coal that might otherwise be waste is converted into electricity and shipped away at 30,000 volts pressure, is of interest mechanically as well as geologically. Many of the French coal seams are very thick here and have especial mining methods. The Department of Mining has been manned by men with whom it was a pleasure and an honor to be associated, as well as with Dean Reber who was in charge of the College of Engineering as a whole. Names like Captain H. C. Ray, former professor at the University of Pittsburgh, on leave in the army, Captain Archbald of the Colliery Engineer at one time, whose work in the Pennsylvania coal mines is well known, Captain Vail of the Engineering and Mining Journal staff and Captain E. C. Dietrich of the Southwest, are familiar to members of the Institute, and Are guarantees of competent instruction.

Jan 7, 1919

By H. D. Hoskold

This instrument, shown in Fig. 1, is not generally known, though it has been used in England, and found very practical, handy and useful in work not requiring a transit or theodolite. It is not only a good miner's dial, but a circumferentor as well; that is, it can measure horizontal angles like a theodolite. The magnetic bearings are conveniently read on the inward-beveled upper divided circle; while another circle, graduated on the base-plate, is used for reading the horizontal angles with a vernier. Two leveling spirit-bubbles are sunk in the same base-plate. The vertical divided semicircle is attached to the compact-box by two short axes, which permit the semicircle, with its plain sights, to be turned down to a horizontal position, and rest upon a pin, which relieves the axes from strain. This adjustment gives a clear view of the needle and vernier, and protects the instrument from injury, when carried through low mine-workings. A groove in the semicircle receives a sliding-bridge which carries the plain sights, and a vernier for reading vertical angles. A ball-and-socket-headed tripod is used; but sometimes the instrument is mounted on parallel-plates and level-ing-screws; and sometimes a telescope is attached, instead of the plain sights. The instrument is admirable for all such Mexican surveys as Mr. E. A. H. Tays describes ;l and saves so much time and labor as to be vastly superior to the less accurate hanging-compass called by him a " bully " instrument. If the hanging-compass was ever used in England, it has long since given way to more modern and superior instruments.

Jan 1, 1905

THE gold medal of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America was presented, on Jan. 10, 1922, to Charles Warren Goodale, "for signal services in furthering the welfare and safety of workers in the mining and metallurigical industries of America." The presentation was made by Dr. J. E. Spurr, presi-dent of the Society for the year 1921, at the annual meeting held in New York City. Dr. Van H. Manning, formerly director of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, made the first address. Toward the close of his brief speech, he said, "It has happily been suggested, ?Let us balance our praise of war heroes by pausing to honor a hero of peace.' We have with us tonight a man who has been a leader and inspirer of thousands of his contemporaries. . . . His zeal in the great work of increasing the safety of men engaged in mining and metallurgical operations has become an obsession with him. . . . That lie has been success-ful is evidenced by the great work, of which I have personal and intimate knowledge, done by him in con-nection with the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. and its subsidiaries." Dr. J. F. Kemp gave a brief sketch of Mr. Goodale's career, in the course of which he said, in speaking of .the consolidation of the Boston and Montana, the Anaconda, and smaller companies, "at the same time electric current was introduced for haulage in the mines and on the surface for the running of air compressors and the hoisting of the cage. . . . We can see that there was great danger to the miner and that safety first became a very important feature of the work. . . .

Jan 2, 1922

By F. C. Newton

REFINERS of lead by the Parkes process have always been solicitous of recovering the zinc used in the desilverization, and justly so, as the loss in zinc constitutes one of the heavy costs in this method of refining. Part of this loss is due to the absorption of zinc by lead, and in the present state of knowledge is not recoverable as metallic zinc. The remainder of the zinc, which finds its way into the precious-metal-bearing crust, is recoverable and naturally engages the operators' most exacting attention. Careful elimination of the impurities in base bullion has enabled the refiner to produce a zinc crust better adapted to retorting, which reflects favorably in the zinc recovery; and to produce a richer crust, thereby lowering the zincking cost, as the increased efficiency of the zinc results in less of it being in circulation. It is obvious that if the ratio of concentration be increased, a lessening of the amount of crust formed will ensue, throwing less work on the retorts and diminishing the amount of retort metal sent to the cupels, thus making an actual money saving in all these operations. In the effort to obtain a rich crust, the metallurgist has increased the heat to a considerable degree, upon the assumption that at the higher temperature the zinc-silver alloy could be squeezed free from the adhering lead. A further possibility for improvement suggested itself in the freezing-point curve of Prof. H. C. Carpenter, upon zinc and silver. Study of this curve disclosed the existence of a definite chemical compound, . Zn3Ag2, with a freezing point of 665° C., a promising compound for practical application.

Jan 2, 1915

William H. BLAUVELT, Anaconda, Mont.: Mr. Stetefeldt's comparison of the producer-plants at Aspen, Colorado, and Park City, Utah, is of special interest at this time, when the attention of all western metallurgists is so forcibly drawn to the necessity of reducing expenses and losses. The fact that wood was used at Park City before gas was introduced, for firing the Stetefeldt furnace and dryer, offered an excellent opportunity for showing the economies resulting from the adoption of gas in place of wood, as well as a comparison between the two gas-plants. Some time ago Mr. Stetefeldt contributed an article to one of the technical journals, in which the economy obtained by the substitution of gas for wood at this plant was shown quite in detail. I regret not being able to quote from his article at length, but, remember that the total saving effected would pay for the producer-plant in about one month. This is a striking instance of the advantages to be secured by the adoption of the best methods of using fuel in our metallurgical works. In comparing the figures from the Park City and Aspen plants, the difference of over 20 per cent. in the fuel used in the Stetefeldt furnaces, seems remarkable, even considering the larger amount of sulphur in the Aspen ore, and the greater rapidity with which it was roasted. It would be interesting to have Mr. Stetefeldt's, opinion as to the cause of so great a difference. The inferior economy of the revolving dryers at Park City might be overcome by lengthening them, or so arranging a second one above

Jan 1, 1894

By Andrews Allen

WE all remember when, a few years ago the preparation of coal was nothing but a matter of having somebody at the face or somebody in the railroad car pick out the impurities; also the sizes were generally' made" over a bar screen. Anything that was black was coal; and the only matecia1 picked out was the slate or rock-impurities that could be distinguished by eye or by hefting. This was all right as long. & coal could be sold at. a good price. After all, we are all in business to -make the most money honestly out of a certain acreage of coal and a certain plant. For this purpose what is required is the greatest possible recovery of marketable coal and the highest market price.

Jan 1, 1929