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By Charles B. Dudley

In the spring of 1877, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company became so dissatisfied with the average life and wear of the steel rails it was then able to procure, that it determined to make an invest,igation into the chemical composition and physical properties of steel rails, with a view, first, to answering the question why one steel rail has to be removed from the track after, perhaps, eight months' service, while another lasts ten years; and, secondly, if this investigation succeeded in throwing light on this important subject, to use this information in securing better rails in the future. The results

Jan 1, 1879

By M. E. Wadsworth, P. H. Yu, C. K. Hansen

A study of the rate of dissc5lution of chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) in acidic solutions under oxygen overpressures was carried out by measuring the rate of formation of cupric ions in solution. Effects of temperature, oxygen partial pressure, surface area, and concentration of sulfuric acid were evaluated. A sized batch of chalcopyrite was leached in the temperature range of 125° to 175°C and in the pressure range of 75 to 400 psi of oxygen. In 0.5 N H2SO4 all products of reaction went into solution except for trace amounts of elemental sulfur. The dissolution of chalcopyrite followed linear kinetics and was essentially independent of hydrogen ion concentration for H2S04 concentrations between 0.2 and 0.5 N. The oxygen dependence indicated adsorption approaching limiting values with increasing oxygen pressure. The linear mechanism was explained in terms of steady-state adsorption of oxygen at the chalcopyrite surface followed by a surface reaction. The enthalpy of activation for adsorption of oxygen was found to be approximately 33 kcal per mole. An activation enthalpy of approximately 9 kcal per mole was observed for the surface reaction. Charge transfer reactions are not rate controlling in the process.

Jan 1, 1973

By R. H. Raring, F. E. Martin

A high speed gas quenching dilatometer useful in studying phase transformations in low alloy steels is described. Changes in specimen length are measured by means of an electrical micrometer tube. The maximum instantaneous cooling rate is approximately 5000°F per sec; the maximum average cooling rate from 1650' to 950°F is approximately 2900°F per sec. Data for steels of 0.11 pct and 0.67 pct C content are included. KNOWLEDGE of phase transformations as they occur in an alloy under conditions of continuous cooling affords valuable insight into its properties. The transformation characteristics during continuous cooling of steels of high hardenability, which decompose entirely to martensite at fairly slow cool-

Jan 1, 1957

By F. R. Hensel

The present study was made to determine the laws governing the formation of the primary? crystal structure during solidification. Most of the experiments were carried out on chill castings, but from the resiilts it will be possible to draw certain conclusions as far as sand castings are concerned. It is necessary to discuss first a number of theories, which are generally adopted for explaining the structure of an ingot. Usually, the structure of an ingot consists of the following three zones (Fig. 1): (1) a chill layer of small at-random oriented crystals; (2) a layer of columnar crystals; (3) a zone of equiaxed crystals. The tensile properties of the chill layer and the equiaxed range are usually much better than in the columnar range, particularly the planes that are formed by the columnar crystals growing from two sides at right angles have low tensile properties. This is one of the reasons why columnar crystals in ingot structures are undesirable.

Jan 1, 1937

By G. P. Hulst

THE Parkes process lead refinery of the International Lead Refining Co., at East Chicago, was built by the International Smelting & Refining Co. to treat the lead bullion produced by its Tooele plant, at Tooele, Utah. The plant was designed and constructed under the direction of the writer. Ground was broken Apr. 16, 1912, and exactly six months later the plant was in operation and lead was being cast. The capacity of the plant, running 25 days per month, is 5,000 tons. The four products of the plant are common lead, corroding lead, antimonial lead, and Doré bullion. The site is an area, 64 acres in extent, lying north of 151st Street, between McCook Avenue and the Canal. The Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad, Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal, and Pennsylvania Railroad enter, the yard at the plant. There are five, storage tracks and space for storing 100 cars in the yard. The main lead to the storage tracks passes over a 100-ton track scale on entering the yard...

Jan 8, 1914

By AIME AIME

ABOUT one hundred were in attendance when Donald M. Liddell opened the session* on non-ferrous metallurgy at 2 p. m. on Tuesday. F. F. Col- cord was vice-chairman. For the first part of the session the chair was turned over to Frank G. Breyer, who introduced G. L. Spencer, Jr., to read his contribution (T.P. 378), "High Silica Retorts at the Rose Lake Smelter," which was an account of the method of manufacture of high-silica zinc retorts at the Rose Lake smelter, and of the service given by these retorts. The materials used are, by volume, 50 per cent clay, 25 per cent silica flour and 25 per cent grog. Written discussion of the paper by E. M. Johnson, W. R. In- galls and M. M. Neale was read by Mr. Breyer. Mr. Johnson explained that their practice in manufacture differed very little from Rose Lake practice, but that their retorts did not last as long, possibly because Eagle-Picher does not use a hydraulic retort press or sintered ore. He ascribes the longer life of silica re- torts to the fact that they do not bend under heat. Mr. Ingalls pointed out that silica retorts are no better as heat conductors than clay retorts, but that they do have a superior rigidity in the furnace. The character of the retorts does not affect the density of the charge. Mr. Neale gave the procedure in the manufacture and use of high-silica retorts at the Donora zinc works, not

Jan 1, 1931

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Jan 1, 1938

By Quentin Singewald

SOME of the broader relations between structure and ore deposition along the London fault, deduced from a thorough study of the geology of the eastern part of the Mosquito Range, should be of general interest to economic geologists. The first part of this paper is a generalized state-ment of the geology of the region in which the London fault is located; it may be supplemented by reference to several earlier publications by the writers and to the U. S. Geological Survey's Professional Paper 148, on the Leadville district. The second part deals with the structure of both the fault and the disturbed zone adjoining the fault. The third part dis-cusses the salient features of the ore deposits, particularly emphasizing structural control. The two generalized maps are complementary to one another but contain too many data to show on a single small map. The London fault is between Leadville and Alma, and the ore deposits along it are said to lie in the Alma district. Field work in this district, during six summers since 1927, has been a part of the cooperative work of the U. S. Geological Survey, the State of Colorado, and the Colorado Metal Mining Board. The writers have made use of work by R. D. Butler, J. W. Vanderwilt and R. E. Landon. G. F. Loughlin and C. H. Behre, Jr., who have worked on the west side of the range, have con-tributed valuable suggestions. Mining men of the district have aided in many ways.

Jan 1, 1936

By H. W. Morse

MANY of our largest copper deposits contain both sulfide and oxidized copper minerals. The large porphyry mines, with a total copper content of from 1.3 to 2.0 per cent., send to their mills ore with an oxide content of from 0.2 to 0.4 per cent. While the recoveries of the sulfide minerals are considered satisfactory, using modern flotation practice, the recovery of the oxi- dized portion of the copper is small; better recoveries of oxidized copper were made before flotation methods were adopted. Beside the ores containing copper mainly as sulfide, with a small amount of oxidized copper,, many of the large porphyry mines have oxide orebodies, in which the propor-tion of non-sulfide minerals is so high that 2 present methods of treatment are ineffi-cient. In some of the well-known ore-bodies in the Miami-Inspiration district the copper occurs about equally in sulfide and oxidized forms; and the mixing of minerals is complete throughout the ore-body. There is no possibility of mining the sulfides and the oxides selectively. At the New Cornelia mine, however, the oxide, and sulfide ores are sharply separated, per-haps by an ancient water level, so that the oxide ore may be mined and treated in a plant built for that purpose, and the under-lying sulfide ore may be left for treatment in another plant. If copper is to be made from an ore having a total content of 1.5 per cent., it must be concentrated or removed from the ore by some. hydrometallurgical method. Flotation is generally successful for the sulfide minerals and flotation after filming with sulfide seems to work in many cases on the pure carbonate minerals. Callow has given an extensive report on the results of "sulfidizing" flotation on the ores of the. Magma mine.1 Where such ?a 'method can be applied, it ?may be, the best

Jan 9, 1922

By Cyril Jones

13.9-1. Introduction. Any mining venture or project is undertaken with a view of gaining some benefits, which, with the modern limited corporation, means earning a return to the stockholders for the use of their funds. Thus, any manager, when confronted by an opportunity of expending funds, must realize that the funds should generate a satisfactory return. The problem then becomes one of how the manager should best expend, if he should expend, funds for opportunities that become available to him. In the evaluation of a mineral property, or of a project within an operating mineral property, there must be cognizance of the fact that the final return is dependent on many factors that are not present in other industries. The primary factor in mining operations is the orebody, which has a diminishing life. This diminishing life gives the decision maker a range of choices; for by expending more capital for a larger plant, he can work the deposit out in a shorter period (16). This may, in fact, maximize the return on the investment. Alternatively, he may wish to maximize the total profits, a course which usually requires a lower capital investment and allows a longer working life for the deposit before final depletion. Other factors that have great importance in the evaluation of mining projects are the taxation treatment of mining profits from the viewpoint of depletion, depreciation, and investment credit. Investment opportunities involve expending funds at the present time in return for future benefits. These future benefits have a degree of risk in that the annual amounts of benefits and their duration cannot be fore- cast accurately. The treatment of risk in economic analysis involves the quantification of the degree of variability of the expected future benefits and also of the initial capital expenditure. This treatment in mineral exploration may be extended to cover the initial search for an orebody

Jan 1, 1968

By H. O. Hofman, H. L. Norton

Zinc smelters in the central western States have established a very high standard of purity for blende-concentrates, viz., zinc 60, iron less than 3, and lead less than 1 per cent. The very low percentage of iron is made possible by the blende containing less than 0.5 per cent. of isomorphous iron sulphide and by the sparing occurrence of pyritic material in the large blende-deposits of southwestern Missouri and southeastern Kansas. The blende in these districts occurs in sub-carboniferous limestone, and is associated with chert, residual clay, cal-cite, pyrite or marcasite and bitumen. The different minerals are coarse and therefore readily separated by mechanical washing from the blende, with the exception of pyrite and marcasite, as blende has a specific gravity of from 3.9 to 4.1; marcasite, from 4.85 to 4.90; and pyrite, from 4.95 to 5.10. The common procedure of dressing the ores' is to crush in a breaker, size in a trommel with 0.5-in. holes, pass the over-size through roughing-rolls and then jig the ore, now reduced to 0.5 in. maximum size, in roughing multiple-sieve jigs. The products of these are waste-tailings, side-discharge coarse concentrates, side-discharge coarse middlings and bottom-discharge fine middlings. The coarse concentrates are sent to the market. The coarse middlings are crushed in middlings-rolls and brought back into the system by feeding into the main trommel. The fine middlings are cleaned upon finishing-jigs. Any pyrite or marcasite present follows the blende and increases the percent- +1MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, BOSTON, MASS.

Jan 1, 1905

By T. M. Daulton, Chester F. Lee

The Atlin Mining District is in the northwest corner of the Province of British Columbia. Ruby Creek, where the operation to be described is situated, is 17 miles east of the town of Atlin and about 18 miles south of the south line of Yukon Territory (Fig. 1). Gold was discovered in the district in January, 1898, and the production to date from placer mines has been $4,518,000, according to the reports of the Minister of Mines for the province. Geology The essential points in the regional geology are given in the following paragraphs. Long erosion produced a plane-like surface slightly above sea level with a few peaks and ridges.' A gradual uplift followed and erosion increased, the streams cut deeper, the cuts so made being afterward increased by glaciation. The ice straightened and planed the slopes of the main valleys and widened and lowered their floors, in some cases flooring the valleys with silt, sand, gravel, and clay. As the glaciers rapidly retreated, lakes were formed. As to the origin of the gold, J. C. Gwillim says? "The Surprise granite has been carried northward toward Gladys Lake and Teslin, and the granite of the great plateau on the Taku trail was found in blocks on the opposite range across Hurricane River 10 miles north of its original position. Otherwise there is little evidence of far removed material, the boulders of the lake shore and creek beds being of local appearance. This appears to strengthen the opinion that the placer gold had its origin within the drainage basins where it is now found." In the gold-bearing creeks of the Atlin district there are two "runs"

Jan 1, 1917

By Will H. Coghill, J. Bruce Clemer

Flotation has been so closely allied with the sulfide minerals and their early and associated oily reagents that the term "oil flotation" has erroneously been applied to the entire flotation process. Today, the term "chemical flotation" might be used to advantage. Flotation literature has dealt primarily with the removal of sulfides from non-sulfide gangues, and the separation of one sulfide from another. Now, the application of the process to the separation of nonsulfide minerals is coming to the fore; and from the standpoint of the number of commercial minerals involved, the flotation of nonsulfides offers the larger field. Here, soap or soap-forming substances, such as the fatty acids and their derivatives, are used; hence there may well be a subdivision of the chemical flotation process called "soap flotation." Early experimenters learned that it was easy to form a froth or foam that would carry a part or all of the ore charge over the lip of the flotation machine; but this could not be regarded as flotation because of the lack of selectivity. Doubtless soap was one of the first reagents tried, and doubtless it was rejected on account of its gangue-carrying properties. Now this same gangue-carrying ability makes soap an acceptable reagent, for we are dealing with that which, among sulfides, is considered "gan-gue." As in the flotation of sulfides, so in the flotation of nonsulfides, the selective flocculation of the mineral and the dispersion of the gangue are the first objectives. In fact, these two phenomena epitomize flotation. They depend upon the unlike surface properties of the respective minerals; and as long as the components of an ore have unlike surface properties, a separation is possible, at least in theory. Often in nonsulfide flotation it makes little difference which mineral floats and which is depressed; generally only a separation is sought.

Jan 1, 1935

By R. V. Wheeler, F. V. Tideswell

The suggestion, which appears to find increasing favor, that the elementary composition of coals should be used as the basis of their classification, makes it important that our methods of expressing this elementary composition should be refined. It is doubtful whether many published ultimate analyses of coals are accurate within 1 per cent. carbon. Many are probably as much as 3 or 2 per cent. in error in carbon. It is, perhaps, not always realized that the extreme variation in carbon content over the range of bituminous coals is but 16 per cent. An error of 1 per cent. in carbon on analysis corresponds therefore with one-sixteenth of the whole range, an amount which is unjustifiable even for the application to commercial needs of a system of classification based on ultimate analysis. For the purposes of scientific research such limited accuracy is of little value. The object of this paper is to examine one important source of error in ultimate analysis, that due to the occurrence in coal of inorganic material, and to emphasize the need for the quantitative measurements (of carbon more particularly) on coals to be rendered independent of their contents of such material. Adventitious Mineral Matter When a determination of calorific value, for example, is made upon a coal, it is customary to correct the measured value with respect to the ash left by the coal on incineration, recording the result as being on an "ash-free basis." It is desirable, before discussing the adequacy of the correction thus made, to demonstrate its validity, which turns on whether the ash is present as an adventitious impurity in the coal and forms no part of the coal substance itself. The inorganic matter associated with coal has originated in several ways1: 1. The "inherent" inorganic materials, occurring as constituents of the plants from which the coal-forming deposits were derived.

Jan 1, 1928

By Robert Archer

Two new alloys of the "strong alloy" class having improved fabricating qualities are described; also methods of producing alloys of the duralumin type with greater strength and hardness than previously obtained, are given. IT is about fifteen years since the development in Germany, largely by Alfred Wilm, of the aluminum alloy called duralumin. In this alloy, combining as it does the tensile strength of mild steel with the lightness and corrosion resistance of aluminum, a distinctly new material was presented to the engineering world. Despite the evident usefulness of this material, however, its commercial development has been slow, due in part to the difficulties involved in its fabrication. In view of the potentially great utility of strong aluminum alloys, it seemed desirable to find means of producing such alloys with better fabricating properties, and work was undertaken with this object in the laboratories of the Aluminum Company of America several years ago. This work has resulted in the production of two new types of aluminum alloy of the "strong alloy" class, having distinctly improved fabricating qualities. The knowledge gained has also made it possible to produce alloys of the duralumin type with greater strength and hardness than previously obtained. There have thus been made available some new engineering materials which it is the object of this paper to describe. These alloys, including duralumin, are fundamentally wrought alloys. Castings of the same compositions, heat-treated in the same manner give inferior physical properties, particularly as to ductility. The statements made subsequently concerning properties and heat treatment apply to material that has received sufficient working to thoroughly break down the cast structure. The material referred to has; in general, undergone a reduction in section of at least 80 per cent. by mechanical working. It may be mentioned in passing that other compositions have been found that are suitable for the production of the maximum physical properties in heat-treated castings.

Jan 2, 1925

By E. H. Kelton

THE purposes of this paper are to describe the use of adjustable cut and draw tools as a control test of drawing properties and to point out that no other well-known test or combination of tests determines this quality in zinc and zinc alloys. Rolled zinc has been used for making drawn articles, particularly battery cans, for many years. The development of rolling treatments satisfactory for, these purposes followed the usual course of trial and error experimentation depending upon cooperation with customers to determine what type of material was suitable. A quick test of drawing quality was highly desirable, of course. Scleroscope hardness and temper,1 having no apparent relation to drawing quality, were used simply to check the duplication of rolling treatment and grade of metal. The dynamic ductility1 test, on the other hand, was believed to be so like the drawing operation as to provide a reliable index and came to be taken as the criterion of good drawing properties. Faith in this test was strengthened by the fact that metal having the highest ductility was more satisfactory for operations, such as the manufacture of battery cups, that required several redraws. No distinction was made at that time in specifying metal as to whether it was to be subjected to simple cut and draw, redrawing or forming operations. It developed, however, that in some grades of metal the highest ductility did not coincide with the most satisfactory quality when the material was used for a single draw.

Jan 1, 1934

By S. F. Shaw

THE Sierra Mojada mining district is situated in western Coahuila, about 8 km. east of the Chihuahua state line, and about one-half way from the northern to the southern extremity of the state. It is at the terminus of the Mexican Northern R. R., 125 km. northeast of Escalón, Chihuahua; also about 240 km. due west of Monclova, Coahuila. The altitude is approximately 1500 m. above sea level. The Sierra Mojada valley is about 10 km. long, from east to west, with a width of 1 to 2 km. It is approached from the east through the Puerto del Oro, where the Mexican Northern R. R. enters the valley; the slope from west to east is gentle. The Sierra Mojada, of which about. 300 m. is an almost vertical wall, bounds the valley on the south side; on the north side, the slope to the crest of Sierra Planchada is more gradual, rising only 200 or 300 m. above the valley. Water is relatively scarce in the district, and there are no running streams. The rainy season, usually beginning at the middle of June, lasts through July, and occasionally into August or September. In some years the rains fail entirely. The slope of the ground is such that nearly all the water immediately runs off. The arroyos along 'the flanks of the mountains are not very deep, but in heavy rains, sometimes approaching cloudbursts, a tremendous volume of water rushes down them, carrying large boulders. A certain amount of seepage collects in the agglomerate, lying below the conglomerate, and is retained in the local fractures. Some shallow wells have been sunk in this agglomerate, and one well over 150 m. deep was sunk on, the Volcan ranch, supplying about 76 1. (20 gal.) per min. A considerable supply of water is collected in large earth reservoirs in and below the town of Esmeralda. In ordinary years this supply will last until January or February, after which the Volcan well has to be depended on until the next rainy season.

Jan 8, 1922

THE Institute of Metals Division opened its series of meetings by a session* on lead, R. S. Dean be-ing in the chair and G. 0. Hiers acting as vice-chairman. A large and representative audience listened to the papers in the abstract and contributed an inter-esting and fruitful discussion. The main points of these papers and discussion are given below: In the absence of Carl E. Swartz, the summary and conclusions of his paper, "A Study of the Lead-Tin-Cadmium System with Reference to Their Use as Solders," were read. Swartz investigated a number of alloys in the lead-tin-cadmium system and prepared a diagram representing the solidification ranges of these alloys. He also made tensile strength tests of joints made with these alloys, and compared these with joints made with ordinary lead-tin solder. The tests showed solders containing cadmium were equally strong as the lead-tin series and that the cadmium alloys were suit-able in other respects for use as solders. In general, solders of the composition near to the ternary lead-tin-cadmium eutectic appeared to be the best for most soldering work although compositions widely differing are desirable for special purposes. The lead-tin-cad-mium solders are finding a market particularly in the fields requiring lower solidification temperatures than common solders. Mr. Darby opened the discussion and asked whether it was a fact that the lead-tin-cadmium solders were more useful than ordinary solders on galvanized and tin-plated sheet. C. Smith said he thought it to be a fact that galvanized sheet was more easily soldered by the lead-tin-cadmium solders than common lead-tin-solder. Continuing, Mr. Smith showed lantern slides of his own investigation of the thermal diagram and recommended the 70 per cent lead, 20 per cent cadmium, and 10 per cent tin for general employment. He thought the author did not differentiate between wetting and alloying and pointed out that wetting was more a ques-tion of the flux than the metal. In some cases a definite alloy was formed by soldering and in some no evidences of alloying were found. Illustrating the former case he showed slides and demonstrated that failures always took place longitudinal with the brittle compound alloy and transversely across the solder itself.

Jan 3, 1928

By J. B. Berkowitz-Mattuck, R. Hopper, L. Kaufman, E. V. Clougherty

MARNOCH has reported on the attractive high-temperature oxidation resistance of Hf-Ta alloys.' In view of current interest in these alloys, three Hf-Ta alloys were tested in the present study. These included a Hf-27Ta alloy and a Hf-20Ta-2Mo alloy which were supplied by Marquardt Corp. and a Hf-20Ta-Zr alloy provided by Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute.' The microstructure of these alloys was heated inductively in a glass vacuum system; the oxidizing gas, helium carrier plus a known partial pressure of oxygen (35-102 Torr), was continually passed over the sample at temperature for a given time period. The concentration of oxygen in the gas stream was continuously measured by a differential thermal conductivity technique2 so that the rate of oxygen picked up by the sample could be obtained. The flow rates were 0.1 to 0.2 ft per sec in the vicinity of the specimen. The concentration of oxygen did not fall below 50 pct of the input level in any of the experiments. In several cases a single sample was exposed consecutively at a series of increasing temperature levels. In a second system at ManLabs, cylindrical specimens were exposed to flowing air in a z irconia tube which was heated by radiation from a carbon tube resistance furnace. The specimen was heated from room temperature to the test temperature in flowing argon, then oxidized in air flowing at 0.1 to 0.2 ft per sec. Following exposure, the air was displaced by argon and the specimen was cooled. Postoxidation metallography was performed on every sample. The depth of conversion of the metal matrix to oxide was measured as shown in Fig. 1. The conversion depth was obtained by measuring the oxygen-contaminated metallic zone (which is bounded by a dense outer oxide and a subscale oxide region), subtracting its dimensions from the original dimensions, and dividing by two. Preferential oxidation of

Jan 1, 1968

By Thomas F. Torries, George H. K. Schenck

Crushed and broken stone is used directly in construction as an aggregate and accounts for about half the value and two-fifths of the quantity of natural aggregates consumed in the United States. Sand and gravel provide most of the balance of aggregates except for some lightweight materials such as pumice and expanded shale. Conditions necessary for production of crushed stone from a deposit are : 1) Quality-should pass rigid specifications for strength and durability. 2) Cost-low average total delivered cost. Construction aggregates are hard, essentially inert materials suitable for being formed into a stable mass either (1) by the addition of cementing or binding materials that produce a concrete or (2) by compaction or by natural weight to produce a road base or foundation. Aggregates usually provide about 80 to 100% of the material volume of the construction masses in which they are used. The construction industry utilizes as aggregates about 70% of all crushed stone produced in the United States according to statistics provided by the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) , [Table 1], using definitions as shown below. Nonconstruction uses of crushed stone, [Table 2], are included elsewhere in Industrial Minerals and Rocks because such uses require the special physical or chemical characteristics which are discussed in those chapters.

Jan 1, 1975