Search Documents

By Albert Hill Fay

IN giving a sketch of the geology and mining of the tin-deposits of Cape Prince of Wales, a short description of the geographic and climatic conditions may be of special interest on account of this being a part of the world of which very little is known, even by the reading public. As shown in Fig. 1, the location of the Cape is lat. N. 65° 35' and long. W. 168°. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic ocean ; on the west by Bering strait and on the south by Bering sea. It is the western-most point of the mainland of North America, and to the west, across the strait, one can see East Cape, Siberia, which consists of a rugged, steep coast of granite cliffs. The climatic conditions are of interest because of the part they have had in the surface geology, and also because they affect mining from an economic standpoint. In connection with the climate and geography, it does not seem out of place here to quote a few lines from the prologue of The Wandering Jew, written by Eugene Sue, under the caption '1 The Land's End of Two Worlds."

Sep 1, 1907

By John Lohrenz

Consider an investor who, knowing future costs and revenues, can choose how rapidly to produce from a given mineral source. If the investor elects to make that choice to maximize present value of future profits, how do policies affect the choice? Various alternative policies are examined. Some, such as higher royalty rates, lead to slower production rates than would otherwise obtain. Clearly, the chosen rates of production are policy-dependent. One is wisely counseled to consider how mineral policies affect the rate of production from given sources when analyzing current and alternative policies.

Jan 1, 1982

Page Laboratory Methods...........................127 Special Analytical Methods.......................127 Improvements in the Accuracy of the Vacuum-fusion Method for the Determination of Oxygen in Steel....................127 Quantitative Spectrochemical Analysis of Mixtures of Gases.......131 Oxygen Samples from Open-hearth Bath...............133 Rapid Analysis of Sample for Alumina.................139 Accurate Carbon Analyses in Low-carbon Steel.............139 Laboratory Technique for Study of Reactions Involving Liquid Metal. . . . 142 Rotating Liquid Crucibles......................143 Stationary Crucibles.........................145 Jones and Laughlin Experimental Furnace...............148 Vacuum Melting..........................149 Measurement of Temperature of Liquid Iron and Steel;..........149 Pouring and Teeming Temperatures..................149 Bath Temperatures.........................151 Plant Methods.............................154 Methods of Studying Slags.......................154 Sampling Slag in the Open Hearth..................155 Viscosity of Open-hearth Slags....................155 Petrographic Examination of Slag...................156 Statistical Methods Applied to Study and Control of Chemical Relations in Bath...............................166 Rapid Method of -Correlation Applicable to Study of Steelmaking Reactions............................166 INTRODUCTION On Thursday morning, Feb. 16, 1939, a round table discussion was held on the subject of Experimental Methods in the Study of Steelmaking. Dr. John Chipman, Professor of Metallurgy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and chairman of the A.I.M.E. Committee on Physical Chemistry of Steelmaking, presided. In opening the meeting, the chairman said: "The purpose of this round table is to discuss methods of study by which more and better information on the fundamentals of steelmaking can be obtained. It was thought that a round table discussion rather than a symposium would furnish the best opportunity for those actually using various methods of study to get together and discuss their common problems. For this reason attention will be focused upon methods of study rather than upon their results. We want new and current and up-to-date discussion.

Jan 1, 1940

Page Laboratory Methods...........................127 Special Analytical Methods.......................127 Improvements in the Accuracy of the Vacuum-fusion Method for the Determination of Oxygen in Steel....................127 Quantitative Spectrochemical Analysis of Mixtures of Gases.......131 Oxygen Samples from Open-hearth Bath...............133 Rapid Analysis of Sample for Alumina.................139 Accurate Carbon Analyses in Low-carbon Steel.............139 Laboratory Technique for Study of Reactions Involving Liquid Metal. . . . 142 Rotating Liquid Crucibles......................143 Stationary Crucibles.........................145 Jones and Laughlin Experimental Furnace...............148 Vacuum Melting..........................149 Measurement of Temperature of Liquid Iron and Steel;..........149 Pouring and Teeming Temperatures..................149 Bath Temperatures.........................151 Plant Methods.............................154 Methods of Studying Slags.......................154 Sampling Slag in the Open Hearth..................155 Viscosity of Open-hearth Slags....................155 Petrographic Examination of Slag...................156 Statistical Methods Applied to Study and Control of Chemical Relations in Bath...............................166 Rapid Method of -Correlation Applicable to Study of Steelmaking Reactions............................166 INTRODUCTION On Thursday morning, Feb. 16, 1939, a round table discussion was held on the subject of Experimental Methods in the Study of Steelmaking. Dr. John Chipman, Professor of Metallurgy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and chairman of the A.I.M.E. Committee on Physical Chemistry of Steelmaking, presided. In opening the meeting, the chairman said: "The purpose of this round table is to discuss methods of study by which more and better information on the fundamentals of steelmaking can be obtained. It was thought that a round table discussion rather than a symposium would furnish the best opportunity for those actually using various methods of study to get together and discuss their common problems. For this reason attention will be focused upon methods of study rather than upon their results. We want new and current and up-to-date discussion.

Jan 1, 1940

*J. H. Brennan, Union Carbide Metals Company, Niagara Falls, N. Y. S. B. Casey, Jr., Swindell-Dressier Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa. C. M. Cosman, Vanadium Corporation of America, New York, N. Y. H. E. Dunn, Vanadium Corporation of America, New York, N. Y. C. S. Finney, Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates, Boston, Mass. M. O. Holowaty, Inland Steel Company, East Chicago, Ind. John Mitchell, Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates, Boston, Mass. Leo F. Reinarts, Armco Steel Corporation, Middletown, Ohio H. E. Rowan, Dwight-Lloyd Division, McDowell Company, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio R. W. Shearman, The Metallurgical Society of AIME, New York, N. Y. C. M. Squarcy, Inland Steel Company, East Chicago, Ind. F. Weston Starratt, The Metallurgical Society of AIME, New York, N. Y. A. B. Wilder, National Tube Division, United States Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa. *Deceased

Jan 1, 1961

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 recommendations 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 Davies3 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, 1944

By E. H. Griswold, C. E. Beecher

DURING 1931 the petroleum industry has faced the most hazardous periods of its existence, caused by large potentials, overproduction, and demoralized markets. Two state governors actually resorted to the use of the militia in an effort to restore a semi-stabilized condition within the industry, to prevent waste of the states' natural resources, and to restore prices to a level that would yield the states a reasonable tax revenue. These conditions have made it necessary to put into effect most. stringent economies and have produced a spirit of cooperation between companies to an extent that never before existed. The necessity for unified action on such matters as proration and the advantages to be gained by unit operation are being realized by the oil industry as a whole. Fewer wells have been drilled and wildcat operations almost eliminated: development and operation costs have been greatly reduced and more attention is being paid to efficient recovery methods. The net work of oil pipe- lines has grown rapidly especially in the area of East Texas. The construction and operation of natural gas and gasoline pipelines into areas far distant from the source of supply has been one of the outstanding accomplishments. Refining efficiency has continued to increase and the public is being supplied with a better grade of gasoline at a lower price. The unreasonable tax which state politicians have succeeded in placing on gasoline has encouraged tax evasion and unfair competition by un- scrupulous dealers and has misled the public as to the true price of gasoline.

Jan 1, 1932

By AIME AIME

SECOND only to the February Annual Meeting of the Institute are the Regional and Divisional meetings held in the fall of each year. Six such gatherings are scheduled in the next the months, with something likely to interest every member of the Institute. A brief résumé of the programs follows. Regional Meeting Vancouver T HE regional meeting of the Institute will be held at Vancouver, Sept. 13 to 20, in conjunction with the annual western meeting of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. The pro gram appeared on page 350 of MINING AND METALLURGY for July and-proof of careful preparation-a month later re- quires no correction and little elaboration. On the technical side there are few changes. A new item on the Wednesday morning program is the paper, "Investigation of Residential-type Stokers," by H. F. Yancey, supervising engineer, Northwest Experiment Station. U. S. Bureau of Mines, Seattle. As to entertainment the meeting is taking on some most pleasurable aspects. Two notable excursions have been arranged.

Jan 1, 1937

By Frank F. Aplan

In looking into the crystal-ball scene of minerals beneficiation for 1970 and beyond, an impartial observer becomes con- fused as to what has been done and what is possible in the way of improvements. The mining official must balance the burden which is being shouldered by the mineral industry for maintaining our environment in its pristine state on one hand, with the solid advancements made in technology and cost savings on the other hand. Then the official wonders if this is really the criterion for judging overall performance today. As a prospective engineer, Dave Bolles sees it this way: "Specialization has caused many engineers to subordinate everything to doing their job the cheapest and fastest way. In the future this won't be enough. The engineer in the mineral industry will be responsible not only for mining, concentrating and smelting, but also for the resultant wastes- the mine dumps, the tailing dams and the slag piles." (See Drift on page 63).

Jan 1, 1971

PRESIDENT GEORGE OTIS SMITH, District 4 WASHINGTON, D. C. PAST PRESIDENTS SAMUEL A. TAYLOR, District 3 PITTSBURGH, PA. E. DEGOLYER District 0 NEW YORK, N. Y. FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT W. H. BASSETT District 1 WATERBURY, CONN. TREASURER KARL FILERS NEW YORK, N. Y.¬ SECRETARY H. FOSTER BAIN NEW YORK, N. Y.

Jan 1, 1923

S. LE FEVRE, Forest Glen, N. Y. (communication to the Secretary*).¬F. L. Nason thinks I could not have studied Mr. Witherbee's paper and doubts the arithmetic used, but in his discussion arrives at practically the same conclusion. He says 10 ft. thickness of ore over a square mile should give 27,878,400 tons, allowing 10 cu. ft. per ton of ore. This is correct, but if he reads carefully he will see that this depth of ore was figured as covering one-tenth of the surface, which reduces the figures to those used by Mr. Nason. I did not say, however, that there were 2,300,000,000 tons of ore in New Jersey, but that applying the same method of computation as used by Mr. Nason, to the area of the iron ore-bearing gneisses in New Jersey, we would get a total of 2,300,000,000. I did say, "In this area are located 366 magnetite mines that have been worked more or less. These lenses may easily be capable of producing (on an average) 1,000,000 tons each, and there are probably double the number listed not opened up." Thus my estimate for New Jersey, as far as any was made, would be: Probable ore 366,000,000 Possible ore in addition 732,000,000 1,098,000,000 Mr. Nason's final conclusion of his personal estimate was one-half of what he erroneously read to be the estimate given in the paper, or half of 2,300,000,000, which equals 1,150,000,000. So the two estimates seem to differ less than 5 per cent., and we have the two sister States of New York and New Jersey on an equal footing of productive possibilities in magnetic ore.

Jan 6, 1917

H. H. Hill.—I believe that as petroleum engineers you are all more or less interested in geophysical prospecting. A large number of the papers that have been written on that subject are too detailed or too much involved to be of much value to a person who is not familiar with the subject, so I suggested to Mr. Fohs that he might bring us something that we could all understand. As I take it, we are interested in learning something about the different methods, the places where they have been used, their limitations and in general whether they have given satisfaction in locating oil deposits. F. J. Fohs, New York, N. Y.—I will briefly summarize some of the results as I Bee them from my practical contacts with them and my discussion of the subject with some of the more important rnen both in this country and Europe. Geophysical Methods 1. Seismographs: A. 1. Sonic refracting seismographs of Karcher, McCullom and Reiber. For rapid reconnaissance and also for detail—perhaps, the best type of instrument. 2. Mechanical refracting seismographs of the Weichert-Mintrop type. B. I. Sonic seismographs using reflected sound from contacts of sufficiently unlike beds where latter are thick enough, being used for detail of both salt domes and ordinary structures where a good reflecting key bed occurs. 2. Torsion Balances: Made in three sizes with greater portability and loss of but 20 per cent. in medium size and loss of 40 per cent. efficiency in smallest size. A. Used to best advantage in detailing salt domes, in noting anomalies of deep-seated structures of the Edgerly, La., type (but not always certain here and dependent on interpretation which involves both experience and the human equation to a large degree). R. Used to advantage in mapping faults where a lime or other denser bed occurs upthrown, and the topographic irregularities are not too involved. C. Of use where buried granite plugs and buried-hill structures occur as in the Western Texas fields. D. Believed of little use for other types of structure. 3. Magnetometers or Variometers: Now built horizontal and vertical with declinometer combined in one instrument. A. Practical in mapping granite or basic igneous rock plugs and intrusions, or of detritus therefrom. Adams has recently demonstrated definite results in mapping the well known Panhandle arch.

Jan 1, 1928

ARTHUR H. STORRS, Scranton, Pa.-I would like to ask whether this same process is applicable to bituminous coal? FELLS A. VOGEL, New York, N. Y.-This Dutch process is applicable to bituminous or any other kind of coal. The Berwind Fuel Co. has had a plant in operation, in Superior, Wis., for about 2 years, using the Dutch process, and it has made a very satisfactory briquette, using Pocahontas coal. There is just one item in Mr. Frey's paper I would like to discuss; that is, the matter of cost. Mr. Frey figures a total cost of $3.35, based on the use of 7 per cent. of oil. Of course, the price of oil has advanced seriously within the last year or two, and any possible reduction in the percentage of oil required in the manufacture of briquettes is very important. I believe that Mr. Frey will agree that very good briquettes can be made with considerably less than 7 per cent. of oil; in fact, actual experience has shown that it can be clone with less than 5 per cent. The only possible effects of a low percentage of oil, particularly in anthracite briquettes, are that the briquette might not burn so freely, and that it might not be quite so hard. Briquettes made by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co., using 7 per cent. of binder, are extremely tough. Those briquettes have been handled in one of the local yards in Brooklyn, chuting them from railroad cars into boats and digging them out by grab buckets, and the losses average less than 2 per cent. This compares very favorably with domestic anthracite coal, with which the losses from breakage amount to between 7 and 10 per cent.

Jan 4, 1918

By Kenneth Seaver

Discussion of the paper of KENNETH SEAVER, presented at the San Francisco meeting, September, 1915 and at the New York meeting, February, 1916, and printed in Bulletin No. 105, September, 1915, pp. 1913 to 1927. WILLIAM HUTTON BLAUVELT, Syracuse, N. Y.-I think that Professor Richards' statement regarding the reason for the failure of the Bethlehem ovens was due to a misconception on his part. Silica bricks were not used because the ovens were built under German design and management and it has not been the practice in Europe to use silica brick nor has it been necessary, on account of their lower heats and slower coking time as compared with the present American practice. J. W. RICHARDS, So. Bethlehem, Pa.-While acting as Chairman at the San Francisco meeting, in introducing this paper of Mr. Seaver, I made some remarks in discussion referring to unsuitable brick having been used in a coke plant at So. Bethlehem, Pa., and being the principal cause of the failure of these ovens. This statement having come to the attention of the Didier-March Co. of Perth Amboy, N. J., who furnished the firebrick used in the construction in the original ovens referred to, at the Lehigh Coke Works, near So. Bethlehem, Pa., their. manager, Geo. A. Balz has corresponded with me, and wishes to have placed on record a general denial of the statement referred to. As a matter of justice to the manufacturers of the firebrick, it is but right that their statement should be given as much publicity as my statement which has been objected to, and I take pleasure in placing upon record the statement of Mr. Balz, general manager for Didier-March Co., extracted from a letter to me dated Jan. 14, as follows: "The

Jan 5, 1916

` LAWRENCE ADDICKS, New York, N. Y.-We have really two competitive processes for the production of electrolytic zinc. In the process used at Great Falls, the ore is roasted and the calcines leached, leaving a residue which has to be smelted; in the other method, the ore is burned, the zinc and lead fumed off, and the condensed fumes are leached. I do not think that we can yet come to any decision as to which is the better way to attack the problem. Of course if we roast first and then leach, various substances remain in the calcines which may consume sulphuric acid; whereas if we do the burning first, we obtain simply the zinc and lead oxides, with considerable sulphate, in the fume, and there is no shortage of acid. It also depends partly on the complexity of the ore. The one that Mr. Hall is treating and the ore they are treating at Great Falls are not quite alike, but I think they are sufficiently similar to make a comparison of the two methods, working in competition, on different parts of the country, very interesting. C. E. SCHWARTZ, Miami, Okla.-Mr. Hall states that the Joplin conditions are not suitable for the manufacture of electrolytic zinc. When we speak of Joplin ore in general, we consider, of course, a 60-per cent: concentrate with comparatively low iron, but if a low-grade concentrate could be made from tailings and so-called chats, then the problem would be quite different. A Joplin ore is comparatively simple to treat electrolytically, and I believe the electrolytic process would open a field for the treatment of such ores as would not be ordinarily smeltable; that is,

Jan 1, 1918

J. E. JOHNSON, JR., New York, N. Y. (communication to the Secretary*).-The discussion of Mr. Henrich's paper took place at a meeting from which I had the misfortune to be absent, and has just come to my attention. I do not wish to let the subject pass without contributing to it a little information which has come into my possession. In 1912, I published a brief note in the Transactions on The Effect of Alumina in Blast-Furnace Slags, giving in tabular form three typical slags used in iron blast-furnace practice, one of them the high alumina slag of, which Professor Richards speaks. That table is reproduced herewith. TABLE 1.-Composition of Slays. 1 3 3 4 5 6 7 CaO by Neutral Ratio Ratio Ratio Al2z03, SiO2, Differ- Substan- Cat Ca0 a A1203 Ratio Per Per ence, ces, CaO Cent. Cent. Per Per Al2O3 + Sioz Sit: SiO2 Cecil_ Cent. Virginia practice 6.5 36.0 54.0 3.5 1.27 1.6S 1.50 Lake-ore practice 13.5 33.0 50.0 3.5 1.08 1.92 1.51 Special experiment... 36.0 24.7 36.8 3.5 0.59 2.90 1.44 It supplies what seems to me convincing evidence that, for the purposes of the iron blast furnace, alumina can be regarded only as a neutral substance, dissolving in the slag and materially altering its viscosity, but not affecting its chemical activity. In subsequent experience with charcoal furnaces, I found the same rule to hold; that the chemical effect of alumina could be disregarded, providing the ratio of the lime and magnesia to the silica were kept constant. This is exactly the experience which Messrs. Dwight and Mathewson had in copper- and' lead-smelting furnaces. I have never seen any evidence or argument adequate to support the contention of Professor Richards-that the alumina acted as a base in the charcoal iron furnace and as an acid in the coke furnace, and that the function of alumina in iron-furnace slags is inherently different from that in copper- and lead-furnace slags-and I am compelled to differ absolutely with his conclusions in that respect.

Jan 9, 1917

Jan 1, 1902

[A Aall, Christian H., M49 B VP, Dir of Smelt & Refin, Am. Metal Climax Inc., 1270 Ave. of the Americas, N.Y. Aaroe, Stanley L., A54 B VP, The W. S. Tyler Co. of Can. Ltd., St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada Abalos, Toodulo Q., J57 A Prod Foreman, Lepanto Cons. Mng. Co., Mt. Province, Philippines Abbass, G., M55 P. O. Box 680, Hong Kong, China Abbitt, James M., A54 770 Sole Blvd., Bartow, Fla. Abbott, Raymond C., J59 3442 Greenwich Ave., Columbus 24, Ohio Abdullah, N. Y., J53 Dept. of Mines, Res. Div., P. O. Box 1016, Tiger Lane, Ipoh Perak, Malaya Abel, John F., Jr., J53- 100 Maple, Littleton, Colo. Abell, Leo M., M31 B Conc Supt, Phelps Dodge Corp., Morenci, Ariz. Abendroth, Harry E., A57 A Geol, Union Carbide India, 183 Brabourne Rd.. Calcutta. India]

Jan 1, 1961

By FRANK FIRRISTONE

Ix the summer of 1842 my father, William Firmstone, was engaged by Charles Jackson, Jr., of Boston, to examine the conditions in the Lehigh valley as a site for blast-furnaces using anthracite for fuel. In consequence of his report, he was further engaged by Mr. Jackson to build a furnace for him and his partners on the Lehigh canal, 2 miles above the mouth of the river at Easton. Work was begun in the fall of 1842, and the first furnace blown-in in 1844. The history of the works, therefore, from 1844 to 1887, when my own connection with them ceased, covers only four years less than the whole period of the rise, culmination, and commencement of the decline in the smelting of iron with anthracite in America, the beginning of which, in a commercial sense, may be put in 1839.' Although this paper, as the title indicates, is concerned almost exclusively with the furnaces at Glendon, still what was done there was more or less influenced by current opinion in the dis¬trict, and even reflects, to some extent, the changes in opinion and practice with mineral fuel the world over. No. 1 Furnace was built of red brick, on four piers, had three tuyeres and fore-hearth and tymp, as was universal with furnaces using mineral fuel until the introduction of Liirmann's cinder-tuyere. The dimensions and profile are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The first hearth (Fig. 1) was of sandstone; all after were of fire-brick (Fig. 2). The profile was no doubt derived directly from Gibbons's furnace,2 for it appears from W. Firmstone's note-books that in October, 1840, he visited ." Gibbons' new furnaces building at Corbyn Hall," and I have an old drawing,\

Sep 1, 1909

[A Aall, Christian H., M49 D Mgr, American Metal Climax, Inc., 61 Broadway, New York 6, N.Y. Aaroe, S. L., A54 B Sales Mgr, The W. S. Tyler Co. of Can. Ltd., St. Catharines, Ont., Canada Abalos, Teodulo Q., J57 A Foreman, Lepanto Cons. Ming. Co., Mt. Province, Philippines Abbass, G., M55 P. O. Box 680, Hong Kong, China . Abbitt, James M., A54 770 Sole Blvd., Bartow, Fla. Abdullah, M. Y., J53 Dept. of Mines Res. Div., P. O. Box 1016, Tiger Lane, Ipoh Perak, Malaya Able, John F., Jr., J53 A Ming Engr, USA SIPRE 1215 Washington Ave., Wilmette, Ill. Abell, Leo M., M31 B Conct Supt, Phelps Dodge Corp., Morenci, Ariz. Abenius, Hakan Wilhelm, M52 A Mng Dir, Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags AB, Falun, Sweden Abenoroth, Harry F., A57 Natl. Carbon India Ltd., 18A Brabourne Rd., Box 217, Calcutta, India Abercrombie, Harry W., J56 1645 Camphor Dr., Lakeland, Fla.]

Jan 1, 1961