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By Joseph E. Pogue

There are two methods employed in the development of oil pools. The older and dominant method is one in which the primary object is the protection of the underground deposit from drainage through competing wells, and considerations of efficiency of extraction and cost of production are subordinated thereto. The newer and less prevalent method is one in which maximum efficiency and minimum cost are the first objectives and developments to these ends may proceed undisturbed by the exigencies of competitive drainage. The second method has developed mainly in pools under single ownership and the term "unit operation" has come to be applied to this procedure. A single ownership, however, is not essential to the method, for unity of operation may be achieved by agreement under split ownership, or even by a concert of enlightened purpose. There are examples of unit operation where neither the ownership nor the management is a unit, but merely where unity of procedure has been attained, as in the Yates pool. Throughout this paper "unit operation" is used in its broad sense without implying sole ownership or single management, although unit operation is more conveniently attained where these conditions are present. It is evident, upon reflection, that the second method should yield results far superior to the first, for the work of exploitation can be conducted without extraneous considerations and the natural forces present in the oil reservoir can be utilized to maximum advantage. Experience has amply confirmed this conclusion and were the facts widely known and appreciated, the efforts to extend the applications of the principle of unitization would be greatly intensified. Competitive Development of Oil Pools It has come about that the vast majority of oil pools, or reservoirs, in the United States are subdivided by numerous surface tracts under separate ownerships. This condition arises from the prevalent practice in the oil business of acquiring prospective acreage in checkerboard spreads. Thus the discovery of oil usually reveals a mosaic of overlying ownership. Since oil is a migratory mineral and is subject to lateral

Jan 1, 1931

By Enrique Touceda

As in the case of steel and the non-ferrous alloys in general, the use of the microscope in connection with the manufacture of malleable cast iron has proved of inestimable value to the industry. Had its use not been invoked, many facts either would not be known at all or, if suspected, would be confined to the realms of conjecture. No fairer statement could be made than that the start of real progress in the industry was coincident with the application of metallography to the product, though the full significance of this statement can hardly be appreciated except by those who not only are conversant with conditions as they existed at the time referred to, but are familiar with the character of works' practice at the present time.. A few years ago, about the only test made to ascertain the physical properties of the product, except in the case of certain plants, was the bending of a casting to destruction, not only with the object of discovering whether or not the metal was ductile, but for the purpose of inspecting the fracture. The characteristics of the fracture, if correctly interpreted, were known to be of value in locating the trouble in castings that were inferior. In general, it was found that if a casting of medium or heavy section would bend through a wide angle before failure took place, the fracture in the majority of cases would have a black velvety appearance; while if it was held at different angles to the direction of the rays of light, it would show a change of color and an iridescent sheen. But an inferior air-furnace heat or anneal might yield castings which, if thin and consequently largely decarburized, could be bent double on themselves and still not possess the fracture described. If, on the other hand, a casting broke short, its fracture might have one of a great many different color and structural peculiarities. Depending on the cause of the trouble, such castings might have any of the fracture characteristics, of which the following is but a partial list.

Jan 1, 1922

By B. F. Buie

For over 200 years meerschaum has been a significant item of trade between the Near East and countries to the west. Best-known for its use in making smoking pipes and cigar and cigarette holders, it is also used in making a variety of decorative and ornamental items. It is easily carved, and is given an attractive, lustrous finish by rubbing. No published specifications are known, but compact form, purity, uniform whiteness or light color, and uniform, porous texture appear to be requisites. Fig. la shows the appearance of a piece of crude meerschaum from Turkey; [Fig. lb a carved item; and Fig. lc, d, and e] show the fibrous and porous texture as revealed by the scanning electron microscope. Neither a major industrial mineral nor a precious stone, meerschaum nevertheless holds a record of long-and continuing-association with art and personal affairs of man. It is also a mineral to which modern methods of exploration and production probably could be profitably applied. An interesting account of the preparation and use of meerschaum in the early part of this century is given by Sterrett (1907). Geology and Mining Mineralogy Meerschaum is recognized now to be the compact variety of sepiolite, the claylike variety of which is one of the minerals included in the chapter on clays. The word "meerschaum," from the German meaning "sea foam," was in earlier times used synonymously with "sepiolite," a word of Greek origin suggestive of the resemblance of the compact variety-then the only variety known-to cuttlefish bone. At one time "meerschaum" was used as the commercial name, and "sepiolite" for the scientific name. However, to think of meerschaum as the name by which sepiolite is known commercially is no longer valid, in view of the recent emergence of the earthy variety as a competitor of bentonite and other clay materials. Present tendency is to restrict the term "meerschaum" to the compact variety, and to use the term "sepiolite" as a more general name to include both the compact and earthy varieties. This is the terminology followed in this publication.

Jan 1, 1975

By H. E. Nold

THIS paper is an effort to explain in a simple manner the fundamental principles involved in examining a clay deposit for both quantity and quality and in operating a clay mine, either open-pit or underground, SO that the best quality of finished material can be made from the raw material available. The writer is aware that what is recommended in this paper is everyday practice in many refractories plants and in some other heavy-clay products plants, but observations made while visiting practically every clay mine in Ohio have convinced him that the practices herein discussed are not as widely used as their importance warrants. It is true that the problem of mining for quality is more acute in refractories plants than in most heavy-clay products plants, yet some of the latter are finding it profitable to pay more than ordinary attention to the selection and blending of their raw materials. It is hoped that this short paper may prove helpful to some who are now finding it difficult to produce a uniform product of as high quality as their clay deposit seems to warrant. The coordination of the work of the clay mine or pit with the manufacturing plant, to the end that the best product possible be made from the raw material available, presupposes a rather intimate knowledge of the clay deposit. The knowledge must include not only information of the amount of clay available but also rather detailed information about both vertical and horizontal variations in quality of the clay. This information should cover three things: quality, quantity, and location. Sampling Undeveloped Deposits In the case of an undeveloped deposit with a shallow overburden, pitting may be the cheapest way of testing. For thick deposits or deposits with rather heavy overburden, the diamond drill, using a double core barrel, offers the best means of testing. When using the diamond drill in clay testing, it is doubtful whether it pays to take less than 2-in. cores; it is difficult to get complete cores with smaller drills, and the quantity of material obtained with smaller cores is not sufficient for the necessary tests.

Jan 1, 1929

With the inauguration of Petroleum Technology this year, and approval by the Board to add an Assistant Secretary to the New York staff to serve the Petroleum and Coal Divisions, the Petroleum Division looks forward to greater opportunities and responsibilities. An improved medium of publication offers further incentive to engineers and investigators in the oil industry to make contributions. The authorization by the Board of Directors of a new Assistant Secretary is an appreciation of the splendid contributions made to the industry by the open forum of the Petroleum Division. It is also a recognition of the possibilities of greater service to the membership along the lines established ten to fifteen years ago by DeGolyer, Fohs, Ambrose and Lovejoy, to mention a few leaders. It isexpected that the new officer will spend a substantial part of his time in the field, visiting the student sections, the respective Divisions, helping in the arrangement of papers and Section meetings and intensifying interest in the Institute. The Petroleum Division will hold three meetings this year. The Fall Meetings will be held on Oct. 6 and 7 in San Antonio and on Oct. 20 and 21 in Los Angeles. The programs for these meetings will deal chiefly with engineering research and production engineering problems. Papers on production statistics and general economics of the industry are reserved for the Annual Meeting in New York. The annual production symposium and statistics are accepted as standard for the industry. With continuously deeper penetration into the earth in search for and exploitation of petroleum, it is necessary to have a better understanding of reservoir conditions and to place more phases of the operation under engineering control. Among the subjects relating to reservoir conditions tha thave been proposed for the fall meeting programs are phase equilibria at high pressures, interfacial tension between oil and water, the flow of oil and water through sands, the chemistry of films and underground temperatures. Investigations relating to control of operations include methods of continuously logging while drilling both visually and electrically, methods of studying drilling samples, properties of drilling fluids, improved cementing practices for isolating thin sands under high-temperature conditions and gas conservation, particularly production from high-pressure reservoirs. Additional suggestions of general themes or individual subjects will be welcomed, since it is desirable to build a backlog of material for Petroleum Technology. 9

Jan 1, 1938

By W. D. Bennett

AN interesting effect has been observed in the vacuum etching of titanium in the high temperature ß phase. Using a high vacuum annealing furnace, operating at less than 2x10-6 mm with a tubular titanium liner, it has been found possible to etch polished metallographic specimens at different temperatures between room temperature and 1000°C without contamination or increase in hardness.' Heat etching of titanium has been reported by other workers,' but the following example is of interest as an experiment under high vacuum in the absence of any contamination. Two polished specimens of iodide-processed titanium are placed at different positions along the axis of the furnace corresponding to temperatures of 900" and 800°C above and below the a-ß transus. The specimens are then raised to these temperatures and annealed simultaneously for 3 hr under the same high vacuum conditions. After cooling and withdrawing the specimens, their surfaces are photographed without further treatment. Figs. 1 and 2 show the results for the 800" and 900°C specimens, respectively. Fig. 1, corresponding to a vacuum etch in the a region, shows a typical equiaxed structure with what appears to be a slight shift of grain boundaries. Fig. 2, corresponding to a vacuum etch in the ß region, shows an equiaxed type of structure with the growth of striations in certain grains. The striations are only superficial, as a light polish and chemical etch restores the clean equiaxed structure. The vacuum etch, occurring as it does above the a-ß transus, records the state of the metal in the ß phase by means of the surface relief produced by the selective evaporation of metal from different grains; the metal itself reverts to the equiaxed a on cooling. The nature of the ß etch" (Fig. 2) suggests that, in transforming from the close-packed-hexagonal a to the body-centered-cubic ß lenticular-shaped laminae are formed parallel to common planes of the two structures. This would explain why some grains appear to be unaffected by the etch. The technique has interesting possibilities in the investigation of the mechanics of high temperature transformation. Acknowledgment This note is published by permission of the Deputy Minister, Dept. of Mines and Technical Surveys, Ottawa, Ont., Canada.

Jan 1, 1956

By W. A. Thomas

STEAM is, and doubtless always will be, the basic power in the anthracite industry, either directly applied through engines and pumps or electrically. The rapidity with which electric power is being applied to the mining and preparation of anthracite leaves little doubt as to its utility and economy. There is practically no operation, except possibly the drilling of hard rock, that has not been successfully electrified and the matter of drilling is handled economically with electrically driven compressors and the standard compressed-air drills. Conservation and the seemingly ever-increasing cost of production, justify careful consideration of the possible results of the more extensive use of electric power in the industry. It is not planned to discuss, herein, the relative economies of individual applications but to consider the relative economy and flexibility of steam and electric power. The reports available for the year 1920 indicate a production of slightly over 80,000,000 tons of anthracite, of which 8,843,500 tons were used for power and heating purposes; in other words, over 11 per cent. of the production was used at the mines. Some of this was used to generate electric power at the mines, about 160,000,000 kw-hr., while 150,000,000 kw.-hr. was purchased from the public utility companies. One large producer, who is buying some electric power and generating some, used over 13 per cent. of the production for power and heating at the mines. Another producer, where considerable electric power is generated on the properties, is using less than 9 per cent. of the output for power and heating. One of the largest producers has a fuel consumption of over 15 per cent. of the output, besides which considerable power is purchased. A careful study of the field indicates that steam-operated plants use upwards of 13 per cent. of the production for power and heating, while electrically operated plants use about 1 per cent. for heating; so that, for steam-power purposes at least 12 per cent., or 268.8 lb., are used for power out of each ton produced.

Jan 9, 1921

By Newell G. Alford

The data in this paper were collected to show both the volume and speed with which bituminous mines have indefinitely suspended operation while economic advantage in the industry has so gravely declined. The study was limited to the bituminous coal-mining states east of the Mississippi River, wherein conditions affecting production and demand are more common respectively to all of the mining districts included and represent about 95 per cent of the nation's coal mining. Data for the compilation of these statistics and for the construction of these graphs have been obtained in all cases from state mine department reports, except from those of Ohio and Virginia. In Virginia essential individual mine data were secured from an authentic source, but no individual Ohio mine information is obtainable, because all Ohio fact-gathering agencies are prohibited by law from revealing such data. In other states the facts were tabulated and later checked with the cooperation of Chief Mine Inspectors. In all, excluding Ohio, over 17,000 individual annual mine returns were examined. Special information was secured from each state mine department about suspensions in 1932. Accurate information was not available from all states about nine abandonment due to exhaustion of coal reserves, and while these were completed for several states, it has not been shown because it was not perfected for all states. However, the total observed sample mas comprehensive enough to show that exhaustion accounts for a very limited part of the suspended production. Wherever mention is made of '(suspended productionJ' the largest annual output of the mine in the five years prior to suspension has been taken as the measure of its probable production had it continued to operate. A mine is not regarded in this category, as having suspended, when it merely ceases to produce. The word "suspension" is used only where there is a complete abandonment of activity for an indefinite period, as evidenced by the fact that both ventilation and pumping are discontinued.

Jan 1, 1934

By G. D. Rieck, G. H. G. Vaessen, D. L. Vogel

Both doped and undoped tungsten single crystals exhibit hardness anisotropy with respect to the direction of testing in each of the crystallographic phes investigated. The hardness anisotropy of undoped single-crystal tungsten is rather pronounced in (001) and (110) planes but very minor in (111) planes. The anisotropy in (122) planes of the doped and drawn tungsten after recrystallization is in accordance with a previously published concept of a stringlike distribution of the doping material in the metal. ANISOTROPY in mechanical properties of single-crystal tungsten was investigated by Rose et al., Garlick and Probst,2 and Beardmore and Hull. 3 Although data on the Vickers microhardness of tungsten have been published (see, e.g., Boosz 4 and the references cited by him), no data on the microhardness anisotropy are available. We report, therefore, some of our own results on the microhardness and its anisotropy. The microhardness has been determined of the following samples. A) Polycrystalline tungsten samples taken from: 1) powder metallurgical tungsten "normally" doped with potassium-silicon-aluminum oxides (final contents inppm: K, 100; Si, 100; Al, 20; Cr, 20; Fe, 50; Mo, 400; Ni, 10) and in the form of: a) a 10-mm-diam swaged ingot annealed at 1600°C, the grain sizes varying between 15 and 250 p; b) a sheet rolled at about 800°C and recrystallized at 2000°C7 the grain sizes varying between 15 and 150 p; c) a 2-mm-diam swaged rod, as-worked, with elongated grains (average diameter of about 25 , lengths up to 1 mm); 2) undoped electron-beam-melted tungsten with very large grains (contaminations in ppm: K < 10; Fe < 20; Cr < 10; Cu < 0.1; Ni not detectable; inter-stitial~ not determined). B) Single-crystal samples taken from: 1) pure tungsten grown on a Pintsch wire by the van Arkel procedure (main contaminations inppm: Mo, 100; Si < 10; Cu and Fe, 2; A1 < 2; interstitials not determined); 2) zone-melted undoped tungsten (analysis as under A2); 3) large crystals in secondary recrystallized tungsten

Jan 1, 1969

By J. T. Crawford

THE purpose of this paper is to present some data and comparisons regarding three types of Rheolaveur plants washing bituminous coal from the Pittsburgh seam. It deals only with the sections that handle coarse coal. The Rheolaveur system consists of launders or troughs in which coal and its associated impurities are conveyed by water. The impurities, being heavier than the coal, settle toward the bottoms of the launders and are drawn off through specially designed openings called Rheo boxes. Fundamentally, each plant consists of straight-sided, flat-bottomed launders of varying width and length, each launder equipped with one or more Rheo boxes for the removal of high-gravity fractions of the feed that are undesirable in the cleaned coal. Each launder has at least two longitudinal sections, the first with a slope of from 1 1/2 to 4 in. per foot of length, called the classification section. The single-box launder has a classification section followed by a washing section ahead of the box. A two-box launder is a single-box launder followed by a washing section and a second box. The slope of the washing section between the first and second boxes is determined to some extent by tonnage. At the end of the classification section, which may vary from 8 to 15 ft. in length, the slope abruptly flattens out to a slope of from ½ to 1 in. per foot of length. This flatter section of the launder, called the washing section, may vary from a few feet, in a single-box launder, to 15 ft., in a two-box launder.

Jan 1, 1938

By F. L. Wolf

THERE is a tendency on the part of practical foundrymen to accept with reluctance the results of tests on sands, binders, and. such materials made in the chemical laboratory alone. They feel that such tests frequently emphasize and measure properties that are of minor importance and fail to take account of characteristics that are important in determining the value of the material in actual practice. Experience seems to indicate that the most thorough and conclusive, test for any new foundry material is an actual run in the foundry alongside of a standard material of known value. Such a test, however, involves certain difficulties and necessitates certain precautions. It is not always easy to obtain a fair trial for a new material. We all have certain prejudices, which unconsciously affect our judgment to a marked degree. A practical test frequently involves so many workmen, each of whom reacts in a different manner to the test, that; the personal equation becomes very, complex and the true results of the test are obscured. There are times, too, when a thorough experimental trial of a material would interfere too much with the rush of work in a department or would hazard the quality, of the product to such an extent as to make it inadvisable. Under such conditions a laboratory test is advisable before the material is sent into the foundry. These tests should be made as practical as possible and so closely related to foundry practice as to give a true index to the value of a, product for the purpose desired. Core sands and molding sands are as numerous "as the sands of the sea" and vary as much in quality. Old sources of supply are continually failing and new ones must be opened, so that we must continually search for new and better grades of sand. During the past year, the Ohio Brass Co. has developed tests for sands&apos;, cores, and binders which bear a close relation to the particular use to which these materials are put in

Jan 9, 1920

By Wilford Stork

CERTAIN influences of oxygen on iron have been known for many years and it has always been considered one of the worst enemies of the iron and steel founders. Nobody had a good word for it, hence little was done to make use of this oxygen. In all the fields of foundry practice, the desideratum was "melt without oxidation of the metal." In the consideration of the influence of oxygen on cast iron, we must not confuse this condition with oxidized iron caused by poor melting conditions, due to a high bed, heavy charges, low coke ratio, excessive melting rate, high blast, or poor charging. It is admitted that oxygen absorbed by iron melted under these conditions has a deleterious effect on the properties of the iron. The writer has had experience both in the melting under such poor conditions and in remedying these bad conditions and considers the product far inferior to iron melted under normal conditions. As stated by Dr. Richard Moldenke,1 such iron has a higher melting point and high combined carbon, is sluggish, and contains slags and oxides in solution in the liquid, causing slag inclusions and gas occlusions, thus producing defective castings. This oxidized condition cannot be counteracted or removed by any of the known deoxidizers; it can be remedied only by proper melting conditions. Such iron is really burned, whereas the iron considered in this paper was melted under normal conditions with moderate blast, correct bed height, light charges of iron, and low coke consumption and is not in this category at all. In 1914, the late J. E. Johnson, Jr., startled the metallurgists of the world when he published his results on the advantages of oxygen on cast iron.2 His work is so convincing and so logical, in spite of the common and well-established notions on the subject, that nobody has been able to refute a single argument. Such an eminent authority on iron and steel metallurgy as Prof. H. M. Howe has accepted the work in all its details in his latest book3 The work of J. E. Johnson, Jr., has revolutionized

Jan 6, 1919

IN the western mines, the boss, engineer, geologist, or nipper in making rounds have a password which usually guarantees safe entrance to a working place from below the working miner. Most men won&apos;t climb a raise or enter a stope from below where a miner is working until they have shouted "nothin&apos; down" and heard those words shouted back by the miners above. "Nothin&apos; down" is a safety pledge as necessary and as binding as the truce flag to the soldier. It implies mutual confidence that work will be suspended until the person below has come abreast of the workers; and also confidence that the miner who replies "nothin&apos; down" is reasonably sure the place is safe to enter. Like truce flags which are not infallible, so is this password subject to human errors or unexpected falls of rock, tools, or timber. Everyone knows these unavoidable hazards, but what is important to the exposed man is that in that precise moment of time when he has heard the reassurance of "nothin&apos; down," he knows that safety is uppermost in the minds of the men above him. With such assurance we would go anywhere and so would most mining men. If that period of safety consciousness, procured by the utterance of two words, could be multiplied to equal the hours in the working day, there would not be any accidents but those by "the act of God." It is the aim of every safety program to make safety as natural as breathing. That is the reason for the posters, the conferences, instruction periods, safety engineers, and the inspections. But none of these are as effective as one accident, which keeps men on their toes for weeks to come. This is not the price we want to pay for safety consciousness. This Annual Review number of Mining Engineering is full of talk about production. Production for defense, production for profit. In this tremendous surge of industrial might . to make this nation and our very families safe S from the predatory forces abroad in the world today; let us not lose sight of the fact that the . safety of our manpower is more precious than any commodity. Production without safety is detrimental to the national interest, to that of the company, and to the individual. If the words "nothin&apos; down" can give us the best human guarantee of safety, for however brief a time, let us adopt them at least in principle as our slogan in 1952. Production for preservation in &apos;52 - but NOTHIN&apos; DOWN!

Jan 1, 1952

By M. Albertson

At Cobalt, Ontario, Canada, a lake was drained to facilitate mining, by the Mining Corpn. of Canada, during the spring and early summer of 1915. Previous to pumping out the water, great quantities of sands and slimes from concentrating plants had been discharged into the lake and during and after the lake&apos;s drainage, its basin was a receptacle for tailing products. As the writer was at work along the shore line as the lake was being drained, he had a good opportunity to observe the changes that took place as the water was withdrawn. Some adjustments between the incoming sands and the mud in the lake had taken place before pumping was commenced. One of the most interesting results was the appearance of a small dome in a path the writer traversed twice a day for several months; he remembers distinctly the difficulty of crossing this. Cobalt Lake owed its existence to the gouging out of a rock basin by glaciation. The long axis of the basin closely follows the strike of a thrust fault of about 500 ft. (160 m.) vertical displacement. The lake was originally shaped somewhat as shown. The length was about 3000 ft. (914.4 m.), the width at the lower lobe was about 1000 ft., and the width at the narrows probably 400 to 500 ft. The original depth of water varied from 20 to 30 ft. (6.1 to 9.1 m.), near where the island later was formed, to 60 to 70 ft. (23.6 to 27.6 m.) in the widest part of the lower lobe. At the narrows, the depth was 30 to 40 ft. Above the bed rock was sand, with boulders near the bottom, and mud. During the building of the railroad in 1903, considerable filling was done along the right of way. With the commencement of mining operations, about 1905, waste rock and mill tailings were dumped into the lake. One of the mining companies operated a hydraulic giant to remove the glacial debris from several hundred acres of rock surface; much of the sand and clay from this operation was deposited in the lake. About 1,500,000 tons of mill tailings, composed of sands and slimes, were discharged into the lake&apos;s waters previous to 1915. Most of this material

Jan 1, 1921

By W. F. Hosford

W. F. Hosford, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) —evelopment of methods for predicting the plastic anisotropy of textured metals is an important step toward the improvement of properties by texture control. The engineering value of the present analysis is indicated by the good agreement between prediction and experimental findings. The purpose of this discussion, however, is to point out the weakness of the assumptions on which the analysis is based. The authors state that "the relative width and thickness strains are believed to depend only on the slip direction" and accordingly they disregard the orientation of the active slip plane. where E,, cW, and et are the tensile, width, and thickness strains, A,, A,, and At are the angles between the tensile axis x, the width direction w, and the thickness direction t, respectively; and G,, GW, and 4 are the angles between the slip-plane normal and x, w, and t, respectively. Therefore, the ratio of width to thickness strains resulting from slip on a single system would be These relations hold regardless of whether the slip plane is a crystallographic plane of the {110}, (1121, or (123) type or whether noncrystallographic slip occurs. If noncrystallographic slip occurs, it might be reasonable to assume that the effective slip plane is the most highly stressed plane containing the slip direction. In this case the slip direction, S.D., the slip plane normal, S.P.N., and the tensile axis, x, are coplanar (Fig. 19) and the angles are related by following expressions: where 9 is the angle between t and the projection of the slip direction in the w-t plane (igs. 1 and 2). The normal strains, Eq. [9], become

Jan 1, 1963

By James A. Barr

When phosphate mining operations first commenced in Tennessee the loss of both high- and low-grade material was large, because of the crude hand methods employed. Practically all rock smaller than 2 in. was thrown back into the pits and covered with the overburden of subsequent openings. With the advent of mechanical washers and other mining machinery, together with the abolishing of the contract system, the waste has been steadily diminished, until at present only the finest sand is being rejected; and even this is not lost, for in the majority of cases the water, slime, and sand from the washers are run into large settling ponds where practically all of the phosphate-bearing material is caught and stored for future use, or until it is profitable to ship lower grades. The latest equipment used to recover the fine and lower-grade phosphate sand includes Dorr thickeners, settling tanks, Dorr classifiers and settling ponds served by locomotive cranes with clam-shell buckets, making it possible to save material averaging as fine as 200 mesh. TO attempt saving finer material would necessitate a different type of drier, which might be patterned after the multiple-deck roasters. The present tailing runs from 15 to 25 per ccnt. of available phosphate, which, howrever, as mentioned before, does not represent a total loss to possible future operations. The demand of the consumer is the greatest factor in regulating the recovery at present. In the mining of blue rock, which does not require washing treatment, the main waste material is the capping of low-grade kidney formation, generally used for backfilling of the rooms. By reason of the introduction of improved methods in the early stages and the re-mining of territory skimmed over at the start, at the present time the net result of all operations is a comparatively small loss. One of the largest temporary losses in the industry occurs in the Florida pebble district where the recovery of phosphate runs about 25 per cent. The loss is classed as temporary because most of the tailing has been collected in ponds and piles, where it may be reclaimed in the future should developments or improved processes warrant. In cleaning the Florida pebble phosphate, aside from the elutriatisn

Jan 1, 1916

By W. J. Sharwood

(San Francisco Meeting, September, 1915) CUPELLATION is well known to be one of the most effective methods of separating silver and gold from base metals and other impurities, as well as one of the most accurate means for their estimation. In the latter application it consists in absorbing in some porous medium the fused lead. oxide formed by the oxidation of the lead "bath," which carries with it the oxides of other base metals present. It has long been recognized that small amounts of both silver and gold were removed and absorbed together with the base metals, as well as being to some slight extent volatilized, and in work of the highest accuracy a correction is made for the "cupellation loss." Thus. in the assay of bullion this is done by means of "proofs" of like composition, which are manipulated throughout in precisely the same manner as the assay pieces, and are assumed to lose or gain like amounts. In the case of certain very rich ores and commercial products the loss is adjusted by assaying the cupel itself and recovering the precious metal absorbed, but this doubles the labor and does not remedy the loss by volatilization. Arbitrary tables have been drawn up by various authorities with the object of enabling a correction to be applied without the use of a check. These have been of very limited practical use owing to the fact that a number of factors affect the losses sustained. For a fixed amount of precious metal the loss varies with the amount of lead used, with the nature and amount of the impurities, with the porosity of the cupel, with the air supply, and above all with the temperature at which cupellation is carried on. Pure silver loses relatively much more than gold, but the loss in either is diminished by au addition of the other metal. The concentration of precious metal in the litharge increases as the concentration in the lead increases, but little work has been published connecting the two. If all other conditions remain the same the actual total loss increases, but the percentage loss diminishes, with an increase in the weight of precious metal treated.

Jan 8, 1915

By Geoffrey Purcell

For anyone contemplating flotation research with only a very limited amount of mineral available for testing, the choice of suitable experimental equipment is by no means obvious. Hallimond&apos;s original and delightfully simple cell1 has been modified by subsequent investigators2to give quantitative and reproducible results on small samples. However, the modifications have necessarily compromised its simplicity, and the services of a skilled glass blower are required to duplicate the cell. Vacuum flotation tests3 at best qualitative and may, under certain conditions4, be quite impracticable. A hundred years ago, Thoreau observed that "our life is frittered away by detail," and his advice was to "simplify, simplify," The success of the simple cell described below, which was developed by the author and differs somewhat from Hallimond&apos;s original, suggests that Thoreau&apos;s advice still has merit a century later. CELL CONSTRUCTION The cell [Fig. 1 (a) and 1 (b)] consists essentially of a 25-ml pipet from which has been cut the con- stricted top. The length cut off is not critical since this merely determines the final volume of the cell. Cell volume may be varied in this way from 20 to 50 cc. A pyrex extension tube, equal in diameter and approximately half the length of the cut pipet, is attached to the top of the pipet by means of 2 ½ in. of close-fitting tygon tubing. When assembled, the two pyrex tubes should be spaced about ½ in. apart. Another length of tygon tubing is added to the extension piece for sealing purposes. A ¾ -in. disc of porous material (teflon cloth is ideal), secured in place over the pipet tip with another piece of shaped tygon tubing, completes the cell assembly. Tygon tubing may be shaped by pushing it over the pipet tip or some similar form and heating carefully over a low flame. For flotation [Fig. 1 (c) 1, the pyrex extension tube is rotated approximately 70º from the vertical and held in position by a wire hook and eye. Floated material, after reaching the free surface, falls and rests on this inclined plane. The barrier formed by the bent tygon tubing ensures that floated material does not slide back and return to the vertical portion of the cell.

Jan 11, 1965

INTRODUCTION Great emphasis has been given throughout this text to the necessity of maintaining the integrity of mineralogical populations when operating upon sample data drawn from mixed populations. Mineral deposits rarely are completely homogeneous and often consist of many subsets separated by geological and mineralogical boundaries. Sometimes different mineral populations are difficult to distinguish, and may be inadvertently lumped together-often without serious consequences, but more often with detrimental effects upon analytical results. The geologist must accept the responsibility for recognizing and recording mineral boundaries that may include: changes in mineral suites, lithological horizons, host rock types, faulted and offset segments, zones of enrichment or depletion, and several other geological and mineralogical changes that effect mineralogical structuring and distribution within a deposit. When employing conventional methods for assigning estimated values to irregularly shaped mineral inventory blocks, it was only necessary for the geologist or engineer to con- fine the block limits to the known geologic boundaries. Thus if a fault interrupted the mineral zone, the trace of the fault could be used as a block boundary. Intelligent decisions could always be made as to which blocks to include in each mineral population. However, with the advent of the computer, which per- mits the computation of mineral inventory blocks using better mathematical estimation techniques, there now enters the "boundary problem." Unless the computer can be programmed to recognize population differences and geologic boundaries, greater estimation errors will be found in computer-generated mineral reserves rather than in less sophisticated conventional inventories. Much disillusionment has been expressed over the years by experienced mineral appraisers as a result of their study of computer-generated inventories that failed to account adequately for geologic vagaries. Many, thus disillusioned, have concluded that computer techniques are not satisfactory, or have only limited applications to simple deposits. As with all problems in the mineral industry,

Jan 1, 1980

By W. W. Vaughn, R. H. Barnett, E. E. Wilson

Soon after the search for uranium ores on the Colorado Plateau began in earnest, thousands of feet of drill core ranging from 1 1/8 to 2 1/8 in. diam became available for study. Although significant advances had been made in the technique of quantitative gamma-ray borehole logging, instrumentation was in the development stage, and complete reliance could not be placed on gamma-ray logs alone to interpret quantitatively the meaning of radioactivity in a drillhole. A method that would be faster than chemical analysis and still give reproducible and reliable results for various drill core sizes was desirable to provide additional information on the enormous footage of drill core being accumulated. A solid phosphor scintillation drill core scanner was designed and constructed. Basically the instrument was developed to measure radiation from a drill core which would not be clearly recorded by a gamma-ray logger using a Geiger tube as the sensitive element. Such data would be beneficial in constructing isorad maps to delineate ore-bearing zones. A calibration in the range 0.01 to 0.1 pct eU3O8 was provided; above 0.1 pct eU3O8 gamma-ray logs were available and were being used to calculate grade and tonnage of ore reserves. The core scanner, however, has been used to estimate equivalent uranium content of ore-grade materials containing as much as 2.2 pct eU308 with an accuracy of ±10 pct, the sample being in the form of a BX drill core. Actually, an apparent calibration of eU308 vs counts per unit time is a straight line with a slope that is a function of the sensitive element and the geometry of the counting assembly. A true calibration that will show the expected departure from a straight line is due principally to the random nature of the pulse from a radiation source and the nonlinearity of the electron circuitry.

Jan 6, 1959