Search Documents

By C. L. Thornburg

FLANKING the Valley of Mexico on the northeast is a mountain range known as the Sierra de Pachuca. This northwesterly-trending range is about 30 miles long and 5 miles wide, its summit attaining an elevation of more than 10,000 feet above sea level, or 2000 feet above the valley floor. Pachuca, a town of 50,000 inhabitants, lies nestled at the southwest base of the range, 60 miles northeast of Mexico City. Three miles to the east, just over the summit and on the northeasterly slope, is the mountain town of Real del Monte with a population of about 20,000. These are the two principal towns in a 40-sq mile area whose yield has brought the district to its high rank among the world's silver producers. Total production probably exceeds 1.25 billion ounces of silver and 4.5 million ounces of gold. Exploitation by the Spanish was under way by 1530. As the mines were deepened operations became handicapped by the inadequate method of handling water with horse whims and bull skins. To offset this disadvantage a two-mile drainage tunnel was started in 1749 and completed ten years later. John Taylor of London acquired the mines from the third Count of Regla in 1824 and formed the Compania de Real del Monte y Pachuca. Two years later Cornish pumps were brought from England. A Mexican company purchased the British interest in 1848 and within a few years resumed an old project of driving a second, lower three-mile drainage tunnel, completing it in 1857. After American interests acquired control of the property in 1906 operations expanded to an unprecedented scale, despite periods of political strife, unstable prices, labor problems, and a growing burden of taxation. An idea of the scale of operations may be gained from records of the last two decades prior to 1947, the last year for which production information is at hand, during which time production ranged from 1.4 million to 1.1 million tons per year, and the combined development and exploration, exclusive of diamond drilling, amounted to about 18 miles annually. Pachuca differs from Zacatecas and some other Mexican silver vein districts that flourished and declined in earlier centuries in that a substantial part of its total production was made after 1900. While the district's accelerated activity in this century was largely due to the successful application of the cyanide process to the treatment of the ores, improved pumping methods, and new mechanical equipment, it was at the same time stimulated by the opening up of important new orebodies as a result of active and extensive exploration of the vein system. Some of these orebodies were found on veins which terminate upward far below the surface, and though these particular veins do not crop out, they show relationship with a type of alteration which may be their surface expression. The district has been studied by many able geologists, and a large store of information has been accumulated, much of which is recorded in published as well as private papers. Wall Rocks Extrusive Rocks: The Sierra de Pachuca is a thick accumulation of Tertiary eruptive rocks consisting mainly of flows, breccias, and tuffs. Numerous recognizable volcanic vents within the range itself manifest that the range was built up by material ejected from these vents. The maximum thickness of the volcanic pile is not known, but from deep exploration and from relationship with Mesozoic sediments to the north and east it is inferred that the average thickness in the main part of the district may be at least 6000 ft. The extrusive rocks comprise four general types, which in ascending order of age are: andesite, rhyolite, dacite, and basalt. The veins are confined largely to the andesite, the dominant rock of the region. Characteristically this rock is augite andesite, but it includes comparatively acidic as well as basic layers, the acidic strata being

Jan 1, 1952

By J. H Lightfoot, Stuart E. Buckley

Deep drilling has led to the development of numerous pools which yield products consisting predominantly of natural gas accompanied by high-gravity water-white or slightly straw-colored liquid. Yields of this "condensate" or "distillate," as it is commonly called, vary from traces to over a hundred barrels per million cubic feet of gas. The fact that this liquid exists in the reservoir as an integral part of the gas phase and is formed by condensation attending simultaneous reduction of pressure and temperature after its entry into the well was apparently first recognized about 1932.l The nature of the physical phenomena involved in this condensation was clarified for the petroleum industry in 1933 by a report by Sage, Schaafsma, and Lacey2 of the results of an experimental investigation of the behavior of mixtures of methane and propane. Search of the literature has revealed that the condensation of liquid from gaseous mixtures by isothermal pressure reduction is not a new discovery. Kuenen was led by theoretical considerations to expect such a phenomenon, and in 1892 reported3 the results of experimental verification of his deductions. This was followed by a considerable amount of work on the phase relations of mixtures by Kuenen 4,5,6 and by 0thers,7,8 mostly in European universities. Since 1930 investigators in this country have reported experimental data on the properties and behavior of a number of hydrocarbon systems."' It is now generally known that in the presence of natural gas the solubility in the gas phase of the heavier and normally liquid hydrocarbons increases rapidly with increasing pressure above 500 to 1000 Ib. per sq. in. Thus, at pressures of 2500 Ib. per sq. in. or higher a gas may contain appreciable quantities of hydrocarbons with normal boiling points as high as 6o0°F., which in turn may be condensed from the gas phase by the reduction of their solubility therein attending pressure reduc-tion. The combined effects of pressure and temperature on condensation and vaporiza-tioi of mixtures are most readily visualized by the study of phase diagrams. Since the construction, application, and interpreta-tion of such diagrams have been described fully in readily available literature, 18-20 this paper will not review the theoretical aspects of this subject. While the behavior of gas-distillate sys tems is now clearly understood, at least in a qualitative way, most of the published work deals with the results of laboratory studies of binary systems or of synthetic mixtures of hydrocarbons, and although several systematic investigations of the effects of separator pressure and temperature on the yields of liquid product from gas-distillate wells have been made21,12z it appears that in all cases the limitations have precluded the construction of even approximately complete phase diagrams for naturally occurring systems. There has 2

Jan 1, 1941

By J. H. Lightfoot, Stuart E. Buckley

Deep drilling has led to the development of numerous pools which yield products consisting predominantly of natural gas accompanied by high-gravity water-white or slightly straw-colored liquid. Yields of this "condensate" or "distillate," as it is commonly called, vary from traces to over a hundred barrels per million cubic feet of gas. The fact that this liquid exists in the reservoir as an integral part of the gas phase and is formed by condensation attending simultaneous reduction of pressure and temperature after its entry into the well was apparently first recognized about 1932.l The nature of the physical phenomena involved in this condensation was clarified for the petroleum industry in 1933 by a report by Sage, Schaafsma, and Lacey2 of the results of an experimental investigation of the behavior of mixtures of methane and propane. Search of the literature has revealed that the condensation of liquid from gaseous mixtures by isothermal pressure reduction is not a new discovery. Kuenen was led by theoretical considerations to expect such a phenomenon, and in 1892 reported3 the results of experimental verification of his deductions. This was followed by a considerable amount of work on the phase relations of mixtures by Kuenen 4,5,6 and by 0thers,7,8 mostly in European universities. Since 1930 investigators in this country have reported experimental data on the properties and behavior of a number of hydrocarbon systems."' It is now generally known that in the presence of natural gas the solubility in the gas phase of the heavier and normally liquid hydrocarbons increases rapidly with increasing pressure above 500 to 1000 Ib. per sq. in. Thus, at pressures of 2500 Ib. per sq. in. or higher a gas may contain appreciable quantities of hydrocarbons with normal boiling points as high as 6o0°F., which in turn may be condensed from the gas phase by the reduction of their solubility therein attending pressure reduc-tion. The combined effects of pressure and temperature on condensation and vaporiza-tioi of mixtures are most readily visualized by the study of phase diagrams. Since the construction, application, and interpreta-tion of such diagrams have been described fully in readily available literature, 18-20 this paper will not review the theoretical aspects of this subject. While the behavior of gas-distillate sys tems is now clearly understood, at least in a qualitative way, most of the published work deals with the results of laboratory studies of binary systems or of synthetic mixtures of hydrocarbons, and although several systematic investigations of the effects of separator pressure and temperature on the yields of liquid product from gas-distillate wells have been made21,12z it appears that in all cases the limitations have precluded the construction of even approximately complete phase diagrams for naturally occurring systems. There has 2

Jan 1, 1941

By R. F. Miller

DUE to wartime secrecy restrictions a large part of the technical information developed by government and industrial laboratories was withheld from distribution. Much of this information has now been released or "declassified" and reports of technical work carried out during the war in allied and enemy countries are also becoming available. Information on the latter subject has been augmented by the work of the Technical Industrial Intelligence Corps of the U. S. Army. Through the Joint Chiefs of Staff, rep¬resentatives of this Corps co-operated with the British Combined Intelligence Observations Subcommittee, and some of the observations were made by combined personnel of both groups. The U. S. Government has undertaken the indexing and abstracting of all of this information in the Bibliography of Scientific and Industrial Reports, a weekly bulletin which appeared first early in 1946. Other publications, such as the Bulletin of the British Iron and Steel Institute and The Metals Review of the American Society for Metals, provide abstracts of domestic and foreign magazine articles and papers presented to technical societies. However, they do not cover the industrial and government reports recently released by the Government nor the reports of the Army investigators hence the new bibliography is a welcome addition to our metallurgical library.

Jan 1, 1947

By Andrew Balint, Peter Cammack

When coal is irradiated by the X-rays emitted from a plutonium 238 isotope, the radiation absorbed by elements of low atomic number (carbon and hydrogen) is lower than that absorbed by elements of high atomic number (silicon, aluminium, iron) which form the ash in coal. The differences are reproducible and readily measurable, and this paper describes how this technique is used to determine the ash content of coal and to optimize measurement accuracy. Uses of the output signal are given with an example of a simple control circuit, and the advantages of instantaneous ash measurement are highlighted in terms of operational convenience and profit.

Jan 1, 1977

By H. Warlimont

Precipitation of cementite plates from carbon-rich austenite gives rise to localized formation of martensite in the matrix next to the precipitate upon quenching. The growth of this martensite is urmsually restricted. A distinct lattice relationship is found between this martensite and the cementite phase. It is concluded that the martensite is nacleated in the region of lowest carbon concentration at the austenite-cementite integace, with low-energy matching to the cementite lattice. The restriction of the growth of the martensite phase to the vicinity of the cementite plates can be explained by misfit in the austenite -martensite glissile interface and the uphill carbon gradient in the austenite. The investigation was carried out by light- and electron-microscopy and by electron-diffraction of thin foils. THE precipitation of cementite from carbon-rich austenite gives rise to a localized formation of martensite in the matrix next to the precipitate upon quenching. This behavior has been described previously by A. B. Greninger and A. R. Troiano1 for a 1.78 pct C steel ("pseudomorphic martensite"), and by A. Hultgren2 for a Fe-0.99 pct C—5.20 pct Mn steel. By measuring the axial ratio of the martensite phase,' it was found that the carbon content of this martensite was lower than that of the martensite which formed without prior partial transformation to cementite. Therefore, it was concluded that lowering of the carbon concentration in the matrix next to the precipitate raised the M, temperature locally and thus led to nucleation of martensite at the ce-mentite-austenite interface. However, the restriction of the growth of the martensite phase to the vicinity of the cementite plates cannot be explained by localized carbon impoverishment alone. Under ordinary conditions a martensite plate which has been nucleated in a favorable site can continue to grow until it encounters a physical barrier, or until it encounters a compositional barrier in the matrix, where the total free-energy change for the reaction is not negative, since it has been shown by numerous experiments that the activation energy for growth of ordinary martensite is virtually zero.' An investigation was conducted by transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction to study this extraordinary martensite. It was expected that crystallographic in addition to compo- sitional conditions caused this abnormal mode of martensite formation. MATERIAL AND PROCEDURE An Fe-C-Mn alloy containing 1.15 pct C and 5.1 pct Mn was used for most of the experiments. For metallographic work, specimens 15 by 15 by 3 mm were used. For preparation of thin films, the initial specimen size was 15 by 15 by 0.7 mm. The heat treatment of each specimen consisted of austenitizing for 1/2hr at 1100'~ in an argon atmosphere, subsequent isothermal holding in a lead bath at one of a series of different temperatures, and, finally, quenching into brine at room temperature. For metallographic examination, the specimens were mounted in bakelite (slight tempering effects resulted from the heat in the mounting press) ground, polished, and etched in nital. Thin films for transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction were obtained by grinding the specimens to approximately 0.2 mm thickness and subsequent electrolytical thinning. The orientation relationships were evaluated from sets of electron micrographs and selected-area electron diffraction patterns of single units of the transformation products and the adjacent matrix. RESULTS In the alloy which was used for the experiments, proeutectoid carbide precipitates over a wide tem-

Jan 1, 1962

By ED. E. Furman, R. H. Atkinson

HITHERTO the practical creep testing of precious metals has received little or no attention. The only previous creep tests of precious metals have been made with wires under conditions such as to yield much more rapid rates of creep than in engineering tests.', ' Up to the present time the value of creep bars of adequate size, in the absence of real need for engineering data, has deterred investigators. However, the increasing use of platinum at high temperatures has demonstrated the need for reliable creep data for the guidance of engineers, especially those engaged in designing certain specialized chemical plant equipment. In order to supply this need, creep tests were conducted at 1382°F (750°C) on 0.290 in. diam specimens of platinum, 90 pct Pt, 10 pct Rh and palladium. The platinum was high purity, nominally 99.95 pct Pt. The 90 pct Pt, 10 pct Rh was of the same high quality as is used for making gauzes for the catalytic oxidation of ammonia. The palladium was also of high purity; two batches of palladium bars were tested, one deoxidized with calcium boride and the other with aluminum. Spectrographic examination of the palladium confirmed its good quality; the only significant impurities apart from the residual deoxidizers were traces of silicon and lead. Procedure The creep bars, which were furnished by Baker and Co. to our specification, were 6 ¾ in. in overall length with a 4½ in. (4 in. gage length) reduced section 0.290 in. in diam and had the ends threaded (?-NC16). It may be of interest that the bars were valued at up to $600 each. The specimens were supplied in a 50 pct cold-worked condition to facilitate attachment of the creep extensometer, which was of the push rod type. Because of the softness of the platinum and palladium, the extensometer rings were secured to the test section by means of circular knife edges instead of the usual pointed set screws. The extensometer rods extended through the bottom of the furnace and readings were taken with a 0.0001 in. "Last Word" dial gage fastened to the rods for the duration of the test. The bars were directly loaded by hanging weights from the lower specimen grip. All tests were conducted at 1382°F ± 2°F, and an effort was made to maintain the temperature gradient over the test section within 2°F. The ends of the furnace tube were packed with asbestos wool, which allowed a very slow circulation of air through the tube. Annealing was accomplished in the creep furnace before the load was applied. The platinum and palladium specimens were annealed at the test tem- perature for about 17 and 24 hr respectively; in the case of the rhodioplatinum it was found expedient to anneal for 1 hr at 1922°F (1050°C). Pilot samples cut from the same stock as the bars were used to check annealing procedures. Pertinent measurements of grain size and hardness were recorded. Results and Discussion The creep data obtained are given in Table I and the creep curves are plotted in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Two platinum specimens, tested under a stress of 250 psi, had almost identical creep rates at 2000 hr, namely 0.000008 and 0.000009 pct per hr. A third platinum specimen, stressed at 400 psi, had a creep rate at 2000 hr of 0.000026 pct per hr; the reason for a rather sharp decrease in creep rate during the period from 1200 to 1600 hr is unknown. As it was thought that 90 pct Pt, 10 pct Rh would have a lower creep rate than platinum, the first sample was tested at 400 psi; however, the creep rate was approximately 50 pct greater. Microex-amination revealed that differences in grain size might be responsible for the unexpected result, as annealing at 1382°F developed an average grain diameter of 0.0021 in. in the rhodioplatinum specimen compared with 0.004 in. in the platinum bar. Annealing the alloy for 1 hr at 1922°F (1050°C) increased the average grain diameter to 0.0032 in. and materially improved the creep resistance, making it much better than platinum. A second specimen annealed at 1922°F (1050°C) and tested under a stress of 550 psi had a creep rate of 0.000022 pct per hr at 2000 hr, which was still substantially lower than that shown by the specimen annealed at 1382°F (750°C) and stressed at only 400 psi. In contrast to the creep behavior of the platinum and rhodioplatinum specimens, the palladium bars, whether deoxidized with calcium boride or aluminum, were characterized by high first stages of creep. However, after about 1200 hr of test, the creep

Jan 1, 1952

By Thomas H. Leggett

IN speaking of the mining and economic conditions prevailing at the present time on the Rand, it is not my intention to go into the details of the mining-practice, since this has been already well described both in the Transactions1 and elsewhere,2 but rather to take a more comprehensive view of the industry and its surroundings as a. whole, marking its general development and the lines of its future progress. In a. paper entitled Deep-Level Shafts on the Witwatersrand, with Remarks on a Method of Working the Greatest Number of Deep-Level Mines with the Fewest Possible Shafts,3 presented to this Institute in August, 1900, I drew attention to the great cost of sinking the very deep vertical shafts that were then being seriously proposed as necessary for the development of the deeper areas, pointing out the strong advisability of working this ground by means of inclines to be sunk from the existing shafts of from 3,000 to 4,000 ft. in vertical depth. In this paper it is stated (1:). 975): "In short, practice upon the Rand now tends towards fewer vertical shafts and more underground inclines, especially for the very deep mining about to be undertaken." In consequence, the 6,000-ft. vertical shafts, at one time so much discussed, have never been started, and they do not now seem likely ever to be. The necessity of placing all deep shafts further apart in order to make them control and exhaust larger areas was also dwelt upon. This economy was vitally necessary for both 1 Gold-Mining in the Transvaal, South Africa, John Hays Hammond, xxxi., S17 to 855 (1901). R Engineering and Mining Journal, vol. lxxxv., p. 53 (1908). ' Trans., xxx., 947 to 987 (1900).

Jan 5, 1908

By D. A. Rice, R. L. Stone

Studies of the possible effect of plant water chemistry on the strength of unfired iron ore pellets apparently have not been reported in the literature. Naturally occurring soluble salts were removed from magnetic concentrate filter cakes obtained from several iron ore concentrators. Laboratory balling tests showed that unfired pellets made from these "clean" filter cakes were 50-100% stronger than the usual unfired pellets containing the salts. The fact that certain chemical additives dissolved in the water used for balling "clean" concentrates decreased the strength of unfired pellets indicates that salts in the plant process water may be responsible for lower strengths. According to chemical analyses of plant process waters at these plants, calcium and magnesium are probably the most detrimental salts in the plant circuits. It is suggested that calcium, magnesium, and other polyvalent cations in the mill process waters ion-exchange for lower-valence cations in the bentonite and thereby destroy the electrostatic-charge bonding in the green pellet. Some practical guidelines are also included for plant balling practices.

Jan 1, 1973

By V. I. Purcell, R. E. Snow, S. C. Sun

FATTY acids have been used as standard collectors for floating the matrix1-8 but not the leached zone phosphate ores. After a series of investigations, Davenport9 and Tarbutton10 concluded that the Florida leached zone ores tested were unamenable to fatty acid flotation and must be upgraded by floating the siliceous gangue with Armac-T as collector. The cationic flotation was estimated11 to cost almost ten times as much as a fatty acid process that would ideally give the same flotation grades and recoveries of phosphates. Mineralization: Extensive deposits of leached zone aluminiferous phosphate occur in The ore sample used for this work was obtained from the Virginia-Carolina Chemical Corp., Clear Springs area, Florida. The ore is a potential source of uranium and aluminum as well as phosphorus. Since the uranium and the recoverable aluminum are contained in some of the phosphate minerals, an upgrading of phosphate results in a corresponding enrichment of both uranium and aluminum. The phosphate minerals in the ore are primarily pseudo- wavellite, millisite, and carbonate fluorapatite, with a minor amount of wavellite. Quartz and clay are the common gangue minerals, quartz being pre- dominant. Others present in small amounts are ilmenite, hydrated iron oxides, staurolite, monazite, and zircon.

Jan 1, 1957

By J. L. CAHUTHERS

MANY different methods are used for transporting coal from the working face to the tipple. The common methods are animal haulage, locomotive haulage, conveyor systems, and combinations of these three, supplemented, at times, by the miner pushing his own car. Haulage may also be classified into gathering and main line. Gathering haulage is the collecting of loaded cars to a point whence they are hauled to the tipple. In this there is perhaps more lost-time than on the main line because there are .more units in the operation to be synchronized. Also, conditions on the gathering haul- age, such as bad track, poor timbering, insufficient motive power, etc., cause delays; usually these are corrected on the main-line haulage.

Jan 1, 1931

By Nathaniel Herz

PARTING of bullion before shipment to the mint had been considered by the Homestake Mining Co. at various times, but had never been attempted before 1933, be- cause the margin of profit appeared to be too small to warrant the complications in refining. When the gold standard was abandoned by the United States in the spring of 1933, however, parting of the bullion was decided upon. The method selected was the Miller or chlorine process, which consists of the passing of gaseous chlorine into a bath of molten bullion, converting all metals other than gold into chlorides, and remov-

Jan 1, 1935

By W. R. Hibbard

It has been proposed1 on the basis of slip and flow that the ideal deformation texture of drawn wire for face-centered cubic metals is a (111) direction parallel to the wire axis. Under these considerations, an intermediate [loo] texture is permissible but should eventually change to the stable [Ill] orientation. This theory does not explain why copper and its alloys containing up to about 30 pct nickel, 5 pct zinc and 1 pct aluminum were found to have a double [Ill], [100] texture, while alloys with at least 8 pct zinc and 2 pct aluminum developed essentially a single [Ill] texture.1,2 It does suggest, however, that the [loo] component of the former alloys should disappear with additional deformation.3 Some evidence exists to support this suggestion. Howald4 reported that annealed copper wire previously drawn 93.8 pct and 98.5 pct developed a single [Ill] texture. Since, in wire, the drawn and annealed textures are similar, these wires probably had a single [Ill] deformation texture before annealing. In addition, although cold rolled polycrystalline copper and 80-20 brass were found to form different types of pole figures,5,6 single crystals of these metals when rolled from the stable (110) [112] orientation were found to produce essentially the same polo figure.7.8 It may be, therefore, that while the addition of solute elements changes the path by which the final texture is obtained, the final texture is not changed. Experimental Results The wires remaining from the previous investigation1 already drawn about 50 pct reduction in diameter were further drawn to 86 pct and then to 96.4 pct total reduction in diameter. The textures were determined after these stages by transmission X ray photograms taken with a copper K-alpha beam rotated 0 degrees toward the wire axis. It was found that the ratio of the [111].] and [100] intensities of the double texture in copper and its alloys containing 0.94 pct aluminum, 30.70 pct nickel, 2.61 pct zinc and 4.99 pct zinc increased from about 3:l for the 50 pct reduction to about 9:l for the 86 pct reduction. After 96.4 pct reduction, these wires exhibited essentially a single [lll] texture. Summary Thus, the drawn wire deformation texture of copper and its alpha solid solution alloys containing aluminum, nickel or zinc is essentially a single [Ill] texture as predicted by theoretical considerations of slip and flow.' For copper and its alloys containing up to about 1 pct aluminum, 5 pct zinc and at least 30 pct nickel, an intermediate [loo] component is found after about 50 pct reduction in diameter, but disappears after about 95 pct reduction in diameter. For alpha solid solution alloys containing at least about 2 pct aluminum and 8 pct zinc the single [Ill] texture is developed considerably more easily and is found after about 50 pct reduction in diameter. No explanation of this compositional effect is apparent. Similar work is contemplated for cold rolled and cold compressed alloys. References 1. w. R. Hibbard, Jr. and M. K. Yen: Trans. AIME 175, 126. Metals Tech., Feb. 1948, TP 2334. 2. W. R. Hibbard, Jr. and D. E. Trout, 11: Trans. AIME 185, 620. Jnl. of Melals, Sept. 1949, TN 18. 3. W. R. Hibbard. Jr.: Disc. of R. M. Brick's paper on Deformation Textures, ASM Symp. on Cold Working of Metals, Oct. 1948. 4. T. S. Howald: Disc. of Ref. 1. Trans. AIME, 175, 126. Melals Tech. Aug. 1948, TP 2449. 5. R. M. Brick, D. L. Martin and R. P. Angier: Trans. ASM (1943) 31, 675. 6. 0. Dahl and F. Pawlek: Zlsch. Melall. (1936) 28, 266. 7. C. S. Barrett and F. W. Steadman: Trans. AIME (1942) 147, 57. 8. J. E. Burke and C. S. Barrett: Trans. AIME 175, 106. Melals Tech., Feb. 1948. TP 2327.

Jan 1, 1950

By R. I. Jaff, H. R. Ogden, D. J. Maykuth

A phase diagram for alloys containing from 0 to 66.9 pct Mn was determined. Two compounds, tentatively labeled 6 and y, were found in this range. The 6 compound is located at about 66.9 pct Mn and melts congruently at 1330°C. The ? compound has a composition near 53 pct Mn and originates in a peritectic reaction at 1200°C between liquid and 6. ß and Y enter into a eutectic reaction at 1175°C. The ß phase field terminates in a very sluggish eutectoid reaction between a and ? at 550°C. MANGANESE is one of the important alloying addition elements to titanium. As a ß-stabiliz-ing addition for a-ß and ß alloys, it provides high strength with adequate ductility.' Two of the earliest commercial alloys contain manganese as a major alloying component.' The earliest published data on the constitution of Ti-Mn alloys was that of Wallbaum,~ who reported the existence of the compound TiMn2. The transformation range of commercial-purity Ti-Mn alloys was investigated by Craighead, Simmons, and Eastwood' who found limited a solubility and a lowering of the ß transus to about 790°C at 7 pct Mn. Preliminary work by the authors of this paper, using high-purity titanium, confirmed the ß-stabilizing action of manganese and showed the existence of several intermediate phases in the Ti-Mn system." More recently, McQuillan3 determined the ß transus temperatures for high-purity Ti-base alloys containing up through 4.4 pct Mn. These data are given in Fig. 1. The present investigation covered alloys made with a high-purity base. The constitution of titanium-rich alloys made with commercial titanium has been reported4," by Holladay, Kura, and Jackson. The alloy range covered in the present investigation was from 0 to 69.5 pct Mn. This alloy range extends slightly beyond the composition of the first congruent-melting compound encountered on proceeding from the titanium end of the system. A description of the materials and methods used in the determination of the diagram is given in the Appendix. The partial phase diagram determined for the Ti-Mn system is shown in Fig. 2. Details on equilibria in the titanium-rich alloys are given in Fig. 3. Liquid-Solid Relationships Observations on the cast structures of the arc-melted ingots showed that the terminal solid solution of manganese in ß titanium enters into a eutectic reaction with an intermetallic compound labeled ?. As will be shown later, this compound has a composition around 53 pct Mn. The eutectic reaction temperature was determined as 1175°C by thermal analysis which also showed that the ? phase originates in a peritectic reaction at 1200°C. Fig. 4 shows typical eutectic structures for alloy compositions on both sides of the eutectic composition which is located at 42.5 pct Mn. In alloys over the range of 45.4 through 69.5 pct Mn, a second intermetallic compound, labeled 6, was identifield as the primary phase. This phase consistently increased in amount as the manganese content approached 66.9 pct, and, as shown in Fig. 5, an alloy structure containing 66.9 pct Mn consisted essentially of the 6 compound. Thermal-analysis data indicate a melting point of about 1330°C for the 6 intermediate phase. At 67.0 pct Mn, small quantities of a new, higher manganese-content phase were observed in the form of Chinese-script eutectic particles. Comparison of Fig. 6a and b shows an increasing quantity of this phase as the composition was increased to 69.5 pct Mn. The formation of peritectic ? in arc-melted alloys containing 45.4 pct Mn and above appears to be almost entirely suppressed, as shown in Fig. 7a and b. This is because of the narrow freezing range available for its formation by peritectic reaction and because of the very high cooling rates obtained in

Jan 1, 1954

By Louis V. Bender

THIS paper gives a short review of the installation for and the use of gas, as a. fuel, at the Anaconda Reduction Works of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. Before putting in gas tile fuels used were pulverized coal, lump coal, coke distillate and oil. These fuels are now almost entirely eliminated. For nearly fifty years bituminous coals from Wyoming and Montana fields had been used. These coals were of a good grade, analyzing 11,300 B.t.u. and having an ash content of 12 per cent. When hydro-electric power replaced steam-driven equipment, the coal requirements were reduced; and, on account of improvements in metallurgy and/ or in furnace design, the quantity was lessened. Later, oil and distillate were introduced and used in some of the operations. All of these things tended toward the lessening of the amount of coal used, and had it not been for the increase in the size of the plant, the tonnage used would have been small when the change was made to gas.

Jan 1, 1932

By Colin G. ink

OUTSTANDI'NG in progress among the less familiar 'metals during 1936 is the electrolytic production of 99.9 per cent manganese meta1 readily and many quantity. Strictly speaking, manganese should not' be classed as 'a rare metal, since there is 800 times as much manganese in the earth's crust as there is zinc or lead. But manganese' as a metal is rare, just as titanium metal is rare though titanium is five times as abundant in the earth's crust as manganese.

Jan 1, 1937

By John Metz, D. E. Macdonell

The Falconbridge ore body, on the southeastern periphery of the Sudbury Basin, is definitely associated with a strong shear zone along the norite greenstone contact, in contrast to the "offset" ore bodies sometimes found in this district. To all practical intent and purpose, the dip is vertical. The ore varies in width from a few inches up to 90 ft., the average width being 15 ft. The present zone of mining operations is 6000 ft. long, 85 per cent of which develops commercial ore. The ground on the whole, and especially in the narrower widths, gives rise to reasonably strong self-supporting backs in most places, but the walls, because of strong post ore faulting on both norite and greenstone contacts, tend to be weak, and, at times, slough to a considerable extent. Obviously. then, with vertical dips, strong backs and weak sloughing walls, flat-back cut-and-fill methods are applicable to the Falconbridge ore body, and at present about 70 per cent of the stoping production is obtained in this way. The general method is described in the following pages. In actual practice, there are continual variations, as the mine staff feels that only in that way can new and better methods be developed. Source of Fill The overburden at the property consists of glacial sands and gravels, varying in depth from 00 at the outcrops, which are few and far between, to 150 ft. This condition makes for high initial cost of shaft sinking, always entailing spiling and concrete, but this extra expense is more than compensated for by the fact that the overburden is the source of very cheap fill.

Jan 1, 1946

By Robin O. Williams

The increase in internal energy as the result of deformation has been measured for lead, aluminum, silver, nickel, iron, and zirconium by using rapid, adiabatic compression. The stored energy increase is roughly Proportional to the strain; the propor-tionality constant increases rapidly with increasing melting point. The fraction of the mechanical energy which is stored increases more slowly, since the strength of the metals also increases with melting point. The values of the stored energy are considered accurate to about 10 pet. The present values appear about 50 pet larger than the more reliable published results where comparisons are possible. It is possible that this difference is due to the high strain rate used in this investigation. Immediately after deformation all these metals release energy at a rate roughly proportional to (time)-'. This release is considered to be associated with dislocation motion but in aluminum (and copper) some additional process seems to be present. This release can represent 20 pet or more of the stored energy. WHEN pure metals are plastically deformed, most of the mechanical energy is converted into heat. The energy remaining within the metal is significant in that it is the energy of the disorder produced and thus detailed knowledge of this energy is a powerful tool in understanding the nature of deformational disorder. While much effort has been expended on this problem, the amount of information available is limited. The situation as of 1958 has been carefully reviewed by Titchener and ever.' The present results have been obtained by a new experimental approach to this problem. The method necessitates high-strain rates which make comparisons with published results less certain, but a high-strain rate is an advantage in that the energy release immediately after deformation can be followed. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE In the experimental method used, the internal (stored) energy is given as the difference between the mechanical work used in deforming the sample and the heat which is released (the first law of thermodynamics). The work is supplied by two identical hammers swinging freely from a fixed height, the available energy being the product of the mass, the gravitational constant, and the distance through which the center of gravity moves. The initial temperature rise of the sample represents the heat produced by the deformation. The sample temperature is determined by a small thermocouple embedded in and supporting the sample. This process can be repeated over and over to produce increased strains. Most samples are run through about five cycles to a total strain of around 0.7. Further details are covered elsewhere. The determination of the heat is dependent upon the sample weight, its specific heat, the rise in temperature, and any gains or losses to the surroundings. One is dependent on published results for specific heals (the values were taken from a collection).3 The values must be accurate to about 0.1 pet in order that they not affect the results. The best values thus do not contribute to the uncertainty, but this is probably not always the case. The accuracy of the temperature rise is limited primarily by knowledge of the thermocouple characteristics over short temperature intervals, but careful calibration eliminates this as an important factor. One can calculate readily the heat flow between the sample and hammers if the time of contact and the sample temperature are known and if there were no oil at the interface. Assuming the maximum temperature difference, upper values for this interchange have been calculated (the time of contact is determined from the decrease in sample length) and it may or may not be significant. However, no correction is colnsidered necessary because of the presence of a thin oil film which has a thermal conductivity much less than the metals. Except for the possible uncertainty in specific heat, the heat is considered to be adequately known. The mechitnical losses which are recognized as important are: 1) friction between the sample and the hammer:;, 2) the kinetic energy in the hammer suspension system which may not be entirely usable, 3) the rebound energy of the hammers, and 4) the vibration of the hammer heads. All these have been covered in detail elsewhere2 and only the more significant points are made here. The friction turns out to be small except for soft materials (lead)

Jan 1, 1962

By Jorge Munoz Reyes

There are three main oil areas in Bolivia (Fig. 1) although so far only one has yielded petroleum in commercial quantities. The Sub-Andean zone is along the easternmost ranges of the Andes, bordering the large eastern and northeastern lowlands. It extends from the Peruvian frontier, north of Lake Titicaca in a southeasterly direction towards the city of Santa Cruz and from there southward to the Argentine border. This zone forms a belt about 1200 km. long by 100 km. wide, and comprises a series of parallel, very rugged, low ranges. Oil has been known and utilized by the natives in these regions since colonial times, from the large number of seepages, which in modern times have led to the discovery of many fields. The second oil zone of Bolivia lies along the eastern and southern borders of Lake Titicaca, on the Andean high plateau, at an average altitude of 13,000 ft. above sea level. It comprises an area of approximately one million hectares (2,470,000 acres). Several seepages are known here, but little development has taken place, because of the difficulties encountered, as the greater part of the territory is covered by volcanic tuffs and ashes, which conceal the structure underneath. The third area is called the "Central zone," and is in the heart of the country, in the Department of Cochabamba, covering approximately five million hectares (12,350,000 acres). This area consists mainly of broad valleys flanked by low rolling ranges. Natural seepages are not known to exist, but there are secondary evidences of the presence of oil. The outcropping rocks are mainly Paleozoic (Silurian and Devonian sandstones and shales). Albertite and other forms of polymerized petroleum have been found in this region. Of these three main oil areas, only the first one is at present productive on a small commercial scale. This zone, developed almost exclusively by the Standard Oil Co. of Bolivia, a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, is divided from south to north into the following local fields: 1. Bermejo (On the Argentine border) 3. Sanandita 5. Camatindi 2. San Telmo 4. Caigua 6. Machareti

Jan 1, 1935

By Stanislaus Skowronski

THE melting of cathode copper, usually containing 99.98+ per cent. Cu, would appear to be a simple matter. Owing to the well known affinity of copper for sulphur, however, so much sulphur is absorbed by the copper during the operation that a long and expensive refining process is required to remove it, and the final product is inferior in purity and lower in electrical conductivity than the original cathode copper. The furnace operation, as now conducted, includes the following stages: 1. Charging the cathodes into the furnace. 2. Melting the cathodes. 3. Oxidizing period-saturating the copper with cuprous sub-oxide and bringing the metal to the condition known as "set copper;" this is now done by blowing air into the molten bath of metal. 4. Reduction period, otherwise known as "poling," whereby the oxygen previously added is removed by covering the molten bath completely with coke or charcoal and introducing large poles of green wood; this reduces the cuprous sub-oxide, bringing the copper to the "tough pitch" stage ready for casting. 5. Casting Period. Many experiments have been made to obviate the long periods of oxidation and subsequent reduction, with no success. While the copper first, cast will be good, as indicated by the set surface of the bars, it is impossible to hold it to the "tough pitch" condition, and long before the whole charge has been poured the copper will become "overpoled," entailing numerous difficulties. Sulphur has always been blamed by the furnace men as the reason why this refining process is necessary, yet the literature on the subject does not sufficiently emphasize how small a proportion of sulphur will ruin copper for practical purposes.

Jan 3, 1918