Search Documents

By Henry Gross

RECENTLY, areas of abnormal rock pressure have been drilled on the Gulf Coast of the United States. These pressures may be caused by the recent and pronounced raising of some of the structures without loss of the formation pressure that existed when the reservoir was developing and the producing sand much more deeply buried. It is possible also that a permeable fissure may connect a shallow accumulation of gas with the gas cap of a much deeper reservoir of oil, gas and water. The pressures are so great that dependence on blowout-prevention equipment alone is hazardous to life and property. Fortunately, wells with excessive casing-head pressures, such as the Stanolind Oates No. 1 of the South Houston field, an 8700-ft. gas well with 6000 lb. per sq. in., and the near-by Stanolind Candelari No. 1, and 8100-ft. gas well with 5000 lb. per sq. in., have not blown out and cratered. A case is on record of drill pipe in a, well in Harris County, Texas, (Oates No. 1) rotating for 8 hr. through blowout-prevention rants holding a back pressure of 2900 1b. per sq. in. at the casinghead after the mud was altered by salt-water intrusion. Such conditions warrant the use of extremely heavy muds having low viscosity, made from galena (PbS) or specially prepared mixtures of hematite (Fe203) and galena suspended by bentonite. In some Gulf Coast wells, sodium silicate mixed with concentrated brine is used to drill through heaving shale formations. Such a fluid inhibits heaving remarkably, but it is expensive and costs as much as $10 per barrel. Barite has been used to weight this mixture. However, this mineral too rapidly increased an already excessive viscosity and it was thought that galena might be better for weighting such drilling fluid. The operator was anxious to try the latter, but none was available in the district.

Jan 1, 1938

By Ralph Schilthuis

SEVERAL investigators1-8 have reported evidence of the existence of native or connate water in oil-and-gas-bearing strata. Both water and salt have been detected in cores of oil sands that yielded oil and gas exclusively when produced. Electrical logs often reveal unexpectedly low resistivity through oil and gas sands, indicating the presence of some material that is a considerably better conductor of current than oil and gas. Furthermore, calculations9 of the oil and gas content of reservoirs based upon production and reservoir-pressure decline data indicate appreciably lower values than are arrived at under the assumption that the pore space is occupied completely by oil and gas. ORIGIN AND OCCURRENCE OF CONNATE WATER IN OIL-AND-GAS-BEARING FORMATIONS The view has been expressed,10-15 and is generally agreed upon, that the expulsion of oil and gas material from source beds and the subsequent migration and accumulation occurred in the presence of salt water. As the strata that usually form reservoirs for oil and gas were laid down by, or in the presence of, ancient seas, the pore space within the strata must have been saturated with salt water before the entrance of the oil and/or gas. Thus, the accumulation of oil and/or gas in the upper regions of structures suitable for reservoirs must have required displacement of the connate water therefrom. In the absence of any forces other than gravitational, it would be expected that the displacement of the connate water out of the zones finally occupied by gas and oil would be complete, and that the vertical distribution of gas, oil, and water in a reservoir would be strictly in the order of their densities. Apparently, however, surface and interfacial forces that will not permit complete segregation of the fluids are active within the capillary spaces comprising a reservoir. The effects of these forces on both accumulation and production of oil and gas have been the subject of study by a number of investigators. 16-37

Jan 1, 1938

By Warren L. Howes

THIS paper deals primarily with an investigation of ball-mill liners that was conducted by the writer over a period of six years at the Mammoth mill in Arizona. The investigation covered a wide variety of designs of liners in both primary and secondary mills. The comparative results are presented herein as evidence of the extent to which design influenced liner life and mill performance. FLOWSHEET The feed to the Mammoth mill was a complex, oxidized, gold-silver-lead-molybdenum-vanadium ore with rhyolite, andesite and granite as gangue. Although the ore varied between stopes, the long-term average in character remained substantially the same. Capacity was 560 tons per day. [t] Fig. I shows an abbreviated flowsheet of the grinding section of the mill. PRIMARY BALL MILL A 3-ft. Symons shorthead crusher in open circuit crushed to ¼ -in. maximum one-way dimension the feed to the 5 by 10-ft. Marcy open-end ball mill. The mill rotated at 80 per cent of critical speed and was charged with 4-in. forged steel balls. Cast balls were used for a few months at a slight reduction in ball cost, but breakage of the large balls reduced the ball size and grinding capacity to a point where the over-all costs suffered out of proportion to the saving in cost of balls. For metallurgical reasons, the finished product of the mill was maintained at minus 8-mesh. This coarse product, plus the very abrasive ore and the absence of fines in the feed, caused abnormally rapid wear of the mill liners. The resultant high operating cost led to the most extensive phase of the investigation. [ ] In order to clarify the difference in design of the various types of liners used, Fig. 2 shows the profiles with the arrangement in which grinding balls of maximum size would lie on the face of the liners. The results with each type of shell liner in the primary mill are shown in Table I.

Jan 1, 1943

By B. Tani, K. Anderson, I. Johnson, R. Schablaske

INVESTIGATION of the various rare earth-cadmium binary systems discloses the existence of a compound corresponding to the composition MCd6 in all systems save the La-Cd system. Lattice constants for all of the MCde compounds, except LaCd6 which apparently does not form, and PmCd6 whose synthesis was not attempted, are also recorded herein. Iandelli and Ferro 1 report the existence of the compound CeCd6. No additional information, structural details, and so forth are given. Elliott and Lemons2,3' have measured the vapor pressure of cadmium over CeCd6 and have calculated the activity of cadmium in solid CeCd6. These authors find that CeCd6 exists over a composition range from 5.967 to 6.098 (Cd:Ce ratio) at 584oC, and from 5.971 to 6.118 at 639°C. The following is an excerpt from the paper by Elliott and Lemons: 2 "Recently Mr. F. H. Ellinger of this laboratory has indexed an X-ray diffraction powder pattern of CeCd6.00 which we had prepared by gas phase reaction. The compound has a primitive cubic unit cell with a = 15.783 + 0.001A Based on the volume of the cubes surrounding an elemental cerium or an elemental cadmium atom, Mr. Ellinger finds room for 24.10 CeCd6 formula units in the CeCd6 unit cell; similar calculations based on CeCd2 and CeCd11 yield 24.18 formula units per unit cell. The presence of 24 CeCd6 units per unit cell seems probable with an X-ray density of 8.255 grams per cubic centimeter. The most one can say about in-terstitial~ is that there appears to be room in the crystal even at room temperature." Measurements of the solubility of the rare earths in liquid cadmium4 led to the discovery of GdCd6,

Jan 1, 1964

By R. E. Reed-Hill

A simple accurate graphical method for orienting fcc crystals using (111) slip traces on a single surface is described. Solutions placing the pole of the surface in a unit stereographic triangle are obtained using a Wulffnet, a (111) standard projection showing the four (111) planes, and a (111) standard projection ruled into unit stereogmphic triangles. The multiplicity of solutions is described in relation to this method. AN accurate, rapid single-surface technique for orienting fcc crystals, using (111) slip or twin traces, has been a matter of continuing interest, as evidenced by the periodic appearance of papers on this subject.'-4 This note presents a new method possessing some advantages over those previously reported. It is an analog to the technique for hcp metals5 where the solution is based upon a stereographic rotation of the specimen surface on a (0002) standard projection that contains the planes of the possible features that might account for the observed traces. In the hexagonal solution, the axis of rotation is the basal-plane trace in the surface. In the fcc case, the axis of rotation is one of the observed ( 111) slip or twin traces. It has been observed that the solution is greatly facilitated if the indicated movements of the (111) traces during the rotation of the surface are plotted directly on a paper copy of a Wulff net as shown schematically in Fig. 1. The trace selected to represent the axis of rotation is assumed to fall at the north-south poles of the Wulff net. The directions of the other traces are then plotted as points at the proper angles around one-half of the basic circle of the net. The loci of points corresponding to the movements of these traces (directions) during a 90-deg rotation of the surface, about the polar axis of the net, are then easily and accurately drawn by following the appropriate small circles on the Wulff net. The solutions to the problem are obtained with the aid of a (111) standard projection of the (111) planes, see Fig. 2. This is normally a Xerox copy of a carefully drawn master made on high-quality tracing paper. The (111) standard projection is superimposed over the Wulff net and rotated about its center until the points of intersection of the loci of surface traces, drawn on the Wulff net, and the great circles representing the (111) traces, all lie along a common meridian of the Wulff net as demonstrated in Fig. 3. This latter great circle represents a possible position of the surface. The pole of this plane is then plotted on the (111) standard projection. Its location in a unit stereographic triangle may be readily obtained by superimposing (over the standard projection) another tracing paper (111) standard projection subdivided into unit stereographic triangles. The result of this last operation is shown in Fig. 4. MULTIPLICITY OF THE SOLUTIONS The maximum possible number of (111) traces on a single grain surface is four. Any one may be selected as the axis about which the surface is rotated. Corresponding to each such choice are three possible surface-pole orientations, related to each other by a simple 120-deg rotation about the pole of the (111) basic circle. This is a direct result of the threefold symmetry of the (111) standard projection. Since each of the four rotations will normally give a different set of three-pole positions, there are, accordingly, twelve possible solutions. Each of these twelve solutions places the surface pole in the same relative position in a stereographic triangle so that all are crystallo-graphically equivalent. Accordingly, only a single solution is required to obtain a basic orientation of the crystal. It should be noted, however, that the orientations obtained by reflecting* any of these twelve orien- *The reflected orientations may be obtained by a 90-deg rotation of the opposite sense to that shown in Fig. 1. This rotation places the correspond-ing trace loci in the lower hemisphere of the Wulff net rather than in the upper hemisphere. tations through the surface are also possible orientations that could account for the surface traces. Thus, a given set of four traces always corresponds to a pair of basic orientations related by reflection through the specimen surface. This ambiguity can only be re-

Jan 1, 1967

By D. I. Bardos

The occurrence of Laves phases (AB,) in various binary alloy systems has been reviewed in recent papers.13 Iron forms Laves phases with Sc-, Ti-, V- and Cr-group elements. However, two of the corresponding Laves phases with cobalt, namely MoCo, and WCo,, are missing. Nickel forms binary Laves phases with Sc and Y, but not with any Ti-, V-, or Cr-group element. These conditions are schematically illustrated in Table I. That electron concentration is a significant factor in determining which type of Laves phase is formed in a given case was recognized long ago by Laves and Witte,4 This concept has been more recently applied to Laves phases formed by transition ele-ments. It now appears that the average electron concentration (average number of electrons per atom outside of the closed shells of the component atoms) may be an important factor also in determining whether or not a Laves phase can occur at all in a given system. As shown in Table I, in the transition element systems considered Laves phases are absent at electron concentrations of 8, or larger (to the right and below the double line in Table I). These absences clearly cannot be accounted for on atomic size considerations, as evidenced by the many inconsistencies apparent in Table 11. While the ideal radius ratio for Laves phases is 1.222, in the systems which do have Laves phases the ratios of CN 12 radii range from 1.10 to 1.46. The consistent absence of Laves phases at RA/RB< 1.10 might be attributed to the low values of these radius ratios. However, Table II shows that absences also occur irregularly throughout the radius ratio range covered. In a previous paper7 it was concluded that, in transition element systems forming u-phases, silicon may act as an acceptor of electrons, thus stabilizing the u-phase at electron concentrations higher than

Jan 1, 1962

By C. D. Michaelson

The memory of D. C. Jackling serves chiefly to remind us how much we owe to the pioneers of our industry. Jackling was one of the giants. Orphaned at the age of two, he made his way through sheer persistence and plain hard work. His brilliance gave rise to a vision, and his tenacity made his vision a reality. Foreseeing that economies of scale would make the handling of low-grade ore profitable, he introduced the revolutionary concept of open-pit copper mining. During World War I, the defense effort of the United States was immeasurably strengthened by the tremendous supplies of copper from the western mines that Jackling had made possible. Again in World War II, the demands for copper were supplied, and the nation once more had profound reason to be grateful to this rugged, stubborn man who had long ago ventured into the mountains and unlocked their wealth. We are now embarked upon another great era of change, and we must devise new concepts to meet it. The task is not only to create new techniques of mining, but to forge better ties between men and institutions which will let us work in harmony with the techniques we have. We might recall that while Jackling was a man of towering pride and formidable will, he was also adept at getting others to share his vision and join his purpose. Today our reach for cooperative endeavor must go far beyond our own shores as we seek to develop the buried riches of distant lands. And we would do well to remember that Jackling&apos;s remarkable insight would have come to nothing had not British investors been willing to provide much of the initial capital. As was true of so many early enterprises in America, European capital was absolutely essential.

Jan 4, 1969

By W. A. Griffith

Fractional replication of factorial design, a general method for planning experimentation and for analysis of data obtained, is described as applied to a flotation investigation. This method leads to determination of optimum process conditions with minimum experimental effort. Its advantages over simple factorial design are demonstrated. A METHOD for planning experimentation and for analyzing the data secured will be demonstrated. This method, termed fractional replication of factorial design, employs a relatively small number of individual experiments to determine which of a large number of process variables are controlling, to determine which combination of levels of these variables is most likely to produce optimum results, and also to predict what results will be obtained with a particular combination of conditions not already tested. Although the general method is not new, having been developed by Finney in 1945,&apos; the extent to which it can improve the effectiveness of applied research generally has not been recognized by metallurgists. The fractional replication procedure is particularly useful in flotation experimentation and an example from such an investigation will be used in the paper. However, it has equal value in any investigation in which similar experimental difficulties are encountered. In developing a flotation process for a particular mineral separation, the investigator is inevitably confronted with the following difficulties: 1—There are a large number of potentially important process variables. 2—Results of individual experiments are not highly reproducible, due in part to the difficulty in precisely controlling all the variables. 3—Considerable effort is expended in conducting individual experiments. 4—There are practical limits on the number of individual experiments which can be made. In situations of just such a type, modern statistical methods of planning experimentation and analyzing data have their greatest value. Applications of one such technique, called factorial design, to problems of this type have been described by Dorenfeld and others.&apos;-&apos; The simple factorial design is an efficient procedure when the investigator hopes to provide a comprehensive understanding of the effects and interrelationships of a small number of variables over a limited range. In applied research, this is seldom the main objective. Rather, the investigator usually wishes to determine which of the many potentially important variables are in fact controlling, which levels of the controlling variables will provide opti- mum metallurgical results, and what these results will be at optimum conditions. Interest in detailed trends is limited to the controlling variables and to levels in the region of optimum conditions. Simple factorial design has serious deficiencies for such objectives and is not the most efficient method of experimental design. Deficiencies of Factorial Design In a simple factorial design, an experiment must be made at every possible combination of each level of every variable, once these have been chosen and the levels of each to be included have been decided upon. As the number of variables or levels of each increases, the experimental program quickly reaches prohibitive size. For example, an investigation of only four variables, each at four levels, requires 256 individual experiments. Often upon completion of such an extensive program, it is found that one or more of the variables has metallurgically unimportant effects or that a poor estimate has been made as to the appropriate range of levels to be investigated. The result is that only a small proportion of the data obtained falls in the range of real metallurgical interest. Indeed, it frequently can be anticipated that certain combinations of levels of variables will not produce results of interest, but they still must be included so that the essential balance, or orthogonality, of the design will be retained. It may be true that factorial design will provide the greatest amount of information from a given number of experiments, but it does not necessarily follow that it will lead to the desired information with a minimum number of experiments. Much of the information provided may be of little value. Advantages of Fractional Replication The disadvantages of simple factorial design are overcome to a great extent by a modification known as fractional replication. This is a technique for sampling systematically the potential data of a full factorial experiment, that is, the data which would have been obtained if the complete factorially designed program had been completed. Only a fraction of the total array of experiments is made, but the experiments are chosen in such a way that the important advantages of factorial design and the accompanying analysis of variance are retained. The data obtained from the first group of experiments are used to determine which of several variables are controlling and which levels of these variables are most likely to produce the desired result. Unimportant variables and levels of variables then may be

Jan 1, 1956

By Milton Williams

IT is generally recognized that fluid is lost from rotary drilling mud s to permeable strata during normal drilling operations;1,2,3 but that this fluid is the filtrate from the mud, rather than the mud itself, has been shown by various workers.1,4,5 . The presence of this filtrate in oil-bearing or gas-bearing strata is undesirable and harmful. The decreased permeability of the stratum to oil effected by the presence of water has been pointed out by several investigators,6,7 and since, in the production of the reservoir fluid, the greatest pressure drop occurs immediately adjacent to the borehole, it follows that infiltered water is particularly objectionable in this region. Again, this filtrate tends to make electrical logs less reliable, since oil in the proximity of the borehole is probably flushed out to an appreciable ent by the water.8 Observation of side wall cores may be misleading for the same reason. Drill-stem tests in low-pressure areas may be of doubtful value where no oil is recovered, unless sufficient time is allowed for production of water lost from the mud. The infiltered water may hinder drilling operations by softening shales and causing sloughing; the "tight hole" occasioned by excessive deposition of filter cake in the hole is a common occurrence. The filter cake remaining on the face of the producing formation may itself sometimes be detrimental to production.9 In view of these implications of the importance of filtration of mud, an investigation was undertaken to determine the factors involved in the infiltration process, and to correlate these in such a manner that the values obtained in routine filter tests employing a conventional filter of the "wall-building tester" type,10 together with data on size of hole, drill pipe, and rate of mud circulation, could be used to estimate water loss and distance of penetration of the filtrate into strata.

Jan 1, 1939

By D. Turnbull, A. M. Turkalo

It is well known that if copper that has been severely cold-worked by rolling (70-98 pct) is heated to high temperatures a small number of large grains are formed at the expense of the fine grained structure that appears upon primary recrystallization. Dahl and Pawlek,&apos; Cook and Mac-Quarie,2 Ward,3 and Boas and Bowles4 have studied this phenomenon in copper. It has been reported as taking place with measurable velocities in the temperature range 700-1080". Boas and Bowles have reported that the time necessary for the transformation is of the order of days at 700°C. According to Ward3 the number of secondary grains which appear in OFHC copper decrease with increasing perfection of cubical alignment after primary recrystallization; also the perfection of cubical alignment increases with decreasing grain size prior to the final reduction. In this investigation two heats, A and B, of especially high purity copper (99.999 pct) supplied by the American Smelting and Refining Co., were used. The behavior of samples prepared from the two heats was qualitatively very similar providing that the grain sizes established prior to the final reduction were about the same. We observed that in specimens prepared from bars which were relatively coarse grained prior to final reduction secondary recrystallization took place at a rapid rate at temperatures as low as 500°C. This is about 200-300°C lower than the temperature necessary to obtain fairly rapid transformation in OFHC copper. A 0.22 in. thick rectangular bar of lot B was cold-reduced 60 pct by straight rolling and given a penultimate annealing treatment at 250°C. Following this it was cold-reduced 90 pct and heated to various temperatures in the range 450-1040°C. The specimens were about 8 mils thick

Jan 1, 1950

By R. F. Domagala

SOME of the results of a program designed to study the kinetics of transformation and related mechanical properties of prototype Zr-X binary alloys systematically are presented here. The object of this program was to provide a sound basis for a scientific approach to the realization of optimum properties in binary zirconium alloys. Alloys of Zr-Mo (eutectoid), Zr-Sn (peritectoid), and Zr-Ti (a and ß isomorphous) were prepared and studied. The data herein are confined to a presentation of the results of studying the eutectoid prototype alloys. The Zr-Mo phase diagram has been determined.&apos; A definitive metallographic study of isothermaily annealed samples prepared from high purity elements served to position a sluggish eutectoid reaction, ß?a + ZrMo2, at 780°C. The compositions of the phases involved in this reaction are: ß, 7.5 ±1 pct Mo; a, <0.18 pct Mo; and ZrMo2, 67.8 pct Mo. Inasmuch as a lower purity sponge zirconium was used in this work boundary placements were rein-vestigated with the less pure alloys. Materials and Procedures Hafnium-free sponge zirconium was used to prepare all ingots. The arc melted hardness of a small button of this zirconium was found to be Vpn 168. Chemical analyses conducted at Armour Research Foucdation are shown in Table I, High purity molybdenum sheet was used as the alloy addition. A typical analysis is shown in Table I. Several 200-g Zr-50 pct Mo alloys were made by arc melting. Crushed granules of this material were used to ensure inqot homogeneity Ailoy ingots were prepared by double melting techniques. First, three 5-lb ingots of each alloy composition were are melted in 2 nonconsumable electrode arc furnace. After melting. the ingots were ground to remove surface defects. A subse-

Jan 1, 1958

By Warren L. Howes

This paper deals primarily with an investigation of ball-mill liners that was conducted by the writer over a period of six years at the Mammoth mill in Arizona. The investigation covered a wide variety of designs of liners in both primary and secondary mills. The comparative results are presented herein as evidence of the extent to which design influenced liner life and mill performance. Flowsheet The feed to the Mammoth mill was a complex, oxidized, gold-silver-lead-molybde-num-vanadium ore with rhyolite, andesite and granite as gangue. Although the ore varied between stopes, the long-term average in character remained substantially the same. Capacity was 560 tons per day.† Fig. I shows an abbreviated flowsheet of the grinding section of the mill. Primary Ball Mill A 3-ft. Symons shorthead crusher in open circuit crushed to 1/4-in. maximum one-way dimension the feed to the 5 by Io-ft. Marcy open-end ball mill. The mill rotated at 80 per cent of critical speed and was charged with 4-in. forged steel balls. Cast balls were used for a few months at a slight reduction in ball cost, but breakage of the large balls reduced the ball size and grinding capacity to a point where the over-all costs suffered out of proportion to the saving in cost of balls. For metallurgical reasons, the finished product of the mill was maintained at minus 8-mesh. This coarse product, plus the very abrasive ore and the absence of fines in the feed, caused abnormally rapid wear of the mill liners. The resultant high operating cost led to the most extensive phase of the investigation. In order to clarify the difference in design of the various types of liners used, Fig. a shows the profiles with the arrangement in which grinding balls of maximum size would lie on the face of the liners. The results with each type of shell liner in the primary mill are shown in Table I. Since most of the testing was done with

Jan 1, 1943

By Warren L. Howes

This paper deals primarily with an investigation of ball-mill liners that was conducted by the writer over a period of six years at the Mammoth mill in Arizona. The investigation covered a wide variety of designs of liners in both primary and secondary mills. The comparative results are presented herein as evidence of the extent to which design influenced liner life and mill performance. Flowsheet The feed to the Mammoth mill was a complex, oxidized, gold-silver-lead-molybde-num-vanadium ore with rhyolite, andesite and granite as gangue. Although the ore varied between stopes, the long-term average in character remained substantially the same. Capacity was 560 tons per day.† Fig. I shows an abbreviated flowsheet of the grinding section of the mill. Primary Ball Mill A 3-ft. Symons shorthead crusher in open circuit crushed to 1/4-in. maximum one-way dimension the feed to the 5 by Io-ft. Marcy open-end ball mill. The mill rotated at 80 per cent of critical speed and was charged with 4-in. forged steel balls. Cast balls were used for a few months at a slight reduction in ball cost, but breakage of the large balls reduced the ball size and grinding capacity to a point where the over-all costs suffered out of proportion to the saving in cost of balls. For metallurgical reasons, the finished product of the mill was maintained at minus 8-mesh. This coarse product, plus the very abrasive ore and the absence of fines in the feed, caused abnormally rapid wear of the mill liners. The resultant high operating cost led to the most extensive phase of the investigation. In order to clarify the difference in design of the various types of liners used, Fig. a shows the profiles with the arrangement in which grinding balls of maximum size would lie on the face of the liners. The results with each type of shell liner in the primary mill are shown in Table I. Since most of the testing was done with

Jan 1, 1943

By W. F. Brace, James D. Byerlee

Although prediction of failure of rocks may be ultimately possible without knowing in detail how failure occurs, understanding of this process is certainly of fundamental interest in rock mechanics. Of the various failure mechanisms, probably brittle fracture is of greatest interest. Recent reviews have brought this subject nearly up to date (Hock,1 Price,2 and Jaeger 3) and here, we summarize certain recent developments. As our understanding of brittle fracture is derived almost solely from laboratory studies this will amount to a review of certain laboratory experiments. New studies in four areas are pertinent; these concern 1) the volume changes which accompany brittle fracture, 2) the propagation of cracks in compression, 3) certain frictional characteristics of rocks and minerals at high pressure, and 4) the law of effective stress for crystalline rocks. Our objective here is less to present an entirely consistent, complete picture of how a rock fractures than it is to emphasize gaps in our understanding and, thus, suggest areas that need further study. Progress is still painfully slow in this field and perhaps this approach will stimulate new work. OBSERVATIONS Although the behavior of large rock masses is most often the concern in rock mechanics, the number of large-scale experimental tests is still vanishingly small. Our experimental observations arc, by and large, still made on small, relatively flaw-free, rock samples. Here also we report the behavior of small samples.

Jan 1, 1967

By O. A. E. Jackson

Pebble milling has been practiced in the reduction works of South Africa gold mines for well over 50 years. Originally flint pebbles were imported from Denmark to grind stamp-mill amalgamation-process tailing, which contained a good deal of extractable gold, but local operators soon found that large pieces of ore could be used for the same purpose. The ore is a hard, tough conglomerate in which quartz pebbles are cemented together by a matrix of redeposited silica interspersed with pyrite crystals. The gold, rarely visible, occurs as fine particles mostly segregated at the interface of the pebble and matrix, although a small fraction occurs within the pyrite crystals. There is seldom any gold in the pebbles themselves. Following the usual South African practice in pebble milling, Union Corp. grinds the ore wet in two or three milling stages incorporating classification. The sized broken ore used as grinding media is separated from the main ore stream in the crushing section that prepares the ore for milling. Where the ore channel, or reef, is narrow there is a shortage of large pebbles. In this case primary grinding may be done in ball mills or, more recently, in rod mills, which cost less per ton to operate. The trend, however, is to prepare finer feed for the milling section. This makes it possible to use smaller primary pebbles and eliminates the need for steel. REDUCTION WORKS OF UNION CORP. LTD. Union Corp. Ltd. exercises financial and technical control over a group of seven gold mines in the Transvaal and Orange Free State. In the Transvaal, with one exception. the mines lie 20 to 40 miles east of Johannesburg, in flat or gently rolling countryside. Winkelhaak, the first of several new mines that will be developed by Union Corp., is located in similar terrain in an entirely new gold mining district about 80 miles east of Johannesburg. Table I gives details of milling units for six of the Union Corp. mines, together with the tonnage milled in 1957. Winkelhaak Mines Ltd. is not included, as it did not begin milling until 1958. This reduction plant has no crushing section; ore is ground directly from the mine (autogenously) in 12x16-ft mills. Because these operations are still in development, they are not described in this article. It will be noted that certain reduction works have mills of more than one size in the same milling stage. This came about when plant extensions in- corporated larger units. In the case of Geduld Propty. Mines Ltd., which began milling operations 50 years ago, the primary stage is stamp milling. The reduction works follow a uniform pattern and are usually joined to the main ore shaft. Ore from other shafts is brought by standard-gage railway and dumped into a common transfer bin. The trend is to increase surface storage capacity to enable the crushing and milling sections to operate at a steady rate, independent of fluctuating ore deliveries from mine. Milling and cyanide extraction divisions of new mines are always designed to allow for extensions as mine production increases. The conveying, washing, and screening system of the crushing section is usually laid out in final form, with additional space for more crushing equipment. The crushing sections operate on one shift during early years of mine production; a second shift is introduced when the mining rate warrants it. Ample surge capacity is provided. Crushing and milling is done only on weekdays, as the law does not allow these operations to take place on Sunday in any plants constructed since 1911. The cyanide extraction sections, however, operate continuously seven days a week, drawing on mill pulp gradually built up in the thickeners during the week. Construction and equipment of milling plants follow standard practice. Dilution water is drawn from a large, high-level tank to obtain constant pressure, but gland service water for the pulp pumps is reticulated from high-pressure, two-stage pumps. The mills are equipped with the most up-to-date machinery and are designed to save labor. They compare favorably with milling plants in countries where native labor does not exist, and automatic controls are being installed wherever feasible. Hydrocyclone classifiers have replaced mechanical classifiers in modern milling plants, chiefly because of the saving in capital outlay, maintenance, and building space. The hydroclones are fed from steady head boxes rather than directly from pumps, and dilution water is introduced into these boxes. Tests have shown that in steadiness of operation and separating efficiency cyclones are comparable to mechanical classifiers. but protective stationarv screens are needed to keep the spigots clear. Rubber-lined pumps are used for pulp of about 3 mesh or finer and metal-lined pumps for coarser material. None of the Union Corp. milling plants practices gravity concentration of coarse gold by amalgamation or the use of corduroy blankets. Studies have proved that no economic case can be made for these methods, which complicate the milling process and demand extra precautions against theft.

Jan 1, 1960

By L. C. McCabe

This paper is a progress report on a study of the distribution of the banded ingredients (Figs. 1 and 2) in Illinois screenings and the method of determining their distribution. Proximate analyses and screen tests1 have been reported and a further report on the washability characteristics of the screenings is in preparation. The microscopic study of the screenings is not yet far enough advanced to permit a conclusive report on the effect of mining, screening and washing on the distribution of the banded ingredients in the coals of Illinois. However, considerable fundamental data have been collected as a background for the screenings investigation and for a proposed study of fuels composed of known quantities of vitrain, clarain and fusain, the three common banded ingredients of Illinois coals. These fundamental data and the preliminary information now available from the microscopic study of screenings are broadly indicative of the reaction of the coals to the physical processes affecting them in mining and preparation. Proximate analyses of samples of vitrain, clarain, and fusain from several Illinois mines have been published2, but those given in Table 1 serve to show the differences that are apparent in proximate analyses. The vitrain samples are consistently low in ash, and the unit-coal value is uniformly lower than in clarain. The average fuel ratio (F.C./V.M.) of the vitrain samples in the table is 1.57 whereas the clarain average is 1.42. The fusain analyses vary considerably in ash and moisture. In the two samples from this mine the moisture values range from 8.99 to 22.80 and the ash from 4.86 to 16.91 per cent. Fusain has higher fixed carbon than either vitrain or clarain but the percentage is erratic from sample to sample. The relative proportions of the banded ingredients in the Herrin (No. 6) coal in Illinois is reasonably well known but detailed information

Jan 1, 1936

By L. C. McCabe

This paper is a progress report on a study of the distribution of the banded ingredients (Figs. 1 and 2) in Illinois screenings and the method of determining their distribution. Proximate analyses and screen tests1 have been reported and a further report on the washability characteristics of the screenings is in preparation. The microscopic study of the screenings is not yet far enough advanced to permit a conclusive report on the effect of mining, screening and washing on the distribution of the banded ingredients in the coals of Illinois. However, considerable fundamental data have been collected as a background for the screenings investigation and for a proposed study of fuels composed of known quantities of vitrain, clarain and fusain, the three common banded ingredients of Illinois coals. These fundamental data and the preliminary information now available from the microscopic study of screenings are broadly indicative of the reaction of the coals to the physical processes affecting them in mining and preparation. Proximate analyses of samples of vitrain, clarain, and fusain from several Illinois mines have been published2, but those given in Table 1 serve to show the differences that are apparent in proximate analyses. The vitrain samples are consistently low in ash, and the unit-coal value is uniformly lower than in clarain. The average fuel ratio (F.C./V.M.) of the vitrain samples in the table is 1.57 whereas the clarain average is 1.42. The fusain analyses vary considerably in ash and moisture. In the two samples from this mine the moisture values range from 8.99 to 22.80 and the ash from 4.86 to 16.91 per cent. Fusain has higher fixed carbon than either vitrain or clarain but the percentage is erratic from sample to sample. The relative proportions of the banded ingredients in the Herrin (No. 6) coal in Illinois is reasonably well known but detailed information

Jan 1, 1936

By H. R. Deeth

NEPHELINE syenite is a sodium, potassium, aluminum silicate rock occurring in many countries. Large deposits have been investigated in Russia, India, and Norway and in the U. S., where it is known to occur in Arkansas, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. There are extensive areas containing nepheline syenite in south-central Ontario, a region surveyed in 1905 by Adams and Barlow. By 1925 considerable interest had developed in searching for aluminous raw materials that could be used by the glass industry. This finally focused attention on the nepheline syenite described by Adams and Barlow in 1910.1

Jan 11, 1957

By Raymond Sanford

IT IS difficult to know just when a hoisting rope should be removed from service and a new one substituted. It is desirable to utilize the full life of a rope but, on .the other hand, the damage and possible loss of life, resulting from delay in replacing it may amount to many times the cost of a new rope. In the present methods of inspection the inspector must rely upon accumulated experience and a certain sixth sense or intuition in addition to any rules that may be laid down regarding the number and distribu-tion of broken wires. This condition does not neces-sarily arise from lack of interest among users or makers of rope, but is due rather to the lack of satisfactory or adequate methods for testing ropes to determine their exact condition. The main difficulty in devising a physical test lies in the fact that a number of causes, all operating in different ways, contribute to the deterioration of a rope in service, and affect not only the external conditions but also the inner structure of the material of which the rope is constructed. Wear and broken wires on the outer part of the rope are not difficult to detect, but a test is needed which will clearly indicate the presence of broken wires in the interior portions and the change in strength due to alterations in the structure and properties of the material itself.

Jan 7, 1923

By Louis Stott

IT is well known that the oxide of beryllium was identified as a new "earth" in 17971 and the metal first isolated in 18272. The history of the many difficulties encountered by early investigators, the laboratory achievements of Lebeau3, Fichter4 and Oesterheld5, and the eventual development of methods for commercial production are well covered in the literature, particularly in the authoritative published work of Siemens and Halske6 reviewing their comprehensive investigation of the element. Accordingly it has seemed desirable to restrict this paper to the properties and uses of beryllium and its alloys.

Jan 1, 1936