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By T. A. Wilson

THE plastic deformation of slender single crystals of zinc has been described in some detail in the paper by Mark, Polanyi and Schmid,1 which has become a classic, and also by one of the present authors in a somewhat shorter account.2 The study of single-crystal zinc is termed classical because zinc single crystals offer, perhaps, the best material yet available for the study of atomic behavior during deformation and the effect known as "strengthening" in metals. A considerable amount of additional work has also been clone on single-crystal zinc, but as it 'is not closely related to the present paper it will not be considered. Throughout all the former work, the mechanism of plastic deformation first described by Mark, Polanyi and Schmid has been assumed to hold. This may be said to offer the strongest confirmation of its correctness. Even so, the picture of the process has never been as completely portrayed as is desirable. The first object of the present paper is to describe work that has been done in this field, and which is even yet being carried on, in the hope that a more complete picture may be obtained. Mathewson and Phillips3 have recently described a new mechanism of the deformation of zinc based on their study of large rectangular crystals. One of their conclusions was that deformation produced twinning with a rotation of some of the basal planes into positions 94° removed from their original position; a position almost the same as that of the prismatic planes before twinning. A second conclusion was that fracture occurred along these basal planes in their new position, and, therefore that fractures previously regarded as prismatic were in reality basal. Such findings are of great significance and they raise a question as to the generality of such behavior. Professor Mathewson's opinion is that even the slender cylindrical single crystals behave in the same manner as his large rectangular crystals when strained by simple tension.

Jan 1, 1927

By Reginald S. Dean

THE widespread occurrence of manganese in low grade oxide and carbonate ores not amenable to mechanical concentration has led to extensive investigations of hydrometallurgical methods for producing a pure manganese compound suitable for further treatment. Manganese carbonate is the preferable compound. This product when fully crystalline and of not too fine crystal size is easily filtrable and stable in air. It can be converted to other compounds such as the oxides by heating in air or can be reacted with acids for producing salts. A useful hydrometallurgical process must produce relatively concentrated solutions that can be purified easily, reagents must be cyclically used, and heat requirements must be small. Neither the ammonium sulphate nor sulphur dioxide leaching processes that have been tested extensively fulfill these 'requirements. Other hereto-fore proposed processes have obvious limitations and have not been tried on a large scale. The present process is based on the discovery by the writer of a new group of aqueous manganese-ammonia complex solutions highly concentrated in ammonia, which permit rapid solution of manganous oxide to concentrations of 80 to 100 g Mn per liter and from which a fully crystalline, easily filterable manganese carbonate is precipitated by the addition of carbon dioxide and partial ammonia removal. Although the process may be carried out with many ammonium salts, commercial advantages dictate the use of ammonium carbamate, which is obtained when CO2 is passed into concentrated aqueous solutions of ammonia. If the carbamate is used, the only reagents, ammonia and C02, are volatile and may therefore be recovered from solutions and residues by heating, thus eliminating washing and extensive evaporation. Impurities are controlled easily as most metal oxides are either insoluble in the lixiviant or fail to precipitate with the manganese carbonate. Others are controlled by sulphide addition. The process has been tested extensively on a small scale on a wide variety of ores; including Three Kids, Artillery Peak, Cuyuna, and Chamberlain; as repre-

Jan 1, 1952

By Michael Perch, Charles C. Russell

Nearly 75 per cent of the total coke production in the United States in 1940 was consumed in blast furnaces. In 1939 the percentage was 69.9, and in 1938 it was 61.3. To produce a net ton of pig iron 1757 lb. of coke was required in 1940 and 1760 lb. in 1939. These figures indicate how dependent the production of pig iron is upon the production of coke. The rate of iron production is in some measure influenced by the physical and chemical characteristics of the coke. Blast-furnace operators believe that the physical properties of coke profoundly influence the operation of the furnace. Although it is true that coke of a wide variety of physical properties is used in American blast furnaces, the periodic fluctuation of these properties is one of the causes of irregularity of blast-furnace operation. The purpose of this paper is to present a broad picture of the physical properties of by-product coke that are generally considered to be important by coke-oven and blast-furnace operators. Effects of the kind of coal used, the preparation of the coal, the rate of coking, and other factors will be considered. Of all these variables, the kind of coal used is by far the most important. In this discussion use will be made of the method of coal classification by rank1 standardized by the American Society for Testing Materials. Although this method of classification has been an American standard for several years, it has not been given the attention it deserves, especially in connection with the selection of coal for production of coke. Despite the fact that many producers of blast-furnace coke are limited to some particular source or sources of coal, a good understanding of the principles involved in setting up the standard method of classification may lead to a better appreciation of the causes of changes in coke characteristics. Furthermore, where it is necessary to select new coals as a substitute for the original supply, this method of classification can be of great assistance. The data presented have been gathered from many sources, but no attempt has been made to cover the vast literature. Instead, some of the more important data have been selected to show how coals and their carbonization affect some of the physical properties of coke. It must be emphasized that generalizations concerning the behavior of coking coals are presented and that individual coals may vary widely from the specific behavior depicted. Nevertheless, it is believed that the data illustrate certain typical behaviors. Neither was it possible to cover completely all the factors involved; for example, the macroscopic constituents of coal are believed to have important effects on the physical properties of coke, but since there is little information available for such study, and since vitrain, clarain, and durain are neither

Jan 1, 1942

By F. E. Griffith

Several disastrous and a great number of near-disastrous mine fires have been started by igniting the combustible conductor insulation and outer covering of trailing cables. Those who have had experience in fighting such fires know that they are extremely difficult to combat and extinguish owing to the irritating and noxious gases, fumes and vapors evolved from evaporation, distillation and combustion of the sundry compounds used in the construction of cables. When electric-motor-driven coal-cutting machines were first introduced in coal mines, the electricity was transmitted to the apparatus by two single-conductor trailing cables. Later, two-conductor parallel and concentric types were developed. These early cables were made with the materials available at that time with relatively little thought given to using new materials or utilizing the old to the best advantage. The copper conductors were stranded to give flexibility, but there were too few strands and the method of laying them was such that they did not endure well the stresses of twisting and pulling, to which trailing cables used in mines are usually subjected. The rubber insulating compounds used were not satisfactory in resisting water, high temperature, and the crushing stresses encountered in mine service. The outer coverings were cotton or jute braids saturated with tars or asphalts having relatively no abrasive resistance. In fact, the only consideration given to trailing cable design because of its extremely short life, was to construct it at the lowest possible cost. With increased electrification and mechanization, more serious problems were encountered. Cables used in mines were exposed to more severe conditions than in any other industry. The excessive overload currents, poor heat dissipation, severe abrasion, crushing loads from falling material, runovers, and any of the other things that tend to destroy cable, called for vast improvement in trailing cable design for mine use. About 1918, one manufacturer who recognized the need for improving the toughness of cables in order to obtain greater safety and longer life, developed a special rope-stranded conductor, a superior rubber insulation compound and a tough rubber sheath or jacket compound. As a result of this type of construction, broken conductor strands were practically eliminated, the insulating material withstood high temperature without undue disintegration, and the jacket, similar to that used for automobile tire tread, had high abrasion resistance, high tear resistance, and was waterproof. While the initial cost of these cables was higher than the jute-filled braided types, this disadvantage was more than offset by increased safety and longer service. Cables with these improved characteristics were first installed in mines in 1920. Since 1930, the use of braided trailing cables in coal mines has been almost completely supplanted by the more superior types, employing high-grade rubber compounds for insulation and sheath. The next steps taken to improve the

Jan 1, 1949

Ellsworth Daggett, who joined the Institute in 1873, and had beeu a prominent figure in the mining profession of Utah and other Western states for many years, died in San Francisco, Jan. 5, 1923. Mr. Daggett was a contemporary and intimate friend of Clarence King, James D. Hague, R. W. Raymond, and other Nestors of the mining engineering profession prominent in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. He was born at Canandaigua, N. Y., May 24, 1845; graduated from Sheffield Scientific School in 1864; pursued post-graduate courses there for two years, and for one year at the Bergakademie, in Berlin. He was in active practice as mining engineer from 1866 to 1914, but devoted most of his time during the World War to the perfecting of a submarine torpedo. He was connected with the United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel in 1870. The plates illustrating mining industry, Volume III of the reports of that survey, were engraved from drawings obtained in the field during progress of the survey and prepared for the engraver by Mr. Daggett. He operated the Winnamuck mine and smelter at Bingham Cation, Utah, in the early seventies; the mines and mill at Cusihuiriachic, Chihuahua, 18867; and the Berlin mine near Austin, Nevada, 1904-6. On June 24, 1874, Mr. Daggett married Miss June Spencer, of Salt Lake City, who survives him, residing in New Haven, Corn. Appointed United States Surveyor General for Utah by President Harrison, in 1888, he was the first engineer to hold that office in Utah. He reorganized the mineral division of the office, required the courses of mineral surveys to be referred to the true meridian determined by solar or stellar observations, and did much to improve the accuracy and reliability of such surveys. Mr. Daggett was a member of the Alta and University Clubs of Salt Lake City, and president of the latter from 1890 to 1892; he was also a member of the Century Club, New York. Through his instrumentality, irrigation was brought to considerable tracts of land in northeastern Utah, and Daggett County of that state is named for him. Re wrote numerous technical papers, and an economic review entitled "A Quarter of a Century of Prices," in which was shown the close relation

Jan 1, 1923

Ellsworth Daggett, who joined the Institute in 1873, and had beeu a prominent figure in the mining profession of Utah and other Western states for many years, died in San Francisco, Jan. 5, 1923. Mr. Daggett was a contemporary and intimate friend of Clarence King, James D. Hague, R. W. Raymond, and other Nestors of the mining engineering profession prominent in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. He was born at Canandaigua, N. Y., May 24, 1845; graduated from Sheffield Scientific School in 1864; pursued post-graduate courses there for two years, and for one year at the Bergakademie, in Berlin. He was in active practice as mining engineer from 1866 to 1914, but devoted most of his time during the World War to the perfecting of a submarine torpedo. He was connected with the United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel in 1870. The plates illustrating mining industry, Volume III of the reports of that survey, were engraved from drawings obtained in the field during progress of the survey and prepared for the engraver by Mr. Daggett. He operated the Winnamuck mine and smelter at Bingham Cation, Utah, in the early seventies; the mines and mill at Cusihuiriachic, Chihuahua, 18867; and the Berlin mine near Austin, Nevada, 1904-6. On June 24, 1874, Mr. Daggett married Miss June Spencer, of Salt Lake City, who survives him, residing in New Haven, Corn. Appointed United States Surveyor General for Utah by President Harrison, in 1888, he was the first engineer to hold that office in Utah. He reorganized the mineral division of the office, required the courses of mineral surveys to be referred to the true meridian determined by solar or stellar observations, and did much to improve the accuracy and reliability of such surveys. Mr. Daggett was a member of the Alta and University Clubs of Salt Lake City, and president of the latter from 1890 to 1892; he was also a member of the Century Club, New York. Through his instrumentality, irrigation was brought to considerable tracts of land in northeastern Utah, and Daggett County of that state is named for him. Re wrote numerous technical papers, and an economic review entitled "A Quarter of a Century of Prices," in which was shown the close relation

Jan 1, 1923

By Thomas A. Edison, John Birkinbine

The Transactions already contain many valuable papers on the subject of ore-concentration, but with reference more to the treatment of other ores than those of iron. In this country much money, labor and thought have been devoted to the enrichment of iron-ores by roasting to drive off sulphur and carbonic acid, eliminate water, or make the ore more friable, and by washing and screening to remove the clay and sand from earthy ores. In concentrating magnetites and hematites more has been done than is generally believed; but, unfortunately, the results up to the present time have not been encouraging. On the contrary, so many attempts have proved unsatisfactory that any system of concentration is now unjustly looked upon with doubt, and the problem presented to individual mines must therefore be approached with caution. For many years the magnetites of the Adirondack region of New York State have been roasted, reduced to proper size by means of gang-stamps, and jigged on screens in water. Latterly plunger-jigs and rotary-jigs have been introduced, and in some places crushers and rolls have taken the place of stamps. In one instance in that region a plant for reducing the ore by crushers and rolls and separating it by magnetism was put up to treat a titaniferous ore; but, the titanium occurring as ilmenite, the result was unsatisfactory, and the plant is now being reconstructed at another mine, where apatite and silica are to be separated from the magnetite. A large concentrating works was erected at Negaunee, Michigan, in the Marquette region, Lake Superior, to enrich the leaner specular ores. This consisted of crushers, Cornish rolls and rotary-jigs. The results ohtained weye not satisfactory, and it has been abandoned. Another plan to treat the lean magnetites from a large dump-pile at Republic, Michigan, by means of pulverizers and water-jigs also

Jan 1, 1889

[Estimated Receipts Dues: Arrears $ 3,500.00 Current 108,115.00 New Members 11,937.00 In Advance 1,763.00 $125,315.00 Initiation Fees 7,250.00 Initiation Fees-Additional if increased to $20.00 7,250.00 Sale of Transactions....3,000.00 Sale of Binding 7,092.00 Sale of Magazine 2,913.00 Sale of Pamphlets 70.00 Sale of Indexes and Emmons Vols 313.00 Sale of Pyrometry 900.00 Sale of Raymond Vol 100.00 Interest received on Bank Balance 500.00 Interest received on Life Memberships 500.00 Advertising-Gross 27,000.00 Voluntary Subscriptions-Estimated 16,000.00 Income from James Douglas Fund 5,000.00 Total $203,503.00] [ ]

Jan 1, 1925

By Rudolph G. Wuerker

The progress made in testing the strength of rocks and minerals as they are encountered in mine operation is reviewed. An attempt is made to correlate these physical measurements with abrasive hardness, grindability, and behavior in comminution on one hand and fracture of rocks in pillars and roof control on the other. THIS paper reviews the progress made in testing the strength of rocks, ores, coal, salts, and other minerals as they are encountered in mine operations. It attempts to correlate the results of these physical measurements with technological properties more useful to the mining engineer: abrasive hardness, grindability, and behavior in comminution on one hand, and roof control, fracture of rocks in pillars, and mining methods with controlled caving on the other. In the following pages, the materials discussed will be referred to as rocks. Basic to rock mechanics and comminution are the problems of strength, elastic behavior, and failure, common to all brittle materials. A distinction will be drawn as to theoretical and applied research, and discussion of the progress made in each field will include test data obtained by the U.S. Bureau of Standards,1-1 the U.S. Bureau of Mines," the Iowa Engineering Experiment Station,"." the Committee on Geophysical Research at Harvard University,'" Basic Industries Research of the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co.,11,12 by Philipps,13 and by Mueller," to name only a few. With refinements of testing methods and increased standardization. more useful and more comparable results have been achieved. This is especially important in testing a material like rock, as the inherent heterogeneity demands careful and exacting procedures. New measuring procedures that appear to supersede well known standard methods have contributed to faster and less costly testing yet have introduced new concepts, with implications as to comparability of results which must be watched. Reference is made to the sonic method for determining elastic properties," to be discussed in detail below. Basic Investigations Historically, all work in the field has started with the simplest determinations such as those for crushing strength, abrasive hardness, and grindability. These serve the limited objectives in the researcher's field of specialization: building construction, road ballast, roof control in mines, comminution, and seismic prospecting. Occasionally, fundamental properties like the modulus of elasticity E and Poisson's ratio v have been determined with the idea that they might have some bearing on the technological properties of the material under investigation. But it was not until the work of Philipps,13 of Harvard University,'" and of the U.S. Bureau of Mines"' that sufficient basic data were collected to allow researchers to go beyond the technological test and find the fundamental laws behind the behavior of rocks in mine and mill operations. The properties to be looked for are those that describe the elastic behavior of any material, the modulus of elasticity E and Poisson's ratio v being the ones determinable with least difficulties. Only two such properties are required to compute any other property such as the shear modulus, the modulus of rigidity, and the bulk modulus, all of which are related to each other according to well known equations of the theory of elasticity." In spite of their heterogeneous character, all rocks tested have possessed elastic properties. This does not mean that rocks of the same type always have the same modulus of elasticity, which varies exactly as the crushing strength or any other physical property of a rock can spread over a wide range. This has been explained by imperfections of the material always found in rocks, but to some extent this scattering of data is caused by inaccuracies inherent in the testing methods. Modulus of Resilience, a Criterion of Failure Increased availability of E values should allow us to test the validity of the quantity of strain energy theory which has been used in the solution of roof control problems by Philipps13 and by Holland.'" Recently Bond and Wang12 have applied this theory to explain the failure of an elastic material in comminution. Actually it is a very old theory, proposed as far back as 1885 by Beltrami.16 By its assumption the condition of yielding is determined by the term S2 M, = — x volume. Here M, is the modulus of 2E resilience, and its dimension is inch-pounds per cubic inch, that is, work per unit volume. Its numerical value is equal to the area under the stress-strain diagram. In the foregoing equation S is the yield stress (in psi) in tension or compression, whatever the case may be. E, the modulus of elasticity, is in psi. The great appeal of Beltrami's concept of stored energy lies in the fact that the two properties which seem to influence failure most, strength and elasticity, occur in the formula for the modulus of resilience. As an illustration of this, the moduli of resilience in compression of some typical materials tested by the U.S. Bureau of Mines" have been plotted in Fig. 1. The sample of concrete of conventional mix is shown only for the sake of comparison. Its determination was made in the Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Illinois. The values of the moduli of resilience of the various specimens in the plot are:

Jan 1, 1954

By Phillip B. Bucky, Fred D. Wright

The present known petroleum reserves are limited, and unless important new fields are discovered the Nation will be dependent, in the not too distant future, upon imports or upon synthetic liquid fuels to supplement domestic petroleum supplies. As a national defense measure, it would appear desirable to develop a substitute source of liquid fuels within the borders of the country if new discoveries of petroleum should Prove disappointing. Congress undoubtedly had this in mind when it passed the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act (78th Congress, approved April 5, 1944). The act directed the Bureau of Mines to construct and operate demonstration plants for producing synthetic liquid fuels from coal and oil shale, and from forestry and agricultural products. As a part of this program, the Bureau of Mines has built a demonstration plant at Anvil Points, near Rifle, Colo., for retorting the oil shale, and has developed a mine to supply the plant with oil shale. At the beginning of mining operations, the physical qualities of the oil shale, which would have a bearing upon the selection of mining methods and practices for exploiting the deposits, were largely unknown. A comprehensive mining-research program has been set up to determine the best methods and practices to follow to obtain the lowest overall practicable mining cost for producing the oil shale on a large scale. Unusually low mining costs will be necessary for shale oil to be produced commercially. Consideration now is being given to exploiting a series of flat-lying beds 70 ft thick by a room-and-pillar method of three benches with the advance heading at the top. This report is one of a series giving the results obtained in research on mining problems, The structure and physical qualities of the oil shale indicate that the 70-ft interval of the oil-shale measure can be safely mined in open stopes; studies indicate that this method would be the most economical one to use.' As labor will be a major item of expense, the largest equipment that could be operated efficiently in the workings would be required to obtain the lowest practicable mining Cost. It Was therefore desirable to know the maximum safe span of unsupported rooms and the size of pillars necessary to support the overburden. This paper describes the work done at the Columbia School of Mines Barodynamic Laboratory in determining the maximum safe unsupported roof spans and the minimum safe pillar dimensions for the oil-shale mine at Rifle, Colo.

Jan 1, 1949

By M. King Hubert

The growth of human knowledge is an evolutionary process. Historically our separate sciences came into existence as people became interested in various apparently unrelated domains of phenomena, and in this manner we acquired the sciences of physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology and geology. As various of these sciences became established, cognizance of them came to be taken by the universities and in this manner there arose the traditional departments of physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology and geology of our American universities. As there was no particular rationality in the boundaries separating the various sciences, in the university departments the jurisdiction of each has assumed quite arbitrary limits. In the domain of earth phenomena the first science to grow up was that of geology, which arose originally from the activities of the collectors of rocks, minerals and fossils. Thus geology evolved as a descriptive science dealing with directly observable terrestrial phenomena for which elementary rational explanations were offered. The traditional treatment of phenomena by the science of geology has rarely been with more than an elementary regard for the fact that these phenomena were also phenomena of physics and chemistry. Since the latter part of the nineteenth century, a new approach to terrestrial phenomena has been emerging and becoming of so great a significance that it can no longer be ignored. This approach has been made by people trained primarily in the sciences of physics and chemistry, who have investigated terrestrial phenomena as constituting phenomena of their respective sciences. In this manner we have acquired the so-called "borderland sciences" of geophysics, the physics of the earth, and of geochemistry, the chemistry of the earth. Neither of these fields is new, having arisen chiefly at the hands of European investigators during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The European universities have long since given official recognition at least to geophysics, by the establishment of departments or institutes of geophysics, which are on a par with the university departments of the other sciences.

Jan 1, 1940

By M. King Hubert

The growth of human knowledge is an evolutionary process. Historically our separate sciences came into existence as people became interested in various apparently unrelated domains of phenomena, and in this manner we acquired the sciences of physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology and geology. As various of these sciences became established, cognizance of them came to be taken by the universities and in this manner there arose the traditional departments of physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology and geology of our American universities. As there was no particular rationality in the boundaries separating the various sciences, in the university departments the jurisdiction of each has assumed quite arbitrary limits. In the domain of earth phenomena the first science to grow up was that of geology, which arose originally from the activities of the collectors of rocks, minerals and fossils. Thus geology evolved as a descriptive science dealing with directly observable terrestrial phenomena for which elementary rational explanations were offered. The traditional treatment of phenomena by the science of geology has rarely been with more than an elementary regard for the fact that these phenomena were also phenomena of physics and chemistry. Since the latter part of the nineteenth century, a new approach to terrestrial phenomena has been emerging and becoming of so great a significance that it can no longer be ignored. This approach has been made by people trained primarily in the sciences of physics and chemistry, who have investigated terrestrial phenomena as constituting phenomena of their respective sciences. In this manner we have acquired the so-called "borderland sciences" of geophysics, the physics of the earth, and of geochemistry, the chemistry of the earth. Neither of these fields is new, having arisen chiefly at the hands of European investigators during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The European universities have long since given official recognition at least to geophysics, by the establishment of departments or institutes of geophysics, which are on a par with the university departments of the other sciences.

Jan 1, 1940

By G. R. Mansfield

THE third year of Government exploration for potash by the U. S. Geological Survey and the U. S. Bureau of Mines under the authorization of the act approved June 25, 1926 (Public 424-69th Cong.) is drawing to a close. The results thus far obtained are thought to be sufficiently interesting and satisfactory to justify the presentation of a brief pre¬liminary account of the work. REVIEW OF EARLIER EXPLORATION The general geologic similarity of the Permian basin of Texas and New Mexico to the potash field of Germany had long ago suggested the possibility of the presence of potash salts somewhere in that basin, but petroleum exploration was then making little headway there and the necessary data could not be obtained. The discovery by Udden in 1912 of potash in brine from the Spur well in Dickens County, Texas, was the first direct evidence of its presence. In 1915-17 the U. S. Geological Survey drilled a test well with standard tools at Cliffside near Amarillo, but failed to find potash. Nevertheless, an observer has been kept in the field, at first in cooperation with the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology but since 1922 by the Survey alone, to secure data and samples from oil and gas tests. Since the discovery of oil in Reagan County in 1923 exploration by drilling has been rapidly extended to many parts of western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. The identification of the potash-bearing mineral polyhalite was first announced by the Geological Survey in June, 1921, the material having come from cuttings from the Bryant well in Midland County and the Burns well in Dawson County, Texas. Successive discoveries and announcements of similar purport aroused widespread interest in potash exploration, which culminated in the action by Congress already noted.

Jan 1, 1929

By M. King Hubbert

THE growth of human knowledge is an evolutionary process. His-torically our separate sciences came into existence as people became interested in various apparently unrelated domains of phenomena, and in this manner we acquired the sciences of physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology and geology. As various of these sciences became established, cognizance of them came to be taken by the universities and in this manner there arose the traditional departments of physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology and geology of our American universities. As there was no particular rationality in the boundaries separating the various sciences, in the university departments the jurisdiction of each has assumed quite arbitrary limits. In the domain of earth phenomena the first science to grow up was that of geology, which arose originally from the activities of the collectors of rocks, minerals and fossils. Thus geology evolved as a descriptive science dealing with directly observable terrestrial phenomena for which elementary rational explanations were offered. The traditional treat-ment of phenomena by the science of geology has rarely been with more than an elementary regard for the fact that these phenomena were also phenomena of physics and chemistry. Since the latter part of the nineteenth century, a new approach to terrestrial phenomena has been emerging and becoming of so great a significance that it can no longer be ignored. This approach has been made by people trained primarily in the sciences of physics and chemistry, who have investigated terrestrial phenomena as constituting phenomena of, their respective sciences. In this manner we have acquired the so-called "borderland sciences" of geophysics, the physics of the earth, and of geochemistry, the chemistry of the earth. Neither of these fields is new, having arisen chiefly at the hands of European investigators during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The European uni-versities have long since given official recognition at least to geophysics, by the establishment of departments or institutes of geophysics, which are on a par with ,the university departments of the other sciences.

Jan 1, 1938

By Leons Kovisars

Introduction Competitive analysis is the collection and evaluation of data on a product, a product line or on an entire industry. Much of the focus of competitive analysis centers on production volume and the price targets of the competitors. In actual practice capacity may be used in place of production volume. Similarly, unit production costs and individual producing units - mines, mills, smelters, refineries - may be the targets of the analysis. The purpose of competitive analysis is to provide information for strategic planning. The analysis will locate the position of the company in the industry and define the competitive margin -- or lack of a margin - between the company and other producers. The analysis can show the current situation and may be expanded to examine the outlook for the future. The forecast option is particularly valuable because it will show the opportunities for new project development or the expansion of current production. Similarly, the forecast will show the potential threat from new entrants, and may provide early warning to reconsider operations that may become uncompetitive in the future. Production cost analysis is a clearly understood means to evaluate producers and estimate the outlook for their profitability. The cumulative cost for the industry outlines the supply structure and defines the marginal cost of production used in developing price forecast as explained in the sub- sequent section of this paper. Competitive analysis is particularly important to the mining industry, notably to metal producers. The final product is typically a purified metal conforming to standards, and interchangable with the output of other producers, i.e. a fungible commodity. Brand loyalty is questionable in the mineral industry. Consumers will show a preference for specific brands, but this preference will be limited to a premium of several percent over the general market price. Price and assurance of supply are the keys to marketing success. Assurance of supply depends on geopolitical considerations and production capabilities. Price will be closely related to cost of production and a thorough competitive analysis should describe the cost structure of the industry. This snapshot will locate one's own position and provide an immediate and readily understandable evaluation of the hazards and opportunities inherent in this position. In the following section we shall discuss elements, methods and sources for competitive evaluation. ELEMENTS OF COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS The practice of systematic collection and analysis of data on competition is hardly a new concept; see, for example, Wall (1) or Porter (2). However, most discussions have been in the context of conventional industrial or manufacturing industries, with a focus on product lines and brand marketing. These considerations are not irrelevant to mining but they do have only a limited application. The key to success in the mining industry is minimizing the cost of production. However, this simple concept becomes complex when we consider relevant costs and the planning horizon. Production costs include the factors consumed in production, namely labor, fuel, energy, materials and supplies. The cost also includes purchased and contracted services such as freight, smelting and refining, sampling and sales required to convert ore to the finished metal. Royalties and ad valorem taxes paid on gross production are direct expenses, as is the cost of administration required by the production units. The sum of these outflows is the total cash cost, the expense that has to be paid in cash in order to continue production. Indirect costs incurred by a producer will commonly include allocated headquarters expenses, as well as the capital charges associated with equity investment and debt. Profit is not generally considered an indirect cost even though it represents the cost of using the owner's capital; similarly, income taxes represent the government's participation in the profits of the enterprise. Interest payments are considered as a direct expense in some cost studies, but many competitive evaluations would consider

Jan 1, 1985

By Walter Miller

During no similar period in the development of petroleum refining technology has so much progress been made in methods and equipment for the economical utilization of heat. Drastically severe commercial and economical conditions controlling the refining industry during 1927 gave a great impetus to improved efficiency and more economical operation in all departments. I think it is fair to say, however, that more progress has been made in the department of heat utilization than in other branches. I use the word utilization advisedly in the dual sense of better primary generation and application of heat and of saving by recovery methods. It was because of this trend that the subject, "Economical Application of Heat," was made the keynote of the refinery engineering sessions just completed. No new, outstanding elemental discoveries can be claimed for the year along this line. Some of the progress made has been in the development of better furnaces and distilling equipment embodying the more modern principles of boiler practice in obtaining complete combustion of the fuel, low excess air requirements and high transfer rates through the heating surface. Transfer rates of 3000 to 6000 B. t. u. per sq. ft. per hr. were considered good some time ago in the older type of equipment. Today a transfer rate of 25,000 to 35,000 B. t. u. is an actual accomplishment in commercial installations and engineers are talking of the feasibility of 50,000, 75,000, even 100,000 R. t. u. per sq. ft. per hr. Contributing most to bringing this about have been the rational use of the velocity factor on both the oil and firing side of the heating surface, and the study and application of the principles of radiant heat in furnace design. Vapor Heat Economy The principle of heat exchange, especially against oil vapors, has been applied to a greater extent than ever before. The recovery of heat from oil vapors is not new. This was practiced 20 years ago or more in Europe,

Jan 1, 1928

By J. Fageant, W. C. Ellis

All major regions in a progressively solidified germanium ingot were related through successive orders of octahedral twinning. The occurrence of lineage structure and the generation and survival of orientations are discussed. WHEN metals solidify in a temperature gradient a preferred orientation, or casting texture, usually develops. For example, in face-centered and body-centered cubic metals, most of the solidifying crystals have a cube axis, <loo>, aligned approximately in the freezing direction.&apos; In the solidification of diamond cubic metals this is not the case, since there is a natural tendency to form twin orientations.&apos; . In this paper, twinning relationships in cast germanium are described; some conclusions with respect to nucleation and survival of new orientations are discussed. In the first experiment, an ingot of high purity germanium, % in. in diameter and 1 % in. in length, was formed by progressive solidification4 from the bottom. The ingot was cut into 21 slices, each circular and about 0.030 in. thick. The top surface of each slice was polished and etched to reveal the regions of different orientations. Orientations were determined by the Laue X-ray back-reflection method. The uncertainty in the determined orientation relationships was l" or 2" when separate slices and films were involved. Frequently, however, advantage was taken of illuminating across a boundary when the patterns of the two orientations were recorded on the same film. The uncertainty then was less than 1". Often the twin relation was evident from common zones or individual reflections. Twin relationships were recognized through comparison of the values of the nine angles between cube poles of the two orientations with those calculated for successive orders of octahedral twinning. The birth and survival of each region can be reconstructed by visual examination of the etched slices shown in Fig. 1. In slice 21, where solidification began, many regions are present; these regions were found to be twin-related. Solidification appears to have started from one nucleus formed probably at the wall of the crucible.* Subsequent ori- entations were developed by nucleation on existing solid surfaces, and only in the twin relationship. This is an example of a general process of nucleation on a surface of existing solid and may be descriptively termed oriented nuc1eation.t In germanium, and other diamond cubic substances, the orienting habit is that of twinning on an octahedral plane.&apos; " The prevalence of straight traces in the polished surfaces of succeeding slices (Fig. 1) suggests that the twinning observed in the first slice persisted throughout solidification. This was confirmed by X-ray determinations. The schematic diagram of Fig. 2 shows the twinning relationships of the major regions throughout the ingot. Since all observed relationships are describable as twinning, it is reasonable to conclude that no random nucleation occurred in the freezing of the ingot. An alternative possibility would be that nucleation of a random nature occurred, but only those nuclei in twin orientations survived in subsequent growth. This is unlikely for there would be as good a reason for the growth of randomly oriented nuclei as for the growth of the many different orientations present after several orders of twinning. The many twin components contain a wide distribution of orientations, and did grow. In fact, they are the only ones found in the solid. The conditions of solidification of this ingot were such as to discourage nucleation of crystals wholly in the liquid. The rate of solidification was 0.125 in. per min. This slow rate of heat removal afforded but small opportunity for supercooling within the liquid —a condition needed to provide enough decrease in free energy for such nucleation. When nucleation occurs on an existing solid surface, the interfacial energy between the existing and forming regions is important in determining the new stable orientation. The new orientation is expected to be one which minimizes this energy. In the diamond cubic structure, the interface for the

Jan 1, 1955

By J. A. Holmes

Venezuela has continued during 1929 to demonstrate that it is destined for many years to come to be one of our most important sources of crude petroleum. The producing fields of the Bolivar Coastal district along the east side of Lake Maracaibo have continued their phenomenal production, and two new fields have reached the near producing stage, while the results of deep test wells have strengthened the predictions and expectations that oil will be found and produced from many other pools and from several different geological formations. The finding of these new oil pools is not going to be easy, because the surface evidences of geological structure are scanty, and the subsurface problems are difficult, but intelligent effort backed by ample resources may be counted upon to overcome these obstacles and lead to a continued increase in the number of producing fields in Venezuela. During 1929 the total production of Venezuela was approximately 135,953,000 bbl., an increase of nearly 30,000,000 bbl., or 28 per cent., as compared with the preceding year. During 1929 oil in steel storage in Venezuela decreased from 13,000,000 to about 11,000,000 barrels. Tables 1, 2 and 3 briefly summarize Venezuelan production by fields and by years, and show the trend of production since its establishment on a commercial basis. Table 1.---Production of Crude Oil in Venezuela by Years, 1917 to 1929 All Figures in Barrels of 42 Gallons Total PRodUction Total PRoduction Year VeneZUela, Bbl. Year Venezuela, Bbl. 1917....................... 227,000 1927.................... 63,181,000 1918....................... 368,000 1928.................... 106,000,000 1919....................... 258,000 1929.................... 135,953,000* 1920..................... 548,000 Grand Total Since Ineep- 1921...................... 1,544,000 tion................... 380,791,000 1922....................... 2,448,000 Increase, 1929 over 1928.. . 29,953,000 1923..................... 4,170,000 Per cent. Increase......... 28.2 1924....................... 9,234,000 Per cent. 1929 Production 1925....................... 20,219,000 of Total............... 35.7 1926....................... 36,641,000 * Includes estimate for closing period of 1929.

Jan 1, 1930

By R. F. Mehl, G. V. Smith

THE decomposition of austenite in steels, because of its immense practical importance, has been subjected to extensive study in recent years from the point of view of the mechanism of the process.1-3 Although much information has been acquired, a number of questions, principally of theoretical interest, remain. One is that of the atomic-crystallographic mechanism by which each of the various reaction products forms. The isothermal reaction products of the eutectoid decomposition in plain carbon steels (to which this study is restricted) have conveniently been classified in three general groupings-pearlite, bainite, and martensite. Of these several products, pearlite and martensite have been studied extensively, but bainite has received only scant attention. As a result, the mechanism of the formation of pearlite and that of martensite are now fairly well understood while a great deal of uncertainty exists regarding bainite. PEARLITE Pearlite forms from austenite by the precipitation of alternate platelets of cementite and ferrite, which grow into the austenite matrix .2-5 The rate of reaction may be described in terms of a rate of nucleation and a rate of growth.2.3 Mehl and Smith6 have attempted to determine the lattice relationships existing between the ferrite in pearlite and the parent austenite. Using a pole-figure method of analysis, it was found that a limited number of ferrite orientations resulted from the decomposition of a single grain of austenite; it was not possible, however, to decide between two assumed ideal relationships, both of which appeared to account for the experimentally determined pole figure. It was definitely shown, however, that the relationship obtaining was quite different from that determined for the proeutectoid separation of ferrite.7 No attempt was made to determine the habit plane (matrix plane to which the precipitate lies parallel) of the pearlite lamellae. Belaiew8 earlier had stated that the number of directions assumed by the pearlite lamellae in a single grain of austenite was 12 (no details were given) and concluded wrongly, as Mehl and Smiths have pointed out, that the lamellae delineate the [210] planes of ferrite.* MARTENSITE It is known that martensite is a transitional constituent of body-centered tetrag-

Jan 1, 1942

By R. M. Keeney

Before the outbreak of the war in 1914, the only electric-furnace smelting plant operating on a commercial basis west of the Mississippi River was an electric pig-iron plant in California; rare metal ores were not smelted, concentrates of molybdenum, tungsten, uranium, and vanadium ores being shipped East for reduction. Practically no chrome ore was being mined, and only comparatively small amounts of manganese ore. Today there are two electric smelting plants in California, one in Washington, one in lowa, and four in Colorado; two plants are under construction in California, and one in Montana. Ores of manganese, chromium, molybdenum and tungsten are now smelted in the West, and although uranium and vanadium concentrates are still shipped to the East, they will probably be treated in western plants in a short time. The four electric-furnace plants in Colorado are listed in Table 1. Table 1.—Electric Smelting Plants in Colorado Capacity. Company Location KilowattB PRoductS Tungsten Products Co........... Boulder 800 Ferrotungsten, ferromo- lybdenum. Boulder Tungsten Production Co .. Boulder 400 Ferrotungsten. Ferro Alloy Co.................. Utah Junction 1200 Ferrochrome, ferrotung- sten. Iron Mountain Alloy Co......... Utah Junction 3000 Ferromanganese. Power for all of these plants is supplied by the Colorado Power Co. The plant of the Ferro Alloy Co., at Utah Junction, contains one 750-kw., three-phase furnace, to which power is supplied by three 250-lrw. transformers, connected /Y to give 129 volts on the furnace cables, the transformer ratio being 13,200 to 75 volts. The furnace operates with an actual voltage of 120 volts, and produces about 3 tons of ferrochrome per 24 hr. from 40-per cent. Cr2O3 ore. The furnace consists of a steel shell of circular cross-section, 8 ft. (2.43 m.) in diameter by 7 ft. (2.13 m.) deep, lined with magnesite, and having three vertical carbon electrodes 12 in. (30.48 cm.) in diameter. A 450-kw. furnace, of the same size as the 750-kw. furnace, is also operated on chrome ore. This furnace is three-phase in appearance, but operates electrically as a single-phase furnace. There are three vertical

Jan 1, 1920