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By John K. Hammes, Stanley D. Michaelson

The material presented in this chapter is supplemental information on those significant aspects of open-pit copper mining that are to an extent unique and therefore not detailed in previous sections covering the fundamentals of open-pit mine planning, operations and maintenance. In addition, tabulated cost and operating data are presented for a variety of open-pit copper mines. 13.3-1 History. The history of the civilized use of copper began at the end of the Stone Age when man discovered that the red metal, in the form of native copper, could be readily worked into a variety of weapons and tools which simplified the primitive requirements for survival. Almost concurrently, the high value of these early copper products became so widely known that they soon assumed major importance as trading commodities. Copper and copper-alloyed artifacts, even though produced in very limited quantities by ancient miners and metalworkers in a few parts of the Near East and the Western Hemisphere, were so valuable that early warriors and traders carried them into nearly all the world's known areas of importance. As far as copper is concerned, the Bronze Age, at sometime around 8000 BC to 6000 BC, marked the vague, little-known beginning of metallurgy. Man learned to alloy the valuable red metal to make it harder and tougher; its use multiplied as did the variety of weapons and tools made with the gradually increasing metallurgical and fabricating skills. By 3000 BC bronze alloy products became relatively widespread ; copper mining activities assumed tremendous importance and the mines on the Isle of Cyprus developed into prized possessions of each Mediterranean empire from the times of Egyptian supremacy to well beyond the decline of the Roman Empire.

Jan 1, 1968

By S. Ramachandran, R. G. Woolery

INTRODUCTION Union Carbide is currently operating an in-situ leach project on the Palangana Dome area in Duval county. This deposit meets all the requirements for in-situ leach in that the ore (1) is below the water table, (2) is in a permeable horizon, (3) is amenable to chemical leaching, and (4) is confined by impervious layers. This project has been under commercial production since 1976, and its capacity has been expanded on three occasions since going on-stream. Recently, additional uranium reserves were discovered on the Rogers-Cardenas (R-C) property about 32 km north of the Palangana operation. The ore is located within the Oakville sands and its characteristics are quite similar to those of the ore at Palangana. Both are an unconsolidated Arkosic sand high in clay and calcium carbonate. The R-C ore, however, is somewhat coarser with a mean particle size of 0.15 mm as compared to a mean particle size of 0.07 mm for the Palangana ore. In all respects it would appear that this ore would be a candidate for in-situ leach as a satellite operation to Palangana. Unfortunately, R-C ore is above the water table and, therefore, not amenable to the Palangana practice. Because of the limited known reserves in this deposit, it is readily apparent that conventional mining and milling are out of the question. However, because of its proximity to our Palangana operation, it seemed worthwhile to consider other options. The most viable route based on our past experience was to heap leach the ore. Our recent success at our Gas Hills facility and our Maybell operation, in employing a heap leach practice to our marginal reserves seemed to be a logical approach for processing this ore. Our experiences at both locations are described in "Heap Leaching - A Case History" by R. G. Woolery et al., Mining Engineering, March 1978. In both instances the process is an acid leach circuit and acid consumption averages 20 kg/t H2SO4. A preliminary feasibility study showed that because of the high strip ratio required for the R-C project to be successful, additional ore reserves must be located and that a method of heap leaching with an alkaline circuit would have to be developed. As a result of this paper study, the decision was made to proceed with a program of additional exploration drilling to determine the total ore reserves that could be mined economically. The Mining Department will evaluate each ore zone for cutoff grade, strip ratio, and expected mining cost. At the same time, a laboratory program to evaluate the available core samples for amenability to heap leaching with respect to an estimate of uranium recovery and processing costs was developed. This program is currently in progress, and at this time, we are just completing our process amenability study. BENCH-SCALE EVALUATION OF THE R-C ORE The initial bench-scale slurry leach tests on the R-C ore showed an acid consumption in excess of 200 kg/t H2SO4. These data, of course, discouraged us from considering this process route. Not only would the acid cost be prohibitive, but the gypsum generated by the reaction of the sulfuric acid with the calcium carbonate of the ore would severely effect the percolation of the lixivant. For this reason, the laboratory program was directed toward an alkaline circuit compatible with heap leaching. Because of the proximity of the R-C property to our Palangana operation, it seemed advisable to integrate the processing of this ore into the production at Palangana. Doing so would enable us to bring the R-C property into production by merely enlarging our present facilities at Palangana; otherwise, construction of a grass roots plant would be necessary. Ideally, the simplest method would be to construct the heaps at Palangana and employ an ammonium carbonate/bicarbonate leachant compatible with the in-situ production liquor. The product liquors could then be co-mingled or processed separately as desired. To determine if this goal was practical, samples of the R-C ore were obtained, and a laboratory program initiated. Heap leach amenability testing consisted of preliminary bench-scale evaluation to determine optimum solution strength and ultimate uranium recovery, followed by small column tests to confirm the bench-scale metallurgy and to determine percolation characteristics. These bench-scale tests are being followed by pilot-scale testing approximating field conditions. As expected, the bench-scale tests showed that the dissolution rate is considerably slower for alkaline leach than has been our experience in acid leaching. Because of the slower reaction rates, product liquor grades will be lower than for acid, as greater volumes of solution are required for satisfactory uranium extractions. The greatest influence on reaction times found in the laboratory was the carbonate/bicarbonate strength and oxidant addition. However, the higher salt concentration reduced the efficiency of the IX resin circuit and about 25g/L salt proved to an upper limit compatible with subsequent IX treatment. The oxidant contributed significantly to the early extraction rate but seemed to have only minimal effect on the total practical U308 extracted or the time required to achieve it. This variable will require larger scale testing to determine if the added cost of the oxidant is actually justifiable. Thus, the small-scale laboratory slurry tests, based on the 0.088% U308 sample available, indicate that leaching at 25g/L ammonium carbonate/bicarbonate, with or without oxidant, we might expect an 80-85% U308 extraction on this ore.

Jan 1, 1979

By Wilbur Nelson

ALL of our accounts of the discovery of copper ore at Ducktown, Tenn., state that the discovery was made in August, 1843, yet it would appear that samples of copper from this district were found by the Spanish explorer, DeSoto, when he wandered into Southern Tennessee, in 1539, in his four years of exploration through the Southern States. The following quotation is taken from his diary: "Towards the north there was a province named Chisca; and that there was a melting of copper, and of another metall of the same colour, save that it was finer, and of a farre more perfect colour, and farre better to the sight, and that they used it not so much, because it was softer. And the selfe same thing was told the governor in Cutifa-Chiqui, where we saw some little hatchets of copper, which were said to have a mixture of gold. But in that part of the country it was not well peopled; and they said there were mountains, which the horses could not passe; and for that cause, the governor would not goe from Cutifa-Chiqui directly quicker." DeSoto sent two of his company to try to find these mines, but after five days' wandering through the mountains they returned, stating that their guides had become lost. Although the Ducktown area may have been known to the ancient Indians, it was not until August, 1843, when a Mr. Lemmons, who was panning for gold on Potato Creek, in the Ducktown basin, found some reddish-brown decomposed rock, which he supposed to be gold, that the copper deposits were actually discovered. His disgust on finding that this yellow metal. was not gold was so great that he did not. try to develop his find. In March, 1847, B. C. Dugger erected an iron forge at this same place, but was unable to work the iron as it contained so much copper that on cooling it would break to pieces. The finding of copper in the iron ore by Mr. Dugger led to further explorations; and in April, of the same year, A. J. Weaver, who was passing through that country, told the people that the black rocks they had dug out were rich copper ore. Mr. Weaver began the first mining in this district.

Jan 10, 1924

By Ernest Gayford

THIS is a nontechnical paper on flotation, subdivided under three general headings: (1) Definition of flotation; (2) what flotation is now doing in Utah; and (3) what is the future of flotation? . DEFINITION T. A. Rickard defines flotation1 as "the act or state of floating," from the French flottaison, water-line and fitter, to float. The dictionary defines flotation as "the science of floating bodies." The flotation process is a method of concentrating ores by frothing. Weinig and Palmer 2 define flotation as follows: What is the flotation process? Briefly, it consists in the agitation of finely divided ore in water containing bubbles of air or gas, a small amount of oil and, usually, other reagents, soluble and insoluble; under these conditions the small parti- cles of native metals, sulfides, arsenides, antimonides, selenides and tellurides show a tendency to attach themselves to the 6lms of the bubbles, and are thus carried to the surface of the water. The oxidized gangue minerals, such as quartz, feldspar, limestone, hematite, etc., show much less affinity for the bubbles, are easily wetted by the water, and either remain in suspension in the water, or sink to the bottom of the vessel. If the bubbles are sufficiently stable they can be removed, carrying their load of sulfide-mineral particles with them. Thus there can be effected a separation of the two classes of minerals from each other, assuming that the grinding has been sufficient to unlock all of the particles of different composition. The separation does not depend upon differences in specific gravity of the various minerals; in fact, the sulfides are usually heavier than the oxides, and some of the heaviest sulfide minerals are the easiest to float. A particle of mineral may be so large, however, that its weight will counteract its affinity for the film of the bubble. In most cases the ore must be fine enough to pass a screen having at least 48 meshes to the linear inch. Taggart defines flotation as follows : Flotation is a method of wet concentration of ores in which separation of mineral from gangue is effected by causing the mineral to float at or above the surface of a body of liquid pulp while the gangue becomes or remains submerged. The method

Jan 1, 1928

By A. U. Seybolt, D. H. Haman

The rate of oxidation of the lowest nitride of chromium, Cr2N, was measured to be equal to the rate of oxidation of chromium metal. It was found that, while the presence of Cr2N in chromium does not affect the oxidation mechanism, a long exposure at high temperature affects the morphology of Cr2N in chromium, causing a massive internal nitriding along chromium pain boundaries. Marker expen' -ments showed that the rate of oxidation of Cr2N layers on chromium is determined by the rate of chromium diffusion through Cr,03. The rate of formation of Cr2N is determined by diffusion rate of nitrogen through Cr2N. This rate at 1000°C is around thirty times faster than the rate of oxiahtion. Evidence is presented which suggests that nitrogen from the air reaches the chromium through the Cr2O9 by migration through pores or cracks rather than by a diffusive process. IT has long been recognized that, when chromium or alloys containing substantial amounts of chromium are oxidized in air, some chromium nitride (Cr2N) is formed under the oxide scale. Although the presence of this nitride layer has often been described, there appears to have been no systematic study of the role played by the nitride during the oxidation process. Indeed, there have been conflicting re-ports'92 on the kinetics of oxidation of chromium and chromium alloys in air and in oxygen. However, it is now well-established'-5 that the rate-controlling process during the parabolic oxidation of chromium to Cr2O3 is chromium-ion diffusion through Cr2O3. Because of the importance of chromium-containing alloys as oxidation-resistant materials, it seemed desirable to investigate the behavior of chromium during oxidation with and without the presence of chromium nitride. Since a semicontinuous Cr2N layer forms relatively early during the oxidation of chromium in the air, chromium atoms must either pass out of or through the Cr2N layer to become incorporated in the growing Cr2O3 scale. Therefore, it seemed desirable to examine the oxidation behavior of the pure nitride. MATERIALS AND EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The chromium used in this investigation consisted of slices of an ingot made from "five-nine" iodide chromium which had been argon-atmosphere melted in a Y2O 3-stabilized ZrO2 crucible in an induction furnace. The only impurity of any significance was 625 ppm of 0, which was usually reduced to a microscopically invisible amount by hydrogen annealing at 1400°C. However, one sample of chromium was used with the as-cast oxygen level as explained below. The samples were used after abrading through 600 Sic paper and then washing in toluene and alcohol. Both nitriding and oxidation experiments were performed in a vertical tube furnace connected to a glass vacuum system. 'This system was equipped with pressure measuring instruments for the range of 10 p to 1 atm, and a cartesian-diver pressure-control device was used in conjunction with a needle valve to allow control of pressure in the range of about 10 to 760 mm. The nitrogen or hydrogen gas was purified by passing through hot copper chips at 600°C, anhydrous calcium sulfate (Drierite), and liquid nitrogen. Oxygen gas was dried through the Drierite column and a dry-ice trap (-78°C). Changes in specimen weight were followed by a Pyrex helix used in conjunction with a cathetometer which could reproducibly be read to +0.001 cm, yielding an accuracy of about +0.2 mg. The spring was maintained in the cool upper part of the furnace tube where the temperature did not rise above about 35°C. The nitride in equilibrium with metallic chro-

Jan 1, 1964

By W. J. Sharwood

In the cyanide process, gold and silver are dissolved from crushed ore as double alkali-metal cyanides, from which they may be precipitated by such positive metals as sodium (amalgam), aluminum, or zinc, or by electrolysis. Two extreme conditions may be noted. Some works, especially slime plants practising decantation, use a relatively large volume of solution—possibly 4 or 5 tons per ton of ore—nearly all of which may require precipitation, so that the solutions handled are of much lower value per ton than the ore. On the other hand, in some leaching plants it is possible to extract with very little solution, and to percolate some of this more than once through the charge before precipitation, so that the solution to be precipitated may be much less than half the weight of ore, and proportionally richer. Solution intended for further use need not have all its precious metal removed, but any that has to be thrown away should be impoverished as far as is economically possible. In spite of certain advantages possessed by other precipitants, zinc in some form has been almost universally used.. In some of the first attempts to utilize cyanides as gold solvents, a "piece or plate of zinc" was suggested as a precipitant, but extension of surface was early recognized as a desideratum. . Macarthur and the Forrests adopted a "metallurgical filter" of zinc shaving, turned from disks or rolled sheets. They had previously experimented on other forms of zinc, ax! Mscarthur records having tried zinc dust, which had of course been long known as a general reducing agent. It had also been known and used as a precipitant of precious metal from plating and photographic solutions, and comminuted zinc had been patented for recovering copper, etc., from ore leaches. Other inventors proposed the virtual making of zinc powder by the attrition of balls of zinc, and by similar means, during the passage of a stream of gold-bearing solution. Sulman claimed the use of zinc dust, or fume, in a special apparatus, effecting a more or less regular feed of dust and solution by means of intermittent siphons; the mixture or "emulsion" (as it is still called) rising with diminishing velocity through an inverted cone in which it

Jan 1, 1918

By Eugene A. Stephenson

In most instances the fluids produced from underground reservoirs have been described as they appear at the surface, and usually it has not been necessary to distinguish between surface and reservoir phases. More recently it has become imperative to recognize the fact that changes in phase may occur between the reservoir and the receiving unit. The simple terminology of "wet" and "dry" gases and "crude petroleum oil" served our needs fairly well in the shallow, low-temperature and low-pressure fields. It has been left to the legislatures, regulatory commissions, and courts to decide whether a field is or was a gas field, an oil field, or both. This they have done by direct definition and also by implication. For example, in Texas:' (d) The term "gas well" is any well (a) which produces natural gas not associated or blended with crude petroleum oil at the time of production, or (b) which produces more than one hundred thousand (100,000) cubic feet of natural gas to each barrel of crude petroleum oil from the same producing horizon, or (c) which produces natural gas from a formation or producing horizon productive of gas only encountered in a well bore through which crude petroleum oil is also produced through the inside of another string of casing. (e) The term "oil well" is any well which produces one (1) barrel or more of crude petroleum oil to each one hundred thousand (100,000) cubic feet of natural gas. In the state of Louisiana, the same general result is achieved largely by the following paragraph :* Wells producing both oil and gas shall not waste or blow into the air an amount of gas of more value at three cents per thousand cubic feet, than the market value of the oil recovered. The Commissioner of Conservation shall allow a reasonable time to determine the status of any well. This means that for wells making both oil and gas, if n represents the price of oil in dollars, and x the allowable gas waste expressed in M cu. ft. Per day,

Jan 1, 1938

By J. Earl Frazier, Howard A. Meyerhoff

IT is not known when silica sand was first noticed along the north coast of Puerto Rico, but the first mention of its occurrence was made in 1922, by N. L. Britton,1 who described its presence in isolated patches extending from Loiza westward beyond Manati. Further observations were made in 1925 and 1926 by Meyerhoff,2 who extended the known occurrences still farther westward to the low hill belt in the Quebradillas limestone immediately south of Hatillo. The extraordinary purity of the sands, which in most localities exhibit no contamination from the nonsiliceous materials surrounding them, was quickly appreciated, and the feasibility of utilizing them for the manufacture of glass was investigated, initially by the Committee on Mineral Resources3 and later (1936) by the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration and by H. C. Ray, mining engineer of the Insular Bureau of Mines. In 1934 samples submitted to the Hazel Atlas Glass Co., of Washington, Pennsylvania, were reported to have the composition as shown in the table on column two. Appreciation of the quality of the sand prompted geological and quantitative studies of the deposits, as well as commercial investigations to determine the feasibility of utilizing it locally or on the mainland for the manufacture of glass containers. [ ] DISTRIBUTION OF THE SANDS The quartz sands consistently lie within the outcrop area of the Quebradillas limestone, the youngest of the Miocene formations in the Tertiary coastal plain that fringes the northern coast of the Island. Many of the deposits are closely associated with limestone outcrops, but some appear to be embedded in lagoonal sediments at some distance from rock exposures, and at least one deposit, near Dorado, has been reworked by waves and littoral currents. With this single known exception, the deposits consist of irregular, patternless patches of white sand, which have sharply defined contacts with the surrounding material. Although patches of sand are present in a 90-km. belt that is not more than 5 km. wide, extending from Loiza to Hatillo, they attain maximum size, purity and number in the north central coastal area between Dorado and Barceloneta. Fifty separate deposits have been mapped in

Jan 1, 1945

By John W. Langley

The papers of Mr. W. J. Keep, read before this Institute, have called attention to the influence of aluminum in cast-iron and on iron and steel castings. The information in these papers is interesting and valuable, as showing the modifications which iron undergoes when dosed with sufficient aluminum to form a distinct alloy, the quantity of the alloying metal used being such that the amount remaining in the casting is sufficient to be readily discovered by analysis. The same is also true of the so-called aluminum-steel patented by R. A. Hadfield, where the proportions specified are such as to leave in the finished steel from one-twentieth to one-tenth of one per cent. of aluminum. Whether these alloys are of practical utility or not has thus far . not been proved by any extended tests on a large scale, and until such evidence is forthcoming it may be safely held, provisionally, that such a use of aluminum is of doubtful utility. But there is another function which this metal can perform that has been known for some time, and which has passed beyond the experimental stage, viz.: its beneficial effect in securing sound ingots. It appears to be a general property of all metals when in the fluid state and at a temperature considerably above their points of fusion, to contain gas, either dissolved from the air or frorn the furnace, or else self-evolved by internal reactions. Silver, perhaps, shows this power in the highest degree, and mercury and lead in the least; midway stands steel—the quantity of gas which it can hold in solution, or " occlusion " as it has been called, varies with its temperature, its composition, and its mode of manufacture. When the steel sets in the mould, a portion of this gas escapes, causing blow-holes, surface defects, boiling-over, wildness, and quite a long train of troubles, familiar to all practical steel-makers. Ferro-silicon has long been used as a quieting agent. The first extended use of it for this purpose was made at Terre-Noire, in

Jan 1, 1892

J. M. HARTMAN, Philadelphia, Pa.: Mr. Fackenthal can remember some queer things that occurred at Durham, Pa., Aug. 3, 1876, while he was superintendent. The furnace was working stiff, i.e., blast-pressure 10 to 11 pounds, which was high pressure for those days. With this pressure there was some circulation through the stock. At 9 p.m., flushed cinder. After flushing, air was thrown off' for a moment to " bot up "; the keeper turned the lever and threw on air just as the scaffold dropped, which eased up the pressure to 4¼ pounds. The air-receiver is twice as large at Durham as at other places. The air from this receiver, added to the two seven-foot blowers, gave an extra large volume, which, rushing into the furnace, fired the finely-divided carbon, causing an explosion that threw part of the stock in the furnace out into the open air, threw up the bell-and-hopper with the tunnel-head plates, and gave off' a large volume of carbondust. The bell-and-hopper going up first, the stock followed, and, striking the bell-and-hopper, was deflected in a shower over the cast-house roof, breaking the slates. Sitting at the corner of the engine-house at the time, the stock pelted me, when I ran around the corner to get rid of it. Remembering there were two men at the furnace-top, I shut down the engines, and, running to the top, found them sitting in the hoist-house enjoying the fire-works. The explanation of this explosion is simple. There is in the blast-furnace a bed of fuel extending up, say, 16 to 18 feet above the tuyeres; in this bed of fuel some stray pieces of limestone are found, and a few pieces of unreduced ore; but, generally speaking, it is all fuel. On this bed of fuel is the zone of fusion. In this zone the descending stock is liquefied, except the fuel; the iron, melting, drops out of the ore, and the gangue unites with lime, forming cinder. The iron falls in the form of shot, and, with the cinder, trickles

Jan 1, 1899

By E. B. Swanson

FREQUENT reference has been made to the increased domestic gasoline demand recorded for 1931. This increase was in the neighborhood of 7,000,000 bbl. Although smaller relatively than that to which the oil industry had become accustomed by virtue of the experience of preceding years, the increase was of substantial amount, particularly at a time when any increase at all could be regarded with eminent satisfaction. Less has been said, however, of the 18,000,000 bbl. decline in gasoline shipments to territories and foreign countries. When the loss of business outside the United States is combined with the domestic increase, there results a net loss of some 11,000,000 bbl._ in total gasoline demand. The gain of 2 per cent in domestic sales gives way to a loss of 2.5 per cent in total domestic and foreign sales. The United States actually has been losing ground in the international gasoline market since 1924, when shipments from this .country equaled 72 per cent of the gasoline shipments from the leading gasoline-producing countries of the world. A loss in relative standing was recorded with each succeeding year. As long, however, as gasoline shipments showed an actual increase, the loss in relative standing was of little concern. Foreign producing centers annually supplied an increasing share of the foreign gasoline markets, but, until the past year, the demand abroad con-tinued to increase at a pace which could accommodate all of the, increased output of foreign plants and yet require increasing quantities from the United States. It was not until 1931 that the various factors were combined so as to produce an actual and substantial decrease in the foreign demand for United States gasoline. Consumption in foreign countries generally declined, while the output of foreign refineries and the foreign manufacture of substitute fuels continued to increase. From our own viewpoint, this meant a loss of some 18,000,000 bbl. of gasoline busi-ness in foreign countries, one-half of it probably due to the lowering in foreign demand and the other half to the increased output of foreign refineries and the increased utilization of substitute fuels.

Jan 1, 1932

By J. W. Halley

THE effects of tin on steel have become increasingly important because of the necessity of using poorly detinned scrap, tin cans, and terne plate, in the open hearth. Since a tin can contains about 1.5 per cent tin, it would be possible to have up to 0.75 per cent tin in steel made with a 50 per cent scrap charge. In order to use tin-containing scrap, it is necessary to know the effect of tin on various grades of steel. The following investigation is by no means comprehensive but covers a number of steels in which tin content is important. PUBLISHED WORK A number of investigations of the effects of tin on rolling quality and physical properties have been published. It has been found that tin increases strength and hardness and reduces ductility and notched impact resistance. The decrease in ductility and notched impact resistance becomes more marked as the carbon decreases. McKimm1 found no change in Olsen ductility, Rockwell hardness, yield strength, tensile strength or elongation in cold-reduced strip containing up to 0.124 per cent tin. A tin content of 0.15 per cent gave difficulties in rolling and increased the hardness but 0.21 per cent tin showed no change in properties from material containing very little tin. No explanation of this contradiction is offered. Andrew and Peile2 investigated steels containing 0.01 to 0.25 per cent carbon and up to 0.63 per cent tin. They found an increase in tensile strength of from 100 to 200 lb. per sq. in. for each 0.01 per cent tin on normalized samples. The elongation and reduction of area were decreased and the notched impact resistance was reduced markedly. Quenched and drawn samples did not show embrittling if water-quenched from the draw temperature of 1148°F. (620°C.). They could find no evidence of tin under the microscope. Whitely and Braithwaite3 investigated the effect of tin on rail steel containing 0.55 to 0.06 per cent carbon. They found that 0.08 per cent tin caused a marked decrease in elongation, notched impact resistance and the degree of bend. The tensile strength was increased in some tests and not in others. Bolsover and Barraclough4 investigated the effect of tin up to 0.50 per cent on a 0.35 per cent carbon steel and on several alloy steels with from 0.30 to 0.40 per cent carbon. They found a comparatively uniform decrease in notched impact resistance with increasing tin on quenched and drawn samples. If the samples were quenched from the drawing temperature or reheated to the drawing temperature and quenched, the embrittling was much less severe. Steels containing molybdenum suffered much less embrittlement than other steels. EXPERIMENTAL WORK Effect of Tin on Low-carbon Rimmed Steel Increasing quantities of tin were added to four ingots of a heat of the following ladle analysis: carbon, 0.08 per cent; manganese, 0.39; phosphorus, 0.009; sulphur, 0.025.

Jan 1, 1942

By J. Gurland

The effects of variations of carbon content on the constitution and properties of sintered WC-Co alloys were studied. The grain growth of tungsten carbide during sintering was measured and it was shown that it takes place mainly by solution and reprecipitation of the carbide in and from the binder at the sintering temperature. It was found that the decomposition of W3C03C by carburization during sintering is responsible for the formation of very large grains. THE properties of sintered WC-Co alloys are critically dependent upon their final composition and structure. Slight changes of cobalt and carbon contents and small variations of grain size result in marked changes of mechanical properties and performance of products. Previous investigators have studied the microstructure as a function of composition' and have dealt with the influence of cobalt upon properties.' The present work is concerned with the effect of carbon content upon constitution, microstructure, and grain growth during sintering, as well as upon the physical properties of sintered compacts. Phase Boundaries at the Sintering Temperature The WC-Co section through the ternary diagram W-Co-C has been studied by Wyman and Kelley,' Takeda,V andford and Trent," and Rautala and Norton." Two phases, namely WC and a cobalt-rich solid solution (P), appear in the sintered structure if the carbon composition corresponds very nearly to the theoretical carbon content of WC (6.12 pct C). But small deviations from the ideal carbon content will bring about the occurrence of either graphite or the double carbide W,Co3C (7) . The 7 phase was long believed to be metastable, this conclusion being based mainly on the work of Takeda. More recent studies have shown that it is a stable phase of the ternary system,"5 but the actual phase boundaries have not been established and there has been some discussion as to whether or not the 7 phase occurs at some stage of sintering in the fully carburized alloys." In view of this uncertainty it was thought advisable to undertake an investigation of the phases present during the sintering of WC-Co alloys. Commercially available tungsten, cobalt, and carbon powders were used in the present study. A typical analysis of impurities in a sintered compact is reported in Table I. The desired carbon compositions were attained by varying the amount of carbon added to the tungsten during carburization and controlling the composition during sintering by packing the compacts into beds of mixed alundum-carbon powders of suitably selected ratios. The alloys were sintered in a hydrogen tube furnace at 1400°C, then brought to equilibrium at the temperature under investigation and quenched in water. The high temperature phases were identified by metallographic and X-ray diffraction techniques. The samples were etched with a 10 pct solution of alkaline potassium ferricyanide. The phase boundaries, established by metallo-graphic examination, are shown in Fig. 1, which is a vertical section through the ternary diagram at 16 pct Co. The temperatures of the invariant planes, at 1298" and 1357°C were established by Rautala and Norton. The vertical section shows that the three-phase field, WC + 7 + L, extends into the two-phase field, WC + L, but does not include the stoichiometric composition of WC. In practice this means that the 7

Jan 1, 1955

By J. R. Morison, M. P. O’Brein, J. W. Johnson, S. A. Schaaf

The force exerted by unbroken surface waves on a cylindrical object, such as a pile, which extends from the bottom upward above the wave crest, is made up of two components, namely: 1. A drag force proportional to the square of the velocity which may be represented by a drag coefficient having substantially the same value as for steady flow, and 2. A virtual mass force proportional to the horizontal component of the accelerative force exerted on the mass of water displaced by the pile. These relationships follow directly from wave theory and have been confirmed by measurements in the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory of the University of California, Berkeley. The maximum force exerted by breakers or incipient breakers is impulsive in nature, reaching a value much greater than that produced by unbroken waves but enduring for only a short time interval. This impulsive force represents the ultimate development of the accelerative force and is produced by the steep wave front and large horizontal acceleration at the front of a breaker. This impulsive force greatly exceed. the drag force computed from the particle velocities of the breaker. The reader is cautioned that these preliminary results are applicable only to single piles without bracing and are likely to be modified somewhat where multiple piles are driven, one within the influence of the other or where multiple piles are connected by submerged bracing. This paper is essentially a preliminary report submitted at this time because of the current importance of wave forces in the design of offshore structures. An extended series of additional experiments is planned for the near future. Theoretical Relationships For the sake of simplicity of treatment, the theory will be developed from the equations for waves of small amplitude. The horizontal displacement of a water particle is described by the equation 2p cosh — (d + z) H L 2pt X =----------------------sin ----- . , (1) 2 2pD T sinh------ L The horizontal component of the orbital velocity is obtained by differentiation with respect to time as 2p cosh — (d + z) pH L 2pt u = ------------------- cos— .... (2) sinh- L The acceleration of the water particles at any position is obtained by again differentiating with respect to time as 2p cosh — (d + z) 9 u -2vH L 2pt -----=----------------------------sin ----- . . (3) 3 t T2 2pd T sinh------ L where H = wave height — ft L = wave length — ft d = still water depth — ft z = depth below the still water measured negatively downward — ft. T = wave period — sec t = time — sec The force exerted on a differential section, dz, in length is pD2 s u pD 1 dF= [CM (p/4) st + Cn/2 u2] dz • • (4) where D = pile diameter — ft p = water mass density — slugs/ft3 C, = coefficient of mass C,, = coefficient of drag Substituting for a s u/s t arid u2 from Eqs. (3) and (2), the force per unit length at any position z is dF p2 pD H2 &apos; / = — [- fM sin ? ± fD cos2 ? ] . . . (5) dz 2T2 fM D fD 2pt Cm = pA/H:CD = A2;? = T [+ cos2 ? for 0 < ? < p/2 cosh— (d+z) 3p L — < o < 2p Sin L -cos2 ? for p/2 <? <3p/2 The sin 9 term (inertia) i- negative for 0 < 0 < p and positive for p < ? < 2p. Values of A and A&apos; appear in Fig. 1

Jan 1, 1950

By F. Gordon Smith

ALTHOUGH several geological indicators of the critical type are known, including quartz inversions and decomposition of hydrous minerals such as serpentine, there are very few of the general type. Solid solutions are excepted, but the limitations of use are very restricted and interpretations are sometimes ambiguous. General methods for determining temperature and pressure conditions during the crystallization of minerals would have considerable scientific and economic value. It is not the purpose of this paper to discuss the various methods of geological thermometry and barometry, but to present one general method, applicable to all minerals, and to describe what progress has been made in the methods of measurement. The general method, in brief, is a study of the stress conditions in and around various types of foreign inclusions which are trapped in minerals during growth. The method depends upon the fact that any homogeneous gas, liquid, or solid will in general have coefficients of thermal expansion and volume compressibility different from those of any given mineral. Therefore stress must develop in and around all types of inclusions in minerals if the temperature or the pressure, or both, are changed from the conditions which prevailed during the growth of the mineral. The methods of measurement consist of determinations of the temperature-pressure conditions of fit of the inclusions in the host mineral. The types of inclusions in minerals are: I—gas, or liquid plus vapor, when observed at room temperature, due to crystallization under pneumatolytic conditions; 2—liquid, or liquid plus vapor when observed at room temperature, due to crystallization under hydrothermal conditions; 3—glassy solid, or devitrified glass, due to crystallization under magmatic or high temperature metamorphic conditions, in a siliceous liquid; and 4—crystals, due to overgrowth of other minerals crystallizing simultaneously or of other minerals which crystallized previously. A survey of the literature shows that much valuable earlier work on inclusions, especially that car- ried out in England in the last century, has dropped out of current knowledge. The following is a brief summary of the significant contributions to the problem up to the present day. Davy in 1822 asserted that fluid inclusions in minerals consist of an aqueous solution of salts and a gas bubble, the whole being either at lower or higher pressure than atmospheric.&apos; At intervals from 1823 to 1862, Brewster contributed information concerning other types of inclusion consisting of 1—aqueous solution, a much more expansible liquid, and a gas; 2—aqueous solution, salt crystals, and a gas; and 3—the very expansible liquid and a gas. The very expansible liquid fills the gas space between 20" and 30°C. Compression strain effects were seen around inclusions in diamond, topaz, and other minerals.&apos;-" Sorby in 1858 and 1869 further advanced the study begun by Davy, stating that fluid inclusions represent a sample of the mother liquor of crystallization and that the degree of filling of aqueous inclusions at room temperature defines the temperature-pressure relations during formation of the host. The degree of filling may be measured by determining the minimum temperature of filling of the inclusion by the liquid phase. The very expansible liquid in some fluid inclusions is liquid carbon dioxide. The temperature at which salt crystals in fluid inclusions completely dissolve in the fluid is the minimum temperature of formation. Inclusions of glass or devitrified glass indicate crystallization from a melt. Inclusions of crystals in minerals are often centers of strain, which may be seen by optical effects or by radial tension cracks. Sorby realized that an analysis of stress-strain relations about inclusions could be used to provide precise data on the temperature of crystallization, but the matter was never pursued.&apos; , Hartley (1876, 1877),".&apos;" Hawes (1881)," Wright (1881),&apos;V ohnsen (1920),I3 and Holden (1925)"

Jan 1, 1953

By F. Gordon Smith

ALTHOUGH several geological indicators of the critical type are known, including quartz inversions and decomposition of hydrous minerals such as serpentine, there are very few of the general type. Solid solutions are excepted, but the limitations of use are very restricted and interpretations are sometimes ambiguous. General methods for determining temperature and pressure conditions during the crystallization of minerals would have considerable scientific and economic value. It is not the purpose of this paper to discuss the various methods of geological thermometry and barometry, but to present one general method, applicable to all minerals, and to describe what progress has been made in the methods of measurement. The general method, in brief, is a study of the stress conditions in and around various types of foreign inclusions which are trapped in minerals during growth. The method depends upon the fact that any homogeneous gas, liquid, or solid will in general have coefficients of thermal expansion and volume compressibility different from those of any given mineral. Therefore stress must develop in and around all types of inclusions in minerals if the temperature or the pressure, or both, are changed from the conditions which prevailed during the growth of the mineral. The methods of measurement consist of determinations of the temperature-pressure conditions of fit of the inclusions in the host mineral. The types of inclusions in minerals are: I—gas, or liquid plus vapor, when observed at room temperature, due to crystallization under pneumatolytic conditions; 2—liquid, or liquid plus vapor when observed at room temperature, due to crystallization under hydrothermal conditions; 3—glassy solid, or devitrified glass, due to crystallization under magmatic or high temperature metamorphic conditions, in a siliceous liquid; and 4—crystals, due to overgrowth of other minerals crystallizing simultaneously or of other minerals which crystallized previously. A survey of the literature shows that much valuable earlier work on inclusions, especially that car- ried out in England in the last century, has dropped out of current knowledge. The following is a brief summary of the significant contributions to the problem up to the present day. Davy in 1822 asserted that fluid inclusions in minerals consist of an aqueous solution of salts and a gas bubble, the whole being either at lower or higher pressure than atmospheric.&apos; At intervals from 1823 to 1862, Brewster contributed information concerning other types of inclusion consisting of 1—aqueous solution, a much more expansible liquid, and a gas; 2—aqueous solution, salt crystals, and a gas; and 3—the very expansible liquid and a gas. The very expansible liquid fills the gas space between 20" and 30°C. Compression strain effects were seen around inclusions in diamond, topaz, and other minerals.&apos;-" Sorby in 1858 and 1869 further advanced the study begun by Davy, stating that fluid inclusions represent a sample of the mother liquor of crystallization and that the degree of filling of aqueous inclusions at room temperature defines the temperature-pressure relations during formation of the host. The degree of filling may be measured by determining the minimum temperature of filling of the inclusion by the liquid phase. The very expansible liquid in some fluid inclusions is liquid carbon dioxide. The temperature at which salt crystals in fluid inclusions completely dissolve in the fluid is the minimum temperature of formation. Inclusions of glass or devitrified glass indicate crystallization from a melt. Inclusions of crystals in minerals are often centers of strain, which may be seen by optical effects or by radial tension cracks. Sorby realized that an analysis of stress-strain relations about inclusions could be used to provide precise data on the temperature of crystallization, but the matter was never pursued.&apos; , Hartley (1876, 1877),".&apos;" Hawes (1881)," Wright (1881),&apos;V ohnsen (1920),I3 and Holden (1925)"

Jan 1, 1953

By R. W. Waterfill

MANY existing ore deposits of valuable metals have been worked out in their upper surface levels and the continued productivity of these mines is dependent on their extension to greater depths in the earth. The maximum depths at present reached are about 6000 to 8000 ft. below the surface, with no evidence of an impoverished ore vein. These mines are widely distributed; some of the best known are in South Africa, Brazil, India and in the western sections of the United States. Among the factors which increase the difficulty of working these mines at increasing depths are hoisting, rock pressure and temperature. The manner and effectiveness with which these problems arc met will, no doubt, determine in a large measure the ultimate depths to which any mine can be profitably worked. The most critical of these three factors at present is the increase in temperature with depth. The high temperature and humidity in many of these mines at present are severely detrimental to the health of the workers and greatly hamper their efficiency. Some have almost reached a condition in which the human system cannot survive. The problems involved in the cooling and ventilation of mines have all been ably analyzed and presented in previous articles. For this reason, only a résumé of conditions affecting the cooling and conditioning of deep and hot mines will be given in this paper before attention is directed to possible methods of improving atmospheric conditions in the working levels. Physiological Effects of Temperature, Humidity and Air Motion Many data on the physiological effects of different atmospheric conditions on the human system have been compiled and published through the combined efforts of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers, the U. S. Bureau of Mines and U. S. Public Health Service. These data were not primarily developed around the conditions existing in deep mines, but the upper temperature limits of the investigations extend into, and are applicable to, mine atmospheric conditions. While the exact values of the standard comfort conditions, established for persons of such habits as those employed in detecting the different degrees of comfort, might not produce identical effects upon persons inured to

Jan 1, 1929

By E. T. Wessel

UNEXPECTED brittle failures of metals in practical applications are a serious problem to many industries and to the nation as a whole. Considerable effort has been devoted to studies of the brittle behavior in metals. However, the major portion of this effort has been directed at developing techniques and apparatus for the purposes of determining the susceptibility of metals to brittle failure and of making various types of observations of the phenomena. Relatively minor effort has been made to understand the basic mechanisms involved in initiating brittle failures. A more complete understanding of the nature and mechanism of the brittle failure problem would be very helpful in efforts directed toward predicting and avoiding brittle failure and toward the development of suitable materials and designs that are not susceptible to a brittle behavior. The intent of the present investigation is to acquire this basic understanding. The pronounced transition from a ductile-to-brittle behavior is most prevalent in metals having the body-centered-cubic lattice structure, primarily be- cause metals of this structure exhibit a strong dependence of yield strength upon temperature and the rate of straining. The generally recognized qualitative concept of the ductile-to-brittle transition is that brittle (cleavage) failure occurs when the yield strength exceeds the cleavage fracture strength. This condition can apparently be achieved by decreasing temperature or increasing strain rate. Likewise, a normally ductile metal can be made to fracture in an apparently brittle manner by the introduction of triaxial stresses (notches) where the ratio of normal to shear stresses can be increased to such an extent that the normal stress exceeds the fracture strength before the critical shear stress for plastic flow is achieved. Neither of these concepts require any prior plastic deformation or explain why the observed fracture strengths are so much less than the theoretical cohesive strength. The results of several investigations of the ductile-to-brittle transition in body-centered-cubic metals illustrate rather conclusively that measurable amounts of nonelastic deformation do precede cleavage fracture, even at extremely low temperatures. These studies suggested that the early stages of plastic flow, particularly abrupt yielding, and their relationship to brittle fracture should be examined

Jan 1, 1958

By Stephen Birch

LATOUCHE, or the Beatson plant of the Kennecott Copper Corpn., is located in the Prince William Sound district of Alaska about 80 miles west of Cordova and 60 miles from Seward. Ore was discovered and claims located on Latouche Island in July, 1897. The mines were worked in a desultory manner until 1910, when the property was acquired by the Kennecott Copper interests. The first shipment of ore was made in 1904; only the higher grade ore was mined and no attempt was made to treat the ore until it was taken over by the Kennecott, company. Since that time the mine has been developed to produce 1500 tons a day and a mill has been erected for treating this tonnage, using flotation entirely. The orebody is more or less lenticular in shape with a maximum width of about 280 ft. and a length of about 800 ft. The southern end of the lens is split by a horse of waste for about 400 ft. The hanging-wall limit is a well-defined fault associated with a band of pyrrhotite, having an average dip of 60°. There is no defined foot wall, the value of the ore governing the limits of the mining; in one part of the mine, however, it is defined by a minor fault. The orebody is located in a shear zone of the country rock of graywacke and slate. The principal mineral is chalcopyrite associated with pyrite and quartz. The mine is located a few hundred feet from tidewater; the mill is located on the beach and the ore is hoisted direct from the mine through a vertical shaft into the mill bins. Until the past year practically all the mining had been conducted in open pits. During the past two years, the ore above the 200-ft. level has been developed and a system of stoping devised to recover this ore; however, this system has not been in use long enough to give any definite results as to costs or efficiency. It consists, principally, of dividing the orebody into stopes, across the full width of the orebody, 70 ft. wide with a pillar 30 ft. wide between the stopes. Raises are driven through the stopes at intervals of about 60 ft. and all the ore is broken by drilling from these raises; in other words, similar to a shrinkage stope, doing the drilling from the raises instead of setting up on the broken ore as is customary. The ground is very much broken up by clay slips and seams running in every direction. Shrinkage stoping had been

Jan 1, 1924

By Eric S. Cheney

Sulfur isotopes are best used in conjunction with other geological studies to determine the origin of known deposits; concept-oriented exploration programs can then be developed to find similar deposits. Geochemical processes are capable of causing different S &apos;41S" ratios in the minerals and fluids participating in natural reactions. Because the magnitude of the resultant isotopic difference is inversely proportional to temperature, sulfur isotopic studies can be used to determine the source of the sulfur in high temperature deposits. The narrow spread of sulfur isotopic values from ores related to cupolas of felsic intrusions suggests that the sulfur in the ore-forming fluids was derived from a fairly uniform source (such as the intrusions) rather than by heated ground water from the adjacent country rocks. However, geologic and isotopic evidence suggest that the sulfur of many nickel sulfide ores may have been derived from the country rocks rather than the associated mafic igneous rocks. This sulfurization hypothesis implies that mafic intrusions in sulfur-rich country rocks should be prime exploration targets. Sulfur isotopic analyses of sulfides in the mafic rocks may indicate whether sulfurization has occurred. In equilibrium geochemical reactions S" is concentrated in the minerals with the greater bonding strengths. Thus the isotopic compositions of coprecipitated sulfides that have not undergone exsolution may be used as geothermometers and to distinguish multiple periods of mineralization, post-ore metamorphism, etc. The sulfur isotopic compositions of coexisting sulfides at Butte, Mont., indicate that the copper minerals did not originate by simple replacement of pyrite. Geologic and isotopic evidence suggest that the mineralogical and isotopic zoning at Butte formed almost isothermally during the geochemical evolution of the ore-forming fluids upward and outward from the Central zone. Unidirectional reactions cause enrichment of S" in the products. At low temperatures the isotopic effects of bacterial and inorganic reactions are difficult to distinguish. Anaerobic sulfate-reducing bacteria apparently were responsible for the sulfur of Gulf Coast salt domes and for diagenetic pyrite in sandstone-type uranium deposits. Sulfur (and carbon) isotopic data suggest that the roll ore bodies of sandstone-type uranium deposits originated by limited inorganic oxidation of diagenetic pyrite rather than by bacterial activity. Accordingly roll ore bodies should be most numerous and thickest against those portions of the sandstone aquifer that contain pre-ore pyrite.

Jan 1, 1975