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By Irving Hartmann

When permissible explosives are used in coal mines according to the procedure recommended by the Bureau of Mines they are relatively safe, and no mine explosions are known to have resulted from this type of blasting. However, unsafe blasting practices - the use of nonpermissible explosives or the improper use of permissible explosives - have caused many serious disasters. In fact, such unsafe practices constitute the third most important cause (exceeded only by electricity and the use of open lights and smoking) of coal-mine explosions in the United States. During 1929-1947, inclusive, 81 explosions, resulting in 475 fatalities, were ascribed to unsafe blasting. The hazards of black powder, dynamite, and other nonpermissible explosives in coal mines have been recognized for many years, and attention has been called to this in numerous Bureau of Mines publications. Not only can these explosives ignite namable gas-air mixtures readily, but they can also ignite coal dust, as has been illustrated repeatedly in tests and at educational public demonstrations at Bruceton and elsewhere.

Jan 1, 1952

By J. W. Freeman, D. N. Frey

Fundamental reasons for the improvement in creep resistance of an austenitic alloy by cold working were investigated mainly by X-ray diffraction. The creep resistance was found to be improved by the internal stresses in the lattice of the alloy induced by the cold work. THIS investigation was concerned with the fundamental reasons for improvement in creep resistance of an austenitic alloy as a result of cold working. Also, the investigation was carried out to elucidate the conditions under which cold working could be expected to improve the creep resistance. To achieve these ends, creep resistance and internal structure were correlated for a variety of cold-worked conditions. Since the aim of the investigation was not to obtain specific and extensive information on any one alloy, creep testing was done with a single stress at 1200°F. Structural studies were carried out primarily with X-ray diffraction characteristics. The alloy used, low carbon N-155, was selected on the basis of being representative of at least some of the alloys used in gas turbines. Low carbon N-155 alloy in the form of %-in. sq bar stock was used in this investigation. The chemical composition, in percent, was: C, 0.13; Mn, 1.43; Si, 0.34; Cr, 20.73; Ni, 18.92; Co, 19.65; Mo, 3.05; W, 1.98; Cb, 0.98; N, 0.14; and Fe, balance. The bar stock was produced from a 13-in. sq billet, finished to 7/s in. round cornered square between 2060" and 1910°F. Prior to use in this particular investigation, the bar stock was solution-treated 1 hr at 2200°F and water quenched. This procedure was used in order to put the stock in a condition where effects of prior processing were minimized. Experimental Procedure The specific approach to the problem was twofold. First, the influence of cold working, under various conditions, on the creep rate under a single stress at 1200°F and on the internal structure was in part determined. Second, the effect of annealing at various times and temperatures on the creep rate and internal structure of the cold-worked samples was in part evaluated. The first step was basic to the investigation—creep resistance and structure were to be correlated. The second step was taken to see if the annealed samples showed some internal changes which could also be correlated with changes in creep resistance. This it was felt would facilitate solution of the basic problem. The creep and structural studies were carried out on samples reduced approximately 5, 15, and 40 pct at room temperature and 15 pct at temperatures up to 2200 °F. Annealing of various of the samples was done at 1200°, 1400°, 1600°, and 1800°F for time periods up to 1000 hr. Studies of the annealed samples were concentrated on materials rolled approximately 5, 15, and 40 pct at room temperature and 15 pct at 1400°F. The creep tests were carried out at 1200°F under 40,000 psi, the latter being approximately the 1000 hr rupture stress of the material

Jan 1, 1952

By M. D. Hassialis, C. G. Myer

THE nature of a collector-coated mineral surface has been the subject of some experimentation and much speculation. Various aspects of the problem have been isolated and studied; it is probable, however, that there exist aspects as yet unrecognized, which are needed for a complete description of the system. The recognized elements of the problem are: 1—The nature of the chemical units comprising the film and the nature of the forces holding these chemical units to the mineral surface; 2—The orientation of the chemical units at the surface; and 3—The disposition of the collector units at the mineral surface. This report touches upon all three aspects of the broad problem; it deals, however, with a new and heretofore unrecognized element—the mobility of the collector units in the two dimensions of the solid-liquid interface. Regardless of the viewpoint adopted as to whether the chemical units comprising the collector film are collector ions or molecules, held either by chemical or physical forces, the writers on flotation theory are in apparent agreement as to the orientation of the chemical units at the mineral surface. Wark and Cox' showed that the contact angle at a stable collector-coated surface in a constant chemical environment is independent of the nature of the mineral and of any resurfacing agent; it depends solely upon the collector used. They showed further that the value of the contact angle increases with the number of carbon atoms in a homologous series of compounds. Taggart, Taylor, and Knoll2 postulated that the collector ion is oriented with the chemically reactive, polar end toward the mineral surface and the non-polar, hydrocarbon-like end toward the liquid phase. In support thereof they cited the abstraction of p-p1 dihydroxydiphenylthiourea and of glycol xanthate8 by galena without a concomitant increase in the contact angle above that of clean galena. It was argued that in these cases the water-repellent layer which normally would be presented to the liquid phase owing to the orientation of the collector ions is overlain by a layer of water-avid groups, the hydroxyl groups. Implicit is the analogous orientation exhibited by a monomolecular layer of an insoluble substance at an air-water interface. It should be pointed out that these facts also are consistent with the concept that the collector units be flat on the surface of the mineral and that the response of the surface to an air bubble is determined by the ratio of the area covered by water-avid groups to the area covered by water-repellent groups; the areas being weighted according to the relative watef-avidity or water-repellency of the groups involved. The disposition of the chemical units of the collector film at the mineral surface has not received the attention it merits. Taggart4 concluded from the observed stoichiometry of the ions entering and leaving a surface that the stoichiometry is obeyed in detail at the surface of the mineral. Thus, in the case of xanthate-coated galena, pairs of xanthate ions are attached to surface lead ions. In the case of chemisorption, Gaudin and Preller postulated an agreement between the atoms or ions of the substratum (the mineral surface) with those of the superstratum (collector film); in the case of the physical adsorption their position is not clear. In one place they state "the first type (physical adsorption) does not require any agreement between the atoms or ions of the substratum with that of the superstratum" and in another place that "It seems, in fact, as though some slight influence of the substratum is formed even in physical adsorption." The present work shows that in some cases of chemisorption the chemical units of the collector film are in constant surface-bound motion and may not be assigned to any site of the surface, hence there is no permanent association between the chemical units of the film and the atoms or ions of the solid. The physical property of the collector film that is of paramount importance is its surface energy. Although this property is not susceptible to direct experimental determination, the related contact angle is. Much of the knowledge of the properties of a collector film derives (by deductive and inductive reasoning) from the behavior of an air bubble thereat

Jan 1, 1952

By S. H. Ash

THE increasing need for the products of our mines, mills, and processing plants, the loss of mine manpower to plants other than those concerned with the mineral industry, and the drafting of our younger men into military service have created an acute situation in many places as to workers and production. This, in turn, has focused attention on the need for conserving manpower by conserving the health and life of our mining people. Health A world-wide tendency is noticeable in the mineral industry toward protecting the health of workmen,-particularly younger workers, as well as older workers who can continue to produce in many places where manpower is lacking. This matter was emphasized at the Geneva Labor Conference for Coal Mines at the Committee's fourth session, held in Geneva, Switzerland, May 7 through 19, 1951. Papers concerning the health of workers were presented at the annual meetings of the mining sections of the National Safety Council, the Coal Mine Inspectors' Institute of America, the American Public Health Association, and other organizations. Safety Conferences Without exception, the attendance at mining-safety conferences in widely separated places throughout the country during the year was the largest to date. What is needed at the safety meetings throughout the country is more-widespread attendance by those who can sell the idea to the workers that they are the focal point in accident prevention and that safety is not going to be achieved alone or even in part by laws, decrees, or commands, but by quiet influence, unconscious suggestion, and personal' guidance. If these are acquired by the workmen, a safe environment and ample, capable supervision supplied by management, accidents will be fewer and less severe. Many safety conferences attempt to develop the foregoing idea by enumerating and describing training programs for supervisors and workers alike. Nothing can replace a course in first aid for all persons employed at any mine or plant as an introductory and basic step to a successful safety program. Even in this, the shoe must fit the foot, rather than applying the order do this or else. In first-aid

Jan 1, 1952

Although the Suggestions to Institute Authors, as revised and amplified over the years to meet changing conditions and experience, have had as their primary objective the guidance of the author who is preparing a paper for record in the TRANSACTIONS, there are in this current version many excellent suggestions for the preparation of any material for publication by the Institute In this connection it should be emphasized that in a sense, and to a degree determined by the editors, the Institute has in its journals "a place for everything," especially a place for the article of practical nature that is of immediate but not necessarily permanent interest Such articles may be referred by the Institute Technical Publications Committee to the editors or submitted directly to them , [Papers (TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS and TECHNICAL NOTES) authorized for the TRANSACTIONS are, with the discussion, gathered together at the end of the calendar year and with a table of contents and index, bound, according to Branch classification, as volumes of the TRANSACTIONS

Jan 1, 1952

By Harry Udin

IN 1948, the writer and his associates determined the surface tension of solid copper by balancing the force of surface tension in a very fine wire against an external load.' At that time we, in common with other early workers, assumed that grain boundary energy in a pure metal is very small in comparison to the energy of an external surface. Accordingly, we neglected the internal surface energy of the coarse-grained specimens. Since that time, experimental evidence has accumulated showing that grain boundary energy, far from being small, is generally about one-third of the energy of an external surface.2-4 This is sufficient to introduce a significant error into our determination. The differential equation governing equilibrium is: wdl - yds, + y*ds2 [I] rather than wdl = yds as originally written. w is the balancing force in dynes, 1 the length of the specimen, sl the external and s2, the internal surface area, y the copper/ copper vapor surface tension, and y* the grain boundary tension. Fortunately, we had made for another purpose a careful study of the size and shape of the grains, and found that the boundaries, with rare exceptions, traversed the specimens and were perpendicular to the wire axis. For this case, eq 1 leads to w = rry -(n) r2y* [2] where r is the wire radius and (n is the number of grains per unit length. A count of some twenty 5-mil wires indicated that - n became 80 & 10 after a short anneal near the melting point, and remained nearly constant for as long as 96 hr at temperature. An assumption of y* = 1/3y leads to a defining eauation for r: [31 The term in the brackets may be considered a correction factor applied to eq 11 of ref. 1. Upon applying this factor, the surface tension of solid copper at its melting point is found to be 1650 & 100 dynes per cm, rather than 1370 as previously reported.' The new temperature coefficient is —0.55 dynes per cm per "C. Grain boundary energy is more significant than surface energy to the physical metallurgist. It is evident from eq 2 that a series of experiments with wires of different grain size can lead to an evaluation of y*. The details of such an experiment are being worked out now. References 1 H. Udin, A. J. Shaler, and J. Wulff: The Surface Tension of Solid Copper. Trans. AIME, 185, 186-190; Journal of Metals (Feb. 1949) TP 25303. 2 G. L. C. Bailey and H. C. Watkins: Surface Energies in the System Solid Copper-Molten Lead. Proceedings Physical Society. (London) (1950) 36B, 350. 3 L. H. VanVlack: Inter granular Energy of Iron and Some Iron Alloys. Ph.D. Dissertation, Univ. of Chicago, Sept. 1950. 4 . P. Greenough: Grain Boundary Energies in Silver. R.A.E. Report, No. Met. 52. (May 1950) Fan-borough, Hants, England.

Jan 1, 1952

By Henry A. Stiff, and Lawrence E. Davis

The authors previously presented a method for predicting the tendency of oil field waters to deposit calcium sulfate. The present paper gives a similar method for calcium carbonate. Methods for predicting calcium carbonate scaling tendencies in fresh waters have been available for some time, but these could not be used for brines. By experimentally deriving the value of the K term in the Langelier equation, a method has been developed which applies to waters of high salt content. A statistical study is included which shows that the experimentally derived values of K are in good agreement with actual conditions. Several applications of the final equation to production practice are given. INTRODUCTION The authors previously presented a method for predicting the formation of calcium sulfate scale in oil field waters.' Although calcium sulfate deposition is important in production operations, the majority of scale problems involve calcium carbonate. The present communication discusses a method by which the formation of this type of scale in oil field waters can be predicted. Calcium carbonate precipitation is caused by a shift toward carbonate in the carbonate-bicarbonate-carbon dioxide equilibrium. When equilibrium shifts in the other direction, the precipitate goes back into solution. Since there is usually considerable delay between the establishment of an equilibrium and the precipitation or solution of calcium carbonate, unstable conditions exist in which a water will precipitate or dissolve calcium carbonate on standing. Tillmans? who did a major part of the early work on carbonate scaling, pointed out that the condition of equilibrium not only indicates the tendency of a water to scale but also is an indication of its corrosive properties. Previously precipitated calcium carbonate combines with iron to form a dense crust which inhibits corrosion. If the water tends to dissolve carbonate, the scale becomes porous, and electrolytic corrosion takes place. Tillmans1 work was extended by several investigators until in 1934 Langeliers developed an equation setting forth the conditions of carbonate equilibrium. By the use of this equation the pH of a water at equilibrium can be calculated. If the actual pH is higher than the calculated pH, the water has a tendency to form scale. If it is lower. the water has a tendency to be corrosive. Langelier's equation can be expressed in a simple form as follows: SI = pH-pCa-pA lk-K where: SI is the stability index. A positive index indicates scale formation. A negative index indicates corrosion. pH is the pH of the water sample, as actually determined. pCa is the negative logarithm of the calcium concentration. pAlk is the negative logarithm of the total alkalinity. K is a constant, the value of which depends on the total salt concentration and the temperature. This equation has been shown to apply to waters with totaI solid concentrations as high as 4.000 ppm. In fact, control of fresh water treatment by means of this equation has been standard text-book practice for a number of years. Nomographs have been worked out so that the stability index of a fresh water sample can be determined in a matter of minutes. Most oil field waters, however, contain well over 4,000 ppm of salts and for this reason the usual application of Langelier's equation can not be made. By an empirical method we have extended the application of the Langelier equation to waters of high salt concentration. By the use of this equation the tendency of oil field waters to deposit calcium carbonate can be predicted.

Jan 1, 1952

Jan 1, 1952

By Charles M. Cooley

THE continual improvements in. the two extremes of the drilling, unit, the drill and bit, have prompted critical examination of the drill steel, the weak link of this drilling unit. Obviously, little is to be gained from the betterment of the drill and bit if the drill steel which transmits the force needed for drilling from the machine to the bit cannot stand long hard service. The technology of the bit has advanced from the integral type to steel detachables, thence to the tungsten carbide insert. The carbide insert is the most significant advance in the bit, bringing it to the level of a machine tool with its performance records under constant surveillance. Long steel changes have become advantageous because the carbide bit will drill greater footages without replacement than did the steel bit: The development of the tungsten carbide insert opened new fields of endeavor in drilling with percussion drills here- to fore known, but limited by the steel bit. After the introduction of the tungsten carbide bit, drill manufacturers began promotion of long feed shells, lighter drifters and stopers, and easily handled auxiliary equipment. Ultimately this promotion of better equipment was intended to increase the bit-against-rock time of the drill shift. Advantages of the uninterrupted drilling period of a long steel change and faster setup time of lighter drill machines are lost when the shank fails in the machine, rod failure requires continual changing, or the bit breaks off in the hole. The quest for reduced

Jan 1, 1952

By C. R. Sandberg, N. Stein, L. D. Wiener, E. B. Elfrink

this paper presents the results of a study of the slip velocity of gases rising through liquids in vertical tubes, inclined tubes, and vertical annuli. The data were obtained in gas-liquid systems which included combinations of air, propane and natural gas (over 97 per cent methane) with water, lubricating oils, and crude oils. The 214 data points obtained in this study along with 11 data points reported in the literature are incorporated in an empirical correlation which relates the mean slip velocity of gases flowing through liquids with the parameters gas rate, tube size, ratio of liquid viscosity to liquid density, gas density, liquid density, and the angle of the tube from the vertical. The average numerical deviation of the measured slip velocity data from values obtained from the correlation is 9.2 per cent. The average algebraic deviation between measured and Predicted data is 0.31 per cent, an indication that the correlation is a satisfactory representation of the data. The correlation presented in this paper will be useful primarily in the design of subsurface gas-oil separation equipment for increasing the efficiency of oil-well pumping installations. but may perhaps be extended to other situations of gases rising through liquid columns. INTRODUCTION The production of oil by pumping is often complicated by the presence of free and dissolved gas in the oil at bottom-hole conditions. This gas can be drawn into the pump barrel and result in "vapor locking" the pump, thus reducing the efficiency of the pumping operation. Large amounts of free gas may be excluded from the pump by the use of a gas-anchor, which is designed to allow the separation of free gas from the oil before it is drawn into the pump. The design of a suitable gas-anchor depends on a knowledge of the difference between the velocity of the free gas and that of the oil as the oil travels down toward the pump intake. This rate of gas rise through the oil is termed "slip velocity." AS a first step toward the full understanding of this roblem, the mean slip velocities of gases flowing through static

Jan 1, 1952

1 Healthy and active Local Section organizations are vital factors in promoting the vigor and growth .of the Institute 2 Activity on the part of Local Sections should be recognized and stimulated by appropriation of funds, from the Institute's treasury, and these appropriations should be as large as is consistent with the relative needs for other activities 3 As between different Sections, the amount of such appropriations should be based primarily on the extent of activities as reflected in the number and character of meetings held and the attendance of the members at such meetings 4 In making a request for funds for any year, the officers of a Local Section should submit a report on the printed form approved by the Directors at their meeting on November 19, 1937

Jan 1, 1952

By R. Schuhmann Jr., P. J. Ensio

John Chipman (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.)—The activity of FeO in silica-saturated slags shown in Table V is about 0.40 in the temperature range 1260" to 1350°C. Recent measurements by N. A. Gokeen at 1600" lead to about the same value. He finds the oxygen content of liquid iron in equilibrium with silica and ferrous silicate slags to be 0.088 pct. Under pure iron oxide slags at the same temperature, it is 0.225 pct. The ratio places the activity at 0.39.

Jan 1, 1952

By S. F. Radtke, J. A. Snyder, R. M. Scriver

An automatic, continuous casting arc furnace employing a nonconsum-able electrode and a direct current arc has been constructed and operated successfully for titanium. A comparison of the properties of arc and induction-melted titanium indicates that where high ductility, formability, and toughness are required, arc-melted metal is preferable. BECAUSE of the reactivity of titanium metal with all known refractories and the common atmospheric gases, melting of the metal presents numerous problems. It is necessary to provide an inert atmosphere in the furnace as well as a crucible material that will not react with the molten metal, if a ductile ingot is to be produced. Two special furnaces have been developed that meet the requirements and one, the induction heated graphite furnace, has been described in some detail.' Little information is available for sizable units wherein power is applied to the melt through an arc, and the dearth of technical information on such a furnace prompted this report. It has been demonstrated clearly that arc melting produces titanium metal with superior toughness, ductility, and formability. To produce titanium ingots with these properties, an automatic, continuous casting arc furnace has been developed and is described herein. The history of arc melting may be traced to 1800, when Sir Humphrey Davy2 first experimented with Volta's electric battery and found that light could be produced and an arc formed between two carbon points attached to the cell. The discovery of the arc was followed by the design and construction of an arc furnace by Napier," in 1845, for the reduction of metal oxides. In 1853, Pichou' described a similar furnace, although it was not until the discovery of the dynamo in 1867 that the arc furnace could achieve commercial significance. In 1878, Siemens- esigned the first arc furnace intended for the melting of metals and by 1882 had melted steel and platinum successfully. . This was followed by Moissan's" classical work with the arc furnace in 1892. W. von Bolton,' in 1905, found that the arc furnace was suited admirably for melting refractory metals. In his work with tantalum, no suitable refractories for retaining the molten metal were found to exist. Together with Otto Simpson, he developed an arc furnace with a water-cooled copper crucible in which tantalum could be melted without contamination. This technique proved eminently successful. In his paper on the preparation of ductile titanium, Krolle first described an application of the von Bolton furnace to the melting of this metal. The

Jan 1, 1952

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS W E WRATHER, Chairman A B KINZEL -EARLE E SCHUMACHER DONALD H MCLAUGHLIN - JOHN R SUMAN FINANCE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ERLE V DAVELER, Chairman PHILIP KRAFT - CLYDE E WEED

Jan 1, 1952

Transit A light weight, totally enclosed theodolite, especially designed for mining, has been placed on the market by Askania Werke, A. G. The instrument weighs only 41/4 lb and measures 51/8 x 71/2 in. without tripod and in a waterproof aluminum hood. It may be mounted on tripod or bracket without removing the protective hood. [ ] Standard equipment includes diagonal eyepiece rotating in all directions which eliminates need to be in line with scope for sighting and makes an auxiliary scope unnecessary for steep sights. The transit reads direct to 1 minute and may be estimated to 6 seconds by means of optical micrometer on both horizontal and vertical circles. The telescope in vertical position serves as optical plummet, sighting through an opening in the base. The instrument is shown above mounted for attaching to a pin driven in timber or rock, eliminating tripod or set-up bar in cramped quarters. The chain clamp in the lower picture is used on timber or steel ground supports. Complete with carrying case and set-up brackets, ready for use in a raise, it weighs less than 6 lb, and the protective hood remains on until the instrument is securely mounted. [ ] Accessories for increasing versatility of this mining theodolite are: tripod, electric illumination for optical micrometer and reticule, close range objective lens, and objective lens prism for sighting vertically in front of the instrument. Circle No. 1

Jan 1, 1952

By E. S. Machlin, Morris Cohen

GRENINGER and Troiano' were the first to establish the fact that the habit planes of mar-tensitic products are usually planes of high indices. In steels containing 0.55 to 1.4 pct C, the habit plane indices are {225}A.* In steels with more than 1.5 pct C and in Fe-Ni alloys, the indices are {259In. The presence of both habits in certain alloy steels has been reported recently." Several investigators"-" have subsequently attempted to provide an understanding of these complex habit relations. Bowles'6 work is the most recent and the most successful. Like Greninger and Troiano, Bowles concluded that the transformation occurs in two steps, the first, a strain (or displacement) that is homogeneous throughout the volume of the martensitic plate, while the second is a strain that is homogeneous only within relatively small portions of the martensitic plate. The first strain yields the measured tilt of the specimen surface, but does not produce the final martensitic structure. This and the correct lattice orientations are achieved by the second strain. Bowles also reasoned that each strain could be described by the motion of a plane of no rotation and no distortion (hereinafter called the invariant plane) in a direction not necessarily contained in the plane.** In applying these considerations to steels with {225}a habits, Bowles found that the habit plane coincided with the invariant plane of the first strain, a result which signified that the atoms move along certain paths during the transformation. Whether this correlation results from the existence of some sort of a plate nucleus6 lying along the invariant plane of the first strain, or whether the invariant plane primarily defines the preferred directions of propagation of the first strain, will be discussed in a later section. There are two obstacles to the general acceptance of Bowles' treatment: 1—it has not been shown that elements of his double-strain analysis are unique, and 2—it is not known whether his treatment applies to transformations yielding the {2591A habit. Unless these two questions are resolved, the correlation between the habit and invariant planes in the {225}A systems might be regarded as coincidental. Experimental Procedure Using a 70 pct Fe-30 pct Ni alloy as an example of a {2591A habit system, preliminary attempts were made to obtain a double-strain solution based on a Nishiyamax** set of orientation relations and on a Greninger-Troianot set, adopting the stereographic technique described by Bowles" who used the Kurd-jumow-Sachstt set in connection with the {225}A habit. These attempts were unsuccessful because the method is essentially one of trial and error and requires either exceedingly good luck or a prior knowledge of the results being sought. Consequently it was decided to measure independently the strain associated with the formation of a martensitic plate as well as the habit-plane indices of the particular plate. By means of matrix algebra, the measured strain was applied to the austenite lattice, whose orientation with respect to the strain was determined, in order to ascertain whether the resultant structure would have the lattice of martensite. This was not found to be the case, and hence it was assumed that the measured strain was the first of two Bowles-type strains, characterized by the motion of an invariant plane. A solution of this displacement was obtained in terms of the invariant-plane indices and the direction of motion of the atoms. Then the second strain

Jan 1, 1952

By D. W. Gillmore, C. C. Wright

DEWATERING is a major problem in the preparation and utilization of fine-sized coals now being recovered in increasing amounts from colliery effluents, refuse banks, and silt ponds. Of the various methods which have been proposed for dewatering fine coal, gravity drainage is probably the oldest and most widely used, and yet little information on this subject has been published. Consequently a laboratory investigation of gravity drainage phenomena was undertaken not only to provide basic data for predicting the drainage behavior of fine coals in cars, bunkers, basins, and silos, but also to obtain some understanding of the moisture retention properties of fine coal. Because of practical interest in the problem, a reproducible laboratory technique, which simulated plant conditions as closely as possible, was developed for the evaluation of drainage variables. The apparatus selected consisted of vertically-mounted lucite columns, nominally 4 to 8 ft in length and 2, 3 or 6 in. in diam; the bottom of the column was provided with a rubber stopper through which was inserted a ½ -in. diam drainage tube; a wad of glass wool was placed on the upper part of this outlet tube to retain the coal and a plug was temporarily located at the lower end to prevent drainage during charging of the column, see Fig. 1. The most satisfactory testing procedure is as follows: 1-The fine coal, which has been thoroughly

Jan 1, 1952

[RALPH ADAIR Ore Dressing Consultant Bull Mtn. Rd., Asheville, N. C. Phone 4-1693 JAMES A. BARR Consulting Engineer Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee Washington, D.C. BEHRE DOLBEAR & COMPANY Consulting Mining Engineers and Geologists It Broadway New York 4, N. Y. I. R. BERENT Engineering Consultants and Contractors Mineral Exploration, Mine Evaluation, Mine Designs and Mine Management 156, Ataturk Bulvari-Ankara, Turkey BLANDFORD C. BURGESS Registered Professional Engineer Mining Consultant Monticello, Georgia GLENVILLE A. COLLINS Mining Engineer Uranium examinations Cable "Coins" 8 Howard-Canfleld Bldg. Santa Barbara, Calif. COWIN & CO. Mining Engineers and Contractors Consulting Shaft & Slope Sinking Appraisal Mine Development Reports Mine Plant Construction I-lath St. S. W. B'ham, Ala., Phone 56-5566 MILTON H. FIES Consulting Engineer Rooms 1201-2. Albama Power Co. Bldg. Birmingham, Alabama]

Jan 1, 1952

By Wilson O. A

TABLE OF CONTENTS1. Introductiona. Process Changes since 1939.b. Current Practice.2. Ore Characteristicsa. Copper Minerals.b. Gold Occurrence.3. Treatment of High Grade Acid Orea. The Ore Treatment Planti. Coarse Crushing SectionDust Controlii. The Concentrating MillDesliming SectionGranular GrindingGranular FlotationGranular Flotation ReagentsFlotation MachinesSlime FlotationConcentrate CleaningConcentrate Handlingiii. Scavanging No.1. Mill Granular Tailings at No. 2 MillRegrinding UnitScavenger Flotationb. Pyrite Productioni. Pyrite Flotationii. Pumping of Pyriteiii. Storage of Pyriteiv. Pyrite Loading

Jan 1, 1952

By D. M. Bondurant

AT the present time, the coal industry is greatly interested in any method or machine that will cut the cost of producing a ton of coal, while at the same time producing a product of quality and grade suitable to the customer. Comparatively new and, as yet, little known, auger mining is proving a profitable method of coal recovery. It may be used for the production of low-cost, high-quality coal with equal success from both the hard-to-mine seams, those with banded impurities and bad roof conditions, and the more easily mined seams as classified according to conventional mining methods. A number of units are now in operation and production information is available that should be of particular interest to coal operators and of general interest to anyone associated with the coal-mining industry. Auger mining refers to coal extraction with large size augers capable of drilling to great depths and having a high capacity. Consideration of the equipment and methods used in drilling an ordinary shot-hole will give a picture of auger mining on a smaller scale. At present, auger mining is used largely for recovery of coal from the highwall after strip mining becomes uneconomical because of the type and the thickness of the overburden which must be moved. Coal augers have many of the advantages of present continuous mining machines, along with many more. The four distinct operations of conventional mining-—cutting, drilling, shooting, and loading— are eliminated and replaced by the combined operation of boring and conveying of the coal. The coal recovery auger is an adaptation of the horizontal rock drill used for drilling shot-holes to shatter and loosen overburden in strip mining operations. During the war the Becker County Sand and Gravel Co. of Summersville, W. Va., experimented with drilling coal with 6 and 9-in. rock augers. The results led to the successive development of the 20, 24, 30 and the 36-in. machines, the latter having appeared in the coal fields within the past six months. Because of the great success of the smaller size

Jan 1, 1952