Search Documents

By S. F. Kelly, Theodor Zuschlag, Bela Low

Gold has been mined in the state of Georgia for over 100 years, and although the total production is nearly $18,000,000, the output has declined to an insignificant figure in recent times. The increase in price of gold has brought about a revival of interest in this district, with the result that an electrical survey was undertaken in the McDuffie County gold belt to see whether new quartz veins could be discovered. The problem of locating quartz veins electrically has only rarely been attempted by geophysicists, because of technical difficulties. New improvements in apparatus and field procedures, the most recent of which is the designing of the Ground Comparator, now make possible the differentiation of quartz veins and enclosing rock. This instrument is designed to eliminate the effect of ground contact resistances, and measures the ratio of potential drops between successive stations. These are transformed into resistivity ratios, the highly resistant quartz veins manifesting themselves by sharp breaks in the resistivity-ratio curves. Surface variations of resistance are eliminated by a special technique. Electrical surveys were made on two properties about 40 miles west of Augusta, Georgia. A reconnaissance of the Woodall and detail work on the Hamilton required about. 13,000 ft. of electrical profile. Typical profiles from each are given, with the results of trenching certain of the electrical indications. Comparisons are made between the reactions due to veins several feet wide and those from small quartz stringers. Instances are cited where the electrical profiles were used to trace extensions of known veins, or to establish their nonextension. The discovery of several veins is described, most of which were barren, but of which at least two showed gold in encouraging amounts. The field of application of the Comparator to the prospecting for metallic and nonmetallic minerals, and to the study of various geological problems, is discussed at the close of the paper.

Jan 1, 1934

By Walter Miller

Advancement in engineering in the refining industry during 1933 might be likened to the jagged flame of a poor wick-test kerosene—a few outstanding high spots, but not broadly spectacular. Economic conditions were unsatisfactory for the first six or eight months, but the improvement in the latter part of the year had some immediate effect in stimulating new designing and building. The national legislative program involving the industry drew the attention of executives away from petroleum technology to some extent. The National Recovery Act, and its offspring, the Petroleum Code, demanded deep and continued study to put the machinery into smooth motion. From a purely technical engineering stand, therefore, the emergency measures might be considered a temporary brake on progress. The ultimate effect, if the whole industry can get back "out of the red," may well be a more than expected advance. Of course, petroleum technologists and engineers, including both those engaged within and those busy in designing and building for the industry, continued their efforts, and much of the results of their work will undoubtedly see the light of day under the improved economic conditions, which bid fair to stay with us. There was little improvement during 1933 in atmospheric distillation, sweetening processes, or furnace design, but experimentation during the year on these subjects may materialize into distinct advances. The trend toward compact distilling and fractionating equipment, especially in the Appalachian district, deserves noting. A number of refineries in that district replaced obsolete shell still units with up-to-date tube stills and efficient fractionating towers, both for the better separation of lubricating fractions from the crude and for improving the boiling range of the gasoline. A number of small skimming and topping plants in flush fields, such as East Texas, which felt the pinch of production control, were forced to shut down, but the stronger among them are consolidating their positions by installing cracking equipment and in some cases more modern crude-distillation units. Motor Fuel For the first time in many years a reviewer is able to point to at least a temporary cessation in the competitive race in the manufacturing

Jan 1, 1934

By T. W. Johnson

The United States Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Natural Gas Department of the American Gas Association, has been studying actively for the past-several years the flow of natural bas through high--pressure pipe lines.4 This report deals with that part of the study involving the design of pipe-line, systems consisting of lines laid parallel to each other. The lines are deferred to as the original line and the parallel line. The paralleling line may or may not extend the entire length of the original line; however, the parallel line is, connected at its two ends to the original line. As a result of the large expansion of the natural-gas industry almost all markets within economic distance from the developed gas fields have at least one pipe line supplying them with natural gas. Small increases in the consumers' demand for natural gas can be met usually by increasing operating pressures, but any marked increase in demand necessitates paralleling sections of the existing systems. It is believed that to a large extent future

Jan 1, 1934

By R. P. Heuer

In recent years an increasing amount of research work has been done on refractory materials for use in copper-smelting furnaces. A few of the larger refractories manufacturers have erected special research laboratories which are fully equipped to study the refractory problems of the smelter. A typical laboratory of this type was described in the January, 1929, issue of Mining and Metallurgy, in an article entitled "Methods of Research Newly Applied to Refractories," by W. F. Boericke. This particular laboratory is equipped for the manufacture of full-size refractory brick. It aims to study on a fairly large scale the behavior of various refractory raw materials and the effect of improved methods of manufacture. The refractories manufacturer has at his disposal the naturally occurring refractory oxides in various degrees of purity, mixed or combined with other oxides. In order to supply the copper smelter with a refractory brick that will permit the most economical operation of the smelting furnaces, it is necessary to have the optimum combination of a number of both physical and chemical properties in the brick. Unfortunately, nature has not provided any raw materials in which the perfect combination of these properties exists. It is, therefore, a problem for man's ingenuity to seek out the most desirable raw materials and develop methods of manufacture that give, in the resultant product, the necessary combination of properties in as full a measure as is possible. In the laboratory it is possible to carry out fairly broad experiments with this objective. It is first necessary to obtain and process the raw materials, then to manufacture them into brick and finally, to test these bricks under conditions designed to interpret or simulate in the laboratory the actual conditions in the smelting furnace. It is necessary for the research engineers to determine certain fundamental properties in the brick which may be subjected to laboratory measurements and to interpret these measurements in terms of brick performance in smelting-plant practice. Such procedure is not what might be called an exact, scientific one but it has been found that great progress can be made when these principles are applied. For example, the resistance of refractory brick to spalling and thermal change can be related to the thermal expansion of the refractory, its thermal conductivity and heat capacity and its

Jan 1, 1934

J. H. HEGINBOTHAM, a, metallurgist of the General Engineering Co., talked on "Current Milling Practice at Kirkland Lake," at the December meeting of the Utah Section. The ore is enough alike through the whole district so that some generalizations and comparisons may be made. The question as to whether or not the flotation process should be used in the flowsheet for extracting gold by cyanide solutions is still being vigorously debated, and it will seemingly need some years for a definite answer to be given. Most of the gold is either free, though much of it is finely dispersed in quartz, or occurs with pyrite. At times there may be 2 per cent of telluride compounds in the ore, but the amount of gold telluride present is small and has not been definitely established. It has been shown by Dr. Haultain and others that though gold tellurides may be so finely disseminated that it is necessary to grind the ore exceedingly fine, the compounds themselves are not difficultly soluble. (An increase in temperature helps to dissolve tellurides, and also to settle pulps.) It is likely that if the ore were ground through 400 mesh, practically all of the gold would be soluble. As it is, with 96 to 98 per cent of the ore ground to minus 200 mesh, and some 70 per cent minus 325, the cost of

Jan 1, 1934

By L. G. E. Bignell, E. A. Hanson, J. O. Lewis

There was a general upward trend of all petroleum activities in Oklahoma during 1933, especially in the last quarter, though the average price for crude oil for the year was below 1932 and overproduction in East Texas demoralized conditions for several months. As the Federal Agencies established under the National Industry Recovery Act began to function conditions in Oklahoma were visibly affected and production of "hot oil" from Oklahoma City field practically ceased. More oil wells were completed, six new fields discovered, extensive geophysical prospecting carried on in many parts of the state, and an increased amount of clean-out and reconditioning work done in older pools during the past year. To increase quantity and rate of recovery of oil many wells producing from limestone formations were treated with hydrochloric acid. The Oklahoma City field had a reported production of 66,984,570 bbl. of oil during 1933, or almost exactly twice the amount reported for 1932. Potential tests and other indicators show that the wells are rapidly approaching the stage where mechanical lift must be applied to all of them, including the wells in the Wilcox sand zone. The major pipe-line companies serving the oil fields of Oklahoma have been anxious to make connections to all wells during 1933 and have indicated a willingness to accept all oil available. The amount offered has been restricted by proration orders, but the state did produce 178,356,-449 bbl. during the year, an increase of about 18.6 per cent over 1932. This increase was practically all due to the greater demand for Oklahoma City oil, as all other pools of any importance showed loss in production or very small gains last year. The U. S. Bureau of Mines' laboratory reports the lubricating distillate content of Oklahoma City crude from Arbuckle and Lower Simpson formations about 17 per cent by volume. East Texas oil is reported to contain about 5.6 per cent lubricating distillates. The desire of the transportation companies to keep their equipment operating at maximum capacity and the need of some refineries for more

Jan 1, 1934

By E. S. Bardwell, R. J. Lapee

Twenty years ago, W. T. Burns, in his paper presented at the Butte Meeting of the Institute,' discussed the general scheme then in use in the electrolytic copper refinery of the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. at Great Falls, Mont., for removing impurities from tank-room electrolyte and controlling its acid content. Since then marked changes have taken place in copper-refinery practice at Great Falls. The electrolytic copper refinery in use in 1913 has been replaced by a new and entirely modern plant capable of producing up to 27,000,000 Ib. of cathode copper per month. With the building of the new plant in 1916, the treatment of converter anodes was discontinued. At first the substitution of refined anodes for converter anodes resulted in a decrease in the impurity content of the anodes, but as time went on, changes in metallurgical practices at the smelter resulted in substantial increases in the impurity content of the anodes. The leaching of the silver slime to remove copper before shipment to Raritan for treatment further added to the purification problem. The fact that the scheme of purifying electrolyte which Mr. Burns described in his paper has proved adequate for our needs under a wide variation of conditions speaks well for its essential soundness. Method of Purification Briefly, the method adopted for purifying tank-room electrolyte at Great Falls has been as follows: Each day a certain volume of tank-room electrolyte is run off and sent to the purification plant, where it is boiled down to approximately 46' 136. The concentrated electrolyte is then sent to crystallizing tanks where the bulk of the copper is crystallized out as copper sulfate. The mother liquor is then passed through insoluble anode tanks to remove the last of the copper and most of the arsenic and antimony. It is then either returned to the tank room direct or boiled down to 55' Bé, the iron and nickel salts crystallized out and the mother liquor returned to the tank-room circuit as restored acid. Prior to 1930 all of the evaporating was done in lead-lined tanks 13 ft. in diameter by 4.5 ft. deep, provided with lead heating coils through which steam at 30 lb. gage pressure was circulated.

Jan 1, 1934

By T. C. Desollar

The group of iron-ore mines known as the Red Ore Mines, owned and operated by the Woodward Iron Co., is on Red Mountain approximately ten miles southwest of Birmingham, Ala. At the present time NO. 1 and No. 3 mines are active, No. 2 mines having been abandoned in 1928. Ore from this group of mines was first mined in 1882, and originally came from open cuts along the outcrop, but, when the "soft ore" (weathered hematite) was mined out and the harder ore was encountered, it became necessary to develop the orebody by means of slopes driven in the ore formation. The three mines to date have produced more than 22,000,000 tons, and the two operating mines now have a capacity of over 1,000,000 tons per year. Geology The U. S. Geological Survey has described the features of the district. It places the hematite of Red Mountain, commonly called "red ore," in the Clinton formation of the Silurian system. This formation varies from 200 to 300 ft. in thickness, and is composed largely of shale (slate) and sandstone. There are four iron orebeds in the formation, known as the Hickory Nut, Ida, Big Seam and the Irondale seams. The strike of the orebeds is northeast and southwest, and the dip is southeast, the outcrops being on the west side of the mountain. The two seams that have been worked at the Red Ore mines are the Big Seam and the Ida. The Big Seam, which is and has been the principal source of the ore mined, is approximately 20 ft. thick and consists of hematite and ferruginous bands of sandstone. It is separated into "upper" and "lower bench" ore by a slate parting that is about 30 in. thick. All present mining is confined to the "upper bench" ore, which is uniform in texture and drills and breaks fairly easily when the holes are placed so as to take full advantage of the face of the ore. Typical analyses are shown in Table 1. The presence of two water-bearing formations, the Fort Payne chert and the Hartselle sandstone, lying respectively 160 and 300 ft. above the Big Seam, make it essential that in mining the ore any movement of

Jan 1, 1934

By B. W. Gandrud

In 1927 Coghill5 showed that there is considerable liberation of the iron oxide mineral from gangue when the Alabama red iron ores are ground to a size suitable for classification and tabling, but that there is not sufficient to make possible a high extraction and a high grade of concentrate. Coghill states: High extraction and high grade of concentrate cannot be obtained without grinding to a size comparable with flotation or cyanide practice. If grade of concentrate be sacrificed the grinding need not be so severe.

Jan 1, 1934

By Carl H. Samans

The attention of physicists and metallurgists has been directed toward the study and explanation of the deformation textures in metals for the past 15 years. In 1920 N. Uspenski and S. Konobejewskil were first able to show that the symmetrical X-ray diffraction effects that had been previously reported by E. Hupka2 and others in metal foils were caused by a directed arrangement of the crystallites. Since then, the systematic study of textures resulting from the application of the pure forces of tension or compression to polycrystalline materials has been supplemented by many investigations on deformed single crystals, which have greatly added to our knowledge of deformation. However, despite the valuable information secured from these comparative studies only four investigations upon cold-rolled single crystals of any of the face-centered cubic metals have been reported in the literature. This lack of quantitative data is especially unfortunate because of the much greater practical significance of rolling textures and their effects in both cold-rolled and annealed materials. This investigation was undertaken for the purpose of specifying the deformation of rolled single crystals in the hope that such information might later facilitate the explanation of polycrystal-line textures. Of the four studies that have been made upon cold-rolled single crystals, only two are of any quantitative value. S. Tanaka,3 working

Jan 1, 1934

The Institute is custodian of funds for support of numerous gold medals and prizes and has representatives on boards awarding still others. Details regarding the Institute Awards are given be- low. The Institute is represented on the boards of the John Fritz Medal, the Hoover Medal and the Washington Award, in connection with the three national societies of Civil, Mechanical and Electrical engineering; and, also, in the case of the Washington Award, with the Western Society of Engineers. The Institute is represented with these four societies on the committee in charge of the Alfred Noble Prize.

Jan 1, 1934

By C. E. Mills

Studies of ground movement and subsidence resulting from mining operations cover a broad field. It is also a very important consideration and one that eventually affects nearly every mining operation of any extent. The damage to surface buildings, removal of mine surface plants and replacements of main hoisting shafts must reach an astounding expenditure were these cost figures available over a period of years. Were the subject one of mathematical formula and dependent only on the angle of draw of the walls or country rocks, the problem would be relatively simple. Consideration must be given to depth and extent of workings; structural conditions of the orebodies and enclosing country rock; physical properties of these same rocks, including schistosity, bedding, jointing, slips, dikes, faults, and other structural weaknesses. The method of mining, extent of openings, supporting pillars, and amount of moisture or water underground are other pertinent factors. With such a large number of variable factors, it is apparent that the subject of subsidence is one that must be based largely on experience and results at other mines where conditions are somewhat comparable. In presenting this paper, it is the intent to describe the progressive results of past ground movements at the United Verde, to bring out physical conditions largely responsible for this movement, but to refrain from theorizing on the ultimate extent of subsidence resulting from future mining operations. Geology and Structure1 The ore deposits of the United Verde are of the massive sulfide, schist-replacement type. A structural anticline formed by the intrusion of diorite between bedding planes of steeply dipping and severely folded greenstones and porphyry localized the deposit of sulfide. The mineralized zone is of great horizontal extent varying from 200,000 to 400,-000 sq. ft., and extends from the surface to the lowest levels at a steep dip of from 50° to 75. The irregular interfingering of the sulfide with

Jan 1, 1934

By H. I. Altshuler

THE mines operated by the Compañia de Real del Monte y Pachuca, Pachuca, Mexico, are in two districts, the Pachuca, and Real del Monte. The principal area of mineralization is within a rectangle roughly 10 miles from east to west and 6 miles from north to south. It contains a number of veins from 2 to 20 ft. wide, which are exploited by this mining company. The scattered position of the producing mines led to the construction of two mills between 1906 and 1908; the Loreto mill, in Pachuca, averaged 2600 tons daily, and the Guerrero mill, in Real del Monte, milled 1270 tons daily. On Feb. 1, 1929, the management decided to enlarge the Loreto mill to take the combined tonnage of both mills at that time. This economic measure required the centralization of ore delivery, which would also afford a material saving in the cost of ore transport. The centralization would give the company the following advantages over the former system of operation: 1. Beneficiation at a single mill, closer to source of materials and supplies than the abandoned- Guerrero mill. The refinery is, also in the Loreto patio. 2. Ore delivery to surface at one point (San Juan Pachuca shaft) instead of at four. 3. Elimination of aerial tramways. To show what would be required to effect this centralization, it is necessary to describe the means by which the ore was delivered to the two mills, prior to centralization. The heart of the Real del Monte district is roughly four miles from that of the Pachuca section. The producing mines in these two districts were: Pachuca district: Santa Ana mine Camelia group

Jan 1, 1934

By Richard Miller

The investigations of large-grained specimens carried out by Polanyi and Schmid,1 Sykes,2 Goucher,3 Yamaguchi,4 Gough, Cox, and Sopwith,5 Carpenter and Elam,6 Aston,7 and others have shown qualitatively that grain boundaries restrain the deformation of adjacent crystals. But whether or not the influence of the grain boundary is confined to the glide planes intersected by the boundary has not been demonstrated in any of these investigations, nor has there been carried out any quanti-tative analysis, of the influence of a boundary on the deformation of a crystal. Indeed, the specimens employed in the previous work con-

Jan 1, 1934

Jan 1, 1934

YEAR OF ELECTION 1913. FRANK DAWSON ADAMS, Montreal, Canada. 1921. WILLIAM CUTHBERT BLACKETT Sacriston, Durham, England. 1923. GELASIO CAETANI Rome, Italy. 1920. HENRY STURGIS DRINKER Merion Station, Pa. 1933. KARL EIKERS NEW YORK, N. Y. 1922. FEDERICO GIOLITTI Torino, Italy. 1906. SIR ROBERT A. HADFIELD London, England. 1928. JOHN HAYS HAMMOND New York, N. Y. 1921. FRANK WILLIAM HARBORD London, England. 1917. HERBERT HOOVER Washington, D. C. 1905. HENRI LECHATELIER Paris, France. 1931. WALDEMAR LINDGREN Cambridge, Mass. 1921. C. McDERMID London, England. 1913. EZEQUIEL ORDONEZ Mexico City, Mexico.

Jan 1, 1934

By William M. Shakespeare

Thin sheet copper in wide widths and long lengths is being made electrolytically on a commercial scale at the Raritan Copper Works, Perth Amboy, N. J. This achievement is the result of three years of intensive development preceded by almost ten years of intermittent research. While the idea of producing sheet copper by the electrolytic process is old, the literature on the subject is limited. It is evident, however, that the idea has been attractive to many investigators for years, if the issued patents in the field may be taken as an indication. These patents may be divided into three groups. In one group metal is deposited on some form of endless cathode, of which a revolving cylinder or drum is the most common. The cathode moves slowly and at such a rate that metal of the desired thickness is deposited during one pass through the electrolyte. The deposited metal is stripped off the cathode at a point above the solution level and, after washing and drying, is wound up immediately. In the next group of patents a band of thin metal is increased in thickness by being guided through an electrolytic tank in opposition to suitable anodes. The third group covers means of producing sheets of definite dimensions where flat plates or revolving cylinders are used as cathodes. With such cathodes, sheets of definite dimensions are built up to the desired thickness and then stripped off. The process as worked out at the Raritan Copper Works combines the methods of the first two groups. In the first stage a sheet weighing 1 oz. to the square foot is produced on a revolving cylinder. This sheet is increased to any desired thickness in the second stage. In the first stage (Fig. 1) a lead-covered copper drum is mounted horizontally on a lead-lined concrete tank so that it. is partly immersed in the electrolyte. The cylindrical surface of the drum immersed in the electrolyte is opposed by lead anodes spaced about 36 in. from it. The electrolyte, made up of appropriate quantities of copper and sulfuric acid, flows into and out of the tank continuously. The ebullition of gas at the surface of the anodes induces a vigorous circulation of electrolyte between the anodes and the drum surface, which is augmented by means of compressed air introduced through a pipe between the ends of the anodes under the center of the drum, not indicated on the diagram. This

Jan 1, 1934

Ahrenholz, Herman William, Jr., Student, Lehigh Univ Bethlehem, Pa. '35 Allen, Carl A., Student, Colorado School of Mines Golden, Colo. '35 Allen, Paul W., Student, Mass. Inst. of Tech Cambridge, Mass. '35 Allen, R. M., Jr., Student, Virginia Polytechnic Inst., "G" Co Blacasburg, Va. '35 Amberger, K. H., Student, Michigan College of Min. & Tech Houghton, Mich. '35 Andersen, Burton Lee, Student, School of Mines, Univ. of Washington Seattle, Wash. '35 Anderson, Joseph S., Student, Univ. of Texas El Paso, Tex. '35 Anderson, R. C., Student, Univ. of Washington Seattle, Wash. '35 Ansel, Gerhard 627 Clyde St., Pittsburgh, Pa. '34 Anutta, Frederick P., Student, Michigan College of Min. & Tech Houghton, Mich. '35 Apsouri, Constantin N., Graduate Student, Univ. of Arizona Tucson, Ariz. '35 Arakelian, Haig Mark, Student, Mass. Inst. of Tech Cambridge, Mass. '34 Archer, George K 1420 Court Pl., Denver, Colo. '34 Argall, George O., Jr., K. E. House Golden, Colo. '35 Argiielles, Alfredo, Student, Univ. of Texas El Paso, Tex. '35 Atwater, Ralph, Student, South Dakota School of Mines Rapid City, S. D. '35 Austin, Robert B., Miner, Page Mine, Federal Min. & Smelt. CoSpokane, Wash. '34

Jan 1, 1934

By Paul Hatmaker

Lime was a highly useful commodity thousands of years before the simple chemistry of its manufacturing process was known. The employment of lime for agriculture, building, and even certain essentially chemical purposes is so old that its origin is among the unrecorded details of man's first ventures into the manufacture and use of prepared substances. Lime is a most versatile material and consequently has come to be widely utilized in modern civilization. Immediately before the depression of the early 1930's the annual production of lime in the United States was more than 4 million tons, valued at 33 to 42 million dollars. This output was sold to many industries, so many that mere enumeration becomes tedious. In addition to agricultural and building lime the sales statistics compiled annually by the Bureau of Mines include lime sold to the steel and other metallurgical industries as refractory and fluxing material, as well as that used by paper mills, glass works, tanneries, and water-treatment plants. These major uses normally consume about 86 percent of the domestic sales. The remaining 14 percent includes lime sold for use in the manufacture of alcohol, alkalies, bleaches, calcium acetate, calcium carbide, coke gas and byproducts, glue, insecticides, oils and fats, paints, and rubber, in the refining of salt, in the manufacture of sand-lime and slag brick, in the disposal of sewage and garbage, in the manufacture of silica brick, in the refining of sugar, in the textile industries, and in wood distillation. Many other uses are also known for which complete sales data are not available.

Jan 1, 1934

By J. E. Pogue

That the domestic consumption of gasoline displays a marked seasonal variation, with a low in the winter and a high in the summer, is well known. It is logical to expect that the nature of the variation has itself been undergoing a change as a result of improvement in roads, general employment of closed cars, and growth of mass haulage; but so far as I am aware the change in seasonal variation has never been investigated and measured. It is the purpose of this paper to present the method and results of such an investigation, undertaken as a contribution to the technique of planning operating schedules now so prominent in connection with the functioning of the industry under a Federal quota system. For the method employed I am indebted to the suggestions and help of Frederick R. Macaulay,1 who kindly looked over the work sheets; and

Jan 1, 1934