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By Edmund Shaw

In the year just past there were produced in the United States about 170,000,000 tons of sand and gravel. Much of this was pit-run material used for gravelling roads and as railroad ballast on lines that did not carry heavy traffic. But more than half of it was marketed as washed and sized, or graded, material. The methods used for preparing sand and gravel for the market have long been used in ore dressing and, as in ore dressing, depend on differences in the specific gravity of two substances or in the size or weight of particles. But many changes in the design and operation of plants and machines have been necessary. In ore dressing, the concentrate is only a small part of the feed; in sand and gravel washing, it is much the larger part of the feed. In addition, such close work as is needed when concentrating a metallic ore is not needed when washing gravel; the ability to put through a large tonnage is more important, and sizing, which is only a preliminary process in ore dressing, is an end to be attained. Rock crushers are found in most sand and gravel plants and they are used to break up the larger pieces from the deposit (known as boulders and cobbles) which are removed by a scalping screen. The crusher discharge is usually sent back to the scalping screen, the perforations in this screen setting the maximum size of the finished product. Washing Washing is to prepare sand and gravel so that they may be used as aggregates in concrete and wall plaster and in various processes in which impurities would harm the product. At one end of the scale of washed materials may stand ordinary concrete sand, which in some states may contain as much as 3 per cent, of clay and still be used in highway concrete construction. At the other end will stand the silica sand used for making plate glass, which must be washed so clean that the impurities that can be removed by washing do not exceed a few hundredths of a per cent. The methods and machinery that would produce one of these

Jan 1, 1926

Herbert C. Hoover, who became a member of this Institute in 1896 and who is now one of its Vice-Presidents, is the man who in 1914 extended a helping hand to Americans stranded in Europe at the outbreak of the war, and who made it possible for many such travelers to return safely to their homes. When his countrymen no longer needed his services, he turned to the Belgians, whose need of food had been presented to him. Engineers have been among his assistants from the first, and it is because we believe that members of his own profession will still be particularly interested in his work that we thus mention it in the Bulletin. A Minute adopted by the Board of Directors of the Institute, in which the Belgian Kiddies, Ltd., is recommended to the consideration of the members, immediately follows the Proceedings of the Meeting of the Board of Directors. With the thought that members of the Institute may be glad to read Mr. Hoover's own words in regard to his work, we print in full the speech

Jan 3, 1917

By Will H. Coghill

FLOTATION has been so closely allied with the sulfide minerals and their early and associated oily reagents that the term "oil flotation" has erroneously been applied to the entire flotation process. Today, the term "chemical flotation" might be used to advantage. Flotation literature has dealt primarily with the removal of sulfides. from non-sulfide gangues, and the separation of one sulfide from another.. Now, the application of the process to the separation of nonsulfide minerals is coming to the fore; and from the standpoint of the number of commercial minerals involved, the flotation of nonsulfides offers the larger field. Here, soap or soap-forming substances, such as the fatty acids and their derivatives, are used; hence there may well be a subdivision of the chemical flotation process called "soap flotation." Early experimenters learned that it was easy to form a froth or foam that would carry a part or all of the ore charge over the lip of the flotation machine; but this could not be regarded as flotation because of the lack of selectivity. Doubtless soap was one of the first reagents tried, and doubtless it was rejected on account of its gangue-carrying properties. Now this same gangue-carrying ability makes soap an acceptable reagent, for we are dealing with that, which among sulfides, is considered "gangue." As in the flotation of sulfides, so in the flotation of nonsulfides, the selective flocculation of the mineral and the dispersion of the gangue are the first objectives. In fact, these two phenomena epitomize flotation. They depend upon the unlike surface properties of the respective minerals; and, as long as the components of an ore have unlike surface properties, a separation is possible, at least in theory. Often in nonsulfide flotation it makes little difference which mineral floats and which is depressed; generally only a separation is sought.

Jan 1, 1932

By J. Grosso, D. J. Nagel

In many metallurgical studies, it is necessary to reveal the composition and structural properties of materials. Usually this is done by etching, but some substances do not etch well or easily. Anodizing is known to provide an alternate treatment in many cases. In general, this technique is simple, often more sensitive to composition differences than etching, has excellent resolution, and provides variable contrast in those elements and alloys which anodize. Here we report the use of anodizing in diffusion studies in the TiCb system. Fig. 1 shows a cross section of the diffusion zone in a TiCb couple. The anodizing has clearly revealed both composition and crystallographic features. The maximum bulk penetration of the titanium into the columbium is marked by a sharp line because of the steep concentration gradient. The titanium grain size and orientation differences are also evident. Variation in the grain size reflects the gradually decreasing columbium concentration.

Jan 1, 1967

By Sidney L. Wise, Walter Strache

While the installation of mine bulkheads to retain water under high pressure is by no means a rarity, the following points which arose in the designing and placing of two of these bulkheads may be of interest: The Hibernia magnetite mine, located about 40 miles west of New York, in the State of New Jersey, is partly fillcd with water. This mine is located on an ore lens, the outcrop of which is over a mile long. The ore has been mined from this lens from the surface to a depth of more than 1,500 ft. It was held desirable to separate the old workings from the new, and to allow the former to fill to the 850-ft. level. Two weak places existed between the new and old workings below this Ievel: namely, a temporary bulkhead on the 10th level and a rock bulkhead of indeterminate thickness on the 16th level. When the matter of allowing the old workings to fill was investigated, the fact was developed that if these old workings were filled, the bulkhead on the 10th level would be subjected to a water pressure of about 50 lb. per square inch, and that 200 lb. per square inch would act on the 16th-level bulkhead. As the above-mentioned barriers were not deemed of sufficient strength to permit of these pressures, it became necessary to design and install new bulkheads. Design As the 16th-level bulkhead was required to withstand a pressure of 200 lb. per square inch, it presented some difficulties. A careful consideration of the various types of mine dams now in use led to the adoption of a design of the form of a truncated wedge. In this, the pressure side of the dam is of greater area than the hack, so that the resultant action is similar to driving the wedge. By cutting generous skewbacks in the walls, roof, and floor, this type in reality becomes an invisible arch. The wedge feature tends to compress the materials in the bulkhead, thereby adding to its imperviousness.

Jan 1, 1915

By William E. Ford, Edward Salisbury Dana

1. THE SCIENCE OF MINERALOGY treats of those inorganic species called minerals, which together in rock masses or in isolated form make up the material of the crust of the earth, and of other bodies in the universe so far as it is possible to study them in the form of meteorites. 2. Definition of a Mineral. - A Mineral is a body produced by the proc¬esses of inorganic nature, having a definite chemical composition and, if formed under favorable conditions, a certain characteristic molecular structure which is exhibited in its crystalline form and other physical properties. This definition calls for some further explanation. First of all, a mineral must be a homogeneous substance, even when minutely examined by the microscope; further, it must have a definite chemical composition, capable of being expressed by a chemical formula. Thus, much basalt appears to be homogeneous to the eye, but when examined under the microscope . in thin sections it is seen to be made up of different substances, each having characters of its own. Again, obsidian, or volcanic glass, though it may be essentially homogeneous, has not a definite composition corresponding to a specific chemical formula, and is hence classed as a rock, not as a mineral species. Further, several substances, as tachylyte, hyalome¬lane, etc., which at one time passed as minerals, have been relegated to petrology, because it has been shown that they are only local forms of basalt, retaining an apparently homogeneous form due to rapid cooling. Again, a mineral has in all cases a definite molecular structure, unless the conditions of formation have been such as to prevent this, which is rarely true. This molecular structure, as will be shown later, manifests itself in the physical characters and especially in the external crystalline form.

Jan 1, 1922

The negative charges on diaphragms of quartz, tungstic oxides, stannic acid, acid dyestuffs, soaps, and glass have for a number of years been explained on the basis of chemical equilibria—a hydrogen ion or light metal ion passes into solution leaving the solid complex ion negatively charged. While there are a number of observations which indicate a proportionality between the ( potential and the streaming potential it should be recognized that all the experimental evidence thus far presented shows that if hydrogen ion concentration is kept at a constant value, electrokinetic phenomena are influenced by salts. The multivalent ions exert the greatest effect on the reduction of osmotic flow. In the interpretation of all electrokinetic data the assumption is made that the potential of the solid remains constant. That this is not true is evidenced by the values of [ potential for quartz in contact with conductivity water as reported by the several investigators and by the authors of this paper. It is apparent that the nonreproducibility of surfaces will always prevent the obtaining of exactly comparable data. At best the experimental technique described depends on a theory which is capable only of showing a trend—another quartz surface should exhibit similar but not identical potential curves. It seems entirely reasonable to assume that the negatively charged laurate ions should have little or no attraction for a negatively charged quartz surface. The weight of previous experience in selection of flotation activators points unerringly to the usefulness of the multivalent metallic ions. The primary reason why the divalent barium ion is not available to two negative charges on the quartz surface might easily be that of distance between such adjacent negative charges. Otherwise activation could not occur, and the quartz could not assume the remaining unit positive charge of the barium ion. For this case no electrical double layer theory seems necessary. Clearly this is, at the negatively charged quartz surface, a case of partial chemisorption of the cationically divalent barium ion followed by the anionic neutralization of the remaining cationic charge by the freely moving laurate ion. It is hoped that the authors will continue with this interesting technique and that their results will continue to indicate trendwise what is known about the

Jan 1, 1957

By Paul M. Tyler

FULLY a decade ago, demand for ground mica began to exceed supplies of scrap mica from manufacturing operations and of waste block from feldspar and sheet mica mining in the United States, with the result that in recent years the market has absorbed larger and larger quantities of mica recovered as a by-product from clay washing,1 as a joint product with kyanite12 and by grinding schists. So far, only schists that contain a large percentage of mica have been utilized for making ground mica, but already there has been a good deal of wishful thinking with regard to recovering mica as an aid to the prospective working of low-grade gold ores and ores of certain base metals. With wet-ground mica selling at $60 to $100 a ton and even dry-ground mica worth over $20 a ton, many ores that could not be considered as otherwise workable under present conditions will show commercial possibilities if they can be made to yield even a relatively small percentage of salable mica. An interesting paper might be written on the coming role of industrial minerals as joint products of metal mines. It is largely a matter of markets. Many years ago I watched the mess left behind the gold dredges in the mountains of Colorado and thought of the Denver sand and gravel operators who prided themselves upon their canniness in providing devices for catching gold merely as an incident to their regular business of selling what we miners classed as "tailings." Nowadays almost every milling or mining operation near settled communities finds use for at least part of its waste for road material or concrete aggregate and several eastern iron mines have gone into the crushed-stone business. Promoters now mention fertilizer "filler" as potentially salable at all the way from $1 to $10 a ton, or whatever is needed to cover costs of mining and treating the "ore" and leave the metal values as "clear profit." In emulating the pork packers in their efforts to utilize "everything but the squeal,"

Jan 1, 1938

By W. R. Finlay, W. R. Jr. Hibbard

The key feature of the lattice coherency theory of precipitation hardening1 is the forced coherence between matrix and precipitate which elastically strains both lattices and is believed to be the major source of strengthening in precipitation hardening. In systems exhibiting age hardening, the atom movements leading to precipitation are not at all extensive and are such as to require the minimum amount of energy to produce the interface; that is, the new lattice forms in such a way as to be as nearly as possible a continuation of the old with a matched, coherent plane at the interface at least during the initiation of the precipitation. The crystallographic sequence whereby regions of the matrix change to the precipitate lattice usually can be resolved into a set of shearing operations.6'6 Conversely, the perhaps novel speculation is made that solution of a second phase is accompanied by shearing movements which are possibly the reverse of the precipitation shearing movements. A basic premise of the investigation reported in this paper is that precipitation and solution shearing movements constitute structural weaknesses which might cooperate with applied stresses to facilitate plastic deformation. Another basic premise of the investigation is that the application of hydrostatic pressure to a precipitation hardening system will significantly alter the degree of disregistry across the matrix-precipitate interface and thereby significantly affect the course of age hardening. Two binary precipitation hardening systems were investigated: rz pct zinc in aluminum which undergoes transformations, both precipitation and solution, by a simple crystallographic mechanism; and 4 pet copper in aluminum which undergoes a complex transformation in precipitating and dissolving a second phase. The effects of the application of uniaxial tensile creep stress during elevated temperature aging of both systems and of hydrostatic pressure during the elevated temperature aging of 12 pct aluminum-zinc were then investigated. Previous Investigations Van Wert in 1935,~ studied the effect of hydrostatic pressure on the room temperature age hardening of a few precipitation hardening systems. The latter were rather unfortunately selected since none is known to exhibit any marked volume change on aging and the majority were complex commercial alloys the precipitation mechanisms of which are not known. Jenkins, Bucknall and Jenkins~n,~ in 1944, applied tensile creep stresses to a complex copper. nickel-silicon alloy at various temperatures. The complexity of the alloy and the industrial objective of the work did not permit an appreciable addition to the theoretical understanding of either deformation or precipitation hardening.

Jan 1, 1949

By W. M. Peirce

ON May 16, 1871, twenty-two men met in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and founded the American Institute of Mining Engineers.* If we could transport ourselves back to that year and survey the state of science and technology in general, and, in particular, the field of our immediate interest-nonferrous metals-we would feel a justifiable pride in what had been accomplished up to that time. These accomplishments in the metal field were at the moment in the process of documentation by an Englishman, J. A. Phillips, in a new 700-page edition of his book to be published in 1874 under the title of "Elements of Metallurgy." True, looking over his shoulder, we would smile to read that "all metals are capable of assuming a crystalline form under favorable conditions," and that tensile testing is done "by adding weights to a firmly suspended wire until it fractures," and we would find only three pages on aluminum and none on magnesium. We would, however, find an astonishing wealth of detailed knowledge on iron and steel and the then common nonferrous metals and alloys such as brass and bronze. But if we possessed a little prophetic vision as we directed our attention to the short period that had elapsed since the close of the Civil War, we

Jan 1, 1947

Jan 1, 1923

By Octavio G. Echavarria

HISTORY The Santander Mine is located on the western flank of the Central Andes of Peru, about 100 miles northeast of Lima, at an elevation of 15,000 ft. This complex sulphide orebody, whose predominant minerals are sphalerite and marmatite with recoverable amounts of galena and chalcopyrite, was discovered around 1920. In 1956 Compania Minerales Santander, a subsidiary of St. Joe Minerals Corp. acquired the property. Construction of the camps, concentrator and power facilities started in 1957. The mine, at first an open pit operation, and mill began production in January 1959. The initial capacity of the mill was around 120,000 short tons per year (stpy). Production has increased steadily to about 312,000 stpy at present. Production statistics are shown in Table 1. [ ]

Jan 1, 1970

By Frederic E. Carter

THE history of all the civilizations of the Eastern Hemisphere is underlaid and interwoven with the story of gold. Great nations rose, welded by the hand of the conqueror, flourished gloriously because of the wealth of gold inevitably attracted to them, only to fall, either through the sapping of their original virility by the softer living their material prosperity made possible, or by wars made upon them by enemies who craved possession of what was theirs. Imposing fleets sailed the seas, seeking gold or tangible wealth that might be converted into gold. Men suffered untold tortures in its quest. It sent Columbus out into unknown oceans, caused the migration of hordes of people from our Atlantic to our Pacific seaboard in '49 and accelerated the final subjection of our last frontier, probably by as much as a century. The mystic may see both something sinister and something beneficent in this metal that has played such a tremendous part in the shaping of the destinies of men. It has showered blessings and taken them away. It "hath deposed the mighty from their seats and hath exalted men of low degree" and, sardonically, reversed the order yet again. Its peculiar color, its incorruptibility, and its rarity all have contributed to excite the imagination of all races of men. In the Eastern Hemisphere and now in the entire modern world, the predominant emotion excited by gold is avarice. But in the social and economic organization of the civilizations native to the western half of the world, gold has a far different history. Before the advent of the white man, these sun-worshipping peoples saw in the permanently

Jan 1, 1953

SMELTING is a thing essential to the end for which ores are sought, for without it every ore is a useless stone. This art is especially needed by those who, drawn on by hope, have mined ores in large quantities with great expense and effort. For this reason it is worth while to use one's wits and, if ordinary ways should not suffice, to consider how to find new ways of smelting the ores in order to extract the metals and to purge them of their earthiness. For this reason I shall now tell you of blast and other furnaces, and I shall also tell you, in order that you may be warned, that whoever wishes to do this well must first look at the nature and quality of the ore. You will already have had enlightenment on this from the experiments on assaying and with this as guiding star it is necessary to make ingenious structures and to provide for-the other needs as necessary, for one ore requires iron and another lead. Since I have already spoken of these in their own places on their ores, it is not necessary at present that I repeat, but here I wish to speak only of copper ore as a companion of silver and gold, and of where art is most required and where difficulties chiefly appear. For these things a machine must be built that is convenient to a good water supply in order to continue the work more easily. Its wheels should be large and easily moved, constructed in such a way that the force of the water lifts the bellows that are placed at the tuyère to direct the blast inside the furnaces that are to smelt the ores. For this, attention must first be given to the site of the machine, the quantity of water, and its fall; then to the wood for building the machine and for making charcoal; then to the stones that are used for the blast furnaces; then to the provision of good bellows that are wide, long, and full in their sides and made of cloth, for the better these are, the more they quicken the power of the charcoal

Jan 1, 1942

By R. P. Rothwell

A Reference to the geological map of Alabama shows the Goalmeasures of that State to form three distinct fields. The Coosu, or most easterly, contains about one hundred square miles ; the Cahaba, or middle field, which is also the most southern true coal in the United States, contains about 230 square miles ; and the Warrior field, which contains in the State of Alabama some 5000 square miles, is the southern extremity of the great carboniferous deposit, which extends through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. But very little has yet been done towards developing those coalfields, partly owing to the absence of all commercial manufacturing enterprise in the South under slavery, and partly owing to the want of capital and the disturbed condition of the South since the war. During the past three or four years I have devoted a large part of my time to the examination of the coal and iron ores of this range,

By Waldemar Lindgren

CONTENTS. [ ] I.-CHARACTER OF THE DEPOSITS. 1. Principal Features. IN many schemes of classification and description the term contact-deposit has been somewhat loosely applied to all accumulations of useful minerals (other than those of unquestioned sedimentary origin) which are enclosed between two different rocks. As thus used, the term may include deposits of widely differing origin, and, unless qualified, is not in place in a genetic classification. The present paper deals with a special class of contact-deposits. In many geological provinces, granular igneous rocks, such as granite, diorite and syenite, have broken through and invaded sedimentary rocks. The molten magma may in part have reached the surface and there solidified with relative rapidity as a lava. The largest masses of it, however, did not reach the surface, but cooled very slowly at considerable depth under great pressure, and eventually consolidated into a rock of granitic texture. Uplifts and extensive erosion may have followed; and at the present day, in many places, thousands of feet of material have been removed, bringing to the surface the intrusive granular rocks and their once deep-seated contacts with the sedimentaries which they shattered at the time of in-

Jan 1, 1902

Jan 1, 1916

By D. Lum

The limestone resources of Hawaii are derived chiefly from emerged fringing coral reef and coastal dune deposits of Pleistocene age. These deposits are most abun¬dant on the island of Oahu and other older islands and least abundant on the island of Hawaii, the youngest. Their origin and depositional environment were influenced by glacio-eustatic rising and falling of sea levels during Pleis¬tocene time. Dredged reef limestone deposits from two deep-water harbor projects have provided additional re¬sources. Limestone uses include cement and lime manufac¬turing, concrete sand and aggregate, road base material, beach sand replenishment, agricultural lime, and golf course construction.

Jan 1, 1984

By C. V. O. Hughes

DIATOMACEOUS earth is probably the most widely used, and certainly the least well publicized, of the important non-metallics of the United States. The very multiplicity of the names by which this whitish earthy sediment is described has served to confuse its identity, and to dissipate a realization of its full importance.

Jan 3, 1953

By Mahesh C. Jha

Arsenical gold ores occur in many parts of the world, including numerous mines in Canada and the western United States. Free gold is often finely disseminated in the grains of sulfide minerals, arsenopyrite, pyrite, orpiment and realgar. Generally a sulfide concentrate is produced by flotation. Arsenical ores or concentrates are not amenable to direct cyanidation and therefore are considered refractory. A wide variety of roasting equipment and conditions have been used by the mills to remove arsenic and sulfur from these concentrates. The resulting calcine is easy to cyanide and gold is recovered from the cyanide solution by zinc dust cementation. Room-temperature potential-pH diagrams and high-temperature phasestability diagrams are presented to discuss the chemistry of the gold cyanidation, cementation, and roasting steps in the presence of arsenic. The environmental aspects of arsenic discharge are also included.

Jan 1, 1984