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By L. Hartsell Cash

INTRODUCTION Created in 1944 to help rebuild those economies, principally in Europe, which were seriously damaged or destroyed during the Second World War, the World Bank--or to use its correct name, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development-began its operational phase by making a loan to the Government of France to accomplish two tasks: (i) to import coal for space heating purposes; and (ii) to buy new machinery and equipment to help rehabilitate its coal mines. Once the thrust of reconstruction in postwar Europe was largely accomplished, the World Bank Group (for today the World Bank has three separate lending windows) turned to mobilizing funds to improve living standards in developing countries, which remains its primary goal today. Over this period of time, the World Bank Group has continued to assist the world mining industry in various ways and, since 1955 the World Bank Group has financed mining or mineral processing projects with loans/credits totalling $1.5 billion. The World Bank Group consists of two institutions--the World Bank itself and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which was founded as a separate institution in 1956 and three separate lending windows--the World Bank, the International Development Association (IDA), and IFC. The World Bank loans are provided at commercially-related interest rates but have grace periods usually of up to 3 to 5 years and repayment periods ranging from around 15 to 20 years. Since the World Bank raises its operating funds on the international capital markets in varying currencies and in varying interest rates, it relends a basket of currencies at floating interest rates which are fixed every six months to reflect the Bank's own borrowing cost. At the present time, the interest rate is just below 10% per year and in addition, a one-time front-end fee of 1/4 of 1% is charged. Also, a commitment fee of 3/4% per year is charged on the undisbursed amount of the loan itself. For loans to industrial and mining projects, it is normal to charge an additional guarantee fee of 1 to 1.5% in addition to the annual interest rate. This guarantee fee is payable to the government of the country in which the project is carried out since, by its charter, the World Bank is required to have the guarantee of the host government for each loan made in a specific country. By far the greatest source of lending funds within the World Bank Group is that of the World Bank itself and for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1984, the World Bank approved loans totalling $12 billion. The second lending window within the World Bank Group is IDA which performs the same functions as the Bank itself and has the same staff. Nevertheless, its loans (called credits) are made on much softer terms and are made to the poorest nations only. IDA funds are subscribed by the wealthier countries, usually as grants, and these are relent as credits to those countries with the lowest per capita income. IDA credits are made for 50 year periods, including 10 years of grace, to the government itself. The credits are interest free, but there is a service charge of 3/4% per year on the amount withdrawn and outstanding to defray the administrative costs of IDA. Credits approved during fiscal 1984 totalled $3.5 billion. The third lending window is IFC. While IFC is a separate corporation and operates quite separately from the World Bank and has its own staff and regulations, it works very closely with the World Bank on its overall approach to the mining sector and to a particular country. IFC's mission is essentially to supply venture capital and to stimulate development of the local private sector in capital markets as well as to promote the international flow of private capital to developing countries. Unlike the World Bank and IDA, the IFC does not lend directly to governments

Jan 1, 1985

By Charles M. Rolker

The Mariposa estate, a grant made by the Mexican Government to Juan 13. Alvarado, during the time when California was still under the dominion of Mexico, was purchased in 1847 by J. C. Fremont, and the United States patent issued to him in 1856. By sale, or its equivalent, money advanced, the property came into the hands of the Mariposa Company, June 25th, 1863, and through a varied existence of work and temporary inactivity, has as yet been kept as an undivided property, and rests at present with the Mariposa Land and Mining Company of California. I pass over this period of 15 years without giving the history of the ups and downs of the estate, partly because it is familiar to many, and also because I think in such a case this paper would assume too much the character of a narrative. The estate is situated in Mariposa County, California, about 170 miles southeast of San Francisco. It begins in lat. 37' 26' 38'' north, and long. 119' 55' west, and runs 6 miles north; thence 69 miles west; thence 5 miles northwesterly towards the Merced River; thence 84 miles southerly; thence 3 miles easterly; thence 1 mile southerly; thence 2 miles easterly; thence 2 miles southerly; thence 2 miles easterly; thence 1 mile southerly; thence 2 miles easterly; thence 1 mile northerly, and thence 2 miles easterly to the place of the beginning; embracing 44,387 acres (70 sq. miles) more or less. To describe this vast estate in detail as to its full geology, its numerous quartz veins, its many facilities to exploit them and work them by cheap methods, would lead me further than I intend to go at present, and I will content myself to describe the latest workings of the company and its immediate field of operations. As long ago as 1860 the late Dr. Adelberg advised the running of an adit from the northwestern edge of the estate at Benton Mills 011 the Mereed River. His object was to undercut the deepest workings of the then paying mines on the estate—the Pine Tree and Josephine. Following this advice, the tunnel known as "River Tunnel " was commenced. Its entrance is in S. 5, T. 4, s. R. 17 E. It is run in

Jan 1, 1879

By Benj. N. Webber

There is a broad analogy between super gene nickel deposits and super gene copper deposits of the porphyry type. Some of the nomenclature of supergene copper may he applied to super gene nickel deposits. The obvious connection between lateritization and supergene nickel concentration requires some clarification of the nomenclature of laterite of ultrabasic rock parentage. Lateritization is a progressive process and the transition products of the laterite profile are a key to the process of nickel concentration since the profile grades from unaltered peridotite to the highly ferruginous ultimate laterite capping. This profile is formed under highly restricted geographic and geologic conditions. Faulting contributes to the formation and localization of the higher grade commercial segregations of nickel. That there may be auxiliary sources of nickel other than olivine is suggested. The volume of peridotite necessary to produce a unit of laterite at any point in a complete profile is calculated on the basis of the chromite content. The lixiviation, transportation, and precipitation of the elements involved is considered and the source of the reagents and chemical mechanisms are suggested. The role of sodium chloride is considered important. The progressive changes in the lateritic profile have an effect on the general process since lateritization takes place in overlapping environmental phases. The mineralogy of laterite and the redistribution of elements is illustrated by compositional curves derived from a completely mature laterite. Nickel scanvenged by iron oxides tends to be redissolved and moves downward to the zone of transitional magnesium silicates where it is reprecipitated. The geometry of the nickel enrichment zone is simple in general, but complicated in detail. Elongated pods of a greater concentration of nickel are indicated to be a reflection of faulting. Lateritization and concentration of nickel may be arrested at any stage and be modified by several factors.

Jan 1, 1973

By W. S. Ayres

I AM well aware that this subject is not strictly in the line of mining engineering, yet as it is a subject with which mining engineers at times have something to do, I have thought, perhaps, it might not be wholly out of place to communicate to the Institute something of the method used in determining deflection, and of its final issue. Having felt a need of some simple formula for determining the deflection of girders of uniform cross-section under any load, I have been led through the counsel of Mr. Frederick J. Slade, to whom I am indebted for many suggestions, to undertake a labor of which I shall in this paper give only some of the most important features. The results arrived at agree with those obtainable from the received formula; of Weisbach, Rankine, and others, but the expressions given by these authors, and by all others that I have at hand, are of such a form that they are not easily applied by those whose higher mathematics have become rusty from disuse, and they require, moreover, too much labor in their application to be of practical value. The general formula that I have adopted is similar to that given by Rankine, and is deflection = [mWl3 -El], in which l is the span, W the total load, E the modulus of elasticity, I the moment of inertia of the uniform cross-section of the girder, and m a factor depending for its value on the mode of distribution of the load. The problem then is to find the value of this factor m in the formula, and for some distributions of the load it leads to a number of mathematical difficulties. In this place I shall consider first the girder to be loaded symmet-

Jan 1, 1877

By Persifor Frazer

(Read at the Amenia Meeting, October, 1877.) IT has been the aim of the writer, by measuring his base line on the territory of theoretical chemistry, to attempt to fix by triangulation certain points within the domain of mineralogy. As the barest first experiment in this direction, a few of the hydrated oxides of iron have been selected, their theoretical construction reduced to percentage of the constituents into which the ordinary analytical methods would resolve them, and the results compared with actual analyses compiled from the most reliable sources; the accidental errors being as much as possible eliminated. This method seems to be a simple one and one easily pursued, but, as will shortly appear, it is beset with grave difficulties, all of which the writer does not pretend to have satisfactorily surmounted. In the first place arises the important question, what are we to understand by the hydrated oxides of iron ? In all books of chemistry and lexicons of minerals, the proposition, long ago taught by the earlier chemists, that water might exist in two forms of combination, viz., as water of crystallization or as water of constitution, is tacitly assumed. There is nothing in the principles of the new chemistry which is opposed to this ; for (to carry the mind's eye into .the process of construction of the least units into which a definite chemical compound is capable of being divided without losing its characteristic properties), however unlikely it may seem, it is, nevertheless, possible that a given molecule of iron may, under certain conditions of heat, pressure, etc., attract to itself as many molecules of the water in which it is natant as from the relative size, shape, attractive force, etc. of either, it is capable of taking up, and this complex system of associated molecules might oscillate as a physical unit so long as the conditions on which its existence was dependent remained unchanged. Moreover, it is highly probable that the first effect upon such a molecule produced by physical or chemical forces would be to separate it into two or more simple ones of different kinds, while a further application of these forces might rend asunder the bonds of the simpler compounds themselves.

Jan 1, 1878

By Persifor Frazer

It has been the aim of the writer, by measuring his base line on the territory of theoretical chemistry, to attempt to fix by triangula tion certain points within the domain of mineralogy. As the barest first experiment in this direction, a few of the hydrated oxides of iron have been selected, their theoretical construe tion reduced to percentage of the constituents into which the ordinary analytical methods would resolve them, and the results compared with actual analyses compiled from the most reliable sources; the accidental errors being as much as possible eliminated. This method seems to be a simple one and one easily pursued, but, as will shortly appear, it is beset with grave difficulties, all of which the writer does not pretend to have satisfactorily surmounted. In the first place arises the important question, what are we to understand by the hydrated oxides of iron ? In all books of chemistry and lexicons of minerals, the proposition, long ago taught by the earlier chemists, that water might exist in two forms of combination, viz., as water of crystallization or as water of constitution, is tacitly assumed. There is nothing in the principles of the new chemistry which is opposed to this; for (to carry the mind's eye into the process of con struction of the least units into which a definite chemical compound is capable of being divided without losing its characteristic proper ties), however unlikely it may seem, it is, nevertheless, possible that a given molecule of iron may, under certain conditions of heat, pressure, etc., attract to itself as many molecules of the water in which it is natant as: from the relative size, shape, attractive force, etc. of either, it is capable of taking up, and this complex system of associated molecules might oscillate as a physical unit so long as the conditions on which its existence was dependent remained unchanged. Moreover, it is highly probable that the first effect upon such a mole cule produced by physical or chemical forces would be to separate it into two or more simple ones of different kinds, while a further ap plication of these forces might rend asunder the bonds of the simpler compounds themselves.

Jan 1, 1879

By Arthur F. Taggart, G. R. M. Del Giudice, M. Hassialis, A. M. Saddler

Flotation of sulphide minerals and native metals is no longer a practical difficulty. The underlying scientific principles of the method, although not explored in anything like complete detail, have been formulated with sufficient breadth so that the direction of attack on any specific case is clearly indicated. It has been known since the earliest days of flotation that certain of the nonsulphide nonmetal minerals—e.g., sulphur and graphite—would respond to flotation by oils as sulphides do; therefore they have been grouped with sulphides in many patents. But since the development of the chemical theory of collection,1,2,3 this similarity in action has been one of the facts cited in disproof of the theory by opponents of the hypothesis.4,5,6 Air levitation† of certain oxidized minerals, both metalliferous‡ and nonmetalliferous, and separation thereby from other oxidized minerals, is a recent development in practice, although the discovery of the method dates back 17 years7 This paper presents evidence that the principles underlying the air levita-tion of the nonsulphide nonmetal minerals are the same as those utilized in the flotation of the sulphides and native metals. It will be apparent immediately to anyone with knowledge of mineral concentration that separation of air-levitated minerals in water from minerals not so levitated is a simple matter of water-gravity concentration, the separating device employed depending solely upon the size of the particles treated and the buoyancy differences effected by the levita-tion. The usual separating means employed are: (1) a flotation machine for fine, slimy and for well aerated granular material; (2) shaking tables for granular less aerated material. By using large quantities of oil, it is possible to form substantially air-free oil-bound masses or granules of nonsiliceous minerals and to

Jan 1, 1939

By A. M. Saddler, G. R. M. Del Giudice, Arthur F. Taggart, M. Hassialis

Flotation of sulphide minerals and native metals is no longer a practical difficulty. The underlying scientific principles of the method, although not explored in anything like complete detail, have been formulated with sufficient breadth so that the direction of attack on any specific case is clearly indicated. It has been known since the earliest days of flotation that certain of the nonsulphide nonmetal minerals—e.g., sulphur and graphite—would respond to flotation by oils as sulphides do; therefore they have been grouped with sulphides in many patents. But since the development of the chemical theory of collection,1,2,3 this similarity in action has been one of the facts cited in disproof of the theory by opponents of the hypothesis.4,5,6 Air levitation† of certain oxidized minerals, both metalliferous‡ and nonmetalliferous, and separation thereby from other oxidized minerals, is a recent development in practice, although the discovery of the method dates back 17 years7 This paper presents evidence that the principles underlying the air levita-tion of the nonsulphide nonmetal minerals are the same as those utilized in the flotation of the sulphides and native metals. It will be apparent immediately to anyone with knowledge of mineral concentration that separation of air-levitated minerals in water from minerals not so levitated is a simple matter of water-gravity concentration, the separating device employed depending solely upon the size of the particles treated and the buoyancy differences effected by the levita-tion. The usual separating means employed are: (1) a flotation machine for fine, slimy and for well aerated granular material; (2) shaking tables for granular less aerated material. By using large quantities of oil, it is possible to form substantially air-free oil-bound masses or granules of nonsiliceous minerals and to

Jan 1, 1939

By W. W. Eckles

This paper is presented as a suniniary report of the use of well gas composition correlations obtained from mass spectrometer recordings as a means of identification and determination of reservoir continuity. Conventional methods for detecting composition differences are en-pensive, elaborate, and difficult to obtain. This excludes the use of extensive composition data for most applications. During recent years the mass spec-trometer has come into general use as an analytical tool in petroleum refineries. The use of mass spectrometer composition patterns ir~ characterizing or "finger-printing" the produced gas from a reservoir, presents a novel method for correlatitlg gas samples from well to well. The mass spectrometer provides a trace similar to an electric log. having peaks which represent the abuntlnnce of certaitz hydrocarbons in the well gas sample. Without going further into the detailed analysis the idea has been advanced that these traces or patterns could be used as a means of identifying a particular natural gas. This theory has proven to be essentially correct. The mass spectrometer pattern method is simple and cheap as COi?7pared to other standard methods. It greatly facilitates the solution of reservoir and geological problems in which correlation of well gas Com-positions is a factor. Specific field applications have been made. This paper concerns the results obtained in 465 individual gas analyses from 35 fields and 77 res- ervoirs. In a number of cases it has been found that such data have been extremely valuable in the determination of reservoir continuity. In at least one case, the method was a valuable contribution in tracing a reservoir from sand to sand in a coinplex fnulted field involving n11rnerous gas reservoirs. Field applications are presented to illustrate the possibilities of the method at the present stage of developnient and to stimulate the ernployrnent of this new approach by geologists and petroleum engineers in the industry. INTRODUCTION Identification of producing horizons and the determination of reservoir continuity are often a problem in those areas where dome structures and highly faulted sands are encountered. To complicate the picture further, there may be numerous sands, one on top of the other which dip and diverge in different directions. Even though it may be possible to develop some solutions to the preceding problems on the basis of the geological and reservoir data on hand. it is readily recognized that substantiating data based on independent methods would he extremely valuable. It has been found through field studies that correiation of well gas composition can be used to advantage in the geological and engineering study of a complex reservoir identification problem. METHOD FOR COMPARISON AND CORRELATION OF WELL GAS SAMPLES Since a large number of well gas samples are required in a gas identification or reservoir con- tinuity problem, it is necessary that a method of analysis be employed which can detect differences in composition readily and inexpensively. Although detection would be possible by means of low temperature fractional distillation (POD) analpsis, the method requires a relatively large sample and is comparatively slow and expensive to run. The mass spectrometer affords an inexpensive and precise analysis of small well gas samples taken at the surface which are about 1/300 as large as a POD sample. These samples can be obtained by regular field personnei and shipped to the spectrometer for analysis. It is, therefore, a practical approach to the problem. A typical record from the mass spectrometer is illustrated in Fig. I. The peaks on the record represent the abundance of ions produced from the different hydrocarbon molecules making up the gas sam-ple. In well gas comparisons only five peaks are employed, since the other peaks are formed from the same gas molecules and furnish no additional information. The five peaks used represent the abundance of methane, propane, ethane, butane and heavier, and oxygen. They are referred to respectively as the 16, 29, 30, 43, and 32 peaks. The oxygen peak is used to correct for air content in

Jan 1, 1958

By Rich Akerman

as 1866, I wish to assure both these gentlemen that I had not seen the section when I designed mine, :md even if I had, I should not have then dared to put it forth as a standard for English rail makers; tind the soundness of my opinion has a simple but conclusive proof in the statement made concerning the extra price which was at that time required for their production. I need not say that I highly approve of the original Welch section, for it is in principle similar to the design which I made ufteen yeam subsequently; and from a professional point of view I would fully concecle to Mr. Welch the credit of first designing the modern steel-rail section. From com- mercial, matter of tict, and practical point of view, he was, however, before his time by many years; or to put it in another way, rail making was ten years behind its time when the new metal steel was first introduced for rails. If his design has been incorrectly identified with my name (as the sections are similar in principle, though they differ in thickness of flange and web), I beg to say (1st) that I much regret the misun- Understanding which has arisen through no fault of niine, aud (2d) that no confusion has been intentionally created by me. It is a pity that the section designed so long ago has not been made public at an earlier date, as it would make a really goal stand- and pattern, anil even now be quite equal to present requirements. In conclusion, I wish to say that I have never desired to claim any invention or novelty by the publication of my sections; they Were put forth as being such as English railmakers could and would produce at the ordinary market. price, and as being the best and most suitable to be so obtained. Had Mr. Welch or Mr. Holley put forward theirs ten or fifteen years ago, I should have been the first to recommend theru. In fact I should have been glad to see their narnes associated with rail patterns in their own country, in the same way as mine has been. PROFESSOR RICH. AKERMAN, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: i AGREE with your (Mr. Sandberg's) views that it is too early yet to stipulate only one definite chemical composition in the rails. Such a stipulation, I think, might he justified, if it were not for the manganese; but this metal changes the properties of the iron aud steel in tho same direc- tion ae carbon, silicon. and phosphorus, by increasing its tensile strength, stiffness, hardness, and brittleaess. If the iron and steel does not only contain carbon and manganese but also phosphorus,

Jan 1, 1881

By Ralph Sweetser

THE Round Table. on Qualities of Pig Iron, under the auspices of the Joint Committee on Qualities of Pig Iron, which is made up of members of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, the American Foundrymen's Association, the American Society for Testing Materials, the Gray Iron Institute, and the. Malleable Iron Institute, was held at the Palmer House, Chicago, Ill., on Oct. 1, 1935. PROCEEDINGS R. H. SWEETSER,* New York, N. Y.-Seven years ago last June we had a round table on qualities of pig iron1, and at that time the foundrymen were out with their battle-axes for the blast-furnace men, and the open-hearth men were doing the same thing. After that meeting there was really a determined effort to find out about the qualities of pig iron, and great progress has been made all along the line. This afternoon we want to have a frank discussion of the qualities of pig iron, whether it is the molten pig iron going into the steel plant, or cold pigs going to the different foundries. We ought to hear something from Dr. J. T. MacKenzie, who is chairman of the Joint Committee, and from Mr. R. E. Kennedy, the tech-nical secretary. J. T. MACKENZIE, t Birmingham, Ala.-As a result of that meeting in Chicago, there was considerable agitation in the Foundrymen's Association to develop a set of tests for pig iron. One of the difficulties was that nobody talked the same language on shrinkage, draws, live iron, dead iron, and so forth, which were the main com-plaints against pig iron. By request of a committee of the Foundrymen's Association, the Bureau of Standards ran a comprehensive set of tests that did develop the prin-ciples governing the optical pyrometer as applied to cast iron and pig iron. Then the Bureau went on further with the fluidity test, and developed a method for the absolute changes of volume at the freezing point.

Jan 1, 1936

By William P. Jones

THE consumption of sulphuric acid, one of the most important commodities in our modern industrial world, is often used as a barometer for industrial activity. The economics of acid manufacture are largely dependent upon the location of the place of consumption and the availability of raw materials in that locality. Sulphuric acid is made from SO,, oxygen from the air and water. Therefore the sulphur dioxide is the only raw material to be considered in an economic study. SO, can be obtained from almost any material containing inorganic sulphur, such as elemental sulphur, pyrites, coal, sour gas and oil, metallurgical gases, waste gases, or gypsum and anhydrite. Many tons of acid can also be reclaimed by the recovery and concentration of spent acids. The aim of this paper is to present a guide to the economic aspects to be considered when the installation of an acid plant is contemplated. It must be remembered that 1 ton of elemental sulphur produces 3 tons of sulphuric acid and that the shipping of sulphuric acid by tank car is very costly. The size of the plant must also be given careful consideration. For instance, operation of a plant producing 5 tons of acid per day might be warranted in Brazil or Pakistan, whereas economics usually favor buying quantities up to 50 tons per day for use within the United States. Elemental sulphur, when available at the low price of 1M4 per lb delivered at an acid plant, has always been the raw material most frequently used for sulphuric acid. All conditions favor its use at this price. The so-called sulphur shortage has been the subject of so many technical papers, magazine articles, and newspaper items during the past y6ar that it hardly seems necessary to mention it again, but a very brief review of the matter will serve as a foundation for the discussion that follows. There is no shortage of sulphur. Only a shortage of low-cost Frasch-mined brimstone exists today. Other more expensive sulphur-bearing materials are plentiful, both in the United States and abroad. The low cost of Frasch-mined brimstone has discouraged the development of higher cost sources. However, the approaching depletion of Gulf Coast dome deposits and the greatly increased demand for sulphur here and abroad have made it necessary for industry to prepare for conversion to utilize sulphur in other forms. For future planning this situation must be considered permanent and not temporary. This conclusion is based on the fact that although sulphur demand will continue to rise, the production of Frasch-mined sulphur probably will not increase greatly beyond its present level of about 5,000,000 long tons per year. The International Materials Conference in Washington estimates 1952 requirements of the free world at nearly 7 million long tons; and the Defense Production Administration has recently set a new goal for 8,400,000 long tons annual domestic production by 1955. The total sulphur equivalent produced in this country in 1950 was 6 million tons. What, then, are the alternatives for the manufacture of the vital chemical, sulphuric acid? Today about 85 pct of this country's sulphur, and nearly 50 pct of the world supply, comes from our Gulf Coast salt domes and is extracted from the earth by Frasch's hot water process. The Gulf Coast salt dome deposits have been the most important known natural deposits in the world, producing 90 million tons of sulphur during the past 50 years. However, at the present rate of extraction these deposits cannot be expected to last indefinitely. Pyrites Pyrites are, and have been for many years, the source of more than 50 pct of the world's sulphur requirements. The principal use, of course, is in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. The use of pyrites in the United States has diminished greatly because of the availability of low cost native sulphur, but pyrites have continued a major source of sulphur in many other countries. The most available pyrites for use in this country are in the form of lump pyritic ore and in mill tailings from flotation of other minerals such as lead, zinc, copper, gold, and silver. An important factor, when the use of pyrites for acid manufacture is being considered, is the disposal of calcine. A ton of sulphuric acid requires approximately ton of high-grade pyrite and results in 1/2 ton of calcine. If the calcine is a fairly pure oxide, free of harmful impurities, it can be used, after sintering, in an iron blast furnace burden. Its value might be as high as 15d per unit of Fe at the blast furnace; or possibly $10.00 per ton of sinter, if it assays 65 pct Fe. This might result in a credit of $4.00 per ton of acid if the sintering plant and blast furnace are both located adjacent to the acid plant. On the other hand, several factors must be considered before this credit can be realized, i.e., freight to blast furnace, availability of sintering facilities, methods of eliminating impurities, and the removal of valuable metal values. In some locations it would be most economical to dump the calcines.

Jan 1, 1953

By William P. Jones

THE consumption of sulphuric acid, one of the most important commodities in our modern industrial world, is often used as a barometer for industrial activity. The economics of acid manufacture are largely dependent upon the location of the place of consumption and the availability of raw materials in that locality. Sulphuric acid is made from SO,, oxygen from the air and water. Therefore the sulphur dioxide is the only raw material to be considered in an economic study. SO, can be obtained from almost any material containing inorganic sulphur, such as elemental sulphur, pyrites, coal, sour gas and oil, metallurgical gases, waste gases, or gypsum and anhydrite. Many tons of acid can also be reclaimed by the recovery and concentration of spent acids. The aim of this paper is to present a guide to the economic aspects to be considered when the installation of an acid plant is contemplated. It must be remembered that 1 ton of elemental sulphur produces 3 tons of sulphuric acid and that the shipping of sulphuric acid by tank car is very costly. The size of the plant must also be given careful consideration. For instance, operation of a plant producing 5 tons of acid per day might be warranted in Brazil or Pakistan, whereas economics usually favor buying quantities up to 50 tons per day for use within the United States. Elemental sulphur, when available at the low price of 1M4 per lb delivered at an acid plant, has always been the raw material most frequently used for sulphuric acid. All conditions favor its use at this price. The so-called sulphur shortage has been the subject of so many technical papers, magazine articles, and newspaper items during the past y6ar that it hardly seems necessary to mention it again, but a very brief review of the matter will serve as a foundation for the discussion that follows. There is no shortage of sulphur. Only a shortage of low-cost Frasch-mined brimstone exists today. Other more expensive sulphur-bearing materials are plentiful, both in the United States and abroad. The low cost of Frasch-mined brimstone has discouraged the development of higher cost sources. However, the approaching depletion of Gulf Coast dome deposits and the greatly increased demand for sulphur here and abroad have made it necessary for industry to prepare for conversion to utilize sulphur in other forms. For future planning this situation must be considered permanent and not temporary. This conclusion is based on the fact that although sulphur demand will continue to rise, the production of Frasch-mined sulphur probably will not increase greatly beyond its present level of about 5,000,000 long tons per year. The International Materials Conference in Washington estimates 1952 requirements of the free world at nearly 7 million long tons; and the Defense Production Administration has recently set a new goal for 8,400,000 long tons annual domestic production by 1955. The total sulphur equivalent produced in this country in 1950 was 6 million tons. What, then, are the alternatives for the manufacture of the vital chemical, sulphuric acid? Today about 85 pct of this country's sulphur, and nearly 50 pct of the world supply, comes from our Gulf Coast salt domes and is extracted from the earth by Frasch's hot water process. The Gulf Coast salt dome deposits have been the most important known natural deposits in the world, producing 90 million tons of sulphur during the past 50 years. However, at the present rate of extraction these deposits cannot be expected to last indefinitely. Pyrites Pyrites are, and have been for many years, the source of more than 50 pct of the world's sulphur requirements. The principal use, of course, is in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. The use of pyrites in the United States has diminished greatly because of the availability of low cost native sulphur, but pyrites have continued a major source of sulphur in many other countries. The most available pyrites for use in this country are in the form of lump pyritic ore and in mill tailings from flotation of other minerals such as lead, zinc, copper, gold, and silver. An important factor, when the use of pyrites for acid manufacture is being considered, is the disposal of calcine. A ton of sulphuric acid requires approximately ton of high-grade pyrite and results in 1/2 ton of calcine. If the calcine is a fairly pure oxide, free of harmful impurities, it can be used, after sintering, in an iron blast furnace burden. Its value might be as high as 15d per unit of Fe at the blast furnace; or possibly $10.00 per ton of sinter, if it assays 65 pct Fe. This might result in a credit of $4.00 per ton of acid if the sintering plant and blast furnace are both located adjacent to the acid plant. On the other hand, several factors must be considered before this credit can be realized, i.e., freight to blast furnace, availability of sintering facilities, methods of eliminating impurities, and the removal of valuable metal values. In some locations it would be most economical to dump the calcines.

Jan 1, 1953

By Henry S. Mackay

The interesting paper recently submitted by Messrs. Tobelmann and Potter1 shows that chemical problems have developed which are of great interest in this new and important branch of metallurgy. Those who realize what a process of this kind really involves will agree that it deserves a better name than '(leaching process." The word leaching conveys the idea that the copper is simply leached out of the ore with acid and then precipitated on iron; the chemistry of such a process would be of little interest. As, however, during the first year's operation of this plant 24,400,532 lb. (11,067,837 kg.) or about two-thirds of the produce, was electrolytic copper, while 7,992,033 lb., or about one-third, was cement copper, it would seem more appropriate to term the process electrochemical. It further appears, from the particulars given, that efforts have been made to have the entire production in the form of electrolytic copper. This could be done if the chemistry of the problem were kept in balance, so that it would not be necessary to discard any solutions that carried copper and acid of commercial value. A process, such as that under consideration, in which the copper is precipitated from solution by electrolysis, the solvent being at the same time regenerated, is one that requires special chemical and electrochemical knowledge and experience if all the copper in solution that has been extracted from the ore is to be successfully and economically produced as electrolytic copper. The object of this paper is to discuss, from the practical and theoretical standpoints, the chemical and electrochemical problems involved in the working of a process of this kind, and which must be solved to keep it in chemical and electrochemical equilibrium. In such a process, if the chemical balance is maintained, a solution can be used alternately as a solvent for the copper in the ore and as an electrolyte of high efficiency for the precipitation of the copper. To maintain the chemical equilibrium and so attain this result, the process must be so controlled that the solu-

Jan 1, 1921

By Charles B. Dudley

In the spring of 1877, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company became so dissatisfied with the average life and wear of the steel rails it was then able to procure, that it determined to make an invest,igation into the chemical composition and physical properties of steel rails, with a view, first, to answering the question why one steel rail has to be removed from the track after, perhaps, eight months' service, while another lasts ten years; and, secondly, if this investigation succeeded in throwing light on this important subject, to use this information in securing better rails in the future. The results

Jan 1, 1879

By C. B. Dudley

IN the spring of 1877, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company became so dissatisfied with the average life and wear of the steel rails it was then able to procure, that it determined to make an investigation into the chemical composition and physical properties of steel rails, with a view, first, to answering the question why one steel rail has to be removed from the track after, perhaps, eight months' service, while another lasts ten years ; and, secondly, if this investigation succeeded in throwing light on this important subject, to use this information in securing better rails in the future. The results

Jan 1, 1879

By Herbert Dlaska

The BBU - rotary hearth treats lead concentrates and battery scrap by the roast-reaction process. It corresponds in principle to the long-known Newnam hearth, however its hearth-basin is not straight but curved to a closed ring. In operation this annular hearth is filled with liquid lead and rotates around a central blast-box. The charge, heated to a glowing-red, floats on top of the lead bath, into which air is blown from the blast-box through a horizontal slot-type tuyere. Ore pellets and brown coal are continuously charged onto the reacting mass from two storage bins. Lead is set free by the roasting reactions and trickles through the charge into the lead bath from where it is tapped from time to time. The reacting mass is continuously stirred by a mechanical agitator and backed, by a mechanical shovel, against the water-jacketed wall of the blast-box. The gangue of the charge forms lumps of scorified character, the so-called hearth slag or grey slag, which are discharged from the hearth. The waste gases are collected in a hood and conducted to a baghouse from where the fumes and dust are automatically transported to the pelletizing installation and are recycled with new material. The daily output of lead bullion depends mainly on the lead content of the charge. With lead concentrates containing 74% lead, about 24 tons of lead bullion per day are produced on the hearth at a direct lead recovery of about 89 per cent. Approximately 10 per cent of the lead content of the new material passes into the hearth slag from where it can be recovered in a blast furnace or in a rotary furnace. For small lead smelters the BBU-process represents the most economical way of melting high-grade lead concentrates. The process requires a relatively small capital investment, consumes little fuel, utilizes cheap fuel and is very flexible. Further, of great importance, is the fact that battery scrap can be treated by the BBU-process with very good results.

Jan 1, 1970

By H. E. Wheeler

THE work described was carried out during 1917 and 1918 at the testing laboratory of Watertown Arsenal at the instigation of the Nitrate Division and later with the concurrence of the Cannon Section of, the Ordnance Department, U. S. A. The experiments follow three principal lines of work: First, the effect of nitrogen under pressure on steel containers of various compositions at a red heat; second, the effect of decomposing ammonia on various alloy steels, iron, and non-ferrous alloys; third, a new theory of the erosion of guns in respect to the effect of nitrogen in steel. PART I In the Haber process for the manufacture of ammonia from its elements, it is necessary to have nitrogen and hydrogen of 1500 lb. per sq. in. (105.5 kg. per sq. cm.) at a temperature of 500 to 600° C. The steel containers for these gases gave trouble by failing without apparent cause. When the General Chemical Co. began to develop its method for the production of ammonia, it experienced the same difficulty and, knowing that the Haber process had solved the difficulty by the use of alloy steels, it made several small steel bottles of different compositions and kept them filled with these gases at this pressure and temperature until they failed. The time of service varied from a few days, for the plain steel casting, to two years for a chrome-vanadium forging. Four of these steel bottles were sent to this laboratory for investigation; they were a plain carbon-steel forging, a nickel-steel forging, a chrome-vanadium steel forging, and a chrome-steel forging. The time of service was as follows: plain carbon steel, 4 mo.; nickel steel, 6 mo.; chrome-vanadium steel, over 2 yr.; chrome steel, 4 mo. When these containers were cut open and the cross-section surface polished, they showed an inside zone with a different luster from the rest of the metal. Upon etching, this zone was almost unaffected while the rest of the steel etched normally.

Jan 4, 1920

By Robert Archer

THE proper material of construction for a given purpose is that material which meets the requirements satisfactorily at the lowest ultimate cost. It is consistent with this principle that most aluminum castings are made of an alloy containing about 8 per cent. copper. This alloy possesses mechanical properties satisfactory for general engineering purposes together with manufacturing characteristics leading to the production of finished castings at low cost. It is to the aluminum industry what gray iron is to the iron and steel industry. Just as some services require "semi-steel," malleable castings or steel castings instead of gray iron, there is a certain and growing demand for aluminum castings of superior strength or ductility, or both. Since the beginning of the industry producers and others have sought to develop alloys or processes by which such castings could be made. Out of these efforts have emerged many alloy compositions and special processes, of which only a few have had sufficient merit to survive. It is the purpose of this paper to describe those which seem to the authors to offer the greatest promise for the production on a commercial scale of aluminum castings of superior mechanical properties, with special reference to heat-treated castings. The suitability of an alloy or process for actual manufacture is affected by so many factors that the problem of appraisal is not a simple one. Since this is such an important part of the whole subject it is proposed to discuss briefly some of the requirements. The final verdict is of course the result of commercial trial and experience. It will therefore, perhaps, be profitable to employ a somewhat historical method of treatment in discussing the subject of alloy development.

Jan 9, 1926

Henry D. Hibbard, Plainfield, N J. (communication to the Secretary*):—This very interesting history is a valuable addition to our knowledge of the basic process and its introduction to this country. In addition to the attempts noted in the paper which were made here to establish the basic Bessemer process, and the experiment with the Siemens-Martin process at the Otis works, there were others made with the latter-named process at about the same date, all of which failed or, at least, were discontinued. The first attempt which survived was that of Carnegie,

Jan 1, 1911