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By F. R. Archibald, F. C. Jackson

The. prospect of winning aluvinum from clay was recorded almost a century ago at a time when the metal was no more than a curiosity.$ As the industry developed, and it has probably developed faster than that of any other metal, the expanding need for raw materials was adequately met by the ample supplies of bauxite ore. As with the other metals older in industry, however, lower grade ores have gradually entered the raw-material field through improvements in ore dressing, insufficienoy of high-grade ore supplies, favorable geographic location, or national necessity for domestic supply. So with aluminum, or alumina, which has been established as the requisite intermediate, the time may have come when a satisfactory process, with favorable location and suitable raw materials, can hold a sound place both in metallurgy and economics. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the Ancor process and its proposed application in treatment of clay in a plant now under construction at Harleyville, South Carolina, by the Defense Plant Corporation. Development of the AncoR Process The Ancor process has developed through successive stages of laboratory investigation, pilot-plant demonstration using neph-eline syenite and pilot-plant demonstration using kaolin-type clay from South Carolina, and is now in preparation for unit trial on an operating plant basis using the latter material. The laboratory studies were carried out over a number of years in the laboratory of the American Nepheline Corporation in Rochester, N. Y., and for the same company in the ore-dressing laboratory of Beattie Gold Mines, Que. Ltd. at Dupar-quet, Quebec. Both companies are associated with Ventures Ltd., Toronto, and its associated American companies. The work was originally undertaken with a view to recovery of alumina and alkalies from nepheline syenite as an adjunct to the American Nepheline Company's established business in the glass and ceramic trades, but as a process developed the possibility of application to clay and other aluminous raw materials became apparent and the laboratory studies were broadened to include these as well. Under the more pressing impetus of wartime needs and possibilities, pilot-plant operations were undertaken at the Canadian Bureau of Mines Ore Dressing Laboratories in Ottawa, and for purposes of demonstration under joint sponsorship of the Canadian Bureau of Mines, The American Nepheline Corporation, and The Aluminium company of canada Ltd. Upon completion of this program, of

Jan 1, 1944

By A. M. Starfield

The study of strain waves in rock over the past decade has, for the most part, been an investigation related, but not applied, to rock blasting; the design of rock blasts has proceeded on a basis that is independent of strain wave research. This duality is reflected in the paper by Dr. Clark.1 While the greater part of the paper is devoted to a discussion of spherical waves in elastic and visco-elastic media, it is in an entirely unrelated section, the section on scaling and cratering, that the practical approach to rock blasting is found. Work done by the U. S. Bureau of Mines, as described in the paper by Duvall, Atchison, and Fogelson,2 has established a correlation between crater dimensions and the peak compressive strain in the rock. Strain wave measurements have thus been used to compare explosives but have not, as yet, been applied to the planning of a production round once an explosive has been selected. The optimum burden, for instance, is still determined either by experience, empirical formulae (e.g. that of Langefors 3), or a cratering experiment and the theory that has been developed around that proposed by Livingston.4 Even then there is some ambiguity in applying deductions from short, concentrated explosive charges to the long charges often used in practice (although Bauer 5 reports doing this with considerable success) and wave theory has until recently thrown no light on this problem, being confined, with only a few exceptions, to spherical charges. The hesitation in applying strain wave theory has probably been due to two questions that have not been answered satisfactorily: just how important is the strain wave in rock breakage, and if it is important, under what conditions will the wave break rock? This paper is an attempt to answer the first question, to avoid the second question by an admittedly oversimplified assumption, and then to investigate the implications of this assumption for blasting with long cylindrical charges.

Jan 1, 1967

By William B. Plank

ENROLMENT data given in this report of the seventh study of the schools by the Mineral Industry Education Division reveals the critical situation in the mineral engineering schools of the United States. Complete figures for the year 1942-43 show that at that time, about one year after Pearl Harbor, the enrollment of mineral engineers was 6385 or 30 per cent less than in 199441. By October 1943, however, enrollment had dropped to 2050, as reported in the Journal of Engineering Education of January 1944. This was a further reduction of 68 per cent in one year, or 77 per cent in three years. With accelerated programs in effect during the current year, with many graduations since last October, and with the military forces taking practically all the high school graduates, the present enrollment is, of course, much lower than the 2050 above given. There are no late data on the exact situation. In Canada, the same situation exists in the mineral engineering schools, only

Jan 1, 1944

By AIME AIME

ALMOST as many attended the annual dinner this year as last, when the presence of Mr. Hoover was such an attraction that almost two-thirds more than had ever attended before were present. Only by putting the late comers at tables in the balcony could everybody be accommodated. Past President De-Golyer was the toastmaster and in opening the post-prandial exercises referred to the regrettable fact that this was the last of the long series of dinners which have been held at the Waldorf, as the hotel will be torn down to give way to an office building before another year. To the delight of the gathering "Oscar" appeared and, in a delightfully brief but characteristic speech, referred to the long association that had existed and hinted that a new Waldorf-Astoria may arise, where the Institute could continue to gather annually in an enlarged replica of the room they had met in so long. Before taking up the presentation of the medals, Mr. DeGolyer referred to the Institute's "Legion of Honor," the 34 men who have been members continuously for over fifty years. For various reasons only five of them, W. S. Ayres, F. G. Corning, Henry D. Hibbard, A. F. Schneider and Arthur Thacher, could be present. They were all seated at the speaker's table, and W. S. Ayres, 56 years a member, as the dean of the group, was called on to respond for them all. He said: "The introduction I have just received would indicate that this particular group of men to which I belong is considered by the chairman to be a group of real antiques. Possibly you are questioning the accuracy of his judgment. I hope you are, although there may be some first-sight evidences tending to substantiate the view held by the chairman.

Jan 1, 1929

By S. S. Arentz

An organized safety program has reduced accidents at Pioche because effort is first devoted to arousing and maintaining interest in safety, followed by training in accident prevention, assigning responsibility for the detection and removal of safety hazards, and finally, by keeping score through an adequate system of records. A health program is intergrated with the safety program.

Jan 1, 1950

By W. T. Turrall, M. J. Cook

A discussion of modern developments in beneficiation of fine sizes of anthracite, this paper includes a description of the plant flowsheet, an analysis of operating results, and a summary of fundamentals of mineral separation relative to plant operation. DURING the past several years Lehigh Naviga-tion Coal Co. has installed equipment at Tamaqua and Lansford collieries for cleaning and sizing No. 4 buckwheat —3/32 + 3/64 in. and for recovering and cleaning flotation coal —20 + 200 mesh at Tamaqua colliery. Papers describing some of these installations have been presented to AIME. At Coaldale colliery, however, methods used to clean fine coal were inadequate and inefficient. Management decided upon a thorough investigation of all existing processes before building a plant to treat the combined three sizes mentioned. Investigation, carried out on company property and at other plants, entailed a study of hydrotators, hydroclassifiers, tables, spirals, flotation machines, methods of screening, and methods of dewatering. On the basis of this investigation a flowsheet was designed which necessarily excluded many processes in use, and the writers wish to emphasize that no criticism is implied by omission of processes or machines. A determining factor in selection of many machines was the policy of standardizing equipment wherever possible. Flowsheet and Operational Data The first principle to be considered in designing of any plant is efficiency of cleaning as related to laws of classification. Beneficiation of coal may be described as separation of two materials having different specific gravities. Although there is an inherent ash content even in the purest coal which slightly affects its specific gravity, it is recognized that many particles are true middlings. The percentage of these particles allowable in the final product depends upon the ultimate ash, or specifications of the consumer. Richards in his study of free settling and hindered settling classification' determined that particles of equal size and different specific gravities had unequal settling velocities. He also determined a definite size relationship for equal settling velocities with free settling and hindered settling conditions. Considering the design of machines used to clean No. 4 and No. 5 buckwheat, it may be assumed that both free settling and hindered settling conditions exist and that ratio of size for practical operations is between the established values. The essential factor is that the more efficiently and closely sized the feed is maintained, the more nearly perfect the resulting separation. Flowsheet design was governed primarily by factors related to the 1200 to 1500 tons per hr feed to the main plant. It should be stressed that because of the many sources of supply from mine and stripping, the physical characteristics of this feed varied considerably. The most significant influence was varying percentage of fines, necessitating that all machines be capable of operating under maximum peak load during periods of surge. Since cleaning practice is a wet process, about 9000 gal per min containing 14 to 15 pct solids, or 350 tons per hr, must be treated. This slurry contained all the fines, or —3/32 in., but also percentages of oversize, up to 1 % in., dependent on spills or breaks in screen jackets, a not uncommon occurrence in preparation plant practice. The flowsheet developed is shown in Fig. 1. Circled numbers represent points of sampling. Table I gives operational data including size, ash by size, composite ash, rate of flow in gallons per minute, percent solids dry weight, and average tons of solids per hour. It should be noted that these results are subject to human error in sampling practice. Detailed information reported is a representative evaluation of plant operation.

Jan 1, 1954

By AIME AIME

M ALBERTSON is research engineer for the Shell Petroleum COT. He joined the Roxana Petroleum Corp. (later the Shell) in 1920, at Hanger, Texas, became district geologist at Shreveport, and after two years was transferred to the production department, where he has been for the past fifteen years. His jobs have ranged from a modest field engineer up to assistant production manager. During this time hc has successively resided in Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, The Hague (Holland), and Texas. II? the Yates Pool, Texas, in 1929, "Al" initiated' the tubing of wells under pressure to control gas-oil ratios, particularly at restricted rates of flow. This led to the compulsory tubing of all oil wells drilled in the State

Jan 1, 1937

By AIME AIME

THE best meeting ever held, was the opinion expressed by a number of those who attended the annual meeting of the Institute in New York, Feb. 18 to 21, and there was an atmosphere of friendliness and good fellowship about it that fully justified the feeling. In numbers it was not quite so large as last year and unless the Engineering Societies should build for themselves a new building it is probable that no meeting can be larger, in respect to numbers, than that held in 1928, which was only made possible by the circumstance that the eighth floor of the building happened to be, temporarily vacant at the time. The number of rooms available for -sessions that were provided when the building was built long ago proved inadequate, and it is only by the expedient of obtaining the temporary use of the board and committee rooms of other societies that it is possible to arrange for the over 40 sessions that must be spread over the four days of the meeting. The-fifth floor, where. a buffet lunch is served each-day, has reached its full capacity and it seems quite evident that any future development of Institute meetings must be along the lines of quality, not size.

Jan 1, 1929

By AIME

BILL BREWSTER was a natural for the steel business. His family lived at Iron Mountain, Mich., when Bill was born on June 14, 1889, so that he had iron in his blood. Always he has looked toward the finished product, rather than the raw material, so that it was a fore-gone conclusion that he should work toward the steel end of the business. After preparing for college at Hotch-kiss Academy he entered the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University from which he graduated in 1910 with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. No reunion of his class would be complete without Bill Brewster. Unlike many of us who try several jobs before settling down, Bill shot straight for the mark. After a summer's work at Iron Mountain, making sure of his background in the production of the raw iron ore, he entered the employ of Wisconsin Steel Works of the International Harvester Co. in September 1910 and has been there ever since. It wasn't much of a job to start with, just a laborer in the billet dock department, but soon there was an opening in the blast-furnace department, where he started as superintendent's clerk in December 1910.

Jan 1, 1946

By A. B. Kinzel

THE demands of the petroleum and chemical industries for steels to be used in pressure vessels and similar structures at artificially low tempera-tures are continually increasing, and the writing of proper specifications with suitable tests becomes increasingly important. Likewise, the selec-tion of suitable steels for such applications is of increasing concern to the metallurgist. It is generally recognized that highly alloyed steels of the austenitic stainless type retain their properties even at very low tempera-tures and represent the best technological solution of the low-temperature steel problem. However, in many instances less expensive carbon or low-alloy steels suitable for service within limited temperature ranges are available. The problem thus becomes one of defining the various factors involved in the production and fabrication of these less expensive steels and determining the temperature ranges in which their properties justify engineering application. Most of the applications involve welded structures, and the heat effect of welding as well as the nature of the weld metal are matters of prime concern. The first problem that the metallurgist faces is the determination of the type of test to be used as a criterion of the performance of the steel in low-temperature service. It has been generally recognized that the static properties of steel as determined in the ordinary tensile test undergo a gradual and relatively slight change as the temperature of test is lowered in the range of current interest; i.e., from room temperature to minus 120° C. It is further generally recognized that the behavior of steel under impact involving notch sensitivity is definitely affected at the lower temperatures. While the major subject of this paper is the effect of grain-refining deoxidizers, of low-alloy additions and of welding on the low-temperature notched-bar impact properties, an inquiry into the general behavior of steel under low-temperature impact testing is included. This is a pertinent portion of the investigation and the results thereof are

Jan 1, 1937

By AIME AIME

FEW indeed are the sections of the country where trained or partly trained workers have not already been hired by a war industry plant or will be within the near future. Yet right in the midst of the heavily industrialized East lies the anthracite area, home of a million people, whose productive power has persistently been by-passed either by private industry or by the Government Plant Site Board. The chief reason given for not locating war plants in the area is that it is not within the strategic zone, but in numerous instances elsewhere this rule has been waived. Furthermore, the anthracite region is well protected on all sides by mountains and is at all points more than 100 miles inland. Continued depression in the anthracite industry and a crippling blow dealt by the war emergency to the production of silk and rayon goods, the chief manufacturing activity of the area, have resulted in a heavy migration, particularly of trained young workers, into near-by industrial areas. At least 50,000 people are currently unemployed, with the likelihood of an increase in coming months, and as many families are on relief.

Jan 1, 1942

By L. D. Muller, C. P. Sayles

When minerals are mined in arid or semiarid areas where water is at a premium, dry processing is a natural route to take for concentrating or classifying the values. Until recently though, dry processing technique were limited by the lack of suitable equipment. With the advent of the pneumatic pinched sluice at Warren Spring Laboratory, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, a new tool emerged to fill this gap and it has the potential of providing industry with a high output concentrator or preconcentrator for dry natural ores and secondary materials. The pneumatic pinched sluice gives every indication of fulfilling these requirements with the added advantage that with homogeneous materials-such as crushed limestone or quartzose sands-it may alternatively operate as a high throughput dry classifier or sizing device. An industrial version of the equipment is now being manufactured by Dryflow Separators Ltd., as sole licensee for the National Re- search Development Corporation.

Jan 1, 1971

By H. S. Rankin, E. C. Houston

OLIVINE is considered a valuable potential source of metallic magnesium in the chloride electrolytic process. Treatment of olivine with hydrochloric acid can be carried out under conditions that prevent the formation of gelatinous silicic acid, which would inhibit the reaction by forming a covering around the ore particles. It is our hypothesis that the formation of gelatinous silicic acid is avoided by the dehydrating action of the magnesium chloride, which takes up water to form a series of hydrates and leaves the silicic acid in granular condition. Leaching serves to separate the magnesium chloride from the silicic acid and unattacked ore, which can be treated with fresh acid in successive steps until extraction is essentially complete. The leach solution can be purified by the addition of caustic magnesia and the precipitated impurities removed by decantation or filtration. The resulting magnesium chloride contains: Fe, less than 0.001 per cent; Mn, 0.012 per cent; Ni, none. Chlorinationt of olivine has two major defects: (I) a large part of the chlorine goes to form silicon and iron chlorides, (2) the anhydrous magnesium chloride is held by absorption in the finely divided silica. SUPPLY It is well known that olivine, a silicate of magnesium and iron, is present in large amounts in several localities in the United States. The largest deposits occur in the southeast and on the Pacific Coast.1 The southeastern deposits were surveyed by Lewis2 in 1896 and by Hunter3 in the period 1933-1940. It is estimated that high-grade olivine, conveniently located with regard to transportation and power, is present in excess of 230 million tons above local drainage level in western North Carolina and north Georgia. PREVIOUS TECHNICAL WORK In the past few years, olivine has attracted considerable attention in the refractory field. In the chemical processing industry, however, it has long been thought axiomatic that the cost of processing silicates is an economic barrier to their utilization, especially where more reactive minerals, such as carbonates, oxides or salts, are available. This attitude is not entirely justified in connection with olivine. Unlike most silicates, olivine is readily attacked by acids, chlorine and other reagents without resorting to fusion to break down the silicate structure. Olivine has been suggested as a raw material for making epsom salt by roasting with pyrites.4 Other processes include acid treatments and digestion with calcium chloride.6 Recently a small plant was built near Webster, N. C., for making epsom salt from olivine by treatment with sulphuric acid. This plant is now in commercial operation, producing approximately two tons per day. Olivine is also receiving attention from the fertilizer industry as an inexpensive source of soluble magnesium.

Jan 1, 1942

By E. E. Underwood, L. L. Marsh

Aluminum single crystals, alloyed with 0.042 atomic pet Cu and 0.11 and 1.1 atomic pct Mg, were subjected to constant stress creep tests, tensile tests, and hot hardness measurements within a temperature range of 300° to 866OK. Calculations based on Dorn's temperature-compensated time parameter, 6, gave a value of DH, = 27,000 cal per mol for the activation energy of early creep in aluminum single crystals. Correlations have been obtained for aluminum alloy single crystals with the parameter E for solid solution strengthening, as well as with the parameter F for solid solution hardening, by using a valence of three for aluminum. Limited measurements on tensile specimens show that the slip band density tends to decrease with increasing temperature and with decreasing solute concentration. INCREASING interest is being shown in the mechanisms of plastic deformation in single crystals during tensile and creep testing. The complexity of deformational processes in polycrystalline materials has led to a search for simpler experimental conditions. Numerous creep and tensile investigations have been conducted with pure, metallic single crystals. To a lesser degree, the effects of alloying elements on the tensile properties of single crystals have been determined. However: the literature dealing with the effects of alloying additions in single crystals under creep conditions is vanishingly small. This paper represents an attempt to narrow this gap in the knowledge of the subject. Previous investigations of creep behavior at the Battelle Memorial Institute1-1 have been of great value in the analysis of the present single crystal data. It is equally desirable, however, to ascertain the extent of correspondence between the behavior of single crystal and polycrystalline materials. For this purpose, correlations, similar to those developed for polycrystalline aluminum alloys by Dorn and co-workers, have been made with the single crystal data. The results from this study have tended to confirm and extend those correlations to the case of alloyed single crystals. Materials and Procedures Three dilute binary aluminum alloys were prepared for this investigation from 99.99 + wt pct Al, 99.8 wt pct Mg, and 99.92 wt pct (electrolytic) Cu. The nominal compositions of the alloys were 0.042 atomic pct Cu, and 0.11 and 1.1 atomic pet Mg. Precautions were taken to avoid contamination of the stock during melting and casting of the alloys. After a heat treatment of 8 hr at 925°F the alloys were extruded, then machined into) threaded tensile specimens with a 3 in. reduced section and a 0.505 in. diam. Spectrographic examination showed less than 47 ppm metallic impurities in each alloy. The single crystals were grown by the strain-anneal method, with a critical strain of about 11/4 pet giving the optimum results. In general, 3 in. crystals were obtained with the Al-Cu alloy, but smaller crystals in the magnesium alloys necessitated the use of 2 in. and 1 in. gage lengths with the low and high magnesium alloy specimens, respectively. After an electrolytic polish, the orientation of that portion of the specimen containing the largest single crystal was determined from Laue back-reflection photographs. Tensile tests were conducted at a constant load rate of about 2 lb per min. Creep runs were made in a constant temperature room, under constant stress at the higher creep temperatures, and constant load at the lower temperatures. The eloneation was measured to within ±5 microin. by a specially designed capacitance extensometer. The ex-tensometer arms were attached to the 3 in. specimens at the shoulders of the test piece or, where the crystals were smaller than 3 in., by knife-edge grips.

Jan 1, 1957

By George C. Bravner

WITH the great expansion currently being made in the aluminum output of the United States, not only by the company that has heretofore been the sole producer but by a now organization in the field it is only natural to wonder to what degree the; ore reserves of the United States can contribute to the growing consumption. For the three-year period 1937-'39 the U.S. Bureau of Mine's figures indicate that the annual domestic production of bauxite averaged about 370,000 long tons, compared with average, annual import of about 194,000 long tons. About 85 per cent of the imports came from Surinam, nearly all of which went into aluminum manufacture. Not all of the or -kipped from mines in the United States is used to make alumimun however as Bureau figures indicate that in these three years an average of only 48 per cent of the domestic ore shipment were so used the abrasive chemical and other industries taking respectively 27, 21, and 4 per cent of the output. The recent increase in the demand for bauxite has been of course in it use for aluminum manufacture. This as is well known is largely attributable to the world race for supremacy in

Jan 1, 1941

By S. W. Miller

During the examination of welds made in steel by the oxy-acetylene and electric-arc processes, the writer has met with some unusual structures, which he has not encountered elsewhere. They seem to be quite closely associated with the welding methods used, and characteristic of them, and would seem to be worth noting, especially as the references to them in the literature are few, and their explanation not clear or complete. An introductory word or two about fusion welding may not be out of place. The oxy-acetylene process is based on the great and very local heat generated by the burning of acetylene in the presence of commercially pure oxygen, the two gases being thoroughly mixed before combustion. The theoretical temperature is somewhat under 4000" C, but on account of various losses, the actual maximum temperature is probably about 3000" C.' The electric-arc process, using a metal electrode, which is also the filling rod, generates a still higher and more local temperature. The actual temperature of the positive crater of the carbon arc is given as 3500" C.2 NO figures have been found for the temperature of the arc using a metal electrode, but it would probably not be very different from that of the carbon arc, and probably higher than that of the bxy-acetylene flame. The greater localization of the electric arc is due to the fact that it is not surrounded by a large envelope flame, as well as to its higher temperature; while the oxy-acetylene white cone, or welding flame, in which the carbon of the acetylene is burned to CO, is surrounded and preceded by a long envelope flame, itself of quite high temperature, in which the CO is burned to GO2, and the hydrogen of the acetylene to H2O. This flame spreads around and over the pieces being welded, heating them to a further distance from the weld than does the electric arc.

Jan 1, 1918

By Butler, P. B.

TRIPOLI is a rather unusual form of silica, which thus far has been found in commercially valuable quantities only in the neighborhood of Seneca, Mo., although there are numerous deposits of somewhat similar materials in several southern states. The latter have not, however, attained any position of real importance, due undoubtedly to definite structural limitations which have rendered them less suitable for the particular uses that have given tripoli its principal outlets. Raymond B. Ladoo, mineral technologist, says': "Since that time (1880-90) the term tripoli has with increasing definiteness been reserved for the Seneca material, and other siliceous materials of similar origin and physical properties."

Jan 1, 1928

By Walter J. Karplus, Otto J. M. Smith

The transient response of earth formations may be tlcter.171ined by means of four electrodes mounted coli-rienrly on n sonde. Exponentially decaying current pules are applied to one pair of electrodes and the re.rrrlting voltage transient at the other pair is recorded. It is shown by theoreticol analysis and verified by laboratory experiments that this arrangement readily yields the direct resistivity of the formation and provides valrrable additional information as well. INTRODUCTION Although electrical transients have been employed with moderate success in geophysical prospecting, their application to well logging has received virtually no attention in technical literature. In the conventional direct resistivity logging methods only the zero frequency impedance of the formation under study is measured, and no information is obtained regarding its reactive characteristics. Since the use of certain transients appears to offer some advantages in this respect, experiments were performed on a laboratory scale to investigate this possibility. This investigation was limited to a study of a four-electrode array where both the receiving and transmitting electrode pairs are mounted on a logging sonde, and decaying exponential pulses are applied to the transmitting electrodes. THEORY Given an electrode configuration as shown in Fig. I, located in a homogenous medium of resistivity p, if each electrode has an effective radius, r, which is small compared to the spacing, s and a, it is easy to show by integrating the volume resistivity that the input resistance, Rrw, of the transmitting electrodes is Rxw=p/2pr If a capacitor of capacity C, charged to a voltage Em, is suddenly connected to these electrodes, the resulting current, I(t), will then be The voltage transient, E(t), at the receiving electrodes may then be found by substracting the resulting potential at electrode Y from that appearing at electrode Z. and by inserting Eqs. 1 and 2 Integrating Eq. 4 with respect to tim

Jan 1, 1957

By H. M. Roche

MAGNETITE mining and milling in the Eastern States was sharply curtailed in 1938, production showing a decrease of 36 per cent from 1936 and 57 per cent from 1937. Six mines, one in Pennsylvania, two in New York, and three in New Jersey were in operation, either part or full time, during the year. In recent years ten Eastern magnetite mines have been more or less active but since the World War the market for Eastern ores- has been spotty. The scrapping of Eastern merchant pig iron furnaces, imports of cheaply mined duty-free foreign ore, and high freight cost have been contributing factors.

Jan 1, 1939

By E. C. Houston, H. S. Rankin

Olivine is considered a valuable potential source of metallic magnesium in the chloride electrolytic process. Treatment of olivine with hydrochloric acid can be carried out under conditions that prevent the formation of gelatinous silicic acid, which would inhibit the reaction by forming a covering around the ore particles. It is our hypothesis that the formation of gelatinous silicic acid is avoided by the dehydrating action of the magnesium chloride, which takes up water to form a series of hydrates and leaves the silicic acid in granular condition. Leaching serves to separate the magnesium chloride from the silicic acid and unattacked ore, which can be treated with fresh acid in successive steps until extraction is essentially complete. The leach solution can be i purified by the addition of caustic magnesia and the precipitated impurities removed by decantation or filtration. The resulting magnesium chloride contains: Fe, less than 0.001 Per cent; Mn, 0.012 ; per cent; Ni, none. Chlorination† of olivine has two major defects: (1) a large part of the chlorine goes to form silicon and iron chlorides, (2) the anhydrous magnesium chloride is held by absorption in the finely divided silica. SupplY It is well known that olivine, a silicate of magnesium and iron, is present in large amounts in several localities in the United States. The largest deposits occur in the southeast and on the Pacific Coast.' The southeastern deposits were surveyed by Lewis2 in 1896 and by Hunter3 in the period 1933-1940 It is estimated that high-grade olivine, conveniently located with regard to transportation and power, is present in excess of 230 million tons above local drainage level in western North Carolina and north Georgia. Previous Technical Work In the past few years, olivine has attracted considerable attention in the refractory field. In the chemical processing industry, however, it has long been thought axiomatic that the cost of processing silicates is an economic barrier to their utilization, especially where more reactive minerals, such as carbonates, oxides or salts, are available. This attitude is not entirely justified in connection with olivine. unlike most silicates, olivine is readily attacked by acids, chlorine and other reagents without resorting to fusion to break down the silicate structure. Olivine has been suggested as a raw material for making epsom salt by roasting with pyrites.4 Other processes include acid treatment6 and digestion with calcium chloride.6 Recently a small plant was built near Webster, N. C., for making epsom salt from olivine by treatment with sulphuric acid. This plant is now in commercial operation, producing approximately two tons per day. Olivine is also receiving attention from the fertilizer industry as an inexpensive source of soluble magnesium.

Jan 1, 1942