Search Documents

By Alden Greninger

METALLURGISTS have long believed that martensite in steel forms as plates along the octahedral {111} planes of austenite. Much has been written about mechanisms whereby units of the austenite lattice are pictured as transforming to martensite by shearing movements initiated along the octahedral planes of austenite, supposedly resulting in plates of martensite lying parallel to these planes of shear. A critical inspection of two or three photomicrographs of quenched hypereutectoid steel led us to the conclusion that the orientation habit of martensite, at least in hypereutectoid austenite, could not possibly be octahedral. Inasmuch as recent studies30,31 of the martensite-type reaction in nonferrous alloy systems have established the irrational orientation habit as characteristic of this type of lattice transformation, the need for a thorough restudy of the crystallography of martensite formation in steel was evident. The present paper reports the results of such a study, extended to include both cementite and some of the products of constant-temperature decomposition of austenite. Also reported are a few of the results obtained from a microscopic and X-ray study of the austempering process in very high-carbon steel.

Jan 1, 1940

This listing of members is arranged to show company affiliation The primary breakdown is by state or country, then by company name and political subdivision At the end of each major group is a general list showing members affiliated with schools or colleges and those who did not indicate any company affiliation The listing, for countries outside United States, is broken down generally by continents and alphabetically within the continent by countries The various countries are indexed on the preced¬ing page *-The asterisk indicates members available for consulting work Anyone desiring to be listed with AIME as available for consulting work can do so by sending a written request to the office of the Secretary.

Jan 1, 1952

By Gerald C. Dohm

INTRODUCTION After a mining company has discovered a mineral deposit, the problem is then how to mine and process that deposit the best way. The principal problem facing managers or engineers who must decide on mine plant size, equipment selection, and long-range scheduling is how one can optimize a property not only in terms of efficiency but also as to project duration. Mine opti¬mization is dependent upon the interaction of con¬tributing parameters which leads to maximizing the net present value (NPV) Realistic mine planning is the key, to the analysis. The process is to be used when evaluating undeveloped properties or when a complete revamping of existing facilities is scheduled The proc¬ess is not intended for detailed mine design but rather for property evaluation and feasibility studies. The derivation of the various input parameters will only be discussed to the point where a meaningful correlation can be made with the overall analysis. The interrelationship of the parameters will be the central point because most company guidelines and financial analysts have their own standards when deriving the various inputs. Assume that the data is totally acceptable and pro¬vides at least the following categories of information and guidelines- (1) mineral and waste inventory; (2) geologic, hydrologic, and geotechnical criteria; (3) topographic layout including property boundaries; (4) metallurgical flowsheet, recovery and design criteria; (5) access, water, power, and environmental base-line study; and (6) financial constraints (minimum rate of return, payback period, etc).

Jan 1, 1979

By W. R. Clark, W. W. Cotter

Jan 1, 1946

By W. W. Cotter, W. R. Clark

Jan 1, 1946

By John V. Beall, William F. Haddon

A long the mighty Andean Cordillera, there is splendor beyond imagination-in the natural beauty of the mountains and in daring engineering and lavish investment in the mines. This is the story of the great copper mines of Chile and Peru. Each mine has a special quality which has tested the physical and spiritual resources of the founder. In the early days of the older mines, the mining engineer of song and story was more the rule than the exception. He was physically tough, ingenious and a leader of men. In the current political and social environment of Chile and Peru, the foreign contract mining engineer is still needed; but he must be a different type of man. To John J. Selters at Cerro's Rio Blanco, the principal ingredient is still "toughness," but it is "toughness of mind" that is needed. "He probably should be a teacher." The copper mines are not new. They were, almost without exception, worked by Indians (La Exotica might prove the rule), and later by the intrepid Spaniards. Modern mining began after the turn of the century. In Chile, the first of the big ones was the Braden Copper Co. founded on the El Teniente deposit. This development was followed by Chile Exploration Co. at Chuquicamata and Andes Copper at Potrerillos. These properties have been developed over the years by vast expenditures of money and a monumental amount of labor. None was free of technical problems-metallurgy at Chuqui, marginal grade of the old mine at Andes, avalanches and the great fire at El Teniente. The evolution which has brought the established mines of Chile, and the new ones coming on stream, to their present state of development is in reality the work of wonders of input-money, engineering and responsible management in an atmosphere of political stability. Without any one of these, the result would have been failure.

Jan 11, 1969

By J. W. R. Rayner

THE conventional method of making water gas involves individual plants for the separate carbonization of coal to coke and the subsequent gasification of coke with steam. The process demands lump coke, preferably made from the best quality of coking coals. The ash in the coke should have a high melting point and the gasification process suffers a loss of efficiency when cokes with low ash-melting points are used. In Britain, these coals are generally the most expensive and they are readily available only in certain localities. The coals not suitable for making lump coke, or yielding only poor quality coke, are much more widely available and are generally cheaper. DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE PROCESSES In Germany, processes have been developed and operated commercially for the production of water gas from very low-rank coals such as brown coal and lignites, but much less effort has been spent on processes to use coals of intermediate rank, which are widely available in Britain. The brown-coal processes use coal in the form of either dust or briquettes. The most successful of the dust-gasification methods is the Winkler process, which made a substantial contribution to German oil production during the war. It uses coal in the size range 0 to 8 mm and the fuel bed is blown with a mixture of oxygen and steam at a rate high enough to give it a characteristic boiling motion or, in present-day phraseology, at a rate more than sufficient to fluidize it (Fig. 1). Air cannot be used to provide the heat required for gasification, for vari¬ous reasons. In the first place, to make the process continuous by mixing air and steam would involve the production of a lean gas containing much nitrogen. If a separate blow were used, a large amount of potential heat would be lost because the blow gas in such a process would contain a very high percentage of carbon monoxide. Oxygen is necessary therefore and oxygen remains relatively expensive for use in gasification. In the Winkler generator, formation of clinker caused by local overheating does not occur, because of the mobility and high heat transfer of a fluidized bed. These properties of fluidized dusts have been used most successfully.

Jan 1, 1953

By JESSE L. MAURY

DEVELOPMENT of new gold mines in Canada since the price of that metal was increased in 1932 and 1933 has been of interest and importance to many of us. The day-by-day story has given an impression of aggressive effort and enough good luck so that the spirit of enterprise has been encouraged. It is the purpose of this article to report the results of a statistical appraisal which give emphatic numerical confirmation to this impression, together with certain side lights on the costs of development and equipment of new mines. The data presented have been taken from all readily available published sources up to the close of 1938 and are representative of that year. A. B. Bower did a large part .of the spadework and Weston Thomas offered many helpful suggestions.

Jan 1, 1939

By M. L. Requa

EVERY forward step in civilization brings with it an increase in population and increasing demand for raw materials. Modern civilization, because of its industrial development, depends more and more for its well-being on ample supplies of raw materials; the higher the type of that civilization, the greater its dependence. No fact is more obvious than that the raw materials should be put to use with greatest prudence and efficiency. National life is not a matter of a decade or a century. Conservation is no longer a matter for political discussion; it is a vital element in the future welfare of all nations. Unfortunately, to the minds of many, conservation means the locking up of natural resources, their arbitrary withdrawal, bringing about, in short, a condition of industrial stagnation. This has occurred in past centuries through misdirected governmental effort. Two eminent engineers have variously defined conservation as follows:

Jan 1, 1925

By R. E. Allen

THERE was once a time when a practical oil man would appraise or buy a producing property on the basis of from $200 to $500 per barrel of average daily settled production. Curtailment-has, for the present at least, caused a virtual abandonment of the "barrel -of settled production" as a yardstick of, oil property value and in its place has come the "barrel of allowable production," which, although an artificial thing, is nevertheless now the principal factor governing the rate of ?pay out? or investment return. The potential production of a well, settled or otherwise, is of less importance in determining the present worth of a well than is the rate at which it may be produced. Speaking only of true potential for the moment, it is obvious that of two similar wells having the same potential, the one having the highest rate of allowable production would be worth proportionately more than the one of lesser allowable. The discount factor for deferred return and risk can easily vary the present values of the two wells by as much as 20 per cent when allowable rates are not greatly different.

Jan 1, 1934

El Indio, eighty percent -owned by Compania Minera an Jose Inc., a subsidiary of St. Joe Minerals, and twenty percent-owned by private Chilean investors, will open their new flotation and Carbon -In -Pulp plant near La Serena, 480 km (300 miles) north of Santiago, Chile, in early 1981. The underground mine, at an altitude of 4,270 m (14,000 ft), will produce about 1,270 mt per day (1,400 st per day) of ore containing about 2. 2570 Cu, and gold and silver to the extent of 16 and 254 g per mt (0.47 and 7.4 oz per st) respectively. While construction of the plant was underway, development ore, containing some 1,400 kg (45,000 oz) of gold, was shipped to the United States for recovery in a copper smelter. At El Indio the underground ore is rail-hauled to the mill a short distance from the portal where it is crushed, ground, and floated to produce a copper concentrate containing both gold and silver. The crushing plant also crushes waste for use as mine backfill. Approximately 92% of the copper and 60% of the gold and silver are recovered in the flotation concentrate. Flotation tailings, at a grade of 19 g Au and 116 g Ag per mt (3.4 oz Au and 0.55 oz Ag per st), are cyanided for 72 hours in six Pachucas with auxiliary air lifts for pulp transfer. Lime, cyanide, lead nitrate, and a phosphate are also fed to the cyanidation Pachucas. After cyanidation, the pulp is treated in four air lift Carbon-In-Pulp tanks equipped with external vibrating screens for carbon advance. Loaded carbon is stripped in two pressure vessels in parallel. Pressure stripping must be used because of the high altitude. Stripped carbon is dewatered in a spiral classifier before being reactivated in a rotary kiln and returned to the C. I. P. circuit. Pregnant solution is then sent to four banks of four Zadra cells for gold and silver recovery on steel wool. Zadra cell cathodes.are washed with the slimes being captured in a plate and frame filter. The filter cake and the washed cathodes are then dried on an infrared dryer and smelted in two stages to bullion bars. Published reports indicate that the total investment for this unique operation was in the neighborhood of $80 million.

Jan 1, 1981

By Sidney Snook

FLUORSPAR production is the most important industry in a compact area in southern Illinois and western Kentucky bordering the Ohio River. Producers' activities do not usually figure much in the mining news of the country, so that few know that the last year or so has been an unusually active one. Mine shipments more than doubled in 1939 compared with the poor year 1938. The average price changed but little, though it is now about one-sixth higher than at the beginning of last year. The outbreak of war in Europe a year ago lent an immediate stimulus to the industry, though only about 15 per cent of the domestic consumption is normally imported, thanks to a tariff of $8.40 per ton, equivalent to about 30 per cent ad valorem. Be- cause of the increased production and many expansions and improvements in the mines and plants, the period since the beginning of 1939 has been the most important one for the industry in the last 15 years.

Jan 1, 1940

By George J. Young

(San Francisco meeting, October, 1911.) THE nature of slimes handled in the treatment of gold- and silver-ores has been discussed in technical literature to a considerable extent. The subject of slime-filtration from the practical worker's stand-point has also received much comment, and scattered through the literature of the subject are descriptions of many slime-filtration installations. Articles of this nature serve a valuable purpose and assist materially in the design of new and the improvement of old plants. The subject of the physics of slime-filtration has been touched upon to only a slight extent. The underlying principles are worthy of more intensive study and experimentation than they have received, and the main purpose of this paper is to present the results of such study and experimental work as will serve to make clear in part at least many of the principles which control the filtration of slime. Nature of Slime. Much has bean written concerning an accurate definition of the term ? slime," but no comprehensive definition seems to be generally accepted. The reason for this is clear. A slime consists of at least three different substances, each, when separated, possessing distinctly different physical and to a certain extent chemical properties. These substances are extremely fine sand, a colloidal material which may be and generally is in a coagulated condition, and a colloidal material which is in a non-coagulated condition. Suspending a slime in a relatively large volume of water by shaking and allowing sedimentation to take place, results in the fine sand settling out with comparative rapidity, followed by the coagulated material, which settles much more slowly and finally a certain portion remains

Nov 1, 1911

By H. H. Power

THE PETROLEUM DIVISION of the A.I.M.E. continued with its diversified activities during 1.935. Sessions at the New York meeting in February were devoted to production engineering, domestic and foreign oil production, and petroleum economics. The symposiums on domestic and foreign production proved their increased usefulness. The data accumulated for 1935 were added to those published during prior years in "Petroleum Development and Technology." A joint session on the use of metals in the petroleum industry was held by the Institute of Metals, Iron and Steel, and Petroleum Divisions. W. S. Farish, chairman of the board of the Standard Oil Co. (N. J.), was the principal speaker at the annual dinner. The October meeting, held in Hous¬ton, was characterized by an excellent program and large attendance. Four sessions were devoted to problems in estimating reserves, reservoir energy, properties of drilling muds, electrical logging, water flooding, and other subsurface studies. Foreign representatives of the Anglo-Persian Oil Co. presented a paper on surface tension and specific gravity of crude oil under reservoir conditions. The address by President Buehler, the dinner at San Jacinto Inn, a trip to various lo

Jan 1, 1936

By H. G. Schneider

THE Smackover oil and gas field lies in Ouachita and Union Counties, Ark., in the south-central part of the state, in T.15 and 16S., R.15, 16, and 17W. It is 10 miles north of El Dorado, the principal business and railroad center in the south-central part of the state, and extends from the town of Smackover in all directions. Productive territory having an aggregate area of nearly 55 sq. mi. has been developed. It extends 6 miles from north to south and 12 miles from east to west. The field may be divided into two parts: the east district, which includes the area east of the town of Smackover, and the west district, which includes the area west of the town of Smackover. In relation to the neighboring productive fields of Arkansas, the Smackover field is 9 miles north of .the El Dorado oil and gas field, 8 miles slightly west of north of the East El Dorado oil and gas field, and 16 miles east of the Stephens oil field. Smackover was discovered in May, 1922, when the Oil Operators Trust drilled well No. 1 on the J. T. Murphy farm, in the southeast quarter of sec. 8, T. 16S., R.15W. This well is located almost, on the top of the Norphlet dome and was drilled to the Nacatoch sand. It had an initial open flow volume of 30,000,000 cu. ft. of dry gas per day, and a rock pressure of 950 lb. per sq. in. In July, 1922, the V. K. F. Co. completed the first oil well in sec. 29, T.15S., R.15W., on the north side of the Norphlet dome, and 3 miles north of the first gas well. This well started the active development of the north and northwest sides of the dome.1

Jan 3, 1924

By William B. Plank

FOR the third consecutive year, I have collected the data on enrolment and employment of graduates from the schools in. the United States and Canada that grant degrees in mineral technology. The data were collected in the same way as formerly; namely, by questionnaire, dated Jan. 5, 1935, and are therefore comparable with the figures reported for former years. This year, along with the names of the 48 schools in the United States and the six in Canada, are listed the courses offered and the degrees granted by each, school, together with the names of the professors in charge. The names and addresses of the four schools in Mexico are also given. The list is on pages 450-1, which should he valued as a directory by those interested in mineral technology education. So far as is known, this is the most complete and up-to-date list that has ever been published.

Jan 1, 1935

By Oliver Bowles

STRIKING new developments in the field of industrial minerals include the employment of lime, salt, coal, and air for the manufacture of stockings, and the substitution of paper for granite and marble in making tombstones. Certain minerals that have heretofore been regarded as valueless except as museum or laboratory specimens, are now being applied commercially. Serpentine, in forms neither fibrous nor ornamental, massive topaz, pinite, and zoisite are examples. For certain other minerals, notably pyrophyllite, bentonite, vermiculite, and sulphur, extension of established uses into new fields has occurred. Substitution takes a toll in many industries, but producers of industrial minerals as a class have gained more than they have lost in recent years. Encouraging progress has been made in developing at long last a suitable substitute for certain of the uses of mica, the only industrial mineral on the strategic list of commodities established by the War. and Navy Munitions Board. Some of the more important developments in process, equipment, and use .that have come

Jan 1, 1940

By Thunaes, Arvid

Pilot plant test work in 1942 and 1943 showed that by a combination of desliming, fine-size classification, and Sullivan deck concentration it is possible to recover heavy minerals such as cassiterite at least as fine as 10 microns in size. This appreciable improvement in gravity concentration practice has been substantiated by several full-sized plants.

Jan 1, 1950

By Didyk M. Marko, Vásquez Ñ. Gregorio

INTRODUCTION The Salvador Division of Codelco Chile is an important copper molybdenum production center, located 1,200 km north of Santiago and 124 km east of the Pacific Ocean, in the foothills of the Andes Range. El Salvador Mine produces by block caving 8,600,000 t of ore with a content of 1 .l0% Cu and 0.02% Mo, from a copper porphyry ore body. The geology of the ore body shows a great heterogeneity as to rocks, grade distribution, ore height and undercutting levels. This has resulted in a variety of designs for the productive units (blocks) and in the mineral handling systems. Up to now, 4 systems have been employed: grizzly and intermediate haulage; slusher drifts with intermediate ore pass and haulage; slusher drifts with scraper loading directly into trains; and, LHD. On the other hand there is a marked dispersion in the final results from each block mined out. We report here the conclusions reached after analyzing the data gathered on the mining of 163 depleted blocks, representing a total production of 102,000,000 t, with an undercut area of 340,000 sq m. The final results of each block, characterized in terms of tonnage and fine cop- per recovery, were studied as a function of a number of design, geological, and operational parameters. BASIC CONCEPTS Indices of Efficiency In order to evaluate the final result of each block, or group of blocks, the following indices of efficiency were defined : Tonnage Recovery (TR) . It is the ratio between the ore tonnage extracted and the in situ tonnage estimate for each block or group of blocks. Grade efficiency (E) . It is the ratio between the Cu mill feed grade and the in situ Cu grade estimate for each block or group of blocks. Grade efficiency is numerically equal to the ratio between fine copper recovery (FR) and tonnage recovery (TR) . Figure 1 shows the final results for 163 mined out blocks, in terms of tonnage and fine copper recovery. Different grade efficiencies are also indicated. The marked dispersion in the final results of mined out blocks must be stressed since it greatly incides in mine planning. It must be kept in mind that an eventual concentration of low overall efficiency in the blocks during a given period (e.g., one year) will make it necessary to bring into production new blocks over the standard development schedule. It is worth noting that the final results in the 163 mined out blocks corresponding to a production of 102,000,000 t of ore with a mill feed grade of 1.445% were obtained from an ore estimate of 93,000,000 t and a grade of 1.671% Cu, which represents 110% tonnage recovery and 86% grade efficiency. Parameters Studied The following parameters are considered in this study: Geological Parameters. These parameters depend exclusively on the geological and geotechnical features of the ore body. IN SITU GRADE: The initial estimate of the block grade. Four copper grade categories were considered : (a) lower than 1.3% ; (b) 1.3 to 1.6%; (c) 1.6 to 2.0%; (d) higher than 2.0%. The overall initial in situ estimate of the ore body was 1.6% Cu. IN SITU TONNAGE: Initial tonnage estimate of the block. Four categories are considered: (a) below 500,000 t; (b) 500,000 to 1,000,000 t (c) 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 t; (d) over 1,500,000 t. CONTACTS SLOPE: Since up to 4 rock types can be found in a block, resulting in a corresponding number of contacts, a horizontal con- tact was defined as that which forms an angle of less than 45" with the horizontal and a vertical contact that which forms an angle of more than 45" with the horizontal. GRADE DISTRIBUTION: As in rock types, horizontal and vertical grades were defined. ORE HEIGHT: The distance measured between the undercut level and the top of ore. Four categories are considered: (a) less than 60 m; (b) 60 to 100 m; (c) 100 to 150 m; (d)over 150 m

Jan 1, 1981

By L. S. Darken

IN the study of reactions occurring in liquid iron, alone or in contact with a liquid oxide or slag phase, it has been found that the experimental data over a limited range of concentration can in some cases be repre-sented satisfactorily by the simple equilibrium expression K - (p1)p1 (p2)p2 . (R1)r1(R2)r2 . where (P) denotes the concentration of a product and (R) the concentra-tion of a reactant in the reaction r1R1 + r2R2 + . . . Some of the reactions for which it holds are listed in Table 1. For others, however, the simple equation apparently does not hold. This has been attributed to an improper method of expressing concentration (for instance, weight per cent instead of mol fraction); or it has been supposed that the solutions are not ideal in the sense that the activity of a com-ponent is not proportional to its true mol fraction, But it may be that the problem has been oversimplified by neglecting some molecular species actually present; that is, by considering only the ostensible simple com-ponents and thus leaving out of account possible compound formation. It is the purpose of the present paper to point out how, in a group of related cases, a reasonable consistent assumption relative to the presence of a compound makes it possible to express the experimental data satis-factorily by the simple equilibrium expression when this compound is taken into account, and to bring into harmony data referring to different reactions in liquid iron. There are several a priori reasons for believing that solutions in liquid iron should not deviate far from ideality, provided that the concentration of solute is not too great and is expressed in proper terms. The factors that commonly lead to nonideality in systems at ordinary temperature as ionization or the occurrence of polar and nonpolar molecules-are presumably less effective in metal and in slag systems at high temperature. Again, the type of equation commonly used to express the value of

Jan 1, 1940