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By Richard McCaffery

WHEN we began the study of blast furnace slags we limited our work at first to a study of those slags containing only lime, alumina and silica. In our paper1 on some of the results of this first work, the solubility of. sulfur in slags containing no magnesia was reported and the question of sulfur solubility and slag viscosity discussed. There has been, for a long time, a very great difference of opinion among metallurgists as to .the effect of magnesia in blast furnace slags, and the literature is full of expressions of the most contrary opinions on the subject. As a result, our next publication2 developed the constitution of slags considered as a four-component system, silica-alumina-lime-magnesia, and advanced an explanation of slag structure which accorded with the facts and with scientific theory. The present paper continues our study of the general subject of slags. As blast furnace slags are included in the silica-alumina-lime-magnesia system, which is a particular case of four-component solutions, we have determined that there are 22 components (Table 1), which may enter into the silica-alumina-lime-magnesia system and that 10 or 12 of these components may be present in blast furnace slags which are within the ordinary ranges of composition. To have a very definite conception of the behavior of these components in a slag, we have developed the theory of the cooling of a four-component solution from the liquid state to the solid and the conclusions that we obtained have been made use of in this paper. On account of the importance of the four oxides and 18 compounds which enter into the silica-alumina-lime-magnesia system, some method of calculating the percentages of the various compounds that are present in the slag when the percentages of the oxides are given, seemed very desirable and we develop a method later herein for doing this, and finally we give illustrations of

Jan 10, 1926

By S. P. Kinney, A. J. Boynton

THIS paper is not the result of recent research with regard to any particular feature of iron metallurgy, blast-furnace practice or mechanical engineering. It is rather a series of notes with regard to contemporaneous progress in blast-furnace construction and operation, together with some suggestions as to changes and improvements that seem to be desirable. On April 1, 1930, a committee of the Chicago District Blast Furnace and Coke Association presented to that association a rather ambitious study of blast-furnace equipment, together with recommendations for the design of construction of a complete blast-furnace unit for the production of 1000 tons of pig iron per day. This report represented the result of months of study by members of the committee, all of whom were actively engaged in operation or design of blast-furnace plants. It is natural, therefore, that comments on the present state of the art should take this 1000-tons furnace, as recommended by the Association, as a basis for comparison with corresponding features of construction or design. See Table 1. In looking through this report at the present time, the significant difference is in the nature of the gas-washing equipment that today would be specified. In other respects, the installation would remain generally very much as it was outlined in 1930. The change in furnace dimensions would be very slight and of no especial significance, except with respect to changes in stock-line diameter, of which more will be said hereafter. The high-efficiency stove as developed by various designers is thoroughly described within this report, and few changes have taken place since. Blowing equipment shows refinement and reflects the improvement in steam engineering. Hoisting and charging equipment and ladles for the conveyance of iron and slag remain, in general, as they were in 1930. In accordance with a general tendency

Jan 1, 1935

By B. K. Miller, R. S. Bradley

THE principal producing areas of fire clay in Missouri are: (I) the east central district, which includes Audrain, Callaway, Montgomery, Warren, and Boone Counties [ ] (Fig. I); (2) the St. Louis district, which includes St. Louis and St. Louis County; (3) the north central Ozark district, which includes Franklin, Gasconade, Osage, Maries, Phelps, and Crawford Counties. [ ] Most of the semiplastict fire clay is found in Audrain, Callaway, Montgomery and St. Louis Counties, and in St. Louis. Flint fire clay is found in Callaway, Audrain, and Montgomery Counties and in most of the north central Ozark district. High-alumina [ ] diaspore clay is found only in the north central Ozark district, except a few deposits found in Montgomery County. This paper is concerned with the semiplastic fire clay that occurs in the east central Missouri district near Mexico, Audrain County, Missouri, which is mined by the open-pit method as practiced by the A. P. Green Fire Brick Co. About one-fourth of the semiplastic fire clay in that district is mined in shaft mines, and three-fourths in open pits.

Jan 1, 1941

By David B. Scott

The Mogollon mining district, New Mexico, has received little public attention, although for 15 years it has been the leading silver producer of the state; it is situated in a region remote from the principal lines of travel, and its activities have usually been limited to the operations of two or three companies. The value of the total production of the district in the 44 years of its history has been estimated at $15,000,000. For the years 1904 to 1917, inclusive, the output was: gold, $4,370,000; silver, 10,042,000 oz.; copper, 874,862 lb.; total value, approximately $10,500,000. In 1913 the district contributed 80 per cent. of the total silver production of New Mexico, but in 1917 only 41 per cent., due to serious interruption in the operations of the leading producer. Since 1914 the silver output has diminished one-half, and the present high value of silver is nearly offset by the increase in cost of production. The output of gold has rarely exceeded 35 per cent. of the total for New Mexico. The ratio of silver to gold, by weight, has averaged 46:1 based on the whole output of the district. Location and Topography The town of Mogollon is 75 mi. (121 km.) by a poorly located highway ,. from the nearest railroad terminals, at Silver City and Tyrone. All supplies are transported by motor trucks and teams. The area, sometimes called the Cooney Mining District, lies on the western flank of the Mogollon Mountains, which occupy the western part of Socorro County. The elevations drop steeply on the west to the valley of the San Francisco River, adjacent to the Arizona boundary. The topography is very rugged, the whole area being sharply dissected; deep canyons with steep gradients and rugged walls are characteristic of the whole western slope of the Mogollon Range. The main canyons i run east and west, and usually maintain a flow of water during the entire year. As would be expected in a region of such deep dissection, the mines are generally dry. The mountain ridges between the canyons have altitudes varying from 7000 to 10,000 ft. (2130 to 3050 m.) and drop sharply, on their western face, to the floor of the San Francisco Valley at an elevation of 5000 ft. (1525 m.). Erosion has been rapid, and the

Jan 1, 1920

By Benjamin Talbot

The problem of segregation and cavities in steel ingots is a subject which has given and is still giving metallurgists, engineers, and operators matter for serious consideration. This question has come more into prominence lately in the United States, due largely to the desire of railroad engineers to secure a better rail than they have obtained ill the past, as the service they demand is increasing in severity; and no doubt manufacturers will be able to meet what is required of them. The rails here are as good as those made in other countries, but the conditions of service and the extremes of climate are more Revere and consequently more breakages occur. Various reasons have been advanced to explain why rails may not be as good in quality to-day as in the past. Some engineers consider that modern methods of manufacturing, designed chiefly to obtain large output, tend to reduce the standard of excellence of more deliberate methods. Others think that 4-ton ingots are worse than those of 2 tons. Again, it is stated that the 100-ton heat in one ladle is too large, and is a step in the wrong direction in casting. My experience upon the question of the size of the ingot is that in rolling rails of from 85-to 100-lb. sections, the range of ingot is only practically such that the difference in the size does not help in the question of segregation, cavities, or blow-holes. I call attention to two ingots from work done at Pencoyd, Pa., 16 years ago. These ingots were bottom-poured, cast at the same time from the same center-runner, the one being 20 by 24 in. and the other 13 by 16 in. in size. The steel was acid open-hearth, and contained C, 0.43; P, 0.062; S, 0.069 per cent. At the same place in each ingot where seg-

Jan 1, 1914

By M. D. Flavel

The paper describes the physical aspects of the compression and impact crusher types along with the information needed to apply, install and operate them to best achieve designed performance levels. It reviews key performance parameters such as energy size relationships for crushing processes and how automation devices can optimize machine productivity. Weaknesses of existing application engineering methods are discussed. The use of pilot plant information and appropriate laboratory testing procedures are reviewed from the point of view of the application design engineer so that the best type of machine can be selected for a proposed installation.

Jan 1, 1982

By R. S. Archer

THE PROPER representation of equilibria involving graphitic carbon in the constitutional diagram of the iron-carbon system is admittedly an unsolved problem. The complete solution of the problem will probably require the establishment of more experimental evidence than is at this time available. The object of this paper is to present the author's observations on some of the phenomena in question and his interpretation of this and other recorded evidence. The chief of the recently disputed questions upon which the author has experimental evidence concerns the occurrence of graphitization at temperatures below the A1 point. In a paper1 presented at the September, 1919, meeting of this Institute, the following is found: "the results given would seem to indicate that the graphite eutectoid lies at a smaller value of carbon content than has been previously supposed. At least this is true unless there is either a marked formation of graphite eutectoid at these rates of cooling, or a decomposition of pearlite into graphite, both rather unlikely suppositions, but not impossible ones." In a discussion of this paper, H. A. Schwartz2 takes the position that the possibility of graphitization occurring below the A 1 point is an open question, but that complete graphitization (to less than 0.10 per cent. combined carbon) commonly occurs above this temperature. Another opinion from the malleable castings industry is found in a recent paper3 by Touceda: "Also the carbide of iron can be broken up into its two soft constituents at the temperature referred to. This temperature is called the critical temperature, or critical range, and for air-furnace hard-iron castings it is in the vicinity of 1440° F. It is the

Jan 2, 1920

By Homer W. Riley, C S. Jenkins

SMALL power-driven, toothed, cast-iron rolls were used first to break anthracite in 1844. Prior to that time, men with hammers, who stood on perforated cast-iron- plates, .broke the large lumps into commercial sizes. In order to convert run-of-mine into the various sizes required by the anthracite industry, about 20 million tons must be broken, annually, [ ] into smaller sizes. This phase of anthracite preparation is of major importance, because the degradation accompanying reduction in coal sizes should be kept at a minimum. The exclusive use of toothed rolls for that purpose indicates that comminution by rolls is the best solution of the problem. Many improvements have been made in tool design, but the most important was a reduction of the peripheral speed of the rolls from 1000 to 300 ft. per minute. The higher speed was based upon and approximated the velocity of a falling piece of coal when it entered the rolls. Exhaustive roll tests at the slower speed showed that the same size reduction could be affected with less degradation. The adoption, there- fore, of slow-speed, compound geared rolls, especially for breaking the

Jan 1, 1943

By J. L. Brimhall, R. A. Huggins

The structure of deformed internally oxidized alloys of siluer- cotztcrining magnesium and copper-containing aluminum in was studied by thin-film transrrzissiotz electron microscopy. With low to moderate amounts of stvain, the deformation structure in t11e dispersion-hardened alloys was found to consist of a high density of dislocations arranged it a random distribution or in a very fine, but poorly defined, cell stucture, depending on the fitness of the dbsbersion and amount of deformation. 112 contrarst, both pure copper and silver show relative1y Large, distinct cell structures. The particular structures in the alloys are believed to result from particles acting as both dislocaliot~ sources and deflector-s. The Inck of a pvorzolrr~ced deformation texture tr~ regiotzs qf' seoere loctll plastic curvature after heavy deformation can also be traced to the formation of clislocntions on many slip systemes and a lack 01 local concentrations of dislocations of predominantly one sign. THE presence of fine dispersions of a second phase has long been known to have a strong influence upon the mechanical properties of solids. Until recently, the influence of particles on the deformation mechanisms has been assumed to be solely that of barriers to dislocations. This is seen in the classic models of edge dislocations being restrained by the particles.1 4 There is, however, considerable evidence that this is not their primary effect, and that the particles can have a large influence on the defect structure generated by plastic deformation. The presence of particles causes changes in the surface topography observed after deformation. In overaged precipitation-hardened materials containing hard, noncoherent precipitates, fine intersecting slip lines are found after deformation of single crystals. indicating the activation of many slip systems. This has been extensively observed in the A1-Cu systen;, both by optical microscopy and replica electron microscopy.'"13 In some of the observations. the slip lines were seen to extend between the particles. Similar observations of extremely fine slip lines or the apparent absence of normal slip lines have also been found in A~-M~."

Jan 1, 1965

By E. A. Reilly, G. R. Gardner, F. P. Lasseter

THE methods that may be applied to the treatment of slurries and water, as these are related to practical coal-preparation problems, are concerned essentially with the movements of solids suspended in water. It is assumed that there are no fundamental differences between the principles involved in the treatment of coal slurries and the phenomena encountered in general mineral-dressing practice, and the latter are presented in some detail. Basic principles are correlated with present practice for both the anthracite and the bituminous coal. fields, and meth¬ods are discussed which are designed to utilize best all the material subjected to treatment and suggest a sound approach to the solution of problems relating to the return of clear water to process or to streams. In order to approach the practical phases of the subject with sufficient understanding of the basic principles, it is necessary to discuss two types of phenomena that are applicable. The first is flocculation and the second is sedimentation. Descriptive matter is given covering the various meth¬ods and types of equipment employed to conduct these operations, with emphasis on their application to water and coal-slurry treatment.

Jan 1, 1943

By Walter English

THE four papers making up this symposum have been prepared espe-cially for those who have no knowledge of seismograph prospecting. To many people mathematics is a formidable subject, and many are discouraged from studying seismograph prospecting under the mistaken assumption that the mathematical requirements are severe. In the papers presented here there is not a single mathematical equation. We believe that considerable competence in dealing with some of the most important problems of this work can be attained without any mathe-matical training whatever. At the present time, there is a real need for interpretation of results by persons thoroughly competent to bring geologic experience and imagination to bear on data that are subject to multiple interpretation from a strictly physical viewpoint. Likewise, those charged with the responsibility of planning seismo-graph exploration campaigns would do well to become familiar with as much as possible of the technical aspects of the work. They would then be in better position to judge of its success in individual cases. It has often been said that the seismograph is a new structure-finding tool for the geologists to use. Using a tool and using its product are two different things. One does not use an automatic screw-threading machine when he buys a box of screws at the hardware store. Neither does the geologist

Jan 1, 1939

By William F. Haddon, Phillip J. Maddex

Marco Polo brought the first borax to Europe late in the 13th century. It was especially treasured then for one of its many qualities-that of working with gold as a soldering flux. Georgius Agricola in 1556 gave it the name chrysocolla (which the Moors called borax)-literally, "gold glue." Deposits of borax have been elusive and widely scattered-first found only in Tibet and Italy, and, in 1836, at Iquiqui, Chile. Dr. John Veatch made the first California discovery in 1856 while examining a mineral spring east of Red Bluff. This "Borax Lake" soon supplied 90% of U.S. demand, but flooding and other production problems caused the scene to shift from Borax Lake to Little Borax Lake and then to Nevada in 1871. Early transportation was by "Twenty-Mule Teams."

Jan 1, 1971

By J. H. Allport, C. Garnsey

During the latter part of 1916 and the early months of 1917, due to war activities, there was a threatened shortage of coal which resulted in panic among consumers and a rush to obtain coal at once at any price. As a result of this insistent demand for immediate delivery, prices were bid up by the consumers to unprecedented heights; spot coal which had previously been selling at from $1.50 to $2 per ton was bid up to $5, $6, and, in exceptional cases, as high as $7.50 or more per ton. Then when the April, 1917, contract period arrived, contracts could be made only at prices ranging from $3 up to $5 and $6 per ton for the year's delivery. This condition caused such a demoralization of the business, and SO much complaint, that some action to regulate prices was considered essential by the National Administration. Lane-Peabody Agreement In May, 1917, a committee under the chairmanship of F. S. Peabody, of Chicago, was appointed by the Council of National Defense, through Mr. Lane, to consider the whole question of bituminous coal. This committee, with the Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Lane, after numerous meetings and long negotiations with the operators throughout the country, announced on June 29 an agreement between the Committee and the producers, fixing a tentative maximum price for bituminous coal throughout the country at $3 per net ton f.o.b. mines, to which was added 25 c. for selling commission to wholesalers. This plan was based on the idea of fixing a maximum price, high enough to greatly stimulate production, with the expectation that the laws of supply and demand would, with ample production, operate to maintain fair and just prices for coal throughout the country.

Jan 1, 1920

By E. S. Leaver

THE purpose of this paper is to describe, in a general way, gold-dredg-ing operations in California, with particular reference to unusual features, including types of deposits and recent attempts to improve the recovery of the gold. DREDGING AREAS The gold-bearing formations that traversed the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas for a north and south distance of some 300 miles furnished the immediate source of the gold found in most of the placer deposits of California.. Erosion through a long period carried the gold, together with various forms of partly disintegrated material, to lower elevations and formed placer deposits. Through the classifying action of water in motion, the coarser gold and heavier material of various kinds were deposited relatively near the source; consequently, in' the higher moun-tain country, old river channels were worked feverishly during the early California gold-rush days because of their high gold content. With the working out of these known high-grade channels, and from the knowledge thus obtained of prehistoric stream beds, drift mining was started and flourished until about 1890. Even today many drift mines are operating with the objective of opening other old Tertiary river channels that have been covered by volcanic flows.

Jan 1, 1937

By T. A. Rickard

INTRODUCTORY. THE presentation to the Institute, eight years ago, of the paper of Pošepny on " The Genesis of Ore-Deposits " has borne fruit in much fresh: investigation, as is evidenced, for example, by the group of very valuable papers, by distinguished members" of the United States Geological Survey, read at the Washington meeting-discussions of general principles particularly suggestive to those who are engaged in mining. Pošepny, in the discussion of his famous treatise, said that the present writer seemed to look at every new conception in ore-deposition" from the sole standpoint of its immediate usefulness in mining."* Protesting mildly against " sole " and "immediate," I accept the impeachment. It calls for no defence. THE DEVELOPMENT OF RECENT THEORIES. Given the idea of an underground water-circulation as the chief factor in the deposition of ore, the next step in the inquiry as to the genesis of such deposits is, the endeavor to determine which particular part of the general water-circulation is responsible for the results. Around this question have centered the controversies of a generation, and to these controversies we owe the gradual clarification of our ideas upon the processes of ore-formation. It is unnecessary to sketch here their progress from Werner to Le Conte, who combated in 1883 the extreme views of the lateral-seeretionists, and in 1893 opposed the narrow interpretation of the ascensionist-theory. The generally accepted opinions of to-day are a well-deserved tribute to his philosophic discrimination. Thanks to Prof. Van Hise and Mr. Slichter, whose work he utilizes, we have now arrived at a comprehensive conception

Jan 1, 1902

BASIC open-hearth slags have no obviously unique features when compared with slags from other metallurgical operations. Open-hearth slags form and exist at temperatures ranging from 2500 to 3100 F (1370 to 1700 C). In the course of an open-hearth heat, the liquid slag changes slowly and continuously in chemical analysis-the changes reflecting changes in temperature, changes in metal analysis, solution of charged materials, solution of feed additions, and solution of refractories. Through- out the process, the slag performs specific primary functions that are responsible for a large measure of the technical and economic importance of basic open-hearth steelmaking. It is intended in this chapter to present the chemical reactions by which the primary functions of basic open-hearth slags are carried out, to describe the physical and chemical principles governing the extent to which these reactions proceed and can be regulated, and finally to indicate the limitations imposed on other features of the process by the fulfillment of the primary functions. Basic open-hearth slags perform three primary functions. First and foremost, the slag provides a means of removing phosphorus from the liquid metal. The ability to remove phosphorus is largely responsible for the widespread use of the basic open- hearth process. Second, the slag serves as a controlling factor in transferring the oxygen required for the other oxidizing reactions. Third, the slag provides a means of eliminating some sulfur from the open-hearth bath. While the extent of sulfur removal is not comparable to that of phosphorus, the ability to remove some sulfur contributes much to the value of the process. The effectiveness with which the slag fulfills its functions varies with temperature and composition. Since operating temperatures are fixed largely by the specified nature of the product and the equipment, the speed and extent to which the functions of the slag are carried out depend largely on its composition. The necessity for regulating slag composition to accomplish the re-

Jan 1, 1951

By Anson Hayes, John Chipman

The quality of sheet and strip products made of rimming steel is closely related to the structure and chemistry of the ingots. The variation in composition throughout the ingot, as affected by segregation, is of great importance, as are also the form and distribution of the voids that result from the gases evolved. It is because of this importance that the considerable literature in this field has accumulated. No attempt is made in the present paper to compile a bibliography of the excellent work that has already been done, as this has been adequately covered in the many excellent reports on the heterogeneity of steel ingots prepared by a joint committee and published by the Iron and Steel Institute.' From time to time, in any field of investigation new tools and new technique are developed, which make further progress possible. In the field with which this paper is concerned, this is true. The development of the vacuum-fusion method as a means of following oxygen segregation, and a technique for obtaining the volume and composition of the gases evolved during solidification, have opened the way to obtaining data by means of which some considerable progress has been realized in developing more of the detailed mechanisms of solidification and segregation in rimming-steel ingots. General Theory of Segregation The basic cause of segregation lies in the fact that the impurities are less soluble in solid than in liquid iron. The solid that forms from the impure liquid is more nearly pure than the liquid itself. If solidification proceeds slowly enough, or if the liquid and solid phases are maintained in contact with one another for a sufficient time, a condition of equilibrium is set up, which may be represented by a phase diagram. Portions of the

Jan 1, 1939

By L. D. Jaffe, J. H. Hollomon

The effect of tempering temperature and time upon the properties of quenched steel is clearly a subject of great practical importance, as well as of considerable theoretical interest. It would be very desirable to be able to predict the properties of a quenched steel when given any selected tempering cycle, with a minimum of experimental work upon that heat or even type of steel. Two problems are involved: one consists of relating the structure obtained to the physical properties, and will not be discussed here; the other, with which this paper deals, involves the relations of time, temperature and composition with the structure obtained 011 tempering. Indentation hardness is perhaps the most convenient quantitative measure of the tempered structure, or of what might be called the "degree of tempering." Undoubtedly, it is not an exact measure, and in some cases (as when temper-brittleness occurs) pieces of the same quenched and tempered steel may have widely differing properties at the same hardness. However, hardness has the advantage of being simple to determine and is certainly the most widely used indication of the degree of tempering. Moreover, for fully quenched steels that are not temper-brittle and do not contain retained austenite when quenched, it appears that, in general, if the hardness of the steel is the same, the tensile and impact properties will also be identical, whether a high or a low tempering temperature is used. The tempering charts available in the metallurgical literature usually give the hardness as a function of tempering temperature for only one tempering time. However, in practice, tempering times frequently vary, and a method of converting tempering curves for one time to tempering curves for some other time would be very valuable. It is also advantageous, in determining the tempering treatment necessary for a given part, not to have to temper samples at several temperatures for the time used for the commercial tempering operation. A more satisfactory procedure would be to employ times of the order of 10 to 30 min., rather than 5 or 10 hr., and if possible to use only one temperature. Furthermore, it is frequently desirable, for reasons such as temper-brittleness,* to obtain a given hardness with short times at relatively high temperatures, and it would be convenient to be able to compute without tests the time required to produce this hardness. Remarkably few quantitative studies of the hardness of quenched steel tempered over wide ranges of temperature and time

Jan 1, 1945

By Shun-ichi Satoh

Studies by many authorities have proved that nitrogen exerts an injurious influence upon iron and steel, but in the casehardening of steel by carbon, nitrogen has the advantage of accelerating the process of cementation. Its influence upon special steels is quite remarkable; it can produce the hardest layer ever known in metallurgical products—a fact hit upon by A. Fry and studied and ascertained by L. Guillet. As there have been very few investigations on the influence of nitrogen on special steels, the writer has listed important articles dealing with this problem and has conducted experiments on nitrification. He also has tested the influence of nickel upon the penetration of nitrogen in electric-arc welding. Nitrogen Process for Surface Hardening In 1919, Siegmonl conducted an experiment known as "Versticken" by treating steel with ammonia gas and found that the steel thus treated has the properties of resisting corrosion. In 1922, L. E. Benson3 nitro-genized iron and steel by sodium nitrate. Fry3-"studied the nitrogen process for surface hardening and published the results of his studies in 1923, 1924 and 1926. Guillet tested special steels containing various elements with the current of ammonia at 500' to 510' C.10, 11, 12, and determined the hardness of some of them at various temperatures.13 He also conducted corrosion tests14 in 1927. Fry15 stated that tinplat-ing could prevent nitrogen from penetrating into steel in the course of nitrification. In 1927, Guillet 65 described the historical notes of the nitrification; and many applications of nitrification were published in the Kruppsche Monatshefte.51, 59, 62, 63, 64-74~75 H. K. Herschman66 conducted the wear test of the nitrified steel. Gunnar Hägg investigated

Jan 1, 1930

By Geoffrey Gilbert

The material that forms the basis of this paper was collected in the spring of 1922, during a ten-day visit to Ducktown by the writer in the company of Prof. L. C. Graton. The time available for the work was far too short to allow anything like a thorough study of the deposits, and structural and stratigraphic questions, though they have an important bearing on the origin of the primary ores, were necessarily left untouched. Attention was focussed on the zone of oxidation and enrichment; and by devoting most of our time to the upper levels, open pits, and old workings, and examining the deeper levels only thoroughly enough to obtain a fair idea of the nature of the primary sulfide ore, we were able to make a reasonably complete survey of the various orebodies. With this field work for a background, the writer later made a study, in the Harvard laboratories, of the specimens obtained during the visit. As some of the facts brought to light by this study appear to be new, it seems worth while to set forth the outstanding features and a proposed explanation of them. Much of the Ducktown material that is obviously of greatest significance, as regards oxidation and enrichment, is soft and crumbly. Notwithstanding the desirability of gaining from such material all possible information as to its mineral composition and textural relationships, but little has heretofore been learned regarding it; but, by suitable preparation of this material in connection with the present study, it has been possible to examine it under the microscope without any disturbance of its texture and about as satisfactorily as if it were hard, fresh ore. The information thus gained has contributed measurably to the results set forth in this paper.

Jan 1, 1924