Search Documents

By P. W. George

THE rapid increase in cost of discovering new orebodies by churn drilling in the Tri-State district has led to some attempts to lessen the expense by using geophysical methods. Electrical prospecting was tried three or four years ago, but no successful results were recorded. In 1926, the Federal Mining and Smelting Co. engaged the North American Exploration Co., of Houston, Texas, to make some tests with the torsion balance. At first, it was thought that the most favorable conditions for discovery of ore deposits with the torsion balance would be in locations where the ore was known to occur at rather shallow depths, FIG. 1.-CROSS-SECTION OF DUENWEG LEASE. therefore the first trial was made at Duenweg, east of Joplin, where some zinc ore had been developed at a depth of 130 ft. The gravity gradients at 61 stations on a tract of about seventeen acres indicated plainly one large zone of maximum gravity and a smaller narrow zone of minimum gravity. Fourteen churn-drill holes, half of which struck ore, show that all the ore found was located outside the zones of maximum and minimum gravity. In the zone of maximum gravity the limestone beds were closest to the surface, and the first chert beds encountered were at the greatest depth. The results (shown in Table 1) indicated that the gravity of the, limestone was greater than the gravity of the fractured chert together with its orebodies, and probably also greater than the bouldery soil and clay on top of the limestone. A cross-section of the Duenweg lease is shown in Fig. 1.

Jan 1, 1928

By David Scott

WHEN mining operations were first instituted in the mines of the Miami Copper Co., at Miami, Ariz., the relatively hard character of the ground in the western section of the property made it seem advisable to use a wide shrinkage stope and pillar system. The system as finally evolved was applied to the mining of 2,300,000 tons of ore by the use of stopes and pillars each 50 ft. in width. Development, mining and extraction of this reserve has been continuously in progress since 1910, and the final stages of extraction are now reached. A complete survey of all phases of this system can therefore be made. Modification in working methods was obviously necessary, and the system to be described is believed to be typical of the best features. DEVELOPMENT The preliminary work had three main objectives: The opening of a haulage level, the construction of a drawing-off level, and the driving of sublevels for use in stoping. In addition to these, some extra sublevel drifting was necessary to determine exactly the boundaries of the orebody, the general outline having been determined by churn drilling. This development was based on the requirements of stopes 50 ft. wide, with pillars 50 ft. wide between each stope. The length of these units varied from 200 to 500 ft.

Jan 6, 1916

By Samuel Dolbear

PUBLIC discussions of mine finance in the tech-nical press have been confined mainly to methods of providing funds for the development of pros-pects or other mining operations which have not reached the stage of productivity. The application of modern financing methods to mines which have behind them a successful record of net earnings has, for some reason, been given scant consideration by mine owners and managers. In a few conspicuous cases, such for example as the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., Chile Copper Co., and one or two others, industrial finance has been applied to mining operations on the scale and after the fashion of other operations. When extensions are needed re-course is usually had, however, to the sale of common stock, with the obvious disadvantage of diluting the holdings of every stockholder of record prior to such financing. In some cases, it has been sought to over-come this disadvantage by issuing stock purchase rights to shareholders of record. If the stockholder is in a position to acquire additional stock, he may then pre-serve his interest intact, otherwise he must suffer a dilution of his holding. If he purchases additional stock he is, from one point of view, paying more for his in-terest than he bargained for when he made his original purchase. In many cases development and equipment are paid for out of surplus or current earnings. It is sometimes most difficult to explain to a manager why he can afford to borrow money when funds are available from a sur-plus account. Nevertheless, industrial enterprises with adequate surplus accounts often finance new construc-tion by the issuance of bonds. Such a procedure enables the company to maintain its surplus intact, and to con-tinue the payment of dividends during a temporary period of unusual expenditures.

Jan 2, 1927

By Leonard Waldo

PROBABLY some of the views advanced in this paper will appear, from a metallurgical standpoint, little less than revolutionary. It is with considerable hesitancy that I venture to offer a few thoughts concerning what, seems to me to be perhaps the most important development of metallurgy since the introduction of Bessemer steel. Dr. John Percy, with that rare insight which characterizes the epoch-making man, described in a communication to the Royal Society, about 1855, an alloy of duminum and copper which he called aluminum-bronze. The name has "stuck." The term "bronze" has been so variously used that I confess I do not know exactly what constitutes a bronze; but I know that in the great materials of engineering simplicity of composition is a cardinal excellence; and I wish to venture the suggestion that aluminum-bronze is not an alloy of aluminum and copper in any such sense as the compounds of tin and zinc with copper (except the copper-tin compound SnCn3) are alloys. There are several reasons which lead me to this view. In the first place, if a series of bars be prepared containing varying percentages of aluminum and copper, and the electrical conductivity of these bars be carefully determined, a curve of conductivity will be obtained, as shown in Fig. 1, which represents the result of such experiments. While I am not sure, at this time, that the values of conductivity shown in this diagram are wholly dependent upon the percentage of aluminum added, the assumption is a probable one; and the curve indicates that an extremely small percentage of aluminum affects the conductivity in a ratio out of all proportion to the amount of that metal. Another reason is drawn directly from experience in the foundry. If we take from the furnace a crucible containing melted aluminum and one containing melted copper, both at a little more than a red heat, and pour them together, the reaction is so intense that the

Jan 1, 1895

By Oswald J. Heinrich

This question having been repeatedly raised, and particularly revived in a discussion at the last meeting of the Institute, I beg to submit the following remarks, based partly upon personal experience, partly upon the results of large works in Europe, establishing, years ago, the practicability of certain methods, which may therefore be considered to have passed the stage of mere experiment. Before entering upon the merits of one system or the other, it is indispensable to lay down some recognized principles, which ought to serve as guides, in arriving at fair judgments in questions of this character. In a profession like that of mining, locally so much influenced by combinations of circumstances too various to mention, it is difficult to do more than lay down the main features of a system based upon general laws and recognized facts, leaving the details to the sound judgment and experience of the engineer, who, by virtue of his education, ought to be able to make such choice and such modifications in the plans of a mine as the particular case demands. Mineral resources, in some countries the sole property of the owner of the soil, in others controlled by the strong hand of a government, are nevertheless a gift of nature, in which, indirectly, the whole of the human race has as real an interest as the immediate owner himself. This interest requires, at least, that no unnecessary waste of

By Raja P. Upadhyay

An evaluation of the economics of mining the deep, thick oil shale deposits of the central portion of the Piceance Creek basin, Colorado, U.S.A. is presented in this paper. For the analysis, a modified large scale underground mining system developed by Cameron Engineers, Inc. and the Gas Combustion retorting process developed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines were used to determine capital investment and annual operating costs. A modified risk analysis computer program was then used to calculate DCFROI’s for various grades of oil shale and selling prices of partially refined shale oil. Sensitivity analyses were performed to quantify the affect of bonus bid payments, operating costs, capital investment, and all costs on DCFROI. In addition, a probabilistic evaluation was made to determine the risk involved in obtaining desired rates of return. Results of the economic evaluation indicate that for current selling prices of crude oil a high risk is involved in obtaining a DCFROI of 15%, unless only higher grades of oil shale are mined. However, mining only the higher grade oil shales, 125 l/mt (30 gpt) and above, would effectively reduce the potentially mineable resources by 90%. Risk can also be reduced through higher selling prices of shale oil. Sensitivity analyses indicate that the capital investment has a three times greater effect on required selling price than total operating costs.

Jan 1, 1977

By William E. Ford, Edward Salisbury Dana

296. Definition of Specific Gravity. - The specific gravity of a mineral is the ratio of its density * to that of water at 4' C. (39'2' F.). This relative density may be learned in any case by comparing the ratio of the weight of a certain volume of the given substance to that of an equal volume of water; hence the specific gravity is often defined as: the weight of the body divided by the weight of an equal volume of water. The statement that the specific gravity of graphite is 2, of corundum 4, of galena 7-5, etc., means that the densities of the minerals named are 2; 4, and 7'5, etc., times that of water; in other words, as familiarly expressed, any volume of them, a cubic inch for example, weighs 2 times, 4 times, 7.5 times, etc., as much rn a like volume, a cubic inch, of water. Strictly speaking, since the density of water varies with its expansion or contraction under change of temperature, the comparison should be made with water at a fixed temperature, namely 4' C. (39'2' F.), at which it has its maxi- mum density. If made at a higher temperature, a suitable correction should be introduced by calculation. Practically, however, since a high degree of accuracy is not often called for, and, indeed, in many cases is impracticable to attain in consequence of the nature of the material at hand, in the ordinary work of obtaining the specific gravity of minerals the temperature at which the observation is made can safely be neglected. Common variations of temperature would seldom affect the value of the specific gravity to the extent of one unit in the third decimal place.

Jan 1, 1922

By Howard R. Hume, Terry R. West, William R. Judd

One of the outcomes of a sector slope design in a large open pit in the western United States has been the scrutiny of the structural domain concept. These domains essentially define the area of influence of particular structural characteristics. In the present instance these structural characteristics are joint discontinuities. One of the major drawbacks of defining a domain is that unless large quantities of discontinuity data are available this process of definition is largely qualitative in nature. Viewed from a discontinuity analysis aspect the orientations of all the major joint sets at a given point are a concise descriptor of the structural geologic regime at that location. This is important to domain boundary definition, this in turn is extremely important for assigning which joint sets to use as input for slope stability analysis in a given discontinuity domain. An attempt has been made to develop a quantitative method for defining these discontinuity domains based on limited amounts of orientation data thereby reducing the subjectivity normally involved in such operations. Subjectivity is not always a problem if large quantities of joint orientation data are available, since the mean and variance of joint clusters always can be compared and then grouped to define these domains. However, even this method suffers from the problem that only a single joint set orientation can be considered at a time during the grouping process. On the other hand a discontinuity domain requires that all joint sets at a point be considered simultaneously to truly define the structural discontinuity character of that point. This provides a far more complete

Jan 1, 1982

By Michael Hoch

The phase diagrams of binary systems of some of the transition elements of Groups IV, V, and VI were used to compute the partial free energies of these elements and the free energy of formation of their Laves-type compounds. From these data, isothermal sections of ternary phase diagrams were calculated and compared with experimental results. DURING the investigation of ternary and quaternary high temperature systems formed by the transition elements of Groups IV, V and VI, the binary phase diagrams for these elements available in the literature were studied. In this study, the free energies of formation of the compounds formed in these binary systems were calculated; these values were then used to determine the general shape of the ternary and quaternary phase diagrams. Above 900°C, the transition elements of Groups IV, V, and VI are all bcc and form only Laves-type compounds in binary systems. The investigation was based on the binary phase diagrams published by Hansen.1 The Cr-Nb system was constructed from the data of Elyutin and Funke.' Several unpublished phase diagrams were taken from Schmidt'sLo and English'sl1 compilations. THE BINARY SYSTEMS valuations of the Thermodynamic Functions. Rostokers evaluated the boundaries of the (a + b) field in Ti-base alloys with a two-constant equation. The authors' interest is mainly in the center of the diagrams; therefore the miscibility gaps in the Zr-Nb, W-Cr, Ta-Zr, Ta-Hf, and Ti-W systems were used to evaluate the thermodynamic behavior of the binary systems. Lumsden's4 Equations 29.2, 32.1, and 33.1, page 287, were used for the excess integral free energy FeX, and for the excess partial free energies Fx and replaces b and b replacesP in Lumsden's notation):

Jan 1, 1962

By Julian Kennedy Edgar

THINKING that it may prove of interest to the Institute, I have prepared a short account of the blowing in and subsequent working of the "A" furnace of the Edgar Thomson Steel Works. This furnace was built for the purpose of making spiegel, but has been started and is now running on Bessemer iron. The shape and size of the furnace are shown in the accompanying drawing. It will be seen that the section is formed of lines making very small angles with each other. In fact, an arc of a circle can be drawn, from the top to the tuyeres, which will nowhere deviate more than two inches from the lines given. In building, also, great pains were taken to gradually round the angles, so that the most careful observer, standing in the crucible and looking upward, could not tell at what points the slopes changed. It will also be seen that the widest part of the furnace is almost exactly midway between the bottom and the stock line, The flattest slope is maintained for 20 feet above the crucible, and is about 1 s inch to the foot from the perpendicular. The furnace is lined with small brick throughout, and has six tuyeres four inches in diameter, which project seven inches inside of crucible. There are three Siemens-Cowper-Cochrane stoves, each 15 feet in diameter by 50 feet high. Blast is furnished by an upright engine with 32-inch steam cylinder, 84-inch air cylinder, and 48-inch stroke. The steam cylinder has balanced poppet valves, working horizontally. The steam valves are worked by a Porter link-movement in order to obtain a variable cut-off. The exhaust valves are worked by a separate eccentric. It is intended to attach a governor to the cut-off, but at present it is set by hand. The steam cylinder is

Jan 1, 1880

By James A. Roberson

THE mechanical behavior of molybdenum has become a matter of considerable interest in recent years because it has a reasonably high strength at high temperatures. Various aspects of its fatigue behavior have been investigated previously,1-3 and the results can be summarized as follows. Recrys-tallized molybdenum exhibits a fatigue limit which decreases continuously with increasing temperature. The ratio of fatigue-limit stress to ultimate tensile stress is high (0.6 to 0.8) and reasonably constant. The present work was undertaken to determine the effect of variations in environment on the fatigue of molybdenum stressed in fully reversed axial tension compression. In order to provide a basis to which these data could be compared, a complementary series of fatigue tests were made in vacuum. All of the specimens used were made from one mill lot of unalloyed molybdenum which had been vacuum-arc melted, worked down to 1-in.-diam bar, re-crystallized, then warm-worked to 5/8 in. diam. The interstitial content by weight was as follows: C—0.022 pet, 02-0.0026 pet, Hz-0.0001 pet, and N20.0002 pct. The average grain diameter in the transverse direction was about 0.035 mm, and the average grain length was about 0.15 mm. Typical tensile-test data are shown in Table I. None of the specimens tested exhibited an upper yield point.

Jan 1, 1965

THE relation of labor to the accident rate in mines is admirably epitomized by Thomas T. Read in his paper presented at the St. Louis meeting, in the sentence "Reliance for accident prevention must be upon the individual worker himself." In connection with the inspection of mines for the fixing of merit premium rates for insurance under workmen's compensation, it has been the practice of The Associated Companies to allow 60 per cent.of the credits for safeguarding of the physical hazards of the mine and 40 per cent. for the human element. By "human element" is meant. that inherent tendency of the industrial worker to be careless, negligent or disobedient, in respect to his own safety, and after that also f his fellow workman. This is a tendency not only of the laborer or of the skilled miner, but of all human beings, working or traveling, anywhere. This element of mine safety, sometimes called the moral hazard, has been admirably shown by statistics compiled from the records of the Department of Mines of the Union of South Africa to be clue in about equal measure to the carelessness of the miner and to that of the operator. These statistics show that about one-half the fatalities in mines are clue to the so-called hazard of the industry, or what is sometimes called the dangers inherent to work or misadventure. Of 2497 fatalities investigated, including over 200,000 employees, for a period of over 2 ½ years, it was found that 17.5 per cent. were due to faulty plant or material, fault of the foreman, or of the management-in short were-clue to the operator; 17.1 per cent. to disobedience of orders, carelessness or ignorance of injured persons; and 5.9 per cent. through fault of others, including fellow workmen. The fault of the operator is evidenced by failure to give proper warning, failure to inspect, failure to furnish proper equipment, and neglecting to comply with the recommendations of the inspector. That education and training of the mine operator as well as of the mine worker

Jan 2, 1918

By P. A. Boeck

(San Francisco Meeting, September, 1915) THE thermal insulation of high-temperature equipment for industrial purposes is a subject that has not received from engineers and designers the attention its importance deserves. This may be attributed to a number of causes: In the first place, heat flow is a rather difficult factor to measure under the working conditions of an industrial furnace, and until the comparatively recent introduction into certain operations of the heat balance sheet, with a systematic attempt to account for the discrepancies in the totals, the various causes of heat losses and the reasons for their existence were not brought to light. Moreover, such rapid advancement and radical changes in the design of equipment, especially in metallurgical lines, have occurred that practice has apparently outdistanced the theory of design. In the modern tendency toward greatly increased size of units, effort has seemingly been made to utilize the heat of fuel gases without proper. attention having been paid to conserving heat energy and confining it strictly to the points of maximum activity. The systematic study of the thermal properties of structural materials, which is being carried out by various government bureaus and also by a number of technical societies, is forming the basis for more intelligent and consistent work in the economically important subject of prevention of fuel waste.

Jan 8, 1915

By P. Barnes

It may he of interest, and perhaps of inzportance, to the members of the Institute that specific mention should be made in detail of the great value of this method of copying or photographing all kinds of tracings." Several samples are laid upon the table which may serve as illustrations of the results obtained. Some of these show slight imperfections, depending upon the character of the tracing, and upon the length of the exposure to the light, but it may be clearly seen that even a faint copy would be quite available for actual use. The process is believed to be of French origin, and has been used for many years. Special attention seems to have been directed to it recently, and its great value to engineers appears likely to be fully recognized. The manipulations required are of the simplest possible kind, and are entirely within the skill and comprehension of any office boy who can be trusted to copy a letter in an ordinary press. These particulars may be summarized somewhat thus: 1. Provide a flat board as large as the tracing which is to be copied. 2. Lay on this hoard two or three thicknesses of common blanket, or its equivalent, to give a slightly yielding backing for the paper. 3. Lay on the blanket the prepared paper with the sensitive side uppermost. 4. Lay on this paper the tracing, smoothing it out as perfectly as possible so as to insure a perfect contact with the paper. 5. Lay on the tracing a plate of clear glass, which should be heavy enough to press the tracing close down upon the paper. Ordinary plate-glass of 3/8" thickness is quite sufficient. 6. Expose the whole to a clear sunlight, by pushing it out on a shelf from an ordinary window, or in any other convenient way, for six to ten minutes. If a clear skylight only can be had, the exposure must be continued for thirty or forty-five minutes, and under a cloudy sky, sixty to ninety minutes may be needed.

Jan 1, 1879

By W. P. Sykes

TUNGSTEN serves mankind in two major roles. The first of these is represented by the tungsten filament of the incandescent electric lamp, a common article of commerce. In the field of hard alloys it plays its second substantial part. A fortunate combination of physical properties in this metal ac- counts for its efficient service as a source of illumination. Tungsten melts at about 3400°C, has a relatively low vapor pressure and at the same time sufficient strength, both hot and cold, to serve satisfactorily as filaments, which may range in diameter from 0.060 to 0.0005 in. In the early days of the incandescent lamp, the pioneers realized the importance of using a substance of high melting point for the source of light. The metals osmium (mp approx. 2700°C) and tantalum (mp approx. 2850°C) were both employed to some extent. Tantalum actually attained some commercial importance in this field because it could be drawn into small wires of appreciable length. DUCTILE TUNGSTEN WIRE Before the year 1908, tungsten was considered a nonductile metal, since no one had succeeded in overcoming the brittleness so typical of the unworked metal at room temperature. The methods employed today in producing ductile tungsten wire were developed over a period of years. The process was largely determined by the exceedingly high temperature required to melt this metal. Even today the difficulties involved in producing an appreciable quantity of pure

Jan 1, 1953

By Earl Oliver

Some two years ago the Petroleum Division of the A. I. M. E. organized a special study of unit operation. That method of handling oil pools had been urged as the remedy that would save the United States petroleum industry from the crisis that even then loomed as more than a small cloud on the horizon. Today it is only one of several remedies vigorously advocated. Proration, regulation of imports, unit operation, constructive marketing and interstate compacts all have their earnest proponents, but the advocates of each have been disposed to look with indifference on the other respective proposals, with the result that none has had united support. Meanwhile the industry has drifted rapidly toward a serious crisis, the imminence of which in itself may bring the solution. The gravity of the situation tends to force study of the merits of proposals that a short time previously were brushed aside as impractical; and to the surprise of most of us we now find merit where previously we thought none existed. Irrespective of what might have been the result had any single proposal being adopted years ago, it is now apparent that under present conditions no one of the remedies—unit operation, proration, regulation of imports or constructive marketing—standing alone would be of much benefit. On the other hand, it is becoming evident that a well balanced program comprising all four of these remedies might save the United States petroleum industry; also that some such comprehensive program might be necessary to save it. It is even becoming evident that the despised interstate compact might be an appropriate type of machinery in which to group and coordinate all these remedies. We have progressed beyond the belief that either the industry or the government working alone can correct the situation, and have arrived at the more healthy realization that the task will require most sympathetic cooperation between government and industry, backed by an equally sympathetic public understanding. If we were functioning under a Mussolini or a Stalin, stabilizing the petroleum industry would be a much simpler task. However, in the

Jan 1, 1931

By P. D. Wilson

The genesis of some orebodies has been explained by the mingling and chemical interaction of water solutions of different compositions and the consequent precipitation of the mineral load of one or both solutions at their confluence. While this process can be proved in the laboratory, rarely can a positive demonstration be found in nature, for the conditions at the time an ore deposit is being worked are usually entircly differcnt from those that existed when the orebody was formed. For this reason, the present deposition of copper carbonate in the southern end of the Briggs mine of the Calumet and Arizona Mining Co. near Bisbce, Ariz., is of great interest. The developed orebodies in the Calumet and Arizona mines are roughly confined to two broad parallel zones separated at the north by a wedge of Copper Queen ground and at the south by an undeveloped block of Calumet and Arizona ground about 2000 ft. (610 m.) wide. The more westerly zone includes the Irish Mag, Oliver, P. and D., and Cole mines, none of which has been operated since 1919. Much of the water from this division is carried from the 1400-ft., or bottom, level at the southern end of the Cole mine in a long water drift through the undeveloped block to the 1300-ft. level of the Briggs mine at the southern end of the more easterly zone. Most of this water comes originally from outlying areas in the P. and D. mine, passing through parts of the lower. levels of the Cole mine, which are heavily mineralized with iron and copper sulfides. This sulfide zone has been opened up and slowly oxidizing for years. Originally a pure, potable water, the analyses of which are shown under A- in Tables 1 and 2, on its way through the mineralized area in the Cole mine it gathers copper, calcium, magnesium, iron, and aluminum sulfates, a load of dissolved mineral salts almost four times as great as that which it formerly carried; analyses B

Jan 1, 1923

By W. S. Owen, A. R. Rosenfield

The measured changes in the yield stress of a poly crystalline Ta-O alloy after strain aging at 100°C have been separated into two components; the change inflow stress and the change in dislocation locking parameter. These two components vary independently indicating that at least two separate recovery processes take place during strain-aging. Variations in the locking parameter can be accounted for by segregation of oxygen atoms to dislocations, but variations inflow stress cannot be explained by current theories. STRAIN-AGING in Fe-C and Fe-N alloys has been studied extensively.' The kinetics of the removal of the interstitial solute from solution appear to agree with the predictions of the cottrell-bilby2 model or a variation of it proposed by harper.3 Solute segregates to the dislocations under the influence of the elastic strain field of the dislocation and the rate of depletion of the solute can be measured by following the change in electrical resistivity4 or internal friction.5 On reloading a prestrained specimen, plastic flow starts at Fig. 1, but after aging the reloaded specimen yields discontinuously at a higher stress The aging index reflects the extent to which the yield has returned. Until recently it was usual to assume that ? is a result solely of the pinning of dislocations by the segregated solute atoms, that is, that op and oj coincide and the strain hardening curves AB and CD are continuous. Thomas

Jan 1, 1963

By R. R. Spencer, C. A. Campbell, R. J. Marcotte, A. S. Kromer, P. H. Ostlender

Calumet Div. of Calumet & Hecla Inc. is engaged primarily in mining, milling, and smelting the native copper ores of northern Michigan. The copper occurs in fragmental tops of lava flows and in certain interbedded felsitic conglomerates of Pre- Cambrian age. The most famous native copper ore- body in world history is the Calumet conglomerate, which outcrops between the villages of Calumet and Laurium for a distance of about 2 miles. The Osceola lode parallels the conglomerate lode and is mineralized for about 3 miles. Horizontal distance between the two is 750 ft. In 1932 the price of copper dropped to 54 per lb. Coupled with the high cost of obtaining copper from extreme depths, this low price made the venture un- profitable, and the mining unit was abandoned. After the shaft pillar copper was removed from several of the conglomerate shafts in a retreating operation, the mine was allowed to fill with water. In post-depression years, when the price of copper stabilized at about 12¢, Calumet Div. found it profitable to operate its remaining mines on other lodes, as well as its tailings reclamation plants.

Apr 1, 1956

Until a comparatively few years ago, interest in tantalum was limited almost wholly to its scientific investigation, but its extreme resistance to the action of even the strong mineral acids, its great avidity for the common gases, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, and its capacity for transforming alternating to direct current are winning for it a place in our industrial life. Tantalum is not attacked by any single acid except hydrpfluoric, nor is it affected by solutions of alkalies. Aqua regia, which readily dissolves both platinum and gold, has no action on it. This resistance to the common corrosive agents is an outstanding property of tantalum and accounts for many of the applications to which it has been put. When heated, tantalum reacts readily with oxygen and nitrogen and absorbs large volumes of hydrogen, 740 volumes being taken up at a dull red heat. This capacity for absorbing gases is being utilized to an increasing extent in the manufacture of vacuum tubes, in which tantalum is used for the metal parts, especially for grid wire. It is said to be a superior metal for this purpose, particularly in power and sending tubes, because of its low secondary emission. The use of tantalum in the manufacture of electrodes, dishes, spatulas and other laboratory apparatus appears to be fairly steady. There has been some development in its use for dental instruments, surgical tools, pen points, hypodermic needles and acid-proof pumps. Recently it has been used in the manufacture of spinnerets for the rayon industry, of nozzles for the manufacture of artificial casings for sausages and of lining for plant equipment. Tantalum in Electrolysis It has been known for some time that certain substances permit the passage of an alternating current in one direction more readily than in the other. Tantalum possesses this property to a marked degree.' When an alternating current is passed through a cell with tantalum electrodes and sulfuric acid electrolyte, a thin film is soon formed at the

Jan 1, 1930