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By Frank Riddle

THE life of thermocouples is governed, to a large extent, by the protection they receive when in use; particularly when the temperatures being measured are high and the products of combustion are reducing in character. Several types of protection tubes are being used for this work; they are made of ordinary and aluminous porcelain, fused quartz, carborundum, fused alumina, fireclay, and some kinds of metal. All of them may render good service under certain conditions but they must be used for the purpose for which they are intended. For example, fused-quartz tubes are very good when excessive changes in temperature occur, but under certain conditions they will crystallize and lose their strength. Porcelain is used in several ways in connection with the use of thermocouples: for insulating the two wires of the couple and to. prevent short circuits; for protecting the entire couple in a refractory gas-tight tube, which is ordinarily fastened to and is considered part of a properly equipped thermocouple; and for protecting the complete thermocouple from the possibility of physical injury and to support it. This tube is made porous and strong and is ordinarily built right into the wall or crown of the furnace, as the case may be. The insulating tubes must be small and sufficiently refractory to withstand the temperatures at which they are to be used. The length of the tubes, porosity of the material from which they are made, etc. does not particularly matter. The tubes are sometimes made with two or even four holes, the latter being used where it is desirable to have two couples as close together as possible for calibration work. The thermocouple protection tube must be of proper size to permit the thermoelements and insulating tubes to be inserted or taken out easily. It must be porous enough to withstand sudden changes in temperature and yet gas-tight, as well as refractory enough to withstand the furnace temperature, even if the tube protrudes into the furnace in a horizontal position without support for a reasonable distance. If the

Jan 9, 1919

By C. P. Fiske

THE pottery of the New Jersey Zinc Co. (of Pa.) is equipped to make three classes of refractories; namely, spelter vessels, spelter condensers; and high-grade fire-brick. The most important of these are the spelter vessels, on account of the extreme severity of the service which they must perform, necessitating great care in the selection of materials and in the whole process of manufacture. Next to the spelter vessels in importance? come the condensers, as large numbers are used in the manufacture of spelter, and improvements m quality result in material decreases in working cost. , While the fire-brick which form the laboratory, or high-temperature portion of the spelter furnaces, are placed at the foot of the list, they-are nevertheless of much importance, since high quality will decrease the frequency of the always expensive shutdowns for repairs. To promote simplicity, the manufacture of these three products will be described separately in this paper, except in so far as materials and the crushing and handling system common to all are concerned. Materials Bond Clay.-The bond clay used entirely at the Palmerton pottery is a St. Louis clay furnished by the Grand View Fire Clay Co. It is stored in a system of covered bins, and no attempt is made to weather -it in the, accepted sense of the term " weathering." Some years ago our clay was weathered before pugging, but we did not find the benefit sufficient to offset the additional handling and the loss. of clay incurred. Furthermore, we believe that the rotting of the pugged mix (described later), accomplishes the same results to better advantage. That there is some action taking place in the clay while stored in the covered bins, however, is, evidenced by an increase in volume which at times has caused damage to the retaining walls of the bins. We have at present a stock of bond clay weathering in the open, and when this is put into service an opportunity will be afforded for making comparisons-with the clay as usually handled.

Jan 10, 1917

By Edward H. Robie

EIGHT years ago in this department we had a column on the daiquiri cocktail, which, as we pointed out at that time, was invented by mining engineers. Since then we have said little or nothing about alcoholic drinks, but having set the precedent perhaps we may now pass along a little information about martinis. We have observed that as an aperitif the martini has become increasingly popular with men, so much so that we always feel a bit peculiar if we order something else. And the call is not for just a martini either; it must be a dry martini, and some of our friends are extremely particular on this point. The matter has achieved such importance that The New York Times devoted half a page to it a few Sundays back. Several recipes are given which may be useful to some of our members when entertaining visitors from this part of the country: The standard martini is said to be half gin, half Italian vermouth, two dashes orange bitters, and a pickled onion and twist of lemon peel. This progresses to the very dry martini, which calls for five parts gin and one part vermouth with an onion, olive, or lemon peel. Several alternatives are offered for the manufacture of the very, very dry martini. One is to pour a little vermouth into the mixing glass and pour it out again before mixing gin and ice. A second way is to put the ice in a sieve, hold it over the sink, and pour a little vermouth over it; then put the ice in the mixing glass. A third is to let the draft from an electric fan blow across an open vermouth bottle toward the mixing glass. Then the ultimate is the awfully dry martini, obtained by setting the vermouth bottle next to the mixing glass and turning the bottle slowly so that the label is exposed to the gin for perhaps a second. The Times notes that Mr. Martini himself personally prefers vermouth and soda.

Jan 1, 1952

By Ian Wark

MERCAPTOBENZTHIAZOLE and its sodium salt are marketed under the trade names Flotagen and Flotagen S respectively, for use as collectors for cerussite and other minerals. The structural formulas for sodium mercaptobenzthiazole and for sodium ethyl xanthate are: Chemically there is a resemblance between the two compounds, though the free acid (mercaptobenzthiazole itself) is much more stable than xanthic acid. Both are readily oxidized, e.g., by iodine to disulphides, and can be estimated by iodometric titration. Qualitatively they are similar as collectors in flotation, although there are quantitative differences between them that may be important in practice. It is deduced that the influence of the nitrogen atom is subordinated to that of the sulphur atoms, and that the dominant group of these compounds is the mercapto group -SH or -SNa. The general method of investigation has been based on contact tests. Two temperatures, 10° and 35° C., have been chosen, and with a standard concentration of 20 mg. per liter of mercaptobenzthiazole (i.e., of the free acid) the influence of alkali, cyanide and copper sulphate on contact at sulphide mineral surfaces has been studied. This standard concentration corresponds to about 19 mg. per liter potassium ethyl xanthate; it brings out the differences between the minerals better than a higher concentra-

Jan 1, 1939

By Vincent T. Ricca, Kurtis Chow

When dealing with acid mine drainage as to treatment levels, costs, and evaluation of abatement schemes, predictions of the quantity and quality of the discharges are needed. An acid mine-drainage model is presented in this paper. In essence, the model is a hybrid of computer programs for stream flow simulation and acid mine drainage. Two major aspects of the model are discussed: mine-water generation and acid-load production. The former is based on hydrologic concepts and the latter on pyrite oxidation kinetics and oxidation product removal. The total model is programmed for the high-speed digital computer. The major inputs are: climatological, basin characteristics, and mine characteristics data. By the use o f the hydrologic model the amount of water that flows through the pyritic system is determined. From this information, acid loads removed by leaching, inundation, and gravity diffusion are then predicted. The outputs from the total model are: average daily mine-water discharge, the associated acid concentration or load, plus the average daily flow in the receiving streams or at basin outlets. The capabilities of the separate models have been tested individually and the joint model has been applied to a small drift mine in southeastern Ohio.

Jan 1, 1975

By William M. Bowron

In the hope that a brief description of the conditions that are favorable or unfavorable to success in the practical treatment of titaniferous ores in the blast-furnace may not be without interest to the members of the Institute, the present paper is submitted. The class of ores of which I speak may be described as magnetites, with a gangue of siliceous matter, in which a portion of the silica is replaced by titanic acid. Professor Dana, in his System of Mineralogy, gives a long list of representative analyses of titanic iron ore in which the percentage of titanic acid varies from 59 down to 34. If the percentage is below the latter figure, the ore is no longer recognized as a "titanic ore;" although, according to my experience, titanic acid is present, in small quantities, in almost all ores. In the methods followed in ordinary analysis it is usually included with the "insoluble matter," unless special search is made for it. In the ores usually regarded as "titanic "the proportion of titanic acid frequently assumes quasi definite percentages, such as from 4 to 5, 8 to 9,12 to 13, and so on, in an ascending scale to those higher percentages that do not at present concern us. The proportions quoted characterize large masses of ore that are now accessible to market and are lying idle only on account of the titanic stigma. My experience with titanic acid in the furnace began in England, fourteen years ago, with my being employed as chemist by the manager of the Norwegian Titanic Iron Company, which was at that time smelting, without mixture, ilmenite from Norway in a furnace 16' X 50'. The process, regarded as a process, was a perfect success; but the enormous quantity of fuel required, the small quantity of iron in the ore, and the cost and uncertainty of importation militated seriously against its commercial success, and a few years saw the attempt abandoned. The metallurgy being successful, an at-

Jan 1, 1883

By Allen D. Garrison

The chemistry of clays and shales has been assuming increasing importance in the petroleum industry, and two factors have greatly influenced this trend. The first has been the growing evidence that the marine shales are source beds, and that the petroleum compounds have migrated to the sand reservoirs overlying or underlying these shales: the second has been the demand for drilling fluids better adapted to penetrate these marine shales without difficulty and expense. Origin and General Composition of Clays and Shales Clays, shales and surface soils are all closely related materials. They are mixtures of finely divided compounds formed during the weathering of the solid crust of the earth. Their nature is essentially colloidal; that is, their behavior is determined by the state of division of the materials and the surface reactions of the smallest grains. Many of their chemical changes affect only the exposed areas and do not involve the interior of the grains of matter. The extent of these reactions is more nearly proportional to the area of the substances than to their mass, therefore it is possible for a small amount of a material in an extremely fine state of division to completely dominate the character of the mixture. More than 83 per cent of the crust of the earth is composed of three elements—oxygen, silicon and aluminum. Consequently, the corrosion products of the crust are predominantly aluminosilicates, or compounds of aluminum, silicon and oxygen. If we add the compounds of six elements—iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium and hydrogen—more than 98 per cent of the crust has been accounted for. These six elements, together with the first three, also appear in soils, clays and shales. But direct chemical analysis is of little value in describing the nature of such materials. Many chemical individuals may be present in variable amounts, and the extreme subdivision of any one of the individuals may contribute qualities that dominate the mixture.

Jan 1, 1939

By Allen D. Garrison

The chemistry of clays and shales has been assuming increasing importance in the petroleum industry, and two factors have greatly influenced this trend. The first has been the growing evidence that the marine shales are source beds, and that the petroleum compounds have migrated to the sand reservoirs overlying or underlying these shales: the second has been the demand for drilling fluids better adapted to penetrate these marine shales without difficulty and expense. Origin and General Composition of Clays and Shales Clays, shales and surface soils are all closely related materials. They are mixtures of finely divided compounds formed during the weathering of the solid crust of the earth. Their nature is essentially colloidal; that is, their behavior is determined by the state of division of the materials and the surface reactions of the smallest grains. Many of their chemical changes affect only the exposed areas and do not involve the interior of the grains of matter. The extent of these reactions is more nearly proportional to the area of the substances than to their mass, therefore it is possible for a small amount of a material in an extremely fine state of division to completely dominate the character of the mixture. More than 83 per cent of the crust of the earth is composed of three elements—oxygen, silicon and aluminum. Consequently, the corrosion products of the crust are predominantly aluminosilicates, or compounds of aluminum, silicon and oxygen. If we add the compounds of six elements—iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium and hydrogen—more than 98 per cent of the crust has been accounted for. These six elements, together with the first three, also appear in soils, clays and shales. But direct chemical analysis is of little value in describing the nature of such materials. Many chemical individuals may be present in variable amounts, and the extreme subdivision of any one of the individuals may contribute qualities that dominate the mixture.

Jan 1, 1939

By H. J. Struth

Gasoline is undoubtedly of major importance not only to the petroleum refiner but to the producer. To study the economic aspects of gasoline is, in a measure, a constructive effort to solve the problem of overproduction not only for the refiner but for the entire petroleum industry. After all, the prime object of producing crude petroleum is to supply motor fuel and lubricants to nearly 25,000,000 American motor vehicles, not to mention the increasing demand for these products abroad. Since gasoline furnishes the chief source of revenue to the refiner, it follows that this important product should veritably become recognized by all branches of the petroleum industry as an almost infallible index of day to day requirements of the producer and the refiner. A careful study of gasoline statistics over the past decade or more reveals that there is a definite correlation between world-wide gasoline requirements and the demand for crude petroleum, as well as all other petroleum products. This leads the writer to the conclusion that gasoline is literally the economic yardstick of the entire petroleum industry. Control of Operations That the refiner has begun to recognize the urgent need for controlling his operations is evidenced by the results of the past three years. Unfortunately, it is a difficult problem to convince the refiner that he cannot run crude in excess of the demand for gasoline, without incurring a consequent decline in the market value of this and all other products of distillation. Undoubtedly, he still has much to learn in this respect. Few commercial products have enjoyed such phenomenal growth in demand as has gasoline, and, at the same time, few products have failed, as has gasoline, to reap financial benefit from the popular demand for a national necessity. Perhaps this unprecedented demand was responsible for the overextension of retining facilities, which resulted in the excesses of recent times; at any rate, as the demand for gasoline grew by leaps and bounds, so the refining industry continued to increase its capacity for

Jan 1, 1929

By Luther Eames

THE recovery of dissolved gold from slime pulp in the cyanide process was first accomplished by intermittent decantation. This simple process consists in mixing with the pulp containing the values in solution, a solution of lower gold content, settling the mixture in a tank and decanting the clear supernatant fluid. The thick pulp remaining in the tank is pumped to a second tank together with more barren solution and again settled and decanted. After several repetitions of this operation, values are so far reduced that further washing is not profitable. The gold recovery of this process is high, but the plant required is bulky, labor cost is high and the amount of solution to be precipitated is excessive. HISTORICAL DATA As early as 1901, a plant was built in the Black Hills of South Dakota by John Randall, employing the same principles but attempting to make the process continuous by substituting for flat-bottomed tanks, cones which operated continuously, receiving a constant feed and discharging a steady stream of thickened pulp. These cones were operated in series, the thick underflow of the first one forming, with a stream of diluting solution, the feed to the second cone of the series. Barren solution was added to the tank immediately preceding the discharge tank and, after being slightly enriched by the low-grade pulp in this tank, overflowed to form a diluting solution again for the richer feed entering the third tank from the end of the series, and so on back to the richest tank of the series. Clear water was used for the wash in the final tank: This is the principle on which all successful countercurrent decantation plants operate at the present time, but Randall's plant was not successful because of mechanical difficulties in getting a continuous thick discharge from his cone tanks. A similar plant was built in South Africa although there the washes were not repeatedly used, as in Randall's case, but were precipitated after each contact with the ore. This also was abandoned

Jan 12, 1916

By Patrick H. O’Neill

FUNDAMENTALLY a dredge designed for operating under arctic conditions and particularly when the temperature is below freezing is not greatly different than one for use in more moderate climates. Because of the accumulation of ice it is necessary to design suspension units to carry an increased weight when ice forms on the digging ladder or stacker. Winch room and house must be made with double walls and insulated. The dredge must be heated either by steam or by circulating warm air electrically heated. The stacker must be covered and heated to avoid having the drive units frozen tight. Actually the worst trouble that might develop in a stacker, because of cold weather, is the freezing of spilled material and ice accumulation on the head pulley and the underside of the belt. For this reason, stackers are completely enclosed and the pan kept open to get rid of any spilled material and to prevent overloading. Since the stacker is the most vulnerable place on a dredge in cold weather, heat is turned on there long before it is necessary any other place on the dredge. The principal points of interest in' connection with dredging, under subfreezing conditions, concern the preparation of the ground being dredged and the frozen ponds. In the interior of Alaska, and also in the Yukon territory of Canada, most of the gold bearing gravel deposits are permanently frozen and they are also covered by variable thicknesses of fine grained sediment, locally called muck. The better pay areas in this frozen ground have generally been worked by the earlier miners who sank shafts to bedrock in the frozen ground, then drifted in four directions and dug out the areas between the drifts as they re- treated toward the shaft. They thawed only the area they were excavating, doing so with steam from wood-fired boilers, and hoisted pay gravel to the surface for subsequent washing.

Jan 11, 1954

By B. H. Sage

AN apparatus is described for the measurement of the pressure-volume-temperature relations of pure substances, simple mixtures and complex mixtures with an over-all absolute uncertainty, which is usually not more than 0.2 per cent. The equipment is suitable for studies in the gaseous, two-phase, and liquid regions. The behavior of such systems may be investigated at pressures as high as 10,000 lb. per sq. in. for temperatures between 70° and 600° F. The methods of measurement and the construction of the apparatus are described in some detail. The measurement of the volumetric behavior of multicomponent systems requires the simultaneous measurement of the pressure, volume, temperature and weight of each component of the system. In the present apparatus a sample having constant weight is investigated at a number of independently controlled pressures and temperatures, there-fore it is necessary only to establish the weight of each component added before a given set of measurements. This method is in distinction to that in which the total volume remains constant and the pressure is varied by addition or removal of material, the system having variable weight. An objective in the design of the apparatus to be described was to develop equipment that would yield results involving no uncertainties larger than 0.25 per cent throughout the range of pressures from 150 to 10,000 lb. per sq. in. at temperatures between 70° and 600° F. Although this over-all absolute uncertainty of measurement may not appear to be small, it necessitated care in the plans for control and measurement of each of the fundamental variables. In general, any uncertainty greater than 0.05 per cent in the pressure, volume, absolute temperature or weight of each component was considered undesirable; therefore the attempt was made to obtain a precision of measurement in each case such that the absolute uncertainty would be only half this amount except in certain regions near the ends of the experimental range of the variable under consideration.

Jan 1, 1939

By Frederick M. Becket, Russell Franks

WideSpread experimentation has been conducted in recent years to devise a means of preventing intergranular corrosion in austenitic chromium-nickel steels of the 18 per cent chromium-8 per cent nickel type. Additions of titanium to these steels have been used commercially to overcome this dificulty, as advocated by Krupp of Germany, and the latest literature reference concerning improved details of this method is the article by Bain, Aborn and Rutherford.' Extensive work by the present authors has shown columbium also to be a particularly valuable agent for inhibiting intergranular corrosion. This paper does not deal with steels that are largely or wholly austenitic; it is limited to a discussion of the results obtained through the use of titanium and columbium in plain high-chromium steels. For many years titanium has been used commercially by some steelmakers as a cleanser, and to a lesser extent as a hardener, but then in greater percentages. The results of the work to be described disclose that titanium and columbium in proper Proportions act as effective softeners in the high-chromium steels. It is well known that chromium intensifies the hardening effect of carbon in steel; it imparts pronounced air-hardening properties within a rather wide range of chromium content; it provides increased ductility in steels of given strength and hardness; and it enhances resistance to corrosion and oxidation at elevated temperatures to a marked degree. However, in applications requiring a combination of some of these valuable properties great hardness is frequently a detriment rather than a merit. When the objective is a soft and ductile steel having optimurn corrosion resistance, the producer strives for a carbon content as low as commercially practicable. Despite these efforts some of the commercial high-chromium steels low in carbon present considerable difficulties during production, owing to their air-hardening properties, and in consequence the economic result is not favorable. A good example is found in the 5 to 6 per cent chromium steels employed chiefly in the oil-cracking industry. Sleels

Jan 1, 1934

By B. P. Bellport

When tunneling crews set world records in rates of advance by boring up to 403 ft in a single day and 6851 ft in a month, then the age of rapid under- ground excavation is near at hand with its attendant economies. Boring machines excavate tunnels with uniform diameters and smooth walls and only about 5% overbreak compared to 20% overbreak experienced by conventional drill-blast methods. This advantage minimizes the concrete required for lining and because a circular section is more nearly self-supporting there is less of a need for supports before the concrete is placed. In addition, laser beam guidance improves the accuracy of excavation with boring machines. In the first successful application of laser guidance for boring machines in the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project, the final excavation was within 5/8 in. of the established line and grade over a 10.079- ft advance.

Jan 1, 1971

By V. Lessels, D. J. Buckwalter, D. H. Rose

A cyanide leaching process developed at Michigan Technological University was tested in a 12 to 24 tpd pilot plant. Flowsheet layout and equipment are described. Cyclic operation of leaching, copper precipitation by acidification, and regeneration of the cyanide leaching solution are discussed. Copper extraction and reagent consumption were as predicted by laboratory tests, and the process was proven to be technically feasible. The White Pine Copper Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Copper Range Co., produces copper in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Production in 1965 amounted to 138 million pounds of metal. An expansion program now under way will increase this by approximately one half. The highly mechanized room and pillar mine produces 18,000 tons of ore per day, which is treated in a flotation plant. The concentrate is smelted in a reverberatory furnace, the matte is blown in converters to blister copper, and the blister copper is further refined to a uniformly high-quality Lake copper, which is 100% conductive and has a silver content of 25 to 40 oz per ton. The run of the mine ore averages 22.5 lbs of copper per ton with the ore mineral occurring in the form of chalcocite. The nature of the mineralization is such that the sand tailings average a little over 4 lbs of copper per ton. Intensive research has improved copper recovery in the flotation operation to some extent, but at the scale of present operation about 12,000 tons of sands containing over 48,000 lbs of copper go to the tailings pond daily. When the plant expansion is completed, the loss of copper will be somewhat greater. In 1959, the White Pine Copper CO, initiated a study of the recovery of copper in the sand tailings. Inasmuch as the flotation operation was considered to be optimized, a logical approach seemed to be leaching. For various reasons ammonia, ferric chloride, acid, and biological leaching were ruled out as impracticable. This led to a consideration of cyanide leach-

Jan 1, 1968

By Albert R. Ledoux

In Great Britain all analytical chemists are styled assayers, but in the United states a slight distinction is made, assayers being considered those analytical chemists who have chiefly to do with the determination of the precious metals. There have grown up around the assayers of precious metals a number of customs and traditions which, as a rule, do not fetter American chemists when called upon to determine the composition or constituents of any samples submitted to them for analysis. In Great Britain, on the other hand, trade-customs even go to the extent of enforcing the employment of an admittedly erroneous atomic weight in certain alkali-determinations. If the American chemist is asked to determine the amount of lime in a water, potash in an alkali, or silica in an ore, the owner of the sample does not presume to suggest what method he shall employ, nor does he question his report on the ground that he should employ another method. But even in America it is different with the assayer. Unfortunately for the guild, as well as for those who have to base business operations on the reports of assayers, customs and traditions as well as divergent interests seek to circumscribe him in his choice of method and sometimes dictate how he shall perform his operations. This was true at one time of copper, which to-day in England is still determined by the so-called Cornish fire-assay, an attempt to imitate in the laboratory the various metallurgical operations in the smelting-works; but nowhere in this country is the assayer forced to employ any particular method for determining copper so long as his certificate indicates the true total percentage of copper in the sample. It is true that both buyers and sellers demand use of the electrolytic method, but only because it is the most accurate. In America the trade accepts the assayer's statement as final, and makes

Jan 1, 1895

By F. Louis Grammer

The iron industry has been so markedly the cynosure of all eyes, that a sense of weariness has overtaken many on-lookers, and a new wonder is desired. While the commercial phase of the iron industry has necessarily engrossed the public attention and probably is the more worthy of record, still the mechanical and metallurgical phases have recorded conspicuous advances and merit attention. In order to appreciate the present condition of blast-furnace practice, it is necessary before enumerating the advances made during the past decade to give a brief discussion of the tendencies in the methods of administration as well as the conditions governing supremacy, for these factors have modified the aims of the manager. It might also be well to apologize for a record of the advances made during such a short period as a decade, were it not that, for the individual, time is marked as much by the impressions recorded on the brain as by the jumps of the second hand of a watch. Furthermore, this article is written in order to carry out a project of the late Dr. Egleston, to have a record made each decade. I regret that the data collected by him, and forwarded to me, end with 1896, and therefore do not include the interesting results which followed the introduction of Mesabi ores. The perusal of the notes is melancholy reading, somewhat like the feelings we experience in going through a graveyard. It is a record made up of so many plants, which have ceased to be factors in the iron world, if they are not entirely moribund. Historically, they would be interesting, emphasizing as they do the abnormal and somewhat overestimated importance of furnace lines, taken without proper reference to volume of blast and nature of stock used. I regret, however, that the time at my disposal does not permit of this presentation.

Jan 1, 1905

By Luther B. Eames

The recovery of dissolved gold from slime pulp in the cyanide process was first accomplished by intermittent decantation. This simple process consists in mixing with the pulp containing the values in solution, a solution of lower gold content, settling the mixture in a tank and decanting the clear supernatant fluid. The thick pulp remaining in the tank is pumped to a second tank together with more barren-solution and again settled and decanted. After several repetitions of this operation, values are so far reduced that further washing is not profitable. The gold recovery of this process is high, but the plant required is bulky, labor cost is high and the amount of solution to be precipitated is excessive. Historical Data As early as 1901, a plant was built in the Black Hills of South Dakota by John Randall, employing the same principles but attempting to make the process continuous by substituting for flat-bottomed tanks, cones which operated continuously, receiving a constant feed and discharging a steady stream of thickened pulp. These cones were operated in series, the thick underflow of the first one forming, with a stream of diluting solution, the feed to the second cone of the series. Barren solution was added to the tank immediately preceding the discharge tank and, after being slightly enriched by the low-grade pulp in this tank, overflowed to form a diluting solution again for the richer feed entering the third tank from the end of the series, and so on back to the richest tank of the series. Clear water was used for the wash in the final tank. This is the principle on which all successful countercurrent decantation plants operate at the present time, but Randall's plant was not successful because of mechanical difficulties in getting a continuous thick discharge from his cone tanks. A similar plant was built in South Africa although there the washes were not repeatedly used, as in Randall's case, but were precipitated after each contact with the ore. This also was abandoned

Jan 1, 1918

By Lester C. Uren

It is realized that the depth of fluid maintained in a pumping well is sometimes influenced by other considerations than the quantity of fluid that will enter the well: the prevention of sand incursion, prevention of waste of natural gas, and the maintenance of a suitable submergence for the pump, for example. These latter factors have an important influence on the productivity of the well, so that otherwise unwarranted fluid levels must sometimes be maintained to offset them; but where the handling of unconsolidated sands is not a problem of consequence and where water has been properly excluded, the principles developed here and the practices recommended should apply. The principal objective of the producer should be to produce the maximum quantity of oil in the shortest possible time. Any method or equipment that will increase the rate of production during the early years of the life of the well, when gas pressure is high, will greatly augment the ultimate production. The maintenance of a proper fluid level in the well at all times will go far toward accomplishing this desired result. For a given set of conditions surrounding the flow of oil into a particular well, in which the viscosity of the oil, the porosity and grain size of the sand, and the diameter of the well appear as constants, two variables determine the quantity of oil that will flow from the sand into the well. These are: the effective pressure behind or within the oil in the reservoir sand, and the fluid level maintained within the well. The former is the expulsive force that causes movement of oil from the sand into the well, while the latter determines the magnitude of a resisting force opposing such movement. The first of these factors is largely beyond the control of the oil producer, but it is in his interest to reduce the opposing force to the lowest economic limit.

Jan 1, 1925

By E. L. Bruce

Gold occurs in many mineral deposits in the rocks of the Canadian Shield. It is present in the ores of many base metals and a considerable quantity is recovered as a by-product from the production of copper at Noranda, of nickel and copper at Sudbury and of copper and zinc at Flinflon. But the greater part of the gold production of Canada is from deposits in which gold is the only metal of value. No gold is obtained from placer deposits within the borders of the Canadian Shield. A brief review of the geological relations of some of the gold deposits of the Canadian Shield will be presented in an attempt to explain certain associations. Only those which are being worked for their gold content will be considered and descriptions will be confined to representative types of deposits, chiefly those of major importance; a few others, differing in certain features from those of the older and larger mines, will be included in order to illustrate the general conditions in which gold occurs in these ancient rocks. Brief summaries will be given of the geological relations of the Beattie and Siscoe mines of northern Quebec, of the mines of the Porcupine and Kirkland Lake areas of northeastern Ontario and of the Howey, Central Patricia and Little Long Lac mines of northwestern Ontario. Genetic relations to igneous rocks of granitic composition, outcropping in the vicinity, have been assumed for many of these deposits. Undoubtedly the ore minerals have been derived from igneous sources and, for some occurrences, there is evidence suggestive of genetic relationship between the ore bodies and neighbouring intrusive rocks. During the past few years, however, many investigators have expressed doubt of the genetic relationship of certain ore bodies to igneous masses near which they occur. As will be seen from .references in the following descriptions the importance of the structural conditions in localizing deposition has been realized. This is pointed out for Canadian pre-Cambrian gold deposits by E. T. Dougherty, who also refers to the

Jan 1, 1937