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By J. Burns Read, S. Tour

It is the purpose of this paper to summarize, as far as possible, the metallurgical information and experience gained by the Ordnancc Department, during the war, in the manufacture of artillery cartridge cases, to describe the tests to which artillery cartridge cases were put, and to summarize the knowledge and experience gained in this testing. The authors wish to acknowledge the aid given by manufacturers, army officers, and civilian employees of the Department in obtaining data. Artillery cartridge cases are cold drawn from circular disks punched from strips of rolled brass. The rnanufacture involves from 25 to 30 main operations, which are done almost entirely on a punch press. Descriptions of the operations have appeared in various periodical:: and, therefore, will not he given here. After each cupping, or drawing, operation, except the last, the cases are annealed at from 540" to 650" C. (1000" to 1200°F.), to remove all the hardening stresses set up in the metal and to allow complete recrystallization. After each annealing, the cases are pickled in niter cake or sulfuric-acid solution and then washed in water to remove all traces of acid. In some instances, the cases arc then immersed in a cyanide-salt solution, and afterwards rinsed in water, to remove the thin layer of copper that forms on the surface of the cases during the acid pickle. The last cold-drawing operation is followcd by the heading operation which, by flattening the head of the case on the outside, causes the metal to flow on the inside to approximately the proper finished dimensions. The mouth, or open end, is then annealed at 430" to 450" ('. 1800" to 900" F.) by immersion in a salt bath or by gas flames. After being washed, the eases are tapered, when they arc ready for machining, inspection, and testing. Cartridge-case Disks Good disks of proper composition and physical properties are essential to the production of good cartridge cases. The Ordnance Department

Jan 1, 1923

By J. Burns Read, S. Tour

It is the purpose of this paper to summarize, as far as possible, the metallurgical information and experience gained by the Ordnancc Department, during the war, in the manufacture of artillery cartridge cases, to describe the tests to which artillery cartridge cases were put, and to summarize the knowledge and experience gained in this testing. The authors wish to acknowledge the aid given by manufacturers, army officers, and civilian employees of the Department in obtaining data. Artillery cartridge cases are cold drawn from circular disks punched from strips of rolled brass. The rnanufacture involves from 25 to 30 main operations, which are done almost entirely on a punch press. Descriptions of the operations have appeared in various periodical:: and, therefore, will not he given here. After each cupping, or drawing, operation, except the last, the cases are annealed at from 540" to 650" C. (1000" to 1200°F.), to remove all the hardening stresses set up in the metal and to allow complete recrystallization. After each annealing, the cases are pickled in niter cake or sulfuric-acid solution and then washed in water to remove all traces of acid. In some instances, the cases arc then immersed in a cyanide-salt solution, and afterwards rinsed in water, to remove the thin layer of copper that forms on the surface of the cases during the acid pickle. The last cold-drawing operation is followcd by the heading operation which, by flattening the head of the case on the outside, causes the metal to flow on the inside to approximately the proper finished dimensions. The mouth, or open end, is then annealed at 430" to 450" ('. 1800" to 900" F.) by immersion in a salt bath or by gas flames. After being washed, the eases are tapered, when they arc ready for machining, inspection, and testing. Cartridge-case Disks Good disks of proper composition and physical properties are essential to the production of good cartridge cases. The Ordnance Department

Jan 1, 1923

By S. H. Penn

Preliminary experimental evidence seems to preclude the use of unlubricated mechanical force drills on the moon. Measured values of the coefficients of friction and adhesion between metallic and nonmetal-lic solids have been shown to increase in an ultra-high vacuum environment. The paucity of real knowledge of the influence of a hard lunar vacuum upon interacting solid surfaces, relegates current proposals to sample the moon with a mechanical force drill, to the equivalent of wildcatting on earth. Within a few years, drilling will be attempted on the lunar surface with tools that have been designed with parameters that are normally considered for most conventional terrestrial drills. Lunar drills must be light in weight, portable, have reasonable penetration rates, low manpower requirements, etc. Although the initial equipment cost is expected to be high, this will probably not be a critical factor. Early lunar drilling will be limited to shallow holes with depths of 10 ft or less. The primary function of these holes will be to furnish samples of lunar surface materials but they may also be utilized for other purposes, such as geophysical experiments. Instruments may be installed in them capable of measuring thermal diffusivity, gamma radiation, etc. As sampling will be the primary objective of the earliest holes, sample contamination is a parameter that effectively excludes such otherwise promising techniques as explosive or plasma jet drilling. The most desirable method is probably some form of mechanical force drilling that has the capability of operating in the extreme lunar thermal environment (125° to 37S°K), high vacuum (10- l3 torr range), and low gravity.

Jan 1, 1968

By Richard T. Newcomb

This paper considers the many problems involved in estimating rates of technical change via productivity indexes. In mining, declining ore grades complicate the measurement of progress considerably. The estimates discussed in this article were made for the United States iron mining industry by means of two techniques: a simple model of production with two inputs, and multiple regression. The results can be used to explain the relation existing on U.S. iron ranges between rates of exhaustion, technical change, output per man and the increase in capital proportions observed since World War I. Similar ob-servations can be made on the mining sector trends in the United States, Canada, and Japan. Formidable problems confront the economist attempting to estimate the influence of technological changes on the progress of mineral industries. Peculiar to these industries is the problem of how to adjust any measure of technological progress for the offsetting influence of exhaustion. Exhaustion has long been recognized in the mining industry as a critical dimension. Empirically, it is usually treated as a problem of declining grades of ore either in production or in reserves. There are studies of the trends in mining industries attempting to relate changes in input requirements to changes in grade and technology over time. Most frequently, the measure used to indicate technological progress is average labor productivity, e.g., output per man-hour. However, although such an approach has the merit of being simple and direct, it ignores the influence of other important factors of production such as capital. Without defining both the nature of technological change and of production, it can be very misleading to identify increases in labor productivity with tech-

Jan 1, 1969

By Oscar M. Wicken

Industrial minerals - being the basic materials for much of the industrial activity in the world -suffer or gain in the market place with changes in that activity. The period 1970 and early 1971 has been one of little growth in many of the mineral-consuming industries, particularly those associated with building and construction. Consequently, the production of many commodities revealed little or no increase above 1969 levels. The pick-up of construction activity in the last half of 1971, however, is expected to be at an intensity which will result in an over-all good year; for example, cement shipments may, establish a record. Some industrial minerals products that bucked downward trends were those allied with the agricultural industry. Phosphate rock shipments increased, particularly from Florida which contributes over 400/c of the phosphate rock in the western world. Potash had higher sales and production for the third straight year, which means that inventories are being eased. The catch-all term of ecology is an oft-mentioned theme among industrial minerals suppliers. Specifically, the need for control of dust emissions is adding a heavy capital investment burden to many of the producers; such a burden, in fact, that plants have had to cease operations because the cost of dust collection equipment could not be born. As an order-of-magnitude estimate, dust collection equipment for cement plants can run $2-3 million for a single plant; some estimates are that the total cost of dust collection equipment in a new plant can be approximately 20% of total investment. All minerals processers have dust control expense of greater or lesser proportion.

Jan 1, 1972

By Frederic P. Dewey

At the Seventh International Congress of Applied Chemistry I presented a paper,' The Assay and Valuation of Gold-Bullion, in which are briefly mentioned a few illustrations of different methods of sampling gold-bullion, particularly cyanide-bars. Since then I have carried on an extensive investigation upon the sampling of gold-bullion in relation to its effects upon the assay-results, in connection with the statement of accounts between the smaller assay-offices of the United States which purchase gold-bullion and the mints where the purchases are re-deposited. Under the name of gold-bullion are included metals of widely different composition. We may have practically pure metal, 999.75 fine or even more in gold; alloys of .gold and silver with only trifling amounts of base metal; alloys of gold and copper with trifling amounts of other metals; ternary alloys of gold, silver, and copper, or gold, silver, and lead; and most complex alloys of from five to eight or more constituents of ordinary occurrence, besides some of the rarer metals occasi'onally. In any one or all of these classes we may have one or more of the metalloids, which may add to our difficulties. Of course, with metal 999.75 fine in gold there is only slight opportunity for different samples to differ in fineness, but on such fine metal we expect the assays to agree very closely, and the sampling must be done with the utmost care. When possible, dip- or granulation-samples of the molten metal should be taken; but when it is necessary to sample bars, the chief point to guard against is surface-dirt.

Jan 1, 1913

By Karl S. Hughes

ANY one of the mining engineers who spent three years under the benevolent and protective custody of the military forces of His Imperial Nipponese Majesty will admit that he has survived a most disagreeable experience, but our friends here in the States all demand that we tell them something about our thrilling adventure. Many of the younger men who were on Luzon in December 1941 joined up with the Army, either as civilian technical employees or through their reserve officer status. They served through the Bataan and Corregidor defense and had five months of thrills and hardship, if that is what constitutes adventure. Unfortunately, too many of them are not alive to tell their stories. But for most of us, our internment as alien civilians was just one long, drawn-out pain in the neck. Yes, we starved; yes, we contracted beriberi, dysentery, typhus, dengue, and for a while had no quinine to fight the ever-present malaria; but these things are not exciting, neither is the account of them interesting. Our contingent from Mindanao, 250 .in number including 25 mining men, went through one period of starvation at Davao. When the activity of the Allied fleet interfered with the importation of staple foodstuffs, and the natives stopped bringing fruit and vegetables into the market, the food situation became acute, and in December 1943, with stocks in sight and in prospect insufficient to provision their own soldiers, our custodians decided that we must be moved to Manila. The story of that ten-day voyage in an antiquated Jap freighter is too disgusting to tell, but hardly more adventurous than the account of a game of solitaire.

Jan 1, 1945

By Edward W. Parker

Note.—The material from which this paper has been prepared was collected tor the U. S. Geological Suvey Bulletin, No. 316, Contributions to Economic Geology, 1906, and appears also, though in somewhat more extended form without illustrations, in that publication. Although the briquetting of coals and lignites has been carried on for many years in Europe, and has reached a particularly high state of development in France, Belgium, and Germany, it has made comparatively little progress in the United States. The causes for the backwardness of the United States in this regard are several, and first among them has been the abundant supply of cheap raw fuel with which the manufactured article has to compete. With our millions of acres of coal-productive territory, from which the product can in moat cases be cheaply extracted, it has appeared in many districts more economical to waste the slack or culm, which constitutes a considerable percentage of the product, than to attempt to save it at the additional expense required for briquetting. It is for this reason that the view in all sections -of the anthracite-region of Pennsylvania is marred by the unsightly culm-banks which encumber the ground, and that in some of the bituminous-districts one sees huge piles of unmarketable slack allowed to burn up in order to get rid of them. When the coal is of a coking quality, or when the slack can be used for steaming-purposes, these losses are not sustained, but many thousands of tons of what might be converted into usable fuel have been wasted every year simply because of the increased expense involved in its preparation.

Jan 1, 1908

By C. G. Goetzel

Until recently porous bronzes have found many applications for self-lubricating bearings in the automotive, electrical, household appliance and general machine industries. The bulk of an annual production of several million pounds of copper powder had gone into the manufacture of these articles, of which by now more than a billion are in service. However, the war has brought severe curtailment of these bearings because of the scarcity of the two main constituents, copper and tin. The development of substitute materials of equal or superior properties has led to a large-scale replacement by products made from iron powder. In spite of the diminished interest in powdered copper-tin alloys caused by this trend, it was believed worth while to investigate some mechanical properties of these materials as a reference base for substitutes. In addition, experiments using the hot-press method were incorporated to investigate possibilities of saving vital equipment or opening new fields of applications. It must be assumed that by this time the powder metallurgy process of making porous bronzes, a development that found its first industrial applications more than 10 years ago, is well known in engineering. The patent literature and bibliography is volu- minous, most publications referring to porous, self-lubricating bronzes, containing about 10 per cent tin and I to 5 per cent graphite, with porosities in the range of 25 to 35 per cent.l-7 The excellent antifriction properties of these bearings, caused by the uniform impregnation with oil, are dependent on the interconnection of the pores and the uniform distribution of the graphite inclusions. The sintering mechanism of porous bronze, with its structural changes during the transformation of the metal powder into the sintered bearing has been shown in colored photomicrographs by Hall.* Diffusion between copper and tin was found to begin within one minute, when tin-rich transitory phases were formed. After 25 min. a homogeneous matrix of alpha was reached for an alloy containing 9.5 per cent tin and 6 per cent graphite. Price, Williams and Garrand,9 studying certain metal powder combinations in which sintering is accompanied by the cementing action of a liquid phase, including a 90-10 bronze sintered at 925°C., have found that if the treatment is carried out within the liquidus and solidus temperature range of the system, a peculiar process of alternate solution and precipitation occurs. The particles of the major solid constituent are dissolved in the minor liquid phase, but thereafter are reprecipi-tated on certain nuclei, which develop into large grains, usually rounded.

Jan 1, 1945

By H. O. Hofman

The substance of this paper was prepared for the Seventh International Congress of Applied Chemistry, held in London, May, 1909, under the title, Some Developments in Blast-Roasting. In the absence of the author, a short abstract of the paper was read, and the abstract only will appear in the proceedings of the congress. The present paper has been partly rewritten and considerably enlarged by information gained since the original was prepared; also some illustrations have been added. Blast-roasting* is a generic term for the process of forcing air through finely-divided metallic sulphide with the object of roasting and agglomerating in a single operation. At first the process was confined to a galena-concentrate; lime, limestone, or gypsum was added, to serve both as a diluent to keep separate the particles of galena that they might be thoroughly oxidized, and as a flux that the partly-roasted ore niight be agglomerated by the formation of some slag. Later it was extended to treat other metallic sulphides. The leading processes were the Huntington-Heberlein and the Savelsberg of Europe, and the Carmichael-Bradford of Australia. In the United States and Canada, the Huntington-Heberlein process has found application in some instances with galena-concentrates, for which it was originally intended; but this class of ore is not often treated alone, hence the process has had to be modified to suit conditions. The Savelsberg process has been transplanted to this country in about its original form. The Carmichael-Bradford is not used at present. The changes called for in the Huntington-Heberlein process to adapt it to the class of lead-bearing ores usually smelted have been the

Jan 1, 1911

By H. T. Clark, H. K. Work

The instrument for the rapid determination of carbon in steel, described in this paper, was developed originally to facilitate the operation of the pilot-sized open-hearth furnace in the Jones & Laughlin Research and Eevelopment Laboratory. In this small furnace, with its shallow bath, the drop in carbon is accelerated, and a rapid, reliable test for carbon content is indispensable. This problem becomes rather acute when it is desired to finish heats at a carbon content higher than can be estimated with any degree of accuracy by the fracture test. Several independent methods for determining carbon were investigated, therefore, and it was found that a relatively simple magnetic device could be made to give reproducible results. A laboratory instrument was designed and set up for the use of the furnace operators. It was tested exhaustively in the laboratory and was used with considerable success for following the carbon content in the furnace bath. As soon as sufficient data had been compiled to indicate that the instrument might have a wider application, a more rugged model was constructed and placed in the mill to be tested on commercial heats. Finally, about a year ago, instruments were furnished to the plant open-hearth shops, and these have been in use since that time. As a matter of convenience, the instrument has been named the "Carbanalyzer," and will be referred to by this designation in the following pages. $ Eaklier Investigations While by far the greatest number of magnetic investigations in which the carbon content of ferromagnetic materials was considered have had to do with the evaluation of the magnetic properties of steels of known

Jan 1, 1940

By H. K. Work, H. T. Clark

The instrument for the rapid determination of carbon in steel, described in this paper, was developed originally to facilitate the operation of the pilot-sized open-hearth furnace in the Jones & Laughlin Research and Eevelopment Laboratory. In this small furnace, with its shallow bath, the drop in carbon is accelerated, and a rapid, reliable test for carbon content is indispensable. This problem becomes rather acute when it is desired to finish heats at a carbon content higher than can be estimated with any degree of accuracy by the fracture test. Several independent methods for determining carbon were investigated, therefore, and it was found that a relatively simple magnetic device could be made to give reproducible results. A laboratory instrument was designed and set up for the use of the furnace operators. It was tested exhaustively in the laboratory and was used with considerable success for following the carbon content in the furnace bath. As soon as sufficient data had been compiled to indicate that the instrument might have a wider application, a more rugged model was constructed and placed in the mill to be tested on commercial heats. Finally, about a year ago, instruments were furnished to the plant open-hearth shops, and these have been in use since that time. As a matter of convenience, the instrument has been named the "Carbanalyzer," and will be referred to by this designation in the following pages. $ Eaklier Investigations While by far the greatest number of magnetic investigations in which the carbon content of ferromagnetic materials was considered have had to do with the evaluation of the magnetic properties of steels of known

Jan 1, 1940

By Francis C. Frary

OF the five metals that now show the highest figures for annual tonnage production in the world, three (iron, copper, and lead) have been known and used by man for many thousands of years. The fourth (zinc) did not come into general use until the Middle Ages. Only the fifth (aluminum) is of, ultramodern origin, as far as mankind is concerned. Discovered in 1825, and first publicly exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1855, aluminum was still so difficult to obtain that it was more expensive than silver, until the development of the dynamo provided cheap electricity and the development of the present electrolytic process for its production made it possible to make large quantities cheaply. Even today, the world production of aluminum is only about one per cent of the world production of iron, although about half that of copper by weight. The increase in production from a few tons to more than a million tons per year began with ,the development of the Hall-Héroult electrolytic process, which was first commercially operated by Mr. Hall's company, The Pittsburgh Reduction Co., in 1888. During the relatively short period of time that has elapsed since that date, it has been necessary to develop all the metallurgical and fabricating information required for the production of useful articles of the metal and its alloys, together with experience in both their production and their use, so as to be able to fit them satisfactorily into their proper places in our complex modern civilization. The fundamental properties upon which the usefulness of aluminum depends are its lightness, workability, resistance to corrosion,

Jan 1, 1953

By Fred A. Anderson, George B. Wallace, Edward J. Slebir

As the reservoir rises behind an arch dam, it presses the arch into the canyon walls and valley floor. To compute the stresses, deflections, and arch reactions, it is necessary to know how much the rock deforms under the combined loads of gravity, temperature, and water. Under sustained loading for a period of time, the rock continues to deform or "creep" slightly, causing changes in the stresses and shape of the arch. Under reduced loading, the elastic arch tends to resume its unstrained position and it is important to know that the rock will follow it and maintain tight contact along the abutment. It is, therefore, important to know the "set" characteristic of the rock. Past attempts to define load-deformation properties of rock, including creep and set, have largely l been limited to laboratory test of intact cores and in-situ jacking test utilizing bearing plates 2 to 3 ft in diam. In both cases, a uniaxial load has been applied to a volume of rock too small to fully reflect the influence of cracks, joint systems, foliation, and other inherent weaknesses within the rock mass. This chapter describes a large radial jacking test which more nearly duplicates the action of an arch dam by penetrating the load deep into the rock mass, bringing into play more of the factors which contribute to prototype deformation. Results obtained from the large radial test are compared with those from smaller uniaxial test. DESCRIPTION OF RADIAL TEST The radial jacking test described in this chapter was performed in an adit off of an exploratory tunnel driven into a proposed dam abutment

Jan 1, 1972

By E. Higgins

It is the purpose of this paper to set forth the relation and function of the various organizations and institutes engaged in the promotion of safety in the iron mines of the Lake Superior region…

Jan 1, 1915

By L. R. Jackson, W. T. Lankford, K. F. Smith

COMMERCIAL steel sheet is prepared by a combination of hot and cold rolling and annealing. This treatment usually results in more or less pronounced anisotropy. The [ ] anisotropy may manifest itself both as preferred orientation and in the manner in which impurities, segregations, and the like, are aligned in the sheet. The type of preferred orientation and the organization of impurities or segregations may affect the elastic moduli, the yield strength, the tensile strength, and almost always the amount of ductility in different directions. In any case, the most important directions concerned in the anisotropy are along the rolling direction, along the width direction, and along the thickness direction. Considerable data exist on the anisotropy of sheet steel as demonstrated by conventional tensile tests; however, few attempts have been made to measure the constants of plastic anisotropy and use them to describe the flow of anisotropic sheet under combined stresses. [ ] In this paper, evidence is presented indicating that plastic flow in anisotropic sheet can be described by the shear-strain energy flow theory provided that the anisotropy is properly taken into account. MATERIALS USED IN THE INVESTIGATION Table I lists the sheet materials used in this investigation and describes the condition in which materials were tested. DESCRIPTION OF TESTS AND TEST METHODS Two types of tests were run-tensile tests and hydraulic-bulge tests. Characteristic parameters of anisotropy were determined from the tension tests by methods which will be described later. In all cases, the tensile test pieces were cut from the same quarter line and adjacent to the bulge test pieces in the sheet in order to minimize

Jan 1, 1948

By R. B. Moore

Page History................................ 708 What is Radioactivity?........................ 710 Disintegration Series.......................... 711 Radium Ore Deposits......................... 713 Metallurgical Treatment........................ 717 Methods of Ore Concentration..................... 722 Future Supply of Ore......................... 723 Uses of Radium............................ 723 Mesothorium as a Substitute for Radium................. 724 Discussion.............................. 725 Probably no other metal excites as much interest, among both scientific men and the general public, as radium. This is due partly to the high cost of radium salts and partly to the peculiar properties of the element. Since radium-bearing ores were discovered in the United States, the interest of American scientific men has been stimulated and, at the present time, more radium is extracted and refined in this country than in all the rest of the world together. HISTORY The property of radioactivity was discovered, partly by accident, by Henri Becquerel, the French physicist, in 1896. He was experimenting with certain fluorescent substances in order to find, if possible, a connection between fluorescence and the recently discovered X-rays. Among other chemicals which possess the property of fluorescence, he was using salts of uranium. His custom was to expose the fluorescent substance to the action of sunlight and then register the effect of possible penetrating radiation on a photographic plate protected from ordinary light. Bec-querel's experiments gave positive results at once, and he at first believed that he had discovered a relation between fluorescence and X-rays. Later he exposed a plate to a uranium salt which had not been previously exposed to sunlight. To his surprise, on developing this plate, he found that he had obtained the same effect as he had previously secured when

Jan 1, 1919

By C. R. Hayward, H. O. Hofman

The aim of instruction in a metallurgical laboratory is to make real the principles on which metallurgical processes and operations are based, and to foster the spirit of investigation. The materials with which experiments are carried out are ores, metals, and metallic compounds. The method varies with the end sought. A class may work as a whole, each member contributing his share to the solution of a problem, or the students may carry on investigations independently; the former exemplifies class-research; the latter, individual research. It is with a branch of the former, with special reference to ore-treatment, that the present paper deals. In smelting an ore by a well-established process, the result is shown by analyzing the products to see whether their compositions correspond to those calculated in making up the charge; by taking account of stock to show the distribution of metal in the different products made and the losses from dust and volatilization; by casting a thermal balance to find the distribution and losses of heat; and by making a cost-sheet to ascertain, as far as possible, the necessary outlay of money. In lixiviation and amalgamation, the mode of operating has to be varied to adapt a process to the individual ore. Here a number of tests become necessary. Each will consist of a series of experiments with one variable, in order to find the conditions under which the variable gives the best result; a summary of several tests will give the best method of operating. Working a number of charges with the best method will furnish the data desired for ascertaining the recovery of metal,

Jan 1, 1910

By Joseph L. Gillson

BRAZIL has had an industry based on ocean beach deposits of heavy minerals containing monazite, zircon, rutile, and ilmenite for well over 40 years, but except at the very earliest period, prior to 1906, and again during World War 11, has this industry been at all comparable in size with similar operations in other countries. Limiting factors have been neither a lack of reserves nor lack of markets (except for zircon). Although poor local transportation and shipping facilities have handicapped the development in Brazil, these conditions were perhaps equally bad (when mining operations started) in the Indian State of Travancore, and in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia, in which states the principal production of beach deposits of heavy minerals has occurred. The outstanding restraints on the Brazilian industry have been the lower quality of the Brazilian minerals, the relative small size of individual deposits that were known until recently, the lack of interest of Brazilian investors in mining ventures, and the unfavorable climate for investment of foreign capital under Brazilian mining law. The lower quality of the minerals is indicated by the fact that the Brazilian monazite carries only 5 to 6 pct Tho2*, and the ilmenite 561/2 pct TiO2, whereas the corresponding Travancore minerals carry 9 pct Tho, and 60 pct TiO, respectively. The Brazilian zircon is a dirty brown color (which can be removed readily) as compared with the gleaming whiteness of the Australian zircon. An inadequate market for the abundant zircon that will be available in any operation in Brazil is certainly a heavy restraint, since otherwise it could be an important byproduct. The oxide of zirconia, baddeleyite, that has come from Brazil is from other sources.' Since the Brazilian beach sands carry only a little rutile, that mineral has not been available as a valuable byproduct to help finance the operations. Substantial tonnages of rutile have been exported from Brazil. The sources of this mineral are stream placers and residual deposits over gneisses in the States of Goyaz, Minas Geraes, Ceara, etc. (Leonardos,' and Chambers". With these handicaps, Brazilian production from beach sands has been marginal, and there has been only one consistent producer. This is a company, originally French, which was called Companie de Franco-BrazilliCne, but, with the downfall of France in 1940, became Brazilian under the name Monazita e Ilmenita do Brasil ("Mibra"). This company has operated several deposits in the vicinity of Guara-pary, in the State of Espirito Santo. Its office and plant has been at Guarapary. Recently a company called, "Fomil" (Fomento Monazita-Ilmenita) started operations. This company was organized by the Foote Mineral Co. of Philadelphia, and such share as a foreign company can hold under Brazilian law has now been acquired by the Lindsay Light and Chemical Co. of Chicago. When the writer went to Brazil in the fall of 1940, he found that no general survey of the beaches had been made except for a thorough study of part of the area by Abreu.4 The paper by Miranda6 had not then been written. The federal Geological Survey and Department of Mines knew only of the existence of the deposits in Espirito Santo south of Vitoria, and had a hazy idea that others might be found north of Vitoria. One deposit in Bala was known in Rio, but the larger one at Guaratiba was not known, although a Frenchman had prospected

Jan 1, 1951

By Joseph L. Gillson

BRAZIL has had an industry based on ocean beach deposits of heavy minerals containing monazite, zircon, rutile, and ilmenite for well over 40 years, but except at the very earliest period, prior to 1906, and again during World War 11, has this industry been at all comparable in size with similar operations in other countries. Limiting factors have been neither a lack of reserves nor lack of markets (except for zircon). Although poor local transportation and shipping facilities have handicapped the development in Brazil, these conditions were perhaps equally bad (when mining operations started) in the Indian State of Travancore, and in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia, in which states the principal production of beach deposits of heavy minerals has occurred. The outstanding restraints on the Brazilian industry have been the lower quality of the Brazilian minerals, the relative small size of individual deposits that were known until recently, the lack of interest of Brazilian investors in mining ventures, and the unfavorable climate for investment of foreign capital under Brazilian mining law. The lower quality of the minerals is indicated by the fact that the Brazilian monazite carries only 5 to 6 pct Tho2*, and the ilmenite 561/2 pct TiO2, whereas the corresponding Travancore minerals carry 9 pct Tho, and 60 pct TiO, respectively. The Brazilian zircon is a dirty brown color (which can be removed readily) as compared with the gleaming whiteness of the Australian zircon. An inadequate market for the abundant zircon that will be available in any operation in Brazil is certainly a heavy restraint, since otherwise it could be an important byproduct. The oxide of zirconia, baddeleyite, that has come from Brazil is from other sources.' Since the Brazilian beach sands carry only a little rutile, that mineral has not been available as a valuable byproduct to help finance the operations. Substantial tonnages of rutile have been exported from Brazil. The sources of this mineral are stream placers and residual deposits over gneisses in the States of Goyaz, Minas Geraes, Ceara, etc. (Leonardos,' and Chambers". With these handicaps, Brazilian production from beach sands has been marginal, and there has been only one consistent producer. This is a company, originally French, which was called Companie de Franco-BrazilliCne, but, with the downfall of France in 1940, became Brazilian under the name Monazita e Ilmenita do Brasil ("Mibra"). This company has operated several deposits in the vicinity of Guara-pary, in the State of Espirito Santo. Its office and plant has been at Guarapary. Recently a company called, "Fomil" (Fomento Monazita-Ilmenita) started operations. This company was organized by the Foote Mineral Co. of Philadelphia, and such share as a foreign company can hold under Brazilian law has now been acquired by the Lindsay Light and Chemical Co. of Chicago. When the writer went to Brazil in the fall of 1940, he found that no general survey of the beaches had been made except for a thorough study of part of the area by Abreu.4 The paper by Miranda6 had not then been written. The federal Geological Survey and Department of Mines knew only of the existence of the deposits in Espirito Santo south of Vitoria, and had a hazy idea that others might be found north of Vitoria. One deposit in Bala was known in Rio, but the larger one at Guaratiba was not known, although a Frenchman had prospected

Jan 1, 1951