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By J. R. Coleman, G. L. Corrigan

FOUR factors that largely determine the end product obtained when cement and water are mixed are the chemical composi-tion of the cement, the fineness to which the cement is ground, the amount of mixing water used, and the procedure used in mixing the slurry. In order to study the effect of two of these factors, the other two, the chemical composition and method of mixing, are kept constant, leaving as variables fineness and water-cement ratio. Through years of experimentation and usage it has been well established that the reduction of cement clinker to a very fine state by grinding improves its cementing value, principally because the reaction between cement and water takes place only at the surface of the cement particle, further action being hindered by the accumulation of reaction products that tend to coat the unreacted material. Therefore, the moE finety-ground %cement, and the greater the surface exposed in propor-tion to its mass, the more rapid is the The work covered by this paper was done by the authors in pursuance of graduate studies in the ~epartment of petroleum Engineering at The University of Texas. The present paper is a condensation of a more detailed DaDer from which, for brevity, information such as the procedure for determining permeability and some of the discussion and procedure relevant to slurry volumes and fineness of cement have bsen deleted. It was felt that this information would not be of interest to most readers and should be outside the scope of this paper. Manuscript received at the office of the Institute Aug. 16, 1940. Issued as T.P. 1266 in Petroleum Technology. January 1941. hydration rate. Similarly, the greater the surface exposed, the greater the proportion of the cement that reacts, and the lower the amount of residue that is unreacted and so remains inert and unable to make any contribution to cementing properties.] Although it is more expensive to manufacture a finely ground cement than a coarser cement, the advantages of fine grinding of construction cements were so marked that the fineness of cement has increased considerably in past years. When the manufacture of special oil-well cements was begun, it was necessary to consider properties of cement that previously were considered of minor importance, foremost of these being pumpability. Since, with the water-cement ratio constant, a finely ground cement will produce a neat slurry of higher consistency and shorter time of pumpability than will a coarser cement, there is a tendency to grind oil-well cements to a lower degree of fineness. Therefore, in order to produce oil-well cements that will make a slurry having a long time of pumpability, cements are manufactured that because of their coarseness generally are Poorer cementing materials than some of the more finely ground construction and on the other hand, often it is necessary to Pump oil-well cements for long periods of time to place them properly behind a string of casing in a deep well, and since high strength is not of foremost importance for such cement, there is room for considerable controversy concening the proper fineness range.

Jan 1, 1941

By G. L. Corrigan, J. R. Coleman

FOUR factors that largely determine the end product obtained when cement and water are mixed are the chemical composi-tion of the cement, the fineness to which the cement is ground, the amount of mixing water used, and the procedure used in mixing the slurry. In order to study the effect of two of these factors, the other two, the chemical composition and method of mixing, are kept constant, leaving as variables fineness and water-cement ratio. Through years of experimentation and usage it has been well established that the reduction of cement clinker to a very fine state by grinding improves its cementing value, principally because the reaction between cement and water takes place only at the surface of the cement particle, further action being hindered by the accumulation of reaction products that tend to coat the unreacted material. Therefore, the moE finety-ground %cement, and the greater the surface exposed in propor-tion to its mass, the more rapid is the The work covered by this paper was done by the authors in pursuance of graduate studies in the ~epartment of petroleum Engineering at The University of Texas. The present paper is a condensation of a more detailed DaDer from which, for brevity, information such as the procedure for determining permeability and some of the discussion and procedure relevant to slurry volumes and fineness of cement have bsen deleted. It was felt that this information would not be of interest to most readers and should be outside the scope of this paper. Manuscript received at the office of the Institute Aug. 16, 1940. Issued as T.P. 1266 in Petroleum Technology. January 1941. hydration rate. Similarly, the greater the surface exposed, the greater the proportion of the cement that reacts, and the lower the amount of residue that is unreacted and so remains inert and unable to make any contribution to cementing properties.] Although it is more expensive to manufacture a finely ground cement than a coarser cement, the advantages of fine grinding of construction cements were so marked that the fineness of cement has increased considerably in past years. When the manufacture of special oil-well cements was begun, it was necessary to consider properties of cement that previously were considered of minor importance, foremost of these being pumpability. Since, with the water-cement ratio constant, a finely ground cement will produce a neat slurry of higher consistency and shorter time of pumpability than will a coarser cement, there is a tendency to grind oil-well cements to a lower degree of fineness. Therefore, in order to produce oil-well cements that will make a slurry having a long time of pumpability, cements are manufactured that because of their coarseness generally are Poorer cementing materials than some of the more finely ground construction and on the other hand, often it is necessary to Pump oil-well cements for long periods of time to place them properly behind a string of casing in a deep well, and since high strength is not of foremost importance for such cement, there is room for considerable controversy concening the proper fineness range.

Jan 1, 1941

By W. C. Knoblaugh

Rotary kilns are adaptable to many fuels, but this paper deals principally with the use of powdered coal. The observations and conclusions presented are based on rotary kilns used in the manufacture of basic refractories for steel furnaces. Solid fuels are pulverized for two principal reasons: (I) ease of control, and (2) rapidity of combustion. By the use of pulverized coal, the operator can increase or decrease the fuel supply by small increments and with very little time lag between the change of control and the resultant change in the flame. This is extremely important in this type of furnace, as the temperature range for maturing the clinker is very narrow. By fine grinding, it is possible to increase the rate of burning of the coal, thereby liberating great quantities of heat within a small space in a short time. Under given conditions, temperature is a measure of the heat liberated per unit of time. To attain the temperatures of 2950° to 3150ºF., which are encountered in the manufacture of various steel-furnace refractories, it is estimated that it is necessary to liberate 125,000 to 175,000 B.t.u. per cubic foot of the burning zone per hour. The manufacture of dolomitic refractories is a ceramic process and, as is true in most such processes, the material must be subjected to a certain critical temperature for a certain length of time in order to complete the reaction. If the time of reaction is reduced, the temperature must be increased; in other words, if the rate at which the material flows through the hot zone of the kiln is increased, the temperature of the hot zone must be increased to compensate for this shorter exposure to the flame. Firing with Pulverized Coal Fig. I is a line drawing of a rotary kiln with the attendant equipment indicated in their relative positions. The kiln proper consists of a sloping, refractory-lined steel tube rotating slowly about its longitudinal axis (0.75 r.p.m.), and is countercurrent in operation in that the raw feed is introduced at the stack end and gradually approaches the zone of highest temperature at the lower end, where the fuel is introduced. Before 1930, the usual method of firing a rotary kiln was to store the coal in the pulverized form and then feed from this storage to the kiln as needed. This proved unsatisfactory and dangerous because of dust explosions and the inability to obtain an even feed to the kiln caused by arching of the coal in storage and flooding of the coal feeders. In later years the practice has been to store the raw coal and grind it as it is needed. Such a layout is indicated in Fig. I. The coal is stored in bins, charged from the top and drawn from the bottom into recording scales and then into some type of unit pulverizer. There are a number of good pulverizers .on the market, each incorporating features that the manufacturer considers outstanding.

Jan 1, 1948

By W. C. Knoblaugh

Rotary kilns are adaptable to many fuels, but this paper deals principally with the use of powdered coal. The observations and conclusions presented are based on rotary kilns used in the manufacture of basic refractories for steel furnaces. Solid fuels are pulverized for two principal reasons: (I) ease of control, and (2) rapidity of combustion. By the use of pulverized coal, the operator can increase or decrease the fuel supply by small increments and with very little time lag between the change of control and the resultant change in the flame. This is extremely important in this type of furnace, as the temperature range for maturing the clinker is very narrow. By fine grinding, it is possible to increase the rate of burning of the coal, thereby liberating great quantities of heat within a small space in a short time. Under given conditions, temperature is a measure of the heat liberated per unit of time. To attain the temperatures of 2950° to 3150ºF., which are encountered in the manufacture of various steel-furnace refractories, it is estimated that it is necessary to liberate 125,000 to 175,000 B.t.u. per cubic foot of the burning zone per hour. The manufacture of dolomitic refractories is a ceramic process and, as is true in most such processes, the material must be subjected to a certain critical temperature for a certain length of time in order to complete the reaction. If the time of reaction is reduced, the temperature must be increased; in other words, if the rate at which the material flows through the hot zone of the kiln is increased, the temperature of the hot zone must be increased to compensate for this shorter exposure to the flame. Firing with Pulverized Coal Fig. I is a line drawing of a rotary kiln with the attendant equipment indicated in their relative positions. The kiln proper consists of a sloping, refractory-lined steel tube rotating slowly about its longitudinal axis (0.75 r.p.m.), and is countercurrent in operation in that the raw feed is introduced at the stack end and gradually approaches the zone of highest temperature at the lower end, where the fuel is introduced. Before 1930, the usual method of firing a rotary kiln was to store the coal in the pulverized form and then feed from this storage to the kiln as needed. This proved unsatisfactory and dangerous because of dust explosions and the inability to obtain an even feed to the kiln caused by arching of the coal in storage and flooding of the coal feeders. In later years the practice has been to store the raw coal and grind it as it is needed. Such a layout is indicated in Fig. I. The coal is stored in bins, charged from the top and drawn from the bottom into recording scales and then into some type of unit pulverizer. There are a number of good pulverizers .on the market, each incorporating features that the manufacturer considers outstanding.

Jan 1, 1948

By N. Mungan

Laboratory water floods were performed in oil-wet and waterwet alundum and Torpedo cores, displacing a refined oil with n-hexylamine or Triton X-100 solution. Also, some floods were performed in which a sucrose solution was displaced with n-butyl alcohol. The Purpose ot the tests was to see if the oil recotlery could be increased and to examine what role the inter-facial tension reduction and wettability change play in the recovery mechanism. it was found that the chromatographic transport of amine was influenced by core wettability. In oil-wet cores, the rate of advance of the amine band could be predicted from equilibrium chromato-graphy, while in water-wet cores the amine band moved faster than predicted, indicating a non-equilibrium process. By reducing the interfacial tension to 1.1 dyne/ cm, oil recovery was increased. More oil was recovered from Dri-filmed cores than from water-wet cores. Reversing the wettability of the porous media from oil-wet condition also resulted in some additional oil recovery. Neutral wettability floods did not increase oil recovery. INTRODUCTION Interfacial forces in petroleum reservoirs are responsible for retention of large quantities of residual oil. Increasing exploration costs have created an incentive to attempt recovery of this residual oil by new and novel processes. One novel process involves changing the interfacial forces by introducing a chemical into the reservoir during water flooding. Recently, several investigators have carried out laboratory displacement tests using amines. lt3.4 The amines adsorbed onto initially water-wet core surfaces, changing them to oil wet. Additional oil was recovered when the cores were flooded in a manner reversing the. wettability from oil-wet conditions. In all these studies, the wettability reversal was considered responsible for increased oil recoveries although it was noted that amines also reduced oil-water interfacial tension. In the present study, displacement experiments were performed in water-wet and Dri-filmed cores. The purpose was to separate the effects of lowering the interfacial tension from changing the wettability. LABORATORY STUDY All experimental data given in this paper have been obtained at a temperature of 70F + 1 and prevailing atmospheric pressure. FLUIDS AND MATERIALS The oil used in these experiments* was washed with H2S04 and passed through two 100-200 mesh silica-gel beds to remove unsaturates and surface active impurities. Normal hexylamine** of practical purity was used, and the alundum cores*** were composed of nearly pure A1203. Fused quartz (SiOi) and Lucalox (A12 )t plates were used in the contact angle measurements. DISPLACEMENT TESTS Displacement tests were performed in alundum and Torpedo cores. Before displacement runs, cores were acidized with 0.1 normal HCI, flushed with distilled water and fired at 1,200F to make them water wet. This procedure also reduced water sensitivity of the Torpedo cores. Oil-wet cores were prepared from water-wet cores by flowing several pore volumes of 1 per cent by weight Dri-film SC-87 solution in heptane through the cores, flushing the cores with nitrogen, evacuating, and finally heating the cores at 300F for 4 or 5 hours. Between floods, cores were cleaned by conventional procedures and treated again as above.

Jan 1, 1965

By T. K. Prentice

ABSTRACTED AND REVIEWED BY E. W. DAVIS,* MEMBER A.I.M.E. THE January-February number of the Journal of the Chemical Metallurgical and Mining Society of South Africa is made up entirely of a discussion of Ball Wear in Cylindrical Mills. Following the principal paper by T. K. Prentice are several remarkably pertinent and carefully prepared discussions. Few persons in this country would be likely to see this publication, and since the information presented is new and of current interest, it seems desirable to abstract and review this publication for the benefit of the members of the A.I.M.E. The purpose of the investigation is stated in the first two paragraphs of Prentice's paper, as follows: Early in 1941, The Chamber of Mines Steel Products, Limited, initiated a series of tests under semi-working scale conditions to determine, if possible, those physical and chemical properties of a ball which make it resistant to wear when used in a cylindrical mill as a grinding medium, with the primary object of incorporating those beneficial qualities in the balls being produced at their works. This paper describes the tests carried out and discusses the results obtained. From these results it was possible to formulate a new theory relating to ball wear in cylindrical mills. This theory is presented in the second portion of this paper. PRACTICAL BALL-MILL TESTS IN A CYLINDRICAL MILL Part I of the paper begins with a discussion of the methods used for the manufacture of grinding balls in South Africa. The following paragraph is of particular interest. The cast steel ingots, 4 ¼ - in. square by 3 ft. 6 in. long, are re-heated in a gas-fired sloping stationary-hearth furnace and then rolled in a six-pass continuous mill into 2 5/8 in. round billets. Some of these billets are then removed and cut into suitable lengths for forging into 4 in., 3 ½ in., 3 in. or 2 ½ in. balls by means of three Drop and two Beché hammers, but the greater number, whilst still at about 1,000 ºC., pass directly into a set of scroll rolls which produce, in an ingenious manner, finished 3 in. balls direct from the 2 5/8 in. billets. Except in special cases, all balls are allowed to cool in the atmosphere and are not water quenched. Details of the Tests In order to enable the reader to evaluate properly the results and conclusions in the rest of the paper and in the discussions following the paper, most of the information presented by the author under this heading is quoted: ….. The testing unit was a nominal 30 in. diameter and 18 in. long centre discharge Denver Ball Mill. The ore pulp to the ball mill comprised a small portion of the normal feed to one of the fourteen City Deep 5 ft. 6 in. X 22 ft. tube mills, and the grinding media consisted of the balls under test plus other balls to give the desired load. The running time of the test-mill was divided into approximately equal periods of five days 13 ½ hours each. The usual procedure was to examine and make up the load

Jan 1, 1944

By John M. Kelly

New Mexico produced 38,882,342 bbl. of oil in 1943, and regained seventh place among the oil-producing states. This production was an increase of 6,968,526 bbl., or 21.8 per cent, over the figure for 1942. The maximum per-well allowable on Jan. I, 1943, was 38 bbl. daily and at the end of the year this figure had been increased to 48 bbl. Allocations as set by the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission closely followed recommendations by the Petroleum Administrator for War and the average daily pipe-line runs were 106,476 bbl., being within 2.2 per cent of these allocations. Production for Lea County was 33,043,925 bbl.; Eddy County, 5,405,-967 bbl.; northwestern New Mexico, 432,070 bbl., and Chaves County, 380 barrels. Drilling activity for New Mexico in 1943 was only 75 per cent of that in 1942, with 255 completions. Of these completions 180 were oil wells, 10 gas wells and 65 dry holes. The ratio of dry holes to producers, more than I to 3, was the greatest in recent years. Of these dry holes, 46 were drilled within the boundaries of proven . areas while 19 were wildcats. Wildcat drilling during 1943 was responsible for the discovery of four new oil fields and one new gas field, as well as three extensions to existing proration areas. At the close of the year the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission had designated 64 areas as proven for oil and/or gas. The Monument area was again New Mexico's largest producing oil field, with an annual production of 7,228,855 bbl. Next was Eunice, with 6,461,044 bbl., followed by Vacuum with 4,946,110 bbl. IIobbs, ranking fourth, with 3,799,114 bbl., was the leader in total recovery with an accumulated production of 104,180,53I bbl., or more than 10,000 bbl. per acre to date. Drilling activity in Lea County accounted for completion of 67 oil wells, 2 gas wells and 24 dry holes. One of these oil wells was the discovery well of a new area and three extended proven areas. The most active drilling campaign in the county was again in the Maljamar area, where 18 oil wells were completed. The Maljamar Cooperative Repressuring Agreement affected 141 producing wells, and operations were a decided success, more than 85 per cent of the gas produced being returned to formation. The new oil field for Lea County was designated as the San Simon area although boundaries have not been established to date. Discovery well for this area was the Skelly Oil Company's State U. No. I, in theNE. NE. K of sec. 5, T.22 S.,R.ssE. This well was drilled to a total depth of 4183 ft. and plugged back to 4138 ft. after encountering bottom-hole water. Initial production was 124 bbl. per day on the pump. This oil is 37.4' gravity and has a sulphur content of I per cent. Productian is from Yates sand of Permian age. The Lynn area of southern Lea cbunty was extended 145 miles to the northwest

Jan 1, 1944

By T. W. Healy, P. Somasundaran, D. W. Fuerstenau

The flotation behavior of quartz in the presence of alkyl ammonium acetates as a function of alkyl chain length has been interpreted in terms of hemi-micelle formation at the solid-liquid interface. The van der Waals cohesive free energy that is responsible for hemi-micelle formation has been found from these results to be 1.0 kT per CH2 group. This is in excellent agreement with literature values obtained from research on the properties of micelles in bulk systems. Collectors of the type CH3(CH2)n-2CH2-P, where P is a polar group and n is the number of carbon atoms in the straight alkyl chain, will induce flotation of an appropriate mineral at lower concentrations as n increases. This reduction in collector concentration with increasing n has been reported for such systems as xanthates on sulfides1,2 and amines on quartz.' The effect of chain length of alkyl surfactants on such solution properties as conductivity,' surface tension,' and solubility6 and such interfacial properties of solids as contact angle7 and electrokinetic potential8 have received considerable attention, but only limited quantitative descriptions of the effects have been given. The electrokinetic studies of alkyl amine salts on quartz indicated that the solution concentration of collector at which the marked change in electrokinetic potential of quartz occurs decreases systematically as the length of the alkyl chain increases. The aim of the present work was to obtain a quantitative description in terms of current theories of flotation of the effect of the hydrocarbon chain of alkyl ammonium acetates on the flotation behavior of quartz. BASIC PRINCIPLES The marked changes in electrokinetic potentials of quartz in dodecylammonium acetate (DAA) solutions were postulated to result from the association of adsorbed collector ions into two-dimensional aggregates, called hemi-micelles.9 Subsequently, the rapid increase in flotation rate of quartz was shown to coincide with hemi-micelle formation." We would like to discuss briefly the concept of hemi-micelles in terms of recent interpretations of micelles in bulk solution. Micelle hypothesis: In dilute solutions, alkyl ammonium and related salts behave as ordinary strong electrolytes, but at a certain concentration there is a marked change in physical properties of the solutions, e.g., in equivalent conductance, transport number, freezing point lowering and viscosity. To account for these phenomena, McBainl1 introduced the concept of micelles, which are aggregates of long-chain ions. It is believed that the ionic heads of the constituent ions of the micelle are in contact with water, whereas the nonpolar groups turn away from it and are in contact with each other. Work must be done to bring these charged polar groups together, but energy is gained (i.e., so called van der Waals cohesive energy) when hydrocarbon chains are expelled from the water and allowed to associate. For a given polar group, the tendency to form micelles will therefore strongly depend on the hydrocarbon chain length. Theoretical treatments of micelle formation by Shinoda12 and Phillips13 and others lead to the following expression for the concentration at which micelles form (the critical micelle concentration or cmc) in aqueous solutions of long- chain electrolytes

Jan 1, 1964

By John M. Kelly

New Mexico produced 38,882,342 bbl. of oil in 1943, and regained seventh place among the oil-producing states. This production was an increase of 6,968,526 bbl., or 21.8 per cent, over the figure for 1942. The maximum per-well allowable on Jan. I, 1943, was 38 bbl. daily and at the end of the year this figure had been increased to 48 bbl. Allocations as set by the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission closely followed recommendations by the Petroleum Administrator for War and the average daily pipe-line runs were 106,476 bbl., being within 2.2 per cent of these allocations. Production for Lea County was 33,043,925 bbl.; Eddy County, 5,405,-967 bbl.; northwestern New Mexico, 432,070 bbl., and Chaves County, 380 barrels. Drilling activity for New Mexico in 1943 was only 75 per cent of that in 1942, with 255 completions. Of these completions 180 were oil wells, 10 gas wells and 65 dry holes. The ratio of dry holes to producers, more than I to 3, was the greatest in recent years. Of these dry holes, 46 were drilled within the boundaries of proven . areas while 19 were wildcats. Wildcat drilling during 1943 was responsible for the discovery of four new oil fields and one new gas field, as well as three extensions to existing proration areas. At the close of the year the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission had designated 64 areas as proven for oil and/or gas. The Monument area was again New Mexico's largest producing oil field, with an annual production of 7,228,855 bbl. Next was Eunice, with 6,461,044 bbl., followed by Vacuum with 4,946,110 bbl. IIobbs, ranking fourth, with 3,799,114 bbl., was the leader in total recovery with an accumulated production of 104,180,53I bbl., or more than 10,000 bbl. per acre to date. Drilling activity in Lea County accounted for completion of 67 oil wells, 2 gas wells and 24 dry holes. One of these oil wells was the discovery well of a new area and three extended proven areas. The most active drilling campaign in the county was again in the Maljamar area, where 18 oil wells were completed. The Maljamar Cooperative Repressuring Agreement affected 141 producing wells, and operations were a decided success, more than 85 per cent of the gas produced being returned to formation. The new oil field for Lea County was designated as the San Simon area although boundaries have not been established to date. Discovery well for this area was the Skelly Oil Company's State U. No. I, in theNE. NE. K of sec. 5, T.22 S.,R.ssE. This well was drilled to a total depth of 4183 ft. and plugged back to 4138 ft. after encountering bottom-hole water. Initial production was 124 bbl. per day on the pump. This oil is 37.4' gravity and has a sulphur content of I per cent. Productian is from Yates sand of Permian age. The Lynn area of southern Lea cbunty was extended 145 miles to the northwest

Jan 1, 1944

By C. E. Morris, S. R. Pollack

Current -vo1tage -temperature characteristics were studied for Al-A12O3-Al, Au structures. The oxide film was grown by gaseous oxidation in an 0, glow discharge. The electron-transfer mechanism was identified as tunneling and the barrier heights and thickness were determined. It was found that the barrier height at the parent aluminum-oxide interface is 1.5 ev and the built-in vloltage with an aluminum counter electrode is 0.35 v. The growth mechanism of the oxide is also discussed and it is suggested that Mott&apos;s theory is not applicable in describing the growth. Discrepancies were observed in the detailed comparison of tunneling theory, based on a trapezoidal model, with the data, and several possible explanations are discussed. THEORETICAL analyses of electron tunneling from one nonsuperconducting metal to another through an extremely thin insulating film have been presented.1-6 These calculations relate the current density, J, to the voltage, V, between the two metals, and to the temperature, T. The results of these calculations indicate that the magnitude of J and the detailed shape of the J-V characteristic will in general depend most strongly upon such properties of the insulating film as the thickness, the dielectric constant, and the structure of the electron energy barrier profile. The experimental results of many7-11 workers have corroborated the main features of these calcu- lations and have in fact been used to determine properties of the thin insulating film. It has been demonstrated, for example, that the tunneling current formulation of simmons4 is adequate to describe the observed J-V characteristic over approximately 10 orders of magnitude of current. Furthermore, from these observations and analyses, insight into the nature of the A1-A12O3 (thermally grown) interface region has been obtained.&apos;&apos; The temperature dependence of the tunnel current has also been studied and, although a self-consistent set of tunneling parameters can be chosen to describe these data at low voltages (i.e., <0.5 v), the tunneling parameters are different from those obtained from higher voltage (i.e., of the order of 1 to 5 v) measurements." We have measured the effect of temperature and voltage upon the tunnel current at higher applied voltages and find that the theory is inadequate to describe all of the effects reported here. A discussion of the origin of this inadequacy is presented following a description of the samples used for these experiments, and the experimental results. SAMPLE PREPARATION Metal-insulator-metal structures were fabricated in the following way. A 99.999 pct A1 charge was used to deposit, in vacuo, thirty films, 2000Å thick, onto a 1 by 2 in. glass substrate (7059 Corning glass). Prior to deposition the substrate was glow-discharged for final cleanup and then baked at 200°C for 2 hr at a pressure of 5 x 10-7 torr. The pressure during deposition of the metal films was 2 X 10-6 torr and the deposition rate was 50 to 100Å per

Jan 1, 1965

By R. M. Hardgrove

Pulverized coal was first used for firing cement kilns about 45 years ago, with such success that it has continued in general use. Based on cost, pulverized coal is usually the most economical fuel. In some localities natural gas or oil is cheaper, but 85.5 per cent of all cement kilns at present are fired with pulverized coal. The pulverized-coal flame is well suited to kiln conditions. Its soft, luminous nature gives it a high radiating property and the length of the flame can be readily varied to suit conditions in a kiln of any length. Ash and slag cause most of the dificulties incident to the burning of coal. In a. cement kiln, however, the ash, being similar in composition to the raw mix and being deposited uniformly in the mix and clinker, occasions no difficulty as long as it remains constant in quality and quantity. Until 6 years ago almost all cement kilns using pulverized coal employed the bin system. The coal was dried and pulverizeti in a separate plant and delivered into a bin at the kiln. Thus the bin system requires driers, storage-type pulverizers, conveying systems, individual kiln bins, pulverized-coal feeders and primary air fans. The direct-fired system requires only a pulverizer and a blower. Fig. I shows typical plants. The first installations of direct-fired pulverizers were of the impact type but fineness of pulverization was both inadequate and variable. About 1927 a few direct-fired installations employing tube-type pulverizers were made, which were much more satisfactory. As more efficient pulverizers were developed from 1934 on, equipment for direct firing was installed at a large number of plants, until now 196 of about 900 kilns in use in the United States are direct-fired. Most of these replaced antiquated bin systems. Process of Burning Cement Clinkers The process of burning cement clinkers is fundamentally one of heat transfer. In boilers and other heat-exchange apparatus the area of the surface receiving heat from the gases is the best unit for comparing output, This seems to be equally true for kilns. The inside kiln surface is the heat-receiving surface and its area is used as the unit of kiln size in the following comparisons. Heat input is based on British thermal units in the fuel. E. G. Bailey,&apos; in his work on boiler-furnace heat absorption, has used the unit "B.t.u. available." This is the practical calorific power of the fuel, plus the heat in the air used for combustion. In other words, it is the heat available for useful work in the furnace or kiln. The unit of kiln output is barrels per hour. The composition of the raw mix, the percentage of water in the slurry of wet plants and hardness of burning all affect the output. These conditions, however, are hard to evaluate and probably have less effect on the output than irregularities of raw feed and clinker discharge and inexpert control of combustion. Wet vs. Dry Plants The study presented here covers 88 plantsl of which 41 are wet and 47 dry. Of

Jan 1, 1942

By P. Hudock

Thin films of PbS and CdS have been deposited on insulutiug- sapphire substrates by euzploying a subliwzation technique rising near-equilibriurum conditions in ultrahigh vacuum. Oriented polycrystalline PbS and CdS films on sapphire have mobilities approachitzg values characteristic of bulk crystals. In the case of CdS, special purification procedures were crucial in obtaining high-mobility films. By performing the depositiotz of a compound within a small chamber heated to a UNiform temperature within a Vacuum systerrz, it is possible to approach equiilibrium cod-tions r.~litl~irs the chamber. In this way; the sublimation and condensation proceed under near equilibrium co?zditions, and it was found that the properties of dePosited corrzpounds were similar to those of the source material. Oriented PbS films on sapphire have a roor?l- temperature unobility of 700 sq cm per v sec and a T-5/2 temperature dependence characteristic of bulk crrystnls. CdS layers on sapphive Izazse a resistivity ~uhich is corrlpamble to the resistivity of the souvce crystals over a range of four ordem of rrlagnitude. Irz contrast, Ihe resistivity of CdS films prepared by conventional evaporation depends largely upon the substrate terrzperat~ire and postheating treatrrletlt, vather than upon the properties of&apos; the solirce rrraterial. In the case oj the CdS films the achievment of high carrier mobility required the cargful exclusion of cont~~~~ii~unts from the films. The steps taken to accomplish this included presublimation of the source material, performance of the deposition at a backg-m~ozd pressure less than 10-8 Torr, and a solvent extraction with liquid cadminum, similar to that described by Aven and woodbury. The deposition of ,films under near-equilibrium conditions is being op-plied to other classes oj COmpounds. II should he of 1:allce ,tor llle deposition of nny matevial that decomposes in the vapor state. THIN films of PbS and CdS have been deposited on insulating sapphire substrates by employing a sublimation technique using near-equilibrium conditions in ultrahigh vacuum. Oriented polycrystalline PbS and CdS films on sapphire have Hall mobilities approaching values characteristic of bulk crystals. In the case of CdS, special purification procedures were crucial in obtaining high-mobility films. Depositions were performed in a small quartz sublimation cell shown in Fig. 1 that contained the compound and the single-crystal sapphire substrate. The substrates were etched in tapered solutions of hot phosphoric acid, rinsed in deionized water, dried, and transferred to the cell under dry nitrogen. Graphite crucibles and substrates were used in experiments where it was necessary to provide an inert test vehicle for the analytical determination of impurities in the source crystals and deposited films. The crucibles and substrates were machined out of spectrographic-grade graphite having less than 1 ppm of impurities. A quartz mask was sometimes used to define a pattern which could be used for Hall and resistivity measurements. Close spacing between the compound and substrate was maintained to insure better transport of each component from the source material.

Jan 1, 1968

By R. M. Hardgrove

Pulverized coal was first used for firing cement kilns about 45 years ago, with such success that it has continued in general use. Based on cost, pulverized coal is usually the most economical fuel. In some localities natural gas or oil is cheaper, but 85.5 per cent of all cement kilns at present are fired with pulverized coal. The pulverized-coal flame is well suited to kiln conditions. Its soft, luminous nature gives it a high radiating property and the length of the flame can be readily varied to suit conditions in a kiln of any length. Ash and slag cause most of the dificulties incident to the burning of coal. In a. cement kiln, however, the ash, being similar in composition to the raw mix and being deposited uniformly in the mix and clinker, occasions no difficulty as long as it remains constant in quality and quantity. Until 6 years ago almost all cement kilns using pulverized coal employed the bin system. The coal was dried and pulverizeti in a separate plant and delivered into a bin at the kiln. Thus the bin system requires driers, storage-type pulverizers, conveying systems, individual kiln bins, pulverized-coal feeders and primary air fans. The direct-fired system requires only a pulverizer and a blower. Fig. I shows typical plants. The first installations of direct-fired pulverizers were of the impact type but fineness of pulverization was both inadequate and variable. About 1927 a few direct-fired installations employing tube-type pulverizers were made, which were much more satisfactory. As more efficient pulverizers were developed from 1934 on, equipment for direct firing was installed at a large number of plants, until now 196 of about 900 kilns in use in the United States are direct-fired. Most of these replaced antiquated bin systems. Process of Burning Cement Clinkers The process of burning cement clinkers is fundamentally one of heat transfer. In boilers and other heat-exchange apparatus the area of the surface receiving heat from the gases is the best unit for comparing output, This seems to be equally true for kilns. The inside kiln surface is the heat-receiving surface and its area is used as the unit of kiln size in the following comparisons. Heat input is based on British thermal units in the fuel. E. G. Bailey,&apos; in his work on boiler-furnace heat absorption, has used the unit "B.t.u. available." This is the practical calorific power of the fuel, plus the heat in the air used for combustion. In other words, it is the heat available for useful work in the furnace or kiln. The unit of kiln output is barrels per hour. The composition of the raw mix, the percentage of water in the slurry of wet plants and hardness of burning all affect the output. These conditions, however, are hard to evaluate and probably have less effect on the output than irregularities of raw feed and clinker discharge and inexpert control of combustion. Wet vs. Dry Plants The study presented here covers 88 plantsl of which 41 are wet and 47 dry. Of

Jan 1, 1942

By A. A. Gustafson

IN diamond or churn drilling for the prospecting of ore bodies, two products can be used for quantitative analyses; i.e., the core and the cuttings, or sludge. Some operators prefer an assay of core; others insist that the sludge be sent for analysis. Both must recover the sludge for check samples or for assays if there is no core recovery for any particular section of the diamond-drill hole. The Freeport Sulphur Co. found that numerous cumbersome sludge boxes or barrels were inconvenient and delayed drilling. The sludge settled slowly in the ordinary shallow, rectangular diamond-drill boxes and its total removal from the container was difficult, time-consuming and unsatisfactory; and sampling of deposits of which the metal contents are easily concentrated, as in ores containing cinnabar, gold and silver, is subject to error if the boxes are not thoroughly cleaned. Mr. Charles Ballard, dredge superintendent at Freeport&apos;s operation at Grande Ecaille, Louisiana, developed a portable cone while he was in charge of prospecting a mercury property near Tonopah, Nevada, in 1040. Ballard later improved the design while the settler was being used at a manganese property in New Mexico. The operation is based on the "free settling" of comminuted particles in a quiescent liquid. The ordinary sludge box discharges over a lip 8 to 12 in. wide and consequently the water has sufficient velocity so that the discharge water is never clear. The cone settler used by Freeport Sulphur Co. discharges over the entire circumference, which gives a discharge lip of 9 ft. in the size of cone used at the cinnabar and manganese prospects. Consequently, the velocity of the discharge water is slow enough so that all fine material settles and the discharge water is clear. When the drilling of a sample interval is complete, the sludge can be drawn off by the time the driller is ready to cut another sample. Thus, only one cone is needed per drill. The cone has been used by Freeport successfully in churn-drilling a manganese deposit, in diamond-drilling a mercury deposit, and in diamond-drilling a deposit of ore containing tin, copper, gold and silver. The cone is greatly superior to the old methods of collecting sludge and is now used on all Freeport drilling campaigns in the western states, both for surface and underground drilling. Fig. I shows the important details of a cone designed for average operating conditions, 30 in. in diameter and 36 in. high. Abnormal conditions may require some revisions in design. Fig. 2 shows a working drawing. A hose or pipe larger than the one used to convey water from the pump to the swivel head of the string of rods is connected to the stuffing box at the collar of a diamond-drill hole. The usual T-connection is used. It is not necessary to use a stuffing box if the top of the cone can be placed lower than the collar of the hole. Then the return water and cuttings can be made to flow by gravity. This hose or pipe discharges the cuttings of the drill bit and the return

Jan 1, 1943

By J. A. Cahill, A. D. Kirshenbaum

Using an alumina or zirconia crucible with an alumina sinker or a molybdenum sinker coated with zirconium dioxide, the density of liquid iron was determined by the immersed-sinker method over the temperature range of 1800" to 2500°K. The density, with respect to temperature, is ex-Dressed by the equation Dg/cm = 8.523 - 8.358 X 10 T&apos;K The molar Volumes and thermal coefficients of expansion were calculated. Iron, upon me1ting, was found to expand 3.5 pct. A basic knowledge of the physical properties of materials at high temperatures is becoming increasingly important. A check of the literature shows, that in spite of the importance of iron, very few measurements have been made of its physical properties in the liquid state. Density measurements have been made by Benedicks and his collaborators1g using the method of balanced columns, by Desch and smith4 using the immersed sinker method with an alumina sinker, by Lucas using the maximum bubble method5 and by Stott and endall&apos; who used an alumina pyknometer. In the method of balanced columns, the difference in level of molten iron in two arms of a U-tube, together with the corresponding difference of pressure had to be measured. The formation of gas bubbles in one or both arms was a great source of error. These values are very erratic. They vary from 6.83 to 7.45 g per cm3 at the melting point (1805"~) and from 6.45 to 7.15 g per cm3 at 1890°K. Stott and Rendall determined the density at 1837"K, with a reproducibility of *0.2 pct. They used an alumina pyknometer fired to 1973°K. The vessel was filled in a vacuum furnace by immersion in the liquid metal. When thermal equilibrium was attained, the pyknometer was withdrawn, cooled, the ingot removed and then weighed. The chief disadvantage of the method was the difficulty of inserting the pyknometer without cracking it. The authors have been able to determine the density of liquid iron from its melting point up to 2500°K, by using the immersed-sinker method, with A1203 or ZrOz crucibles and A1203 or molybdenum sinkers coated with Zr02, Fig. 1. EXPERIMENTAL Apparatus. In these studies the source of heat was the carbon tube resistance furnace with an argon atmosphere described previously.7 Experimental runs were made using either Ala3 or ZrOz crucibles. The sinkers used were 1) pure A1a3 and 2) molybdenum coated with ZrOz. The crucible, 2 1/8 in. in diam and 3 in. high, was centered in the furnace on an Ala3 of Zr02 pedestal. The sinker, 1/2 in. in diam and 1 1/2 in. long, together with a counter weight, was suspended from an analytical balance into the melt by a molybdenum wire. Procedure. The procedure, as described previously,&apos; consisted in measuring the weight loss of the sinker in the liquid iron while determining simultaneously the liquid iron temperature by means

Jan 1, 1962

By S. F. Reiter, You-Chao Liu, W. R. Hibbard

Cyril Stanley Smith in his classic 1948 Institute of Metals Lecture&apos; noted in the case of annealing twins that: "It is well known that approximately the same number of twins per grain and the same general geometry are maintained in large grains as in small ones, a fact that certainly suggests a mechanism such as the above where boundaries and twins grow proportionately together. If this view is correct, a spherical grain should have no mechanism for keeping its twins." Such a constancy of twins per grain would be of particular interest as a tool for the study of the origin of annealing twins. It has been proposed by Mathewson2 and later by Barrett3 that in face-centered cubic metals slip occurs in the {111} Plane by <112> shears which combine in pairs to produce the macroscopically observed <110> movement. This proposal is schematically inviting since <112> slip permits the atoms of one plane to move along the interatomic valleys of its neighbor rather than up the hills across the atom sites. There is strong experimental evidence? that annealing twins result from the growth of nuclei in the form of "twin faults" produced by single <112> shears. It is possible that more twin faults would form at low deformation temperatures than at high ones, because the more rigid lattice may increase the tendency to "freeze" the twin faults and prevent their dissipation in slip. This is suggested by (1) the greater resistance to slip at low temperatures and (2) greater tendency toward mechanical type twinning at low temperatures (a summary of these factors is presented by Seigle and Brick5). These considerations would suggest the following: a. Constant twin/grain ratio for specimens deformed constant amounts at a constant temperature, but annealed at various temperatures above the recrystalliza-tion temperature. b. Larger twin/grain ratios for re-crystallized specimens previously deformed constant amounts at lower temperatures. The purpose of this investigation is to test these considerations. One half in. rods of phosphorous deoxidized electrolytic copper and 70-30 alpha brass (68.36 pct Cu, 0.005 pct Pb, 0.01 pct Fe, 31.62 pct Zn remainder) were rolled to a thickness of 0.350 in., milled to specimens 0.350 X 0.437 X 2 in., and annealed at 700°C to an average grain size of 0.065 and 0.090 mm, respectively. These specimens of each metal were then rolled 50 pct reduction in thickness and annealed one hour under conditions which were all combinations of the following: Rolling Annealing Temperatures. Temperatures. °C °C -70 400 25 500 200 600 Standard metallographic techniques&apos; were used to prepare specimens. By the method of lineal analysis7 using a minimum of ten samples of fifty grains each for each specimen, the ratios of twins* per total grains, twins per twinned grain, twin families* per total grains and twins per twin family were determined. Recrystallized grain size was determined by A.S.T.M. comparison methods.8 All observations were made on the rolling plane. The results are tabulated in Table 1.

Jan 1, 1950

By S. K. Sarkar, B. Dr. Singh

INTRODUCTION India like USA has traditionally relied on bord and pillars as dominant underground method. Coal has generally been mined at shallow depth from relatively thick and horizontally bedded coal seams. These&apos; factors contributed towards large scale adoption of bard and pillar. After nationalisation of coal industry in two stages in 1971 and 1973, large scale mechanisation and modernisation programmes were undertaken. Longwall mining was identified as one of the major that area for increasing underground coal production. The idea to introduce longwall mining was mooted to increase productivity and to promote conservation and safety. The nationalised coal industry has already worked about twenty longwall faces with different types of support. The tempo of introducing longwall is catching up and a number of longwall programmes with, Self advancing supports of different types and Capacity are in active stage of implementation. The country has not yet started producing mechanised Supports and therefore supports and machineries are being imported from U.K. and other countries of the continent. The of the major problem faced in the longwall projects is to choose suitable type and capacity of supports. The suppliers and manufacturers of these supports are not competent enough to choose and offer the right type and capacity of supports as their knowledge and information about Indian strata conditions are extremely limited. The Central Wining Research Station (Q.!RS), has undertaken a research programme for evaluating the rock mechanical conditions obtaining in the proposed longwall locales and has worked out a method for selection of proper type and capacity of supports on the basis of projected strata behaviour at the proposed locale. STRATA CCNTROL FAILURES Indian coal industry had made some attempts to introduce longwall caving in the early fifties after a working group set up by the Government of India had recommended its adoption to increase productivity and to modernise mines. Approximately 20 longwall faces were tried in the major Indian coalfields of Jharia, Ranigunj and Karanpurr between 1951 and 1968. The supports used consisted of 20T hydraulic props or 35140~ friction props. A number of these faces had suffered total strata control failures and a large number of support elements were lost. The Central Mining Research Station initiated a research programme to analyse these failures in the general background of behaviour of Indian coal measure strata at longwall faces. All the available data regarding the cases of failures were collected and physico-mechanical properties of overlying roof rocks were determined in the laboratory. Simultaneously, observations were continued to establish the behviour pattern of Indian coal measure strata at longwall faces. These studies were helpful in analysing the occurrences of collapse. BEHAVIOUR OF INDIAN COAL MEASURE STRATA The coal measure strata encountered in the principal Indian coalfields of Jharia, Ranigunj and Karanpura are in general strong in nature however, the immediate roof (mostly up to 1.5 to 2 m) in most of the cases is weak and false bedded shale. MI idea about the strength properties of immediate and overlying roofs may be obtained from the following table.

Jan 1, 1982

By W. C. Ellis, E. S. Greiner

METALLIC titanium has been prepared in small quantities since the beginning of the century. Hunter1 reported in 1910 that he obtained a malleable product of 99.9 pct purity by the reduction of the tetrachloride by sodium in a closed container. Later Van Arkel2 and Fast3 prepared small quantities of malleable titanium by thermal decomposition of titanium iodide. Another method for producing malleable titanium from tetrachloride was reported by Kroll4 who used magnesium as the reducing agent. More recently Dean, Long, Wartman, and Anderson5 working at the U.S. Bureau of Mines have reported the preparation of the metal on a pilot plant scale by the reduction of titanium tetrachloride by magnesium in an atmosphere of helium. Their product, which is malleable, was used in the present investigation. Early in 1948 after the work of this paper: was completed Campbell, Jaffee, Blocher, Gurland, and Gonser6 described the strength and working characteristics of pure titanium which was prepared by the iodide method on a scale producing 300 to 600 g per run, in the form of 0.3- to 0.4-in. diam rods. Their product is characterized by low hardness and large capacity for cold work which they attribute to a high degree of purity with respect to oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon. Titanium has a melting point of about 1725°C5 it may be classed as a light metal since the specific gravity is 4.5 g per cc-1. The crystal structure is close-packed hexagonal from room temperature t0 885°C. Above this temperature the structure is reported7 as body-centered cubic. The change in crystal structure has been associated with discontinuities in specific heat8 electric resistance9 and thermoelectric force10 at temperatures near 890°C. It is reported11 that annealed titanium has a tensile strength 0f 78,700 psi which can be increased by cold-work to 123,000 psi. In the present investigation, the lattice constants at room temperature, the thermal expansivity between 30 and 800°C, as well as the electrical resistivity and thermoelectric force against platinum between - 200 and 1000°C have been determined. MATERIALS For the measurements, two series of specimens were prepared from titanium furnished by the U. S. Bureau of Mines. The first was lade from an annealed sintered compact, 0.38 in. thick. Sections of the compact were cold-swaged with intermediate anneals in vacuum to the sizes used. Sizes over 0.25-in. diam were annealed at 1000°C and smaller sizes at 800°C. Specimens originating from the sintered compact are designated in this paper as A. The second series of specimens was lade from a rod of titanium, 0.19 in. in dial, which was cold-swaged with the necessary intermediate anneals to the required sizes. This series of specimens is designated B. The impurities in the specimens of titanium, determined by chemical analysis, are given in Table I. Oxygen and nitrogen which were not determined by analysis, are probably present although in small quantities in view of the ductility of the material.

Jan 1, 1948

By Robert Lowrie

Nine intermetallic compounds were tested in tension at various temperatures. Seven exhibited extensive plastic deformation at elevated temperatures. Correlations of tensile strength and elongation are attempted with melting (decomposition) temperature, valence electron configurations of the component elements, heat of formation, crystal structure, density, and volume decrease accompanying compound formation. A LTHOUGH intermetallic compounds have been -tX known for many years, the study of their mechanical properties, particularly in tension, is just beginning. The problem has been unattractive because of the well-known, erratic behavior of brittle materials tested in tension. The strong influence of surface or internal flaws as stress raisers in non-ductile materials and the effect of eccentricity of loading in superimposing bending stresses on the state of tension in the specimen are extremely difficult to mitigate and impossible to completely eliminate. Thus, tensile properties determined for brittle materials, such as intermetallic compounds at temperatures low in comparison to their melting points, are at best only general guides to the values to be expected in an ideal test of a perfect specimen of the material. It is, nevertheless, surprising that apparently no attempt was made to follow up the pioneer work of Tammann and Dahl1 in this field. Working with crude apparatus, these investigators succeeded in showing unequivocally that at temperatures sufficiently close to their melting points (from 75" to 400°C for the compounds tested) intermetallic compounds did exhibit plasticity. This was indicated by the appearance of slip lines on the surface of the specimen. No observations of strength were made in these tests, which were of a compressive or indentation type. Rossi2 in 1932 attempted to study the physical and mechanical properties of single crystals of a group of intermetallic compounds. However, he was able to prepare only one material, Cu2Z8,, in the form of large, defect-free, single crystals. Thus, he was able to report only the relative fragility of the compounds at room temperature. He reported one compound, Ag,Zn,, to be somewhat plastic at room temperature and Cu,Si to be friable, the latter in agreement with results reported herein. Although test results are available only in classified literature, it has also been announced that MoSi, possesses some ductility at elevated temperatures." In 1948 and 1949 Savitskii and Savitskii and Baron -ublished their work on the hot extrusion of Mg-Zn, Al-Mg, and Cu-Zn compounds. Under the favorable state of stress existing for this process MgZn, MgZn,, MgZn,, ß (Al-Mg), ? (Al-Mg) and 0 (Cu-Zn) could be reduced by amounts up to 90 pct at elevated temperatures. These authors also report that hardnesses of Mg-Zn compounds decrease from room temperature values of about 300 kg per sq mm to 30 to 50 kg per sq mm at 325°C. They found that alloys consisting solely of one Mg-Zn compound were most resistant to softening on heating, mixtures of a compound and eutectic less resistant, and mixtures of two compounds least resistant. The more rapid softening of mixtures of

Jan 1, 1953

By Stewart Murray, Philip Klapwijk

INTRODUCTION Forecasting commodity markets is like predicting winners in a horse race: to get the answers right, one needs both luck and judgement. Commodity analysts bear some resemblance to racing tipsters as they try to convince interested parties that they have an inside track on which metal is going to win the great minerals race of the 1990s. Commodity analysts share some features with the gentlemen of the turf: • They influence other people in how to spend risk capital, • They don&apos;t put their own money at risk, and • If their tips consistently fail to deliver, then they end up looking elsewhere for employment. In order to find winners we need to know about the kind of race we are in and the strengths and weaknesses of all the runners. Miners are not interested in a five furlong sprint: their race is a long distance affair -- after all, the lead-times between discovery and start-up generally approach a decade for mines that will provide the staying power which leaders require in this industry. We need to look at the environment in which our commodities will be competing: in racing parlance, the going. Our equivalent is the economic background: just as some horses are at a relative advantage when the going is soft, so some commodities will do better than others if economic growth is sluggish. If we are going to pick the winners for the late 1990s, and as an industry, make the right investment decisions, nothing is more important than being able to forecast (with at least a semblance of accuracy) how and where the world&apos;s economy is going to develop in the next decade. In addressing the question of whether minerals are going to be leaders in the 1990s, this paper considers the idea that it will increasingly be the world outside the industrialised OECD that will provide the incremental growth in demand for mineral products. Economic growth in the Developing World is fundamentally different from that in the OECD, and the pattern of demand for materials in relation to economic output is much more favourable than in the OECD. If we are to forecast the future, we need to be able to understand the past, both in the boom times of the so called Golden Sixties and in the lean years that followed them. This should help us to decide whether the future is going to be like one or other of these extremes or, on the other hand, a return to normality. Having forecast the going, we can look at individual competitors. • Which are best placed to take advantage of the economic, social and industrial trends that we can now dimly foresee? • Which can resist the continued onslaught of the new materials and technologies? • Which of them will best weather the economic storms (assuming that recessions have not yet been abolished)? If we can provide answers to these questions, we will be well on our way to picking winners, i.e., the metals and minerals that will reward their owners with growing demand, steady (and high) prices leading to profits beyond the dreams of avarice.

Jan 1, 1990