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Jan 1, 1957

BRADEN, the most southerly of the three big Porphyries in Chile and the first to start production (in 1910), is a remarkable mine. It would be interesting to know just how much it has contributed, and will contribute, to the earnings of the Kennecott Copper Corporation, which acquired 95 per cent of Braden stock in 1915 by an exchange of shares and which subsequently obtained the remainder. Because of this complete ownership no separate annual report is published (as is the case with Anaconda's South American subsidiaries, Chile and Andes). Income, taxes, operating costs, earnings, and other financial data, including the balance sheet, are consolidated with corresponding items applying to Kennecott's manifold operations in the United States and other foreign countries. If Braden were in the United States it would be possible to arrive at a pretty accurate estimate of revenue realized each year from the sale of copper simply by applying the average published market price to the production as reported by the company. However, because of the restrictions on sales imposed by the Chilean Government and the almost fantastic regulation of exchange rates in the past, no estimate of the sort would be reliable. This point is illustrated by the following comparison made by Charles R. Cox, president, in Kennecott's report for 1955: In each year, 1954 and 1955, Braden supplied about 30 per cent of Kennecott's total copper deliveries; but Braden's operations contributed 16.7 per cent of consolidated net income in 1955 against only 6.2 per cent in 1954. More will be said later about exchange rates, taxes, and restrictions, and the recent improvement in the situation. Of course another element of

Jan 1, 1957

By H. E. Ellis, O. L. Patterson, Granville Dutton

A large-scale water-injection program for the Holt Bryant reservoir of the Delhi field has been established by means of the new automatic multi-pool analyzer. The objectives of this program were to increase reservoir pressure and eliminate a cross-dip gradient of 200 psi. Pressure increases during the first 15 months of operation have allowed for increased oil production rates of 2,600 BID or 25 per cent. To determine the required water injection it was necessary to predict natural water influx ram. Elimination of the pressure gradients required the water-injection program to account for the fluid migration and pressure interaction between segments of the reservoir. An integral part of the ana1ysis included the determination of in-place volumes of oil and gas. The operation of the automatic multi-pool analyzer in determining the water-injection program is described. New features of the analyzer inc1ude an automatic maferial balance analog and a leart-squares computer for determination of unknown reservoir properties. Operational procedures are sufficiently simple to allow direct use by reservoir engineers on a routine basis. The rapidity and accuracy with which problems may be solved permit repeated ana1yses as a check upon reservoir performance. INTRODUCTION This paper describes the use of a new analog com- puter in determining the optimum injection program for a complex reservoir. The Holt-Bryant (Fig. 1) is the major reservoir in the Delhi field of Louisiana. Production is from the Tuscaloosa at subsea depths of 2,970 to 3,286 ft. The sand dips to the south and southwest from three to five degrees. The reservoir is approximately 12 miles long and varies in width from 1/2 to 2 miles. Various calculations have placed the initial volume of oil in-place in the wide range of 275 to 355 million STB. Two small gas caps were initially present in the reservoir. The Holt-Bryant reservoir was discovered in Dec.. 1944, and was fully developed with 188 producing wells by 1948. After development was completed, an east-west pressure gradient began to establish itself. This

Jan 1, 1957

By Alfonso Merlini

DIFFERENT explanations have been given by the two current theories of the annealing textures for the variation of annealing texture with the annealing temperature observed in rolled polycrystal-line aluminum,' copper,2 and brass, And in rolled single crystals of copperk and silicon iron.' The theory

Jan 1, 1957

By E. N. Cameron

GRAPHITE has been included in U. S. lists of strategic minerals since the problem of mineral deficiencies was revealed during World War I. Since 1918 the domestic graphite industry has led a precarious existence, and there has been much uncertainty as to the amounts of usable graphite of various grades that would be available from domestic sources in time of emergency. In 1950-1951 therefore, the writer, assisted by Paul L. Weis, undertook a review of domestic graphite sources for the U. S. Geological Survey.' The conclusions of this study are presented here, with a discussion of some technologic and politico-economic factors bearing upon the problem. Uses of Graphite: Natural graphite as marketed exhibits a wide range of properties, which determine the uses to which it is put. The most essential uses are in the manufacture of crucibles and related refractory articles, in lubricants and packing materials, and in the manufacture of batteries, foundry facings, pencils, and carbon brushes. Numerous specifications covering the mineral in its various applications must be met by producers and processors of graphite. The problem of supply is therefore not simply one of procuring a sufficient total tonnage, but the more difficult problem of procuring enough of each different grade to meet foreseeable needs. The amount of graphite required by American industry is not large. Ordinarily only a few thousand tons of strategic grades are consumed annually, yet the elimination of this small tonnage would have serious effects in several industries. Strategic Graphite: Since World War I, 60 to 100 pct of the country's annual supply of graphite has been furnished from imports. At present, natural amorphous graphite for use in pencils and batteries is produced largely from American-owned mines in Mexico. Graphite for foundry facings is obtained from a number of sources. Neither grade is a serious problem. High purity graphite for carbon brushes and for pencil leads, however, is imported, largely from Ceylon, in the form of amorphous lump graphite. Most of the flake graphite used for crucibles and related refractory articles is likewise imported, largely from Madagascar, and much of the lubricant and packing grade graphite used by industry is obtained from the same source. The strateg'ic grades of graphite are therefore amorphous lump of the Ceylon type, crucible flake, and flake suitable for lubricants and packing. Ceylon lump and Madagascar flake have for many years been accepted as standard by domestic consumers of graphite, and various essential manufacturing processes are geared to the use of graphite from these sources. Ceylon graphite as marketed is classified into several grades based on particle size and purity. Processing methods are said to be simple, but the products marketed are carefully graded and are consistent in their characteristics, an important matter to the consumer. Nearly all the graphite produced in Ceylon is from veins. Resources are reported to be large, labor is cheap, production costs are low, and world competition is slight—factors accounting for the commercial success of the graphite mining industry in Ceylon. Madagascar is reported to have deposits of the Ceylon type, but its output consists almost entirely of flake. Madagascar graphite as received in the U. S. is further processed by importing organizations, and a large number of grades are produced to meet industry requirements, especially those for crucible flake and for lubricant and packing grade flake. Madagascar crucible flake as marketed is noted for coarseness, uniformity, toughness, clean-

Jan 1, 1957

By R. P. Carreker

GERMANIUM is a member of that group of ele-nents—carbon, silicon, germanium, and tin-— that are currently of particular interest because of their interesting electrical properties. Near room temperature these materials of diamond cubic crystal structure are characteristically brittle. However, there have been several recent reports that germanium is not brittle at elevated temperatures These observations may be summarized as follows: 1—Germanium single crystals were observed to creep in bending under a maximum fiber stress of 6 kg per mm&apos; (8500 psi) at 500°C and above.&apos; The creep curves were sigmoidal, with an induction period that decreased with increasing temperature. 2—Germanium crystal bars have been bent 90" about radii ten times the bar thickness at 550°C.&apos; 3—-Audible clicks were heard when l/4 in. thick crystals were bent drastically at 450" to 500°C. No microstructural evidence of mechanical twinning was observed 4—Slip lines have been observed in tensile specimens deformed at 600°C, and are coincident with (111) planes, the close-packed planes of the diamond cubic structure.] The slip direction has not been established. 5—A germanium crystal has been compressed approximately 20 pct along a <110> axis at 700°C." The results reported subsequently were obtained in exploratory experiments intended to indicate some aspects of the behavior of germanium single crystals when tested in simple tension. Specimen Preparation A single crystal bar of n-type germanium was used. It was of purity corresponding to a resistance range of 2 to 20 ohm-cm. Tensile specimens were prepared by cutting small rectangular bars

Jan 1, 1957

By J. L. Gillson

THE big mass of anorthosite in the Lake Sanford district and the bodies of titaniferous magnetite that occur in a small area near the south margin of the mass have been described repeatedly, and the puzzling problems of the genesis of the rocks and ores have stimulated the deductive reasoning of geologists for a hundred years. Some of these men have taken a leading part1-15 in describing the anorthosite rock and forming hypotheses concerning its origin; some have contributed most to the study of the ore deposits;&apos;"= and some have made classical Studies3,4,21-27 introducing a basic approach to the problems of the anorthosite rock and genesis of the titaniferous magnetites. Much of the writing on the problems of rock and ore genesis has been based on physical-chemical reasoning rather than on field and microscope observations of the rocks and ores. Most of these geologists conclude that the anorthosite was formed by true magmatic crystallization, involving previous settling or squeezing out of ferromagnesian minerals from the parent magma. The associated gabbro is a separate segregation or later intrusion, and the lighter colored and finer grained facies of the anorthosite is either a chilled border zone of the anorthosite or the result of granulation by crushing of the coarse, dark blue rock of the main mass. This blue rock, called the Marcy type, is named after the higest peak in the range. The finer grained and lighter colored rock is called the White-face, after another mountain appropriately named for a cliff colored by this facies of the anorthosite. In explaining the genesis of the ores the authors have reached no general agreement, but all consider them to be dominantly the result of magmatic processes rather than the result of replacement by pneu-matolytic or hydrothermal processes. However, in the conclusions of two authors, Osborne27 and Ste-phenson," the reader is told positively that the ore minerals were introduced after the wall rock was solid and also that the oxides are later than the silicates. This seems to mean that the ore came in as a later intrusion, like a dike, since Osborne speaks of filter pressing and later injection of a residual magma. Stephenson agrees in general with Osborne but disagrees with his conclusion that ore does not grade into country rock. Singewald22 calls in "mineralizers" to participate in magmatic deposition. Stephenson ends his paper with a statement that replacement was the dominant process for the introduction of ore with anorthosite. Hence both Singewald and Stephenson call on pneumato-lytic or hydrothermal processes to supplement magmatic crystallization from a silicate melt, but they cannot quite bring themselves to state that the orebodies formed in that way. In their conclusions the ores are still magmatic segregations and magmatic injections and—almost as an afterthought— "replacements." According to Bateman18 there was a gravitational accumulation process of the iron silicates and oxides, which were injected later. Rambere explains the ores entirely on physical-chemical theory, as does Evrard.17 Buddington and associates,10 in a paper presented to the Geological Society of America in 1953, believe the facts observed prove that the magnetite-ilmenite formed at magmatic temperatures. The present writer&apos;s conclusions, given here, were first presented in 1947 in Industrial Minerals and Rocks.= Since the papers of Ramberg, Bateman, and Buddington, published after 1947, gave no recognition to those conclusions that differ from their own, the writer has taken an opportunity to restudy the area in the field, and to examine a number of microscopic sections, and now presents the evidence more thoroughly than he had an opportunity to do in the

Jan 1, 1957

By R. W. Smith, R. J. Charles

Fractions of glass particles in the size range 0.5 to 5.0 were prepared by an elutriator that operates in a centrifugal field. Although mean sizes of commercially graded abrasive powders were ten times greater than those of samples prepared by the elutriator, frequency size plots for elutriator samples compared favorably. Efficiency of separation was low and amounts of material recovered by the elutriator were small, but the method should find use in preparation of small amounts of sized materials for laboratory investigations. R. W. SMITH, Junior Member AIME, Research Assistant, Dept. of Metallurgy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is presently with Portland Cement Ass&apos;n., Chicago. R. J. CHARLES, Junior Member AIME, formerly Assistant Professor, Dept. of Metallurgy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is Research Associate, Ceramic Studies Section, General Electric Co., Schenectady, N. Y. TP 4261B. Manuscript, Jan. 31, 1956. STUDY of light adsorption, reaction rates, electro-phoresis, particle packing, and corrosion is hindered by lack of a suitable method of preparing small amounts of closely sized materials in the micron and submicron range. Most fractionation methods depend on some form of particle movement through a viscous media in which velocity of a par-

Jan 1, 1957

By J. W. Marx

A method is given for predicting the complete gravity drainage characteristics of arbitrarily long columns from centrifuge drainage measurements on reconstituted core samples. Oil residuals corresponding to hundreds of years of normal gravity depletion can be obtained in a few hours on the centrifuge. The gravity flow rate at any stage of the depletion process may be determined from the time correlation derived, and experimentally checked, in this study. INTRODUCTION Apart from the original observations of Muskat et al1, research publications2,3,4 on the subject of gravity drainage have been largely concerned with establishing in detail the saturation, S as a function of the height, z, in a draining column at any given time, t. Some form of numerical integration must be employed to obtain production rates and cumulative production even when S(z, t) is known. Furthermore, the relevant experimental work has been concentrated on drainage of a single wetting liquid from unconsolidated media. Since oil production usually concerns the drainage of a partially wetting liquid from consolidated media, in the presence of connate water, and since it is unlikely that sufficient information exists to establish S(z, t) in detail for any natural reservoir, the published research work appears to be, at best, only qualitatively applicable to production problems. With this in mind, the present study was undertaken by the writer. Experiments were planned whose results would have two advantages over existing measurements: 1. Observations were to be made on specific reservoir rock, reconstituted with formation water and formation oil. This would reduce their generality, from the research viewpoint, but increase their utility for production purposes. 2. The measurements were to be self-integrating, i.e., the phenomena were to be described and interpreted in terms of cumulative results. THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT It was commonly known that centrifuging a liquid bearing porous medium increases the drainage rates and minimizes capillary end effects. The specific problem lay in selecting an acceleration, a, such that the mean residual saturation of a model cylinder was equal to the residual saturation of an arbitrarily long prototype column when the latter was drained by earth gravity alone. The physical conditions required to permit a valid scaling of model drainage time, tm with prototype drainage time, t, may be stated as follows: (a) At t = tm = O, So = Smo; (b) At t = tm? 8 Sr. = Smr.; (c) For all intermediate values of t and dS/dt=dsm/dtm whenever S = Sm; (d) S(z) = Sm(z) = a constant when t = tm = 0. 1 Here S = T I S(z)dz, where h is the length of the « Jo cylindrical column being drained and the subscripts S,Sm, and refer to model, initial, and residual systems, respectively. The first three conditions mean, simply, that an 3 vs t plot will be numerically identical with an S, vs t, plot,

Jan 1, 1957

By I. Fatt

Relative permeability and relative electrical resistivity curves are obtained for networks of tubes with a tube radius distribution by means of a network of resistors used as an analog model. These curves are similar to those obtained from real porous media. The effects of pore size distribution and network structure on relative permeability and resistivity are demonstrated. INTRODUCTION Study of the dynamic properties of networks of single size tubes in paper IT&apos; of this series has shown that the network model has flow properties similar to those observed on real porous media. The comparison of properties of single size tube networks with those of real porous media cannot be carried far because very few porous media have uniform size pores. The capillary pressure curve from most porous materials such as soil, sandstone, and sintered glass indicate that these materials have pore size distribution similar to those shown in Figs. 5-1, 9-1, and 10-I.† To properly test the network model, it is therefore necessary to compare the dynamic properties of real porous media with those of networks of tubes in which the tube radii are distributed accord- ing to the distributions in the aforementioned figures. A network in which the tube sizes are distributed cannot be treated in the same manner as a network of single size tubes. In the single size tube network, the relation between tube geometry, flow resistance, and tube volume did not have to be known if the assumption was made that whatever relation did exist was the same for all tubes in a particular network. In a network of distributed tube size, the relation between tube geometry and flow resistance must be known or assumed in order to replace the tubes by equivalent electrical resistors. Relation of Tube Geometry to Flow Resistance The interchangeability of tubes and electrical resistors in the network model is possible because of the analogy between Poiseuille&apos;s law and Ohm&apos;s law. Poiseuille&apos;s law for a cylinder is q= pr4/8µl ?P.........(1) where q is the volumetric rate of flow, µ is the viscosity, ?P is the pressure gradient, r is the tube radius, and 1 is the tube length. Ohm&apos;s law is I=1/R?E..........(2) where I is the flux and is equivalent to the volumetric rate in Poiseuille&apos;s law, R is the resistance, and ?E is the voltage gradient. Both laws give the flux as a function of the potential drop and the resistance of the medium. By analogy then, 1/R=pr4/8µl ?P...........(3)

Jan 1, 1957

EASTERN VENEZUELA PETROLEUM Established December 15, 1954 Meets fourth Thursday each month at Chepa&apos;s Ice House in Anaco Glenn N Murchey, Chairman Jerome C Kearby, First Vice-Chairman J L Thompson, Second Vice-Chairman Thomas G Wall, Treasurer G J Clarke, Secretary Mene Grande Oil Co Apartado 3974 Caracas, Venezuela S K Wilkie, &apos;58, Section Delegate

Jan 1, 1957

By W. M. Aubrey, P. L. Steffensen

AUTOMATIC grinding control for ball mills in closed circuit with cyclones was developed for the concentrator of the Marmoraton Mining Co., a subsidiary company of Bethlehem Steel Corp. The concentrator, located at Marmora, Ont., Canada, treats an ore that analyzes 35 to 40 pct magnetic iron. Magnetite, the recoverable iron mineral, is concentrated by fine grinding and magnetic separation. The mesh of grind obtained in the plant is not determined by the point at which liberation is sufficient to yield a satisfactory grade of concentrate, but by the physical requirements of the downstream pelletizing operation. This is considerably finer than is metallurgically necessary. The concentrator has two identical units, each consisting of a rod mill in open circuit, followed by a ball mill in closed circuit with a cyclone and two rougher magnetic separators. The cyclone was chosen as a classifier because of its high efficiency on heavy gravity, magnetically flocculated material.

Jan 1, 1957

By Herman Blumenthal, Ronald Silverman

lnfiltrability of a porous Tic compact, produced by powder metallurgy technique, depends on the capillarity of the compact and the surface condition and nature of the individual particles. Capillary forces raise the liquid metal infiltrant into the interconnected pores of the compact and the complete filling of these pores is a function of their geometry as well as the wettability of the Tic particles. The paper deals especially with the improvement of this wettability through surface conditioning of the Tic particles. INFILTRATION, a technique for preparing dense powder metallurgy parts by filling the void spaces of a porous body with a liquid metal, has been used for the manufacture of titanium carbide-base cermets. Although the infiltration process was

Jan 1, 1957

By C. F. Knutson, Martin Felsenthal, J. D. Lung, J. D. Sudbury

This paper has been written to summarize the laboratory and field studies leading to injection of Pacific Ocean water into the Third Grubb formation. Laboratory tests for studying the permeabilities of cores to Pacific Ocean water are described. Resu1ts of these tests showed that the water could be successfully injected if it is chertzically stable, sterile, and properly filtered. Clay swelling was shown to be a comparatively minor factor in permeability reduction. Studies leading to development of an economical system for properly conditioning the ocean water are discussed. It was necessary to control pH, calcium carbonate deposition, bacterial growth, iron solubility. oxygen, and suspended .solids. A relatively simple system combining the use of sulifur dioxide, a quaternary rlmmonium chloride, and filtration was shown to adeqrrately control all these factors. This combination has not previozrsly been used as a water treating technique. Evaluation tests of the water conditioning system prior to injection are described, and results of such tests are presented. Control measures needed to insure a continusously adequate water treatment are reviewed. INTRODUCTION The utilization of sea water for waterflooding has only recently been attempted. Knowledge of treating requirements has been limited, and in most cases no water treating has been done. Prior to the initiation of the Third Grubb zone pilot water flood at Ventura, Calif.,1,2 extensive laboratory research was done in an effort to define the treatment necessary to provide a suitable injection fluid. Close coordination and cooperation between field and research personnel were found to be the foremost requisites in developing the most economical and practical method for treating ocean water. LABORATORY STUDIES Plugging Tendencies of Untreated Ocean Water A program of laboratory studies was initiated for the purpose of evaluating whether ocean water could be injected into the formation for prolonged periods of time without causing plugging of the pore spaces of the formation. Because of the fairly low permeability of the formation (averaging about 40 md), it was realized from the outset that a water of exceptionally high quality was needed. Ocean water used in the laboratory studies was carefully filtered through ultrafine fritted glass filters, having nominal maximum pore sizes of 1.4 microns. Permeability tests were then performed on representative core material from the formation. It soon became apparent in these tests that filtration alone was not a sufficient treatment for the ocean water. Prolonged injection of the filtered water caused rapid plugging of the core samples. The permeability decline of a typical sample is illustrated by Curve A in Fig. 1. The several factors which can contribute to this plugging tendency are briefly reviewed below: Interaction with Formation Clays An evaluation of clay swelling effects on liquid permeability was made using core samples from the Grubb formation. An oil was chosen for determining the reference liquid permeability because it would not tend to react with any clays that might be present in the formation. The samples were then extracted, dried, and resat-urated with either treated ocean water, formation water, or fresh water. Permeabilities to the various waters were then determined. Results of this test series are summarized in Fig. 7. The difference between the oil permeability and water

Jan 1, 1957

By Frederick C. Langenberg

A method is presented for computing the solubility of nitrogen in molten alloy steels. Examples are given to illustrate the procedure, and comparisons are made between predicted and measured nitrogen solubilities. THERE is an increasing use of nitrogen as a major alloying element in steels, or as a partial substitute for other alloying elements. Nitrogen is a potent austenite stabilizer, and Cr-Mn-low Ni-N steels, or even Cr-Mn-N steels, are being considered

Jan 1, 1957

By H. O. Olsen

MARMORA mine is located a mile southeast of Marmora village in Hastings County, Ontario, 130 miles from Toronto and 150 miles from Ottawa. Highway No. 7 passes half a mile north of the mine and Highway No. 14 half a mile west. The Canadian National Ry. branch line between Trenton and Bancroft passes through the property just east of the open pit. The iron orebody at Marmora is the result of a replacement of Pre-Cambrian limestone with zones or bands of magnetite interlaid with metamorphic rocks and cut by later intrusives. The ore and associated Pre-Cambrian rocks are overlain by 100 to 150 ft of flat-lying paleozoic limestone. It is a low grade magnetite deposit that requires concentration before it can be used economically for production of iron and steel.

Jan 1, 1957

By A. R. Kinkel

Robert T. Walker and Woodville J. Walker (Walker Engineering Corp., Salt Lake City)—Mr. Kinkel&apos;s article embodies, in condensed form, the results of the first detailed and complete geological survey that has ever been made of the long neglected but potentially very important West Shasta Copper-Zinc district, in Shasta County, California. In view of the difficulties of the terrain and the complexity of the geological structure, this represents a notable achievement, and it is with regret, therefore, that the writers find it necessary to differ from Mr. Kinkel&apos;s conclusions on two important points. The first has to do with the interpretation of two members of the stratigraphic column of formations in the district; for purposes of comparison, the description of these two members according to Mr. Kinkel is shown parallel to the description of these members according to the writers, see Fig. 14, Mr. Kinkel&apos;s nomenclature being used. The first member, which Mr. Kinkel terms the upper unit of the Balaklala rhyolite, consists of a single, massive, homogenous body of very silicious igneous rock, consisting almost wholly of quartz and albite, and averaging about 80 pct silica. Most geologists of the U. S. Geological Survey who have previously inspected the district have called it an alaskite. It is not a pile of several members, but is a single unit, without internal subdivisions. It has the form of a recumbent lens, approximately flat on the bottom and arched on top, several miles in diameter, and attaining a maximum thickness of 1000 to 1200 ft. It varies in texture from porphyritic to holocrystalline, and contains unusually large quartz phenocrysts up to 4 mm diam. Mr. Kinkel considers this formation to be a thick lava flow that is older than the overlying Kennett shale, while the writers interpret it as being intrusive, constituting a domed sill or laccolith that is younger than the Kennett shale. Their reasons are as follows: 1) This formation shows none of the features which within the writers&apos; experience invariably accompany very silicious lava flows. Nowhere is it vesicular; nowhere does it contain any glass or its devitrified equivalent; nowhere does it contain flow breccia; and nowhere has it a ragged top, in spite of the fact that there is no evidence of surface erosion, which might have removed such a top.

Jan 1, 1957

By A. Taylor

NICKEL-RICH alloys hardened with small additions of titanium and aluminum and centered around that region of face-centered-cubic primary solid solution, 7, where the atomic ratio of nickel chromium is about 3 to 1, form an important series of high temperature materials because of their resistance to oxidation, high temperature strength, and excellent creep characteristics at elevated temperatures.&apos; With suitable heat treatment it is possible to precipitate a phase based on the ordered face-centered-cubic y&apos; phase, Ni,,Al, from the randomly ordered nickel-rich y face-centered-cubic primary solid solution. By adjusting the ratio of aluminum to titanium the precipitation of needles of the hexagonal intermetallic compound n-NiaTi may be effected. In the present investigation, the main interest was focused on the interrelationships among the y, y, and 7 phases. By using alloying elements of high purity and a suitable melting technique the presence of carbides and nitrides could be completely obviated, although it is realized that their presence is probably essential in alloys of commercial importance. As a preliminary to the study of the Ni-Cr-Ti-A1 system, it was necessary to establish the constitutional diagrams of the three contiguous systems, Ni-Cr-Al, Ni-Ti-Al, and Ni-Cr-Ti, which together form the nickel-rich corner of the Ni-Cr-Ti-A1 quaternary tetrahedron. Accounts of this work on the ternary systems have already been published by the author. A preliminary disclosure of the author&apos;s investigations on the ternary and quaternary systems has been made by Hignett2 and has since stimulated work in the same field by Nordheim and Grant." Before the detailed account of the quaternary system, a brief description will be given of the three contiguous ternary diagrams on which it is ultimately founded. Ni-Cr-Ti System The 750° and 1000°C temperature isothermals of the Ni-Cr-Ti system as determined by Taylor and Floyd&apos; are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The single phase fields of greatest interest are occupied by the extensive face-centered-cubic y primary solid solution of chromium and titanium in nickel, and the close-packed-hexagonal Daltonide, n-Ni3Ti, from which tie-lines radiate across the very wide y+n two-phase field. The chromium-rich primary solid solution is represented by a. As may be seen from the diagrams, the extent of the y phase field increases quite appreciably as the temperature is raised from 750" to 1000°C. Isoparametric lines for the y phase are shown in Fig. 1. They are interesting in that they are almost parallel to the y/r+n boundary. Thus the determination of the tie-line directions is entirely dependent on the exact stoichiometry of composition of the 7 phase. Ni-Ti-Al System The 750°C isothermal section of the nickel-rich portion of the system Ni-Ti-A1 as determined by Taylor and Floyd is shown in Fig. 3.&apos; The regions of greatest interest are the extensive y primary solid solution of titanium and aluminum in nickel, the y&apos; Berthollide phase field based on the ordered face-centered-cubic structure of Ni3Al, and the hexagonal Daltonide phase, n-Ni3Ti. As may be seen from Figs. 3 and 4 the area occupied by the y phase is substantially the same at 750°C as at 1000°C, but the area of the 7 phase is considerably greater at the higher temperature. The tie-lines radiate from n-Ni3Ti across the y+v and y&apos; + v two-phase fields and are evenly distributed

Jan 1, 1957

AMONG the features that make Inspiration of outstanding A interest, particularly to the engineer, is the fact that at various times it has used, as a major method of production, three more or less distinct methods of mining and three distinct methods of treating its ores. The following chronology is of interest : Major Mining Methods: 1915-194 7 Underground block-caving, exclusively 1948-1952 Underground block-caving and opencut mining 1953-1954 Underground block-caving, opencut mining, and "glory-hole caved-block transfer" mining 1955 on Opencut mining and "glory-hole caved-block transfer" mining. Major Ore Treatment Methods: 1915-1925 Flotation concentration exclusively 1926-1930 Flotation concentration and ferric sulphate leaching 1931-1955 Ferric sulphate leaching (the so-called "Dual Process" was used for eleven months in 1937 when demand for copper was phenomenal; and the "leach-float" process was used for 24 months in 1942-44 as an expedient to help meet war demands for copper). 1956 on "Dual Process" combining a sulphuric acid leach followed by fine grinding and flotation of the residue from the leaching vats.

Jan 1, 1957

By R. E. Cech

Particles -3 to 30 µ diam of a 29.5 pet Ni, 70.5 pet Fe alloy after being melted and solidified while falling through a hydrogen atmosphere were found to contain a distortion-free body-centered-cubic phase. In most particles, the amount of body-centered-cubic phase approaches or equals 100 pet. It was shown by a series of experiments that this phase forms directly from the liquid. It is pointed out that a mechanism previously suggested in recent papers on the theory of the liquid-solid transformation can account for the solidification of body-centered-cubic phase in a temperature range where face-centered-cubic is the stable phase. IN the course of an operation to produce powders for a study of the martensitic transformation in Fe-Ni alloys, an unexpected phenomenon was observed. Powders of a 29.5 pet Ni alloy, which has a subzero M, temperature, were found to contain considerable amounts of a body-centered-cubic phase at room temperature. The experiments to be described were designed to elucidate the mode of formation of this unexpected phase. Experiments and Discussion An alloy containing 29.5 wt pet Ni, balance iron, was vacuum melted from high purity electrolytic iron and carbonyl nickel shot and solidified in the crucible. The metal was converted to oxide, ground to 100 pet <37µ, pressed to a cake, and homogenized 20 hr at 1350°C. To insure homogeneity the grinding, pressing, and homogenizing heat treatment was repeated a second time. The oxide was then ground to 100 pct <37µ and hydrogen reduced at 500°C. The reduced powder was given a spheroidizing treatment to produce spherical cast particles. The treatment consisted of dispersing the particles in hydrogen and allowing them to drop through a vertical hydrogen furnace set to a temperature higher than the liquidus of the alloy. This operation, commonly known as shotting, has been described more fully elsewhere.&apos; The powder produced by this method was found to contain approximately equal parts of body-centered-cubic and face-centered-cubic phases. A magnetic separation technique, previously described,&apos; was applied, and it was found that particles were either completely face-centered-cubic or nearly completely body-centered-cubic. The microstruc-

Jan 1, 1957