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By Pei-Yung Huang, Carle R. Hayward

IN order to understand more fully the actual state of copper lost in copper reverberatory slags, a systematic study on the various reactions between certain metallurgically important copper compounds and synthetic copper reverberatory slags was undertaken by the authors in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1942 to 1945.1 This paper, being only a part of the work completed, is published first because it furnishes the first experimental evidence of the formation of copper ferrite from reactions between cuprous oxide and copper reverberatory slags. CHOICE OF SLAG COMPOSITION The choice of the composition of the synthetic reverberatory slags to be used was much deliberated. Commercial copper reverberatory slags, neglecting minor constituents, average:2.3 45 to 47 pct FeO; 38 to 42 pct Si02; 5 to 6 pct CaO; 5 to 6 pct A1203. Since the ternary system CaO-FeO-SiO2 has been much more thoroughly studied4 and is much simpler than the quaternary system CaO-FeO-Si02-A1203, it was decided to use calcium oxide only instead of calcium oxide and alumina in the synthesis of the slags. Fortunately the composition of the average copper reverberatory slag with calcium oxide substituted for alumina lies in the region of the phase diagram clarified by the investigators. A survey of the phase diagram (Fig I) suggested two compositions: (I) the com¬position near the invariant point S, which is made up of 46 pct ferrous oxide, 37 pct silica and 17 pct calcium oxide; (2) the composition near the invariant point K with 45.5 pct ferrous oxide, 43 pct silica and 11.5 pct calcium oxide. Composition S has the advantage that the percentages of ferrous oxide and of silica almost exactly coincide with those of the average reverberatory slags, and that of the lowest melting point (1093° ± 3°C) in the whole ternary system. The calcium oxide content, however, obviously is high. Since we have already substituted calcium oxide for alumina, and since calcium oxide is more basic than alumina, the resulting slag is decidedly too basic. Composition K has a slightly higher melting point (1105° ± 3°C) and a higher silica content, but this is preferred because the slag is saturated with respect to tridymite and thus should not corrode siliceous refractories. Besides, it is less basic than composition S. The final slag composition, therefore, was chosen to

Jan 1, 1947

By J. L. Bruce

AFTER six years of war-enforced idleness, Cyprus copper mines are operating again. This relatively long shutdown seems infinitesimal when compared with something like seventeen hundred years of inactivity that followed the important operations of the ancient Romans, and continued until the twentieth century. The historical records of the ancient operators are scarce but full of interest to those who realize that Cyprus copper production was important more than two thousand years ago. This paper, however, will give only a brief review of the ancient history and the evidence of ancient mining which have been quite fully covered in other publications.1-6 The purpose of this paper is to give a general sketch of the Cyprus Mines Corporation's enterprise in the Island of Cyprus, with special emphasis on those conditions and practices which are unusual. The picture is not intended to be complete, and many interesting details will be omitted. Some of these may be described in subsequent papers covering departmental practices. The principal operations of Cyprus Mines Corp. are in Cyprus, where it has leasehold concessions from the Cyprus Government covering about 50 square miles. It holds additional areas under "Prospecting Permits." The consideration for the concessions is a royalty on production, coupled with minimum annual rentals. Cyprus is a British Colony in the Eastern end of the Mediterranean with an area of about 3000 square miles and a population of about 400,000, of which 65 pct may be classed as Greeks on the basis of language, religious training, and traditions. About 25 pct are Moslems, principally of Turkish extraction. Prevailing languages are Greek and Turkish. A large proportion of the supervisory and administrative staff and practically all of the skilled and unskilled craftsmen and laborers are drawn from the native population. The "overseas" staff constitutes not more than 2 pct of the employees. The majority of these are from the United Kingdom, the British Dominions and Colonies. About one-third are from the United States of America. The topography of the Island is rugged, with mountains and foothills covering more than two-thirds of the area. Between the Kyrenea range rising to 3000-ft elevation, along the north coast, and the Troodos range (maximum elevation 6400 ft) occupying the southwest half of the Island, lies a cultivated rolling plain, the "Mesaoria," dry in summer and watered only by the winter rains and by scanty irrigation from small mountain streams and wells in the spring and summer. Climate and natural vegetation are characteristic of semi-arid conditions. The "urban" population, about one-fourth of the total, lives in the five port towns, Famagusta, Larnaca, Limassol, Paphos and Kyrenia, and in the capitol Nicosia, near the center of the Island. The suburban population lives almost entirely in villages or small towns, with very few people residing in isolated country homes.

Jan 1, 1947

By Leon W. Dupuy

INTRODUCTION A BRIEF elemental discussion of the fundamental factors involved in diamond drilling often fills a need, particularly when a mine operator is contemplating for the first time an exploratory drilling campaign. Mr. James A. Barr, of the Mining Methods Committee of the Institute, has suggested that many engineers must undertake a drilling program of one kind or another and, in the case of diamond drilling, sometimes even are at a loss as to how to start correspondence. The Bureau of Mines has acquired much experience in managing exploratory diamond-drilling activities. Its activities in diamond drilling included exploring for potash in Texas, Utah and New Mexico 1-4 during the 1920's. The Strategic Minerals Exploration program was started in 1939 and was materially expanded during the war to include critical and essential minerals. At the peak of its war-time activity more than 200 engineers were employed, a majority of whom supervised diamond drilling. Many of them had little experience with such work prior to their employment with the Bureau, and it was necessary to instruct them in their duties. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to present the fundamentals of exploratory diamond drilling from the viewpoint of management in such a way that they will serve as a basis on which those beginning exploratory diamond drilling may build an experience and acquire ability to direct exploration as they gain that experience. SELECTION OF METHOD OF DRILLING Selection of the method of drilling is governed by the type of material to be penetrated and by the type of sample needed to determine the quality and importance of a deposit. Types of drills that might be used for a given job include diamond drills, churn drills, hand auger drills, power auger drills, bucket drills, and rotary drills (sometimes called "seismograph rigs"). Each type has a specific field in which it is most useful. While the Bureau of Mines utilized all the types of drilling mentioned, diamond drilling was used on a majority of its exploratory projects. FACTORS GOVERNING SELECTION OF DIAMOND DRILLING The prime consideration in selecting a method of drilling is first to determine what results are desired and then to choose a method that will furnish reliable data in the ground to be penetrated. Use of diamond drills permits recovery of a core as well as sludge at a comparatively low cost. The core provides an excellent means of studying the formation being drilled and furnishes much information that would be difficult to obtain otherwise. Diamond drills will recover a satis-

Jan 1, 1947

By Thomas T. Read

It is natural, in reviewing the progress that has been made in mineral industry education during the three quarters of a century that has elapsed since the American Institute of Mining Engineers was organized in 1871, to seek to establish some significant correlation. Earnest endeavor along such lines, however, produces nothing more in the way of fundamental relationship than a technical economic interest in mineral production and utilization in the United States, which had been steadily increasing since 1800. This is a sound correlation, since it is unquestionable that organized and systematic mineral industry education had its origin in Germany, more than 150 years before 1871, in an economic interest in producing minerals for use with the maximum of recovery at a minimum of cost. Mineral industry became the originator* and creator of systematic technical education because of the political and economic fact that in all European (and most other) countries, prior to 1800, precious metals belonged to the ruling power, no matter upon whose land they were discovered. The practical way of working under this system was to grant to a discoverer the right to work the deposit on payment

Jan 1, 1947

By Alexander Squire

One of the principal factors that have contributed to the hesitancy of design engineers to use metal-powder parts is the difficulty experienced in the determination of the mechanical properties of compacted components. Because standard test methods cannot usually be applied in the inspection of such parts, and because adequate special test methods have not been developed, it has been considered desirable to investigate the methods that are applicable. These may then be included in specifications for metal-powder materials and components in order that the design engineer may be assured that the subject parts possess the desired mechanical properties for satisfactory performance. It is known that direct relationships exist between usually nonmeasurable properties as tensile strength and elongation and shear strength and the angle through which compacts may be plastically deformed before fracturing. These correlations are valuable in the inspection of specific parts, but it is necessary to set up standards before they may be satisfactorily employed. Apart from the use of correlations, the number and character of the inspection methods that are applicable to almost all powder parts is limited to three—chemical analysis, density, and hardness. The last of these may or may not be a pertinent characteristic, since the indentation hardness of many powdeied-metal materials is so low as to have little significance. It is, however, occasionally desirable to use hardness measurements as an indication of the uniformity of the structure of pieces of a given type. Chemical analysis reveals very little about the physical properties of metal-powder compacts, since the unpressed powder is usually of a composition almost identical with that of the finished pieces. Density determinations are simple to perform and have the advantage of being nondestructive in character. If the dimensions of a machine part are known (and usually they are), the average density may be determined by weighing a given number of pieces and dividing by the calculated volume of the parts. More accurate measurements may be made by the water-displacement method. It is recognized that mechanical properties of metal-powder materials are related to their density, but usually these relations are determined for only one type of powder, processed under a given set of conditions. Comparisons of the pioperties of compacts formed from different types of powders are made on the basis of compacting pressures instead of density, and for this reason the results obtained by using powders of different types appear widely variant.

Jan 1, 1947

By R. S. Busk, E. G. Bobalek

The relation between gases and metals has been a subject of increasingly active investigation during the past years, principally devoted to the study of metal-hydrogen systems. It has been found that hydrogen is soluble in most molten metals to an appreciable extent and somewhat soluble in most solid metals.l,2 In every known case there is a sudden decrease in solubility at the melting point. Thus a freezing mass of metal containing hydrogen in excess of the solid solubility must in some way expel that excess during the freezing process. This leads to internal blowholes, and such effects as pinhole porosity. Gas trapped in metal that is to be fabricated by a working process such as extrusion or rolling may be the cause of blisters. For some cases, notably in copper and iron alloys, the presence of hydrogen can lead to extreme embrittle-ment of the metal. The aluminum-casting industry has long recognized the importance of hydrogen in its techniques. Excess gas in molten aluminum alloys often leads to the formation of "pinhole porosity" in the solid casting.= To prevent this hydrogen pickup it is necessary to avoid overheating the melt and to protect it from such sources of hydrogen as water. In spite of all precautions, it is sometimes necessary to extract hydrogen from the melt just before pouring by bubbling with a gas such as chlorine or nitrogen. Reccntly it has been found that somewhat similar effects are possible with magnesium alloys, in that the presence of hydrogen can induce or aggravate micro-p~rosity.4-6 This paper is primarily concerned with a presentation of some facts concerning the solubility of hydrogen in magnesium and its alloys, with some discussion of the significance of these facts in a practical sense. In any study of gas-metal systems it is important to bear in mind a clear distinction between adsorption on surfaces and absorption within the lattice.' Considerable attention has been directed toward determining whether hydrogen is truly soluble in any solid metal, or whether the gas extracted from a sample was present at surfaces (external and internal) only.7 Most present day evidence supports the idea of true solution in addition to adsorption. A second important factor when dealing with gas solubility is the dependence of such solubility on external pressure. For diatomic gases such as H², solubility in both liquid and solid metals apparently is proportional to the square root of the pressure, indicating a breakdown to a monatomic gas before diffusion into the lattice.= For true equilibrium values of solubility, therefore, the pressure at the the surface must be constant and, preferably, known. Very little has been published concerning the hydrogen-magnesium system. Winterhager has presented the most

Jan 1, 1947

By Charles H. Behre

This paper discusses education and training for economic geologists other than petroleum geologists. Candidates enter economic geology through liberal arts colleges, engineering schools and university graduate study. Whatever their backgrounds, rigorous courses are desirable-now conceded in theory, but not adequately recognized in practice. Besides basic sciences (each studied long enough to give a fair comprehension of its basic tenets), a functional command of English and two modern foreign languages is needed, as well as a broad understanding of mining, milling and metallurgy. A year of economics and finance is recommended. Surveying and drafting are essential skills. Yet geology should be represented in each term; otherwise the initial enthusiasm for the science, once contact is broken, may never be regained. A five-year curriculum is thus designed to take care of all major requirements and culminate in the M. S. degree. This curriculum reduces "cultural" courses below the average liberal arts requirements, but this is regarded as necessary. The pursuit of "culture" is assigned, as in most engineering and medical curricula, to extra college years or extracurricular time. To avoid the danger of over-crowding the schooling, the Doctorate in geology is preferred wherever possible. Its two added years should permit wider professional education; more browsing in "cultural" pastures; due attention to broader social implications; and some training in the research now increasingly required of the mineral industry. "In-course" training through cooperation between school and industry is especially advocated. The Institute should take the initiative in stimulating this practice.

Jan 1, 1947

By Oliver Bowles

Two striking events marked the year 1871-the establishment of the A.I.M.E. and the beginning of the portland cement industry, the most spectacular of all the nonmetallics in its development. Just as David Saylor's first portland cement, made in a little mill at Allentown, Pa., in that year was the forerunner of a mighty industry, the products of which in 1942 were made in 155 plants scattered throughout the country (having attained a value of nearly $300,000,000), so the Institute from its small beginning has attained a membership of many thousands, likewise decentralized into a series of individual sections of wide geographical distribution. Concurrent with the establishment of the Institute was also the invention of the steam drill, followed by the compressed-air drill about 1904. These mechanical drills were so immeasurably in advance of the hand drill and hammer used previously that quarrying and mining of present-day magnitude could never have been attained without them. Some outstanding occurrences have marked this eventful three quarters of a century. The concrete age, with its enormous demands for cement, aggregates and steel, is of primary importance. Of interest also is the shift of fertilizers from the organic to the mineral field. Nitrates, primarily obtained

Jan 1, 1947

By L. S. Chabot

INTRODUCTION THE bibliography of mining methods in the past few years has contained many articles dealing with the use of the diamond drill for blasthole drilling. In the Canadian mines, this method has been used with great success in stoping at Noranda, Aldermac, Waite Amulet, East Malartic and Sladen Malartic mines in the Province of Quebec. It has also been used at the Dorchester and Beattie gold mines in Duparquet, Quebec. The method has found useful application at Copper Mountain mine, British Colombia, and at Flin Flon mine in Manitoba. In the United States, the diamond drill blasthole method has been used at Cornwall Iron Ore Mines in Pennsylvania and at the Republic Steel Corporation magnetite properties in the Port Henry district of northern New York. In the Lake Superior iron district, the method has been used at the Anvil-Palms mine of Pickands, Mather and Co. at Bessemer, Mich., and is also used at the Book mine of the North Range Mining Co. at Alpha, Mich. Other companies in the district have also experimented in some degree with the method at some of their properties. This paper is being offered as a preliminary report on the use of the diamond drill method of stoping at the Book mine. Sufficient work has been done with it to prove its worth and it is the purpose of the article to present some results, operational details, equipment ideas and recommendations which we have found in its use at our mine. LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION The Book mine is situated about a mile north of the village of Alpha, in the NE-NE ¼ and the SE-NE ¼ of sec 12-42-33, between the Dunn mine and the Balkan-Judson mine, and about four miles southwest of the village of Crystal Falls, on the Menominee Range of Michigan. The property was found to have ore near surface in sufficient quantities for open-pit operations and stripping was begun in the latter part of 1942 to prepare it for ore production in 1943. During 1943, 288,447 tons of direct shipping ore were produced from the open pit and 382,933 tons in 1944. While the mine was being operated as an open pit some 350,000 tons of lean ore were stockpiled for later treatment. This material is being treated in a washing and jig plant and concentrates are produced during the shipping season. The ore bodies at the Book mine are characteristic of the Menominee Range. They are found on the flanks of sharply folded anticlines which have a fairly steep pitch to the northwest. The open-pit operations in 1943 and 1944 revealed two of these anticlinal structures. A detailed study and classification of the old diamond drill records, coupled with the information of some new holes drilled, has established the

Jan 1, 1947

By J. F. Myers, F. M. Lewis

The crushing of ore, as defined by Taggart, is "usually a stage process, utilizing . . . machines especially suitable for the reduction of particular sizes. . . . down to a final stage, employed for the reduction of the finest sizes. ... In contradistinction, comminution to 20-mesh or finer is called grinding. There is a twilight zone in which the product is 6, 10, or 14-mesh limiting size which is either crushing or grinding. ..." Since the data in this paper pertain to a rod-mill operation, comminuting a particular ore size of ¾ in. to a final stage, coarser than 20-mesh, the rod mill is designated as a "fine crusher machine" in this paper. The published literature discloses a wealth of data regarding a rod mill as a fine-grinding machine but relatively little as a fine-crushing operation. Typical of the latter operation is: (I) a description by F. J. Tuck2 in which a fine-crushing rod mill replaced crushing rolls and (2) a description by the present authors3 in which a fine-crushing rod mill was installed instead of a collventional fine-crushing machine. The experience of the authors is that a definite distinction must he made between the rod mill functioning as a fine crusher and as a fine-grinding machine. As a fine crushing machine it prepares relatively large amounts of ore for a subsequent fine grinding operation; as a grinding machine, it grinds relatively small amounts of ore to some predetermined finished product. Pulp Movement and Action in Mill In considering the work performed by a fine-crushing rod mill, it seems important to understand just what takes place within the mill. We were inspired to study this matter by a paper by E. W. Davis,4 which indicated that definite water classification of ore particles took place in a ball mill. However, in thinking of the rod-mill action from this point of view, we were confronted with the fact that our rod-mill discharge product showed no evidence of action by water classification. The Tennessee Copper Co. ore is relatively high in sulphides, and the gangue rock and the sulphides are of about the same hardness. In the presence of any action by classification, the coarser sizes are definitely very lean in sulphide minerals.

Jan 1, 1947

By C. K. Donoho

SILICON is used in almost all commercial steels; up to about 0.20 pct in killed wrought steels and 0.50 pct in steel castings. Above about 0.50 pct in wrought steels and 0.70 pct in cast steels, silicon is considered an alloy. As an alloy, silicon is useful for several purposes: (I) for its effect on magnetic properties of parts for electrical apparatus; (2) for increasing the yield strength of carbon and low-alloy steels without too much sacrifice of ductility and weldability; (3) for adding hardness and toughness to spring and chisel steels; (4) for adding resistance to scaling and carburization to heat-resistant steels; and (5) for its graphitizing effect in graphitic steels. In acid electric steels for casting we are principally interested in the effect listed second; i.e., increase of strength with minimum sacrifice of ductility.

Jan 1, 1947

By N. P. Peterson

THE Castle Dome copper deposit is of the porphyry type and occurs in a body of quartz monzonite intruded into the pre-Cambrian formations and possibly into the lower part of Paleozoic limestones. The hypogene sulphide minerals include pyrite, chalcopyrite, and a little molybdenite, sphalerite, and galena. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are disseminated or occur in small closely spaced veins. The hypogene mineralization shows distinct zoning in the distribution of pyrite and chalcopyrite, so that the mineralized area can be subdivided into pyrite and chalcopyrite zones. Supergene enrichment, though not extensive, played an important part in the formation of the ore body, the chalcopyrite zone being the protore. Several thin, gently dipping, diabase sills occur in the mineralized area, and the copper content of the rock in and near these sills is substantially higher than average. The formation of the ore body was caused by the combined effects of three forces: I. Zoning of the hypogene mineralization, 2. Richer copper metallization associated with the diabase sills, and 3. Supergene enrichment.

Jan 1, 1947

By F. Keller, A. H. Geisler

Although the subject of precipitation from solid solution appears to be one of the more profitable fields in metallurgy for study with the electron Microscope, few comprehensive studies have yet been made. Occasionally electron micrographs have been published that illustrated alleged precipitation in various alloys, but frequently the apparent size, shape and distribution of the particles do not fully agree with those expected from theory or from observations of the Precipitate when the particles have grown to a size resolvable with the light microscope. The presence of a Widmanstatten pattern for submicroscopic precipitate particles has been demonstrated for only a few aged a1loys.l The initial problem has been the development of suitable techniques for applying the transmission-type instrument to a field that has been inherently associated with reflection-type microscopes. The various techniques have been the subjects of numerous publications, and instead of describing them individually here it will sufficc to say that the oxide film method has proved to be the most satisfactory method yet found for studying the microstructure of aluminum alloys with the electron microscope. This method has the definite characteristic advantage that the actual surface layer of the specimen is examined and not a plastic or silica replica. Doubtless suitable methods for forming and removing the oxide film could be developed for alloys of other metals. The purpose of this report is to point out the characteristics of the oxide film method that have been observed during the studies of numerous aged aluminum alloys and to present the results of these studies. Preparation OF Specimens The oxide film method for preparing specimens of aluminum alloys for examination in the electron microscope has been described in detail previously,¹,² Briefly, the procedure consists of preparing the metallographic specimen, forming the film by anodic oxidation and removing the film from the prepared surface of the oxidized specimen, The specimen is polished accordillg to the usual procedure for microscopic examination.³ he specimen may then be etched to remove flowed metal but etching to attack the alloy constituents or to leave them in relief as in the replica processes is not necessary. Electrolytic polishing is not generally recommended, Deep-etched specimens are used frequently, however, since they provide information that is not revealed by polished specimens and frequently present the same information more clearly than do the polished specimens, The surface preparation of specimens to be deep-etched is not important, since specimens that have been subjected to the first wet PoliShing operation are generally used, but frequently the as-rolled surface is Suitable. These specimens are then etched using a suitable macroetching reagent.

Jan 1, 1947

By T. N. McVay, E. E. Creitz

INTRODUCTION Object RATHER large amounts of titanium minerals and some zircon and monazite are being recovered from dune sands about 10 miles west of Jacksonville Beach, Fla. The Mining Branch of the Bureau of Mines, Southern Experiment Station, has been interested in developing additional large deposits of similar sands in other areas of Florida. The results of a field study have been published1 concerning the sands occurring on Trail Ridge which runs north and south about 30 miles southwest of Jacksonville. This investigation was undertaken in order to identify the opaque titanium minerals occurring in Trail Ridge and because of the economic importance of Florida titanium minerals. Nature of the Problem The minerals present in the heavy fractions (sp gr > 2.94) of the sands are principally opaque minerals; staurolite, zircon, sillimanite, tourmaline, kyanite, rutile, a small amount of corundum, traces of the zinc spinel gahnite and garnet. Epidote, monazite, hornblende and titanite are present in other dune sands but these minerals were not noted in the samples collected on Trail Ridge. All of the minerals except those which are opaque can be readily identified by the usual petrographic methods. However, opaque minerals cannot be examined satisfactorily by transmitted light. Polished sections of the opaque-mineral grains were examined but these sections did not furnish useful information. Consequently, it was necessary to use means other than the usual petrographic methods to identify them. Previous Investigations of Heavy Minerals in Florida Sands Martens2 has described the heavy minerals in the Florida beach sands and has classified the opaque minerals as ilmenite with minor amounts of leucoxene. Miller3 studied a number of sands collected by Ross and Mertie in Florida. He states that the material from the Florida beach and dune sands that commonly has been called ilmenite has essentially the chemical composition of the material that has been called arizonite.4 The X ray diffraction patterns of several samples indicated that the supposed ilmenite is essentially amorphous, with only weak lines corresponding to ilmenite, and hence the material is unlike the type of arizonite from Arizona. Opaque Titanium Minerals Rutile is essentially titanium dioxide. However, as pointed out by Dana,5 important amounts of Fee and Fe3 as well as Cb and Ta are reported in some analyses.

Jan 1, 1947

By R. S. Dean. J. R. Long, T. R. Graham

Following the development of electrolytic manganese production by the Bureau of Mines, an extensive program was planned to study the character of this high-purity product and its possible utilization in various alloy combinations. Previous work reported in the literature concerning alloys containing substantial amounts of manganese dealt largely with material prepared from relatively impure grades of the metal, and in many instances the impurities thus introduced did not permit true evaluation of manganese as an alloying element. One phase of the Bureau's program included a general review of the system and the establishment of the physical properties of copper-manganese-zinc alloys, using electrolytic manganese, and with particular emphasis directed to compositions within the alpha solid solution area. A number of reports of the work on alloys in this system, giving specific data concerning the equilibrium system and some of its alloys, have already been published. One study' established the alpha solid solution area at various temperature levels and composition ranges up to 50 pct manganese. Other investigation reports presented the properties of selected alloys; namely, a 65 pct copper, I0 pct manganese, 25 pct zinc alloys;1 a sensibly white manganese brass composed of 70 pct copper, 20 pct manganese, 10 pct zinc,3 and a series of alloys with a constant copper content of 60 pct and 5 to 25 pct manganese, balance zinc.4 In these reports tensile properties as influenced by cold-working and subsequent annealing were given in detail. Additional data are now available on other alloys of the alpha region up to 50 pct manganese, and these, together with previously published information, are sufficiently complete to establish the relationship between properties and composition for this portion of the ternary system. The present report is a summary of the tensile properties of wrought alloys in the form of sheet and rod stock. The summary is necessarily limited to data for only one condition of cold-work and a single annealing temperature, since a complete exposition of all the data available would be too extensive for this presentation. Nevertheless, it is possible to make a reasonable approximation of the tensile properties in other conditions of cold-worki"g and annealing by a correlation of the data previously presented on specific alloys and the data given here.

Jan 1, 1947

By D. C. Jones

The term "coal-mine mechanization" is definable in several ways. In its general application it can mean the use of machines instead of manpower in each of the various mining activities necessary for the production of coal—so that under this definition a mine that uses mechanical coal cutters could be classed as a mechanized mine. Common usage, however, insists that a mechanized mine is one in which machines are used for the entire process of mining or extraction and transportation of the coal. For the purpose of this paper, then, the second definition of "coal-mine mechanization" will be used, and practices employed in mines where the greater part of the production is obtained through the use of mechanical loaders and conveyors will form the basis for this discussion. Physical Contact Hazards If we were to group all the hazards that accompany the use of mechanized equipment in a mine, the predominant class would be that which, for want of a better name, might be termed the "physical contact" hazards; that is, all the sources of danger that lead to accidents through physical contact of workmen with machines. A survey of accidents in a group of mechanized mines indicated that this class of hazards may be responsible for more than half the number of accidents in mechanized mining. For example, of 21 mining-machine accidents at one mine, 14 were of the physical contact type; of 14 loading-machine accidents at the same mine, 8 were the result of physical contact. Certain of these hazards are controllable through the use of guards— a guard over the cutting-machine bits when the machine is being trammed from place to place, or a chain or some similar locking device around the cutter chain, so that an accidental blow or push against the bit control will not cause the cutter chain to move. Other hazards, such as the possibility of a loader operator having his foot crushed by a crawler tread, or a brakeman being hit by a loader boom swung too far to one side while a car is being loaded, might be subject to control through the use of guard devices, but the reduction or elimination of all physical contact hazards by such methods does not appear feasible. Every accident of the physical contact type should he investigated to discover whether guards could have prevented it, but often the only way in which to combat these hazards will be through the awakened consciousness of each workman as to the danger that exists if he indulges in unsafe practices. A good approach to control of accidents in any mine is the establishment of a set of safety rules or operating rules. The intent of such rules is to provide guides far the workmen to follow in the operation of equipment. Frequently the workmen have no regard for such rules, and observance is obtained only through compulsion on the part of management. An interesting development in connection with-the formation of safety rules occurred during a training program for employees in the

Jan 1, 1947

By E. H. Crabtree

THE heavy-media separation plant at the Central mill of the Eagle-Picher Mining and Smelting Co., near Picher, Okla., was started in February 1939. Since that time twenty-four million tons of lead-zinc ore has been treated in the mill, of which approximately 70 pct has been treated by heavy-media separation. Until January 1945, galena concentrate from the flotation plant was used as the sink-float medium. At that time minus 100-mesh ferrosilicon was substituted for the galena, and its use has been continued. The purpose of this paper is to compare the operating results and the costs of operation of the two media. For the purpose of this comparison the period Jan. 1, 1943, to Jan. 29, 1945, has been taken to represent the operation using galena medium; the period Jan. 29, 1945, to Sept. 1, 1946, to represent the ferrosilicon medium. During the first of 'these periods about seven and one-half million tons was milled; during the latter, or ferrosilicon period, more than five million tons was milled. It is believed that these tonnages are large enough to give representative data. FLOWSHEET The Central mill has a capacity of 15,000 tons per day. Briefly, the treatment used consists of crushing the ore through 11/2-in. and wet-screening out the minus 3/16in. portion. The minus 1 1/2 plus 3/16in. washed product is treated by the heavy medium; the minus 3/16-in. product is deslimed and jigged. The heavy-media cone tailing is discarded and the cone .concentrate is recrushed and jigged for the production of a coarse lead concentrate. The cone concentrate, impoverished of lead, is then ground in ball mills and treated by differential flotation. The minus 3/16-in. jig product is similarly treated. HEAVY-MEDIA PLANT The heavy-media cone plant treating the minus 1 ½ plus 3/16-in. product consists of one open-top cone 20 ft in diameter by 20 ft deep, equipped with a central airlift. Concentrate is discharged from the top of the airlift to a 3 by 14-ft low-head Allis-Chalmers drainage screen. Medium drains back into the cone, from the first half of this screen. The last half of the screen is provided with washing sprays for further removal of medium. Cone tailing is similarly drained and washed. Undersize from the washing screen is thickened and then cleaned in the medium-cleaning plant. When galena was used as a medium, cleaning was done in Fagergren and Denver flotation machines. The ferrosilicon is cleaned in three 36-in. and one 24-in. Crockett magnetic separators. A flowsheet of the cone plant is shown in Fig 1.

Jan 1, 1947

By Herbert H. Kellogg

In 1930, Taggart, Taylor and Knoll1 found that addition of various electrolytes to suspensions of ground minerals resulted in the stopping or starting of Brownian movement of the suspended particles. On the basis of the many new facts found, they rejected the " classical"† theory of Brownian movement and proposed an "ioniza-tion " theory. This new theory was further supported in later publications by Taggart.3,4 The acceptance of the ionization theory by men in the field of flotation may be judged by the mention given this theory in Gaudin's "Principles of Mineral Dressing,'16 Wark's "Principles of Flotation,"8 as well as in a recent paper by Fitt, Thomas and Taggart.7 The proponents of the ionization theory have gone further than the mere statement of the new theory. A parallelism between the Brownian movement of mineral particles and their behavior in flotation was reported.1,3,4 Likewise, the correlation between flocculation-dispersion of mineral particles and the Brownian movement of these particles has been investigated.' Bankoffl5 has suggested that "slime-coating" can also be directly correlated with the Brownian movement of the slime particles. In each of the instances mentioned it is the ionization theory of Brownian movement that has been used to "explain" the correlations that were found. The essential conflict between the kinetic theory and the ionization theory can be understood best by a brief description of each. The kinetic theory* proposes that Brownian movement is caused by the impacts of liquid molecules against the solid particles. At any instant of time, the molecular impacts on all sides of the solid particle will not balance, and the particle will receive a push in some direction. According to this theory, dl particles suspended in a liquid are in Brownian movement. However, if the particle is very large, the impacts on all sides will very nearly balance and the motion will not be noticeable. Another factor, besides the size of the particle, that affects the magnitude of the Brownian movement is the viscosity of the liquid—the greater the viscosity, the less the displacement of particles by Brownian movement. This theory has been verified experimentally by measurement of the velocity of Brownian movement, and by measurement of the compacting of suspensoid particles under the influence of gravity.2 The originators of the ionization theory found that he addition of various electrolytes to slime pulps caused cessation or commencement of Brownian movement, depending upon the chemical nature of the particle and the electrolyte. The Brownian movement of quartz particles was observed to stop upon the addition of Certain electrolytes, where the conditions of the experiment prevented flocculation

Jan 1, 1947

By Gorr W. W., R. Smith, Wyche E. H

The combination of high strength and corrosion resistance of cold-worked 18 Cr, 8 Ni steel has been advantageously utilized for some time, particularly in aircraft and rail car structures. There are, however, certain limitations on the use of such materials because the high strengths can be obtained only by cold-working, limiting the available products to sheets, strip, wire and tubes. The authors sought to overcome these limitations by resorting to precipitation-hardening, which has been used so successfully in nonferrous metallurgy but only to a limited extent in iron-base alloys. Accomplishment of this objective not only overcame the limitations, but also effected certain improvements in mechanical and other properties. This paper is an account of the development by Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation of a precipitation-hardening 18-8 stainless steel (called Stainless W‡ and tentatively identified as type 322). A description is given of its composition and metallurgical characteristics, heat-treatment, physical and mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. Development of the New Steel For a considerable length of time the authors were unable to determine the mechanism of the precipitation-hardening process that had been noted by Ffield18,19 in 18-8 Ti or 18-8 Cb after cold-working and reheating to moderately elevated temperatures. All known variables were exhaustively studied, but with little success. However, results began to indicate that chemical composition was the most important variable, particularly the ratio of austenite-forming to ferrite-forming elements. The investigators then focused their attention upon the composition, and, in particular, upon the element titanium and its mode of alloying in the presence of other elements. A heat was obtained that could not be brought to the softness level of annealed 18-8. The response to cold-straining and aging* was very marked by previous standards, and, more important, cold-straining was found to be entirely unnecessary to produce the precipitation-hardening effect. The chemical composition of this heat was: C, 0.06 per cent; Mn, 0.54; P, 0.016; S, 0.016; Si, 0.58; Ni, 7.28; Cr, 17.60; Ti, 0.90; Al, 0.17. For some time the development work, particularly on composition, was carried

Jan 1, 1947

By M. K. Barnett

[ ] ENGINEERING research consists, broadly speaking, in the investigation of the effect of the variations in a number of factors on some property of a product or characteristic of a process. The unambiguous description of the product or process requires that the property or characteristic be expressible in quantitative terms. For the purpose of practical control, it is likewise desirable that the independently variable factors governing the product or process be quantities, although this ideal goal is not always attained. Maximum efficiency-i.e., the attainment of the maximum amount of reliable, useful information relating to the influence of the factors on the property of the product or characteristic of the process, for the least expense-is an important requirement for the satisfactory operation of a research organization. Obviously, a necessary condition for the attainment of maximum efficiency is an adequate knowledge of the specialized field in which the experimental research lies. While necessary, this condition is not sufficient. Proper attention must also be given to the general principles of experimental design together with the modem methods for the analysis and evaluation of experimental data. The present discussion is confined to a single design, the so-called "factorial" design. This design is of special interest in that it attains its goal, maximum efficiency, by directly departing from the

Jan 1, 1947