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The most extensive oil shale development program ever undertaken in the United States has been that carried out by Colony Development Operation at Para- chute Creek in western Colorado. Field development goals were completed this spring, with the remainder of the $24 million joint venture program, primarily engineering, environmental and economic analysis, due to be finished by the end of 1972. Upon completion of the overall program, a decision concerning a commercial venture is expected. This program points up the increasing attention being focused on oil shale as a source of crude oil and energy for the U.S. at a time when the nation's supply of oil produced by conventional methods is far from adequate to meet the demand. The oil shale reserves of the Green River formation in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming are the largest hydrocarbon reservoir. The Piceance basin of Colorado, alone, contains some 80 billion bbl of shale oil recoverable by modern methods in reserves more than 30 ft thick and containing at least 30 gal of oil per ton. The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that the total shale oil reserves of the Green River formation in the states of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming is more than 600 billion bbl of oil in deposits containing at least 25 gal per ton of shale oil.

Jan 10, 1972

By P. A. Boeck

(San Francisco Meeting, September, 1915) THE thermal insulation of high-temperature equipment for industrial purposes is a subject that has not received from engineers and designers the attention its importance deserves. This may be attributed to a number of causes: In the first place, heat flow is a rather difficult factor to measure under the working conditions of an industrial furnace, and until the comparatively recent introduction into certain operations of the heat balance sheet, with a systematic attempt to account for the discrepancies in the totals, the various causes of heat losses and the reasons for their existence were not brought to light. Moreover, such rapid advancement and radical changes in the design of equipment, especially in metallurgical lines, have occurred that practice has apparently outdistanced the theory of design. In the modern tendency toward greatly increased size of units, effort has seemingly been made to utilize the heat of fuel gases without proper. attention having been paid to conserving heat energy and confining it strictly to the points of maximum activity. The systematic study of the thermal properties of structural materials, which is being carried out by various government bureaus and also by a number of technical societies, is forming the basis for more intelligent and consistent work in the economically important subject of prevention of fuel waste.

Jan 8, 1915

Attention! Engineers! Geologists! Here is your Opportunity to be of Professional Service The war has interrupted the supply of many minerals, which were normally imported. In view of present transportation conditions, a serious shortage exists in certain materials and will soon develop in others. Some immediate action is imperative. The first thing is to take a careful inventory of American resources. We must know where the ore deposits are, what has hitherto hindered their utilization, what methods must be used, and what equipment will be needed if an emergency demands their rapid development. Many properties must be re-examined from a new point of view, that of present necessity rather than of normal profit. When the shortage is realized, the preliminary steps for relief should have been completed. It is a necessary and patriotic form of mineral insurance. Will you have a part in it? Do not forget that these are war times, and that what may have been valueless a year ago may be a "life-saver" now; an abandoned copper prospect of 1913 might make a successful pyrite mine in 1917. We are fighting an autocratic enemy who knows his resources to the last pound, and uses them with most efficient organization. We have no Kaiser, so each of us must do his share to put our Government in the same situation. The Government needs your facts.

Jan 8, 1917

By R. W. Jenkins, O. J. Neslage

The need for mechanized drilling to decrease mining costs has resulted in the development of the jumbo from column-and-bar drill carriages to hydraulically controlled jib jumbos. Resultant savings from use of improved jumbos have been high enough usually to retire the machinery investment within a year. The jib jumbo unit has been applied successfully to development and preparation programs and flat-bedded stopes, and an even wider field is forecast for its use.

Jan 1, 1950

By F. E. Jaumot, A. Sawatzky

IT as long been recognized that there is a need for accurate systematic data on diffusion in solids. Originally, such data were needed to check existing theories but, more recently, it would appear that it could be used most advantageously as a guide to, or a check for, much needed extensions of the theory of diffusion. The awareness of the conditions which are important to experimental accuracy, the availability of the materials for accurate experiments, and the techniques have improved to the extent that it would now seem to an experimentalist that, unless extensions of the theory are made which take into account the fundamental parameters of the atoms, the electrons, and the lattice in some detail, the field of diffusion will rapidly become an empirical or semi-empirical field. The present series of experiments was designed to provide accurate data on the diffusion of the elements of the IB and IIB subgroups in silver; that is, to provide data on the diffusion in silver of three face-centered-cubic elements with roughly similar chemical properties, but with different atomic or ionic sizes and, similarly, for three noncubic elements. The elements of these two subgroups have different valences, so that the data will not give any significant information on differences due to the crystal structure of the solute. The present paper reports data on the diffusion of copper and mercury in single crystals of silver; the data for the other elements of the IB and IIB subgroups were reported previously by the authors1'2 and by Tomizuka and Slifkin.8 Experiment The general technique used was identical to that previously described1,2 and will not be repeated here. In all cases, the sectioning technique and high specific activity isotopes" were used. The short half-life of Cu64 made decay corrections more important than for the other isotopes, and necessitated around the clock shifts while data were being taken. Each section was counted at least twice (as was true for all longer half-life isotopes) and a monitor was counted along with each sample. Data for the diffusion of mercury in silver are presented at a greater number of temperatures than for the other solutes. This is a result of two circumstances. First, six (of 30) samples had to be discarded because of pitting or recrystallization which occurred during the diffusion runs, even though the samples had sustained high temperature prediffusion anneals. Either of these was a very rare phenomenon in the other experiments, and their occurrence in this case is considered in more detail below. Second, the curves of the logarithm of the activity of the sections vs the square of the penetration deptht were, in general, quite good, but frequently seemed to show one point to have high activity and the next point to have slightly low activity in terms of the best straight line. When this occurred, there was remarkable regularity of the high-low sequence. In any event, the results, as far as diffusion coefficients are concerned, were not affected by this amalgam effect. In fact, the mercury data had the highest internal consistency of any of the data. Results Diffusion of Copper in Silver—-Diffusion runs were made at eight temperatures In the temperature range from 700° to 950°C, for times ranging from 5 to 45 hr. A linear curve of the logarithm or the activity vs the square of the penetration depth was obtained for all samples. Table I summarizes the results for individual samples and Fig. 1 gives a plot 02 the logarithm of the diffusion coefficients as

Jan 1, 1958

By W. E. C. Eustis

1st. The fine iron ore is mixed with a sufficient proportion of fine coking coal, and is coked in any of the ordinary methods for making coke. The effect of this is to convert the iron oxide into sponge in such a shape that the usual trouble of oxidation is avoided. 2d. The resulting mixture of coke and sponge is melted down ill an ordinary cupola, the coke furnishing more than sufficient fuel for that purpose. I may briefly point out here that in the first place the iron is sponged, and this sponge, as is well known, contains no phosphoras or silicon when the reduction takes place at a low temperature; and in the second place this sponge is melted down in a cupola in which there is no zone of reduction for phosphorus or silicon, and that con . sequently the resulting iron should be free from both of these impurities. 3d. The liquid sponge, now carburized, is run into an open-hearth furnace, where the requisite degree of hardness or softness is obtained by adding some of the fine ore, and the usual dose of ferromanganese, I have merely given above the rough outlines of the prows, bat it is my intention, as early as possible, to bring the process more fully before the Institute.

Jan 1, 1881

By L. Dudley Stamp

On April 1, 1937, Burma, formerly a province of the Indian Empire, was formally separated from India and became an independent unit of the British Commonwealth. In future, therefore, statistics of oil production in India will exclude Burma and those for Burma will be separately published. The last few years have been marked by noteworthy, almost spectacular, developments in the oil fields of Burma and the Punjab. In Burma these developments have been the proving of unexpected extensions of the existing fields and not the discovery of entirely new fields. The new extensions are important not only to Burma in giving a new lease of life to her fields, but also in general as stressing some interesting geological aspects hitherto neglected. Production The production of crude oil in Imperial gallons has been: Burma India 1934 254,760,070 67,265,210 1935 251,338,974 . 71,323,362 1936 265,656,393 69,241,504 1937 (eat.) 270,000,000 70,000,000 The Chindwin Fields.—The small field at Indaw continues to produce steadily about 3,000,000 gal. a year, but no really deep test has yet been successfully carried out and resources are thus not yet fully known. The remote location of the field, inaccessible except by river and situated 22 miles from the Chindwin 270 miles up that river from its junction with the Irrawaddy, has not encouraged active exploitation. The field is worked exclusively by the Indo-Burma Petroleum Co., Ltd. (I.B.P.), using now an automatic gas-lift system, and the company formerly refined the oil at a small refinery at Pantha on the river near by. The chief market was for kerosene in upper Burma. The refinery has now been closed. The oil is stored on the field during the low-water season

Jan 1, 1938

By J. F. Ednie

SCRAP metals to the value of more than a billion and a half dollars were recovered in the United States in 1939 for further use in industry. Few people have any true conception of the magnitude of the secondary-metal industry as related to that engaged in the production of the primary, or virgin, metals; of its importance, particularly when a shortage of primary metals exists, as at present; or of the advance that has been made in standardizing and improving the quality of its products. Of the iron and steel produced in the United States in 1939 (the data used in this article are largely taken from Bureau of Mines reports for that year) just over 50 per cent came from scrap and slightly less than 50 per cent from ore. Of the principal nonferrous metals-aluminum, anti-mony, copper, lead, nickel, tin, and zinc-63 per cent came from domestic ores and 37 per cent from scrap. Fig. 1 presents graphically the relative tonnage and value of primary and secondary production of ferrous and nonferrous metals. In this chart only purchased secondary metals are considered, the figures being exclusive of "home" or "plant" scrap which amounts to rather large figures in the iron and steel industry. Incidentally, the chart shows that from the tonnage standpoint the iron and steel industry is some twenty times larger than the nonferrous industry, though with regard to the value of the product the ratio drops to about two to one.

Jan 1, 1941

By AIME AIME

FOLLOWING careful study of the relations of the Institute to students and the younger members of the profession, the Membership Committee recommended to the Board a change of plans abolishing the Junior Associate class of membership, substituting a -Junior membership and providing for Student Associates. The Board adopted this report at its meeting on Nov. 23, and asked Counsel to draft the necessary amendments to the By-laws, and gave formal notice of intentions to amend as provided in Section I, Article XI1 of the existing By-laws. The By-laws as it is proposed to amend Article I, 11, 111, IV, X, and XI follow. The new plan requires no changes in the other Articles. The matter will come before the Board for vote on Jan. 25.

Jan 1, 1929

By I. Iwasaki

The interaction of starch and calcium ions in soap flotation of activated silica from iron ores was investigated using the response surface method. The results were correlated with adsorption studies and into pilot plant tests. It was reported previously1,2 that in soap flotation of activated silica from iron ores there existed an optimum combination of the amounts of starch and calcium chloride addition, and that corn starch as a depressant for iron oxides became effective when a critical amount of starch was added, beyond which excess starch appeared in measurable quantities in the aqueous phase. Further, adsorption studies2,3 with various starch products on hematite or quartz showed that the adsorption of starch at a given pH was markedly enhanced by the presence of calcium ion in solution. From these observations it becomes of interest to investigate the interaction of starch and calcium added to the ore pulp, and their influence on the selectivity of flotation separations. This paper describes an empirical relation between such dependent variables as the grade and recovery of iron in the concentrate and the residual concentrations of starch and calcium ion in solution as a function of two independent variables, namely the amounts of starch and calcium chloride addition, as determined by using the general technique of response surface methodology. The results thus obtained are correlated with the adsorption studies on hematite and quartz, and with a typical pilot plant operation. MATERIALS AND METHODS The ore sample used in the batch flotation studies was the fine fraction of a Mesabi gravity concentrate produced by pilot plant grinding and classification. The sample analyzed 55.21% iron and 14.70% insol, and consisted of 85.81% minus 325 mesh (corresponding to Ore C). 2

Jan 1, 1965

By R. E. Reed-Hill, W. H. Hartt, W. A. Slippy

An unusual form of double kinking has been observed at the ends of {1121} twins in deformed zirconium. These kinks lie partly outside of the twin and partly inside. While they are undoubtedly closely associated with accommodating the twinning shear into the matrix, they are apparently closely related to other important aspects of twin growth. A mechanism is proposed for {1121} twin growth involving interactions between 1/3 (1120) dislocations in the bend planes and twinning dislocations. It is also shown that boundaries without long range strain fields develop at the tapered ends of the twins. The {1121} twins can, therefore, grow without forming high-energy noncoherent twin boundaries containing large numbers of closely spaced twinning dislocations. NUMEROUS investigators have indicated that slip is often closely associated with deformation twinning. An example is twin accommodation kinking,1-3 where dislocations form bend planes and permit accommodation of a twinning shear within the parent crystal. Another is the incorporation of slip dislocations into twins, as proposed by Sleeswyk and verbraak4 and Ishii and Kiho5 for iron and ß-tin, respectively, and observed in hcp metals by Price.6 In addition, it has been shown that shear discontinuities exist at the points of twin intersections in zinc,7 magnesium,8 titanium,9 ß-tin,10 and bismuth," where the continuity conditions for twin intersections, originally proposed by cahn,12 are not satisfied. A similar situation occurs for zig-zag (1121) twins in zirconium13 and ?-phase silver-aluminum alloys,14 where the twinning shears of the two component twins are not parallel. In all these latter cases additional deformation by slip is believed to accommodate the twinning shear discontinuity. The present paper is concerned with a newly observed aspect of the slip and twinning interrelation, in which two kinks, one inside the twin and the other external to the twin, are formed. These kinks, observed in conjunction with (1121) twinning in zirconium, form to accommodate the twinning shear. A model has been constructed explaining the growth and accommodation of (1121) twins in terms of these kinks. This mechanism may be significant since it is concerned with an important twin mode, which occurs not only in zirconium but also in titanium and hafnium. The practical significance of (1121) twinning has been adequately demonstrated. At 77° K the high ductility of zirconium containing a large number of grains unfavorably oriented for slip is primarily due to (1121) twinning.'5 Also, (1121) twins nucleated at 77°K may grow during further deformation at room temperature. This growth can greatly increase the transverse ductility15 as well as produce large mechanical hysteresis effects.= EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Arc-melted, sponge zirconium plate previously described17 was prestrained 0.65 pct at 77° K by cold-rolling to introduce {1121} twins into the structure. Tensile specimens were cut with axes normal to the plate rolling direction. These specimens were pulled in tension to near the point of failure in an Instron machine at room temperature at a cross-head speed of 2 x10-2 in. per min. This additional deformation caused growth of the twins nucleated by prestrain. Deformed specimens were then prepared for metallo-graphic examination. This included an anodizing treatment18 that made the surfaces sensitive to polarized light, permitting small lattice rotations to be revealed. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS Nature of the Twin-Kink Band Structure. Fig. 1 is a photomicrograph of a typical specimen after prestrain at 77° K. The structure is characterized primarily by long, narrow, parallel sided (1121) twins which norma1ly traverse the entire grain. Fig. 2 shows several (1121) twins after additional straining at room temperature. These lie near the center of the polarized light photomicrograph and are inclined upward to the right. It is evident that this latter deformation has resulted in appreciable twin growth. The dark regions extending from the ends of these twins are accommodation kinks. The difference in reflected light intensity indicates the

Jan 1, 1969

By Robert Hunt

The American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers was the first American technical organization to consider steel-rail specifications and sections. If I am not mistaken, the first contribution on those subjects to the Proceedings of the Institute was presented by Prof. Thomas Egleston, in 1874, and was entitled "Investigations on Iron and Steel Rails made in Europe in the Year 1873.1" The next contribution was Dr. C. B. Dudley's report of his investigation for the Pennsylvania Railroad of the wear of steel rails in their tracks, in 1878, which contribution led to a very memorable discussion that extended through several meetings.2 In 1880, Mr. C. P. Sandberg3 presented an article on rail specifications and inspection and rail sections. This was followed, in 1881, by A. L. Holley,4 in his exhaustive report on the then used American rail sections. The next contribution, I believe, was made by myself' at the Buffalo meeting, in 1888, on steel-rail specifications, which I followed,6 in 1889, by a paper on steel-rail sections. Since that time there have been numerous contributions to the Transactions of the Institute in relation to the manufacture of steel rails. The American Society of Civil Engineers officially took up the investigation of the relation of rail sections to the wear of car wheels in 1888. In the prosecution of this work, the Society appointed a special committee, whose labors extended through several years and resulted in an exhaustive report to the Society in 1893.7 Later, another committee was appointed to consider specifications for the manufacture of steel rails; the labors of this committee extended over a period of several years, a final report8 being made in 1910. It was my fortune to be the secretary of both of those committees.

Jan 9, 1919

By D. E. Norquist, J. E. Moeller

The results of wear on marked balls, 4, 31/2, 3, and 2 in. diam are given. All balls were forged steel of practically the same chemical analysis and hardness. The results indicate that balls in a given mill for a given length of time will have equal diameter losses, regardless of size.

Jan 1, 1950

By Will H. Coghill

WITH gold at $35 for the last four years, almost double the old figure, and 'an unlimited market, there is perhaps more activity in the mining and milling of that metal than in that of any other of the widely distributed ores. Despite threats from Russia, the Rand district is still dominant. In South Africa in 1936, 48,200,000 tons of gold ore was crushed after sorting out about 10 per cent of that mined. The pounding of 5914 trusty stamps on the 60 mi. of Rand reefs is noteworthy. At the end of 1935, 466 tube mills were operating on the Rand, the popular size being 6 1/2 by 20 ft. The grinding medium normally consists of ore pebbles picked from the ore but recently a composite load of 3-in. steel balls and pebbles has found favor for added capacity, a ratio of 2.5 tons of pebbles to one ton of halls being maintained. The total ore fed to the mills is only about 0.14 ton per hp.-hr. Such a slow rate 'of feed cannot help but result in overgrinding. Ball mills, 9 by 8 ft., some of which have come from Canada, are now being tried. Stamps have been ousted from all new flow sheets, but the old stamp mills are continually renovated and kept on duty as they are at the Homestake in the United States. Half of the world's gold and silver ores is still crushed by stamps, a few of which are single, dropping in individual mortars.'

Jan 1, 1938

By George B. Lee

DURING The Two Years In Which The New Reduction-Works Of The Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Co. Have Been In Operation At Douglas, Ariz., There Has Developed A Remarkable Condition In Regard To The Corrosive Action Of The Water Used To Cool The Jackets Of The Blast-Furnaces. Were It Not For The Many Contradictory Features, It Might Pass As One Of The Unavoidable Troubles Due To The Composition Of The Water. This Water, Obtained From Wells 600 Ft. Deep, Is Also Used In The Steam-Boilers, And Its Composition, As Shown By The Following Analysis, Does Not Indicate The Presence Of Any Ingredient Which Would Explain The Corrosion Grains Per U. S. Gal. Silica, 0.861 Iron Oxide And Alumina, 0.223 Calcium Carbonate, 0.2111 Calcium Sulphate, Magnesium Carbonate, Sodium And Potassium Sulphates, . 14.850 Sodium And Potassium Chlorides, 9.732 Sodium And Potassium Carbonate, 6.452 32.409 The Jackets Are Made Of Inner Plates 0.5 In. Thick And An Outer Plate I In. Thick, With 3-In. Stiffeners Between The Inner And Outer Plates. In From 10 To 12 Months The Inner Plates Have Been Reduced By Corrosion To A Thickness Of From 1/8 To 1/16 In., While The Outer Plate In The Same Time Is Reduced By Less Than 1/16 In., And The Stiffeners Show Very Little Corrosion. The Plates Are Pitted And Eaten Away In Some Places More Than In Others. There Is Practically No Scale Found On The Jackets, But When Cleaned Considerable Iron Oxide Is Found In The Bottoms. With An Action So Marked, Serious Trouble Would Be Expected In The Boilers, But, On The Contrary, A Recent Inspection By a

Mar 1, 1908

IT is difficult to judge how much influence the success attained during its first year, 186465, by the School of Mines at Columbia had on developments in education for the mineral industry elsewhere in the immediately subsequent years. The facts are as follows: 1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology began giving instruction in February 1865, with a mining course included in its curriculum. 2. Early in 1865 the faculty of the Department of Science, Literature and the Arts of the University of Michigan requested permission from the Regents to establish "a course of study to be called the School of Mines . . . Also that the degree of Mining Engineering be conferred on students who should complete the course of study prescribed in the same." A resolution authorizing this was adopted by the Regents on March 28, 1865. 3. Samuel Hooper endowed a Sturgis-Hooper professorship of geology at Harvard in 1865 with the intention of making it a nucleus of a new School of Practical Mining and Geology. 4. Yale appointed Alfred P. Rockwell professor of mining in 1865. 5. Lafayette College appointed Henry S. Osborn professor of mining and metallurgy in 1865. 6. Washington College (as Washington and Lee was then known), rising out of the ashes of Civil War destruction, made a fresh start in 1865, with General Lee as its president, and offered a mining course in the first catalogue thereafter published. 7. Lehigh University, founded in 1866, had a mining curriculum from its beginning. 8. Rensselaer Polytechnic began offering a curriculum in mining and metallurgical engineering in 1867. It would be natural to suppose that these events were a reaction to the success of the school at Columbia, and possibly they

Jan 1, 1941

By R. M. Rose, D. P. Ferriss, J. Wulff

Single crystals of tantalum, tungsten, and the binary alloys thereof were grown by electron-beam zone melting and tested in tension between 77° and 373°K. The ductile-to-brittle transition temperature increased sharply with solute concentration, for both tungsten-rich and tantalum-rich alloys; apparently, the maximum transition temperature exists near the 50 pet concentration. Twinning was observed to be a consequence of cleavage-crack propagation. Cleavage occurred on(100)planes, and extensive tearing and "river markings" were present. The onset of brittleness could not be associated with any change in deformation mode, the yield point phenomenon, or the large rise in yield stress with decreasing temperature. Cleavage was observed to initiate at either the specimen surface, or subgrain boundaries. The observation was made that the grain boundaries of Polycrystalline materials are probably even better as nucleation sites for fracture, and are responsible for brittleness at high temperatures and lower solute concentrations than those of the corresponding single crystals. TUNGSTEN and tantalum, the two high-melting neighbors in the third transition period of the periodic table, present striking contrasts. Although both are bee, tungsten has far higher elastic moduli, and the highest ductile-to-brittle transition (DBT) of all the pure metals.' Tantalum, however, is ductile at liquid helium temperatures. Large strain aging and yield point phenomena are observed in tantalum,2,3 but only to a lesser extent in tungsten.4 Tungsten work-hardens at a high rate,5 whereas this effect is negligible in tantalum.' Since the mutual solid solubility of these two metals is complete,7 and no ordering has yet been reported in the binary system, the possibility of depressing tungsten's DBT by tantalum additions was considered. Also, tungsten additions to tantalum could produce hard, high-melting alloys which might be ductile at room temperature. Such alloys offered excellent bases for complex alloy development, particularly with regard to the effect of rhenium on Group VI metals.8"10 In addition, there was the opportunity to examine flow and fracture modes in the vicinity of the DBT, with particular emphasis on the correlation between brittleness and fundamental deformation mechanisms. Myers11 has reported that recrystallized alloys with up to 10 pet W in tantalum are ductile at room temperature, but alloys with 20 pct W could not be swaged at temperatures as high as 500°C. The whole spectrum of Ta-W alloys has been surveyed by Braun, Sedlatschek, and Kiefferl2 using sintered powder compacts. In addition to some physical properties they reported a maximum hardness at about 50 at. pet W, dropping to much lower hardness levels for the pure components. They were able to cold work tantalum-base alloys with as much as 30 pet W and to warm work tungsten-base alloys with up to 20 pet Ta by procedures similar to those used for pure tungsten. EXPERIMENTAL In order to study deformation modes and to keep the impurity concentrations at a minimum, electron-beam zone melting was used to prepare single crystals of high purity. The electron-beam zone melting apparatus is similar to that described by Calverley, Davis, and ever" and incorporates a grid control rectifier to maintain control of emission current. Pure metals were refined by making three zone passes at 4 mm per min up the rod. Alloys were prepared by melting together wire of one constituent on a previously melted rod of the major constituent. Subsequently, two zone passes were made in opposite directions to level the composition after the manner suggested by pfann.14 Purification of the starting materials was accomplished by evaporation of the several impurities, and the degree to which this was accomplished is indicated in the chemical analyses of Table I. The uniformity of composition along a zone levelled rod was within the i 1 pet accuracy of the fluorescent X-ray technique used to determine composition. Crystallographic orientation of the

Jan 1, 1962

By RAY J. CORFIELD

IN a previous paper, "Electric Shovel Operation at Utah Copper Mine," which was read before the Western Division of the American Mining Congress, the problem of electrifying a fleet of steam shovels was described. This paper deals with the electrification of the haulage system which, when completed, will make the mining operation completely electric, with the exception of drilling operations which will continue to be performed by air. The general layout of the haulage system involves the use of heavy curves in addition to heavy grades of between 4 and 5 per cent. In a mining operation of this kind no trackage can be called permanent; this complicates the overhead construction somewhat and makes it necessary to design special forms of trolley construction, some of which will be described in detail below.

Jan 1, 1929

By N. A. Gokcen, J. Chipman

A revised treatment of the authors' published data eliminates the complex relation previously proposed between concentration of silicon and activity coefficient of oxygen in liquid iron. Revised values of the thermodynamic properties of the liquid solution are presented. IN a recent experimental study of the reaction SiO2 (s) = Si+ 2O; Kf, = [% Si] [% O]² [1] the authors' found a substantially constant equilibrium product in liquid iron at 1600°C of 2.8x10-5 They also reported extensive data on the reactions: SiO2 (s) + 2H2 (8) = Si- + 2H2O (g); K'2= [% Si] (H2O/H2 [2] and H, (g) + 0 = H2O (g); K'3 =( H2 O [31 (H2) [%O] From the results on reaction 3 and earlier data of Dastur² on this same reaction in the absence of silicon, they determined the activity coefficient of oxygen, f0, on the basis of the definition K3 = (H2O)/ (H2)f0 [% 0] where K, is the equilibrium constant and f0, is taken as unity in the pure Fe-0 system. Similarly values of fsi were deduced from results on reaction 2. In a more recent study" of analogous reactions in the system Fe-A1-0, it was found impossible to reconcile the results on reaction 3 with Dastur's data; accordingly the latter were ignored and the equilibrium results were extrapolated to find a value of K, at zero concentration of aluminum. This procedure failed to locate the cause of the discrepancy but it did yield reasonable values of activity coefficients. It also avoided introduction of the complex empirical relation between the oxygen activity coefficient and the concentration of the added element. The same type of discrepancy exists for system Fe-Si-0.' In the earlier paper an attempt was made to fit both sets of data by a single curved line (Fig. 6 of ref. l), the form of which is contrary to the theoretical requirement of a finite slope at infinite dilution. In the light of experience on the Fe-A1-0 system the discrepancy must be recognized as one which can be resolved only by more refined measurements. Accordingly Figs. 6 and 10 are retracted. It is pointed out also that until the discrepancy is resolved Figs. 7, 8, and 11 are subject to some uncertainty. Qualitatively the following conclusions still appear valid: 1—The activity coefficient of oxygen is reduced by addition of silicon. 2—In dilute solutions the activity coefficient of silicon increases with its concentration. 3—With respect to equilibrium in reaction 1, the above effects are approximately compensating. The discussion of K'1 in the previous paper requires no revision. It was pointed out that the constancy of the product [% Si] [% 0]² ndicated a compensating effect of the activity coefficients of silicon and oxygen. Therefore, as a very good approximation, K1 = K'1 and the following average values are suggested both for K, and K', at the temperatures 1550°, 1600°, and 1650", respectively, 1.0x10-", 2.8~10-" and 5.5 ~lo-'. Revision of the thermodynamic treatment is necessitated by the recent appearance of new data, based on a combination of combustion and solution calorimetry,' which yields for the heat of formation of low-cristobalite from the elements, the value —209,330 ±250 cal per mol at 25°C. This is about 4000 cal larger than the value previously accepted. The new value for cristobalite is used, together with Kelley's tables of high-temperature heat contents" and entropies and with Korber and Oelsen's' heat of fusion of silicon to obtain the following equation for the standard free energy of cristobalite in the temperature range 1700" to 2000°K: Si (1) + 02 (g) = Si02 (crist.); ?F° = -217,700 + 47.OT [4] The free energy of solution of 0, in liquid iron is:8 O2 (g) = 20 (in Fe); AF° = -55,860 - 1.14T [5] and these two equations are combined to give: Si (1) + 20 = SiO, (crist.); AF° = -161,840 + 48.14T [6] ?F°1873 = -71,700 cal. From the experimental value of K, = 2.8x10-5, Si + 20 = SiO2 (crist.); ?F°1873 = -39,000 cal. [7] The combination of Eqs. 6 and 7 yields the free energy change when liquid silicon dissolves in iron to form the dilute solution of unit activity (1 pct). Si (1) = Si; ?F°1873 = -32,700 cal. [8] The heat effect in this process according to Korber and Oelsen' is an evolution of 28,500 cal per gram

Jan 1, 1954

By W. J. Sharwood

Discussion of the paper of W. J. SHARWOOD, presented at the San Francisco meeting, September, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 104, August, 1915, pp. 1671 to 1675. FREDERIC P. DEWEY, Washington, D. C. (communication to the Secretary*).-Even if the data given should be considered sufficient to support properly the empirical rule as stated, this rule would be of extremely limited application in miscellaneous assaying. Tile fixed conditions must include equality of gold and silver where mixed beads are concerned, owing to the wide variation in the specific gravity of gold and silver. Also, the fixed conditions must include the presence of the sane amounts of other base metals besides lead. Such an agreement is .often lacking even in the beads from two fusions of the salve ore. In practical work it is sufficiently general to be called universal that cupellation beads are not pure precious metal. An apparent loss in cupellation is an algebraic sum and in many cupellations the gains exceed the losses, especially with large beads where tile gains lie so completely in the judgment of the cupeller. For several years I have been engaged in an investigation into the conditions affecting the accuracy of gold-bullion assaying, and have just completed an examination of cupels which included the assaying of 10,000 used cupels. The grand result of the cupel work is an emphatic warning against drawing rigid conclusions regarding cupellation. It is so easy to say "If all other conditions remain the Same," but it is extremely difficult, and in practical work impossible, to maintain equal conditions. Cupel absorptions, which constitute such a large proportion of cupellation losses, and in many cases the only loss, may vary considerably in different parts of the same row of cupels, even in carefully regulated work.

Jan 12, 1915