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By J. L. Rodda

A large amount of time has been devoted to the microscopical study of the copper-zinc alloys, emphasis naturally being placed upon the commercially important alloys of the system. Suitable methods are available for microscopically recognizing the two phases richest in copper, but none appear to have been developed for the positive identification of the other phases. This is, however, accomplished, for the phases normally encountered, by an electrolytic method described in the following pages. Five phases of the copper-zinc diagram (Fig. I) are considered for the purpose of this paper: the solid solution of zinc in copper, alpha (a); the intermediate phases, beta (ß), gamma (?), and epsilon (e); and the solid solution of copper in zinc, eta (11). Beta prime is not considered a separate

Jan 1, 1937

By J. I. Budnick, W. B. Ittner III, D. P. Seraphim

A reliable technique has been developed for producing single crystals of tantalum in the form of small diameter wires. By suitably heat treating these and polycrystal samples, first in an oxygen atmosphere and finally in vacuum, it has been found possible to reduce residual resistivities to 10-3 microhm-cm. The purity of these samples is thus comparable to the purities obtained in zone-refined silver, copper, and aluminum. THE growth and purification of pure single crystals of the transition metals is, in general, difficult. The high melting and annealing temperatures of these metals make it necessary to employ rather special techniques in any crystallization process. In addition, the transition metals show a great affinity for and are easily contaminated by nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon. Recently, however. a number of investigators have been successful in growing,

Jan 1, 1961

By E. J. Schmitz

The following abstract of an unpublished treatise, prepared by me, on the geological formations and minerals of the State of Alabama, is deemed of interest to the Institute. This State, called after the river of the same name (which, formed by the junction of the Coosa and the Tallapoosa, waters, with its tributaries, more than half the State), is divided by its main watershed into a larger southern district, sloping south and southwest, and drained into the Gulf of Mexico, and a smaller northern district, sloping generally north and west, and drained into the Tennessee. Geologically the State may be divided (according to historical geology) according to the different formations it exhibits, among which I include the Azoic, the existence of which in Alabama has been doubted by some; or it may be divided (according to structural geology, as closely related to topography) into a north and northwestern, a middle, and a southern zone.

Jan 1, 1884

By Howland Bancroft

This article is not presented as a treatise on tin mines and mining in Bolivia. It deals primarily with the tin situation, and but fragmentary information is given regarding individual properties, generalizations being necessary in so short an article. Data on general subjects related to tin mining in Bolivia are necessarily abbreviated and very incomplete. It is believed that the references to be found in this article will help those interested to a more thorough understanding of the general conditions extant in Bolivia. Bolivia produces from one-fifth to one-fourth of the world's supply of tin. The United States consumes about one-half of the world's supply and produces practically none. Tin ore is not reduced in the United States. These facts are not generally appreciated by American mining men. Many conflicting data have been published regarding tin in Bolivia. The Transactions of the Institute contain practically no mention of this subject.' I have made a study of mines and mining conditions in the west coast republics of South America and have been particularly impressed by the possibilities of the Bolivian field.= In consequence the thought seems justified that the present meeting would present a fitting occasion to bring the tin situation in Bolivia to the attention of American mining men.

Jan 1, 1914

By Alfred Weiss

The business world of tomorrow will experience a major change in its data communication systems, with the mineral industry being among those to feel the greatest impact of this change. This development can be expected to occur over the next two decades at a steadily increasing tempo. One major factor prompting this transformation is the fact that technological knowledge is doubling approximately every five years. Moreover, industry is becoming more and more dependent upon the flow and processing of information in its long-range planning, while government requirements and regulations demand increasingly detailed and precise information on plant operations.

Jan 1, 1971

By A. D. S. Gillies

One of the most difficult places to ventilate in any mine is the working face area. With an everchanging configuration, continual modification and extension to the ventilation system is necessary to maintain an adequate supply of fresh air and to avoid mixing and recirculation in the face area. In coal mines, methane emissions and high dust levels as coal is broken and removed from the face area can produce unhealthy and dangerous conditions if ventilation is not adequately monitored.

Jan 1, 1982

So commonplace that they are seldom noticed, mining-machine bits have a defi-nite and important bearing on the cost of coal production. At the average mine many thousands of bits are used during the year. The actual cost represented by the pur-chase of the bits used, as well as that of sharpening and handling them, represents a considerable sum of money. From the point of view of indirect costs they are im-portant, as the lack of good bits at a mining machine can seriously impair production. Good bits tend to ensure an adequate supply of coal.

Jan 1, 1940

By William P. Blake

In view of the present exposition at Atlanta, and the timely meeting of the Institute in that city, and the expressed desire of the Council for contributions to the knowledge of the mineral resources of the Southern States, I may be permitted to offer some desultory notes upon the subject, chiefly in the form

Jan 1, 1896

By C. K. Leith

The ores of the region are contained in rocks of pre-Cambrian age, which, for most of the country up to recent years, have usually been referred to as “crystalline schists” or “crystalline complex;” and regarded principally as a metamorphosed basement-unit upon which the sedimentary rocks, beginning with the Paleozoic, were laid down. In the Lake Superior region this pre-Cambrian complex presents an' unusual variety of rocks with determinable relations. It has been possible, with the large expenditures which the magnitude of the iron-mining industry warrants, to work out their stratigraphy to a larger degree than bas been possible in almost any other area of pre-Cambrian rocks. [The portion here omitted contains descriptions of the Archean, Algonkian, and Keweenawan rocks of the several districts, their structure, distribution, correlation, and succession. Table I. and the geological map of the Lake Superior region belong to this portion, but are here reproduced on account of their value as guides to the readers of the rest of the paper.] The simplest and clearest conception of the pre-ambrian succession for the Lake Superior region may perhaps be obtained by thinking of it as primarily divided into six series-Keweenawan, Upper Huronian, Middle Huronian, Lower Huronian, Keewatin, and Laurentian-all but the last two separated by unconformities of varying and disputed relative im-

Jan 1, 1913

By R. Thiessen

The question whether the kind, rank and grade of coal is in any way determined by the kind or type of plant from which it originated has been a problem since coal was first studied. Some investigators claim that the kind of plants has contributed none of the attributes that characterize the differences found in the various coals; others claim that all differences are caused by the contributing plant; and others hold that only a few characteristics are inherited from the kind of plant from which the coal originated. Most coalologists, however, give this matter no thought. It can easily be shown that the kind of plant which contributed to a coal had a marked influence on its kind and type. A number of factors enter into this problem, and all unrelated ones must be carefully eliminated, including metamorphism caused by the pressure of the cover, earth movements, mountain building and higher temperature. Only the fundamental substance—the plants out of which coal was formed—• and the causative conditions that gave rise to a peat swamp and the conditions imposed upon the plant and the plant substances during the formation of the peat swamp can be considered. Everything else being equal, the question then is, how far do different classes and types of coal owe their differences to different kinds or types of plants? Geologic Age of Coal Coal has been laid down in almost every geological period since the Devonian era. Even as early as the middle Devonian some coal was formed; although of no value it has great scientific significance. The most valuable coal was deposited during the Carboniferous. The coals of England were formed during the Mississippian, and most of the valuable coals of America, Europe and China during the Mississippian and chiefly the Pennsylvanian. From the Permian come the coals of France, Saxony, Thuringia and Schwarzwald in Germany and of Bohemia and of the Ural districts of Russia. From the Mesozoic come the coals

Jan 1, 1930

Louis D. MILLS, San Francisco, Cal. (written discussion *).-The principle involved in the Crowe vacuum precipitation process is so elementary and the apparatus required is so simple, that the whole subject affords scant material for a technical discussion. As. one prominent Colorado metallurgist recently remarked when asked to contribute to this paper: "The Crowe process is the biggest step forward since the early clays of the cyanide process, but there is nothing to write about; just put it in your mill and try it." The writer confesses to a similar feeling, but having been closely identified with the process since its inception in 1916, he is perhaps in a position to at least comment on the theory involved and to record some of the results that have been achieved in actual practise. In practising the Crowe process, the solutions to be precipitated are first vacuumized in a suitable dispersion tower; that is, thin films of the liquid are subject to the action of a vacuum within a receiver. Sub-

Jan 1, 1919

By G. M. Swinkels, A. Vizsolyi, E. Peters

A process is described utilizing ferric chloride leaching followed by reduction of the cupric content to cuprous by cement copper, with CuCl obtained thereafter by crystallization. The residual liquor is cemented with sponge iron to produce cement copper and a copper free ferrous chloride solution. The latter is oxidized in an autoclave with oxygen to regenerate ferric chloride and to precipitate excess iron as a granular, filterable hematite. Cuprous chloride crystals are reduced to high purity metal with hydrogen, while sulphur reports almost quantitatively in residues in the elemental form. Pyrite and molybdenite are not leached. This paper describes the important variables in the process, as well as the deportment of minor elements as silver, gold, selenium, tellurium, bismuth, nickel, lead, zinc, magnesium, etc. An elegant method of isolating silver from CuCl crystals is described, as well as recovery of gold from residues by a chloride reagent The process is described as non-polluting and capable of producing refined copper, ore grade iron oxide, elemental sulphur, and yields of minor metals as good or better than obtainable by conventional smelting, without the use of solvent extraction or electrochemistry.

Jan 1, 1981

Jan 1, 1911

By R. L. Klueh, W. W. Mullins

During the course of a study on the periodic precipitation (Liesegang phenomenon) of water vapor bubbles in solid silver, some interesting observations were made concerning the formation and growth of these bubbles. Under certain conditions it was found that the bubbles which formed in the single crystals led to the formation of large blisters ad cracks, and when poly crystalline specimens were used grain boundary cracking was observed. These two phenomena were examined in some detail, and it was found that an important step in the formation of the blisters and grain boundary cracks was the impingement of neighboring bubbles. DURING the study of Liesegang precipitation in solid silver,' some interesting observations were made concerning the formation and growth of water vapor bubbles. The bubbles were formed by annealing oxygen-saturated silver in hydrogen. Because of the similarity of this phenomenon to the hydrogen embrittlement of tough pitch copper,' it is known in the literature" as the hydrogen embrittlement of silver. In some respects it appears that the hydrogen embrittlement of silver is similar to the processes of hydrogen attack of steel5 and blister formation.' Hydrogen attack results from the high-temperature reaction of hydrogen with dissolved carbon or carbides in the steel to form methane (usually at grain boundaries). Blister formation occurs in steel and other materials as a result of hydrogen produced by corrosion, pickling, and so forth. Because of these similarities, some speculations were made concerning these other processes. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Water vapor bubbles were formed in 99.999+, 99.99+, and 99.9 pct Ag by annealing in a partial pressure of oxygen (pq) until saturated and then in a partial pressure of hydrogen (pH,). The hydrogen diffuses into the silver and reacts with the dissolved oxygen to form water vapor which precipitates in the form of bubbles. The specimens were then sectioned, silver-plated, mounted in cold-setting plastic, ground and polished through a preliminary polishing, and finally chemically polished.' The bubbles were visible without etching.

Jan 1, 1969

By Charles H. Doolittle, Royal P. Jarvis

The following notes are contributed, not with the idea of offering a complete history of the development of this very important process as applied to the Leadville district, but with the hope that the practice, as it was carried out in the Bi-Metallic Smelter, may still be of interest to others. The Bi-Metallic Smelter, at Leadville, Colo., was the first to make a commercial success of the process described in the following pages, which consisted essentially of smelting raw silver- and copper-bearing sulphide ores in blast-furnaces to form a matte, which was generally re-smelted with siliceous ores for a second high-grade matte. Robert Sticht, in his excellent monograph on the subject,' has outlined briefly the plant belonging to this company. He says, in effect: The Boulder, Mont., enterprise set the example for others with whom the patentee (W. L. Austin) had been negotiating, and the old La Plata lead-smelter at Leadville, Colo., was fashioned into a crude, temporary experimental plant for the Bi-Metallic Company, and the feasibility of the process demonstrated by a trial run. Subsequently, the plant was considerably improved, and, being supplied with very favorable ores, continued to run without interruption from August, 1892, to June, 1893. In September, 1803, smelting was resumed in a completely remodeled establishment, some $200,000 having been expended upon the new work. Thus, aside from the Montana experiments, which, under the direction of W. L. Austin, began as early as 1885 at Toston, and continued with indifferent success for six or seven years, the Bi-Metallic plant at Leadville may be said to have

Jan 1, 1911

Within the last century, and largely during the latter half of it, the increase of our knowledge of the development of man, both in his search for a livelihood and for power, and in the growth of his reason and conscience, has been greater than all we had known before. The great interest in all kinds of archaeological work and the many excavations made of buried and long forgotten places has put at our disposal historical records-not available, and in many cases not known before, and a study of these and other records of human progress from paleontological and geological sources has given us a much broader view of what we call "civilization" than was possible even a short time ago. The old idea that men were created with fully developed minds, speech and reason has yielded to the view that in the upward progress of the human race the development of the mind and reason has been a comparatively recent occurrence, as we think of the half million, and probably more, years that have passed since our earliest records of man were made. The traits that come to us without effort

Jan 1, 1939

Featured at the 1977 SME-AIME Fall Meeting in St. Louis is a Lead-Zinc Update, organized to complement the 1970 AIME World Symposium on Mining and Metallurgy of Lead and Zinc, also held in St. Louis. The 21 papers comprising the Update are to be presented during four technical sessions at the Fall Meeting; in addition, the papers have been collected in a bound book available at meeting time.

Jan 9, 1977

By Dorsey Hager

The information given in the accompanying table is submitted as evidence confirming the application of the anticlinal theory and the value of geology in the Kansas and Oklahoma oil fields. The term anticline has been used to define a particular type of arched fold. The anticlinal theory of oil accumulation should, however, be broadened to include any structural fold of an arched type even if not a distinct anticline. A terrace may very properly come under the heading of the anticlinal theory of accumulation, as the folding is closely related to that of the anticline; in fact, in many cases is an arrested anticline, though not completely closed in all directions. Stratigraphic forms due to lensing or irregular cementation of the sands certainly cannot be considered to fall within the anticlinal theory, though the laws of accumulation may be similar. A dome is similar to an anticline and belongs to the same class. A dome is broader in proportion to its length than an anticline. Many anticlines undulate along their axes to form domes. The anticlinal theory in this discussion will then be applied to anticlines, domes and terraces. In the following list, the writer has tabulated the main oil fields of Oklahoma, and a few recently discovered fields in Kansas. The fields discovered within the past 4 years are listed with the date of their discovery. Under "How found," the writer puts "Wildcat" where a geologist has not been employed, "Geology" where it has been used, and "7" where there is doubt. In some places the geologists have claimed pools that may rightly belong to them, but their claims have been questioned, so that they belong in an unsettled category. Unless one has mapped all the old pools, it is not possible to say just how far they are dominated by structure, but from our own work, and from discussions with others, it is safe to venture that nearly all the "shallow-pool" districts, Nowata, Bartlesville, and the Eastern Osage, are controlled by structure; domes, noses, and terraces are the main structural features. The "shallow pools" of Kansas show the same relation. At Peru and at Sedan, domes are evident, though gas occurs high on the domes, and oil well down the flanks, leading some to believe

Jan 1, 1917

By J. C. McCarthy, J. B. Stone

At Fresnillo a series of veins that has yielded very large quantities of silver and other metals has been developed over a length of 6500 ft. and to a depth of over 3000 ft. In the course of this work striking changes in the mineralogy and metal content of the principal veins have been disclosed and are well illustrated by assay data and ore reserve calculations. This paper describes those changes and suggests their bearing on theories of ore deposition. Location The Fresnillo mines and the adjacent city of Fresnillo are in the central part of the state of Zacatecas, 35 miles northwest of the capitol city of Zacatecas, once a great silver-mining center whose total production is said to place it fourth in. the world. Another famous old silver district, Sombre-rete, lies northwest of Fresnillo. Fresnillo is connected by a 5-mile branch with Fresnillo On on the Mexican National Railways line from Juarez to Mexico City. Lying near the southwestern edge of the central plateau of Mexico, Fresnillo is Surrounded by a semi-arid rolling plain from which rise widely scattered low hills. One of these is Proano hill, an inconspicuous elevation rising barely 300 ft. above the plain, but in and around Proano hill are the Fresnillo mines, and it is marked now by a great gash cut by glory-hole mining. According to an account written in 1834 by Francisco Garcia, then Governor of the state of Zacatecas, Fresnillo was discovered in 1554, and a presidio was established there in 1568 to protect travelers on the road between zacatecas and sombreretea Little is known of the earliest mining at Fresnillo, which seemingly began soon after its discovery, but by piecing together various accounts, it appears that mines there were working in 1717 and were notably active in 1751 under an administrator named Murguia, who left detailed notes describing them. In I757, however, the mines became inactive because of dificulties with creditors and no doubt also because of increasing water troubles, and they remained abandoned until 1830. In 1830 the mines at Fresnillo became the property of the State of Zacatecas because the interest of Governor Garcia had been aroused by the long disregarded notes of Murguia. Under Garcia's energetic leadership the mines were reopened, and silver production began in 1832 in spite of serious difliculties, including abnormal rains and an epidemic of cholera. In 1835 English capital was sought to allow installation of steam-driven is pumps at the two principal shafts and to build the great hacienda de beneficio (the present Proano hacienda). The company formed in 1835 (Cia. Zacatecano-Mexicana) operated successfully until 1872, when its career was brought to an end by the political and economic disturbances

Jan 1, 1949

By J. C. McCarthy, J. B. Stone

At Fresnillo a series of veins that has yielded very large quantities of silver and other metals has been developed over a length of 6500 ft. and to a depth of over 3000 ft. In the course of this work striking changes in the mineralogy and metal content of the principal veins have been disclosed and are well illustrated by assay data and ore reserve calculations. This paper describes those changes and suggests their bearing on theories of ore deposition. Location The Fresnillo mines and the adjacent city of Fresnillo are in the central part of the state of Zacatecas, 35 miles northwest of the capitol city of Zacatecas, once a great silver-mining center whose total production is said to place it fourth in. the world. Another famous old silver district, Sombre-rete, lies northwest of Fresnillo. Fresnillo is connected by a 5-mile branch with Fresnillo On on the Mexican National Railways line from Juarez to Mexico City. Lying near the southwestern edge of the central plateau of Mexico, Fresnillo is Surrounded by a semi-arid rolling plain from which rise widely scattered low hills. One of these is Proano hill, an inconspicuous elevation rising barely 300 ft. above the plain, but in and around Proano hill are the Fresnillo mines, and it is marked now by a great gash cut by glory-hole mining. According to an account written in 1834 by Francisco Garcia, then Governor of the state of Zacatecas, Fresnillo was discovered in 1554, and a presidio was established there in 1568 to protect travelers on the road between zacatecas and sombreretea Little is known of the earliest mining at Fresnillo, which seemingly began soon after its discovery, but by piecing together various accounts, it appears that mines there were working in 1717 and were notably active in 1751 under an administrator named Murguia, who left detailed notes describing them. In I757, however, the mines became inactive because of dificulties with creditors and no doubt also because of increasing water troubles, and they remained abandoned until 1830. In 1830 the mines at Fresnillo became the property of the State of Zacatecas because the interest of Governor Garcia had been aroused by the long disregarded notes of Murguia. Under Garcia's energetic leadership the mines were reopened, and silver production began in 1832 in spite of serious difliculties, including abnormal rains and an epidemic of cholera. In 1835 English capital was sought to allow installation of steam-driven is pumps at the two principal shafts and to build the great hacienda de beneficio (the present Proano hacienda). The company formed in 1835 (Cia. Zacatecano-Mexicana) operated successfully until 1872, when its career was brought to an end by the political and economic disturbances

Jan 1, 1949