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By C. W. Davis

THE name fuller's earth, which was derived from its early use in "fulling" or removing grease from woolen goods, is a term that is generally considered to designate mineral matter, containing hydrous aluminum silicates of the clay group, which has a high capacity for removing colors from oils, whether of animal, vegetable, or mineral origin. Fuller's earths are usually dried and may be "tempered" by heating or may be treated with water or reagents to improve their efficiency. For our purpose the term "acid-treated earths" will include those products from the partial decomposition of mineral water -by acid which are equal to or more efficient than an untreated fuller's earth from Quincy, Fla., when used in bleaching mineral oil by the "contact" process. In general, the contact process for treating oils consists of heating and agitating a mixture of oil and finely divided adsorbent, the latter being subsequently removed by filtration. The term "adsorbent" is used because, although there has been a great deal of controversy over the mechanism of removal of impurities from oils by mineral matter, there is no doubt that adsorption, which involves the surface of the solid, plays a major part.1 The properties that make fuller's earth useful in the treatment of petroleum products by "percolation" and in the purification of edible oils by the contact process have long been studied, but the comparatively recent adaptation of the contact process to the bleaching of petroleum products has made desirable the further investigation of fuller's earth and other, adsorbent earths.

Jan 1, 1929

By Walter Harvey Weed

INTRODUCTION. IN a previous paper upon the enrichment of mineral veins by later metallic sulphides,† the writer has shown that certain masses of rich ores, such as are found in many mines, either near the water-line or as bonanzas in depth, are of secondary origin, and are due to a leaching of lean ore and the concentration of the material by reaction between the solution and the unaltered ore below. The geological and mineralogical evidence is believed to form an adequate basis for a chemical and physical explanation of the phenomenon. In the present paper the writer will give a brief synopsis of this theory, and will apply it more particularly to deposits of the precious metals, laying special emphasis upon the dependence of such enrichments upon the presence of iron sulphide (as pyrite, etc.) in the primary ore, and upon structural features which control the circulation of the enriching solutions below the water-level. It is believed that many, though not all, of the bonanzas and pay-shoots of rich sulphide ores, especially those carrying gold and silver, which are encountered in ore-deposits, are of such secondary origin. Apparently it is essential that the occurrence and structural relations of such ore-masses should be understood, as the success of the mine is often dependent upon the finding and extraction of these ores. A legitimate deduction, too, is that such ore-deposits decrease in value with depth. As my own studies have been mainly in Montana, my illustrations must be drawn from the ore-deposits of this and adjacent States, with such as I have noted in hurried visits elsewhere. The literature of ore-deposits doubtless affords also

Jan 1, 1902

By Mark David Rankin

This paper represents a general assessment of the primary factors driving the market for mobile offshore drilling rigs and the utility of those factors as choice variables for the offshore drilling program planner.

Jan 1, 1982

By B. S. Butler, H. D. McCaskey

The New London copper mine, about 8 1/2 miles east of Frederick, Md., was visited by the writers for a few hours in the spring of 1909 and the following brief notes on ore specimens collected are presented as a contribution to studies in chalcocite ores. For certain data on the structural and areal geology of this portion of Maryland the writers are under obligation to the unpublished notes and maps of Arthur Keith. The detailed study of the ores is the work of B. S. Butler. The deposit here discussed has many similarities to those of the Virginia district of Virginia and North Carolina, which have been described by Gratonl and Laney,2 except that in the deposits of the New London mine chalcocite is by far the most important ore mineral, while in the Virginia deposits bornite is commonly the most important sulphide. In the New London occurrence calcite is the most important gangue mineral. Field relations The -town of Frederick lies in the center of a narrow belt of limestone ranging in age from Ordovician on the east to Cambrian on the west. This belt is about + mile wide at Noland's Ferry, on the Potomac, and broadens to a width of 3 miles at Frederick. The general direction is east of north. The eastern boundary is, in places, a fault plane along which a series of metamorphic rocks of presumptive pre-Cambrian age have been thrust up. These ancient rocks, for several miles east and west of New London, are phyllites in the main, but closely inter-folded near the New London mine are long, narrow lenses of epidote

Jan 1, 1915

By Albert Hayes

FOUR mines at Wabana, on Bell Island in Concep-tion Bay, Newfoundland, produced 1,209,777 tons of ore in 1927, and it is expected that the produc-tion will be larger in 1928. The ore is a stratified oolitic hematite of sedimentary origin. Three workable beds and many thin beds occur in a thickness of 400 ft. of interbedded sandstones and shales. It is not profitable under present conditions to mine extensively in ore beds less than 4 ft. thick. The iron ore beds outcrop on the small island and are inclined northward more steeply, than the slope of the ocean bottom. The mine work-ings follow the bedded ore below the sea bottom, No. 3 Mine extending about 2 miles north of the island. At this point there is a cover of 1500 ft. of rock and 600 ft. of ocean water. It is impracticable to operate drills in the ocean to prove the extent of the submarine orebody in advance, and diamond drilling from the mine workings is the only method of exploration. Bell Island has been settled for a long time and a monument at Cupids, near Brigus at the head of Conception Bay, commemor-ates the tercentenary of a settlement there in 1611 by Captain Guy of England. was one of the chief ports of Newfoundland for deep sea fishing and doubtless many a captain wondered about the red rocks as he sailed past. The famous geologist, J. B. Jukes, records seeing a bright red sandstone 8 ft. thick on the northwest side of Bell Island during a visit in 1842, but he evident ly did not try to land on that rocky coast to get a sample. The iron ore is plainly visible in the high cliffs along the coast of the island, as bright brown layers interbedded with gray and white sandstones and dark shales. The heavy red rock was used by the fisher-men as anchor weights for fish nets and small boats, but its real value, so the story goes, was discovered by a merchant in Saint John,

Jan 8, 1928

By S. F. Emmons

The history of the mining region of Custer county has been somewhat peculiar. Although, in the broader features of geological structure, it bears a strong resemblance to its newer and now more famous neighbor, 40 miles to the northward, the Cripple Creek mining district, it has been noted for failures rather than for successful mining ventures. Yet it has a number of mines that have proved themselves to be remarkably rich, and many others that have well-defined veins and very rich ore, though they never have been worked to any great depth. A few of the deposits seemed to the early miner so anomalous in form and manner of occurrence that they were popularly described as " contrary to all geological laws." The region has had several " booms," succeeded by more than usually violent reactions, the latter having proved more permanent than the former. It was, for a long time, the favorite resort of patent-process mongers, and the ground is now strewn with relics of various unsuccessful reduction-plants. Mismanagement, ignorance and disagreements among mine-owners seem to have been quite as responsible for the want of success in the region as the quality of the ores or the form of the deposits. In the early eighties, when the booms had not entirely died out, a division, then under my charge, of the U. S. Geological Survey, undertook an examination of the region for the purpose of making a study of its ore-deposits. The areal survey was carried to completion by Mr. Whitman Cross, but the study of the mines could never be completed for the reason that most of them were closed, for one reason or another, before we had time to visit them. From time to time, one or another of the important mines has been started up again, but it was not

Jan 1, 1897

Discussion of the paper of CHARLES H. MACDOWELL, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 98, February, 1915, pp. 103 to 114. GEORGE S. RICE, Pittsburgh, Pa.-I am especially interested in the mining side of this important question. In 1911, when in Europe investigating mining matters, giving special attention to subsidence clue to mining, for there is a very big problem of that kind, as many of you know, in the Pennsylvania anthracite region, I visited Stassfurt, which is one of the chief centers of potash mining, and which was pointed out as the place to see surface subsidence. We found the town much askewsome of the streets having sunk from 15 to 30 ft., leaving many ancient buildings pitching at various angles. One old church, 500 or 600 years old, has been sunk about 20 ft., cracking it badly. I understand that this condition came about because in early mining clays they were careless about leaving proper supports and used no filling or packing. The Stassfurt mines work along a buried anticline the sides of which pitch at 45° on the average. Through this careless mining they had a break of the hanging wall which let in water from the overlying marls and sands. The water rapidly dissolved the salts in the pillars, and spreading through the entire chain of mines, caused their complete loss, with serious trouble for the old city. They had to start new mines some distance away, and take care to prevent roof caves. The packing system is of interest. They were driving large rooms into the rock-salt foot wall and using the rock salt as dry filling. The application of hydraulic filling, using a saturated solution, was under contemplation at some plant nearby. Whether 6r not the plan was carried out I do not know. I was reminded of the plan by Mr. MacDowell's remarking on the use of a saturated salt solution in the core drilling. His reference to the apparent breakdown of the potash syndicate raises an interesting question. We have had the German system of syndicates pointed out as perhaps one means of solving our troubles in the soft-coal mining industry due to overproduction. It seems to have worked out admirably in the case of the Westphalian coal-mining syndicate and also in the syndicate of Upper Silesia; but apparently the syndicate plan did not work in the potash industry. .

Jan 5, 1915

By Frank F. Aplan

In looking into the crystal-ball scene of minerals beneficiation for 1970 and beyond, an impartial observer becomes con- fused as to what has been done and what is possible in the way of improvements. The mining official must balance the burden which is being shouldered by the mineral industry for maintaining our environment in its pristine state on one hand, with the solid advancements made in technology and cost savings on the other hand. Then the official wonders if this is really the criterion for judging overall performance today. As a prospective engineer, Dave Bolles sees it this way: "Specialization has caused many engineers to subordinate everything to doing their job the cheapest and fastest way. In the future this won't be enough. The engineer in the mineral industry will be responsible not only for mining, concentrating and smelting, but also for the resultant wastes- the mine dumps, the tailing dams and the slag piles." (See Drift on page 63).

Jan 1, 1971

By C. W. Davis

THE name fuller's earth, which was derived from its early use in "fulling" or removing grease from woolen goods, is a term that is generally considered to designate mineral matter, containing hydrous aluminum silicates of the clay group, which has a high capacity for removing colors from oils, whether of animal, vegetable, or mineral origin. Fuller's earths are usually dried and may be "tempered" by heating or may be treated with water or reagents to improve their efficiency. For our purpose the term "acid-treated earths" will include those products from the partial decomposition of mineral water by acid which are equal to or more efficient than an untreated fuller's earth from Quincy, Fla., when used in bleaching mineral oil by the "contact" process. In general, the contact process for treating oils consists of heating and agitating a mixture of oil and finely divided adsorbent, the latter being subsequently removed by filtration. The term "adsorbent" is used because, although there has been a great deal of controversy over the mechanism of removal of impurities from oils by mineral matter, there is no doubt that adsorption, which involves the surface of the solid, plays a major part.1 The properties that make fuller's earth useful in the treatment of petroleum products by "percolation" and in the purification of edible oils by the contact process have long been studied, but the comparatively recent adaptation of the contact process to the bleaching of petroleum products has made desirable the further investigation of fuller's earth and other adsorbent earths.

Jan 1, 1929

By Krahmann, Rudolf

THE following is an account of a survey undertaken to test the possibility of outlining a kimberlite pipe by magnetouietric methods. Kimberlite is a basic igneous rock closely related to melilite-basalt or alnoite, which occurs either in the form of volcanic plugs or as dikes intruded into rocks of various types and geological ages up to and includ¬ing the Lower Cretaceous. The famous diamond mines of South Africa are all in kimberlite pipes and these pipes are probably the original source as well of the vast alluvial deposits found in various parts of the country. The pipe chosen for this experiment is one that ' occurs on the farm Goedgevonden No. 20, about sixteen miles north of the village of Klerksdorp and ninety miles southwest of Johannesburg. Some prospecting has been done on this pipe and diamonds were produced from it but not in paying quantities. The magnetometric survey was made in June, 1932, by R. Krahmann and H. Wallisch and the results are shown on the accompanying plan. On the plan are shown also the boundaries of the pipe as exposed at the surface and details in regard to the surrounding foundations. These are taken from a geological survey made at a later date by W. Beetz, of Johannesburg.

Jan 1, 1935

By Toshimi Yamane

The internal friction of cold-worked titanium iso-thermally annealed at temperature below the recrystallization temperature was measured. The internal friction was calculated from the half width of a resonance curve of the specimen which was vibrated transversally by the electromagnetic method. The experimental results were as follows: 1) The specimens annealed for a long time at temperature below the re crystallization temperature after cold working have the strain-amplitude dependent internal friction. 2) The internal friction increased by the cold working was decreased during the isothermal annealing. The reason of decrease of the internal friction is considered to be caused by the annihi-lation of lattice defects. 3) There is a linear relation between logQt-1/Q0-1 and (1/T)2/3 below the recrys-tallization temperature, where Q0-1 is the internal friction standing 24 hr at the room temperature after cold rolling, Qt-1 is the internal friction annealed at T°K for t min. 4) The hardness of the cold-worked titanium does not change by the annealing at 300°C for a long time but decreases by annealing at 400ºand 460°C. METALS, when cold worked, show sharp changes in physical and mechanical properties' The internal friction of cold-worked metals increases sharply and has a maximum value1,2 connected with working de- grees. The increased internal friction of cold-worked metals is recovered by annealing. This phenomenon is the well known effect called Köster effect. The recovery of the internal friction occurs earlier than the changes in tensile properties, hardness, or X-ray diffraction, and is very sensitive to the structure of a metal. The mechanism of the recovery at a temperature lower than the recrystallization temperature is being considered variously by many investigators: there are such views as the annihilation of dislocations by smith,' the rearrangement of dislocations mentioned by Nowick,4 and interaction of dislocation with point defects.5 Smith and Nowick also considered the interaction but it is so difficult for them to explain the rearrangement mechanism systematically, it being not considered a special model; therefore, we do not explain it quantitatively. Experiments measuring the recovery of the internal friction of cold-worked metals were performed by Gordon and Nowick6 on NaCl, and by Smith on copper. In addition, there are many studies, particularly those of measurements on copper by other investigators. There are comparatively many investigations on aluminum and iron which are the cubic system,'-' but only a few on metals of the hexagonal system.10 In view of this, I investigated cph titanium at room temperature and measured the internal friction after annealing isothermally at temperature lower than the recrystallization temperature. SAMPLES AND EXPERIMENTAL METHOD samples for the experiment were cut from a 6-mm titanium plate. The long direction of samples was

Jan 1, 1963

By John Gjers

Being on a visit to your great and prosperous country, and having been favored with an invitation to attend this meeting of your Institute, the author has been requested by your Secretary to give a short account of his invention of the " soaking-pit," which he has great pleasure in doing. The object of the soaking-pit is the rolling of steel ingots with their own initial heat, that is, to supply the missing link in that chain of metallurgical operations which Sir Henry Bessemer began in 1857, when he proved how it was possible to produce malleable iron or steel direct from the fluid cast-iron out of the blast-furnace, without any further direct use of fuel. The great Bessemer invention has revolutionized iron and steelmaking throughout the world; but it stopped short at producing the ingot, which, it was found, had afterwards to be heated in a furnace to enable it to be rolled or hammered; and it is only lately, twenty-five years after Mr. Bessemer's announcement, that the author of this paper has been able to show that furnacing can be dispensed with, and that it is practicable to roll a steel ingot into say a bloom, a rail, or a billet, with its own initial heat. It has no doubt suggested itself to many that there ought to be heat enough in the ingot just cast, for the purpose of rolling; and from time to time attempts have been made to utilize this heat; but such attempts always ending in failure, it became a settled opinion in the trade that it could not be done—an opinion which the author is aware that your late lamented countryman, Mr. Holley, than whom there was none more conversant with Bessemer steel-making, also entertained. But settled opinions sometimes prove to be great fallacies. As an instance, it is not many years since the opinion prevailed in the trade that steel ingots could not be rolled successfully, that is, so as to make good rails, unless they were first allowed to get quite cold, and afterwards heated. No greater boon was ever conferred on the

Jan 1, 1885

By Persifor Frazer

The following notes on the Whopper and adjoining mines in the Gunnison district of Colorado mere made in the spring of this year. The time chosen for the author to visit the region was, unfortunately, the most unfavorable of an exceptionably unfavorable year. About the middle of May all the hill slopes, which at this period of the pear are generally covered with pasture, were thickly covered with snow. The unusually large precipitation of this Tear caused loacal mountain torrents at every few hundred feet, which wore away the oft foothills into gulches, gouged great chasms out of the roads, and transformed miles of usually dry soil into dangerous quagmires. Travel was totally interrupted for weeks, except on horseback or afoot, and even then with great difficulty and some danger. The Whopper mine is situated on the Whopper Mountain, about two miles from the headwaters of Rock Creek, and on the right hank of that stream. The Whopper Creek flows into Rock Creek horn the east, and, by a precipitous descent, offers excellent facilities for its utilization as a source of power. This stream, which pours past the picturesque Whopper Cabin about thirty tons of water a minute, has a fall of 100 feet in 400 yards, and is said to be a stream of some size, even at the seasons of the year when drought prevails. The Whopper claim extends down the hill a distance of about 250 feet to its intersection with the Whopper Creek (on the other side of which is a small tunnel on its extension called the "Teller") and over the steep hill northwest to the limits of the claim about 1250 feet. The part of the mountain in which this mine is situated is remarkable for its splendid forest, the spruce, fir, and quaking asp covering the mountain-sides with a green growth of valuable timber. The distance from Gothic City to this mine is about eight miles along the valleys of East River and Rock Creek, and on the divide which separates them. The elevation of Gothic City is given from the engineer's notes as 9500 feet above sea-level, and the mean of several observations with a Beck watch-barometer made the elevation of Whopper Cabin (which is about fifteen feet above the floor of the Whopper upper tunnel) about 1260 feet above Skiles's Cabin in Gothic City. The record of this instrument must, how-

Jan 1, 1881

By Persifor Frazer

THE following notes on the Whopper and adjoining mines in the Gunnison district of Colorado were made in the spring of this year. The time chosen for the author to visit the region was, unfortunately, the most unfavorable of an exceptionably unfavorable year. About the middle of May all the hill slopes, which at this period of the year are generally covered with pasture, were thickly covered with snow. The unusually large precipitation of this year caused local mountain torrents at every few hundred feet, which wore away the soft foothills into gulches, gouged great chasms out of the roads, and transformed miles of usually dry soil into dangerous quagmires. Travel was totally interrupted for weeks, except on horseback or afoot, and even then with great difficulty and some danger. The Whopper mine is situated on the Whopper Mountain, about two miles from the headwaters of Rock Creek, and on the right bank of that stream. The Whopper Creek flows into Rock Creek from the east, and, by a precipitous descent, offers excellent facilities for its utilization as a source of power. This stream, which pours past the picturesque Whopper Cabin .about thirty tons of water a minute, has a fall of 100 feet in 400 yards, and is said to be a stream of some size, even at the seasons of the year when-drought prevails. The Whopper claim extends down the bill a distance of about 250 feet to its intersection with the Whopper Creek (on the other side of which is a small tunnel on its extension called the "Teller ") and over the steep hill northwest to the limits of the claim about 1250 feet. The part of the mountain in which this mine is situated is remarkable for its splendid forest, the spruce, fir, and quaking asp covering the mountain-sides with a green growth of valuable timber. The distance from Gothic City to this mine is about eight miles along the valleys of East River and Rock Creek, and on the divide which separates them. The elevation of Gothic City is given from the engineer's notes as 9500 feet above sea-level, and the mean of several observations with a Beck watch-barometer made the elevation of Whopper Cabin (which is about fifteen feet above the floor of the Whopper upper tunnel) about 1250 feet above Skiles's Cabin in Gothic City. The record of this instrument must, how-

Jan 1, 1881

By Mark Sheppard

DuRing the winter of 1937, the writer visited a West Virginia stone quarry at which the overburden is stripped hydraulically. The quarry is in a bed of limestone, about 200 ft. thick, which outcrops on a hillside above a small river; the quarry face is 175 ft. high. The top of the stone is cut in all directions by erosion channels, which are filled with a tough, red clay. Some of the larger channels are 30 ft. deep and 8 ft. wide. The thickness of the clay overburden ranges from a few inches to 10 ft., the average being estimated as less than 3 feet. The topography of the district is rugged, and the hillside above the quarry face is not suited to the use of the usual mechanical methods of moving dirt. Until hydraulicking was started 10 years ago, the overburden was dug by hand labor, dumped to the quarry floor and transported to the dump in quarry cars. Cleaning deep channels was a slow and expensive process. When hydraulicking was started, the top of the quarry face was over 200 ft. above the level of the river. The pipe line was carried in a semicircle around the top of the quarry about 200 ft. from the face and about 50 ft. above it. As there is no adequate supply of water above the quarry, the water must be pumped from the river. As quarrying progressed the pipe line was moved until the discharge points are now over 300 ft. above the river. Water is pumped from the river by a four-stage centrifugal pump having a 5-in. intake and a 4-in. discharge. It is direct-connected to a 200-hp., 2300-volt, 1760-r.p.m. induction motor. At 1760 r.p.m. the rated capacity of the pump is 750 gal. per minute under a head of 600 ft. The pump is installed in a house of frame construction on the river bank, about 10 ft. above normal water level, which also houses the pump for the mill-water supply. Above the pumps are hoisting bays into which the motors are raised whenever the river reaches flood stage. An 8-in. suction line, equipped with a strainer and a foot valve, takes the water from a concrete sump at the edge of the river. The pipe line from the pump consists of 1750 ft. of 8-in. spiral steel flanged pipe and

Jan 1, 1938

By Mark Sheppard

DuRing the winter of 1937, the writer visited a West Virginia stone quarry at which the overburden is stripped hydraulically. The quarry is in a bed of limestone, about 200 ft. thick, which outcrops on a hillside above a small river; the quarry face is 175 ft. high. The top of the stone is cut in all directions by erosion channels, which are filled with a tough, red clay. Some of the larger channels are 30 ft. deep and 8 ft. wide. The thickness of the clay overburden ranges from a few inches to 10 ft., the average being estimated as less than 3 feet. The topography of the district is rugged, and the hillside above the quarry face is not suited to the use of the usual mechanical methods of moving dirt. Until hydraulicking was started 10 years ago, the overburden was dug by hand labor, dumped to the quarry floor and transported to the dump in quarry cars. Cleaning deep channels was a slow and expensive process. When hydraulicking was started, the top of the quarry face was over 200 ft. above the level of the river. The pipe line was carried in a semicircle around the top of the quarry about 200 ft. from the face and about 50 ft. above it. As there is no adequate supply of water above the quarry, the water must be pumped from the river. As quarrying progressed the pipe line was moved until the discharge points are now over 300 ft. above the river. Water is pumped from the river by a four-stage centrifugal pump having a 5-in. intake and a 4-in. discharge. It is direct-connected to a 200-hp., 2300-volt, 1760-r.p.m. induction motor. At 1760 r.p.m. the rated capacity of the pump is 750 gal. per minute under a head of 600 ft. The pump is installed in a house of frame construction on the river bank, about 10 ft. above normal water level, which also houses the pump for the mill-water supply. Above the pumps are hoisting bays into which the motors are raised whenever the river reaches flood stage. An 8-in. suction line, equipped with a strainer and a foot valve, takes the water from a concrete sump at the edge of the river. The pipe line from the pump consists of 1750 ft. of 8-in. spiral steel flanged pipe and

Jan 1, 1938

By Victor Formanek, Paul Chataignon, Maurice Rey

IT is found when floating oxidized lead ores by sulphidization, that the presence of calcium salts in the water, is usually detrimental and lowers the recovery. This effect is particularly marked in dry countries such as North Africa, where the waters often carry large amounts of calcium sulphate and where the ore may even contain gypsum. The effect of calcium salts is readily visible. Whereas in their absence cerussite is quickly stained brown and then black by sodium sulphide, in their presence the mineral remains very light in color. A similar effect is produced when barium sulphide is used as a sulphidizing agent instead of sodium sulphide. Magnesium salts have little or no effect and even tend to reduce the detrimental effect of calcium salts. A study of this phenomenon indicates that it is due to the precipitation of calcium or barium carbonate in contact with the mineral simultaneously with the formation of lead sulphide. The chemical reactions can be interpreted as: PbCO3 + Na2S = PbS + Na2CO3 CaSO4 + Na2CO3 = CaCO3 + Na2 SO4 They might also be written: PbCO3 + S = + Ca++ = PbS + CaCO3 The precipitation of calcium carbonate can be followed by the lowering of the pH with which it is accompanied. Magnesium carbonate is more soluble than calcium carbonate and usually does not precipitate under the conditions prevailing. It is interesting to note that calcium salts have no effect on anglesite (lead sulphate) because calcium sulphate is soluble, but barium salts hinder the sulphidization of anglesite because of the precipitation of barium sulphate. Remedies When calcium sulphate is present in large amounts, the softening of the water with soda ash is usually too expensive to be considered, but the precipitation of the objectionable calcium carbonate can be prevented in two different ways. One is the use of sodium hydrosulphide instead of sodium sulphide. This salt gives a lower pH than sodium sulphide and does not bring about the immediate precipitation of the calcium which remains in solution as calcium bicarbonate. The other procedure is to add ammonium salts such as the sulphate or chloride which have the property of increasing markedly the solubility of calcium carbonate. Ammonium salts have other effects such as cutting down conditioning time and accelerating flotation. They should be added to the flotation cells rather than to the ball mills. Table I. Effect of Sodium Hydrosulphide and/or Ammonium Sulphate on the Flotation of Two Oxidized Lead Ores Mibladen Ore4 La Plagne Ored Con- Tall- Con- Tail-centrate ing centrate ing Reagents Pb, Pct Pb, Pct Pb, Pct Pb, Pot Without addition of CaSO, NaS 56.0 0.68 43.4 0.65 NaSH 56.2 0.60 40.4 0.50 Na2S + (NH4)2SO4d 54.6 0.56 NaSH + (NH4)2SO4d 43.0 0.66 With addition of 40 lb/ton CaSO4 Na2S 39.4 3.85 34.0 3.21 NaSH 49.1 0.70 49.6 0.88 Na2S + (NH4)2SO4d 53.9 0.85 NaSH + (NH4)2SO4d 51.0 0.45 41.1 0.78 In table I are given the results of representative tests on two different oxidized ores. They show that the strongly detrimental effects of calcium sulphate can be offset by the two procedures outlined above. Sodium hydrosulphide is now used regularly on a mill scale on certain ores. Tests are being carried out with ammonium salts. It should be noted that malachite is subject to influences similar to cerussite. One final word of caution—when the ore is rich in primary slime, which is flocculated by the calcium salts, it may be indispensable to remove these by washing or precipitation with sodium carbonate instead of keeping them in solution by the above methods. Acknowledgment We wish to thank Socibtk Miniere & Metallurgique de Penarroya and Minerais et Metaux, for permission to publish these results.

Jan 1, 1951

By Maurice Rey, Victor Formanek, Paul Chataignon

IT is found when floating oxidized lead ores by sulphidization, that the presence of calcium salts in the water, is usually detrimental and lowers the recovery. This effect is particularly marked in dry countries such as North Africa, where the waters often carry large amounts of calcium sulphate and where the ore may even contain gypsum. The effect of calcium salts is readily visible. Whereas in their absence cerussite is quickly stained brown and then black by sodium sulphide, in their presence the mineral remains very light in color. A similar effect is produced when barium sulphide is used as a sulphidizing agent instead of sodium sulphide. Magnesium salts have little or no effect and even tend to reduce the detrimental effect of calcium salts. A study of this phenomenon indicates that it is due to the precipitation of calcium or barium carbonate in contact with the mineral simultaneously with the formation of lead sulphide. The chemical reactions can be interpreted as: PbCO3 + Na2S = PbS + Na2CO3 CaSO4 + Na2CO3 = CaCO3 + Na2 SO4 They might also be written: PbCO3 + S = + Ca++ = PbS + CaCO3 The precipitation of calcium carbonate can be followed by the lowering of the pH with which it is accompanied. Magnesium carbonate is more soluble than calcium carbonate and usually does not precipitate under the conditions prevailing. It is interesting to note that calcium salts have no effect on anglesite (lead sulphate) because calcium sulphate is soluble, but barium salts hinder the sulphidization of anglesite because of the precipitation of barium sulphate. Remedies When calcium sulphate is present in large amounts, the softening of the water with soda ash is usually too expensive to be considered, but the precipitation of the objectionable calcium carbonate can be prevented in two different ways. One is the use of sodium hydrosulphide instead of sodium sulphide. This salt gives a lower pH than sodium sulphide and does not bring about the immediate precipitation of the calcium which remains in solution as calcium bicarbonate. The other procedure is to add ammonium salts such as the sulphate or chloride which have the property of increasing markedly the solubility of calcium carbonate. Ammonium salts have other effects such as cutting down conditioning time and accelerating flotation. They should be added to the flotation cells rather than to the ball mills. Table I. Effect of Sodium Hydrosulphide and/or Ammonium Sulphate on the Flotation of Two Oxidized Lead Ores Mibladen Ore4 La Plagne Ored Con- Tall- Con- Tail-centrate ing centrate ing Reagents Pb, Pct Pb, Pct Pb, Pct Pb, Pot Without addition of CaSO, NaS 56.0 0.68 43.4 0.65 NaSH 56.2 0.60 40.4 0.50 Na2S + (NH4)2SO4d 54.6 0.56 NaSH + (NH4)2SO4d 43.0 0.66 With addition of 40 lb/ton CaSO4 Na2S 39.4 3.85 34.0 3.21 NaSH 49.1 0.70 49.6 0.88 Na2S + (NH4)2SO4d 53.9 0.85 NaSH + (NH4)2SO4d 51.0 0.45 41.1 0.78 In table I are given the results of representative tests on two different oxidized ores. They show that the strongly detrimental effects of calcium sulphate can be offset by the two procedures outlined above. Sodium hydrosulphide is now used regularly on a mill scale on certain ores. Tests are being carried out with ammonium salts. It should be noted that malachite is subject to influences similar to cerussite. One final word of caution—when the ore is rich in primary slime, which is flocculated by the calcium salts, it may be indispensable to remove these by washing or precipitation with sodium carbonate instead of keeping them in solution by the above methods. Acknowledgment We wish to thank Socibtk Miniere & Metallurgique de Penarroya and Minerais et Metaux, for permission to publish these results.

Jan 1, 1951

By J. W. Buch

IN THE FIELD of track haulage, interest has seemed to center on the question of larger mine cars both for handling material from loading point to shaft bottom or surface, and for shuttle service. Saving of time in car changing is obvious if larger cars are used. In addition, shorter trips result where car transportation is from face to opening without transfer. This also brings about side-track and equipment savings. Track shuttle service, using large automatic-dump cars (10 tons) between loading machines and trip loading point, has been a satisfactory solution for the operator who mechanizes a working mine regularly equipped with a large number of small mine cars. This development in track shuttle haulage, has made track installation and maintenance increasingly important, requiring closer supervision.

Jan 1, 1942

By P. K. STRONG

AS an evidence of the fact that mines safety is not being neglected even in the remote district of the Philippines, a short account is appended of the organization and activities of the Mambulao-Paracale District First Aid and Mine, Rescue Association, whose headquarters are at Jose Panganiban Cam, Norte P. I. The second annual miner?s safety celebration which is sponsored by the Association was held in Paracale on Sept. 2, 1940. The event is the big occasion of the year when the thousands of employees of the mines in the district meet to compete for prizes and has become a great social function as well.=

Jan 1, 1941