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By J. D. Sullivan, Chester R. Austin, J. L. Nunes

IT is characteristic of most shales and surface clays that a bloated or vesicular structure is produced by burning to a sufficiently high temperature, usually about 150° to 200°F. above the normal maturing temperature used when making common brick of the same material. Early investigators recognized this phenomenon and attributed it to the release or expansion of gases in the vitrified piece. A number of theories have been advanced on the source of the gas and the manner in which it is evolved, but none has been proved conclusively. T. E. Jackson's1 early theory that bloating was due to oxygen evolved by ferric oxide in forming ferrous oxide or ferrous silicate was never substantiated by experimental work. Orton2 thought this explanation unlikely, as all clays should bloat at the same temperature, if this were true. He found that clays bloated in the range from 1100° to I700°C. Also, many clays containing iron did not bloat at all, but fused. Orton also stated that oxidation of different types of carbon was a source of gas during burning of clay and should be expelled before vitrification was reached. Seger3 said that he had dissolved ferric oxide in glass with no apparent evolution of gas. Matson4 came to the conclusion that ferruginous clays burned to vitrification in an oxidizing atmosphere did not have the iron in a ferrous form. According to Wilson,5 the gases responsible for bloating might be entrapped air, water, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxygen, and hydrocarbons. He spoke of two causes of bloating: (I) incomplete oxidation below the vitrification temperature, and (2) decomposition of compounds and evolution of gases above the vitrification temperature. Decomposition of calcium sulphate was given as the principal example of the latter. Bleininger and Montgomery6 stated that if any time after vitrification began the evolution of gaseous matter was rapid enough so that pressure was produced within the clay, bloating was certain to take place, and a vesicular structure would be formed. They recognized that initial structure, rate of heating, kiln atmosphere, and many other variables affected bloating. Work done by the Emergency Fleet Corporation7 indicated that clays suitable for bloating should be high in compounds of metallic oxides, carbon, sulphur, sodium, potassium, or other equivalent compounds, which either act as a flux or give off gas. Orton2 studied the chemical status of the carbon, iron, and sulphur in clays during various stages of burning, using a Huron shale that bloated under oxidizing or reducing conditions. He found that only a small amount of sulphur remained in the clay and that it could be detected only by dissolving the clay in hydrofluoric acid,i.e., the sulphur was in combination with the silica. Orton said that this sulphur was probably in the form of iron sulphide dissolved in the glass phase. The iron sulphide was not broken down by heating, but was dissolved in the basic slag or glass,

Jan 1, 1942

By J. W. Axelson

CRUSHING has always been a major operation in the chemical and metallurgical industries, yet little is known about the theory of crushing, and today, the design of crushers is still based almost entirely on empirical knowledge and accumulated practical experience. In view of the increasing national need for the economic working of poorer grades of ores, the lack of a fundamental under- standing of this unit operation hardly presents a satisfactory situation. Basic investigations of crushing have been concerned mainly with three phases of the problem, 1-the mechanism of the fracture process itself, 2- the particle size distribution of the crushed product, and 3-the relationship between the energy input and the amount of new surface produced. Probably adequate information on these phases will be required for a comprehensive understanding of the process of crushing. A bibliography covering these phases will be given as well as a review of the work done in recent years at the University of Minnesota on the relationship between the energy input for crushing and the amount of new surface produced.

Jan 12, 1951

A LARGE proportion of the steel that is melted and refined in the United States and poured into ingots is made in basic open- hearth furnaces. The capacity of these furnaces varies over a wide range with a large majority falling within limits of 50 to 200 tons (Fig. 1) The two general types of furnace design used are stationary [ ] and tilting furnaces, the former being much more common. The fuel burned in such furnaces is either one of several types of gas, or a liquid fuel such as oil or tar, or a combination of gas and liquid fuel. GENERAL FEATURES OF FURNACE CONSTRUCTION The design of a modern stationary furnace built to burn liquid fuel and with a capacity of 175 tons is shown in Figs. 2 to 4. The cross- section of the furnace at the tap hole is illustrated in Fig. 2, which shows the bottom construction, sloping back wall, and the rigid steel

Jan 1, 1944

By W. J. Reagan

A SURVEY of the literature on bottom-cast practice gives but scant information as to some of the real facts concerning this most interesting method of steel manufacture, and some of the information available is very misleading.1 An exceptionally good description of this method of pouring or teeming is to be found in an English publication2 on the heterogeneity of steel ingots. Quoting from this paper: (a) With bottom teeming, the metal rises steadily and progressively in the mold with the minimum possible agitation, the main force of the stream coming from the ladle being broken down or retarded by the down gate or runner. Further, the stream of metal from the ladle, under these conditions of casting, is invariably main-tained at a much more continuous rate and is steadier than with top teeming. (b) In view of the facts referred to in (a) it follows that with bottom teeming the metal is not exposed to atmospheric oxidation to anything like the same degree as with top teeming. In this paper it is intended to detail briefly some of the advantages of bottom-cast practice and to discuss the possibilities of iron-oxide control in the basic open-hearth furnace. A description of the type of charge, ingot mold set-up, etc., is found in detail in an earlier paper.3

Jan 1, 1934

APPROXIMATELY 90 per cent of the steel that is melted and refined in the United States and poured into ingots is made in basic open-hearth furnaces, as shown in Table 1-1. The annual ingot capacity of the steel industry reported January 1,1950, by the American Iron and Steel Institute8* was 99,040,160 tons, of which the basic open-hearth process accounted for 85,896,580 tons, 86.7 per cent of the total. The capacity of the individual furnaces varies over a wide range, a large majority falling within limits of 50 to 200 tons (Fig 1-1). Most of the units constructed [ ] since 1942 are in the larger size groups, between 175 and 225 tons capacity.

Jan 1, 1951

APPROXIMATELY 90 per cent of the steel that is melted and refined in the United States and poured into ingots is made in basic open-hearth furnaces, as shown in Table 1-1. The annual ingot capacity of the steel industry reported January 1, 1950, by the American Iron and Steel Institute3* was 99,040,160 tons, of which the basic open-hearth process accounted for 85,896,580 tons, 86.7 per cent of the .total. The capacity of the individual furnaces varies over a wide range, a large majority falling within limits of 50 to 200 tons (Fig 1-1). Most of the units constructed [ ] since 1942 are in the larger size groups, between 175 and 225 tons capacity.

Jan 1, 1964

By R. L. Bowron

GROWING use of basic slag in the agricultural industry is of special interest and importance to the iron and steel industry of the Birmingham district, providing an increasing outlet for this by- product. Such use of basic slag was first developed in England about fifty years ago where it soon became wide- spread. About twenty years ago the Tennessee Coal, Iron & R. R. Co. began its production in the United States after exhaustive tests had demonstrated its high value here as in Eng- land. It is particularly valuable on heavy clay and acid soils, improving their physical condition, increasing their alkalinity where that is desirable, and providing soluble phosphate and small amounts of manganese to soils deficient in these respects. Its use in agriculture is growing as its advantages are becoming more widely known.

Jan 1, 1937

By C. D. King

THE advances in basic open-hearth practice which have occurred during the past decade, have been principally in the direction of the physical development of larger units, decreased fuel consumption and increased length of furnace campaigns. However gratifying the economies which have resulted from these improvements are, it must be granted that like advances in chemical, physical-chemical and metallurgical knowledge pertaining to open-hearth practice would have added greatly to these already attained reductions in costs and it is the purpose of this paper to stimulate the discussion and study of these phases of cooperation and their relation to ingot yields. DEFINITION AND CALCULATION OF LOSSES In discussing basic open-hearth yields, the writer refers to the ingot yields obtained in the process of converting pig iron, scrap and ore to steel. In this conversion some scrap is produced. The difference between the total weight of ingots and scrap produced and the original metallic charge, constitutes the loss. Basic open-hearth yields vary considerably, and while some of the divergencies can be explained metal-lurgically because of differences in slag analysis, proportion of pig charges, and character of steel made, there often remain differences that apparently do not readily disclose themselves. In reconciling yields by the usual accepted methods of calculation, one is often forced to evaluate large losses as "unaccounted for." Such a system is prone to accept these large losses as inherent to the operation and not susceptible of appraisement and correction. It is obvious that if the ingot yield, plus the scrap recovered subtracted from 100 per cent. determines the loss, a drop in yield may increase the loss or the scrap, and both contribute to a monetary loss. To be sure, one can subdivide these unaccounted for losses into various components, such as metallics in slag, free Fe in slag, spillage, etc., and thereby reduce the amount of losses considered as "unaccounted for." If empirical methods could indicate with some degree of accuracy all losses, however slight, the undetermined losses become appreciably smaller and resultant calculations will check actual

Jan 1, 1929

By Theodore Simons

The rapid and comparatively recent development of flotation has opened so fascinating a field for study and research that the older processes of gravity concentration no longer receive the attention they deserve. The early work of Munroe1 and Richards,2 and the more recent contributions by Clevenger and Coe,3 Laist and Wiggin,4 Ammon,5 Bardwell,6 Crowfoot,7 and Hayden8 to mention only some which have appeared in our own Transactions-and by Schulz,9 have furnished so much data that to offer something new seems a difficult task. It is still possible, however, to present known facts from a different point of view, and, with this in mind, the writer has undertaken to express basic principles of gravity concentration in terms of simple mathematics and mechanics; the conclusions thus reached will be found to correspond, in general, with those obtained by experimental methods. Rittinger, in his classic Aufbereitungskunde (1867), reached analogous conclusions by way of intricate higher mathematics, for which reason his interesting investigations have remained a sealed book to most of us. The writer hopes that a more elementary treatment of the subject, based in part on Rittinger's methods, may, arouse new interest in the study of basic principles.

Jan 7, 1922

By J. Spotts McDowell

Preparation and Use.-Magnesite is an important refractory in open-hearth, heating, and electric furnaces for steel-making and in many of those employed in the metallurgy of copper and lead. It is sold in the form of brick, finely ground "furnace magnesite" for brick-laying, and dead-burned grains for making and repairing furnace bottoms. The latter are a mixture of granules varying in size from pieces of about 5/8 in. (1.6 cm.) diameter to very fine but sandy particles. Dead-burned magnesite results from calcining 'the crude or lightly burned mineral at a temperature that will not merely drive off practically all the CO2, but will also cause sintering of the particles. During this process the pieces shrink considerably and become hard, dense, and inert to atmospheric moisture and C02; under-burned material, on the other hand, will hydrate on exposure to the air. A small percentage of ferric oxide seems to be necessary for the production of a satisfactory sinter; from 4.5 to 8 per cent. in the dead-burned grains is considered the most desirable amount. Dolomite has been little used for brick-making in the United States, but it is prepared for use in the granular condition calcined or "double-burned" and is the principal ingredient of several materials offered for sale under various trade names for refractory purposes. Dolomitic refractories are almost wholly confined to the open-hearth and electric furnaces, where they are used for fettling and as substitutes for magnesite. Much more magnesite and dolomite are used for basic open-hearth steel-making than for all other refractory purposes. The hearth of the furnace is usually built up of magnesite brick and dead-burned grain magnesite so laid that the brick base is protected by a working bottom of the granular material. The latter is sintered into place in layers 1 to 2 in. (2.5 to 5 cm.) thick to a total depth of 12 to 18 in. (30 to 45 cm.) at the center of the furnace. After each heat, burned dolomite is thrown against the banks as high as it will stick, and all holes in the bottom are filled. At most plants such holes, at the end of each week, are also

Jan 2, 1919

J. S. UNGER,*Pittsburgh, Pit., (written discussion?).-From the subject of the paper it is natural to expect that the data presented must be results secured from an open-hearth furnace working under normal conditions, but such is not the case, as the conclusions are based on the results of laboratory tests, which do not approach service conditions. The early basic hearths were made of burnt lime, then followed burnt dolomite, bricks made of calcined dolomite and a 'binder, usually tar, and finally magnesite bricks covered with a layer of sintered magnesite. When this material became scarce, special dolomitic refractories were used. In the summary, it is claimed that magnesite low in lime, or of greatest purity, ranks first in the resistance to slaking and to corrosive slags. It is well known that neither pure lime nor magnesia has much value as a refractory. By the addition f fluxes, such as silica and iron oxide, lime is rendered inert to slaking in the same way as are the special dolomitic refractories. An example on a large scale is the ordinary basic open-hearth cinder, produced every clay, which does not slake. Pure magnesia, regardless of the lime content, is not any better fitted for a refractory than pure lime. The pure natural varieties, such as Grecian or Washington magnesites, must be burnt with sufficient silica and oxide of iron to produce a satisfactory material. Grain magnesite, either artificial or natural, is, not used in burning in a hearth in the state in which it is received. To make a satisfactory hearth, it must be made more impure by adding about 20 per cent. of basic open-hearth cinder, otherwise it will-not remain in place.

Jan 5, 1919

RAYMOND M. Howe (author's reply to discussion*).-Dr. Unger states that magnesite will hardly supersede dolomite in fettling after a heat; that it is hard to believe a slag composed of oxide of iron containing about 6 per cent. of phosphorus is the active corroding, agent in a boil in a furnace; and that boiling cannot be said to be the result of the chemical action of a high-phosphorus slag on a basic bottom. These are well-established facts that no one would venture to question. The authors were misinterpreted in the statement that "in the summary, it is claimed that magnesite low in lime, or of greatest purity, ranks first in resistance to slaking," etc. On the contrary, the position has been taken throughout that while a low lime content is advantageous, the presence of several per cent. of iron oxide (an impurity), is necessary in order to confer the proper bonding and sintering properties in dead-burned grain magnesite to be used for furnace hearths. We cannot subscribe to the view that pure magnesia is no better fitted for a refractory than pure lime,' nor that the pure natural varieties of magnesite; such as Grecian or Washington, must necessarily be burned with silica and oxide of iron to produce a satisfactory material. On a small scale, pure magnesia has been satisfactorily used as a refractory in the form of crucibles. In the production of dead-burned grain magnesite from the Grecian or Washington mineral, iron oxide is added but the addition of silica is neither customary nor desirable. It is possible to manufacture brick of good quality from both the Grecian and the Washington material without adding either silica or iron oxide, providing they are burned at a sufficiently high temperature. This is regularly done on a commercial scale both in America and abroad when brick of. exceptionally high refractoriness or special purity are desired. The following analysis is of an English brick of Grecian magnesite which is extremely low in all impurities.1

Jan 6, 1919

By H. W. III Straley

SOME ten years ago the writer1 made a survey of college catalogues to determine what sort of training geologists were receiving in basic sciences. In the light of this compilation and subsequent experience, he made the statement at the 1939 meeting of the Institute that apparently only in schools offering a curriculum in geological engineering or in the geological option of mining engineering curricula could geologists hope to receive the training advocated by Hubbert.2 In the former study, schools of engineering were excluded because the preparation was known beforehand. The present study aims to consider engineering schools in an effort to determine not only what basic studies are required but what use is made of them in geological courses of the third and fourth years. The present study combined the method of consulting catalogues with a questionnaire. Letters were mailed to officials responsible for supervision of mineral industries curricula requesting information on: (I) the extent to which the engineering preparation of the first two years is actually used in the work of the last two; (2) the extent to which the engineering of the last two years is used in courses in geological engineering or geology; and (3) whether geologists or geological engineers teach descriptively or analytically. Both methods of securing information are open to criticism; the former on the basis of the incomplete information supplied by university catalogues concerning prerequisites and curricula and the latter on the ground that the questions may be phrased poorly or given insufficient consideration by replying officials. Fifty-six questionnaires were mailed and 39 (70 per cent) replies were received. Of the replies, 6 (11.3 per cent) were from colleges of liberal arts unconnected with engineering schools, 11 (20 per cent) were from schools having curricula in geological engineering and 22 (39 per cent) were from departments of mining engineering. The number of replies and their distribution were satisfactory in spite of the receipt of only six from liberal arts colleges. It should be understood that the universities of which the catalogues were examined were not necessarily the same in both compilations. No departments that are admittedly or known to be acting solely as service departments were recorded in the second study. Table I shows that all professional schools require mathematics through calculus, whereas only 7 per cent of the liberal arts curricula expect the same level of preparation; only 73 per cent require trigonometry and 40 per cent college algebra. The proportion of geological engineering curricula requiring differential equations is higher than mining. All of the engineering schools require general and analytical chemistry, whereas only 77 per cent of liberal arts curricula require general and 18 per cent analytical. Twenty-two per cent of the mining and 40 per cent of the geological engineering

Jan 1, 1941

By David S. Butts

There are many solution mining operations that use solar ponds as a mineral recovery step. Other locations in the world are now under investigation to recover minerals by solution mining but require the cheap energy of solar ponds to make the recovery viable. This paper shows a step-by-step material balance system that can be used in both simple and complex solar ponds. Use of this system will help the engineer determine if solar ponding efficiency can be improved or if solar ponding will work at all with a given set of conditions. Even the most complicated solar pond can be reduced to six flow streams. These are (1) feed, (2) exit, (3) leakage, (4) entrainment, (5) salts, and (6) evaporation. The equations developed in this paper will allow the solar pond engineer to easily evaluate the effect of each of the flow streams on the mineral production of a pond or pond complex.

Jan 1, 1985

By Kenneth G. Arne

INTRODUCTION The real problem is finding the "appropriate" financing sources by matching the risk and reward expectations of the various classes of investors and lenders. Generally, lenders who advance funds temporarily are interested in assuming only limited risk and conversely expect to earn only a limited reward. The equity owners on the other hand, are expected to take most of the risk of the enterprise, but should receive a reward commensurate with that risk. In particular they will receive the benefit of the company's increase in net worth over time. MINE DEVELOPMENT CYCLE Consider the development cycle of a mining project beginning with rank wildcat exploration (Figure 1) [ ] Just as different professionals must be utilized at different stages, so must different funding sources be used at different points in the pipeline. Figure 2 shows the general sources of funding: [ ] This concept can perhaps be better understood if we compare the risk with the capital requirements. Suppose each area within a triangle is proportional to the risk taken (see Figure 3): [ ]

Jan 1, 1985

By Howard L. Hartman

The past 15 years have seen rapid advances in the metallurgy of materials for drill machinery and bits, but rock drilling itself continues to be largely an art. Jet piercing, roller bit rotary drilling, and rotary percussion are all promising new techniques, but the percussion rock drill, still used for 90 pct of the blastholes in U. S. hard-rock mining, has under- gone no major modification since pneumatic machines were first used successfully in the 1860's. This singular lack of progress stems directly from ignorance of the nature of impact failure of rock and the fundamentals of rock penetration in general. For nearly three-quarters of a century, mining engineers did not know what went on at the bottom of a drillhole.

Jan 1, 1959

By Edward Steidle

IT has been said that "the command of nature has been put into the hands of man before he knows how to command himself," and what we see about us gives particular emphasis to this observation. If this condition be granted, the vaunted boast of school and college, of the institution that had the training of this generation, and of its fathers, and of its grandfathers, the boast that education is a "preparation for life," stands exposed as a hollow claim, or as a ghastly, cynical conception of life, or else education has fallen far short of its intentions. It has been evident for some time that education was not meeting the fullest expectations of society. In recent years there has been a deal of speculation indulged in by both laity and faculty in regard to American education and American civilization, and some few and sporadic changes have been effected. Today, however, there is no longer time for mere hypothetical considerations; we are faced with certain definite facts and confronted with obvious conditions that will not wait for fine-spun theories. If educators do not put their house in order, someone else will do it for them. The trends in mineral industries education must be in harmony with this general realignment that is today visible on the educational horizon, and only as these trends are in conformity with this movement can they be called sound. Two questions, then, confront mineral industries educators: (1) What are the trends in mineral industries education, and (2) how do these trends correlate with the major educational movements of the day?

Jan 1, 1933

By Dr. O’Neil Thomas J., Donald W. Gentry

"There are two characters to the value of mining properties-one mine may have a value, owing to its real intrinsic worth; an- other (having no intrinsic value) may have a value by being so situated as to harass the working of the really valuable mine-in mining camps one is looked upon as much of ligitimate enterprise as the other.'' -Victor Clement to Simeon Reed, Wardner, Jan. 11, 1890, Reed Mss. APPROACHES TO VALUATION Value and costs are two terms basic to financial analysis which cause, perhaps, the greatest amount of misunderstanding in mine valuation studies. When discussing the value of an asset or the costs of producing a product, it is absolutely essential that the speaker define the terms being used. There are many types of value and many categories of costs. Without specific accompanying definitions, value and cost data are not very meaningful. Value refers to a measure of the desirability of ownership of property. Some of the types of value which might be encountered in a mine valuation study are: 1) Market value 2) Full cash value 3) Salvage value 4) Replacement value 5) Capitalized value 6) Book value 7) Assessed value 8) Insured value Each of these has a specific meaning which can be applied to determine a monetary amount in a specific situation. The major item of interest here is the broader question of "what is the value of the mine?" or "what is the mine worth?" In this case, we are speaking of market value. Market value is the value (price) established in a public market by ex- changes between a willing buyer and a willing seller when neither is under duress to complete the transaction. Market value fluctuates with the degree of willingness of the buyer and seller and with the conditions of the sale. The use of the term market suggests the idea of barter. When numerous sales occur on a market, the

Jan 1, 1984

By L. O. Howard

THE practice of using acid-lined converters at the plant of the Old Dominion Copper Mining & Smelting Co. was discontinued early in January, 1913, and they were replaced by basic-lined converters. The new equipment consists of one electrically operated 12-ft. upright converter stand and two basic-lined shells for same. These shells are provided with twenty-four 1 1/4-in. tuyères. The mouths are 5 ft. in diameter. Owing to the fact that there is no bedding system or other large storage capacity between the mine and the smelter, the furnaces must handle as fast as produced ore and concentrates, which may vary considerably from day to day, both in tonnage and copper content. Consequently the converter is often crowded to its utmost capacity by the frequent fluctuations in the daily matte supply. From the foregoing, it will be seen that in no way can the converter be favored by running light charges or by transferring to it from other stands in operation. Neither can it regularly be allowed to cool between blows, and only occasionally can it be run at as low a temperature as might be wished. No copper precipitate or other foreign material high in copper is available to help out the tonnage. Repairs and alterations or the removal of defective tuyères must wait until such time as a slight falling off in the matte supply-allows the converting operations to ease up. These variable conditions all combine to interfere with the systematic operating of the converter.

Jan 7, 1914

Discussion of the paper of L. O. HOWARD, presented at the Salt Lake meeting, August, 1914, and printed in Bulletin No. 91, July, 1914, pp. 1785 to 1790. E. P. MATHEWSON, Anaconda, Mont.-I would like to add a few words of praise on Mr. Howard's work at the Old Dominion. Mr. Howard has given this particular converter shell his personal attention, and the results are shown in the figures given. Similar converter shells, a little different in shape and of about the same size, have been tried in many plants throughout the United States. The results have been highly satisfactory, but there is no shell of the size of the one described by Mr. Howard that has given anything like the results that Mr. Howard's shell has given. I know of larger shells that have given very good service, and are still in operation, and require very little repair. The main thing about the whole process of using the basic lining in copper converting is to keep the temperature within reasonable bounds, particularly not to get the furnace too hot. If it is overheated a little bit, for say half an hour, an entire lining may be ruined. It is very easy to keep the temperature regulated 'if the mass is large. If you have a large mass in your converter you can easily prevent it from getting over-heated, and that is the big argument in favor of the extra large converters. Of course, there is a limit to what a plant can turn out in the way of matte. Very few plants can supply matte sufficient to keep a converter of 20 ft. in diameter in operation constantly, but the 20-ft. converter is very much superior to the 12-ft. converter in easy handling and absolute control of the temperature. I think Mr. Howard is to be congratulated on the excellent showing he has made.

Jan 12, 1914