Search Documents

By James Norman, E. W. Gieseke

Spodumene is a lithium-bearing pyroxene, and is an important source of lithium compounds. Because of its high alumina and lithia content, it might be a desirable constituent of glass batches. The use of spodumene in ceramics will undoubtedly increase, as it has been shown that a mixture of the proper proportions of this mineral with soda feldspar and potash feldspar has a much lower maturing temperature upon firing than has any one of the three components. The mineral spodumene seldom occurs as pure mineral, but ordinarily with feldspars, mica and quartz. All spodumene-bearing rocks tested contained these minerals as gangue. Small amounts of iron and manganese oxides also were present, usually as stains on the silicate grains. Mica associated with the spodumene carried a considerable amount of lithia. This was discovered in flotation tailings, which, although virtually free of spodumene grains when examined microscopically, showed 0.4 to 0.5 per cent Li²O on chemical analysis. The lithia content of micas picked from the North Carolina spodumene rock was variable. Some samples contained little lithia, others more than 3 per cent. In 1938, under the supervision of Oliver C. Ralston,S the Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Tennessee Mineral Products Corporation, undertook to study the beneficiation of North Carolina spodumene by froth flotation. The Bureau had previously published investigations on the beneficiation of spodumene.2,3The methods described in the second publication3 did not give good results with badly weathered spodumene rock, so that more thorough investigation of the subject was warranted. Study of Method of Flotation Separation Most of the work on concentration of spodumene was done with rock from near King's Mountain, North Carolina. Rock from two

Jan 1, 1942

FINAL REPORT OF' THE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING AND METALLURGICAL ENGINEERS W. E. FOHL, Chairman J. W. PAUL J. M. RAYBURN C. A. WARNER JOHN B. CORRIN C. E. KREBS JOHN H. WILSON A. W. HESSE M. M. LEIGHTON H. I. SMITH [Accepted and Committee discharged with thanks, April 27, 1928.] Regulations recommended for the location, drilling, casing, protection, operation, plugging and filling, and abandonment of natural gas and petroleum wells; having for their objectives the protection of life and property by prevention of intrusions of oil and gas into workable coal beds, and the conservation of oil and gas resources in territory not underlain with workable coal beds. ARTICLE I DEFINITIONS SEC. 1. For the purpose of these regulations, definitions are as follows: Well.-A bore hole drilled for the purpose of developing natural gas or petroleum, or a bore hole producing natural gas or petroleum. Well Operator.-Any person, persons, firm, partnership, corporation, company or association that proposes to, or does drill, operate or abandon a well as herein defined. Coal Operator.-Any person, persons, firm, partnership, corporation, company or association that proposes to, or does operate a coal mine in territory known or reputed to be underlain with oil or gas-bearing strata. Coal Owner.-Any person, persons, firm, partnership, corporation, company or association, other than a Coal Operator as herein defined, that owns coal lands in territory known or reputed to be underlain with oil or gas-bearing strata. State Mining Department.-The duly constituted authorities of a state having jurisdiction over coal-mining operations, and oil and gas operations as herein provided. Plat.-A map, drawing or print made in accordance with the provisions of these regulations. Casing.-The pipe commonly used in wells drilled for natural gas and petroleum. Oil and Gas.-Synonyms, respectively, for Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Jan 1, 1928

By Burt Hartmann

The nation's ever-expanding construction and mining activity has placed an increasing demand upon engineers and geologists to design and construct stable slopes in earth materials-soil and rock. Man's attempt to handle these slope stability problems has been based primarily on practical experience and the resulting theories formulated to explain the phenomena. Too many instances occur when man is faced with a slope stability problem that has not yet been experienced and doesn't lend itself to solution by any existing theory. At this point he must extend himself in using his engineering judgment to arrive at a reasonable and safe design. As past experience has shown, all of the "safe designs" are not really safe. Sometimes they result in embarrassing failures. Measurements provide the key to understanding and controlling natural phenomena. We cannot hope to gain control of the slope stability problem until we understand the causes of slope failure, their behavior with respect to time and their relative magnitudes. Measurements required for an adequate definition of any slope problem must be of the highest reliability because of the importance of decisions which must be based on them. For this reason, direct measurements of movement, shear strength, water pressure, etc. of the unstable mass are preferable to indirect measurements of other physical properties. Movement instruments which can be positioned inside of the slope mass (within boreholes) are among the most useful in diagnosis and/or monitoring of slope movements. The higher the sensitivity and il-measurement precision possible with borehole instruments, the quicker the required information can be obtained and the more exactly may hazardous conditions be observed. A high density of measuring points in a single drill hole is deemed essential for diagnostic purposes. Behavior gradients may thus be obtained. The Pressure Meter (Fig. 1) can be used to measure a relative strength

Jan 1, 1968

By P. R. Sheorey

I read this interesting paper on pillar strength in some detail because this is also my area of interest. It has long been the desire of mining rock mechanicians to predict pillar strength from laboratory compression tests. Considerable literature is available on compression strength of rocks and coal but many of these experiments were conducted not for pillar design but for rock behavior. I have a few comments on the author's approach to pillar design, especially equation (33). Two important factors, which the author seems to have excluded, can be added to the right side of equation (2): time-dependence of strength and the influence of mine environment on strength (moisture and weathering.) The author has taken considerable pains to analyze a large amount of testing data in [Table 1], yielding the various exponents ci of equation (2) (or the subsequent equations derived from it.) He has, however, not shown by means of a worked out example how these values of [Table 1] could be applied to a practical pillar design situation. It would have been interesting to compare predicted pillar size using equation (33) with an actual case. Alternatively, equation (33) could have been used to explain the failure of a pillar, if such a case history were available. Consider we have a large number of case histories of stable and collapsed pillars in a seam and we conduct a large number of tests in a laboratory press. The exponents [ci] can then be determined for actual pillars as well as for test specimens. Thus, equation (2) will read [ ] Since laboratory testing conditions (e.g., between steel platens) are different from the conditions on pillars, the exponents [ci] in

Jan 1, 1983

By W. E. Ruder

Considerable interest has been shown lately in various types of furnaces for the production of high temperatures, both for laboratory purposes and for small industrial uses. Dr. J. A. Harkerl described certain modifications of the Arsem graphite resistance helix for high-temperature work at the National Physical Laboratory. Dr. Northrup also has developed two interesting forms of high-temperature furnaces. In 1911, Messrs. Winne and Dantsizen2 described two forms of resistance furnaces using ductile molybdenum or tungsten as resistors. Since the discovery, by this laboratory, of methods for producing these metals in ductile form, their use as resistance elements in the research laboratory of the General Electric Co. has grown to such an extent that they are now almost indispensable. These furnaces are used here for alloy research, annealing, heat-treating, and practically all of the thermal processes requiring temperatures above 900' C. Various types of furnaces have been developed to meet the general needs of laboratory work, and it is the purpose of this paper briefly to describe some of these furnaces. A tubular furnace wound with a metallic resistor is the simplest type to construct, and almost every laboratory has made such furnaces. The only essential difference between a furnace wound with platinum o base metal and one wound with tungsten or molybdenum is that the coils of the latter must be heated in a neutral or reducing atmosphere It has long been our custom here to build our resistance furnaces with : metallic casing from which the tube could be easily removed for rewind ing. The heat-insulating material—usually calcined magnesia, alumina silica, or silex, depending upon the nature of the resistor-—is used i: powdered form so that it can be readily removed and replaced. I order to adapt this method to tungsten or molybdenum windings,

Jan 1, 1918

By Norman Brown, J. V. Rinnovatore

It was found that a shear stress applied during the recovery had no effect on the amount of recovery if the stress was less than the instantaneous yield point irrespective of the direction of the stress. Large ajplied stresses during recovery had a marked effect, which depended on the direction of stressing. Single strain reversals at -72°C not only produced the Bausch-inger effect but also increased the flow stress. The increase inflow stress was attributed to vacancies, which have appreciable mobility at -72 °C. THEORIES I-' of recovery suggest that the internal stress field of the dislocations plays an essential role. Most investigations of recovery use time and temperature as the independent variables; however, here stress has been introduced as a variable in two ways: 1) by varying the internal stress field according to the amount of strain prior to recovery and 2) by applying an external stress during recovery. Tannen- baum and Kauzrnann studied the effect of applying a stress during recovery by measuring the change in creep rate after recovery; they found that stresses as high as 95 pct of the creep stress had no effect on recovery. Earlier, Wood and scrutton6 showed that an applied stress during creep increased the rate of poly-gonization. The experiment by Wood involved poly-crystalline aluminum whereas Tannenbaum and Kauzmann used a single crystal of zinc. In this investigation, zinc single crystals were used and deformed in a manner to prevent polygonization. Thus, the main difference between this investigation and that of Tannenbaum and Kauzmann is the use of the stress-strain curve instead of creep rate as the index of recovery. In addition, the applied stress during recovery varied

Jan 1, 1961

By J. M. Hartman

ONE of the most important subjects to the blast-furnace engineer is a thorough knowledge of the conditions affecting the temperature in the different portions of the furnace. All efforts to decrease the consumption of fuel and improve the working of the furnace must be based upon it, and I may, therefore, be permitted to place before you the results of my observations, and detail the conclusions to which they have led me. Tracing the thermic conditions from below upwards we have at the bottom of a blast furnace making No. 3 iron a temperature of 2900' F., which increases slightly to a point a little below the tuyeres. In the immediate vicinity of the tuyeres the temperature is somewhat lower, owing to the entering blast; but a short distance above the tuyeres, where all the oxygen of the blast has been converted into carbonic acid, the highest temperature in the furnace must be attained. This carbonic acid is, however, almost as soon as formed, converted by the glowing coal into carbonic oxide, a process which absorb, heat, reduces the temperature, and provides the active agent for the reduction of the iron ores. In its ascent the hot carbonic oxide gradually parts with its heat, first melting the descending iron and earthy materials, which drop down to the hearth of the furnace. The limit of this zone of fusion is rather sharply defined, and the temperature above this zone suddenly decreases. In its further ascent the hot gas drives off the carbonic acid from the limestone, which causes a further absorption of heat, and finally the gas escapes at the top, at a ternperature of about 250' F. if the furnace is working well. These changes of temperature I have attempted to represent graphically,

Jan 1, 1880

By Frederick Clapp

ALTHOUGH many oil fields have been, and still are being, discovered in Oklahoma, the geology and structure of most of them have not become familiar to the general public because of the delay in securing government geological surveys and the reluctance of oil companies and other interested parties to give out their "inside information." Therefore, until official surveys are available, it behooves us to publish geological results as soon as possible. Fortunately the writer has been authorized by the Cement Field Oil Co. to publish his data on the Cement field, Caddo County at this time. LOCALITY AND DESCRIPTION The Cement field is situated in the part of Oklahoma known generally, until recently, as "Healdton fields," and lies 60 mi. (96 km.) northwest of the Healdton field proper. Like the Healdton field, it forms an approximate ellipse, trending northwest and southeast through the village of Cement on the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad, on which it is reached in 2 ½ hours from Oklahoma City. In its geological structure, the field constitutes an anticline over 13 mi. (21 km.) long and from 1 to 3 mi. wide; the point of greatest width being not far from its intersection by the above-named railroad. The major axis trends north 75° west from the village of Cement; but eastward appears deflected (if field interpretations are correct) to about south. 45° east. About 5 mi. south lies an approximately parallel syncline, which may be conveniently called the Cyril syncline, the south and west boundaries of which may be distant many miles, but forming a closed basin', south of the Cement anticline. The position of the offsetting synclinal axis, which is believed to lie north and east of Cement, has not been discovered.

Jan 2, 1920

By Courtenay de Kalb

REVISION of the United States mining law is needed. chiefly because of the following reasons: 1. The conceptions as to the characteristics of orebodies that were held at the time the statute of 1872 was enacted have since proved to be in many respects erroneous. 2. The operation of the existing law has been found to work unnecessary hardship upon many claimants to mineral land. 3. The existing statute fails in large degree to encourage development of mineral resources. 4. The existing law often produces conflict between placer and lode-claim rights, working unnecessary injustice to placer claimants. 5. The methods of establishing the rights of locators on United States mineral land are defective, and are not uniform throughout the States within which such lands exist. LAW OF THE APEX The objections to the so-called "law of the apex" are so well known as to require no detailed statement. It is sufficient to point out that the apex rule was based upon the notion that ore deposits consisted of well-formed veins included between definite walls, like the slice of ham in a sandwich. The fact is that veins conforming to that simple type are rare. Irregularity is the rule, and the chief metal production of the United States comes from masses which bear no resemblance to the tabular form of vein. Manifestly the law of the apex fails completely in such cases. Moreover, the tendency is constantly toward the exploitation of ores of lower grade than could formerly be worked, and such deposits exist mainly in the form of large irregular impregnated zones and masses, so that the future. development of our mineral resources would be continuously embarrassed by shadowy claims to extra-lateral rights by the locators of so-called apexes

Jan 2, 1915

By J. A. Porter

In offering some data relative to this property, and the treatment of its ores, it is proper to say that a purely scientific article has not been attempted. It is hoped, however, that the economic conditions presented may be of interest to the members of the Institute, and that a discussion upon the concentration of the ore may throw some light upon a very unsatisfactory part of the work. The Smuggler-Union mines are located at the head of the San Miguel river, just south of the water-shed between Ouray and Telluride. The latter town, reached by the Denver and Rio Grande railway, is most picturesquely situated, at ail altitude of 8500 feet, in a narrow valley, the lower portion of which exposes only the sedimentary rocks. Along the sides of the valley, large masses of coarse alluvial deposits are left high above the present channel of the stream. Although much placer-work has been done, and some very rich material has been found, the limited extent of the isolated tracts has made placer-mining in this locality generally unprofitable. The valley terminates two miles above Telluride in an amphitheater around which walls rise abruptly several thousand feet. Here the company's mill is situated, being reached by a Bleichert tramway from the mines and also by a spur of the Rio Grande railway from Telluride. At this point, not only are the reddish sandstone and conglomerate beds exposed, but the contact between the conglomerate and the overlying gray volcanic breccia is plainly in view, even at a distance of many miles. A marked stratification is noticeable, indicating the successive layers of igneous breccia, locally termed trachyte. Throughout the entire region this is the favorite name among the miners for the rocks composing the igneous cap of the San Juan

Jan 1, 1897

By T. Guilford Smith

In presenting the subject of " Armored Turrets for Coast Defense " to this Institute, I am indebted to the Gruson Ironworks, a company incorporated under the laws of the State of New York, for valuable information, model and plans, by which I hope to make clear the construction and peculiar merits of this class of gun-protection. I wish it understood, however, that this is not an undeveloped and untried inventor's ideal, but an advanced and fully perfected system, which has long since passed the experimental stage and has been adopted by most of the foreign governments, after years of extensive experimenting and the expenditure of millions of dollars. The present seems an appropriate time to present the matter to the scientific public, since, for the first time, it is possible to produce these turrets in this country, of American material, and made by American workmen, owing to an agreement entered into between the Gruson Iron-works and the Fried. Krupp Grusonwerk, of Magdeburg-Buckau, Germany, where they have hitherto alone been manufactured. Although its full development and present perfection have been attained at the German works, it may be of historic interest to state that the first idea of using a rotating protected platform for large guns originated with Mr. Theo. Ruggles Timby, a native of the State of New York, who filed a caveat in 1843 for a " metallic revolving fort, to be used on land or water, and to be revolved by propelling engines located within the same and acting upon suitable mechanism." This was followed in 1862 by the issuance to Mr. Timby of two patents (No. 35,846 and No. 36,593) covering the ideas described in his caveat of 1843. The first practical application of this system was made on the " Monitor," of Civil War fame, Mr. Timby receiving $10,000 for two

Jan 1, 1901

By C. F. Quest

THE steel industry has a definite need in its tonnage mills for a formula relating expected tensile strength to the analysis of the steel. The McWilliam-Barnes1 and other less comprehensive formulas are used for this purpose, but these formulas were designed for an analysis range that does not include the medium manganese and silicon-bearing steels. This type of steel is being produced to meet the demand for tensile strength slightly higher than that of ordinary structural steel but not high enough to justify expensive alloy steels. The purpose of this paper is to present a somewhat more compre-hensive formula based on data accumulated over a number of years by the Inland Steel Co., and to discuss the method followed in obtaining a formula to fit the data. The resultant formula admittedly is still weak in some respects, but for the expanded analysis range appears to be an improvement over the other formulas. It is hoped that with the collec-tion of more data and possible collaboration with other mills studying this problem it will be possible to work out a more nearly perfect formula. Several publications have been issued on this subject. In some, the equation type of relation was evolved while others made a combina-tion of tables and an equation. The latter include work by Campbell2,3 and Webster.4,5 Campbell classified the steels as acid and basic and applied a different formula to each. For basic steels, he used the equation: Tensile strength = 41500 + 770C + 1000P + yMn [1] y was a variable depending on the carbon and manganese content of the steel and was listed in tables, Webster investigated acid Bessemer steel and developed the equation Tensile strength = 38000 + 800C + xP + yMn [2]

Jan 1, 1940

INTRODUCTION Great emphasis has been given throughout this text to the necessity of maintaining the integrity of mineralogical populations when operating upon sample data drawn from mixed populations. Mineral deposits rarely are completely homogeneous and often consist of many subsets separated by geological and mineralogical boundaries. Sometimes different mineral populations are difficult to distinguish, and may be inadvertently lumped together-often without serious consequences, but more often with detrimental effects upon analytical results. The geologist must accept the responsibility for recognizing and recording mineral boundaries that may include: changes in mineral suites, lithological horizons, host rock types, faulted and offset segments, zones of enrichment or depletion, and several other geological and mineralogical changes that effect mineralogical structuring and distribution within a deposit. When employing conventional methods for assigning estimated values to irregularly shaped mineral inventory blocks, it was only necessary for the geologist or engineer to con- fine the block limits to the known geologic boundaries. Thus if a fault interrupted the mineral zone, the trace of the fault could be used as a block boundary. Intelligent decisions could always be made as to which blocks to include in each mineral population. However, with the advent of the computer, which per- mits the computation of mineral inventory blocks using better mathematical estimation techniques, there now enters the "boundary problem." Unless the computer can be programmed to recognize population differences and geologic boundaries, greater estimation errors will be found in computer-generated mineral reserves rather than in less sophisticated conventional inventories. Much disillusionment has been expressed over the years by experienced mineral appraisers as a result of their study of computer-generated inventories that failed to account adequately for geologic vagaries. Many, thus disillusioned, have concluded that computer techniques are not satisfactory, or have only limited applications to simple deposits. As with all problems in the mineral industry,

Jan 1, 1980

By J. M. Hartman

ONE of the most important subjects to the blast-furnace engineer is a thorough knowledge of the conditions affecting the temperature in the different portions of the furnace. All efforts to decrease the consumption of fuel and improve the working of the furnace must be based upon it, and I may, therefore, be permitted to place before you the results of my observations, and detail the conclusions to which they have led me. Tracing the thermic conditions from below upwards we have at the bottom of a blast furnace making No. 3 iron a temperature of 2900° F., which increases slightly to a point a little below the tuyeres. In the immediate vicinity of the tuyeres the temperature is somewhat lower, owing to the entering blast ; but a short distance above the tuyeres, where all the oxygen of the blast has been converted into carbonic acid, the highest temperature in the furnace must be attained. This carbonic acid is, however, almost as soon as formed, converted by the glowing coal into carbonic oxide, a process which absorbs heat, reduces the temperature, and provides the active agent for the reduction of the iron ores. In its ascent the hot carbonic oxide gradually parts with its heat, first melting the descending iron and earthy materials, which drop down to the hearth of the furnace. The limit of this zone of fusion is rather sharply defined, and the temperature above this zone suddenly decreases. In its further ascent the hot gas drives off the carbonic acid from the limestone, which causes a further absorption of heat, and finally the gas escapes at the top, at a temperature of about 250° F. if the furnace is working well. These changes of temperature 1 have attempted to represent graphically,

Jan 1, 1880

By John Park

THE mining .district is located in the northeasterly part of Nevada, between the Jarbidge River on the west and the East Fork of the Jarbidge on the east. The northern boundary of the district is but a few miles south of the Idaho state line-the gold-bearing area extending from this point south, for 5 or 6 miles. The Jarbidge Mountains, in which the ore deposits occur, range from 5000 to 11,000 ft. in elevation, the most important mines being situated about 7000 ft. or higher. The town of Jarbidge lies along the Jarbidge River and is reached by stage from Rogerson, Ida., the nearest railroad point. During the summer months, the camp may be entered from the south by way of Deeth, Nev., but no regular transportation facilities are available over this route. HISTORY The mineral deposits were not discovered until 1909, when D. A. Bourne, panning along the river bank, found gold in the gravel at the mouth of a small stream flowing into the Jarbidge. He prospected in the vicinity of this stream, later known as Bourne Gulch, and shortly after located the North Star claims. During the following spring and summer (1910), the camp of Jarbidge grew from nothing to a town of 2000 people and the hills surrounding it were practically all taken up by mining claims. Most of the work done during. the first year or two consisted of trenching and open-cut prospecting. Tunneling was started on a number of claims and many veins were uncovered. Mills were built and operated on a few properties, notably the Pavlak and the North Star. These ran only a few months, however, when they were closed down because of extraction and financial difficulties.

Jan 1, 1925

By K. Heindlhofer

ESTIMATES of the "plasticity" of a metal are commonly deduced from three types of test-tensile, torsion and impact. The several results have been more or less at variance, though this disparity has attracted little notice, largely perhaps because they have been expressed in different terms. The discrepancy between the results of the three tests becomes obvious when each is made at a series of low temperatures, for the temperature range within which the "plasticity" of iron largely disappears proves to be very different in the three types of test. The rather abrupt disappearance of "plasticity" of iron within a narrow temperature range cannot be due to any physicochemical change (such as a precipitation) taking place in the material at that time, because the original plasticity is immediately regained when the temperature of the material is brought above the sensitive range. Accordingly this differ-ence in behavior shows that the "plasticity" of a metal depends upon the mode of action of the stresses which produce the deformation, and there-fore upon the method of test. Analysis of the stresses leads to the conclusion that the observed plasticity of a metal is determined by the relation between its resistance to rupture by separation and its resistance to shear (slip), on the one hand, and between the effective normal and shearing stresses on the other; and that the relation between the two resistances does not in general remain constant with change of temperature, and may somehow be altered to some extent by the previous treatment of the specimen. This suggests the view that the results of none of the usual mechanical tests are directly comparable even for a single metal tested at a series of tem-peratures, or for a series of metals at one temperature, because the propor-tion of the total resistance of the metal to the test contributed by the

Jan 1, 1934

By Cyril Stanley Smith

The method of thermal analysis, so important in the development of metallographie science, has of recent years been falling into disuse owing to the development of other physical methods which give result's easier of interpretation and which can be used for the study of either equilibrium or transitional conditions because they do not require a continuously changing temperature. Nevertheless thermal analysis remains useful in the study of reactions that take place rapidly, and the simplicity of the experimental technique and the general availability of the apparatus involved are point's in its favor. Theoretically, thermal analysis is capable of giving specific and latent hat measurements and therefore should permit the study of reactions on a more fundamental basis than any other method. It is, however,difficult or impossible to obtain quantitative heat measurements from cooling curves obtained in the usual way. Even if the furnace containing the sample is cooled or heated at a linear rate, or if a gradient furnaec is employed to maintain a constant rate over a large range of temperature, the heat flow from or to the specimen depends on its previous history, for the difference of temperature between the specimen and its surroundings varies. The emissivity of the specimen surface, moreover, is unlikely to be constant. The able mathematical analysis by Russrll,1 although it prevent,s misinterpretat,ion of data, has an effect rather the reverse of that intended, and leaves the reader doubtful of the possibility of ever obtaining quantitative results from thermal curves. Nothing can be done to apply thermal analysis t'o the study of equilibrium conditions of reactions that arc not completed at rates of temperature change above about 1° C;. per minute, and this unfortunatetly excludes most solid transformations in alloys.† For the determination of liquidus

Jan 1, 1940

By C. W. Tomlinson

The analyses which have been made by the writer according to the method described below were made as part of Professor Withey's investigation of the concrete aggregates1 of Wisconsin, in the hope of throwing light on the extent and nature of the influence of the mineral-ogical constitution of aggregates upon the properties of the concrete and mortar made from them. This method was found most satisfactory after four weeks of experiment and modification. It attains an accuracy quite sufficient for the purpose of the analysis, and is fairly rapid. mineralogical analyses may be thus made at a cost considerably less than that of chemical analyses of a similar degree of completeness. The results obtained by this method should not vary in any item by more than 1 per cent. of the total weight of the sample, and may be made very much better than this by the exercise of greater care in the microscopic counting (see below). The accuracy of the hand sorting is of course dependent upon the experience and carefulness of the analyst. After a month's practice, the writer was enabled to turn out these analyses at the rate of four in 33 hr. of working time. It was found most economical to handle four samples at once. The samples analyzed weighed from 290 to 340 g. each. The same method could be applied to larger or to smaller samples, within reasonable limits. The following list covers the necessary apparatus and equipment: 1 good balance capable of weighing accurately to tenths (or, better, hun- dredths) of a gram, and of handling quantities up to 200 g. in weight. 1 Westphal balance, registering densities to two or three decimal places. 1 Meker or Bunsen burner, and gas supply. 1 nest of sieves, 10, 20, 40, and 100 meshes to the inch.

Jan 1, 1916

By James Norman, E. W. Gieseke

Spodumene is a lithium-bearing pyroxene, and is an important source of lithium compounds. Because of its high alumina and lithia content, it might be a desirable constituent of glass batches. The use of spodumene in ceramics will undoubtedly increase, as it has been shown that a mixture of the proper proportions of this mineral with soda feldspar and potash feldspar has a much lower maturing temperature upon firing than has any one of the three components. The mineral spodumene seldom occurs as pure mineral, but ordinarily with feldspars, mica and quartz. All spodumene-bearing rocks tested contained these minerals as gangue. Small amounts of iron and manganese oxides also were present, usually as stains on the silicate grains. Mica associated with the spodumene carried a considerable amount of lithia. This was discovered in flotation tailings, which, although virtually free of spodumene grains when examined microscopically, showed 0.4 to 0.5 per cent Li²O on chemical analysis. The lithia content of micas picked from the North Carolina spodumene rock was variable. Some samples contained little lithia, others more than 3 per cent. In 1938, under the supervision of Oliver C. Ralston,S the Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Tennessee Mineral Products Corporation, undertook to study the beneficiation of North Carolina spodumene by froth flotation. The Bureau had previously published investigations on the beneficiation of spodumene.2,3The methods described in the second publication3 did not give good results with badly weathered spodumene rock, so that more thorough investigation of the subject was warranted. Study of Method of Flotation Separation Most of the work on concentration of spodumene was done with rock from near King's Mountain, North Carolina. Rock from two

Jan 1, 1942

By A. J. Weinig

The Liberty Bell cyanide precipitate is unique in that it is apt to vary widely in composition in the course of very short periods of time, and a method of refining and melting that would prove highly satisfactory at one cleanup would yield7almost a hopeless "mess" at a second. Table I gives a general conception of the wide range in grade and composition of those raw precipitates. It is evident that no one standard flux could be expected to produce a high-grade bullion with such a widely variable precipitate, and that any method of treatment with acid requires most careful consideration. Refining by Acids Naturally, our first efforts to improve our precipitates were directed along the lines of acid treatment. Table II embodies the results of careful sampling and analysis of one cleanup at the time when wet refining reached its maximum development at this mill. We have now discarded all methods of wet refining, successfully replacing them by a more scientific method of flux calculation described herein, but it is believed that a general description of this wet refining is warranted as it throws some interesting side lights on acid refining in general. Table I.—Range of Composition of Raw Precipitates Per Cent. Gold and silver.................................... 25.0 to 75 Zinc.............................................. 18.0to 30 Lead............................................. 0.5 to 52 Copper........................................... 0.5 to 20 Silica............................................ 1.0 to 5 Calcium oxide...................................... 4.0 to 8 Sulphur.......................................... 0.5 to 8 Column A gives the analysis of the raw precipitate; column B, that of the precipitate after heating with steam, with frequent addition of hydrochloric acid until a point was reached where the batch had a strong tend-

Jan 1, 1917