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By W. E. Keck

THERE is a considerable tonnage of iron ore in the Menominee Range Michigan that is unsalable only because it has too large a content of sulphur. Beneficiation of such ore is economically desirable, as a rela-tively large quantity of finished concentrate would be obtained (deleteri-ous sulphur mineral content being generally less than 5 per cent) and because large blocks of such ore have been developed incidentally during search for low-sulphur ore. Research on the flotation beneficiation of these high-sulphur ores consisted of: (1) a study of the flotative properties of the principal min-erals in a nearly puree state, (2) flotation of synthetic mixtures of these pure minerals and (3) application of this experimental information to samples of the ores. Gypsum in iron ores is extremely deleterious; but when sufficiently free from impurities it is a valuable commodity. In 1934, the United States produced 1,500,000 tons of calcined and uncalcined gypsum valued at $13,700,000'. Of this quantity and value, Michigan produced approxi-mately 19 per cent4. Thus this investigation may also prove to be of interest in connection with the gypsum industry if minerals separation, such as flotation, becomes necessary in the future processing of gypsum. Data on the flotative properties of gypsum would also be of interest to the science of flotation because such information has been extremely limited. The technical literature reveals one reference to the flotation of gypsum, in which was discussed the use of the mineral, with several others, to determine the relation between the floatability of minerals and the pH of the flotation solution2. This investigation necessarily was not comprehensive in regard to gypsum, but it did show that the mineral could be floated with oleic acid under varying pH conditions.

Jan 1, 1937

By Paul J. Bennett, James E. Castle

The kyanite minerals, including kyanite, silimanite, and andalusite, are anhydrous aluminum silicates with the formula Al2O3SiO2. lumortierite and topaz are also included in this group because they are closely allied in composition and thermal behavior. However, leither are mined commercially today. They ire typical metamorphic minerals which are found in metamorphic rocks on every continent. Kyanite minerals are prized chiefly for their refractoriness and are important components in a broad range of acid refractory products, especially in mortars and castables. World production of kyanite minerals is currently about 250,000 tpy and has been increasing at the rate of 3 to 8% a year for many {ears (Anon, 1972). While kyanite minerals lave widespread occurrence, the consumption of kyanite minerals is concentrated in the relatively few highly industrialized areas where refractories are manufactured, and which in turn are typically close to the major iron and steel producing regions of the world. Thus northern Europe, England, the United States, and Japan are the principal consumers of refractories and kyanite minerals. Of these countries only the U.S. is a significant producer. The largest use for domestic kyanite, both raw and calcined, is in the manufacture of refractory mortars, cements, castables, and plastic ramming mixes. In these applications kyanite constitutes from 10 to 40% of the mixture, the balance being refractory clays and coarser grog materials. A certain proportion of raw kyanite is used to offset the shrinking of the clay binder, whereas the calcined kyanite is used in the coarser sizes for body. Certain high grade refractory shapes and kiln furniture are composed chiefly of graded sizes of calcined kyanite bonded with a little ball clay. In most applications, however, kyanite is used only to fortify the mix or as a minor ingredient. Some manufacturers of mullite brick use domestic calcined kyanite for the fine-grained portion of the brick, but seldom in quantities exceeding 10% by weight. Kyanite is used by ceramic manufacturers of wall tile and sanitary ware to offset shrinkage and cracking after firing. Indian kyanite has traditionally been used to make the coarse grog sizes needed for the manufacture of mullite brick, and for the grog portions of mortar, cement, and castable mixes. It has been largely replaced, however, by synthetic mullite, high fired flint, and diaspore clay or calcined bauxite for other applications. Indian kyanite is available in lump as well as in granules and concentrates, as are sillimanite materials from India and South Africa. Andalusite is available as 8 mesh granules and as fines with chemical analyses not unlike those of domestic kyanites. From time to time and from place to place minor amounts of other aluminum silicate minerals such as dumortier- ite, topaz, and pyrophyllite have been made available at various prices and specifications, but have not been significant factors in the refractory industry. A mixture of kyanite and sillimanite of relatively fine grain-size and of low iron content was at one time offered to the molding sand industry by the Du Pont Co. as a byproduct from their deposits of heavy

Jan 1, 1975

By A. Lubinski

In drilling operations, attention generally is given to hole angles rather than to changes of angle, in spite of the fact that the latter are responsible for drilling and production troubles. The paper presents means for specifying maximum permissible changes of hole angle to insure a trouble-free hole, using a minimum amount of surveys. It is expected that the paper will result in a decrease of drilling costs, not only by avoiding troubles, but also by removing the fear of such troubles. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Excessive dog-legs result in such troubles as fatigue failures of drill pipe, fatigue failures of drill-collar connections, worn tool joints and drill pipe, key seats, grooved casing, etc. Most of these detrimental effects greatly increase with the amount of tension to which drill pipe is subjected in the dog-leg. Therefore, the closer a dog-leg is to the total anticipated depth, the greater becomes its acceptable severity. Very large collar-to-hole clearances will cause fatigue of drill-collar connections and shorten their life, even in very mild dog-legs. Another finding regarding fatiguing of collar connections in dog-legs is that rotating with the bit off bottom sometimes may be worse than drilling with the full weight of drill collars on the bit, mainly in highly inclined holes when the inclination decreases with depth in the dog-leg. Means are given for specifying maximum dog-legs compatible with trouble-free holes. An inexpensive technique proposed is to take inclinometer or directional surveys far apart; then, if an excessive dog-leg is detected in some interval, intermediate close-spaced surveys are run in this interval. The application of the findings should result in a decrease of drilling costs, not only by avoiding troubles, but mainly by removing the fear of such troubles. The result would be much more frequent drilling with heavy weights on bit, regardless of hole deviation. Because of errors inherent to their use, presently available surveys are not very suitable for detecting dog-legs. There is a need for instruments especially adapted to dog-leg surveys. Crooked hole drilling rules should fall into two distinct categories—(1) those whose purpose is to bottom the hole as desired, and (2) those whose purpose is to insure a trouble-free hole. Three kinds of first-category rules in usage today are as follows. 1. A means to bottom the hole as desired is to prevent the bottom of the hole from being horizontally too far from the surface location; this may be achieved by keeping the hole inclination below some maximum permissible value such as, for instance, 5. 2. Another means to achieve the same goal is to limit the rate at which the inclination is allowed to increase with depth. A frequently used rate is 1/1,000 ft. In other words, a maximum deviation of l° is allowed at 1,000 ft, 2 at 2,000 ft, 3 at 3,000 ft, etc. 3. Whenever application of the first two means precludes carrying the full weight on bit required for most economical drilling, then the best course is to take advantage of the natural tendency of the hole to drift updip, displace the surface location accordingly and impose a target area within which the hole should be bottomed. This method has already been successfully applied,'.' and its usage probably will become more frequent in the future. Means for calculating the amount of necessary surface location displacement are avail-able.3'5'6 If in high-dip formations the full weight on bit should result in unreasonably great deviations, the situation could be remedied by increasing the size of collars and (if needed) the size of both hole and collars,351 or in some cases by using several stabilizers. Rules which would fall into the second category (i.e., rules whose purpose is to insure a trouble-free hole) are seldom specified today. It is vaguely believed that following Rules 1 and 2 of the first category will automatically prevent troubles. Actually, this is not true. If at some depth the only specified rule is that the hole inclination must be less than 4", the hole may be lost if the deviation suddenly drops from 4 to 2, or if the direction of the drift changes, etc. Rule 3 of the first category is generally used in conjunction with a rule belonging to the second category, namely, that the hole curvature' (dog-leg severity) must not exceed the arbitrarily chosen value of 1½ /100 ft. Moreover, when using this rule, the industry is not clear over what depth intervals the hole curvature should be measured. All this results in a frequent fear

By R. P. O’Shea

AS part of a program to investigate phase relationships in ternary systems containing semiconducting elements and compounds, an X-ray survey of alloys in the system Pb-Te-Bi was carried out which revealed that the pair PbTe-Bi probably formed a quasibinary system. This portion of the ternary was examined fully by thermal analysis, X-ray, and microscopic procedures. More than twenty-five alloys were made by melting together the proper combinations of the elements in quartz tubes at a temperature of 1000o C. The compositions which were high in PbTe content were prepared in evacuated, sealed, quartz tubes, allowed to freeze in vacuum, and then transferred to Crucibles for thermal analysis. The bismuth-rich alloys were made directly in the crucibles under a protective gas cover. The starting elements were obtained from the American Smelting and Refining Co. and had a purity greater than 99.99 pct. Cooling curves were made with about 50 g of alloy in graphite crucibles which were placed in a covered quartz container in which a protective atmosphere of helium or nitrogen was maintained. The thermocouple protection tube was made of mul-lite and served as a stirring rod when connected to a reciprocating stirring motor. Temperatures were

Jan 1, 1962

By A. A. Rauth

In this paper, the author derives a series of formulas from basic principles and illustrates the application of these formulas to practical grinding charge problems. The paper establishes the nearly proportional relationship of mill power to charge level and shows how this relationship can be used to advantage in the design, manufacture and operation of grinding mills. The procedures outlined offer a rapid means of anticipating the power requirements for a given charge or determining makeup charges for a given power reading. The theories which have been developed concerning the dynamics of grinding have been motivated largely by the desire to derive workable formulas for the accurate determination of grinding mill power. This accurate determination has always been handicapped by the large number of variables to be considered, some of which are mill diameter, length, speed, liner design, grinding charge and material density, volumetric mill loading, internal friction, and charge size and gradation. In efforts to determine mill power, attempts have been made to utilize torque concepts. The formulas derived consider the grinding mass as a rigid body and utilize factors that are based on empirical data so that the movement of the charge within the mill is compensated for. These formulas are of principal interest to the mill designer since he is charged with the responsibility of analyzing all of the variables and from them predicting a mill size and a motor size which are compatible both with each other and with the grinding job for which they were intended. The mill operator, on the other hand, has an entirely different problem. The mill dimensions are already established and so is the driving motor. The operator's main concern is to obtain maximum performance from the mill he already has. For him, the many variables which perplex the mill designer are fixed values. Mill diameter, length and speed are set and, to a large extent, so are the conditions inside the mill from which the torque formula advocates derive their empirical data. It is conceivable that if the major mill dimensions which affect power demand are held constant, and if the variables influencing empirical factors are held fairly constant, as they are in an operating mill, then the only major variable remaining which affects power is the level of the charge itself. Under this condition.

Jan 1, 1970

By L. L. Swift

.It the present time there are four base metals being used for automo-tive bearing alloys. Of course there are numerous variations in the amounts of alloying elements added to each base metal and nearly all of these alloys have the conventional, if not classical, duplex structure; that is, they are composed of a hard constituent embedded in a soft matrix. The well-known theory is that the former will wear well, while the latter will be plastic enough to allow the bearing to be broken in and conform to the contours of the shaft. The requirements of the modern bearing have been most aptly described by W. M. Corse: In order to meet the engineering demands of today a good bearing metal must be able to carry the weight of the shaft and stand up under steady or suddenly applied loads, or even blows ill sorne types of service. A certain amount of plasticity is desired to compensate for minute irregularities in the shaft or bearing surface, and to permit yielding, thereby avoiding dangerous stresses in bearing and shaft and pre-venting overheating and rapid wear of parts. Less plasticity is required in a bearing tuetal if the surfaces of bearings and journals are machined accurately, aligned, and kept in alignment. It is desirable, of course, that a bearing metal have a low coeffi-cicnt of friction. Under most operating conditions the friction depends on the unit, pressure of the bcaring, the speed, the temperature, and the properties of the lubricant. A good bearing metal must have a low rate of wear to reduce the necessity for frequent replacements, and adjustment of the bearings. It must wear more rapidly, however, than the journal or shaft running on it, because replacement of the journal or shaft is more difficult and costly than replacement of the bearing.' The hardness of the bearing alloy is a property closely related to several of the foregoing. With a duplex microstructure, the measurement of hardness with any of the usual commercial devices means little. The Bierbaum method of measuring the hardness of the individual canstituents was developed to fill this need. MICROCHARACTER The Bierbaum MicroCharacter~,~ measures the scratch-hardness of a solid by pulling a weighted diamond point over the surface. The diamond point is ground so that it is the corner of a cube, and Mounted

Jan 1, 1939

By L. L. Swift

.It the present time there are four base metals being used for automo-tive bearing alloys. Of course there are numerous variations in the amounts of alloying elements added to each base metal and nearly all of these alloys have the conventional, if not classical, duplex structure; that is, they are composed of a hard constituent embedded in a soft matrix. The well-known theory is that the former will wear well, while the latter will be plastic enough to allow the bearing to be broken in and conform to the contours of the shaft. The requirements of the modern bearing have been most aptly described by W. M. Corse: In order to meet the engineering demands of today a good bearing metal must be able to carry the weight of the shaft and stand up under steady or suddenly applied loads, or even blows ill sorne types of service. A certain amount of plasticity is desired to compensate for minute irregularities in the shaft or bearing surface, and to permit yielding, thereby avoiding dangerous stresses in bearing and shaft and pre-venting overheating and rapid wear of parts. Less plasticity is required in a bearing tuetal if the surfaces of bearings and journals are machined accurately, aligned, and kept in alignment. It is desirable, of course, that a bearing metal have a low coeffi-cicnt of friction. Under most operating conditions the friction depends on the unit, pressure of the bcaring, the speed, the temperature, and the properties of the lubricant. A good bearing metal must have a low rate of wear to reduce the necessity for frequent replacements, and adjustment of the bearings. It must wear more rapidly, however, than the journal or shaft running on it, because replacement of the journal or shaft is more difficult and costly than replacement of the bearing.' The hardness of the bearing alloy is a property closely related to several of the foregoing. With a duplex microstructure, the measurement of hardness with any of the usual commercial devices means little. The Bierbaum method of measuring the hardness of the individual canstituents was developed to fill this need. MICROCHARACTER The Bierbaum MicroCharacter~,~ measures the scratch-hardness of a solid by pulling a weighted diamond point over the surface. The diamond point is ground so that it is the corner of a cube, and Mounted

Jan 1, 1939

By Nicholas J. Grant, Bill C. Giessen

The phase diagram Ta-Ni has been treated repeatedly; investigations up to 1958 are summed up in Ref. 1. Since then, an equilibrium diagram has been presented by Kornilov and Pylaeva.2 They found the following intermediate phases: Ta2N; (CuA12 type),3 "TaNi" (p phase, Mo8Co7 type), TaNiz, and TaNi3 (Ticus type).5 Of these, the crystal structure of TaNin remained unknown, and no further literature reference was found. According to Kornilov and pylaeva,&apos; TaNil melts peri-tectically at 1420°C. A 5-g alloy of Ta + 66.7 at. pct Ni was prepared by inert-gas arc melting using 99.95 pct Ta rod (NRC-MG) and 99.9 pct Ni shot (Fisher). The weight loss after three melts was <2 mg; a microscopically homogeneous ingot resulted. As shown in Ref. 6, no oxygen or impurity pickup needed to be considered under these conditions. Specimens were annealed for 15 hr at 1350°C, 15 hr at 1205oC, and 15 hr at 875°C with subsequent powdering and stress relief for 10 min at 1350°C, 15 min at 1205oC, and 1 hr at 875oC, respectively. Micrographs and X-ray analysis (114.6 mm Norelco camera, filtered CuK, radiation) showed homogeneous one-phase alloys in the as-cast state and at all three temperatures, all having the same powder pattern except for broad lines in the as-cast state. From this it is concluded that either TaNi, melts congruently or its melting behavior is a transition between the eutectic and peritectic cases. Since it was found that very slight surface contamination on stress relieving can considerably alter the structure of similar phases (e.g.,TaPt3),7 patterns before and after stress relief were also compared; they were identical except for line broadening in the non-stressrelieved condition, and two faint impurity lines in the stress-relieved samples. The powder pattern is presented in Table I. All lines were accounted for by indexing with a tetragonal lattice, 0Yh- I4/mmm , with a, = 3.154 ± 0.001A, co = 7.905 * 0.002i and c/a = 2.506. The atomic positions are: 1000; 1/2, 1/2, 1/2] + 2Ta(a): 000; + 4Ni(e): *(002); z = 0.333 * 0.002 This proves TaNi2 to be a representative of the MoSiz (Cllb) type. The variable parameter was determined by grouping the visually estimated intensi- ties according to their 2 indices, plotting their F values, and varying z for best fit, which was obtained at z = 0.333= 1/3. Since absorption was not considered, only the relative intensities with similar 28 can be expected to agree. The interatomic distances are presented in Table 11; the standard error is *o.o2A, resulting chiefly from the uncertainty in z. These distances indicate a coordination number 10 for both kinds of atoms and show that the pseudohexagonal layers along (110) are rather un-distorted. The mean atomic volume of 13.1A3 is close to the Vegard&apos;s law value of 13.3A3, showing

Jan 1, 1964

By D. L. Johnson

Only general treatment of a subject of such scope can be given in a short paper, therefore, except in a few instances, statistics and descriptions of specific installations are omitted. The earlier applications of electricity to the production of petroleum in the Mid-Continent field were widely separated chonologically, each holding a special interest, and each contributing greatly to the present development. Electric Pumping One of the first installations of electric pumping was on a lease near Jenks, Okla., in the Arkansas River bed, where a difficult problem was solved by the use of motors. The Arkansas River had frequent flood periods which interfered seriously with the use of jacks and pull rods. Small piers were built with old casing used as piling, and upon these were set small jacks driven by 3-hp. squirrel-cage motors. The starting switches were located on a bank and the power was furnished by a small generator, which was driven by an oil country gas engine. This installation was made in 1913 and is, I believe, still in satisfactory operation. In 1914, the Cushing field came in and the Hill Oil & Gas Co. electrified its Shamrock property, using eight-pole Star Delta motors, rated at 10 to 30 hp. and belted through countershafts to the band wheel. Power was furnished by a small generating plant consisting of two 135-kw. machines, gas-engine driven. Considerable difficulty was experienced in the early operation of this station because of low voltage. It is characteristic of small alternating-current generators that voltage regulation will be poor with widely fluctuating loads. This field had three producing sands, and a number of wells were redrilled with the motors, and this, together with a great deal of swabbing, was responsible for the bad load conditions. However, when the wells had settled down to steady operation, the electric equipment functioned satisfactorily, and continued in use as installed until a few years ago when the present owners contracted for service from a central-station company and shut

Jan 1, 1928

By G. E. Pralle

INTRODUCTION The decade from 1969 to 1979 saw the crest of a wave of investments by companies and investors, primarily from the major industrial nations, in the metals and minerals industries of the so-called lesser developed countries. This was brought about by two major considerations: 1). The higher ore grades and therefore the higher profit potential of the mineral deposits in the third world countries, and 2). The desire, particularly by the European countries and by Japan, to ensure a safe supply of raw materials not available in their own countries. The decade began with the start of the Toquepala mine in Peru and the major investments in the Bougainville mine in Papua New Guinea and the Ertsberg mine in Indonesia. It ended with the start-up of Southern Peru Copper Company (SPCC) Cuajone mine in Peru and Inco&apos;s Soroako mine in Indonesia and the investments in several major alumina or aluminum projects in Australia and Brazil. Concurrent with this huge flow of funds into the mineral resources industry of the developing world was the build-up of a psychological fear in the host countries of exploitation/domination by the foreign investors. This resulted in an increasing trend towards: 1). Nationalization of existing mineral ventures, and 2). Tougher legal/fiscal frameworks for new ones. NATIONALIZATION Nationalization appeared in its earliest form as "Mexicanization" of the petroleum industry in Mexico in the 1930&apos;s, followed later by Mexicanization of the mining industry in general. This was enacted with the Mexican Mining Law of 1961 which required that 51% of the equity be owned by Mexican nationals. Later in the decade the equity share for foreign investors was reduced to 33 1/3% for the developers of the Frasch sulphur operations in the Isthumus of Tehuantepec. However, the law was not fully implemented in the copper industry until late 1970 with the purchase of 51% of the ownership in the Cananea Mining Company. The trend toward nationalization of the copper industry progressed to Chile where in 1967 under the Government of Eduardo Frei the major North American copper companies were induced to sell a one-half interest in their Chilean mines to the State. Likewise, in 1970, "Zambianization" took place, when the two major operating companies Roan Selection Trust (Amax) and Zamanglo (Anglo American) were restructured into Roan Consolidated Mines (RCM) and Nchanga Consolidated Mines (NCCM) providing the government with 51% of the equity ownership. Whilst the earlier forms of nationalization in general constituted a fairly priced buy-out (El Teniente, Chile for US$80 million, RCM for US$117.8 million, NCCM for US$178.7 million), the total nationalization of the Chilean mining companies in 1970 under Salvador Allende did not. Later, "Western" countries joined this trend and on October 29, 1973, Mr. Gough Whitlam proclaimed that "overseas capital must continue... in partnership with Australian capital" and "in some special energy cases we have an objective of 100% Australian ownership". In 1974 Mr. Pierre Trudeau stated: "The Liberal Party of Canada sets as an objective that new resources projects in the natural resource field should have at least 50% and preferably 60% Canadian equity ownership". FOREIGN INVESTMENT The situation for the foreign investor in the worldwide resource industry rapidly deteriorated from then on. New features appeared in mineral exploitation and operating agreements, centering not only on local government/local companies ownership but also on increased taxation. The new tax rate (mineral tax, royalty, and income tax) for the semi-government companies NCCM and RCM in Zambia became an effective 73%. Likewise the much publicized and discussed renegotiated Bougainville agreement brought dramatic increases in the total "take" by the PNG Government. More innovative forms of indirect taxation made their appearance and were added to the normal tax burdens of the mineral industry which already

Jan 1, 1985

The 27th Regiment of Engineers was organized in the Army not long ago for special mining service at the front (or, we might even say, in advance of the front). In military engineering in warfare, the "sappers and miners" are one of the ancient branches of the corps of engineers; but in modern warfare the importance of this service has been greatly magnified. The 27th Engineers is a. special mining regiment, which is being recruited from mining engineers and miners from all districts of the country, already containing representatives from all the mining states between Arizona and Montana and from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast. Those of us who cannot go to the front should not-be content to tell the young fellows to go, and then forget them. We want the men of the 27th Engineers to know that they represent our industry and their industry; and that the industry is going to think about them and back them up. Expressing the above views, the Engineering and. Mining Journal instituted a fund for the aid of the 27th Engineers. It has already raised a considerable sum of money, and contributions are coming in fast; but there is no limit to what is wanted. This money is being spent in providing the regiment with athletic equipment, both outdoor and indoor; with games for the barracks; with cigarettes and smoking tobacco; with contributions to the funds of the several companies that the men raise among themselves. It is contemplated, moreover, that there will be need to extend aid and comfort to some of the families whom the men have left behind. Contributions of books, sweaters and other knitted articles are also being received.

Jan 3, 1918

By Denis G. Maxwell

INTRODUCTION It is my intention in this paper to deal with gold, uranium, diamonds, platinum, manganese, chrome, vanadium and heavy mineral sands. These are the most important strategic minerals produced by the Republic of South Africa which are not covered in other sessions of this program. In each case I have high- lighted the statistics and peculiar advantages which combine to make South Africa a vital source of these minerals. Before proceeding to give individual attention to these minerals I believe it would be useful to define what I mean by &apos;strategic&apos;. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines strategic in the context of materials as &apos;essential for war&apos;. However it is commonly used in a much broader sense than this (often, in fact, very loosely) and I prefer to define it as &apos;concerned with the acquisition and maintenance of power, whether economic, political or military.&apos; A VITAL SOURCE In dealing with the individual minerals I have quoted statistics which are contained in Tables 1, 2 and 3. Table 1 clearly shows the absolute size of the South African mineral industry. However, it can also be used to demonstrate the importance of the industry to the South African economy if compared with the GNP in 1980 of about R60 billion. Table 4 illustrates clearly how important South Africa is as a supplier of these minerals to most of the important industrialized countries of the Western World. Gold If anyone had any doubts about the inclusion of gold in a list of strategic minerals I am sure that the above definition of &apos;strategic&apos; will convince them that it certainly belongs there. Similarly no one is likely to have any doubt about the fact that South Africa is a vital source of supply. Tables 2 and 3 show that in 1980 we had 51% of the world&apos;s reserves and accounted for 55% of world production. The figures for the Western World are considerably higher. The only other major producer, of course, is Russia, with small but significant production in the Pacific Rim area coming from Australia, Canada, Latin America, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and the U.S. All South African mine gold production is shipped in bullion form containing about 88% gold and 9% silver to the Rand Refinery which is a modern refinery with large scale units capable of refining half a ton of bullion at a time. The Refinery is equipped to produce standard &apos;good delivery&apos; gold as well as 9999 gold and 999 silver. The Refinery also produces the 22 karat blanks which are, used by the South African Mint to produce Kruger Rands. It goes without saying that the South African gold mining industry leads the world in all aspects of deep-level, narrow-reef mining technology. The industry&apos;s metallurgists, too, have a record of tenacious and continuing efforts to improve extraction to the level of the present finely honed efficient process used on all the modern mines. Uranium In 1980 South Africa had 14% of the uranium reserves of the Western World and accounted for 14% of production. In view of the paucity of data I am not in a position to estimate figures for the total world. All the other major sources of uranium in the Western World are situated around the Pacific Rim, with the U.S. and Canada already being major suppliers and accounting for 38% and 17% of Western World production in 1980. Australian production at the time was small but they have very large reserves and production is already rising rapidly. The U.S., Canada and Australia account respectively for 22%, 19% and 29% of the uranium reserves of the Western World. South Africa has been a major producer continuously for 30 years. Nearly all the uranium produced, amounting to about 115 000 tons up to the end of 1981, was a by-product or co-product of gold extraction. During that time the industry has frequently led the world in technological innovation, and has established a reputation as a reliable producer of a consistent, high-grade product. In the latter respect, it is helped by the fact that production is marketed by one company, Nuclear Fuels Corporation, which also blends, dries and calcines the product from the individual mines and samples and assays it before shipping. Diamonds Diamonds are the rock on which the South African mineral industry is founded. The discovery of diamonds in 1866 gave rise to the first major mineral industry in the country and the profits from diamond mining helped to finance the gold mining industry 20 years later. Although now overshadowed by gold, diamonds are still very important in the overall picture of mineral production and exports, as can be seen in Table 1. There are really three separate diamond markets - gem, natural industrial, and synthetic - and, to be meaningful, statistics should be provided separately. Unfortunately separate figures are not available. The figures in Tables 2 and 3 show that, for gem and natural industrial together, South Africa ranks third in the world in production and second in reserves. South Africa is a major producer of synthetics and probably ranks second in the world after the U.S. Recently, of course, Australia was the scene of a major diamond discovery and will soon become the only

Jan 1, 1982

By L. S. Panyity

The question of natural-gas supply is receiving careful consideration in many parts of the country, as in the winter months it is quite a problem to have on hand sufficient gas to satisfy the demand. Increasing the output of wells by the application of vacuum has been tried with various results and large companies have attempted to keep up the supply with gas compressors. The possibility of storing natural gas in the sands of exhausted gas pools has been tried in a few instances with satisfactory results. This method may prove of practical value in solving the problem, especially in the case of towns that formerly obtained gas from their immediate vicinity, but now must search for new pools. Town Plant Regulator High Pressure Line Exhausted Gas Field used for Storage Producing Gas Field FIG. 1. In all cases, only part of the available supply is utilized during the warns weather, so that many wells are shut-in, yet during the winter months, the supply is not sufficient even with all the wells on the line; in such cases it would be of great value if a large volume of stored gas were on hand, obtained through wells that would have been standing idle during the summer.

Jan 1, 1919

By C. Elbaum

If a thin layer of liquid gallium is spread on a surface of solid aluminum, the gallium penetrates high-angle grain boundaries at a very rapid rate and separation along these boundaries follows. An experiment was carried out to investigate this phenomenon. A well-annealed specimen of aluminum 99.994 pct pure, consisting of several large grains was used, Fig. 1. The dimensions of the sample were 25 mm wide by 2.5 mm thick and all the grain boundaries extended through the entire thickness of the plate. This sample was prepared by strain-annealing and, as can be seen in Fig. 1, contained one long, straight boundary. An examination of the crystal orientations showed this boundary to be a coherent twin boundary. The angular misorientations between the grains forming the other boundaries were all in excess of 20 deg. A thin layer of liquid gallium was spread on one side of the specimen at about 30°C (the melting point of gallium is 29.7"C). After the application of the liquid the temperature was lowered to about 27°C. The gallium remained liquid at this temperature and it can be seen from the A1-Ga phase diagram1 that the liquid was probably saturated with aluminum.

Jan 1, 1960

By Peter J. Conroy, Lewis V. Wade

Old Ben Coal Co. successfully completed the fit longwall panel in Illinois. The panel was mined wing shield supports and was part of a cooperative agreement with the US Bureau of Mines. This paper describes the rock mechanics studies which were performed to monitor: the performance of the supports, the stress changes in the coal and floor, convergence in entries, and caving mechanism of the roof. From this study, maximum support loads were obtained as well as the stress distribution in the panel, floor and adjacent pillars.

Jan 1, 1981

By Bernard Greifer, Walter Rose

The purpose of this note is to call attention to a source of difficulty which can be responsible for inaccurate estimates of wetting liquid pressure gradients in mixture flow experiments of the Hassler1 type. It has been our experience occasionally to observe what were indicated to be negative pressure gradients, and these were regarded as anomalous in the sense that physically they seemed to contradict the requirement that the flux be in the direction of the potential field. At first it was thought that our scheme of assembling barriers and core sample led to such asymmetry in the distribution of isobars that the manometric leads at each end of the core were responding to internal pressures (within the core sample) which could be either positive or negative with respect to each other, and which in fact might tend to reflect on different effective core lengths in an unpredictable fashion as the wetting liquid saturation was changed. However, no compelling evidence of this possibility has been established. In addition, we were cognizant of the requirements to be satisfied in selecting manometric instrumentation to minimize the delay in response of the manometer to the differential pressures being measured, and were thus assured that our observations of anomalous pressure gradients could not be explained by faulty instrumentation. What we suggest is that if a leak sink occurs in the fluid lines connecting the core to either side of the differential manometer, errors exceeding 100 per cent may result in the estimation of wetting liquid pressure gradient, even though the leak is of such small magnitude that its existence would tend to be obscured by evaporation effects. This is because in a system with leaks at the specified places, the manometer rec- ords at steady state the pressure drop across the manometer barrier elements in addition to the pressure drop across the core sample. This possibility will be illustrated below analytically and by numerical example for the special case where the leak occurs on the high presure side of the core, since we are especially desirous to explain the significance of our observations of the so-called negative pressure gradients. It will be indicated, however, that leak sinks on the low pressure side of the core can account for observations of anomalously high values of pressure gradient, and that multiple leaks on both sides of the core can provide for some compensation so that the errors in pressure estimation are reduced. However, the major point to be emphasized is the fact that the impractical-ity of detecting the small leak sinks which give rise to the difficulties makes it a complicated task for the experimenter in a particular case to know with certainty that his estimation of pressure gradient lies within the limits of error which can be tolerated. Fig. 1 shows the electrical analog of the flow system we have employed in our studies. The inflow and outflow barriers. Rbl and Rb2, the manometer barriers, Rm1, and Rm2, and the core sample, Rc— for a particular fluid saturation and distribution— are all designated as resistance elements; the flowmeter is designated by an ammeter, A; the pressure source is designated by E; and the manometric device is designated by the voltmeter, V. Included in the circuit are the variable resistances, Rx and Ry, which may be regarded as the leak sinks, and which, in general, can vary in magnitude from zero (i.e., a large hole or shunt in the system) to infinity (i.e., no

Jan 1, 1950

By Edward H. Robie

In late November and early December a considerable portion of our time was devoted to obtaining a business manager for Institute headquarters. The advisability of creating such a position was suggested in 1949 in the report of the Johnson committee. In that year, however, the Institute had a deficit of $72,000 so every effort was made to minimize expense. At that time most of the duties that normally would be assumed by a business manager were given to Newell Appleton who became office manager, convention manager, purchasing agent, and assistant to the secretary. So many responsibilities were his that he could not devote the necessary time to all of the many things that needed attention. H. H. Vasoll, representing a firm that made a study of Institute head office procedures early last fall, made a recommendation that "a business manager and controller from outside the present organization" be obtained, who would supervise the work of accounting, addressograph, purchasing, book and journal orders, filing, and mailing depts. He further recommended that Mr. Appleton be made administrative secretary, in which position he would act as head of an "Institute Activities Dept." He would devote his time to convention planning, meeting arrangements, travel accommodations, membership control and promotion, and public relations, and would assist the Secretary on special problems. Thus, Mr. Appleton retains some of his former responsibilities and will take more of the load off our shoulders in the conduct of affairs at Institute headquarters. The rest of his former work will be in the province of the newly created "Business Office Dept." Peter J. Apol is the man finally selected for the post of business manager. He is a young man of 32, a native Michigander and a graduate of the University of Michigan where he received a B.S. degree in business administration in 1940. He then spent three years in the Navy and has the rank of Lieutenant in the U. S. Naval Reserve. Three more years were spent in the U. S. Maritime Service as chief purser, and another year as chief paymaster for the Pope & Talbot Steamship Co. The past four years have been spent as head of the Greenland Construction Co., Greenland, N. H., chiefly engaged in building construction. Mr. Apol will endeavor to increase the efficiency of Institute headquarters operations and remove all possible causes for complaints of individual members. He will coordinate as seems advisable the work of various departments and install such modern business office machinery as seems applicable to our needs.

Jan 1, 1952

By Frederic P. Dewey

At the Seventh International Congress of Applied Chemistry I presented a paper,&apos; The Assay and Valuation of Gold-Bullion, in which are briefly mentioned a few illustrations of different methods of sampling gold-bullion, particularly cyanide-bars. Since then I have carried on an extensive investigation upon the sampling of gold-bullion in relation to its effects upon the assay-results, in connection with the statement of accounts between the smaller assay-offices of the United States which purchase gold-bullion and the mints where the purchases are re-deposited. Under the name of gold-bullion are included metals of widely different composition. We may have practically pure metal, 999.75 fine or even more in gold; alloys of .gold and silver with only trifling amounts of base metal; alloys of gold and copper with trifling amounts of other metals; ternary alloys of gold, silver, and copper, or gold, silver, and lead; and most complex alloys of from five to eight or more constituents of ordinary occurrence, besides some of the rarer metals occasi&apos;onally. In any one or all of these classes we may have one or more of the metalloids, which may add to our difficulties. Of course, with metal 999.75 fine in gold there is only slight opportunity for different samples to differ in fineness, but on such fine metal we expect the assays to agree very closely, and the sampling must be done with the utmost care. When possible, dip- or granulation-samples of the molten metal should be taken; but when it is necessary to sample bars, the chief point to guard against is surface-dirt.

Jan 1, 1913

By L. C. Morganroth

CARBONIFEROUS CLAYS FROM a geological standpoint, but scant attention has been paid to fire-clay beds. Only within the last few years have they been the subject of individual investigation, prior to this time having been considered only in their relation to coal seams. While the relative importance of coal and fire clay is still immeasurably in favor of coal, yet an industry as large as that of fire clay is entitled to a measure of attention. A discussion of the Carboniferous clays is practically a discussion of the clay beds in the Appalachian basin, since more than 90 per cent. of these clays mined are from this region. The clays are confined to the northern end of the basin, or the States of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland and West Virginia, ranking in importance about in the order named. The clay deposits of the Carboniferous period have been divided into two classes; those found in the Pottsville conglomerate series of rocks, and all those that are found in the formations above, for the reason that the clay beds above the Pottsville series all resemble each other in properties, composition and appearance, and all are distinctly different from the bed found in the Pottsville formation. The bed of clay found in the latter formation is unique in that flint clay is practically restricted to it. (A variety of flint clay is occasionally found in these upper deposits but this is in such small amounts as to be negligible.) Carboniferous clays occur between stratified rocks; sandstones, limestones, etc., in the same manner as coal veins. They are often accompanied by a coal vein although where the clay is of a workable thickness the coal is generally too thin to work. The clay beds are sometimes known by the name of the coal seam at which horizon they occur. Clay beds may be from a few inches up to 20 ft. in thickness. They may consist of all soft clay all flint or both soft and flint.

Jan 2, 1916

By F. Newton Parks

SOUND management organization is as essential to a mining operation as sound mining practices, exploration methods, concentration processes, or marketing methods. In fact, if a mining company is well organized, with the right people in the right management positions, it can be reasonably assured of the adequacy of its operating practices. Management problems in mining are unique, but certain principles of organization are universal. These principles should be used as ground rules in mining as they are in other industries.

Jan 5, 1958