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By P. Sanchez-Mejorada

GEOLOGISTS who are acquainted with the mines of northeastern Mexico realize that the most important lead-silver replacement deposits of the province are confined to a single formation. But since the formation is several hundred meters thick, the author has determined the relative position of the lead mantos in the belief that this information will prove useful in the search for new mines. This article describes the stratigraphic location of lead-silver replacement deposits known in several mines situated in a region comprising part of the states of Coahuila and Nuevo Leon. The area studied extends for 200 km* (125 miles) from east to west and 70 km (45 miles) north to south. Metallogenic Province: The most important metallic deposits of the region have the following common characteristics: 1) The orebodies occur as manto replacements of calcareous sediments. 2) The horizons that have contributed large tonnages of ore are in similar positions in the corresponding stratigraphic columns (as it will be shown later on). 3) Lead is the most important metal in the ores. Silver is commonly present in small amounts. Occurrence of zinc is dependent on the degree of oxidation of the primary sulfides. 4) A large proportion of the total production has been in the form of oxidized ores. 5) The deposits are located on anticlines. Rocks of Cretaceous age crop out over large areas of the states of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila. forming part of a belt that extends to the south along the eastern Sierra Madre. The sediments are cut by a small number of intrusive stocks ranging in characteristics from rhyolite to diorite. The most prominent structural feature of the region is a series of folds trending northwest-southeast. Faulting is not conspicuous in the region, although a major fault zone is found farther East.' The physiography closely reflects structural features, with mountains formed by anticlines and valleys conforming with intermediate synclines. Narrow valleys have also been developed along the axes of many anticlines, where solution of limy sedi- ments and erosion have proceeded along axial tension fractures. Stratigraphy: Rocks of the Upper Cretaceous are exposed in only a small percentage of the total area. Generally they have been eroded away from the mountains and are covered by recent talus and alluvium in the valleys. Humphrey' has published an excellent paper describing the Cretaceous formations of the Sierra de los Muertos, a short distance west of Monterrey. A brief summary of these formations is given below to convey an overall picture of the stratigraphic sequence that prevails just south of the area under consideration. Upper Cretaceous Indidura: Essentially thin shaly sediments. Cuesta del Cura: Limestone in thin wavy beds

Jan 1, 1959

By W. Joseph Schlitt

The characteristics of successful heap and dump leach operations are first reviewed in a general sense. Then attention is focussed on solution management as the key operating parameter in leaching. The first part of this study includes a detailed conceptual analysis of fluid flow. This identifies the relationships between the flow parameters and the chemical and physical properties of the rock. Then these relationships are extended to practical systems in order to establish optimum application rates and solution distribution methods for heaps and dumps. The study shows that there is a maximum effective application rate, qmax, that can be used without causing solution short circuiting. This rate is a function of the minimum permeability in the heap or dump. The expression for qmax is qmax (gal/ft2/hr)[~]0.9 k (darcies). Here k is the appropriate permeability coefficient. Using this equation, qmax is found to be on the order of 1 gal/ft2/hr (4 cm/hr) for a typical heap or dump leach operation.

Jan 1, 1984

By Fred Bond

WHEN some materials are ground dry in a ball mill, a stage of comminution is reached at which the finely divided particles begin to adhere to the balls and to the mill lining. As grinding progresses, a coating accumulates upon the grinding media, which tends to cushion the impacts and thus retard reduction of the material, and finally becomes so thick that all grinding ceases. At this stage, the characteristic noise produced by the grinding media dur-ing normal mill operation changes to a dull, muffled sound. In most instances, the formation of the coating marks the practical limit of size reduction. Industrial requirements for fine grinding frequently meet with this obstacle, and the tendency in many com-mercial operations to grind materials to a higher degree of fineness than formerly makes the solution of this problem an im-portant one. The phenomenon is of far greater importance, therefore, than the limited amount of research and technical discussion devoted to it implies. In order to learn more about the coating of different materials when ground dry to a high degree of fineness, certain labora-tory tests were made from which it was found that different materials form coat-ings at widely different size distributions. It is probable that most materials will coat if they are ground fine enough; the exceptions have inherent lubricating qual-ities, like coal and graphite.

Jan 1, 1940

By Alan D. Hoagland

The Flat Gap mine, are important zinc deposit of the Appalachian type, is located in the Copper Ridge Belt in the Valley of Tennessee approximately 30 miles northeast of the Mascot-Jefferson City zinc district (Fig. 1). The ore is found in large stratigraphically linked deposits in solution and collapse breccias of the Kingsport, Longview and, to a minor extent, Mascot formations of Lower Ordovician age. The principal ore mineral is sphalerite and the principal gangue minerals are dolonmite and accessory pyrite. There is local minor galena and very rare barite and fluorite.

Jan 10, 1962

By AIME AIME

FRANK T. SISCO is a native of Lawrence, Kansas. He received his earlier education in Clinton, Iowa and his university training at the University of Illinois. His experience in the steel industry has included service in the chemical, testing, and metallurgical departments of the Illinois Steel Co., of South Chicago; the Hess Steel Corp., of Baltimore; the IJ. S. Naval Ordnance Plant at Charleston, W. Va.; and the American Steel and Wire Co., Waukegan, Ill. He severed for seven years as chief of the metallurgical laboratories of the U. S. Army Air Corps at Wright Field, Dayton, before coming to New York in 1930 to become metallurgist and editor of the Alloys of Iron Research, the position he now holds.

Jan 1, 1940

By D. W. Fuerstenau

On page 1243, column 1, the first line of the author's reply should read "D. W. Fuerstenau (author's reply)---," rather than D. E., as printed. In the sentence immediately preceding the first equation (page 1243, column 2)' the word "none" was omitted. The sentence should read: "However, if enough ore is put into the mill [so] that none of the energy put into the mill is wasted on metal-to-metal impact, then the product should have size modulus determined by the relation: ..."

Jan 1, 1961

By C. S. Yust, C. S. Morgan

ThIS note reports the observation of masses of dislocation etch pits around the weld necks of small single-crystal particles of calcium fluoride sintered to a cleaved face of a larger CaFz crystal. Crystal particles in the -50 +I00 mesh size range were placed on freshly cleaved CaFz surfaces and heated at 1250°C for 30 min in a tantalum container in an argon atmosphere. The sintered specimens were then etched at room temperature for 40 to 50 min in a 2 pct sulfamic acid solution which is a selective etch for dislocations in caF2.' Figs. 1 through 3 show the masses of dislocation etch pits observed around weld necks after etching. In some cases, particles were gone after removal of the specimens from the furnace although weld necks were readily visible. In other instances, no etch pits formed around a weld neck. A possible cause of concentrations of dislocations on the crystal surface is mechanical deformation of the base crystal when particles are dropped on it. If such a deformation does occur, it would be much smaller than that caused by the light punching of a crystal with a sharp instrument which results in large concentrations of etch pits. However, crystals deformed by punching with the sharp instrument and annealed at the conditions of these experiments (1250°C for 30 min) before etching showed no concentrations of dislocation etch pits. It is obvious that dislocations from the much smaller deformations, possibly created when particles are placed on the surface, would also anneal out. Etching of large crystals which had particles placed on them in the usual manner but which were not heated showed no dislocation concentrations such as shown in Fig. 1. The magnitude of dislocation etch-pit concentrations did not vary with extensive variation of the cooling rate. The appearance of many of the etch-pit clusters is typical of a well-annealed condition, indicating that the dislocation concentrations formed before the specimen temperature was lowered. Therefore, it is evident that thermal stresses in the neck area did not create the deformation indicated by the presence of the dislocations. The possibility exists that the etch-pit concentrations at places where particles had been removed may be the result of deformation accompanying the fracture of the sintered bond. That this is not so was demonstrated by breaking off particles around which no etch pits occurred. Re-etching never resulted in the large concentrations observed at sintering sites. The stress available to effect material movement during sintering of two particles will depend on the geometry at the contact point but can easily exceed the macroscopic yield stress in CaFz systems. It appears that the plastic deformation observed results from sintering or simply from the weight of the small particles. It has been previously argued that plastic flow makes an important contribution to the initial densification of oxides having the fluorite crystal structure.2p3 If plastic deformation occurs, it would begin as soon as the temperature is sufficiently high

Jan 1, 1967

By F. Cadena, Fred C. Bond, Walter L. Maxon

Grinding is one of the major problems in present-day milling practice, and in many cases, it represents one of the main items of expense. It becomes necessary from time to time, to compare grinding practice in one plant with that in another plant, and in making such comparisons, it would be very desirable were there available accepted standards of grinding resistance for the materials involved. Such a set of grinding constants would also be of considerable value in planning new grinding installations. There have been some tests published, notably those of Lennox,' which have been generally cited as a basis for such comparisons. Most of the tests made have been based upon open-circuit grinding, in which a weighed sample of the ore was crushed to pass a certain mesh, and was then ground under certain conditions, either wet or dry. Grinding was continued until a certain desired fineness was attained, and the comparisons based on the grinding time, or the samples were all ground for a certain specified length of time and comparison based upon the screen analysis of the products. Such methods have been acceptable where the ore was to be ground in open circuit. However, in modern milling practice, many grinding problems involve closed circuits wherein the oversize returns to the mill and a large circulating load builds up. A method of testing that does not take the circulating load into consideration might yield results quite different from those to be expected in practice, because the minerals in the ore that offer maximum resistance to grinding will accumulate in the circulating load up to an equilibrium value. Thus the nature of the ore charge in the mill at any instant may differ greatly from that of the new feed, with a consequent error in the rate of grinding determined by such a method. For example, let it be assumed that an ore to be tested consists of equal parts of difficult grinding mineral and easy grinding mineral. This is to be compared with an ore used as a standard, and consisting of minerals which are all of about the same grindability. If a comparison

Jan 1, 1935

By W. D. Robertson, Raymond C. Boettner

A study was made of the change in density during the first (transient) and second (linear) stages of the creep curve of polycrystalline copper as a function of 1) stress, 2) temperature, 3) plastic strain, 4) impurity and atmosphere effects, and 5) structure, including single crystals. Voids were not observed in single crystals strained 15 pct at 500°C, or in a polycrystal-line aggregate produced by recrystallizing a single crystal, within the limit of sensitivity, Ae/e = 1 x 10-4. It appears that voids are heterogeneously nucleated at grain boundaries by an insoluble phase, or phases, which can be removed by directional solidification. The principal controlling mechanism of void growth appears to be condensation of vacancies at grain boundaries. Vacancies are transported to a boundary and condense as a consequence of the tensile stress component across the boundary, which depends on the orientation and configuration of the boundary plane and on boundary shear across ledges and other irregularities. The ultimate source of vacancies is the free surface and diffusional transport is by way of the boundary plane. PREVIOUS investigations have dealt with the nucle-ation of voids at grain boundaries under creep condition~'-~ and with the connection between grain boundary voids and subsequent brittle fracture.5-7 Growth of voids during the creep process, particularly in the transient and linear stages of creep, has not been studied with the same intensity. Therefore, it seems pertinent to investigate the process of void growth with respect to the related creep curve, and the morphology of growing voids with respect to the structure.

Jan 1, 1962

By John C. Loretta

INTRODUCTION Organizations that regularly use project management services will almost certainly have their own views on the preferred systems and procedures. This chapter, therefore, describes Project Management for the personnel of groups not familiar on a regular basis with project management and deals with the basic questions that these groups can be expected to ask, such as: - What is project management? - Why is it needed? Project Management is the planning, implementation and monitoring of the Engineering, Procurement and Construction activities that are necessary to complete the project in the most economic manner. In the case of a crushing and grinding plant, completing the project would mean bringing it into full operat ion. Engineering is the design work for the purpose of producing drawings and technical specifications for Construction together with technical specifications and quantities for Procurement. Procurement is the arranging of con- tracts so that equipment, material and labour are brought as required to the construction site. Construction covers the on-site activities that bring together the components of Engineering and Procurement so as to arrive at a finished plant. Need & Cost Benefits Project Management systems are needed to allow progress and expenditures to be monitored so that any significant deviations from the plan can be identified and the appropriate corrective action taken. In this way, Project Management is able to give continual updated answers to the Owners broad questions. - What am I getting? - What will it cost? - When will it be ready? The need for Project Management is not always immediately apparent, a common belief being that the existence of the three components -Mining Company - Equipment Supplier - Construction Company - is sufficient to get the job done without a formal project management group. This trio

Jan 1, 1982

By Hu Weibei

This paper describes the development and implementation of the control system in the flotation plants of China. The control system can be categorized as: Control in the crushing circuits: Automatic control of the flow rate of the crusher. Control in the grinding circuits: Control of the feed rate of the grinding mill and circulating load. PSM-200, an indigenous particle size monitor, and gamma-ray density gauges are utilized. Control in the flotation circuits: pH control, flotation reagent dosage estimation and control, pulp level control, aeration control, etc. Complete grinding-flotation circuits control is based on minicomputer operations. Some typical control systems which have been applied in copper flotation plants are summarized and specific problems discussed.

Jan 1, 1984

By W. H. Andrews

THE constantly increasing consumption of Portland cement in the State makes the above subject of partlcular interest at this time. The increasing demand is due to the rapid settling of the country and the fact that new uses are being found frequently for the above named commercial article. The industry is one that is bound to grow as the population increases, and this being the case, it may be well ,it this time to consider briefly- the matter of the chemical and physical com-position of proper raw materials. A cement mixture is one that contains approximately 75 per cent. carbonate of lime, 15 per cent. Silica, and 5 to 7 per cent. alumina, and iron oxides; the other elements being magnesium carbonate and small quantities of the rarer elements general associated with limestone deposits. It call be readily seen from the above composition that it is possible to build up this mixture from a number of different materials. First.-A rock high in carbonate of lime can be mixed with clay or shale in such proportions as to bring about the desired composition ; the chief difficulty in the building up of such a mixture is that it is hard to find a clay or shale in which the silica-alumina, ratio lies .between 4 to 1 and 3 to 1 and at the same time shows physical characteristics which will make certain its adaptability to the practical manufacture of Portland cement. Very often clays or shales are found which are right chemically but contain large quantities of grit or free silica. Such clays or shale must be ground to extreme fineness in the mixture in order to make the silica and alumina combine with the lime when the mixture is burned. On the other hand, clays or shales are often found that have the proper physical characteristics but in which the amount of alumina, is too great.

Jan 9, 1913

By F. M. Lewis, Johnson. E. C.

BY now application of the liquid-solid cyclone to various classification problems in the chemical and metallurgical fields is more or less familiar. A less publicized application receiving wider consideration as time goes on is its use as a classifier in closed-circuit grinding operations. This paper presents the costs involved and the experience gained from operating a unit of this kind. In May 1951 the Tennessee Copper Co. installed in its London mill at Copperhill, Tenn., a liquid- solid cyclone in closed circuit with a 6x12-ft ball mill. The circuit in which this cyclone is used is the regrind or secondary grinding circuit of a copper flotation plant. Originally it consisted of a 7x1-ft conical ball mill in closed circuit with a bowl classifier. Changes made in the primary grinding circuit of the mill necessitated a regrind circuit of greater capacity. The bulk concentrate to be ground was raised from 900 or 1000 tpd to 1200 or 1300 tpd, and to accommodate this increase a 6x12-ft ball mill which had been in the primary grinding circuit was moved into the regrind circuit. When this was done it was found that the classifier was too small to give efficient operation. Space in the plant was at a premium, and since use of the cyclone offered considerable economy the installation shown in Figs. 1-3 was made.

Jan 6, 1954

By L. J. Dijkstra

During the past several years an extensive study has been made of the internal friction of iron containing carbon or nitrogen in solid solution.1,2,3,4,5 It has been found that a sharp peak is observed in a plot of the internal friction vs. temperature of measurement. With a frequency of about one cycle per second, this peak occurs at 20°C for N and 36°C for C. The physical origin of this anomalous internal friction was traced by Snoekl to the local tetragonal symmetry of the interstitial positions in body centered cubic (bcc) iron. A change in stress induces a change in the equilibrium distribution of the interstitial atoms among the three types of interstitial positions, the three types corresponding to the three directions along which the tetragonal axis may lie. It is the continual striving of the interstitial atoms to maintain an equilibrium distribution that gives rise to a phase lag between strain and stress during oscillation, and hence, to internal friction. A similar type of internal friction has been observed in the bcc lattice of tantalum containing in interstitial solid solution C, N or 06. The theory of this anomalous internal friction leads to the prediction that its magnitude is strictly proportional to the concentration of either the carbon or the nitrogen in solid solution, provided the concentrations are small. This prediction has been verified3 for the range of solubilities ohtainable in alpha iron. This proportionality provides us with a new tool for the study of nitrogen and carbon in alpha iron. It thus enables one directly to follow the precipitation of either of these solute atoms from solid solution and also directly to measure their solubility as a function of temperature. A preliminary study of precipitation using this method has already been presented by the author.3 The purpose of this paper is to present more extensive observations upon the precipitation of N and C in alpha iron, as well as to present observations upon the solubility of N and C in alpha iron which, at least in the lower tempera- ture range, are believed more accurate than those previously obtained by other methods. The interpretation of the observations upon precipitation involves the use of the appropriate equilibrium diagrams. For ease of future reference in this paper the equilibriunl diagrams for the Fe-N and Fe-C systems are accordingly reproduced as Fig 1 and 2, respective]y. Experimental Procedure The specimens were made of West-inghouse Puron iron and consisted of wires 0.025 in. in diam and about 1 ft long. By a wet hydrogen treatment the specimens were purified of C and N. In

Jan 1, 1950

By O. P. Hood

None of the methods now in use for the transportation of materials underground is entirely free from more or less serious objection.

Jan 1, 1915

By Elmer R. Kaiser

Cooperative research is an established and important activity of modern business by which whole industries can advance on a broad front. The economy of jointly sponsored research as well as the limited research talent available direct attention to the advisability of projects in which a number of companies participate. After outlining the growth of industrial research, the paper discusses one successful method for organizing and financing group research programs. A systematic procedure is advocated by which engineers and scientists can bring to management practical plans for cooperative research and development programs.

Jan 3, 1950

An Appreciation of Dr. Douglas by Dr. ALBERT R. LEDOUX The Bulletins of the American Institute of Mining Engineers and the program of the International Engineering Congress, held last September at San Francisco, called attention to an important feature in the pro¬ceedings of the Congress; viz., the public presentation to Dr. James Douglas of the John Fritz Medal, for notable achievements in mining, metallurgy, education. and industrial welfare. Dr. Douglas' health, unfortunately, did not permit of his taking the journey to California. While he had been willing that the bestowal of the medal should be a public ceremony, his natural modesty made him shrink somewhat from what he considered something of an ordeal, and he begged those who were to take part in it to use restraint in anything which they might have to say as to his work and attainments. It was, therefore, with some considerable satisfaction on his side that he learned that the medal would be given him without a public, ceremony in New York, or elsewhere. . On Dec. 5, 1915, the writer of this had the pleasure of handing him the medal, certificate, and official letters of transmittal, at his home at Spuyten Duyvil, where lie was surrounded by his children and grandchildren, with one or two of his most intimate friends. He begged the writer to return his thanks to the Committee of Award; and again to express the feeling that nothing in his career merited so great an honor. On this point all of the members of the Institute will share the writer's feeling that Dr. Douglas is too modest. James Douglas was born at Quebec, Canada, in November, 1837. His father Was a distinguished physician and surgeon, employing his skill in the field of philanthropy: He established the first retreat for the insane in the Dominion, to which lie. devoted himself up to the time of his departure from Canada, when it was taken over by the Government. The son spent 2 years in study at the University of Edinburgh, which lie entered in 1855. Returning to Canada, he graduated from Queens University, at Kingston, Ontario, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, having also studied medicine, and later theology. After his graduation he traveled extensively with his father in Europe and in the Orient, visiting Egypt several time's. They returned with important archaelogical collections, which Dr. Douglas subsequently donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in this city. He then returned to Edinburgh, where he continued his course in medicine, surgery being perhaps his chief interest at that time. He was subsequently licensed to preach and his contemporaries bore testimony to his broad philanthropy and to the sympathy which dominated his every act. His taste was distinctly literary; he had carried off a prize at Edinburgh in English literature.

Jan 1, 1916

By T. A. Rickard

The presentation to the Institute, eight years ago, of the paper of Pogepny on " The Geilesis of Ore-Deposits " has borne fruit in much fresh investigation, as is evidenced, for example, by the group of very valuable papers, by distirlguished members of the United States Geological Survey, read at the Washing-

Jan 1, 1902

By AIME AIME

IN accordance with the provisions of Art. XII, See. 3, of the By-laws of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, the Board of Directors hereby give notice of their intention to amend the By-laws as follows : Art. V, Sec. 2. Amend by substituting the word "senior" for ('first" before the words "Vice-president" in line two of the third paragraph of said section which relates to the calling of special meetings of the Board in the absence or disability of the President.

Jan 1, 1930

By AIME AIME

T'HE Columbia Section of the A. 1. M. E. took charge of the Western Mining Convention on Oct. 3, and the meeting was held under their auspices. W. L. Zeigler, chairman of the Section, called the session to order. The first paper on the program, "Lead Refining Practice at Bunker Hill Smelter," was presented in per-son by the author, A. F. Beasley, superintendent of the smelter. He pointed out the differences in the refining practice at Bunker Hill from other American refineries. The Bunker Hill plant was the first to adopt the liquation process for silver skims as developed in Australia. Details were given of operating practice with results. F. F. Colcord questioned the author in regard to the kind of metal best suited for kettles, which was said to be cast iron.

Jan 1, 1929