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By Carl R. Davis

The cost of mining during the past history of these mines has been excessive, principally by reason of the inefficiency of labor under the wage-system. The amount of labor performed per man was unsatisfactory; and Mr. Edmund B. Kirby, the general manager, decided to adopt the contract-system as a remedy. For this purpose the method now in use was devised by the writer (then and now the superintendent), as best adapted to the local conditions. On March 12, 1900, this system was presented to the miners of the War Eagle and the Center Star. The issue remained unsettled for several weeks,

Jan 1, 1902

By C. H. Bushell, M. Malnarich

REAGENT control in flotation is more an art than a science. Operators vary the amount of reagents used according to the metallurgy obtained. The amount of collector may be increased, for example, if tailings losses are high and decreased if concentrate grades are low. Often control decisions are based on only one assay, such as the tailings analysis by microscopic or quick assaying techniques. This method of control has given reasonably satisfactory results but is clearly far from perfect. No adjustment in reagent addition can be made until information is received that metallurgy has deteriorated, that is, until the optimum time for adjustment has already passed. The first adjustment probably will be an overcorrection or an undercor-rection, and time will be required to establish the best new addition rates. The seriousness of the problem depends on variability of the ore. In ore of continually shifting composition and complexity, mill results will shift back and forth from excessively high concentrate grades and high tailings losses to excessively low concentrate grades and low tailings losses. Economic incentive for improved control also increases with increasing size of mill. Even a small improvement in percentage recovery in a large mill pays for expensive control equipment. The Sullivan concentrator of The Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co. of Canada Ltd. at Kimberley, B. C., treats 11,000 tpd of complex lead-zinc ore, a scale of operations which justifies an extensive research program on automatic control. Work has followed two separate lines: 1) development of faster analytical methods for pulps, and 2) study of metallurgical control by measurement and control of reagent concentrations in flotation solutions. Although work is incomplete in both phases, a progress report can be given on the development of reagent control. The primary requirement in flotation is selective attachment of particles of one mineral to air bubbles while the other minerals remain detached. Hydrophobicity of mineral surfaces is established by the collector, which coats the minerals by adsorption. The requirement of selective affinity for air bubbles is therefore equivalent to requiring selective adsorption of a collector. Adsorption theory, supported by abundant experimental evidence, shows that the amount of a reagent adsorbed at a surface must be a function of its residual concentration in solution. As the concentration in solution rises, the amount adsorbed increases, usually following some type of logarithmic curve. Selective adsorption must depend on a natural difference in the minerals, but ordinarily the differences in affinity are not great enough to obtain complete coverage of one mineral while the others are completely uncoated. An optimum concentration will exist, below which coverage will not be great enough to float enough of the valuable mineral, and above which too much unwanted mineral will float. All other reagents, except some frothers, affect the amount of collector adsorbing at constant residual collector concentration in solution, either by adsorbing competitively with the collector, or by a

Jan 1, 1957

By H. Vincent Wallace

ALTHOUGH it is universally accepted that free oxygen is A necessary in a cyanide solution for the dissolution of gold and silver-in accordance with Elsner's equation that 2Au + 4KCN + 0 + H20 = 2KAu (CN), + 2KOH- little has been written and insufficient attention paid to the drop in extraction due apparently to loss of dissolved oxygen in mill solutions. Aeration or oxygenation of cyanide solutions has been more or less successfully accomplished by various types of agitators such as the Dorr (with or without air lifts), Pachuca tanks and more recently "Turbo-mixers" and Denver "Super- agitators"; also by the introduction of chemical oxidizing agents such as Solozone (Na,O,) . At the Wright-Hargreaves and other mines in the Kirkland Lake camp, the introduction of this reagent at the rate of about 1.25 oz. per ton of ore applied to the feed of the ball mills has certainly been beneficial.

Jan 1, 1932

By J. R. Kyte, L. A. Rapoport

The material balance equation for partiai or complete 1:trter-drivc reser1,oir.s been re-arranged to include a pressure irrferferencr ternr. This pressure interfernce term was ohtained from the theory established hy Morinda. A .successful progranl deissed to solve the resrclritlg c,qrration in a few hours on a nleelitr .sizeti, digital compuier. No prior knowdelge of the properties of the eqrrifer is required in the solution. 7' ri~rl calculations areatle using various assumed con!binuiions of value of the constant expretsing the qquifer properties correspoinds to the best fit ohtained between observed and calculated field history. Details of the method of calculaion are illus trated by an example. INTKCDUCTICN A method 01' calculating the material balance equation for a partial water-drive reservoir completed in an aquifer has been described in the literature." Pressure interference i'rc,m other pools iocated in the same nquiucr is not taken into account in this solution. When present, the pres- sure interference effect must be included in order to make a complete performance analysis. A correction for this effect has been developed using the theory cstahlished by Mor-tada.' Manual calculation of the material balance for water-drive reservoirs is a formidable task. Such manual ca1culation when interference eflects are includcd would be impossible to completc in any reasonable time period. However, a medium-sized stored program, digltal conlputer can he used satisfactorily. The method is described in the following sections. THECKETICAL CONSIDEKATIOhS The material balance equation for a reservoir producing by partial or total water drive, as proposed by Van Everdingen, This relationship is linear for Z/a from which thc slopc, Z, and the intercept, N, can be obtained by the least-squares method from the data points. It is not necessary lo know the aquifer properties to uktain oplimum values tor 2nd IV. Various assumptions are made tor At,,: where 11 is production time, seconds (oilfield between the equal successive time intervals into which the history is divided. t,, h It, times the number of equal time periods from i.e.. the total dimen-sionless time interval from It is noted that the dinlensionless time interval, At,,, involves all the relevant aquifer properties. Accordingly, any assunlption of is an assumption of the combined aquifer properties which pertain to the solution of the equation. Deviations of the data points from a straight line arc calculated for each assumption of and the value of A, correspond ing to the minimunl deviation is chosen as the optimum solution. This method is described in Ref. 1 and 2. Thc material balance solution is usually made with an initial assumption that the reservoir being studied is located in an infinite aquifer from which there are no other withdrawals. Deviation of the points by amounts greater than can be attributed to inaccuracies in field data may be the result of: (1) boundary effects of a limited aquifer, (2) pressure interference from othcr pools completed in the .sarne aquifer, and (3) a combination of these effects. Differentiation of these effects can be made only on the basis of geologic data. Pressure interference from other fields will result in a pressure drop at the original oil-water boundary having an interference component, The measured instantaneous pressure drops at the oil-water

By Frank Ittner

In this section it is proposed to discuss operating methods considered good practice under the various field conditions commonly encountered. Efficient field direction and types of equipment needed to meet transportation problems are considered only to the extent that the desire to produce the best possible records must sometimes give way to the factor of cost. As in all engineering projects, alternative possible methods of operation must be considered in the light of relative costs as well as of the quality of results obtained, Cost may be in the background of much that is done in the field operations, but only the effect on record quality will be considered here. Record quality at a particular shot point may vary with the various factors of spread character (relative positions of geophones and shot point), shot-hole depth, formations opposite position of shot, size of charge, the effect of repeat shots, surface geology and culture in the immediate vicinity of the geophones, recorder instrument characteristics, particularly filter.

Jan 1, 1940

By Frank Ittner

In this section it is proposed to discuss operating methods considered good practice under the various field conditions commonly encountered. Efficient field direction and types of equipment needed to meet transportation problems are considered only to the extent that the desire to produce the best possible records must sometimes give way to the factor of cost. As in all engineering projects, alternative possible methods of operation must be considered in the light of relative costs as well as of the quality of results obtained, Cost may be in the background of much that is done in the field operations, but only the effect on record quality will be considered here. Record quality at a particular shot point may vary with the various factors of spread character (relative positions of geophones and shot point), shot-hole depth, formations opposite position of shot, size of charge, the effect of repeat shots, surface geology and culture in the immediate vicinity of the geophones, recorder instrument characteristics, particularly filter.

Jan 1, 1940

By L. A. White

IN this paper it is proposed to follow the developments in the design of the lead blast furnace at Port Pirie from the time The Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty. assumed control in 1915 to the present time, with special reference to the development of the system using two superimposed rows of tuyeres as is now in operation. Lead smelting operations first commenced in 1889, when the British Broken Hill Pty. Ltd. started its first furnace. This was followed by installing two more furnaces during the same year and another the following year. In 1892, Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd. acquired the smelting works and combined operations with those at Broken Hill, New South Wales; by 1897, the whole of the smelting operations had been transferred to Port Pirie and thirteen blast furnaces were built to treat the Broken Hill ore production. In 1915, The Broken Hill Associated Smelters Pty. Ltd. took over from the Broken Hill Proprietary and have carried out operations since that time. From its inception, the present company started on a long range program of reconstruction, in which the development of the lead blast furnace has played a prominent part. A definite trend in plant development has been towards the simplification of plant control by a reduction in the number of operating units. The great advantages of technical control which resulted from the very simplified flowsheet established in the continuous refining process stimulated the desire to extend the principle to the smelting operation. Thus in the sequence of furnaces described here, it will be noted that the trend has been towards larger and, of course, fewer units. With each such development it is significant that the operating conditions and metallurgical results have shown steady improvement. Standard Furnace In 1920 there were seven furnaces operating, five of a type subsequently called the standard furnace and two of the original thirteen smaller furnaces, the latter type being used for the treatment of drosses, etc. produced from the refinery section, while the standard type carried out the main, lead-smelting operations. The standard furnace (figs. 1 and 2) had the dimensions given in table I.

Jan 1, 1951

By Erminio Ferraris

The development of the mining industry in Sardinia dates from the application of the mining law of 1859, which, following the example of the French mining law of 1810, declared prospecting to be free, and suppressed the liens which had previously attached the mine to surface ownership. The first ore-dressing plants were installed by German engineers upon the classic models of the Harz and of Freiberg; but in 1880 Sardinia commenced to open a new path in that industry, utilizing the refuse from the mining of rich, selected minerals, of poor deposits, and of mixed ores. The first experiments were attempte to adapt the existing apparatus to local conditions, but progress was rapid, as was demonstrated already in 1887 by the calamine-dressing mill of Monte-poni, which exhibited a large plant designed in accordance with the experience gained, and constructed entirely in the machine-shops of the country, after new models and designs.' This example was followed two years later by the Sociékté Malfidano, with a large plant of the same sort, and with the reconstruction of the old-fashioned dressing-mill, built in 1880 by the Austro-Belgian Company. In 1900, almost all the mines of Sardinia had adopted the new designs, and the island contained 32 concen-trating-works, employing 2,000 h.p. and 1,924 workmen. Since that time, there have been added a large dressing-mill for blende at Gennamari, and two for calamine, at San Giovanni and at Masua, while the establishments at other mines have been enlarged and perfected. For the treatment of intimately mixed ores, a large establishment has been built upon the new

Jan 1, 1909

By J. S. Fulton

THOSE who live in steel-mill towns are so accustomed to the sight of flames spouting from the mouth of a Bessemer vessel that they seldom pause to think of the amazing process behind it. Actually cold air is being blown through a hot liquid and, instead of cooling it, raises the temperature of the liquid. When coffee is too hot to drink, we know that blowing on it will cool it, so it was no wonder that when Henry Bessemer (or William Kelly, as your patriotism chooses) first proposed this cycle of steel production, he was considered mad. When Bessemer and Kelly started their investigations around 1852, there was not much practical knowledge of metallurgy and, in consequence, there was wide variation in the product made by their process. It was appreciated that the silicon, carbon and iron were all potential fuels, but not until Mushet discovered the beneficial effects of having manganese in the pig iron did the process really become commercial. Bessemer's patent of 1855 covered a crucibleful of liquid iron into which a refractory tuyere was lowered and the blow started. Since that time virtually every conceivable form of vessel, bottom arrangement, tuyere size and location have been suggested or tried. There have been stationary vessels with fixed bottoms, that were side, top or bottom blown; tilting vessels with two sets of side tuyeres at different elevations; vessels like a three-compartment septic tank; vessels of a cylindrical form supported on the long axis with tuyeres along the side submerged by a partial rotation of the vessel (this type continues in copper refineries) ; portable vessels to make the blow in a ladle over a mold in a foundry; a combination of a cupola and converter in one shell, and various other arrangements. But in all these experiments, compressed air for the blast was presupposed and there was little discussion of the quantity or quality of the air delivered to the tuyeres. At one time or another various practices that now are forgotten have been tried or suggested: for instance, the use of inert gas at the end of the blow; the addition of fuel to the blast; the use of hot-blast stoves; the drying of the air to a minimum moisture in the blast. Except in the last-named method little attention was paid to the quality or quantity of the air blown. PHASES Of the many papers published on various phases of the Bessemer process, nearly 170 according to one bibliography, over go per cent were concerned with the metallurgical phase and less than 10 per cent discussed various sections of the pneumatic phase. Since the two phases are coincidental, apparently nine times as much thought has been given to the result as has been given to one of the causes of the Bessemer process. Is it not possible that if more attention had been paid to the pneumatics so many papers would not have had to be written on the troubles in the metallurgical phase? A study of published papers and conversation

Jan 1, 1941

By AIME AIME

THE non-ferrous alloys have been placed in the same class with steel by metallurgical research on hardening, and hardenable alloys of all metals except zinc are now manufactured. The hardening of the non-ferrous alloys is accomplished by a process of heating, quenching and ageing. R. S. Dean, head of the research department of the Western Electric Co., told of the results of this research in 'a lecture on "Recent Advances in the Art and Science of Fabricating Metals," given before the Missouri Mining and Metallurgical Association on Jan. 24, 1929.

Jan 1, 1929

By F. C. Langenberg, J. Chipman

New data on the distribution of silicon between slag and carbon-saturated iron at 1600oand 1700oC are presented which, in combination with previously published data, permit the determination of silica activities over a broad range of compositions in the CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 system. The distribution of silicon between graphite-saturated Fe-Si-C alloys and blast furnace-type slags in equilibrium with CO has been described in previous publications.1"3 In this past work the silica-silicon relation was established at temperatures of 1425" to 1700°C for slags containing up to 20 pct Al2O3. This paper presents the results of additional studies at 1600" and 1700° C which extend the silicon distribution data at these temperatures for CaO-A1203-SiO2 slags over a range from zero pct A12O3 to saturation with A12O3, or CaO.2A12O3. The upper limit of SiO, is set by the occurrence of Sic as a stable phase when the metal contains 23.0 or 23.7 pct Si at 1600" or 1700°C, respectively. The activity of silica over the expanded range is determined directly from the distribution data.3 Recently, 4-7 other investigators have studied the activities of SiO, and CaO, principally in the binary system, using different methods and obtaining somewhat different results. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY The experimental apparatus and procedure have been fully described in previous publications.1, 3 Six new series of experimental heats have been made, four at 1600° and two at 1700°C. Master slags of several fixed CaO/A12O3 ratios were pre-melted in graphite crucibles, and these were used with additions of silica to prepare the initial slag for each experiment. Slag and metal were stirred at 100 rpm and CO was passed through the furnace at 150 cc per min. The initial sample was taken 1 hr after addition of slag at 1600°C or 1/2 hr after addition at 1700°C. The run was normally continued for 8 hr at 1600°C or 7 hr at 1700°C, and the final sample was taken at the end of this period. Changes in Si and SiO2 content indicate the direction of approach to equilibrium, and in a series of runs where the approach is from both sides this permits approximate location of the equilibrium line. Fig. 1 shows the results of such a series of 15 runs at 1600°C for slags of CaO/Al2O3 = 1.50 by weight. Figs. 2 and 3 record other series at 1600°C and Fig. 5 a series at 1700°C with fixed CaO/Al2O3 ratios. The results of the experiments at 162003°C have been reported in part in a preliminary note.3 In the experiments recorded in Figs. 4 and 6, the slags were saturated with A12O3 (or with CaO.2A12O3 within its field of stability) by suspending a pure alumina tube in the melt during the course of the run. The final slag analyses were used to establish the liquidus boundaries8 in the stability fields of CaO.2Al,O3 and of A120,. ACTIVITY OF SILICA The free-energy change in the reaction has been calculated by Fulton and chipman2 from recent and trustworthy data including heats of formation, entropies, and heat capacities. The more recent determination by Olette of the high-temperature enthalpy of liquid silicon is in satisfactory agreement with the values used and therefore requires no revision of the result which is expressed in the equation: SiO, (crist) + 2C (graph) = Si + 2CO(g.) [1] &F° = + 161,500 - 87.4T The standard state for silica is taken as pure cristobalite and that of Si as the pure liquid metal. Since the melts were made under 1 atm of CO and were graphite-saturated, the equilibrium constant for Eq. [I] reduces to K1 = asi /asio2 The value of this constant is 1.77 at 1600°C and 16.2 at 1700°C. Through K1, the activity of silica in the slag is directly related to the activity of silicon in the equilibrium metal.

Jan 1, 1960

W. G. MATTESON,* Fort Worth, Tex. (written discussion?).-Dr. Brokaw has evidently given a great deal of time and study to this phenomenon and his conclusions seem sound and logical. .Mr. Lee Hager was probably the first geologist of repute to attach any great importance to the occurrence of paraffin dirt in connection with the Gulf Coast oil-producing salt domes. The writer has been reliably informed that through his discussion, the idea was promulgated that the presence of this so-called paraffin dirt was one of the most important and reliable indications of the presence of an oil-producing salt dome. Despite very strong evidence to the contrary, Hager evidently still has considerable confidence in this theory, as brought forth in his discussion1 of Dr. Brokaw's paper. Halter here gives all the paraffin dirt occurrences known to him, and adds, "Fifteen of these localities, including practically all of the greatest fields, have produced oil in some quantity." . The acceptance of the list of occurrences as submitted by Hager depends upon what material we are justified in including under the term "paraffin dirt." If we agree to a broad classification, whereby paraffin dirt is. to include all spongy, earthy, decomposed, vegetable material, or spongy soil impregnated with the same, then Haggler's list will have to be not only accepted but perhaps enlarged. On the other hand, if we confine ourselves to a strict interpretation of the substance known as paraffin dirt, based .upon typical occurrences, general understanding, and application, several of Hager's occurrences will be seriously questioned by many geologists. The typical material is excellently described by Hager as a dirt or soil-like substance "resilient to the step, like rubber, which falls apart in small squares when dug. Intimately mixed with the soil itself and between the cracks and joint planes is a yellow, jelly-like

Jan 11, 1918

Far reaching changes in the executive machinery of the Federal Government are proposed in bills recently introduced in each House of Congress. The Department of the Interior will become the Department of Public Works, if the legislation proposed is enacted; the main idea is to assemble all engineering activities of the Government in one department. Such bureaus of the Interior Department as are non-engineering in character are to be placed under the jurisdiction of appropriate departments, while engineering bureaus from other departments are to be included in the Department of Public Works. The bill proposes that the Patent Office is to be removed from the Interior Department and placed under the Department of Commerce. The Bureau of Pensions is assigned to the Department of the Treasury. The Bureau of Education goes to the Labor Department. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is transferred to the Department of Labor, with the proviso that the engineering and construction work and the land and mineral surveys now performed under the direction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs are to he prosecuted under the Department of Public Works. St. Elizabeth's Hospital and the Freedman's Hospital in Washington are assigned to the Treasury Department. Columbia Institution for the Deaf and the Howard University go to the Bureau of Education, under the provisions of the bill. On the other hand, the Department of Public Works is to absorb the Supervising Architect's Office of the Treasury Department; the Construction Division, River and Harbor Improvements, Mississippi River Commission, and California Debris Commission of the War Department; the Bureau of Standards and the Coast and Geodetic Survey of the Department of Commerce; the Bureau of Public Roads and the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture.

Jan 8, 1919

By Henry J. Miller, Marcella Lindeman

DURING some experiments made by Henry J. Miller, partly in Germany and partly in the United States, in which it was found necessary to melt metals in quantities up to 60 kg. in a vacuum or under low pressures of hydrogen, molybdenum was tried as the resistor in the electric melting furnaces. Molybdenum ribbons 16 by 0.55 mm. and 18 by 0.45 mm. were used as resistors. The furnaces were of the type shown in Fig. 1. [ ] About the heating tube, Y, are wound parallel resistors of molybdenum ribbon from the water-cooled electrodes, E1, E2. The whole is within a copper container having outlets for the removal or introduction of gases and a window, W, for observation, the space about the heating tube and electrodes being filled with insulating material. The life of the molybdenum used as the resistor was found to depend very much on the manner of using it, its failure being due in some cases to thinning by evaporation or chemical reaction and in others to hardening, which prevented it from following the expansions and shrink¬ing of the heating tubing without cracking. As such failures are often rather expensive in commercial work, it was thought worth while to determine the causes. The factors influencing the behavior of molybdenum resistors used in this manner may be briefly stated as follows:

Jan 1, 1928

THIS method of melting with a little wind furnace is called by many melting with air. It is a method that is done with little labor. First a furnace is made with crucibles and charcoal. It is small or large as you wish, without blast from bellows, but not without a draft of air which proceeds from the place where it is made and from the arrangement of the furnace.* This, after a certain period of time, has the effect of melt- [ ] gin the thing in the quantity that you wish, provided, however, that you proportion it properly to the space, to the fire, and to the air which makes the wind. In order to make this, the aforesaid furnace is first made of bricks, or it is dug out of an elevation of stone or [106V] in a wall of clay. It can also be made portable with iron bars and loam as I shall tell you. However you may make it, you must place it in a spot that is windy, for instance, in some large room or opposite doors or windows. It is made round or square as is most pleasing to him who is to make it. But here we will now say that it is to be made square for greater convenience of building with bricks. Having chosen the place, make it a half

Jan 1, 1942

By M. I. Sherman, J. D. H. Strickland

USE of a hydrometallurgical approach to the oxidation of sulfide ores and extraction of metals therefrom may have advantages over the more common smelting techniques when a low grade deposit is difficult to concentrate or the subsequent separation of metals, coexisting in the ore, is laborious by any known smelting operation. For economic reasons, the most promising oxidants are either atmospheric oxygen or electric power. The use of oxygen, or air under pressure, has recently been revised. Pyrrhotite has been converted to iron oxide and elementary sulfur' and a variety of sulfides have been treated by Forward and co-workers.2-4 Generally sulfate is the end form of the sulfur but with galena in an acid medium, elementary sulfur can be formed." For economic reasons chlorine and ferric iron salts are about the only possible alternatives to the atmosphere as oxidizing agents for base metal sulfides. If aqueous solutions of chlorine or ferric iron are employed, the reduction products can be oxidized electrolytically in situ and used again, thus acting as catalysts for electric power as oxidant. The use of ferric salts for this purpose is established hydrometallurgical practicea but, although chlorine gas has been employed in the dry state at an elevated temperature, its use in aqueous solution at or near room temperature has not found favor. The reaction of chlorine water with the soluble sulfide ion has been studied by several workers,7-9 and both sulfate and elemental sulfur are found as end products, the latter being favored by the presence of a low concentration of oxidant relative to that of sulfide in solutions of about pH 9 to 10. Of direct bearing on the work in hand are an early American patent" and a recent Austrian patent." The former advocates stirring powdered ore with an aqueous solution of ferric chloride chlorine oxides and chlorine. In the latter it is claimed that both metal and sulfur can be obtained by electrolysis, in a diaphragm cell, of a metal ore slurry in brine. Details in these patents are scant and no data or explanation is given for the mechanism of the reaction which, in the Austrian work, is attributed to the (unlikely) action of nascent chlorine at the anode surface. No mention is made of possible differences in behaviour between various ores. Apparatus A complication encountered when working with chlorine water is that a serious loss of chlorine occurs by gas partitioning unless an enclosed system is used and any air space in the apparatus is kept very small and constant. Arrangements were made, therefore, to take out samples for analysis without letting air into the system to replace the liquid removed. For convenience in studying a heterogeneous reaction the apparatus was so designed that a reproducible controlled stirring rate could be maintained and the ratio of surface area of ore to volume of solution was approximately constant throughout any experiment. The apparatus used is shown in Fig. 1. The ground ore was placed in the horizontal cylindrical vessel, A, of about 1 liter capacity, heated by a constant temperature circulating bath pumping water through the concentric jacket, B. By adding chro-mate to this water, an ultraviolet radiation filter effectively surrounded the reaction vessel, greatly reducing any possible photochemical decomposition of chlorine solutions. Stirring was effected by glass paddles, C, attached by an axle to a magnet which was rotated by another powerful Alnico magnet, D, outside the glass end, this magnet being itself rotated by an electric motor electronically controlled to constant speed. Speed could be varied from about 150 to 900 rpm and was measured and held to within 1 pct of a given value. The end of the reaction vessel remote from the stirring magnet was closed by another one-ended glass cylinder, E, connected by thin polyethylene bellows, F, clamped by screw clamps and watertight rubber gaskets to the main vessel. Through E, a glass electrode and calomel electrode projected into the solution and a hypodermic syringe pierced a small bung and allowed acid or alkaline to be added to maintain a constant pH. By pushing the fully extended bellows until the two cylinders touched, from 50 to 100 ml of solution could be forced out through a sintered disk into the three-way tap system, G, either to waste (for flushing purposes) or up into a 10 ml burette where the solution could subsequently be measured out for analysis. The ore samples were introduced at H, the tube being stoppered by a thermometer of —1 to +52ºC range, graduated to 0.1°C intervals. To prevent ore from being ground in the end bearings of the stirrer these bearings were pro-

Jan 1, 1958

By Edward C. J. Urban

The nature of certain pernicious dusts commonly encountered in the removal of iron ore from the underground mines of the Lake Superior district is recognized, and appropriate measures for the protection of individuals subjected to these dusts have been applied in most mines for more than 10 years. Undoubtedly the principal concern has been demanded by dusts that contain as a constituent silicon dioxide in its free or uncombined state, the mineral we all know as quartz or chert. Investigators1 agree that among the factors that determine injurious exposure are: the composition of the dust, the concentration suspended at the breathing level and the duration of the exposure. We have on hand data that describe the experience of several underground iron-ore mines in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Wisconsin in regard to these factors, which in a large measure also reflect the general experience of the other mines of the area. We believe that a discussion of these data will indicate the effectiveness of the dust-control methods that have been considered good practice and that have been employed over a long period of time. A silicosis-prevention program was ini- tiated by the iron mines of the Upper Peninsula in 1934 and records of mine dustiness are available from that date to the present time. For dust conditions previous to 1934 the results of observations conducted in other industries can be utilized together with local information pertaining to the development and initial application of rock-drilling equipment. Development of Rock DriI,I.s Thc earliest percussion rock drill that later had any industrial use was patented in this country in 1851.2 This machine was later modified and improved in many respects but its Piston-Type design remained standard for drilling equipment in most mines for the next 63 years.3 The piston drill was operated either by air or by steam. It employed a solid drill steel, fastened directly to the reciprocating piston. The drilling was done dry except in holes directed at an angle below the horizontal. For these water was manually injected into the hole and the pumping action of the rod expelled the sludge. The dry cuttings from drillings inclined above the horizontal fell from the hole by their own weight. A development of major importance from the standpoint of dust generation and control occurred with the invention by J. G. Leyner of a hammer-type rock drill that embodied the essential feature of a drill steel with a hollow core. His patent was secured in 1897. The machine was a radical departure in drilling method. The steel was held loosely in a chuck while

Jan 1, 1949

By R. D. Springer, R. L. Wilcox, P. A. PALMARTAN, R. K. Waring, E. A. Anderson

A knowledge of the mutual liquid solubility of zinc and lead is of importance in various phases of zinc metallurgy. The determination of this solubility has been the subject of numerous investigations, but unfortunately the results vary widely, particularly at higher temperatures, and it has been impossible to decide what data are most reliable. It was decided to investigate the matter and in view of the disagreement in the published results, it was felt necessary to take rather unusual precautions to insure the reliability of the data. For this reason determinations were made by four different methods, and the procedures of several of the previous investigators were duplicated. The previously used methods can be divided into two classes: methods involving freezing the entire melt and taking samples of the lead-rich and zine-rich phases in the solid state,l,2 and methods in which the samples are taken while the bath is liquid and at the desired temperature.3,4 Data obtained by methods involving freezing the entire melt show much lower solubility of lead in zinc than methods in which the liquid is sampled at temperature. The latter method was used by Spring and Romanoff5 and by Hass and Jellinek.6 The results of these two investigations are in agreement at temperatures near the melting point but at higher temperatures Hass and Jellinek find a higher mutual solubility. The low-temperature section of the zinc-lead equilibrium diagram is given by Peirce and Anderson.7 The diagram is based on the data of Hodge and Heyer,8 Arnemann,9 and Peirce.10

Jan 1, 1934

By Francis Crockard

DURING the past five years we have probably witnessed greater technological advances than in any similar period. Industry and science have steadily marched ahead. The makers of iron and steel products have watched with great interest the development of stream-lined trains, faster and safer airplanes, the entirely new science of air-conditioning and the widespread use of stainless steels. Since 1930, we have witnessed the erection of the world's largest suspension bridge, the largest and fastest ocean liner and the spectacular Boulder Dam, while even greater things are planned in these particular fields. Other indus-tries, too, have been moving ahead rapidly. This advance in a few years has been caused primarily by the fierce competition of the depression. Now, more than ever, is the emphasis placed upon quality and service. Makers of southern merchant pig iron have been no exception and have been confronted with increasingly strict chemical specifications and with much greater stress on physical characteristics than ever before. For example, sulfur in the iron must be held very low, competition demanding that it be in the 0.020's and low 0.030's; silicon content must be held within a very narrow range, and definite requirements of phos-phorus and manganese are an essential part of the specifications. Physical characteristics are becoming of increasingly greater impor-tance. The introduction of triple-skimmed, slow-cooled iron several years ago was the first step in this direction. Now there are a few customers who buy iron by chemical analysis and physical appear-ance, having found that the analysis alone is an insufficient guide to their requirements.

Jan 1, 1935

By Sherwin Kelly

THE need for geophysicists to adopt a uniform mode of expressing the electrical resistivity of geological formations has been stressed by Dr. A. S. Eve.1 The present paper is to emphasize the point he raised, to bring the weight of disinterested authority to bear on the matter, and to urge the adoption henceforth, save in exceptional cases, of a standard expression for resistivity; all in the hope that the needed reform will thus actually be brought about. The general definition of the resistivity of a material is the resistance in ohms between two opposite faces of a unit cube of that, material. No account need be taken here of the cases in which the unit volume is not a cube, and the units of length and cross-section are different, encountered principally when dealing with metallic conductors such as wires. The idea of the resistance of a unit volume of earth or rock has found expres-sion in geophysical literature in a number of forms and with a variety of units. Fortunately, the metric system has been adhered to in most cases, so ordinarily the meter or the centimeter, usually the latter, has been the measure chosen. The resistivity is then the resistance of a cube of the given rock, or soil, one centimeter on, an edge. This is far from always being the same thing, however, as the resistance of a cubic centimeter. A long thin wire could contain a cubic centimeter and have a high resistance, whereas the same volume formed into a flat plate would have an entirely different, and quite low, resistance between faces. Con-sequently, it is not proper to express resistivity in ohms per cubic centi-meter, inch, etc., as has been done occasionally by .some writers. In an effort to emphasize the idea of cubic volume, some geophysicists, the writer among them, have used the phrase, ohms per centimeter cubed. This is a graphic way of picturing the measure, but is not in favor among highly qualified authorities. In this connection, an appeal was made to the U. S. Bureau of Standards for advice, and the Director, George K. Burgess, kindly replied in detail as to the practice adopted by his Bureau: ." . .' such expressions as ohms per centimeter cubed' or any similar expressions are objectionable, because they certainly carry the implica-tion that the resistivity is found by dividing ohms resistance by the volume in cubic centimeters." Actually, of course, resistivity is found

Jan 1, 1932