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By J. S. Ll. Leach, M. B. Bever

THE system copper-nickel exhibits complete solid and liquid miscibility1 The thermodynamic properties of such a system would not be expected to deviate greatly from ideality. Although the evidence is conflicting, anomalies in the composition dependence of various physical properties of solid copper-nickel alloys suggest that mixing may not be ideal.' From measurements of the Hall coefficient it has been concluded that clustering occurs in these alloys. ' Considerations involving the phase diagram of the ternary system copper-nickel-chromium have led Mei-jering3 to predict a positive heat of formation for solid copper-nickel alloys. An electrochemical investigation of the activity of nickel in copper-nickel alloys showed unexpectedly large positive deviations from ideality.4 wagner5 has proposed that if the entropy can be considered ideal, these measurements would yield the following equation for the heat of mixing at 700°C H" = 3380 x,vl (l-xVi) cal per g atom [I1 The heat of formation at 722°C of solid copper-nickel alloys of the equiatomic composition has been measured in a reaction calorimeter as 540 cal per g atom. This note reports calorimetric measurements of the heat effects on dissolution of some copper-nickel ndon: in tin. These measurements were preliminary to a larger investigation, which was later discontinued. From them the heats of formation of the alloys can be calculated, if certain assumptions are

Jan 1, 1960

The Lead-Line Update held in conjunction with the 1977 SME-AIME Fall Meeting in St. Louis provided sessions on mining, mineral processing, extractive metallurgy, and economies to brief the record on the industry's activities and developments since the 1970 World Symposium on Lead and Line convened, also in St. Louis. Changes in the industry since 1970 have not been profound, notes the program committee, consisting of D. O. Rausch, F. M. Stephens, and B.C. Mariacher, cochairmen; and H. L. Clifford, S. C. Fall), and M. Snedeker. However, various environmental and conservation factors have had a direct impact on process consideration and operating practice; the result has been new mines, improved technology, and changing market opportunities. The general consensus of the participants is that the future for the Lead-zinc industry looks promising as new applications are found and new products resulting from intensive research reach the marketplace. The highlights of the HS technical papers presented at the 1977 session follows.

Jan 11, 1977

By C. H. North, L. E. Lynd, W. W. Anderson, H. Sigurdson

CONSIDERABLE uncertainty is revealed in the literature regarding the nature of the titanium minerals which make up the bulk of the heavy, opaque fractions of numerous beach sand deposits of the world. An investigation was made, therefore, of beach sand concentrates of North Carolina, Florida, Brazil, and India. Magnetic concentration, X-ray, and microscope data were obtained which show that these concentrates consist essentially of ilmenite and its alteration products. The alteration, brought about by oxidation and leaching of iron values, has resulted in upgrading the ores to a range of 56 to 64 pct TiO2, as compared with 52.7 pct in ilmenite of theoretical composition. Conclusions drawn regarding the nature of the dominant titanium-bearing mineral in beach sand deposits have been based mainly on chemical composition, specific gravity, and petrography. This material has usually been referred to as ilmenite or weathered ilmenite. It has also been referred to as arizonite because in chemical composition it resembles an occurrence in Arizona which was described by Palmer1 in 1909.

Jan 8, 1954

Engineering Council has been elected to membership in the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. Its representative will be Mr. Harold W. Buck, of Viele, Blackwell & Buck, Consulting Engineers, New York City, Past-president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, his alternate being Mr. Irving E. Moultrop, of the Edison Electric Illum-inating Co., Boston, member of American Society of Mechanical Engin-eers and American Institute of Electrical Engineers. The Chamber of Commerce of the United States was formed in 1912 and now consists of more than 1100 organizations in every state of the union, in the out-lying possessions, and of all the principal American chambers of commerce abroad. One of the chief aims is to obtain the best business thought on national questions that concern business. Members of the National Chamber have the privilege of using all the facilities of the Chamber's offices in Washington when information is desired.

Jan 12, 1919

By Eric Jette

THE unusual physical, electrical and magnetic properties of the iron-nickel alloys has given rise to a voluminous literature. This work will be reviewed critically in "The Alloys of Iron and Nickel," a monograph of the Alloys of Iron Research Series, soon to be published. In what follows we shall therefore confine ourselves to those of the earlier investi-gations that involved the use of X-ray crystal-structure methods. The earliest X-ray work on the iron-nickel system was by Miss Andrews1. Using the powder method of X-ray analysis purely as a means of identifying the phases present, she located a region between 20 and 30 weight per cent nickel in which body-centered and face-centered phases coexisted. No lattice constants nor details of heat-treat-ment were reported. Bain2 also reported some qualitative observations. McKeehan3 made a systematic investigation over the whole of the system, giving many of his alloys four and some five different heat-treatments. In alloys furnace-cooled from 900° to 950° C. he found two coexisting phases between 0.15 and 30 per cent nickel. The precision of the lattice-constant measurements was low in comparison with what can be obtained today.. Even for alloys of the same heat-treatment, differences in the constants were often between two and ten parts per thousand. In regions where no change of lattice constant with heat-treatment should occur, differences of the same order of magnitude were found. Since the maximum change in the lattice constant of nickel with change of composition is only about 2 per cent of the constant for pure nickel, these variations in the constants for a given alloy cause the points

Jan 1, 1936

The Black hills rise like a dark island above the far-flung prairie lands of the Dakotas; to their sombre pine-clad slopes they owe the name, Black mountains, by which they were known to the early explorers. Pahasapa, a Sioux word with the same meaning, was the name given to these hills by the Indians, who avoided them, believing them to be mysterious and dangerous. The aborigines entered the hills rarely, to pick berries, hunt the deer, or to cut lodge-poles, the central supports of their huts. The French explorer Pierre de la Veréndrye reached Dakotan soil in October 1738, coming thither from Montreal by way of Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods.* Five years later his sons, François and Louis Joseph, reached the Black hills, as is recorded on a plate unearthed at Fort Pierre in 1913. The French-Canadian explorers and trappers of that time, however, appear to have been diverted southeastward to the more promising lands of the Mississippi valley, so that we find no mention of the Black hills in the chronicles of the period until Lewis and Clark, on their way to the Pacific coast, in 1805, met a French trader, named Jean Vallé, on the lower Cheyenne river, and from him they heard of the Black mountains in a casual manner. Next, Wilson P. Hunt, who, at the head of an expedition crossed the Rocky Mountains on his way to the Astor trading-post on the Columbia river, in 1811, had a glimpse of the dark hills to the north, but that was all. Then in 1823 Jedediah S. Smith, one of the earliest discoverers of gold in California, crossed the southern part of the Black hills on his way westward. Two trading-posts were established in

Jan 1, 1932

By Theodore Simons

During the last half century a great amount of ingenuity and energy has been devoted to the invention of appliances for the recovery of valuable minerals from very fine sands and slimes. The reason for this is that in almost every dressing plant the greatest losses of values, considered relatively as well as absolutely, occur in the treatment of slimes. The natural aim of mill operators to minimize these losses has in recent years received another impetus, from the fact that the gradually diminishing occurrence of high-grade ores makes a more intense recovery of values from existing resources absolutely necessary for profitable operation. The results of such attempts are found in the appearance of a great number of machines and appliances which make it profitable to-day to rework old clumps, containing the tailings of older processes. A constantly growing difficulty of obtaining skilled labor and the increase in wages made it prohibitory to employ those types of machines which required much attention, and in the middle of the ninieteenth century the various concentrating tables of the percussion type, which automatically discharge their products, began to take the place of the intermittent tables, on which, when the bed had reached a certain thickness, operation had to be stopped in order to allow the skimming by hand of the separate layers formed on the table. In the course of years, two general types of machines evolved for the treatment of fine sands arid slimes: The so-called concentrators and vanners, on the one hand, and the buddles and round tables on the other.' For the profitable treatment of the very finest slimes, round tables have as a last resort proved more satisfactory and econoillical than other machines. In recent years they have agaiu become the subject of close inves-

Jan 1, 1914

K. Baumgarten has returned from active service in France. He reports that he saw C. W. Campbell, formerly with the 2d Engineers on the Chateau Thierry front, and believes that the latter returned to the United States on August 1. He also saw J. J. Croston; G. J. Sielaff, recently transferred to the Gas Service; Thomas M. Smither, survivor of the Tuscania after a 10-mile swim to Ireland. While in Paris he en-deavored to see Prof. Sauveur, but was unsuccessful. F. K. Borrow was given a commission as Lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1914, but had to relinquish it, on account of ill health, in August, 1915. His health has much improved and he hopes to resume active work toward the end of this year. Davis, A. W:, see British Columbia Engineers, below. Alfred Fox, Jr., enlisted in the Public Schools Brigade, Royal Fusiliers, in September, 1914; was gazetted Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery in December, 1914, promoted to Captain in November, 1915, and Adjutant to 78th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, in January, 1916. He was appointed Staff Captain of the 12th Divisional Artillery in November, 1917. He has served continuously in France since July 1, 1915. He was awarded the Military Cross in January, 1917, and four times mentioned in despatches. E. Fraser-Campbell writes that he joined the London University 0. T. C. in January, 1918, for five weeks; enlisted with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in February, 1918, and attended a training course for officer cadets at Chatham for six weeks. He was commissioned 2d Lieutenant, Royal Engineers, in April, 1918. After two months on home training at Chatham, he landed in France on June 23, 1918, posted to 180th Tunnelling Co., R. E., and is now with his unit up on the line.

Jan 10, 1918

Idaho Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Idaho, Moscow, Ida. John W. Finch, Director. A list of publications will be sent upon application. A series of Bulletins and Pamphlets have been issued by the Bureau to date since 1920 Of the Bulletins, six are out of print, and a charge is made for eight. Each of the Bulletins, in the main, treats of the geology and resources of a particular district in Idaho, as follows (only available Bulletins listed): Bulletin 1, South central Idaho (1920), 15 cents, 7, North central Idaho (1924), 50 cents, 8, Bonneville, Bingham and Caribou counties (1924), 50 cents, 9, Boise Basin (1924), 50 cents; 10, Boundary County (1926), 50 cents; 11, Region about Silver City (1926), 50 cents; 12, Clark Fork district (1930), 50 cents, 14, Eastern Cassia County (1931), 50 cents, Press Bulletin 15, Teton County (1927), Bulletin 16, Melon Valley near Buhl (1927); 17, Concerning land slips near Whitebird, Idaho (1928) The 37 Pamphlets are issued free of cost, and each treats, also, in the main of the geology and resources of a particular district in Idaho Nos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 17, 18, 20, 22, 25, 26, 30 and 35 are out of print Of those available, attention may be called to Pamphlet 6, Reported platinum occurrences near Coeur d' Alene (1925), 11, Bruneau River Basin, 12, Power and Oneida

Jan 1, 1933

By AIME AIME

ALL sessions of the Mining Geology Committee at the Annual Meeting this year were held jointly with other groups, a plan that seemed to work out to the satisfaction of every one. Certain of these sessions are reported in this issue by others; the ones held on Wednesday are covered here. Ten papers, as published in the February M&M, were on the program for the Wednesday morning session, held jointly with the Society of Economic Geologists. Mr. Eckel made a brief presentation of his paper, on which there was no discussion, and Mr. Peoples presented that of which he was a joint author. D. M. Fraser then discussed a gravimeter survey for chromite in Cuba, which blocked out some 50,000 tons of ore, and F. G. Wells told of work on chromiferous sands in Oregon.

Jan 1, 1943

THE first session of the production engineering group on Wednesday, morning, with J. B. Umpleby as chairman, recorded the principal developments since the Fort Worth meeting. Added to this was a lively discussion of pressure maintenance. Recent advances in the air-gas lift have resulted from the need of applying the method to smaller wells at lower costs. In many places intermittent flow has given excellent results, and numerous mechanical de-vices for its automatic control have been, developed. Papers by C. V. Millikan on the Mid-Continent field and by A. H. Bell on California, fields formed the basis for discussion. The maintenance of initial sand pressures was ably discussed for two Texas fields by t. V. Foran in a paper that not only outlined the technic of operation and the results obtained but also contained noteworthy cost data in terms of increased ultimate production. Mr. Foran recommends the use of air in the first stages of pressure maintenance as a means of determining sand conditions and directions of flow, later turning to gas, if available, because of its greater solubility on oil. A round table discussion on petroleum engineering educational problems, with H. G. George as chairman, brought out much interesting discussion that is difficult to summarize. The other Wednesday morning session was a refinery engineering symposium with T. G. Del-bridge as chairman and the economical application of heat for the general topic. A paper on the modern pipe -still, by H. S. Bell, and another by C. W. Stratford on the modernization of the cylindrical still elicited a lively discussion.

Jan 3, 1928

By N. J. Sather

The history of the Bunker Hill mine dates back to August 26, 1885, when Noah S. Kellogg found the outcrop of the Bunker Hill orebody on the hillside of Milo Gulch above the present town of Wardner, Idaho. A small concentrator was erected in 1886, and before the railroad came, the mine output was transported by mule teams to the head of navigation on Coeur d'Alene Lake. After ten years of production, an interest was purchased in the Tacoma smelter at Tacoma, Wash., to which the entire output was shipped. In 1916 and 1917, a modern lead smelting plant and refinery was erected, and a modern electrolytic zinc reduction plant was built in 1927-1928 by the Sullivan Mining Co. which was 50 pct owned (and now totally owned) by the Bunker Hill Co.

Jan 6, 1961

By Arthur F. Taggart

The following notes represent significant excerpts from a mass of records of experimental work done in the ore-dressing laborattory at the Columbia School of Mines during the years 1926 to 1928 inclusive. Classification of Experimental Work The experiments performed may be grouped for purposes of description under the following general headings: I. Collecting agents. a. A method for quantifying collecting effect. b. Coating with undissolved collecting agents (oils). c. Action of dissolved collecting agents. II. Frothing agent's. a. A method for quantifying frothing effect. b. Relation between frothing effect and chemical composition. III. Inorganic reagents. a. Methods of studying the effects of these reagents. b. Effect on slime dispersion. c. Effect on sulfides. Summary of the Origins of Present-day Flotation Practice The first practicable, foolproof method of froth flotation was described in U. S. Patent 835120, issued in 1906 to Sulman, Picard and Ballot, and in the equivalent patents in other countries. A number of less simple methods of producing the same result had been described previously in patent publications and otherwise.' The reagents specified in all of these early patents were "oils" and, in addition, some inorganic substance, usually an acid. The quantities of reagents recommended and added were enormous when compared with those used today.

Jan 1, 1930

By John Tyssowski

IN 1925, Harry Howard Stout, then metallurgist for Phelps Dodge Corporation, while investigating the cleaning of cathode copper by various gases at elevated temper-atures below the melting point of the metal, observed in the laboratory that particles of pure copper heated in a closed tube filled with hydrogen seemingly "stuck together." By further investigation he found that there was actual crystal growth across the boundaries of the particles of pure metal; in other words, there was a complete new crystal realignment and growth throughout the newly formed copper mass. It was coalescence, not adhesion; the several parti-cles had become one unit. From this dis-covery has been developed the coalescence process, whereby copper of cathode purity is squirted out in semifabricated form from an extrusion press, by the appli-cation of about 30c0 tons pressure on a 10-in. piston. Stout decided that cathode copper pro-duced by electrolytic deposition was the logical source of the pure copper required for the coalescence process, but as there was no way of reducing the ordinary tough commercial cathodes to the small particles required he was confronted by a serious problem at the outset. Under his direction, this problem was solved by William H, Osborn and Harry Howard Stout, Jr. They developed the process and technique for producing cathode copper in brittle, friable form, and to them must be given the greater part of the credit for this phase of the development program as well as for that relating to the gas cleaning of the cathode particles.

Jan 1, 1940

By E. C. W. Perryman

IN spite of the large amount of work which has been carried out on the recrystallization of aluminum and its alloys, there has been no complete investigation of the recrystallization characteristics of A1-Mg alloys. The most complete investigation is that reported by Bungardt and Osswald' who, working with commercial-purity materials, found that the temperature both of beginning and of complete recrystallization increased with magnesium content up to about 2 pct Mg, then decreased with a further increase in magnesium up to 5.0 pct, and thereafter increased again. Michaud and Segolz working with 99.93 pct A1 also found the temperature of beginning of recrystallization to decrease as the magnesium content increased from 2.13 pct to about 4.5 pct. Chossat3 using aluminum of 99.99 pct purity found that 0.12 pct Mg had no effect but that 0.4 pct Mg increased the recrystallization temperature by about 30°C. That no effect was found for 0.12 pct Mg does not agree with the later results reported by Demer and Beck4 who found that 0.025 pct Mg in 99.99 pct A1 increased the time for complete recrystallization and furthermore increased the activation energy for the recrystallization process. Kratz" using 99.997 pct A1 found that 0.5 pct Mg increased both the temperature of beginning and of complete recrystallization by 100°C. Chadwick and Hooper" working with commercial-purity material found that 1 pct Mg increased the temperature of complete recrystallization by about 40 °C for cold reductions in the range 17 to 72 pct. With smaller amounts of cold work produced by stretching (10 pct strain), they found no significant effect of magnesium. The latter result agrees with that obtained by Williams and Eborall' who found no effect of 2 pct Mg on the recrystallization temperature of commercial-purity aluminum strained 10 pct or less by stretching. Experimental Procedure Material Used: The chemical analyses of the materials used throughout this investigation are given in Table I. Fabrication: The alloys were cast in iron molds which had been washed thoroughly with alumina. After scalping, the ingots were annealed for 16 hr at 450°C, pressed, annealed at 450°C for 16 hr and hot rolled to 0.25 in. After hot rolling, the slabs were alternately annealed and cold rolled to 0.036 in. Cold-rolling reductions between intermediate anneals were kept at about 30 pct and a high intermediate annealing temperature of 450°C was used so as to obtain, as nearly as possible, similar starting grain sizes for the different materials. All intermediate anneals were done in a salt bath and were followed by cold-water quenching so as to retain all the magnesium in solid solution. The final cold reductions investigated were 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 80 pct. The initial grain sizes, that is, the grain size before the final cold reduction, were all very similar. Annealing Procedure: Specimens, 1 in. sq, were cut from the 0.036 in. sheet and annealed in a salt bath, the temperature of which was controlled to k2"C. Separate specimens were annealed for different times at 350°, 375", 400°, and in one or two cases at 415°C and after annealing were quenched in cold water. The time taken for a specimen to reach temperature was approximately 5 sec. Metal-lographic examination after annealing showed that no precipitation of Mg+413 occurred during cooling. Procedures Used for Determining Recrystallization Characteristics: All specimens were electrolyti-cally polished and etched by the method described previously1° and polishing was continued until about 0.002 in. had been removed from each side of the specimen. Using this technique, the smallest recrys-tallized grain which could be observed with cer-

Jan 1, 1956

By Thomas S. Nye

Mineral exploration in the United States relies heavily on theoretical geologic concepts and indirect methods such as geophysics and geochemical prospecting, as there are few exposed areas of mineralization which have not already been explored. In Mexico, ore grade samples can be cut at the surface on vein, replacement, and disseminated types of deposits in many areas. The problem is not in finding a mineralized area but in deciding which mineralized area can be explored and developed at the least risk and cost, with the greatest profit potential within the framework of Mexican mineral economics and that nation's government policies. Socio-economic Posture Mexico, prior to World War II, had suffered from more than one hundred years of intermittent wars and exploitation by internal and foreign elements. Consequently, the basic facilities which today's society takes for granted were scarce or non-existent in most of the country. Travel was largely a matter of negotiating poor dirt roads, riding horseback or walking. Relatively few people were literate and medical facilities were luxuries for the wealthy. Mexico's leaders were, however, determined to improve the lot of their people, within a system of private enterprise and personal freedom. Long-range programs initiated at about the time of World War II to provide infrastructure-education, health and welfare, transportation, power, water, communication-are now established fully or in part for most of the country and are being continually expanded.

Jan 12, 1972

The week of Sept. 22, will be a week of convocation of societies in Chicago with the exposition of Chemical industries. The American. Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers will occupy the stage for most of the week, American Ceramic Society meets on Wednesday, the American Electrochemical Society on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and the Technical Association of Pulp and Paper Industry from Wednesday to Saturday. There will also be a symposium upon Safety in the Plant and Mine under the chairmanship of M. L. Leopold, Safety Engineer of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, and in the evening after this sleeting-which will occupy an entire afternoon-there will be shown a series of motion pictures of safety work in plant, field-and mine. The motion picture program will consist almost entirely of films now being made. Even in motion pictures, the Exposition is outstanding as the place of introduction to the public of the newest and most recent developments. Each improvement of the projectoscope in motion-picture projection has been reserved for first public demonstration at the Exposition. Mention cannot be made of the new exhibits that are engaged for the Exposition, other than to say that the electric furnace will be in operation. These will give, probably for the first time, men of science an opportunity to see and compare the various designs and judge them for the various work to which they are applicable.

Jan 8, 1919

By B. Sadtler

The oldest producing district of Park county, and in fact one of the oldest producing gold-districts of the State, is situated on the head-waters of the Platte and tributary streams. Geo-

Jan 1, 1897

Climax Molybdenum Co. has contracted with the Government to operate its property at Climax, Colo. at maximum capacity for five years. Substitution of synthetic lubricants, polyalkylene glycols and their derivatives, for petroleum products in certain industrial applications is yielding substantial savings in production costs and improved operation of mechanical equipment.

Jan 1, 1951

By RAY J. CORFIELD

IN a previous paper, "Electric Shovel Operation at Utah Copper Mine," which was read before the Western Division of the American Mining Congress, the problem of electrifying a fleet of steam shovels was described. This paper deals with the electrification of the haulage system which, when completed, will make the mining operation completely electric, with the exception of drilling operations which will continue to be performed by air. The general layout of the haulage system involves the use of heavy curves in addition to heavy grades of between 4 and 5 per cent. In a mining operation of this kind no trackage can be called permanent; this complicates the overhead construction somewhat and makes it necessary to design special forms of trolley construction, some of which will be described in detail below.

Jan 1, 1929