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By Albert R. Ledoux

Discussion of the Paper of Albert R. Ledoux, read at the Atlantic City Meeting, February, 1904. ARTHUR JARMAN, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia' (communication to the Secretary*): Some remarks upon. Dr. Ledoux's interesting paper from one who has not visited America may, I hope, be of interest to members. It appears to me that there is considerable difference between the training of the American and of the British mining engineer. Not that the subjects are different, but rather in the way in which they are handled, the illustrations being, as far as possible, mining in character. Colloquial instruction is unknown in English curricula, but could be introduced with advantage. Students here assure me that an hour of conversation is of tar more use to them than an hour of the best lecturing. In England a school-year of 6 or 7 months would be considered very short indeed; but Americans do not consider it so, for the reason that the rest of the year is mostly spent in acquiring practical acquaintance with their subjects in works or in the field, and the shorter courses, when coupled with this large amount of outside expe¬rience, produce an essentially practical-minded engineer, who is also more of a business man; whereas the English system, though excellent from a scholastic point of view, produces the theoretical rather than the practical man. British schools are waking up, however, and the practical aspect of the engineer's training is receiving greater consideration. Once launched upon his career, the American engineer is immediately called upon to exercise his self-reliance and ingenuity, if he is to retain the confidence of his employers; but what can we say of English directors? In how many cases is the engineer allowed to guide the destinies of his company? Witness several recent cases of gross waste of money upon unsuitable plants, and the perpetuation of prehistoric methods of

Mar 1, 1905

AN intermetallic compound, Ni3A1, has an ordered fcc structure of type Ll2, and shows peculiar dependence of the yield stress upon temperature; i.e., the yield stress increases by a factor of six upon raising the temperature from 77" to 900K1, 2 This compound is technologically important, since many nickel-base superalloys owe their high-temperature strength to the peculiar yield stress behavior of Ni3Al. The only study of the elastic behavior of this compound was made by Davies and Stoloff,1 who determined Young's modulus of poly crystalline Ni3A1 between 300" and 730°K. The determination of single-crystal elastic constants of Ni3A1 is therefore of interest in connection with dislocation dynamics and is reported in this paper. A single-crystal specimen, 1 by 1 by 3 cm, was cut from an ingot generously supplied by Dr. B. H. Kear of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Following initial machining with a Servomet and a surface grinder, the specimen was etched and annealed at 1100°C for 5 hr in vacuum followed by furnace cooling. Two parallel faces were oriented normal to within ±l deg of a [I101 crystallographic axis by the back-reflection Laue technique. The parallel faces were hand-lapped, etched, and polished by the usual metallographic procedures. Final thickness along the [I101 axis was (0.9325 * 0.0005) cm. Chemical analysis gave an average composition of 87.35 pct Ni. Total impurity content is esimated to be no more than 0.1 pct. The elastic constants were calculated from measurements of ultrasonic waves which were propagated along the [110] axis. A longitudinal wave and two shear waves whose displacements are aligned along the [ 110], [li~], and [001] directions, respectively, are necessary in order to completely specify the three elastic constants. Two 3/6-in. quartz transducers were bonded to the parallel faces of the sample with ~ac-seal.3 Although this bond was sensitive to thermal shock, it performed satisfactorily over the entire temperature range for both longitudinal and shear wave propagation. A frequency of 5 mHz was employed in the method of Williams and Lamb4 in order to measure the absolute value of the ultrasonic velocity. The pulse-overlap technique of Mcskimin5 was also used at this frequency in order to determine the shift in the ultrasonic velocity

Jan 1, 1970

By Bauer. Larry G.

The vast coal reserves in the Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota region are sufficient to supply the total energy needs of the United States for several hundred years. Not only is there an abundance of this sub-bituminous and lignite coal available, but it is easily obtainable by strip-mining . The overburden varies from several feet to several hundred feet. This western coal has yet another asset, namely, a low sulfur content. Whereas eastern and midwestern coal has a sulfur content of 2.5%, the upper Great Plains coal contains sulfur in the 0.5% range. The importance of the sulfur content of the coal is a direct result of federal government emission standards for sulfur dioxide (SO2). Hand (1) points out that "sub-bituminous coals and lignites have a propensity for retaining this sulfur in the ash under certain conditions which is not evident in higher rank coals." This would tend to reduce further the SO2 concentration in the combustion gases of boilers. Western coal is no panacea, however, in that it is far removed from most population and industrial centers. Furthermore, the moisture content of the coal varies from 20 to 40%. This moisture is almost exclusively inherent, that is, it is chemically and physically bound to the organic matter of the coal. It is believed that the water forms a part of the coal structure perhaps as water of hydration of organic salts or organic acids, perhaps by hydrogen bonding, or perhaps by simple adsorption (2). The primary market for this coal is the electric power industry. Lesser markets will be as coke for the steel industry and possible as a raw material for coal gasification and coal liquefaction plants.

Jan 1, 1983

ARIZONA Tucson University of AriZona, Mining Engineering Society. B CALIFORNIA Berkeley University of California, Mining Asso. B University of California, Library. B & T Los Angeles Chamber of Mines and Oil. B Southern California Local Section. T Public Library. B & T Oakland Oakland Free Library. T San Francisco California State Mining Bureau. T Mechanic's Merchantile Library. B Mining and Scientific Press. B Stanford University Stanford University Geological and Mining Society. B San Diego Public Library. B COLORADO Boulder University of Colorado, Library. T Denver Bureau of Mines. B Colorado Scientific Society. B Mining American. B Denver Public Library. B & T Golden Colorado School of Mines Magazine. B Colorado School of Mines Library. T Colorado School of Mines Scientific Society. B

Jan 1, 1923

By CLAYTON C. BALL

In the year 1948, more than ever before, the coal industry established itself on the threshold of a new and exciting future expansion. While production did not equal the wartime and peacetime peaks of 1944 and 1947, it was, in review, a good coal year. During the latter part of the year a combination of mild weather, record stock piling, and general business slackening reduced coal demand to the extent that marginal mines suspended operations, while mines remaining active found it necessary to renew their attention to producing better products at lower operating costs.

Jan 1, 1949

By David R. Maneval, W. E. Foreman, J. Richard Lucas

INTRODUCTION The objective of this chapter is to inform the industry, as well as the public, of the challenges in dealing with the problems associated with the contamination of air and water from coal preparation plants. The need for an informed industry is most important. It is hoped that some contribution may be given to a more efficient and economical approach to the problems of plant waste contaminants at individual plants. The problem has many facets, and consideration to specific area should begin early before any significant problems develop at a given plant. It is then possible to have a reasoned approach before the pressures of an emergency environment force hasty and incomplete solutions. It will be necessary to anticipate these problems in the design of new preparation plants and advance consideration should be given to all the problems concerned with contaminants. The first part of the chapter will concern itself mainly with the contamination aspects of fine-coal cleaning and "black-water" disposal. Also attention will be given to the nature and formation of water from coal-mine drainage systems and the treatment of these waters for industrial use. Some attention will be devoted to the cost of installing and operating the various beneficiation systems for the removal of suspended solids. The second part of the chapter will analyze the problems of air contaminants from coal preparation plants. The nature and the effects of these contaminants and their potential for air pollution will be examined. One of the most critical is the measurement and analysis of these contaminants. As a result of identifying and determining the extent of the problem, better control can be planned. One of the most serious contaminants in air involves the element sulfur, and its elimination as a source of air pollution is one of the most challenging areas in coal preparation today. The last part of the chapter will emphasize the long-range problem of refuse disposal and control. Minimum operating and maintenance costs are functions of the proper selection and geometry of refuse disposal areas. Disposal procedures are varied but must be rigidly pursued or difficulties will result. Maintenance of refuse areas, including monitoring of burning refuse, is critical. It should be recognized that fine-solid refuse disposal systems must be carefully designed to minimize contamination. WATER CONTAMINANTS FROM PREPARATION PLANTS Pollution Aspects of Fine-Coal Cleaning and "Black-Water" Disposal The effluents from coal washeries and waters draining from plant-site surfaces inevitably contain fine coal and coal refuse materials in suspen-

Jan 1, 1968

By Morris Cohen, Robert C. Ruhl

Fe-Ni-B alloys were inresligated by X-ray diffraclion after splat quenching. Although this rapid cooling did not produce a measurable supersaturation of dissol1ed boron in either binary Fe-B or Ni-B alloys, a marked increase in dissolved boron was achieved by the splal quenching of lernary Fe-Ni-B alloys. Boron additions up to 2.0 wl pcl to Fe-13Ni and Fe-24Ni alloys cause an increase in retained austenite from 0 to 59 pet and to 92 pet, respectively. The martensitic phase in the Fe-13Ni-9 at. pct B alloy is .found to conlain about 0.6 at. pet interstitial boron, as evidenced by the tetragonality of this phase, and about 3.6 at. pct substilutional boron, us deduced from the lattice paratrieler decrease, the balance of the boron being precipitated as (Fe,Ni)aR. The austenitic Fe-Ni-B plznses also contain both interstitial and substitutional boron. Iron-Boron System. The phase diagram and related information about the solid solutions and intermediate phases in the Fe-B system are given by ansen,' Elliott.2 and Pearson.1 The equilibrium solid solubility of boron in both ferrite and austenite is quite small: the maximum solid solubility of 0.02 wt pct B (0.11 at. pct B) occurs in iron at the eutectic temperature of 1150°C. while the maximum solubility in a iron is less than 0.01 wt pct.l There is disagreement in the literature as to whether these solid solutions are substitutional or interstitial. Based on the measured activation energy of boron diffusion in iron, it appears likely that boron moves interstitially in austenite. 4 However, this observation does not rule out the possibility that some of the dissolved boron may also occupy substitutional sites in this phase. Investigations of internal friction of boron in iron have suggested that boron is interstitial there.' Shevelev, 5 on the other hand, reports a decrease in the ferrite lattice parameter with dissolved boron content, thus indicating a substitutional solution. Unfortunately. Shevelev's methods and analysis are unclear. Goldhoff and spretnak6 have measured the lattice parameters of pure iron and an Fe-0.005 wt pct B (0.027 at. pct) alloy at both room temperature (ferrite) and from 920° to 1200°C (austenite). They reporte: a lattice contraction in the ferrite of 0.0003 ± 0.0002 due to boron, thus indicating a predominately substitutional solution. Appreciable (0.0010 to 0.0060) lattice contractions were found in boron-containing austenites, but these effects were much larger than could be accounted for by the substitutional solution of all the boron present. Nickel-Boron System. Elliott 2 gives a summary of thephase diagram and recent work on this system. The solubility of boron in nickel reaches a maximum of 0.03 wt pct at the eutectic temperature of 1080°C. Iron-Nickel System. ansen' presents the equilibrium diagram for this system and also discusses the metastable austenitic and martensitic phases along with the a=? transformations. The lattice parameters of Fe-Ni ferrites have been recently redetermined by Abrahamson and Lopata.7 Their data, Fig. 1, show an unusual change in slope at about 1.7 at. pct Ni. Very few measurements of the lattice parameters of Fe-Ni martensites are available in the literature. The values of Roberts and Owen8 are considerably higher than those measured in the course of the present work: they find that a, is constant at 2.874? from 8 to 30 at. pct Ni. Both the slope change in the ferrite parameters and the occurrence of a maximum plateau in the marten-sitic lattice parameters vs composition denote the

Jan 1, 1970

By C. D. King

The advances in basic open-hearth practice which have occurred during the past decade have been principally in the direction of the physical development of larger units, decreased fuel consumption and increased length of furnace campaigns. However gratifying the economies which have resulted from these improvements are, it must be granted that like advances in chemical, physical-chemical and metallurgical knowledge pertaining to open-hearth practice would have added greatly to these already attained reductions in costs and it is the purpose of this paper to stimulate the discussion and study of these phases of cooperation and their relation to ingot yields. Definition and Calculation oF Losses In discussing basic open-hearth yields, the writer refers to the ingot yields obtained in the process of converting pig iron, scrap and ore to steel. In this conversion some scrap is produced. The difference between the total weight of ingots and scrap produced and the original metallic charge constitutes the loss. Basic open-hearth yields vary considerably, and while some of the divergencies can be explained metal-lurgically because of differences in slag analysis, proportion of pig charges, and character of steel made, there often remain differences that apparently do not readily disclose themselves. In reconciling yields by the usual accepted methods of calculation, one is often forced to evaluate large losses as ((unaccounted for." Such a system is prone to accept these large losses as inherent to the operat.ion and not, susceptible of appraisement and correction. It is obvious that if the ingot yield plus the scrap recovered subtracted from 100 per cent. determines the loss, a drop in yield may increase the loss or the scrap, and both contribute to a monetary loss. To be sure, one can subdivide these unaccounted for losses into various components, such as metallics in slag, free Fe in slag, spillage, etc., and thereby reduce the amount of losses considered as "unaccounted for." If empirical methods could indicate with some degree of accuracy all losses, however slight, the undetermined losses become appreciably smaller and resultant calculations will check actual

Jan 1, 1929

By James W. Wade

THIS discussion of the future supply of lead refers only to the next ten-year period. Beyond that no prediction can be made that would be of sufficient accuracy to serve any purpose. When any commodity is by an unsatisfied demand forced to a higher price level, and the profits of those who are able to produce the commodity are greatly increased, there is awakened a new interest in the commodity on the part of both producer and consumer. The consumer attempts to reduce his costs by developing substitutes or assisting in the development of new sources of supply. Lead is now going through this stage. The lead producer is increasing development expenditure and searching for new mines. The consumer is developing substitutes as illustrated by the increasing use of zinc oxide as a pigment, and the use of dry batteries in radio sets. The search of the Ford interests for lead, by prospecting in Missouri and Idaho, is induced by the effort to develop a new source of supply. Considering the index figures of the Department of' Commerce, it is evident that lead is on a substantially higher price level. For February, 1926, the index figure of lead is 209, while the general commodity price index is only 156, 100 being taken as the base for 1913.

Jan 1, 1926

By Ian Wark

IN an earlier paper1 measurements of contact angles due to the effect of xanthates on mineral surfaces were reported. The solutions in which these measurements were made differed widely from those of modern flotation circuits. It is intended, however, by introducing, one at a time, the other principal reagents of flotation, to approach gradually the solu-tion composition of flotation liquors. The work now described is an attempt to determine the effect of one of the most important of these reagents-namely, sodium cyanide-on the establishment of air-mineral contact. The work has been carried out for the following companies: Broken Hill South, North Broken Hill, Zinc Corporation, Electro-lytic Zinc of Australasia, Mount Lyell Mining and Railway, and Burma Corporation. Since the effect of cyanide is inseparably connected with the alkalinity, the results cited below deal with the mutual effects of alkalis and cyanide. Alkalis alone exert a significant effect on the air-mineral contact but comparatively large amounts are required. Since the addition of a small amount of cyanide greatly decreases the degree of alkalinity necessary for the suppression of contact at surfaces of any of the minerals experimented with (except galena) and since alkalis are rarely used alone in practice, little attention has been paid to cyanide-free solutions. It was shown in the previous paper that, excluding the dixanthogen effect, whenever contact was practicable at all in an ethyl xanthate solution the angle of contact was 60°. There is, therefore, less necessity to measure equilibrium contact angles; in fact, the experiments herein described have generally been conducted with a view to determining whether contact is possible and not to measuring the actual value of the contact angle. The separations which have generally to be effected in dealing with complex sulfide ores are: (1) galena from sphalerite, pyrite, etc.; (2) sphalerite from pyrite and/or gangue minerals; (3) copper minerals from pyrite and gangue minerals; (4) pyrite from gangue minerals; (5) chal-

Jan 1, 1933

By AIME AIME

A LUSTY baby of the Institute, the Coal Division, showed that it had acquired a full set of teeth and was capable of man's work at the Division meeting at Fairmont, W. Va., on March 26 and 27. At this second of a series of field meetings, the first of which was held in Pittsburgh last fall, the industry in the East was represented from top to bottom and good humor and enthusiasm were the predominant notes. West Virginians are always good hosts and this meeting would have proved the statement to any inclined to doubt it. The spacious auditorium of the Fairmont Hotel was arranged for the technical sessions, the hotel being headquarters for the meeting. About a hundred and twenty-five representatives were registered and in attendance when Thomas G. Fear, chairman, opened the morning session at 10 o'clock Mr. Fear first introduced Howard Eavenson, vice-chairman of the morning program, who, as chairman of the Coal Division, had labored long and cheerfully to make the meeting successful. Mr. Eavenson talked briefly on what the organization was doing, pointing out that these field meetings were designed to bring the members into closer touch with the parent Institute and give the younger engineers in the field a better opportunity to participate in the work the Institute is doing. He congratulated the various committees for their work in promoting the meeting.

Jan 1, 1931

By R. H. Heinen

Introduction Drilling is the initial operating step In open pit mining. It goes hand-in-hand with the blasting operations to ensure adequately broken material for the excavation equipment employed. The drilling effectiveness is highly dependent on the quality of the drill evaluation. This discussion will center on the parameters that are needed to evaluate drill requirements for a new mine The procedure that is generated can, however, be used to evaluate whether to expand existing operations and replace existing equipment. Methods of breaking ground, other than blasthole drilling and blasting, such as ripping, will not be discussed. The importance of correct drill evaluation extends to the other facets of open pit mining. Inadequate fragmentation, the direct result of poor drilling and blasting techniques, results in oversized, hard digging for the excavating equipment. The result is higher secondary blasting costs, reduced excavation efficiencies, higher excavation costs, higher road repair costs, and higher haulage equipment costs. The main objective of evaluating drill fleet requirements, therefore, is to determine the equipment needed to minimize the operational constraints, caused by blasthole drilling, on other facets of open pit mining at the lowest cash flow costs.

Jan 1, 1979

H. W. MussEn, Collingwood, Ontario, Can. (communication to the Secretary*):—Doubtless all engineers who have paid more than a casual visit to Russia have come into contact with that formidable document, the " smieta," or estimate of the Russian manager. It is an institution which seems to be inseparable from Russian mining-methods. As Mr. Shockley points out, the year's costs a agree very closely" with the figures of the smieta made at the beginning of the year. In cases which have come under my notice, I have been satisfied that there had been a good deal of " rigging" of accounts to this end. The sum spent by the manager was carefully kept down to the total of the estimate, because it was well known that no more money would be forthcoming, and when this is done it is not a difficult matter to see that the right amounts come under the right heads in the final accounts. I do not say that this is always the case, but I have come across notable instances. Looking at it from the Russian owner's point of view, I think that the balance of the argument is usually in favor of the smieta as limiting " impulsive indiscretion" on the part of managers. The Russian Mining Code of to-day leaves much to be desired, but this is thoroughly appreciated by the official world there, and great changes are spoken of for the future. In many, if not in most, cases the laws are interpreted liberally, and a great deal is left to the discretion of the district mining engineer or inspector, with whom it is necessary to keep in close touch. As Mr. Shockley points out, the officials of a mine, who are always Russians, are held personally responsible for accidents resulting to employees, quite independently of any compensation which may be made to the sufferer. This seems startling enough, but I have always found that a penalty is imposed only

Jan 1, 1909

Although Australia is the world's second biggest producer of iron ore, the last few years have not been easy for companies in Western Australia's Pilbara region (see map) where more than 90% of the nation's iron ore is produced. For at least two years, the industry has been plagued by dwindling markets abroad, production-crippling strikes at home, skyrocketing costs (well above the official 13% annual inflation rate), an acute shortage of investment capital, increasingly ferocious competition from foreign iron ore producers-and, as if all this weren't enough, by an over-valued currency that has caused incalculable damage not only to iron ore producers but to the entire mining industry of Australia. (This last problem was mitigated less than two months ago, on November 28, 1976, when the Australian dollar was devalued by a whopping 17 1/2%.)

Jan 1, 1977

By Oswald J. Heinrich

THE great improvements which have been made in late years in the different systems and instruments used to perforate the crust of the earth for purposes of testing and exploring for mineral resources or for other reasons, by means of bore-holes of greater or less diameter and to greater or less depths, are manifold. It may therefore be of interest to make an impartial comparison of them, or of such as are most commonly used. Being well aware of the difficulties which are encountered in such a task, a reasonable allowance must be made in such a comparison. It is a rare instance when even two decidedly different systems or instruments have been used in the same locality, penetrating identically the same strata to the same depth. The diameter of a borehole as well as its greater or less depth must also be considered in regard to its cost per foot, etc. But for practical purposes, for ex¬ploration at least, we may assert this rule Any borehole, of whatever diameter, which allows the means of examining the strata most carefully and completely, will be sufficient for this purpose, but that one which will do it most economically and in the least space of time, must be considered the best for it. It will, therefore, partially depend upon circumstances, what system, in spite of other superiorities, may be the best in each case, and the following remarks may aid in deciding this question. To make the attempt here to review all that has been published upon the different systems and means of boring would be out of place. Reference can be had to the able publications treating upon this subject. A difference in this respect exists in regard to the use of the hollow rods in connection with the diamond drill, used for that purpose. The great future, which appears to be evident for this instrument, will be warrant enough for any one, who has had the opportunity to test it, to give his experience to the public. Only in this way can we bring this system to such perfection, as it seems to deserve and * The drawings illustrating this paper are one-half the size of the tools represented, with the exception of the instrument used to reverse the current in the bore-hole (Fig. 17), which is one-third the actual size.

Jan 1, 1874

By H. J. Rahilly

MINE FIRES, in the Butte District, have been a source of trouble and expense for the past thirty years, for while the actual fire area in most of the mines has been comparatively small, the handling of the gas has generally been a much larger problem than the actual putting out of the fire. The chief causes of these fires have been: Defective electrical equipment, incendiarism or carelessness, and spontaneous combustion. While fires from the first two causes have been numerous, they have generally been discovered and extinguished before they became very serious. Spontaneous combustion has been the cause of most of the large fires. Sufficient heat has been generated by ground movement, high rock temperatures, and decomposition to set fire to inflammable materials (tarred ropes, canvas, dry timber, manure, and hay) left in the gobs some years ago. Also, the heat resulting from the oxidation of the fine broken sulfide ore is sometimes sufficient to set fire to the timbers. In 1906, a fire was discovered on the 1100-ft. level of the Minnie Healy mine about 400 ft. (122 m.) west of the Minnie Healy shaft, which presumably originated, in one of the upper levels, from spontaneous combustion. The fire was walled off by concrete bulkheads and a pillar of ground 100 ft. (30 m.) thick was left below and mining resumed underneath. During subsequent operations, this pillar became cracked and broken and the fire passed into the new workings. It travelled downward and spread rapidly until, in 1917, it had become necessary to wall off portions of the Tramway, Leonard, and West Colusa mines on the 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1800, 1900, and 2000-ft. levels, and the top of the 2200-ft. raises were sealed. The fire area now consists roughly of a block 1000 by 1200 ft. and from the 600-ft. to the 2200-ft. level. This block is composed largely of a series of parallel northwest-southeast nearly vertical veins and stringers that form a large orebody, with no well-defined walls but badly fractured and faulted, and known locally as "Horsetail Ore." These veins, or orebodies, are mined by the square-set or the rill method.

Jan 2, 1922

By Richard E. Chism

The metric system is now in official use in the Republic of Mexico, having been adopted by the Government in the year 1862. Athough it is used to compute all customs and other duties to be paid to the General Government, in the measurement of public and private lands arid in all freight and other transactions on the railroads, and is taught exclusively in the public schools, the system has made but slight head way among the people,and has not succeeded in displacing the old-time weights and measures, which are still used in ordinary commerce. The latter were founded on old Spanish models, but, owing to the inexactness of the first standards and to subsequent changes, differ at present very widely from their originals. As to local modifications, weights are the same all over the Republic, but measures of the same name differ greatly in capacity in different States, and even in neighboring towns. The value in the metric system here assigned to each denomination of the old weights and measures is that fixed by the Mexican Government at the time of the adoption of the metric system. The equivalents in American weights and measures were calculated by me from data found in Trautwine's Pocket-Book as to the comparison between the French and American weights and measures, and are believed to be correct. I shall be thankful for early notice of any error that may be detected, that it may be corrected before the final publication of this paper in the Transactions. Linear Measures. Kilometers. Miles. 1 legua (league) = 5000 varas . = 4.19 2.604375 Meters. Feet. 1 vara (yard) = 3 pies.....= 0.83800 2.749578 1 pie (foot) = 12 pulgadas.....=0.27933 0.916526 Inches. 1 pulgada (inch) = 12 lineas . = 0.02328 0.916526 1 linea (line).......= 0.00194 0.076577 The vara is also divided (for dry-goods-selling) into palms or cuartas (palms or quarters). Meters. Feet. Inches. 1 palmo or cuarta .. .. = 0.209500 =0.687394 = 8.248728

Jan 1, 1887

By E. F. Kingsbury

One of the well-known and important uses of the noble or precious metals has been for electrical contacts. In fact, the elements of this group, comprising gold, silver and the six platinum metals, have been called "noble" because of their ability to resist heat and corrosion, properties which were early found to be of importance in good contacts. Of these, platinum and its iridium alloys, palladium, and silver, have been extensively used. In recent years the electrical industry has been responsible for about one-eighth of the total consiimption of the platinum metals in the United States. Information is not available as to what part of this one-eighth has been used for contacts but it is certainly an important one. Substitutes for Platinum During the past 20 years a considerable number of contact alloys have been proposed in the patent literature largely with the aim of more or less replacing platinum by gold or silver, and some of these alloys are finding increasingly widespread application as the reliability of their performance becomes established. From even the partial data at hand it appears that this substitution by the less precious metals has replaced at least one-half of the amount of platinum that the entire electrical industry would otherwise be consuming at the present time. While the subject is of considerable interest to the metallurgist it is even more so to the electrical engineer and it is surprising that the literature records no systematic and comprehensive investigation along these lines. Practically all the scattered work on noble metal contacts has centered around platinum as a standard and has had two more or less distinct aims. One of these has been the replacement of platinum by cheaper matcrials, and the other, the dcveloprnent of materials of superior electrical performance. The merit of a contact metal has been assumed to be dependent on its infusibility, and since thc more precious metals have the higher melting points there has naturally been an association of the two qualities in the sense that the more precious were