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By C. P. McCormack

The Cuyuna manganiferous iron ores can be a principal source of manganese for the iron and steel industry in the United States, provided metallurgical methods as a whole are adjusted so as to use run-of-mine ore. The use of manganese in steelmaking is growing. Increasing amounts of impurities in raw materials call for more manganese, a constant cheap supply of which is wanted. There are few deposits of ore in the United States carrying over 35 per cent. manganese that can be mined and marketed at a profit in normal times. We are largely dependent on foreign ores. The small domestic deposits should rightly be held in reserve for an emergency, such as a war, when importation might cease. Even the production from lean ores, concentrated it may be, might not carry us through a protracted stringency. The Cuyuna district is, therefore, during normal times capable of supplying a large total of manganese. The ores are iron ores containing 5 to 25 per cent. of manganese with the inverse range of 52 to 28 per cent, of iron. The manganese costs no more per unit in the ore than the iron, because cost of mining, largely by open-pit methods, is not affected by the manganese content. The manganese units should, perhaps, command a higher price, but as their value is contingent on metallurgical practice, a higher price may be justified only when a shortage in manganese occurs. Manganiferous iron ores can never entirely supplant straight manganese ores though methods are employed that will permit them to do so partly. For the manufacture of ferromanganese, ores carrying above 42 per cent. manganese are needed. Ores with manganese running between 20 and 42 per cent. are used for making spiegeleisen. But established practice in certain plants, based on the admixture of manganiferous iron ores to straight iron ores has greatly lessened the consumption of high-priced, scarce, manganese alloys with good results. The substitution of manganiferous ores for ferro and spiegel affects the manufacture of basic iron and its conversion into basic open-hearth

Jan 1, 1925

By C. C. Hatch, C. R. Larsen, A. L. Mular

INTRODUCTION As part of a general project to simulate a concentrator, the Brenda Mines Limited secondary crushing plant, located near Peachland, B. C., was sampled during the summer/winter of 1975 and during the summer of 1978 to develop a digital crushing plant simulator specific to the Brenda operation. The purpose of this simulator was to study the influence of manipulable process variables on important responses, to permit study of alternative circuit configurations if desired and to perform off-line optimization. This chapter describes the methodology employed to develop the simulator (1,2) along with typical applications thereof. SECONDARY CRUSHING PLANT FLOWSHEET Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the Brenda Mines Ltd. secondary crushing plant circuit. The 41,000 tonne coarse ore stockpile(a) is -17.8 cm oversize (3B belt) from two 2.4 m x 6.1 m double deck vibrating screens (not shown). The screens are fed by 2 conveyor belts operated in series with two 198 cm apron feeders that handle discharge from a 152 cm x 226 cm primary gyratory crusher(520 KW). The primary crusher (not shown) treats up to 2725 tonne/hr of run of mine ore. Minus 1.9 cm undersize from the primary screens (#19 belt), referred to as the primary fines, joins secondary screen undersize (#18 belt) for conveyance to fine ore bins (not shown). Feed from the coarse ore stockpile is transferred by means of vibrating feeders and two 120 cm conveyors (#6 and #7) to transfer belts #8 and #9 (Figure 1). The belts feed two secondary 2.1 m standard heavy duty cone crushers (bl and b2). Each crusher is equipped with a modified coarse mantle liner and a standard coarse bowl liner. Mantle throw is 9.2 cm; nominal close side set is 3.2 cm. Crusher .countershafts (443 rpm) are driven by single 260 KW synchronous motors (710 rpm). Discharge from the secondary cone crushers joins discharge from four 2.1 m tertiary heavy duty shorthead cone crushers (fl, f2, f3 and f4). With the exception of the cavity (modified medium mantle liner and standard coarse bowl liner; close side set is nominal .84 cm) and motor (224 KW), these machines are similar to the secondary crushers. The combined discharge is transferred from a 183 cm conveyor to #14 belt which empties into a 1452 tonne secondary screen surge bin (c). Vibrating feeders beneath the bins feed five 2.4 m x 6.1 m double deck vibrating screens (dl, d2, d3, d4 and d5) sloped at 200 from the horizontal. The upper decks are punched plates with 2.7 cm x 7.6 cm slots. Lower decks are woven wire (1.27 cm diameter) sections with

Jan 1, 1982

By Lennart Bergstedt, Olov Fägremo

Boliden Metall Aktiebolag, the prime base metal mining company of Sweden, treats some 10-10.9 t/y (11-12 stpy) of sulphide ore in nine concentrators. During the years considerable effort has been devoted to the development of all phases of the technology of ore prospecting, mining, milling, smelting and refining. This has been necessary due to the complex and low grade ores. The autogenous grinding technique was first studied within the company as early as 1945. Basic test work commenced during the early fifties, whereby the merits of pebble grinding could be evaluated.

Jan 2, 1978

By Cyril Stanley Smith

ON the 6th of February 1684, Dr. Martin Lister mentioned at a meeting of the Royal Society1 that "brass is magnetical," and promised to give an account of that assertion at some other time. He repeated his promise but never fulfilled it, and it was left for William Arderon2 to show, in 1958, that brass could be made magnetic by hammering and that it would retain polarity after magnetizing. Twenty-seven years later Cavallo3,4 examined the matter in great detail. Working with cast calamine brass, he showed that it could be made magnetic by hammering and nonmagnetic by subsequent annealing at a red heat. He found that annealing at a very high temperature caused the samples to lose their magnetic quality permanently, even after subsequent cold-working, but that remelting and cold-working restored it. He encountered some samples of brass that could not be rendered magnetic by any treatment. Experiments in which these were remelted with iron additions gave negative results, and Cavallo concluded that iron impurity was not the cause of the magnetism. He worked with 50-grain (3-gram) samples melted under the blowpipe, hence cooled very quickly. Bennet5 made whole crucible charges from copper and zinc, and found the resulting brass ingots to be magnetic only when iron had been added and then only after cold-working. All these observations applied to material in the cast condition, in which coring would produce a continuous spectrum of composition and cooling would result in varying degrees of precipitation. This knowledge of the subject seems to have been forgotten in the nineteenth century. The older brass was made by the calamine process and frequently contained iron in amounts of 0.5 per cent or more, absorbed from the impure ore with which the copper and charcoal were heated in making the brass. When metallic zinc became available in commercial quantities, calamine brass gradually disappeared, and with it the knowledge of its curious magnetic properties. Only when sensitive apparatus replaced the compass needle of the earlier investigators could the effects be detected in relatively pure metal. The effect of cold-working in inducing ferromagnetism was rediscovered by Bitters in 1930 in a sample of impure copper, and this was confirmed by Lowance and Constant,9 Honda and Shimizu, 10,11 and others. In the same year, Tammann and Oelsen12 showed that copper-rich copper-iron alloys after certain heat-treatments could be rendered ferromagnetic or made more strongly ferromagnetic by cold-rolling. Kussman and Seeman13 showed that the change of susceptibility of relatively pure copper on cold-working was associated with the iron content, and concluded that actual precipitation of iron was caused by cold-working, which is a satisfactory theory until one considers the improbably high rate of diffusion that this would involve. When studying precipitation phenomena in

Jan 1, 1941

By Charles Wurms, Robert Steinitz

DURING an investigation to determine the compatibility of several metals with tungsten, the degree of reaction between tungsten and lead was determined. A literature survey showed considerable disagreement between the results of various earlier investigators. Information presented by M. Hansen1 states that, according to S. Inouye,2 tungsten has very poor resistance against attack by molten lead, even at the low temperature near the melting point of lead. A phase diagram in the same reference indicates a solubility of 30 wt pct W in molten lead at 1300°C. Contrary evidence was shown by Parkman and shepard3 in their investigation of materials for use in heat transfer systems containing liquid lead alloys; they performed experiments at 980°C for times up to 50 hr without noticing any appreciable attack on the tungsten. Tungsten sheet was immersed in molten lead contained in Vycor tubes evacuated to at least 10-4 mm Hg. R. Bernard4 and R. I. Jaffee5 also indicate that no reaction occurs between molten lead and tungsten. However, no experimental data were included in these reports. In order to settle the question of the solubility of tungsten in molten lead, tungsten powder with an average Fisher subsieve particle size of 6µ was pressed in a double-acting die at 6 tsi to small compacts. They were then sintered in an atmosphere of hydrogen for 2 hr at 1700°C, resulting in a sintered density of 64 pct of theoretical with final dimensions of 0.260 in. in height and 0.245 in. in diameter. For all tests, the tungsten pellets were immersed in molten lead. Table I is a summary of the experimental procedures showing atmospheres, temperatures, and times. The first experiments were performed at 650°C; at this temperature, the liquid lead should wet the porous tungsten better than at its melting point, and penetrate into the pores. The lead was heated in a graphite crucible with a graphite cover. No protective atmosphere was used, as it was expected that the formation of CO would be sufficient to prevent oxidation. This, however, proved to be wrong, and all tungsten samples showed a slight oxide film after treatment. The tungsten samples were immersed in the molten lead for times of 5 min, 10 min, 1/2 hr, 1 hr, and 2 hr. After this time, the melt was poured into a form and the

Jan 1, 1962

By Paul L. Cloke, S. R. Titley

Paul L. Cloke (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Geology and Mineralogy, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.) - On examination of the paper by S. R. Titley it appears that several errors have been made, many of them of a fundamental nature. It is the intent of this discussion to point out these mistakes, and, insofar as possible with the data at hand, to correct them. EXPERIMENTAL WORK Ferrimolybdite-Limonite-Water: The results of the experiments described are very difficult to interpret; nevertheless, a correct interpretation is essential as is pointed out subsequently. The difficulties become apparent when reasons are sought for the continuing change of pH after conversion of ferrimolybdite to ferric hydroxide and for the change of pH when -stirring is stopped after a steady value has been reached. In seeking an explanation of this experiment it seemed to this writer that the (temporarily) steady pH values might be due to kinetic rather than equilibrium effects. In this view the steady pH on stirring might be explained as a balance of several reactions proceeding simultaneously. The first of these would be the slow solution of ferrimolybdite,

Jan 1, 1964

By Warren Weaver

Some of the advantages of the inductive method of electrical prospecting were emphasized in a paper by Dr. Max Mason. Since this emphasis was misunderstood by some to indicate a too exclusive interest in inductive methods, we are especially happy to help correct this impression by reporting on some of our work on surface potential methods. Earth Currents and Surface Potentials When two electrodes, A and B, are placed on the surface of the ground a distance d apart, and a 100-volt battery is connected across the elec- trodes, current flows from the positive electrode A to the negative electrode B. The current does not pass directly from A to B along the straight line joining these two points. In fact, a negligible amount of the total current chooses this direct path, and the flow actually takes place

Jan 1, 1929

By Henry M. Howe

HENRY M. Howe, Bedford Hills, N. Y. (communication to the Secretary.) +-Mr. Johnson's explanation, that the rounding of the graphite masses in oxygen-bearing cast iron is clue to their being in part re-precipitated after re-solution in forming carbonic oxide temporarily with that oxygen, is certainly most attractive and suggestive. It remains to be shown whether this rounding occurs also when 'the solidiification is too rapid to permit this process to goon. J. E. Johnson Might easily test this by casting a single ladleful of his oxygenated iron in masses of varying size. If' this present hypothesis is true, then the rounding ought to increase progressively with the size of the casting, and with the distance from the outside, that is to say with the time available for re-solution and re-precipitation. I question whether a like benefit is to be expected even on this hypothesis, from the oxygenation of steel. The spheroidizing of graphite does good because graphite itself is so weak. But the constituent which can be spheroidized in steel is its cementite, which is a source of strength. Lamellar pearlite, in which this cementite in effect forms long dendrites, is far stronger than divorced pearlite, in which these dendrites have been broken up into spheroids. Even the surfaces of contact between ferrite and cementite are probably sources of strength because of the amorphous iron which probably fills them.

Jan 1, 1917

By James L. Sweeney

The Project Independence Evaluation System (PIES) is a complex evaluation, forecasting, and analysis system which represents the U.S. energy production, conversion, transportation and consumption activities. The system includes various models: An econometrically estimated energy demand model, used to evaluate the final demand functions for energy commodities ; A collection of supply models, used to evaluate the cost curves or supply curves for domestic crude oil, natural gas, coal ; An integrating model used to describe energy conversion and transportation activities and to calculate prices which equate energy supply and demand in each market. PIES has been used to generate conditional forecasts of the 1980, 1985, and 1990 states of the energy system--forecasts conditional upon the world oil prices, the energy policy environment, and other uncertainties. Scenarios have been structured to separately examine conservation initiatives, domestic energy supply enhancements, an extensive electrification strategy, and oil and natural gas well -head price regulation. This paper presents the basic model, discusses its use for examining policy options, and describes several forecast results. The paper draws heavily upon work completed for the 1976 National Energy Outlook, published by the Federal Energy Administration.

Jan 1, 1977

By Ralph Hultgren

FEW phase diagrams of alloys composed of two transition metals have been adequately studied, probably because of the high melting points involved. Transition metals are the elements that have inner shells incompletely filled with electrons. They comprise groups IIIa to VIIIa of the periodic table, including more than half of all metals. We have chosen to study two systems whose comparatively low melting points allowed the alloys to be melted in a molybdenum resistance furnace. The nickel-palladium system proved to consist of a simple series of solid solutions, but iron-palladium manifested several remarkable features. The main characteristics of the latter diagram were decisively established, but lack of time prevented precise determination of phase boundaries. The gamma to alpha transformation in this system is unusual and warrants further study. Grigorjew1 determined the liquidus and solidus of the iron-palladium system by thermal methods. He found a minimum melting point, but no eutectic. He also found that palladium lowered the gamma to alpha and raised the gamma to delta transformation temperatures of iron, with a complete series of solid solutions existing between gamma iron and palladium. His measurements also indicated a compound or super-lattice near the composition FePd3. Jellinghaus2 found that annealing at 500° C. greatly increased the magnetic coercive force of an alloy of composition FePd. X-ray dif-fraction photographs showed that a tetragonal ordered phase had formed during the anneal.

Jan 1, 1939

By Ralph Hultgren

FEW phase diagrams of alloys composed of two transition metals have been adequately studied, probably because of the high melting points involved. Transition metals are the elements that have inner shells incompletely filled with electrons. They comprise groups IIIa to Villa of the periodic table, including more than half of all metals. We have chosen to study two systems whose comparatively low melting points allowed the alloys to be melted in a molybdenum resistance furnace. The nickel-palladium system proved to consist of a simple series of solid solutions, but iron-palladium manifested several remarkable features. The main characteristics of the latter diagram were decisively established, but lack of time prevented precise determination of phase boundaries. The gamma to alpha transformation in this system is unusual and warrants further study. Grigorjew1 determined the liquidus and solidus of the iron-palladium system by thermal methods. He found a minimum melting point, but no eutectic. He also found that palladium lowered the gamma to alpha and raised the gamma to delta transformation temperatures of iron, with a complete series of solid solutions existing between gamma iron and palladium. His measurements also indicated a compound or super-lattice near the composition FePd3. Jellinghaus2 found that annealing at 500° C. greatly increased the magnetic coercive force of an alloy of composition FePd. X-ray dif-fraction photographs showed that a tetragonal ordered phase had formed during the anneal.

Jan 1, 1939

By Joseph Moses Botbol

In passing the judgments essential to his trade, the geologist may be assisted by two new methods. These will enable him to (1) arrange the minerals of a selected group of base metal mining districts in the order of their typicalities and (2) compute the degree of mineralogic association between the model so derived and a district external to the model. It must be remembered, of course, that the methods discussed in this article are no more powerful than the structure of the model used and the data available. The geologist who employs these techniques must still exercise his expertise

Jan 1, 1970

By William Bent

MORE than twelve years were spent by Wöhler at the instance of the Prussian Government in experimenting upon the resistance of iron and steel to repeated stresses. The results of his experiments are expressed in what is known as Wöhler's law, which is given in the following words in Du Bois's translation of Weyrauch :* "Rupture may be caused not only by a steady load which exceeds the carrying strength, but also by repeated applications of stresses, none of which are equal to the carrying strength. The differences of these stresses are measures of the disturbance of continuity, in so far as by their increase the minimum stress which is still necessary for rupture diminishes." A practical illustration of the meaning of the first portion of this law may be given thus : If 50,000 pounds once applied will just break a bar of iron or steel, a stress very much less than 50,000 pounds will break it if sufficiently often repeated. This is fully confirmed by the experiments of Fairbairn and Spangenberg, us well as by those of Wöhler; and, as is remarked by Weyrauch, it may be considered as a long-known result of common experience. It partially accounts for what Mr. Holley has called the "intrinsically ridiculous factor of safety of six." Another "long-known result of experience "-although this has not, as the writer believes, been investigated by scientific experimenters-is the fact that rupture may be caused by a succession of shocks or impacts, none of which alone would be sufficient to cause it. Wrought iron will crystallize by repeated blows in service and become weaker than cast iron. Iron axles, the piston-rods of steam-hammers, and other pieces of metal subject to continuously repeated shocks invariably break after a certain length of service. They have a " life" which is limited. Iron rods in bridges sometimes crystallize and break, although the rods in most of our iron bridges * Strength and Determination of Dimensions of Structures. By Dr. J. J. Weyrauch. Translated by Du Bois, New York, 1877.

Jan 1, 1880

By W. Mostowitsch

Lead sulphate occurs as anglesite, and is formed in every roasting of lead sulphides or sulpho-salts containing lead. In smelting in the blast furnace an ore containing natural or artificial lead sulphate, a large part of the sulphur present goes to the formation of the intermediary product matte which requires further treatment for the recovery of the values it contains. It is therefore of importance to study the behavior of lead sulphate at elevated temperatures, both without and with reducing agents, especially as the information available gives data which are more or less conflicting. 11. Decomposition of PbS04 by Heat The dissociation of PbSO4 into PbO and SO3 or SO2 and 0 has been discussed by many metallurgists. The following data are considered to be representative. Doeltz and Graumannl found that PbS04 was not affected-by heat at 800" C.; that dissociation began at 900" C., and was rapid at 1,000° when the salt lost in 1 1/2 hr. 14.3 per cent. of its weight, the dry salt containing 26.43 per cent. SO3. Hofman and Wanjukow2 summarize their work upon the dissociation of metallic sulphates with the statement that the decomposition of PbS04 begins at 195' C., but progresses very slowly, with the formation of the basic salt 6PbO.5SO3 at 705"; that this salt undergoes a transformation at 847") begins to be decomposed at 888") to sinter at 896", and to fuse at 910"; rapid dissociation begins at 952") and is accompanied by volatilization of PbO; retardations at 958" and 962" indicate an acceleration of decomposition which, however, is not complete. Proske3 found that PbSO4 gave off at 900" C. in 30 min. only 0.63 per cent. of its 803, and that the loss increased with

Jan 1, 1917

By George J. Bancroft

At the New York meeting of the Institute, April, 1907, I presented a paper entitled, The Formation and Enrichment of Ore-Bearing Veins,' in which paper I advanced the following propositions: (1) That the majority of mineralized veins are the product of expiring vulcanism; (2) that most of these veins were primarily mineralized by comparatively rich solutions in comparatively short periods of time; (3) that the solutions gained their metal-values from a comparatively rich source; (4) that there is a bary-sphere containing large amounts of the useful metals; (5) that eruptions spring from various depths and bring various kinds of magmas towards the surface; and (6) that only those eruptions which disturb the barysphere and bring a magma rich in metals sufficiently near the surface to be leached by vein-making solutions are productive of valuable ore-deposits, other eruptions producing barren veins. Ore-deposits due to magmatic segregation were not included in this general survey. As a result of considerable further study I have modified my views in some respects, while in others I feel more sure than ever of the ground taken at that time. That ore-bodies are infrequent occurrences and born of extraordinary conditions I think is now generally accepted. The theory that persisted for a time—namely, that ore-bodies were formed by the ordinary ground-water, which consists of extremely dilute solutions, derived from leaching extremely lean surface-rocks, and which must occupy enormously long periods of time in concentrating the values so leached, is, I think, now pretty generally regarded as not applicable to the great majority

Jan 1, 1910

By H. B. Muller

Single stage autogenous grinding of run-of-mine ore was selected by Broken Hill South Ltd., parent Company of Cobar Mines Pty. Ltd. for the concentrator to treat 60,000 tons per four weekly period of copper and complex copper-lead-zinc sulphide ores from the C.S.A. Mine at Cobar, Australia. Ore is mined by mechanised horizontal cut-and-fill stoping and is prepared for grinding by crushing under- ground in a 60 in. x 48 in. jaw-crusher set at 5 in. closed side setting. The ore is reduced to 80% minus 76 microns in two parallel sections each of one 22 ft. dim. x 7 ft. long autogenous grinding mill, powered by a 1,250 H.P. motor, operating in closed circuit with a single stage 20 in. dim. cyclone. Broken Hill South's original concept of the concentrator required the maximum use of reliable instrumentation, centralised control, and the minimum of manning. To achieve this objective the control room, housing the process recorders, alarms, closed circuit television monitors and all the control equipment, overlooks the grinding and flotation sections, and the whole plant is serviced by a public address system. The grinding units and associated equipment are located in the open and are serviced with the aid of a mobile crane and a mobile hydraulically-operated liner lifting device.

Jan 1, 1970

By H. A. Sawin, C.M. Romanowitz

Placer dredging as we know it today, especially gold dredging, is an industry about 40 years old, dating from the beginning of this century, when a few mining men in California saw the possibilities in adapting earlier dredging methods to California placer fields in and immediately adjacent to streams. At first it was thought that dredges must be operated in existing stream beds, but experience soon pointed the way to dredging alluvial deposits of old stream beds, operating on landlocked dredging ponds. Within the first five or six years of modern dredging, experience was gained so rapidly that dredges to dig 60 ft. below water level were *designed and built. This depth was believed by many operators to be the maximum at which successful dredging could be carried on. Alluvial deposits of gold, suitable for dredging, were readily handled by equipment available and developed early in the industry's history. Much of the gravel was easily dug and if deposits were cemented, contained large boulders, or for some other reason could not be handled by a dredge, the ground was abandoned in favor of other deposits that could be handled easily. Many failures, adversely affecting the dredging industry, resulted from attempts at that time to extend the scope of placer dredging with equipment not suited to the formation being dredged. Dredging ground suited to early equipment was exhausted eventually, but many supposedly undredgeable alluvial fields containing gold in commercial quantities were found and became known to dredgemen. Improved equipment was needed to work deposits known to exist at great depths or associated with unusual obstructions. Operating companies looked to dredge manufacturers and metallurgists, particularly manganese-steel foundries, for improved designs and materials. Experience developed in California has spread throughout the world, and dredges of improved types have been adapted to the mining of platinum and tin as well as gold. Space will not permit a description of all the improvements in dredging since the early days, but a few of the recent developments are worthy of note, because they make possible the dredging of placer deposits of great depth, those having hard, irregular bedrock or containing large boulders in great quantities, and compacted or cemented gravel deposits. Deep Dredging At Hammonton, calif., yuba consolidated Gold Fields has, within= the past two years, built its dredge No. 20. The company has operated continuously in that field since 1904, digging successively at maximum depths of 60 ft., 80 ft., 112 ft., and now 124 ft. below water level. The first dredges were equipped with buckets of 6 and 7½-cu. ft. capacity; six dredges operating in the field today have 18-cu. ft. buckets, digging now 65 to 124 ft. below water level. Some ground near Hammonton has been dug for the third time, owing to the devel-

Jan 1, 1943

By C. M. Romanowitz, H. A. Sawin

Placer dredging as we know it today, especially gold dredging, is an industry about 40 years old, dating from the beginning of this century, when a few mining men in California saw the possibilities in adapting earlier dredging methods to California placer fields in and immediately adjacent to streams. At first it was thought that dredges must be operated in existing stream beds, but experience soon pointed the way to dredging alluvial deposits of old stream beds, operating on landlocked dredging ponds. Within the first five or six years of modern dredging, experience was gained so rapidly that dredges to dig 60 ft. below water level were *designed and built. This depth was believed by many operators to be the maximum at which successful dredging could be carried on. Alluvial deposits of gold, suitable for dredging, were readily handled by equipment available and developed early in the industry's history. Much of the gravel was easily dug and if deposits were cemented, contained large boulders, or for some other reason could not be handled by a dredge, the ground was abandoned in favor of other deposits that could be handled easily. Many failures, adversely affecting the dredging industry, resulted from attempts at that time to extend the scope of placer dredging with equipment not suited to the formation being dredged. Dredging ground suited to early equipment was exhausted eventually, but many supposedly undredgeable alluvial fields containing gold in commercial quantities were found and became known to dredgemen. Improved equipment was needed to work deposits known to exist at great depths or associated with unusual obstructions. Operating companies looked to dredge manufacturers and metallurgists, particularly manganese-steel foundries, for improved designs and materials. Experience developed in California has spread throughout the world, and dredges of improved types have been adapted to the mining of platinum and tin as well as gold. Space will not permit a description of all the improvements in dredging since the early days, but a few of the recent developments are worthy of note, because they make possible the dredging of placer deposits of great depth, those having hard, irregular bedrock or containing large boulders in great quantities, and compacted or cemented gravel deposits. Deep Dredging At Hammonton, calif., yuba consolidated Gold Fields has, within= the past two years, built its dredge No. 20. The company has operated continuously in that field since 1904, digging successively at maximum depths of 60 ft., 80 ft., 112 ft., and now 124 ft. below water level. The first dredges were equipped with buckets of 6 and 7½-cu. ft. capacity; six dredges operating in the field today have 18-cu. ft. buckets, digging now 65 to 124 ft. below water level. Some ground near Hammonton has been dug for the third time, owing to the devel-

Jan 1, 1943

Discussion of the paper of Willis T. Burns, presented at the Butte meeting, August, 1913, and printed in Bulletin No. 80, August, 1913, pp. 2011 to 2049. PROF. JOSEPH W. RICHARDS, South Bethlehem, Pa.:-I think Mr. Burns spoke of two unusual conditions which he has at his plant, namely, that he uses directly converter anodes and very high current density. He did not mention another condition : the very low cost of power, which circumstance, I believe, is responsible for some of the peculiarities of his plant noticed by us from the East. I am struck by the rather low ampere efficiency which Mr. Burns obtains, and in looking over the plant thought that there was a considerable leakage from one tank to the other, and that the ampere efficiency could be increased by looking after the leakage of electricity front one tank to the other.

Jan 11, 1913

By W. H. W. Husband

Rock salt has been solution mined for many years in many countries. Attempts have been made in the past in Canada and various other countries to produce potash by the same method. However, only Kalium Chemicals Ltd. has been successful, possibly because the conditions in Saskatchewan are the most favorable to be found so far for the development of a solution-mining method for potash. In view of the fact that few studies of solution mining of potash have been attempted, only one company has succeeded in using the method, and no information has been released by this company, the application of solution mining of potash ore bodies has to be presented on the basis of available theory, past small-scale studies, and recent patents. A simple mining method is outlined and possible methods of recovering the potash from the brine are discussed. Dissolution data pertaining to solution mining of potash, flowsheets, and material balances are presented. The available information is brought together in a cost analysis to show capital and product costs in terms of 1966 dollars.

Jan 1, 1972