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By Richard H. Jahns

Terminology and Basic Specifications Minerals and closely allied natural substances that are used for personal adornment, as raw stock for the fashioning of ornamental objects, or for other decorative purposes can be referred to collectively as gem materials. Industrial gem materials are those employed directly in various areas of industry. Substances that are manufactured for gem or industrial uses are termed synthetic gem materials; most of these correspond in composition and crystal structure to certain minerals found in nature. Imitation materials are those whose use is based upon their resemblance to substances of different composition and greater value. Gem stone is a designation commonly restricted to those materials suitable for personal adornment, and the complementary term ornamental stone is applied to the remaining materials not used industrially. This distinction is arbitrary and somewhat inconstant, owing to numerous geographic differences and historical shifts in end uses. Further, there is a complete gradation between the category of ornamental stones and that of dimension stone. Although many building and monumental stones are undeniably ornamental in their uses, treatment of such material is beyond the scope of this chapter. Substances that lose their identity in use are excluded from the gem category. Thus a transparent crystal of beryl would not be classed as a gem stone if it were treated as a source of beryllium metal. The adjectives precious and semiprecious have been employed as a means of distinguishing different gem materials on the basis of their recognized value. Diamond, emerald, ruby, and sapphire consistently have been regarded as precious stones, and in cut form they commonly are referred to as the noble gems. Opal, pearl, turquois, and chrysoberyl also have been classed as precious at various times. In recent years, however, it has been increasingly recognized that no satisfactory distinction can be based upon assessed value or any group of intrinsic properties, and at the present time all gem stones normally are referred to as precious. Indeed, the tendency is to extend this term to include many of the so-called ornamental stones, and the designation semiprecious has been essentially discontinued. Unlike most mineral commodities of economic value, gem materials are little altered in processing for end uses. Some stones are used in essentially their natural form, and most are reshaped and polished without significant changes in their fundamental properties. Thus the preparation of gem and ornamental stones is intended chiefly to emphasize or enhance desirable characteristics that are present initially. The worth of most synthetic gem stones is founded upon the identity between their major properties and the natural characteristics of the corresponding minerals, just as the pleasing qualities of imitation stones depend upon how well certain of their properties simulate those of more valuable substances. The most important specifications of gem materials represent four basic factors: beauty, durability, rarity, and portability. Beauty, whether expressed as splendor, "purity," attractiveness, or in some other way, is mainly a function of personal response to optical properties such as color, transparency, indices of refraction, and dispersion. Freedom from visible imperfections is important for transparent stones. For some substances beauty depends also upon asterism, opalescence, textural and

Jan 1, 1960

By W. D. Lacabanne

DRILLING fluids as an aid in drilling holes into the earth have been in use successfully for more than a half a century. Originally used in a primitive fashion in water well drilling before the turn of the century, drilling fluids came into their own in 1901 when they were incorporated as an indispensable part of the newly invented rotary oil drilling method. Since drilling fluids have been the basic factor in successful modern oil well drilling, at- tested by the dramatic growth of the U. S. petroleum industry, their study and development have naturally taken place in the oil industry. An abundance of engineering and scientific literature has appeared on the subject of drilling fluids. Application to Exploration Drilling The drilling fluid system is understandably called the heart of the rotary oil drilling rig. Any other type of rotary rig, such as the diamond drill, should benefit by the incorporation of mud fluids in the drilling scheme.

Jan 12, 1954

By E. B. Spice

Although much may be learned about the economics of cold weather operations by studying successful mining ventures in southern and central Canada, it is the purpose of this article to extend the study by considering only permafrost areas. Geographically this means most of the country north of the 60th parallel. In this area, at the present time, only five Canadian companies are carrying on routine and successful mining operations on a year-round basis. However, there have been some score of unsuccessful ventures, and a number of properties in the development stage show promise of being producers. Problems of cold weather are worthy of study. It may be pointed out that successful mines in this area face problems of isolation and costly transportation as well as cold weather. To reach valid conclusions, consider the development of a mythical mineral deposit located on the 65th parallel in the heart of the barren lands; problems of isolation and transportation will be ignored.

Jul 1, 1956

By Everett Parker

THIS paper describes the methods used to determine the rates of payment for contract work and the plan of contract supervision in the Elm Orlu mine. A discussion of the theory of wages and the eternal question-what is a just wage-are beyond the scope of this article. In the fall of 1920 the Elm Orlu was the largest mine in Butte using the day's pay system of payment for stoping operations. High labor and supply costs and a falling market for the product of the mine made economic mining difficult. The mining method had been changed from the square set stoping to timbered rilling to eliminate most of the shoveling. There was no opportunity to reduce the cost of supplies other than more rigid economy in their use. It was recognized, however, that the labor efficiency was low and that the reduction in costs depended on increasing the output per man. While in general, the low man efficiency was a resultant of the high wages paid and the shortage of men during the war and subsequent period of inflation, it was felt that the contract and bonus system used in the other mines was the main factor in that the most capable and energetic men had been attracted to those mines where more than average skill and dili-gence were recognized by more than average pay.

Jan 1, 1927

ALTHOUGH the first colonists in the area that is now the United States, whether Spanish, French or English in nationality, were usually keenly interested in the possibilities of mineral wealth, it is a curious and interesting fact that none of them happened upon the mineral deposits that eventually were to make this the greatest mineral-producing country; up to 1800 it would probably have been rated as rather poor in minerals. Spanish explorers traversed the southeastern United States with- out finding the Appalachian gold deposits that aroused so much interest in the early nineteenth century; Coronado sought in vain for the seven golden cities of Cibola; and the important gold deposits of California were not discovered until the political sovereignty of the region had passed from Mexico, which had held it for three centuries. The French also held Canada for nearly two centuries (and the British for another century) without finding the mineral deposits in Ontario and Quebec that now are so important. Though they knew of the copper of the Keweenaw peninsula, the lead ores of Wisconsin and Missouri, and the coal of Illinois in the seventeenth century, these deposits were all too remote for exploitation. In the area held by Great Britain, iron smelting was planned at Jamestown as early as 1619 and was actually begun at Lynn, Mass., in 1643. The industry grew slowly, at first, but had reached considerable importance before the Revolution. Commercial bituminous coal mining began about 1750 in Virginia but anthracite mining in Pennsylvania was not started until 1800. As a result there was naturally little interest in the technical aspects of mineral production here before 1800 by any except the few people who were actually engaged in it. Students of natural science were much interested in minerals, however. The activities of those who rank as geologists are so thoroughly covered in

Jan 1, 1941

I do not think too much emphasis can be placed upon creation of favorable climate for development of foreign mineral resources to feed the hungry maw of our industrialized nation. We have become dependent, not only upon the ten raw products indicated in Mr. Bancroft's article, but upon 71 mineral substances listed by DMPA as in short supply. Forty-four of these are metals, 9 are chemical minerals and 18 are nonmetallic minerals. Of this list only 8 are produced in any large quantity in the United States, and all are vital in peace-time industry. Even more, they are absolutely essential for defense. This represents our present needs. But if our consumption and requirements are projected over the next 25 years as is done by the President's Materials Policy Commission-The Paley Report-our future outlook becomes appalling. The divergence of consumption over production, even allowing for substitution and conservation, will widen in the future. This means our dependence upon foreign raw materials, mainly minerals, will grow. What are the chief foreign sources of minerals for our future needs? They are chiefly Latin America and the dominions and colonies of the Western European nations. The British Commonwealth countries contain in abundance those minerals which the U. S. lacks. Of 32 of the most critical minerals the Commonwealth is deficient in 7 and lacks only 1; whereas the U. S. is deficient in 18. Strikingly, our deficient minerals are abundant in the Commonwealth and several of their deficiencies are in excess in the U. S. Resources of the two nations complement each other. If Europe should be overrun by an unfriendly power that could control the destinies and resources of the European dominions and colonies, our industrial life would be placed in severe jeopardy. Therefore, I heartily endorse Mr. Bancroft's statements regarding the Point IV program, provided the program is wisely administered and implemented. It is from the underdeveloped countries, as pointed out by Mr. Bancroft, that most of our future mineral supplies will have to come. Many of the underdeveloped source countries are African colonies and dominions of Western European nations. Our present aid to Europe, therefore, is not, as many infer, a purely one-sided affair; it safeguards our future industrial development and security. Development aid directly to the underdeveloped countries through a well administered Point IV program, can do much, I believe, to safeguard our prosperity. I regard it as a wise investment for future U. S. mineral needs. Dr. Alan M. Bateman Department of Geological Sciences Yale University Mr. Howland Bancroft's article, The Broadening Road to Foreign Investment, appeared on page 666 of the July MINING ENGINEERING.

Jan 1, 1952

By D. Harrington

FROM 1870 to date, the coal production of Utah has been somewhat less than 85,000,000 tons. There have been at least three major disasters with total fatalities about 380; or approximately. 4.4 persons killed by mine explosions per million tons produced, a record that is decidedly bad. Even during the periods when there have been no disasters, such as the years 1914 to 1920, inclusive, the fatalities .in ordinary working ran about 5.4 per million tons produced, against 3.7 per, million tons. for the whole United States for the same years. The five-year period following the war, 1918 to 1922 inclusive, showed 4.7 fatalities per million tons, hence the fatality record in the coal mines of Utah has uniformly been in excess of the average of the coal mines of the entire country. Notwithstanding this poor record, Utah has given to the coal-mining world many excellent safety methods and practices and the Utah. coal mines in general take greater measures toward safe mining than do the coal mines of any other State; if practices and methods allowed and pursued in coal mines of other States were tried in Utah coal mines, there would be a succession of disasters. Utah's principal producing coal mines, operated by about eighteen companies and numbering less than forty, have comparatively thick seams. Very little coal under 5 ft. thick is being worked and practically none under 4 ft.; much, if not most, of the coal comes from seams in excess of 8 ft., some running as high as 30 ft. In thick seams in which coal is left on floor and roof, any dust found or made is entirely combustible. In addition, the thick seams induce the use of large capacity cars, handling which in rooms and other workings on fairly heavy grades (up to 10 or .12 per cent.) tends to cause haulage accidents. The thick seams give high ribs and roof, in which it is difficult to prevent slabs of coal or rock from dropping on workers and also difficult to keep free of gas and of coal dust. The coal is high volatile, running usually over 40 per cent and in some instances nearly to 50 per cent; hence is highly flammable. Most of the coals have very high resin content, the resin usually being in dust form, hence almost as highly flammable as black powder. At .least one-third of the mines give off methane and several give off other

Jan 8, 1925

By Stuart Croasdale

Not long ago I was called upon to conduct some experiments on the treatment of ores from the New Cornelia copper mine, Ajo mountains, Arizona, for the Calumet & Arizona Copper Co. The problem was a very interesting one and contained some unusual features. Incidental with this problem was the utilization of a large amount of low-grade pyrite in the Bisbee mines of the company, provided this could be accomplished by any feasible method. The New Cornelia mine is situated 45 miles south of Gila Bend, the nearest railroad point, on the Southern Pacific Railroad. It is about 160 miles, almost due west, from Tucson. This section is one of the most arid in the United States. The normal annual precipitation, as given by the United States Weather Bureau covering a period from 1870 to 1901, is 3 to 5 in. During June and July, 1913, the records kept by the company gave the following results. These are all I have available, but they show the enormous evaporation that can be expected, which may be a factor in leaching operations on a large scale. Temperature, Degrees F. High Low Average June...................... 112 62 84.0 ' July...................... 115 71 87.8 Evaporation June July Concrete tank, inches............ 11.7 10.72 Iron tank, inches.............. 14.8 13.07 Rainfall, inches................ None 0.77 Cloudy days................... None 10.00 Aside from several springs about 10 miles from the property, the nearest known water in quantity at the time these experiments were made was the Gila river at Gila Bend, 45 miles distant. Part of the developinent of the property of course included drilling for water in the valley, which was in progress at the conclusion of my experiments. The ore deposit itself is unusual. It consists of of intrusive plug of monzonite or granite porphyry. Chalcopyrite, bornite, and magnetite are finely disseminated throughout the magma in sufficient quantities to make the greater part of the mass commercial ore to a certain depth.

Jan 1, 1915

By N. Brown

IT has been observed that a hexagonal-close-packed crystal will undergo the same macroscopic displacements as an isotropic material if the basal plane is perpendicular to the axis of twist.&apos; Other orientations may produce both bending and twisting, but this analysis will be confined to pure torsion of a right circular cylinder. The z axis, the axis of twist, and the specimen axis are coincident. The displacements are given by Uq = rz, Ur = Uz = 0 [1] where 4 is the angle of twist per unit length. This requires rotational slip, as discussed by Frank&apos; and Wilman, which may be observed readily. The relative rotation of adjoining slip planes is simply produced by a movement of a planar grid of screw dislocations."." The screw dislocations are of the same sign and they move radially inward. For hexagonal-close-packed metals, the grid is hexagonal and the screw dislocations lie in the < 2110 > directions. The displacement of a point is the resultant of two displacements produced by intersecting screws sweeping over the point. The dislocations must pass over the point (r, o) in such a manner that its resultant displacement corresponds to the observed macroscopic displacement. If 6&apos; is measured from the [1010] direction, then for 0 < ? < ~/3, only the [1210] and 121101 type screw dislocations are needed to produce the required displacement. If n1 screws of type [1210] and n2 of type [2110] pass over a point, then, in order that Ur = 0 n, sin ? - n2 sin (/3 — 6&apos;) = 0. [2] If the tangential displacement is to be independent of 0, then n1 cos ? + n2cos (/3 —?) = N [3] where N is independent of ? and thus depends only on r. Nb is the tangential displacement where b is the Burgers vector. Since U? is a linear function of r, then N must be a linear function of r. If a2 is the outer radius and a, is the inner radius to which the plastic deformation has extended, then N = Nm2 r-a1 [4] This function meets the conditions that at

Jan 1, 1956

By R. C. Craze

This paper discusses the characteristics of the velocity logs now available to the petroleum industry, and some of their advantages and limitations. The velocity log was designed as an aid to the geophysicist to determine velocity layering in the earth and to provide fast, accurate and economical vertical travel time data. After a number of logs had been made, studies were carried out on their use ia correlating strata in adjacent wells. It was found that adjacent strata usually show sufficient velocity contrast to make it possible to correlate these from well to well, even in areas where electric or radioactive logs fail.&apos; In addition, velocity logs have been useful in the determination of porosity and thickness of reservoir rock.&apos; These uses for velocity logs require an understanding of the characteristics of the log in response to the changes in velocity and in borehole conditions encountered normally in logging. GENERAL DISCUSSION OF INSTRUMENTATION The measurement made in velocity logging is more accurately described as a measurement of time rather than velocity. Ideally the log is obtained by measuring the length of time required for compressional sound waves to travel through a fixed distance in the formation. In practice, the time measurement may be made accurately but the distance through which the waves have traveled may vary slightly. Changes in borehole diameter are responsible largely for the difficulty in maintaining a fixed distance, especially if the diameter variations are so abrupt and frequent that the borehole instrument cannot follow contours of the hole. Several service companies have velocity logging equipment available or under development which have different transmitters, receivers, and measuring systems. While these differences are important, there are actually only two systems in use at the present time (Fig. I)."&apos; The first system initiates a pulse at a trans-mitter and detects it at a single receiver. The transmitter and receiver are separated by a fixed distance, called the spacing. The time measured is that between the initiation of the pulse and the first arrival of acoustical energy at the receiver. The second system uses two receivers and a transmitter. The receivers are separated by a fixed distance and the time between arrivals of energy at the two receivers is measured. Here, the spacing is the distance between receivers. The two systems have much in common for it is possible to record both logs simultaneously. Usually the transmitter is an electro-mechanical transducer which produces discrete

IN CIRCLES where mining men are wont to fraternize, a statement often heard is: "Yes, I spent six (or two, or ten, or thirty) years down at &apos;Chuqui.&apos; " This means Chuquicamata, the site in Chile of what in all probability is the world&apos;s largest deposit of copper ore. One hears similar remarks regarding Braden and Andes, and, in fact, regarding a score of other big mines in South America, Africa, and elsewhere, but Chuqui seems to lead the others as the locale of engineers who have done a stint in foreign countries. One reason probably is that it is the Anaconda Company&apos;s premier foreign operation. Because of its unusual size and the diversity of its operations a great many men are needed. It is a sort of training school for young engineers; but, also, Anaconda has sent down a great many mature members of its big organization for special assignments like metallurgical research or plant construction. Chuquicamata is about 150 miles northeast of Antofagasta, at an elevation of 9,500 ft. It is in an almost rainless desert country where the wind (it is alleged by some) blows most of the time. However, the copper mining entrepreneurs have done their best to make up for what nature has neglected to do in creating a pleasant environment for the people who operate the mines. These include about 160 "foreigners" of whom 86 are from the United States, most of them accompanied by their families. There are 165 Chileans on the staff. Comforts, conveniences, and many luxuries are provided to offset in some measure the disagreeable features of the climate. Nevertheless, as I have implied, engineers at Chuqui generally jump at the chance to become "alumni" when opportunity offers. At the same time, they appear to take pride in their alma mater.

Jan 1, 1957

In March 1962, over three months ahead of schedule, production began from the Ventersdorp Contact Reef of the Western Deep Levels Ltd. mine on the West Witwatersrand. Few mines have captured the interest of mining men and the public as has Western Deep Levels. It has presented the gold mining industry with a challenge which involved the opening of an ultradeep mine with the attendant problems of exceptionally heavy capital commitments ($77 million to start of production), high rock temperatures and pressures at great depths, cementation and pumping in an area notorious for the volume of subsurface water, and the necessity for entirely new thinking and the application of new ideas. HISTORY Not all the problems facing Western Deep Levels were, however, new. Situated 43 miles from Johannesburg, just off the main road to Potchefstroom, Western Deep Levels was the sixth company to undertake mining operations on what is known as the West Wits line and it could draw on the wealth of experience gained by other pioneer mines in the area.

Jan 12, 1962

By Joel J. Lloyd

The storage and retrieval of geological information is represented by a "Babel" of systems. If the energy and expense that is being expended is to be fully exploited by the earth science community, a common language and common practise is required. Interfacing, applicable in the crossover of scientific disciplines and of polyglot data collections, is neither practical nor economic in the handling of English language information. Whether a single input/output center or a locus of interlocking subcenters is established, is irrelevant. The capture of fugitive information and recapture of lost data is paramount. Existing national committees and international commissions are cognizant of the problem and are engaged with it. The time required to reach agreement may merely complicate the problem. It may prove necessary for a group of individuals to face up to the situation and take the indicated action -- facing the criticism that will probably fall on their heads. The cost of rectifying immediate mistakes may be far less than the delayed execution of a long studied plan. System designs are considered in terms of input elements and output products, various mechanical operating modes are presented, and the economics of organization and maintenance are discussed.

Jan 1, 1969

By Maynard O. Serbousek, James R. McVey

IS there a quick way of assessing the conditions of a newly exposed roof in a coal mine? This has always been a nagging question. The problem is that unless effective controls are established as soon as possible, it becomes extremely difficult to extract coal safely and economically from conventional underground milling operations. Until recently, little has been done to provide a means of measuring the structural behavior of a coal mine roof while the face advances during actual production. (In fact, most measurements have always been made after the fact or during a roof pull-down where the roof is actually caused to fail with no support.)

Jan 9, 1976

By P. K. Foster, C. M. Payne, A. McNabb

Some measurements of the rate of loss of hydrogen from cylinders of iron and steel are analyzed in terrns of a trapping theory. The apeement is encozcraging and gives rise to estimates for the density of traps in the metal. Furthermore, the results appear to be consistent with the assumption that the diffusion constant D for the steady flux of hydrogen through iron lies on the extrapolation of the linear curve (log D us 1/T) obtained at higher temperatures. IT has been shown in a previous paper1 that the literature relating to hydrogen diffusion in steels contains sufficient evidence to invalidate the application of Fick&apos;s laws to hydrogen diffusion in steel at low temperatures. To account for the deviations from simple diffusion behavior a trapping theory was developed, and the fundamental laws modified accordingly. In the present paper, new data on the evolution of hydrogen from long cylinders are presented, and together with some published data are examined in terms of the requirements of the theory.&apos; Properties of solutions of the basic equations derived previously1 and appropriate to the present experimental conditions are outlined in the first section as they determine the form in which the experimental data must be presented for a comparison of theory and experiment. Two new solutions not previously reported have been derived as described in the Appendix. The experiments and treatment of data are then given in Sections 2 and 3 and the results are discussed in Section 4. 1) THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS The hydrogen-diffusion theory1 applied in this paper postulated that lattice-dissolved hydrogen at a concentration C diffuses randomly in accordance with Fick&apos;s first law, but that the lattice contains a uniform density N of traps which can capture and delay hydrogen atoms. kC atoms are trapped per second in a region containing unit concentration of vacant traps while p are released per second in a region containing unit concentration of occupied traps. On this basis it was shown (Eq. [30] of Ref. 1) that, when local changes in the lattice-dissolved concentration C are slow enough for equilibrium to be established with the traps, the system is represented in dimensionless form by the equation:

Jan 1, 1965

By W. L. Phillips

Stress-train curves were obtained for single crystals of silver, Ag-5 pct Zn, Ag-10 pct Zn, and Ag-20 pct Zn tested in tension and shear at 78°, 195°, and 297°K. At room temperature the critical resolced shear stress gC increased, the length of&apos; the easy-glide region increased, and the rate of&apos; work hardening dwving easy glide decreased with increasixg zinc concentration. The change in the ratio of uc at room temperature to that at lower temperatures was significantly greater for the alloys than for pure silver. It was found that an increment in stress was necessary to continue slip when the slip direction was rotated 60 deg. The magnitude of this increment increased with strain for all alloys, increased with zinc concentration for a given strain, and for a given strain increased with decreasing -temperature. DESPITE its practical importance in improving the mechanical properties, alloying is not fully understood. Except for copper alloys few sets of systematic data are available. Von Goler and Sachs&apos; studied the deformation of Cu-Zn alloys of increasing zinc content and found that, for dilute alloys, the critical resolved shear stress increases linearly with concentration. The range of easy glide was found to increase with increasing zinc content. Schmid and seliger,2 Sachs and Weerts,3 and Osswald4 have shown that with Mg-A1, Au-Ag, and Cu-Ni crystals, respectively, the critical resolved shear stress also varies linearly with concentration. More recently, Linde and his coworkers have investigated the variation of the critical shear stress of copper alloyed with tin , antimony, indium, germanium, silicon, nickel, and gold. They found that the slope of the critical resolved shear stress is related to the change of lattice parameter with composition, and also to the difference in Goldschmidt&apos;s atomic diameter between solvent and solute atoms. Garstone, Honey-combe, and creetham6 have shown that similar relationships can be found for small additions of silver, gold, and germanium to pure copper. They found that, with increasing silver or gold concentration, the critical shear stress for glide is increased by alloying, and so is the range of easy glide, which reaches as much as 60 pct for 0.50 pct Ag alloy and 0.62 pct Au alloy, as compared to 6 pct for pure copper of similar initial orientation. They also found that the alloying additions had little effect on the rate of hardening during easy glide, the slope scarcely changing with increasing alloy content. General secondary slip was detected only when the crystals began to harden rapidly. Although the slip appeared to be very fine in the early stages of deformation, coarser slip bands were formed towards the end of the extensive easy-glide range. The present investigation describes the deformation characteristics of single crystals of Ag-Zn containing different concentrations of zinc. Tension and shear testing were used for this study. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The method of growing the single crystals, sample preparation, and method of testing have been described in detail previously.&apos; EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS A) Tension-Room Temperature. The initial orientations and stress-strain curves of single crystals of silver, Ag-10.0 pct Zn, and Ag-20.0 pct Zn are shown in Fig. 1. It is evident that there is considerable change in the stress-strain characteristics as a function of zinc concentration. The effects of zinc concentration on the critical resolved shear stress for both CU-zn8 and Ag-Zn alloys are summarized in Fig. 2. At all concentrations the resolved shear stress of the Cu-Zn alloys is higher than that of the Ag-Zn alloys. The resolved shear stress increases parabolically as a function of composition for both alloy systems. The length of easy-glide region increased with increasing zinc concentration, Fig. 3b). As the length increased the slope (do/de) decreased slightly, Fig. 3(b). Metallographic investigations demonstrated two significant effects of increasing zinc concentration. First, the amount of clustering increased, compare Figs. 4(a) and (b). The slip lines changed from uniform in pure silver to clustered in the Ag-20 pct Zn and Ag-30 pct Zn alloys. Second, the amount of cross slip decreased as the amount of clustering decreased.

Jan 1, 1968

By L. H. Dushak

DURING the war period of quicksilver activity there were a number of departures from what may be termed the classical quicksilver metallurgy. Attempts were made to beneficiate low-grade ores by gravity concentration and flotation; mechanical furnaces began to replace the Scott furnace and the vertical coarse-ore furnaces, and condensers of sewer tile and redwood tanks were used in place of the older brick and stone condensing chambers. Other developments that have occurred during the current period of quicksilver, activity are mainly in the nature of improvement and further refinement of those started during the war period. Each period of quicksilver activity has been accompanied by the proposal of various new processes, including wet methods for the treatment of quicksilver ores and innovations in furnaces, retorts and condenser equipment. As far as the author knows, nothing of economic significance in the way of "new processes" has been developed. There is in fact no real need for any essentially new process for the treatment of quicksilver ores; the direct furnace treatment is simple and inexpensive. Moreover, with fare exceptions, the quicksilver industry has no complex or refractory ore problems corresponding to those which are receiving more and more attention from metallurgists in other branches of the nonferrous field. Under these conditions improvements in quicksilver metallurgy must be looked for through the adaptation of current developments in engineering and metallurgy generally to the particular needs of quicksilver practice rather than through the invention of new processes.

Jan 1, 1930

By H. B. Pulsifier

The following report on the structure of copper is the result of work done in the laboratory of the Rome Wire Co. early in 1925. Previous work had indicated to the author that excellent results might be expected if a suitable technique in surfacing and etching could be developed. The resources of the Rome Wire Co. enabled this metal to be studied more intensively than previously, although none of the materials were investigated exhaustively. The material presented is hardly more than a preliminary summary of the most obvious character of the metal; a much longer research would have been necessary to solve many of the pressing problems connected with the casting and working of copper. The Rome Wire Co. has generously released the paper; to Dr. E. H. Darby, technical supervisor of the company, are due particular thanks for his appreciation of the importance of metallographic study of copper and for his effective support in the prosecution of the work and in making its publication possible. Dendrites, Cells and Granules The microscope reveals at least three orders of structural units in copper, as in other metals. The largest structural units are the dendrites —spine-shaped crystals building up the masses of metal when it solidifies from a melt or is crystallized from solutions by chemicals or electricity. The nucleus cells, commonly called "grains," are the largest and most conspicuous units of recrystallized solid metal; the limitations of their growth usually confine their sizes to microscopic proportions, although in "single crystals" they may become as large as the piece of metal itself. The granules are the microscopic fine-structural blocks or laminations that build up the nucleus cells; they are revealed when metal is etched with suitable chemicals. The granules are commonly visible at 500 diameters magnification and are plainly visible at 1000 diameters; magnification of the granular surfaces up to 6000 to 9000 diameters shows no finer units, not because of lack of optical resolution but because the chemical attack has left an unfeatured smooth surface.

Jan 1, 1926

By H. A. Koch, R. L. Slobod

This paper discusses a new oil recovery process called the "miscible slug process." This process involves the injection of propane or LPG into the reservoir prior to gas injection. The operating conditions are maintained so that the slug is miscible with both the reservoir oil and the injected gas phase. Thus, a miscible phase displacement is achieved, and high recoveries are obtained from the area of the reservoir contacted. The most striking discovery of the laboratory study which included displacements from cores up to 123 ft in length was that relatively small slugs of LPG are effective over reservoir distances in the miscible displacement of oil. This makes possible the commercial application of the process. The important factors controlling the size of the slug are: (I) reservoir length, (2) reservoir fluid composition, and (3) reservoir pressure at the displacement front. Of lesser importance are the effects of injection rate and porous medium type. Questions which have not been completely answered deal with the effects of gravity and reservoir inhomogeneities on the process. INTRODUCTION One of the major problems facing the oil industry today is recovery of the large fraction of the discovered oil which will remain unrecovered unless some new processes are found. Water flooding has been one successful method used to increase recovery over natural depletion. But even successful water floods may leave 25 to 40 per cent of the pore space filled with residual oil. Recently a process which involves the use of thermal energy has been reported1,&apos;*&apos; which may prove useful in increasing recovery from shallow reservoirs containing highly viscous crudes. This paper deals with a new oil recovery process involving use of miscible phases to displace the oil from the reservoir. Miscible phase displacement oil has been an intriguing idea because the elimination of capillary effects in the reservoir leads to 100 per cent recovery in the areas contacted by the miscible displacing phase. The big deterrent in the past to the practice of miscible phase displacement has been the high cost involved in using large volumes of solvent in the process. The use of high pressure gas to achieve a miscible phase displacement of reservoir oil has been reported4,5 as one economically feasible method. However, this process calls for the maintenance of pressures above 3,000 psi at the dis-placement front. The process described in this paper is not restricted to high reservoir pressures; the only qualification being that the slug of material which is injected into the reservoir must be miscible with both the displaced oil 2nd the displacing phase. Two such cases are the use of an alcohol slug followed by water to achieve a mis-cable water flood, and the use of a low boiling hydrocarbon slug such as propane followed by gas to achieve a miscible gas drive. This paper will deal specifically with the propane dug process. This process will obtain a miscible phase displacement at pressures as low as about 1,200 psi at a reservoir temperature 01 150°F. The process is very simple. The propane displaces oil completely at one front because it is miscible with the oil, and gas displaces the propane completely at a second or trailing front because it is miscible with the propane. A small band of propane should thus remain wedged between the gas and oil phases. This idea has been called the "miscible slug process."6 Unfortunately, the propane slug will become diluted as it flows through the reservoir. This results from a mixing action since the fluids flow through a complex reservoir porous medium rather than simple capillaries. Fig. 1 diagrams a miscible slug displacement. The effects of some of

Jan 1, 1958

By Zay Jeffries

Tungsten has the highest melting point of all the known metals, namely 3350 C.; it is one of the hardest of the metals; it has the highest equiaxing or recrystallization temperature after strain hardening, of any pure metal known. It is particularly distinguished because, when composed of small equiaxed grains, it is extremely brittle and fragile at room temperature, and when possessing a fibrous structure it may be ductile and pliable at room temperature. The common ductile metals act in exactly the opposite manner in this respect. The present paper will include a brief note regarding the manufacture of wrought and ductile tungsten. The metallography of wrought and ductile tungsten in the various stages of manufacture will be considered more or less in detail. The general relationships between the properties of tungsten and other metals will also be considered. A discussion will be given explaining why fibrous tungsten is ductile at room temperature, even though past experience with other metals would indicate that it should be brittle. Finally, a brief note regarding some new fundamental metallographic propositions relating to all metals will be given. Manufacture of Wrought and Ductile Tungsten Up to about 10 years ago, it had not been possible to work tungsten mechanically. About the year 1908, Dr. William D. Coolidge, of the General Electrie Go., produced ductile tungsten from what was then supposed to be an inherently brittle metal and which, in fact, was inherently brittle in its normal state, that is, when composed of equiaxed grains. Since that time many products, chief among which are the filaments for electric incandescent lamps, have been made from wrought and ductile tungsten. Tungsten is produced chiefly from the minerals wolframite and scheelite.1-8 The ores may be reduced in many ways. For example, the ore may be fused with alkali carbonates and the fusion dissolved in water; sodium tungstate is formed, which is soluble in water. This

Jan 1, 1919