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By E. C. Tveter, L. A. Roe

The authors present a general outline of the theory and development of heavy-liquid application to mineral processing. Patent literature and processes are reviewed with special emphasis on liquid recovery systems which have been employed or proposed. Advantages and disadvantages of the process are discussed together with the recent developments which have revived interest in this old concentration method. The most important single factor in this resurgence of interest is concluded to be the narrowing gulf between chemical engineering and mineral dressing which has opened the field for new concepts of mineral plant design. A partial summary of patents on heavy liquid separations is included. In spite of the fact that heavy-liquid separation with organic liquids has been used in the laboratory for over 50 years, this process has never graduated to large scale commercial use for any extended period. However, a variation of this process, the sink-float or heavy-media separation process has found wide acceptance and is used to separate minerals from diamonds to gravel. Materials used to increase the specific gravity of the pulps used as heavy media include sand, clay, barite, magnetite, galena, hematite, atomized lead and ferrosilicon. Because of the greater ease of recovery, the magnetic materials, magnetite and ferrosilicon, are the preferred media today. In the U. S. alone, heavy-media iron ore plants with a capacity of over 10 million tons of concentrate per year are in existence. Heavy-media separation involving use of solid, inorganic particles suspended in water rapidly found a wide range of commercial use with the introduction of magnetic media. The minerals engineer is experienced in working with suspensions and quickly learned to develop and control such media at a cost compatible to the type of separation desired. The natural superiority of a heavy liquid with uniform chemical and physical properties has never been questioned since its first use in laboratory mineral separatory procedures. It offers the only method for gravity separation of fine particles of relatively close specific gravity. The most important early attempt to make heavy liquid separations commercial were made by the DuPont Co. which began experimental work on Virginia limonite in 1904. The appended "Partial Summary of Patents" compiled by W.L. O'Connell of The Dow Chemical Co. demonstrates the quantity and sequence of this work. Both inorganic and organic parting liquids were investigated and numerous patents were issued on the use and recovery of these liquids. The work culminated in the heavy liquid plant of the Weston Coal Co. at Shenandoah, Pa. Chemical engineering design of this plant was the responsibility of Francis I. and Hubert I. DuPont. Heavy-liquid separation of coal almost achieved commercial status at this plant which actually processed over 20,000 tons of coal. The liquids used were tetrabromethane, pentachloroethane and trichlo-roethylene, with liquid losses ranging from 8.9 to 12.4 oz per ton of cleaned coal. The reasons for failure of this plant are not clear but probably involved toxicity problems as well as other problems in chemical engineering. Excellent economics were reported. A more recent pilot plant was built in 1954-55 by Norris Goodwin for the Inerto Co. to treat hectorite clay. This plant employed carbon tetrachloride in jigs with liquid recovery by evaporation. Although good separation was achieved, incomplete removal of the CCl, from the clay prevented commercial operation. The only present operations known to the authors employing heavy liquids for gravity separations are limited to the use of calcium chloride in certain coal washers and bromochloromethane in a small batch operation (one ton solids per day) for the separation of beryllium metal particles from slag materials. This is not strictly a minerals beneficiation problem but it has demonstrated the feasibility of such separations. PROBLEMS Critics of early attempts to commercialize heavy-liquid separation of minerals summarize the draw-

Jan 1, 1963

An old philosopher once said, "God grant me the serenity to accept those things I cannot change, the courage to change those which I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." It is time to take stock of how the human race has progressed-whether the trend now points toward greater evils or finer things. It is time that we stop fooling ourselves and put into effect a program of "real" conservation. By this it is not meant that we limit our concept to planting new forests, preserving wild life or preventing soil erosion, but rather taking stock of the expectancy of our resources, expanding human resourcefulness and effecting careful utilization and replacing of, or producing substitutes for, material resources. Man is still dependent upon energy and matter in certain usable forms, despite the fact that energy is inherent in all matter. Until such progress is made that the energy contained in all matter can be controlled, man must continue to utilize the common fuels. Advancement of research in atomic energy has cast a gleam of hope for future use of the tremendous energy contained in the atom. Use of atomic power for industrial pursuits would open up limitless resources of power. This energy, of course, is a two-edged sword, since man's progress and his means of destruction have always evolved parallel to each other. Thus it is estab-

Jan 1, 1950

By Nicholas J. Grant, Irmgard Rump, Bill C. Giessen

The system W-Hf was determined by use of metal -lographic and X-ray methods. The only interrnetal-lie phase W2Hf melts peritectically at 2650° ± 50°C. A eutectic between W2Hf and ß-Hf solid solution exists at 78 at. pct Hf arul 1930º ± 10°C. The addition of tungsten loulers the hafnium transfornzation; there is a eutectoid at 93 at. pct Hf and 1560°C. The solubility limits of the terminal solid solutions were determined. At the beginning of this investigation, the system had not been elaborated; only crystallographic work had been done to determine the structure of the occurring intermetallic compound W2Hf, and a certain analogy to the system W-Zr was to be expected. Special emphasis was placed in this program on the Hf-rich part of the diagram. Following the completion of our experiments, a phase diagram was suggested by Braun and RUdY.1 EXPERIMENTAL METHODS The investigation utilized tungsten powder supplied by the General Electric Co. with a purity of about 99.9 pct and hafnium crystal bar of about 97.7 pct purity, 2.3 pct Zr, supplied by Foote Mineral Co. Typical analyses are given in Table I. The procedures followed were identical with the ones described for the Re-Nb diagram.' Tungsten powder was compacted at 16,000 psi and the necessary amount of hafnium was added in the form of small pieces cut from the crystal bar, with a reasonable excess of tungsten powder to make up for powder losses on melting. High hafnium or tungsten melts were prepared from premelted tungsten and hafnium or by employing master alloys. The melting was done in a Heraeus arc-furnace under argon. Melting and remelting up to 8 times resulted in fairly homogeneous alloys. No weight

Jan 1, 1962

By Fulton B. Flick

The micrography and macrography of aluminum and its alloys present certain difficulties. Many of the difficulties attendant on the micrography have been removed by methods developed during the past few years, notably those of E. H. Dix, Jr.1 The development of grain size in aluminum and its alloys may be equally troublesome, yet comparatively little detailed attention appears to have been given to it. Satisfactory reagents are available for the development of such structurcs in ferrous and most non-ferrous metals, but those applied to aluminum and its alloys, i. e., alcoholic or aqueous solutions of sodium hydroxide or hydrofluoric acid are not entirely satisfactory. Hanson and Arch-butt,2 in speaking of these two reagents, state that "These two reagents give fairly satisfactory results, but they sometimes produce badly tarnished surfaces from which the surface deposit is difficult to remove." It has been our experience that neither of these reagents is to be entirely relied on for developing structures suitable for study or photography. This means that when the etch fails to produce satisfactory results the specimen must be repolished, through the 000-paper at least, and then etched with another reagent. This procedure entails a considerable loss of time, and the final results may not be all that might be desired. However, the reagent to be described, although not a panacea for all etching troubles, has improved results so markedly that it is felt that it & worth offering as a grain-size etch generally applicable to aluminum and aluminum alloys. Czochralski3 in 1915 mentioned the application of a solution of 10 to 20 c. c. concentrated hydrofluoric acid in 100 c. c. absolute alcohol, etching in this reagent being followed by dipping in concentrated hydrochloric acid soliltion.

Jan 1, 1925

By Alden B. Greninger

Twinned metal crystals are usually designated as either deformation twins or annealing twins. If twins are to be classified according to the treatment the metal has undergone just prior to the observation of the twins, there are two other possible groups: (1) solidification twins,† when observed in the as-solidified or as-cast condition, and (2) transformation twins,† when observed in a metal which has been cooled from above an allotropic transformation temperature. McKeehan has demonstrated that ferrite does, occasionally at least, contain twinned structures2. The twins, which he studied by optical methods, were obtained during the preparation of iron single crystals by very slow cooling through A3. He proved that the twin relation was actually that which previous investigators had predicted; namely, twinning along three planes of the form (112). Since McKeehan's discovery, little or no attention has been given to this transformation twinning of alpha iron, or to the possibility that it might occur at all speeds of cooling from above A3 instead of merely during the preparation of single crystals. McKeehan's twins were evidently regarded as interesting only in proving that a body-centered cubic metal could form twinned structures—at least under certain conditions. It is generally believed that iron seldom if ever forms annealing twins. Certainly the straight-line banding which is so abundant in annealed face-centered cubic metals is characteristically absent in iron annealed below A3. However, O'Neil13 has studied "twin-like" crystals in annealed alpha iron and concludes that the specimen he studied actually contailled a few annealing twins. Tamura4 as reported "twin-like" crystals both in wrought iron and mild steel; specimens of the latter were annealed above and below A3 and showed "twin-like" crystals after both kinds of treatments.

Jan 1, 1936

By Alden B. Greninger

Twinned metal crystals are usually designated as either deformation twins or annealing twins. If twins are to be classified according to the treatment the metal has undergone just prior to the observation of the twins, there are two other possible groups: (1) solidification twins,† when observed in the as-solidified or as-cast condition, and (2) transformation twins,† when observed in a metal which has been cooled from above an allotropic transformation temperature. McKeehan has demonstrated that ferrite does, occasionally at least, contain twinned structures2. The twins, which he studied by optical methods, were obtained during the preparation of iron single crystals by very slow cooling through A3. He proved that the twin relation was actually that which previous investigators had predicted; namely, twinning along three planes of the form (112). Since McKeehan's discovery, little or no attention has been given to this transformation twinning of alpha iron, or to the possibility that it might occur at all speeds of cooling from above A3 instead of merely during the preparation of single crystals. McKeehan's twins were evidently regarded as interesting only in proving that a body-centered cubic metal could form twinned structures—at least under certain conditions. It is generally believed that iron seldom if ever forms annealing twins. Certainly the straight-line banding which is so abundant in annealed face-centered cubic metals is characteristically absent in iron annealed below A3. However, O'Neil13 has studied "twin-like" crystals in annealed alpha iron and concludes that the specimen he studied actually contailled a few annealing twins. Tamura4 as reported "twin-like" crystals both in wrought iron and mild steel; specimens of the latter were annealed above and below A3 and showed "twin-like" crystals after both kinds of treatments.

Jan 1, 1936

By F. P. Agterberg

It can be useful to model the mean grade values for a metal in mineral deposits containing that metal as representing the extreme value tail of a lognormal frequency distribution for the concentration values of the metal in common rocks of all types. Results for copper and zinc in the Abitibi area of the Canadian Shield are compared to results previously obtained for the Canadian Appalachian region. The lognormal model is also applied to a set of 162 large gold deposits in the Abitibi area. In the second part of the paper, 1311 large and small gold deposits in the Abitibi area are modeled as discrete events. By means of a newly developed spatial clustering model it is possible to predict the variances of random variables for frequencies of deposits in cells of different sizes.

Jan 1, 1981

The annual world production of minerals approximates 1,700,000,000 tons, over 90 per cent. of which consists of coal and iron. Of this amount about two-thirds is used within the countries where the minerals are produced and one-third is shipped to other countries. The movement of most of these minerals, though, shows a rather remarkable concentration. For instance, manganese moves from three principal sources and converges at four or five consuming centers; chromite and tungsten move from two principal sources. The United States is more nearly self-sustaining in regard to mineral commodities as a whole than any 'other country on the globe; but the interests of conservation - call for an international viewpoint in the handling of our mineral resources., There is perhaps as much need of specializing in mineral output as there is of specializing in manufacturing. The thought that every country on the globe should be self-sustaining in regard to mineral supplies is of somewhat the same order as the thought that every family should produce all its own raw materials rather than take advantage of the more favorable conditions existing elsewhere and so specialize in human effort. Extension of international control of minerals seems to offer possibilities of loss and gain-loss through a considerable sacrifice of national trade .and a narrowing of the field for private initiative in trade; gain through the possibility of attaining certain ends which are attainable only by international agreement, such as an allocation of supplies which will be to the advantage of the greater number of nations rather than to the advantage of the few that are strong enough to dominate the situation. The interests of conservation clearly require international control. Moreover, the lesson of the war points to the necessity of overhauling old international understandings and machinery, even though such a task would encounter great difficulties, not the least of which lie in the persistence of human habits and inertia. Whether the time has come to establish a league of nations with economic control can be determined only by our individual and collective answers to the question whether we are willing to make the necessary economic sacrifices, individually and nationally, in the interest of world harmony. The mineral industry should fully understand that, with international control, efforts to promote export will need to be modified and curtailed; that expansion of our trade in many lines will mean equivalent loss of trade to other nations; that the almost universal conception that expansion of foreign trade is a meritorious aim and end in itself, without regard to its effect on other countries, will need revision.

Jan 3, 1919

By A. Phillips, H. J. Fisher

The influence of temperature and composition on the viscosity of high-purity liquid metals and alloys of the Pb-Sn and Sb-Cd systems was investigated by the logarithmic-decrement method. The variation of viscosity with temperature above the liquidus followed the equation: n = AeE/RT No large increase in viscosity was found just before normal freezing of any of the metals or alloys investigated. Certain alloys, supercooled below their stable liquidus, however, did show a marked increase in viscosity. Experimental activation energies for viscosity were determined for the metals investigated. Liquid-metal density values were obtained by a modified Joeger's method. IK an investigation of the properties of molten metals, the study of viscosity as a suitable means for studying the physical nature of the metallic liquid state has been utilized. Although interest in the relationship of the liquid to the solid-metal state holds promise of broadening the knowledge of metals in general, much information that is available regarding the influence of temperature and composition on viscosity, especially near the freezing point, is still controversial. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of recent work on this subject. Although interest in factors influencing the fluid behavior of metals and alloys has arisen from theoretical as well as applied studies of liquid-metal properties, the development of a comprehensive theory of the mechanism of viscosity has been handicapped because so little is known about the liquid state. Several theories of viscosity have been proposed and among the more recent are those of Andrade,1 Bernal,2 Frenkel,3 Eyring,4 and Gutmann and Simmons.5 Athough these contributions have helped to establish a basis of approach for studying the nature of viscosity, the fundamental aspects of the variation of viscosity with alloy composition have, in general, been neglected. Experimental Metals and Alloys Investigated: The Pb-Sn and Sb-Cd alloy systems were selected for investigation because they form constitutional features of theo-

Jan 1, 1955

By R. S. Shoemaker

Mines are closed for two reasons; exhaustion of ore or insufficient price for the mineral. On the other hand, the reopening of an old mine can be the result of any one of three events; the discovery of more ore, a sudden rise in the price of the product or the use of a new low-cost method of mining or milling the ore. Examples of the latter would be the open-pitting of an orebody previously mined underground as recently happened at Tyrone, N.M., or the adoption of acid leaching of an old pit as has been done at Miami, Ariz. The unique native copper mines of the Keweenaw Peninsula of upper Michigan have not been so fortunate. These deposits, which were first worked by prehistoric Indians, have been mined continuously from the early 1840's to 1968 when the last mines of Calumet and Hecla were closed and the Ahmeek mill. still using eight Nordberg steam stamps, was shut down. There are two types of deposits from which native copper is obtained; amygdaloid, which is a lava flow, and conglomerate, a sedimentary deposit of sand, rock fragments and pebbles cemented together. "In the amygdaloid, the copper is disseminated, or distributed much like the raisins in a cake; but in the rich Calumet conglomerate, the copper is more like a malleable rope or thread cementing the pebbles together." (C. Harry Benedict. Red Metal: The Calumet and Hecla Story, (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1952), p. 42.) These deposits produced almost all of the copper used by the North in the Civil War and were substantial contributors to the copper needs of the United States in both World Wars. Some were mined to depths of as much as 9500 ft along the dip of the vein structure and 7500 ft vertically. Few of the mines ever really became worked out, but became uneconomical because of depth, pinching of veins or grades which dropped to about 1%.

Jan 5, 1972

By W. Spencer Hutchinson

The experiments described in this paper were undertaken primarily for the purpose of measuring the quality of work done in screening and sorting in American concentrating-mills for Prof. Richards' work on Ore-Dressiag. For this purpose a series of samples of screened and sorted products was obtained from four different mills, and a plan was devised for sizing these products, and for tabular and graphic representation of the results. The results, together with discussions as to their significance, so far as they serve to interpret the quality of mill-work, have already been published in the above-mentioned work, and it is not the purpose of this paper to duplicate the work, except so far as is necessary to explain and illustrate methods and appliances. The sizing of coarse products was clone by sifting on screens of sheet-metal with round punched holes. These holes ranged in size from 64 mm. to 0.5 mm. in diameter. Below the smaller limit, punched metal, suitable for this work, was not obtainable, and the sizing was carried on by sifting on woven wire-sieves. The finest woven wire-cloth obtainable gave a hole 0.073 mm. square, and the finest silk bolting-cloth pave a pentagonal hole with an average diameter of 0.069 mm. Even these very fine screens served no useful purpose in sifting certain of the very fine classifier-products, of which all, or nearly all, passed through the finest screen. A new adaptation of a method of settling and decantation with water in beakers was therefore worked out, and by this means the sizing mas carried down to grains of a diameter as small as 0.012 mm. Description of Apparatus and Manipu1ntion.—Sieves of sheet-metal with round punched holes were used as far as practicable, chiefly because, as already explained, the primary object of the experiments was to test mill-work, and the mills had all used

Jan 1, 1905

By L. L. Wyman

The resultant embrittlement caused by the exposure of oxygen-bearing copper when hot and exposed to reducing gases has been the subject of many studies.' Little attention, however, has been given to the possible embrittling effects due to atmospheres or conditions that under some circumstances might be the source of a reducing gas. At rather infrequent intervals there occur reports of copper becoming embrittled during normal annealing cycles in commercial steam-atmos-phered furnaces such as customarily are used for this operation. As might be expected, several other factors exist—such as oil, dirt on the wire, or in the furnace, or metallic surface contacts—that might produce reducing gases and be the source of the trouble. However, in consideration of the statement made by Ruder,2 it would seem that under some conditions steam itself might prove to be the source of trouble. A consideration of the amount of the dissociation of water vapor up to temperatures of the melting point of copper shows that3 the amount of hydrogen that could come from this source is far too minute to account for any embrittlement. What such information does not tell is what will happen at the surface of copper when subjected to steam at elevated temperatures, for entirely different conditions may persist, which would account for Ruder's observation. Furthermore, there are no data as to what might happen at the surfaces of other materials present, the resultant of which might affect the condition of the copper present. For this reason, it was decided to make a series of experiments comparable to those previously conducted by the writer,' which would clarify the effect of the steam on copper, and in copper in the presence of steel. Material The material used in these experiments was tough-pitch copper wire of rectangular cross section, about % in. thick, picked at random from the regular factory production of material used for windings, etc., in the electrical industry. Chemical analysis of this material gave the follow-

Jan 1, 1940

By L. L. Wyman

The resultant embrittlement caused by the exposure of oxygen-bearing copper when hot and exposed to reducing gases has been the subject of many studies.' Little attention, however, has been given to the possible embrittling effects due to atmospheres or conditions that under some circumstances might be the source of a reducing gas. At rather infrequent intervals there occur reports of copper becoming embrittled during normal annealing cycles in commercial steam-atmos-phered furnaces such as customarily are used for this operation. As might be expected, several other factors exist—such as oil, dirt on the wire, or in the furnace, or metallic surface contacts—that might produce reducing gases and be the source of the trouble. However, in consideration of the statement made by Ruder,2 it would seem that under some conditions steam itself might prove to be the source of trouble. A consideration of the amount of the dissociation of water vapor up to temperatures of the melting point of copper shows that3 the amount of hydrogen that could come from this source is far too minute to account for any embrittlement. What such information does not tell is what will happen at the surface of copper when subjected to steam at elevated temperatures, for entirely different conditions may persist, which would account for Ruder's observation. Furthermore, there are no data as to what might happen at the surfaces of other materials present, the resultant of which might affect the condition of the copper present. For this reason, it was decided to make a series of experiments comparable to those previously conducted by the writer,' which would clarify the effect of the steam on copper, and in copper in the presence of steel. Material The material used in these experiments was tough-pitch copper wire of rectangular cross section, about % in. thick, picked at random from the regular factory production of material used for windings, etc., in the electrical industry. Chemical analysis of this material gave the follow-

Jan 1, 1940

By Conrad E. Hesse

To increase the durability of paint exposed to the weather, it is necessary to protect the oil with a substance that is itself unaffected by the elements. The so-called " metallic " paints, containing ochre,

Jan 1, 1891

By E. J. Duggan

THE mine and mill of the Climax Molybdenum Co. are at Climax, Colorado. Climax is on Fremont pass directly on the Continental Divide, at an elevation of 11,400 feet. DESCRIPTION OF ORE The Climax ore-bearing rock is essentially an altered and highly silicified granite, fully half of the gangue being quartz. Molybdenite is the only mineral of economic consequence and most of it is intimately associated with quartz in the form of fine veinlets and stringers. Other minerals are molybdite, pyrite, and chalcopyrite. While the molybdite may be readily extracted by hydrometallurgical methods, its content is too low to make such operations profitable. The pyrite content ranges from 2 to 5 per cent and that of the chalcopyrite from 0.03 to 0.05 per cent. There is not enough copper to make its recovery attractive and one of the metallurgical problems is the elimination of it and the pyrite from the product. On account of the close association of the molybdenite with the quartz and the necessity of eliminating the pyrite and chalcopyrite from the final product, fine grinding followed by flotation is the only feasible method of concentration. HISTORY Construction of the first milling unit was started in 1017 and it was operated during parts of 1918 and 1910. In the postwar years, there was almost no demand for the product and production was at a standstill until 1024. The Company's research campaign to develop the use of the metal began to show results in that year. From 1926 to 1932 production ranged from 500 to 1200 tons per day. In 1931 an additional mill section was built and production was gradually increased until in 1934 and 1935 about 3000 to 4000 tons was milled per day. This tonnage overtaxed the milling facilities, and as the demand for molybdenum was growing constantly, additional milling equipment was needed. In 1936 and 1937 another crushing plant, six additional mill sections and the necessary auxiliary plants were constructed and brought into operation. This plant was designed to mill I0,000 tons per day, but it was not long before 12,500 tons was being treated during periods of peak demands. During the summer of 1941, to meet defense needs, the mill has been required to treat 15,500 tons per day. This has been accomplished with little plant expansion and at no loss in recovery, as will be described later. To increase capacity still further, one more primary section is now being built. This will bring capacity to 18,000 tons per day, which can be stretched to 20,000 tons at a small sacrifice in recovery. CRUSHING There are two crushing plants: No. I, of 5000 tons capacity (flowsheet in Fig. I) and No. 2, of 15,000 tons capacity (Fig. 2).

Jan 1, 1942

The co-operation of the members of the Institute is earnestly sought by the Committee on Nominations, recently appointed by the Board of Directors, in its work of formulating a ticket for officers and places falling vacant in the Board of Directors in February, 1916. The Committee must present the official ticket of nominations to the Board of Directors at its October meeting. Members are, therefore, urged to send promptly their nominations for officers and Directors in order that the Committee may have an opportunity to give them full consideration. The officers to be elected at the annual meeting in February, 1916, are: One officer, known as Director and President. Two officers, known as Director and Vice-President. Five officers, known as Director. The officers of the Institute whose terms expire are as follows: President, William L. Saunders (not eligible for re-election). Past President, Charles F. Rand. Vice-Presidents, Thomas H. Leggett, District 0; Fred W. Denton, District 4.

Jan 9, 1915

The co-operation of the. members of the Institute is earnestly sought by the Committee on Nominations, recently appointed by the Board of Directors, in its work of formulating a ticket for officers and places falling vacant in the Board of Directors in February, 1916. The Committee must present the official ticket of nominations to the Board of Directors at its October meeting. Members are, therefore, urged to send promptly their nominations for officers and Directors in order that the Committee may have an opportunity to give, them full consideration. The officers to be elected at the annual meeting in February, 1916, are: One officer, known as Director and President: Two officers, known as Director and Vice-President. Five officers, known as Director. The officers of the Institute whose terms expire are as follows: President, William L. Saunders (not eligible for re-election). Past President, Charles F. Rand. Vice-Presidents, Thomas H. Leggett, District 0; Fred W. Denton, District 4.

Jan 10, 1915

By Larry G. Hayes

Development of the Bowers-Campbell zinc deposit, located in the Shenandoah Valley two miles northwest of Timberville, Va., was commenced in 1956 by the Tri-State Zinc Co. The occurrence of lead-zinc mineralization in this area has been known for many years, but the first serious exploration program was initiated in 1951 by the geologic staff of Tri-State Zinc Co. Ordovician dolomites. The deposit is approximately 700 ft long, 100 ft wide, and 475 ft thick. Its projected plan has an elongated ovoid shape, where- as the profile appears boot-shaped with the upper portion outcropping. Vertical cross sections show the lense as having been thrust-faulted along certain bedding planes. The movement along these bedding thrusts varies greatly and in one case, has offset the deposit so as to divide it into an upper and lower orebody. The breccia lense strikes parallel to the N 34" E strike of enclosing strata.

Jan 9, 1960

By A. R. Troiano, R. F. Hehemann

The influence of partial decomposition to high temperature bainite on reaction kinetics at a lower temperature has been studied in two alloy steels. Reaction at the lower temperature is retarded by the prior treatment, and the extent of decomposition may be reduced. Interpretation of these results is based on a mechanism involving a limitation in the nucleation and growth of bainite plates. OF the major transformations in steel, the characteristics and general behavior of the bainite reaction are probably the least understood and appreciated. Limitations of space preclude a critical evaluation of the present status of the bainite transformation in this presentation; however, such a treatment will shortly appear elsewhere. Only the salient features pertinent to the present investigation will be introduced briefly here. Although the reaction curve for the formation of bainite is similar to that for a nucleation and growth process, other kinetic features are more in keeping with the martensitic mode of transformation. A definite temperature exists above which austenite will not transform to bainite.1-5 his temperature, which has been designated B., is determined by the composition of the austenite. Unlike other nucleation and growth processes, the amount of austenite transformed to .bainite is a function of reaction temperature. The extent of decomposition increases from 0 at H. to 100 pct at some lower temperature.' , This lower temperature will be designated B1 and appears to be relatively insensitive to austenite composition.% 5 The similarity in the effect of reaction temperature on the bainite and martensite transformations serves to emphasize the close connection between these two decomposition processes. Austenite decomposition in the bainite range proceeds without partition of the alloying elements.8-11 Partition of carbon has been proposed" primarily on the basis that partial transformation to bainite lowers M, and increases the amount of austenite retained at room temperature. Carbon enrichment resuslting from such partition has been employed to explain the influence of reaction temperature on the extent of decomposition.'" It should be noted, however, that no enrichment has been detected experimentally in high carbon steels.1,14,15 Lattice-parameter measurements of retained austenite in steels containing 0.3 to 0.4 pct C have indicated carbon enrichment, 3,10-18 although the split indicative of a high carbon martensite has not been reported. Carbon enrichment, if it does occur, must be highly localized around the bainite plates. Therefore, carbon enrichment does not account for the influence of temperature on the progress of the bainite reaction."' Thermal history is known to influence the martensite transformation through stabilization.20,21 No similar phenomenon in the bainite transformation has been reported. Materials and Procedure Two triple-alloy steels were chosen for this investigation. Their compositions were as given in Table I. These steels were chosen because the pearlite reaction did not interfere with the bainite reaction. Steel K was received in the cast condition and forged from 2 in. square bars to 1/2 x1 3/4 in. plates. The 4340 was received as 11/4 in. hot-rolled rounds. Both steels were homogenized in vacuum for one week at 2300°F in order to minimize segregation. A quenching dilatometer similar to that described by Flinn, Cook, and Fellows" was employed for the kinetic measurements. Dimensional changes were detected by a differential transformer coupled with a high speed recorder. The dilatometer was mounted so that it could be transferred to any one of three furnaces: a nitrogen-atmosphere austenitiz-ing furnace and two salt-bath furnaces for isothermal transformation. Dilatometer specimens were 1/32 x 1/4x 1/2 in. with a gage length of 1.4 in. All specimens were nickel plated in order to minimize decarburization during austenitizing. The austenitiz-ing conditions consisted of 10 min at the temperatures given above. Austenitizing temperatures were controlled to 210°F and transformation temperatures to ±3ºF. The precision of the dimensional measurements was estimated to be ± 5 x105 in. per in. Results and Discussion Isothermal Transformation: The characteristics of the isothermal bainite reaction will be described

Jan 1, 1955

By W. S. Cavender

The Round Mountain mining district, Nye County, Ne- vada, was discovered in 1906 on claims owned by Lewis D. Gordon. Initial mining operations uncovered gold veins of spectacular richness, and within a few days of discovery, Gordon sold his controlling interest for some $87,000. From this sale emerged the Round Mountain Mining Co., predecessor of Nevada Porphyry Gold Mines, Inc., the latter destined to become the major property owner in the area. Vein mining in the district continued sporadically into the early 1930s, yielding 9.3 Mg (330,000 oz) of gold plus substantial silver credits from approximately 626 kt (690,000 st) of ore. In addition to the lode deposits, the early miners recognized the placer potential in the alluvial fan material accumulated around the west and north sides of Round Mountain itself. Intermittent placer operations were carried out for a number of years, and in the 1940s and 1950s, Round Mountain Gold Dredging Co. worked the placers under a lease from Nevada Porphyry Gold Mines. The last placer operation terminated in 1959 when it, like some of its predecessors, proved uneconomic. Total placer production for the district is estimated at 3657 km (4 million yd) of gravel containing 59 Mg (210,000 oz) of gold and possibly 2.0 to 2.3 Mg (70,000 to 80,000 oz) of silver. Round Mountain is a small hill situated on the east flank of the Toquima Range in central Nevada. The hill is com- posed of relatively flat-lying Tertiary rhyolitic ash flow tuffs, which overlie Paleozoic metasediments and Cretaceous granites. Throughout the surrounding Round Mountain mining district, most of the known gold ores occur in the tuffs, although the metasediments and granites are also mineralized. Mineralization is structurally controlled, principally by a series of northwest-trending shears and shattered zones. Vein, stockwork, and disseminated ores occur, usually containing simple quartz-pyrite-gold mineral assemblages. The gold itself is electrum, having a silver content of 30% to 40%. In September, 1967, Elwood Dietrich, a prospector and mine promoter, obtained a purchase option on the 4452 ha (1 1,000 acres) of mineral rights held at Round Mountain by Nevada Porphyry Gold Mines. The original option had a buy-out price of $1 million and was established through Dietrich's friendship with officers of Nevada Porphyry. In April, 1968, Dietrich conveyed his option to Ordrich Gold Reserves Co., a partnership created by a group of west coast investors, mostly employees of the airline industry. There- after, Ordrich invested considerable funds in trying to test and develop the property, but soon recognized the need to seek financial and technical support from the mining industry. In December, 1968, Dietrich contacted Wayne Cavender, then Regional Geologist, Southwest, for Copper Range Exploration Company (CRX) in Tucson, Arizona, and made a data presentation. Shortly thereafter, Cavender was appointed Manager of Exploration and Chief Geologist for Copper Range Co. (parent company of CRX), New York City, and he asked C. Phillips Purdy, CRX Regional Geologist, Northwest, to make an initial property examination. Purdy's one-week field study took place in March, 1969, and resulted in a recommendation that CRX pursue its investigation of the property. The presence of low-grade gold mineralization in both the alluvial gravels and in the bedrock was verifiable, but the placer was deemed to have the greater immediate economic mining potential. At that time, gold was in the $1.41/g ($40 per oz) price range. Working from Purdy's information, Cavender decided to attempt acquisition of the property, and the first in a long series of negotiations was initiated with Ordrich. Basically, CRX felt that the placer had a promising potential for several reasons, including (I) past operators had recovered free gold but not the gold contained in the pebble fraction of the gravels; (2) past operations appeared to have been ineffectively designed or managed and not costefficient; and (3) the price of gold appeared to be poised for an upward move. Negotiations with Ordrich were prolonged and difficult, with CRX competing against several ma* mining companies, but finally an agreement was reached, effective June I, 1970. Gold was then back to $35. It is believed that, in

Jan 1, 1985