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By G. K. Burgess

G. K. BURGESS* and R. W. WOODWARD,? Washington, D. C.-From a metallurgical standpoint, there are several ways in which a reduction of the tin consumed in commercial non-ferrous and white-metal alloys can be effected. First, a reduction of the tin, content of the alloy; second, substitution of part or all of the tin content by some other metal; third, a substitution of a different type of alloy, which in some cases also involves a change in mechanical design. The Bureau of Standards has been studying these methods of conservation for tin alloys, particularly in regard to babbitts and bearing metals, bronzes, and solders. Much of the information secured by the Bureau was obtained from answers to questionnaires sent to manufacturers and users of these materials, so that, in general, any of the following suggestions or recommendations can be considered as being practical and as having already been thoroughly tried. Bearing Metals There is no question that the tin content of nearly all bearing metals can be reduced to some extent, and in some cases actually eliminated

Jan 12, 1918

By H. L. Riley, B. W. Gandrud

As far as the present writers know, this system of flotation has not been used elsewhere in this country, but in the last couple of years it has been introduced, with minor variations, at one plant in England and one in Wales. The system has been described and discussed in a number of publications. The following is quoted from an abstract of the latest of these," a paper presented at an International Conference on Industrial Combustion in 1952. On the basis of experience to date with the commercial plants, it is believed that the kerosene-flotation process incorporates all the necessary elements to make it greatly superior to anything else now available for treating of fines in wet processes of coal preparation. Additional study and investigation are still needed, however, to determine if certain phases of the process can be improved to such an extent as to make it generally satisfactory and acceptable to the industry. Further improvements will be needed with respect to the capacities of the flotation cells and the reagent consumption.

Nov 1, 1955

By T. L. Kesler

With only six small spodumene prospect pits, no detailed mapping, and no subsurface information in 1938, the Carolina lithium-pegmatite area now contains four mines among more than 25 properties on which exploratory work has been done. Even the open pit mine of Foote Mineral Co. described herein, from which ten million tons of ore and waste have been removed since 1952, was virgin ground when mapped in 1938-40 1. It has been a privilege to participate in the transition. In 1940, the spodumene pegmatites were known in a 25-mile belt (originally noted for tin prospecting) between Lincolnton, N. C. and Grover at the South Carolina line. Subsequently, Broadhurst 2 reported relatively small bodies northeast of Lincolnton near the Catawba County line. To the south, diamond drilling done in 1953 on the old Ross tin-mine property near Gaffney yielded pegmatite cores containing a few crystals of spodumene. This fact, not previously reported, suggests that some of the pyroxene in the Ross shaft as described by Sloan 3 may be spodumene.

Jan 9, 1961

By T. Katayanagi, J. Shimoiizaka, K. Nakatsuka

Feldspar has been separated from silica by cationic collector using hydrofluoric acid as an activator of feldspar (1,2). Recently, one of the authors developed a new flotation process separating feldspar from quartz without using hydrofluoric acid. Presently, some silica sand mills are operating to introduce this process in Japan (3). In this flotation, feldspar is floated from silica using normal alkyltri-methylene diamine acetate together with sodium petroleum sulfonate as collectors in a hydrochloric or sulfuric acid circuit of about pH 2. From fundamental studies, it was found that, though the aliphatic diamine by itself did not adsorb on feldspar sufficiently to give a satisfying flotation in acidic circuit., the adsorption of collector was promoted by the simultaneous use of petroleum sulfonate and resulted in sufficient flotation of feldspar. On the other hand, quartz did not float in this flotation process. The application of this flotation was attempted for some types of natural samples and satisfying results were obtained. Further, an example of practical plant was introduced and the advantages in the process are emphasized.

Jan 1, 1976

By Edward Martinez

Although the copper segregation process has been known as a method for treating oxide copper ores since the 1920's, the reactions involved in this process are still a matter of conjecture. However, the evidence turned up in a recent series of experiments at Asarco's Central Research Laboratories strongly indicates that some of the proposed reactions may not be occurring. Experimental work on oxide copper ores from the Sagasca mines in Chile led to the discovery of the copper segregation process in 1923. It was found that the reduction of the copper with coal at about 700°C occurred on the surface of the coal instead of remaining disseminated in the ore. The unusual behavior of the copper, which caused it to migrate from the ore particles to the coal, was traced to the presence of a small quantity of sodium chloride occurring in the ore. Further experiments with oxide copper ores proved that the presence of a halide, either occurring naturally or admixed with the ore, caused the copper to migrate from the ore particles and to segregate in the charge.

Jan 8, 1966

By D. A. Rice, R. L. Stone

Studies of the possible effect of plant water chemistry on the strength of unfired iron ore pellets apparently have not been reported in the literature. Naturally occurring soluble salts were removed from magnetic concentrate filter cakes obtained from several iron ore concentrators. Laboratory balling tests showed that unfired pellets made from these "clean" filter cakes were 50-100% stronger than the usual unfired pellets containing the salts. The fact that certain chemical additives dissolved in the water used for balling "clean" concentrates decreased the strength of unfired pellets indicates that salts in the plant process water may be responsible for lower strengths. According to chemical analyses of plant process waters at these plants, calcium and magnesium are probably the most detrimental salts in the plant circuits. It is suggested that calcium, magnesium, and other polyvalent cations in the mill process waters ion-exchange for lower-valence cations in the bentonite and thereby destroy the electrostatic-charge bonding in the green pellet. Some practical guidelines are also included for plant balling practices.

Jan 1, 1973

By Eugene Guccione

FOREWORD-In an interview published in the May 1975 issue of MINING ENGINEERING, one of the world's most respected scientists, nuclear physicist Hans Bethe discussed the reliability of nuclear power plants and their unmatched safety record. The Nobel laureate also refuted the anti-nuclear lobby's claims that nuclear plants emit harmful radioactive effluents. When asked whether the US has sufficient uranium resources, Dr. Bethe replied that "it depends on the time of introduction of the commercial and advanced breeder reactors which, in effect, can generate more nuclear fuel than they consume." The United States has enough U3O8 to last until the breeders can take over in 1995, said Dr. Bethe. But lie warned that extensive environmental damage would be caused if "environmentalists" succeed in delaying the development of the breeder. Any such delays, he noted, would vastly increase the demand for U3O8 in conventional reactors; this, in turn, would impose an immense burden on the US uranium mining industry, which would then have no alternative but to mine the low-grade Chattanooga deposits.

Jan 4, 1977

By M. E. Volin, F. H. Erbisch, G. M. Wenberg

Bacterial leaching of copper and uranium is practiced under acidic conditions in environments furnishing sulfur and iron. However, many mineral deposits do not have these conditions; the chalcocite and native copper deposits in Michigan's Upper Peninsula are examples. Species of bacteria and fungi isolated previously from samples taken at the White Pine Copper Co. tailings pond and mine, were screened for solubilization of copper from chalcocite ore and flotation concentrate and from native copper jig concentrate. Certain Penicillium species solubilized significant amounts of copper under neutral to slightly acidic conditions in a carbon and nitrogen-enriched medium. Leaching apparently was accomplished by release of metabolites which chelated with the copper. The copper yield was highly dependent upon the medium composition and the concentration of copper in the source material. The standardized procedures which were developed in an attempt to maximize copper yield in leaching times of three to five days are described. This preliminary research indicates a biological leaching process for copper which is different from those in use, but whether it can be applied economically remains to be determined.

Jan 1, 1972

By T. Nakao

Fujiwara quarry had been operated by the glory-hole benchcut mining system, but as it became difficult to meet expanding demand with this system, a central-shaft mobile crushing plant (MCP) system was introduced in 1979. This MCP is equipped with a hydraulic walking system manufactured for the first time in Japan. Central-shaft mining is now the common mining method of Japanese limestone quarries. With this method, crushing facilities are usually installed at the bottom of the shaft. But at the Fujiwara quarry, MCP was adopted and installed on the quarry surface. Many MCPs are operated in foreign countries, but few examples exist in Japan. Normally, Japanese limestone deposits lie in high mountain, obviously making it inconvenient for MCPs to walk in and around the quarry. This difficulty, however, was overcome, and the MCP has operated satisfactorily and efficiently for two years since its installation. To overcome difficulties in the central-shaft MCP mining system, two mining methods are employed: the slice-down method and the block-cut method.

Jan 1, 1985

By Henry Otto

THE anthracite industry can be divided into two parts-the underground, or mining, and the outside, or preparation or manufacture. To understand recoveries in the two branches, some of the history of the industry and the changes that have taken place in the past century should be considered. It is a long step from 1807, when 55 tons were produced in the Wyoming field, to 1917, the peak year, when 80,841,223 tons were shipped to market from all the fields. In 1820, the Lehigh Coal Co., the predecessor of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co., shipped 365 tons in arks down the canal of the Lehigh Navigation Co. The Schuylkill field was not opened until 1822, when 1480 tons were shipped. The Wyoming field really became a producer in 1829, when 7000 tons were mined and shipped. It is well to note, at this time, the passing of the Coleraine colliery after a life of 88 years; in collieries of this age will be found the. romance of the region, as well as the history of the changes to date.

Jan 1, 1925

By William Hutton Blauvelt

An official of one of the prominent iron companies of the South recently made the following statement during a discussion of the present conditions of the Southern iron business: " The trouble with us in the South has been that we have been satisfied to buy iron and coal lands, build blast-furnaces, and make pig-iron. We stopped at pig-iron, and as a result we are all poor. The South needs diversified industries, and needs to work up its raw products into articles the Southern market can use. If we had realized this sooner, some of us might now be rich." The South is awakening to this view, and in the Birmingham district alone one basic steel-mill is already in operation, and in a year's time another and much larger one will be turning out rails and shapes, with rod- and wire-mills in prospect. It is to chronicle another metallurgical step forward in the same district that I have prepared the following description of the new by-product retort coke-oven plant recently put in opera-

Jan 1, 1899

By T. S. Fuller

The work of D. J. McAdam, Jr.1,2 at the U. S. Naval Engineering Experiment Station, Annapolis, Md., on what has been called by him "corrosion-fatigue" has focussed the attention of the engineering profession in general, and of those interested especially in the study of corrosion in particular, on the importance of making tests which will indicate as nearly as possible what can be expected from a given material in service. Pitting is unquestionably the chief agent operating so tremendously to reduce fatigue limits, but in the light of previous work3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 it is fair to assume that absorbed hydrogen resulting from the action of the corroding medium upon steel may, under certain conditions, have a perceptible influence. The experiments described in this paper deal more precisely with stressless corrosion, or "prior-corrosion fatigue,"9 and have been carried out to test such an assumption, to segregate, if possible, the effect of pitting from that of absorbed hydrogen, and although very preliminary in nature they indicate results which are striking.

Jan 1, 1929

By Y. Fukunaka, Y. Kondo, Z. Asaki, S. Nakashita

The pyrite smelting process in which about half amount of sulfur is recovered from pyrite by thermal decomposition in an oxygen-free high-temperature combustion gas flow in the flash smelting furnace is being conducted at Kokkola Works in Finland. A mathematical model of this process was developed, and the rates of thermal decomposition and fusion of suspended sulfide particles in the reaction shaft of furnace was calculated. This model is thought to be appropriate because of a fairly good coincidence of the calculated length of reaction zone with the shaft height of the furnace at Kokkola Works. The calculated reaction zone in which the thermal decomposition and fusion of sulfide particles occur becomes longer when pyrite particles of larger sizes are fed. The feeding rate of pyrite particles and the gas velocity at the nozzle exit are also the important operating factors. These two factors are closely related to the volume fraction and the residence time of suspended particles in the gas stream, and the optimal combined levels of these factors at which the length of reaction zone becomes minimal were obtained.

Jan 1, 1976

By Immo H. Redeker

Through close cooperation with geophysical and geological test work by Texas Gulf Sulphur Co. in Beaufort County, the Asheville Minerals Research Laboratory assisted in the evaluation of North Carolina's most valuable mineral resource, the Pungo River phosphate deposit. After a core evaluation study, the flotation process for the concentration of North Carolina phosphate was demonstrated in a 500-lb per hr pilot plant in Asheville. Tonnage samples of phosphate concentrate were produced for customer evaluation in the United States, Europe, and the Far East. Plans for a larger pilot plant to be erected at the plant site at Lee Creek were prepared for TGS. The larger pilot plant was operated by TGS in conjunction with a test dredging operation which led to the adoption of a dragline dry mining method to move 90,000 tpd of material for the production of 10,000 tpd of phosphate concentrate in the all-flotation phosphate concentrator. Calcining, dry grinding, and byproduct studies complimented the construction of one of the world's largest and most modern fertilizer raw-feed complexes on the eastern North Carolina seaboard.

Jan 1, 1972

By R. W. Culbertson, S. Kasper

During the 1920's, approximately 11,000 small gasifiers were in operation in the United States. They converted about 15 million tons (13.6 Mt) of coal per year into low Btu gas. In some cases, hot raw gas was used for applications such as firing open hearth furnaces or brick kilns. In other cases the gases produced in the gasifiers were cooled, cleaned and desulfurized for various utility and industrial purposes. The steel industry was by far the largest user. The most important fact was that the conversion of coal to a usable fuel gas was demonstrated to be commercial. During the late 1940's and early 1950's, this form of energy was largely replaced by natural gas as the pipeline net work was expanded. Producer gas was no longer economically competitive. Over the past 25 years, government controls on the interstate price of natural gas have maintained this situation. At present only three commercial small coal gasifier plants are still in operation in the United States. These facilities are operated

Jan 1, 1980

By T. S. Fuller

The work of D. J. McAdam, Jr.1,2 at the U. S. Naval Engineering Experiment Station, Annapolis, Md., on what has been called by him "corrosion-fatigue" has focussed the attention of the engineering profession in general, and of those interested especially in the study of corrosion in particular, on the importance of making tests which will indicate as nearly as possible what can be expected from a given material in service. Pitting is unquestionably the chief agent operating so tremendously to reduce fatigue limits, but in the light of previous work3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 it is fair to assume that absorbed hydrogen resulting from the action of the corroding medium upon steel may, under certain conditions, have a perceptible influence. The experiments described in this paper deal more precisely with stressless corrosion, or "prior-corrosion fatigue,"9 and have been carried out to test such an assumption, to segregate, if possible, the effect of pitting from that of absorbed hydrogen, and although very preliminary in nature they indicate results which are striking.

Jan 1, 1929

By Price E. R.

The coal industry was beset with work stoppages and strikes throughout the year, and there was some loss in markets to oil and gas. These conditions, along with the mild decline in industrial activity, the steel strike, and the reduction in exports, contributed to an unfavorable year for the industry. All coal mines are working three days a week at the time of writing, and in estimating production for the year, it will be assumed that the mines will continue to work on that basis through December. Total production of bituminous coal in 1949 is estimated at 420 million tons, which is 179,518,229 tons under the production in 1948. Anthracite production is expected to reach 39,400,000 tons as compared with 57,139,948 tolls in 1948, a loss of 17,739,948 tons. Coal stocks, as of January 1, 1949, were 69,373,000 tons but at the end of the year will have dropped to approximately 22 million tons. Regardless of the difficulties during the current year, the industry has made substantial

Jan 1, 1950

By Hsun Hu

The microstructural changes during rolling and at various stages of recrystallization in (111)[112] oriented single crystals of Si-Fe have been studied by transmission electron microscopy. At very low deformation, the dislocation structure consists of jogged dislocation lines, edge dislocation dipoles, and numerous dislocation loops, which may be interpreted by the jog-formation mechanism in moving screw dislocations. Up to 70 pct rolling reduction, no sharply defined cells are formed. Subgrain forma- tion takes place somewhat earlier in the annealing process than in a similarly processed (110)[001] crystal. This may be partly responsible for the reported difference in the rate of recrystallization between (111)[112] and (110)[001] crystals. Evidence indicates that the formation of recrystallization nuclei occurs largely by the coalescence of sub -grains. This is consistent with previous observations on other Si-Fe crystals. AVAILABLE data in the literature indicate that the main features of rolling and annealing textures in (111)[112] and (110)[001] crystals are essentially similar. A (111)[112] or (111)[112] crystal can be rolled 70 pct without changing its initial orienta-

Jan 1, 1964

By T. B. Gyles

Zinc is made by the National Smelting Co. and its associates by both the horizontal retort process and the vertical retort process developed by the New Jersey Zinc Co. This paper deals only with the horizontal retort practice at Avonmouth. That the horizontal retort process does survive in all countries in some form or other is due to at least partial success in overcoming some of the inherent difficulties of the process. The horizontal retort furnaces ran into considerable difficulties when the product of the selective flotation of mixed lead and zinc ores became the normal material for treatment. It is necessary, therefore, to make some reference in connection with the process to the preliminary treatment of the ore prior to distillation.. Therefore we include some small reference to this aspect in our description. Furnace Design and Structure Of the types of furnaces in operation at the company's various works, those at Avonmouth are perhaps more typical of the trend to utilize large units, with a subsequent saving in costs, such as heating and supervision.

Jan 1, 1937

To THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING AND METALLURGICAL ENGINEERS GENTLEMEN: Herewith are transmitted the joint report of the Treasurer and Finance Committee for 1935 and the reports for the same year of the Chairmen of the following Committees: Admissions, Membership, Papers and Publications, Library, MINING AND METALLURGY, and Rocky Mountain Income. . To these reports you are referred for details of the year's activities. Finances. : Income continues to increase the total for the year 1935, being $141,754 compared with $134,967 in 1934, and $121,689 in 1933, which was the lowest reached during the depression. The principal increases were $2000 in Current Dues; $2400 in Dues from New Members; $2000 for Advertising in the monthly magazine MINING AND METAL¬LURGY; and $1600 in Sales of Authors' Reprints and TRANSACTIONS volumes. Income from Dues in Arrears was $1000 less as a consequence of the fact that arrearages had been largely reduced during 1934, so that there were fewer from which to draw.

Jan 1, 1936