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By L. F. Mashburn, T. J. Ferree

A Reichert cone concentrator was installed in an aggregate plant circuit to recover the extremely fine "flour gold" known to exist in the deposit. The gold content of the bank- run gravels averages about 0.1 g/t-about $1.29/t, based upon $12.86/g ($400 per oz) gold. The fineness of the gold averages between 950 and 960. The Reichert cone, in conjunction with a conventional shaking table, recovers in excess of 85% of the gold. A screen analysis of the gold particles shows 44.1 % is - 74pm (-200 mesh) in size. The plant operates with a two-man crew.

Jan 1, 1983

By F. M. Lyon, F. J. Chernosky

Research efforts have not developed techniques for the complete desulfurization of coal that is needed to reduce air pollution caused by burning coal and to reduce the sulfur in metallurgical coke. Sulfur in coal occurs in three forms and of these, the pyritic sulfur occurs as discrete mineral particles and, at least theoretically, should be subject to physical rejection. Pyrite occurring in hard rock mining is concentrated by froth flotation; therefore, the possibility of removal of pyrite from coal by flotation does exist. With this possibility in mind, the flotation and adsorption characteristics of ore and coal-pyrite were compared while using potassium ethyl xanthate as the collector.

Jan 1, 1973

By J. R. Barrett

Geotechnical techniques to evaluate conditions in underground metalliferous mines change through a mine's development from prefeasibility to remnant mining. The objectives of this paper are to determine the geotechnical requirements of typical underground metalliferous mining projects, to determine any shortfalls in conventional geotechnical techniques in satisfying these requirements, and to determine the costs of such investigations in proportion to the project expenditure. Finally, areas for future research and development are discussed. A group of over one hundred case history studies are examined to generate data on typical mining problems. The case studies include projects at most Australian underground metalliferous mining operations supplemented with case studies in Canada, Africa, Asia and Europe.

Jan 1, 1983

By R. Hogg

The mathematical description of solids transport in mills is an important aspect of the development of comprehensive models for the analysis, simulation and control of grinding systems. The basic mechanisms of particle transport and mixing, including gravity flow, carrier fluid transport, and "diffusion", are reviewed and their relative importance in wet and dry ball mills is discussed. Specific models for transport and mixing in dry, grate-discharge and wet, overflow ball mills are described. The limitations of the models, parameter estimation problems, scale-up criteria etc. are discussed and the conditions which lead to particle size dependent transport, and hence to internal classification in the mill, are described in detail.

Jan 1, 1984

By William P. Blake

In directing attention to the newly-opened zinc-ore region in Southwestern New Mexico, I adopt a suggestion made at the Engi neering Congress last summer in Chicago by Prof. Le Neve Foster, who commended the indication of the geographical position of a district under description by means of an outline-map. Such a map is the more important in this instance, inasmuch as the region to be described is remote and little known even in the United States. Until within a few years it has been infested by the savage Apaches, has not been often visited by mining engineers, and could not be

Jan 1, 1895

By J. A. Herbst, D. W. Fuerstenau

The effect of mill speed and ball load on the dry ball milling of dolomite is examined in the context of the batch grinding model. Observed changes in the parameters of the model are interpreted, as far as possible, in terms of the mechanics of particle motion in the mill. A parameter estimation scheme previously proposed by the authors is shown to provide the basis for a successful simulation of grinding behavior over a wide range of mill speeds and ball loads. Finally, a combination of experimental and simulated results is used to determine the optimum mill speedball load for closed circuit grinding in this mill-material system.

Jan 1, 1973

By A. F. Peterson, A. R. Eshbach

Much has been written to explain decreasing profits in American industry. Foreign competition, the attitude of government, rising tax burdens and increased labor costs have been blamed in turn. Whatever the cause, management in the mining industry, as elsewhere, is increasingly aware of diminishing profit margins. A mine operator is usually unable to do much about the causes of decreased profits, even if he knows what they are, but he can check the trend in part by cutting the cost of operation. To do this, he must know what his costs are, which of them are most significant and then go about reducing them in a systematic and logical manner.

Jan 10, 1962

By J. D. Pelletier

SAN MANUEL orebody is a disseminated copper deposit in quartz monzonite, monzonite porphyry, and diabase. Quartz monzonite, which is Pre-Cambrian1 in age, is exposed in an area including No. 1 and No. 4 shafts and extending about 2400 ft southeast from No. 1 shaft. It is also exposed in the bottom of No. 2 shaft and in a zone roughly 500 to 1200 ft southeast of No. 2 shaft having its long dimension along a northeast-southwest axis. Churn drilling has shown all these exposures to be parts of a contiguous mass of quartz monzonite lying within and beneath the ore zone.

Jan 7, 1957

By William Kent

A MOST startling and as yet unexplained, failure of steel boilerplates, in two different sets of boilers, is reported in a paper by Arthur J. Maginnis, published in the London Engineer, December 11th, 1885, and reprinted in the American Engineer, January 14th, 1386. The facts of the case, as condensed from Mr. Maginnis's paper and from a number of letters in the subsequent issues of the Engineer, are as follows: 1. The material used for two different sets of boilers on two different steamers, each set consisting of three circular boilers with horizontal steam-chests, passed all tests required by the Board of Trade

Jan 1, 1886

By D. J. Blickwede

WHEN iron is dipped in molten zinc at temperatures in the range 840" to 930°F, the two metals react to form layers of Fe-Zn compounds which adhere to the iron. At the galvanizing tem- perature, the successive layers are:' y (Fe5Zn21), 61 (FeZn;), and 5 (FeZn13), in conformity with the Fe-Zn constitution diagram. There is no quantitative information in the literature on the rates of growth of the individual alloy layers over the temperature range 840° to 930°F. Rather all the past experiments have studied the loss in weight of iron as a function of galvanizing

Jan 1, 1954

By John J. McKetta, Donald L. Katz

Recent experimental data on the methane-n-butane-water system have been combined with data in literature to present: (I) the water-vapor content of natural gases, (2) the solubility of water in hydrocarbon liquids, and (3) the solubility of natural gases in water. Since water is present in petroleum reservoirs, experimental data regarding the behavior of water in hydrocarbon-water systems is of increasing engineering importance. A survey of literature (Table I) shows that data of these types are fragmen-tary at temperatures above the hydrate region. Experimental data taken from the authors' recent investigation of the meth-ape-n-butane-water system are presented.17

Jan 1, 1947

By John J. McKetta, Donald L. Katz

Recent experimental data on the methane-n-butane-water system have been combined with data in literature to present: (I) the water-vapor content of natural gases, (2) the solubility of water in hydrocarbon liquids, and (3) the solubility of natural gases in water. Since water is present in petroleum reservoirs, experimental data regarding the behavior of water in hydrocarbon-water systems is of increasing engineering importance. A survey of literature (Table I) shows that data of these types are fragmen-tary at temperatures above the hydrate region. Experimental data taken from the authors' recent investigation of the meth-ape-n-butane-water system are presented.17

Jan 1, 1947

By Thomas Fraser

Because of the present interest in the subject of sulfur in coal and its removal, such information as is available in the coal-washing literature on the various factors that determine the adaptability of a coal for wash- ing have been collected and are presented here together with some observations based on results of experimental work carried out in the coal-washing laboratory of the mining department of the University of Illinois, and investigative work at Illinois nrasheries in connection with the work on reduction of the sulfur content of coal, being carried on at the Urbana Station of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. This investigative

Jan 1, 1920

By C. B. Gillson, Henry Fay

For several years past, investigations on the chemistry of tellurium have been carried on in the laboratory of this institution. The methods of preparation of pure telluriumf and the estimation of tellurium‡ have been studied, and an attempt to determine the atomic weight of tellurium is now in progress. All these problems had been investigated, however, along purely theoretical lines; and it was thought desirable to study the more practical application of the metal, which can now be had in considerable quantities as a waste product in the refining of copper-ores. In its physical and chemical properties tellurium is very similar to antimony, and it was thought

Jan 1, 1902

By Robert C. Stephenson

LARGE deposits of titaniferous magnetite occur associated with anorthosite and gabbro in the Lake Sanford area, Essex County, New York. The ore, gabbro, and anorthosite show consanguineous relations. Anorthosite grades through gabbroic anorthosite into gabbro but is locally intruded by gabbro. Structural and petrographic evidence suggests that gabbro was differentiated from anorthosite by filter pressing. Field and laboratory study of ore occurrences indicates that an ore residuum concentrated in the gabbro through magmatic segregation by normal crystallization and flowage. Ore occurs as bands which grade into gabbro, and also as large masses which replace anorthosite. Ore in the gabbro is finer grained and richer in ilmenite than ore in anorthosite.

Jan 1, 1945

By Thomas V. Falkie

Mining and exploration, in the year 1971, can be characterized as a year of politics and the beginning of an era of legislation. Certainly the activities of our state and federal lawmakers and international politicians over-shadowed technical developments, which are outlined in the following pages. The nationalization of the Chilean copper industry was the most far-reaching event of the year. Not only will it have an effect on international metal trade, but the nationalization will also affect the major mining companies in such a way as to cause strategic, managerial and technical adjustments in metal mining and exploration efforts in other parts of the world.

Jan 2, 1972

By V. B. Kurfman

The temperature, strain rate, and orientation deDendence of defbrnzation of single-crystal MgAg has been examined. The crystals exhibit a tendency to single glide and little or no hardening at 25°C for many orientations. A much higher hardening rate is observed when multiple glide occurs, such as can be initiated by surface defects. The tendency for easy glide becomes less dependent on surface preparation and orientation as T — 100°C and bars so tested often fail after one-dimensional necking-. At T > 200°C (transition temperature for single-crystal notch sensitivity and poly crystalline ductility) single glide diminishes and two-dirnensionul necking begins. The crystals do not strictly obey a critical resolved shear stress law, but show the influence of {loo) cracks in determining the slip mode. The results are correlated with the difficulty of sciperdzslocation intersection and semibrittle behavior of this compound in single-crystal and poly crystalline form. Comparisons are made with the slip selection mode observed in tungsten, with the reported observations of easy glide in bee metals. and with the mechanical behavior of poly crystalline MgAg. PREVIOUS work on tensile deformation of polycrys-talline MgAgl and bending deformation of single-crystal MgAg2 has shown that the compound is semi-brittle (i.e., notch and grain boundary brittle). If this semibrittleness is supposed to result from the difficulty of multiple glide (associated with the problems of superdislocation intersection) one might expect single crystals deformed in tension to show pronounced single glide and strong orientation dependence of hardening rate. These experiments were done to examine this supposition and to study the tensile deformation of a highly ordered system which may be considered bcc if the difference between the two kinds of atoms is ignored (actual structure: CsC1). EXPERIMENTAL Single-crystal ingots were grown by directional freezing as previously described.' These ingots were sliced into a by a by 2 in, rectangular bars by electric discharge machining, then round tensile bars were conventionally machined to 1/8-in.-diam by 1-in.-long reduced section. The bars were typically tested without an anneal because of the problem of magnesium vapor loss and they were typically tested as mechanically polished. The analyses are within the same limits as those reported earlier; i.e., the average composition for each specimen is within 0.5 at. pct of stoichiometry, while the total range from end to end in a given specimen varies from 0.7 to 1.4 at, pct. There has been no indication in the results of any variation in slip or fracture mode attributable to the composition fluctuations. The slip systems were determined by two-surface analysis of the bars after testing to failure at room temperature. Single glide was so dominant that there was little difficulty in identification of the dominant slip system even though the tensile elongation to failure often approached 7 to 8 pct in room-tempera- ture tests. Elevated-temperature testing was done in a silicone oil bath and low-temperature testing was done in liquid Np or a dry-ice bath. All stress measurements are reported as engineering stress unless otherwise specified, and crosshead travel is used as the strain measurement. RESULTS The tendency toward single glide is best seen in the pictures, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, which depict deformation at fracture as a function of test temperature. While it is possible to find regions of secondary slip by careful microscopy, such regions are very small. The development of a ribbon-shaped configuration from an initially round section bar pulled at 100°C is typical, occurred by single glide, and illustrates the degree to which such glide continues. At temperatures =100°C the bars typically show elongation of 20 to 50 pct by predominently single glide. Despite the large elongation, fracture even at 150°C occurs in a brittle mode, Fig. 2, in the sense that it is an abrupt failure which shows no discernible necking in the second dimension of the bar's cross section (i.e., there is no appreciable action of any slip modes which would decrease the broad dimension of the cross section). Near 200°C the fracture mode changes slightly. Although most of the sample extension is by single glide, after the bar develops the characteristic ribbon shape it begins to neck in the second (i.e., broad) cross-sectional dimension. The bar becomes very thin in the "necked down" region, Fig. 3, and the reduction in area approaches 100 pct. Often there oc-

Jan 1, 1967

By J. E. Strassner

Oilfield emulsions are stabilized primarily by film-forming asphaltenes and resins containing organic acids and bases. Adding inorganic acids and bases radically changes the physical properties of these films and their emulsion-stabilizing properties. Interfacial films show one of three different physical characteristics when retracted in pendent drop tests. These compressed films have rigid, soap-type or minimum film properties depending on the quantity of asphaltenes and resins in the crude oil and on the pH and composition of the brine. There exists for each crude oil-brine system an optimum pH range over which the adsorbed film exhibits minimum contracted filtn properties. In this range, intmfacial tension is high — frequently near its maximum value — indicating the absence of highly surface-active specier; crude oil-brine emulsions generally show minimum stability; and surfactant requirements for breaking these emulsions are significantly reduced — sometimes no surfactant is needed. About two-thirds of the world's crude oil is produced as emulsions that must be treated (demulsified) to be marketed.' Approximately three-fourths of all domestic crude oil produced must be treated. The percentage of crude requiring treatment increases as fields become older and more water is produced. Demulsification most frequently is attained through use of surfactants, heat and electric treaters. It is estimated that over 75 percent of all oilfield emulsions are broken by chemicals generally containing alkylene oxide condensates. Although acids and bases are known to affect emulsion stability:-' they rarely are used in the oil field except in batch treatment of the most severe emulsions. Nevertheless, pH adjustment by using acids or bases in demulsification has some advantages over other methods. Mainly, it is cheaper. Acids and bases frequently are cheaper to use than surfactants, or can appreciably reduce the amount of surfactant required for demulsification. Secondary advantages are that less oil is lost by emulsi-fication into the aqueous phase, and that less corrosion is encountered when the optimum pH is basic. Limitations to the use of pH include (1) use in brines containing high concentrations of reactive ions, (2) closer supervision for pH control than is required for surfactants and (3) need for corrosion protection when the optimum pH is sufficiently acidic. These factors indicate that the economics of pH con trol in demulsification will be maximized when relatively large treating facilities are needed, when relatively large surfactant concentrations are required to break an emulsion, when a relatively low concentration of the aqueous phase is emulsified in the oil and when the emulsified aqueous phase contains relatively low concentrations of reactive ions. Because there are no broad guide lines for using pH control in breaking oillield emulsions (and because the limited guides available are highly specific and frequently contradictory), this paper will attempt to clarify the principles involved in using acids and bases to break emulsions. These principles also should be useful in refinery separations and in other oilfield applications where stable or unstable petroleum emulsions are involved. Principles of Emulsion Stability Oilfield emulsions generally occur as water droplets dispersed in oil (w/o) and occasionally as oil droplets in water (o/w). These emulsion droplets are usually in the 0.1- to 10-micron range. However, more coarsely dispersed water droplets frequently are present in the emulsion. Pure hydrocarbons and water will not form stable emulsii except in extreme dilutions where the large distance brtween droplets inhibits coalescence. An emulsion breaks because interfacial tension acts to minimize the surface area of the dispersed drops by coalescence. However, emulsions can be stablized for long periods of time by the presence of a third phase that adsorbs at the oil-water interface and inhibits coalescence of the dispersed phase."' Emulsions generally are stabilized by (1) repulsive charges on the surfaces of the dispersed phase and (2) adsorbed films that, being preferentially wetted by the continuous phase, act as a physical barrier to inhibit contact between the dispersed droplets. Both these factors generally are important in stabilizing and in breaking o/w emulsions. However, repulsive charges are less effective in stabilizing w/o emulsions which generally are stabilized by adsorbed films.V or this reason the nature and importance of these films at oil-water interfaces were examined closely; as will be shown, pH changes were found to affect the films significantly, and this work led to laboratory tests of pH- adjustment in emulsion breaking. This paper will present evidence to show that emulsions are stabilized primarily by films that form around droplets

Jan 1, 1969

By C. E. Sims, F. W. Boulger, H. A. Saller

Most of the data on equilibrium constant and the deoxidations potentialities of those elements, considered to be stronger deoxidizers for steel than is silicon, have been calculated from thermodynamic data. The reason for this is, primarily, the obvious difficulty of obtaining direct experimental evidence of equivalent accuracy. This is an excellent use of the principles of thermodynamics and has given valuable data not otherwise available. Such results, of course, can be no more accurate than the physical constants used in the calculations, and one can never be sure that the basic data are either complete or accurate. In fact, as in the case with silicon,1 there are not only discrepancies among the calculated theoretical values of the equilibrium constant for deoxidation of steel but also between the theoretical and experimental values. It is highly desirable, therefore, to obtain experimental values for checks on calculated results whenever possible. If they disagree, both cannot be right, but if there is good agreement, their value is enhanced. The present work was done in an effort to obtain experimental evidence in regard to some of the common alloying additions but more particularly the so-called "strong" deoxidizers for steel. The method used was to determine the minimum concentration of the deoxidizer that would effect a certain definite degree of deoxidation in steel. The criterion of deoxidation was the change from the large globular Type I sulphide to the eutectic Type II as described by Sims and Dahle.2 This change is sharp and definite, and inasmuch as it can be produced with equal facility by aluminum, zirconium, and titanium, it is considered a manifestation of a certain degree of deoxidation and not an alloying effect. Ostensibly such a procedure could give only a comparison of deoxidizing powers and no absolute values. Nevertheless, repeated observations have shown that, when increasing increments of aluminum are added to a steel, the residual aluminum content begins to increase simultaneously with the appearance of Type II inclusions. Thus it seems warranted to postulate that the Type II inclusions appear coincident with the virtual elimination of FeO as an active constituent of the steel. Experimental Procedure The data obtained were primarily from the microexamination of polished and unetched specimens and from chemical analysis. Experimental heats weighing 200 to 250 lb were made in a basic-lined high-frequency induction furnace. The base composition was nominally that of a medium-carbon casting steel to which the appropriate additions were made. Specimens were poured into sand-cast ingots 3 in. in diam as shown in Fig 1. Sand-cast ingots were used to prevent chilling and to allow sufficient time in freezing for normal inclusions to form of a size large enough to be studied readily. In the first few heats, the tapered wall ingot was used, but in the majority, the extra large riser was used to prevent piping in heavily deoxidized steels. Specimens for microexamination were taken from the location shown in Fig 1, and drillings for chemical analysis were taken from a similar location. The procedure was to melt the base composition and deoxidize with the usual manganese and silicon additions and then to pour an ingot. The furnace was then tilted back, and the first increment of strong deoxidizer or special alloy was added and allowed to disseminate through the melt, with enough power on to hold the temperature constant, for 45 sec. Then a second ingot was poured. After this, another increment was added, and after the same holding time another ingot was poured. In this way from 9 to 12 ingots were poured from each heat, each successive ingot having progressively larger total additions of alloy. Eighteen heats were made altogether, and the range of alloys used and additions made are outlined in Table 1. The three principal types of sulphide inclusions found are illustrated in Fig 2. The globular Type I sulphides are characteristic of silicon-killed steels, the eutectic Type II are characteristic of steels deoxidized with a small amount of aluminum, while the larger, angular Type III are usually found in steels with a residual aluminum content above about 0.02 pct. In all specimens studied, the transition from Type I to II either did not occur at all or was very abrupt and clear cut. There never was any doubt as to just which increment produced the change, although the individual additions were small, in the order of 0.01 pct. The change from Type II to Type III was considerably less sharp, and, in some cases, both types were found together. Inasmuch as the formation of Type III sulphides is apparently not a deoxidation phenomenon, they will not be discussed here.

Jan 1, 1950

By C. E. Birchenall, C L. McCabe

IN attempting to extend vapor pressure measurements of the type previously reported by Schadel and Birchenall1 for silver and by Schadel, Derge, and Birchenall' for silver-silicon to other systems, it was observed that the materials melted at indicated temperatures 10" to 15" below their accepted melting points. Further investigation revealed that the thermocouple readings were in error due to appreciable conduction losses along the reference thermocouple wires. If the wire diameter of the reference couple inserted into the Knudsen cell was reduced, the correction for the indicating couple changed in a manner tending to explain the melting behavior. When extrapolated to zero wire diameter from measurements with several reference thermocouples of different wire thickness, the melting point of silver then agreed with the indicated temperature at which silver chips were observed to coalesce into a sphere. Approximately the same calibration was given by observing the melting of small wires of silver or gold in the Knudsen cell connected in series with an ammeter, where the leads into the cell were very fine in order to minimize heat conduction. Unfortunately neither of these methods seemed to yield a sufficiently precise temperature calibration to match the apparent precision of the other aspects of the vapor pressure measurement. It was decided. therefore, to redetermine the vapor pressure of silver in another setup under conditions permitting precise temperature measurement. The vapor pressure of pure silver could then be used as an internal calibration of temperature in the older unit in making runs on alloys. This has been done; the present report is a correction to ref. 1. Experimental Procedure The apparatus, shown in Fig. 1, was very similar to that employed by Harteck,3 except that the orifice sizes were smaller and the residual pressure in the vacuum system was probably much lower. A small, sharp-edged hole, nearly circular in shape, was ground into the rounded end of a quartz tube. The orifice area was then measured by tracing the image at known magnification on graph paper and counting the squares enclosed. The silver specimen was sealed into the tube to make a Knudsen cell. A tantalum jacket surrounding the cell served to increase the uniformity of temperature. This assembly was placed in the bottom of a long quartz tube with an inside diameter of about 1 in., which was connected to the vacuum system through a ground joint sealed with picein wax well removed from the furnace. A thermocouple tube inserted through the top of the vacuum line reached into the tantalum jacket so that the thermocouple junction was immediately adjacent to the Knudsen cell except for the protection tube wall. A resistance furnace could be raised to cover the end of the quartz tube containing the cell in such a way that the cell was in the uniform temperature zone 13 in. from the end of the furnace. An ionization gage was included in the vacuum system in the cold lines of wide diameter, immediately beyond the ground joint. The vacuum system consisted of a mercury one-stage diffusion pump, backed by a Welch duo-seal mechanical pump. The pumps were separated from the reactor chamber by a dry ice trap. The ionization gage always read less than 10-5 mm Hg after initial outgassing and before each run was started. Each newly filled Knudsen cell was evacuated at high temperature overnight before the first weighing was made. The cell was returned to the system, heated for a measured time at constant temperature, cooled, and reweighed. The heating and cooling times were quite short since the hot furnace was raised to receive the reactor at the beginning of the run and removed again at the end. The tube heated or cooled quickly. The total mass loss was attributed entirely to effusion of silver vapor from the quartz cell, since empty quartz cells maintained constant mass through similar heating cycles. The vaporized silver condensed on the cold walls of the quartz tube extending above the furnace. Earlier studies in the induction heated unit had shown that the same vapor pressure was found for silver, whether the silver was in contact with the tantalum metal cell or with porcelain or quartz liners. The Pt-Pt-10 pct Rh thermocouple was calibrated against a secondary standard of the same material and found to agree with the published tables. Always operating in air at temperatures below 100O°C,

Jan 1, 1954