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By Emil Gathmann

(San Francisco Meeting, September, 1915) THROUGH wide experience at numerous mills in the United States I have found that there is a decided difference of opinion among the producers of steel as to what constitutes commercially sound steel. Some metallurgists insist upon having, for certain grades of steel, a so-called "open steel," -i.e., one which contains numerous blowholes of varying sizes, and consequently but little volume of true pipe, although a central intermittent shrinkage cavity often extends well down into the ingot: Such blowholes and pipe are expected to weld up during rolling or forging, because their surfaces are not oxidized. Even if this be admitted, included slag particles and a high degree of segregation are bound to be present in the product of such ingots. Blowholes are the result of an oxidized heat, and all heats, unless made or finished in the electric furnace, are oxidized more or less. Subsequent deoxidation, or rather degasification, either in the ladle or in the mold, or in both, is necessary to reduce or prevent blowholes. As is well known, a greater yield of billets or sheets is secured from the ingot by allowing the formation of blowholes, but this is undoubtedly obtained at the expense of the quality of the product. Decided segregation of carbon, phosphorus, and sulphur, as well as small included slag particles, undoubtedly exists throughout the greater portion of all so-called open steel, and cannot be removed by cropping. The first requisite for sound, homogeneous steel ingots and blooms is therefore, in my opinion, so to treat the steel in the furnace, ladle, and mold that "piping" steel is produced. The line of demarcation between harmful and so-called "harmless" blowholes is practically impossible to define. Is it not, therefore, the better and safer practice to use means for the elimination of blowholes and correspondingly reduce the segregation and allow the formation of a well-defined shrinkage cavity or pipe .at the upper end of the ingot? With the relatively cheap deoxidizers available at the present time, e.g., ferro-silicon, aluminum and titanium,

Jan 8, 1915

By P. W. Bridgman

IT is characteristic of most scientific investigators that they are not satisfied with the discovery of new facts, no matter how curious or unexpected, but that along with the factual discovery there is a constant effort to understand It appears that. one's interest in, and satisfaction with, the discovery of an array of news experimental facts is enormously increased if one has at the same time a theory or hypothesis guiding one's expectation of what sort of new experimental discovery may lie around the corner Conversely, as a theoretical physicist one's satisfaction with his theory is greatly enhanced if along with the development of the theory can go the discovery of new experimental facts, confirming or perhaps modifying the theory as it grows Of course, there have been long and stretches in the history of physics in which new data of unquestioned ultimate importance ham e piled up, without much inspiration or illumination in the way of understanding For 50 years spectroscopy had such an and history, but how irksome this was felt to be is plainly shown by the almost audible relief that greeted the first success by Bohr in injecting understanding into the situation, and by the fresh rush of experimenters into this field when the prospect of understanding had once been offered The investigations in the field of high pressure, which have occupied me for a long time,1 until the last few years have been in very much the Same sort of situation as spectroscopy before the advent of Bohr A great many kids, of data were collected for a great many solid and liquid substances, and there could be no question of the importance of these data, because the uniform change of dimensions produced by hydrostatic pressure is perhaps the simplest conceivable type of alteration to which a body can be subjected But except for a few isolated flashes, there was no theoretical illumination, so that it had to be to a large extent the enthusiasm of the collector that kept me going However, within the last few years the wave-mechanics theory of solids has progressed so rapidly that

Jan 1, 1938

By T. Egleston

The manufacture of charcoal in kilns was declared many years ago, after a series of experiments made in poorly constructed furnaces, to be unprofitable, and the subject is dismissed by most writers with the remark that in order to use the method economically the products of distillation, both liquid and gaseous, must be collected. It is asserted with truth that the number of kilns required for a large production of iron would be so great that it is doubtful whether any works would be justified in making the necessary outlay for their constructiou, but it can also be asserted with equal truth that for any such production in a given locality the use of charcoal as fuel would be eqnally unjustifiable. It appears to have been forgotten that there were other manufactures besides iron in which large amounts of charcoal were used, but these consumers seen] to have been guided entirely by the results of the experiments of the iron men, who necessarily made the largest qnantity of it. Some authors speak in a doubtful way of the quality of the charcoal produced, and a few concede that with great care good charcoal can he made in kilns, but that most of the workmen do not like kiln 'charcoal. This is the real secret of the opposition to this method of manufacture. Most of these objections were written when charcoal was the most important fuel used by the iron manufacturer, and when what was a largeproduction of iron for several furnaces was less than that produced by a single modern one, in localities where other fuels can be had. Almost all that has been written on the subject related to the use of the fuel for the manufacture of iron in the blast furnace, where very peculiar properties are required, and where the qnantity produced is limited by the height of the furnace, and this in turn by the crushing resistance of the charcoal. A large production was, therefore, only possible when the best and hardest woods were used. Of all these objections there is not a single one which is not eqnally applicable to any method of charcoal manufacture, whether it be meilers, pits, or furnaces. Until recently, therefore, the manufacturers of charcoal iron

Jan 1, 1880

By Edward O’Toole

THe Pocahontas district occupies the extreme southern end of West Virginia, principally McDowell, Mercer and Wyoming counties, and a part of Tazewell county, in southwestern Virginia. The first record of the coal field is a report by Prof. J. P. Lesley, of Pennsylvania, about 1880, in which he mentions a coal opening at the upper end of Abbs Valley, Tazewell county, Va. C. R. Boyd, a mining engineer of Wytheville, Va., published a series of articles in 1881, mentioning coal on Indian Creek, Tazewell county, and on Horse Pen creek, which coals, he stated, extended toward the Ohio River. He also mentions the Abbs Valley coal reported by Lesley. In 1881, F. J. Kimball (who became president of the Norfolk & Western R. R. in 1883)) after examining the Scott mine in Abbs Valley, went northward across Abbs Valley Mountain to the place now known as Pocahontas, where he located what has since been called No. 3 vein of Pocahontas coal. In November, 1882, Jed Hotchkiss and others prepared a cross-section of the Flat Top Mountain coal measures, some notes on which were published by Mr. Hotchkiss, between 1880 and 1892, under the title of " The Virginias.' In May, 1881, the Norfolk & Western R. R. was organized through the purchase of the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio R. R., an old line running from Norfolk, Va., to Bristol, Tenn., with branches from Petersburg to City Point and from Glade Springs to Saltville. At that time, charters had been granted for three railroads tributary to the New River Valley, but their proposed routes would indicate that the promoters were concerned with minerals, timber, and a connection with the Chesapeake & Ohio R. R., rather than the development of any coal in the Pocahontas district. One of them was projected to extend up Bluestone River a short distance, but not far enough to reach the coal in the Bluestone Valley, and a little grading was done for a narrow-gage road between New River Station and a point in Giles county, Virginia, near the West Virginia line. All charters and railroads in this district were acquired by the Norfolk & Western R.R.

Jan 1, 1925

By Henry Doherty

FOR many years more money was spent in the search for and the production of gold than the gold that was produced was worth. The same thing is now true of petroleum. More money is spent for the search and. production of petroleum than the market value of the petroleum produced. The first thought concerning this statement will be that men would not embark in a business in which more money was expended than the value of the product produced. Few people realize that more money is spent in the oil business than the market value of the oil produced. This would not stop the spending if they knew it. Everybody knows that more money goes into a lottery than comes out of it, yet the instinct for gambling is so widespread and so easily excited that lotteries are forbidden by law. The hope of winning the grand prize is what lures men on. The search for and production of oil has become a more frenzied game than the search for gold ever was. THE OIL BUSINESS PAYS NOW BUT THE PUBLIC WILL PAY FOR ALL ETERNITY The public could sit back and enjoy all of this, knowing they were being supplied with petroleum products at less than their real cost, if it were not that our most valuable and least plentiful natural resource is being dissipated at an alarming rate, which is constantly increasing. Here is an industry that for many years has not been governed by natural laws. The so-called laws of individual and mass psychology play a more important role than natural physical and economic laws. Even the law of supply and demand works only in the most remote way in this industry. The oil production business as a whole is now paying the price for this folly; but the public will pay the price for all eternity. The seriousness of this matter, as an outstanding national problem, has been under consideration by many men for a long time, but nothing has been done to conserve our petroleum resources and prolong the supply, although very important steps have recently been taken to make this possible.

Jan 3, 1925

By Morris A. Steinberg

Because of the broad scope of my topic I will discuss my subject from the point of view of a present status of the metallic materials that are used in structures and will dwell primarily on those structures related to high- performance aerospace systems. Thus, I can best portray the status of these structural materials as related to existing transportation systems, delineating some of the highlights of alloy development, fabrication, and properties obtained. I shall point out what are, in my opinion, the needed solutions to pressing unsolved metallurgical problems connected with certain selected metals: aluminum alloys, beryllium, titanium, steels, superalloys, refractory metals and some metal-matrix composites. Aluminum Alloys For a number of years a series of strong aluminum alloys used for airframes has had an important bearing on the development of minimum- weight, highly efficient structures. Among these alloys are such familiar ones as 2024-T3, 2014-T6, 7075-T6, 7079-T6 and 7178-T6. A review of the development and use of strong aluminum alloys in aircraft structures indicates that before about 25 years ago there was very little application of products other than forgings in the high-strength tempers produced by precipitation heat treating to T6- or T8-type tempers. 1 As stated by Dix in 1944, "There has been a gradual evolution in engineering viewpoint regarding the mechanical characteristics which are required in a structural material suitable for aircraft. Formerly, emphasis was placed on a generous spread between yield and tensile strengths, on elongation, on impact strength and on resistance to corrosion. Aircraft structural engineers still differ widely as to the importance which they attach to these proper tie.” 2 It is fair to say that this evolution is still taking place, that the problem is much the same in 1970 as in 1944 - except that strength levels have advanced some - and the question remains as to how far we can go in that direction. In the meantime, a new group of alloys has received acceptance and widespread use. The first alloy of this group, 7075-T6, was formally introduced by Dix's 1944 paper. The drastic changes that have taken place in the size and configuration of components employed in air-

Jan 1, 1971

By J. E. Johnson

THE production of metal-working tools has been revolutionized within the last 18 years, since the invention by Taylor and White of a process of heat-treating steel tools, which resulted in increasing their cutting capacity several fold over what it had been before. This was an exceedingly important invention, although it consisted principally, in establishing this fact overheating when it accidentally, occurred in the ordinary:-process of forging, spoiled the steel, but if carried very much farther or to-a point that would have been considered absolutely ruinous to the steel under the old ideas, it resulted in imparting a cutting power several times as: high as had ever been obtainable before. The quality that gives the steel this power eventually received the name of "red hardness." This name originated in the fact that tools possessing this property retain their resistance to deformation even when subjected to, such severe cutting stresses that the metal just back of the point is heated, under certain conditions, to a visible red. It is interesting in this connection to note that the edge of the tool itself does not become red because it is continually cooled by the fresh metal into which it is forced. The result of Taylor and White's invention was an intensive study, of tool steels all over the world and, although there was-great diversity of analysis in the high-speed steels of the early days, these steels today generally have an approximately similar composition, the principal constituents being froth 15 to 20 per cent. of tungsten, from 4 to 6 percent. of chromium, from 1 to 2 per cent. of vanadium, and from 0.50 to 1 per cent. of carbon. It is probably safe to say that standard brands of such high-speed steels will do from five to ten times as much work in a given time as the carbon steels, and even the Musket steels, which were the sole dependence up to the beginning of this century, when the Taylor-White process was discovered. With the increasing cost of labor, it is not surprising that these steels have driven froth the market, for all but limited purposes, the older types of steel.

Jan 2, 1919

By E. F. Kern, W. W. Loo

A review of the literature on the reduction of cassiterite showed that scarcely any progressive changes were made in the methods of reducing cassiterite until within the last two decades, and that during that period many improvements in the metallurgy of tin have taken place. Since 1914 the world's consumption of tin has increased considerably, resulting in the exploitation of primary tin deposits such as the Bolivian lode, which has become an important source of tin. On account of the low tin content of Bolivian ore, and the presence of objectionable impurities of the reduced tin, the smelting of this ore and the refining of the tin has changed considerably from the methods formerly used. A comparative study of the methods of smelting cassiterite concentrates suggested that an investigation be planned so as to determine what factors effect the extraction of tin from its ores by reduction with carbon. The first part of the experimental work was the determination of whether roasted cassiterite concentrates can be reduced by carbon without the use of flux, and the reduced pellets of tin be collected into a single mass separate from the dry gangue residue. The second part of the experimental work was a comparison of the effect of variations of the different factors on the smelting of roasted cassiterite concentrates: first, the effect of varying the composition of the slag; second, the effect of varying the amount of reducing agent; third, the effect of varying the relative amount of the resulting slag; and fourth, the effect of different kinds of reducing agents. Review of Literature Experiments on the smelting of Bolivian tin concentrates were made by James P. Gill in 1920 in the metallurgical laboratory of the School of Mines, and submitted as a graduate thesis. The results of these tests are fully reported as they are preliminary to the experimental part of this paper, and also because they have not been published. The variables investigated by Mr. Gill were: (a) the effect of temperature on the rate of reduction of cassiterite concentrates; (b) the time required for

Jan 1, 1928

By J. Moore Samuel

Before the year 1909, no measurements of dust losses and flue gases had been made at the Copper Queen Reduction Works, at Douglas, Ariz. At that time the "unaccounted" loss of the smelter had reached a figure that drew attention to the possibility of large stack losses. The measurement of dust losses had not been studied much at that time, and estimates of dust losses, with a few exceptions, were the results of tests by what has been termed '(chemical methods," that is, the aspiration and filtration through cotton, wool or some similar medium of a few liters of gas, the dust being weighed on a chemical balance, and the volume of gas computed from the volume of aspirator water. The possible error of this method is enormous, and the probable error much too large for reliable results. Since the object of these tests was to discover not only the extent of the dust losses, but also the possibility of profitably reducing them, it was decided that the method adopted must have the following characteristics: 1. The sample of gas taken for filtration must be representative of the whole volume of gas, that is to say, it must have the same dust content. This condition will be fulfilled in all cases if the gas sample is drawn off without change of rate of flow. Then it will contain the same proportion of entrained or suspended particles of dust as the original gas. In the case of flue gases which contain only fume, at a temperature above or near the sublimation point, this condition need not be adhered to since the fume will not behave as entrained particles, but more nearly as a true gas. Consequently the gas sample in this case only may be drawn off at any rate of flow. 2. The gas sample taken must be large enough (a) to yield sufficient dust to permit of accurate chemical and physical examination; (b) so that the ratio of the total volume of gas passing through the flue to the volume of gas sample taken shall not be too large.

Jan 1, 1917

By Ogden Tweto

The classes of ore deposits in the mountain province of Colorado that have been the most productive in the past and that offer the greatest promise for the future are: (1) disseminated or stockwork molybdenum deposits associated with Tertiary stocks; (2) combination precious- and base-metal veins in Tertiary volcanic rocks; and (3) base-metal replacement deposits and veins in Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. Veins in Precambrian rocks, including precious metal-bearing sulfide veins, gold-silver telluride veins, and tungsten veins, have been mined extensively in the past, but their aggregate output has been far subordinate to that of the groups named above, and the outlook for major output from them in the future is poor. Principal ore deposits of south-central Wyoming are sedimentary iron ores of Precambrian age and uranium deposits in Tertiary sedimentary rocks. Precambrian deposits of several kinds are scattered through the mountains of both states. The most promising of these, based on present indications, are vanadiferous titaniferous magnetite in southern Wyoming and southwestern Colorado and thorium-niobium rare-earth deposits associated with alkalic intrusive complexes in Colorado. Most of the mining districts of Colorado are in the Colorado mineral belt, a generally narrow but somewhat irregular belt that extends northeastward across the north-trending mountain ranges and the north-northwest trending geologic grain of the state. The belt is characterized by intrusive rocks of Laramide and younger age and by ore deposits, and it occupies environments ranging from Precambrian crystalline rocks through Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks to Tertiary volcanic rocks. Two ages of intrusion and ore deposition recently have been recognized in the mineral belt. One is Laramide (late Cretaceous and early Tertiary), and the other is Oligocene. As interpreted herein, the major replacement deposits and most of the sulfide vein deposits in Precambrian and sedimentary rocks are Laramide in age, and the molybdenum deposits, the tungsten and the gold telluride veins in Precambrian rocks, and the precious- and base-metal veins in volcanic rocks are Oligocene in age. In general, the Laramide deposits are mesothermal in aspect, and the Oligocene deposits are principally epithermal. The existence of two mineralization stages, in considerable part characterized by different suites of metals, has many applications in exploration.

Jan 1, 1968

By M. F. Trice

Pyrophyllite is a hydrous aluminum silicate (A1²Si4O10(OH)²)1 that, occurs in both the foliated and the massive forms. The foliated variety resembles talc in that it has a greasy feel, a pearly luster, perfect basal cleavage, and usually is white, although in some deposits apple green, gray, brown, russet, and nearly black specimens may be found. The massive deposits of pyrophyllite yield pearl gray to light tan aggregates, some of which are so friable that they may be crushed with the hands into a fine gritty powder. Frequently specimens of the massive variety are studded with crystals of radial structure. The mineral has a specific gravity of about 2.7 and a hardness of 1 on Mohs' scale.' The chemical composition of commercial pyrophyllite reflects the mineralogy of the deposits, which, according to Stuckey12 contain pyrophyllite and quartz, together with chloritoid, sericite, and a few other minerals of negligible importance. The latter, he says, ('are noticed in but small quantities to the extent they might occur as accessory constituents of an igneous rock or as products of regional metamorphism or weathering. . . . Quartz is abundant everywhere except in the very best grades of pyrophyllite." Analyses of specimens from several deposits are listed in Table 1, showing that the silica content varies from 57 to 73 per cent and the alumina from 22 to 33 per cent. Oxides of iron and the alkaline metals are collectively present, with one exception, to an extent of about 1 to 1.5 per cent. Sources At present, North Carolina is the only commercial source of pyrophyllite, although the mineral has been found in small quantities in many parts of the world. The North Carolina deposits are in the "Carolina Slate Belt," which traverses the center of the state in a southwesterly direction. This belt varies from 8 to 50 miles in width. Two major deposits of pyrophyllite lie along its eastern boundary, in what is known as the Deep

Jan 1, 1942

By Robert Goodrich

THERE is a small area about Murray where bedded gold quartz veins occur in Prichard slate. The ore taken from the upper levels, during the early days, was free milling and was treated by stamp milling and amalgamation. There was likewise a considerable placer working. The report is current that tungsten (scheelite) was encountered, which interfered with the amalgamation in the stamp mills and which, in placering, collected in the riffles in the sluice boxes and. clogged them. Consequently, in the quartz mines, the scheelite, when encountered, was rejected, being thrown into the waste, sometimes inside the mine and at other times outside on the clump. The free surface ores became worked out and as the ore in depth became pyritic and rebellious to amalgamation the mines closed down. Last spring tungsten ore brought a high price, near $80 per unit, 60 per cent. W03 and up. This so stimulated the output of tungsten ore that old clumps were explored and waste stored in the mines was gone over. Tungsten was likewise mined from virgin ground. So the district produced quite heavily for a time. The condition now is different. The price is not so high, about $20 per unit W03, which makes profits questionable when mining in new ground. The accumulations from early clay mining have been exhausted and the output has greatly declined. The Golden Chest mine was the heaviest producer of tungsten. The months of June and July were spent at this mine studying the problem. Since the mine had produced both gold and tungsten, we looked forward to the problem of recovering both from what might be called a gold-tungsten ore. A study of the Golden Chest vein showed this not to be so there. While gold ore and tungsten ore come from the same vein, the tungsten ore is confined to a more or less disturbed or distorted portion

Jan 8, 1917

By W. A. Wood, W. H. Reimann

A study is made of the creep that can be induced in armco iron at room temperature by superposing small amplitudes of alternating torsion on a tensile creep load. It is shown that the creep differs from that in comparable tests on copper in being trmsient only. At the same time, though transient, the creep can produce extensions of some 10 pct under creep loads less than the tensile yield stress of the material. The creep can be largely suppressed b$ applying cyclic strain of suitable amplitude before applying the creep load and the metal thereby stabilized. At room temperature, plastic flow in a metal under steady load is normally limited by strain-hardening processes. However, if a small cyclic stress is superposed on the steady load these processes may be more or less neutralized and, as shown in recent investigations,'-4 plastic flow may continue. In this way annealed copper, for example, can be induced to creep continuously to fracture under loads as small as 1 tsi. Dislocation mechanisms possibly responsible for this room-temperature creep have been usefully reviewed by Feltner.But discussion so far has been based mainly on creep as it is found in close-packed metals initially in the annealed state, and their behavior may not be general. In fact, recent work shows that the form of creep in annealed copper is different from that even in cold-worked copper;7 the creep thus depends on the dislocation pattern already in a metal as well as on the metal itself. This paper describes the creep in annealed armco iron, tested in the same way as the above-mentioned copper. One object was to see how creep in a typical bcc metal compared with that in the annealed close-packed metals. Another object was to utilize the fact that a bcc metal like iron has a more pronounced elastic range than close-packed metals like copper and to find to what extent the creep load or superposed cyclic stress had to exceed their re-

Jan 1, 1964

By Persifor Frazer

The '(author's edition" of the following paper, "subject to re vision," was received by him, and copies sent to Professor Geikie and others about two weeks before the date of the meeting at which it was to be read. A telegram, and subsequently a letter (both of which unfortunately arrived too late), apprised the present writer that the Director General objected to certain views ascribed to him as the reverse of those which he really held. These views, however interesting, had no very important bearing on the object of the fol lowing notes, which, as must be evident, are devoted to the conside ration of the close analogies between the Welsh and American rocks. Without being able, therefore, to account for the circumstance which Professor Geikie has mentioned, it is thought better in the present revised edition to omit all allusion to Professor Geikie, or Mr. Peach, or their views, except in this place, where I desire to thank them for their courtesy during the time which I had the pleasure of spending in their society. It appears sufficiently throughout the body of the paper that the writer had not the slightest intention of entering the controversy, which was about to commence, concerning the proper horizons of the St. David's rocks, for many reasons; and amongst others because he did not feel that a sojourn of a few days in a difficult region, which had been already studied by many of the foremost geologists of England, would warrant him in adding to the literature on the sub ject. The discussion of the analogies between these rocks and those of the Eastern Appalachians, which he has studied for twelve years, of which eight were spent in the service of the Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, was much more to his taste as it was more within his ability, and if he has added anything to the evidence of these analogies, the paper, however imperfect, will not have been written entirely in vain. Right or wrong, he assumes the entire responsibility of what follows.

Jan 1, 1883

By E. von Maltitz

In his highly interesting paper, Piping and Segregation in Steel Ingots,' Prof. Howe emphasizes the effect of successive phases of internal pressure in the ingot in the evolution of gas, and the consequent formation of blow-holes. From his statements in other places, it may be inferred that he does not here intend to ignore the other variable factor, temperature, but rather to discuss this one more particularly. At all events, it is my purpose not to engage in controversy with Prof. Howe, but, rather to contribute, towards the complete elucidation of this important subject which we all desire, my own views and experience. If, in doing so, I specially emphasize other factors than pressure, I need not be understood as denying what I do not think it necessary to discuss fully. Nor, in presenting my own original conclusions, need I be understood as claiming to be the first who ever reached or announced them. Many things are asserted or suggested upon inconclusive evidence; and to confirm such tentative propositions may be as valuable a service as to overthrow them. In the following passage, Prof. Howe adduces analogies, based upon the behavior of charcoal and of water, respectively, which seem to me questionable : "In general, the solvent power falls as the pressure falls ; and in general it rises as the temperature falls. Thus, to heat a solid, for instance charcoal, may expel part of its dissolved gas ; and a tumbler of water drawn cold from the faucet gradually evolves gas, as it stands and warms up on the sideboard." (p. 72.) Charcoal is a solid body, which has the property not only of absorbing gases in large quantities, but also of expelling the thus absorbed gases upon heating. A comparison between charcoal and iron as to the absorption of gases is scientifically not possible; the gas-content of charcoal is partly due to the

Jan 1, 1908

By M. F. Trice

Pyrophyllite is a hydrous aluminum silicate (A1²Si4O10(OH)²)1 that, occurs in both the foliated and the massive forms. The foliated variety resembles talc in that it has a greasy feel, a pearly luster, perfect basal cleavage, and usually is white, although in some deposits apple green, gray, brown, russet, and nearly black specimens may be found. The massive deposits of pyrophyllite yield pearl gray to light tan aggregates, some of which are so friable that they may be crushed with the hands into a fine gritty powder. Frequently specimens of the massive variety are studded with crystals of radial structure. The mineral has a specific gravity of about 2.7 and a hardness of 1 on Mohs' scale.' The chemical composition of commercial pyrophyllite reflects the mineralogy of the deposits, which, according to Stuckey12 contain pyrophyllite and quartz, together with chloritoid, sericite, and a few other minerals of negligible importance. The latter, he says, ('are noticed in but small quantities to the extent they might occur as accessory constituents of an igneous rock or as products of regional metamorphism or weathering. . . . Quartz is abundant everywhere except in the very best grades of pyrophyllite." Analyses of specimens from several deposits are listed in Table 1, showing that the silica content varies from 57 to 73 per cent and the alumina from 22 to 33 per cent. Oxides of iron and the alkaline metals are collectively present, with one exception, to an extent of about 1 to 1.5 per cent. Sources At present, North Carolina is the only commercial source of pyrophyllite, although the mineral has been found in small quantities in many parts of the world. The North Carolina deposits are in the "Carolina Slate Belt," which traverses the center of the state in a southwesterly direction. This belt varies from 8 to 50 miles in width. Two major deposits of pyrophyllite lie along its eastern boundary, in what is known as the Deep

Jan 1, 1942

By B. E. Grant

There are several exceptions from the practical operating viewpoint that might be taken with the paper. The author recommends using a "curve" in plotting safety factors of ropes and suggests that the U. S. Bureau of Mines change its present "step curve" method to the "curve" method. From an engineering theoretical point of view that is possible, but from a practical standpoint it is not possible. Rope manufacturers fabricate their ropes in diameter gradients of 1/16 in. to 1/4 in. which automatically sets up a step pattern gradient. If ropes were manufactured in the diameter gradients of 1/1000 of an inch or thereabouts, the curve method could be used. Also, from a practical standpoint, if an operator is to hoist from a depth of 4000 ft, for example, he will determine the size of the rope necessary for that depth, and it is only natural that he will have safety factor to spare at lesser depths, and in plotting this excess capacity the natural end result is a curve. The U. S. Bureau of Mines tables are set up so that the operator will know what size rope at the required safety factor he will need at his maximum depth. He is not concerned with lesser depths. W. A. Boyer (author's reply)-Mr. Grant states, "Rope manufacturers fabricate their ropes in diameter gradients of 1/16" to 1/4" which automatically sets up a step pattern gradient." There is no connection or relationship between the "size" pattern gradient and the present "factor of safety" step pattern gradient. The inherent factor of safety values for any particular size of rope with a given connected load when plotted for various depths is a curve, and with modern rope material and construction the inherent factor of safety curve is quite far removed from the present recommended factor of safety step curve. This is shown quite clearly in Figs. 3 and 4 of my paper.

Jan 11, 1954

By Chester Fulton

IN Polk County, Florida, the mining of raw phosphates began some 50 years ago with dredging operations on the Peace River, and in other near-by places by removal of shallow overburden with negroes and wheelbarrows, or with mules and scrapers, and the excavation and screen-ing of deposits found close to the surface. There were many individual operations of comparatively short life. Later steam shovels removed the overburden, and still later hydraulic methods were substituted for the steam shovel. Within the last 10 years large electrically operated drag-lines have almost entirely replaced hydraulic mining for overburden removal. The matrix is still mined by hydraulic giants and pumped to the washer or recovery plant. The many small operations have long since disappeared and the most desirable phosphate lands have gradually been acquired through purchase or merger by the seven companies that are operating in the field today. These companies are producing and selling about 2,000,000 long tons of phosphate per annum, or about two-thirds of what the industry likes to think is the normal output, with 1929 and 1930 in mind. To produce these 2,000,000 long tons of raw phosphate, they mine and treat about 1,000,000 tons of tailings from older and less efficient opera-tions, about 11,000,000 tons of matrix, and remove from above this matrix some 22,000,000 tons of overburden. The mining practice that has made possible the excavation and handling of 34 million tons of material to win but 2 million tons of merchantable product, selling for probably an average of only $4 per long ton when dried, should be of interest to the mining profession, though little has been written of it. The Florida Pebble Field, as it has come to be known, comprises an area (Fig. 1) within a radius of about 18 to 20 miles centering around Mulberry in Polk County, a small town 30 miles east of Tampa, Florida's largest port on the gulf coast.

Jan 1, 1936

By Jan Law

Problems of oil recovery are attacked from the approaches dictated by the two strikingly dissimilar complexes that comprise an oil reservoir—the fluid complex and the interstitial complex. Knowledge of the fluid complex, due to labors in the fields of fluid mechanics and physical chemistry, has far outdistanced knowledge of the interstitial characteristics of the sand complex. This paper is concerned with the latter and applies the technique of statistics to petrographic facts—namely, porosity and permeability—dealing with what might be called petrometry. Statisticians have long worked within the problem of reconstruction of a universe oi variables by means of samples that comprise a small percentage of the universe from which the samples were drawn. Core-analysis data comply with the requisite of random sampling as stipulated by theoretical statistics. A basic concept of statistics employs t.he following substitution: 1. The results of sampling are arranged as a frequency distribution. 2. The observed frequency distribution is compared with a mathematically precise distribution. 3. If a sufficiently good agreement is found between the two, the precise distribution is substituted in all subsequent operations involving characteristics of the sampled material. This mathematically precise distribution is also known as the normal curve, curve of error, the probability, the Gaussian, and the bell-shaped curve and is describable with but two figures. Further, these two figures, the arithmetic average and the standard deviation, are subject to mathematical manipulation. This paper demonstrates that, in some cases in the Dominguez field of Southern California, if sufficient core-analysis samples are taken over not too great a thickness of sediments, the resultant permeability and porosity assemblages give satisfactory agreement with ilormal curves. It is shown that the indications are strong that oil wells wherein a satisfactory agreement is found are predictable as to productivity. Since the predictions are made by employing the laws of chance that are operative within sedimentation, it follows that the mechanism by which the predictions were made is a basic concept of reservoir mechanics. Therefore, tentative examples are given of the application of normal curves to the solution of problems of primary and secondary recovery. Nature of Permeability Frequency Distributions Core-analysis data are made available as a tabulated depth vs. permeability profile. The nature of the distribution of permeability values within a given strati-graphic interval may be approximated from an array constructed with samples plotted in the order of their appearance with depth (accession number) against their permeability value in millidarcys. A wide variation in the nature of the distribution of K (permeability) values for

Jan 1, 1944

By George M. Rigg, Samuel M. Cassidy

During 1937 a program was begun to mechanize and modernize the then 28-year old Isabella mine of the Weirton Coal Co., which is on the Monongahela River, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, at one edge of what is generally known as the Coke Region. Weirton Coal Co. is a subsidiary of the National Steel Corporation, and produces metallurgical grade coking coal for the Weirton Steel Co., Weirton, W. Va. Improvements subsequently made included a cleaning plant for washing the entire mine output, shovel-action track-mounted machines for mechanically loading all the coal, universal-type track-mounted cutting and shearing machines, post drills, 8-wheel mine cars of 10 tons capacity, cable-reel gathering locomotives and other auxiliary equipment. This paper presents the factors, reasons and results of decided changes from the mining system generally prevailing in the region, as well as abandonment of selective mining practices in favor of complete seam extraction. Coal-seam Conditions Fig. 1 illustrates the Pittsburgh coal seam on the property. Cover over the seam averages 450 ft., and 675 ft. is the maxi- mum. Main roof varies from very weak to medium strong; usually it disintegrates rapidly on exposure to air. The "wild" coal makes a fairly strong immediate roof if supported by crossbars and if unbroken affords a seal to the main roof. The draw slate is very weak and treacherous. The floor is characterized by numerous irregular bottom rolls, or "horsebacks," protruding from a few inches up to 3 ft. into the coal. Some are soft, but many are hard and flintlike. Although the bottom slate usually is hard, the underlying fire clay causes it to buckle and heave readily with any moderate increase in roof pressure or where damp. As a whole, the bottom is weaker than the main roof. The coal is characterized by numerous closely jointed face and butt cleats and a woody, springy nature when shot, both having a decided influence on face practices. As shown in Fig. I, at both the top and bottom of the main coal seam is a layer of coal of higher ash and sulphur content than the body of coal in the middle. Factors That Influence the Mining System Equipment was bought and organization for mechanical loading was made on the basis of working each mechanical unit as near its full capacity as possible, to lessen investment cost and obtain best operating efficiency. This led to combination double and triple-shift operation at the start, and, very shortly, to all sections being triple shifted.

Jan 1, 1947