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By D. J. Carney, R. R. Burt, E. J. Whittenberger

Hardenability (multiplying) factors for carbon, mongonese, silicon, chromium, nickel, and molybdenum have been developed for hypereutectoid low-alloy steels in which bainite is the first subcritical transformation product. These factors permit the calculation of 95, 80, and 50 pct martensite hardenability from chemical composition when steels with spheroidized structures are quenched from 1475°, 1525°, and 1575°F. The strong contributions to hardenability of the less expensive elements, silicon and manganese, suggest their use to obtain additional hardenability in hypereutectoid low-alloy steels. DURING the past decade a number of investigators'"11 have carefully developed information which permits calculation of the hardenability of medium -carbon low-alloy steels from chemical composition and grain size. These data have been especially valuable in developing less costly low-alloy steel compositions with equivalent or Improved

Jan 1, 1957

THE illustration below shows the design of the face of the clock to be erected as a memorial to the American engineers who gave their lives overseas in the World War. It will be placed in the tower of the library at Louvain, which has been rebuilt through contributions from America. Large clocks seldom have figures on their faces, and each hour on this one will be marked by a gold star, the four faces containing 48 stars, one for each State of the Union. Contributions toward the memorial have been received from every one of the States, and from Alaska and Hawaii as well, but additional subscriptions are invited by the Com-mittee which is arranging for the memorial.

Jan 3, 1928

By Laszlo Valentyik

To separate minerals on a small scale according to their specific gravity, heavy liquids are used, but because of high costs and health hazards they cannot be used in large scale plants. In order to substitute heavy liquids, finely ground solids like magnetite and ferrosilicon mixed with water and clay for the required specific gravity are employed. The clay present in the medium acts as a stabilizing agent since the coarse heavy media solids would sink very fast to the bottom of the container if they were mixed only in water. The optimum amount of clay varies for different processes, but it is generally between 3-6% by weight concentration of solids. As the pseudo-plastic nature of polymer solutions has excellent suspending properties, investigations were conducted at the Institute of Mineral Research to ascertain whether polymers could be used commercially as suspending agents for finely ground heavy media.

Jan 1, 1973

By John K. Hammes, Stanley D. Michaelson

Generally, the mining costs reported for the large open-pit operations in the United States and South America lie within the range of $0.20 to $0.30 per ton of material moved. (These operations have strip- ping ratios ranging from 1.5 to 4.0.) Productivities for the larger North American properties are in excess of 200 tons of material per man shift, while those for the South American operations are less than 200 tons per man shift. The most significant variations in cost are in the categories of haulage and general mine cost. Haulage costs vary, as expected, according to the mine elevation, pit profile, crusher location, and accessibility of a dump area, and general cost variations depend largely on the overhead cost items included in this category. Drilling and Blasting Practice The majority of open-pit copper mine production drilling is performed by rotary drills. Hole diameter varies from 6 in. to 12 in., with 9-in. holes being most common, and penetration rates vary from 35 ft to 60 ft per hour.

Jan 1, 1968

By J. E. Drury, W. M. Byers, E. J. Lynch

Measurements made with starch ~~~~s indicate that the Presence of starch serves to depress the streaming potential of a clay mud system. Measurements with pure starch slurries show that the addition of NaCl or CaO reduces the streaming potential significantly. The addition of NaOH, however, causes only a minor reduction in potential even when there are large changes in mud resistivity. INTRODUCTION In their excellent study of the streaming potential, Hill and Anderson' proposed that the presence of conductive solids within the filter medium will reduce the generated potential. This theory was demonstrated with measurements on shaly sandstone cores having various "b" factors; the cores with the higher negative b factors showed markedly lower potentials. (The factor b was originally defined by Hill and Milburn2 in an expression relating the resistivity of a shaly sandstone to the resistivity of the interstitial water: log F, = log F,, + b (log 100R,)'. 'he factor b, therefore, is a measure of the contribution of the conductive solids to the total conductivity of the sample. It has been found experimentally to be directly related to the amount of chemically exchangeable ion per unit pore volume.) In the logical extension of this hypothesis to the streaming potential created by filtration through mud cakes, they suggested that the presence of nonconductive starch in a drilling mud would have the opposite effect; i.e., it would cause the streaming POtential to be increased. The high streaming potentials that they observed with lime muds were attributed to this cause. A cross-plot of some of their results which are relevant to this discussion is given in Fig. 1. The lime-mud curves and untreated-mud curve are taken from curves given in their paper. The gyp-mud line was estimated from their statement that the measured streaming potential for gyp muds in the range of 1.5 to 2.0 ohm-m was approximately 18 mv/1,000 psi. These gyp-mud potentials were the lowest that they reported for any of the bentonitic-clay muds, and were the only ones which were less than the untreated-mud potentials. This very low streaming potential of gyp muds has also been observed in field studies.' By way of comparison, a U. of Texas publication4 gives the approxi-ate compositions for lime and gyp muds shown in Table 1. These materials are added to a bentonitic-clay mud base. It can be seen that both of these muds contain significant amounts of calcium salts and that the gyp mud has the higher concentration of starch. It would appear from this and from the data shown in Fig. 1 that starch may well be the cause of a streaming-potential reduction, rather than a potential increase. EXPERIMENTAL A series of streaming-potential experiments has been performed using a cell of a design similar to that reported by Wyllie.5 Calomel electrodes were used in both the mud slurry and the filtrate. Pressure in the cell was generated with high-pressure nitrogen. The primary objective of the investigation was to determine the effect of starch on the potential. Five different slurries were made which ranged in composition from untreated ben-tonitic mud (Baroid Aquagel) to a pure starch suspension (Baroid Im-permex). The intermediate slurries were prepared by mixing together a 9-lb/bbl clay mud with a 12-lb/bbl starch suspension in the ratios 1:3, 1:1 and 3:1. When starch was used alone, it was necessary to use an 18-Ib/bbl mixture, since leaner mixtures would not form a suitable filter cake. The clay mud used in the experiments was aged for three months before use. In addition to this series of measurements on the starch-clay mud mixtures, other experiments were performed to determine the effect on the potential of the absolute starch and Aquagel concentration, and the effect of adding various chemicals. RESULTS The effect of starch on the streaming potential is shown clcarly in Fig 2. Increasing percentages of starch resulted in n continually decreasing

The American Petroleum Institute, 250 Park Ave., New York, N. Y. Lacey Walker, Secretary. A complete price list of publications will be sent upon application. The American Petroleum Institute issues a variety of publications; in addition to the Daily Oil Digest ($25 per year) and a weekly Statistical Bulletin ($12.50 per year to nonmembers), a Quarterly is published ($4 per year to nonmembers). Books published by the Institute: American petroleum supply and demand, $3; A series of "Petroleum facts and figures" for each of the years 1928, 1929, 1930 and 1931, $2 for each copy; Function of natural gas in the production of oil, $1; Bibliography of organic sulphur compounds, $4; and "Oil" (Oil Industry Series in one volume), 50 cents per copy. Volumes of the first six annual Meeting Proceedings are out of print, but the Proceedings for the 7th annual meeting in 1926

Jan 1, 1933

A special meeting of the Institute, at which the Institute of Metals Division will join with those members who are most interested in iron and steel, and in coal and coke, will be held in Milwaukee, Wis., October 8 to 11, 1918. The technical program is as follows: INSTITUTE OF METALS DIVISION Tuesday morning, October 8: The Metallography of Tungsten, by My Jeffries. (Bulletin No. 138, p. 1037.) The Constitution of the Tin Bronzes, by S. L. Hoyt. Paper, title not given, by C. H. Mathewson. Notes on Babbitt and Babbitted Bearings, by Jesse L. Jones. (Bulletin. No. 140, p. 1397.) Oxygen and Sulphur in the Melting of Copper Cathodes, by S. Skowronski. (Bulletin No. 135, p. 645.) The Relation of Sulphur to the Overpoling of Copper, by S. Skowronski. (Bulletin No. 135, p. 651); with discussion by Philip L. Gill. (Bulletin. No. 140, p. 1156.)

Jan 9, 1918

By B. G. Langston, R. D. MacDonald, F. M. Stephens

WITH the development of uranium ores that contain substantial amounts of acid-consuming compounds, the alkaline leach has become an attractive method for extraction. Considerable work has been done on both atmospheric and pressure-leaching with aqueous solutions of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate as the lixiviants.1,2,3 For the treatment of uranium-bearing limestones and other high-lime (CaO) ores, the sodium carbonate leach has proven attractive because it avoids the high reagent consumption incurred by the reaction of sulfuric acid with lime. In addition, the corrosion problems with sodium carbonate are negligible as compared with those encountered in the acid-leach system. The sodium carbonate leach, however, does not yield as high an extraction of the uranium as the acid leach and is not attractive for economic reasons when treating ores that are high in sulfates or sulfides.

Jan 9, 1957

By J. K. Buehler

With the rapid acceleration of the cost of shovel dippers and major standard shovel clipper rebuild components, maintenance management at Kennecott Copper Corp.'s Bingham Canyon mine initiated a dipper maintenance and rebuild program. The program focused on extending the service life of the shovel dipper, reducing field labor in maintaining dippers, and lowering shovel dipper rebuild costs. While comprehensive evaluation of the program is still underway, preliminary benefits of the program indicate: •Reduced field ,gelding for shovel dipper field maintenance, •Fewer dipper rebuild units entering the shop, and •Reduced dipper rebuild costs per unit.

Jan 1, 1979

By B. Post, F. W. Glaser

Three borides of zirconium have been reported: ZrB,l ZrB2,2,3 and ZrB12, 4 The phase relationships, ranges of stability, and some physical properties of these compounds are described. THE zirconium borides differ considerably from one another, particularly with respect to their relative stabilities at high temperatures in the presence of carbon.4,5 ZrB2 is extremelv stable at all temperatures (to the melting point) in contact with carbon. Both ZrB and ZrB12 tend to decompose at elevated temperatures when carbon is present in excess of about 0.5 pct. ZrB forms ZrB2 and ZrC, and ZrB12 decomposes to form ZrB2 and a boron-carbide phase. In the ZrB12 preparation, boron present in excess of that needed to form ZrB2 reacts with carbon, if present, to form carbides, in preference to forming the higher boride. Similar instability of borides, other than diborides of the transition metals of the 4th and 5th groups of the periodic table, has been reported.5,6 special precautions had, therefore, to be taken to minimize carbon contamination in the preparation of ZrB and ZrB12. Reactions below 1400°C were carried out by heating powdered mixtures of zirconium hydride and boron in quartz tubes in a hydrogen atmosphere. For temperatures above 1400°C, reactions were carried out in graphite molds. Carbon contamination from the molds was minimized by employing extremely rapid heating rates to reduce carbon diffusion into the body of the specimen, and by subsequent "shaving" of sample surfaces that had been in contact with the graphite dies. A heating rate of about 2000°C per min was obtained by heating the dies (by direct conduction), using a current of 40,000 amp. Although this type of heating cycle apparently allowed little time for "homogenization," close approximations to equilibrium conditions were usually obtained as a result of the very strongly exothermic reactions between zirconium hydride and boron at elevated temperatures. Reproducibility of results in repeated runs under varying conditions was taken as a reasonable indication that equilibrium conditions had been effectively achieved. Quenching was accomplished by rapidly immersing the entire die, containing the reaction products, in water. Specimens could also be cooled at controlled rates by adjustment of the rate of flow of water through the water-cooled copper electrodes in contact with the graphite dies.

Jan 1, 1954

By J. J. Bean

Concentrating mixed sulfide-oxide copper ores by the leach-precipitation-flotation method is an old operation at the Miami Copper Co. The idea was conceived and the method developed at Miami by F. W. Maclennan and Harmon Keyes during the years 1929 to 1934, and it was these men who gave the term LPF to this process. Miami at that time had considerable reserves of mixed sulfide-oxide ore.* In the development of a suitable treatment method, it was natural that leaching of the oxides with acid and the precipita¬tion of copper from the resulting copper sulfate solution by iron was investigated. The separation… • The term oxide as used in this article includes the copper oxides, carbonates, and silicates.

Jan 12, 1960

By Strathmore R. B. Cooke, Iwao Iwasaki, C. S. Chang

The effects of aeration on an aqueous suspension of pyrrhotite were studied and their results correlated with flotation tests using xanthates as collectors. The effects of copper activation and of pH variation were determined and possible mechanisms postulated. PYRRHOTITE has long been considered a gangue mineral to be eliminated as tailing in the treatment of various sulphide ores. However, in recent years the world-wide lack of sulphur resources has called attention to this mineral as a potential source of both sulphur and iron. Its importance as an economic mineral, however, has not been particularly emphasized. For this reason very little is known about its response to flotation, except that it can be depressed easily in alkaline circuit, by long aeration,1,2 addition of oxidizing agents,3 or by starch.' The object of this work was to study the floatabil-ity of pyrrhotite. This includes the effect of oxidation by aeration, of copper activation, and of change in pH. Preparation of the Pyrrhotite Sample: It was desirable that the highest grade of pyrrhotite obtainable be used for this experiment, since the presence of other minerals could affect the surface properties.5 However, no pyrrhotite was available as crystals, and massive deposits of hydrothermal origin commonly contain considerable amounts of chalcopyrite. Pyrrhotite concentrate was, therefore, prepared from a sulphide deposit occurring near Aitkin, Minn. The deposit is of pyrometamorphic nature consistirlg mainly of pyrrhotite and pyrite with graphite, silicates, and carbonates as gangue. The ore, already crushed through 3 mesh when received, was screened at 65 mesh and the undersize discarded. The oversize was crushed through rolls, and then stage-ground dry in an Abbe porcelain mill, the —65 mesh portion being screened out after every 15 min of grinding until all the material passed through this size. The ground product was then concentrated with a drum-type dry magnetic separator. The rougher concentrate was cleaned twice and then demagnetized. The final product was split in a Jones splitter and stored in air-tight bottles. Microscopic examination of the concentrate showed that it was relatively clean and free of pyrite, locked particles, and gangue. By means of the krypton gas adsorption method," the specific surface was determined to be 3000 cm2 per g. The chemical and screen analyses of the final concentrate are given in Tables I and II respectively. It is a well-recognized fact that the oxidation of some sulphide ores during stockpiling, grinding, and conditioning affects their flotation behavior. The problem of oxidation may become serious in the case of pyrrhotite, since this is known to be more easily oxidized than many other sulphides. To ascertain the extent of oxidation, an experiment was carried out by aerating an aqueous suspension of pyrrhotite with air, oxygen, and nitrogen as follows. A 300-g sample of pyrrhotite in 2700 ml of water was agitated and simultaneously aerated in a Fager-gren-type laboratory flotation machine. A Precision wet test meter was connected to the air inlet valve, the flow rate of the gas being kept constant at 0.3 cu ft per min throughout the experiment. Samples of approximately 30 ml each were taken from the cell at 0, 4, 10, 20, 35, 60, and 90 min. After the pH was taken, each sample was filtered and the filtrate was analyzed for total iron and sulphur. The iron was determined colorimetrically by the thioglycolate method using a green filter.' The filtrate was oxidized with bromine to convert all of the soluble sulphur compounds into sulphate and this was determined with a Parr turbidimeter." When aeration tests were made in alkaline circuit, calcium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide was added at regular intervals to maintain a constant pH. A similar procedure was followed in an experiment to determine the abstraction of copper. ion by pyrrhotite. In this case various quantities of cupric chloride were added. The filtrate from each sample taken was analyzed for copper, total iron, and sulphur. The carbamate method with a green filter was used for the copper analysis,' since this method could tolerate a considerable amount of iron in the solution. A pneumatic cell, made from a 350-ml fritted glass Buechner funnel, was used for this experiment. The detail of the assemblage has been described elsewhere." In the present work a stainless steel baffle was inserted in the cell. This baffle overcame the tendency for the coarse pyrrhotite particles to be swirled around the wall of the cell and thus fail to collect in the froth. A 50-g sample of pyrrhotite was added to the cell which contained 260 ml of water. When pretreat-ment of the sample was desired, reagents, such as activator and pH regulator, were then added and the pulp was conditioned for a specified conditioning time. Prior to the addition of the collector approximately 15 ml of the solution were removed for pH measurement and for iron and sulphur analyses. Copper when used as activator was also determined. Collector and frother were then added and the pulp was conditioned for an additional 2 min. Air was admitted to the cell and the froth removed. The separation required from 4 to 6 min, depending on the characteristics of the froth. The float and non-float products were filtered, dried, weighed, and assayed for iron.

Jan 1, 1955

By C. L. Bulow

In this discussion of stress-corrosion cracking of widely used copper-base alloys, no attempt has been made to prepare an extensive review or bibliography since this has been quite ably covered by other investigators. An excellent bibliography was published by H. P. croft(1)2 in connection with his studies of stress-corrosion cracking in mercurous nitrate solutions and his analyses of the magnitude and distribution of stresses in brass parts. We are reporting on a few of the results which have been obtained to date in connection with an ammonia vapor test and an alternate immersion test. These are accelerated corrosion tests for determining the susceptibility of materials to failure from season or stress-corrosion cracking due to the presence of moist ammonia and oxygen so prevalent in nature. Our experiences with the ammonia test seem to indicate that it is a more searching test, than the mercurous nitrate test.

Jan 1, 1945

By S. H. Ash

SAFETY records have improved in all branches of the mineral industry. While annual production was rising from $2 billion in 1910 to nearly $12 billion in 1950, fatalities decreased from 3539 in 1911 to 974 in 1951. And, although safety progressed under hand methods, it progresses more effectively under modern, mechanized methods. But powered devices such as electric or diesel units can in themselves create new hazards unless proper safeguards are instituted. Health Use of diesels underground is increasing. Diesel equipment has been used in construction of 34 tunnels in 16 states in the last 17 years. The 77 noncoal underground mines in 24 states using diesels underground range from mines with large open stopes to those with narrow veins, so that the ventilating problems represent a good cross-section of U. S. mining. The U. S. Bureau of Mines has received no report that anyone has suffered ill effects from the proper use of properly maintained equipment. The necessity for correct maintenance and use of satisfactory exhaust conditioners cannot be emphasized too strongly.

Jan 2, 1954

By Donald F. Kennedy

During the past several years Climax Molybdenum Co. has been engaged in testing various types and sizes of hollow drill steel. The majority of tests have been on 7/8-in. hexagon st.ee1, inasmuch as it represents approximately 70% of total drill steel consumption at the Climax operation. Prior to December 1960, tests on 7/8-in. hexagon drill steel were conducted on steel with a forged collar and, in most cases, with a threaded bit connection. Through these tests and research, some improvement in steel life was achieved by making changes in heat treatment, design and alloying constituents. However, during that month, research and testing commenced on a rubber collar which was designed to replace the forged collar on 7/8-in. hexagon drill steel. Manufactured by the LeRoi Div. of Westinghouse Air Brake Co.. the collar. is very simple in design, consisting of a 1 ½ -in. diam steel cylindrical sleeve 2 in. long, containing a bonded rubber insert and attached to the steel with an epoxy cement

Jan 8, 1962

By Stanley M. Jarrett

Operating one of the world's largest underground copper mines, Braden Copper Co. has been able to reduce its total accident frequency rate per million manhours by 84 pct, from 27.4 pct in 1945 to 4.45 pct for the first ten months of 1958. It has also won the Inter-American Safety Trophy for 12 consecutive years. The record may seem to indicate a secret formula, but there is none. The results stem only from hard work, and more and more of it.

Jan 11, 1959

From 1917 to 1926 mining at the Climax Molybdenum Co. property was confined to the Leal and White levels at elevations of 12,145 and 11,935 ft respectively and to surface outcrops above the Leal level. At present the production is coming from the Phillipson and Storke levels at elevations of 11,465 and 11,168 ft. Until 1926 when B. S. Butler recognized the relationship existing between the orebody and a central core of fine-grained hydrothermal quartz, the orebody was believed to be tabular in form. The orebody lies within the pre-Cambrian granites and schists and another rock type designated as the Climax porphyry and surrounds a highly silicious core, the mineable portion of which varies in thickness from 250 to 400 ft.

Aug 1, 1955

By A. S. M’Creath, E. V. d’Invilliers

The rapid development of the southern coal and iron-ore fields during the past few years, and especially in the latter half of the year 1886, and the avidity with which everything relating to the industrial situation there is read and absorbed by the professional and non-professional public, has led to the preparation of a brief paper for the Institute upon a comparison of the raw materials available on or about January 1st, 1887, at three prominent centers of consumption. While disclaiming any originality or priority in the treatment of the resources of these districts, where so much valuable and interesting work has been performed in the past by several members of the Institute, we hope that the presentation of some analyses of samples personally secured by us in the several districts selected, and prepared for a comparative study of the character of the materials actually used and to be used by the furnaces of the "New

Jan 1, 1887

By R. Schempp

DURING the past few years, general interest in the steel-producing and steel-consuming industries has been centered on the so-called "inherent characteristics" of steels. While often vaguely described, these char-acteristics are known to influence the response to heat-treatment and the hardening characteristics of the material. Although most of the recent papers and discussions have associated the "inherent characteristics" with the austenitic grain size and empha-sized the importance of it, comparatively little is known of the variables that may affect the size of the austenite grain. The work to be described in this paper was carried out during the course of a study on the inherent characteristics of tool steel containing one per cent cart on. The discrepancies encountered in the determination and classification of the austenitic grain size led to in investigation of some of the variants influencing the austenitic grain size as determined by standard methods.

Jan 1, 1937

By Michael R. Lewis, Dennis P. Moore

Untensioned, fully grouted, steel bars (dowels) up to 30 m long and 45 mm in diameter were used to reinforce rock slopes several hundred metres high, excavated for a hydroelectric project near Revelstoke, British Columbia. These dowels were successfully used to prevent surface rock from loosening, to prevent sliding on interconnected discontinuities and to prevent sliding of relatively intact rock on a thin shear zone. Because the interaction between rock slopes and dowels is not well understood, critical slopes were extensively monitored. Based on the experience from Revelstoke and elsewhere, it appears to be worthwhile, in most circumstances, to reconsider the need for tensioning rock anchors.

Jan 1, 1982