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By Arnulf Muan, Carlos Landolt

Equilibria involving Cu-Pt alloys, copper oxides, and atmospheres of known ox2gen pressures have been determined at 1000' and 1200 C. The data obtained have been used to calculate activity-composition relations in the alloys. A moderate negative deviation from ideality is found. At high copper concentrations, the results of the present study are in good agreement with those of previous investigators, whereas at low copper concentrations the activities obtained in this investigation are slightly higher than those reported previously. The present study is part of a research program dealing with the determination of phase relations and thermodynamic properties of copper-containing systems at high temperatures. The information available for such systems is very scanty, particularly for copper oxides and their combinations with other oxide components. Platinum is commonly used as a container in studies of oxide equilibria. To evaluate quantitatively the extent of reaction between the oxide and the container, a knowledge of activity-composition relations in Cu-Pt alloys is necessary. Such data are not available for Cu-Pt alloys in the temperature range of particular interest in the present research program, and particularly for alloys low in copper. Studies of various aspects of the systems Cu-Pt and Cu-0 have been reported in previous literature. The system Cu-Pt is known1 to form a continuous solid-solution series above 812.C, whereas ordered phases are present in certain composition ranges at lower temperatures. Thermodynamic data for the system have been reviewed by Hultgren et al.,' who presented free energies of mixing at 65Oo C, mainly derived from electromotive force cell measurements by Weibke and Matthes.3 Enthalpies of mixing at 640°C have been obtained by Oriani and Murphy4 with liquid tin calorime-try. Their results differ considerably from those derived from the temperature dependence of the data of Weibke and Matthes. Thermodynamic data for the disordered alloys have been obtained by Assayag,5 and more recently by Schmahl and Minzl,6 by Myles and Darby,7 and by McCormack, Myers, and Saxer.8 The two latter sets of data7'' became available after the present study was completed. In the system Cu-0+ two oxides are stable at high temperatures, CuO and CuzO+ each having only minor deviations from stoichiometry. Equilibria in the liquidus temperature region of the system Cu2O-CuO have been studied by Roberts and systemsmyth,9'10CuzO-CuO by Vogel and ocher,I1 by Osterwald,12 and recently the the present authors.13 The system is of the eutectic type with a eutectic temperature of 1083.C The composition of the eutectic liquid corresponds to Xcu0 = °.44, and the oxygen pressure of the coexisting gas phase is Po2 = 0.55 atm.13 Equilibrium oxygen pressures for coexistence of solid CuO and solid Cu2O have been determined by Schmahl and Muller,l4 by Gadalla, Ford, and white,l5 by Bidwell,16 and recently by the present authors.13 There is reasonably good agreement among the various sets of data. Free energies of formation of Cu2O(s) from the elements have been derived by Tretyakov,17 by Bidwell,16 by Kiukkola and wagner,18 by Pal'guev and Neuimin," and by Steele and Alcock,20 There is particularly good agreement among the latter three1'-20 sets of data. THEORETICAL BASIS Consider a subsolidus isothermal section of the system Cu-Pt-0, as shown in Fig. 1. Two phase as-

Jan 1, 1970

By A. P. Young, L. I. Marsh

HE relationship between microstructure and *- fracture is of interest in many metals and alloys. This relationship is sometimes established by examining the fracture surfaces and the flat surfaces near the fracture path in tensile samples. However, it is often difficult to tell from examining the fractured sample whether the fracture is intergranular, intra-granular, or a mixture of both. Also, it is often of interest to follow the progress of slip, twinning, or crack formation along the fracture path before fracture occurs. The ambiguity concerning the type of fracture generally can be resolved if the area along the path of ultimate fracture can be photographed at inter-

Jan 1, 1959

By Robert C. Edmiston

The measurement of temperatures in exploratory drill holes yields information on regional and local geothermal gradients and mean surface temperatures. This data may be beneficial to the mining geologist interested in the occurrence and oxidation of metallic sulfide minerals or to the mining engineer interested in subsurface temperatures or water movement. Additionally, the estimation of mean surface temperatures by the projection of thermal gradients to the ground surface provides data on which to evaluate infrared imagery as an exploration tool. Temperature measurements in 30 diamond drill holes in the Silver Bell mining district of Arizona show that a regional geothermal gradient of 2.45°C per 100 m increases to 3.03°C per 100 m near the ground surface. It is also found that an anomaly in the mean annual surface temperature of 0.5°C is associated with the shallow occurrence of disseminated sulfides. Changes in the geothermal gradient due to topography, water circulation, and formation changes also occur.

Jan 1, 1976

By Frederick Laist

AFTER a series of experiments covering a period of about three years, ending from the spring of 19iJ.2 to the spring of 1915, a 2,000-ton leaching plant for the treatment of the accumulated copper concentrator tailing was built and put into operation. During the experimental period, the first step was that of laboratory experiments or beaker leaches. The results on this small scale were so satisfactory that a small operating plant, capable of handling 5 tons of roasted tailing per day, was installed. Again, the results proved satisfactory and an 80­ton plant was built and operated continuously from August until February, 1913. In this plant, full-sized roasting and leaching units were

Jan 8, 1916

By AIME AIME

WITH a membership in the Institute of 32 years behind him, Chester Alan Fulton became an A.I.M.E. Director last month. In 1937 he served as Chairman of the Industrial Minerals Division. Mr. Fulton was born in Brooklyn on Dec. 18, 1853, and at the age of 22 graduated from the Columbia School of Mines. His first job was as assayer for the Standard Smelting Co., Rapid City, S. D., but he soon left to become shift boss in the cyanide plant of the Peregrina Mining & Milling Co., Guanajuato, Mexico. From 1908 to 1912 he was mine superintendent of the Guanajuato Mining & Milling Co., leaving there for two years of varied professional work. From 1914 to 1916 he was

Jan 1, 1939

By C. G. Rhodes, D. Kramer

The kinetics of precipitation of transient a phase during the transformation in U-16 wt pct Mo between 400° and 550°C were studied using quantitative metallography and electrica1 resistiuity measurements. The volume percent of a phase goes through a maximum in time, corresponding to a critical degree of progress of y' formation. prior to its re-solution after prolonged annealing. The fastest rate of a precipitation oc-cuvs at 500°C with a concomittant lowest peak of 9.5 vol pct a. At 450°C, 14 vol pct a, greatest fov any temperature, was observed after 24 hr witlz an associated slowest rate of formation. a precipitation at 400°C ceases after approximately 160 hr and the amount of a present remains unchanged after long times at temperature; no y' was observed metallographically at this temperature. IN the U-Mo system at 16 wt pct Mo, an ordering reaction takes place below 600°C, see Fig. 1, whereupon the random bcc solid solution, y, transforms to the ordered bct phase, y'."2 The new unit cell is constructed of three old unit cells somewhat distorted. While attempting to study the kinetics of this transformation it was observed that an unexpected phase was precipitating out early during the transformation anneal reaching appreciable amounts before disappearing after long times. The y' appeared in the presence of this new phase and after long times constituted the whole sample. Owing to the high optical activity of this unexpected phase under polarized light, it was suspected to be the a phase. Subsequent X-ray powder pictures confirmed this belief. The kinetics of a phase formation and disappearance is the subject of this paper. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE A) Alloy Preparation. Alloys for this study were prepared by vacuum induction melting normal reactor grade uranium and 99.5 wt pct Mo pellets in thoria crucibles. Two ingots were prepared, and sections of the top and bottom of each ingot were chemically analyzed for uranium and molybdenum content. The results of the analyses appear in Table I. B) Metallography. Samples of 16M were wrapped in tantalum foil, sealed in evacuated (5 X 10"6 mm of Hg) quartz capisules, and annealed at 1110"C prior to being transferred directly to the transformation temperature. They were examined metallographically after increasing times to determine the progress of the transformation at 400°, 450°, 500°, and 550°C. The samples were prepared for metallographic examination by mechanical polishing with diamond paste and electrolytic polishing with a solution of glacial acetic acid and chromic acid. Since the y' phase is tetragonal, its presence can be detected by viewing the sample in polarized light. To increase the contrast between y' plates, the samples were electro-etched in a 10 pct oxalic acid solution. To reveal a phase in bright field (it can be seen in polarized light in the "as-polished" state), the samples were electro-etched in a solution of citric acid and nitric acid. To determine the vol pct a phase, a variation of the one dimensional systematic point count method as described by Hilliard and cahn3 was used. The

Jan 1, 1962

By J. F. Enrietto

Internal friction measurements were used to determine the effect of manganese on the solubility and precipitation kinetics of nitrogen. Manganese, in concentrations up to 0.75 pct, has little effect on the solubility at temperatures above 250°C. On the other hand, at Concentrations as low as 0.15 pct, manganese inhibits the formation of iron nitrides, especially Fe4N, even though it may not form a precipitnte itself. The precipitation and solubility of carbides and nitrides have been extensively investigated in the pure Fe-C and Fe-N systems.1-3 In recent years, some effort has been ispent in studying the influence of substitutional alloying elements on the behavior of carbon and nitrogen in ferrite.4 -7 In particular Fast, Dijkstra, and Sladek have investigated the effect of 0.5 pct Mn on the internal friction and hardness during the quench aging of Fe-Mn-N alloys.', ' They found that at low temperatures (below 200°C) the presence of 0.5 pct Mn greatly retarded quench aging. For example, after 66 hr at 200°C very little precipitation had taken place in the iron alloyed with manganese, whereas precipitation was complete after a few minutes in a pure Fe-N alloy. The effect of varying the manganese content and the details of the precipitation process were not mentioned in these papers. Fast' postulated that manganese causes a local lowering of the free energy of the lattice with a resulting segregation of nitrogen atoms to these low energy sites. The segregated nitrogen atoms are bound so tightly to the manganese atoms that they cannot form a precipitate. The internal friction measurements of Dijkstra and Sladek tended to confirm the concept of segregation of nitrogen around manganese atoms, and the increase in free energy on transferring a mole of nitrogen atoms from a segregated to a "normal" lattice site was computed to be - 2800 cal. Dijkstra and Sladek9 distinguished between two types of precipitates: ortho, a nitride of appreciably different manganese content than that of the matrix, and para, a nitride with a manganese content essentially that of the matrix. With each type of precipitate a solubility, again designated ortho or para, can be associated. Since the internal friction maximum in alloys which were aged several hours at 600" C dropped almost to zero, Dijkstra and Sladek9 concluded that the ortho solubility must be very low. The effect of temperature on the ortho and para solubilities has no1: been investigated. There are obviously several gaps in our knowledge concerning the influence of manganese on the behavior of nitrogen in a-iron. It was the purpose of the experiments described in this paper to determine the following: 1) The ortho and para solubilities of nitrogen as a function of temperature. 2) The details of the precipitation process at elevated temperatures. 3) The effect of varying the manganese concentration on the above phenomena. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Internal friction is conveniently employed in studying the precipitation of nitrides and/or carbides from a -iron because it is one of the few parameters, perhaps the only one, which is not affected by the presence of the precipitate itself. For this reason, internal friction techniques were heavily relied upon in the present experiment. A) Preparat of -. All specimens were prepared from electrolytic iron and electrolytic manganese. Alloys containing 0.15, 0.33, 0.65, and 0.75 wt pct Mn were vacuum melted and cast into 25 lb ingots. After being hot rolled to 3/4 in. bars, the ingots were swaged and drawn to 0.030 in. wires. The wires wen? decarburized and denitrided by annealing at 750° C for 17 hr in flowing hydrogen saturated with warer vapor. To obtain a medium grain size, - 0.1 mm, the wires were then heated to 945oC, allowed to soak for 1 hr, furnace cooled to 750°C, and water quenched. Subsequent internal friction measurements showed that this procedure reduced the nitrogen and carbon concentrations of the alloys to less than 0.001 wt pct. The wires were nitrided by sealing them in pyrex capsules containing anhydrous ammonia and annealing them for 24 hr at 580°C, the nitrogen being retained in solid solution by quenching the capsule into water. Immediately after quenching, the wires were stored in liquid nitrogen to prevent any precipitation of nitrides. By varying the pressure of ammonia in the capsule, it was possible to produce any desired nitrogen concentration. B) Internal Friction. The internal Friction measurements were made on a torsional pendulum of the Ke type,'' a frequency OF 1. or 2 cps being used. For

Jan 1, 1962

By R. L. Pober, L. Kaufman, E. V. Clougherty

Composite structure of hafnium, zirconium, and titanium diboride with additions of metals and/or compound phases were prepared by reactive high-pressure hot pvessing and evaluated in air and in mixtures of oxygen and helium at temperatures up to 2400°K and at linear flow rates of 0.1 to 0.2 ft per sec stp. Oxidation characteristics, principally depth of conversion of diboride to dioxide, were determined by a gas analysis method and by postoxidation metallo-graphic analyses. The best oxidation resistance was observed for hafnium diboride-silicon carbide composite which exhibited a 6-mil conversion to dioxide for a 1-hv oxidation in air at 2200°K compared to a 20-mil recession for hafnium diboride with no additive. Analogous improvements in oxidation resistance were observed for the addition of silicon carbide to zirconium. EARLIER investigationof the oxidation behavior of the diborides of the transition elements of Groups IVA and VA in flowing gas mixtures have produced a ranking of these compounds according to which HfB2 is the most oxidation-resistant followed in turn by ZrB2 > TiB2 > TaBz > NbB2. Other ~tudies~-~ have examined the physical, thermal, and thermodynamic properties of these diborides to provide a sound basis for the more detailed and specialized investigations which are required to generate the information needed to assess the usefulness of such materials in high-temperature oxidizing environments. Recent oxidation studies7 have examined the effect of variations of metal and boron content on the oxidation characteristics of zirconium and hafnium diboride in flowing gas mixtures including air and helium plus oxygen. Results obtained in the latter investigation confirmed the superior oxidation resistance of HfB2 over ZrB2. Moreover, metal-rich compositions of hafnium diboride showed improved oxidation resistance over boron-rich compositions at temperatures up to 2000°K; at higher temperatures the differences are not distinguishable. In particular HfBI.7 exhibited a diboride to dioxide conversion depth of 4 mils in 1 hr at 2000°K; HfB2. 2 exhibited a conversion depth of 16 mils for the same exposure.~ Specimens for the study of metal and boron stoichiometry on the oxidation characteristics of HfB2 and ZrB2 were prepared by high-pressure hot pressing, a specialized type of fabrication which produced dense crack-free bodies of the desired compositions with no significant impurity introductions. The purpose of the present investigation was to explore the possibility of further improving the oxidation resistance of the metal-rich ZrB, and HfB2. The plan to accomplish this objective was based in the formulation of several diboride compositions containing other compounds and phases which are generally known to have good oxidation resistance in one or more types of test environment. Ideally, such additives would also enhance or at least not diminish other boride property values principally mechanical strength and those parameters related to thermal stress resistance. The additions selected for HfBz included zirconium, aluminum, and (Ta + TaB2) designed to produce ternary metal diborides, hafnium to form a discrete HfB phase, chromium to provide a metal skeletal phase, (Hf + Si) to form a discrete hafnium silicide phase, and Sic to provide a discrete second phase. Additions to ZrB2 included A1 + B designed to produce a ternary metal diboride, Zr + Si to form a discrete zirconium silicide phase, and Sic to provide a discrete second phase. All the specimens were prepared by high-pressure hot pressing which was used to advantage to fabricate billets of the variety of compositions desired and suitable for oxidation testing. The present investigation also included the evaluation of high-pressure hot-pressed TiB2and TiB2-20 vol pct Sic, conventionally hot-pressed Boride 2,' and KT silicon carbide. Boride

Jan 1, 1969

Jan 1, 1969

By M. J. Blackburn

The phasal equilibria in TI':Al alloys has been studied Ry transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, and X-ray diffraction. It is shown that three-phase fields exist below the transformation, viz.: a disordered hexagonal solid solution a; an ordered hexagonal phase based on Ti3Al, aa; and a two-phase region. (a + (YZ) , occurring between the single-plzuse fields. The size. disiribution, and morphology of- the a, phase in the two-phase region is shown to be dependent upon the alloy composition and heat treatement. The ordering process in the a, phase leads to the formation of anliphase domain boundary networks; the contrast and stability of these networks is shown to be dependent on alloy composition. A new and relatively simple phase diagralil for the systemm is constructed. The phasal equilibrium at the titanium-rich end of the Ti:Al system has long been the subject of considerable controversy. crossleyl has recently reviewed the phase diagrams that have been advanced for the system and in his turn proposed yet another one. There would seem to be general agreement that a phase exists at a composition at or near Ti& with an ordered hexagonal DO,,-type structure. However, several other phases have been proposed; for instance, Ence and ~ar~olin's' diagram includes two phases, Ti2A1 and Ti3A1, in the region up to 25 at. pct Al. The position of the proposed phase boundaries varies over a considerable compositional and temperature range, a point graphically illustrated in Fig. 1 of Crossley's paper.' It is perhaps germane to briefly examine the techniques used by other workers in the establishment of the phase structure. These fall into three categories: 1) X-ray diffraction, the only limitation of which is the rather low intensity of superlattice reflections in this system.3 Thus, superlattice reflections become increasingly difficult to detect in the more dilute aluminum alloys. 2) A considerable amount of optical microscopy has been performed"2'4 and it will be shown in a later section that many of the obscure mi-crostructures that have been observed can be attributed to hydrogen contamination. It is concluded, therefore, that such observations should be interpreted with considerable care. 3) The variation of some physical property with aluminum content has been measured.5"7 These methods are a useful indication of the existence of a transformation, but are usually insufficient in themselves to identify the transformation. The results using these techniques will be considered in more detail in the discussion. In this paper, the phase structure of alloys containing up to 25 at. pct A1 has been studied by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray techniques, and the results are used to generate a new and relatively simple diagram for the titanium-rich end of the Ti:Al system. EXPERIMENTAL A series of alloys containing 5.05, 10.16, 13.39, 13.99, 14.40, 20.83, and 25.05 at. pct A1 were obtained in the form of hot-rolled sheet 0.02 in. thick. These alloys contained 0.10 to 0.15 pct 0. Thirty-gram arc-melted buttons were prepared from iodide titanium and 99.99 A1 which contained 16.1, 16.9, 18.2, 19.0, 21.6, 22.2, 23.0, and 23.9 at. pct A1 and had an average oxygen content of 0.03 pct 0. The differences in oxygen content did not appear to influence the nature of the phase transformations which were found. Oxygen content may affect the temperature of these transformations, but insufficient samples of the high-purity alloys were examined to answer this question. The heat treatment of alloys was performed in dynamic atmosphere and vacuum furnaces or in helium -filled silica capsules. A special vacuum furnace was constructed to provide a high quenching rate in which rates of 4000°C per sec were obtained using water as the quenching medium. As pointed out by Crossley,' it is important to avoid heat treatment in the a - [} phase field as the resultant segregation of the alloy into the two phases containing different amounts of aluminum can persist through subsequent treatments leading to ambiguous results. It will be demonstrated later that step cooling of specimens from the a phase region can also lead to anomalous effects. Thus, all solution treatments were carried out in either the a or 3 phase fields followed by water quenching and subsequent isothermal annealing at various temperatures. X-ray analyses were performed on a diffractometer on fine-grained bulk specimens. The value of long-range order parameter, S, wa_s calculated from the integrated intensity of the (1211) reflection. In general, the intensity of the (1011) superlattice reflection was compared with that of the (2021) fundamental reflection to correct for experimental differences between measurements. Thin foils for electron microscopical examination were produced by electropolishing using the technique described in an earlier paper.8 Dark-field techniques were employed to a large degree in this investigation using the gun-tilt method. Finally it should be noted that the lattice parameters of the D01,-type superlattice are approximately related to the disordered hexagonal phase parameters by Crf - c, and 2ad - a, where the subscripts s and d refer to the ordered and disordered unit cells, respectively.

Jan 1, 1968

By G. H. F. Gardner

The boundary conditions F = 1.0 and 4 = 1.0 (100 per cent) are dictated by the definition of F in the equation 1/F = aFp. These conditions have physical significance as the "limiting conditions" for the observed behavior in systems of dispersed particles. The other boundary conditions, cited by Gardner in his Eq. 3 as applying to this system, have no significance in the systems we studied. Maxwell's equation (Eq. 2) cited in Gardner's comments was developed for and limited to a regular, rather than random, dispersion of spheres which are sufficiently removed from each other so that they do not interfere with current flow about their neighbors. These restrictions also apply to Rayleigh's analysis. The title of Rayleigh's paper cited by Gardner is "On the Influence of Obstacles Arrayed in Rectangular Order upon the Properties of a Medium". He is not discussing randomly dispersed spheres. It might be inferred from Gardner's comments that Rayleigh specifically considered the differential equation (Gardner's Eq. 3). This is not the case. Mathematically, Gardner's Eq. 3 is exactly true for the system to which it applies, however, as both Rayleigh and Maxwell note that their equation for F in terms of F is not for randomly dispersed spheres. At the time we wrote our paper, we were aware of the work of Wyllie and Gregory as cited by Gardner. We cited their work in Ref. 5 of our paper. Our comment on page 287 of the paper about the validity of an m value of 1.3 for spheres with a porosity of 38 per cent remains as our answer to Gardner's question on this point. Our data, at 38 per cent porosity, show that the condition a = 1 and m = 1.3 holds for spheres near 40 per cent porosity.

By J. D. Corbett

Mining geophysics in 1967 continued to expand with greater application in the exploration and development of mineral deposits. Moreover, geophysical activity increased without the particular emphasis of a Pine Point or Timmins discovery to spur interest. This trend is expected to continue through 1968 as geophysics more and more becomes an integral part of a mineral exploration program. This past year saw the "little black box" of the old-fashioned "doodlebugger" pushed further into the background, replaced by increasingly sensitive equipment of sophisticated design. The trend also is away from the one man geophysical operation wherein the same individual is responsible for the development, design and operation of the field gear, the planning and execution of a survey and analyzing and interpreting the data. In today's technology a staff of specialists, electronics engineers, mathematicians, physicists-to name but a few- are required to back up the exploration geophysicist in the development of new methods and techniques, in the reduction of the voluminous amount of field data and in the interpretation of the anomalies which can be enhanced by various high-speed computer techniques. Obviously a full back-up staff of these varied abilities is impractical to most exploration companies. However, the equivalent function is provided to the lone staff geophysicist by the many competent geophysical contractors and individual consultants.

Jan 2, 1968

By Ralph Nichols

THE mines are near the town of Gilmore, in the Texas mining district. This district was organized in 1880. The present producing mines are near the terminus of the Gilmore & Pittsburg railroad. This railroad connects with the main line of the Oregon Short Line at Armstead, Mont. The distance from Gilmore to Armstead is 70 miles. The town of Gilmore is near the head of the Lemhi river at an elevation of 7,000 ft., while the mines are from 400 to 1,300 ft. higher. The range of mountains upon which the mines are situated forms the water shed for the Little Lost river on the west and the, Lemhi river on the east. The winters are severe and the snow fall is heavy, but the mines ship right through the year. There is an abundance of timber suitable for all mining purposes in the immediate vicinity. Water is piped into the camp from a lake about 2.5 miles distant. This lake is about 1,400 ft. above the town of Gilmore. The water is exceptionally good for boiler and domestic purposes. The mining companies now producing are. the Pittsburg Idaho Co., Ltd. ; the Latest Out Mining & Smelting Co:, Ltd. ; and the Gilmore Mining Co., Ltd. Besides the above properties, there are a number .of prospects in different stages of development. The producing mines of the district are fissures in limestone, with a general northeast-southwest course .and a dip to the west of from 40° to 70°. These fissures are at about right angles to the bedding of the limestones. The veins are regular and the ore shoots strong, both laterally and in depth, so far as developed. The ore shoots have a rake or pitch to the south. The character of the formation is shown in Fig. 1, a section of the Latest Out mine.

Jan 11, 1913

By D. A. Augenstein, L. V. Amundson

Operators of coal preparation plants use equipment such as large-capacity dump trucks and bulldozers to haul, spread, and compact refuse material to conform to federal and state regulations governing the disposal of solid waste. For example, federal regulations require that refuse be spread and compacted in layers not more than 0.6 m (2 ft) thick. If the refuse layers or piles have poor load-bearing characteristics, movement of equipment over them becomes extremely difficult. The increasing cost and limited space for the construction of settling ponds extensively used for fine refuse disposal are leading to the growing practice of dewatering the fine refuse by means of vacuum disk filters and combining the resulting filter cake with coarse refuse for waste bank disposal. However, this filter cake usually contains more than 25% moisture. Therefore, when it is combined with coarse refuse, the moisture level of the total refuse may become high enough to impair the load-bearing strength of the refuse. Precisely this problem and the attendant difficulties of moving heavy equipment arose when vacuum disk filters were installed at a preparation plant in West Virginia. Combining the moist filter cake with the coarse refuse generally results in a 12% moisture level for the total refuse at this plant. At this moisture level, the refuse can still be handled with some dif¬ficulty by the equipment. However, the problem has frequently been compounded after rains. The experimental program described in this paper tested the following methods of improving the load-bearing properties of coal refuse: moisture reduction, addition of crushed coarse refuse, addition of fly ash, addition of lime, and addition of a mixture of lime and fly ash. In terms of a balance between economic and technical considerations, the most effective method was demonstrated by laboratory and plant tests to be a 2% to 5% addition of lime. Test Program During formulation of a test program aimed at improving coal refuse stability, a number of treatment techniques were selected for evaluation of their effect on refuse load-bearing characteristics. The reduction of refuse moisture was the first technique considered, since moisture content plays a key role in the bearing strength of a bulk solid. The reasoning was that a very small reduction in refuse moisture, provided it could be accomplished with minimal effort and cost, would be sufficient for eliminating refuse disposal problems most of the time. At the same time, it was recognized that periods of rainy weather would offset moisture-reduction measures. Other techniques selected for evaluation because of their potential for improving refuse-bearing strength at reasonable cost were: addition of crushed coarse refuse, the addition of fly ash, and the addition of lime. A simple one-dimensional laboratory compaction test was designed for evaluating the effect of each of these techniques on refuse-bearing strength. Those techniques that gave best results in the laboratory would then be tested in the preparation plant in West Virginia. Laboratory Tests The laboratory test for evaluating each of the techniques involved the application of weight to a load module placed on a refuse sample in a container. The distance the load module sank with an increasing amount of applied weight was measured, and the relationship between module displacement and loading was obtained. The refuse container was large enough to minimize the influence of wall effects, and to decrease the effect of the container bottom, a test was terminated when the load module sank to about three fourths the depth of the container. Initially, an attempt was made to conduct compaction experiments with samples of total plant refuse. However, the presence of + 0.13 m (+ 5 in.) material in the refuse interfered with the mechanics of the test, and the large amount of material required for a representative sample made testing extremely tedious and time-consuming. To avoid this problem and because it was believed that only the fine components of the refuse were the major cause of the stability problem, tests were conducted with 13 mm X 0 (1/2 in. X 0) material from the total plant refuse. The equipment consisted of a 0.46 m (18 in.) cubic container, a loading module with 62 cm2 loading area, weights totaling 450 kg, and a portable concrete mixer for combining water and additives with the refuse. Refuse samples of about 110 kg dry weight were used for each test. Experimental compaction test data were evaluated by plotting the linear displacement of the load module vs. loading. During compaction tests, the vertical displacement of the load module was measured at each loading value. The plot of

Jan 1, 1980

By E. W. Parker

Anthracite, as sent to market, comes under three general terms of description: characteristics, source and size. Anthracite is generally classified as white ash, red ash, or Lykens Valley. The white ash coals are sometimes further described as "hard" or "free-burning." Lehigh white ash would come under the former description and Shamokin white ash under the latter. As a rule, it may be said that the nearer the origin of the coal to the western extremity of the anthracite region, the softer and more free-burning it is. Indeed, for many years the coal from Trevorton, at the western tip of the Middle Western field, was classified as "semianthracite" in the shipment reports. Lykens Valley coal is always a red ash coal, with a higher volatile content than the general run of anthracite, and consequently free-burning. The name does not exclusively indicate the neighborhood in which the coal is dug, but rather refers to the beds from which it is obtained. These beds lie, not above the Pottsville conglomerate, as is the rule, but encased in it. The extreme eastern limit of the Lykens Valley beds would seem to be about Tremont, in Schuylkill County, and the Natalie mine, near Mount Carmel. There are, of course, traces of these beds farther to the east, but they do not seem to be workable. There are as many as six of the Lykens Valley measures found in the conglomerate at some points, but to a large extent they are unworkable. Whether this coal is obtained in the Lykens Valley proper, where the beds were first identified, or from the Shamokin Valley, it is always Lykens Valley coal, and it has long been considered a premium coal, especially desirable for domestic use, particularly when a quick, hot kitchen fire is desired. Coals are, of course, frequently marketed under special names—Jeddo, Scranton, Kingston, Old Company Lehigh, Famous Reading, Lacka-wanna, etc.—which, of course, have the trade significance which their producers and vendors have built up. General Description of the Various Coals, with Name of Seam and Producing District This is partly covered in the paragraphs above. Lykens Valley coal is produced from one or another of the six Lykens Valley beds lying within

Jan 1, 1930

POSITIONS VACANT No. 228. Slate mining company desires men for the following positions: Superintendent to take full charge of underground work, quarrying and milling. Assistant or night superintendent. . Foreman for sinking a new shaft. No. 229. Chief engineer to take charge of drafting room, on furnaces and combustion apparatus. ENGINEERS AVAILABLE (Under this heading will be published notes sent to the Secretary of the Institute by members or other persons introduced by members.) Mining engineer and executive. Member. Columbia graduate. Age, 32. Married. 9 years' responsible work in mine examination and development. Experience in United States, Canada, Mexico and South America. Now superintendent large operating mine. Personal interview in New York. Available in August. No. 367.

Jan 8, 1917

By John V. Beall

Probably the only hotel in the world with near 100% occupancy at all times is the modern Hotel Indonesia in Djakarta. However, there is little gaiety among the scores of business men who occupy the hotel because they fret as days grow into weeks in seemingly interminable negotiations with government officials. As one man put it, "time is a dimension that they [Indonesians] have never grasped." But the visitors still come in droves to investigate business opportunities in this sprawling nation of tropical islands which is, with 120 million people, the fifth largest nation in the world. Approximately $300 million is being spent each year in Indonesia by foreign companies and governments. Aid grants from the latter are derived about one third from the United States, one third from Japan and the remainder from many nations. Djakarta is a far cry from pleasant colonial Batavia, as the city was called under the Dutch. The orderly colony of prewar days was managed as an agricultural and trading dependency of Holland. The Dutch did little about educating the people. The islands were controlled by the Japanese during World War II and afterwards there was a war for independence--which was attained in 1949. In the ensuing years, President Sukarno devastated the economy by squandering money on a gigantic scale. A Communist-attempted coup in 1965 resulted in a military takeover and the extermination of Communists. The new government under Suharto, which took over all power in March 1966, found itself in a situation where bare survival was the first consideration.

Jan 1, 1970

A novel method of reconditioning vertical rock openings which are on the verge of collapse has been developed, ant1 a world patent applied for, by LKAB, the Swedish iron ore mining company. Without anyone descending into the dangerous opening, workers can place concrete reinforcement in the unstable section using sand-filled canvas tubes which LKAR development engineers are calling "stockings." First application of the new technique was in several inclined ore pockets which form part of the underground crushing and loading station at LKAB's Kiirunavaara mine in Swedish Lapland. LKAB experience demonstrated that with other methods it took about three months to repair a pocket, and neighboring pockets had to be closed while repairs were underway. With the new stocking method, the work was completed in three weeks with no disruption of nearby activities. Production losses amounted to 10% over the three-week period, as opposed to 30% with other methods. The simplified technique could save millions of dollars in underground maintenance, according to LKAB.

Jan 11, 1978

By Sweetser, Ralph A

AT the fall meeting of the Iron and Steel Division, Oct. 4, 1934, in New York, a symposium was held on Slag Control in the Making of Iron and Steel. The chairman was J. H. Nead and the vice chairman, G. B. Waterhouse. The latter presided at both morning and afternoon sessions. The papers and discussions were presented in the order in which they appear on the following pages. To meet space requirements, much of this material has been considerably condensed. CONTENTS Slag Control and the Blast Furnace. By Ralph H. Sweetser. (With dis¬ cussion.) I Slag Control in Rimming Steel. By L. F. Reinartz 5 Slag Control Applied to Low-carbon Steel. By Frank G. Norris 9 Discussion on both papers 11 Slag Control for Basic Open-hearth High-carbon Steel. By W. J. Reagan. (With discussion.) 14 Slag Control for Recarburized Rail Steel. By A. P. Miller and T. S. Washburn. (With discussion.) 18 Slag Control for Alloy Forging Steel. By A. L. Feild. (With discussion.). . . 24 Slag Control for Alloy Forging Steel. By R. C. Good 27 Slag Control in Acid Open-hearth Steel. By Francis B. Foley. (With dis¬cussion.) 29 Slag Control for Basic Electric-furnace Steel. By H. F. Walther. (With discussion.) 31 Physical Testing of Slag. By A. B. Kinzel. . 40 General Discussion 41

Jan 1, 1935

By J. J. Mulligan, F. F. Colcord, E. F. Kern

The electrolytic separation of silver and gold has been practiced by the refineries in the United States for a good many years, and probably because of frequent visiting between officials of plants and the consequent exchange of views, operations in the various silver and gold refineries are very similar. We find, for instance, they practically all use electrolytes of approximately the same composition, which, no doubt, is more the result of experience than of studies of electrolytes. At the new electrolytic parting plant of the U. S. S. Lead Refinery, Inc., East Chicago, Ind., considerable attention has been given to the composition of electrolytes, especially to their conductivity and their effect on the character of the silver deposit. We are not aware that anything has been recently published on this subject and are, therefore, presenting such data as we have with the idea that, although it will not be wholly new, it may stimulate interest in the subject. Effect of Copper Content on Conductivity The first work was to determine the specific conductivity of silver nitrate and copper nitrate solutions. Concentrated solutions of silver nitrate and copper nitrate were prepared by dissolving analyzed chemically-pure salts in distilled water, and determining the silver and copper in each. Definite amounts of the concentrated solutions were taken, mixed and diluted to a definite volume. The silver and the copper were determined in each of these solutions and the conductivity was then determined. The plotted results are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The effect of increasing quantities of silver and copper is readily seen. A comparison of the two sets of curves shows conclusively the benefit of holding the copper content of the electrolyte above 5C g. per liter, as its effect is to increase greatly the conductivity in an approximate propor-

Jan 1, 1926