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By Min-Min Lin, Bing Xie, Hong-Yi Li, Yang Yang

After precipitation of ammonium vanadates from vanadium-containing leaching liquor, vanadium (V(V)) and chromium (Cr(VI)) exist in the waste water in form of vanadate ions and chromate ions. In order to efficiently extract and recover V(V) and Cr(VI) from waste water, an environment-friendly method based on anion exchange was investigated in batch tests using macroporous weak base resin Dex-V. The adsorption conditions optimizes in detail, including the effect of pH, initial metal concentration, resin volume, contact time and temperature. The ion-exchange adsorption process for both V(V) and Cr(VI) showed maximum capacity at pH 3.0 for an initial concentration of 100 mg L−1, and reached equilibrium after about 40 min of contact at 298 K. The maximum adsorption ratio under the optimum conditions for V(V) and Cr(VI) was 98.98 and 99.87%, respectively. Result shows that the established method is a promising alternative for simultaneous extraction of vanadium and chromium.

Mar 1, 2018

The Ardlethan tin concentrator had dete riorated considerably in metallurgical per- formance, maintenance and plant availability. This problem was compounded by low tin prices and International Tin Council quotas. Mid- 1976 figures were: throughput - 1300 tonnes per day, availability 83% and metal recovery 537. Major problems existed throughout the circuit from crushing to tailings disposal and with morale, staffing, and housekeeping. With the lifting of the quotas in June 1976, management provided funds to implement a major rehabilitation programme and some fifteen major projects, at a cost of about $1.3 million have been completed to date. The change in performance has been dram- atic, and end of 1977 performance figures are: throughput - 1700 tonnes per day, availability 90% and metal recovery 65%.

Jan 1, 1978

By D. G. Klaren

Self-cleaning fluidized bed heat exchangers are conquering the world for reason that they are able to solve any severe fouling problem in indirect heat transfer due to the circulation of cleaning particles through the tubes of vertical shell and tube exchangers. In most cases, these particles consist of chopped metal wire. Moreover, self-cleaning fluidized bed heat exchangers perform with excellent heat transfer at very low liquid velocities, which enables completely new designs of conventional shell and tube configurations. This article explains the principle and application of this self-cleaning heat exchange technology and also pays attention to an actual case of a revamp of the severely fouling exchangers of a conventional multi-effect evaporator into a self-cleaning configuration. Possibilities for the revamp of conventional exchangers suffering from massive and very hard scale deposits are found in a variety of metallurgical processes, such as: The refining of nickel, the production of alumina from bauxite and many others.

Jan 1, 2003

By H. Y. Cheng

A pulse column solvent extraction system was evaluated as an alternative to mixer-settlers for the separation and purification of rare earths. The column tested had an inside diameter of 44.5 mm and had 36 sieve plates with a free area of 25%. Pulsing was provided pneumatically using a solenoid valve controlled by a timer so that both pulse amplitude and frequency could be varied. Feed to the column was a mixed rare earth chloride solution containing 10 g RE L-1. The extractant was 5% Ionquest® 801 in Shellsol 2037 diluent. Hydraulic performance of the pulse column was excellent with no propensity towards stable emulsions or crud formation under normal operating conditions. The column was operated in organic-continuous mode with flow rates chosen so that yttrium and the heavy rare earths were extracted with high efficiency while the light rare earths were rejected. Yttrium extraction varied from 83 to 99.2%. Concentration profiles were measured in both the aqueous and organic phases, and, from this data, the height of a transfer unit (HTU), the mass transfer coefficient (Kxa) and the continuous-phase axial dispersion coefficient (Ey) were computed. The HTU ranged from 17-92 an which is within the range of values reported for other (non rare earth) pulse column systems.

Jan 1, 1992

Comparatively recent Tasmanian legisla tion established a series of rigid control standards for environmental protection just as ma spectacular expansion of the mining industry was nearing completion. Upgrading existing protection to obtain the necessary licence to operate under these new regulations required further major works and involved a considerable outlay of non- productive capital at a time when escalating costs and falling metal prices were straining economic efficiencies to the limit. Late in 1974 a major environmental protection scheme was commissioned by the Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia Limited at Rosebery on the West Coast of Tasmania. This 4 million dollar project was specifically developed by the Company ahead of and to meet the new standards for control of total effluents discharged from its zinc-lead -copper-pyrites mine and concentrator.

Jan 1, 1977

By G. Deschênes

In Part I of the work, gold and silver were shown to be efficiently extracted from Kupol samples using lead nitrate in a cyanide leach system. In Part II, a comparison of the technical and economic merits of a new technology called CELP (CANMET Enhanced Leaching Process) was made with the cyanidation/AVR(Acidification-Volatilization-Recycling) process using 8 metallurgical variability samples as well as a large composite sample which represented initial two years of Kupol mill feed. The composite sample had 33.4 g/t Au and 289 g/t Ag. The metallurgical demonstrated that the CELP produced very similar gold and silver leach extractions compared to the standard Cyanidation /AVR leach conditions at 1/2 the cyanide concentration (1000 ppm NaCN in CELP vs. 2000 ppm for cyanidation/AVR leach conditions). It was estimated that the total cost per ton, were approximately the same for the two technologies (total cost of the CELP with the use of Merrill-Crowe at $46.48/ton, with cyanidation/AVR at $46.13/ton). However, the implementation of the CELP would eliminate a capital expenditure of approximately $5 million. Eight variability samples used to confirm the previous results showed that on average the gold and silver leach extractions with the CELP and the feasibility leach conditions were very similar for gold extractions, but 4.6% higher for silver extractions compared to the conventional cyanidation. The decision was made to remove AVR cyanide recovery from the Kupol flowsheet and implement the CELP at Kupol. The ability to use conventional leach equipment with the CELP and simplify the flowsheet was also a factor, given the remote location of the Kupol Mine.

Jan 1, 2009

By S. G. Tough, H. J. Hignett

The Transport and Road Research Laboratory is carrying out tunneling trials at Chinnor, Oxfordshire, with a 5-m-diam, full-face tunneling machine. The work, which is for research purposes only, involves driving the tunneling machine through chalk with most of the physical characteristics of the machine and its power consumption closely monitered. At the Conference a film was shown about this work, illustrating both the tunnel construction and the research program.

Jan 1, 1974

By J. Libaude

The Changement mine in French Guyana has, since 1983, processed gold ore by classical gravity methods. A large part of the gold is in the form of very small, free or enclosed grains. Recovery by gravity methods is thus limited (25-30%) and the present plant produces about 40,000 t annually of auriferous waste assaying about 6 git. The company therefore decided to retreat the waste by heap cyanidation. After laboratory tests which showed the feasibility of the method, a pilot test was set up on site. An experimental 3000 t heap, composed of waste of 0-8 mm grain size, was laid out by bucket loader on an impermeable pad covered by PVC and geotextile cloth. The upper layer of the heap was reworked by mechanical shovel to break up the area that had been compacted by the passage of the loader so as to restore adequate permeability.

Jan 1, 1998

By Tiago Salzmann Vilela

No mercado de arames e cordoalhas galvanizadas para indústria de distribuição de energia elétrica, o ensaio de preece tem se tornado um requisito constante para assegurar a uniformidade da camada de zinco formada. Neste trabalho, foram estudados os efeitos da velocidade de galvanização tanto na uniformidade da camada de Zinco como na espessura da camada intermetálica de ferro-zinco. Também foi estudado o efeito do aquecimento após o processo de galvanização, observando o crescimento da camada intermetálica. Finalmente, serão mostradas as principais características de processo obtidas para garantir o atendimento ao ensaio de preece nos arames galvanizados (classe B) produzidos na Gerdau Cotia.

Aug 8, 2018

By L. S. Castleman, H. A. Froot

A study was made of the growth kinetics of B-brass layers in a-brass us y-brass diffusion couples in which both phases were saturated in the 6 phase. It was found that useful estimates can be made of the difhsion coefficients at the ß-phase interfaces from interface displacement data, which are relatively easy to measure experimentally; also, a useful estimate can be made of the mean heat of activation for diffusion from layer growth data. The effects of pressure on layer growth kinetics were explored and found to be consistent with a vacancy model for diffusion in 6 brass in both the disordered and ordered temperature range. 1 HE study of multiphase diffusion receives relatively little attention in comparison with that devoted to diffusion in homogeneous materials. Of the hundred or so papers on diffusion written each year,' only a few are devoted to the subject, and it is the rare review article2,3 that devotes any space to multiphase diffusional phenomena. This is unfortunate, since the metallurgist frequently encounters practical situations involving cementation processes such as cladding, protective coating of metals, and so forth in which he needs guidance of a fundamental nature. The investigation of multiphase diffusion phenomena is complicated by the fact that one must consider reactions at phase interfaces as well as the migration of atoms within the individual phases; these reactions cause the interfaces to be displaced within the diffusion zone. The relative displacement of two adjacent interfaces corresponds to the growth of an intermetallic layer, and it is not difficult to determine experimentally the kinetics of layer growth. In the past few years it has been pointed out4,5 that valuable fundamental information may be gained about diffusion coefficients and the concentrations at interfaces through a study of their motion. Accordingly, it is the purpose of this paper to report the results of an investigation of interface motion in a simple multiphase binary system. In the work reported herein, attention was focussed on the growth of a 6 -brass layer in a diffusion couple prepared from a- and y-brass compositions saturated with respect to the 6 phase. This particular system was chosen for a number of reasons. First, the bcc ß-brass phase is disordered for all compositions at temperatures above 468°C and becomes increasingly long-range ordered for all compositions at temperatures below 454° C;6,7 thus, the effects of a variation in order on interface displacement could be determined. Second, diffusion coefficients have already been obtained as a function of temperature in the ß phase both in the ordered and disordered Re- and a theoretical picture of the mechanism of diffusion in this and other ordered solutions is emerging.11'12 Third, some thermodynamic data are available for the a-, ß-, and ?-brass phases,13,4 and these data could be used to gain insight into questions of phase equilibria and concentrations at phase interfaces.

Jan 1, 1963

By Lifeng Zhang

The transport of fluid, heat and particles (bubbles and solid inclusions) in flowing molten steel is investigated in steel refining ladles, the continuous casting tundish, continuous casting mold and strand, and steel ingot casting processes. Inclusion removal from the molten steel by flow transport and bubble flotation, and inclusion growth by collision and diffusion are discussed. Removal of impurity elements such as [C] and [O] during steel refining are reported.

Jan 1, 2006

By G. W. Healy

Activities of oxides in the ternary FeO-MnO-SiO system are calculated from data on the binaries, using the Gibbs -Schuhmann method. These activity data are used, together with thermodynamic relations, to calculate the contents of oxygen, silicon, and manganese in liquid iron, and the composition of the corresponding oxide phases in equilibrium with it. Excellent agreement was found between calculated and experimental metal compositions, indicating that thermodynamic methods, such as those presented, can supply useful data on slag-metal equilibria, and are therefore capable of wider application. When molten steel containing oxygen is treated with a deoxidizer, the product of the reaction is composed of the oxides of the deoxidizing elements together with more or less iron oxide. This assemblage of oxides is presumably very close to equilibrium with the melt since it is formed directly from elements dissolved in it. Therefore, it is likely that metal analyses corresponding to a given oxide phase composition are calculable with considerable precision where sufficient information is available on activities in both phases. The present study was made to test this hypothesis in the case of deoxidation by silicon and manganese. Here experimental data on the relationship among oxygen, silicon, and manganese in the metal phase are available, as are activity data for the MnO-SiO2, FeO-SiO2, and FeO-MnO binary systems. A further objective was to demonstrate in a specific example how gaps in the data may be filled by judicious interpolation, and how the Gibbs-Schuhmann method is applied to obtain activities in ternary systems. The rigorous derivation of the latter, requiring considerable facility in handling partial differential equations, tends to mask the real simplicity of the method, and repel the very engineers and experimenters who would benefit the most from its use. I) GENERAL PROCEDURE Deoxidation of steel with silicon and manganese results in the formation of two phases, metal and oxide. The number of components is four—Fe, Mn, Si, and 0. The phase rule then gives the number of degrees of freedom: If temperature and pressure are fixed, 2 deg of freedom remain. Consequently, it suffices to fix the concentration of two of the components of the system for all the concentrations to be determined and, at least in principle, calculable. The practical problem is then to discover a straightforward method of calculation with a minimum of trial and error solutions. The type of reactions to be dealt with are like the following: Si (in steel) + 2 O(in steel) = SiO2(in oxide phase) The standard free energy of this reaction is readily obtained from the literature, so that the equilibrium constant can be calculated by the expression: Since the metallurgist is concerned with percentages rather than activities, a real solution requires information that will permit activities to be converted to concentrations. This information is fairly adequate for the elements dissolved in molten steel, but is not available for the FeO-MnO-SiO2 oxide system. Therefore, the first step in this study was to find the relation between activity and concentration for the three oxides making up the system. The next step was the calculation of slag and metal compositions that are in equilibrium with one another. As shown by the phase rule, it is sufficient to assume the values of two composition variables in order to calculate the rest. But which two are picked makes a vast difference in how difficult the calculation turns out to be, so that it is necessary to make preliminary trial of several routes to find the easiest one. A convenient method is to begin with the slag, and to pick FeO concentration and that of one of the other oxides. Starting with the relation between oxygen dissolved in the liquid steel and FeO in the slag permits a good first estimate to be made of the oxygen content of the steel in equilibrium with FeO, because the iron content being fairly close to 100 pct, Fe has an activity close to unity. Using this first estimate of oxygen activity, approximate values of the manganese and silicon contents of the melt are readily calculated from the appropriate equilibrium constants. A minor correction for the depar-

Jan 1, 1963

By L. B. Pankratz

The Bureau of Mines conducted heat-content measurements above 298.15° K for dehydrated analcite (NaAISi2O6) to 1,000°K, kaliophilite (KA1Si04) to 1,800° K, and leucite (KAlSi206) to 1,800° K. Heat content and entropy increments were tabulated, and the heat content data, were given in equation form. A first order transition was noted for kaliophilite near 810° K with a heat absorption of 160 cal/mole. Leucite had a second order transition which became complete near 955° K. In this transition a crystal change occurred from tetragonal (low-temperature form) to cubic (high-temperature form).

Jan 1, 1968

By Michael J. Humenick

A laboratory experimental research project was conducted to evaluate the use of chlorine for the oxidative destruction of residual ammonia which may remain in ground water after in-situ uranium solution mining operations. The work tested the idea of the injection of high strength calcium hypochlorite solution into the mining zone to convert ammonia to nitrogen gas as a final clean-up process for ammonia removal from the ground water system. The paper details ammonia removal efficiency as a function of chlorine dose, reactant and product material balances, and how the concept may be used as a final ground water restoration process.

Jan 1, 1982

Charles H. Morgan, Worcester, Mass. (communication to the Secretary): In connection with Mr. Douglas's mention of the continuous charcoal kiln used at Kopparberg, some further data concerning this important invention may be of interest. Before giving these, however, I will say a word or two concerning other features of Swedish practice. In 1894 I spent two days at Soderfers with Mr. Tom Bergendal, the manager of the works, and was specially interested in the gas-producers and wood-drying kiln, illustrated in the paper contributed to our Transactions by Mr. Odelstjerna in that year.* The wood-drying kiln is, however, quite different in design and construction from Ljungberg's charcoal kiln. In the summer of 1894 it was discovered that by placing the gas-producer as close as possible to the open-hearth furnace, and working the producer hot, ordinary weather-dried wood, still containing a considerable percentage of moisture, could be used to advantage in the melting-furnace. Hence, the dryingkiln was needed for wet wood only. One of the iron-works of the Udeholm Go. was the first to adopt the Lundin saw-dust gas-producer and condenser, enabling them to make gas from saw-dust containing 45 per cent. of moisture, and convey the gas from the condenser through wooden pipes to the Siemens steel-melting furnace.† This sawdust gas gave very satisfactory results in iron-works; but the proprietors experienced much trouble by reason of the pollution of rivers by the tar-water from the condenser. On my visit, in 1894,I found that the Udeholm Co. had put in for their steel-melting furnaces the same wood-gas producers

Jan 1, 1899

By Werner Burger

The last decade has witnessed a rapid development and application of slurry and EPB type tunnel boring machines. Both soft ground types are able to excavate tunnels in unstable ground conditions below the water table with positive face support. The most significant component of the excavation process is the cutterhead and tool con-figuration were the excavation and face support meets the geological challenge. The TBM downstream processes cannot take place unless the cutterhead and tools effectively do their job. This paper will review the current state of the art design for both slurry and EPB cutterheads and highlight both common as well as geological specific design features.

Jan 1, 2007

By H. Knorre, A. Griffiths, J. Loroesch

Introduction Hydrogen peroxide is known to the mining industry as a powerful oxidant. able to attack and to destroy cyanide, the most important leaching reagent (Knorre and Griffiths, 1984; Griffiths, 1988; Griffiths, 1988). [ ] The most recent development, however, is the use of H2O2 as an oxidant in the cyanidation of precious metals. This application may appear to be a contradiction to the above mentioned detoxification process. This can, indeed, be the case if certain conditions are not considered carefully. Degussa has developed a new process to enable the application of H2O, in this field without having any detrimental effect on the cyanide. The incentive to seek an oxygen supplier like H2O2 instead of air was the fact that one of the most important conditions for the fast dissolution of gold is the presence of physically dissolved oxygen in the pulp (Kydryk and Kellog, 1954; Warstell, 1987). [ ] Complete gold recovery within a reasonable leaching time may only be achieved if the pulp is saturated with dissolved oxygen. Gold losses in leach operations mainly occur due to the following reasons: In some cases, the saturation of oxygen in the pulp cannot be achieved by aeration due to the difficulty to transfer oxygen from the gaseous into the liquid phase. This happens, for example, in pulps with a high viscosity. In such cases, even violent aeration only results in a low concentration of dissolved oxygen in the pulp. In any case, the starting phase of leaching requires the highest amount of oxygen. Therefore, it is especially important to raise the dissolved oxygen level to saturation in the starting phase. Peroxide assisted leach process (PAL) The intention of the process is to introduce oxygen in a liquid form. As a result of intensive research work, it could be shown that hydrogen peroxide can be used as a source of oxygen in the leaching of gold ores. To avoid side reactions, the following conditions must be applied: Hydrogen peroxide must be diluted before it is added to the pulp. The dosage of H2O, must be properly regulated based on the oxygen level of the pulp. An important part of the continuous O, control is a special oxygen electrode, which resists the extremely abrasive action of the pulp.

Jan 1, 1990

By E. D. Attanasi, M. W. Bultman, J. H. DeYoung

The 1987 recovery in the US mining industry permitted modest increases in exploration expenditures that year (Fig. 1). Favorable market conditions apparently allowed the gains to be sus¬tained in 1988. There was great uncer¬tainty early in the year as to whether world and US economic growth would be a casualty of the October 1987 worldwide stock market crash. By nearly all measures, the performance of the US minerals industry was strong¬. A weak US dollar and the strong growth of worldwide capital spending resulted in in¬creased US exports of con¬sumer and producer durable items as well as strong domes¬tic demand for metals. In fact, 1988 US steel industry exports reached levels not attained since the mid-1970s. It was re¬ported that steel industry labor productivity is now roughly twice the 1981 level. Among metals with signifi¬cant average nominal price increases in 1988 over 1987 levels were copper (43%), alu¬minum (52%0), and zinc (44%). Even though domestic copper production has grown since 1984 by 30% in mining and 24% in refining, em¬ployment in mining and milling is 4% below the 1984 level. Domestic unit costs are reported in the range of $1.10 to $1.33/kg (50 to 60 cents per lb). The US base metals industry is proba¬bly in its best cash position in many years. However, there has not been a large increase in exploration expendi¬tures. This is due mostly to the percep¬tion that worldwide capacity can easily be increased. Industry reports do show that "low cost" copper producers have been buying reserves from weaker com¬panies. The 1987 Society of Economic Ge¬ologists (SEG) survey of exploration activity indicated that 95 cents out of every exploration dollar spent by US and Canadian firms was for base and precious metals (Economic Geology, January 1989). Press reports, though, make it clear that most of that spending was targeted for precious metals. US claim staking data (Fig. 2) rein¬forces this suspicion. The apparent lag in new claim filings in Alaska and phe¬nomenal growth in filings in the lower 48 states suggests that exploration is directed at relatively low risk targets. In the conterminous 48, more than 40% of the new claims were made in Nevada, indicating an emphasis on gold (although even Nevada had some base metals exploration). Even with a price decline during 1988, the difference between the gold price and average global "cash" production cost of $7.30/g ($227 per oz) still leaves room for an attractive return (Northern Miner, 1988). Exploration plans and results Metals Economics Group (Halifax) indicated in its 1988 exploration survey that exploration expenditures by US and South African firms would be at about 1987 levels. It also reported that Canadian and Australian firms were ex¬pected to reduce their exploration spend¬ing significantly. Firms in both coun¬tries were caught in changes in tax laws. In Canada, the Mining Ex¬ploration Depletion Allow¬ance (MEDA) once permitted generous tax write-offs to in¬dividuals investing in miner¬als exploration. It was to be replaced in January 1989 with the Canadian Exploration In¬centives Program (CEIP). Although structured and ad¬ministered differently than MEDA, CEIP can provide an equivalent or possibly greater financial incentive for min¬eral exploration, for junior mining companies. In 1987, it is estimated that junior com¬panies accounted for two¬-thirds of the off-property (or grass roots) exploration ex¬penditures in Canada. Australia will revoke the tax exemption for gold in 1990. Australian operators, therfore, were expected to concentrate efforts on speeding up pro¬duction during 1988 and 1989. In 1988, Chile and Mali announced special efforts to attract gold explora¬tion by foreign companies. The Cana¬dian government continues to express concern about the write-off (and drawdown) of base metal reserves. Falconbridge did announce a new initiative to identify additional base metal reserves in the Sudbury district. Discoveries Gold deposits dominated discoveries

Jan 1, 1989

By Felipe De Lucio Pezet

El presente trabajo describe el proyecto de renovación en la metalurgia extractiva del cobre donde se buscó mejorar la ley de sus concentrados, específicamente de Cobriza. Asimismo, este permitiría obtener utilidades similares a las que globalmente obtiene el complejo minero-metalúrgico de Cuajon-Toquepala de Ilo. Finalmente, el proyecto permite obtener azufre elemental para satisfacer la demanda interna y exportación.

Jul 1, 1987

By J. W. Sandelin, L. S. Birks

The group five metals, vanadium, niobium, and tantalum all show cold-rolled textures of {100)(011) and {112)(0ll) with a preference for the (100) in vanadium and niobium and for the {112) in tantalum. Recrys-tallization texture of (100) and (111) was reported1 for vanadium after annealing (no temperature stated). For tantal~m ,~ annealing below 1200°C strengthened the (112) texture but the (111) texture increased and was predominant as the annealing temperature was raised to 2500°C. Annealing niobium up to 1100°C strengthened the ( 100) texture and developed a weak (111) texture.' In the present work niobium has been annealed up to 2000°C. Nearly 70 pct of the grains showed {111) texture with only a weak (112) component and an insignificant (100) component remaining. In addition, double-crystal rocking curves were used to follow the increase in crystal perfection of the grains with increased annealing time. Material and Treatment. Samples i by 4 in. were sawed from & -in.-thick cold-rolled niobium sheet obtained from Wah Chang. Chemical analysis of the material showed it to be 99.4 pct pure with tantalum as the major impurity. Individual pieces were annealed for 2, 15, 30, and 60 rnin in a vacuum of 10'* Torr using an rf generator. They were etched until the grain boundaries were well-defined, Fig. 1. Average grain size varied from 1 mm for 2 min annealing to 2 mm for 60 rnin annealing. Experimental Results. Preferred Orientation. The orientations of 97 of the 117 grains in the specimens of Fig. 1 were determined by back-reflect ion Laue patterns. A General Electric 10-cm-diam cylindrical camera was used rather than the conventional flat camera in order to record more of the low-index spots. The method proposed by Forest, Barton, and schieltz4 was used to transform the cylindrical film patterns to standard stereographic projections. Table I gives the compilation of data. Even 2 rnin anneal at 2000°C is sufficient to yield a strong (111) preferred orientation, and the percentage of grains with this orientation increases steadily with annealing time at the expense of all other orientations. Crystal Perfection. X-ray topographs were taken of each specimen in both the (111) and (112) orientation using the method described by Birks and Grant.' As the anneal time increases, the grains become larger and the individual reflections become slightly more uniform in intensity, indicating an increase in crystal perfection. For a more quantitative measure of crystal perfection, it was necessary to measure the double-crystal rocking curve. The spectrometer employed was a Gaertner instrument of Compton design. LiF was chosen for the first crystal because the (400) reflection with d spacing of 1.05 AU is a good match to the (222) niobium reflection with d spacing of 0.95 AU. CuKp radiation was used in order to further reduce the d spacing mixmatch correction.' A variable aperture was placed between the LiF and the niobium specimen so that a single grain or even a small portion of a grain could be examined. Fig. 2 shows typical rocking curves for the four annealing times. For the 2-min specimen, a single peak is observed with 10' of arc full-breadth at half maximum. As the annealing time is increased to 15 or 30 min, several sharper peaks of 40 to 80" breadth can be seen within a single grain. After 60 rnin anneal only a single peak of about 30" is observed. Table I1 shows the corrected rocking curve breadths and the dislocation densities, ND. The latter were calculated from the equation7 where W is the corrected rocking curve breadth at half maximum in radians and b is the effective Burger's vector. For (110)(111) slip in niobium, b is 2.86 AU. Discussion. The annealing of cold-rolled niobium at 2000°C causes rapid preferential growth of grains with {ill} orientation. After only 2 rnin annealing time, 35 pct of the grains have the (111) orientation, and after

Jan 1, 1968