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By E. C. Carris

THE particular field of application of machines utilizing air currents as the primary separating medium is in the cleaning of the fine sizes of bituminous coal. Approximately 12,000,000 tons of bituminous coal were cleaned by air machines during 1940.They have not found any application for cleaning anthracite. Since the development and introduction of the first successful commercial pneumatic oscillating machine for cleaning bituminous coal in 1916, by the Sutton, Steele and Steele Co., Dallas, Texas, and the American Coal Cleaning Corporation, formerly of Welch, W. Va., four other successful pneumatic coal-cleaning machines have been developed and introduced to the American coal-mining industry: 1. Peale Davis: "Pneumo-Gravity" machine, 1924. 2. Arms "Concentrator," oscillating table, 1924. 3. Hey1 and Patterson oscillating table, 1927. 4. "Stump Air-Flow," pulsating air jig, 1932. Out of these five developments only the Sutton, Steele and Steele, or American Oscillating, and the Stump Air-Flow Jig remain on the market. They are the predominating pneumatic coal-cleaning machines in use in the United States. HISTORY OF AMERICAX TYPE SEPARATOR The first successful American machine, the CJ table (Fig. 1) was developed by the Sutton, Steele and Steele Co. The SJ table was the first standard model designed specifically for the cleaning of coal. It was installed in the original Crane Creek plant, owned and operated by the American Coal Co. at McComas, West Virginia. This plant was designed by The Roberts and Schaefer Co., Chicago, Ill., working in cooperation with the American Coal Cleaning Corporation, which had taken over the patent rights and sale of the pneumatic separators. Eight machines were installed in this plant. They were known as the type SJ. They were 60 by 84 in., the short dimension being the width of

Jan 1, 1943

By L. C. IlsLey

In the normal operation of mines, the aggregate effect of many seemingly minor op rations may be very important as respects economy and safety. Anion: these operations is the method employed in coupling and uncoupling mine cars. For economic reasons the equipment in mines has not been protected as well as railroad equipment. It is pertinent that haulage accidents rank second in severity among mine accidents, and that manual coupling of cars has been one of the most frequent causes of such accidents. One study4/ revealed that coupling was responsible for about 20 percent of haulage accidents underground. A review of early conditions on steam railroads, which were responsible for the introduction of safer methods of coupling cars, indicates how conditions in might be improved. THE STORY OF RAILROAD COUPLING As any considerable improvement in mine-car coupling probably will follow lines somewhat similar to those that brought order out of chaos for the railroads, it seems appropriate to review briefly the steps taken to improve railroad coupling from the days of link and pin couplings of various types to the adoption of the standard ?M.C.E? automatic coupler.

Jan 1, 1943

By Morris Cohen, Dara P. Anita, Frank S. Gardner

There is a conspicuous lack of information in the literature on the precise role played by residual quantities of austenite in heat-treated steels. While retained austenite may be expected to have significant effects on such important properties as the impact resistance of tools and carburized parts and the dimensional stability of dies and gauges, attempts to study these problems systematically have suffered from the absence of a reliable technique for ascertaining absolute amounts of austenite. With such a technique, not only could the relation between residual austenite and service behavior be investigated, but the chemical and heat-treatment factors that control the quantity of the austenite could also be established. Thus, the retained austenite content could then be regulated in accordance with the results desired. The presence of retained austenite may be inferred by observing the changes in properties (hardness, specific volume, electrical resistance, etc.) due to its decomposition on subatmospheric cooling1 or on tempering,2 but these indirect measurements are not readily translated into percentages of austenite. Quantitative determinations have been achieved in special cases by means of dilatometric3 and magnetic4,5 measurements; but the former procedure requires that observations be conducted during the hardening and involves difficult calibrations that limit its applicability, while the magnetic procedure is very sensitive to extraneous influences and depends upon assumptions that can only be considered as approximate in an absolute sense. Furthermore, both the dilatometric and magnetic effects are volume properties, and cannot be conveniently utilized to explore variations in retained austenite from point to point in a suecimen. Some microstructures lend themselves to accurate evaluation of retained austenite contents by metallo-graphic methods,3 but such instances are not too common, and at best, the procedure is tedious. The characteristic X-ray diffraction lines of austenite permit positive identification of its presence; and in the present paper the intensities of these lines, or the corresponding densities* on photographic film, are employed to measure the amount of the retained austenite. In order to cancel the effect of uncontrollable variations in the X - ray exposure and film - development conditions, a standard reference line is Superimposed on each film by maintaining a foil of aluminum in the path of the incident X-ray beam during the entire exposure. With different samples of steel and the same foil, the ratio of the density of some one austenite line to the density of

Jan 1, 1943

By Charles S. Barrett

THIS paper is a progress report covering metallographic applications of the electron microscope that have been made during the past year at Carnegie Institute of Technology. An account is presented of the techniques that have been most satisfactory, the difficulties encountered, the resolution obtained, and the peculiarities that have been noted in the microstructures. About 12m exposures have been made during the year on the instrument, which is an RCA type B2 transmission microscope,1 and a number of these have been selected to illustrate the results obtained. Prints are also included showing the common types of falsities-to borrow a term from the biological field, the "artifacts." In brief, the paper is a record of our attempt to determine the value of the electron microscope in the study of the structure of metals and alloys. n addition to comments on techniques and the quality of photomicrographs obtainable with them, the paper discusses the nature of the etch attack on a few metals, and the possible relation between the fine structure revealed by etching and the mosaic block structure of the grains. Since numerous papers and reviews are available on the subject of imperfection in crystals, the comments here may be very brief; in fact, are restricted almost entirely to points having to do with recent theories relating the strength of metals to imperfections and to spacings of slip lines. SPECIMEN PREPARATION AND PHOTOGRAPHS Mechanical polishing by hand was used throughout this work. Precautions that must be taken in microscopy at high magnification, which have been well explained by Vilella in his book on Metallographic Technique for Steel, are likewise important with the electron microscope. This applies particularly to the need for repeated polishing and etching (each successive polish becoming less severe and each etch lighter), since the final etch should in general be no heavier than is used for oil-immersion optical microscopy and in many instances should be much lighter (compare Figs. 6a and 7a, 6d and 7b). An extremely light etch, of course, is incapable of cutting through a flowed layer of appreciable thickness. Unquestionably it would be very advantageous in each instance to compare the structures obtained by electrolytic polishing with those obtained by mechanical polishing, but difficulties with the electrolytic method have prevented this in the following collection of prints. The choice of etchant is important, of course; for example, picral proved superior to nital for tempered martensite. With the exception of Figs. Ib and IC, the replicas used were of silica, deposited up0n polystyrene and floated from the polystyrene in ethyl bromide according to polystyrene in ethyl bromide according to the method of Heidenreich and Peck.2 The samples were mounted in Bakelite, polished and etched, then the polished Bakelite

Jan 1, 1943

Trans No. Place Date Vol. 1. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. May, '71 1 2. Bethlehem, Pa. Aug., '71 1 3. Troy, N. Nov., '71 1 4. Philadelphia, Pa. Feb., '72.. 1 5. New York, N. Y. May, '72 1 6. Pittsburgh, Pa. Oct., '72 1 7. Boston, Mass. Feb., '73 1 8. Philadelphia, Pa. May, '73 2 9. Easton, Pa. Oct., '73 2 10. New York N. Y. Feb., '74 2 11. St. Louis, Mo. May, '74 3 12. Hazleton, Pa. Oct., '74.. 3 13. New Haven, Conn. Feb., '75 3 14. Dover, N. J. May, '75 4 15. Cleveland, Ohio Oct., '75 4 16. Washington, D. C. Feb., '76 4 17. Philadelphia, Pa. June, '76 5 18. Philadelphia, Pa. Oct., '76 5

Jan 1, 1943

By John L. Lamont, Walter Crafts

THE principle formulated by Grossmann1 for calculating hardenability of steel by multiplying the ideal diameter of "pure" iron-carbon alloys by factors for grain size and alloying elements has been confirmed on many steels and has proved useful in designing substitute alloy steels. Grossmann found that the typical behavior of the multiplying factors was to increase directly in proportion to the amount of the alloy present in a steel. However, the multiplying factor for the effect of silicon on hardenability was found by Grossmann to increase to a lesser degree as the amount of silicon was increased. In view of the in¬creasing use of silicon in heat-treating steels, the effect of silicon on hardenability is becoming more important. Calculation of the hardenability of high-silicon steels made at the Union Carbide and Carbon Research Laboratories, Inc., indicated that the multiplying factor for silicon increased directly in proportion to the amount of silicon present. A more extended study of high-silicon steels covering fairly wide ranges of grain size, carbon, manganese, and aluminum has confirmed that up to 2 per cent silicon the multiplying factor is directly proportional to the silicon content. Manganese and aluminum factors have also been determined. The results of the study offer strong confirmation of the general validity of Grossmann's multiplying principle. TESTING PROCEDURE Steels on which the study of the effect of silicon on hardenability was based were made in high-frequency induction furnaces using Armco iron and standard alloying materials. The ingots were forged to bars, and sections were normalized prior to machining Jominy hardenability test specimens. The Jominy test was carried out under standard conditions.2 The depth of hardness penetration for determination of ideal diameter at "half hardness" was taken at the hardness level indicated in Fig. 20 in Grossmann's paper by the solid line for 50 per cent martensite in plain carbon steel. The depth of penetration of hardness on the Jominy specimen was converted to ideal diameter by the relation given in Fig. 28 of Grossmann's paper. Chemical analysis was determined on a sample taken adjacent to the Jominy specimen. Aluminum was determined as "acid-soluble aluminum" rather than as total aluminum, as it is probably more representative of the aluminum that is effective as an alloying agent. In addition to the elements nominally present in the steels, analyses were made for residual phosphorus, sulphur, nickel, copper, molybdenum and chromium on one heat of those made with the same materials during the same period. Actual grain size was determined by microscopic examination of small samples quenched in water after receiving the same thermal cycle as the Jominy hardenability specimens. Chemical analyses, heat-treatment, grain size, and hardenability are shown in Table I representing three ranges of composition.

Jan 1, 1943

By A. G. Pentland

PROSPECTING is popularly supposed to be surrounded with an air of romance and adventure. The word 'prospecting' brings to mind high mountains, northern lakes, and aeroplanes. A note of urgency has been added to this by the war, particularly in the case of strategic, minerals. Prospecting for strategic minerals in a modern mine in full production, although it may Jack the romance of travel in little-known places, has the advantage of having all the necessary machinery at hand and ready to go into action at a moment's notice. HISTORY Tin was discovered in the Sullivan ore in 1925, when a white streak was noticed on a pilot table which was being used to check the amount of galena in the tailing. The mineral which made up this streak was identified as cassiterite. The amount of tin in the ore is so small that, while of scientific interest, it was considered to be of very little economic importance. Nevertheless, several attempts were made to learn something of the occurrence during times when other work was nor pressing. These studies were dropped when anything came up that seemed more important.

Jan 1, 1943

Map

Jan 1, 1943

By R. G. Clay, C. F. Seaman

The mines of The Tennessee Copper Co. are in the Ducktown Basin, in southeastern Tennessee. The ore is a heavy sulphide consisting principally of chalcopyrite, pyrite and pyrrhotite and in places running as high as 95 per cent sulphur and iron. Operating mines are the Burra Burra and Eureka. Development ' of the Boyd ore body was started in 1940. Late in 1939 the decision was made to change from fuse and cap to all electric blasting and at the same time electric cap lamps were installed to replace carbide. These changes were made to improve the safety and working conditions in the mines. Both the Bureau of Mines and explosives manufacturers recommended electric blasting as a safety measure. Until that rime, electric blasting had been used only for shaft sinking and in places where it was absolutely essential for safety. Very few men had had experience in this type of blasting, as the places where it was required were those that also required direct supervision. It was necessary for the mining staff to work out methods, procedure, and equipment to be used. In this they were ably assisted by representatives of the explosives manufacturers. Many mistakes were made and it is the purpose of this paper to describe the original plan and installation, show the major difficulties encountered. the remedies applied, and present the practices now being followed. Comparison of costs of the two methods will also be discussed. About six months were required to make the change and eliminate fuse and cap blasting entirely. The first electric blasting stations were installed in November 1939 and the last fuse was taken underground in May 1940. A very unusual condition forced the use of fuse for a short time in one heading after May, but that will be discussed later. Original Equipment and Installation A power line is generally recommended as a source of current where permanent blasting stations are used. The plan worked out for electric blasting was to tap 220-volt alternating-current lines when they were available and use 250-volt direct current from the trolley wire at all other places. A blasting machine would be available at each shaft for places where there were no regular blasting stations and could be used if a regular station should fail. The equipment decided on was No. 16 duplex reinforced lamp cord for lines to within about 50 ft. of the working place and No. 20 lead wire from that point to the shots. An open double-pole, double-throw switch with slate base was put in the circuit, so connected that the down position would close the line to the shots 2nd the up position would connect it to the Iine from the power contactor. This switch was located in the circuit as close to the blast as was safe (should the shots explode when it was placed in the shooting

Jan 1, 1943

By Kendall E. Born

Production of crude oil in Tennessee during 1942 was approximately 8600 bbl., a decrease of 6500 bbl. from the production of 1941, and the lowest since 1934. As usual, the greater part of the production was from the Mississippian limestone pools in Scott and Morgan Counties. Some half dozen wells in Fentress and Clay Counties pumped intermittently produced about 1000 barrels. Natural gas was marketed from wells in Morgan and Fentress Counties for consumption in the Sunbright and Jamestown areas respectively. Figures are not available for the Morgan County production but 7,378,000 cu. ft. of natural gas was produced in the Jamestown gas field from six wells. The production of oil by counties is shown in Table I. Developments Drilling activities reached the lowest ebb since 1933. Only 10 wells were spudded during the year, one of which was drilling on Dec. 31, 1942. Of the nine completions, two were gas wells in the proven area south of Jamestown in Fentress County and seven were dry holes. The total footage drilled during the year was 14,198 ft.; the average depth of wells was 1578 ft. The completions are listed in Table 2. The distribution of tests according to physiographic divisions is given in Table 3. East Tennessee.—One well was drilled to 4219 ft., the second deepest well in the state, in Campbell County. The test was in the highly disturbed Valley and Ridge Province, an area long considered the most unfavorable in the state for the accumulation of oil and gas. Cumberland Plateau.-—There were no completions in the Cumberland Plateau area, although an old well drilled deeper found oil from 935 to 965 ft. in the Mississippi lime. This test has created a considerable amount of interest in the area and an active leasing campaign was underway early in 1943. Eastern Highland Rim.—Five completions on the Eastern Highland Rim brought in two small gas wells in Fentress County, which will be used to augment the supply for Jamestown. The producing horizons are shaly limestones of Ordovician (Trenton) age. Two wells in this area were drilled to the upper part of the Knox dolomite group. The most significant test during the year was the Stanolind Oil and Gas Company's test in Putnam County. This well, on a well-defined surface structure, was abandoned in the upper Knox dolomite group at 2130 ft. A show of oil was logged in the Knox at 1653 to 1661 ft. Northern Highland Rim.—Three tests widely separated in the Northern Highland Rim were dry.

Jan 1, 1943

By Frederic H. Wright

The secondary metals industry might well be defined as the group of remelters, smelters, refiners, and manufacturers that convert scrap metals or residues to commercial forms. In this industry, scrap metals and residues are processed to pro- duce refined metals, ingot alloys, fabricated shapes, and chemical products. Secondary metal is defined as metal recovered from commercial scrap, that is, scrap that has entered the processor's plant in scrap form. Metal recovered by a manufacturer from "home scrap" generated in his own plant is not considered to be secondary, because it represents part of the original stock that simply requires additional treatment before emerging as a finished product. In any economic study, a basic point of measurement must be chosen, and in the case of secondary metals, the melting pot or its counterpart represents the stage in which metal is converted from scrap to some more usable form. Beyond this point there is often no means to distinguish between secondary metal recovered from scrap and virgin metal produced directly from ore. In the last fifteen or twenty years the secondary metals industry has grown to major importance. Some consumers distrust secondary metals, but frequently this distrust serves only to prove an inability to keep up with the times. A rapidly decreasing number of manufacturers like to boast that they use only virgin metals, but a little investigation would show them that more than one third of all

Jan 1, 1943

By Keith Leonard Sutherland

This paper is a study of the differential flotation of the sulphide minerals in the presence of salts of silver, lead and zinc. In practice, accidental activation due to these salts is more important than their use as reagents to replace copper sulphate. The general method of investigation has been based upon contact tests, the temperature of 35°C being chosen in conformity with earlier work. Potassium ethyl xanthate and potassium amyl xanthate were selected as collectors and pure sulphide minerals were used. The experimental procedure has been outlined in earlier papers and all solutions were kept carbonate-free.14 Contact, or spreading of an air bubble, at a mineral surface indicates the presence of an adsorbed collector film. Purity of Reagents The xanthates were purified in the usual manner.' Neither the cyanide nor the sodium hydroxide solutions contained sufficient carbonate to give a precipitate with barium chloride solution. The silver sulphate was prepared from pure silver nitrate by evaporation with concentrated sulphuric acid until there was no evidence of brown fumes, This solution was diluted and the difficultly soluble sulphate washed with water so that unchanged nitrate was dissolved. The resultant crystalline powder was pure white. The lead and zinc salts were prepared by dissolving especially pure lead and zinc in C.P. nitric and sulphuric acid solution and the crystals drained. The standard solutions were checked by titration. It was felt desirable to use the sulphate radical wherever possible, but since lead sulphate was insufficiently soluble for the purpose of the experiments, it was necessary to use some other lead salt. A.R. copper sulphate was used without further purification. Results The results are presented in the accompanying figures; the areas of noncontact (nonflotation) are shaded in Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11; in the remainder they lie to the right of the curve. Zinc Sulphate The curves in Fig. I are to be compared with those for Fig. 2, for which zinc sulphate is absent. This comparison shows that the influence of the zinc ion is usually small. Its influence is more marked, however, for chalcopyrite in the absence of cyanide. The influence of zinc sulphate is also marked for copper-activated sphalerite, for which tests were made only in the "absence of cyanide. The results are of importance in the separation of pyrite from copper-activated sphalerite when zinc sulphate is added in the lead flotation section (p. 204 of ref. I). Sphalerite does not adsorb the collector (i.e., become floatable) under the conditions chosen.

Jan 1, 1943

By G. D. Cremer, J. J. Cordiano

Aluminum powder is a well-known article of commerce and in various forms has been marketed widely for use in paint, for pyrotechnic purposes and for exothermic mixtures. For a number of reasons, however, aluminum powder has not been employed extensively in powder metallurgy, although a great many proposals along this line have been offered. Aluminum and alumiuum-alloy powders oxidize readily upon exposure to air and the thin film of oxide (or hydroxide) thus formed is highly refractory, in that ordinary gaseous reducing agents such as hydrogen or carbon monoxide do not reduce the oxide to metal at temperatures below the melting point of aluminum. It has been thought that the presence of these films of oxide on aluminum particles would interfere markedly in powder metallurgical work and a number of suggestions have been made, either for preventing the formation of the film through the production of the powders in inert or reducing atmospheres, or for the removal of the oxide by means of powerful reducing agents, including "nascent" or atomic hydrogen released from metal hydrides. A second and more serious difficulty in the use of aluminum and aluminum-alloy powders in powder metallurgy resides in the fact that during compression such powders tend to adhere or cold-weld to the die walls, thus interfering with the formation and ejection of a compact. A third difficulty, which has been encountered only with aluminum-alloy powders, is their hardness when compared with elemental aluminum. Certain of these powders are susceptible to age-hardening, which further hinders the formation of strong green compacts. These conditions are particularly true of atomized aluminum-alloy powders. Even in the annealed condition, plastic deformation of alloy powders under pressure is low when compared with unalloyed powders. This fact, coupled with the lower corrosion resistance of the alloy powders. is probably the significant factor in our failure to obtain strong sintered pieces. Methods of Puoducing the Powder Many methods have been proposed for manufacture of aluminum powder, only a few of which are used commercially. Several of the more important processes include: (I) atomization of the molten metal; (2) mechanical pulverization and other types of comminution; and (3) graining, in which molten aluminum is stirred during freezing. For pigment and certain pyrotechnic uses aluminum flake powder is desirable, because of its greater proportion of surface to volume; and large quantities of such material are made by a procedure that involves stamping or ball milling. In making flake intended for use as pigment,

Jan 1, 1943

By P. W. Bakarian, C. H. Mathewson

THE greater part of the literature on the plastic behavior of magnesium dates back to that active period of research in crystal mechanics immediately following the widespread preparation of isolated metallic crystals large enough for the application of conventional methods of mechanical testing. These investigations, performed on single crystals, revealed an analogy between zinc and magnesium with respect to their fundamental mode of deformation, in the operation of glide and twinning, respectively, on crystallographically similar planes. Mathewson and Phillips (1928)1 by geometrical analysis identified the {102} ? plane in magnesium as the twinning plane, Schiebold and Siebel (1931)2 confirmed this twinning plane, established the basal plane as the plane of slip, and a digonal axis I as the slip direction. They also reported twin formation in a secondary role on the {101} plane. Schmid (1931)3 summarized and discussed the earlier evidence and presented the results of his own experiments on the effect of temperature and small amounts of soluble elements. From X-ray studies on extended wire single crystals, he concluded that slip along the basal plane in the direction of the digonal axis I closest to the stress direction was the sole slip system operating at atmospheric temperature. This conclusion was based on experiments with crystals of many different orientations relative to the stress axis. Special attention was directed to the basal plane and the digonal axis I, as the plane and direction of greatest atomic density. Determinations of resolved shear stress at the onset of plastic yielding-i.e., the critical resolved shear stress-were also made; the average of these calculations showing 82.9 grams per sq. mm. This value varied only slightly up to 300°C., at which temperature it was found to decrease to 70.5 grams per sq. mm. The extension of his crystals at temperatures above 225°C. further disclosed the presence of new slip systems. After the original specimens of circular section had been

Jan 1, 1943

By C. A. Zapffe

Both the foundryman and the theoretical metallurgist are now generally agreed that the anomalous "rising" or "bleeding" of certain ferrous castings of killed metal is primarily attributable to hydrogen. How and why the phenomenon occurs, however, have not been made clear. The following discussion is intended to harmonize foundry experience with metallurgical theory so that the foundryman may possibly improve his ability to prognosticate whether a certain casting may bleed or not. Bleeding, Rising, and Piping The "rising" to be discussed here is not to be confused with the action in rimming ingots as a result of the carbon-oxygen reaction, although a conclusion will be drawn that may apply to the art of controlling the rimming action. Only killed metal is considered, which includes both steels and irons. In Fig. I, three killed, chill-cast ingots are shown: a porous ingot whose evolution of gas during late stages of solidification has ejected metal through the top; an ingot in which moderate gas evolution during solidification has lifted the mushy central metal, i.e., it has "risen"; and, third, a sound ingot with good piping characteristics. The first type is referred to as "bleeding," and generally infers that a solid skin had first formed through which the liquid metal later erupted. There is no fundamental distinc- tion between bleeding and rising in reference to killed metal.* Porosity Hydrogen appears as a cause of bleeding because the gas evolution simultaneously leaves a porosity of a type traceable to hydrogen. Twenty years ago, Melmoth' noted that killed steel that rose unexpectedly in the mold, if returned while liquid to the furnace and heated further under a reducing lime slag, would again rise in the mold; but that if the ingot were allowed to solidify and was then remelted no rising occurred. A critical quantity of the responsible gas is therefore removed by the rising action. Melmoth associated rising with high silicon (0.7 to 0.9 per cent) and concluded that silicon increased gas absorption. Because silicon is a strong deoxidizer, oxygen must, therefore, be eliminated from consideration of the three common gases in steel—oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen. Butterworth2 later decided that pinhole porosity was caused by gases dissolved in the metal and that hydrogen was obtained from steam in the mold. Allen's classical work on copper castings,3 soon followed by

Jan 1, 1943

Copper was first produced in Australia in 1844, at the Kapunda Mine in South Australia, and, by 18i>0, production exceeded 2,000 tons of copper a year. Output increased ,steadily, reaching a peak of 14,00Qo tons a year in 1867 and 1868, when the Burra Burra and Kapunda Mines in South Australia and the Peak Downs Moine at Clermont, Queensland, were at the height of their production. At this period, Australian copper formed a considerable percentage of the world's supply, its output equalling, for a short time, that of the United States. Production declined to between 3,000 and 4,000 tons a year after the closing of' these three mines between 18717 and 1879, and, at this stage, the Australian output came chiefly from the Wallatoo and Moonta mines in South Australia. About 19000, it began to rise again, with the extension of the railway to the copper fields of Chillagoe and Cloncurry, and, between 1905 and 1912, was at its greatest, with a maximum of 47,774 tons of copper in 1912. During this period, Australia contributed 4,7 per cent. of the world's annual production, and ranked among the six major copper-producing countries of the world (Table 1).

Jan 1, 1943

By D. L. Martin, E. R. Parker

IN a previous paper, one of the authors observed that the rate of cooling from the anneal prior to testing greatly influenced the life of copper under sustained load at 200°C. Furnace-cooled bars of oxygen-free copper (with, and without silver) had a life four to twenty-five times that of the water-quenched specimens. The addition of 0.054 per cent silver to the oxygen-free copper increased the life at a stress of 20,000 lb. per sq. in. from about 2 hr. to 50 hr. Fractures in these bars were intercrystalline. An explanation was advanced to account for the profound influence of cooling rate on the rupture properties at 200°C. The suggestion offered was that at the high annealing temperature the minor constituents are distributed at random. By water quenching, this condition is maintained at room temperature, whereas furnace cooling permits some segregation at the grain boundaries. The higher concentration of the minor constituents in the grain boundaries results in a strengthening, so that a longer life at a given stress and temperature results. Small amounts of cadmium or manganese have also been found to increase the life of copper at 200°C., and to a much greater extent than silver .2 The increase in the long-time strength of copper resulting from small additions of cadmium or silver appears to be related, indirectly at least, to the higher softening temperatures of such alloys. The elements, such as silver or cadmium, which greatly increase the rupture life of copper also cause large increases in the softening temperature. As little as 0.05 per cent of cadmium or silver is sufficient to raise the softening temperature more than 100°.3,4 The effects of cooling rate and of minor constituents on the rupture properties are of considerable fundamental as well as practical interest; therefore a more detailed study of their nature was conducted and is reported in this paper. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE Materials The materials studied in this investigation may conveniently be classified in two groups: one consisting of a wide variety of commercial coppers, and the other composed of special high-purity, laboratory-prepared coppers. The commercial materials were tested to determine whether or not the effect of cooling rate occurred with all coppers, whereas the high-purity coppers were investigated in order to establish a basis for evaluating the effect of minor constituents on the rupture properties. In Table I are given the analyses of the coppers tested. The samples I to 6 are commercial materials and were obtained for the most part from stock supplies.*

Jan 1, 1943

By David R. Mitchell, R. B. Hewes

MANY processes for cleaning coal that are in use depend primarily on physical properties of coal and refuse other than specific gravity and surface conditions relating to froth flotation. These properties are shape, coefficient of sliding friction, resilience, friability, magnetic susceptibility, and electrical conductivity. In many of these processes specific gravity does have some effect and many separators are designed to utilize more than one of the physical properties cited. Although the processes described herein do not have a widespread application, yet for specific coals and specific conditions, they are economically important. A problem confronting many coal-mining districts is the marketing of the slacks or screenings and dust passing the final sizing screens. Processes in commercial use installed primarily to increase the form value, and hence the market value, of these slacks and dusts include briquetting, packaging, and low-temperature carborization. MECHANICAL PICKERS Machines utilizing shape, fictional resistance, and differences in resilience of coal and impurities are usually called mechanical pickers. They require a closely sized feed, therefore their use is confined to the pea, nut, and egg sizes. Various types of these devices are described by Berrisford, 1, 2 Taggart, 3 and Peele. 4 Shape In general, coal differs in shape from its accompanying dirt throughout the range of commercial sizes. Coal, breaking into roughly, cubical particles, contains a greater number of axes that are approximately the same length than does the dirt. The latter, consisting of pieces of slate and shale and lenses of pyrite, is flatter in nature. Further, flat coal often has a dirty, slaty appearance, even though of high quality. Mechanical pickers known as flat pickers, or "flatters," are widely used in the Pennsylvania anthracite region to remove flat coal from the final clean coal. This practice greatly improves the appearance of the final market product.

Jan 1, 1943

By Ralph A. Sherman, J. M. Pilcher

BY surface treatment of coal is meant the application of a material, either solid or liquid, to the surface of pieces of coal. The purposes of surface treatment are varied. They may be to identify or "trade-mark" the coal, to modify the burning characteristics, the coking tendencies, or the behavior of the ash, to prevent the freezing of wet coal, or to control the dust. The control of dust is the usual purpose of surface treatment. TRADE-MARKING COAL The application of color to the surface of coal for the purpose of identification and registration of the trade-mark has been practiced to some extent. In 1928, the Glen Alden Coal Co. began to color its coal and adopted the trade-mark, "Blue Coal." The Old Ben Coal Co. later followed a similar practice with "Green Coal." A commoner means of identification of coal has been the stenciling of designs or pasting labels on large lumps or in the distribution of small cardboard tags through the smaller sizes. The details of the method used to color coal have not been revealed. Usually all of the coal is not treated, because of the expense. Only enough pieces are colored to show clearly when distributed through the coal. The patent literature gives information on some of the methods proposed. Esselen and Weiss 1 have patented the deposition of a coloring material in the valleys of the surface of the coal. Sperr2 covers the quenching of coke with water containing a pigment or dye that will deposit on the coke. He also suggests electroplating with copper or nickel. Glinsmann 3 subjects the freshly fractured coal surface to the action of an alkali or alkali earth ferricyanide and a ferric salt. Barsky and Hanson4 specify a method for the application of the same chemicals covered by Glinsmann.

Jan 1, 1943

By Welton J. Crook

Unless present, in considerable praportion, metals of the precious-metal group—other than gold and silver—are not readily detected by the methods of fire assaying usually applied to ores and metallurgical products. Platinum, when present in small quantity, will ordinarily be reported as silver unless special methods of parting are used. Other elements occurring in the gold itself are all fluxed and slagged in the assay operation and if analyses are made on bullions the melting and slagging operations to which the bullion has been subjected may eliminate most of the associated elements. On the other hand, the analysis of precipitate from the cyanide treatment of gold ores may reveal the presence of many unexpected elements, such as tungsten and molybdenum. It is uncertain, however, whether many of the elements present in the precipitate are derived from the ore gangue or from the gold itself. No very general survey of the distribution of metallic elements in gold seems to have been made. Rose and Newman,l in connection with the composition of native gold, say in part as follows: Gold is occasionally found alloyed with copper and sometimes also with iron, bismuth, lead, mercury, tin, antimony, palladium or rhodium. Rhodium gold from Mexico was found to be of the specific gravity 15.5 to 16.8 and contained 34 to 43 per cent of rhodium. The native alloy of palladium, gold, and silver from Porpez contains 85.98 per cent of gold, 9.85 per cent palladium and 4.17 per cent silver. Mal-donitk, from Victoria, contains gold 64.5 per cent, bismuth 35.5 per cent (Louis). Dana2 says that native gold is usually alloyed with silver in varying amounts, and that sometimes it also contains traces of copper and iron. Rare varieties contain palladium, rhodium and bismuth. Other authors, for instance Zeigler3 and Clark,4 give similar information. Most references on the subject agree that ordinary native golds contain, in common, the elements silver, copper and iron. After completion of the work of which this paper is a record, the conclusion is reached that all ordinary native gold probably does contain these elements and, although in certain cases other elements may be found to be present, that it is difficult to

Jan 1, 1943