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By Edward Norton

THE -salt deposits of the Mississippi Embayment region present a problem of origin so genetically related to the larger problem of the stratigraphy and structure of the region that a discussion of the one necessarily involves or assumes an understanding of the other. For this reason, I shall summarize briefly our knowledge of this region, emphasizing the facts related to the subject of this paper. In so doing I shall make liberal use of the reports of the National and State surveys. Geographically that section of the United States known as the Mississippi Embayment region represents a great V-shaped area, extending from near Cairo, Ill., to the Gulf of Mexico, and including Louisiana, eastern Texas, all that part of Arkansas bordering the Ouachita and Ozark mountains, western Tennessee, Mississippi, and a part of Alabama. This great section Professor Harris has described as structurally a pitching trough, its medial line being well represented by the Mississippi River. Outcropping along the border of this area are the Cretaceous and Tertiary formations, unconformably laid down on the hard Paleozoic rock sheets that show more or less plication, deformation, and faulting, depending upon their proximity to the nearby major uplifts. East and west of the Mississippi River the Cretaceous and Tertiary beds dip river- and coastward at angles greater than the slope of the land. "Waters entering along the outcropping edges of the Tertiaries and Cretaceous and following bedding planes southward are soon thousands of feet beneath the surface." As the sedimentation of the region progressed, faulting and slips occurred along planes of pre-Cretaceous weakness. Whether these movements were genetically related to the loading of this V-shaped area, as Professor Harris seems to think, is a question still to be settled. The accompanying map, Fig. 1, was taken from Bulletin No. 7 of the Louisiana Geological Survey. It shows the regional distribution of the salines, as well as an alignment of the domes, which has been assumed to indicate faulting.

Jan 1, 1915

By James E. Chapman

The observations here presented are not those of an expert accountant, but of one who, while he has seen considerable service in the accounting departments of large companies, has spent more time in engineering and operating. This paper is intended to cover, in a measure, mine accounting for small mines, as distinguished from the elaborate systems, requiring many persons in the accounting department. I shall attempt to outline a system embracing the essentials of accounting, and simple enough in form to permit one or two persons to carry it on from month to month, in sufficient detail to be able to tell quickly the grade of ore, the prices received for metals, costs per ton for mining and milling, costs per foot for development, upward or downward tendencies in costs, ore settled or in transit, cash on hand, stocks of supplies on hand, efficiency of labor, etc. As in all accounting, there are two main divisions: that of revenue received for what is sold, and that of disbursements made for what is bought, so in mine accounting we have to consider chiefly the income derived from sales of ore or concentrates, and the expenses incurred in producing the said ore or concentrates in a marketable condition. I. Income The revenue of a mining company from the sale of ore or concentrates comes in the form of remittances, accompanied by settlement sheets made out by the buyer of the mine product, such as a smelting company. It is the duty of the mine accountant (or the person to whom this is assigned in connection with other work) to check these settlement sheets, against both the mine weights and assays, and the schedules of prices arranged between the mine and the smelter. As a rule, quotations for silver, lead, zinc, copper and other metals enter into the settlements, and require checking, as do also bills of lading. Each step of the arithmetical calculation is also checked.

Jan 1, 1917

By Joseph B. Umpleby

The oil industry is at the parting of the ways in relating fundamental engineering concepts to legal interpretations and field practices. The old concept, based on an erroneous analogy to wild game, that oil and gas are migratory substances and belong to him who reduces them to possession regardless of their point of origin in the reservoir, has come to be quite generally recognized as the basis of many of the serious ills and extravagances of the industry. The chain of consequences resulting from this erroneous conception has been traced elsewhere and need not be recounted here. The important problem at this stage in the development of the industry, when laws are being revised by legislative action and modified by court decisions; when added powers are being exercised by voluntary committees and official regulatory bodies; and when the need for control of output has forced itself to the forefront, is to see to it that new law and action are based on sound engineering concepts. Reservoir Energy Common Property Since the study of gas instituted by the Marland committee of the American Petroleum Institute in 1927, a great mass of information has accumulated concerning the function of gas in the development and production of oil. This wealth of data leads to the conclusion that every oil pool contains three resources: Oil, gas and reservoir energy. I take it that the central problem of this symposium is the ownership of these three resources and that "source" and "utilization" are involved because of their bearing on ownership through the demands of equity and conservation. In order to facilitate the discussion, permit me to state categorically, that: The oil and gas in a particular tract should belong to the owners of the mineral rights in that particular tract, but the reservoir energy should be common property of all owners of mineral rights in the pool I take it that apportionment of oil and gas among owners according to the relative amounts that exist in place in their respective tracts is

Jan 1, 1933

By Charles W. Wagner

A premature explosion might be described as an explosion that, occurs before the miner expects it. Notwithstanding that it is unexpected, a premature is generally within the miner's control. A hangfire explosion is a blast that occurs after the miner expects it,, and in all instances, except where the explosives or blasting accessories are defective, hangfire explosions are within the miner's control. Causes of Premature Explosions Generally, there are seven methods of shot-firing in anthracit,e mines; namely: (1) cap and fuse with dynamite, (2) fuse with pellet powder, (3) squib with black powder or pellets, (4) exploders and delays with dynamite or black powder, (5) exploders with dynamite, (6) delay ignitors with black powder or pellets, (7) electric squibs with black powder or pellets. Cap and Fuse.—This method of firing seems to produce the greatest number of premature explosions. This is not solely because of the method, but is the result of mispractices which are possible with this method of firing. The two most common mispractices followed with cap-and-fuse blasting are the firing of multiple holes and the use of short fuse.. In the firing of multiple holes by cap and fuse, investigations have shown that in nearly every instance where the miner was injured by this method of firing he remained too long at the face lighting the several fuses, so that the first shot went off before he could reach a place of safety. Such accidents could have been avoided either by accurate judgment by the miner of the relative lengths of the fuses or by the use of electric firing. Rules exist in nearly every mine forbidding the lighting of more than one hole at a time where the cap-and-fuse method of firing is practiced. Where it is desirable to fire more than one hole at a, time, electric firing should be used. It is difficult to understand why so many premature explosions result from the use of short fuses, inasmuch as the cost of fuse is practically a negligible item in the expense of a day's work. Notwithstanding this, however, we frequently find miners using short lengths of fuse in an effort to save one or two cents per hole, or about 15 to 20 # in a day. A practice

Jan 1, 1931

By Hsun Hu, R. S. Cline

A detailed studj) of texture formation in 2 pet Al-Fe single crystals with initial orientations of approximately (111) [112], (112) [111], and (112) [111] was made by examining the textures developed on the surface and at various interior sections of the crystal after rolling to various amounts. Depending' upon the initial orientation of the crystal, the surface and interior textures may differ only in sharpness, or may differ essentially in orientation. The orientation of the (111) [112] crystal does not change upon rolling up to 70 pet, but after rolling more than 90 pet a distinct component of (001) (110] orientation is developed. The texture formed in the two (112) (1111 type crystals consists of (111) (1121 and (001) (1101 components. The latter, however, is largely confined to the surface layers. The textures formed on both sides of the crystal are identical, and the texture composition profile is approximately symmetrical with respect to the central section of the strip thickness. The formation of these texture components is analyzed. DURING the past seven or eight years, deformation and recrystallization textures in rolled Si-Fe single crystals have been extensively studied by various investigators.1-7 From these studies, much knowledge on texture formation in bee crystals of various initial orientations was obtained. However, these results also raised many questions, regarding particularly the correlation between deformation and recrystallization textures, as well as the deformation texture itself of some particular crystals. To take a (111) [112] type crystal as an example, it was shown by Dunn and Koh2, 3 that this orientation does not change during deformation by rolling. This finding is consistent with the conclusion reached by Barrett and Leven-son8 with respect to iron crystals that (111) [112] is one of the stable end orientations. However, different recrystallization textures were observed by Dunn and Koh3 in (111) [112] type crystals of different initial thickness, which widened differently during rolling even though their deformation textures were identical. Another interesting example, also from the results of Dunn and Koh2'3 is that of texture formation in a (112) [111] crystal. This crystal developed a two-component deformation texture of (111) [112] plus (001) [110]. Its recrystallization texture, however, was found to be predominantly (110) [001], which is related to the (111) [112] component by a simple [110] rotation. This crystal, therefore, behaved as if the other deformation texture component, (001) [110], were not present. There are also discrepancies among the results of different investigators, as well as numerous unexplained fine features of the deformation texture of crystals of various initial orientations. In order to have a better understanding of all of these points, a detailed study of deformation textures is greatly needed. One of the obvious things that has been completely overlooked in previous texture studies is the possible effect of surface texture. All past work on the texture of Si-Fe single crystals was conducted in a rather simple manner, i.e., the rolled crystals were etched to a very thin sheet; then their textures were examined by transmission X-ray techniques. For recrystallization texture studies, unless precautions are taken by etching off a sufficient amount of the surface layer before annealing, the texture developed in the interior may be affected by the surface layer, which may well have a different initial texture and which may have undergone recrystallization earlier than the interior of the specimen. Because of this effect, it is now planned to reexamine the texture of various rolled and annealed single crystals at the surface, and at various sections below the surface by using reflection techniques. In some cases, both surfaces of the rolled crystal will be examined. In one of Dunn's early papers,9 he noted that at an early stage of rolling the crystal seems to divide roughly through the middle to become a sample which in effect consists of two layers having some what different orientations. This effect has never been further explored. The investigation described in the present paper constitutes the beginning of a series of thorough investigations of texture formation in deformed bee single crystals designed to clear up some of the uncertainties which have been discussed. We have chosen a high-purity 2 pet Al-Fe alloy for this investigation. It is known that the allotropic transformation of iron is eliminated by alloying with approximately 1petAl. Such an alloy, being very similar to silicon ferrite, can be heated to the solidus temperature without phase transformation. One reason for choosing A1-Fe instead of Si-Fe for the present investigation is that we have been able to make single crystals of a vacuum-melted high-purity A1-Fe alloy by the strain-anneal method without much difficulty, but were not successful in doing so with a vacuum-melted high-purity Si-Fe alloy. For many research purposes,

Jan 1, 1962

By V. N. Mackiw

IN the process employed by Sherritt Gordon Mines Ltd. for the production of metallic nickel, a sul-fide concentrate is leached with ammonia and air under pressure. Following the removal of iron, copper, and other impurities, there remains a purified solution having the following analysis: 40 to 50 g per liter Ni, 200 to 400 g per liter (NH4)2 SO 4, and 20 to 30 g per liter NH3. Metallic nickel is reduced from this solution by hydrogen under pressure at 300' to 350°F in mechanically agitated autoclaves. A catalyst, ferrous sulfate, is required to initiate the first reduction. After the reduction, the depleted solution is discharged, leaving the metallic nickel in the autoclave. The nickel produced, being in a finely divided form, is used as a catalyst for the reduction of the next batch of solution. Upon repeated use the metallic nickel particles increase in size and become more compact, resulting in the production of a powder with higher apparent density. For this reason, each reduction is termed densification. Finally, when the burden of metal powder in the autoclave becomes too great to obtain effective agitation, both powder and depleted solution are discharged. The autoclave is then filled with fresh solution, ferrous sulfate catalyst added as before, and a new cycle started. The operation is described in earlier publications.1-6 A comprehensive historical review of the reduction of metals from solutions in general was given in a paper by Schaufelberger.7 The experimental data presented in this paper were taken from the work done in the Research Laboratory of Sherritt Gordon Mines Ltd. in Ottawa during the development of the process in 1951 and 1952. The results of the work were tested on a pilot plant scale in Ottawa in the period 1952 to 1953. Following laboratory and the pilot plant studies a commercial process has operated successfully since 1954 in the Nickel Refinery of Sherritt Gordon Mines Ltd. in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. General Experimental Technique The experiments were carried out in a stainless steel, 1-gallon, agitated autoclave designed and manufactured by Autoclave Engineers Inc. The inside dimensions of the vessel were 5 in. diam and 12 in. depth. The stirrer consisted of a 1/2 in. diam shaft 11 in. long fitted, with an axial flow type impeller (three blades bent to throw downwards) and a radial flow

Jan 1, 1958

L. E. WEMPLE, St. Louis, Mo. (written discussion *).-Mr. Stone refers to cadmium as one of the worst impurities in ores used for the production of zinc oxide for pigment purposes, because it is very volatile and its dark brown oxide and bright yellow sulphide both have strong coloring powers so that small fractions of 1 percent. injure the whiteness of the oxide. Numerous tests have recently been made by the American Zinc, Lead and Smelting Co. to determine what effect the percentage of cadmium, as ordinarily present in zinc ores, has upon the color of oxide made from such ores by the usual grate-furnace process. It has been found that while the cadmium is readily volatile and may be detected in the oxide product by chemical analysis, the oxide product is not discolored, but is of a clear white color. Analysis of the 12 leading brands of zinc oxide, French process, lead-free, and leaded grades now on the market for pigment purposes, show them to contain from 0.02 to 0.35 per cent. cadmium, figured as metal. If these proportions of cadmium were present as oxide or sulphide, the percentages would run from approximately 0.022 to 0.40 per cent. in the first case and 0.025 to 0.45 per cent in the latter case. All these grades of oxide are widely used for pigment purposes and are of a clear white color, except the leaded grades, the whiteness of which may be diminished by the lead sulphate. Tests made with admixtures of as low as 0.02 per cent. of cadmium oxide or sulphide to zinc oxide of the greatest hiding power (lead-free

Jan 1, 1918

By P. Barnes

The sums given in the accompanying table are those actually paid for material and labor up to about August, 1875; but, as some parts of the machinery were not wholly completed at the starting of the works in September, 1875, the statement cannot be taken as an absolutely correct note of the total cost. A complete description, with engravings of the building and machinery, was given in Engineering, April 26th, 1878, in a paper by Messrs. A. L. Holley and Lenox Smith, to which convenient reference may be made. A detailed list of the construction accounts has been given in a paper, by the present writer, in vol. vi, Transactions of the Institute. A summary is given in the table of the items in each class which enter into the total cost, and also a note of the proportion which each of these items forms of the whole. A concise view may thus he obtained of the facts embodied in the statement as a whole, even though it cannot lay claim to completeness in showing the entire or final cost. An urgent suggestion has reached the writer from a distant country that such statements of cost to be really most serviceable should give the details in days of labor, in weight of iron, and in number of brick, and to this an assent is most cordially yielded. It is true, however, that the mere labor of copying arid compiling these details to such a degree of minuteness, would be very great, and, in any event, the probable difference between the plans of an existing establishment and one projected, would be so wide as to render even so complete a statement of cost of little more real service than the approximate notes given herewith.

Jan 1, 1879

By P. Barnes

THE sums given in the accompanying table are those actually paid for material and labor up to about August, 1875; but, as some parts of the machinery were not wholly completed at the starting of the works in September, 1875, the statement cannot be taken as an absolutely correct note of the total cost. A complete description, with engravings of the building and machinery, was given in Engineering, April 26th, 1878, in a paper by Messrs. A. L. Holley and Lenox Smith, to which convenient reference may be made. A detailed list of the construction accounts has been given in a paper, by the present writer, in vol. vi, Transactions of the Institute. A summary is given in the table of the items in each class which enter into the total cost, and also a note of the proportion which each of these items forms of the whole. A concise view may thus be obtained of the facts embodied in the statement, as a whole, even though it cannot lay claim to completeness in showing the entire or final cost. An urgent suggestion has reached the writer from a distant country that such statements of cost to be really most serviceable should give the details in days of labor, in weight of iron, and in number of brick, and to this an assent is most cordially yielded. It is true, however, that the mere labor of copying and compiling these details to such a degree of minuteness, would be very great, and, in any event, the probable difference between the plans of an existing establishment and one projected, would be so wide as to render even so complete a statement of cost of little more real service than the approximate notes given herewith.

Jan 1, 1879

By C. A. Stetefeldt

The iron-ore deposits worked by this Company occur in lenses 200 to 1000 feet long and 5 to 80 feet wide, and stand at an angle of from 65' to 75, with a vertical height of 250 to 500 feet, other lenses occurring below. A number of the deposits were first worked as open pits, which in some cases were carried to the depth of 150 feet, when, owing to the weakness of the walls, underground mining was adopted. While the ore was being removed from the open pit, shafts mere in several instances sunk into the foot-wall, the intention being to mine the ore with breast-stopes of an approximate height of 20 feet, followed by underhand-stopes of the same height, leaving floors between of the necessary thickness to support the walls, or to effect the removal of the ore by means of what is known as the stall system. As the work progressed, however, it was found that the walls (which are of chlorite) were too weak to permit the working of breast-stopes 20 feet high, there being frequent heavy falls of ground from the hanging and, in some instances, from the foot. The plan of following breast-stopes with underhand-stopes was, therefore, abandoned. By working breast-stopes only, but little more than one-half of the ore could be removed, and that only at an excessive cost, the ore being so hard that power-drills with 3 1/8-inch pistons . and 6-inch stroke, working under 60 pounds of compressed air, are able to drill but 8 feet in ten hours as a yearly average, while from 6 inches to 2 feet is a common result of ten hours' drilling. It was plain that some other system of mining must be adopted, and it was proposed to sink by levels of 75 feet, carrying in the cross-cuts from the shafts and working out the ore each way from the shaft from foot to hanging, and from 15 to 20 feet in height. When this has been done, drift-sets consisting of caps and legs are set up the whole length of the opening and connected with the cross-cut; the necessary openings for ladder-ways and chutes or mills are timbered from

Jan 1, 1893

By J. M. Oblak, W. A. Owczarski

A cellular appearing recrystallization product formed by annealing a cold-worked nickel-base super-alloy at 1800°F has been studied by electron nzicroscopy. Prior to deformation, an equilibrium micro-structure of fcc matrix y and cuboidal ,,', Ni (Al, Ti), precipitates of CuzAu structure had been established by an age at 1825°F. The strain-free recrystallization cells consist of very large rodular y' particles in a y matrix. They precipitate is oriented and coherent both before and after recrystallization. The results showed that y' coarsening accompanies recrystallization at 1800°F. However, it does so as a secondary effect and does not necessarily take place at lower temperatures. The structural similarity of this reaction to cellular precipitation in other systems indicates that lattice strain may also play a significant role during some cellular precipitation reactions. THERE have been numerous microstructural investigations of recrystallization in single-phase materials but two-phase systems have received much less attention. The second phase can either remain inert or be altered along with the matrix during recrystallization. If the second phase is an oxidelm3 or a relatively inert pre~ipitate,~, recrystallization is retarded when the interparticle spacing is less than 1 p. Prior to the onset of recrystallization, these materials show a well-polygonized substructure with the subgrain size limited by the interparticle spacing. Since recrystallization by the motion of preexisting grain boundaries6 is not observed, retardation has been related to particle pinning of the subboundaries. This pinning prevents coalescence' or growth8 of subgrains to a critical size (formation of a high-angle boundary) necessary to initiate recrystallization. In a material such as a nickel-base superalloy both y matrix and y' precipitate are altered by the recrystallization reaction. Haessner et al.' studied the recrystallization of a cold-rolled Ni-Cr-A1 alloy by electron microscopy. The material was initially cold-rolled in the supersaturated condition. upon annealing at 750°C, immediate precipitation of 7'occurred. Presence of this 7' greatly retarded the onset of recrystallization which eventually took place by the development of randomly oriented, strain-free grains. The original •/ was dissolved at the recrystallization interface and reprecipitated as oriented, coherent par-tiles in the new grain. Recrystallization caused a refinement of .)' particle size. Recently ~hillips'' investigated recrystallization of Ni-12.7 at. pct Al. Reduction by cold rolling presumably elongated the p' precipitate into lamellae that remained coherent with the matrix. After recrystallization at 600" to 750°C, there was no unusual change in y' particle size al- though there was a tendency toward clustering along the prior rolling direction at 750°C. Above 750°C, the recrystallized grains were generally free of precipitate. Studies in the somewhat analogous Cu-3.23 wt pct CO" and Cu-2 wt pct'2 systems demonstrated that the coherent cobalt-rich fcc precipitate in these alloys obstructed softening, initiation, and completion of recrystallization. The precipitates were deformed into lam~llae during rolling and those of diameter less than 250A remained coherent. Recrystallization took place by the growth of new grains into the recovered or poly-gonized material. In the first study," both matrix and precipitate reoriented in the same manner upon passage of the recrystallization interface. There was no change in particle size or morphology. Tanner and ~ervi,~ on the other hand, observed that motion of the recrystallization fronts was strongly hindered by the pinning action of coherent precipitates in the deformed material. Particles in contact with a pinned boundary coarsened and coalesced leaving a denuded zone in the unrecrystallized region. When the number of pinning points was sufficiently reduced by coalescence, the boundary swept past these particles and through the denuded zone. The authors1' considered this as a variation of discontinuous precipitation with both chemical driving force and deformation strain energy contributing to recrystallization. Preliminary observations by the present authors had revealed that recrystallization in Udimet 700, a nickel-base superalloy, occurred in an entirely different manner. Optical metallography showed that the recrystallized product formed as cellular colonies containing coarse y' particles elongated in the direction of cell growth. In this investigation the structural features of this reaction were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE As-received I$-in. rounds of Udimet 700* were (wtpct) 18.4 15.2 4.95 4.42 3.43 0.06 0.031 0.14 Bal. solution-annealed for 4 hr at 2150" and then fast air-cooled. An initial y-~' structure was established by a 4-hr age at 1825°F followed by a fast air,cool. Essentially the equilibrium volume fraction of ?' at 1825°F is precipitated within 4 hr. Microstructural examination showed no measurable increase in the amount of precipitate after longer aging times. Deformation consisted of swaging to 52 pct RA with 6 pct reduction per pass at room temperature. To reduce the precipitation potential to a negligible amount, recrystallization anneals were conducted at 1800"~ (982"~). Microstructures were investigated by optical and transmission electron microscopy. To prepare foils for electron microscopy, the material was first sliced into 30-mil slabs parallel to the swaging direction. Discs were dimpled and electrolytically cut from

Jan 1, 1969

Prof. G. W. MAYNARD, New York City (communication to the Secretary): Prof. Christy, in his admirable paper on "The Growth of American Mining Schools," has overlooked the work done by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in its department of mining and metallurgy. This oversight is naturally due to the fact that the department was, for lack of money, discontinued in 1871. It was organized by the writer in 1867, starting with ten students, who had already completed the first two years of the civil engineering course in the Institute. The course covered two years, specifically devoted to mining, metallurgy and assaying, which, in connection with the two years' drill in the civil engineering department made a four years' course. During the four years of the existence of the department, thirty-five students took the course, of whom twentyfive graduated; and of this number eight have been members of the Institute of Mining Engineers, and the majority of them have occupied high positions in the profession. The equipment of the department was, at that time, second only to that of the Columbia School of Mines. As Prof. Christy has cited other institutions which are not distinctively mining schools, but in which the ruining course was subordinate to other courses, it seems to me that the work in this line carried out by the oldest engineering school in the country may very properly be referred to. In addition to the regular mining course, a special course in assaying was given; and many young men were here prepared for positions in the mines and metallurgical works of the west. PROF. George F. Swain, Boston, Mass.: I have listened with great interest to Prof. Christy's valuable paper, but there is one conclusion at which he arrives that appears to me entirely unjustifiable, and to which I desire to take exception. Prof. Christy finds that of the total wage-earners in the United States in 1880,10.41 per cent. were employed in " trade and transport;" 20.24 per cent. in " manufactures and mechanics," and 1.83

Jan 1, 1894

By H. A. Kortmann, K. Koch, B. M. Grover, O. P. Burghardt

Addition of lime, especially when treating a hematite feed, sometimes results in swelling and a severe loss in strength during reduction in the temperature range 900° to 1100°C and in grain disintegration in the temperature range 400° to 600°C in a weakly reducing atmosphere. Swelling and/or grain disintegration of pellets is often the reason for trouble in blast furnace operation, resulting in a decrease in the rate of smelting. Following a brief description of the test procedures employed (measurements of swelling, pressure-reduction-softening and grain disintegration), some results are given which were arrived at when testing pellets from industrial plants. Results of systematic tests are presented, where the effect of the quantity and quality of the gangue upon the behavior during reduction of pellets is illustrated. Varying amounts of quartz and limestone were added to a high-grade hematite ore and, then, pellets produced in a pot grate. The relationships of the behavior of the fired pellets during reduction are presented, among others, in the ternary system CaO-FeOn-SiOP. Finally, an attempt is made to explain the reasons for swelling, loss in strength, and grain disintegration.

Jan 1, 1974

By S. H. Davis

The pyrites used in making sulfuric acid in the United States have been largely imported from Spain and Canada, the Spanish imports amounting to nearly 1,000,000 tons per annum in the pre-war period. The greatly increased use of sulfuric acid and the cutting off of these Spanish imports, incident to war conditions, brought about a threatened shortage of sulfur supplies during the war period. The bituminous-coal mines of ccrtain districts have, for many years, furnished a small tonnage of pyrite in the form of coal brasses. A mechanical concentrator at Danville, Ill., for a number of years, has been treating hand-picked lump pyrite and coal from the picking belt and from the mines and a small plant near Gillespie, Ill., for a few months has been recovering pyrite from washery refuse. Many mines throughout Illinois, Indiana, Western Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have shipped an occasional car of the hand-cleaned lump pyrite. Only a very small percentage of the available pyrite has been recovered in this way, however, as usually the miners throw such lumps into the gob with slate and other impurities. It has been estimated that the western Indiana coal field could furnish more than 100,000 tons of pyrite per annum. The present production is very small. The possibility of furnishing the domestic trade with pyrites recovered as a byproduct from coal-mining operations appears attractive but there are certain features difficult to overcome. Pyrite, to be used in acid making, must meet with certain requirements as to size and purity. Lump ore for grate burners should be under 3 in. (7.6 cm.) and over 1 in. (2.5 cm.) in diameter. Fines for use in mechanical roasters should be under quarter mesh. The material should be high in sulfur, free from arsenic and phosphorus, and as low in carbon as possible. The pyrite obtained from coal can be made to meet all the above requirements, but it is difficult to remove all the carbon. The pyrite in coal occurs as bands and nodules of varying thickness and size and of comparative purity, but mixed with this is more or less web sulfur. The web sulfur carries admixed coal, which may make the concentrate run up to several per cent. carbon. This makes the concentrates subject to firing, causes heavy consumption of niter, and lowers the acid-plant capacity, due to dilution of gases. The hand-cleaning methods

Jan 1, 1920

By Augustus J. Bowie

THE discovery of the auriferous cement gravel deposits in and near Deadwood Gulch, Lawrence County, Dakota Territory, in 1876, created a mining excitement, and rush to the Black Hills. Numerous ten and twenty-stamp mills were built on Deadwood Gulch ; Central City and the town of Deadwood sprang into existence, and became the centres of the mining industry of the Hills. Gold quartz deposits were subsequently discovered and located on a so-called mineral belt, extending from Whitewood Creek on the south, to Deadwood Gulch on the north. A northerly group of these quartz locations was purchased in December, 1877, by parties in San Francisco,, who formed a company, incorporated under the name of the Father de Smet Consolidated Gold Mining Company. This company immediately commenced the work of exploration. The deposits were proved to be extensive, and easily mined, but it was found that the ore, on an average, would not. yield more than $10.00 per ton* of 2000 pounds. At this time the cost of supplies and materials in the Hills was high. Miners' wages were $3.50 per diem, and custom mills charged $6:00. per ton. The successful working of mines on "the belt" necessitated cheap milling. The ores being of so low grade,† this could be accomplished only with large and economically running mills. To insure the greatest possible economy, the Father,& Smet mill * Up to December 31st, 1879; the de Smet mine had produced bullion of the value of $718,211.68 from 76,155 tons of ore, being an average value of $9.41 per ton. During the year ending December 31st, 1879, the mine produced 46,344 tons, which yielded $425,360.42, or $9.18 per ton. The total gross cost of working for the corresponding period, including deadwork, exchange, legal expenses, fete., wits $219,914.82. The yield of the mine for the year 1880 (Engineering and Mining Journal, February 5th, 1881), was $600,011, with total expenses of mining and milling, of $313,108. † The first 4083 tons extracted from the de Smet mine, were selected, yielding $62,783.97. The next 25,728 tons produced $230,067.24. The total 29,811 tons were weighed, and worked at custom mills. The yield of the first 409 tons from tine Golden Terra Mine was $11.44 per-ton.

Jan 1, 1882

ASSETS Working Fund Assets Cash-unappropriated $62,41294 Members' 1951 dues receivable 14,336 98 Accounts receivable Advertising, publications and miscellaneous $43,22055 Less-Reserve for delinquent accounts 12,775 76 $30,44479 Petroleum Branch-Special Projects Fund¬ Advances re Petroleum Conservation Volume 5,37085 35,81564

Jan 1, 1952

By M. R. Geer, Franklin T. Davis, H. F. Yancey

COKE with low phosphorus content is required by some of the electrometallurgical and chemical plants recently attracted to the Pacific Northwest by the hydroelectric power available from Bonneville and Grand Coulee dams. Shipping such coke into the area from eastern points involves a high freight charge, and during wartime consumes precious rail and ship-bottom space, so it is highly desirable to produce coke from the coking coals of Washington to meet the requirements of these industries. Although coke has been made from Washington coals since 1884, little has been known about their phosphorus contents or about the extent to which phosphorus could be reduced by cleaning. An investigation was undertaken, therefore, to determine the manner in which phosphorus occurs in the coking coals of Washington and its amenability to removal by ordinary coal-washing methods. PREVIOUS WORK Phosphorus is a deleterious element in coke used for numerous metallurgical processes, including the production of pig iron, yet comparatively little published information is available on the occurrence and elimination of phosphorus in any of the coals of this country. A variation from 0.009 to 0.062 per cent phosphorus in various horizons of the Pittsburgh bed in the Connellsville region of Pennsylania has been reported,1 and a reduction in phosphorus content from 0.020 per cent in the raw coal to 0.018 per cent in the washed coal was obtained in washing coal from the same bed in the Pittsburgh area;2 the latter figures represent average analyses for a year's operation of the washery on about 800,000 tons of coal. A reduction in phosphorus content from 0.018 to 0.011 per cent in washing coal from the Pittsburgh bed at another washery was observed, and the same report provides data on the phosphorus reduction obtained by separating 10 other coals on a bath of 1.35 specific gravity.3 European investigators have been especially active in correlating phosphorus content with petrographic analysis; fusain and durain generally contain the highest percentage of phosphorus, but this relationship is not universal.4 Some of these investigators have found that phosphorus is removed in the coal-washing process,5 but others have observed that the clean coal contained as much or even more phosphorus than the raw coal.6

Jan 1, 1944

By J. B. Fisken

(Butte Meeting, August, 1913.) BEFORE touching upon the immediate subject of this paper a few facts of a historical nature as to the general application of electricity to mining might be of interest. As to what was actually the first application of electricity to mining, opinions will no doubt always differ. My experience does not go back far enough, nor are the records to which I have had access of any value as covering this point. Sydney F. Walker, a man whose pioneer experience in the application of electricity to mining purposes dates back as far as 1876, ,gave an interesting resume of the subject in an address before the South Wales branch of the Association of Mining Electrical Engineers at its 1.913 session, and, unless his statements are shown to be wrong, they should be accepted as facts. According to Mr. Walker, the ignition of charges of blasting powder was the first operation in mining to be accomplished with the aid of electricity. Very frequently this energy was furnished by a static machine and occasionally by a magneto generator. Later, this was followed by the application of electricity to bell signals, and we are told that this application was looked upon skeptically and regarded as an expensive experiment by the mining managers of those early days. At the Paris Exposition of 1878, there was exhibited an electric lamp, which suggested future possibilities to the mining engineers of those days. The first successful application of electric lighting to underground excavations that I have been able to find any record of is that of M. Blavier. In the year 1879' he installed two Serrin lamps and successfully illuminated one of the large underground chambers in the Angers slate quarries. Another early application of electricity to the lighting of mines is that in the large chambers in the salt mines of Maros-Ujvár, in Hungary; these have been regularly and successfully lighted elec-

Jan 6, 1913

By H. G. Botset

A KNOWLEDGE of the water content of producing sands is becoming of increasing importance to the petroleum industry. It is now a generally accepted fact that practically all oil sands contain some free water. Recent experiments1 have shown that an appreciable fraction of the pore space of a sand may be filled with water while oil production from this sand is water-free. Crowther and Haines,2 in experiments on electro-endosmosis in soils, reported that there was no endosmotic flow of water when the moisture content of the soil was 14 per cent or less, indicating that the moisture content of the soil below 14 per cent was held by dif-ferent forces than the water content above this value. This result is confirmed qualitatively by Dunlap,1 who found that "as the volume of water in the voids exceeds approximately 15 per cent of the pore volume, the permeability of the core to kerosene is markedly reduced." The author3 has also found in other experiments that the gas flow through a water-saturated sand reaches essentially 100 per cent when the pores of the sand still contain from 10 to 15 per cent water. The velocities of the flowing fluid in the experiments cited were comparatively high, so that in practice one may expect, at lower fluid velocities, an even higher moisture content of the sands with water-free oil or gas production. Thus a knowledge of the water content of oil-field sands becomes of con-siderable importance in estimating petroleum and gas reserves, and effi-ciency of fluid recoveries from depleted reservoirs. Rapid and reasonably accurate methods of measuring the water content of sand cores have not been described so far in any literature that has come to our attention.4 The method described below is devel-oped from methods that have been used for some time to measure the water content of alcohols.5,6,7 It is an application of the fact that in the presence of certain organic liquids such as kerosene, carbon tetrachloride, xylol, etc., water and alcohol are only partly miscible. This relation-ship has been used for some time in the study of gasoline-alcohol mixtures where the presence of small quantities of water affect the solubility of

Jan 1, 1938

By G. C. Weaver, G. T. Harley

BEDS or lenses of potash and magnesium salts are found in a thick salt section (Salado) overlain by Rustler Red Beds in several members of which water is present and from one of which the refinery process water used by International is obtained. Most of the holes drilled are less than 1000 ft. deep, but some wildcat holes have exceeded 3000 ft. Cable or rotary tools are used to drill down to the salt. When samples of water are desired the cable rig is used, but when this is not necessary, and where caving material is present, the rotary rig has an advantage. The rotary rig has a further advantage in that only one machine is required to drill and core the entire hole, whereas the cable rig must be moved off to make way for the core drill. Casing is placed in the upper section of the hole as required to shut off water, and a 5 3/16-in. string is set in the top of the salt before coring starts. With the rotary rig drilling is often carried to the salt with no casing, as drilling mud seals off caving ground and water-bearing strata, and a string of 4-in, line pipe or 4-in. flush-joint casing is landed on top of salt. Several types of gasoline-powered core rigs have been used in the field and all recover a 2 1/2-in. core. More recently the Sullivan Model 37 rotary rig has been tried, and a Sullivan Model N has been adapted to use a rotary bit in the upper section. Core is recovered in 20 ft. sections with a double-tube core barrel, and the bit used is a bottom-discharge type set with diamonds. The drilling fluid must be a saturated brine to prevent solution and etching of the minerals present. Blowouts are apt to occur from nitrogen gas trapped under the several polyhalite beds, and some have been strong enough to blow the tools out of the hole. Core recovery is practically 100per cent. All holes are plugged after drilling, with cement through the salt section and opposite each water horizon, and mud through the remainder of the hole. Cores are carefully logged and preserved, and in sections containing potash and magnesium minerals they are quartered and analyzed. The correlation of ore beds between drill holes is briefly described.

Jan 1, 1946