Search Documents

By Glenn Alvey

THE measure of value of an oil property is approximated by the length of time it takes to "pay out;" viz., the time required for it to return the original investment. This time varies in different fields. In the Appalachian and Mid-Continent fields, a good investment pays out in about four years; in California, it requires a slightly longer time; and in the Gulf field about two years. The two principal methods for establishing these values are based on acreage, as in California, and on production, as in the Appalachian field. The method of establishing values based on production1 was worked out in the Appalachian fields and approximates the value remarkably well in some fields; but it is a rule of thumb and should be used intelligently. Briefly, the method is as follows: An arbitrary number of dollars (called the barrel-day price) multiplied by the number of barrels of settled daily production of the property gives the value.. In its crudest application, the barrel-day price is determined by the "$10 to $.01" rule, which means that the barrel-day price is one thousand times the prevailing price of oil. For instance, with oil at $3.50 per bbl. the barrel-day price would be $3500 per bbl. This rule, however, is not strictly applied, for the, barrel price is varied according to whether or not the wells "hold up." But when a barrel price for a district has been fixed it is quite general to raise or lower the price with the fluctuation in the price of oil; here the" $10 to $.01" rule is used extensively. However, the prospective purchaser takes into account tangible equipment upon the property, the extent to which the drilling program has been carried out, whether or not the wells are "shot" or natural, depth of wells, spacing of wells, paraffin trouble, etc.

Jan 1, 1921

By Alexander L. Field

The rate of elimination of carbon largely controls the time required to make a heat of steel by the basic open-hearth process and to an important degree determines the cost of refining. Practical experience has led to the generally accepted belief that the use of slags relatively high in iron oxide, such as are required to bring about rapid refining, leads to a certain sacrifice of quality in the product. As a consequence, a compromise must be made between the exceedingly slow rate of carbon drop which would correspond to the ideal case and the rapid rate which would best satisfy the condition of minimum cost. An increase in rate of refining necessarily implies an increase in the concentration of iron oxide dissolved in the metal. However, even for the infinitely slow rate that corresponds to slag-metal equilibrium, the metal would contain a certain definite concentration of dissolved iron oxide. It is a matter of great practical importance, therefore, to determine the quantitative relation between the minimum or equilibrium concentration of iron oxide in the metal and the higher concentrations which must actually obtain in practice. The present paper is devoted to the development of certain equations, derived from the established laws of physical chemistry, which will enable this relation between rate of refining and the degree of oxidation of the metal bath to be computed from operating data. So attempt is made to exhaust the possibilities of this general method of treatment. In considering rate of refining, attention is mainly confined to rate of carbon elimination. However, the equations are of a more general nature and their application may readily be extended. The results of the preliminary calculations given herein indicate that increased rate of refining may have a decided effect in increasing the concentration of iron oxide dissolved in the metal. The uncertainty which attaches to the calculated value for this relationship arises in part from probable errors in experimental data on which the calculations are based, and in part from the lack of complete or favorably disposed information on basic open-hearth practice. When the relation between rate of refining and degree of oxidation of the metal has been more accurately established than has been done in the present paper, it will then become possible to consider what comprises

By J. C. Prof. Smock

(Read at the Philadelphia Meeting, February, 1878.) THE fire-clays of New Jersey belong in two geological ages, the cretaceous and quaternary, or post-tertiary. Three very small deposits of plastic clays have been discovered within the limits of the Archoean rocks. These are not refractory and of little importance, excepting in a geological consideration. They have resulted from a decomposition of the feldspars of the rock in situ, and they have been classified as inferior kaolins.

Jan 1, 1878

As bizarre an example of competitive salesmanship to be imagined took place last June in Western Australia. A half dozen world renowned mining groups received a Japanese iron and steel investigatory mission. Geologists, engineers and businessmen, all specialists in iron ore, representing elements of the Japanese government and steelmakers, politely grilled each iron ore group for technical information and plans for property development. At stake were sales contracts with Japan for many millions of tons of iron ore. Since approximately two dozen visitors were involved, it was necessary to divide them into four groups for dispensing information, transportation and accommodations at the remote exploration camps. In a continent noted for its wide open spaces, the hinterland of Western Australia is spectacularly lacking in settlements. The state has better than one third of Australian land and statistically 0.8 persons per sq mile. In reality, however, over 400,000 of the 800,000 population reside in Perth. Under such circumstances, properly receiving and feting these important visitors would seem to be difficult but the competing exploration groups vied ingeniously to outdo each other in hospitality.

Jan 10, 1964

By Irwin Roman

Numerous results and formulas have been published for analyzing seismic records, but most of them apply only to large-scale phenomena such as are encountered in studying earthquakes. In a few cases,' formulas have been published for some of the simpler structures. In the present paper, an attempt will be made to analyze several types of structures without using methods more advanced than those of a first course in calculus. In tracing a disturbance through a medium, it is almost always possible to base the analysis on Fermat's Principle of Extreme Time, which states that waves of displacement travel between points in such a manner as to make the time of travel an extremum with respect to all neighboring paths. In the simpler cases, comprising most of those used in optics or geophysical prospecting, this time is a minimum and the principle is often referred to as the Principle of Least Time. Within a homogeneous medium, having a uniform speed of transmission of the disturbance in all directions and throughout the medium, the paths are straight and are refracted at the interfaces in accordance with the Snell law of refraction, which states that the ratio of the sine of the angle, made by the ray with the normal to the interface, to the speed of transmission is the same on both sides of the interface. Thus, in any medium composed of homogeneous sections, this same ratio has a constant value at all points. In particular, if all interfaces are horizontal, it is apparent that the angles of incidence are the angles made by the ray with the vertical direction. Furthermore, the incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal to the interface are all in the same plane at each refraction,

Jan 1, 1934

By L. P. Teas

The main facts brought out by the study of the blende-bearing ores examined are as follows: 1. Chalcopyrite as minute triangular or rectangular dots, or as

Jan 1, 1918

By Tokio Yanagida

Major parameters relating to the operating of the conventional calcine-charged reverberatory f'ce process such as distribution coefficients of major elements among slag, matte, blister, and gases, temperatures and weights of intermediates, and heat losses of furnaces were measured and determined. A computer program to estimate heat and material balances at the process was prepared utilizing these data, showing a good agreement with actual results.

Jan 1, 1984

By E. S. Leaver

THE purpose of this paper is to describe, in a general way, gold-dredg-ing operations in California, with particular reference to unusual features, including types of deposits and recent attempts to improve the recovery of the gold. DREDGING AREAS The gold-bearing formations that traversed the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas for a north and south distance of some 300 miles furnished the immediate source of the gold found in most of the placer deposits of California.. Erosion through a long period carried the gold, together with various forms of partly disintegrated material, to lower elevations and formed placer deposits. Through the classifying action of water in motion, the coarser gold and heavier material of various kinds were deposited relatively near the source; consequently, in' the higher moun-tain country, old river channels were worked feverishly during the early California gold-rush days because of their high gold content. With the working out of these known high-grade channels, and from the knowledge thus obtained of prehistoric stream beds, drift mining was started and flourished until about 1890. Even today many drift mines are operating with the objective of opening other old Tertiary river channels that have been covered by volcanic flows.

Jan 1, 1937

By John A. Church

IT is a well-known fact that under similar conditions a ton of pig iron can be made from any ore with less fuel when charcoal is used than when coke or anthracite is employed for heating. The cause of this superiority is entirely undiscovered, and no explanation has yet been offered which has won even temporary acceptance. Such as they are the hypotheses heretofore presented are of two general kinds, and they come from those two divisions of the working force which are so often antagonistic in all professions, the scientific and the practical men. The theory of the scientific men is drawn from the chemical reactions which are known to go on in the furnace, and it is well expressed in a recent paper by Prof. Akerman, of the Stockholm (Sweden) School of Mines. It makes the superiority of charcoal as a fuel in the blast furnace to depend upon its quick and thorough reduction of carbonic acid. This property belongs to charcoal in virtue of its porous structure. Its cells have a diameter of only one twenty-four hundredth of an inch, and one grain of charcoal has been computed to have a surface of two and four-tenths square feet. According to the theory in question, carbonic acid is formed by the first impact of the air upon the fuel; but in charcoal furnaces the acid is immediately reduced to oxide by taking the necessary amount of carbon into combination, and the gas reaches its highest reducing power even in the near vicinity of the tuyeres. Coke, being harder, does not produce so strong a reducing gas in that part of. the furnace. Carbonic acid is formed as in the case of charcoal, and remains longer before its reduction to oxide is completed. Anthracite is the

Jan 1, 1879

By Howard W. Miller, Charles R. L. Oder

APPROXIMATELY 5000 tons of zinc ore a day was mined during 1943 in the Mascot-Jefferson City district in East Tennessee. This ore came from the Kingsport formation, a part of the Knox dolomite, of Ordovician age. The Kingsport is composed of 350 to 400 ft. of limestone and dolomite. Thin cherts, sandy layers and shales are numerous. Frequently, the limestones are altered to crystalline dolomite. The Kingsport is divisible into four main lithologic zones. These divisions are illustrated in an accompanying table, which gives detailed sections of the ore-bearing beds as found in the mines and shows the exact positions of the various ore zones within the formation. Key beds are described and the practical applications of stratigraphy in mapping, prospecting and mining are discussed.

Jan 1, 1945

By George G. Griswold

The Parkes process of lead refining is based on the fact that when zinc isemixed with molten lead bullion, it forms an alloy with the silver and gold. This alloy freezes at a higher temperature and is of a lower specific gravity than the lead. With proper regulation of the temperature, the alloy solidifies and floats on top of the lead bath, from which it is removed and the silver, gold, and zinc recovered. The alloy should contain the maximum amount of silver (Ag2Zn,). The usual practice is to make two additions of the zinc. The first addition gives an alloy, or zinc crust, the zinc of which is saturated and is treated for the recovery of its zinc and silver; the crust from the second addition contains an excess of zinc and is used for the first addition on the following kettle. The crust produced depends on a number of items: purity of bullion, temperature, care with which kettle work is performed, addition of zinc, pressure used in expelling lead from crust, etc. It is desirable to make the concentration of silver in the zinc crust as high as possible; otherwise an undue amount of byproducts is produced, which greatly increases the cost of refining. It was formerly considered good practice to make a concentration of 20 :1. That is to say, if the lead bullion assayed 150 oz. dorê per ton, the assay of the retort bullion recovered from the zinc crust should be 3000 oz. per ton. As a matter of fact, the concentration should never, except on bullion assaying over 300 oz., be so low, and with low-grade bullion it should be 50:1. In one lead refinery where, ordinarily, the work was good, on a bullion averaging about 200 oz. per ton, a concentration of 24:1 was common; but how it was obtained was known only to the foremen. Changes occurred, and under new foremen the kettle work fell off badly; the problem then was to bring about this greater concentration. As is customary, the refincry had a "schedule" for its 60-ton kettles, which gave the number of pounds of zinc required for all possible assays, on both the first and the second zincing. Using this schedule, high temperatures

Jan 1, 1924

By A. Faber du Faur

At the request of some of the members to whom I have shown a collection of specimens of sulphur from southern Utah, I herewith present some notes relating to the mines and the method of extracting the sulphur from the ore. In preparing these notes I have borrowed from a paper by Prof. G. vom Rath, published in the Neue Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie, vol. i., 1884, dated Salt Lake City, December, 1883. The Cove Creek sulphur-bed, now worked by the Dickert & Myers Sulphur Co., is in Beaver county, near the line of Millard county. It was first discovered by Mr. Ferdinand Dickert in 1869 ; other beds in the same neighborhood mere found by him from 1872 to 1875, making altogether 22 mining claims. The want of railroad communication prevented the early development of these claims; but in 1883 Mr. F. Dickert put up a plant for extracting sulphur from the ore, which proved a perfect success; and in 1885 the property was transferred to a stock company organized under the laws of Utah. The railroad station nearest to the Cove Creek mines is Black Rock, on the Utah Central Railroad, 204 miles south from Salt Lake City, and about 26 miles west of the mines. The road from Black Rock to the mines passes through desert and lava-bed, to the road leading from Kanosh to Beaver, which latter road it joins near Cove Creek fort, a square stone enclosure, erected by the Mormons for protection against the Indians. Cove Creek fort is situated near the eastern limit of a plain bounded on the west at a distance of about 12 miles by the Mineral range, and on the east by the Sulphur mountains, forming part of the Tushar mountains. To the northwest the plain runs into the Sandy desert. About 3 miles from the fort rises a solitary hill about 1000 feet above the

Jan 1, 1888

By Vincent Carlsson

A comprehensive investigation has been undertaken to clarify how pellets are affected by alkali circulating in the blast furnace. The investigation has been performed with acid and basic pellets in a special furnace. Experiments were carried out to ascertain the influence of potassium on swelling and reducibility when added at different stages of reduction. After that, the significance of the quantity of potassium added in the hematite stage was studied. A parallel experiment with sodium as the alkali component was also con- ducted. Besides these vaporization experiments the effect of alkali on softening and reduction characteristics at high temperatures was investigated. The results showed that alkali always increases swelling, especially when added in the hematite stage. The addition of alkali increases reducibility of acid pellets during reduction from wustite to 70 % reduction. The softening temperature is significantly lowered by the addition of alkali and is, in any case, lower for acid pellets than for basic pellets. The microscopic studies showed that alkali ferrites can be formed irrespective of the influence of alkali on the slag phase.

Jan 1, 1977

By Donald E. Cummings

Measures appropriate for the control of the silicosis hazard in mining cannot be formulated precisely, but sufficient knowledge1-l9 has accumulated during the past quarter century to permit the suggestion of useful, though partly empirical, rules for its alleviation. The industrial hygienist today recognizes that the peril incurred by the inhalation of harmful dust is a function of two variable factors—the degree of harmful exposure and the specific susceptibility of the exposed individual to pulmonary injury. Control of the danger arising out of prolonged contact with pernicious airborne particulate matter is consequently best exercised by influencing both of these recognized variables. Obviously the problem has two broad aspects—one, medical; the other within the province of the engineer. I—Factors Comprising Degree of Individual Susceptibility Thorough investigations conducted among miners who have labored for years in the presence of recognized silicosis hazards usually reveal an impressive difference in the injury incurred by men whose exposure to dust has been nearly identical. After a quarter century underground, one individual is short of breath and incapacitated with miners' complaint, while a fellow workman suffers no pulmonary embarrassment and is in good health. Physicians ascribe this oft-observed difference in reaction to individual susceptibility and express a universal regret when they deplore the fate that chose to make the predisposed youth a miner rather than a farmer. To trust the health of miners to fate at the present time is even more unfortunate, because many of the factors that influence man's susceptibility to dust are known, and can be accurately determined by competent medical methods. Among the most important factors comprising susceptibility to injury by dust are the anatomical peculiarities of the individual's respiratory mechanism, his physiological response to the inhalation of dust, his previous dust, exposure, the existence of pulmonary infections or other pathological processes in his lungs, his age,

Jan 1, 1940

By Donald E. Cummings

Measures appropriate for the control of the silicosis hazard in mining cannot be formulated precisely, but sufficient knowledge1-l9 has accumulated during the past quarter century to permit the suggestion of useful, though partly empirical, rules for its alleviation. The industrial hygienist today recognizes that the peril incurred by the inhalation of harmful dust is a function of two variable factors—the degree of harmful exposure and the specific susceptibility of the exposed individual to pulmonary injury. Control of the danger arising out of prolonged contact with pernicious airborne particulate matter is consequently best exercised by influencing both of these recognized variables. Obviously the problem has two broad aspects—one, medical; the other within the province of the engineer. I—Factors Comprising Degree of Individual Susceptibility Thorough investigations conducted among miners who have labored for years in the presence of recognized silicosis hazards usually reveal an impressive difference in the injury incurred by men whose exposure to dust has been nearly identical. After a quarter century underground, one individual is short of breath and incapacitated with miners' complaint, while a fellow workman suffers no pulmonary embarrassment and is in good health. Physicians ascribe this oft-observed difference in reaction to individual susceptibility and express a universal regret when they deplore the fate that chose to make the predisposed youth a miner rather than a farmer. To trust the health of miners to fate at the present time is even more unfortunate, because many of the factors that influence man's susceptibility to dust are known, and can be accurately determined by competent medical methods. Among the most important factors comprising susceptibility to injury by dust are the anatomical peculiarities of the individual's respiratory mechanism, his physiological response to the inhalation of dust, his previous dust, exposure, the existence of pulmonary infections or other pathological processes in his lungs, his age,

Jan 1, 1940

By John M. Hird

Control of artesian ground water has played an important role in the development of Texas Gulf Sulphur's phosphate mining venture in eastern North Carolina. To facilitate dry mining methods, 60 million gpd of fresh water is pumped through wells from a limestone aquifer underlying the uniform flat-lying ore section. Hydrologic information revealed from pumping tests has been used in successfully developing a depressurizing system. Computer assistance is used to plan well patterns. High volume pumping has lowered water levels in water wells over a large area in the Coastal Plain without detrimental effects on water quality in the aquifer. Cooperative effort between mining firms will be required to control the ground water as new mines are developed in the district. An intricate observation -well system is monitored regularly over the wide area of pumping effect to ensure that gradient reversals have not caused salt water encroachment.

Jan 1, 1972

By D. W. Brunton

The maps of our large mines are usually prepared with the greatest care; and it is somewhat singular that, in compari~on with the great amount of time and money spent in surveying and platting, 80 little actual use is made of them. Almost the only purpose for which a completed survey-map is afterwards consulted, is the determination of the relative position of the different workings to each other, and to the boundary-lines of the property. After the completion of such a map, it should be made the beginning of another, and in most cases a far more important undertaking, namely, its utilization as a starting-point for a complete inventory of the company's underground possessions. The ordinary mine-survey map, being nothing but a record of what has been done, is, in one sense, only ancient history. To increase its value, such additions should be made as will render it a complete statement of the amount and value of ore in sight at any particular time, and a guide for future development. Comparatively little extra labor is involved in this undertaking, since the larger and most expensive part of the work has already been completed when the mine has been surveyed and mapped. The necessary additions consist in working out and platting on the maps, the geology of the mine as exposed in the workings, in such a manner that the geological survey may be of daily use in the development and operation of the mine. The first step towards the production of a geological map consists in tracing individual level-sheets from the general or composite map. The area to be included, outside of the property in question, will depend very much on local conditions; but, for geological, legal and commercial reasons, it should be extended as far as reasonably practicable. The scale to be

Jan 1, 1906

By R. Woodward Moore

A GRAPHICAL method of analyzing the data obtained from shallow earth-resistivity depth tests is presented. The method is based upon empirical results and has no theoretical basis. The usual apparent resistivity-electrode spacing curve is used together with a cumulative resistivity-electrode spacing curve plotted on the same sheet. The greatly reduced scale required for plotting the cumulative values of resistivity together with the effect of the summation of the individual resistivity values serves to minimize the effect of purely local surface anomalies and inadvertent errors of measurement. The point of intersection of tangents or straight lines drawn to intersect at zones of maximum curvature in the cumulative curve indicates the depth to the underlying material. Numerous figures are presented in which data from published reports and from recent field studies are analyzed and the results compared with actual depths established by borings or with depth values obtained by the use of theoretical methods of analysis. Smoothly rounded curves of apparent resistivity such as are often obtained in the field, and which have been a serious drawback to attempts to analyze the data empirically heretofore, appear to be susceptible to rather accurate analysis by the method described. The method is best suited to analyses involving shallow two-layer formations. It has been applied successfully, however, in analyzing the data obtained from tests made over shallow three-layer formations. As with most empirical methods, its chief advantage is its simplicity and ease of application.

Jan 1, 1944

By C. K. Eilerts, J. D. Ham

Laboratory research has been conducted to evaluate the characteristic effects of condensate saturation on the mobility of gas in typical reservoir rocks. A pump with two pistons provided phases in equilibrium at controlled flow rates and constant liquid-vapor volume ratios. Core samples were tested in a holder that permitted sealing steady-state phases in the pore spaces under flow test pressures for weighing with sufficient precision to give an accurate measure of the attained saturations. Parameters of the study were pressure, apparent velocity, flowing liquid-vapor volume ratio, fluid composition, core material and length-to-diameter ratio. Tests were conducted at 515 and 1,515 psia to determine the effect of pressure on the mobility-saturation relationship. Influence of the apparent velocities 0.30, 0.15 and 0.07 cm/sec and of five liquid-vapor volume ratios from 0.0001 to 0.01 was determined at 515 psia The principal fluid system was nitrogen and and separator liquid from a Gulf Coast condensate, but the effect of a condensate of different viscosity was also determined. The significance of a possible concentration of liquid near the outlet end of the test cores was investigated. Core materials included a consolidated sandstone and a low-permeability limestone. Relative mobility and liquid-vapor volume ratio relationships are concluded to be dependent on pressure, saturation and, to a lesser extent, on velocity. For each porous medium and fluid there is a minimum saturation essential to two-phase flow, and high velocities of flow have only limited effect on saturations in this range. INTRODUCTION It is now recognized that knowledge of the availability of a reservoir gas — the period that gas may be recovered from a reservoir at a given rate — is as important as the estimate of gas in place. When reservoir conditions are such that pressure decline owing to production will result in retrograde condensation, liquid saturation can increase in the structure around the production well in a way that may restrict flow capacity, and hence future availability. l Based on a numerical solution of transient radial flow of single-phase gas-condensate fluids, 2 a program for computing the accumulation of condensate in a reservoir and the effect of this condensate on deliverability has been developed. During this development a need evolved for data that described the influence of pressure, velocity of flow and condensed liquid on mobility as recovery progressed. This paper presents the results of experimental investigation to obtain insight into the mobility relationship at reservoir pressures of gas-condensate fluids. A core holder for flow tests at reservoir pressure was developed to weigh the core and its fluid contents under pressure to determine saturation. A specially constructed pump was used to drive a two-phase fluid through the core until a steady state prevailed. The core was used as a differential device, and properties measured were intensive rather than extensive. APPARATUS Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of the major pieces of equipment used in the mobility determination. The weighable core holder is connected to a two-piston, constant-displacement pump. Attainment of steady-state flow is indicated by stability of the flow differential read from the high-pressure manometer. WEIGHABLE CORE HOLDER An important part of the data needed was the mobility-saturation relationship. This required that mobilities and saturations be measured at pressures, flow velocities and liquid-vapor volume ratios characteristic of condensate reservoirs.

By G. W. Crane

When ore was discovered on the Tintic Standard property in the spring of 1916, new developments were immediately started both north and south of that property, on the supposition that in East Tintic the ore would be found to occur in northerly trending channels, similar to those so characteristic of the older camp. But 9 years of developments have failed to establish the existence of such a channel. This is due undoubtedly to important differences in the geology of the two camps, that were not recognized, and is indicative of the danger in the general tendency toward interpreting the geology of East Tintic too strictly in terms of that of the older camp. It should not be forgotten that while the two sections have had practically the same geological history, the net results of a long series of geologic processes have developed in them conditions that differ so widely and in so many particulars that the necessity of regarding them as essentially different districts seems apparent. In an effort to emphasize this fact, this paper is devoted chiefly to a comparison of the geological conditions as found in the two camps and is addressed more particularly to those familiar with the geology of the Tintic district. Following a short description of the several ore discoveries and of the Tintic Standard mine is a brief discussion of the evidence of ore channels in East Tintic. For my information regarding the Tintic Standard mine, I am indebted to the courtesy and generous assistance of Messrs. Wade and Snow of the Tintic Standard Mining Co. East Tintic District The Term East Tintic district is here used to represent that eastern part of the Tintic mining district lying between the productive portion of the old camp of Tintic on the west, the foot hills of Goshen Slope, on the east, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad on the north, and Silver Pass on the south, all in Utah County. As represented by the geological map, Fig. 1, it includes an area about 4 miles wide, east and west, and 5 miles long, north and south, within which the Tintic Standard mine is about centrally located. The map is a compilation of data supplied, for the most part, by the Chief Consolidated Mining Co. and represents the

Jan 1, 1927