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By J. F. Shirley, H. K. Burke

In January, 1964, three years of laboratory and pilot plant test work reached its culmination. The San Manuel Div. of the Magma Copper Co. switched its molybdenite extraction circuit from the sodium hypochlorite-ferrocyanide process to the new process described in this paper. The San Manuel Div. Concentrator of the Magma Copper Co. is located near San Manuel, Ariz., approximately 45 miles northeast of Tucson. The concentrator treats approximately 35,000 tons of ore per day containing about 0.85% copper and 0.025% molybdenite. The San Manuel ore body is a disseminated copper deposit in quartz monzonite and quartz monzonite porphyry. The primary copper mineral is chalcopyrite; minor amounts of chalcocite, bornite and covellite are also present in varying degrees. Pyrite makes up somewhat more than half the sulfide content of the rock. The molybdenite is nearly always found on fracture faces or associated with quartz veinlets.' On January 9, 1964, the sodium hypochlorite-ferrocyanide process that had been used for molybdenite recovery was replaced by the following process: 1) A conditioning step with hydrogen peroxide, sulfuric acid, sodium cyanide and zinc sulfate. 2) A two stage rougher flotation step with stove oil and sodium ferrocyanide. 3) One cleaning step with sodium ferrocyanide. 4) One cleaning step with sodium hypochlorite and potassium ferricyanide. 5) Four cleaning steps with an anti-foam Exfoam 636 and potassium ferricyanide. COPPER CONCENTRATOR Since molybdenite recovery is closely allied with previous steps in the operation, the copper concentrator will be briefly described first. The ore is ground to approximately 5% plus 65-mesh and 65% minus 200-mesh in a two-step grinding circuit consisting of rod mills in open circuit and ball mills in closed circuit with rake classifiers. A straight forward rougher circuit producing only one concentrate is used. The rougher concentrate is combined with the discharge from the regrind ball mills and is then cycloned, with the overflow going directly to the cleaner circuit and the underflow going to the regrind mills. The feed to the cleaner circuit is approximately 90% to 94% minus 325 mesh. The cleaner circuit consists of two stages in which the tailing from the final cleaner stage is returned to the primary cleaner and the primary cleaner tailing is returned to the rod mill discharge at the head of the circuit. Approximately 0.013 lb of the allyl ester of amyl xanthate (S-3302) per ton of ore is added to the rod mills and approximately 0.006 lb of sodium isopropyl xanthate (2-11) per ton of ore is stage added down the rougher banks. The frother used is methyl iso-butyl carbinol (MIBC) and it is added at various points in the grinding and the rougher flotation circuits. Lime is added to the ball mills and/or to the rod mills to maintain the desired pH in the rougher flotation. The rougher flotation has been operated at various pH levels between 10.5 and 11.5. Fuel oil is added in the regrind mills at a loading of approximately 0.01 lb per ton of ore. Factors Which Directly Affect Molybdenite Recovery: It has been found at San Manuel that, to obtain maximum molybdenite recovery, an oily type flotation collector must be added in the grinding circuit. When molybdenite is crystallized in the characteristic platy form, which appears to be the case almost all of the time at San Manuel, its surface has a greater tendency to adhere to oils than water. 2 Of the several oily type collectors available on the market, the allyl ester of amyl xanthate seems to be the best molybdenite promoter. The floatability of San Manuel's molybdenite does not appear to be affected, at least up to a pH of 11.5, by lime. It has been reported that at several plant operations high lime alkaline circuits have adversely affected the molybdenite recovery.3,4 It has been found through microscopic studies that the bulk of the chalcopyrite will float before the molybdenite in both the rougher and cleaner circuits. It is necessary to add fuel oil to the regrind mills to enhance the

Jan 1, 1965

By Kenneth K. Humphreys, Joseph W. Leonard, Robert L. Llewellyn, William C. McCulloch

INTRODUCTION 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 25,400,000 tons of bituminous coal were cleaned by air machines during 1965. 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 19 16, by the Sutton, Steele and Steele Co, Dallas, Texas, and the American Coal Cleaning Corporation, formerly of Welch, W. Va., seven other successful pneumatic coal-cleaning machines have been developed and introduced to the American coal-mining industry: 1. Peale Davis: "Pneumo-Gravity" machine. 2. Arms "Concentrator," oscillating table. 3. Hey1 and Patterson oscillating table. 4. "Stump Air-Flow," pulsating air jig. 5. "Super Airflow," pulsating air jig. 6. Ridge air jig. 7. Phillip air jig. While not all coals can be beneficiated by air washing, the air washing of coals that are easy to clean can be readily proved advantageous. Of all the preparation methods, pneumatic cleaning is the most acceptable from the standpoint of delivered Btu cost. This is based on the premise that a percent of moisture is just as detrimental as a percent of ash. The principle of dry concentration has never been determined with scientific accuracy. To the present time the study has been more of an art than a science. It is possible to forecast the results of wet concentration from a study of the washability characteristics of the raw coal but only after applying rule-of-thumb methods of interpretation to the specific gravity and size distribution can it be ascertained that the raw coal is amenable to dry concentration. Air as a separating medium dates back to biblical times as exemplified in the winnowing of chaff from the grain. However, the same application of air to coal serves merely to blow the dust away and size the remaining particles. Pulsating air was the solution to the problem and largely eliminated the necessity for close screen sizing which was required on early separators. Because of the low density of air, a medium of sufficient density has to be built with the material itself. Hence there must be some device to impart to the bed the necessary mobility for proper classification. Also, the

Jan 1, 1968

By Roman Y. Poderny, Vladimir V. Rjevskii

In the USSR, the Moscow Institute of Radio Electronics tronics and Mining Electro-Mechanics (MIRGEM) has started what it hopes will become a nationwide movement to educate mining students in the precise specialties that industry has come to require. Courses for mining engineers, the MIRGEM faculty proposes, should dovetail as exactly as possible with specific jobs available in the mining profession. Acting upon this thesis, MIRGEM revised its own curriculum in 1962 and has since presented an over-all plan for Soviet mining education before two mining school conferences as well as the Ministry of Higher Education and a number of major Soviet industrial ministries. The plan was universally approved with some suggested revisions. SOVIET MINING EDUCATION TODAY At present, mining education in the Soviet Union covers the exploitation of solid minerals and raw materials, including coal as well as ferrous and nonferrous metals. The extraction, storage, and refining of oil and gas is treated as a separate discipline. In all, there are 33 Soviet universities and institutes that train mining engineers for careers in the industrial, research and educational fields.

Jan 9, 1966

By Alan Kissock

MOLYBDENUM is thought of as one of the rarer elements, for though it occurs in almost every country of the world it is seldom found in commercial quantities. In this country, however, there is one deposit which makes the term "rare" a misnomer. There are two commercially mined molybdenum minerals: molybdenite, the sulfide, and wulfenite, a lead molybdate. Of these two only the former is of any con- sequence but wulfenite is of mineralogical interest. It is frequently associated with oxidized lead ores and particularly in arid sections. Deposits, however, are usually quite superficial. It is highly oxidized and yet it does not appear to be an alteration product for it apparently disappears below water level and I know of no case where primary molybdenite, or in fact any molybdenum whatever has been identified below these surface wulfenite occurrences. The genesis of wulfenite would make an !- interesting study.

Jan 1, 1933

By Samuel S. Wyer

THE following description of methods for conducting gas-producer tests is probably the first attempt to give the subject an analytical, thorough and comprehensive treatment. In some cases where tests have been made, the methods have been so unsystematic and ambiguous that it has been impossible to secure comparable results. To eliminate this difficulty, the following provisional code of gas-producer tests-which has some resemblance to the code of boiler-trials of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers-has been developed. The primary object in testing a gas-producer is to determine whether the producer is working satisfactorily or, what is the same. thing, to see if the efficiency is as high as it should be with the type of producer in question, and also to find out if the composition of the resulting gas is adapted to the work it has to do. In order that the test shall be of any value, it must be thorough and comprehensive, and must be conducted with skill and care. When so conducted, the test will reveal the economy of the producer; and, by making suitable changes, the efficiency will often be increased very much. As a result of the tests made by Jenkins, 1 the efficiency was raised from 56.2 to 71.2 per cent. This shows the large saving that may frequently be made in the fuel-consumption by studying the results of a careful test.. The log of the test, given in Fig. 1, shows that, just as soon as the temperature became regular, the percentage of CO, decreased and that of CO increased.

Mar 1, 1905

By Chester O. Ensign

Many publications to date have advocated under- seas mining operations, optimistically overlooking the paucity of information on mineral distribution and the ocean environments in which minerals occur. Such articles (smattered with opinion, as is this article) are herein tempered by my more conservative views on the economics of mining under the seas. For purposes of this paper, underseas mining refers only to the deeper surficial deposits of the continental shelf and the deep sea floor, i.e., the deposits of phosphorite and manganese nodules.

Jan 9, 1966

By Theodore J. Hoover

WHAT are the chief branches of the mining engineering profession today? In an effort to analyze the structure of the profession, for practical purposes, a quantitative study has been made of the membership of the A.I.M.E., and is herein reported for the first time. In spite of the effect that a long history and a relatively small group of professional workers have had in limiting specialization in mining engineering, there has nevertheless grown up a wide variety of specialties in this field. More than a hundred different kinds of engineers were discovered among the titles given by Institute members in the Directory, ranging from "advisory engineer" and "American engineer" down to "wire-rope engineer" and "works engineer." How should all these titles be defined and interpreted? How many of them should be relegated as meaningless or confusing? What are the relationships among the remaining useful designations? Should some of them be grouped as "metallurgical" or "chemical," or under some other head?

Jan 1, 1935

By Sydney H. Ball

A QUARTER of a century ago, a pessimistic Belgian financier in conversation with the founder of the Belgian Congo, that great ruler, Leopold II, emphasized the danger to the colony should the synthesis of rubber be discovered. The king replied, "I do not worry. The Congo has had its ivory period; it now has its rubber period. Tomorrow it will have that of its mineral wealth; eventually that of agricultural products." That "tomorrow" arrived some twenty years ago. Through her mines the Belgian Congo has survived the present depression, and her mines for the next decade will safeguard her. The Congo, in turn. is the surest foundation industrially and financially of Belgium itself. In few, if any, political units is mining as dominant as in the Belgian Congo. In 1930, 1931 and 1932 mineral products represented respectively 67.9 per cent. 70.5 per cent and 59.3 per cent, of the total exports. In 1933 for each white person in the colony, there was produced about $1,675 worth of gold, diamonds, copper, tin ore and minor mineral products and in 1930 the per capita production, notwithstanding the larger population, was almost $2,000.

Jan 1, 1934

By W. A. Barrows, Carl Zapffe

Jan 1, 1913

By S. A. Falconer

D. A. Dahlstrom—Mr. Falconer has done an admirable job of proving the adaptability of the cyclone to the beneficiation of a very difficult size range in the preparation of coal. The addition of the cyclone to other coarser size methods makes it economically feasible for the coal operator to rigorously control his marketed products at a high and uniform quality level down to the 48 and 100-mesh size. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that by utilizing the cyclone as a deslimer or classifier the —3 200-mesh fraction, usually containing large percentages of undesirable material, can also be quickly and cheaply removed from the clean coal. Advantages of such a step are several: (1) Reduction of ash content, especially where clays and slimes are serious. (2) lower moisture content of the final coal. (3) easier mechanical and thermal de-watering of the fine coal due to higher cake and bed permeabilities. The author has indicated that adjustable control means should be installed on the cyclone operating on a heavy-media slurry. This also holds true for the cyclone acting as classifier, deslimer or preliminary dewatering agent and is worthy of special emphasis. Such controls, while not necessarily automatic, must be simple, rapidly adjustable, and require a minimum of attention. Three methods available to the operator are (1) throttling valve on the feed line, (2) back pressure valve on the overflow, and (3) adjustable diameter underflow nozzles. The first two, while fulfilling the specifications, suffer the disadvantage of restricting capacity if severe throttling is necessary. The third method has little effect on capacity and easily maintains an underflow of correct moisture content. Several designs are possible, but two find the widest application. The first was developed by Robert Piros of The Truax-Traer Coal Co. and uses a simple casting containing two holders for underflow nozzles which can be rotated about an axis parallel to the cyclone centerline. These holders retain the underflow nozzle flush with the conical section walls. When a change in nozzle diameter is required, the new size is placed in the spare holder and rotated into place. A second design utilizes a soft rubber cylindrical tube which is compressed or released from three sides, causing the inner diameter of the tube to decrease or increase. This is achieved by using a machine-threaded,

Jan 1, 1951

By S. A. Falconer

D. A. Dahlstrom—Mr. Falconer has done an admirable job of proving the adaptability of the cyclone to the beneficiation of a very difficult size range in the preparation of coal. The addition of the cyclone to other coarser size methods makes it economically feasible for the coal operator to rigorously control his marketed products at a high and uniform quality level down to the 48 and 100-mesh size. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that by utilizing the cyclone as a deslimer or classifier the —3 200-mesh fraction, usually containing large percentages of undesirable material, can also be quickly and cheaply removed from the clean coal. Advantages of such a step are several: (1) Reduction of ash content, especially where clays and slimes are serious. (2) lower moisture content of the final coal. (3) easier mechanical and thermal de-watering of the fine coal due to higher cake and bed permeabilities. The author has indicated that adjustable control means should be installed on the cyclone operating on a heavy-media slurry. This also holds true for the cyclone acting as classifier, deslimer or preliminary dewatering agent and is worthy of special emphasis. Such controls, while not necessarily automatic, must be simple, rapidly adjustable, and require a minimum of attention. Three methods available to the operator are (1) throttling valve on the feed line, (2) back pressure valve on the overflow, and (3) adjustable diameter underflow nozzles. The first two, while fulfilling the specifications, suffer the disadvantage of restricting capacity if severe throttling is necessary. The third method has little effect on capacity and easily maintains an underflow of correct moisture content. Several designs are possible, but two find the widest application. The first was developed by Robert Piros of The Truax-Traer Coal Co. and uses a simple casting containing two holders for underflow nozzles which can be rotated about an axis parallel to the cyclone centerline. These holders retain the underflow nozzle flush with the conical section walls. When a change in nozzle diameter is required, the new size is placed in the spare holder and rotated into place. A second design utilizes a soft rubber cylindrical tube which is compressed or released from three sides, causing the inner diameter of the tube to decrease or increase. This is achieved by using a machine-threaded,

Jan 1, 1951

By Eli T. Conner

(Wilkes-Barre Meeting, June, 1911.) My connection, under a commission from the Councils and Board of School Control of the city of Scranton, Pa., with a recent investigation of mine-caves and the resultant damages to surface-improvements, has led to the preparation, at the invitation of our Secretary, of the present paper. It is notorious that there are, in the anthracite-fields, frequent subsidences of the surface, due to the removal of the coal beneath. No particular attention is paid to such occurrences, unless they happen to injure surface-improvements. Many caves have happened in Scranton and its vicinity, which have excited but little remark, since they have generally caused no serious damage. In August, 1909, a cave occurred in the Hyde Park section of the city, generally known as the West Side, which nearly destroyed school-house No. 16 and considerable adjacent property. 'Fortunately, there were no pupils in the building at the time; but the thought of the possible result, bad the usual number of pupils and teachers been present, aroused the public to the gravity of the situation; and the School Board employed engineers to investigate the case. Two reports were made by separate sets of engineers, which differed in some particulars. These differences were pointed out in the public press and magnified, and the consequent agitation of the subject was taken tip and greatly exaggerated by some of the metropolitan newspapers, giving to uninformed people the very erroneous impression that the whole city of Scranton was in danger of sinking into the bowels of the earth. All this tended to affect the credit of the city and to depress real-estate values. The matter was considered at a joint meeting of the Board of Trade, the Councils, and the School Board. The Hon. J. Ben. Dimmick, a former Mayor, suggested that it

Sep 1, 1911

By JOHN JERMAIN

In my opinion, the explanation of the fuel-requirements involving the conception of heat available and necessary above a critical temperature, as advanced by Johnson 1 and elaborated by Howe, Raymond and others,2 affords a theoretically correct basis for such an accounting. It is the purpose of this paper to set forth a first crude attempt to construct a formula which shall show quantitatively the relation between the various factors affecting fuel-economy, and afford a means of comparing the enormous amount of data on the fuel-consumption of various blast-furnaces, at various times and under various conditions of operation. I have also applied this formula to a large number. of individual cases, and have, by its means, compared the furnace-practice of several important iron-making districts. II. DERIVATION OF FORMULA FOR FUEL-REQUIREMENTS. The general expression for the fuel-requirements of the blast-furnace, which I believe to be theoretically correct as to form, is as follows Carbon per ton of iron = Heat per ton of iron necessary in hearth above Tc./Heat per pound of carbon available in hearth above Tc. XFactor of rate of driving. +Carbon dissolved by CO2 of flux. +Carbon dissolved incidental to reduction of ore. + Carbon dissolved in pig-iron. (NOTE.-Tc = critical temperature.) Since, according to Johnson's theory, fuel-economy is usually limited by heat available and necessary in the hearth, rather than by the total heat supplied and necessary, we may write Carbon needed in hearth = Hn/Ha in which Hn is the heat per ton of iron necessary in the hearth above some critical temperature, and Ha is the heat per pound of carbon available in the hearth above this same critical tem¬perature. 1 Trans., xxxvi., 454 (1906). 2 Trans, xxxvi., 792 to 798 (1906) ; Trans, xxxvii., 216 to 237 (1907).

May 1, 1911

By H. Kenworthy, M. M. Fine

The progress made to date in the mineral dressing of complex Arkansas titanium ores is reported in this paper. Concentrates of rutile, a dioxide of titanium, were produced by treating a submarginal ore from the Magnet Cove Rutile Co., Inc., Magnet, Ark. The rutile recovery at present is 45 to 50 pct of the total TiO2 with the possibility of increased recovery with additional research. The work reported herein is part of a general study which will later include results of investigation of other titanium ore bodies in the Magnet, Ark., area. The fragile character of the rutile minerals, the softness of the gangue, the occurrence of pyrite and leucoxene, and the considerable proportion of extremely small size rutile in the presence of montmorillonite- and illite- type clays in the Magnet Cove open-pit mine are the important factors in the mineral dressing of this submarginal rutile ore.

Jan 1, 1949

By GEORGE L. CHRISTIAN

T HE Tonopah Extension assay office is a two- story, concrete structure on a solid foundation of andesite, situated about 100 yd. from the company's mill, so that it will not be affected by the stamps or the tube-mills; also it will not be affected by under- ground blasting. On the second floor are the mine superintendent's office and drafting and blueprint rooms. On the ground floor are the assayer's office,' mixing room, furnace room, crusher room, chemical laboratory, parting room, store room, and change and shower room for the mine superintendent, assayers, and engineers. The crusher room is outside of the main building, and has four concrete walls, thus eliminating the jar of the crusher; it is so situated that the least possible amount of dust spreads through the main building. An 8 by 10-in. jaw crusher, which crushes to ¼ in., was made by a local foundry. Attached to the top is a small galvanized-iron hopper covered with a ¼ in. screen, on to which the sample is dumped. The fines-pass through the screen into the hopper, while the oversize is dumped into the crusher. The crushed sample and fines from the screen drop down to a set .of splits suspended from an iron rod below the crusher jaws. The small sample is caught below in a small pulp pan. The rejects drop from the splits through a 2-in. pipe on to a bucket conveyor, which dumps into a galvanized-iron hopper in an upper corner of the room. The rejects drop through a 2-in. pipe to a reject bin outside the build- ing. This bin is constructed high enough for a truck to be loaded from it by means of a chute door on the side.

Jan 1, 1921

By H. M. Chance

Discussion of the paper of H. M. Chance, Bi-Monthly Bulletin, No. 23, September, 190S, pp. 791-808. CHARLES CATLETT, Staunton,Va. (communication to the Secretary *):-Mr. Chance's suggestions that the brown hematite ores of the Potsdam formation are due to the alteration in place of iron sulphide, and that their extension may reasonably be expected to contain valuable deposits of unaltered sulphide, are interesting; but the facts marshaled by him are too limited to justify more than the hope that they may serve as a commercial source of sulphur. It is true that these deposits have been the source of large amounts of iron-ore; and it. is common, as stated by him, for the mining operations to extend to a shallow depth only; but this is largely due to the fact that the surface-material represents an accumulation from the breaking down and collection of the ore which formerly reached a much higher level. With, increasing depth comes a decreasing thickness of valuable material. This is especially appreciated by a glance at Mr. Chance's drawings. This is the reason why so many disappointments have resulted when these ores have been followed to greater depths. Even if the ore is largely derived from oxidation in place, it is impossible to ignore the great number of concretionary forms, as well as those showing the evidence of secondary solution and deposition now taking place, such, for instance, as the part replacements of fragments of quartzite derived from the underlying beds. Concretionary form does not necessarily mean long transportation, and may be a variation of material in place; but commonly it is an evidence of collection, and tends to imply that more or less concentration has taken place. This fact would also argue against an equally extensive develop¬-

Nov 1, 1908

By William B. Plank

NEVER before have so many men chosen the mineral technology field for their college training. In the college year 1936-'37, 7190 such students were enrolled in the 53 schools of the United States. My last study of the mineral technology schools of the United States and Canada was made for the year -1934-'35, and the current study, as the previous one was made for the A.I.M.E. under the auspices of the Division of Mineral Industry Education. Altogether, four studies of enrollment have been made. The first three were for successive college years beginning with 1932-'33. This present one covers a two-year period, for the purpose of these studies may he served satisfactorily if they are made biannually. The data on the schools were collected in the same way as for former studies, 'namely, by questionnaire, dated in this case Nov. 18, 1936. The figures reported are therefore comparable with those of former cars.

Jan 1, 1937

The University of North Dakota, State Geological Survey, Grand Forks, N. D A G. Leonard, State Geologist. Two publications of the State Geological Survey are of interest Fourth Biennial Report, The clays and clay industries of North Dakota, and Bulletin 4, Lignite deposits and lignite industries of North Dakota. Bulletin 11 of the University is of interest: Geology and natural resources of North Dakota For further information, address the above

Jan 1, 1933

Executive SIDNEY J. JENNINGS, Chairman GEORGE D. BARRON J. E. JOHNSON, JR. EDWIN LUDLOW ROBERT M. RAYMOND Membership KARL EILERS, Chairman LEWIS W. FRANCIS J. E. JOHNSON, JR. LOUIS D. HUNTOON ARTHUR L. WALKER Finance GEORGE D. BARRON, Chairman CHARLES F. RAND BENJAMIN B. THAYER Library E. GYBBON SPILSBURY,1 Chairman ALEX C. HUMPHREYS3 GEORGE C.' STONE2 J. H. JANEWAY4 BRADLEY, STOUGHTON Papers and Publications BRADLEY STOUGHTON, Chairman

Jan 7, 1918

By A. Lubinski, C. R. Stewart, K. A. Blenkarn

Storage porosity has been considered one of the important pore geometry characteristics of heterogeneous-porosity limestones. Storage pores are only containers for fluids, in contrast to flow channel pores which both contain fluids and provide continuity for fluid flow. The concept of another geometry characteristic, "poro-striction", is presented as a second pertinent variable in describing limestone pore space. In simple terms, poro-striction is a measure of the flow resistance between storage and flow channel pores. Alternating-flow core-testing theory provides flow relationships which can be used to divide the pore space of heterogeneous-porosity media into flow channel and storage pores and to measure the "porostriction" of the latter. Experimental application of this theory to naturally occurring heterogeneous limestones shows that "porostriction" and the ratio of storage to flow channel pores can be estimated. Porostriction and porosity ratio are microscopic characteristics which should influence oil-recovery efficiencies during certain types of displacement processes. A knowledge of pore geometry should be valuable in designing or selecting the most effective oil-recovery process for heterogeneous limestones containing storage porosity. INTRODUCTION The primary and secondary recovery of oil from limestone (carbonate) reservoirs has been and will continue to be a major source of the world's supply of petroleum. Oil recovery from this type of formation is strongly influenced by the size, shape and arrangement of the pore spaces which hold the formation fluids. Therefore, it is expected that better knowledge of pore geometry would lead to design of more effective recovery processes. The concept of storage and flow channel pores has been presented as an important characteristic of limestone porosity.1 In this concept, storage pores are only containers for fluids, whereas flow channel pores are those pores which both contain and transmit the fluids. The work reported herein involves the concept of an additional pore characteristic called "porostriction". This characteristic can be visualized as the flow resistance between the storage and flow channel pores. This resistance is an important pore geometry characteristic because it determines how easily gas and oil can replenish fluids removed from the flow channel pores. Fatt and co-workers at the U. of California have studied the effect of storage porosity and a factor similar to porostriction on transient-flow response of models of porous media during a pressure build-up or drawdown test.55 These models consisted of porous sandstone cores with artificially simulated storage pores. It is the purpose of this paper to describe tests which permit the storage porosity and porostriction of actual reservoir core samples to be estimated. The tests used for this purpose involved not transient tests but, rather, an alternating-flow technique in which pressure and flow are varied according to a sine-wave relationship. This technique may offer advantages over transient methods. THE POROSTRICTION CONCEPT Before discussing alternating-flow (A.F.) tests in core samples, it is necessary to define the porostriction parameter. For this purpose attention is focused upon an elemental volume v representative of a porous medium having both flow channel pores and restricted-access storage pores. For such an elemental volume, it is considered that the storage porosity is combined to form a single pore and that the access into the storage porosity may be represented by a single capillary tube connecting the single pore to the flow channels of the elemental volume. Let the radius of the capillary tube be designated as Rc and its length as L,. When fluid flows into or out of the pore, the following equation (Poiseuille's law) relates flow rate q to pressure drop p, and the physical characteristics of the tube and the fluid of viscosity jx.