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By J. T. Pardee

INTRODUCTION PLACER is a Spanish word, the definitions of which include "an extensive bank of sand or gravel" and "a place where currents of water deposit particles of gold."l The term, probably first used in the western hemisphere by Spanish or Mexican gold miners, is now generally applied to all detrital deposits that yield valuable minerals by washing. In the Western States placer products other than gold, including the silver alloyed with it, are chiefly sapphires, produced in Montana, and platinum alloys recovered in California and Oregon. During the war tungsten ore (scheelite) was obtained from placers in the Atolia district, California, and a number of diamonds have been found in the Sierra Nevada gold belt. Small amounts of stream tin have been produced in the Black Hills of South Dakota and a little monazite sand in the Boise Basin. Idaho. Magnetite, chromite, ilmenite, zircon, and other useful minerals are more or less abundant in the beach placers of the Pacific coast and in the heavy residues of placer mining elsewhere, but the problems of profitably separating and marketing them remain to be solved. Minerals of lead, quicksilver and other metals occur in many of the placers and although not plentiful enough as a rule to be worth recover-ng, their presence has, in several instances, led to the discovery of valuable lodes, notably at Leadville, Colorado. Historical summary.-In New Mesico, Arizona, and Southern California, placer gold was mined by Mexicans and Spanish priests in the first half of the 19th century or earlier. With these exceptions history of placer mining in the Western States begins with Marshall's discovery of gold in northern California in 1848. During the next twenty years placers were found in all of the principal mining districts that are known today. The richer deposits were soon mined out but a relatively large production was maintained from the leaner deposits chiefly by hydraulic

Jan 1, 1933

By M. A. Hunter

IN the present state of public affairs, the reviewer turns from his traditional role of recording the progress made in research during the year and views the whole situation in which he finds himself in direct relation to the immediate needs of the nation. The slow progress of research year by year fades into comparative insignificance. The sum total of that research in all the years which have past becomes of importance only in direct relation to the extent to which we have translated or can immediately translate it into in¬dustrial production. For in a wartime economy immediacy is of paramount importance. The outcome of the war is being determined by our ability to pro¬duce and fabricate the metals and alloys which we require for its prosecution. Aside from iron and steel which lie outside the limits of this review, the most important of the nonferrous metals now needed in wartime production are aluminum, magnesium, nickel, chromium, and manganese. Some remarks on their production and fabrication follow.

Jan 1, 1942

From the beginning to the end, the attendance and enthusiasm of the 119th meeting, which was held in New York, Feb. 17 to 20 surpassed all expectations. Besides the ten technical sessions, one of which was in conjunction with the American Institute of Electrical Engineering and one a session of the National Research Council, there were two memorial meetings, one for Dr. Raymond and one for the members who died in service; two joint sessions with the Canadian Mining Institute; and a meeting devoted to pictures of copper mining, milling, and smelting. Of the 732 persons registered, 119 registered in the Institute of Metals Division. Monday's sessions were devoted to the problems of industrial organization, the Institute of Metals Division, and to petroleum and gas. Among the special features of these sessions were the topical discussions on housing and. Americanization. Americanization, too, was the topic for discussion by the Woman's Auxiliary Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, nearly 100-members of the Canadian Mining Institute were present to discuss the possibility of bringing about uniform mining laws for the United States, Canada, and Mexico, to obviate the maintaining separate legal departments and managerial forces for the several countries; and to avoid the confusion which, it is said, has led to a duplication of effort and has sometimes created a barrier to international cooperation in mining. Among the Canadian delegation were D. B.

Jan 3, 1919

By Herbert Haas

1. INTRODUCTION COPPER matte is now converted into blister copper at a cost of only $5 per ton of copper, or, based on a 40 per cent. matte, $2 per ton of matte, which is the record of at least one large smelting Works; and it seems hardly likely that a further reduction, large enough to warrant, a change in existing practice, could be made in bessemerizing costs. But the new type of converter here described and the new practice proposed are intended, not so much for the treatment of mattes, as for the extension of, the process to the direct reduction in the copper-converter of pyrite ores

Jan 6, 1914

By M. Cohen

THERE seems to be a natural urge for the human mind to wonder about the beginning of things. When an explosion occurs, we immediately inquire "what set it off?" If a person contracts a disease, we are likely to ask "how did it happen?" On a much loftier plane, when we reflect about the universe, there is the inevitable question "what, or rather Who, started it all?" In principle, these varied queries have at least one attribute in common: they are attempts, whether earnest or casual, to search out the origin of events in nature. Accordingly, they involve not only scientific, but philosophical and even re1igious matters of deep concern. It is evident that, in a broad sense, the phenomenon of nucleation is enmeshed in this enticing concept of "the beginning", but we must extract the scientific component of the problem for our present purposes. Nucleation, as in the case of phase transformations, is best regarded from the standpoint of kinetics. There are then two main steps, which may come in either order: (a) Experimentally, one attempts to measure the frequency with which transformation centers spring into existence; and (b) theoretically, one seeks a model that will account for this observed birth-rate. Temperature, composition, strain, and prior history are some of the important variables that must be considered both experimentally and theoretically when dealing with nucleation in the solid state. Such interaction of theory and observation is an integral part of science in general, but it is particularly significant in the nucleation problem because the very beginning of a phenomenon invariably occurs on too localized a scale in both space and time to be detected with available techniques. Thus, there is little hope of making direct measurements on the nucleus during its birth or to ascertain the exact nature of the process; one can only infer the details of nucleation from the model whose predicted behavior seems to harmonize best with the measured rate of nucleation and its dependence on known parameters. In the field of solid-state nucleation, both theory and experiment call for much ingenuity, but somehow the conceptual schemes have spawned faster than they can be tested by observation. This is not to say that there are many basically new ideas in modern nucleation theory; rather, as we shall see, it is because the required fine-scale measurements are of immense technical difficulty. Quite likely, some of the nucleation models existent today have survived only because of the latitude permitted by meager data. There is great need to bring theory and experiment into better balance in this important area of physical metallurgy. Although one can

Jan 1, 1959

By Virgil Kirkham

NORTH AMERICA has for many years led the world in phosphate production, but with development of African deposits and their marketing conditions with respect to European countries, this leadership will shortly pass to Africa. Algeria, Egypt, Tunis, and Morocco have large phosphate reserves and a correspondingly large production because of easy mining and a ready European market, which was developed during the war. An increase in home consumption is destined to develop for the eastern American fields, and the countries of the Pacific will provide a market for the western producers. New processes indicate a decrease in fertilizer costs, which will encourage a more widespread domestic use and assure better marketing conditions. The African deposits, although benefited by a water haul, have the disadvantage of being isolated from a source of acid so that the crude rock is shipped from Africa to its destination, whereas in the United States the chief product shipped is acidulated rock or various types of superphosphatic fertilizers. The principal types of phosphate deposits used in the manufacture of fertilizers are guanos, apatite, phosphatic marl, phosphatic limestone, phosphatic shale, and phosphate rock which is also known as phosphorite. Some of these deposits are found on each of the continents; Table 1 gives their occurrence, age, location, character, extent, etc. Most of , the information found in this table represents a compilation of information published elsewhere in a different form and widely scattered.

Jan 1, 1925

By Richard H. Jahns

Gem materials, comprising those minerals and closely allied natural substances used for personal adornment, for the fashioning of ornamental objects, or for other decorative purposes, have been valued in human commerce for thousands of years. Amber, jet, natural glasses, and at least 15 mineral species were sought and used by primitive man, and most of the materials in common use today were known well before the time of Christ. Their variety is remarkably great, and the traceable relationships among their respective sources, modes of occurrence, properties, and histories of production, preparation, and valuation are extremely complex. Their uses have been affected by numerous shifts in fashion, and from time to time by superstition, by decrees of church and state, by personal interpretations of religious significance, and by various presumptions concerning medicinal value and influence on human behavior (Ball, 1935, 1950; Kunz, 1913; Pogue, 1915; Whitlock, 1946). Thanks to their durability, portability, and relative scarcity, some gem stones have been employed as media of exchange, and the investment value of the more precious stones has long been recognized and exploited, especially in Asiatic and European countries. Demands for gem materials have stimulated trade among various peoples for centuries, and they also were responsible for much early geographic exploration. During more recent times they have prompted numerous geological studies and a considerable amount of research on the growth and properties of crystals. Apart from decorative uses, some naturally occurring gem materials also are employed directly in numerous fields of industry. Substances that are manufactured for gem or industrial uses are termed synthetic gem materials; most of these correspond in composition and crystal structure to certain minerals found in nature. Imitation materials are those whose use is based upon their resemblance to substances of different composition and greater intrinsic value. Gem stone is a designation commonly restricted to those materials suitable for personal adornment, and the complementary term ornamental stone is applied to the remaining materials not used industrially. This distinction is arbitrary and somewhat inconsistent, owing to numerous geographic differences and historical shifts in end uses. Further, there is a complete gradation between the category of ornamental stones and that of dimension stone. Substances that lose their identity in use are excluded from the gem category; thus a transparent crystal of beryl would not be classified as a gem stone if it were processed as a source of beryllium metal. The adjectives precious and semiprecious have been employed as a means for distinguishing different gem materials on the basis of recognized value. Diamond, emerald, ruby, and sapphire consistently have been regarded as precious stones, and in cut form they commonly are referred to as the noble gems. Opal, pearl, turquoise, and chrysoberyl also have been classed as precious at various times. In recent years, however, it has been increasingly recognized that no satisfactory distinction can be based upon assessed value or any group of specific properties, and now all gem stones normally are referred to as precious. Indeed, the tendency is to extend this term to include many of the so-called ornamental stones, and the designation semiprecious has been essentially discontinued. Unlike most mineral commodities of economic value, gem materials are little altered in processing for end uses. Some stones are used in essentially their natural form, and most are reshaped and polished without significant changes in their fundamental properties. Thus the preparation of gem and ornamental stones is intended chiefly to emphasize or enhance

Jan 1, 1983

By Oscar A. Glaeser

THE mine and plant of the United Verde Copper Co., located in Yav-api County, at Jerome, Arizona, have been described in various technical publications and, therefore, a brief outline of its essential features will suffice. The orebodies are of the schist replacement type, the main sulfide mass being a large lens-shaped body approximately 7 acres in cross-sectional area. In general, the mineralization is found along the iron-schist contact, with the orebodies extending about 1000 ft. along this contact and varying from a few feet to 250 ft. in width. The mine is located on a mountain slope and has openings into it on three horizons, as follows: 1. Raises and ore passes open vertically into the shovel pit. These extend down to the 1000-ft. level, where they terminate as loading bins in the Hopewell adit. The main fan intake air shaft, which also extends vertically down to the 1000-ft. level, has its surface opening on the hillside at the extreme north end of the shovel pit, and the main mine air return exhausts through a raise at the extreme south end of the shovel pit. 2. The 500-ft. level adit. 3. The Hopewell adit on the 1000-ft. level. The mine has a vertical downward extent of 2000 ft. below the 1000-ft. level. Underground operations are carried on through two main shafts, both of which are wholly underground. Shaft 5 is the ore-hoisting shaft. It has three compartments and extends from the 800 to the 3150-ft. level. Shaft 6 is the service shaft, and is used for lowering and hoisting men and material. It has a large cage compartment and three smaller compartments for counterweights, ladderway, and pipe and power lines. This shaft extends from the 500 to the 2550-ft. level, and is now being extended to the 3000-ft. level. An air shaft for the downward movement of fresh air from the fan has been provided, and extends to the 2550-ft. level at this time. Work has been started to extend this air shaft to the 3000-ft. level. A return airway for vitiated mine air, in the form of raises and short connecting drifts, extends downward to the 2100-ft. level. The underground mining operations extend from the 300 to the 3000-ft. level. There are about 45 stopes in active operation on the 17 levels

Jan 1, 1929

By Arthur Crowfoot

INTRODUCTION The principal object of this paper is to present data on the development of the revolving convex round table as a concentrator for the through 0.07-mm. slimes from the ores of the Butte district, although same brief notes on the earliest recorded use of this type of concentrating table in the ore-dressing plants of the Lake Superior region and of the Butte district are also presented. The revolving convex round table belongs to the class of concentrating tables known as film-sizing tables, these tables using the relative transporting power of a film, or thin sheet of water, as it flows over a quiet inclined surface, to separate the minerals of a sorted product.

Jan 8, 1914

By Mark D. Tabak

Measurments of the transient photoconductivity in fillns of amorphous selenium with blocking- contacts haue been used in studying the transport properties. The results shozu that the transport of free carviers cannot be explained in terms of a model using bulk trapping. Measurments of the photocurrent-applied field characteristic as a unction of sample thickness do not pvoduce the scaling lau,s approps-iate lo a range-limited model. THE investigation described here was undertaken to explore the mechanisms of transport in amorphous selenium films. These films are used in xerography, where a photoconductor is charged electrostatically and then exposed to light to form a latent image. The sensitivity that one can expect when operating in this mode is directly related to the transport properties of the photoconductor material. The study of photoconductivity at high fields in insulating materials is often complicated by contact effects. Injection from the contacts can easily mask the fundamental transport processes that are being studied. A technique is described in this paper that allows a study of photoconductivity and transport processes in amorphous selenium films without the complicating effects introduced by contacts. Accordingly, the samples are prepared using insulating films between the sample and the metal electrodes, where the electrodes are capacitively coupled to the surfaces of the sample under study. A transient measurement is performed with pulsed light, and the photocurrent measured near the beginning of the pulse before the field is distorted by polarization at the blocking elec- trodes. A similar method has been described by Manyl using pulsed electric fields in studying the high field transport in insulating cadmium sulfide. EXPERIMENTAL It is possible to eliminate undesirable contact effects and maintain uniform high fields across the sample by using blocking electrodes and measuring the current-field characteristic under transient conditions. The sample configuration is shown schematically in Fig. 1. Each of the gold electrodes is separated from the amorphous selenium film by a layer of insulating plastic (Formvar) approximately 2000~ thick. The electrode on the front surface is semi-transparent to allow illumination of the sample. The whole configuration is mounted on a KEL-F substrate, which is a transparent insulating plastic having a thermal expansion coefficient that allows low-temperature measurements without cracking the selenium film. Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of the measurement apparatus. Light was obtained from a 450-w Xenon arc lamp, the intensity of which was controlled by stainless-steel screen filters and monitored by a pho-tomultiplier which was calibrated periodically against a thermopile. A camera shutter operated at 1/200 sec provided the light pulse and a synchronized signal to the oscilloscope. The photocurrent transient is ob-served with a high-speed picoammeter (response time of 1 msec) the output of which is displayed on an oscilloscope. The applied voltage is constant throughout the transient measurement. The selenium films were prepared by evaporation of four 9's pure selenium shot supplied by Canadian Copper Refiners. Spectrographic analysis showed about 1 ppm of Te and Fe, 5 ppm of C1, and 0.05 ppm

Jan 1, 1968

By J. A. Thompson, M. A. Mayers

IN recent years, the problem of damage to coke-oven walls by expanding coal charges undergoing carbonization has engaged great attention on the part of research workers in this field, and has led to the development of many devices for estimating these pressures.1-14 Only in Russell's method11 and in the Koppers ovens7 are conditions quite similar to those in commercial ovens. Tests even in these ovens are empirical because no information has been published to permit an evaluation of "scale effects." Owing to the relatively large wall area in these test ovens, the average wall pressure determined may be lower than that existing in localized areas. This factor may be compensated for in part by the testing of coal charged into the test oven at a bulk density that is as high as the highest that is believed to exist in commercial ovens. Both of these lacks might be filled by the development of an adequate gauge for the direct measurement of wall pressure exerted by the charge in commercial coke ovens in normal operation. Previous attempts to elaborate such instruments7,15 have resulted in units which, because they had to be water-cooled, probably produced changes in the conditions of carbonization, and which had to be removed from the oven before carbonization was complete, to avoid their destruction. Late in 1941 the Coal Research Laboratory undertook to develop such a gauge, in which gas pressure was balanced against the charge pressure and which thus would not require water cooling, on a suggestion made in 1937 by one of the present authors and William B. Warren, a former member of the Laboratory staff. The gauge heads themselves were to be simple and cheap enough so that they might be discarded after each run if seriously damaged. This would permit them to be left in place throughout the carbonizing period, when they could be pushed out with the coke. The basis of the design, of which the latest exemplification is shown in Fig. I, was that as the internal gas pressure within a flexible metal envelope was increased, the flexible wall would move away from a stop when the gas pressure just overbalanced the charge pressure. If the stop were an insulated electrical contact, the point of balance could be indicated by the breaking of an electric circuit. It was anticipated that, while the instrument must operate at high temperature, the presence of a strongly reducing atmosphere throughout the carbonizing period would so reduce-the danger of scaling that mild steel could be used for the gauge. This expectation has been justified. Danger of attack on silica oven walls by the steel gauge body can be eliminated by cementing asbestos paper or an alundum or silica plate to the back of the gauge body. The gauge head itself has a relatively heavy mild-steel body, A, into which standard ¼ in. pipe B is screwed to conduct gas and electrical leads. The body is closed by a single bellows C. consisting of two annuli of 0.011-in. (0.28-mm.) cold-rolled shim-steel spot-welded together at their outside edges. The lower one is

Jan 1, 1944

By Lyall Zickrick

Experiments of previous investigations have indicated that calcium-copper alloy, when used as a deoxidizer for molten copper, results in a sound copper casting of good physical and electrical properties. Braden-berg and Wiensl have obtained successful results in casting sound copper using calcium for deoxidizing. Masing2 has obtained deoxidized copper of high density and high conductivity by use of calcium. Pratt,3 in 1907, patented the use of calcium for the deoxidation and degasification of copper. Schumacher, Ellis and Eckel,l in 1929, conducted a series of experiments on deoxidizing copper with calcium. They concluded that so long as there is only a small percentage of residual calcium the mechanical and electrical properties of the copper deoxidized are not impaired, and the deoxidation is thorough. For this investigation, a copper-calcium alloy high in calcium and 10 variously deoxidized copper ingots were prepared. The investigation concerns itself with the casting properties and structure of these variously deoxidized ingots, their working and annealing characteristics, and the resulting physical and electrical properties of the worked materials. Preparation of Special Copper-calcium Alloy and Experimental Ingots For use as a deoxidizing agent, an alloy of copper and calcium with fairly high calcium content was prepared, by melting pure electrolytic copper in a graphite crucible in an ordinary gas-fired pot furnace. The molten copper was kept well covered with calcium chloride slag. Small chunks of calcium were wrapped in thin copper sheet, placed on the end of a graphite rod and plunged down into the molten copper and thoroughly stirred. Upon completion of the calcium additions the crucible content was poured out into a cake about one inch thick. Analysis of this alloy gave 4.4 per cent calcium. The alloy was brittle and easily broken into small chunks. Some calcium was lost during the addition, owing to

Jan 1, 1933

By Paul Merica

ALTHOUGH nickel was discovered and isolated as early as 1750 and its valuable properties recognized, many years passed before it was used commercially for wire, sheet, rods, etc., in the pure form. This was due partly to its high cost at that time and partly to the fact that it was not possible to refine and cast nickel into ingots sufficiently malleable to be amenable to the usual forging, rolling, or drawing processes. So remarkable was this fact, and so different from the experience at that time with metals such as copper and iron, that it has left its impress on the no-menclature within the nickel industry. To this day, furnace-cast nickel produced in such a manner as to be suitable for rolling and forging is called malleable nickel to distinguish it from the ordinary pig and shot nickel of commerce. In 1878, the firm of Jos. Wharton, of Philadelphia (which later became The American Nickel Works, a constituent of The International Nickel Co.) exhibited at the Paris Exhibition specimens of rolled pure nickel strip and of drawn nickel wire. About this time, there was considerable activity in the study of the refining of nickel and several methods were described, some of which were patented, for the production of furnace-cast malleable nickel including the use of manganese (Boed-dicker,1 Selve and Lotter2), the use of potassium permanganate (Bernsdorfer Metallwarenfabrik3) and the use of phosphorus (Garnier4). By far the most efficient method was discovered by Th. Fleitmann in 1879;5 it consisted in adding to the molten nickel, just before pouring the castings, from 0.05 to 0.125 per cent. of metallic magnesium. This soon became the recognized final malleableizing treatment for furnace-cast nickel.

Jan 1, 1925

Alabama.1 Arizona 1 Arkansas 2 California 2 Colorado 7 Connecticut 8 Delaware 9 District of Columbia 9 Florida 10 Georgia 11 Idaho 11 Illinois 11 Indiana 13 Iowa 14 Kansas 14 Kentucky 14 Louisiana 15 Maine 16 Maryland 16

Jan 1, 1952

By Henry G. Granger, Edward B. Treville

The Republic of Colombia is the northernmost country of South America. Its northern coast line exteilds from the frontier of Costa Rica to that of Venezuela, on the Caribbean Sea. On the west it fronts on the Pacific Ocean, along the Panama Isthmus, and down to Ecuador. It is bounded on the south by Ecuador, Peru and Brazil, which latter country with Venezuela form its boundaries on the east. Its area exceeds 500,000 square miles. It is deemed unnecessary to give here a map of the country. Fig. 1, a map of the department of Antioquia, studied in connection with a good modern general map of Colombia, will explain itself. Fig. 1 contains also some of the region of the Cauca valley, described in this paper. Access.—The interior of Colombia is reached through the ports of Sabanilla and Cartagena on the Caribbean Sea, each of which places is connected with the Magdalena river by a short narrow-gauge railroad, running respectively to Barranquilla and Calamar. From these points lines of river-steamers serve the ports of the upper Magdalena, which they reach in journeys of a week to ten days. After leaving the steamer, a short railroad journey, followed by a long and tedious mule-ride, reaches the cities of Bogota and Medellin. Quibdo, at the head of the navigation of the Atrato, and its most important town, is connected by steamer-service with Cartagena, by canoe-routes with the various districts of the Choco, and by mule-road, at present well-nigh impassable, with the heart of Antioquia. On the western coast the port of Tumaco is a starting-point for canoe- and mule-travel to the southern part of the department of Cauca, while Buenaventura is the port of the central section of the valley of the Cauca,

Jan 1, 1899

By Willis Burns

I. INTRODUCTION. These notes are submitted, not as a discussion of the modern practice of electrolytic-copper refining, but as the record of a refinery that was among the pioneers in the field and that is to-day, and has been for 17 years, operating under conditions not to be found in any similar plant in the country. I refer to the current density, which is at least 60 per cent. higher than that regularly employed elsewhere, and to the fact that the anodes treated are the direct product of the converter rather than of the reverberatory furnace. The writer has no knowledge of any other refinery treating anodes of this character.

Jan 8, 1913

By Ogden B. Malin

In conducting the manufacture of extruded brass rods and brass forgings it has been noticed that there is considerable variation in the physical properties, particularly the machinability of different rods and forgings, even though the composition, working temperatures and method of manufacture remain the same. It is the purpose of this paper to attempt to establish the cause and extent of this variation, and also to determine whether variations in composition within certain defined limits influence hardness and machinability to any marked degree. The writer believes that this variation probably is due to the variation in grain size of the metal, therefore the microstructures of several compositions under various conditions of working were examined in an effort to establish this as a fact. Survey of Previous Work in Studying Extrusion Defects Very little has been published concerning defects in extruded and forged brass. In 1921, R. Genders1 $ delivered a paper before the British Institute of Metals, relative to a defect inherent in the extrusion process. This defect, commonly found in extruded brass rod, shows up in the form of a circle in a transverse section consisting of oxides and impurities, and is generally present in the last 25 to 30 per cent of the rod. Genders concluded that the defect is caused by the turning inward of the skin of the billet at the edge of the plunger because the inside of the billet is more plastic than the outside, which is in contact with the cooler container; the outside skin will lag behind to form the rear end of the rod. Genders suggested a movable die as a remedy, and while this met with fair success, it is not used in present practice. About the same time as Genders' experiments, Tucker2 and Rosen-hain3 conducted experiments using colored plasticene in the form of a billet, and found much the same defect as Genders. Dr. Rosenhain State College, Pa.

Jan 1, 1932

By William H. Emmons

Jan 1, 1912

By N. W. Lord

There hare been made at one or two places in Ohio, during the last year or two, some irons of rather unusual phosphorus-percentages. The first of these which I had occasion to examine came from Moxahala Furnace, in Perry county. The furnace was built originally to smelt an ore found in large deposits near its furnace in the " black band" horizon. The deposit was easily exposed by simple stripping;" it was from six to eight feet thick, being a blne carbonate ore, very free from silica. This ore yielded, on analysis, from two to 3 per cent. of phosphorus, when carefully sampled. The furnace company had trusted entirely to old analyses made on "outcrop" ore, well weathered, and received all other results with indifference. The result of the first run of the furnace was an iron in large whitish-gray crystals, and so brittle that it could be pulverized in a mortar. This iron contained 4.90 per cent. phosphorus. A limited quantity only was made, which was gradually disposed of as a great ('softener" to foundries. The Moxahala Furnace was subsequently run on Lake Superior ore mainly. The second case of such iron occurred last summer at Mt. Vernon Furnace. A deposit of what was locally known as "Hallelujah" ore, was opened for the furnace. This ore was a blue carbonate, similar to the first-described. The iron made was pure tin-white in color, and showed large crystals without a trace of the grain of ordinary pig-iron. It was sopposed at the furnace to be spiegeleisen, and was sent to me to be

Jan 1, 1884

By Ralph Arnold

SOUTH of Havana, there is a geanticline that extends from Madruga to Bejucal. The older formations outcrop in the. east and gradually go under until in the Bejucal region the entire geological column lies below the surface, with the Nazareno formation at the top. The well we are now drilling is located at the deepest part of the section. I think there is a good chance to obtain oil, for the conditions are like those in the Santa Maria field in California. In both places asphalt occurs in the upper shales in the form of dikes that break through the older formations. The drilling in the Santa Maria field was brought about by the evidence offered by the asphalt deposit, which overlaid the oilfields. Detailed geologic work in both fields discloses pretty well defined domes with minor faults. Between Madruga and Bejucal, the San Francisco formation has come, to the surface in a dome and still farther east there are other domes near the base of the formation in which the Madruga chalk is the surface rock. The Bejucal dome was selected for drilling because, it gave the greatest evidence of petroleum in the form of asphalt and because it offered three chances of striking oil in the three possible oil horizons below the top of the Nazareno formation. The hole is now 2600 ft. deep and has shown considerable gas and some oil. The lowest gas sand will probably yield from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 cu. ft. per day. Very heavy mud has been used in drilling this hole and this has held back gas and oil indications.

Jan 3, 1925