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Discussion of the paper of J. K. FURST, presented at the Pittsburgh meeting, October, 1914, and printed in" Bulletin No. 94, October, 1914, pp. 2493 to 2514. W..McA. JOHNSON, New York, N. Y.-On discussing this paper I am open to the criticism of "bringing coals to Newcastle," as I, a zinc man, am bringing new ideas on steel to Pittsburgh. But still the view of an outsider can be valuable to the insider. Any multistage process, where each apparatus operates on its particular part of the work at a high efficiency, constitutes an advance in the state of art. But in multiplicity there can be complication and ensuing loss and inefficiency. The duplex steel process is not the pronounced success which was predicted for it by its adherents, for several of such plants have reverted to plain open-hearth methods. If we regard broadly refining processes, such as the Bessemer, open-hearth, puddling, copper refining, lead cupelling, nickel refining, we find that in general refining processes are intermittent and 'concentration processes are continuous. (This generalization I believe to be original with me; it was communicated to Dr. E. F. Roeber, editor, and appeared as an editorial in Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering, March, 1905.) Where we desire primarily quality in a metallurgical operation we must put a batch of metal in the furnace, work on it until we get it to the required purity, test it, and take it out; whereas, if we desire primarily quantity we shove ore into a furnace and smelt it as fast as possible, allowing conditions to make a non-uniform product provided only we get tonnage. From general commercial principles, I believe that the weak point of the duplex process is that the operation is not a money maker unless the plant is kept at. 90 to 95 per cent. of its rated capacity, or unless the Bessemerizing is done so often that it is practically continuous. For in some manner the operation should be made continuous and the control on the tonnage should be commercially flexible. The commercial rigidity of having to control purity exactly increases operating costs without a corresponding gain. Conversely, the chief reason for failure of "steel from ore direct" is that it makes a final operation continuous, which should be naturally intermittent.

Jan 4, 1915

By A. Lee Barrett

The Maintenance Committee of the Coal Division of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers is presenting as a part of this report the second of a series of maintenance cost comparisons. The committee's purpose is to assemble maintenance costs on all equipment connected with mechanical operations at the face of coal mining and to arrange these costs by districts so that comparisons can be made between districts and within districts. The committee, this year, sent 35 questionnaires to representative coal companies who either reported last year or had advised specifically of the inability to report to last year's questionnaire primarily because of limited time. The response to the questionnaire this year as not as good as last year, only 20 of the 35 selected companies returning a completed questionnaire. This year's data have been compiled and combined with last year's data to present a comparison of the 1945 and 1946 costs of loading machines, shortwall cutting machines, universal cutting machines, service locomotives, shuttle cars, and mine cars. The same tabulation by districts is used as was used for 1945. As was indicated by last year's report there is considerable variation in the in cost of mining machinery in the various coal mining districts and due to this high variability it was not felt practical to attempt to arrive at weighted averages. Consequently, all average figures used in this report are straight averages. An analysis was made of companies reporting both this year and last year in an attempt to determine the trend in maintenance costs for different classes of equipment. Ten representative companies are used in this computation. Table I shows the average cost for 1945 and 1946. It is felt that the negative trend in the maintenance cost of universal cutting machines probably represents the effect of the purchase of a relatively large number of new machines in 1946 with little maintenance cost appearing during the first Year of operation. The grand total figure indicates an upward trend amounting to plus 18.7 pet. However, this figure is viewed with some suspicion because of the effect of the universal cutters decreasing maintenance cost and it is concluded that direct application of percentage increase should be made to types of equipment. In Table 2 covering maintenance costs of various types of mining equipment for 1945 and 1946 the results obtained in Table I indicating trends were applied to those

Jan 1, 1949

By I. I. Gardescu

Rumania produced during 1936 some 62,500,000 bbl. of oil. Of this production, 99 per cent comes from an area running east and west along the southern foothills of the Carpathian Mountains just north of Bucharest. This almost rectangular area measures 20 by 40 miles and is located in the districts of Dambovita and Prahova between the cities of Targovigte to the west and Mizil to the east. The remainder of the production is about evenly divided between the oil fields north and east of Mizil in the Buzh district and those to the north on the eastern flanks of the Carpathian Mountains in the district of Baciiu. The Transylvanian Basin to the north and west of the Carpathian Mountains has produced to date only dry gas from its numerous salt domes. Bucsani Field The Bucgani oil field produced 15,600,000 bbl., or 25 per cent of the total production of Rumania in 1936. Bucgani is a deep-seated salt dome 7 miles south of the old Moreni oil field. A slight surface doming, not dissimilar to the topography observed on some of the oil fields of the Californian basin, called attention to the area. It is the southernmost oil field and, together with the deep-seated and prolific Boldesti field, points to the great oil possibilities of the deep-seated domes along the northern edge of the Rumanian plains south of the Carpathian foothills. The Government is the principal owner of the oil and gas subsurface rights in the areas south of the foothills. The acquisition of leases by the operating oil companies may be made either by application for an exploration permit, the company being assigned part of the acreage in case of successful wildcatting, or, if the area has already been declared as proven territory, through competitive bidding. A block of 164 acres was auctioned recently for $200,000, or $1200 per acre. The largest producer in the Bucgani oil field is the Steaua Romana, which produced 39.5 per cent of the total for the field. The Steaua Romana is a post-war company and 50 per cent of its shares are owned by the British Steaua and the Steaua Franpaise and the other 50 per cent by a group of Rumanian banks and by the Government. The Colombia,

Jan 1, 1937

By Ralph H. Sweetser

AT the joint session of Blast Furnace and Open Hearth Committees, April 7, 1937, at Birmingham, the subject of the quality of basic open-hearth pig iron was so well presented and discussed from so many different viewpoints that it was the general opinion that progress had been made and that such meetings were conducive to the advancement of the art of making pig iron of the right quality for the open-hearth man to produce the most satisfactory quality of steel. It was agreed that there is a decided differentiation between the chemical analysis of pig iron and the "quality" of pig iron. Paul J. McKim said that open-hearth furnace operators frequently make reference to certain types of iron as "bad iron," "dirty iron," "cold metal," etc., claiming that when using these irons, although they are within specified chemical analysis, it is impossible to produce quality steel. Mr. McKim gave a list of the suggested causes of those "certain types" of bad irons that have a thoroughly respectable analysis but a thoroughly disreputable character. Another open-hearth man, P. A. MacIsaac, of Nova Scotia, said that The effects of iron that is below standard in analysis or in that mysterious property called quality, are well known to all open-hearth operators. It has been shown that iron of this type results in the production of steels on which the rejections of finished product run high. What is to be done about it? I would say that the burden of producing high-quality iron should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the blast furnace man, even as that of making good steel is shouldered by the open-hearth man. It is the purpose of this paper to bring out into the open this "mysterious property called quality"; that is, in those "certain types" of basic pig iron that make it impossible to produce quality steels; and at the same time to point the way for the blast-furnace man to be able to shoulder the burden that Mr. MacIsaac and all other open-hearth men and foundry-men have placed upon him. Silicon, sulphur, phosphorus and manganese are not the guilty elements because these are known, specified and usually kept within the

Jan 1, 1938

By Philip W. Henry

There is a difference of opinion among engineers on the subject of depreciation in general, and still more on its application to any given case The committee which was appointed by the American Society of Civil Engineers to make a report on Valuation of Public Utilities, states "There is no subject connected with valuation about which there are more diverse views than those relating to depreciation;" and in the discussion which took place upon the presentation of the preliminary report of this committee in January, 1914, that part of the report dealing with depreciation called forth more discussion than any other. From this discussion it was evident that the word "depreciation" was not always used in the same sense, so it is quite important that some definition be adopted. As this paper relates to the proper method of treating depreciation by corporations or individuals operating oil properties, both of which must make a return of annual net income to the government in connection with the income tax, it will be in order to adopt the definition of the Internal Revenue Bureau. Under date of Mar. 29, 1910, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue of the Treasury Department stated "Deduction on account of depreciation of property must be based on lifetime of property, its cost, value and use." Again, on Form 1035, "Return of Annual Net Income" for miscellaneous corporations (Section 2, Act of Congress approved Oct. 3, 1913), a deduction from gross income is allowed for "Total amount of depreciation for the year." This item is defined more particularly as follows: "The amount claimed under Item No. 5 (b) for depreciation should be such an amount as measures the loss which the corporation actually sustains during the year in the value of buildings, machinery, and such other property as is subject to depreciation on account of wear and tear, exhaustion, or obsolescence. The amount taken credit for on this account in order to be allowable should be so entered on the books as to constitute a liability against the assets of the corporation. The amount claimed under this item should not cover losses in the value of stocks and bonds. Decrease in the book value of securities owned, so far as such decrease represents a decline in the actual value of such securities, should be deducted under item 5 (a) of the return. "Where depreciation of physical property is made good by renewals, replacements,

Jan 1, 1915

By J. Kent Smith

VANADIUM is generally spoken of as a rare element; but, even in the light of our resources as known a couple of years ago, this description could be accepted in a qualified sense only. In fact, vanadium is very widely distributed, being a constituent of most clays, while even caustic soda has been shown to contain almost regularly a minute proportion of it, although the quantity in each case is so small as to render impracticable the extraction of the metal there from with profit. The opening-up of a large deposit of vanadium sulphide ore in South America has put a new phase on the commercial outlook of vanadium, the technical value of which for the improvement of steel has been proved by rigorous scientific investigation.

Sep 1, 1907

By Persifor Frazer

"The nebular theory is a noble speculation supported by plausible argument, and the verdict of science on the whole subject cannot be better expressed than in the words of Newcomb :—'At the present time we can only say that the nebular hypothesis is indicated by the general tendencies of the laws of nature, that it has not been proved to be inconsistent with any fact, that it is almost a necessary consequence of the only theory by which we can account for the origin and conservation of the sun's heat, but that it rests on the assumption that this conservation is to be explained by the laws of nature as we now see them in operation. Should any one be skeptical as to the sufficiency of these laws to account for the present state of things, science can furnish no evidence strong enough to overthrow his doubts until the sun shall be found growing smaller by actual measurement, or the nebulæ be actually seen to condense into stars and systems.' " Leibnitz2 is credited by Cuvier3 (who associates with him Descartcs) with " amusing their imaginations " by conceiving the world to be an extinguished sun or vitrified globe upon which the vapors, condensing in proportion as it cooled, formed the seas, and afterwards deposited the calcareous strata. Whiston4 believed the earth was crested from the atmosphere of one comet and deluged by the tail of another. The heat which remained from its origin excited the whole antediluvian population, men and animals, to sin, for which they mere all drowned in the deluge, except the fish, whose passions were apparently less violent. De Maillet5 held that the globe had been covered by water for many thousand years. The terrestrial animals were originally inhabitants of the sea, and man himself began his career as a fish. He adds it is not uncommon to meet with fishes in

Jan 1, 1905

By MARCELS CHLUMBER

BY the term making an "electrical log" the authors designate an operation conceived for the purpose of determining electrically the characters of formations traversed in drilling, the determination being carried out by means of measuring the electrical resistivities of the rocks along the uncased portions of drill-holes. As in the case of an ordinary core record, this process connotes a geological studs of the strata, and for that reason it is given a similar designation. The paper is divided into three parts, of which the first deals with the resistivities of rocks in general, since it is through this electrical parameter that they are to be characterized. The second deals with the technique, and the third with the description of practical applications of the electrical logs.

Jan 1, 1929

E. S. MOORE (author's reply to discussion*).-I have read with much interest Dr. W. F. Smeeth's criticism' of my article on the air blasts in the Kolar Gold Field, India. However, before answering the questions he asked, I should like to suggest that possibly the phrase "difference of opinion" might be substituted for the word "misapprehension" when applied to my statement that the matrix of the conglomerate resembles a hornblende schist. This conglomerate is certainly regarded as a metamorphosed sediment. Dr. Evans, who has had wide experience with metamorphic rocks, has regarded this as a clastic rather than an autoclastic rock and mentions it as a probable glacial deposit2 and similar to the Lower Huronian conglomerate of North America. I was greatly impressed by the similarity between this rock and the bands of Huronian conglomerate in the United States and Canada where metamorphism has rendered the matrix of the rock schistose. It was scarcely intended that the word basal, as used in my text, should be extended to the Kolar field, although possibly it may be equally applicable there. The word is so frequently used on this continent for the Lower Huronian conglomerate, which in many places is the basal formation of the predominantly sedimentary Proterozoic group, overlying the more largely igneous Archeozoic rocks, that it was inadvertently used without special stratigraphic significance for the Kolar area. In reply to Dr. Smeeth's question as to how the conglomerate indicates a syncline, it would seem that if there is present in a closely folded area a band of sediment that is younger than the surrounding rocks, it must be in a syncline in those rocks. As to an apparent contradiction in the statement on page 693 regarding the compressive stress, it does not seem that such contradiction exists; I think every one will take the same meaning as Dr. Smeeth has taken, which is exactly what was intended.

Jan 12, 1918

By T. L. McCall

This is a continuation of the paper on bumps presented by the late Mr. Herd in February, 1929. The seam worked consists of bituminous coal, 9 ft. thick, pitching 20°, and now under a depth of cover of 2800 to 3200 ft. Full particulars are given of two bumps that happened in November, 1931, with an interval of only 9 hr. between them. The first was a "district" bump affecting an area of 1000 ft. on the strike by 700 ft. on the dip and rise, beginning at a distance of 1000 ft. from the long-wall faces. The second, which caused much greater damage, was localized to two levels 200 ft. apart, in the area left undisturbed by the first bump next to the longwall faces. Observation stations had been established in the workings in 1931 and definite records were obtained on the flow of coal taking place from the edge of large pillars developed for retreating work, into the open roadways. The records also gave evidence that "advance weighting" or "underdraw " was affecting the coal at an average distance of 260 ft. in advance of the longwall faces. The author propounds the theory that the sandstone bed varying from 0 to 75 ft. in thickness and lying 14 ft. above the coal acts as a slab in distributing the superincumbent weight. The weight is thereby concentrated on the pillars in advance of the longwall faces and this load, in conjunction with a pavement strong enough to resist the reaction, leads to overstressing the pillars, which finally collapse suddenly, thus giving rise to this particular type of low side bump. The overlying sandstone bed, which is apparently a condition common to all coal mines in which bumps occur, is not necessarily a massive bed, as the thickness of this bed at Springhill in the area that has experienced these severe low side bumps is only 25 to 31 feet. A list of 43 minor bumps occurring in the past 2½ years is appended

Jan 1, 1934

By E. A. Stephenson

In spite of tremendous handicaps notable advances in production engineering have been achieved during 1932. The technique of deep well drilling has continued to progress, notably in California and at Big Lake, Texas. In the latter field a method has been devised by which two grades of oil in contact with each other are produced without intermingling. In rig design many improvements have been made whose objective is to facilitate deep drilling with reduced power losses and increased life of the equipment. Flush joint casing and drill pipe have been improved further, careful tests indicating that the drilling time can be reduced by from 5 to 20 per cent where flush-joint pipe is used. Slow-speed pumping has come into wider use, with further increases in over-all efficiencies. A number of improved well pumps also have been developed and are being tested. One of the most important of these is a positive displacement pump of the rotary type, directly connected to an electric motor placed in the bottom of the hole, and adaptable to various sizes of tubing and casing. In some localities the trend is towards the replacement of electric motors and large-cylinder engines by multiple-cylinder gas engines. Experiments have been conducted and critical analyses made of flow conditions in wells equipped with various styles of tubing which give promise that tubing may be designed to fit individual well conditions. In those wells producing at less than maximum capacity, the gas-oil ratio has been shown to depend on the rate rather than on the method of production, or the design of equipment. Important factors in the design of screened pipe have been carefully analyzed and made the basis of a method for determining the required mesh. Remarkable progress has been made in the use of subsurface pressure data. In East Texas particularly, use of such data is providing a means for the control and equalization of water encroachment and is also pointing the way to a sound means of allocating to individual tracts an

Jan 1, 1933

By F. R. Wadleigh

It is generally realized and very often admitted by both producers and consumers of coal that there is great need for a revision of existing commercial classifications, and this will involve, of course, determination of a standard classification and a constant revision of marketing practices as they are affected by coal classification. I recently sent out some 200 letters to producers and consumers with a request for their views on the subject of commercial classification. Nearly all of the replies from both sides were that there was needed some change in the present method. There were three or four dissenting voices but the great majority of opinion was in favor of the formulation of some standard commercial classification. The classifications in commercial use today can best be described as a hodgepodge. They are made upon different bases, have different names and have different ways. There are, for instance, about 11 single bases of classifications as used commercially and some 17 or 18 combination bases. Then there were the Tidewater Pool Exchanges. The classification which they put in force is still used in the tidewater markets and has several different bases of its own. It will be considerable of an undertaking to bring about a change in marketing methods as affected by coal classification but it is well worth doing and I think the committee which has been appointed under the auspices of the American Society for Testing Materials realizes the importance of the subject and is on the way to at least bring about some provision for adjusting matters. By way of starting, each member of the Committee on Commercial Classification has been assigned to a general market district and each member is now engaged in collecting the commercial market practice data for submission at the next meeting of the Committee. About a year ago I made up a list of the commercial classifications in the different markets and the total was 171. The 11 single bases I found used in commercial practice were:

Jan 1, 1930

By John Hall

THE recently announced run of three years, nine months and eleven days made by a. crucible steel melting furnace of the Columbia Tool Steel Co., which is claimed as a. world's record, brings forcibly to our attention the great improvements that have been made in the design, construction and operation of the Siemen's regenerative crucible- melting furnace since its introduction in this country. Credit for this advance should be given to the furnace designer, the manufacturer of refractories, and the operators of the furnaces, whose persistent efforts and intelligent co-operation in attacking the problem have resulted so satisfactorily. There are three factors that determine the life of a crucible furnace, or any other furnace for that matter : Design, nature of refractories and conditions of operation; (including the nature of steel melted) and to some extent these factors are interdependent. Thus, for instance, if a crucible furnace is to lie operated single turn and allowed to cool off considerably at night, in order to save fuel, the use of clay-brick melting holes may be advisable, since silica brick is not well adapted to endure rep eated heating and cooling. But the total life of a clay-brick melting hole is necessarily short. Again, if local conditions such as danger of flood make necessary the building of the furnace largely above ground, so that the radiation of beat is promoted, the cooling down of the furnace over the week ends, when no steel is melted, will be considerable-and the contraction of the furnace that results tends to wrack it to pieces. The character of the metal being melted affects the life of the furnace to a great extent. Low-carbon steels and steels made from iron and charcoal require higher temperatures and much longer melting tune than high-carbon steel or steel made largely from scrap; the life of the furnace will be shorter, and the number of heats melted will be much less, when such materials are melted.

Jan 9, 1913

Maps and Mining Data for the Library. I suggest that the Institute Library can increase its usefulness by systematically soliciting from the engineers and mining companies all published reports and maps, and parts of reports and records, not of a private or confidential nature. If this is done an engineer assigned to report on a well-known property or district may depend on finding at the library a large amount of preliminary data and general information from these official and engineering reports relating to his prospective investigation. In many mining reports a large part of the report is of a general technical and scientific character, and there could be no good objection on the part of either the engineer, or his client to making such information thus of record. I believe there would be a great deal of information furnished by the engineers if they were properly solicited under this plan. I have found on different occasions that much work could be saved by such records now in the Library. The plan would also have the advantage of keeping the Library in closer touch with the active engineers, a feature to be desired. I also have in mind that the Library should undertake to collect all the prospectuses and financial literature which is issued in connection with mining. Of course a great deal of this is unreliable, but even this is valuable for record in the matter of legal and other investigations. I shall be glad to co-operate with you, and do anything I can to develop more in detail the general ideas above noted. Yours very truly, KIRBY THOMAS NOTE.-The Library of the Institute makes a specialty of collecting and filing material of this character, and the letter printed above is brought to the attention of members in the hope that they will co-operate by sending in copies of maps, reports of properties, etc.

Jan 11, 1913

By Thomas E. Howard

Tunneling is at the threshold of a new era. An exciting new technology is becoming available. And, supplying the increasing quantities of minerals required by a growing and socially advancing world population, together with providing the subsurface facilities attendant to the rapid urbanization of the more developed countries of the world, will require underground excavation during the next decades on a scale that would have seemed fantastic a few years ago. It is estimated that world mineral consumption will increase fivefold by the year 2000. Projections for the United States indicate that domestic consumption of nonfuel minerals may increase two to three times by the end of the century. Meeting these requirements will entail opening up many new underground mines, even if present trends toward surface mining continue. And, at least in the United States, new factors that are becoming increasingly important may modify these trends. We are depleting our shallow easy- to-find and easy-to-mine mineral deposits; and, if we are to avoid becoming dangerously dependent on imports, we must turn more and more toward deeper deposits that are not amenable to surface mining. Growing public concern with environmental quality is apparently leading toward increasingly stringent regulation of surface mining which also will tend to make underground mining economically more attractive. The world market for underground construction is also growing rapidly. The most conservative projections indicate that in the United States alone more than $7.0 billion will be spent on excavation for underground facilities during the next ten years. And these estimates do not include any of the bold, imaginative new applications for underground excavation that have been proposed, such as extensive underground power transmission, the Chicago Deep Tunnel plan, and the Northeast Corridor Transportation project. There can be little doubt then that the market for tunnels for conventional applications is increasing rapidly and that the trend will continue. It

Jan 1, 1970

By Dewitt T. Ring

Oil development in 1934 has been largely restricted to drilling offset and lease requirement wells. Practically no effort has been made to discover new fields, chiefly because of price structure and proration allowance. A summary of developments during 1934 of necessity is brief. No state agency is maintained for the collection of data. The State Bureau of Mines issues permits for drilling and inspects the plugging of wells in coal-bearing measures only. Therefore data are not in existence with which to compile tables similar to those in other papers of this symposium. Forty-seven counties in the state produce oil, productive depths ranging from 100 to 5300 ft. Approximately 35 different formations in Ohio have produced either oil or gas. These reservoir rocks occur through a stratigraphic interval ranging in age from the shallow Goose Run sand of the Upper Pennsylvanian in Washington County to the St. Peter sand of Lower Ordovician in Seneca County. However, 75 per cent of these formations are unimportant from the standpoint of real production. Most of the oil and gas in Ohio has been produced from the Clinton, Oriskany, Berea and Big Injun sands and the Trenton Lime. Of these, the Clinton is first and Berea second in importance. Fields The oil and gas-producing territory of the state can be grouped into five fields or districts, made up of a series of "pools" usually separated by nonproductive areas, and is in no sense a belt of continuous production. Trenton Field of northwestern Ohio, is scattered through 15 counties. Development began in 1885. This field reached its peak in 1896 with a production of 20,575,138 bbl. for the year. For 1934, production had declined to 990,000 bbl. The oil is classified as Lima grade. Clinton Field extends from the Ohio River in Lawrence County to Lake Erie in Lorain, Cuyahoga and Ashtabula counties. First Clinton-

Jan 1, 1935

Reply to discussion of the paper of C. W. Washburne, presented at the New York meeting, February, 1914 (Trans., xlviii, 687 to 694 (1914)). C. W. WASHBURNE, New York, N. Y. (communication to the Secretary*).-Professor Lane makes an interesting contribution to the study. of chloride waters, in saying that calcium chloride waters occur not only in the greenstones of the Lake Superior copper mines, but also in the interbedded -felsitic conglomerates and "in far-removed sandstones, e.g., near Whitefish lake, and Ontonagon, in the Michigan iron mines, and in the Storm King granite." Surely these are not connate waters preserved from the Algonkian sea, assuming that the Algonkian sediments are marine rather than continental. Finding the same type of water in the Storm King granite points rather toward an abyssal source. The possible connection of these waters with the magma of the greenstone is immaterial, although some basic calcic magma is the most probable source. It is to be expected that the ascending water of the region would be found not only in the greenstones, but in all the rocks which it could penetrate. The ascent of water of this kind along vertical passages, and the consequent addition of a common ion: to the circulating sedimentary salt solutions, would explain the precipitation and localization of the "giant, concretionary" salt plugs of the Gulf Coast, without making the ex-excessive demand for an improbable quantity of salt in the adjacent sediments that is required by the unmodified theory of Harris. With-out such a precipitating medium most of the dissolved sodium chloride would have been lost by passing on to the surface without precipitation. The base to which the chlorine ions were attached is immaterial, providing they were sufficiently concentrated, but the presence of the chlorides of calcium and magnesium in the solutions is indicated by the associated bodies of secondary dolomite.

Jan 4, 1915

By Stanley C. Herold

At the present time five localities in the Argentine Republic are known to bear direct evidences of the presence of petroleum. The segregation of these localities is more or less arbitrary inasmuch as minor indications may be found to extend from one locality to the other at no regular distance apart, especially in the northern and western part of the republic. These localities are listed as follows: North Argentine-Bolivian region, Salta-Jujuy district, provinces of Mendoza and Neuquen, Comodoro Rivadavia, and the Gallegos-Punta Arenas region. Economic conditions attract us to the possibilities of developing these and other regions of countries in the southern hemisphere. Development work will, naturally, be undertaken first in such localities as present direct manifestations of the presence of petroleum; "hidden fields" may exist, but, unless discovered by accident, their development will be left to the last. The problems to be solved in the development of the petroleum resources of the Argentine republic are mainly of stratigraphy, structure, and transportation. We are not here concerned with the unfavorable climate of the countries to the north in the tropics where, for us of the "far north," life hangs by a thread ready to be severed by a mosquito, gnat, or tropical germ. North Argentine-Bolivian Region The North Argentine-Bolivian region has already been described by the author.' Geographically and geologically this is admittedly one field extending from Argentine into Bolivia. It is not necessary to repeat here the various conditions pertaining to this field, though the summary may be quoted as follows: Extending from northern Argentine northward into central Bolivia is a belt of petroleum seepages. On account of the remoteness of the district it has, heretofore, been little considered by oil operators. The regional geology is comparatively well understood but the local features have not been carefully detailed. Development work in the past has been done on an unscientific basis and has led to failures. At the present time, access to the region is somewhat difficult but, no

Jan 1, 1921

By James E. Chapman

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

Jan 1, 1917

By Frank Clemens Smith

The occurrence of the tellurides of gold and silver, even in small quantities, is so rare that their metallurgical treatment has engaged little attention. A residence of several months at one of the few mines in North America the product of which consists entirely of such ore, has led me to arrange a method for its economical treatment. The mine referred to is the Huronian, situated a few miles distant from Jackfish Lake, in Ontario, Canada. The plan proposed is for this peculiar case, and is put on record as possibly suggestive and helpful .in any similar instance, should it occur. Since freight-rates from the mine to the nearest railroad-point were extremely high, and for other economical reasons, the method proposed is modified by the use, as far as possible, of the machinery already at the mine, and is so arranged that bullion instead of concentrates would be obtained as a final product. The ore-vein at the Huronian mine varied in width from about 4 feet at the surface to 2 feet and less at the lowest level—125 feet —and dipped southeast about 88. The rock consisted, on both foot- and hanging-walls, of soft, green Huronian slates carrying much highly crystalline but barren pyrite. The ore carried an inconsiderable amount of galena with iron and copper pyrites, argentite, hessite, sylvanite (or petzite), and probably altaite, the telluride of lead. Near the surface the ore showed considerable native gold, but this disappeared with greater depth. Two complete analyses of minerals containing tellurium are here attached, as they establish the presence of two important compounds: I. Analysis of a mineral supposed at the mine to be sylvanite, but agreeing more closely in composition with petzite (Ag, Au)2 Te: Ag = 41.062 Au =23.691 Te =32.007 Pb = 0.071 SiO2= 0.097 Fe = trace 96.928

Jan 1, 1890