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For 11 years, under authorization of the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act of April 5, 1944 (30 U.S.C. 321-325), and amendments, the Bureau of Mines has carried on an extensive research and development program to establish methods for producing oil from coal and from oil shale. This act was passed by the 78th Congress primarily because of the stress of wartime demands for liquid fuels to supply our armed forces during World War II. The act was progressively extended by the 80th and 81st Congresses, as later peace-time demand for oil and oil products continued to increase.

Jan 1, 1956

By S. J. Aresco

The Bureau of Mines has been active in promoting the purchase of coal for Government use under specifications that define the requirements in terms of heating value of the coal, expressed in British thermal units, and the composition as shown by proximate analyses. To these, when required, are added the ash-softening temperature of ash, the free-swelling index, and the Hardgrove grindability index. Under most of these specification contracts the bidders guarantee the quality of the coal, and that guaranteed by the successful bidder becomes the standard of his contract. The deliveries are sampled in accordance with instructions~ issued by the Bureau of Mines; the samples are analyzed in the Bureau laboratory to determine whether the coal is of the quality guaranteed by the contractor and, if it is not, a price adjustment is made. Analyses of the delivered coal and tipple samples (samples collected at mine tipples as coal is being loaded into railroad cars or trucks) provide valuable data for use in evaluating future bids. In addition, the continuous sampling of coal as delivered is a check on the practical results obtained in burning the coal.

Jan 1, 1956

By R. Lowery

TODAY, man uses, at will, the land, the water, and the air to transport himself and his goods everywhere across the face of the world. He no longer thinks with wonder of the magic of conquering these elements - he takes his mastery of them for granted. He is, however, constantly striving to squeeze more and more efficiency from each mode of transport. Man's first method of transporting himself and his goods was, obviously, himself; then he acquired his first beast of burden - woman. Most other two-legged female animals carried their young around clinging to their fur. Human mothers were, generally speaking, furless and their offspring less 'Prehensile, and so slings and other trappings were invented to carry young children. Man's inventive genius soon adopted these devices for carrying other burdens, and for countless centuries woman carried all in order that man could walk unencumbered except by his weapons. Later other ?beasts of burden were trained and used, including dogs, horses, oxen, camels, etc. Man also discovered quite early that he could drag along the ground more than he could carry on his back.

Jan 1, 1956

By R. W. Huber, R. C. Wiley, V. C. Petersen

"Three arc- melted ingots, two of a t itanium-7 percent manganese all oy and the third of unalloyed titanium, were forged and rolled into 3/ 4-inch plate; comparative data were obtained on these processes. The finished plate, part of which was used by the Naval Bureau of Ordnance, was tested for mechanical and other properties.These properties were correlated with sponge purity, forging technique, rolling temperature, and cooling rate from the rolling temperature. For the alloy material, transformation data were obtained, and their age-hardening characteristics were studied. The temperature-impact relationship was established for rolled sections from all three ingots.INTRODUCTIONArc -melted ingots of unalloyed titanium and a titanium-manganese alloy were fabricated into plate under closely controlled conditions by personnel of the Metals and Alloys Section, Physical Metallurgy Branch, Bureau of Mines, College Perk, Md. This program was cosponsored by the Naval Bureau of Ordnance. Bureau of Mines interest lay in correlating the processing procedures with the mechanical properties of the finished plate.Considerable data have been published recently on constitution diagrams and properties of titanium-manganese alloys in genera1. 3/ 4/5/6/ However, little if any correlation between processing schedules and end results has been published, particularly with respect to the present commercial production of the proprietary titanium manganese alloys . Several factors in the production of titanium and titanium alloys have a pronounced influence on the physical and mechanical properties of the finished product: (1) The degree and nature of impurities in the base materials, ( 2) the amount of impurities introduced during the melting cycle and their distribution, (3) the homogeneity of the alloy, (4) forging, (5) rolling, and ( 6) final heat-treating cycles. All of these item£ are important from a metallurgical standpoint in producing the desired end properties in the metal."

Mar 1, 1955

By BUREAU OF MINES

This report is submitted in accordance with provisions of the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act of April 5, 1944 (30 U. S. C. 321-325, as amended), which require that: "The Secretary of the Interior shall render to Congress on or before the first day of January of each year a report on all operations under this Act." Owing to the broad scope of the content and the diversity of interests represented, the Annual Report for 1954 has been divided into two separate publications. Each is being published by the Bureau of Mines as a Report of Investigations, and the respective titles follow: R. I. 5118, Part I - R. I. 5119, Part II - 011 From Coal. 011 From 011 Shale. The introduction, identical in both reports, summarizes research progress in 1954 under the entire Synthetic Liquid Fuels program. A free copy of either publication may be obtained by writing to the Bureau of Mines, Publications Distribution Sec- tion, 4800 Forbes Street, Pittsburgh 13, Pa. The R. I. number and title of the publication desired should be indicated.

Mar 1, 1955

By BUREAU OF MINES

This report is submitted in accordance with provisions of the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act of April 5, 1944 (30 U. S. C. 321-325, as amended), which require that: "The Secretary of the Interior shall render to Congress on or before the first day of January of each year a report on all operations under this Act." Owing to the broad scope of the content and the diversity of interests represented, the Annual Report for 1954 has been divided into two separate publications. Each is being published by the Bureau of Mines as a Report of Investigations, and the respective titles follow: R. I. 5118, Part I - R. I. 5119, Part II - 011 From Coal. 011 From 011 Shale. The introduction, identical in both reports, summarizes research progress in 1954 under the entire Synthetic Liquid Fuels program. A free copy of either publication may be obtained by writing to the Bureau of Mines, Publications Distribution Sec- tion, 4800 Forbes Street, Pittsburgh 13, Pa. The R. I. number and title of the publication desired should be indicated.

Mar 1, 1955

By H. R. Hose

Total crude fluorspar reserves in western Europe, containing more than 35 pct CaF*, are estimated at 12 million metric tons, while reserves in the USSR and Soviet sphere may exceed 5 million metric tons. The bulk of these reserves are concentrated in the USSR, Spain, United Kingdom, Western Germany, and Italy. Since published estimates of the tonnages of individual mines and explored deposits are not available for most countries in Europe, the estimates given in Table I for individual countries are necessarily approximate, as they have been compiled from various sources and modified and combined according to the author's judgment. The majority of fluorspar deposits in Europe belong to the late Paleozoic metallogenetic epochs and have been found within or along the borders of the Hercynian massifs. Deposits in the Central and Esterel massifs of France, those of Western and Eastern Germany, Sardinia, the Catalonian coastal range and the Sierra de 10s Santos in Spain, and those of Devonshire and Cornwall belong to the Hercynian metallogenetic epochs. The deposits in southern Norway and Sweden belong to the middle Paleozoic or later, those of northern England to the late Paleozoic or later, those of northern Spain and Greece to the late Mesozoic, and those of northern and probably central Italy and Switzerland to the early Tertiary. Fluorspar occurs typically in veins, lenses, and stringers, but also in bedded replacement deposits and pockets, and may be colorless to white, yellow, green, pink, brown, blue, or purple to almost black. Except for the colorless variety, the only kind which can be used for the optical industry, the color of the fluorspar does not affect its ultimate use,

Jan 4, 1955

By W. E. Hess

At the Vesta mines of Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. on the Monongahela River, 35 miles south of Pittsburgh, JCM Joy continuous miners and 6-SC shuttle cars are used for pillar extraction in the Pittsburgh seam. The entire output of the mine goes into coke production for blast furnace operation. Because this coal, which has high metallurgical qualities, is close to the place where it is ultimately used and because supplies with these properties are being rapidly depleted, complete recovery is essential wherever possible. With the introduction of the continuous miner into the Vesta mines, therefore, it was necessary to plan a project which would facilitate development and provide for future total recovery. Use of continuous miners under varying conditions has necessitated changes with regard to roof action, method of development, method of pillar attack, and innovations in mining. In the following pages these changes will be discussed.

Jan 2, 1955

By Oliver S. North

Reserves of perlite rock in the western section of the United States are immense. A geological report prepared for the Union Pacific RR showed proved tonnage of over 400 million tons in southern Nevada alone. Yet the perlite industry is not large, and most of the mines are relatively small. There are indications that perlite processing, thus far largely in the hands of relatively small com¬panies, is becoming concentrated in a few large companies. For economic reasons the bulk of perlite sold in crude form has come from three or four pro¬ducers, although many individual operators have sold small quantities to limited lists of purchasers. Perlite is one of ultra-lightweight aggregates. Owing to its outstanding qualities as an aggregate, variety of uses, and ultimate economy of use, it has enjoyed considerable popularity in this country in recent years. Marked foreign interest also has been evinced in this material.

Jan 2, 1955

By W. F. Dietrich

1. On St. Thomas and St. Croix, and possibly also on St. John, low-quality red-burning clays probably can be developed to provide the major part of the raw materials for structural clay products and earthenware pottery. 2. The potential sales volume for structural clay products is too small to sustain a plant in the Virgin Islands to manufacture such products in competition with Puerto Rico; however, handmade patio tile might be produced successfully. 3. The market for pottery utility wares in the Virgin Islands is too small to justify a plant devoted solely to the production of such wares; but it may be feasible to evolve a diversified community activity to make jugs, pots, casseroles, bowls, charcoal burners, patio tile, and other items.

Jan 1, 1955

By John Convey

"IRON ORE was first smelted in Canada about the year 1736 at Les Forges, Quebec -a most appropriate name for such a historic locale. During these early years of the 18th, 19th, and first quarter of this century, about six million tons of ore were mined and employed in the manufacture of items ranging all the way from kettles, stoves, and cannon for the early settlers to weapons of war for the allied armies of World War I.But this symposium on iron ore is not concerned with this early period. Instead, it is concerned with the iron ore industry of today -an industry which will soon be-come one of the two most valuable mineral industries in Canada.The subject in its broad geographic and economic aspects will be introduced by Mr. Buck; Dr. Harrison will describe the geology and origin of the principal iron ore deposits; Dr. Downes will go into beneficiation as it applies to iron ores; and Mr. Gertsman will discuss primary processing. The symposium will not deal with the steel end of the industry, because that phase itself could well form the subject of a symposium."

Jan 1, 1955

By J. M. Whatley

"IntroductionFEW COUNTRIES equal Canada in the diversity of its mineral output, the range of size of its mine operations, and the extremes of climatic and topographic conditions under which its mining is carried out. Camps large and small are scattered over thousands of miles, some served by excellent communication lines, many in remote regions of the north. Common to most of the deposits is that they are worked by underground methods, and rely on adequate hoisting installations for the success of their operations.Hoisting in some form •pre-dates all other mechanical operations in mines and the hoist remains one of the most important pieces of equipment at the average mine. It provides the single line of communication along which must pass the men and materials to mine the rock, and in turn carry the ore to a place for refinement.Development of Mine Hoists in CanadaCanadian designed hoists were first built and •placed in operation about the year 1880 and have since developed in pace with the rapid growth of the Canadian mining industry. Early machines were all of the steam or compressed-air driven types, of light construction and driven by two duplex slide-valve open-frame type engines. As their application and size increased, designs became more rugged and more efficient."

Jan 1, 1955

By W. A. Boyer

If the safety factor of a mine hoisting rope is checked for the lowest depth, is the rope then safe for all levels? The answer here is no. A new set of volues is proposed. HOISTS for metal mines are seldom designed for one particular depth. They are intended for an ultimate load and depth with a given speed but are first used to hoist from a shallower depth, gradually working to the ultimate as development progresses. Sometimes the mine is not worked on the upper levels because of the kind and grade of ore, the mining of which depends on market conditions. In this case the hoist may be used in the same working shift to lift ore, for example, from the 1200 and the 4400-ft level. This means that the safety factor of the rope should be considered not only when it hoists from the greatest depth, but also when it hoists from the upper levels. According to present safety factor standards, a hoisting rope can have ample safety margin when hoisting from the lower or lowest level and still be shy of sufficient safety margin when hoisting from the upper levels. This will be shown by curves presented in this paper. The safety factor of a hoisting rope as defined by the U. S. Bureau of Mines' is the ratio of the static load to the tensile strength of the rope. It is calculated by dividing the breaking strength of the rope* In Fig. 1 curves A and B are plotted against the vertical suspended distance, which is the abscissa, and the factor of safety, the ordinates. Curve C is a smooth curve drawn through the midpoints of the steps of curve A and would more closely represent the minimum factor of safety for new rope for any particular depth. Curve D is a smooth curve drawn through the midpoints of the steps of Curve B and would more closely represent the minimum factor of safety when ropes should be discarded for any particular depth. If a new rope were applied with a minimum factor of safety, then the vertical distance or ordinate under curve D for any particular depth, divided by the vertical distance or ordinate under curve C, would represent the minimum percent of remaining area intact that could be allowed before the rope would be discarded. Also, that section of the ordinate between curve C and curve D is proportional to the section of the area of the new rope that could be allowed for wear and broken wires. Considering that point at 2500 ft on the chart, the ratio do to co would be the minimum percent of rope area remaining at the point of discard. The ratio of that portion of the ordinate cd to co would represent maximum percent of area of a new rope available for wear and broken wires.

Jan 1, 1955

By W. J. West, W. W. Garvin, J. W. Sheldon

One of the most important problems of reservoir mechanics is the prediction of the behavior of a gas and oil producing reservoir for a variety of production programs. In the absence of a knowledge of the behavior of even idealized systems, it has been difficult, if not impossible, to determine which production program would yield maximum economic recovery. The problem was formulated mathematically many years ago, hilt a solution of the equations had never been obtained because of their extreme complexity. The solution of the problem became possible, however, with the advent of modern computing machines. This paper describes a digital method of solving the problem and discusses some of the results which have been obtained to date. The IBM Type 701 Electronic Data Processing Machines located at IBM's New York Scientific Computing Service were used successfully to perform the computations. The flow of gas and oil through a reservoir can be described mathematically by two second-order, nonlinear partial differential equations which must be solved simultaneously. All derivatives were replaced by finite differences to bring the equations into a form suitable for digital calculations. A number of finite ditference formulations were investigated and one form was found which resulted in stable, convergent solutions. This form was used to obtain .solutions for both radial and linear systems producing by solution gas drive. The results presented in this paper are: (a) saturation profile within the hypothetical reservoir vs. time, (b) pres.strre profile within the hypothetical reservoir vs. time. (c) gas-oil ratio vs. cumulative recovery, and (d) ultimate recovery. The saturation profile clearly shows the effect of critical gas saturation. The saturation near the well-bore drops quickly to the critical gas saturation and remains essentially at that value until the remainder of the reservoir also has dropped to the critical gas saturation. The pressure profile shows a smooth variation of pressure across the reservoir. The gas-oil ratio drops slightly during the early stage of production until the critical gas saturation is reached, rises rapidly from then on and eventually passes through a sharp maximum just before the economic limit of production is reached. For the radial example presented in this paper, the average oil .saturation of the reservoir at a time corresponding to the limit of economic production was 56.5 per cent and the ultimate recovery was 6.86 per cent. The difference between change in saturation and ultimate recovery is caused by .shrinkage of the oil phase. The solution time with the 701 Computer is sufficiently short to permit an economically feasible investigation of the effects of variation of the many parameters which describe an oil reservoir. In particular, the ultimate recovery for various systems can he determined as a function of rock and fluid properties, of well spacing. and of production rate. INTRODUCTION The effective planning for maximum economic depletion of oil reservoirs is one of the major problems confronting oil producers. The most important part of the planning is prediction of the response of the oil reservoir to a particular production program. The production program can be selected by imposing certain controls available to the operator. Some of these controls are: (a) well spacing, (b) production rate, (c) time

Jan 1, 1955

By B. G. Hunt, E. J. Kwasney, W. P. Campbell, S. L. Gertsman

"AbstractIn the separation of lead and zinc concentrates from the ore from Cominco's Sullivan mine at Kimberley, • B.C., an iron sulphide concentrate is also produced, some of which is roasted to provide sulphuric add for the manufacture of phosphate fertilizer. The iron oxide calcine from the roaster is potentially a valuable raw material for the production of pig iron and steel. To evaluate this material, six tons of .pig iron was produced from it in an experimental 75 k.w. electric furnace at Trail. The pig iron alone, and also in varying proportions with structural steel scrap and commercial pig iron, was used in the production of basic electric furnace steel at the Mines Branch Laboratories, Ottawa. Details are given of the steel making and fabrication procedure, of the visual and microscopic examination, and of the extensive series of tests on the steel produced. The steel produced using Cominco .pig iron in the charge showed normal working properties in all tests carried out.IntroductionTHIS PAPER describes (a) experimental work by The Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, Limited ( Cominco), at Trail on the production of pig iron .from Sullivan iron concentrates, and (b) a joint laboratory investigation by Cominco and the Mines Branch, Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, Ottawa, to determine the feasibility of making a satisfactory steel from this pig iron."

Jan 1, 1955

By R. L. Orr, O. D. Sherby, J. E. Dorn

Creep data for pure metals at temperatures above those at which rapid recovery occurs (above about 0.45 the melting temperature) are correlatable by means of the equations and These correlations were applied successfully to data for aluminum, iron, nickel, copper, zinc, platinum, gold, and lead as well as for simple alloys. For a given metal, AH is a constant about equal to the activation energy for self-diffusion. THE early recognition that creep is stimulated by thermal activation prompted numerous investigators', ' to apply the same laws that are valid for the viscous behavior of liquids to analyses of creep data. To a good first approximation these laws are summarized by the equation were i is the creep rate; T, the absolute temperature; R, the gas constant in cal per degree per mol; T, the applied stress; AH, the activation energy in cal per mol; S', a constant dependent on the entropy of activation, the frequency of activation, and the contribution of each activation to the strain; and B', a constant dependent upon the size of the flow unit that is activated. Although Eq. 1 describes the flow of viscous fluids very accurately, its application to the creep of solids has been disappointing. Two reasons for the failure of Eq. 1 for creep are now known: First, the decelerating creep rates during primary creep demand that the internal structures of the metals are changing and that these changes might be reflected by changes in one or more of the three creep parameters S', AH, and B'. Consequently when the conventional methods of evaluating these parameters are employed by comparing the secondary creep rates at a series of temperatures and at a series of stresses, the true effects of temperature and stress are masked because of simultaneous changes in one or more of the creep parameters. Second, as will be illustrated more fully later, three distinctly different types of investigations have shown that the stress term for high temperature creep enters the analysis as and not as t/T. This rather unexpected result points sharply to a significant fundamental difference between the mechanisms for the viscous behavior of fluids and the high temperature creep of metals. More recent extensive investigations",'4 on the creep of high purity aluminum and several of its dilute a solid solutions have shown that where E is the total creep strain; temperature compensated time = for a constant temperature test; t, is the initial stress in a constant load test or the constant true stress in a constant stress test;" and t is the duration of test. • Eq. 2 is valid for either constant stress or constant load tests; but the total creep curve is difierent (i.e. the function, f, is differentl for each test. The fundamental origin of the validity of Eq. 2 is thought to arise from some equivalence of substructures in constant load creep tests at equal values of 0 or E. Both X-ray and metallographic examination revealed that practically identical lattice distortions and subgrain sizes are obtained for the same creep strain under the same load over wide ranges of test temperature.' Furthermore the room temperature tensile properties following equal creep strains at different temperatures under constant loads were also identical, illustrating that identical substructures were indeed obtained.' " A second type of correlation was obtained by differentiating Eq. 2 with respect to time, giving For the secondary creep rate, denoted by i,, But Eq. 2 reveals that 0, is a function of a, alone because the secondary creep rate in a given constant load test is always reached at a fixed value E,". Therefore where is the function that was introduced a number of years ago by Zener and Hollomon." Eq. 4 is not only valid for creep but will permit correlations between constant load creep and tensile data where e, is the rate of tensile straining and (TC is the engineering ultimate tensile strength.

Jan 1, 1955

By J. G. A. Stevenson

"IntroductionDURING the past quarter of a century diamond drilling, in all its phases, has increased in Canada to a very impressive total of more than 10,000,000 feet annually. Since the art of diamond drilling became recognized, some seventy-five years ago, there has been considerable improvement in both equipment and technique. The steam-powered drill rig and the hand-set diamond bit are things of the past.The purpose of this paper is to review some drilling trends •and practices over the past few years. In the preparation of the paper, the author wishes to acknowledge kind assistance of Mr. J. D. Cumming, Dr. C. H. Hitchcock, Mr. Robert H. Quintal, and many others, including staff members of the Longyear organization.Figures provided by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics for the year 1954 show that Canadian production of metallic and non-metallic minerals and structural materials had a value of $1,454.2 million, excluding radioactive products for which figures are not available. Approximately 61 per cent of this valuation comprised production of nickel, copper, gold, coal, asbestos, zinc, lead, and iron. It is certain that diamond drilling played a major role in the discovery and development of the orebodies from which these minerals were obtained.After the surface examination of an ore deposit, diamond drilling will automatically follow, in order to determine structure, grade, and tonnage.Footage drilled by mining companies and contractors on mineral exploration and blast-hole work since 1945, as reported by the Do-minion Bureau of Statistics, is shown in Figure 1."

Jan 1, 1955

By L. E. Wilsey, W. G. Bearden

This paper presents results of analysis of the effect of fracturing on initial flow rates and on ultimate recoveries from low capacity oil formations. This analysis shows that even in formations of permeability as low as 0.1 md, large fracture treatments can yield oil recoveries and production rates approaching those of high permeability formations. Field production information is shown which supports the analytical work. INTRODUCTION Often hydrocarbon bearing formations are discovered which, while they are known to contain large quantities of oil, will not produce at commercially attractive rates without special well stimulation. Attempts to solve this problem led to the development of such techniques as underreaming, shooting, acidizing, and recently hydraulic fracturing. These methods of stimulation have been highly successful in many fields. All of these treatments, however, affect only the pay section near the well bore and therefore owe their success to circumventing and overcoming local permeability reduction about the well bore. It has been the belief that in treating wells to stimulate production in which there is no permeability reduction near the well, the maximum possible production rate increase would be of the order of two or fourfold. Hence, it has been concluded that fracture treatment of uniformly low capacity (permeability times thickness) formations could meet with but limited success. It is the purpose of this paper to show that the use of fracture treatments much larger than usually used can yield commercially attractive producing rates and high recoveries even in formations of permeability less than 0.1 of a md. PROCEDURE In order to illustrate the effects of fracturing, an analytical study of some hypothetical systems was made in which one factor at a time was varied to show what is important in recovering oil from fractured wells. It was assumed that a horizontal fracture of relatively high fluid-carrying capacity extended from a well bore. The presence of such a fracture will cause a marked influence on the flow pattern and pressure distribution in the formations, with the net effect being to reduce tremendously the resistance to flow into the well bore. A diagram of the resulting flow pattern and pressure distribution is illustrated in Fig. 1. Immediately after production commences, the principal flow of fluid is vertically from the formation flanking the fracture, into the fracture, and then into the well. After sufficient oil and gas have been produced to lower the pressure in the formation adjacent the fracture, oil and gas will begin to flow in a radial manner into the fracture from the formations beyond the end of the fracture. In calculating the performance under such conditions. the material balance or conservation of matter equation and equations of flow were solved simultaneously by a stepwise method of calculation. Flow rates were found by determining the pressure distribution, as illustrated

Jan 1, 1955

By H. P. Holmes

Tonnage quantities of hafnium metal have been prepared in Kroll-process equipment designed for producing zirconium. Some slight process modifications have been necessary, but overall operation is the same as for zirconium. Hafnium oxide is chlorinated in the presence of carbon and the resultant hafnium tetrachloride reduced by magnesium metal. Byproduct magnesium chloride is removed in a high-vacuum distillation step and the hafnium sponge metal crushed for further use. Arc-melted metal can be forged and rolled to sheet, but the best material produced to date would not be considered cold ductile. INTRODUCTION This investigation is part of the program for the production of pure metals from domestic and foreign ores that has been underway at the Bureau of Mines for several years. It was done in cooperation with the Atomic Energy Commission and the Bureau of Ships.

Jan 1, 1955

By E. E. Harton

Bureau of Mines Information Circular 16, Bibliography of Investment and Operating Costs for Chemical and Petroleum Plants, was published in October 1949 as an aid in making estimates of investment and operating costs of processes for manufacturing synthetic liquid fuels. Development of such processes by the Bureau of Mines was authorized by Public Law 290, 78th Congress. This bibliography included refer¬ences to and abstracts of publications appearing from 1930 to September 1948 on all processes in general use in the petroleum refining and chemical industries. Publications in this field have been numerous since compilation of the above bibliography, and the present report was prepared to cover the field from September 1948 through June 1952.3/

Jan 1, 1955