Search Documents

By C. R. Fettke, Bela Hubbard

During the summer of 1916, while on a visit to the United States Agricultural Experiment Station at Mayaguez, Porto Rico, the writers were told by D. W. May, the director, that an occurrence of manganese ore had been reported from the mesa southeast of Mayaguez. A visit to the locality showed that the mesa is covered by a mantle of bright red soil resting upon serpentine. Here and there over its surface concretionary masses of limonite have been mashed out of this soil. These were apparently mistaken for manganese ore. On account of the similarity of this occurrence to the extensive iron deposits of northeastern Cuba, it was thought that a brief description based upon a two days'reconnaissance survey of the area mould be of scientific interest. Mayaguez is on the west coast of Porto Rico, at Mayaguez Bay, which is the third in importance of the harbors of the island. The city itself is about 3/4 mile inland on the low-lying plain at the mouth of the

Jan 1, 1920

By L. S. Panyity

The State of Ohio is among the pioneers in the production of oil and gas. Numerous anticlinals, such as the Macksburg, Cow Run and Newport, have been thoroughly developed, and the pools found in connection with them are quite in accord with the structural theory. Numerous oil and gas pools found in the Berea sand, however, demand a different explanation. The study of these pools belongs to the sub-surface geologist, as it is possible to understand the factors controlling "off-structure" accumulations only after a careful study of well records. By carefully analyzing the various conditions over a large territory, it is possible to understand the otherwise meaningless mass of data that one may have at hand, and put it into tangible shape, from which various conclusions may be drawn. The territory here discussed includes Belmont, Guernsey, Muskingum, Noble, Monroe, Morgan, Washington, Athens and Meigs counties, containing the majority of the prolific oil and gas pools of the Carboniferous system in southeastern Ohio. The general dip of the strata is to the southeast, the entire territory lying on the northwestern flank of the Appalachian geosyncline. The best known oil- and gas-producing horizon in the territory is the Berea sand, which lies near the lower part of the Mississippian, with the Sun-burry shales (the coffee-shales of the driller) above, and the Bedford shales below it. The Bedford is underlain by the thick Ohio shales. The Ohio and Bedford contact is considered to be the dividing line between the Carboniferous and Devonian systems. The Berea is one of the most persistent of recognizable oil and gas horizons; its outcrop has always been found in its expected place, and it has always been penetrated whenever the drill went deep enough. It is not expected, however, even of the most uniform formations, that no lithological variations should occur, and the Berea is no exception. Nevertheless, there appears to be a certain regularity in its variation, the main features of which directly affect the accumulation of petroleum.

Jan 1, 1920

By O. U. Bradley

The extent of losses, due to evaporation, sediment, and water, in crude oil stored in steel tanks, is a very interesting question, and particularly so at this time, when every reasonable measure should be employed to eliminate all possible losses of this important natural product. Available information on this subject is incomplete; e.g., during the development of the Cushing Field, considerable surplus oil was stored in steel tanks, but from time to time, owing to changes in weather, some losses by evaporation and short storage room on the leases, these tanks were topped out, thus rendering inaccurate any system designed to determine the average rate of evaporation or other losses of the oil over a given period. Furthermore, the losses, as shown by the records at the time, as a result of hasty gages, failed to take into account the temperature and gravity of the oil. Losses may be classified roughly as occurring from evaporation, presence of sediment and water, and leakage. The coefficient of expansion and contraction of crude oil, in relation to temperature conditions, is of material importance; also, the rate of evaporation is dependent upon the gravity of the oil, as the escape of the lighter hydrocarbons in fresh Cushing oil, of from 40 to 42 gravity, on a warm day is considerable, and from available records of temporary storage, it is safe to assume that a loss of 1 to 11/2 per cent. in volume will easily occur in light crude oil of Cushing grade over a period of 6 months, including the summer season. The presence of sediment, water, and other impurities, in the oil will also cause more or less deterioration in quality, particularly when the fresh production is run direct from the gage tanks, or from the wells on the lease to steel storage, as is often the case when an oil field is being rapidly developed. The bad oil will settle to the bottom of the tanks and may be determined by thiefing and running a centrifuge test on the sample. The amount of water in the oil depends entirely on the conditions under which it is produced. Sometimes in large producing wells, with heavy gas pressure, some water may come in with the oil, particularly if the well has been drilled to the top of a water sand. Under these conditions, cut oil is often produced, which, if not settled out, is carried over into the steel tanks. The losses by leakage in steel tanks are difficult to determine, for

Jan 1, 1920

By Henry Lloyd Smyth

In 1891-92 1 was entrusted with the geological survey of part of the large area lying between the Marquette and Menominee iron-ranges in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and extending from the Republic trough on the north, through portions of the valleys of the Michigamme and Fence rivers, to and including the intermediate Felch mountain range on the south. Until a few years back the larger part of this area has been very difficult of access, and much of it is difficult still. The rock-surface is for the most part covered with swamp, forest and glacial deposits of various kinds, and therefore has not invited geological study. For these reasons the district, as a whole, with the exception of the Felch mountain range, remained almost unknown from a geological standpoint until our work in 1892. Our main object was to map the pre-Cambrian rocks, particularly the iron-bearing formations of Algonkian or Huronian age, and to obtain as much information as possible with reference to their sequence and structure, In carrying out this purpose, the use of simple magnetic instruments was found to be of the greatest assistance, and indeed indispensable. In this paper the results of our experience in tracing magnetic rocks by means of the disturbances produced in these instruments, have been brought together in systematic form, with such references to the particular area as are necessary in order to illustrate general principles, with the hope that they will prove useful to other workers in the same region, or in other regions where similar conditions may be encountered. The writer was efficiently aided in the field-work by Messrs. Samuel Sanford and Charlea N. Fairchild for nearly the whole period, and E. B. Mathews and H. F. Phillips for part of it,

Jan 1, 1897

By R. M. Keeney

Before the outbreak of the war in 1914, the only electric-furnace smelting plant operating on a commercial basis west of the Mississippi River was an electric pig-iron plant in California; rare metal ores were not smelted, concentrates of molybdenum, tungsten, uranium, and vanadium ores being shipped East for reduction. Practically no chrome ore was being mined, and only comparatively small amounts of manganese ore. Today there are two electric smelting plants in California, one in Washington, one in lowa, and four in Colorado; two plants are under construction in California, and one in Montana. Ores of manganese, chromium, molybdenum and tungsten are now smelted in the West, and although uranium and vanadium concentrates are still shipped to the East, they will probably be treated in western plants in a short time. The four electric-furnace plants in Colorado are listed in Table 1. Table 1.—Electric Smelting Plants in Colorado Capacity. Company Location KilowattB PRoductS Tungsten Products Co........... Boulder 800 Ferrotungsten, ferromo- lybdenum. Boulder Tungsten Production Co .. Boulder 400 Ferrotungsten. Ferro Alloy Co.................. Utah Junction 1200 Ferrochrome, ferrotung- sten. Iron Mountain Alloy Co......... Utah Junction 3000 Ferromanganese. Power for all of these plants is supplied by the Colorado Power Co. The plant of the Ferro Alloy Co., at Utah Junction, contains one 750-kw., three-phase furnace, to which power is supplied by three 250-lrw. transformers, connected /Y to give 129 volts on the furnace cables, the transformer ratio being 13,200 to 75 volts. The furnace operates with an actual voltage of 120 volts, and produces about 3 tons of ferrochrome per 24 hr. from 40-per cent. Cr2O3 ore. The furnace consists of a steel shell of circular cross-section, 8 ft. (2.43 m.) in diameter by 7 ft. (2.13 m.) deep, lined with magnesite, and having three vertical carbon electrodes 12 in. (30.48 cm.) in diameter. A 450-kw. furnace, of the same size as the 750-kw. furnace, is also operated on chrome ore. This furnace is three-phase in appearance, but operates electrically as a single-phase furnace. There are three vertical

Jan 1, 1920

By Stephen Taber

A vein may be defined as an aggregation of mineral matter, more or less tabular or lenticular in form, which was deposited from solution and is of later origin than the inclosing rock. This definition differs from the one found in many text-books in that no assumption is made as to the origin of the space occupied by the vein or the manner in which the mineral matter was deposited. In the present paper the writer purposes to discuss the mechanics of vein formation, and does not wish to begin by begging the question. The origin of ore deposits has been diligently investigated in recent years, but, while much has been written concerning the chemistry of the process, the physical side of the question has received less attention. The source of the ore minerals; the chemical composition of ore-bearing solutions; the relative importance of magmatic and meteoric waters as agents of concentration; and the causes of mineral precipitation have all been discussed at length. On the other hand, little has been written concerning the mechanics of vein formation, and the theories given in text-books today are essentially the same as those developed by the early Cornish and Saxon miners. Early investigators often regarded both veins and dikes as igneous in origin, but today the theory that vein minerals have been deposited from solutions, either liquid or gaseous, is firmly established. The latter view is supported by the fact that many vein-forming minerals are not found in unaltered igneous rocks; by evidence obtained in the laboratory regarding the solubility of minerals; by the presence of many ore minerals in hot-spring waters; by the occurrence of some veins in regions consisting exclusively of unaltered sedimentary rocks; by evidence as to the temperature at which some minerals are formed; and by the absence of mineral segregation due to difference in specific gravity. There is still, however, much difference of opinion as to whether certain tabular-shaped masses should be classed as veins or as dikes. Some of the earlier investigators have also advocated the theory that veins are contemporaneous in origin with the inclosing rock, while others have believed the vein minerals to represent a recrystallization or transforma-

Jan 1, 1920

By Zay Jeffries

Tungsten has the highest melting point of all the known metals, namely 3350 C.; it is one of the hardest of the metals; it has the highest equiaxing or recrystallization temperature after strain hardening, of any pure metal known. It is particularly distinguished because, when composed of small equiaxed grains, it is extremely brittle and fragile at room temperature, and when possessing a fibrous structure it may be ductile and pliable at room temperature. The common ductile metals act in exactly the opposite manner in this respect. The present paper will include a brief note regarding the manufacture of wrought and ductile tungsten. The metallography of wrought and ductile tungsten in the various stages of manufacture will be considered more or less in detail. The general relationships between the properties of tungsten and other metals will also be considered. A discussion will be given explaining why fibrous tungsten is ductile at room temperature, even though past experience with other metals would indicate that it should be brittle. Finally, a brief note regarding some new fundamental metallographic propositions relating to all metals will be given. Manufacture of Wrought and Ductile Tungsten Up to about 10 years ago, it had not been possible to work tungsten mechanically. About the year 1908, Dr. William D. Coolidge, of the General Electrie Go., produced ductile tungsten from what was then supposed to be an inherently brittle metal and which, in fact, was inherently brittle in its normal state, that is, when composed of equiaxed grains. Since that time many products, chief among which are the filaments for electric incandescent lamps, have been made from wrought and ductile tungsten. Tungsten is produced chiefly from the minerals wolframite and scheelite.1-8 The ores may be reduced in many ways. For example, the ore may be fused with alkali carbonates and the fusion dissolved in water; sodium tungstate is formed, which is soluble in water. This

Jan 1, 1919

By J. H. Allport, C. Garnsey

During the latter part of 1916 and the early months of 1917, due to war activities, there was a threatened shortage of coal which resulted in panic among consumers and a rush to obtain coal at once at any price. As a result of this insistent demand for immediate delivery, prices were bid up by the consumers to unprecedented heights; spot coal which had previously been selling at from $1.50 to $2 per ton was bid up to $5, $6, and, in exceptional cases, as high as $7.50 or more per ton. Then when the April, 1917, contract period arrived, contracts could be made only at prices ranging from $3 up to $5 and $6 per ton for the year's delivery. This condition caused such a demoralization of the business, and SO much complaint, that some action to regulate prices was considered essential by the National Administration. Lane-Peabody Agreement In May, 1917, a committee under the chairmanship of F. S. Peabody, of Chicago, was appointed by the Council of National Defense, through Mr. Lane, to consider the whole question of bituminous coal. This committee, with the Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Lane, after numerous meetings and long negotiations with the operators throughout the country, announced on June 29 an agreement between the Committee and the producers, fixing a tentative maximum price for bituminous coal throughout the country at $3 per net ton f.o.b. mines, to which was added 25 c. for selling commission to wholesalers. This plan was based on the idea of fixing a maximum price, high enough to greatly stimulate production, with the expectation that the laws of supply and demand would, with ample production, operate to maintain fair and just prices for coal throughout the country.

Jan 1, 1920

By Edgar G. Tuttle

The accompanying figures show a jig arranged for separating the middle product or middlings obtained in the concentration of certain ores, minerals, coal, etc. In the preparation for sizing, prior to jigging, of ore-bearing minerals, coal, etc., with their impurities, it is generally desirable to avoid reducing them to unnecessarily small sizes. Where the impurities adhere to the mineral particles or are disseminated through its mass, it is generally necessary to crush to such a fineness as will unlock the minerals from the gangue. If a considerable proportion of the material consists of mixtures of the minerals and gangue, each in large size, and a lesser proportion consists of a mixture of the two, in smaller sizes of various dimensions, it is not always desirable to reduce the whole to such size as would be required to liberate completely the pieces of ore and gangue in the finest mixtures. In such a case it is preferable to reduce all the material to such an

Jan 1, 1897

By D. F. Haley

The molybdenite deposits at Climax, Colo., have recently attracted considerable notice, because of their great size, as compared with other known deposits of the same mineral. Climax station, on the Colorado Southern narrow-gage railway, was at one time the Fremont Pass station on the Denver & Rio Grande. It is 141/2 miles northeast of Leadville, and exactly on the divide between the headwaters of the Arkansas and Blue Rivers. Climax station is 11,300 ft. (3444 m.) above sea level. The working tunnel of the molybdenum mine is about 1 mile from the railroad, and 900 ft. above it, at an elevation of 12,200 feet. The climatic conditions are severe, and snow can be expected during any month of the year. Winter sets in not later than Nov. 1, the snowfall is very heavy, and the ground remains covered with snow until June 1, and sometimes even later. From June 1 to Oct. 1, there is much rain and a little snow falls in the late afternoon nearly every day. In October, 1917, there was one of the biggest snowstorms and blizzards of the year. Being just on the divide, constant strong winds blow the fine, dry snow with such force that, during most of the winter, outside work of any kind is accomplished under most trying conditions. Within a few miles of Climax, some of the richest gold placers of Colorado occur. One of them, McNulty Gulch, was just across on the northeastern flank of Bartlett mountain. This mountain, therefore, was well prospected, and the presence of a bluish mineral and a yellowish one resembling sulfur was known to the old prospectors. They thought for many years that the blue mineral was graphite, and it is difficult to say when it first became definitely known that it was molybdenite. Claims had been staked as early as 1896, but it is evident that the prospectors at that time were looking for gold. In 1902, several claims were acquired by H. Leal, who drove a tunnel about 900 ft. (274 m.) long, probably to intersect a fault, which shows on the surface, and was thought to be a possible gold carrier. Gold was not found in paying quantities, but throughout its length the tunnel passed through a fractured silicified granite, showing a fairly uniform distribution of a fine-grained bluish mineral, which was finally determined as molybdenite. For several

Jan 1, 1920

By Robert Gilman Brown

There are few disasters so difficult to deal with as an underground fire. It is inaccessible at best, and generally unapproachable ; and it finds most material in the very places where it can do most harm, namely, in large stopes and in " heavy " ground where timbers are massed, and in shafts and level-stations where there are inevitably strong drafts to make the burning yet more fierce. The fire constituting the subject of this note occurred in the shaft of the Standard mine at Bodie, California, and originated after the departure of the night-force at 3 a.m., being discovered by the men going to work at 6.30. At that time it had gained already considerable headway, and was throwing smoke plentifully from the collar of the shaft. It must be premised, for understanding of the situation, that in this shaft all hoisting is done to the 320-foot level, where the material is dropped by chutes 30 feet. to the tunnel-level, through which it is run to the mill. Hoist and sheaves are all placed

Jan 1, 1897

By R. W. Raymond

After the publication of the Atlanta paper of Mr. Robert W. Hunt on " Specifications for Steel Rails of Heavy Sections Manufactured West of the Alleghenies,"* I received from Mr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr., the following comments: "I note that, in giving the chemical composition of rails, Mr. Hunt does not consider the question of copper. Yet we all know very well that its presence is more or less injurious, as it tends to red-shortness. Bessemer pig-iron carrying

Jan 1, 1897

By Ellen H. Richards

It is of importance to analysts to have a ready means of detecting the presence of small quantities of titaninm in iron ores and in certain fluxes and slags. The method given in Elderhorst's Blowpipe Analysis (fusion with potassium hydrogen sulphate) requires considerable practice, in order so to regulate the heat that the titanium oxide shall become soluble. In Brash's Determinative Mineralogy is found a method which, at least in inexperienced hands, has given better results, i. e., fusion of the substance to be tested with sodium carbonate on charcoal in the reducing flame. The solution in hydrochloric acid of the bead thus obtained, boiled with tin or zinc, gives the characteristic violet color; but when the mineral contains less than four per cent. of titanium oxide, long boiling and consequent concentration is necessary. In fact the test would seem to be much less delicate than is generally supposed. In the course of some analyses I quite accidentally found that a peculiar color is given to turmeric paper by solutions of titanium chloride. This color is hard to describe, being modified by the quantity of ferric chloride present in the solution ; but it is neither the orange of zirconia nor the red of' boron. It is rather a dull shade of purple, arid is easily recognized when the paper is dried, although the color fades in a few hours. By this means a solution containing .015 per cent. of titanium oxide can easily be tested. The same solution, treated with tin, required to be concentrated to one-tenth its bulk before a decided color could be obtained. The color given to turmeric paper is intensified after the solution has been treated with tin. This and some other indications show that the best shade of color is given by the titanons chloride rather than by the titanic chloride, and no other salt of titanium than the chloride has been found to give the color. Another peculiar property of titanium salts has come tinder my observation. When titaniferous minerals are soluble in nitric acid, and the solution is subjected to the action of the battery, the soluble titanium salt is converted into the insoluble oxide and appears on the electrode, in some cases, as a white coating; this

Jan 1, 1883

By Charles W. Goodale

In the course of the preparation of my paper on " The Occurrence and Treatment of the Argentiferous Manganese Ores of Tombstone District, Arizona" (Dam., xvii., 767), my attention was called to two patents which have been issued for the use of a diaphragm at the upper end of a Howell furnace, whose importance merits more than a passing reference. Mr. J. K. Pardee invented and first put into use in the Algon quin mill, at Philipsburg, Mon., in 1880, a ('new' and useful im provement in rotary ore-roasting furnaces," which was intended "to increase the capacity, effectiveness and working economies of such furnaces." The following description and accompanying figures are taken from the patent papers, dated December 21st, 1880: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the feed-end of the Howell rotary furnace, with parts broken away, the better to exhibit my invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the same, showing a modification of my invention. In operating a furnace of this kind, of the capacity of one ton of ore an hour, it was found that for the best work the two fire-places (one at each end of the revolv ing cylinder) consumed about ten cords of wood every twenty-four hours, and that about twenty-fonr tons of silver-ore were introduced through the feed-pipe. It was also found that of the amount of ore, fully one-third did not go through the revolv ing cylinder, but went into the dust-chanibers about the feed-end of the furnace or cylinder, and this ore going into the dust-chambers was found not to be sufficiently chloridized for amalgamation, but had to be re-roasted. I then caused to be made, out of boiler-plate iron, a segment of a circle, the height of which was about one third of the diameter of. the cylinder or furnace, the circumference of the circle being smaller than the circumference of the furnace, so that about a half-inch space would be left between the plate and the furnace, when said plate or segment was in position. This segment or plate of iron was then fastened to the bottom of the feed pipe, as shown in the drawings, wherein A represents the revolving cylinder or furnace; B, the fire-place and dust-chambers at the feed-end of said furnace; C, the inclined feed-pipe, and D, the diaphragm, partition, or plate fixed within said furnace, A. With the diaphragm or plate, D, in the position shown, the furnace was run for about a month, and it was found that with the furnace in best working condition only four cords of wood every twenty-four hours were consumed, that no fire was required at the feed-end of the furnace, that not one-twelfth of the ore

Jan 1, 1890

By Theodore B. Comstock

The existing topographical features of the United States present many points of interest to the student of dynamical geology, but there is, perhaps, no subject which offers a more promising field for investigation than the relations between the geological structure and the mineralogical characteristics of the principal mining districts. There are seven prominent culminating points in the relief of North America, each one of which can be used as a type of the physical features of all the others. Again, if we divide these seven elevated districts into two sets, we shall discover a still more striking parallelism between the individual members of each group. But the most remarkable revelation is the fact that each one of these points is more or less closely the centre of an area of economically important mineral resources. It is interesting to note in this connection that six of these mineral tracts lie mainly within the borders of the United States, three of them being almost wholly in our territory. For

Jan 1, 1883

By W. E. Newberry

The Aspen Mining District is situated at the eastern edge of the system of stratified rocks of western Colorado, where this edge meets the ridge of metamorphic granite which divides the State into two unequal parts. In following the valley of the Roaring Fork westward from the continental divide towards Aspen, one passes through a country of granite and gneiss, with no sedimentary rocks until the town is nearly reached. At this point the Cambrian quartzites first make their appearance, lying on the granites, with a dip of from 30' to 45 to the northwest. Beyond these quartzites and conformably upon them lie dolomites, limestones, shales, porphyries and sandstones, gradually flattening in general dip as one proceeds westward, but much disturbed by local foldings and faultings.

Jan 1, 1890

By N. W. Shed

The specifications for bridge-steel are usually not severe. The main difficulty is to secure a material which will roll easily, without showing signs of cracking on the corners of the blooms or on the flanges of the beams. In many mills sulphur has been deemed the most harmful constituent in this respect. It has been thought hazardous.to roll steel containing over 0.07 per cent. of sulphur. Yet, in making steel for the Phoenix Iron Company, I have produced from stock running as high as 0.13 per cent. of sulphur a material which rolled very satisfactorily. It is reasonable to infer that the injurious effect of sulphur can be neutralized, to a great extent, by proper treatment in the open-hearth furnace; and the following notes from my usual practice here may be of interest to those obliged to use high-sulphur stock. The steel made at Phoenixville in the 20-ton furnaces has about the following composition : Per cent. Carbon,...0.15 to 0.20 Manganese,.........0.50 to 0.60 Sulphur,..........0.11 to 0.13 Phosphorus,.: .0.04 to 0.06 Silicon,.......... 0.01 to 0.02 The best running heats were made with a small amount of pigiron. In using large proportions of pig the quantity of ore is also increased. This not only cuts the bottom, but also lengthens the time required to bring the charge down. Up to 50 per cent. of pig may be used, but 25 per cent. is much better. A 40,000-pound charge, containing 10,000 pounds of pig and 30,000 pounds of Bessemer butts or beam-scrap, works very well.

Jan 1, 1890

By Alexandre Pourcel

The perusal of Mr. Willard P. Ward's " Notes on the Behavior of Manganese to Carbon," presented at the Washington meeting of the Institute in February, 1882, has suggested further reflections on the same general topic, and has led to the preparation of the present paper. The same observation that Mr. Ward has put on record in his "Notes" was also made by myself at about the same time (in August, 1875), and under almost the same conditions. From a blast-furnace that was very hot, as was the furnace mentioned by Mr. Ward, I obtained a pig-iron containing about fifteen per cent. of manganese, gray in color, and very tough. It could be pulverized, but could not be cut with the chisel. I analyzed this iron and found that it contained, as I had suspected,a large amount of silicon. From this fact I drew the conclusion that the silicon had deprived the manganese of its power of dissolving carbon, since the latter, instead of occurring in the pig in combillation, appeared as graphitic carbon. I thus saw reproduced on a large scale, and demonstrated in a visible way, the property that Colonel Caron, a French scientist, had discovered in silicon,—the property of obstructing the process of hardening in steels by keeping the carbon in the graphitic condition. An attentive study of the conditions under which the phenomenon observed by Mr. Ward takes place led me to go back to operations of synthesis, and to make as I wanted them pig-irons containing varying quantities of silicon, manganese, and carbon. An iron, thus prepared, was intended to serve me as a chemical reagent in the production of steels cast without blow-holes, such as my lamented friend, Mr. A. L. Holley, has introduced and made known to the United States. What I needed in order to make very soft steels, cast without blow-holes, was an iron which, when it was added to the bath of steel, introduced into the bath a sufficient amount of silicon and of

Jan 1, 1883

By James T. B. Ives

The variety of copper-ore to which these notes refer is cornparatively rare, and, so far as I am aware, has not been recorded hitherto as occurring in Ontario. Moreover, the rocks of this locality differ so much in nature and mode of occurrence from the orebearing rocks of the western United States, that a description of them may be interesting. A line drawn upon a map of the region of the great lakes from the mouth of the Severn river at the Southern end of Georgian Bay, following the Canadian shore northwestward, and leaving Manitoulin island to the south, will describe the boundary between the Archaean rocks lying north of it and the Silurian rocks southward.

Jan 1, 1890

By Ezequiel Ordonez

The great activity with which the oil resources of the northern Cantons of the State of Veracruz have been developed has largely resulted from the great success obtained by the important explorations carried out since 1902 in the Ebano district in the North, and several years later near Tuxpam, in the South. It must not be thought that these successes were quickly obtained, since the preliminary studies by good experts, the acquisition of what were thought to be the most promising coast lands, the extensive clearing thereof, and finally the number of unsuccessful drillings at great depth, signified an original outlay of some tens of millions of dollars before finding commercial oil. The discovery of oil in industrial quantities at Cerro de la Pez, Ebano district, and the famous Dos Bocas gusher some years later, which was burned, once and for all made famous the Veracruz coast, where today is concentrated the Mexican output of mineral oil. In 1917, this production was nearly 61,000,000 bbl. It is well known that this output represents only a fraction of what the wells in actual production can furnish, because with adequate means of transportation and storage, the present extraction could be somewhat over 300,000,000 bbl. a year. These enormous potential oil resources of the Veracruz coast proceed from a relatively small number of wells, scattered over a few oil fields, separated from each other by large unexplored areas, wherein may be found other favorable fields which, in time, will undoubtedly become just as great centers of oil production. Experts who know our Gulf Coast believe that lands with commercial oil resources lie not only between the Pgnuco and Tuxpan Rivers, but that indications are that the oil zone of Mexico, with more or less interruption, takes in the coast zone from Northern Tamaulipas to the foot of the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, and the banks of the Usumacinta River. This generalization is not merely the outcome of optimism, but is the result of the persistency with which one finds, throughout this Gulf Coast, the most usual characteristics upon which we depend for recognizing oil-bearing lands.

Jan 1, 1920