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By R. A., Pallanch

SO many variations of lead-zinc ores occur in nature that it is impossible to state any rules that will apply to the concentration of ores of this type. Some have lead and zinc in approximately equal amounts; others may have pre- dominant amounts of one or the other metal. There are gradations from all sulfide to completely oxidized minerals. Some such ores carry little pyrite, others contain much more pyrite than they do lead and zinc combined. The behavior of ores in flotation is largely a function of their lead-zinc ratios. their content of pyrite or pyrhotite, the nature of existing soluble salt conditions, the character of the gangue constituents: and the speed with which the minerals float. For the purposes of this paper only those lead-zinc ores handled commonly in present-day flotation practice will be considered. These are practically all-sulfide ores with relatively minor degrees of sulphatization or oxidation.

Jan 1, 1936

By George S. Rice

MANY studies on ground movement and subsidence have been carried on by members of the Institute during the past year, but only a few papers have reached maturity. Two of the mining schools of this country have continued their interest in ground movement research. At Columbia University School of Mines, Philip Bucky has continued his investigations, employing photoelastic methods and the use of his centrifugal apparatus for testing what he termed "the strength and behavior of mining structures." Helmut Landsberg, of The Pennsylvania State College, has developed a convergence recorder similar in principle to that used by the

Jan 1, 1936

Ferrous and Nonferrous Physical Metallurgy Established as a Division April 26, 1918 T A Read, Chairman O T Marzke, Past Chairman J H Jackson, Senior Vice-Chairman David Swan, Vice-Chairman D C Johnston, Secretary-Treasurer AIME, 29 West 39th Street New York 18, New York

Jan 1, 1960

Established as a Society February 26, 1957 John S Bell, President Wayne E Glenn, President-elect Basil P Kantzer, Past President R E Howard, Vice, President M B Penn, Vice-President Everett G Trostel, Treasurer Joe B Alford, Executive Secretary 800 Fidelity Union Bldg Dallas 1, Texas

Jan 1, 1959

By Alfred E. Hunt

By the death of Joseph Dame Weeks, past-President of this Institute, which occurred December 26, 1896, the world has lost an earnest and unwearied philanthropist; the Christian church, a zealous, active and consistent representative; the United States and the State of Penusylvania, a patriotic, pub-

Jan 1, 1898

By AIME AIME

ALL sessions of the Mining Geology Committee at the Annual Meeting this year were held jointly with other groups, a plan that seemed to work out to the satisfaction of every one. Certain of these sessions are reported in this issue by others; the ones held on Wednesday are covered here. Ten papers, as published in the February M&M, were on the program for the Wednesday morning session, held jointly with the Society of Economic Geologists. Mr. Eckel made a brief presentation of his paper, on which there was no discussion, and Mr. Peoples presented that of which he was a joint author. D. M. Fraser then discussed a gravimeter survey for chromite in Cuba, which blocked out some 50,000 tons of ore, and F. G. Wells told of work on chromiferous sands in Oregon.

Jan 1, 1943

By D. S. Gleason, D. E. Severson, D. R. Skidmore

Pittsburg and Midway Coal Co. has modified the German Pott-Broche process, on which patents date back to 1927, to produce on a bench scale liquid products by solution hydrogenation of coal. A continuing program of lignite solution-hydro gena-tion experiments is directed toward investigating coal solution reactions, determining favorable conditions for the solution refining of lignite by the Pott-Broche process, and investigating some of the uses for the de-ashed product obtained from lignite The German Pott-Broche process1" on which patents date back to 1927, has been modified by the Pittsburg and Midway Coal Co., a Gulf Oil subsidiary, to produce on a bench scale liquid products by solution -hydrogena-tion of coal." The objectives of the present effort are to investigate coal solution reactions, to determine favorable conditions for the solution refining of lignite by the Pott-Broche process, and to investigate some of the uses for the de-ashed product obtained from lignite. This paper is a summary of results to date in a continuing program of lignite solution-hydrogenation experiments. The coal solution reaction program has several principal aims. The first of these is to determine whether lignite can be successfully dissolved in solvents that might be practical for commercial development. The second object is to determine whether the solvents function after successive cycles of use, recovery, and reuse. It seems necessary to the economics of a potential commercial process that the solvent be recycled. Third, it is desired to learn something about the distribution of the ash constituents between cake and filtrate. The extent of ash removal is important. The nature and quantity of mineral matter passing through the filter may determine end-use marketability. For certain use applications, trace quantities of certain minerals can be objectionable, e.g., titanium and vanadium must be very low in electrode carbon for aluminum production. The Solution Reaction The coal solution Process involves an extremely complex system of chemical reactions. An initial solvent such as anthracene oil is a mixture of hundreds of different compounds with a boiling range of roughly 500" to 750°F at atmospheric pressure. The coal macro-molecule is broken down by thermal decomposition and solvent action into myriads of different compounds, some the same as those comprising the solvent. This similarity in structures opens up the possibility of production and subsequent recovery of solvent. Some solvent is inevitably lost by reaction. Regeneration of solvent was not a problem in the early German Pott-Broche plant. The coal refinery was an integral part of a petroleum refinery complex and replacement solvent was readily available. A coal refinery using lignite, however, might be isolated from other hydrocarbon processing facilities and the regenerability of solvent could be vital to the economic success of the venture. Several structural features of the solvent molecules have been cited as important to the coal solution process.'. The first of these is aromaticity of the material, the second, ability to transfer hydrogen to another molecule, as for example the ability of tetralin to transfer hydrogen and be converted to naphthalene. Finally, the presence of hydroxyl groups on aromatic rings within the molecule, i.e., phenolic character, seems beneficial. Mixtures of pure compounds have been tried by various investigators. Mixtures of o-cresol, a phenolic substance, and tetralin were found to dissolve bituminous coal better than either substance alone.3 This maximum solubility was not found with lignite." Hydrogen contributes to the reaction by hydro-genolysis and by combining with free radicals and molecular "loose ends" to stabilize the compounds formed in coal depolymerization. High boiling point, and correspondingly high molecular weight, seems to be a property which improves solution potential for coal with a given type of compound.' The maceral components of the coal appear to have an important bearing on its ease of solution. The fusain portion is quite inert to solvent action, but the an-thraxylon material dissolves quite readily.3 The hydrogenation reaction can be improved by the use of a catalyst; commercial hydrogenation catalysts having been found effective. Although cost is involved in the use of catalyst and catalyst recovery, the resulting saving in time and perhaps lowered temperature or pressure might justify their use in the solution refining process and decrease the total process costs. Apparatus and Procedure The coal solution runs were made in a 1-gal stainless steel stirred autoclave. The autoclave was provided with thermocouple wells and a transducer to permit continuous recording of temperature and pressure. The autoclave stirrer was magnetically driven, eliminating the leakage inherent with a rotating pressure seal. For runs in which a catalyst was used, the catalyst in the form of beads was placed in a wire mesh container mounted on the stirrer shaft. A control system programmed the heatup and reaction cycle. The permissible heating rate was 5°F per min because of the need to minimize thermal stress in the autoclave body. The temperature was raised at that rate until the reaction temperature was attained and then the temperature was held constant for the desired length of time. The maximum temperature seldom exceeded the average run temperature by more than 15°F.

Jan 1, 1971

By E. DeGolyer

WAR has wrought sharp and sudden changes in the pattern of the oil industry. The most obvious and most striking of such changes have been in the fields of transportation and refining. A third of the world's total oil production formerly started to market, tanker-borne, over the waters of the Gulf and Caribbean. Most of this oil went to our North Atlantic ports, supply points for the world's greatest consuming center. This tremendous traffic, disrupted by the loss of tankers as a result of requisition for military purposes and by the activity of enemy submarines, has had to be substituted largely by such lines of supply as could be improvised without loss of too much time. No single solution for this gigantic problem has been found nor is it likely to be entirely solved for some time to come. It has been solved in part, however, by rearrangement, reversals, and patching up of existing pipe-line systems; by overland transport of crude and products in tank cars on a scale never before attempted; by barging over inland waterways; and through the construction at long last of the "big-inch" line, the first leg of which is just being put into operation as far as Norris City, III. The tank-car traffic alone, reaching a peak of deliveries of 856,710 barrels per day into District 1 during the week ending Sept. 19, 1942, and accomplished at an expense of millions of dollars in extraordinary transportation costs, defrayed by the Defense Supply Corp. and by the mobilization of tank cars from all over the nation, is a story worth the telling but by some of those who directed it.

Jan 1, 1943

By Edward Halse

THE occasional occurrence in metalliferous veins of rounded fragments of rock, matrix or ore, lying loose, embedded in clay, or enclosed in some kind of cement, may be attributed to four causes:¬ I. They have been washed in from the surface, or from an upper portion of the vein. II. They are of concretionary origin. III. They have been produced by movements in the country-rock or in the walls of the vein. IV. They have been found in situ, by the upward, downward or lateral flow of water in the vein itself. In this paper the word " conglomerate " is confined to a rock composed of rounded fragments or pebbles cemented together, as distinguished from a " breccia," in which the rock-fragments are angular. I. BOULDERS AND PEBBLES WHICH HAVE BEEN WASHED IN FROM THE SURFACE, OR FROM AN UPPER PORTION OF THE VEIN. In this type it is presupposed that the vein at onetime com¬municated by a fissure or open space with the surface, or with the upper portion from whence the fragments have been washed. One well-authenticated occurrence was described long ago by Fournet. Owing, no doubt, to later dislocations in the lode, pebbles from an old alluvium and sands containing titaniferous iron, as well as fragments of wood, were found in a vein at Huelgoët, in France. "Toutes les parties tendres du filon de Pranal ou ces pédnomènes sont les plus prononcés ont été excavés jusqu'a d'assez grandee profondeurs par l'impétuosité des torrents, qui ont deposé la matière alluviale."1

Jul 1, 1905

By C. W. Dunham

DESIGN of the structures for the Morenci Reduction Works involved many interesting problems. Naturally, the chief purpose of these structures is to house and support the equipment and other things necessary for or incidental to the conduct of production. hence most of the features of the design were developed to suit these particular conditions; however, several are so generally applicable as to warrant description.

Jan 1, 1942

By Herbert Haas

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

Jan 6, 1914

By Robert :H. . Lesemann

I recently gave a talk at a seminar on mine development in the Eighties. I had to present CRU' s long-range market outlook for copper, lead, zinc, nickel, molybdenum and silver. In reviewing the recent history of each metal, and our projections, I tried to find some common pattern of behavior that could prove a guide in projecting future market behavior. When you sweep aside your input-output models and econometric equations, what you seem to be left with is this: "When a market goes through a prolonged period of price weakness, you can usually look forward to a period of considerable improvement. " "When a market goes through a prolonged period of price strength, you can always anticipate a prolonged period of price weakness." Stated another way, "The better things are, the worse they will get."

Jan 1, 1982

By David Donoghue

THE. years 1901, 1910, and 1924 may be considered as the beginning of new eras in the history of the oil industry of the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. Spindletop, in 1901, with its enormous cap-rock production revealed the possibilities of the salt domes. The lateral sand development at Vinton, in 1910, renewed interest in the then known domes which were non-producing, or were producing from the cap rock or from sands above the cap rock. The discovery of three domes, Nash, Orchard and Long Point, in the year 1924, by means of the torsion balance and the seismograph, is the beginning of intensive explorations of the Gulf coastal plain by geophysical methods. Domes other than those mentioned have no doubt been found during the last few months of the year but tests have not been drilled to confirm the evidence of the instruments. DISCOVERY OF DOMES BY GEOPHYSICAL METHODS The Rycade Oil Corpn. operated the first torsion balance on the Gulf Coast in October, 1922, and the Roxana Petroleum Corpn. brought in one of these instruments and began work in December, 1922. The U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey made some gravity observations at Damon Mound, in 1923, with a pendulum apparatus. In March, 1924, the Marland Oil Co. placed the first seismograph on the Gulf Coast and the Gulf Production Co. followed with one in May. In June, 1924, the Gulf Production Co. began operations with a torsion balance. The Atlantic Oil Producing Co., The Texas Co., and others have experimented with several types of instruments involving various principles. During the next few years, a great advance in geophysical methods may be expected, especially if one of the newly discovered domes should be productive. The first dome discovered was the Nash, in Fort Bend County, Tex., about 6 mi. east of Damon Mound. A slight elevation and two shallow wells containing sulfurous waters made the locality somewhat interesting from the standpoint of surface indications, and the torsion-balance measurements indicated the presence of a dome. On July 20, 1924, the Rycade Oil Corpn. No. 1 Wisdom encountered lime at a depth of 634 ft. and anhydrite at 639 ft. The hole was abandoned on Sept. 8, 1924, at 769 ft. in anhydrite. A cavity in the anhydrite caused much delay and the final abandonment of this test.

Jan 3, 1925

By E. N. Harshman

Uranium mining and milling are rather new industries in Wyoming and South Dakota, but, in the past 15 years, ore valued at more than $400,000,000 has been mined and milled in the region. The major uranium deposits are in structural and/ or erosional basins or on the flanks of uplifts. The principal host rocks are medium- to coarse-grained sandstones that were deposited in continental or brackish-water environments and were derived in large part from the granitic cores of the uplifts and the sedimentary rocks that flank the cores. The ages of the host rocks range from Cretaceous to Miocene, but more than 95 per cent of the known reserves in the region are in rocks of early Eocene age. The bulk of the ore in the region is unoxidized and lies below the water table; some oxidized ore has been mined in the Powder River Basin and Black Hills districts. The unoxidized ore comprises pyrite, uraninite and/ or coffinite, marcasite, hematite, jordisite(?), and selenium. Minerals in the oxidized ore include hydrous uranium carbonates, phosphates, and sulfates and hydrous uranium and/ or vanadium silicates. The deposits are in the form of ore rolls that contain from a few hundred to a few hundred thousand tons of ore, ranging in grade from 0.1 per cent to 1.0 per cent U3O8. The rolls are at the margins of large tabular bodies of sandstone that has been altered by the orebearing solutions. The deposits are believed to have resulted from the interaction of an alkaline; oxidizing, ore-bearing ground water and a reducing environment. Exploration guides include the spatial relations of ore to altered sandstone, favorable lithology in the host rock, the content of certain elements and/ or compounds in ground water, and the relation of deposits to major paleodrainages.

Jan 1, 1968

By David Burgess, Hershiel H. Hayden

Experiments at the Somerset mine, Colo., under an agreement between US. Steel Corp. and the US. Bureau of Mines are described. A test was made of the tube bundle method of mine air sampling which was developed for European longwall mines; some 300,000 running feet of tubing provided continuous monitoring at 38 locations. Carbon monoxide concentrations were obtained with standard deviations of less than 1 ppm and oxygen concentrations with standard deviations of less than 0.2%. A base level of CO index (ppm CO evolved per percent 0, removed) was determined to be zero to 20 through most of the passageways of the mine. However, in one working section where the coal was initially hot (about 180°F within a pillar) the CO index was demonstrably higher, 120 trending upward to about 60 when smoke appeared and the section was sealed. The data are discussed in terms of laboratory experiments on CO evolution from coals.

Jan 1, 1977

By W. R. Hamilton

The knowledge of the existence of petroleum in Southern California dates back to the days of the missions. The presence of asphaltum and semisolid bitumen was reported at Santa Barbara in 1792, but no serious attempt was made to develop oil until Professor Silliman's optimistic report in 1865 started California's first oil boom. Wells were drilled in many counties of the State, but the equipment was unsuitable and the drilling difficult and no production was obtained except in Ventura County. Even there the production was of little importance commercially, and not until the early '80s did it become sufficient to again attract attention. In 1888 the production for the State had reached a total of about 700,000 bbl. per year, practically all light oil produced in Ventura County, Pico Canyon, Los Angeles County and in the Puente Hills. The production of petroleum attained the dignity of an industry in 1895 when the Los Angeles City and Coalinga fields were discovered. The subsequent development has been remarkable, and in 20 years the production has increased from 1,000,000 to 100,000,000 bb1. per year. The refining industry has kept pace with the production of oil. The Pacific Coast Oil Co., the predecessor of the Standard Oil Co. of California, was the virtual pioneer refining company of the State, having built a refinery at Alameda about 1880. When purchased by the Standard, about 1902, it was dismantled and the refinery at Point Richmond was built. The Richmond refinery is now one of the largest in the world, having a capacity in excess of 60,000 bbl. per day. A small refinery was built by the Union Oil Co. at Santa Paula in the early days of the industry and later many asphalt refineries were in operation in Southern California. The Pacific Coast Oil Co. was then, as has been its successor, the Standard Oil Co. of California, the principal refiner and marketer of light products, the most valuable of which was kerosene. Before the opening of the twentieth century, gasoline of excellent quality was produced, though it was always a drug on the market and was produced for the simple reason that its presence rendered the flash and fire tests of the kerosene too low. The user of kerosene at the present

Jan 1, 1917

By Richard A. Brown

The direct precipitation of uranium with hydrogen peroxide has been known since 1877. Commercial use of the process began in the 1960s. During 1967 the US Bureau of Mines (USBM) assisted the Climax Uranium Co., Grand Junction, CO in the development of a uranyl peroxide precipitation process to control a molybdenum impurity problem (Shabbir and Tame, 1978). Atlas Minerals, Moab, UT has used hydrogen peroxide to control vanadium and sodium levels in uranium concentrates since 1969 (Caropresso and Badger, 1973). Recently, the use of hydrogen peroxide by the uranium industry has grown, particularly since the increased demand for uranium has led to the processing of low grade ores. Impurities present in low-grade ores can be concentrated with the uranium during milling and will substantially complicate the refining of uranium yellowcake concentrates. Consequently, commercial nuclear fuel processors have imposed stringent specifications and penalties to control these impurities. The ability to produce a pure uranium yellowcake can eliminate penalty or reprocessing costs. Hydrogen peroxide precipitation of uranium is specific and quantitative, producing a very high purity product. Although the hydrogen peroxide precipitation of uranium has, and continues to be used primarily as means of producing a high purity yellowcake, it has also become an important process due to the superior physical properties of the precipitate. Under normal operating conditions, the precipitate produced by the reaction of hydrogen peroxide and uranium is dense, easily filtered and dried. The final dry yellowcake is pure, high U308 assay product. Consequently, processing costs such as filtering, drying and/or calcining and drumming, can be reduced compared to ammonia, caustic or Mag-Ox precipitation.

Jan 1, 1982

By N. De Nevers

A calculation method has been developed for carbonated water flooding. This method takes into account the effects of oil viscosity reduction and oil swelling, due to carbon dioxide transferred to the reservoir oil from the carbonated flood water. It shows the effect of changes in carbonation pressure and carbonated water slug size. The method is based on a Buckley-Leverett-type linear flow model. The mathematical approach is similar to that developed by Welge, et al, for enriched gas drives. However, it contains a very important advance over the previous papers in its solution to the problem of injection of a "slug" of carbonated water rather than continuous injection of fluid of constant composition. The method also shows the chromatographic nature of the transport of Co 2 in a carbonated water flood. Sample calculations indicate that viscosity reduction is the most important source of incremental oil recovery. Swelling contributes to a lesser extent. Raising the carbonation pressure increases recovery, but this effect diminishes as pressure is increased. increasing the slug size also increases recovery, but again this effect diminishes as slug size is increased. INTRODUCTION In recent years there has been considerable interest in carbonated water flooding as a secondary recovery method. Several carbonated waterflood field tests are now in progress.1'3 Yet there is no published method for predicting the results of a carbonated water flood. This paper presents a method for predicting the oil recovery for ; carbonated water flood. In a carbonated water flood. a carbonated water slug is injected into the reservoir. Then this slug is driven forward by injecting plain water behind it. The field operator must choose the carbonated water slug size and the CO2:water ratio in the slug. The calculation method presented here shows the effects of both slug size and CO2:water ratio on oil recovery. The calculation assumes that the addition of carbon dioxide to flood water increases the oil recovery by two mechanisms: 1. Carbon dioxide transfers from the flood water to the oil, thereby reducing the viscosity of the oil. At the lower viscosity, the oil flows more readily and is more easily swept out by flood water. 2. The carbon dioxide which transfers to the oil phase causes the oil phase to swell. Assume that the residual oil saturation (volume per cent of pore space) is the same whether the oil is carbonated or not. Then the same volume will contain less stock tank oil if it is carbonated, due to oil swelling. The plain water driving the carbonated water slug forward will strip the CO2 out of this residual oil., causing this oil to shrink. This swelling-followed-by-shrinking leaves behind a lower residual oil saturation than would have been left behind by a plain water flood. Since some oils swell to almost twice their original volume at reasonable CO2 pressures, this effect may be large. Two additional benefits sometimes claimed for carbonated water flooding are: 1. Adding CO2 to flood water greatly increases the water injectivity in some cases.1 (Injectivity = BPD of water injected/ft of sand x differential bottom-hole pressure, psi.) CO2 forms a weak acid in water; injecting carbonated water is, therefore, somewhat like acid treating. If a formation responds to acid treating, it will probably have a higher injectivity for carbonated water than for plain water. Although the increased injectivity increases the profitability of a carbonated water flood over a plain water flood, it does not change the production curve based on total fluid injected. Therefore, the method presented here does not show any effect of increased injectivity. 2. It is claimed in one patent4 that carbon dioxide will react with some constituents of the oil to form detergents. These detergents are expected to increase the oil recovery. There is little data available to support this idea. The calculation method presented here takes no credit for extra oil recovery due to the formation of any such detergents.

Jan 1, 1965

By George A. Miller

OIL, the abundance of it in the hands of the Allies and the lack of it in the hands of the Axis, played a major role in winning World War II. It bids fair to implement the winning of the peace. In fact the signing of the revised agreement on petroleum between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United States of America on Sept. 24, 1945, may be considered as the first step in establishing a new pattern in foreign relations by our Government. The significance of this agreement on petroleum is that it was arrived at on the part of the United States of America through the advice and consent of the most interested parties, the leaders of the petroleum industry and the Government, distinctly a first step toward unifying the power of business and the strength of the Government, which places us on a par with the British Crown which has always had the advice and counsel of its business leaders in formulating its foreign trade policies. And what is the thing so patently discernible in this new first step toward winning the peace? It is that the petroleum agreement, the first draft of which, signed in Washington on Aug. 8, 1944, almost caused an epidemic of apoplexy among the leaders of the oil industry, represents the desire of the people most concerned with the problems of petroleum both at home and abroad. This new agreement, which will come up before the Senate for ratification this month-hearings will commence in January - derives its "power from the consent of the governed," something about which our forefathers were vitally concerned once upon a time.

Jan 1, 1946

R. W. Raymond, New York City: As was announced in the Secretary's note, appended to the pamphlet edition of Dr. Ledoux's paper, I have undertaken to superintend the preparation of the samples required by his plan, and the ollation for publication of the results reported. Promises of cordial co-operation hare been received already from a number of leading assayers;? and it is to he expected that the data thus collected, and the discussion to be based upon them, will shed much light upon the important question raised in this paper. Although a detailed discussion of methods on the present occasion might be deemed premature, I am sure that suggestions on the subject from members engaged in assaying would be timely and valuable as a preliminary to later and more detailed criticism. Herbert G. Torrey (U. S. Assay Office), New York City : I may say in relation to the losses in the furnace that I have made a number of experiments, and on my little blank form years ago I put down a place for the losses in the cupel. It met with a good deal of opposition among the smelters, but I claimed that it was my duty to give the full amount of the gold and silver present, and that it

Jan 1, 1895