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By William B. Plank

THE growing dependence of our vast industrial civilization (:n mineral products demands today, as never before, the highest technical skill in those who produce these product-;. That the duty of training the engineers, whose responsibility it is to produce these mineral products efficiently and in sufficient amount, falls directly on the schools of mining is beginning to be more fully recognized. The Institute, realizing this fact and that its future membership depends largely on the annual accretion of young men, is showing a keen interest in the problems of the mining schools and in the work of its Committee on Engineering Education. The Committee has, during the past several years, considered the problems connected with the training of men for the mineral industry, whether these have been problems of college training, or placement of the young engineer in the industry, or personnel training after he enters the industry. The field of interest and discussion has been as broad and varied as the mineral industry itself. Coal mining, metal mining and metallurgy have been discussed and the papers on these subjects have been outstanding contributions to the literature on mineral education.

Jan 1, 1931

By R. Webeler

In order to study the role of work hardening in the fatigue process, use was made of the great sensitivty of the resistivity of AuCu to cold work. A change of the resistivity of AuCu of the order of 1 to 2 pct at the temperature of liquid nitrogen was found to occur as a consequence of severe fatigue. ACCORDING to Orowan's theory,' the process of fatigue In metals 1s associated with the production of a number of small regions which have undergone strain hardening. This phenomenon is supposed to occilr even if the stress applied during fatiguing is always smaller than the yield stress. In an attempt to verity the existence of such regions, Welber and Webeler' undertook to detect the stored energy associated with severe fatigue in copper. Previous experiments" had shown that the energy stored in a sample of copper which has been cold worked by torsion is released in the temperature range between 150" and 250°C when the sample is heated from room temperature and that no more energy is released (or absorbed) between 250" and 450°C. In particular the stored energy amounted to 0.41 cal per g for a case in which the mechanical energy expended in twisting the sample was 11.9 cal per g. In the case of fatigued copper, however, no release of stored energy could be detected between 150" and 250°C, so that the experimental error of &0.02 cal per g represents an upper limit for the amount of energy stored in strain hardening., It seemed desirable to attack the problem in a new fashion. For this purpose, it was decided to make use of the fact that, if an alloy capable of undergoing the order-disorder transition is ordered and then cold worked, the resistivity, p, increases very greatly above the value for the ordered state even if the deformation is very small. Some insight into the nature of the fatigue process may be obtained then by measuring the resistivity of an ordered sample before and after subjecting it to fatigue. For reasons which will become apparent from the following remarks, considerably more can be learned by carrying out the resistivity measurements at two different temperatures. In the case of a material containing impurities, vacancies, dislocations, or other imperfections of essentially atomic dimensions, the resistivity, p, according to Matthiessen's rule, can be represented as a sum of two terms p = p, + p, where p, is the (temperature dependent) resistivity of the pure metal, and p, is the temperature independent contribution of the imperfections. Briefly, the physical basis for this rule is the following: The main contribution of the impurities in question to the resistivity results from the fact that they interrupt the periodicity of the lattice and thus scatter the conduction electrons with a probability which is almost independent of temperature. In order that this be the case, it is necessary that the' extension of the impurities be small enough—roughly less than one electron mean free path—so that their main effect on the resistivity occurs for the foregoing reason. If an alloy like AuCu is partly or completely disordered by quenching from an appropriate temperature, Matthiessen's rule also applies to a very good approximation* with p, representing in this case the resistivity po of the ordered sample and p, the additional (temperature independent) resistivity due to the disorder. In general, the disorder can be represented in terms of atoms which are displaced from their "proper" positions in the superlattice and which thus qualitatively represent the imperfections in the superlattice responsible for the term p,. Since the misplaced atoms are distributed at random throughout the super-lattice, their contribution to the resistivity still can be considered in terms of the scattering of conduction electrons by lattice defects. The situation is somewhat more complex in the case of an alloy disordered by cold work because the process of disordering here does not involve a random redistribution of the atoms; however, Matthiessen's rule also holds in this case. Whenever Matthiessen's rule does apply, the values of the quantity /3 = (p? — /(T, — T,), where p, and p, are the values of the resistivity at two fixed temperatures, T, and T,, respectively, is constant (independent of p,) for a given alloy or metal. In particular, if a sample of AuCu is subjected to ordinary cold work, the value of /3 remains equal to Po, the value for the ordered material. According to Orowan's theory,' as remarked before, a fatigued sample contains a large number of isolated severely cold-worked regions, which make up only a small proportion of the metal. Thus, if a sample of AuCu initially in the ordered state is fatigued, more or less disordered regions will be produced within the ordered material. If these regions are small enough so that Matthiessen's rule applies, then it follows from the previous discussion that /3 again will remain equal to Po. If the effect of fatigue is to produce cold-worked regions which are macroscopic—of the order of at least several electron mean free paths—the effective resistivity, p, has to be computed by use of the ordinary laws of large-scale electrodynamics. For the sake of simplicity, it will be assumed here that the cold-worked regions are completely disordered and have a resistivity, p,. For a given proportion A of disordered regions the effective resistivity, p, for the current in a given direction depends on the geometrical configuration of these regions. In any case, the value of p for such

Jan 1, 1956

By R. H. Coats

MINING occupies a position of less importance than manufacturing or agriculture in Canada, but its relative contribution has increased greatly during the post- war period. Mineral production was only 5.14 per cent of the net value I of production of all kinds of commodities in 1919, but by 1936 the pro- portion had risen steadily to 12.76 per cent. Mining felt the depression, hut unlike agriculture, which is still ' sorely stricken, it has passed from early convalescence to complete recovery. For each of the last two years new high records were established for the industry as a whole and for the quantity of most metals produced. Mining has had a notable effect on - the growth of the power industry in Canada. Water power has been developed in the same or adjacent areas wherever mining camps have been 1 established, with few exceptions. Consumption of electrical energy by the mining industry gained 72 per cent within a decade, rising from 1604 million kw.-hr. in 1926 to 2754 in 1935. In. 1935 alone the mining industry purchased electric power

Jan 1, 1937

By T. A. Rickard

Flaubert, as we know, laid stress on the selection of the right word, le mot juste, the precise epithet, the word that belongs to the thing. A sentence, or even a paragraph, may be spoiled by the use of a word that is not proper, that does not fit or is foreign to the meaning intended. An Australian mining expert is reported to have said: You have a property of considerable value, and what I saw warrants a good development of very rich cubicular galena, with gossan intermixed. 'Cubicular' means `belonging to a small bedroom', a `cubicle' being a sleeping compartment. He meant `cubic', of course. This is a malapropism, and reminds me of the lady from Chicago that, on her return from Europe, said how much she had enjoyed the rural parts of France, because, among other things, it was "so delightful to hear the French pheasants singing the mayonnaise to the tune of the Los Angelus". It is impossible to amalgamate coal-tar thoroughly with the pulp in the agitating-tank. In metallurgy, `amalgamate' refers to the combination of mercury with one or both of the precious metals, forming an amalgam, which is an alloy of mercury with another metal. It differs from other alloys, such as brass or bronze, in being made without the aid of heat, inasmuch as mercury is molten at the ordinary temperature. The word comes to us from the Greek. through Old French and means `something soft'. It is a mistake to use technical terms, having a specific meaning, for purposes that are foreign to that meaning. The writer of the quotation is not discussing any combination of metals; he is dealing with the physical process of mixing and is using 'amal-

Jan 1, 1931

The great Bingham Canyon mine and mill complex of Magna, Arthur, and Bonneville had their beginning in a 300 ton per day operation which was commenced by Daniel C. Jackling and his associates in 1904 as the Utah Copper Company. This small plant was quickly expanded to 500 tons per day and eventually Kennecott, the Utah Copper successor, was processing about 45,000 tons per day of ore in each of its mills, Magna and Arthur. Finally, in 1966, the Bonneville crushing and grinding plant was added to produce a slurry of ground ore for flotation concentration at the expanded Magna and Arthur mills. Bonneville is one of the few railroad dump primary gyratory crushing plants constructed in recent years; another which is described in this Monograph is Cuajone in Peru, started in 1976. Two others are the Climax Henderson unit and the Phelps Dodge Tyrone crusher, which has been fed by trucks since it commenced operation. The Bonneville, Henderson, and Cuajone crushers are all located considerable distances from their mines, hence the use of rail haulage. Shovels in the Bingham pit are 8 to 15 yd capacity; and ore is sent to the Bonneville crusher in 100 ton rail cars, where they are dumped, two at a time, by a hydraulically driven rotary dumper. Ahead of the 54 in. by 74 in. Allis-Chalmers gyratory are two grizzlies, each 27 ft 9 in. (8.46 m) long with bar spacings of 4 ½ in. (114 mm) at the feed end and 6 in. (152 mm) at the discharge end. Grizzlies are sloped at 38. Oversize rocks are re- moved from the crusher pocket by an overhead crane, and the crusher produces a nominal 6 in. (152 mm) product. Rail cars are dumped in the direction away from the crusher, and water sprays at the dumper level and in the rock boxes are used for dust suppression. There are two 72 in. by 19 ft (1.83 m by 5. 8 m) apron feeders under the 500 st cr'ushed ore pocket and two more under the grizzly undersize pocket. Feeder speeds are variable up to 72 fpm. Grizzly undersize is dropped to the feeder pocket by three shelves forming a rock ladder attached to the pocket walls. Each pair of apron feeders, one for crushed ore and one for grizzly undersize, discharge to a 72 in. (1. 83 m) picking belt for tramp removal; this belt feeds one of two 54 in. (1.37 m) feeder conveyors which in turn discharge to a 60 in. (1. 52 m) takeaway belt operating at 175-300 fpm (53.3 - 97.4 mpm). Both picking belts are equipped with metal detectors and tramp iron magnets, and a separate 30 in. (760 mm) conveyor is used to remove tramp material.

Jan 1, 1978

J. E. Stead, Middlesborough, England (communication to the author): Prof. Howe's valuable paper on cast-iron brings forward most prominently the correct explanation of the part played by combined carbon in pearlite and cementite, in determining the strength and hardness of cast-iron. On a previous occasioil I have shown that castings made by melting a white Cleveland iron and glazed iron, one containing 1.5 and the other from 4 to 5 per cent. of silicon, and each about 3 per cent. of carbon, were stronger than those made of ordinary foundry-iron; the difference in the final castings being a differ-

Jan 1, 1902

By S. F. Shaw

In 1913, the Tiro General mine, at Charcas, S.L.P., Mexico, which had been making from 125 to 150 gal. of water per min., was allowed to become flooded, after all the pumps had been removed, and in 1918 the problem of unwatering it came up for solution. There are two vertical shafts, the Tiro General, 1390 ft., and the San Fernando, 1225 ft. in depth, with five connecting levels between them. The San Fernando shaft had been partly retimbered, while the Tiro General had been newly timbered from the collar to 1090 ft. in depth. It had been possible to place guides in only one compartment of the Tiro General, from the collar to the seventh or 850-ft. level, to which it was necessary to lower the water before station pumps could be installed. Soundings indicated that compartments in the Tiro General were open to 1082 and 428 ft., and in the San Fernando shaft to 471, 488, and 586 ft. The water had risen to a point 140 ft. below the collar of the Tiro General shaft.. Pumping Equipment The steam plant at the Tiro General shaft includes one 300-hp., one 150-hp. and one 100-hp. Erie City water-tube boiler, and two 160-hp. Heine water-tube boilers. All but one of these boilers were supposed to be in good shape, but it was soon discovered that six years of idleness in a climate that is foggy for several months of the year had left them in poor condition. The compressed-air plant comprises one Nordberg cross-compound compressor with piston displacement of approximately 2500 cu. ft.of free air compressed to 96 Ib. per sq. in.; and another Nordberg cross-compound with piston displacement of 1235 cu. ft. of free air, to the same pressure. The main pump station is on the seventh level where had been installed a Prescott pot-valve plunger pump with capacity of 200 gal. per min.; also a Gould triplex plunger pump with capacity of 135 gal. per min., driven by a 6 1/2 by 10 by 12 in. steam engine. From the lower levels, the water had been raised to the seventh level by small station pumps and sinking pumps.

Jan 1, 1920

By Thomas Cox

The following compilations are made from a series of investigations and are used to present the subject in an unbiased manner, as the writer does not represent any company or financial interest. The present situation is complex. The producers are hard pressed by reason of the low price of crude, while the independent refiner is little better off, because of the corresponding cut in price of refined products, except on occasional contracts. If the real costs are analyzed, it will be seen that the land speculators and the lessors—royalty owners—make the larger profits and not the struggling legitimate operator or independent refiner. The present-day (October, 1922) posted prices per barrel for crudes are Kansas, Oklahoma, Mexia, Gulf Coast, and Louisiana..... $1.25 Healdton............................................. 0.75 Northern Texas and Central Texas...................... 1 . 50 Pennsylvania......................................... 3.00 Wyoming, Elk Basin.................................. 1.25 Wyoming, Salt Creek................................ 0.70 California Base..................................... 0.60 These prices are at the well. In addition, crudes must be gathered and transported to refinery (by pipe line or tank cars), refined, and the refined products marketed. These crudes are of various gravities, ranging within a narrow margin for each field or district, so that averages are not difficult to deduce, and it is these averages that really determine the average operating conditions. In order to show the present realizations, the prices and costs now obtaining are listed against the average yields; the figures are also adjusted VOL. urn.----71

Jan 1, 1923

By Thomas Cox

The following compilations are made from a series of investigations and are used to present the subject in an unbiased manner, as the writer does not represent any company or financial interest. The present situation is complex. The producers are hard pressed by reason of the low price of crude, while the independent refiner is little better off, because of the corresponding cut in price of refined products, except on occasional contracts. If the real costs are analyzed, it will be seen that the land speculators and the lessors—royalty owners—make the larger profits and not the struggling legitimate operator or independent refiner. The present-day (October, 1922) posted prices per barrel for crudes are Kansas, Oklahoma, Mexia, Gulf Coast, and Louisiana..... $1.25 Healdton............................................. 0.75 Northern Texas and Central Texas...................... 1 . 50 Pennsylvania......................................... 3.00 Wyoming, Elk Basin.................................. 1.25 Wyoming, Salt Creek................................ 0.70 California Base..................................... 0.60 These prices are at the well. In addition, crudes must be gathered and transported to refinery (by pipe line or tank cars), refined, and the refined products marketed. These crudes are of various gravities, ranging within a narrow margin for each field or district, so that averages are not difficult to deduce, and it is these averages that really determine the average operating conditions. In order to show the present realizations, the prices and costs now obtaining are listed against the average yields; the figures are also adjusted VOL. urn.----71

Jan 1, 1923

By E. I. Larsen, E. F. Swazy, F. R. Hensel

Experience has indicated that hard bronzes are not suitable for bearing applications where high bearing loads and speeds are involved. It is the general practice to utilize softer materials for these purposes, such as copper, lead, silver, babbitt, lead-base alloys, and more recently aluminum-base alloys, preferably supported by a steel backing. It was the objective of the present investigation to study a new material produced by powder metallurgical methods susceptible to precipitation-hardening. Test MAteriaIs Preliminary tests were made with compacts containing copper, nickel and silicon in quantities sufficient to form 3 to 5 per cent nickel silicide. It mas found that this type of alloy was susceptible to the formation of a soft surface shell when sintered in tank hydrogen. The depth of the shell depended On the length of sintering time and sintering temperature, and varied in thickness from a few thousandths to as much as One eighth inch. This soft shell resulted from the preferential oxidation of silicon, thereby reducing the efficiency of age-hardening by the nickel silicide compound. The body of the sintered compacts below the soft shell could be precipitation-hardened to a hardness of 70 to 85 Rockwell B, by quenching from goo°C. and age-hardening at 450°C. A series of tests was made with various addition agents, in order to decrease the rate of preferential oxidation, and it was found that phosphorus was most beneficial in this respect. After considerable experimentation, the following nominal com-position was accepted as standard: 2.4 per cent nickel; 0.8 silicon; 0.3 phosphorus; balance copper. The physical propertties and certain bearing properties of this alloy are described in the present paper Preparation of Compacts Several methods of incorporating the hardening ingredient (nickel silicide) were studied. Compacts formed from copper, nickel and silicon powders were found to be inferior to those fabricated from prealloyed nickel silicide master alloys, because of the rapid oxidation of pure silicon during sintering. The use of a prealloyed nickel silicide hardener containing 25 per cent silicon and 75 per cent nickel could be further improved by preparing a master alloy, incorporating nickel, silicon, phosphorus and copper, having the following nominal composition~ 25 per cent nickel; 7 silicon; 3 phosphorus 64 copper. This alloy is brittle in the cast condition and can be readily powdered. Sintering Procedure The blended powders were pressed at '5 to 40 tons per sq' in., the pressure depending on the size and shape of the compacts. Sintering was carried out in hydrogen or cracked ammonia atmospheres at

Jan 1, 1946

By E. I. Larsen, E. F. Swazy, F. R. Hensel

Experience has indicated that hard bronzes are not suitable for bearing applications where high bearing loads and speeds are involved. It is the general practice to utilize softer materials for these purposes, such as copper, lead, silver, babbitt, lead-base alloys, and more recently aluminum-base alloys, preferably supported by a steel backing. It was the objective of the present investigation to study a new material produced by powder metallurgical methods susceptible to precipitation-hardening. Test MAteriaIs Preliminary tests were made with compacts containing copper, nickel and silicon in quantities sufficient to form 3 to 5 per cent nickel silicide. It mas found that this type of alloy was susceptible to the formation of a soft surface shell when sintered in tank hydrogen. The depth of the shell depended On the length of sintering time and sintering temperature, and varied in thickness from a few thousandths to as much as One eighth inch. This soft shell resulted from the preferential oxidation of silicon, thereby reducing the efficiency of age-hardening by the nickel silicide compound. The body of the sintered compacts below the soft shell could be precipitation-hardened to a hardness of 70 to 85 Rockwell B, by quenching from goo°C. and age-hardening at 450°C. A series of tests was made with various addition agents, in order to decrease the rate of preferential oxidation, and it was found that phosphorus was most beneficial in this respect. After considerable experimentation, the following nominal com-position was accepted as standard: 2.4 per cent nickel; 0.8 silicon; 0.3 phosphorus; balance copper. The physical propertties and certain bearing properties of this alloy are described in the present paper Preparation of Compacts Several methods of incorporating the hardening ingredient (nickel silicide) were studied. Compacts formed from copper, nickel and silicon powders were found to be inferior to those fabricated from prealloyed nickel silicide master alloys, because of the rapid oxidation of pure silicon during sintering. The use of a prealloyed nickel silicide hardener containing 25 per cent silicon and 75 per cent nickel could be further improved by preparing a master alloy, incorporating nickel, silicon, phosphorus and copper, having the following nominal composition~ 25 per cent nickel; 7 silicon; 3 phosphorus 64 copper. This alloy is brittle in the cast condition and can be readily powdered. Sintering Procedure The blended powders were pressed at '5 to 40 tons per sq' in., the pressure depending on the size and shape of the compacts. Sintering was carried out in hydrogen or cracked ammonia atmospheres at

Jan 1, 1946

By William Y. Warren

Messrs. Thomas & Cross, having leased from the Akron Cement Company from twelve to fifteen acres of abandoned cement-tunnels and chambers, for the purpose of propagating mushrooms for the market, commenced operations about a year ago, and are now beginning to furnish mushrooms in quantities to the local markets of Buffalo and Rochester. The quarries, or, more properly, the mines, of the Cement Company are located at Akron, Erie County, PIT. Y. The cement-rock occurs in a stratum about 71/2 to 8 feet in thickness, which is overlain by from 1.5 to 25 feet of limestone and flint-rock. There is a gentle rise from the opening of the tunnel inwards, giving a natural drainage and leaving the chambers comparatively dry. The roof is good and is supported by pillars and heavy timbers. The mushroom-beds are located about 300 feet from the opening of the tunnel, and are made in the form of mounds about 3 feet by 12 feet, at the base, and 24 feet high, giving to the chambers the appearance of a subterranean graveyard. Many experiments have been made to determine the best form for the beds, and the mound

Jan 1, 1889

By AIME AIME

FOR the development of a mine, a shaft of small cross-section is usually sunk, of no larger size than is absolutely necessary. After the mine has been developed and put on a production basis it is a common practice to sink a shaft of larger cross-section for hoisting and use the original shaft for the handling of men and material into the mine. While that ar¬rangement is usually expedient, the small size of the supply cages presents a problem in the handling of ma¬terial. Where a cage is, say, 4 by 4 ft., which is not an uncommon size, all lengthy and bulky material must be handled piece by piece several times from the supply department to the underground stations. Thus drill steel and timbers over 4 ft. long will be loaded on cars at the supply department and wheeled to the shaft, where each piece must be unloaded from the cars and stood up in the cage. They are then lowered to the shaft station, unloaded piece by piece and placed in cars, run to the supply station and again unloaded and stored until called for. In such a case handling becomes a major item in the cost of supplies.

Jan 1, 1930

By Michel David

One of the most important questions that arises in ore estimation can be stated as follows: What is the error when one extends the grade of a sample to a certain volume? The theory of regionalized variables, with the concept of extension variance, provides a response to that crucial question for any kind of sample extended to any volume. For the usual "extensions" encountered in current mining practice, some simple results can be derived from that theory which was initiated by Dr. G. Matheron. These results have been applied to a stratiform lead-zinc deposit for which several estimations of grade, tonnage and related precision have been made for a series of grid sizes such as might be used in a progressive exploration program.

Jan 1, 1969

By A. M. Skov, L. F. Elkins

Inclusion of anisotropic permeability in mathematical analysis of pressure transients observed during development of the huge Spraberry field indicates a major fracture trend which is in good agreement with that observed by fluid-injection tests spread over a 12- by 17-mile area. Delineation of this trend is important in selecting a pattern of injection for the pending large-scale water flooding in this field. Determination of reservoir parameters yielding best agreement between calculated pressures and observed reservoir pressures in newly completed wells was made using an IBM 650 computer. INTRODUCTION The Spraberry field covering 400,000 acres is a tight sand of less than 1-md permeability cut by an extensive system of vertical fractures. Primary recovery dominated by capillary retention of oil in the fractured sand matrix blocks is less than 10 per cent of oil in place. Strong forces of capillary imbibition of water into the sand, coupled with water flow under dynamic pressure gradient, indicate considerable increase in oil recovery can be achieved through water flooding. Best results will occur if the pattern of water injection is selected to force the water flow across the grain of the major fracture system. Existence of an oriented vertical fracture system in the Spraberry, observed first in cores, was highlighted more recently by the 144-fold contrast in permeability along and at right angles to the major fracture trend required to match relative water breakthrough times in Humble Oil & Refining Co.'s waterflood test there. Spraberry operators since have conducted two gas-injection tracer tests for further areal confirmation of the fracture trend. Re-analysis of early reservoir pressure transients for evidence of anisotropic permeability has permitted many more local determinations of major fracture trend without resort to further field tests. This paper is limited to updating analysis of reservoir pressure transients to include anisotropic permeability as a test for orientation of the major fracture trend in the Spraberry. The reader is referred to Refs. 1 and 2 for information about general Spraberry reservoir performance and to Refs. 3 and 4 for information about significance of fracture orientation in selection of the injection-well pattern for water flooding the Spraberry. RESERVOIR PRESSURE DATA—DRIVER AREA During early development of the Spraberry Driver area, Sohio Petroleum Co. made the extra effort to measure the initial pressure in each of the 71 wells in a 5-mile-long area immediately after completion. Progressively greater reductions in pressure ranging up to 400 psi were observed throughout the six-month development period. Detailed data are presented in Ref. 1. Since the reservoir oil was undersaturated some 300 psi initially, early reservoir performance involving 55 new well pressures is subject to analysis as flow of a single compressible fluid in a porous media. Assumption of uniform permeability in all directions yielded good agreement between calculated pressures and observed pressures of these wells in the earlier study,' but subsequent, additional, mathematical development to include anisotropic permeability in the transient pressure considerations and present availability of electronic computers to perform the much more extensive arithmetical calculations now yield even better agreement. The previous analysis, assuming uniform permeability, consisted essentially of calculating pressure reduction expanding circularly around each producing well and summing these effects at the time and location of each newly completed well for comparison with the measured pressure reduction. Permeability, effective fluid and rock compressibility, and permeability X thickness were varied until the best match with measured pressures was obtained. The present analysis, assuming anisotropic

By John Riegle

To date. utility company underground storage of gas has generally been restricted to depleted dry gas fields. The Playa del Rey project is probably the first to successfully store gas in a partially depleted oil reservoir with the recovery of large volumes of pas at high rates as the main objective. Oil recovery has been a secondary consideration. Problems encountered unusual to those of storage in a dry gas zone were: (1) the removal and retardation of formation of emulsion. (2) the upstructure movement of fluid during withdrawal periods which formed fluid blocks, and (3) reservoir shrinkage resulting from encroachment of edgewater. The solution of these problems as outlined in the paper has resulted in increasing the withdrawal rate from the original design capacity of 4,000 Mcf per hour to the current 10.000 Mcf per hour. Additional increase is anticipated as the operations continue. Migration. reservoir performance. operational procedure and a historical record are included to make this a resume of the project from its war-time inception in 1942 to the first of 1952. INTRODUCTION The Playa del Rey underground gas storage project is probably the first project in which gas has been stored in a partially depleted oil reservoir, with the recovery of large volumes of gas at high rates as the main objective and the recovery of oil a secondary consideration. Problems unusual to those of storage in dry gas zones have made this a pioneer endeavor. The total storage capacity of approximately 1,500,000 Mcf of this reservoir is small in comparison with other underground gas storage projects. However. by study and experiment the deliverability into transmission lines. operating at pressures in excess of 150 lbs., has been nearly tripled in the past three years. to the current 10.000 Mcf per hour late, without the use of compression. It is anticipated this rate will gradually increase as additional fluid is removed from the formation. LOCATION AND HISTORY Playa del Key is located on Santa Monica Bay about two miles south of the beach commuity of Venice and 15 miles southwest of the renter of the City city Los Angeles. Fig. 1. The discovery well was completed at 6,194 ft in 1929. An upper zone at 3,905 ft was found on June 18. 1930. Townlot development was very rapid and by the end of 1930 there were 141 producing wells in the field. The Union Oil Co. completed a lower zone well south of the Townlot Field in May, 1931, which was believed to be an extension, until additional drilling of about 50 wells during 1934 and 1935 indicated this area to be a separate accumulation as shown on Fig. 2. The lower oil horizon, which is now the storage zone, had no original gas cap and is believed to be a continental detrital deposit of conglomerate that accumulated in valleys and depressions of a weathered schist high. which later subsided and was overlain by an impervious nodular shale. This type of formation has rapid variation of porosity. permeability and thickness due to lack of sorting action common to marine deposition. and the uneven surface of the original schist high. Production was limited on the upstructure sides by the pinching out of the conglomerate, and downstructure by edgewater. Unrestricted production, together with high permeabilities, led to large wastage of gas from this new area as facilities were not available for transport of gas to market. The decline was very rapid and by 1942 the portion of the new area south of Ballona Creek was nearly depleted. ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY The rapid increase in industrialization of Southern California during World war 11 forced upon the local gas com-

Jan 1, 1953

By James V. Thompson

SINCE it was introduced in 1943 to recover chromite from Oregon beach sands, the Humphreys spiral concentrator has proved successful in several fields of wet mineral beneficiation. By the end of 1957, 9390 Humphreys spirals had been manufactured. Most of these are still in service. The spiral does not offer a panacea for all mineral dressing problems. Its proper application can best be determined by test work. Spirals present a unique advantage for the metallurgist to make tests in a full-size machine rather than a miniature model, without the risk involved in scaling up results. With only 10 to 40 lb of sample, the operator of a closed circuit test unit employing a full-size Humphreys spiral can conduct preliminary tests with full-scale loadings of 0.5 to 2.5 tph. With larger samples, from 300 to 500 lb, he can run longer multi-stage tests to obtain reliable data for the next step-pilot plant design. The manufacturer of the Humphreys spiral concentrator maintains a fully equipped ore dressing laboratory and by insisting on test work prior to sales has largely prevented misapplication of the spiral.

Jan 1, 1958

By Hugh R. Van Wagenen, Allen H. Rogers

There are few natural monopolies comparable with the nitrate industry. Perhaps the only other one is, curiously enough, also an essentia1 fertilizer material, viz., potash, of which the Germans have heretofore held practically a monopoly due to the existence in their territory of the most important known deposits of potash salts. And although nitrates in minute amounts are found in many desert regions, the only deposits capable of being worked commercially exist in Chile. Combined nitrogen in the oxidized form is an essential for plant life. Nature provides it mainly through the agency of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. But where lands are cropped artificially this supply is too small, and gradually the nitrogen supply becomes exhausted. In order to continue farming, it is necessary to furnish a supply of nitrogenous plant food, and this is done by putting on various substances containing combined nitrogen. These consist of various animal wastes, ammonium sulphate, the ammonia of which is obtained in the destructive distillation of coal, and Chile saltpeter. The latter is immediately available as a plant food, the nitrogen being in the required form. The other substances must oxidize before they are available. Resides its use as a fertilizer, Chile saltpeter is the source from which the bulk of the nitric acid of commerce is derived. The use of nitric acid in the manufacture of almost all modern explosives is, of course, well known. Importance of the Nitrate Industry Chilean nitrate, the existence of which was first mentioned in 1809, is said to have been first exported in 1830. Only a few thousand tons per annum were exported for some years, but the amount gradually increased until, in 1879, when the Chile-Peruvian war began, the export amounted to about 300,000 tons. This nitrate was largely produced from the Province of Tarapaca, until then, Peruvian territory. By the terms of peace with Peru in 1884, this province, as well as Tacna, became Chilean. The Bolivian Province of Antofagasta was also acquired as a result of this war, and thus Chile, with the deposits in her own territory, acquired control of the whole supply of nitrate. At the present time, exports are approximately 3,000,000 metric tons per annum,. having a

Jan 1, 1918

By C. A. HEILANDG

THERE is a need for men well trained in geo- physical prospecting. Although the number of geophysicists required by the industry in the future cannot be expected to be very great, there will always be a demand for courses on the subject. A number of educational institutions are, therefore, interested in providing instruction in geophysical prospecting. Some institutions will be satisfied with courses in general geophysical prospecting designed to give the geologist fundamental concepts on the comparative merits of the methods and the interpretation of the results. Other institutions will want to give special instructions in theory, field procedure, and interpretation of any or all geophysical methods. In giving such special courses a number of problems will be faced, and it seems to me that such difficulties are easier to overcome in an engineering institution than in a university. A knowledge of basic engineering subjects, such as required of all students in an engineering school, seems to be the best foundation upon

Jan 1, 1930

By Raymond Dugdale, Fathi Habashi

There has been a recent interest in studying the action of anhydrous sulfur trioxide on ores to convert the metal values into a water-soluble form as a substitute for leaching by sulfuric acid. For example, Svenke1 converted the small amounts of uranium in slate ash into a water-soluble form by treating the material with SO, at about 600°C. Chao and Sun found that a variety of aluminum-bearing minerals could be sulfatized by SO, in the temperature range 400° to 600°C usually in the presence of a catalyst such as sodium sulfate. Kruse3 patented a process for beryllium recovery from the low grade ore in Utah by first reacting it with SO, at 560° to 750°C then leaching the product with water. In the present report, the action of SO, was examined in the temperature region 100°-300°C which was not investigated by those workers. Experimental Tests were conducted on a beryllium ore sample from Utah, the analysis of which is given in Table 1. It corresponds closely to a saponite ore type as given by Crocker et al. It was in powder form 45% passing a 400

Jan 1, 1973