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By John C. Branner

Five of the geologic horizons that yield oil in other parts of the world are represented in Brazil; namely, the Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Cretaceous, and Tertiary. Thus far, the first two have shown no evidences of being oil bearing within Brazilian territory. Not enough exploring has been done to permit trustworthy comparisons of the relative importance of the Permian, Cretaceous, and Tertiary as oil-bearing horizons in this country. The most important, indeed almost the only, information available relates to the locations of the areas and to the structural features of the several horizons. The theories regarding the physical conditions under which these rocks were laid down, however, I regard of the utmost importance. Permian Rocks of Permian age cover an enormous area in Brazil, extending from Rio Grande do Sul to Maranhao on the north, and to Matto Grosso on the west. These Permian rocks in many places are known to include oil-bearing shales and in some locations contain small veins of gilsonite. The geologic map of Brazil shows that the Permian area is widely distributed, but there is considerable doubt about the origin of some of the rocks. Some of the lower Permian beds in southern Brazil contain marine fossils, but in Minas no fossils have as yet been found in them, and in Bahia, at only one locality have a few Permian plants been found. Indications of oil have been found in the states of Sa0 Paulo, Parana, and elsewhere farther south, but wells drilled in the Permian of SaO Paulo near the Morro do Bofete did not find oil. One well has been started, by the Brazilian Government, in the Permian of Parana near Marechal Mallet, close to latitude 26" south, but thus far oil has not been found.

Jan 1, 1923

By John C. Branner

Five of the geologic horizons that yield oil in other parts of the world are represented in Brazil; namely, the Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Cretaceous, and Tertiary. Thus far, the first two have shown no evidences of being oil bearing within Brazilian territory. Not enough exploring has been done to permit trustworthy comparisons of the relative importance of the Permian, Cretaceous, and Tertiary as oil-bearing horizons in this country. The most important, indeed almost the only, information available relates to the locations of the areas and to the structural features of the several horizons. The theories regarding the physical conditions under which these rocks were laid down, however, I regard of the utmost importance. Permian Rocks of Permian age cover an enormous area in Brazil, extending from Rio Grande do Sul to Maranhao on the north, and to Matto Grosso on the west. These Permian rocks in many places are known to include oil-bearing shales and in some locations contain small veins of gilsonite. The geologic map of Brazil shows that the Permian area is widely distributed, but there is considerable doubt about the origin of some of the rocks. Some of the lower Permian beds in southern Brazil contain marine fossils, but in Minas no fossils have as yet been found in them, and in Bahia, at only one locality have a few Permian plants been found. Indications of oil have been found in the states of Sa0 Paulo, Parana, and elsewhere farther south, but wells drilled in the Permian of SaO Paulo near the Morro do Bofete did not find oil. One well has been started, by the Brazilian Government, in the Permian of Parana near Marechal Mallet, close to latitude 26" south, but thus far oil has not been found.

Jan 1, 1923

By P. W. George

THE rapid increase in cost of discovering new orebodies by churn drilling in the Tri-State district has led to some attempts to lessen the expense by using geophysical methods. Electrical prospecting was tried three or four years ago, but no successful results were recorded. In 1926, the Federal Mining and Smelting Co. engaged the North American Exploration Co., of Houston, Texas, to make some tests with the torsion balance. At first, it was thought that the most favorable conditions for discovery of ore deposits with the torsion balance would be in locations where the ore was known to occur at rather shallow depths, FIG. 1.-CROSS-SECTION OF DUENWEG LEASE. therefore the first trial was made at Duenweg, east of Joplin, where some zinc ore had been developed at a depth of 130 ft. The gravity gradients at 61 stations on a tract of about seventeen acres indicated plainly one large zone of maximum gravity and a smaller narrow zone of minimum gravity. Fourteen churn-drill holes, half of which struck ore, show that all the ore found was located outside the zones of maximum and minimum gravity. In the zone of maximum gravity the limestone beds were closest to the surface, and the first chert beds encountered were at the greatest depth. The results (shown in Table 1) indicated that the gravity of the, limestone was greater than the gravity of the fractured chert together with its orebodies, and probably also greater than the bouldery soil and clay on top of the limestone. A cross-section of the Duenweg lease is shown in Fig. 1.

Jan 1, 1928

By C. M. Romanowitz, H. A. Sawin

PLACER dredging as we know it today, especially gold dredging, is an industry about 40 years old, dating from the beginning of this century, when a few mining men in California saw the possibilities in adapting earlier dredging methods to California placer fields in and immediately adjacent to streams. At first it was thought that dredges must be operated in existing stream beds, but experience soon pointed the way to dredging alluvial deposits of old stream beds, operating on landlocked dredging ponds. Within the first five or six years of modern dredging, experience was gained so rapidly that dredges to dig 60 ft. below water level were designed and built. This depth was believed by many operators to be the maximum at which successful dredging could be carried on. Alluvial deposits of gold, suitable for dredging, were readily handled by equipment available and developed early in the industry's history. Much of the gravel was easily dug and if deposits were cemented, contained large boulders, or for some other reason could not be handled by a dredge, the ground was abandoned in favor of other deposits that could be handled easily. Many failures, adversely affecting the dredging industry, resulted from attempts at that time to extend the scope of placer dredging with equipment not suited to the formation being dredged. Dredging ground suited to early equipment was exhausted eventually, but many supposedly undredgeable alluvial fields containing gold in commercial quantities were found and became known to dredgemen. Improved equipment was needed to work deposits known to exist at great depths or associated with unusual obstructions. Operating companies looked to dredge manufacturers and metallurgists, particularly manganese-steel foundries, for improved designs and materials. Experience developed in California has spread throughout the world, and dredges of improved types have been adapted to the mining of platinum and tin as well as gold. Space will not permit a description of all the improvements in dredging since the early days, but a few of the recent developments are worthy of note, because they make possible the dredging of placer deposits of great depth, those having hard, irregular bedrock or containing large boulders in great quantities, and compacted or cemented gravel deposits. DEEP DREDGING At Hammonton, Calif., Yuba Consolidated Gold Fields has, within the past two years, built its dredge No. 20. The company has operated continuously in that field since 1904, digging successively at maximum depths of 60 ft., 80 ft., 112 ft., and now 124 ft. below water level. The first dredges were equipped with buckets of 6 and 7 1/2-cu. ft. capacity; six dredges operating in the field today have 18-cu. ft. buckets, digging now 65 to 124 ft. below water level. Some ground near Hammonton has been dug for the third time, owing to the devel-

Jan 1, 1941

MANY members of the National Societies died in service overseas during the World War. No memorial to these engineers has been set up but a unique and interesting suggestion has been made. While Edward Dean Adams, Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Associate of the Ameri-can Institute of Electrical Engineers, ,vas in Belgium last June as delegate of the National Societies, En-gineering Foundation, and Engineering Societies

Jan 12, 1927

By Charles J. McMahon

In a recent paper, Floreen and Hayden report that additions of the noble metals iridium, rhodium, ruthenium, and platinum to Fe-C alloys containing 0.03 to 0.08 wt pct C act to significantly reduce the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature in a notched-bar impact test. They compare these results with the similar, well-known effects of nickel and manganese additions, and they note that this supports the hypothesis that addition of austenite stabilizers enhances notch toughness. Although not attempting to offer an explanation for this, they suggest that it might be found in an alteration of the bonding characteristics of the bcc lattice of iron by additions of elements which tend to stabilize the fcc lattice. While this suggestion appears to have some merit, it should perhaps be held in abeyance until two more likely possibilities have been explored. It is now fairly clear that the beneficial effect of manganese derives from its ability to promote a globular carbide morphology instead of the platelike form found in grain boundaries and pearlite patches in Fe-C al10~s.' Previous work14 has also shown that cleavage fracture in Fe-C alloys of the type tested by Floreen and Hayden originates almost exclusively in the cracking of cementite platelets, and that the ductile-brittle transition temperature is very sensitive to the volume density and size of these carbides. Treatments which lead to development of nonlamellar carbides or fine dispersions of carbides, such as quenching and tempering or appropriate alloy additions, promote toughness by removing the primary mode of cleavage initiation. The effectiveness of manganese in this regard has long been known. Nickel appears to behave in a similar manner, though the effect is perhaps not as dramatic as with manganese.15 However, nickel additions do lead to a definite refinement of ferrite grain size following a given transformation heat treatment, and this in itself acts to greatly enhance notch toughness.'' (The grain sizes of the various heats tested by Floreen and Hayden were not reported, so it is not known how much influence this factor exerted in their results.) In conclusion, it is suggested that one should consider the well-established effects of alloying elements on carbide morphology and ferrite grain size before resorting to more complex possibilities, such as modification of interatomic bonding.

Jan 1, 1969

By William L. Batt

FROM the time the Japs overran the Far East, the United Nations faced a serious military problem in the critical shortage of many raw materials desperately needed to prose¬cute the war on two fronts. For many months this critical shortage threatened substantially to limit the gigantic effort to get shooting equipment into the hands of the fighting men on the far-flung battle lines. Now this crisis has been met. Solvency in raw materials has been achieved. Simply stated, this job of producing solvency has been done by "cutting cloth to fit the garment." This does not mean that we have all the raw materials we need. Unfortunately, a few raw materials are still short, thereby limiting the total production of certain war goods, or making these goods less effective. Where the supply of raw materials is known to be limited, however, substitutions have been made or production schedules have been geared to the amounts available, and an over-all balance has been achieved between various parts of the war-production program.

Jan 1, 1943

By Fordyce Coburn

RICHARD ore mine of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Corp. is an underground magnetite operation located in northern New Jersey approximately four miles northeast of the town of Dover, and 40 miles west of New York City. The mine is situated on the southeastern flank of one of the many gneissic ridges having a northeast-southwest trend

Jan 11, 1953

By Eugene A. Stephenson

NUMBER of noteworthy events in the petroleum industry may be reported for 1941, of which the most spectacular was doubtless the rise in the daily rate of crude-oil production to a peak of approximately 4,300,000 barrels. This enormous daily rate did not ensue from the furor of flush pools but represented for the most part merely a slight additional daily delivery from many wells that had previously been operated on a more restricted basis, in line with good conservation practice and also from the adroit increase in the number of days per week by the Texas Railroad Commission. Another important fact was the increase in price throughout the Mid-Continent area from the static level of $1.02 for 36°, A.P.I., crude, to $1.17 per barrel. Efforts to elevate the price above this point have met with severe opposition from the O.P.A.. as has also a similar effort by the PennsyIvania Crude Oil Producers' Association, but the vastly increased costs for materials and labor may shortly give the industry the enhanced price which it has long deserved.

Jan 1, 1942

By G. Y. Chin, W. F. Hosford

It has long been recognized that, for a crystal to undergo an arbitrary shape change by crystallographic shear, at least five independent shear systems must be activated. Taylor1 analyzed the deformation of fcc crystals by {111}<110> slip and showed that the principle of minimum work could be used to determine which combination of slip systems might act to produce a given shape change. Later Bishop and Hi112 attacked the same problem by first identifying the state of stress which could physically activate five or more {111)(110) systems simultaneously and then invoking the principle of maximum virtual work to determine which combination would act for a given shape change. Taylor&apos;s general approach has been used to calculate the active slip systems and the relative strengths during axisymmetric flow of cubic crystals with other deformation modes, including {112}<111> slip3 and {111}<112> twinning.&apos; It is the purpose of this note to identify the stress states capable of activating simultaneously five or more of these systems. {111}<112> Twinning. The {111}<112> systems are defined in Table I and illustrated in Fig. 1. The sense of the shears are those for twinning in fcc crystals. The shear stress on any system may be written in terms of the stress components expressed relative to the 1,2,3 cube axes. For example, the stress For five or more of the systems ij to be activated simultaneously, it is necessary that Tij/T be equal to unity in at least five of the expressions [3], while Tij < T for the remainder. (These restrictions assume that the same shear stress T is required to activate each system and that the shear stress on any system cannot exceed that for its activation.) The discrete values of the stress components A through H which can satisfy these restrictions are listed in Table II together with the values of Tij/T for all systems. It may be noted that Tij/ T is not necessarily zero on all nonactive systems as found by Bishop and Hill for <110> {111} slip. In fact, for the case of twinning Tij/T may reach negative values as large as -2 for shear stress in the reverse direction, Table 11. This means that, if those stress states are to be valid, the shear stress to activate reverse twinning must be greater than twice that for forward twinning. Such stress states are probably valid in view of the directionality of the twinning process. There has been no documentation of reverse twinning thus far. It may be noted that the stress states fall into four classes, which may simultaneously activate eight, six, six, and five twin systems respectively. These solutions may be applied to the {112}(111)

Jan 1, 1970

AT the Wednesday morning session on Mine Ven-tilation, D. Harrington&apos;s report of the committee on metal mine ventilation was presented. He said the only paper which had been received was one from Nevada, although a number had been promised. Mr. Harrington gave instances from his experience where it had cost less to operate ventilating fans during idle periods in mines than the expense of replacing timber, which was destroyed by fungus during the period when the mines were not ventilated. He referred particu-larly to a metal mine in Michigan and a copper mine in the Southwest where this condition had been found in parallel tunnels, one of which had been ventilated after work had ceased and the other had not been. Mr. Harrington also referred to the fumes after blasting operations in mines operating in large bodies of sul-fide ores. By installing mechanical ventilating devices, these conditions had been greatly improved. He re-ferred also to a recent instance where an ignition of sulfide ore-dust had resulted in an explosion which killed three men and burned a fourth severely. Methane had been found in some gold mines and also in tunnels for city water-supply, and as a result coal-mine inspec-tion methods had been adopted. In one instance the contractor had changed from 40 per cent gelatine ex-plosive to a permissible explosive. A daily gas sample was taken. Nitrogen had been found in some of the mines, and CO, gas had been found in some of the Cripple Creek mines where a fan had been installed to maintain pres-sure on the working faces. It was found by experiment that the oxygen was absorbed by the rock particles, which led to a relatively greater percentage of CO. Coal-mine splitting ventilating methods had been used in some places. Miners&apos; consumption had been made compensable in Ontario, and there is a large threat-ened charge now standing against metal mine oper-ators in the Province of Ontario. Mr. Harrington re-ferred to some of the literature, especially the recent book on ventilation by W. S. Weeks of the University of California. He suggested, however, that a better title for the book would have been "The Physics and Mechanics of Metal Mine Ventilation," since it was especially valuable in this field.

Jan 3, 1927

Robert H. Richards, Boston, Mass.: Mr. Goodale calls attention to the difficulty of obtaining clean tailings from the jigs which are fed by the spigots of the hydraulic separator. This difficulty is universally encountered. The Lake Superior copper mills practically overcome it by running the beds of those jigs loose, carrying into the hutch all of the available copper and some sand. These hutches are again jigged upon threesieve Collom jigs, where the treatment is very slow and gentle; and on the successive jigs lighter and lighter bedding is used. The last sieve is run thin enough to let some sand into the hutch. With these precautions most of the free copper is extracted, as well as a fair proportion of the included copper.

Jan 1, 1897

By P. Gianella Vincent

Barite deposits are of widespread occurrence in Nevada but there are few pro-ducing properties; most of the latter are in northern Nevada. The production of the state is small at present-in the neighborhood of 15,000 tons annually-but is steadily increasing. The barite occurs in veins and also as replacement deposits in lime-stone. The bulk of the production has come from the replacement deposits. It is thought that the barite was deposited from rising hot waters similar to-and probably contemporaneous with-those responsible for some of the metallic ores of the state. This paper discusses only the deposits in northern Nevada. THE commercial mining of barite did not begin in Nevada until 1916 but although the production has been small there has been a rapid increase in tonnage during the past several years. Barite is widely distributed in the state and production comes from at least nine of the seventeen counties. Apparently this is not generally known, as only two counties are mentioned in a recent publications dealing with barite. The increase in output is due largely to recently discovered barite deposits in northern Nevada. The principal production has come from the northern portions of Lander and Eureka counties; smaller amounts from Elko County. The discussion in this paper is confined largely to the deposits in these counties. Most of the producing area is tributary to the Western Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads, whose tracks lie along the Humboldt River. Barite is known from other northern counties but so far the production has been small. The output has come entirely from veins and replacement deposits, the latter largely in sedimentary rocks. In general, the barite from veins is white; that from the replacement deposits usually is dark gray to black, although some is light gray or white. Most of the veins contain sulphides and many barite-bearing veins have been worked for their content of base or precious metals.

Jan 1, 1940

Establishment of a Bureau of Mineral Research at the Michigan College of Mining and Technology, initiated by the State of Michigan with legislation in 1951, is moving toward realization. The Michigan Legislature appropriated $24,000 to cover preliminary costs of plans and specifications for "engaging in a broad, widespread study of the beneficiation of lowgrade ores, of ore dressing, and all the problems of metallurgy that enter into such a program." Ralph C. Calder, of Detroit, who designed Michigan Tech&apos;s campus buildings, is preparing plans for the proposed Ores Research Building. Members of the college staff, Professors F. J. Tolonen, W. E. Keck, and Research Engineer Paul Jasberg are assisting in preliminary planning. C. Harry Benedict, retired chief metallurgist of Calumet and Hecla and a member of Michigan Tech&apos;s Board of Control, is assisting with technical details. Professor Nicholas Manderfield, head of the department of Mineral Dressing, was assigned to visit other research installations and suggest plans for the Bureau.

Jan 1, 1952

By Paul A. Hodges

With plant start-up slated for early 1966, Palabora Mining Co. will take its place among the large copper mining properties of the World. Located near the town of Phalaborwa in the Lowveld area of Transvaal Province, approximately 250 air miles northeast of Johannesburg, Palabora is the result of a cooperative project between Rio Tinto-Zinc Corp. and Newmont Mining Co. Other large shareholders are American Metal Climax, Inc., Union Corp. Ltd., and Selection Trust Ltd. Earliest known mining activity in the area is thought to date back about 400 years, when the Bantu tribes were migrating southward from the great lakes of Central Africa. Old workings and hand tools have been found in numerous places on the flanks of Loolekop, the hill that contains the outcrop of the Palabora orebody. Nearby ruins of small furnaces give added evidence of the knowledge of copper smelting possessed by these natives.

Jan 3, 1966

By Robert H. Richards

IT will hardly be worth while to spend time over the discovery of this mine, how lumps of galena, were picked up and brought to town, and how legends were told of an old mine from which Revolutionary bullets were made. This is an entirely new mine, with no evidences of former or ancient workings in its immediate vicinity to guide or attract the prospector. The first pit was opened in May, 1874. In August I made a visit to this pit, which was 6 feet wide in the northwest direction, 12 feet long north 80° east, and 6 feet deep. About 4 tons of a galena carrying gray copper, siderite, and quartz, had been taken fron this pit. The lumps were all of them evidently float specimens, and varied from 8 to 12 inches thick, and showed very distinct indica- * An abstract of this paper was kindly presented by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt at the February meeting of the Institute, but as it was not fully written out until the following December, it will describe the mine in a little more advanced stage than when the paper was originally presented.

Jan 1, 1875

By W. R. Wardner

During 1928 low prices in the East greatly restricted the Atlantic market for California petroleum. The situation was made difficult by only partial control of production. The month of December is estimated in the figures presented here and it is hoped that the differences in the final figures will be immaterial. Daily averages are used throughout. Production Daily average crude production for 1928 was 633,942 bbl., very little more than 1927. Natural gasoline production was 35,453 bbl. daily and the supply (crude and natural gasoline) was 669,395 bbl. However, potential supply was 785,621 bbl. daily, 47,436 more than that of 1927. This is accounted for by more production being shut in so that 116,000 bbl. daily was conserved in 1928 which would otherwise have been produced. Fig. 1 shows production by months for 1928. It will be noticed that while crude production held fairly uniform from January to October, the

Jan 1, 1929

By AIME AIME

THE statements quoted below range widely over the field of contact between education and industry. &apos;Their sources are as indicated. True Education "Education must escape from its traditional warped and narrow views as to what constitutes life and preparation for life. It must train young men and women for vigorous, wholesome development of every important element of personality. It must build physical and mental health. For each student it must inform and discipline thinking in literature, in physical, bio- logical and social sciences, and in philosophy. It must awaken appreciation of beauty.

Jan 1, 1929

By C. A. Stetefeldt

Steam-dRied sulphides, obtained in the lixiviation-process, are now almost exclusively sold to smelters, the old methods of melting (after roasting) in crucibles, or cupelling with lead at the mill, having

Jan 1, 1892

Air-sand Process of Cleaning Coal Discussion of paper by THOMAS FRASER and H. F. YANCEY, presented at the New York Meeting, 1926, and issued, as Pamphlet No. 1561-F, with MINING AND METALLURGY, February, 1926. T. DEVENNY, Edgarton, W. Va.-How near the size of the sand can the coal to be treated be brought? Do you use an 8-mesh coal on that cleaner? J. J. RUTLEDGE, Baltimore, Md.-From the little I have seen of the apparatus in operation, I should say 8-mesh. In my experience in metalmine concentration work, trying to separate different minerals on one jig, sometimes I have succeeded and sometimes not. This apparatus has appealed to me; something of this kind should be useful with the silicates and carbonates of zinc. I think this apparatus has possibilities in metal mining. Recently in our coal field a screen has been introduced for cleaning coal; it is giving excellent service. When I asked the inventor why he did not take it to the metal mines, he said there was a good and sufficient reason, in a patent way. There may be reasons why it would not be applicable for metal mining; but the simplicity of it appeals to me and I cannot see why it could not be so used. T. FRASER (written discussion).-We feel that 8-mesh would be about -the minimum size of coal practicable to treat by the air-sand process. This would depend partly upon the friability of the coal. The more nearly the lower size limits of the coal- approaches the size of the sand, the more .time will be required in screening the sand out of the cleaned coal, which would mean a little more chance of breakage. In regard to the treatment of ores; this would necessitate the use of some heavier mediums than ordinary silica sand, or some other means of making the separation at a higher specific gravity than is required for coal. We are now working on a method of obtaining this effect for the preparation of anthracite coal without resorting to the use of heavier and more expensive material than common sand.

Jan 1, 1927