Search Documents

By AIME AIME

MEXICO embraces one of the great metal and petroleum producing provinces of the world. In this respect its history dates back to the overthrow of the Aztec empire by a Spanish force under Hernando Cortes between 1519 and 1.521. Even before then, its richness in silver and other minerals was not unknown. But it was a treasure house for the Spanish conquerors until the country became independent in 1821. It has been computed that in the 400 years following 1521, Mexico yielded 1.55,000 metric tons of silver, worth $3,000,000,000, two-thirds of the entire world production. In 1935 the country accounted for 36 per cent of the world's silver output, 14 per cent of its antimony (in 1934), 13 per cent of its lead, 3 per cent of its zinc and copper, and 21/2 per cent of its petroleum. Contrary to the impression of some, its gold output is now comparatively small, though important in the past. Its oil, as well, formerly hulked much larger than now, in 1921 being one-fourth of the world output.

Jan 1, 1936

By W. F. Hergert, L. H. Banning

Experimental production of Al-Si alloys, containing from 33 to 55 pct Al, by direct reduction of aluminum silicates in a three-phase arc furnace is described. Advantages of a smelting technique utilizing hogged wood waste as part of the reductant and for temperature control are discussed. WORK on the problem of producing aluminum by smelting has been in progress since the middle of the eighteenth century. Early work met with little success and in 1782 Lavoisier, an eminent French chemist, expressed the belief that alumina could not be reduced by carbon. It was almost a century later when the Cowles brothers developed a process for the production of aluminum alloys by reducing alumina coincident with the reduction of other metal oxides. In practice, the other metal oxide was usually copper. In 1907 it was first shown that alumina alone could be reduced by carbon at a temperature of 2200°C. The metal produced was volatilized and lost or recombined with the oxides of carbon formed in the reaction.' For a number of years after the Cowles brothers abandoned production of Cu-A1 alloys because their product was not commercially competitive with the aluminum produced by the Hall process, there was little interest in thermal reduction processes. After World War I interest in such processes was renewed and a number of patents were issued on processes for the production of A1-Si alloys.' , "he function of the silicon in these processes was the same as the function of the copper in the Cowles brothers process, namely, to prevent the reduced aluminum from recombining with the oxides of carbon and to promote absorption of the aluminum vapors set free at the high temperature required for the reduction reaction. The advantage of using silicon in place of copper for this function is that silicon has a higher boiling point (2600"C) than copper (2310"C) and its oxides, combined with aluminum oxides, occur in nature in almost unlimited quantities. No A1-Si alloys have been produced commercially in the United States, as far as is known. However, considerable experimental smelting of aluminum silicate materials has been done by the TVA at Wilson Dam, Ala.' The most extensive development and commercialization of the electrothermal production of A1-Si alloys took place in Germany before and during World War II.V he furnaces used in the

Jan 1, 1956

By James R. Stuart

AS the available remaining properties of iron ore reserves on the Mesabi Range are opened up for mining, the various properties located under lake beds are brought nearer an active status. The actual physical problems involved in stripping these properties do not act as a deterrent so much as the legal and political problems that are encountered. When it is proposed to destroy a natural lake that has been used by the public for many years, much local as well as state opposition may be encountered regarding its destruction. Public hearings must be held and some adverse publicity is likely to result. The ownership of the ore under the lake and the rights of the abutting property owners must be settled, and protection from damage caused by a disturbance in surface and subsurface drainage is likely to be demanded by property owners some distance from the proposed mine area. The Embarrass Mine, located near Biwabik, Minn., falls into this classification. A portion of the orebody lies under what was formerly Syracuse Lake, this body of water having been removed in the process of stripping the mine. An additional problem in the case of a meandered body of water is the establishment of a meander line that can be projected downward as mining progresses to form the basis for a satisfactory division between lake bed and upland ore shipments for royalty purposes. Fig. 1 illustrates the complications encountered in maintaining these divisions. A balance point was agreed upon in the center of the lake to make an equable division of lake bed ore to the abutting properties. The entire lake bed has since been adjudged the property of Minnesota. Lake Characteristics Lake bed stripping problems with which this paper is concerned necessarily are limited to a specific type of lake, namely the glacial lakes of the Lake Superior region. One characteristic common to these bodies of water is a deposit of fine black mud or silt on the bottom, frequently underlain by a layer of impervious blue clay. This is also true of the muskeg areas of the region, which present almost identical problems as lakes in stripping. The actual removal of the water and the lake bed material is a routine matter more or less standardized as to equipment, and the period of time required can be estimated easily on the basis of volume and capacity. More important than the foregoing is the execution of preliminary work, and above all, the timing involved. An account could be prepared based entirely on statistical and cost data which would give a very fair picture of the time required and cash outlay needed to effect the removal of a body of water preliminary to stripping the orebody. However, the real interest from the standpoint of the operator and the engineer who carry responsibility for completion of the job lies in the unexpected emergencies and the action of various materials involved in the stripping when the balance has been upset through diversion of water courses and the reduction of the lake level. Runoff and Drainage Lakes are located in natural basins that catch all the rain water and runoff water for a considerable area. Where a lake is involved having an inlet and outlet or a sizeable water course running through it, the drainage area may include a watershed covering many square miles. All available data then must be collected to supply a history extending over as many years for which information can be gathered on the flow of streams, annual rain and snowfall, and most important, the peak flows to be expected. Where the diversion of a stream around the stripping area is a part of the problem, this last factor is of great importance since it controls the cross-section to be selected for the diversion channel and the volume to be removed in its excavation, as well as affecting the hydraulic considerations to be met in the design of the completed channel. Characteristic material in the overburden found at the Embarrass Mine is illustrated in Fig. 2. Well Pumping Pumping from the well holes was started well in advance of the draining of the lake. Fig. 3 shows a gradual lowering of the water table with no noticeable fluctuations during the period in which the lake was being dewatered. Unfortunately, because of tight ground, a maximum flow to the wells was not maintained. This retarded the rate at which the water table was reduced so that in the course of stripping the excavation soon extended below the water table, and the great bulk of the pumping was handled from a system of sumps in the pit itself. Any dewatering program projected by prepumping from wells, a glorified well point system, would have to be started well in advance of the stripping to be of any great advantage. Preliminary drainage of the surface over the mine area is entirely apart from the actual elimination of the lake bed itself. Since the lake is what is called a perched water table because of the impervious character of the lake bottom, the adjoining surface may be dewatered below the surface of the existing lake and the flow will not be affected by the proximity of that body of water. This condition actually has been demonstrated through the establishment of a number of observation holes where a small churn drill was used to put down the holes and a 3-in. pipe was installed for taking water level

Jan 1, 1952

By A. E. Schuetz, A. E. Roswell, W. R. Hibbard

THE drawn wire texture of body-centered cubic iron,' tungsten,' and molybdenum~ as been determined to be a [110] direction parallel to the wire axis. The purpose of this study is to extend the available information on body-centered cubic wire textures to other metals and alloys. Wires were produced using hand wire rolls and dies as given in Table I. In addition, attempts were unsuccessful to draw wires from chromium, vanadium (Vanadium Corp. of America), and tungsten (Cleveland Tungsten Inc.). Although it is known that wires can be made from these materials, suitable techniques were not readily adaptable. Where necessary, wires were polished and etched to form flat ribbons 0.005 to 0.007 in. thick, and transmission X-ray patterns were taken using molybdenum radiation with the specimen tilted 0 degrees from the perpendicular toward the beam to critically cover the wire axis. Analyses were made of (110), (002), and (112) reflection circles. In all cases reflection maxima indicated the texture to be a single [1101 deformation fiber, as illustrated by Fig. 1 for molybdenum. In the case of the hot-worked ß brass, a second texture, [loo], was also found, but this is believed to be the result of recrystallization since it has been reported for re-crystallized molybdenum wires' and it was not present in the cold-drawn ß brass. The difference in drawability between the 51.92 pct Cu ß brass and the 62.5 pct Cu ß brass (containing some grain boundary a due to incomplete quenching) is quite striking, since the latter could be cold worked readily while the former had to be hot worked to avoid cracking. Summary The deformation texture of drawn body-centered cubic wires of ß brass, iron, molybdenum, niobium, and tantalum is essentially a single [110] fiber as predicted by theory.' Acknowledgment The authors wish to thank the suppliers of the metals listed in the text, and the Grant-in-Aid from the Research Fund of the Society of the Sigma Xi and Scientific Research Society of America which made possible the purchase of X-ray equipment.

Jan 1, 1952

By H. J. Tschirner, L. P. Davidson, R. K. Carpenter

HE electrolytic zinc plant of the American Zinc Co. of Illinois, at Monsanto, was expanded in 1943 to a capacity of 100 tons of slab zinc daily. This capacity was not attained because of inability of the leaching plant to deliver an adequate amount of solution for electrolysis. Changing the leaching method so that the acid was added to the roasted zinc material reversed the usual procedure and made it possible to attain the desired capacity. The conditions which prevented satisfactory work before this change and the difficulties which arose in reversing the usual leaching procedure are described. The "reverse" leach operation as now practiced is carried out as follows: All the calcine to be leached is fed continuously to a slurry mixing tank. About one third of the acid to be used is fed to the tank with the calcine. The slurry is discharged continuously to a Dorr duplex classifier in closed circuit with a Hardinge mill. The classifier overflow is pumped to any of six leaching tanks where the leach is completed. A finished leach is discharged through Allen-Sherman-Hoff pumps to Dorr thickeners, from which the overflow goes to the zinc dust purification and the underflow to vacuum filters. This change in leaching procedure from the usual one of adding calcine to a large amount of acid made it possible to provide an adequate amount of purified solution to the electrolyzing division and at the same time filter and dry all the residue produced. Operating savings in reagents and better metallurgical recoveries were also important benefits. The original flowsheet of the leaching plant provided leaching, sedimentation of the insoluble residue, and purification of the neutral zinc sulphate solution with zinc dust. The thickened residue was filtered and washed. The purification cake of excess zinc dust, precipitated copper and cadmium, and any insoluble residue was filtered off on plate-and-frame duplex classifier. Settlement in the thickeners was inadequate and the suspended solids in the thickener overflow gave rise to filtration difficulties after the zinc dust purification. Further, the filtration and washing of the leach residue was poor, and it became necessary to pump a large amount of unwashed or poorly washed residue to storage ponds outside the plant building. Two causes of the poor settling and filtration were determined: Soluble silica and ferrous iron in the calcine treated. The latter was a result of poor roasting and with more experience ceased to be a major problem. The silica was a normal constituent of the feed and the working out of the problem became a matter of controlling its solubility. The obvious method to render the silica insoluble was by intensive roasting. This, however, met with total failure as such roasting resulted in silicates, probably zinc, soluble in the 13 pct acid used for leaching. Attempts were made to coagulate the fine gelatinous slime with addition agents. Glue, lime, starch, beef-blood serum and others were tried without success. All the suggested tried-and-tested means of operating the thickeners gave no consistently good results. Variations in leaching time, in addition of calcine to the leaching tanks, "conditioning" of the pulp by prolonged agitation, immediate discharge of the leach upon completion to avoid breaking up flocs were all tried and given up as ineffective. Byron Marquis, of Singmaster and Breyer, worked with the plant staff on a beaker scale until a leaching procedure was developed which gave consistent results and a promise of overcoming the difficulties which had plagued the plant operation. It was suggested that the difference in solubility of silicates and zinc oxide in sulphuric acid could be made use of in a leaching method where the acidity was controlled carefully. Such control is possible when acid is added to a slurry of calcine. This process reverses the normal procedure of adding calcine to a vessel of acid, hence the term "reverse leach" was applied. In this way, the overall acid concentration can be kept very low. In the tests made, it did not exceed 0.05 g per liter free sulphuric acid. Numerous advantages were realized when no silicates were taken into solution and later precipitated as a bulky gel. The gel had made reasonable thickening and filtration of the leach pulp and practical drying of the residue impossible. When the gel was eliminated, thickening rates were increased as much as five times. The volume of residue after thickening represented about 10 pct of the total leach pulp and had been as high as 95 pct when the gel was present. The thickened pulp was filterable and the filtered cake was dried readily after washing. The zinc extraction from the calcine was slightly lower. This was more than compensated for by the increase in zinc recovered in solution from zinc which had been trapped in the gelatinous residue. The amount of copper recovered was lower. However, the amounts of other impurities, such as arsenic, antimony, and germanium, taken into solution were lower. This was particularly true of antimony. Since the inception of reverse leaching, no concentrates have failed to yield solutions free of antimony even when present in the calcine to the extent of 0.2 to 0.3 pct. Oxidation of ferrous iron is a problem of reverse leaching. Ferrous hydrate does not precipitate at pH 5.3 to 5.4 where a leach is finished. The usual oxida-

Jan 1, 1952

By R. Jr. Schuhmann

PROBLEMS in expressing, interpreting, and using size-distribution data recur in many phases of mineral dressing; therefore it is desirable that size analyses be ex-pressed in such a form, either numerically or graphically, that comparisons can be made readily. The size distribution of comminuted material is a result of a specific physical operation on the material and therefore should be governed by some definite physical principle, or cause-effect relation. Although this principle has not been dis-covered, it has been found that the size distribution of comminuted, homogeneous solids may be expressed by relatively simple mathematical equations. Two equa-tions in particular, proposed by Gaudin1 and by Rosin and Rammler,2 respectively, have stood out, both having wide demon-strated ranges of application. The form and the method of application of the two appear almost irreconcilably different on the surface, but, as will be shown, they are asymptotic in the fine sizes when expressed in the same units. This paper gives the results of a further study of the Gaudin and Rosin-Rammler relations, made with the object of develop-ing a form of size-distribution equation that will be more usable and more signifi-cant-particularly in comminution studies, both for interpreting the nature of size distribution and for evaluating surface. The work is summarized in the following:

Jan 1, 1940

By G. W. Tracy, R. D. Carter

A method based on an approach by Hurst' is developed for calculating water influx behavior. Using this method, superposition calculations may be eliminated. The principal diflerence between this method and that of Hurst is that, over finite intervals of time, constant oil-productton rates are assumed by Hurst whereas constant water influx rates are assumed in the presently described method. By adopting the assumption of constant water influx rate for finite time periods, a method is developed for calculating water influx behavior which lends itself to convenient combination with the material balance equation in the Schilthuis form. Above the bubble point, an equation is given for the explicit step-wise calculation of pressure history for a prescribed oil-production history. Use of this method of calculating water influx behavior should result in a considerable saving of time as compared to superposition calculations when the calculations must be made without using a digital computer. The connection is shown between the method described herein and the method developed by van Ever-dingen and Hursr2 (which requires superposition cal-culations). Also, results obtained using the two methods are compared.

By O. E. Michaelis

The metal used at the Befors Works in gun-munufacture is unforged open-hearth steel, cast without blow-holes. It has from time to time been asserted that it is impossible to pro

Jan 1, 1888

US 4,185,872-In the solution mining of uranium values from a subterranean uranium ore deposit, a lixiviant comprising sodium sulfate or other alkali metal sulfate and optionally minor proportions of an alkali metal carbonate or bicarbonate and an alkali metal hypochlorite is introduced into the ore to solubilize uranium therein. The pregnant lixiviant is recovered for processing. E.T. Habib, Jr., assigned to Mobil Oil Corp. Jan. 29, 1980. 5 pp (299-4). Filed- 8-18-78 (934,933).

Jan 1, 1982

By J. C. Reed, P. J. Shenon

The Elk City district is in north-central Idaho about 60 miles east of Grangeville and near the headwaters of the South Fork of the Clearwater River (Fig. 1). At the height of its boom in the early sixties, Elk City had a population of more than 2000 people, Published estimates of the placer production from the district range from $10,000,000 to $18,500,000. Although the first quartz-vein location was made as early as 1870, very little gold was extracted from quartz ores until after the completion of the American Eagle mill in 1902. Between 1902 and 1932 a total of from $750,000 to $1,000,000 was taken from about six properties. General Geology Distribution of Rocks Banded gneiss (Fig. 2) is the most aburldant bedrock in the Elk City district. It is interbedded with schist and quartzite and ill some places these rocks have been intruded by sills and dikes. Banded gneiss prevails in the western part of the area whereas schist prevails to the southeast. Augen gneiss occurs for the most part as irregular bodies, which lie transverse to the trend of the banded gneiss and schist. It is largely confined to two areas; one of which extends from east of the American Eagle mine westward as far as the Black Pine mine, a total distance of about five miles, and another area of about two square miles in the vicinity of the California-Idaho placer mine. Quartzite is fairly abundant. In addition to the bands of the latter interbedded with gneiss and schist, some large lenses crop out in the southeastern part of the dik-trict near the southern contact of the area underlain by granodiorite. Granodiorite crops out over a large area and extends northeastward

Jan 1, 1935

By P. J. Shenon, J. C. Reed

The Elk City district is in north-central Idaho about 60 miles east of Grangeville and near the headwaters of the South Fork of the Clearwater River (Fig. 1). At the height of its boom in the early sixties, Elk City had a population of more than 2000 people, Published estimates of the placer production from the district range from $10,000,000 to $18,500,000. Although the first quartz-vein location was made as early as 1870, very little gold was extracted from quartz ores until after the completion of the American Eagle mill in 1902. Between 1902 and 1932 a total of from $750,000 to $1,000,000 was taken from about six properties. General Geology Distribution of Rocks Banded gneiss (Fig. 2) is the most aburldant bedrock in the Elk City district. It is interbedded with schist and quartzite and ill some places these rocks have been intruded by sills and dikes. Banded gneiss prevails in the western part of the area whereas schist prevails to the southeast. Augen gneiss occurs for the most part as irregular bodies, which lie transverse to the trend of the banded gneiss and schist. It is largely confined to two areas; one of which extends from east of the American Eagle mine westward as far as the Black Pine mine, a total distance of about five miles, and another area of about two square miles in the vicinity of the California-Idaho placer mine. Quartzite is fairly abundant. In addition to the bands of the latter interbedded with gneiss and schist, some large lenses crop out in the southeastern part of the dik-trict near the southern contact of the area underlain by granodiorite. Granodiorite crops out over a large area and extends northeastward

Jan 1, 1935

The Elk City district is in north-central Idaho about 60 miles east of Grangeville and near the headwaters of the South Fork of the Clearwater River (Fig. 1). At the height of its boom in the early sixties, Elk City had a population of more than 2000 people, Published estimates of the placer production from the district range from $10,000,000 to $18,500,000. Although the first quartz-vein location was made as early as 1870, very little gold was extracted from quartz ores until after the completion of the American Eagle mill in 1902. Between 1902 and 1932 a total of from $750,000 to $1,000,000 was taken from about six properties. General Geology Distribution of Rocks Banded gneiss (Fig. 2) is the most aburldant bedrock in the Elk City district. It is interbedded with schist and quartzite and ill some places these rocks have been intruded by sills and dikes. Banded gneiss prevails in the western part of the area whereas schist prevails to the southeast. Augen gneiss occurs for the most part as irregular bodies, which lie transverse to the trend of the banded gneiss and schist. It is largely confined to two areas; one of which extends from east of the American Eagle mine westward as far as the Black Pine mine, a total distance of about five miles, and another area of about two square miles in the vicinity of the California-Idaho placer mine. Quartzite is fairly abundant. In addition to the bands of the latter interbedded with gneiss and schist, some large lenses crop out in the southeastern part of the dik-trict near the southern contact of the area underlain by granodiorite. Granodiorite crops out over a large area and extends northeastward

Jan 1, 1935

By P. J. Shenon, J. C. Reed

The Elk City district is in north-central Idaho about 60 miles east of Grangeville and near the headwaters of the South Fork of the Clearwater River (Fig. 1). At the height of its boom in the early sixties, Elk City had a population of more than 2000 people, Published estimates of the placer production from the district range from $10,000,000 to $18,500,000. Although the first quartz-vein location was made as early as 1870, very little gold was extracted from quartz ores until after the completion of the American Eagle mill in 1902. Between 1902 and 1932 a total of from $750,000 to $1,000,000 was taken from about six properties. General Geology Distribution of Rocks Banded gneiss (Fig. 2) is the most aburldant bedrock in the Elk City district. It is interbedded with schist and quartzite and ill some places these rocks have been intruded by sills and dikes. Banded gneiss prevails in the western part of the area whereas schist prevails to the southeast. Augen gneiss occurs for the most part as irregular bodies, which lie transverse to the trend of the banded gneiss and schist. It is largely confined to two areas; one of which extends from east of the American Eagle mine westward as far as the Black Pine mine, a total distance of about five miles, and another area of about two square miles in the vicinity of the California-Idaho placer mine. Quartzite is fairly abundant. In addition to the bands of the latter interbedded with gneiss and schist, some large lenses crop out in the southeastern part of the dik-trict near the southern contact of the area underlain by granodiorite. Granodiorite crops out over a large area and extends northeastward

Jan 1, 1935

Full details of the program for the New York meeting .were given in the January Bulletin and the announcement mailed to members. The following brief synopsis is offered simply as a reminder of the principal events of this meeting which Chairman Browne says is going to be "different." Time.-Monday, Feb. 14, to Thursday, Feb. 17, 1916, inclusive. Place.-Engineering-Societies' Building, 29 West 39th St., New York. Events.-Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (Morning and Afternoon) Technical Sessions. Tuesday, 10 a. m.: Annual Business Meeting, Luncheon served in the-Engineering Societies Building between sessions each day.

Jan 2, 1916

By FRANK R. VAN

I. INTRODUCTION. IN the summer of 1908, R. B. Cochran, Superintendent of the Compania Metalurgica Mexicana at Sierra Mojada, Mexico, presented to the Department of Geology and Mineralogy at Case School of Applied Science an interesting series of silver-, copper-, and lead-ores from the Veta Rica mine. These ores contained several interesting minerals which were associated in a somewhat peculiar manner, so that I was impelled to make a closer study of their occurrence. The investigation has brought out several new facts concerning the geology of the district and the geological occurrence of the ores, and therefore has seemed worthy of record. Two papers have been published previously about the region, one by Chism1 in 1887, and the other by Malcolmson2 in 1902. These articles, however, treat of the district more from the stand-point of the metallurgist and mining engineer, and not much attention is devoted to its mineralogy and economic geology. II. GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE DISTRICT. The Sierra Mojada is situated in the extreme western part of the State of Coahuila, near the Chihuahua boundary. It is reached best via the Mexican Central railroad from El Paso, Tex., to Escalon, Chihuahua, a distance of 494 miles. From this point, a branch line, the Mexican Northern railroad, runs 78 miles in a NE. direction to the mines, which are its northern terminus. The railroad was built about 1890, practically on account of the Sierra Mojada mining-district. 1 Sierra Mojada, Mexico, by Richard E. Chism, Trans., xv., 542 (1886-87). 2 The Sierra Mojada, Coahuila, Mexico, and Its Ore-Deposits, by James W. Malcomson, Tram., xxxii., 100 (1901).

Aug 1, 1912

By M. S. Klima, P. T. Luckie

Interfacing new or improved unit operations SUBMODULES with the EXECUTIVE of a macro analysis simulator usually requires modification of the input data. For example, particle processing SUBMODULES that are sufficiently general in nature to provide useful predictions require input data for rather narrow size fractions. Such data is not always available for the EXECUTIVE and must therefore be generated by the SUBMODULE. A successful interface to allow incorporation of a new SUBMODULE for comminution and one for classification in a general stream state flowsheet simulator is presented. The general nature of the SUBMODULES, as well as the logic of expanding and contracting the required data input is discussed.

Jan 1, 1983

By Zay Jeffries

IMAGINE a spinning sphere of hot matter about 8000 miles in diameter, rushing through space at a velocity measured in miles per second, and you have a rough idea of what our earth is supposed to have been like about two to four billion years ago. By applying all of the science known to man and, more especially, by determining the velocity of earthquake waves at different depths, making comparisons with meteorites, studying densities, compressibility of rocks and the nature of surface rocks, a fairly definite conception of the general constitution of the earth has been obtained.1 The earth is supposed to have a central core rich in iron containing a substantial amount of nickel and small percentages of several other elements. The density of the core is assumed to be about ten times that of water and the diameter about 4200 miles. An intermediate shell of density about 4, and thickness of about 1800 miles, is sup- posed to consist of heavy rocks including sulfides, oxides, and silicates. The outer rock shell, probably about 100 miles thick and with a density around 2.8, is thought to be composed mostly of silicates, becoming in general more siliceous as the earth's surface is approached. NATURE'S SMELTING OPERATION Nature seems to have subjected the earth to a stupendous smelting operation, burying beyond reach much of the metal that man recovers in his smelting practices. We live on the surface of Nature's "slag dump" and must be content, for the near term, to recover for man's

Jan 1, 1953

By Valentin Garfias

ALTHOUGH Mexico still ranks second in importance as produce for petroleum, the output in 1924 was 7 ½ per cent. less than in 1923 and 30 per cent. less than the peak production of 1921. The decrease may be partly accounted for by labor troubles and revolutionary activities early in the year, although undoubtedly the main factor was the continuous rise of the salt-water level in the South Fields, causing a decline of 24,000,000 bbl. in the production of light oil. Since the middle of 1923, the production of heavy crude has been greater than that of the lighter grade and, in 1924, the output of heavy crude was 2 ½ times that-of the light oil. DEVELOPMENT Drilling operations in the Mexican fields were probably more active in 1924 than in any other year, the greatest activity taking place in the Cacalilao and neighboring fields; toward the end of the year there was an added number of wells drilling in wildcat areas. The number of wells drilled in proved territory was almost twice that of the previous year, the increase taking place in the heavy-oil fields north of Panuco, as only 78 of the 710 wells completed were drilled in the Southern Fields. The percentage of successful completions decreased from 45 per cent., during 1923, to about 38 per cent., during 1924; there was also a noticeable decrease in the average flush production of the new wells. It is interesting to note that notwithstanding the increased drilling activity, the total production declined over 10,000,000 barrels. In the heavy-oil district, 632 wells were completed but only 231, or 36 ½ per cent., were commercially productive. The develop-ment in the Cacalilao area reached its peak in April and May, or about the time the first serious salt-water encroachments took place. Development in the old Panuco and Topila fields was more active than during the previous year, although the salt-water level continued to rise, the high price of crude making such development advisable especially for companies having to protect large-investments.

Jan 3, 1925

By John A. Church

AT a time when the treatment of gold and silver ores by fusion, in opposition to the mill-process, is attracting so much attention in this country, it may be useful to consider what is done in a well-conducted foreign work. For this purpose I will ask the reader to accompany me to Lend, in Austria, a small but thoroughly organized

Jan 1, 1873

By Dennis V. D’Andrea, Larry R. Fletcher, Peter G. Chamberlain

The evaluation of potential in situ copper leaching deposits requires a thorough examination of the geologic, mineralogic, hydrologic and physiological characteristics of the ore body. The decision to develop the deposit is made with these data along with leaching properties, estimated copper recovery, and economic analysis. A test blast followed by pilot leaching can a so be used for further evaluation and to reduce uncertainty regarding the deposit's potential. This report describes a number of ground characterization techniques that can be used to evaluate potential deposits. Field methods include geologic mapping, groundwater hydrology, core drilling, geophysical logs, permeability testing, and in-situ stress measurements while laboratory tests include assaying, mineralogy, leaching, rock physical properties, size analysis, and computer simulation.

Jan 1, 1980