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By John T. Galey

In all, 210 wellst were completed in southwestern Pennsylvania during 1939, which is 59 more than were drilled during the preceding year. Of this number, 137 were gas wells, which is a considerable increase from the 81 completed during 1938. Only 25 oil wells were completed, as against 28 in the previous year, and 28 dry holes, 6 more than last year. Shallow Development—Gas The increase in the number of gas wells is largely the result of a search for additional gas in Armstrong and Indiana Counties. Although a considerable number of wells were drilled in the latter county, the majority of them produced less than 100 M cu. ft. initial open flow. In Armstrong County, a new pool was opened in Cowanshannock township, producing from the third Bradford sand. Several large wells were obtained there, one of which produced an initial of nearly 12 million cu. ft., with a reservoir pressure of 1100 Ib. However, the productive area has been fairly well outlined by further drilling and shows that the pool covers only about 800 acres. The sand is 20 to 30 ft. thick, and probably has 5 to 6 ft. of pay. Thus this reserve is not an important one. Several wells were found in Menallen township, Fayette County, where the Big Injun sand has been having a play for the past three years, but the activity there is much less than a year ago. Oil On the west side of the Bradford sand gas pool, Cowanshannock township, Armstrong County, a well was drilled which flowed 100 bbl. the first day from the Tiona sand. The probability is that this well is a freak, as the Tiona has been drilled within a fairly close distance on every

Jan 1, 1940

By John T. Galey

In all, 210 wellst were completed in southwestern Pennsylvania during 1939, which is 59 more than were drilled during the preceding year. Of this number, 137 were gas wells, which is a considerable increase from the 81 completed during 1938. Only 25 oil wells were completed, as against 28 in the previous year, and 28 dry holes, 6 more than last year. Shallow Development—Gas The increase in the number of gas wells is largely the result of a search for additional gas in Armstrong and Indiana Counties. Although a considerable number of wells were drilled in the latter county, the majority of them produced less than 100 M cu. ft. initial open flow. In Armstrong County, a new pool was opened in Cowanshannock township, producing from the third Bradford sand. Several large wells were obtained there, one of which produced an initial of nearly 12 million cu. ft., with a reservoir pressure of 1100 Ib. However, the productive area has been fairly well outlined by further drilling and shows that the pool covers only about 800 acres. The sand is 20 to 30 ft. thick, and probably has 5 to 6 ft. of pay. Thus this reserve is not an important one. Several wells were found in Menallen township, Fayette County, where the Big Injun sand has been having a play for the past three years, but the activity there is much less than a year ago. Oil On the west side of the Bradford sand gas pool, Cowanshannock township, Armstrong County, a well was drilled which flowed 100 bbl. the first day from the Tiona sand. The probability is that this well is a freak, as the Tiona has been drilled within a fairly close distance on every

Jan 1, 1940

By William E. Ford, Edward Salisbury Dana

506. Scope of Descriptive Mineralogy. - It is the province of Descriptive Mineralogy to describe each mineral species, as regards: (1) form and structure; (2) physical characters; (3) chemical composition including blowpipe and chemical tests; (4) occurrence in nature with reference to geo- graphical distribution and association with other species; also in connection with the above to show how it may be distinguished from other species. Further, it should classify mineral species into more or less comprehensive groups according to those characters regarded as most essential. Other points which may or may not be included are the investigation of the methods of origin of minerals; the changes that they undergo in nature and the results of such alteration; also the methods by which the same compounds may be made in the laboratory; finally, the uses of minerals as ores, for ornament and in the arts.

Jan 1, 1922

By R. A. Bowen

THE Montreal mine, operated by the Montreal Mining Co., is four miles west of Ironwood, Mich., in Iron County, Wisconsin. It is the westernmost producing property on the Gogebic Iron Range of the Lake Superior district. Its production is 4000 tons of hematite per day from an average depth of 2300 ft. This tonnage is hoisted through a five-compartment vertical shaft. Several mining methods are in use but in the larger orebodies the method is sublevel caving. ORE OCCURRENCE AND CHARACTERISTICS The main orebodies of the Montreal mine lie in eastward-pitching troughs formed by the intersections of intrusive dikes with impervious members of the iron formation. The formation has an average width of 425 ft., strikes east and west and clips north at approximately 62°. The dikes dip south at 45° and bear north 20° from the strike of the formation, making the intersections with various members pitch east at 16°. The dikes are not continuous across the formation but are interrupted ,by a longitudinal bedding fault, which has a throw of 380 ft. vertically and 885 ft. horizontally. North of the fault zone the formation is called "hanging," south it is called "footwall" formation. The faulting has created two ore-bearing horizons; viz., at the inter-section of hanging dikes with the slate members and the foot dikes with the quartzite footwall. In each formation the main ore-bearing member consists of wavy beds of hard chest interlaid with hematite. In the most productive part of the mine, where the sublevel caving method is employed, a hanging-formation dike lies in juxtaposition with a footwall dike and the iron formation carries ore in certain sections from the quartzite footwall to the hanging (like. Here a horizontal section of the orebody may be 300 to 400 ft. wide for a length of 150 ft. or more and tail out lengthwise in both the foot and hanging formations. The footwall ore section is much longer than the hanging wall because of the orebody's greater height above the "pitching dike."

Jan 1, 1938

Schedule of Events

Jan 8, 1950

I TOLD you above that you should save the melted material that you extracted by smelting the ore. In substance this is copper, lead, silver, and perhaps gold, but all are like substances mixed in one body without any distinction. Now if you wish to separate these and to reduce them to their pure qualities, it is necessary to proceed with each one according to its own methods. Now in this method of separating lead in order to extract the silver and gold from the copper, it is necessary to return to the smelting and to follow one of two methods.* The first is to smelt it again with the addition of lead or lead ore, and to make it all run through the channel into the large forehearth that was made in front of the blast furnace, and, as it cools off, proceed to remove layer by layer with the fork, as I told you before and as you did the first time, until the work lead is reached. Then you assay what you have extracted and see whether it contains silver. If you consider that it has enough per hundred to justify the expense, return it again to the smelting. Continue to do this until you have extracted all the unctuousness and the work lead still remains. If it contains little or no silver, you must be satisfied with your work; otherwise return it again to smelt, always accompanying it with lead or galena and do as you did the other times until it

Jan 1, 1942

Lieutenant Gorman was born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1888, and after preliminary education at Ottawa University and the Ottawa Collegiate Institute, he graduated from McGill University in 1913, as a mining engineer. After graduation, Mr. Gorman spent several months in a tour of Europe. The year 1909 was occupied at one of the Canadian graphite mines, and the summer of 1911 he spent with the Granby Mining, Smelting & Power Co., Ltd. At the time of his admission to the Institute, in 1914, he was sampler with the Dome mines at South Porcupine, Ontario. His next engagement was at the Creighton mine, Ontario, but in 1916 he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and went to England. A letter written by Major Ritchie, commanding the Second Tunnelling Company, to Lieut. Gorman's mother, contains the following words. Tommy was lulled at our headquarters by a nine-inch shell which struck the officers' quarters. The Hun had been shelling a small village close to the camp with a long-range gun and a shot fell into our camp. Tom was killed instantly by the concussion. He mas buried this morning with Military Honours in the military cemetery close to our camp. Tommy was an efficient officer and a good soldier and his loss is very keenly felt by the officers and men of this unit. Lieutenant William Hague William Hague, First Lieutenant Co. F, 116th Regiment of Engineers, and a member of the Institute since 1906, died of pneumonia in France, on Jan. 1, 1918. Lieutenant Hague was born in Orange, N. J., Mar. 31, 1882, the son of the late James D. Hague, a distinguished mining engineer and a life member of the Institute, and Mary Ward (Foote) Hague, of Guilford, Conn. He attended Milton Academy, Milton, Mass., and was graduated from Harvard in the class of 1904. He was a nephew of the late Arnold Hague, of the United States Geological Survey. Seven years ago he married Elizabeth Stone, of Milton, who with their son, James D. Hague, six years old, survives him. Lieutenant Hague's mining career began immediately after his graduation from Harvard, when he went to Bisbee, Ariz., to be a surveyor's helper in the mines of the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Co. In 1905, he became an instrument man, being engaged on the construction work of the Copper Queen smelting plant at Douglas, Ariz. In the latter part of the same year he was transferred to the geological depart-

Jan 1, 1920

By C. E. SWANN

NOT long ago an engineering study was made to determine if the time had arrived to lower the head of standing water in abandoned Rock Springs mines Nos. I and 3 of The Union Pacific Coal Co. so that this water would not become a menace to the future operations of adjacent mines or mines developed on seams lower in the coal measures. This survey resulted - in a decision to unwater the No. 1 mine workings and, incidentally, the old No. 3 mine workings by drilling a large-diameter hole from the surface to an opening in No. 1 mine at the sump below 21 entry, provided it was found practical to operate a large-capacity, vertical, deep-well pump under the existing conditions. This would relieve the static bead of 200 ft. of water at the fault that separates Rock Springs mines Nos. 1 and 4, which is the

Jan 1, 1935

By J. L. Schroeder, W. G. Talman

EXPERIENCE has shown that certain known natural conditions and other indefinite characteristics combine to make a mining area vulnerable to mountain bumps. Some of the known conditions are heavy overburden, an overlying stratum of strong non-elastic rock, a structurally strong coal seam that does not crush easily and yet is the weakest stratum in the series, and a floor stratum of more than ordinary firmness. The indefinite characteristics could include resistance of top or bottom of a coal seam to lateral flow, effect of immediate top and bottom strata, nature of the coal seam, and other factors about which very little is known. It is in this area that exhaustive study is needed to achieve positive control of the dreaded mountain bump hazard. In the Gary district, West Virginia, two of the five operating mines have areas known to be vulnerable to mountain bumps.These are the No. 2 and 6 mines, which are working the Pocahontas No. 4 coal seam. In this area the seam is overlain at a zero to 10-ft interval by the massive Eckman sandstone, which is about 100 ft thick in the vulnerable areas. Total overburden, consisting of shale, coal seams, and sandstones, ranges from 700 to 1400 ft where bumps have occurred (Fig. 1). The coal seam is 4 to 8 ft thick and has a weak columnar structure of very soft and spongy or woody coal. The immediate top is either the Eckman sandstone or hard shale, both of which provide generally good roof conditions for mining operations. The bottom ranges from medium to hard gray shale. The incidence of bumps in the Gary district dates from about 1930 and can be correlated to some degree with the increased rate of extraction attained with mechanical mining. During early years of operation at the No. 2 and 6 mines, most of the work was development and under comparatively light cover. As overburden became heavier, together with an increasing percentage of coal coming from pillar extraction, mountain bumps began to occur. Before 1945 they were much less severe than in later years, and because there were no injuries or fatalities, no records were kept. But by 1951 the incidence of bumps had increased to such extent that it became evident a mining system would have to be designed to eliminate or at least minimize these occurrences. Drawing on experience with modified versions of old systems and certain characteristics peculiar to the Pocahontas No. 4 coal seam, the district mining engineer, Martin Hayduk, outlined the essential factors for bump control in the Gary district. These control factors indicated: 1) The highly stressed area, which lies within the limits of convergence effects, moves at approximately the same rate as the retreating pillar line. 2) There is a decided softening of the periphery of blocks which is greatest and deepest on the gob side. 3) Blocks less than 45 ft wide never have been known to bump in the Pocahontas seams. Fig. 2 shows the mining plan based on these observations—a thin-pillar system with a minimum of secondary development. It was recognized from the start that the Hayduk system had certain limitations. When pillar work backed up to an inevitable surrounded block it was no longer applicable; also, burnt bottom and/or unknown factors reduced the system's effectiveness in certain headings. Since there was no way to eliminate the loaded block, it was decided to experiment with auger drilling to attain controlled release of this stored-up energy. The decision to auger was made after consideration of three separate plants, which were: 1) To cut the solid block into pillars of maximum size by driving away from the fracture line and at such a distance outby that development

Jan 1, 1959

By G. A. Colligan, G. L. F. Powell

A new experimental technique has been developed to study nucleation behavior in eutectic alloys. It is somewhat similar to that applied by Sundquist and Mondolfo1 but with the advantages that: 1) bulk samples are undercooled instead of small droplets thus allowing the thermal behavior to be monitored by a thermocouple immersed in the sample, and 2) nucleation behavior is investigated in the same sample on either side of the eutectic composition by adding additional component to the sample under controlled conditions which preclude the addition of nu-cleation contaminants. Sundquist and Mondolfo carried out ]nucleation ex-periments on a large number of eutectic alloy sys-tems and concluded that nonreciprocal nucleation operated. If one phase a was a good nucleant for the other phase 0, then B was a poor nucleant for a. This was determined experinlentally by comparing the nucleation temperatures of 100 to 300 u diameter droplets of hypereutectic and hypoeutectic composition cooled from above the liquidus and from a temperature between the liquidus and the eutectic temperature. Primary phase a was concluded to be an efficient nucleant for the other phase B, if the following experimental result was obtained. Referring to Fig. 1, the temperature TI at which a drop of hypereutectic alloy of composition B froze when cooled from above the B liquidus was noted. This was the nucleation temperature for B in the absence of a. A drop of hypoeutectic alloy of composition A was then frozen from temperature T2 between the a liquidus and the eutectic temperature. The temperature T3 at which the eutectic nucleated in the presence of the primary or proeutec-tic a was noted. If this temperature T3 was higher than the temperature TI at which the B nucleated in a hypereutectic alloy, it was concluded that the primary a had nucleated the 6. This temperature T3, representing a certain undercooling below the equilibrium eutectic temperature Te , was designated ?TB by a> the undercooling below T, for nucleation of 13 by a. If there was no substantial difference in nucleation temperature between the hypereutectic drop cooled from above the /3 liquidus and the hypo-eutectic drop cooled from a temperature between the a liquidus and the eutectic temperature, it was considered that the a nucleated B at an undercooling equal to or greater than that at which P nucleated from a hypereutectic alloy. Sundquist and Mondolfo1 found that faceted primary crystals were good nucle-ants for metals that grow as orthogonal dendrites when present as the primary phase. Jackson2 has questioned Sundquist and Mondolfo's technique and proposed that in Sundquist and Mon-dolfo's samples, such as composition A, primary a retained B in reentrant grooves at their surfaces when heated to a temperature above the eutectic but below the a liquidus. This objection was suggested by experiments with organic eutectics where reten-

Jan 1, 1970

By H. Krueger, H. N. Hersh

USE of autoradiography in diffusion studies offers the advantage that no repeated sectioning is necessary and that the analyses are performed in a simple manner over the continuous range of penetration depths. As part of a program of solid-state physics, it was desired to develop the autoradio-graphic method' quantitatively for use in diffusion studies. Results are reported here for the self-diffusion of silver. Silver was chosen because the existing data are good enough to evaluate the technique." The silver used in this investigation was obtained in the form of ¼ in. diam rods of polycrystalline material, 99.99 pct purity. The radioactive silver, Ag110 (ß, y), was obtained as the nitrate and converted to the chloride for use in a standard cyanide plating bath. The diffusion specimens were 1/2 in. lengths of the rod. They were mounted in bake-lite and the exposed circular face carefully ground and polished. Prior to electrodepositing radioactive

Jan 1, 1956

By A. L. Holley

THE occurrence of this gas, in quite appreciable. quantities, has been observed for many years in its escape along the creeks of Western Pennsylvania, and more recently, in much larger quantities, from the oil wells in and near Venango County. Within about five years several gas wells have been struck, from which the gas has escaped continuously in prodigious quantities and at great pressure. During the last year a systematic attempt has been made to utilize the flow of gas from one of these wells, and results have been reached which were quite unexpected. This well, near Leechburg, Armstrong County, is about twenty miles northeast of Pittsburgh, on one of the side tributaries of the Alleghany River. It had been drilled in search of oil to a depth of 1250 feet in 1871, but none was found. A great flow of gas was developed, however, accompanied by a slight spray of salt water, and this has continued with little or no diminution to the present time. The gas in its escape has been discharged through a 5-inch pipe, and at a pressure of from 60 to 80 lbs. per square inch, but no exact determinations, either of the pressure or quantity, have been made. The rolling mill of Messrs. Rogers & Burchfield is on the opposite side of the river, and it has been for some years devoted to the production of fine grades of sheet iron from charcoal pig metal, by puddling and in knobbling fires. The usual weekly product of the mill has been 30 tons of No. 30 tin plates, and 50 tons of No. 24 to 28 sheets. The well was bought by this firm for $1000, and the gas is led across the river, a distance of about 500 feet, through a 3-inch pipe. It is distributed through half-inch pipes, and at a pressure of about 45 lbs. per square inch, to several of the furnaces, but a large fraction of the total flow of gas is still wasted at the well. No essential alteration in any of the furnaces has been found necessary in the use of the gas fuel, except to brick up the fire-bridge and to put in the gas and air pipes. The old grate used for coal is loosely covered with bricks and cinder, so that a slight percolation of air may take place through them. The gas is admitted through a half-inch pipe, and blows toward the fire-bridge through 18 or 20 one-eighth inch jets. The air is blown in at about 2 lbs. a

Jan 1, 1876

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LOCAL. SECTION Executive Committee SEELEY W. MUDD, Chairman C. COLCOCK JONES, Vice-Chairman FREDERICK J. H. MERRILL, Secretary-Treasurer, 631 Higgins Bldg., Los Angeles, Cal. RALPH ARNOLD A. B. CARPENTER In. order to make the meetings of the, Section more interesting and fruitful, the Executive Committee has formed a sub-committee on programs for. Section meetings, which announces for the coming autumn and winter season, four dinner meetings, at intervals of two months, in which the co-operation of all Section members is urgently. requested. The subjects chosen for discussion at these meetings, with the proposed dates, are as follows: Sept. 28, 1915. Mining Geology of Mojave County, Arizona. Dec. 14, 1915. General Geology and Mining Conditions in Southern California. Feb. 1, 1916. Petroleum, its Geology and Technology. April 4, 1916. General Mining Conditions in. South America. F. J. H.. MERRILL, Secretary.

Jan 10, 1915

By Brian W. Mackenzie

Since mineral economics is often coupled with mining engineering in the solution of mineral industry problems, it is important that the principles of this science be a part of the mining engineer's education. Essentially, mineral economics is the application of economic principles to analysis of the multistage process by which minerals are converted from geologic resources to marketable products. In some instances, it may require only the analysis of case studies from a well- developed economics core. In others, however, it requires special skills, because some aspects of the mineral conversion process--such as mineral occurrence, exploration investment and depletion-have no complete parallel in general economics. The mining engineer has been an important contributor to the analysis of mineral economics problems because of his special knowledge of the mineral industry.

Jan 1, 1971

By James M. Winston

When I began my career (the first assignment was mucking the "drainage" ditch) an experienced miner told me, "Remember son, happiness is a journey, not a destination. . . ." If you missed the 100th Anniversary of AIME in New York this year, you are missing the journey. There are not enough superlatives to describe the event. Especially since New York is "known to have it all." An Indefinable Plus There was a little something different at this meeting. I cannot explain what, but there seemed to be more of everything. There were more wives there this year-what a pleasure to see all the lovely women mingling through the conference- which was reflected through our own attire and mannerisms. In fact, everyone looked so great, we checked to see if it really was a convention of miners. You wives keep coming to all of the events, because so much is added by your presence.

Jan 1, 1971

By E. G. Spilsbury

AS a fresh illustration of the advances made in the past few years in the overhead-cable systems of hoisting and conveying, as applied to open-cut deep mining and quarrying, I would call attention to a further development of this system of transportation which has lately been put in operation i-n this State. A few miles above Williamsport, on the Susquehanna river, the Glen Union Lumber Company, of Pottsville, Pa., owned a large tract of valuable timber-

Jan 1, 1892

By Paul Weir

FOR the first time in 1938, bituminous coal production for the week ending Nov. 19 surpassed that of the corresponding week in 1937, and indexes of industrial activity indicated the possibility that the remaining weeks of 1938 would run ahead of the corresponding weeks of the preceding year. But regardless of this year-end pickup, total production in 1938 was approximately 25 per cent less than in 1937. The estimate of 340 million tons for 1938 places the bituminous industry slightly above the production level of 1933 and approximately 10 per cent above the modem low of 1932. Anthracite production is not subject to the same extent as is bituminous coal to fluctuations arising out of the rate of industrial activity, hence the decline from 1937 has not been so great being approximately 14 per cent under 1937. The estimate for 1938 production is approximately 45 million tons, but this represents the lowest level reached in the last fifty years with the possible exception of several strike years.

Jan 1, 1939

By M. C. Fuerstenau

Each year during the AIME Annual Meeting, the MBD Division has its Business Meeting. Because many members cannot attend, it has be- come policy for the secretary of the Division to present highlights of the business conducted at the Meeting in Fine Grind. This year the Meeting was held on March 1 in the Americana Hotel. Five major items of business were brought up for discussion. These were: (1) the proposed name change for the Division, (2) institution of the Taggart Award, (3) a name change for a Unit Committee, (4) MBD funding of scholarships, and (5) authorship of Fine Grind articles. The Matter of What We Should Call Ourselves A lively discussion was held on the issue of a name change for the Division. Two names have been proposed: (1) Mineral Processing Division, and (2) Mineral Engineering Division. A number of strong reasons for changing the name from Minerals Beneficiation Division have been pointed out. Perhaps the most important of these is that the term "beneficiation" does not describe all of the functions that engineers in our Division perform. Further, there are inherent problems associated in the term, in that beneficiation is a long word which has the twofold disadvantage of being both difficult to pronounce and difficult to spell.

Jan 1, 1971

By Charles C. Rodd

PRIOR to 1938, proration procedure in Kansas required the physical testing of wells in order to set up a basis for allocating production. Subsequently the use of liquid-level data and bottom-hole pressure data was authorized on certain types of wells as a basis for calculating well capacities, thereby permitting wells to be tested at low rates and with small volumes of production. This paper gives some attention to the equipment used for obtaining liquid-level data but in general it is devoted to the theoretical and physical factors involved in well testing by drawdown methods. These tests are divided into two classifications: (1) liquid-level data used directly to calculate capacities, and (2) liquid-level data and liquid-level measuring equipment used in connection with other data to determine bottom-hole pressure. Equations and calculations for both types of tests are shown. Well capacities calculated from fill-up data have not been used generally but offer a simple means of testing some wells. Theoretical factors and calculations for such tests are shown. IN the state of Kansas, proration laws required that the "ability of a well to produce" be given consideration in state allocation orders and for many years this was the only factor used in prorating the allowed oil. The "ability of a well to produce" was the quantity of oil that could be obtained from a well in a prescribed period, usually 24 hr. Early in the history of State-regulated proration, Kansas operators realized that, unless some restriction were placed upon equipment, the competition between producers to obtain large well "potentials" might result in a race to install the largest pumping equipment. Consequently, restrictions were placed upon the size of tubing and length of pump stroke that could be used in pumping wells during potential tests. Later, restrictions were placed also upon the size of tubing and chokes that could be used in flowing walls. Despite the restriction set-up, better pumping equipment was designed and installed, pumps were improved, and various devices were invoked to obtain high rates of production for short periods of time. By 1937 pumping cycles of forty to forty-five 54-in. strokes per minute were not uncommon, and numerous wells had produced at the rate of 3500 bbl. per day for short periods. Such production was far beyond any rate that could be long sustained. Equipment necessary to take "potentials" was several times larger than that needed for normal producing purposes, and repairs and replacements required by the high pumping speeds were excessive. Also, many operators were beginning to suspect that the high rates of production maintained during "potential" tests were conducive to early water encroachment. By 1938 large-scale physical testing of wells in Kansas ended, the use of the bottom-hole pressure gauge had become common, engineers and operators were becoming familiar with the term "productivity index," and bottom-hole pressure was being used as a factor in allocation in many areas. There were many drawbacks, however, to large-scale use of

Jan 1, 1942

By AIME AIME

NAPOLEON'S dictum that an Army travels on its stomach has not changed in this present war, but the things an Army's stomach calls for would be more than strange to Napoleon. Today one of the main articles of diet for the mechanized army is oil and gasoline, and the chief and most efficient source of 'apply overland is the pipe line. It was a flexible 4-in. pipe line that supplied the voracious appetite of tanks, trucks, jeeps, and planes across the North African desert. and it is the 1800-mile pipe line from Calcutta to Kunming, Yunnan Province in China, the longest in the world, that supplied oil and 100-octane gas for the trucks, tanks, Jeeps, and planes fighting on the Assam-Burma-China front in recent months. Completion of this approximately 1800-mile pipe line to China over rivers that had never been bridged, over hill that towered 9000 ft., and over swamps

Jan 1, 1945