Search Documents

By M. M. Fidlar, Ralph E. Esarey

A marked decrease in drilling during 1937 in Indiana seemed to have no undesirable effect upon the oil and gas industry. Instead, production figures for oil showed a small increase over those for the preceding year, although not so much gas was marketed as in 1936. Drilling activity was centered in proven areas, and the proportion of dry holes to the number of wells drilled decreased somewhat. During 1937, including old wells drilled to deeper horizons, 134 wells were completed in Indiana, of which 39 were oil wells, 39 gas wells, and 56 dry holes. Nearly 75 per cent of the holes were drilled in proven areas. Of the 36 wells drilled in wildcat areas, only four found commercial production. Wildcat wells were especially numerous in Vigo, Pike, Perry and Spencer Counties. Exploratory drilling activity in Vigo County resulted in part from the drilling of the discovery well in the new Prairie Creek field. In Pike County, wildcat wells were drilled in the search for new supplies of gas to meet the demand in the southwestern portion of Indiana. Drilling in both proven and wildcat areas in Perry and Spencer Counties continued to be heavy, because of the presence of shallow Missis-sippian sands and the resulting low cost of drilling and equipping. At the end of the year, 42 of the wells started in 1937 were not completed. Only a few locations were drilled in the old Trenton field, but the wells, many of them 40 years old, continued to furnish a small supply of gas for domestic consumption. Oil production in the Jay County portion of the Trenton area was nearly twice that of 1936, owing in part to a vacuum system installed on several leases. The Harrison County (Laconia) gas field is being developed northward to offset water encroaching from the south. This water in the black shale threatens to put an end to the steady production that this field has furnished for many years. During 1937, the Oaktown gas field again furnished more gas than any other field, but production in that area showed a marked decrease over the marketed gas for 1936. During the early months of the year, seven wells were completed in the Oaktown field to bring the total number of producing wells to over 40. At present, all the operators in the area are

Jan 1, 1938

By R. M. Stewart

INTRODUCTION Requirements for achieving economic slope stability in open pit mining must not only be met during the operating stages but in all preceding stages of mine development. In many operating mines little or no emphasis was ever placed on evaluating the stability of possible slopes during the exploration and planning stages. The purpose of this discussion is to emphasize the necessary considerations that should be made in all stages of development in order to achieve the safest and most economic pit slopes. The most economic slopes may not always be the safest slopes and it is incumbent upon the mine operators and engineers to achieve an optimal combination of economics and safety. The stability requirements outlined are based on the profit motive and are, therefore, practically oriented. Long-term basic research or theoretical studies are considered important only to the extent that they can be shown to have a definite payoff. Consideration will first be given to the information required for stability analysis, which can be determined during the exploration and evaluation stage, followed by further stability work necessary during the mine planning and layout stage. Particular emphasis is then placed on the operating stage in which blasting, dewatering, artificial stabilization, and slope failure are discussed. Lastly, the importance of a logical and orderly research procedure is stressed. EXPLORATION AND EVALUATION STAGE The purpose of the exploration and evaluation stage in the mining scheme is to find and delineate a potential orebody. Discovery and delineation commonly involve drilling tens and in many cases hundreds of boreholes. These boreholes, which may cost as much as $20.00 per foot of depth for a cored hole, are usually abandoned once drilling is completed. Stability evaluation for a potential open pit should begin at this stage by taking advantage of the existing boreholes. Rock and soil properties, as well as hydrologic parameters, may be obtained from both the borehole and the core. Seismic velocity and neutron probes may be used to log the borehole to obtain elastic moduli data. A borehole dilation jack may also be used to give backup information on the rock and soil elastic parameters. Use of a core orientation system can result in the determination of fault and joint frequency and distribution. Before splitting or otherwise disturbing the fresh core, qualitative evaluation

Jan 1, 1972

By George Watkin Evans

The need for mechanization in coal mining wherever it can be successfully introduced is evident when we take into account the fact that during recent years the coal-mine employee's wages have increased and his hours have been shortened. Coal is no longer King, and a brief study of statistics covering the production of coal, petroleum and natural gas and the development of water power will convince anyone that coal has had very powerful competitors during the past 10 years. Petroleum production in the United States between 1918 and 1936 increased from 100 per cent to 309 per cent. Water power increased from 100 per cent in 1918 to 270 per cent in 1936. Bituminous coal slipped from 100 per cent in 1918 to 75 per cent in 1936. The anthracite industry slipped from 100 per cent in 1918 to 50 per cent in 1932, but climbed to 55 per cent in 1936. In 1918, the State of Washington produced a little over four million tons of coal and the production of California oil, at that time, was a little less than one hundred million barrels per year. By 1929 the production of California oil had increased to a little over 292,000,000 bbl. or nearly 300 per cent as compared with 1918. By 1934 the production of coal in the state of Washington had dropped to about 1 1/3 millions of tons per year. Our neighbors in British Columbia had their coal production reduced from a little over 2 1/2 million tons in 1920 to less than 1 1/3 million in 1933. The North western Improvement Co., a subsidiary of the Northern Pacific Railroad Co., owns coal properties in various parts of Washington and Montana. The Northern Pacific is one of the very few railroads using any considerable quantity of coal in its operations. Practically all of the American railroads in the Pacific Northwest, except the Northern Pacific, are using cheap California fuel oil or electricity. This problem, of course, is not a new one in coal mining, and all of the progressive coal companies in the country have tried to meet competition from an overproduction of petroleum and an overproduction of natural gas as well as enlarged developments of hydroelectric plants.

Jan 1, 1938

By W. J. Taylor

SOME eight years ago I became interested to a considerable extent in one of the well-known deposits of sulphury iron ore in New Jersey, and, as a consequence, soon became interested in the subject of the elimination of the sulphur. On investigation I found that no department of pig-iron manufacture had received less attention than that of roasting or calcining ores for the elimination of sulphur, carbonic acid, water, etc. My first devices to eliminate sulphur were naturally in the lime-kiln line, with solid fuel mixed with the ore, in the same way as common lime is burnt with small coal. While this process will succeed tolerably well for carbonates or calcareous ores, even though they contain sulphur as sulphates, I soon found it would not answer for our magnetites, which are very hard and dense, carrying from 2 to 5 per cent. of sulphur as pyrites, and become very sticky as soon as any attempt is made to roast them at a high heat. Some laboratory experiments developed the fact that the nearer the gaseous current surrounding the hot ore approached in composition pure atmospheric air the more rapidly the sulphur was oxidized, while in an atmosphere composed largely of carbonic oxide, carbonic acid, and nitrogen, it seemed almost impossible to reduce the sulphur more than one-half, which was a confirmation of the well-known fact that just one-half of the sulphur in pyrites volatilizes very easily, and that the trouble is mainly to remove the remainder. It was thus apparent that the atmosphere surrounding the ore was of as much importance as the temperature. This led to the trial of a kiln to heat the ore by conduction through the brick. It was divided into ore-chambers, which were surrounded with flues, through which the products of combustion of gaseous fuel passed without coming in contact with the ore. We did not, however, succeed by this arrangement in getting more than a cherry-red heat, which, of course, was too low to accomplish anything. I had at this point become convinced – 1st. That gaseous fuel only would accomplish the work successfully. 2d. That since a high temperature was required to insure a rapid oxidation of the sulphur, and also to make the ore open and porous,

Jan 1, 1881

By Harold R. Bradford

EXPANSION initiated during and after the war has placed industrial plants in new areas and increased reduction and manufacturing facilities in communities already established. With added expansion interest has grown in possible area contamination from waste products. Evolved flue waste contains many chemical contaminants that may or may not cause concern; however, atmospheric pollution has always been a problem to industrial communities. For some time effects attributed to small quantities of compounds of fluorine in various waste gases have been studied by industrial, medical, agricultural, and associated interests.1'2 Aside from an article by Churchill, Rowley, and Martin in 1948," little has been published on the subject of fluorine in coal except by foreign investigators. The first indication of fluorine compounds in coal was noted in England in 1934 by R. Lessing,4,5 who found that the presence of fluorine in Midland and West County coals was definitely established by etching of glass and by severe corrosion of porcelain fillings in a gas works scrubber. Etching of glass in a direct contact annealing kiln initiated research, and in 1944 four papers were published by H. E. Crossley,6-9 giving results of investigations of fluorine in coal of England by the Fuel Research Board, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. These investigations studied methods of determining fluorine, the quantities present in various coal deposits, the geographical distribution of fluorine in British coals, occurrence of fluorine in minerals associated with coal, amounts of fluorine compared to other constituents of coal, the nature of fluorine compounds, and industrial significance of fluorine in coal. It was shown that British coals contain from 5 to 200 ppm of fluorine, which is probably present as fluorapatite [Ca10F2(PO4)6], often written as [3Ca3P2O8.CaF2]. The fluorapatite is intimately associated with shale in some coals and can often be separated from these coals along with the shales. H. E. Crossley8 also reported no correlation between the amounts of chlorine, sulfur, or ash and the amount of fluorine in different coals. He found, however, a relationship between the content of fluorine and phosporus in many British coals. Thus it should be possible to anticipate likely fluorine-rich coals from existing data giving phosphorus content. Behavior of the fluorine compounds of coal was compared with that of 12 fluoride-phosphate minerals in sink-float separations and solvent ex-

Jan 1, 1958

By H. F. Seifert

The classification and preparation of non-ferrous scrap mctals is a subject of interest to every individual and corporation that employs in its processes of manufacture non-ferrous metals and alloys and accurnulates in such manufacture scrap from these materials for disposition in the form of turnings, borings, short ends, punchings, clippings, grindings, washings, etc. All too frequently the disposition of such scrap is left to indivitluals who have no knowledge of the subject either from a metallurgical or a commercial standpoint, or both. Much money is thus lost whicli with a little more intelligent effort might be saved, and in this day of fierce competition and small profits such an opportunity cannot be ignored. The Mineral Resources of the United States for the year 1925, the latest issue available (Part 1, page 221), gives the secondary non-ferrous metals of certain classes recovered in the United States for the year 1924 to 1925 as shown in Table 1. The figures are tabulated simply to give the reader some idea of the scope of the secondary non-ferrous metal industry. Approximately 900,000 tons of an annual value of $244,000,000 were recovered in the year cited. In 1916 (again using thc Mineral Resources of the United States as authority) the tonnage reclaimed was approximately 632,000 tons and the value, because of the high prices for metals prevailing at that time, amounted to $265,000,000. It is not the purpose of this paper to discuss smelting and refining operations or the feasibility of an organization, primarily engaged in some other activity, conducting smelting and refining operations to convert its own non-ferrous scrap metals and alloys. The classification and preparation of these non-ferrous materials is a preliminary step, regardless of what subsequent operations the material may pass through or where these operations may be conducted. For that reason the subject can he readily discussed without any reference to subsequent activities. Space must be provided, with suitable handling facilities, scales and the necessary storage bins where the material may be accumulated. The scope of the activity, the nature of the industry and the tonnage handled will determine, in a large measure, what preparation, if any, it rrlay he desirable to give these scrap materials to put them in the best niarketable condition. By preparation is rneant largely what, for the want of a

By Arthur Notman

DURING the past fifteen years there has been a great change in the methods of treating employ-ment and discharge throughout industry. Perhaps nowhere has this change come more abruptly than in the metal mining districts of the West. In 1909, when I went to work for the Phelps Dodge Corporation in Bisbee, their operations were roughly arranged accord-ing to shafts in seven divisions, each employing from 100 to 250 men underground, and the mechanical department employing some 250 men, mostly on the surface. The underground divisions were each in charge of a foreman who had under him a night foreman and from two to four shift bosses on' each of two shifts. These foremen reported to the underground superinten-dent and he in turn to the superintendent of the mine department. The mechanical department was in charge of the master mechanic who reported to the superintendent of the mine department. RUSTLING A JOB IN THE OLD DAYS It was customary for men seeking employment to "rustle" the division foreman at the shaft during the lunch hour or at the close of the day shift and the master mechanic at the shops. There was no real attempt at interviewing the applicants for underground work. They simply filed in and out of the foremen's office-50 to 150 strong-in ten or fifteen minutes. If the foreman needed men, and he generally did; to replace those that he and the shift bosses had removed during the morning, he picked out those he knew or strangers who took his' fancy. The former in many cases were chosen for negative reasons rather than positive. In selecting the latter, the foreman felt that if they failed to show ability promptly, he could replace them the next day, and often did so. Even if these foremen had been skilful and well trained in the art of selecting men, it would have been impossible under the pressure of other duties to exercise that skill and experience in so doing. The conditions in the mechani-cal department were little better. About all that can be said in favor of such a method was that with a sur-plus of labor it "got by." The labor shortage brought about by the war disclosed its fundamental weakness.

Jan 6, 1923

By Robert D. Thomson

LISTED among strategic and critical minerals for stockpiling, mica is an important raw material in electronic and electrical equipment industries. Each year large quantities are consumed in the manufacture of television and radio tubes, radar sets, generators, transformers, electric toasters, and irons. Crude mica, which comes from the mine in crystals or in rough books of various shapes and sizes, is known as run-of-mine or book mica. Structural imperfections, impurities, rough edges, and defective laminae are removed by cobbing, rifting, and trimming to produce a marketable block mica or film mica.' After the rough books have been hand-cobbed to remove adhering rock, dirt, and crushed or defective mica they are rifted, or split. In the U.S. a straight-bladed knife is generally used for rifting. Products of this operation are classed broadly as untrimmed sheet mica and scrap. Sheet mica is any relatively flat piece sufficiently free from physical defects to be cut or stamped into specified shapes for industrial use. Sheet mica is classed as block, film, and splittings. Block mica is not less than 0.007 in. thick with a minimum usable area of 1 sq in. Film mica is split from the better qualities of block mica to groups of specified thickness ranging from 0.0012 to 0.004 in. Splittings are sheets with maximum thickness of 0.0012 in. and minimum usable area of 3/4 sq in. As virtually no mica splittings are produced in the U.S., they will not be discussed in this report. Small, low quality block is subdivided as punch and washer. Punch mica is thumb-trimmed material large enough to yield a circular disk of at least 11/2 in. diam for stained quality mica and 1 1/4 to 2 in. for clear quality. Poorer lots, often referred to as washer mica, are also included in the general term punch mica. Trimming, the next step in processing sheet mica, removes broken and ragged edges, loose scales, and other major imperfections. Trimming may be done with a knife, sickle, shears, or fingers. In the U.S. it is usually done with a 3-in. linoleum knife to obtain a bevel-edged cut. If ragged edges are broken off with the thumb and fingers, the mica is called thumb-trimmed. Full-trimmed is rifted mica trimmed on all sides with all cracks, reeves, and

Jan 1, 1957

By W. J. Taylor

Some eight years ago I became interested to a considerable extent in one of the well-known deposits of sulphury iron ore in New Jersey, and, as a consequence, soon became interested in the subject of the elimination of the sulphur. On investigation I found that no department of pig-iron manufacture had received less attention than that of roasting or calcining ores for the elimination of sulphur, carbonic acid, water, etc. My first devices to eliminate sulphur mere naturally in the limekiln line, with solid fuel mixed with the ore, in the same way = common lime is burnt with small coal. While this process will succeed tolerably well for carbonates or calcareous ores, even though they contain sulphur as sulphates, I soon found it would not answer for our magnetites, which are very hard and dense, carrying from 2 to 5 per cent. of sulphur as pyrites, and become very sticky as soon as any attempt is made to roast them at a high heat. Some laboratory experiments developed the fact that the nearer the gaseous current surrounding the hot ore approached in composition pure atmospheric air the more rapidly the sulphur was oxidized, while in an atmosphere composed largely of carbonic oxide, carbonic acid, and nitrogen, it seemed almost impossible to reduce the sulphur more than one-half, which was a confirmation of the well-known Pact that just one-half of the sulphur in pyrites volatilizes very easily, and that the trouble is mainly to remove the remainder. It was thus apparent that the atmosphere surrounding the ore was of as much importance as the temperature..• This led to the trial of a kiln to heat the ore by conduction through the brick. It was divided into ore-chambers, which were surrounded with flues, through which the products of combustion of gaseoua fuel passed without coming in contact with the ore. We did not, however, succeed by this arrangement in getting more than a cherry-red heat, which, of course, was too low to accomplish anything. I had at this point become convinced— 1st. That gaseous fuel only would accomplish the work successfully. 2d. That since a high temperature was required to insure a rapid oxidation of the sulphur, and also to make the ore open and porous,

Jan 1, 1881

By Charles A. Kumke

The ('slot" system of mining in use at the Golden Queen mine, Mojave, Calif., does not involve any new mining methods. It is, however, a new combination and adaptation of several stoping systems in common practice. The first plans for stoping operations at the Golden Queen mine called for ordinary shrinkage stopes. The hanging wall of the vein, where exposed, is a very hard felsite with a dip varying from 50° to 70°. The vein itself is quartz, shattered and fractured enough to make it easy to drill and blast to a clean hanging wall. There is no well defined footwall. The footwall limits had to be determined by assays as the metal content faded out into the felsite. Two shrinkage stopes, each approximately 200 ft. long, were laid out and started on the 200-ft. level. One of these stopes, varying in width from 8 to 18 ft., was carried on up to the top limits of the ore, approximately 120 ft., without a break in the operation. The shrinkage system proved entirely satisfactory and low costs resulted from this operation. In the final drawing of this stope, two timbermen followed down on the ore, scaling the hanging wall clean of small fragments and placing an occasional long stull from foot to hanging wall where it was deemed necessary. Few such stulls, however, were required. The hanging wall stood up very well until the stope was entirely emptied of ore. Waste fill was then put into the stope by the glory-hole method, through a waste raise that had previously been run to surface from the middle of the stope. The second shrinkage stope ran into difficulties about 35 ft. above the sill floor. Up to this point the maximum width of the ore had been about 15 ft. The ore suddenly widened into the footwall to a distance of 40 ft. in the north end of the stope. In extending the stoping operations over this, width, it was soon found that the vein material would not arch and support itself. Drilling in this end of the stope was then entirely too hazardous, and all operations were stopped. The ore was drawn through the chutes below as rapidly as possible and as soon as the stope was entirely

Jan 1, 1937

By Albert Sauveur

SOME writers believe that when austenite transforms completely into pearlite on slow cooling through the thermal critical range, such transformation does not imply the formation of any of the so-called transition constituents: martensite, troostite and sorbite. Might it not be claimed with as much justification that when water freezes it does so suddenly, solid ice being obtained without passing through the intermediate stages of ice and water? Obviously, regardless of the speed of solidification, this would be erroneous. Before reaching the completed solid condition, this must of necessity pass through an unbroken series of stages when the system consists of mixtures of water and of ice, the former decreasing and the latter increasing in amount. Are not these "transition" stages in the freezing of water similar to the transition stages occurring in the transformation of austenite into pearlite? To clarify, let us consider in Fig. 1 the mechanism of the transformation of eutectoid steel from its austenitic to its pearlitic condition as it cools slowly through its thermal critical range. It is generally admitted that this transformation is the result of two distinct phenomena: (1) the allotropic change of gamma iron into alpha iron and (2) the crystallizing out of solution of the carbide Fe3C. Whether this crystallizing of Fe3C implies also its formation is immaterial for our purpose. In other words, whether it is the carbon in atomic dispersion which is present in gamma iron or molecules of Fe3C has no bearing upon the matter to be discussed. The transformation of gamma iron into alpha iron cannot take place suddenly. It must of necessity be progressive, regardless of the speed with which it may take place. At A, for instance, there would be present AB gamma iron and BC alpha iron. The distance MN does not refer to falling temperature, but to the passage of time. It may be assumed that the transformation takes place at a constant temperature (the Ar321 point). In a similar way, the crystallization of Fe3C out of the austenite solid solution must be progressive as depicted between M and N. At A there would be present AB gamma iron, BC alpha iron, CD carbon dissolved in gamma and in alpha iron and DE Fe3C. This condition may be described according to individual preference as martensite or troostite. To sum up, can the metal pass from condition

Jan 1, 1931

By B. D. Cullity

Gold and beryllium form an intermediate phase composed of the two metals in equal atomic proportions and having the formula AuBe. According to Winkler,' this phase probably exists in two modifications: beta, stable below about 600°C, and alpha, stable between 600°C and the melting point, about 740°C. Only the low-temperature beta form will be considered in this paper. Experimental Procedure The gold used had a fineness of 999.75 to 999.85, balance mainly silver, and the beryllium purity was better than 99.8 pct. AuBe was prepared by melting the constituents in a beryllia crucible in an evacuated induction furnace. After melting and thorough mixing, the alloy was allowed to solidify in the crucible. No difficulty was encountered in obtaining a homogeneous ingot. Both chemical analysis and microscopic examination of the ingot showed that the alloy was essentially one phase, containing 50 at. pct gold. The alloy was quite brittle and powder samples could easily be prepared by grinding in an agate mortar. The X-ray diffraction patterns were made with CuK-alpha radiation in a Debye-Scherrer powder camera 57.3 mm in diameter. The film was placed unsym-metrically in the camera in order to afford a basis for film-shrinkage corrections. A sample homogenized at 500°C gave the same diffraction pattern as a sample taken from the as-melted ingot. General Results The diffraction pattern of AuBe was readily indexed on the basis of a simple cubic lattice with ao = 4.659 + 0.001kX. If the unit cell is assumed to contain four AuBe "molecules," the calculated X-ray density is 13.46 grams per cc as compared with the measured density of 13.55 gm per cc. The only missing reflections in the diffraction pattern are (100) and (220) (see Table I). Since these missing reflections are not those characteristic of body or face centering, the lattice of AuBe must be simple cubic. To locate the positions of the atoms within the unit cell, two possibilities had to be considered: I. The structure was disordered and there were eight positions to be filled by an LCaverage" gold-beryllium atom. That the structure was disordered seemed unlikely since the lattice parameter did not vary with composition in alloys containing sornewhat more and somewhat less than so at' pet gold, indicating a fixed composition for AuBe.

Jan 1, 1947

By G. H. Alvey, A. W. Foster

The measure of value of an oil property is approximated by the length of time it takes to "pay out;" viz., the time required for it to return the original investment. This time varies in different fields. In the Appalachian and Mid-Continent fields, a good investment pays out in about four years; in California, it requires a slightly longer time; and in the Gulf field about two years. The two principal methods for establishing these values are based on acreage, as in California, and on production, as in the Appalachian field. The method of establishing values based on production1 was worked out in the Appalachian fields and approximates the value remarkably well in some fields; but it is a rule of thumb and should be used intelligently. Briefly, the method is as follows: An arbitrary number of dollars (called the barrel-day price) multiplied by the number of barrels of settled daily production of the property gives the value. In its crudest application, the barrel-day price is determined by the "$10 to $0.01" rule, which means that the barrel-day price is one thousand times the prevailing price of oil. For instance, with oil at $3.50 per bbl. the barrel-day price would be $3500 per bbl. This rule, however, is not strictly applied, for the barrel price is varied according to whether or not the wells "hold up." But when a barrel price for a district has been fixed it is quite general to raise or lower the price with the fluctuation in the price of oil; here the"$10 to $0.0l"ruleisused extensively. However, the prospective purchaser takes into account tangible equipment upon the property, the extent to which the drilling program has been carried out, whether or not the wells are "shot" or natural, depth of wells, spacing of wells, paraffin trouble, etc. The basis of this method is settled production. As soon as production is considered settled, a flat barrel-day price is generally applied to all properties, no matter what their age. If it were possible to show that this flat rate was erroneous and that the value of the property depended on the point on the decline curve at which the wells happened to be (in other words, their age), and also on the operating costs, the future price

Jan 1, 1921

By J. M. Lovejoy

Various estimates have been made as 60 the percentage of oil left in a field after the wells have become so small that it is no longer practical to produce them. Engineers have given the matter much study and can substantiate their figures by data taken from fields from the Appalachians to California. The average oil sand has a porosity of about 20 per cent., which gives a capacity per acre-foot of approximately 1500 bbl. The sand thickness in Oklahoma pools averages 20 ft. With 20 per cent, porosity and a 20-ft. sand thickness, the capacity per acre is 30,000 bbl., yet these pools will seldom yield more than 5000 bbl. to the acre. These figures gupport the theory that at least 50 per cent. of the oil remains in a sand after all known methods to recover it have been used. Certainly we can never recover all the oil, unless in years to come oil becomes so rare and yet so necessary that the price will justify sinking shafts into the abandoned fields and regular mining methods of drifting and stoping. However, with improved methods of production and conservation of the natural agencies of expulsion, we should be able to increase recovery. It is with this in mind that this paper, relating to the effect of back pressure on wells, is presented. Except in the fields where production is caused by hydrostatic pressure, the chief agency for getting oil out of the sand into the hole is the gas that occurs with the oil. After the pressure has declined, probably gravity also is a factor, but not an important one. With a given amount of oil in a sand and a given amount of gas occurring with the oil, the ratio of gas volume per barrel of oil is the key to the ultimate recovery from that sand. Our efforts should be along lines that will lower this ratio and make the gas, the agency given us by nature, do its work better and yield more of the oil, of which it is a part. T. E. Swigart,' of the U. S. Bureau of Mines, has published an extract of the paper he is preparing under the title "The Effect of Back Pressures. on Wells." The experiments described were made on two

Jan 1, 1924

By L. G. Huntley

The entire production of Colombia for 1927 was that from the Tropical Oil Co. concession. Production was approximately 14,000,000 bbl., of which 12,081,000 bbl. were exported from the Mamonal terminal of the Andian National Corp. near Cartagena. The balance represents that refined and used or marketed within Colombia. As production in 1926 was only 6,443,540 bbl., the increase has been more than 100 per cent. This is partly due to the looping of the pipe line from the concession to the coast, and the resultant increase in capacity to 50,000 bbl. per day, and also to increased domestic sales. The refinery at Barranca has been doubled in capacity, and it is understood is now handling 5000 bbl. of crude daily. This gives the producing field a potential outlet of 55,000 bbl. daily. The Tropical Oil Co. completed 82 wells in 1927, with one abandoned for drilling difficulties. The average daily initial production was 1136 bbl. per well. The largest well is reported to be No. 173 La Cira, rated as 5000 bbl. initial. Most of the wells were drilled on the Infantas and La Cira structures, the latter located en echelon to the northwest of the main Infantas anticline, and separated from it only by a low saddle. Drilling operations on the Llanos fold, also en echelon with Infantas but to the southeast, and at San Luis, bearing about the same relationship to the Umir Hills uplift, are still more or less in the exploratory stage. The four structures mentioned cover approximately 15,000 acres, on which there are at present 223 producing wells. Drilling has been better than 92 per cent. successful since starting operations on this concession. Allowing 15 acres per well, which is 50 per cent. more than good practice in the Mid-Continent fields, there is thus room for 1000 wclls, which at the recent rate is a 10-year drilling campaign. This does not take into consideration the known deeper oil zones, which have not been prospected, but which are uniformly petroliferous at their outcrops to the eastward. It is estimated that with the enlarged pipe line capacity, as well as increased domestic consumption, the production for this country will be about 20,000,000 bbl. for the current year of 1928. It is possible that

Jan 1, 1928

By P. B. Butler

IN common with others, the zinc industry found itself after the war largely over-capitalized, a condi-tion which still exists notwithstanding that Tri-State production has doubled since prewar days. This is partly due to the abnormal war demands and partly because of the war impetus given to research, a stim-ulus that because of its success has persisted (and probably will persist) constantly since then. Improved practice and metallurgy resulting from research are today responsible for an increased pro-duction in the Tri-State district of 15 per cent over the practice of five years ago, and the giant strides in this respect in the western states together with the more moderate advance in the Tri-State district has thrown out of equilibrium the more or less balanced production of before the war and production has con-sequently gained on consumption, a condition resulting in rapidly narrowing profits in the Tri-State field, where the present average cost is actually greater than the price received for our product. Despite this condition, no thinking person will de-plore the cause or means used to achieve a greater production and, as this progress is merely the economic application of intelligent thought, it follows that equal effort and thought may be expected to produce the remedy. It has been suggested that the practical application of research has resulted in less need for man-power and consequently in the lessening of employment to common labor and to engineers. I cannot think that such is the case although personally I have received more ap-plications for employment during the last two years than ever before. But when one considers the strides production of all commodities has taken, it is difficult to reconcile this immense development with the possible increase in pop-ulation especially in view of our stringent immigration laws. Whether or not improved industrial methods are responsible for the lessening of employment the ques-tion as to the wisdom of such improvement is hardly debatable. While the Tri-State district of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri continues to be the leading factor in the zinc¬mining industry, gradually lowering prices during 1925 and 1926 and a. decided drop during 1927, have de-creased its production almost 20 per cent, this tonnage having largely been replaced by western concentrates.

Jan 4, 1928

I BELIEVE that my work would surely be host a seed without fit and that I would fail in that cause which disposed me to satisfy your request to write and form this work [75] if while laboring on it I did not tell you of the art of casting, since it is a necessary means to very many ends. I realize even more that I must tell as much as seems necessary since I have already demonstrated the methods of recognizing the natures and locations of the metals, of smelting and reducing them to their ultimate perfection, and finally have taught you to make their associations and alloys. It is especially necessary since this art and work is not well known, so that no one can practice it who is not, so to speak, born to it, or who does not have much talent and good judgment. For this reason and also because it is closely related to sculpture, whose arms are the support of its life, it is very highly esteemed. In order to describe the whole art in every part, I say that the greatest labors of both mind and body are required for its operations in the beginning, middle, and end. It is indeed true that these labors are endured with pleasure because they are associated with a certain expectation of novelty, produced by the greatness of art and awaited with desire, particularly since the artificer sees that it is an art pleasing and delightful even to ignorant men. As a result, as if ensnared, he is often unable to leave the place of work. To conclude: The outcome of this art is dependent upon and subject to many operations which, if they are not all carried out with great care and diligence and well observed throughout, convert the whole into nothing, and the result becomes like its name [cast away]. Therefore, having considered this work many times, with its extraordinary obstacles and the bodily labors heavy as a stevedore's, instead of exalting it with praise, I wish to say that it is such that a man of noble birth, even though he be gifted or be drawn to it by pleasure, should not practice it and could not unless he is accustomed to the sweat and many discomforts which it brings. He must suffer the great natural heats of summer as well as those excessive and continuous ones from the enormous

Jan 1, 1942

By A. Andreas

New Mexico retained its position in 1938 as the sixth largest oil-producing state, with a total production of 35,510,176 bbl. This was 2,875,598 bbl. less than the 1937 production of 38,485,774 bbl., or a decrease of 0.077 per cent, which was caused by the lack of pipe-line facilities and storage at the pipe-line terminals. The production for Lea County (excluding Maljamar) was 32,926,788 bbl.; for Eddy County (including Maljamar) was 2,225,411 bbl.; and for northwestern New Mexico (San Juan and McKinley Counties), 357,977 bbl. The average daily nonmarginal well allowable for Lea County on Jan. 1, 1938, was 65 bbl. At the close of the year it was 49 bbl. The average daily pipe-line runs for domestic consumption were less than the state allowables recommended by the United States Bureau of Mines. There was a demand for Artesia crude for foreign export, which if included in the daily production for New Mexico would be slightly in excess of the daily production recommended for New Mexico by the Bureau of Mines. The daily average production for the year was 97,329 barrels. There were 622 completions in the state, of which 520 were oil wells; 16 hydrocarbon gas wells; 5 carbon dioxide gas wells, and 81 dry holes. Of the dry holes 38 were in or near-by proven fields and the remainder, 43, were wildcats. Five new fields were discovered in New Mexico during 1938, three in Lea County and two in Eddy County. Southeastern New Mexico Lea County.—The Monumcnt field was the largest producing field in Lea County, with 9,440,334 bbl., and was closely followed by the Eunice field with 8,872,335 bbl. The Hobbs field was third with 5,010,414 bbl. The greatest activity in Lea County was in the Vacuum pool, with 129 completions, of which 126 were oil wells and three were dry holes. The Texas Company completed its Corbin NO. 1 in the KW 1/4 SW1/4 sec. 10, T. 18 S., R. 33 E. in August. This well was drilled to a depth of 5118 ft. in a white sand, encountering salt water. It was plugged back to 4315 ft, and pumped 43 bbl. of 36" gravity oil in 12 hr. It was approximately 6 miles southwest of the closest production in the Vacuum

Jan 1, 1939

By Burton Atkinson, David Johnston

Evaluation of Ellenburger reservoirs in West Texas has been an uncertain matker at best because of the lack of cores and suitable core-analysis method. Large amounts of oil arc produced from sections from which sample cuttings are obtained that contain litile porosity and no oil saturation. It has long been realized that the formation in some areas contained numerous fractures and solulion cavities that probably contained the major part of the oil present but the magnitude of the porous system conltaining oil has been unknown. Diamond coring cquipmene, used in the mining industry lor many years, has been developed for oil-field use to obtain high core recovery in fractured dolomite that is not possible with conventional coring equipment. A 36ft section of the core recovered from a fractured Ellenburger reseivoir waS analyzed by a unique but simple method to obtain the first defmite evaluation of one section of the producing formation. The cores and the method of analysis used are described and the results arc discussed in some detail. Discussion The first successful known analyses of cores recovered from the Ellenburger formation in the Permian Basin area were made on cores recovered with the use of diamond core heads. Conventionul coring methods previously used have had lour core recovery and standard methods of analysis have proved to be inadequate for evaluation of those cores that were recovered. Core Descriplion The Ellenburger formation to be dis cussed was cored using diamond core heads and oil-base drilling fluid. Of the total 103 ft cored to a depth of 8893 ft in the Ellenburger, 99 ft or 96 pct was recovered. The dolomite cores were described as gray to white, crystalline to coarscIy crystalline, with chert and calcite inclusions. Occasional shale partings ? to ¼ in. in width were noted. A small amount of green clay was found in some of the coarsely crystalline material. So intergranular porosity was found by inspection in any of the cores. The core urns highly fractured over most of its length with not more than two continuous feet that failed to contain fractures. The fractures Were nearly vertical and varied in width from those harely visible to as much as one millimeter. Scattered solution voids, or vugs, as large as 3 cm in diameter occurred in association with same •a

Jan 1, 1949

By Francis Donaldson

The direct injection of cement grout into water-bearing fissures as a means of checking or stopping the flow of water into shafts and tunnels has been experimented with for a decade or longer and seems to have been first attempted in Europe. The earliest application of which the writer has found a record was at a shaft sunk by the Mining Society of Lens; this is described by C. Dinoire in the Transactions of the Institution of Mining Engineers.1 It is only lately, however, that the process has been entirely successful. This success has been accomplished on the Catskill Aqueduct, now under construction by the city of New York. This aqueduct includes a number of deep pressure tunnels, reached by shafts for both waterway and construction purposes. In portions of these shafts and tunnels considerable underground water was met. The contract for the first of these deep pressure tunnels was let to the T. A. Gillespie Co.; this section is known as the Rondout Siphon. It leads under the Rondout valley at a depth of from 400 to 800 ft. and is about 5 miles long. The engineers expected that considerable water would be encountered, but fortunately this was not the case except at one shaft, known as No. 4, which penetrated the rock at a junction between limestone and conglomerate. Water-bearing fissures were encountered almost immediately. At a depth of about 200 ft. a flow of 1,500 gal. per minute was struck. The. shaft then contained as many pumps as could be used, and it seemed impossible to sink it further. After vain efforts had been made to proceed, John P. Hogan, a division engineer of the Board of Water Supply, suggested that cementation of the fissures be tried. The process was attempted for the first time in this country. Since the shaft was partly full of water it was necessary to drill grout holes with a diamond drill. Platforms were placed on the timbers at the water level, the diamond drill was installed and six 90-ft. holes were drilled in the bottom of the shaft. Several car loads of cement were pumped through these holes into the fissures, the drill casings being used for grout pipes. This largely cut off the flow of water from, the bottom and sinking could then

Jan 1, 1915