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By W. L. Honnold

AS BOTH South Africa and diamond mining are unfamiliar subjects it seems best that on such an occasion as this I should endeavor to reflect the atmosphere of the place and to picture the mines from an industrial rather than from a technical standpoint and, because of long absence, my remarks must necessarily be sketchy and in some particulars not up to date. The preferable route to South Africa is via England, direct steamers from America being inferior as to service and effecting no saving of time. The newer boats are of about 20,000 tons capacity and very comfortable. Seventeen days are required for the voyage and only one stop is made-that at the island of Madiera, three days out. Between Southampton, the port of departure, and Madiera the weather may be warm or cold and the

Jan 1, 1925

Jan 1, 1971

By David W. Brunton

I. INTRODUCTION. THE list of our past-Presidents comprises the names of runny who, in their official addresses, have sketched the current progress of the arts and professions with which they were familiar. Such addresses are, in my judgment., highly useful, setting forth the results of our own work as a. society, and recalling to our minds the particular lines in which discussion would prove most fruitful. . Following this course with some hesitation, I venture to offer an outline of the recent improvements and the present situation in minim and metallurgy in the Western United States. The wonderful advances in mechanics, chemistry, and electricity have all combined to aid these arts to such an extent that. progress during the last decade has undeniably been more rapid than ever before in the history of the profession.. In all mining countries improved transportation-facilities, in many instances called into existence by the traffic created by the mines themselves, have done much- to enlarge the. field of operations by the reduction of freight-, operating- and living-expenses, thereby bringing lower-grade properties into the producing class. Under normal' conditions, as the age of a district in¬creases, all these differentt factors should combine to off-set. the augmented costs attendant on deep mining, and greatly tend to prolong the profitable life of the mines. The more recent and important improvements in our Western mining-practice which have contributed most toward the advancement of the art may be briefly summarized as follows; but, before beginning this portion of ray address, I wish to thank most heartily the many engineering friends who have so

Sep 1, 1909

By A. W. Schlechten, R. P. Abendroth

Jan 1, 1960

By C. S. Anderson

Georgia, since 1829, has produced nearly $18,000,000 from her gold mines, but in late years the output has dwindled to insignificance. In view of present universal efforts to increase gold production, it seems pertinent to record some recent observations in that field, briefly review its past and weigh probabilities of reviving gold mining there. Little in this paper can be claimed as new or original, and it does not present results of a detailed or profound investigation of the whole region. The Allatoona gold mine was reopened in January, 1932, and explored at greater depth during the period from January to June of that year. A number of other abandoned mines were visited, but since the workings, in common with most such mines in Georgia, were flooded or caved, underground conditions could not be examined. For a wider knowledge of the subject, a search was made through available pertinent literature and statistics, a bibliography of which is appended hereto. To all the sources obligations are gratefully acknowledged. Production The discovery of gold in Georgia, in 1829, led to an influx of 6000 to 7000 miners and a production of over $200,000 in the following year. A branch of the United States Mint, established at Dahlonega in 1838, accounted for $6,115,569 up to the time of the Civil War. The output fluctuated greatly from year to year, with an all-time peak of $582,782 in 1843. In only one other year, 1845, was the half million mark exceeded. After the war mining began again, but 1883 is the last year for which an output of $200,000 is reported. Placers, always the main source of production, were yielding less and less, and in spite of increased quartz-mining activities the downward trend continued. The last year in which there was a production of $100,000 was 1902. In 1914, $16,270 came from 26 placers and 11 deep mines, with the latter reporting 1750 tons of $3 average value. In 1925, one placer and four lode mines that mined 8100 tons assaying $1.19 per ton produced $9500. One placer and one quartz mine, operating in 1930, reported a total output of $4194. Table 1 pictures the waning output.

Jan 1, 1934

By Peter F. Weiss, H. Riedler, I. M. Moschitz, A. Olsacher, G. B. Fettweis

CONTENTS : 1. NATURAL FACTORS Geology Petrography and Rock Mechanics Mining System Orientation Rock Bolting System Movability of the Ore Grain Size Distribution Permeability Contamination Value of the Ore Hydrology 2. TECHNICAL FACTORS Height Length and Width Drawing Areas Time Factor Water Predrainage Surf ace Draining Underground Draining Advancing Slitting Sequence of Development Initiation of the Caving Process Drawing Rate 3. SPECIFIC MINING RULES Advancing Development Drawing Rate Interruption of Drawing (Water Distribution, Concentration of Mud, Dilution) Blasting 4. CONTROLS Safety Controls for Operation Computerised Drawing Control Structure of the Computer Program Hard Ware Print Outs 5. SUMMARY 6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7. REFERENCES Under the heading "Development System for Block Caving under Severe Conditions" a report was presented to this congress regarding a magnesite mine using block caving for several years. On account of the experience gathered in this mine and the results of far reaching exchange of experience, as well as under due consideration of the international literature it is tried to systematically list and briefly discuss the following factors that have to be considered for development and draw control of block caving. 1. NATURAL FACTORS It is self evident that this implies all those circumstances given by nature and which cannot be altered by man. Any mining activity is subjected to those and the success is depending on how far technology can be adjusted to those conditions. Geology Deposits of considerable thickness with rather steeply inclined flat-faced contacts are optimal for block caving. While vertically there is practically no limitation- for the deposit, theoretically, the smallest horizontal basis apt for operating block caving is the minimum area necessary to get the rock to completely cave in by undercutting and drawing. Practically, only consider- ably bigger main dimensions are found, mainly because of technical factors (machinery and equipment) and economic factors (cost ratio of exploration vs. development, danger of contamination).

Jan 1, 1981

By B. C. Craft

Oil and gas development in Mississippi during the year 1933 was rather active and a number of important wildcat wells were drilled throughout the state. Mississippi showed an increase in drilling operations during 1933. There were 58 completions from 22 counties during this period, compared with 53 completions in 10 counties during 1932. The Jackson gas field in Hinds and Rankin counties continued to be the most active area with 26 completions, resulting in 17 gas wells, 2 oil wells, and 7 dry holes, compared with 38 gas wells, 1 oil well and 5 dry holes during 1932. A further attempt to extend the producing limits of the Amory gas field resulted in a dry hole. Extensive exploration in south Mississippi has proved the existence of ample source beds and presence of an extensive sandbody near the top of Cockfield. Core tests, supplemented by extensive geophysical work, have been carried on in Jackson, George, Harrison, Pearl River and Stone counties. Exploration will be continued in 1934. The most important deep test drilled in 1933, and the deepest well ever drilled in a southeastern state, was the Eastman Gardner et al., Bank of Seminary No. 1, sec. 26-8N.-15W., Covington County. This well went through about 1300 ft. of Selma chalk, and was abandoned in the Eutaw at 8004 ft. Another interesting operation during the past year was the Foster Creek Oil Corporation's Foster Creek Lumber Co. No. 1, sec. 14-2N.-2W., in the "Eastern Conroe Trend." This test is shut down at 3687 ft. in the Catahoula sandstone and has not encountered any important shows of oil or gas. A total of 107 of the 117 gas wells completed in the Jackson gas field since its discovery in 1930 are still producing, and have a combined open flow of approximately 3,724,896,000 cu. ft. It is reasonable to assume that this area will be rather inactive during 1934 as the maximum daily production during 1933 was 3,476,000 cu. ft. The 10 wells that have gone dead were edge wells. The water level is now between the sub-sea depths of 2190 and 2195 ft. The Gulf Refining Company's Rainey No. 1, sec. 13-5N.-lE., one of the early wells in the field, had gas and water at —2225 ft. That the field is under hydraulic control is

Jan 1, 1934

By John R. Eckel

A Iaboratory drilling rig has been devised and placed in operation which permits the application of hydrostatic, terrastatic, and formation pore pressures to a rock sample for drilling under controlled conditions. Calibrated rests of this equipment in-dicate qualitative agreerment with field results on the effect of weight on bit, rotary speed, and rate of circ~~lation on drilling rate. Tests under pressure, using water and air as the drilling fluids, indicate that when drilling saturated limestone samples, a pressure differential between hydrostatic and formation pressure is the only pressure which affects drilling rate. A differential in either direction causes a reduction in rate, but the same diflerential from the wellbore into the formation causes the greater reduction. Also, in lime.stone, air favorably affected drilling rote only when compared to water at high hydrostatic pressurre, all other conditions remaining constant. Large increases in drilling rate with air could be obtained in the laboratory only while drilling a shale, which offered a limited permeability to nitrogen and which could be drilled with a differential from the formation into the wellbore. In general, the magnitude of the changes due to the pressure effect were small compared to changes in drilling rate obtainable by changing either bit weight or rotary speed. INTRODUCTION In the course of Humble's drilling research program, the desirability of investigating several factors which lend themselves to laboratory rather than field study became obvious. Principal reasons for this are the expense involved in field studies and the difficulty of exercising the required degree of control. Of primary importance are investigations of the effect of fluid pressure on rock rate, the effect of pressure on rock drillability, and a study of the fundamental mechanics of rock failure and chip generation. Several years ago some work in the laboratory on the effect of mud properties on drilling rate was re- ported to the API', but the completion of this work and the investigation of the other variables affecting drilling rate required equipment somewhat more elaborate than that used on these earlier tests. This equipment has been assembled to form Humble's Drilling Engineering laboratory. To date only the effect of pressure on rock drillability while using water and air has been investigated, and this work is not yet complete. Facilities are available to investigate the effect of fluid properties on rate of penetration, and information is being assembled on a current basis on the mechanics of drilling. The sequence of presentation in this progress report is somewhat different from that in which the data were obtained since the order of ex-

By Donald F. Hammer, Donald W. Peterson

The Magma mine at Superior, Arizona, has produced over 13 million tons of ore yielding 1.5 billion pounds of copper. It is a mesathermal deposit, and, although the bulk of the ore has come from the Magma vein, most of the recent production has come from replacement deposits in limestone. The mine lies in a Precambrian and Paleozoic sequence of rocks that includes schist, diabase, quartzite, shale, and limestone; nearby, these rocks are intruded by igneous bodies of Mesozoic age that were probably the source of the ore-bearing fluids. Locally, these rocks are overlain by Cenozoic volcanic rocks and conglomerate. Layered rocks at the mine dip eastward about 30°. The area is extensively faulted, and surface faults are grouped into an earlier east-trending set and a later northtrending set. An additional set of diagonal faults that trends northwest and northeast is recognized underground. The east-trending Magma vein-fault, with its splits and branches, is the principal mineralized structure of the district. The bulk of the ore occurs in large ore shoots that plunge steeply westward and are sporadically connected by irregular ore shoots dipping gently eastward. The main ore controls apparently are selective zones of permeability related to the transverse faults. A bed of crystalline limestone near the base of the Martin Limestone (Devonian) is the host for the replacement ore bodies-discontinuous tabular pods dipping eastward parallel to the bedding. Selective permeability is again the apparent ore control, caused both by local hydrothermal solution of limestone and by deformation along faults. The principal copper minerals in the vein are chalcopyrite, bornite, enargite, tennantite, chalcocite, and digenite; these minerals vary in abundance according to a distinct zoning pattern. The upper part of the mine yielded considerable zinc as sphalerite, and the oxidized zone was rich in silver. The chief gangue minerals are pyrite, quartz, and hematite. In the limestone replacement bodies, chalcopyrite and bornite are the chief ore minerals.

Jan 1, 1968

The new Ceramic Engineering Building of the University of Illinois is to be formally dedicated on Nov. 20 and 21. The occasion will be made one of great interest to the clay-workers of the country. It is expected that the exercises will be attended by many representatives of the architectural, structural, mining, geological, chemical, and manufacturing interests. In connection with the dedication exercises, an industrial conference will be -held, in which a number of topics of current interest to the ceramic engineer, the clay-worker and the manufacturer will be discussed by well-known experts. : The number of students registered in the College of Engineering of the University of Illinois eleven days after the beginning of registration - for the new year, is as follows: Architecture, 116; Architectural Engineering, 167; Ceramic Engineering, 46; Civil Engineering, 190; Electrical Engineering, 266; Mechanical Engineering, 273; Mining Engineering, 25; Municipal and Sanitary Engineering, 26; Railway Engineering, 34; total, 1,143. The enrollment of students in the whole University, not including the College of Medicine, the College of Dentistry and the School of Pharmacy, which are located in Chicago, is 5,21.4.

Jan 10, 1916

US 4,190,434 - In the thermal production of magnesium metal, a mixture of calcined dolomite, an iron- silicon-aluminum alloy as a reductant, and residual slag from the production of ferrochromium is smelted to evolve magnesium vapor, which is then condensed. The use of bauxite is lessened or eliminated because of the relatively high alumina content of the residual slag. R. Bonfils, A. Mena, C. Payn, and L. Septier, assigned to Ste. Francaise d’Electrometallurgie (SOFREM). Feb. 26, 1980. 6 pp. (75-10R). Filed: 6-14-78 (915,387). Priority: France, 6-24-77 (77/20,227).

Jan 1, 1982

By Alfred H. Bell

The upswing in oil production and drilling activity in Illinois that began in 1937 gained momentum in 1938 and promises to bring a new and higher peak in the state's annual production in 1939. In 1938 the production totaled 23,929,000 bbl., as compared with 7,426,000 bbl. in 1937, more than a threefold increase. The number of producing oil wells in the new fields was 230 at the end of 1937 and it increased to 2157 at the end of 1938. Daily production for the whole state increased from approximately 35,000 bbl. at the end of 1937 to approximately 135,000 bbl. at the end of 1938, nearly a fourfold increase. Of a total of 2539 wells completed in 1938 in Illinois, 1984 produced oil, 26 produced gas and 529 were dry holes. Of the total, 377 are classified as "wildcat" wells, defined as wells drilled outside of proved territory and more than one mile from the nearest production. The remainder, 2162 wells, were drilled in or near proved fields. Of the 377 wildcat wells (Table 2) 32 were successful in discovering oil or gas in commercial quantities, either new fields or extensions of old fields. Four of these discovery wells mere gas wells, which are not yet commercially productive owing to lack of pipe-line facilities. A special effort was made to ascertain the reasons for the locations of as many as possible of the wildcat wells and the results of this investigation are set forth in the following table:

Jan 1, 1939

By Alfred H. Bell

The upswing in oil production and drilling activity in Illinois that began in 1937 gained momentum in 1938 and promises to bring a new and higher peak in the state's annual production in 1939. In 1938 the production totaled 23,929,000 bbl., as compared with 7,426,000 bbl. in 1937, more than a threefold increase. The number of producing oil wells in the new fields was 230 at the end of 1937 and it increased to 2157 at the end of 1938. Daily production for the whole state increased from approximately 35,000 bbl. at the end of 1937 to approximately 135,000 bbl. at the end of 1938, nearly a fourfold increase. Of a total of 2539 wells completed in 1938 in Illinois, 1984 produced oil, 26 produced gas and 529 were dry holes. Of the total, 377 are classified as "wildcat" wells, defined as wells drilled outside of proved territory and more than one mile from the nearest production. The remainder, 2162 wells, were drilled in or near proved fields. Of the 377 wildcat wells (Table 2) 32 were successful in discovering oil or gas in commercial quantities, either new fields or extensions of old fields. Four of these discovery wells mere gas wells, which are not yet commercially productive owing to lack of pipe-line facilities. A special effort was made to ascertain the reasons for the locations of as many as possible of the wildcat wells and the results of this investigation are set forth in the following table:

Jan 1, 1939

By R. V. Norris

The great coal strike of 1902, which confined the work at the Short Mountain colliery of the Lykens Valley Coal Com pany almost exclusively to pumping, gave an opportunity to determine with considerable accuracy the cost of pumping the water from these very old, extensive and wet mines. This colliery, which is located in the extreme southwestern end of the anthracite coal-field, has been operated continuously since 1836, and has shipped 7,747,313 tons of coal. This and the Williamstown colliery are the only operations in Dauphin county. The workings cover about 5 miles along the North dip of the extreme westerly end of the basin, with the operating slopes near the center. They extend around the westerly spoon of the basin and back about 31/4 miles easterly on the South dip. The mines are very deep, the present workings ex tending to 711 ft. below sea-level, and about 1600 ft. below the lowest surface-opening. The coal is hoisted principally from the Short Mountain slope, which is 1550 ft. long, with 26 to 68 degrees dip, and from an inside slope, No. 4, 800 ft. long, with 52 to 72 degrees dip. The ordinary capacity of the colliery is about 1000 tons per day, and the average output for the years 1897 to 1901, in clusive, was 297,000 tons per year. The seams worked are the lowest Red Ash measures, being, respectively, Nos. I, II and III of the coal-bed series, but locally called the " Little Lykens," " Lykens," and " Whites." On the accompanying plan the Lykens seam is shown in full and the Whites in dotted lines. The pumping-plant is divided into four lifts, the pumps being located as shown in the section, Fig. 1, and the plan, Fig. 2.

Jan 1, 1904

By George C. Coupland

Ecstall Mining Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Texas Gulf Sulphur Company, is the owner and operator of the Kidd Creek Mine including the concentrator complex located near Timmins, Ontario. Canada, approximately 450 miles north of Toronto. The mine, concentrator and Timmins form a triangular arrangement with a 17-mile rail link connecting the mine and concentrator and both of these facilities 18 and 14 miles respectively by road from Timmins. A core drilling program in the spring of 1964 established the presence of a large massive sulphide orebody which was to become the Kidd Creek Mine. Texas Gulf Sulphur had been conducting an intensive search for base metal in various parts of Northern Ontario and Quebec since 1957. Of several thousand anomalies detected in airborne electromagnetic surveys, several hundred warranted ground inspection, but only one of more than sixty drilled became a commercial orebody, the Kidd Creek Mine. The geophysical exploration work has been well covered in a paper written and presented by Van Donohoo, presently a Vice-President of T.G.S., at the American Mining Congress in San Francisco in October 1969. GEOLOGY The orebody lies within a series of overturned rhyolitic flows and pyroelastics with a major peridotite intrusive to the east. The hangingwall and footwall are composed chiefly of intermediate volcanics, andesite and dacite. The southern end of the orebody appears to terminate abruptly against greywacke while the north end is bifurcated and the structure obscured.

Jan 1, 1970

By P. B. Baxendell

The appraial of producing properties and profitability ntzalysis of a proposed capital expenditure are based on the same principles. In both problems a projection of future cash income is. cornpared to one or more capital expenditures. Several different methods have been in use either to compute a price to obtain a given earning power on the investment or to compute the earning power which will result from a given capital expenditure. One of these, the "Average Annual Rate of Return" method, computes in a simple manner the ratio of the present value of the future earnings after amortization to the present value of the undepreciated balances of the investment over the life of a project. This method, not well known generally, appears to have some rather unique advantages in reducing the computation work required, eliminating trial-and-error solutions, and providing a more accurate answer when applied to oil industry investments subject to the unit-of-production basis of amortization. Its derivation is given and its versatility demonstrated in the solution of certain everyday investment problems. A number of charts, useful in applying this method to profitability analysis and appraisal work, are provided. The current trend in the market values of producing properties is shown. INTRODUCTION Making sound capital expenditure decisions requires an objective means of measuring the productivity of individual investment proposals. Since the best measure of the economic worth of such proposals is their ability to produce profits, it is common practice to grade proposed capital expenditures according to their annual earning power as a percentage of the outstanding capital. The same principles which govern the determination of the rate of return of proposed capital expenditures also apply generally to the problem of determining the appraisal value or purchase price of income-producing oil and gas properties. Both problems are of prime importance in the producing phase of the oil business, where management is faced daily with decisions to drill or not to drill certain development wells, or with the determination of the appraisal value of producing properties. The common feature in both problems is that a projection of future cash income is compared with a known or estimated capital investment to determine itsiearning power or annual rate of return. In the case of development drilling, the cost of the proposed well can usually be estimated with a fair degree of accuracy and the problem consists of finding the rate of return on the invested capital. In the case of appraising producing properties, on the other hand, the desired rate of return is usually known in advance and the problem consists of determining the purchase price which, for the given income projection, results in the fequired rate of return. Certain accounting procedures common to the oil and gas producing business make these two problems and their solutions somewhat different from corresponding problems in other industries, and, in certain ways, simpler. The main difference is in the amortization policy which, for oil and gas production, is frequently on a unit-of-production basis, compared to the amortization on a time basis used in many other industries. The purpose of this paper is to discuss briefly the various methods currently in use for the measurement of productivity of invested capital in producing properties and, in more detail, the derivation and application of what will be called the "Average Annual Rate of Return Method". This rather interesting and not too well known method has some very definite advantages in the solution of many problems common to the oil industry. For the sake of simplicity, federal income tax considerations have been disregarded in the examples used, since they do not affect the principles involved. The use of the production payment route in the sale or purchase of producing properties, which has been amply covered in many other publications, has also not been included in this analysis. METHODS FOK MEASUKING THE EARNING POWER OF INVESTED CAPITAL, Of the many different methods used to measure the earning power of invested capital, four are applicable to oil or gas production ventures. Depending on whether these four methods utilize one or two interest rates, and whether a fixed amortization pattern is used, they may be classified as follows.

By AIME AIME

A LUSTY baby of the Institute, the Coal Division, showed that it had acquired a full set of teeth and was capable of man's work at the Division meeting at Fairmont, W. Va., on March 26 and 27. At this second of a series of field meetings, the first of which was held in Pittsburgh last fall, the industry in the East was represented from top to bottom and good humor and enthusiasm were the predominant notes. West Virginians are always good hosts and this meeting would have proved the statement to any inclined to doubt it. The spacious auditorium of the Fairmont Hotel was arranged for the technical sessions, the hotel being headquarters for the meeting. About a hundred and twenty-five representatives were registered and in attendance when Thomas G. Fear, chairman, opened the morning session at 10 o'clock Mr. Fear first introduced Howard Eavenson, vice-chairman of the morning program, who, as chairman of the Coal Division, had labored long and cheerfully to make the meeting successful. Mr. Eavenson talked briefly on what the organization was doing, pointing out that these field meetings were designed to bring the members into closer touch with the parent Institute and give the younger engineers in the field a better opportunity to participate in the work the Institute is doing. He congratulated the various committees for their work in promoting the meeting.

Jan 1, 1931

By HERBERT G. MOULTON

FROM prehistoric times to our own day man has struggled against extremes of climate. Human life, originating in semi-tropical or temperate areas, was unable to progress into the northern latitudes until fire was discovered and some form of clothing provided. It was found possible to maintain life even in the hottest parts of the tropics, but only at a great sacrifice of comfort and efficiency compared with the more temperate zones, or in cooler areas with the protection of clothing and artificial heat. It was no accident, but the natural result of climatic conditions, that efficiency became the greatest and civilization the most advanced in areas where the natural climate was favorable, or in cooler zones where protection against severe cold could be se-cured by relatively simple methods of conserving or producing heat.

Jan 1, 1933

By Harry C. Wiess

PETROLEUM has come to be one of the most important and essential of the mineral re- sources of the nation. It is the most advantageous source of mineral fuels and of lubricants, and as such it has provided in large measure for the phenomenal development in our modern means of travel and in the facilities for transportation by land, sea, and air. Without it the remark- ably rapid industrial and social progress in our country during the past thirty years could not have occurred. In view of its important place and the fact that petroleum is irreplaceable and existent in limited quantities in nature, its conservation is essential.

Jan 1, 1939

By H. W. McCue, Henry Rogatz

Oil.—In the Texas Panhandle, 502 oil wells were drilled during the year 1940, with a total daily initial production of 139,187 bb1.—that is, 137 more oil wells drilled than in the previous year, with an increase in total daily initial production of 8219 bbl. The total daily potential of the field on Dec. 31, 1940, as determined by the Texas Railroad Commission, was 1,375,502 bbl., an increase of 30,825 bbl. over the previous year. On Dec. 31,1940, a daily allowable of 85,050 bbl., which was a decrease of 35 per cent over 1939, was assigned to the field to be produced from 4788 wells. The total amount of oil produced for the year was 26,788,590 bbl., making a cumulative total of 378,960,728 bbl. during the past 19 years. No new oil-producing acreage was discovered. Gas.—During the year, 92 gas wells were drilled, having a combined open flow of 2,402,900.000 CU. ft.; that is, 6 more than the number of wells drilled in 1939, with an increase in the open flow of 204,900,000 cu. ft. per day. The gas production for the year was 670,435,112,000 CU. ft., and the total gas removed from thc ground during

Jan 1, 1941