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By Howard Eavenson

THE mines of the United States Coal & Coke Co. are located in the Pocahontas coal field, in McDowell County, West Virginia. Twelve plants have been opened and equipped, of which, by reason of the present business depression, only nine are now in operation. These twelve plants serve eighteen mines; some of the plants having several openings, in either the same seam or in different seams, tributary to the same tipple. Only nine of these mines are now being worked at the plants in operation. Construction work was begun in 1902, and coal from the first three plants started was shipped in December of that year. An additional plant was opened in 1903, two in 1904, two in 1905, two in 1907 and the last two in 1908. On Jan. 1, 1915, the plants have been in operation an average period of 8.8 years. The rules of the company, which have been in operation since work was first begun, are similar to those in use by the H. C. Frick Coke Co. at its mines in Pennsylvania, in which "Safety First" was incorporated as early as 1907; and it has always been the policy of both companies to look carefully after the safety of their employees. Although the field is an extension of the old Pocahontas field, the mines, located upon a new branch railroad, are away by themselves, and, as is usual in such cases, the class of labor attracted at first was temporary in character. The rapid development of the mines required the employment of many new men and officials each year; and, while the accident record from 1904 to 1909 was as good as the average of the field, it was felt to be not as good as it could be made, and a determined campaign was inaugurated for preventing accidents of all kinds. Fig. .1 shows the tonnage of coal produced per fatality, both total and for inside accidents only, at our mines; the tonnage per fatality of all West Virginia mines, and of those in the Pocahontas field.

Jan 2, 1915

By Harry Klemic

Zirconium and hafnium minerals are used industrially both as minerals valuable for their chemical and physical characteristics and as ores of zirconium and hafnium. The principal zirconium-hafnium-bearing minerals, their composition, and their ranges in content of zirconium and hafnium dioxides are listed in Table 1. The supply of zirconium and hafnium is based almost entirely upon the supply of the minerals zircon and baddeleyite. Eudialyte may eventually also be of importance as a source of these elements. Zircon, which generally contains nearly 49% zirconium and between 0.4 and 1.5% hafnium, is the principal industrial mineral of this group. Baddeleyite, a commercially important but less abundant mineral, contains as much as 73% zirconium and 0.4 to 1.7% hafnium. Eudialyte has a wide range in content of these elements, but analyses of material from several localities indicate values of 6 to 11 % zirconium and 0.07 to 0.4% hafnium. Zircon is a mineral consisting principally of zirconium, silicon, and oxygen that crystallizes from magmas during the formation of igneous rocks. Zircon also occurs in veins and in metamorphic rocks. It is in the tetragonal crystal system. It commonly forms as small well-developed prisms having pyramidal terminations but also occurs as irregular-shaped grains. Zircon has a hardness of 7.5 on the Mohs' scale. Its specific gravity is commonly between 4.68 and 4.70 (Dana, 1932), but the specific gravity varies somewhat depending upon com- position and state of alteration. Zircon has no good cleavage directions and is brittle, breaking with a conchoidal fracture. Zircon of the composition ZrSiO, would contain 67.2% Zr02 and 32.8% SiO2. However, in addition to about 1 % of hafnium, minor amounts of thorium, uranium, rare earth elements, yttrium, calcium, magnesium, iron, aluminum, phosphorus, and hydrogen, and trace amounts of other elements are commonly present in the mineral (Frondel, 1957). Radiogenic lead and other daughter products from the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium also accrue in the mineral. Radiation damage to the structure of zircons that contain appreciable amounts of uranium and thorium may alter the internal structure of the crystals to

Jan 1, 1975

By W. J. O'CONNOR

THE production of lead in the United States for the period from 1720 to 1912 was 10,432,668 tons valued at $924,600,000. The average price during this period was 4.4c. a pound, although lead sold at times below 3 cents. We know that in the early days of lead smelting in Montana lead was deliberately lost in the slag and only enough reduced as bullion to collect the silver. This bullion was freighted by ox team to Corinne, Utah, the terminus of the railroad at that time, and shipped to Swansea or Omaha, Neb., for refining. The slag from some of the above mentioned operations contained as much as 15 per cent lead and has since been resmelted. Since 1921 the production of lead has increased each year and the price and tonnage have been as follows :

Jan 1, 1926

By Renato G. Bautista, Robert A. Hard

A comparative study has been made of the ex-tractability of several of the transitim metals from thiocyanate sohtions using methyl isobutyl ketone as the organic solvent. Extractions were made of scandium (III), chromium (III), manganese (II), iron (III), and cobalt (II), of which only the scandium , iron, and cobalt were readily extracted. All extractions were made at pH 2 and at 25.5 °C. A series of extraction experiments was made on scandium, iron, and cobalt to determine the effect of thiocyanate cmcentration added as the ammonium and also as the calcium salt. Also determined was the effect of metal ion concentratim and ionic strength on the distribution ratio. Analyses of the organic extracts indicated the scandium and iron were extracted principally in the uncharged trithiocyanate form, while the extractable form of the cobalt contained the cobaltotetrathiocyanate anion. THE chemical separation of metal complexes in solution by solvent extraction has in recent years been developed for large scale separation as well as bench scale work in the laboratory. It has also found increased application in analytical chemistry. Its extension to extractive metallurgy as a unit operation is best illustrated in the recovery of uranium and vanadium from their leached liquor.5-8 The extractability of some thiocyanate systems have been extensively investigated. The rate earths have been separated from one another using butanol as a olvent. Scandium was effectively extracted in ethyl ether using ammonium thiocyanate as the com-plexing agent.'' Similarly, the separation of hafnium from zirconium has been reported using ether""' or hexone13 as the organic solvent. The extractability of various metal thiocyanates in ethyl ether is given by 0ck.l Sharp and Wilkinson15 prepared nickel-free cobalt slats by thiocyanate extraction. The mechanism of extraction of titanium (IV) thiocyanate with methyl isobutyl ketone was determined by elafosse.''" The characterization of cobalt (TI) thiocyanate complex using methyl isobutyl ketone as the solvent at near neutral aqueous solution and the spectrometric studies of the ex-tractable cobalt complex has been made by Hard." It is noteworthy to mention at this point that the fundamental characteristic of ketone (oxonium) solvent extraction is that the extractable species are uncharged ion pairs solvated by the ketone molecules, but probably still partially hydrated.

Jan 1, 1963

By Robert Henry Bradford

This investigation was undertaken at the suggestion of Prof. Henry M. Howe, of the Department of Metallurgy, Columbia University, who, in a letter to the author, dated October 23, 1900, wrote as follows, suggesting the subject of this dissertation : "The extraction of silver from copper mattes by either the Ziervogel or the Augustin process depends upon converting the silver into silver sulphate by means of the sulphuric anhydride evolved from the decomposition of ferrous sulphate and cupric sulphate, which are formed during the roasting operation itself from the iron and copper sulphides present. "It occurred to me, some time prior to the autumn of 1897, that these processes might be made much easier by adding to them, at the proper stage, ferrous or cupric sulphate, or both, in the form of green or blue vitriol. That is, instead of having to rely solely on our ability to generate these sulphates in this very delicate roasting operation, my idea was that we could add a small quantity of already-prepared sulphate at the proper state of roasting, viz., at or before the period when the solphatizing of the silver occurs. The comprehensive audit of the accounts of a mining company is extremely important in its relations to the legal situation and obligations of the corporation, the personal liability of the directors, and the interests of the investing public. A consideration of the subject as affecting the professional duties and fixing the responsibility of a mining engineer engaged in the expert examination of a mine or in charge of mining operations, is equally important, though this phase of the question is not often presented systematically.

Jan 1, 1903

By J. E. Chappelear

We are concerned with the problem of calculating the forces produced by passing waves on a submerged object (in particular a drilling barge) located on the ocean floor. We employ the linearized theory of waves (the Airy1 theory), since solutions are generally more easily obtained in such a theory. It will be indicated how an approximate solution to the problem can be obtained for waves of finite height by use of a linear combination of Airy waves. We shall assume the submerged object has an infinite length, thus neglecting diffraction and making the problem two-dimensional. We find that there is not a considerable difference between our solution and the usual engineering solution. The force, as a function of time, is plotted in Figs. 4 and 5, together with the usual solution for easy comparison. So far, no experiments have been found to compare with the results. As will be shown, the calculations can be extended to waves of finite height (Stokes2-Struik3 waves) in an approximate fashion. This can be done by calculating the force produced by each Fourier component of the wave, separately, and omitting the coupling between the various harmonics produced by Bernoulli's theorem. The problem and its boundary conditions will be briefly stated. We seek a function, +, the velocity potential, which is harmonic, ?2?=0...........(1) and which satisfies the boundary conditions ??/?n =0 .......(2) (the normal derivative of + is zero) on the ocean floor and the sides of the barge, and s??/?y = ?..........(3) on the ocean surface, where s = g/w2........(4) The physical reasons for these choices and an interpretation of ? are given by Lamb.' As previously stated, we assume also that the problem is two-dimensional. We set up our coordinates such that x = 0 is the center of the barge and y = 0 is the ocean floor. The coordinates are shown in Fig. 1, together with the location of the barge on the bottom. Our solution may be decomposed into a function which is symmetric about x = 0,?e, and one which is antisymmetric, +,, ? = ? + ?o...........(5) Thus directly above the barge we have as boundary conditions that for x = 0, ?o = 0, ...........(6) and ??e/?x = 0........(7) Now, far from the barge, we have that (for x positive and assuming the waves are incident from the left) ?e ? Ae cosh ky cos k (x + a) , . . . (8) and ?e ? Ao cosh ky cos k (x + ß) . . . . (9) where + means ". .. approaches ... for x large." Let us put Ae, Ao, and k equal to one, and remember that, in accordance with the derivation of Eq. 3, a sinusoidal time factor is to be supplied. Then we may rewrite Eq. 8 for ?e, and we find that

Jan 1, 1958

By Sylvain J. Pirson

The number of seismograph field crews employed in the active survey of potential oil territories is still on the increase, owing to the ever pending threat of a shortage in the supply of crude oil. It is to be expected that for years to come the seismograph will be responsible for discovering many new oil fields, both in wildcat territories and in deeper formations, and that the seismographic campaign will go on unabated. Yet improvements in instrumental design, in the field and interpretative techniques, are brought about year after year, and lead to the reshooting of areas many times surveyed previously. Notwithstanding the experience gained by the past eight years of active work in reflection seismographic surveys, the results given by this method of mapping deep formations have in many instances been at variance with the information subsequently obtained by the drill. To overcome this shortcoming, geophysicists have used closer spacing of the shot points and closer control of the depth points. The method discussed here is being used actively in the Mid-Continent region and endeavors to reduce the interpretation work to a mere mechanical technique, leaving as little as possible to the opinion of the interpreter. The New Method Field Technique.—In sectionized territory where country roads are available every mile, shot points are preferably located every 1/4 mile when six detectors are available or every % mile when eight detectors are at hand. The disposition of individual spreads is represented on Fig. I; in each case a shot point is located at the section corners. Fig. 2a represents the layout of a spread between shot points, the vibration detectors being preferably equidistantly located. Normally in the 1/4-mile control, the distance between shot points is 1320 ft. and the distance between detectors 220 ft. When shooting from shot point S.P. I, detectors 1 to 6 are connected to the recording galvanometers and detector 0 (which indicates the vertical travel time of the wave corre-

Jan 1, 1940

By Sylvain J. Pirson

The number of seismograph field crews employed in the active survey of potential oil territories is still on the increase, owing to the ever pending threat of a shortage in the supply of crude oil. It is to be expected that for years to come the seismograph will be responsible for discovering many new oil fields, both in wildcat territories and in deeper formations, and that the seismographic campaign will go on unabated. Yet improvements in instrumental design, in the field and interpretative techniques, are brought about year after year, and lead to the reshooting of areas many times surveyed previously. Notwithstanding the experience gained by the past eight years of active work in reflection seismographic surveys, the results given by this method of mapping deep formations have in many instances been at variance with the information subsequently obtained by the drill. To overcome this shortcoming, geophysicists have used closer spacing of the shot points and closer control of the depth points. The method discussed here is being used actively in the Mid-Continent region and endeavors to reduce the interpretation work to a mere mechanical technique, leaving as little as possible to the opinion of the interpreter. The New Method Field Technique.—In sectionized territory where country roads are available every mile, shot points are preferably located every 1/4 mile when six detectors are available or every % mile when eight detectors are at hand. The disposition of individual spreads is represented on Fig. I; in each case a shot point is located at the section corners. Fig. 2a represents the layout of a spread between shot points, the vibration detectors being preferably equidistantly located. Normally in the 1/4-mile control, the distance between shot points is 1320 ft. and the distance between detectors 220 ft. When shooting from shot point S.P. I, detectors 1 to 6 are connected to the recording galvanometers and detector 0 (which indicates the vertical travel time of the wave corre-

Jan 1, 1940

By Ernest Kirkendall

The amount of research done in the last fen years on the subject of diffusion in solid metals is significant of the importance of this problem. To review the literature dealing with diffusion is unnecessary here. Deschl in 1912 reviewed the work that had been done on diffusion in solids and gave a bibliography of the literature published before that time. Mehl's paper in 19362 is an excellent review of diffusion in metals and contains a large bibliography. Of importance also for it? review and bibliography is an article by 14. I. Krynitsky.~ While considerable material lias appeared in the literature on diffusion in brass, the amount of information is not great compared to that pertaining to some of the other alloys. Most of the information published is of a qualitative nature; that which is quantitative varies considerably. Thus the quantitative determination of the rates of diffusion of copper and zinc in alpha brass by a new method appeared worth while. In the present investigation the rate of diffusion of zinc in approximately the same composition alpha brass has been determined :it three temperatures. Procedure The method used consisted of plating copper on a beta brass, heating it, to allow diffusion to take place, and measuring the concentration of copper by determining the lattice constant of the alloy. This method is unique in that it uses a beta brass of such a composition that at the tem perature at which diffusion takes place the beta brass is saturated wit11 copper. Thus, while the beta brass supplies thc zinc, no diffusion takes

Jan 1, 1939

By Ernest Kirkendall

The amount of research done in the last fen years on the subject of diffusion in solid metals is significant of the importance of this problem. To review the literature dealing with diffusion is unnecessary here. Deschl in 1912 reviewed the work that had been done on diffusion in solids and gave a bibliography of the literature published before that time. Mehl's paper in 19362 is an excellent review of diffusion in metals and contains a large bibliography. Of importance also for it? review and bibliography is an article by 14. I. Krynitsky.~ While considerable material lias appeared in the literature on diffusion in brass, the amount of information is not great compared to that pertaining to some of the other alloys. Most of the information published is of a qualitative nature; that which is quantitative varies considerably. Thus the quantitative determination of the rates of diffusion of copper and zinc in alpha brass by a new method appeared worth while. In the present investigation the rate of diffusion of zinc in approximately the same composition alpha brass has been determined :it three temperatures. Procedure The method used consisted of plating copper on a beta brass, heating it, to allow diffusion to take place, and measuring the concentration of copper by determining the lattice constant of the alloy. This method is unique in that it uses a beta brass of such a composition that at the tem perature at which diffusion takes place the beta brass is saturated wit11 copper. Thus, while the beta brass supplies thc zinc, no diffusion takes

Jan 1, 1939

By S. H. Lorain, Norman L. Wimmler, S. Ricker, P. E. Oscarson, H. G. Iverson

This paper has been prepared with the principal objective of recording the results of the Bureau of Mines exploration of five major clay deposits in the Western Region. It is based mainly on data contained in unpublished Bureau of Mines reports. Acknowledgment is made to the Federal Geological Survey for its cooperative work with the Bureau of Mines, to the various State geological and mining departments, and other State and local agencies. Clay Exploration by the Bureau of Mines Much has been written and published on clays and clay deposits relating to their refractory, ceramic, and other qualities but such literature is lacking in analyses of the available alumina content of the clays and provides little indication of their possibilities as a source of alumina. With this new objective in view, a great many of the known clay deposits were reexamined and new ones discovered. The Bureau of Mines made preliminary examination of numerous areas in the western United States. Five of those most favorably indicated were systematically drilled, and in each a large amount of high-alumina clay has been found. These five major projects are Molalla and Hobart Butte, in western Oregon; Cowlitz-Castle Rock, in southwestern Washington; Ione, in California; and the Olson-Troy area in Idaho (Fig. I). Preliminary scout drilling was done in the Stockton deposit at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; the White ware deposit near Lewis-town, Mont.; and 13 areas in the Spokane or eastern Washington region, where the most favorably indicated area, known as the Excelsior, is now being drilled more systematically. Preliminary drilling was undertaken in numerous areas adjacent to the major deposits and others more remote. As a result, large additional clay possibilities were found. The Clay Deposits The clay deposits under consideration are of the sedimentary or transported types, parts of which have been altered further by the agencies of weathering, ground water, or hydrothermal action. There are extensive deposits of residual clays in northern Idaho and in eastern Washington, but they have been found to be low in the available alumina and to contain much free quartz, mica, and unaltered feldspar. To be of value, they must first be subjected to beneficiation to remove these gangue minerals. The sedimentary clays have been derived largely from the decomposition, erosion, and transportation of granites, gneisses, schists, and basalts. At Molalla, some

Jan 1, 1948

By Norman L. Wimmler, H. G. Iverson, S. Ricker, P. E. Oscarson, S. H. Lorain

This paper has been prepared with the principal objective of recording the results of the Bureau of Mines exploration of five major clay deposits in the Western Region. It is based mainly on data contained in unpublished Bureau of Mines reports. Acknowledgment is made to the Federal Geological Survey for its cooperative work with the Bureau of Mines, to the various State geological and mining departments, and other State and local agencies. Clay Exploration by the Bureau of Mines Much has been written and published on clays and clay deposits relating to their refractory, ceramic, and other qualities but such literature is lacking in analyses of the available alumina content of the clays and provides little indication of their possibilities as a source of alumina. With this new objective in view, a great many of the known clay deposits were reexamined and new ones discovered. The Bureau of Mines made preliminary examination of numerous areas in the western United States. Five of those most favorably indicated were systematically drilled, and in each a large amount of high-alumina clay has been found. These five major projects are Molalla and Hobart Butte, in western Oregon; Cowlitz-Castle Rock, in southwestern Washington; Ione, in California; and the Olson-Troy area in Idaho (Fig. I). Preliminary scout drilling was done in the Stockton deposit at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; the White ware deposit near Lewis-town, Mont.; and 13 areas in the Spokane or eastern Washington region, where the most favorably indicated area, known as the Excelsior, is now being drilled more systematically. Preliminary drilling was undertaken in numerous areas adjacent to the major deposits and others more remote. As a result, large additional clay possibilities were found. The Clay Deposits The clay deposits under consideration are of the sedimentary or transported types, parts of which have been altered further by the agencies of weathering, ground water, or hydrothermal action. There are extensive deposits of residual clays in northern Idaho and in eastern Washington, but they have been found to be low in the available alumina and to contain much free quartz, mica, and unaltered feldspar. To be of value, they must first be subjected to beneficiation to remove these gangue minerals. The sedimentary clays have been derived largely from the decomposition, erosion, and transportation of granites, gneisses, schists, and basalts. At Molalla, some

Jan 1, 1948

By Robert Baschwitz, John Chipman

The distribution of silicon between liquid silver and Fe-Si-C alloys has been studied at 1420oand 1530°C. The data are consistent with earlier studies. New data of Hager on the liquidus lines of the system Ag-Si and the distribution data are used to obtain the activity coefficient of silicon in both liquid phases. Data on the heat of mixing in iron permit accurate extension to 1600°C. Equilibrium data involving SiO2 and silicon in liquid iron together with revised data on the free energy of SiO2 are used to fix the activity of silicon in the infinitely dilute solution. The binary system exhibits strong negative deviation from ideality. At infinite dilution ? Si at 1600" is 1.25 x 10'3, and at concentrations up to NSi = 0.4 the slope d InySi/dNSi has a constant value of r; = 13. It is found that logysi in the ternary solutzon is approximately but not exactly the same function of Nsi + NC as of NSi in the binary. The results are consistent with currently available data on the free energy of Sic and its solubility in molten iron. LIQUID solutions of the system Fe-Si-C have acquired considerable importance as the laboratory prototypes of blast furnace hot metal. Equilibrium studies involving such solutions and slags approximating those of the blast furnace have yielded useful information concerning the thermodynamic properties of blast furnace slags. In studies of this kind great importance attaches to a knowledge of the thermodynamic activity of silicon in the solution as a function of temperature and composition. An attempt was made by Chipman, Fulton, Gokcen, and askey' to evaluate all of the pertinent data on this system and to deduce the desired relation between activity, composition, and temperature. These authors published data on the solubility of graphite and Sic in molten Fe-C-Si solutions and on the distribution of silicon between liquid iron and liquid silver. They showed further how the activity of silicon in very dilute solutions in liquid iron could be calculated from equilibrium data involving the molten alloy and solid SiO,. These calculations rested on the published thermodynamic properties of SiO, in- cluding its heat of formation which at that time was recorded as -209.8 kcal. This value has been under suspicion for some time and has recently been replaced by the concordant results from two independent laboratories2,3 which place the heat of formation of a-quartz at -217.6 kcal. This revision necessitates a re-evaluation not only of the activity of SiO2 in slag but also of silicon in molten iron. It is the purpose of this paper, therefore, to recalculate the activity of silicon, and in furtherance of this objective to present new data on its distribution between liquid Fe-Si-C alloys and liquid silver. HEAT OF SOLUTION OF SILICON IN IRON In order to determine the effect of temperature upon the activity coefficient it is necessary to know the heat of solution of silicon in iron as a function of composition. This is found in the data of Korber and Oelsen4 shown in Fig. 1. The curve corresponds to the following equation, which is of a form suggested by Wagner:5 Here AH is the heat absorbed in kilocalories in forming one gram atom of molten alloy from its molten elements and the N's are atom fractions. The relative partial molal enthalpies of the components, each referred to its pureliquid state and defined as zFe = aFe - PFe and zsi = HSi — -psi, are shown graphically. At low concentrations zSi = -28.5 kcal, in agreement with Kijrber and Oelsen's computation. This is in good agreement with the value of -29.3 kcal obtained by Chipman and Grant6 using an entirely different method. ACTIVITY AT INFINITE DILUTION From the known free energy of SiO, it is possible to obtain the activity of silicon in dilute solution in liquid iron from equilibrium studies. The heat of formation of a-quartz is —217.6 kcal and the heat capacity and entropy data are given by Kelley and ~ing.' The free energy of formation of ß-cristo-balite at temperatures above the melting point of silicon is expressed by the following equation: Si(Z) + O2(g) = SiO2 (crist); AF" =-226,500 + 47.50T [I] The value of the deoxidation product for silicon [%Si] x [%O]2 at 1600°C according to Gokcen and chipmans is 2.8 x 10"5, in agreement with results of Hilty and Crafts.9 More recent works of Matoba,

Jan 1, 1963

By D. M. Dunbar, H. C. SCHLILTZ

HE Chile Exploration Co.'s mine and reduction plant are at Chuquicamata, Chile, on the eastern edge of the Atacama Desert, 163 miles northeast of Antofagasta, 80 miles from the Pacific Ocean, and 70 miles from the Bolivian border and at an altitude of 10,000 ft. Guggenheim Brothers started prospecting in -4pri1, 1912, and purchased the main property, in October of that year; the property is now controlled by the Anaconda Copper Mining Co., which acquired it in January, 1923. The orebody strikes north 10" east, and has a dip of about 64" west. The length, as far as developed, is approximately 1% miles; the width averages sightless than mile.

Jan 1, 1925

By W. C. Bednar

In all, 127 producing oil wells, 8 producing gas wells and 212 dry holes were drilled during 1936 in the Central Texas area; 76 wells in Bexar County, 62 in Caldwell County, 44 in Guadalupe County, 22 in Williamson County, 20 in Navarro County and 20 in Frio County. Less than 20 were drilled in each of the other counties and none at all in Ellis, Hill, Bosque, Coryell, Lampasas, Burnet, Llano, Kennedy, Mason, Real, Kinney and Uvalde Counties. The Pearsall-Austin chalk field in Frio County and the Zoboroski field in Guadalupe County were the only new discoveries and there were no important extensions to old fields. In this report Corsicana, Mildred (Elm Ridge), Angus-Edens-Hodge, Burke, and Rice-Oil Ridge, all shallow Navarro County stripper fields, are grouped together under the name of Corsicana. This grouping follows that of the Railroad Commission of Texas, thus facilitating the gathering of production data. A map showing the location of the oil and gas fields in the Central Texas Area was published in Volume 114 of the A.I.M.E. TranBactions, page 380. New Fields Pearsall-Austin Chalk.—The Amerada Petroleum Corporation completed 13 Austin chalk wells during 1936 on the large Amerada-Rycade block in Frio County. Other companies drilled two dry holes to the Austin chalk in this vicinity. Not enough wells were drilled to give control of the structure but it appears to be a nose plunging in a west-southwest direction. A second deep test is being drilled in the Pearsall area and at this writing has cemented off a show of oil and gas in the Edwards limestone. The Humble Oil and Refining Co. is building a 6-in. pipe line from Lytle, Tex., to serve the Pearsall field. Zoboroski.—Actual discovery of the Zoboroski field was made by W. J. Walton et al. in 1931. The discovery well, Anton Zoboroski No. 1, was a small producer making but from 3 to 5 bbl. per day, which was used locally for fuel oil. The discovery of the Darst Creek Extension in

Jan 1, 1937

By H. S. Price, J. C. Cavendish, R. S. Varga

This paper presents a new technique for solving some of the partial differential equations that are commonly used in simulating reservoir performance. The results of applying this technique to a simple problem show that one obtains accurate pressure values near wells, as well as accurate pressure pdients, which can be explicitly calculated. The method is completely rigorous in that convergence of the discrete numerical solution to the continuous solution for both pressure and pressure gradient is established. High-order, piecewise-polynomial approximations are used near the wells where pressure gradients are steep, while low-order, piecewise-polynomial approximations are used elsewhere to reduce greatly the calculation time. This combination is shown to give a uniformly good approximation to the solution. These approximations, obtained by using a Galerkin process with suitable Hermite subspaces, are shown to be theoretically and numerically superior to the usual approximations obtained from standard finite-difference techniques. Not only are much greater accuracies obtained, but computer times are also greatly reduced. The application of this technique to multiphase flow problems (e.g., single well coning problems) would have considerable practical interest, but such extensions of this technique with full mathematical rigor have not been made as yet. However, the numerical methods presented here are general, and in principle extend to multidimensional, multiphase flow. Moreover, the preliminary results given in this paper are sufficiently encouraging that we feel the effort in attempting these extensions is justified. INTRODUCTION The problem of obtaining accurate pressure distributions and pressure gradients around wells is of considerable importance in the numerical simulation of reservoir performance. The most common approach to solving this problem is to use finite difference techniques (see McCarty and Barfield9 or Peaceman and Rachfordl0). This approach, however, has many disadvantages, the major one being that many grid points are generally necessary for accurately describing the pressure distribution and the pressure gradient around wells. This need for a fine grid results in large computer times and often in prohibitively high costs. Besides investigating the method of finite differences, some authors, such as Welge and weber17 and Roper, Merchant and Duvall,13 have considered a combination of analytical and numerical techniques with some success. These approaches, however, are all nonrigorous and quite often cannot even be applied. In this paper, we present a numerical formulation of high-order accuracy, based on the Galerkin method, for solving this problem. We treat here only the partial differential equation that describes steady-state, single-phase flow. However, the methods presented are general and in principle extend to multidimensional, multiphase flow. Specifically we treat special cases of the problem in two dimensions described by: where G is a rectangle (with sides parallel to the coordinate axis) with boundary ?G, ?/?n denotes the outward normal, and y and B are non-negative constants such that y + B > 0.

Jan 1, 1970

By F. B. Speaker

MUCH of White Pine's success is due to the mechanization of mining operations and the development of an efficient beneficiation process to extract usable copper from the low-grade ore (averaging slightly more than 1 pct copper content). When the mine was first opened, all ore was trucked to a conveyor system installed in the slope leading out of the mine. But as new mining areas have been opened up at increasing distances from the slope, conveyors have replaced the trucks for much of the haulage. This conveyor program is expected to continue as mining progresses. Here is how the present underground system functions: Run-of-mine ore is dumped into two truck hoppers and withdrawn from the bottom of each hopper by a 60-in. apron feeder 22 ft long (see diagram). Collecting conveyors 54 in. wide and 44 ft long receive the material from the apron feeders and discharge to two main-line 54-in. conveyors, one 2000 ft and the other 2600 ft long. Operating at 312 fpm and handling 1200 tph, the main-line conveyors converge near the bottom of the tunnel leading out of the mine and discharge into two 72x168-in. Vibrex screens. Ore under 8 in. goes directly to the bin beneath. The oversize is fed to two 32x40-in. jaw crushers and after crushing joins the 8-in. material in the bin.

Jan 12, 1957

T. T. READ, Secretary of the Committee on Industrial Organization, presents the following very interesting monthly ad interim report: Reports from London are to the effect that 750 housing schemes for workers, involving the erection of 128,000 new dwellings, have been submitted to the Local Government Board. Birmingham alone needs 14,000 new houses, and the Housing and Town Planning Committee of the City Council considers that 5000 new houses must be built each year for the next 20 years. Nine hundred acres of land has been acquired, on which to build 10 to 12 houses per acre for the next two years. The town of Dudley, which built 300 modern dwellings in 1915-1916, submitted schemes for another 500 houses. There is a shortage of building materials required, specially brick. Financial assistance has been received for reopening brick yards that were closed during the war. W. E. Dickson, vice president of the Midvale Steel & Ordnance Co., is reported in the daily press as stating that his corporation is planning to spend $8,000,000 in improving its plant and assisting its employees in building their own homes. The company will advance 90 per cent. of the cost of the house and extend payments over a period of 12 years. Methods of work employed in building 256 houses at Quincy, Mass., for the workers of the Fore River shipyards are described, by Joseph Meltzer, in the Engineering News Record for May 29, 1919. The approximate cost was about $3500 per house, not including water supply, sewers, streets, and sidewalks. "Comparative Costs of Tenantry and Home-Owning;" "A Plain Talk on Helping Home-builders;" and "More Plain Talk on Home Building" are the titles of three publications of the Information and Education Service of the Department of Labor. These publications should be' of a good deal of service in convincing employees that it is to their interest to own their homes rather than to live in rented houses. The same Service has issued pamphlets discussing the cost of materials.

Jan 7, 1919

THE discussion at the annual meeting of the paper on "Devices for Detecting Dangerous Gases in Mine Air" (published in. MINING AND METAL-LURGY, February 1, 1927, p. 69) was prefaced by the following description of a new portable methane indi-cator, presented by D. C. Ashmead: Two comparatively recent disasters in Utah are directly responsible for the perfection of the new methane detector. The first of these occurred on May 1, 1900, when 200 work-men lost their lives. The second disaster did not occur for more than two decades, when, on March 8, 1924, at the Castle Gate Mine No. 2, 172 workmen were killed. A dis-sembled safety lamp was later found at the seat of the ex-plosion. This indicated, as a possible cause, that the safety lamp had gone out and the fire boss had tried to relight it. These two disasters brought, the mine operators of the State of Utah to the concentrated attempt to end the loss of life through mine explosions. The Governor of the State appointed a committee, known as the Utah Mine Op-erators Committee, to study the phases of the problem, and this Committee in turn enlisted scientists all over the country in cooperative research. One group, under the direction of E. K. Judd, of the Union Carbide and Carbon Research Laboratories, of Long Island City, New York, concentrated its efforts on develop-ing a methane detector which would be completely ade-quate. This is now successful, since in laboratory as well as actual coal-mine tests the apparatus has instantaneously and accurately detected the presence of extremely small amounts of methane.

Jan 3, 1927

By Edward A. Loria

A SERIES of papers on the study of austenite grain A size in cast steels has been published recently.'" These studies show that in the as-cast state, the austenite grains are quite large, for they form as the steel freezes at a very high temperature, but a simple reheating above the critical range produces a new set of austenite grains which, in many instances, is finer than ASTM grain sire No. 8. Furthermore, there is no apparent relationship between as-cast austenite grain size and subsequent grain size produced by heat treatment. The as-cast austenite grain size can be determined easily in plain carbon and low alloy steels which produce a continuous grain boundary f errite envelope in the as-cast structure. In the case of cast steels whose alloy content produces greater hardenability and suppresses the proeutectoid ferrite transforma-

Jan 1, 1952