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By A. J. Hendron, D. U. Deere, F. D. Patton, E. J. Cording

In the design of structures founded in the near-surface rock, a distinction may be made between those problems that are related to the strength of the rock mass, and those that are related primarily to the compressibility of the rock mass. The mining engineer deals almost exclusively with problems involving strength in the design of open-pit slopes and underground openings. The civil engineer is similarly concerned with strength problems in the design of vehicular and water tunnels; underground power plants; cut slopes in rock for highways, canals, and spillways; and in the study of the sliding resistance of the foundations of gravity dams and the abutments of arch dams. Moreover, the civil engineer encounters problems in which the compressibility of the rock becomes the key element in the design. These problems include settlement of heavy structures supported on rock, deformation of the abutments of arch dams, and deflection of pressure tunnel linings. The design problems listed above are still solved largely on the basis of experience and rule-of-thumb. However, recent developments in rock mechanics give promise of providing more realistic approaches to certain aspects of the design. This paper, presents some of the more important recent developments which contribute to an understanding of rock behavior and which aid in design of rock structures. Typically, four steps are involved in the design of a structure, whether it be a machine element, a structural member of a building, or a structure in rock. These steps are listed below:

Jan 1, 1967

By Arthur F. Taggart

Some years ago, A. M. Gaudin and one of the authors published a paper showing removal of tar acids from solution by sulfides preferentially as compared to gangues (specifically by galena as compared to quartz).' The underlying phenomenon was classed as adsorption, and the paper went on to develop the general thesis that so far as water-soluble frothing and collecting agents in flotation are concerned, the phenomenon of adsorption is one of controlling importance. Adsorption was defined in that paper as "a process of rearrangement of a system, which results in establishing a difference in concentration, as between the interfacial layers and the bulk of the phases, of a substance or substances initially uniformly dispersed in one or several of the phases." The paper went on to develop the relation between adsorption and surface cnergy according to Gibbs' equation (which may be thrown into the form U/c = KdT/dc, where U = excess concentration in surface layer, c = concentration, T = surface tension, and K is a constant), and pointed out that, according to this equation, degree of adsorption and change in surface tension vary directly. The present paper offers a somewhat different definition for the term adsorption; and sets up, in sweeping terms, the generalization that simple chemical reaction underlies the functioning of the flotation reagents which control mineral collection, when these reagents are soluble in and act from solution in the water of the pulp. Adsorption According to the modified definition, adsorption means concentration at an interface between different phases in a heterogeneous system (thus far the definition runs as before), by the action of some mechanism, of which nothing is properly implied in the word, and concerning which the user of the word is probably in entire ignorance. Thus defined,

Jan 1, 1930

By Carl G. Hogberg

During recent months, the acute shortage of steel scrap has necessitated the use of higher percentages of hot metal in the open-hearth charge. With these higher percentages, the sulphur content of hot metal has become an increasingly important factor in the control of the quality of steel. Thus, the blast-furnace operator is faced with a demand not only for more output but for a higher quality of product. More than go per cent of the sulphur charged into the blast furnace is contained in the coke. With the tremendously increased demand, the trend of coke quality has been toward higher sulphur, higher and more variable ash, and poorer physical characteristics. This has been brought about by less selective coal mining, increased production rates in coke plants and resumption of operations of many beehive ovens. In a single month last year, one blast-furnace plant in the Pittsburgh district operated with coke obtained from 52 sources. The effect of variability and quantity of coke ash on blast-furnace operation is well known. The improved results obtained with furnaces operating on coke made from washed coals compared with results on coke made from raw coals is ample proof of the effectiveness of low and uniform ash. Coal-washing plants, however, require a large capital expenditure, and are impractical for most of the large number of small producers, whose operations are confined chiefly to periods of abnormally high demand. Furthermore, not all coals are physically adaptable to washing. Principles 01 Iron Desulphurization in Furnace Although investigations of the blastfurnace process have not clearly revealed the detailed mechanism of iron desulphuri-zation within the furnace, they have been sufficiently extensive to permit a postula tion of the following general principles: 1. Iron, in its travel from furnace top to hearth, continues to pick up sulphur until it has reached tuyere level. The zone of iron desulphurizatioil is relatively narrow, being confined to a vertical distance extending zapproximately from tuyere level to the iron-slag interface in the hearth.' 2. Combustion of coke is confined to spherical zones extending approximately 40 in. from the nose of each tuyere.= Coke ash is released as the coke bums in these combustion areas. 3. With a constant amount of sulphur in the charge, the sulphur content of the metal product is a function of hearth temperature, final slag analysis, slag viscosity, and slag volume. Both hearth temperature and slag analysis affect slag viscosity. For a slag of constant analysis, viscosity always decreases with an increase in temperature;

Jan 1, 1943

By Carl G. Hogberg

During recent months, the acute shortage of steel scrap has necessitated the use of higher percentages of hot metal in the open-hearth charge. With these higher percentages, the sulphur content of hot metal has become an increasingly important factor in the control of the quality of steel. Thus, the blast-furnace operator is faced with a demand not only for more output but for a higher quality of product. More than go per cent of the sulphur charged into the blast furnace is contained in the coke. With the tremendously increased demand, the trend of coke quality has been toward higher sulphur, higher and more variable ash, and poorer physical characteristics. This has been brought about by less selective coal mining, increased production rates in coke plants and resumption of operations of many beehive ovens. In a single month last year, one blast-furnace plant in the Pittsburgh district operated with coke obtained from 52 sources. The effect of variability and quantity of coke ash on blast-furnace operation is well known. The improved results obtained with furnaces operating on coke made from washed coals compared with results on coke made from raw coals is ample proof of the effectiveness of low and uniform ash. Coal-washing plants, however, require a large capital expenditure, and are impractical for most of the large number of small producers, whose operations are confined chiefly to periods of abnormally high demand. Furthermore, not all coals are physically adaptable to washing. Principles 01 Iron Desulphurization in Furnace Although investigations of the blastfurnace process have not clearly revealed the detailed mechanism of iron desulphuri-zation within the furnace, they have been sufficiently extensive to permit a postula tion of the following general principles: 1. Iron, in its travel from furnace top to hearth, continues to pick up sulphur until it has reached tuyere level. The zone of iron desulphurizatioil is relatively narrow, being confined to a vertical distance extending zapproximately from tuyere level to the iron-slag interface in the hearth.' 2. Combustion of coke is confined to spherical zones extending approximately 40 in. from the nose of each tuyere.= Coke ash is released as the coke bums in these combustion areas. 3. With a constant amount of sulphur in the charge, the sulphur content of the metal product is a function of hearth temperature, final slag analysis, slag viscosity, and slag volume. Both hearth temperature and slag analysis affect slag viscosity. For a slag of constant analysis, viscosity always decreases with an increase in temperature;

Jan 1, 1943

By Strathmore R. B. Cooke, Thomas E. Bam

The paper discusses the mineralogy, structure, and strength of magnetite pellets fired in air and in a neutral atmosphere at various temperatures. The information obtained from this investigation is used to explain the origin of the structures occurring in pellets produced by pilot-plant operation. MUCH experimental work has been performed on i-VL the mechanism of agglomeration and pelletiz-ing of moist ore and concentrates and on the process of firing agglomerates, but except for the work of Tigerschiold and Ilmonil much of the published information is empirical, and the literature contains no information concerning the structure of fired pellets. Results of a preliminary study of the micro-structures occurring in pellets produced both in the laboratory and on a pilot-plant scale are presented in this paper. Most of the results were obtained from pellets prepared from Mesabi magnetic taconite, but through the courtesy of the staffs of the Minnesota Mines Experiment Station and the Bethlehem Steel Co., fired pellets produced from limonite and hematite ores and from Lebanon magnetite have also been examined. The work has been restricted almost entirely to pellets produced without additives, the exceptions being those in which coal was added to the filter cake before rolling. Schwartz has described the microstructures occurring in ore sinters produced under reducing conditions.' Many of the structures and constituents he describes are common to fired pellets, but the constituents normally occur in markedly different proportions. His statement that "in all satisfactory sinter the amount of hematite is small, perhaps not over 2 or 3 per cent" is inapplicable to pellets produced by pilot plant operation or by any process in which air is not deliberately excluded. Pilot plant pellets contain over 90 pct by weight of hematite, and those produced in the smaller furnaces of the Minnesota Mines Experiment Station contain more than 80 pct of that constituent. Preparation of Specimens It is difficult to examine unfired pellets microscopically because of their insufficient coherency to withstand sectioning and polishing. Fired pellets sometimes lack coherency and frequently contain holes which are troublesome during polishing. Impregnation of both air-dried and fired pellets is readily accomplished by the use of methyl metha-crylate monomer." The dry pellets are covered in a test tube with excess monomer, to which a small amount of accelerator has been added. When the test tube is placed in a cooling bath and evacuated with an aspirator, most of the entrapped air is removed, and disruption of weak pellets by boiling of the monomer is reduced to a minimum. Polymerization is then effected by immersion of the test tube in a water-bath at about 45"C, this temperature being held for 4 or 5 days. The test tube may then be broken away from the solidified mass and the pellets sectioned by a carborundum wheel or a diamond saw. Where time is important, impregnation is carried out at a higher temperature by Meyer's method.' Air-dried pellets must be impregnated with especial care; otherwise swelling occurs and the solids are displaced. It is more important to be certain that the monomer forms a reasonably complete network throughout the specimen than that all entrained air is removed, and for this reason the vacuum technique may be omitted. Impregnated agglomerated products and pellets are extremely coherent, section well, and may be polished either by hand or by machine. Hand polishing is not satisfactory for the examination of conditions existing at the boundaries of grains, and for this machine polishing must be used. The Graton-Vanderwilt machine gives excellent results, provided that pressure on the specimen is considerably in excess of that recommended by the manufacturer. Mineralogy of Fired Pellets Only two opaque iron minerals, magnetite and hematite, have been recognized in pellets. The complete identity of, these artificial minerals with their corresponding natural counterparts is shown by their mineralographic characteristics and their X-ray structures. Wiistite has not been found. Slag is the most common transparent constituent of fired pellets. Occasionally conditions have been appropriate for the crystallization of fayalite from the slag, and at other times another crystalline sil-

Jan 1, 1953

By Strathmore R. B. Cooke, Thomas E. Bam

The paper discusses the mineralogy, structure, and strength of magnetite pellets fired in air and in a neutral atmosphere at various temperatures. The information obtained from this investigation is used to explain the origin of the structures occurring in pellets produced by pilot-plant operation. MUCH experimental work has been performed on i-VL the mechanism of agglomeration and pelletiz-ing of moist ore and concentrates and on the process of firing agglomerates, but except for the work of Tigerschiold and Ilmonil much of the published information is empirical, and the literature contains no information concerning the structure of fired pellets. Results of a preliminary study of the micro-structures occurring in pellets produced both in the laboratory and on a pilot-plant scale are presented in this paper. Most of the results were obtained from pellets prepared from Mesabi magnetic taconite, but through the courtesy of the staffs of the Minnesota Mines Experiment Station and the Bethlehem Steel Co., fired pellets produced from limonite and hematite ores and from Lebanon magnetite have also been examined. The work has been restricted almost entirely to pellets produced without additives, the exceptions being those in which coal was added to the filter cake before rolling. Schwartz has described the microstructures occurring in ore sinters produced under reducing conditions.' Many of the structures and constituents he describes are common to fired pellets, but the constituents normally occur in markedly different proportions. His statement that "in all satisfactory sinter the amount of hematite is small, perhaps not over 2 or 3 per cent" is inapplicable to pellets produced by pilot plant operation or by any process in which air is not deliberately excluded. Pilot plant pellets contain over 90 pct by weight of hematite, and those produced in the smaller furnaces of the Minnesota Mines Experiment Station contain more than 80 pct of that constituent. Preparation of Specimens It is difficult to examine unfired pellets microscopically because of their insufficient coherency to withstand sectioning and polishing. Fired pellets sometimes lack coherency and frequently contain holes which are troublesome during polishing. Impregnation of both air-dried and fired pellets is readily accomplished by the use of methyl metha-crylate monomer." The dry pellets are covered in a test tube with excess monomer, to which a small amount of accelerator has been added. When the test tube is placed in a cooling bath and evacuated with an aspirator, most of the entrapped air is removed, and disruption of weak pellets by boiling of the monomer is reduced to a minimum. Polymerization is then effected by immersion of the test tube in a water-bath at about 45"C, this temperature being held for 4 or 5 days. The test tube may then be broken away from the solidified mass and the pellets sectioned by a carborundum wheel or a diamond saw. Where time is important, impregnation is carried out at a higher temperature by Meyer's method.' Air-dried pellets must be impregnated with especial care; otherwise swelling occurs and the solids are displaced. It is more important to be certain that the monomer forms a reasonably complete network throughout the specimen than that all entrained air is removed, and for this reason the vacuum technique may be omitted. Impregnated agglomerated products and pellets are extremely coherent, section well, and may be polished either by hand or by machine. Hand polishing is not satisfactory for the examination of conditions existing at the boundaries of grains, and for this machine polishing must be used. The Graton-Vanderwilt machine gives excellent results, provided that pressure on the specimen is considerably in excess of that recommended by the manufacturer. Mineralogy of Fired Pellets Only two opaque iron minerals, magnetite and hematite, have been recognized in pellets. The complete identity of, these artificial minerals with their corresponding natural counterparts is shown by their mineralographic characteristics and their X-ray structures. Wiistite has not been found. Slag is the most common transparent constituent of fired pellets. Occasionally conditions have been appropriate for the crystallization of fayalite from the slag, and at other times another crystalline sil-

Jan 1, 1953

By H. Hooykaas

A few years ago Marsal published a method of predicting oil recovery as a function of time for an edge-water-drive reservoir with several rows of wells.' The method is based solely on oil- and water-production data obtained during a short period for the first row of wells and the gross productions (past and future) of all wells. This paper presents a streamlined version of the original publication and experimental evidence showing the reliability of this version. For this purpose scaled experirnents were performed in a large model (750 X 500 X 23 cm, 24.4 ft X 16.2 ft X 8.9 in.) in which edge-water-drive reservoirs with three rows of production wells were simulated. From the results of the experiments it is concluded that the method gives a fairly accurate prediction of the future production behavior of the reservoir and enables us to select the most profitable production plan. Results obtained with the method were always slightly conservative. INTRODUCTION The calculation method developed by Marsal aims at forecasting future reservoir behavior.' It can be applied to floods in which a number of down-dip wells are rapidly going to water. Essentially it is a method for predicting the future behavior of the up-structure wells on the basis of the observed behavior of the down-structure wells. As such, the method is especially useful for predicting behavior of edge-water drives toward several rows of wells. The requirement to be met for justifying the approach is identity of production mechanism in all regions of the reservoir. The attraction of the method then lies in the fact that it applies even when we have no complete description of the prevailing production mechanism. The original publication was in the German language and for this reason, perhaps, did not attract widespread attention. In our opinion it deserves to do so because it does offer in a simple way results which are in fair agreement with observed data. The aim of the present paper is to bring the method to the attention of a wider audience. The method in its most simplified form is reviewed and experimental data in support of it are presented. PRINCIPLES To show Marsal's principle. we will first write the continuity equation for very simple conditions, linear flow (in the positive x-direction) in an incompressible porous body [cross-section A(x), porosity +(x)], saturated with incompressible fluids (oil saturation S). When the oil in this formation is displaced by water, injected at x = 0 (inlet face), we get where q(t) is the total gross displacement rate and f the fractional oil flow. The equation can be solved if we make the assumptions: (1 ) that the fractional oil flow (f) is a univalent function of saturation (S); and (2) that the function is the same throughout the porous medium. Then: f = f(S) Solving this equation with the method of characteristics, we obtain

Jan 1, 1966

By Eric A. Nordhausen

A good deal of dialogue has been published and voiced concerning one mining regulation or another, that, according to those raising the issues, in effect shuts down or drastically reduces mine and/or mill reduction. The objective of this discussion is to there fore synthesize the various regulations affecting the uranium mining industry and attempt to realistically assess the extent of impact to yellowcake production - on both an individual and collective basis. Emphasis is placed on the later or newer permitting requirements under the Mill Tailings Act, Underground Injection Control Program, the Consolidated Permit Program, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RcRA).

Jan 1, 1980

APPROXIMATELY 90 per cent of the steel that is melted and refined in the United States and poured into ingots is made in basic open-hearth furnaces, as shown in Table 1-1. The annual ingot capacity of the steel industry reported January 1, 1950, by the American Iron and Steel Institute3* was 99,040,160 tons, of which the basic open-hearth process accounted for 85,896,580 tons, 86.7 per cent of the .total. The capacity of the individual furnaces varies over a wide range, a large majority falling within limits of 50 to 200 tons (Fig 1-1). Most of the units constructed [ ] since 1942 are in the larger size groups, between 175 and 225 tons capacity.

Jan 1, 1964

By Persifor Frazer

The mines which I am about to describe are all situated in the northern part of the States of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila, Mexico, between the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh degrees of latitude. They might be grouped, orographically, into four classes: 1. Those in the Sierra de la Ygnana chain; 2. Those in the Sierra de Gomez chain; 3. Those in the Cerro Mercado; 4. Those in the Sierra de San Marcos chain. (See large map.) The first two of these may be further arranged in one geographical district, to which the name, "the Villaldatna. district," may be applied, and the last may be ascribed to the geographical district of " Monclova." Geologically described, the country rock, in which four of the six mines occnr, is a limestone, concerning which a few words will be said further on, to wit.: The Arroyo (gulch), the Montanos and the Pinitos (pines), in the Villaldama district, and La Paloma (the dove), or Iron Mine, in the Monclova district. The San Rafael appears to lie in granite, or a heavy-bedded gneiss, presenting most of the characteristics of the latter, though the contact plane of the limestone is not far off. It is certainly worthy of attention that the ore occurs in that portion of the crystalline rock, which is nearest to the limestone, and it has been thought by some observers to be a true contact vein. It is well known that veins of this character are very often distinguished for constancy and richness. Although the undersigned cannot entirely free himself from the impression that this proximity of different formations has had an important influence in the origin of the part of the vein on which this mine is situated; still he was unable to establish it actually at the contact of the limestone and granite, but rather a short distance within the latter. Two openings of the Riojas vein were respectively in limestone and in rotten whitish granite, but this fact, if established (as by the correspondence of the strike line of the vein in direction with that of a line joining the

Jan 1, 1884

By Frank C. Smith

The following article covers the history of a metallurgical campaign, commenced in March, 1905, at the mines of the Socorro Bold Co., in the so-called desert region of Yuma county, Arizona. The results obtained were simply a function of necessity, as will be seen from the description of the local economic conditions and the character of the ores treated. The mines and mill of the Socorro Gold Co. are located near the small village of Harrisburg, about 60 miles from Congress Junction, Ariz., which, at the time this work was undertaken, was the nearest railroad station, and from which all supplies were brought by wagon through the desert, at a cost varying from $10 to $15 per ton in addition to the railroad freights. Wood, the only available fuel, cost $7 per cord. Water for all purposes was pumped to the plant from a well in the valley about 4 miles away. Under the Arizona law, a working-shift is 8 hr. Wages were $6 per day for foremen and mill-men, $4 per day for blacksmiths and engineers, $3.50 per day for miners, and $3 per day for shovelers and trammers. The ore consisted of quartz, in which, above the 250-ft. level, the iron-minerale were largely oxidized and some free gold was visible; below that level few traces of oxidation occurred, and pyrite constituted the principal mineralizer in the quartz, together with occasional pockets of galena and a few eccentric specks of covellite. The 20-stamp mill was equipped with plates for amalgamation, and three Standard tables for concentration. The tails from the tables mere elevated by a centrifugal pump to a launder, by which they were conveyed to a 60-ton cyanide-mill for further treatment. The cyanide-mill was erected at so great a distance from the stamp-mill that a separate crew of workers and a separate power-plant were necessary. No arrangement had been made for the treatment of the concen-

Jan 1, 1907

By Frederick T. Williams

THE purpose of this paper is to discuss the relative merits of the large 31/8 in. machine and the small 21/4-in. tappett machine in driving development-headings ; and although the . data here presented were obtained from cross-cut headings alone, experience has shown that the results are equally true in drifting, raising and winning. Recently we drove two parallel cross-cuts through the same formation, using a 3k-in. machine at the breast of one cross-cut., and a 2k-in. machine of the same make at the breast of the other. The results of this work afforded an ideal comparison, since in both cases the headings were advanced through rock practically of the same hardness and breaking-properties ; the amount of sludging was equal, and there was no difference in the condition of the steel or the machines, in the air-pressure or in the experience of the operating-crews. Some operators in the Cripple Creek district contend that there is ground which cannot be handled with the small machine, the holes being too small to contain enough powder to pull the ground, etc. The results obtained in working the property of the Portland Gold Mining Co., however, show that the ground worked by them does not fall in this class. During a period of two years there have been driven, with the small machine, 4 miles and 308 ft. of development-headings, through a diversity of ground, including Pike's Peak granite (a coarsely porphyritic type of granite), highly indurated, andesitic or phonolytic breccia, true massive andesite, trachytic phonolyte, tuffas, and along dikes of decomposed basalt and hard phonolyte; in every instance a satisfactory record was made. The headings here described were driven through highly indurated, andesitic breccia, having a hardness of from 5.2 to 7.2

Mar 1, 1906

By E. Gregory, C. G. Goetzel

The outstanding elevated temperature properties of materials made from sintered aluminum powder have been well established in recent years.1,2 and considerable investigation has been carried out on the structures which appear to be responsible for this type of strengthening.2,3 The maximum operating temperature of such materials is severely limited, however, by the low melting point of the aluminum matrix; and, therefore, considerable interest was aroused in methods of introducing the

Jan 1, 1959

By Robert J. Anderson

DURing the past 5 years no subject has aroused more interest or received more attention among mill operators than flotation. One reason for this is, undoubtedly, the remarkable success of the process in Australia where that country has risen to the position of furnishing one-fifth of the world's supply of zinc. The plant of the Butte & Superior Copper Co., designed by James M. Hyde in 1912, was the first important large flotation plant in this country; other installations have been made since then with considerable frequency, particularly so in the last 2 years. Without going into complete detail, it may be safely said that although flotation is a highly successful commercial process, it is more or less on an empirical basis. Upon scanning the literature, it is found that the flotation investigations have, in the main, dealt with a solution of the problems which accrue to practise; until recently no attempt was made to remove the difficulties in the way of the formulation of a consistent and harmonious theory. Of late this phase of the work has been receiving considerable attention, particularly by the United States Bureau of Mines at its Salt Lake City station, by the Mellon Institute at Pittsburgh, by the General Engineering Co. at Salt Lake City, by many of the mining schools, and private individuals almost ad infinitum. There is, at present, an enormous amount of laboratory work being carried on in flotation research, and probably the time is not far away when a generally acceptable explanation of flotation phenomena can be set forth. However, at this time, it seems as though the current technology is befogged with a superabundance of contradictory evidence; this confusion can only be dispelled as time proceeds and the knowledge of the subject becomes more complete. Many phenomena are supposed to contribute to the flotation of minerals, whether in whole or in part is a mooted question. I shall only sketch roughly the present tendency of ideas and make no reference to the first early and crude notions which have little value other than histori-

Jan 1, 1917

By F. S. Young, K. E. Gray

Drilling tests with a 11/4-in. diameter roller bit were performed on Berea and Bandera sandstones and Leuders limestone using water and two conventional drilling muds as circulating fluids to evaluate the influence of dynamic filtration on penetration rate. The muds possessed widely differing API fluid-loss properties. Mud filtrate was constrained to flow beneath the bit; no filtrate flowed radially through the borehole wall. Rock pore pressure at three different locations ahead of the bit, cumulative filtrate volume, borehole pressure and bit location were monitored during drilling. The rock samples, cored in three orientations with respect to bedding planes, possessed a wide range of liquid permeabilities. and were drilled at borehole-to-formation pressure differentials of 0, 250, 500 and 1,000 psig. The effect on penetration rate of API fluid loss, borehole pressure and rock permeability was studied. Rock permeability damage and pore pressure gradients beneath the bit were evaluated. The importance of borehole-to-formation pressure differential was illustrated for each drilling fluid and rock permeability combination. Penetration rates decreased with increased borehole pressure and reduced fluid loss. The observed penetration rate reduction due to changing fluid Ioss was attributed to decreased filtrate flow and improved mud cake plastering hy the low fluid-loss mud. The reduction in filtrate flow could not be related to spurt-loss phenomena. Rock permeability influences penetration rate through particle invasion ahead of the hit, which damage leads to high pressure gradients. Penetration rate variance with sample orientation was evident for water-drZled samples but less obvious for mud-drilled rocks. Permeability damage beneath the bit ranged from 1 to 3 cm. Maximum damage occurred in the first 0.1 cm. Pressure gradients varied with API fluid 10.s.s and could be correlated with penetration rate. The pressure gradient was found to influence penetration rare in rocks of all permeabilities tested. INTRODUCTION Early microbit and small-scale drilling experiments proved to be invaluable contributions to understanding the mechanics of drilling at depth. For example, the effect of borehole-to-pore pressure differential on drilling rate was demonstrated conclusively by Murray and Cunningham', Eckel' and others .' However, the effects of various drilling fluid properties on drilling rate, particularly filtration, have not been studied extensively on a laboratory basis. Microbit correlations of penetration rate with different viscosity and API fluid-loss muds led EckelV o conclude that viscosity and density. more than API fluid loss, were the most important fluid properties in controlling drill bit penetration rates. Ferguson and Klotz6 studied filtration beneath the bit and stated that the maximum amount of filtrate which could conceivably flow beneath a drilling bit could be described by a potential function associated with flow from a moving disc source. and be characterized by a depth-of-filtrate invasion. Invasion depth is a function of penetration rate, formation porosity and permeability, flooding efficiency, pressure difference between borehole and formation and borehole radius, assuming that no filtrate flows through the borehole walls. Electric analog and experimental measurements were obtained, assuming no plugging of the formation pores. Theoretically, filtrate invasion was predicted to extend from 1- to 15-hole radii beneath the cutting surface; experimental results indicated that the extent of invasion was only Y2 in. Comparing these data with results of core-plugging experiments by Norwak and Krueger' led Ferguson and Klotz to state that the drilling operation apparently contributes to higher filtration rates than are observed in nondrilling core filtration tests in which the core face is jetted and scraped. Glenn and Slusser: in describing a linear filtering system in which a rotating bit continuously scraped mud cake from the surface but did not penetrate Alundum cores, stated that mud-solids invasion and permeability damage of the cores were most severe in the first 2 to 3 cm. The filtrate flow rate through the core was found to stabilize after sufficient time had elapsed for the formation of an internal mud cake whose effective permeability was estimated to be 50 to 300 times as high as that of bulk filter cake. Krueger and Vogel reported core permeability damage depths up to 12 in. during a 5-day exposure period in which filter cake buildup was prevented. Havenaar pointed out that the discrepancy between reported and calculated values of filtrate volume obtained in the experiments of Ferguson and Klotz was due, among other things, to failure of the reported API fluid loss to truly represent filtration beneath the bit. Williams," Pro-koplz and others"" have shown that dynamic filtration tests (where a flow of fluid parallel to the filter surface continually erodes the deposited filter cake until a dynamic equilibrium between wall-shearing forces and normally directed compaction forces is attained) yield higher filtration rates than do static tests. Cunningham and Goinss reported results of drilling tests in impermeable shales. They found that by reducing

By A. A. Bauer, F. A. Rough, G. H. Beatty

AS a result of recent studies, the constitution of the zirconium-uranium system has been fairly well defined. A diagram for the system is shown in Fig. 1. However, both oxygen and nitrogen are known1-3 to have a pronounced effect on the limits of both ß- and e -phase regions. It has been shown that small amounts of oxygen severely constrict the compositional limits of these phase regions in the ternary zirconium-uranium-oxygen system. A previously published tentative diagram shown in Fig. 2 illustrates the ß-phase constriction resulting from oxygen additions. Generally, iodide zirconium has been used in constitutional studies of zirconium-uranium alloys. While this is the highest purity material available, cast iodide zirconium-uranium alloys will generally average from 200 to 300 ppm 0 and from 50 to 60 ppm N. Thus, while the constitution of the zirconium-uranium system is fairly well defined, it must be realized that this definition applies to alloys containing in the vicinity of 250 ppm 0 and 50 ppm N. The present investigation was undertaken to accurately determine the boundary between the ß-plus-P and ß phases at a single temperature in the binary zirconium-uranium system by quantitatively

Jan 1, 1959

By John G. Hall

The unstable metal market during 1949, with resulting lower metal prices, has focused every mine operator's attention on the problem of reducing operating costs. Improvement in mining, methods, use of modern mechanical mining equipment, and increasing the efficiency of the labor force are the tools with which we will have to work. Careful planning is necessary to coordinate all phases so that no one phase is overdone. A mine may become over-mechanized if, for instance, capital charges against new equipment exceed the savings in labor costs, or where a large enough tonnage is not produced. The cooperation, of labor is essential to any mechanization program. There have been too many instances where mechanization and improvements have done nothing more than make up for a decrease in labor efficiency, thus bringing the production of labor back to its old standard. The operator has gained little and labor has gained only a "softer job." In any mechanization program there are gains to be had by both the operator and labor. By the efficient application of modern equipment and improved mining methods the operator should gain by decreased costs, and labor may profit by receiving a share of these decreased costs.

Jan 1, 1950

By W. G. SWART

THE best estimate on reserves of iron ore in the Lake Superior district is that made, in 1920, by Mr. R. C. Allen, amounting to 2,947,225,000 tons of assured and probable ore. This includes direct- shipping or so-called merchantable ores, and those capable of beneficiation by demonstrated processes. De- ducting from this the 287,000,000 tons shipped since 1920, leaves a present reserve of approximately 2,500,- 000,000 tons, or; about 50 years' supply. The assured ore in this estimate is given as 1,560,500,000 tons, which checks Mr. Lake's estimate of 1,528,948,000 tons, or about 30 years' supply. This is not a long time in the life of the steel industry, and it can be readily appreciated that the matter is important enough to war- rant the attention it is beginning to receive. The first question that engages our attention is, What is merchantable ore? In 1902 the average of all Mesabi shipments was 56.07 per cent iron and 4.35 per cent silica. Twenty-five years later it had dropped to 51.99 per cent iron, with silica up to 7.92 per cent. It has remained around these figures for' ten or twelve years and, except for a probable rise in silica, can stay there for an indefinite period. Most of these figures I am giving cover the Mesabi Range. Including the other ranges does not change the figures greatly, and the Mesabi Range commands the situation, since it produces about 65 per cent of the total annual tonnage and, according to Mr. Allen, contains 81 per cent of the assured reserves, 50 per cent of the probable reserves, and 66 per cent of both the assured and the probable reserves.

Jan 1, 1926

By T. A. Rickard

RICO, in the southwestern corner of Colorado, is one of the productive mining centers of the San Juan region, so-called because its waters drain into the river of that name, which is tributary to the Colorado. The San Juan region includes the counties of Ouray, Hinsdale, San Miguel, Dolores, San Juan and Montezuma. It is traversed by a network of picturesque mountain ranges on whose lofty summits there rests perpetual snow. The region is peculiarly rugged, and, in the early days of its development, tested to the full the hardihood of the adventurers who first explored its can ions 111 search for gold and silver. A prospecting party, guided by Jim Baker, scout and trapper, penetrated in 1861 this part of the territory of Kansas. At that time the country was in the possession of the Ute Indians. In October, 1873, by the Brunot treaty, they ceded to the United States Government the richest mineral-bearing portion of their

Jan 1, 1897

By Martial P. Corriveau

Almost everyone agrees that coal and oil shale are the only fossil fuel resources in which the United States is self-sufficient. Of the two, only coal has a technology sufficiently developed to be of intermediate term benefit. Since it takes at least 20 years to bring advanced technology into practice, it seems logical that the major focus on energy developments should be aimed at coal. Meanwhile, we need to trade-off between actions to meet our immediate needs and the various political regulations and social demands that are disrupting the coal industry and the industries dependent upon it. The largest single user of coal is the electric power generation industry. Over 300 million tons of coal are presently being consumed each year. In view of the 5-to 7-years lead time to bring in a base-load fossil-fuel fired generating station, our requirements for double this tonnage in 1980 are already well forecast; that is, if the coal companies are allowed to mine and the utilities are allowed to burn the coal.

Jan 2, 1974