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By C. A. Fisher

THE Salt Creek Oil Field of Wyoming occupies a unique position among the major oil fields of this country. Many years before the beginning of actual production in this area, in 1911, it had attracted country-wide attention as a district holding oil possi¬bilities. Even foreign capital, mainly French and Belgian, had sought out this district as having oil values and spent many thousands of dollars 'in an effort to acquire property rights' in this field which was very largely located on the public domain. Owing to inadequate laws governing the acquisition of oil lands on the Federal domain and a careless practice having grown up among oil land locators of that time, a complicated title situation quickly developed in Salt Creek. This condition of uncertain titles together with the isolation of the field from industrial centers were doubtless the two most potent factors in retarding its early development. After actual production began in 1911 governmental regulations, suits between the government, and the locator, disputed ownerships between locators and claim and counterclaim continued to retard the field's development. It is believed that the title situation in the Salt Creek Field, where potential values of such magnitudes were involved, was responsible more than any other factor for the ultimate passage of the government leasing act in 1920 affecting all oil lands on the Federal domain.

Jan 1, 1925

DURING September, the Coal Commission pre- pared for issue a series of 18 reports on varied aspects of- the bituminous coal industry; the final report, dated Sept. 22, sums up the facts and offers recommendations addressed to Congress, to the industry, and to the public. The few following paragraphs are selected: Bituminous coal is the real foundation of that great industrial and transportation structure which enables more than a hundred million people to live in America and be so well supplied with things necessary for their health, comfort; and convenience; it also furnishes domestic fuel for two-thirds of the homes of the land. The distribution of the output of the bituminous mines tells the story: 28 per cent. goes to the railroads, 25 per cent. to the boiler houses of factories and mills of all kinds, 15 per cent. to the coke ovens and gas plants, 10 per cent, to the homes, 7 per cent. to steel plants and the same percentage to power plants and street railways, 4 per cent. is exported, 2 per cent is used for power at the coal mines, and the remaining 2 per cent. goes to the seaboard for steamship fuel. Bituminous coal enters into interstate commerce on a scale approached by no other commodity; less than a fourth of the coal mined in the United States fails to enter interstate com-merce. All but one of the 45 coal producing districts in the United States ship coal outside the State in which it is mined. Three hundred miles of cars loaded with coal is the daily output of the bituminous mines of the United States. The public-welfare element in coal is seen in the dependence of public health and safety on an unfailing supply of fuel, in the close connection between the prosperity of most industries and the uninterrupted operation of the coal mines, and in the obvious fact that without coal the great network of railroads which binds together this great country would be idle. The railroads and the public utilities, themselves so clearly obligated to render what-ever public service is demanded of them that the constitutionality of their public regulation is unquestioned, are of all industries most dependent upon coal. Thus, coal makes up over 35 per cent. of the operating cost at the gas plant and over 25 per cent. at the electric power station, and in the operating expenses of. a railroad the cost of coal is the largest single item, next to labor. The practical logic that half a century ago clothed with a public interest the steam locomotive and in later years the electric-power station must recognize a large element of public service in the coal mine that furnishes the necessary energy to both locomotive and power-plant.

Jan 10, 1923

By J. L. Gregg, J. L.

RECENTLY there has been considerable interest in the production and use of extra hard alloys composed primarily of tungsten and carbon. Dr. Hoyt's recent paper1 gives a good description of these alloys and describes their performance when used as tools. There are a number of these alloys on the market sold under various trade names, and it is the purpose of this paper to describe the results of an investigation of the structure of five of these alloys by means of microscopic and X-ray methods. The samples studied were in the form of small tools or wire-drawing dies, which were either purchased or supplied as samples. They were in some cases not supplied by the original makers but were furnished by the agents in this country, and we wish to call attention to the fact that they may not be truly representative of the materials supplied under the various trade names. No performance data are given and no inference as to the inferiority of one alloy as against any other is made. K. Schröter2 recently described methods for polishing alloys of this type for microscopic examination and has presented photomicrographs of several alloys. However, he did not identify their constituents or describe methods for their identification.

Jan 1, 1929

By C. A. Allen

For over three years we have been endeavoring to reduce the number of fatalitics and minor accidents in Utah. The physical condition of the FIG: 1.—Number kiLlEd per million short tons of coal produced in ColoraI)o, New Mexico, utah, Wyoming, and bituminous mines of the United States 1014 to 1920. mines, concentrators, and smelters is good, yet the number of accidents,

Jan 1, 1923

By C. A. Allen

For over three years we have been endeavoring to reduce the number of fatalitics and minor accidents in Utah. The physical condition of the FIG: 1.—Number kiLlEd per million short tons of coal produced in ColoraI)o, New Mexico, utah, Wyoming, and bituminous mines of the United States 1014 to 1920. mines, concentrators, and smelters is good, yet the number of accidents,

Jan 1, 1923

By M. R. Tek, L. K. Thomas, D. L. Katz

Threshold displacement pressures are needed to determine how much overpressure can be used in storing natural gas. An experimental technique for determining threshold pressures by displacing water with gas from samples saturated with water is presented. Threshold pressures for eight low permeability samples were measured. Threshold pressure data obtained in this work, plus data on higher permeability samples reported in the literature, are correlated with porosity, permeability, surface tension and formation resistivity factor. Mercury injection pressures also were measured and correlated with air-water threshold pressures. Threshold pressures were found to be independent of time. An aerial photograph of gas emerging from the top of a core shortly alter its threshold pressure has been exceeded shows that the gas bubbles are uniformly distributed across the face of the core. Channeling will occur, however, when an increased gas phase permeability is reached, A porous medium can be re resealed alter its threshold pressure has been reached, provided it has not been desaturated below a fixed saturation. Its new threshold pressure will be lower than when the sample is 100 percent saturated with water. INTRODUCTION The degree of overpressure in excess of the discovery pressure that a gas storage reservoir can withstand is determined by the ability of its caprock to contain gas, providing the pressure does not exceed the structural limit of the reservoir. The retention of gas in a reservoir by a caprock saturated with water is a result of the capillary forces acting at the gas water interface. Without the presence of water in a caprock, gas would leak out of the reservoir at a rate determined by the permeability of the caprock to gas. The ability of a caprock to contain gas is expressed in terms of its threshold displacement pressure, which is defined as the minimum pressure needed to initiate the displacement of a wetting phase by a nonwetting phase from a porous medium 100 percent saturated with the wetting phase. The gas industry must be able to predict how much "overpressure" a gas reservoir can withstand before leakage occurs by gas displacing water from caprock overlying the reservoir. This is of economic importance since the storage capacity of a gas reservoir is proportional to its pressure. The discovery pressure for most reservoirs is found between the upper and lower limits1 shown in Fig. 1. Discovery pressures in excess of their hydraulic pressure gradient are attributed to the compaction of an isolated shale formation by the overburden.2.3 The lower limit of 0.433 psi/ft corresponds to the weight of the overburden, the gradient of the rock itself. Somewhere between

Jan 1, 1969

By George A. Laird

I. INTRODUCTION. THIS old and once famous district played, through its enormous production of silver and gold, an important part in the history of the State of San Luis Potosi. According to a pamphlet prepared under the direction of the Governor of the State, Sr. Don Blas Escontria, and presented to the visiting members of the Institute during the Mexican meeting of 1901, this district is situated 20 km. east of the city of San Luis Potosi, in a range of mountains of moderate height, extending 135 km. N. and S., and 16 km. E. and W.; and the mineralized area hitherto developed is about 600,000 sq. m. The history of the district,. as given by the record dated 1778, and formerly kept in the San Francisco convent, says that it was discovered in 1575 by Sr. Don Pedro Irarte, and adds that the city of San Luis Rey de Francisco del Potosi received its name (in allusion to the famous Potosi mines in Bolivia) by reason of the remarkable productiveness of its gold- and silver-mines in the first period of their exploration, during which they paid to the Crown, as " quintos " (the fifth part of the product), $97,000,000, as appears from the accounts of the royal treasury. The amount of the quientos paid during the " bonanza period " of 80 years was $72,000,000. The larger sum first mentioned probably represents a longer series of years. But either will suffice to indicate the great wealth of the mines. In 1663, the decadence of the industry began with the caving¬ in of several mines, concerning which the record of 1778, al¬ready cited, says, in substance, that on Good Friday one of the owners in the enterprise, in view of the unfavorable prospect of a lawsuit in which he was engaged, set fire to the timbers supporting the underground galleries and workings of the San

Jan 1, 1905

By K. P. Fournier

This report describes work on the problem of predicting oil recovery from a reservoir into which water is injected at a temperature higher than the reservoir temperature, taking into account effects of vis cosity-ratio reduction, heat loss and thermal expansion. It includes the derivation of the equations involved, the finite difference equations used to solve the partial differential equation which models the system, and the results obtained using the IBM 1620 and 7090-1401 computers. Figures and tables show present results of this study of recovery as a function of reservoir thickness and injection rate. For a possible reservoir hot water flood in which 1,000 BWPD at 250F are injected, an additional 5 per cent recovery of oil in place in a swept 1,000-ft-radius reservoir is predicted after injection of one pore volume of water. INTRODUCTION The problem of predicting oil recovery from the injection of hot water has been discussed by several researchers. l-6,19 In no case has the problem of predicting heat losses been rigorously incorporated into the recovery and displacement calculation problem. Willman et al. describe an approximate method of such treatment. 1 The calculation of heat losses in a reservoir and the corresponding temperature distribution while injecting a hot fluid has been attempted by several authors.7'8 In this report a method is presented to numerically predict the oil displacement by hot water in a radial system, taking into account the heat losses to adjacent strata, changes in viscosity ratio with temperature and the thermal-expansion effect for both oil and water. DERIVATION OF BASIC EQUATIONS We start with the familiar Buckley-Leverettg equation for a radial system:* This is sometimes referred to as the Lagrangian form of the displacement equation. If the injection water is at some temperature Ti which is above reservoir temperature TR, then lw, the flowing fraction which is water, is a function of both water saturation and fluid temperature at any given time and position in the reservoir. The temperature dependence of lw results from the temperature dependence of the viscosity ratio µo/µm of which lw is a function. Thus:

Jan 1, 1966

By AIME AIME

ON the afternoon of Feb. 20 of this year a new volcano was born in the center of the State of Michoacan, Mexico, about 100 miles inland from the Pacific Coast. Creation of this new mountain - forming crater began on an almost flat cultivated field at the south margin of a small basin about a mile in diameter and having an altitude of approximately 6800 ft. above sea level. This basin is connected to a gently inclined plain that forms the Parangaricutiro valley, the chief town of this municipality, bearing the same name as the valley, being situated three miles from the site of the new crater. The village of Paracutin, from which the new volcano received its name, is about one mile to the northwest of the crater. From the City of Mexico to the volcano is a distance of 330 miles. The paved highway running from Mexico City to Guadalajara, by way of Toluca and Morelia, is left at Carapan; from here another paved branch highway goes to Uruapan. The town of Paracutin is reached by a narrow dirt road 18 miles from Uruapan and connects with a road leading to Parangaricutiro where horses may be hired for a 40-minute trip to a place where visitors can enjoy a magnificent view of the volcano. It is possible to get within half a mile of the point of eruption in this manner.

Jan 1, 1943

By AIME

Burton J. Westman-Besides decreasing the diamond size, there appear to be two other approaches open to overcome excessive diamond loss and, more particularly, the rapid diamond polish that took place in this quartz-feldspar rock. First, however, a short discussion of the diamond characteristics should be made in order to discuss the situation more clearly. The West African diamonds which we can assume were used. for this drilling have two disadvantages when drilling hard, exceptionally fine-grained rocks. These are rapid polishing and, if .the bit isn't "drilled in" carefully, a tendency to damage, resulting in excessive diamond loss. The normal wear resistance of any diamond is inversely proportional to the compressive strength of the diamond, therefore only the highest grade, of diamonds free from insipient fractures should be employed. Using upwards of 90 diamonds per carat instead of the20 to 30 per carat not only decreases the total projected area of the cutting points but increases the stress per point which, in turn, causes greater depth of penetration into the rock. Considering this depth of penetration, therefore, suggests an approach other than increasing the, number of diamonds per carat and that is to decrease the actual number of diamond points (also the carat weight per bit) so that the penetrating force on an individual diamond is increased. This penetration increases the chipping or rock shearing action.

Jan 1, 1950

By Jerome F. Kuzmick

Condusions. From the work on aluminum powder, the following general con clusions can bc drawn: I. The physical properties of aluminum compacts, such as density. strength and ductility, increase with increasing pressure, up to the practicable pressure limits. 2. Good properties ill aluminum con pacts can be secured only by the use of high pressures, because it is neccssary to rupture the refractory oxide film on aluminum powder. 3. Considerable softening of the specimens occurs upon sintering. regardlers of the pressure used. General Conclusions 1. For relatively short-time sintering. molding pressure is a very important factor in the final physical properties of the sintered specimens. 2. The effect of pressure. is difierent for each metal, so that few general rules can be drawn that would apply to all metals. 3. In many cases, fur a particular metal powder and sintering temperature there is a critical pressure at which the best physical properties can be obtained. 4. The principles of cold work and in nealing and their effect on grain structure applied to massive metal also holds true for sintered metals. 5. Particle size, at least for electrolytic iron powder, does not have a. great effect on ultimate grain six. DISCUSSION [E. E, Schumacher presiding V.. V. Crane. *—I was particularly impressed with Dr. Kuzmick's work on tin IF not the illustration, particularly the Second one. a very good illustraition of hot preessing. in that

Jan 1, 1945

By Stanislaus Skowronski

OVERPOLED copper, as commonly defined, is copper which has been excessively reduced during the poling period of the refining process. Owing to its porosity, such copper is unfit for commercial purposes. The cause of this phenomenon is undoubtedly the lack of oxides in the copper, yet this does not completely explain it. Refined copper of the same "pitch" and "set" varies considerably in oxygen contents, and analyses of overpoled bars also show similar wide differences; moreover, it is possible to melt copper in crucibles so as to obtain bars that are practically free from oxygen although they show a "tough pitch" and "level set" surface. Frederick Johnson advances the following theory: The regulation of the quantity of oxygen in copper is the keynote of all copper refining. It is the presence of a Well defined proportion of oxygen in the form of cuprous oxide, forming a copper-cuprous oxide eutectic, Which enables copper to be cast free from blowholes. It seems that When oxygen is present, other gases are less soluble in molten copper; When oxygen is absent, or is present in insufficient quantity, the copper dissolves other gases, such as hydrogen and carbon monoxide, Which are insoluble in the copper when solid, and, being rejected during the process of solidification, causes internal porosity and external ridges and excrescences.1 The "level set" of Wire bars, etc., is entirely the result of a compromise between the occluded gases and cuprous oxide. With excess of the former the metal would be "overpitch" and spongy, While an excess of the latter would result in the metal being "underpitch" and brittle.2 The result of the absorption and subsequent expulsion of reducing gases, carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and the effect of this action. on the overpoling of copper are in dispute; the literature on the subject is full of contradictory statements and will continue to be so until better analytical methods have been developed. Sulphur, however, is tangible. The refiner can see it in his button sample and consequently attributes to it any trouble that may happen during the melting of the copper.

Jan 3, 1918

By R. W. Smith

It is well known that certain silicates such as the feldspars and beryl can be readily floated from quartz at a low pH value using a long chain cationic collector in the presence of a fluoride.1-3 However, the mechanism whereby the fluoride activates feldspars and beryl is not known. Indeed, only a few authors have even speculated about possible mechanisms.1,3,4 As a first approach to the problem, it is perhaps best to look closely at the interesting character of hydrofluoric acid and how it dissolves silica and silicic acid. Hydrofluoric acid, unlike hydrochloric acid, is a weak acid with a dissociation constant of about 3.53 x 10-4 at 25°C.5 The reason for the weak acidic character of HF lies in the very small size of the fluoride ion.6 The pKa value is 3.45 which means that at pH 3.45 half the HF is present in molecular form and half in ionic form. The anion present is probably HF2.-6 At pH values below the pKa value, molecular concentration increases rapidly at the expense of the HF2- anion. It is known that HF readily attacks glass, silicates, quartz and silicic acid. The equation usually cited pertaining to the first step in HF attack of silica is6-'

Jan 1, 1965

By Eugene McAuliffe

AS anthracite is no longer used to a marked extent by the rail- ways of the United States (1,513,000 tons in 1933), that portion of the mining industry engaged in the production of bituminous coal is, and will continue to be, the one chiefly concerned with the future use of its product by the railways. In a period such as the present, when all enter- prise is unsettled, when fundamental principles of industrial management and control are being swept aside or else changed overnight, it is difficult to predict what will happen. The relation between the total production of bituminous coal and the volume consumed by the steam rail- ways of the United States, Classes I,

Jan 1, 1936

By R. J. Wensley

THE use of small substations for the supplying of 275-volt energy to the locomotive and cutting machines in coal mines is a well-established practice. A few years ago, when labor costs were lower, these substations were located as near to the load as possible, and an operator was provided for each station. This practice has now become so expensive that substations are being located with reference to other mining machinery, such as hoists or pumps, so that one operator can look after both. Some-times the substation is operated by one whose duties make him traverse quite a large area. In such cases the interruption of alternating-current supply may produce a long interruption in the direct current, as the station cannot resume service until this man reaches it. Such interruptions interfere seriously with production and may easily counterbalance the supposed saving gained by such operating methods. The grouping of substations for convenience in operating may also result in excessive copper loss and consequently poor trolley voltage, with its attendant evils of low locomotive speeds and increased locomotive motor maintenance. The speed of the coal-cutting machines will also be reduced. By relieving the substation of its, burden of the operating labor cost, the most economical location, from an electrical standpoint, may be chosen. The matter of machine insurance should also be considered. If an attendant is caring for several kinds of equipment, he cannot watch the machine continually for signs of trouble; therefore, continued overload, phase failure, low alternating-current voltage, bearing trouble, etc. may result. Some partly automatic equipments have been installed; these have protection against low voltage, reverse current, and bearing trouble and are provided with automatic reclosing circuit breakers. This is a step in the right direction but it does not go far enough to give first-class machine insurance.

Jan 9, 1921

LIST OF THE MEETINGS OF THE INSTITUTE AND THEIR LOCALITIES FROM ITS ORGANIZATION Transactions Number Place Date Vol Page 1 Wilkes-Barre, Pa May, ?71 1 3 2 Bethlehem, Pa August, ?71 1 10 3 Troy, N Y November, ?71 1 13 4 Philadelphia, Pa February, ?72 1 17 5 New York, N Y May, ?72 1 20 6 Pittsburg, Pa October, ?72 1 25 7 Boston, Mass February, ?73 1 28 8 Philadelphia, Pa May, ?73 2 3 9 Easton, Pa October, ?73 2 7 10 New York, N Y February, ?74 211 11 St Louis, Mo May, ?74 3 3 12 Hazleton, Pa October, ?74 3 8 13 New Haven, Conn February, ?75 3 15 14 Dover, N J May, ?75 4 3 15 Cleveland, 0 October, ?75 4 9 16 Washington, D C February, ?76 4 18 17 Philadelphia, Pat June, ?76, 5 3 18 Philadelphia, Pa October, ?76 5 9 19 New York, N Y February, ?77 5 27 20 Wilkes-Barre, Pa May, ?77 6 3 21 Amenia, N Y October, ?77 6 10 22 Philadelphia, Pa. May, ?78 6 18 23 Chattanooga, Tenn May ?78 7 3 24 Lake George, N.Y. Oct. ?78 7 25 Baltimore, Md. Feb. ?79 7 26 Pittsburgh Pa, May ?79 8 28 Montreal, Canada Sept, ?79 8 29 New York, N.Y. Feb, ?80 9

Jan 1, 1923

Trans No. Place Date Vol. 1. Wilkes-Barre, Pa' May, '71 1 2. Bethlehem, Pa Aug., '71 1 3. Troy, N. Y Nov., '71.. 1 4. Philadelphia, Pa Feb., '72.. 1 5. New York, N. Y.' May, '72.. 1 8. Pittsburgh, Pa Oct., '72.. 1 7. Boston, Maas Feb., '73.. 1 8. Philadelphia, Pa." May, '73.. 2 9. Easton, Pa Oct., '73.. 2 10. New York, N. Y Feb.. '74.. 2 11. St. Louis, Mo.* May, '74.. 3 12. Hazleton, Pa Oct., '74.. 3 13. New Haven, Conn Feb., '75.. 3 14. Dover, N. J. ? May, '75.. 4 15. Cleveland, 0 Oct., '75.. 4 16. Washington, D. C Feb., '76.. 4 17. Philadelphia, Pa.} June, '76.. 5 18. Philadelphia, Pa Oct., '76.. 5 19. New York, N. Y Feb., '77.. 5 20. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. ? May, '77.. 8 21. Amenia, N. Y Oct., '77, . 6 22. Philadelphia, Pa Feb., '78:. 6 23. Chattanooga, Tenn.*...May, '78'.. 7 24. Lake George, N. Y Oct., '78.. 7 25. Baltimore, Md.* Feb., '79.. 7 26. Pittsburgh, Pa Mayo '79.. 8 27. Montreal, Canada Sept., '79., 8 28, New York, N. Y.? Feb., 'SO.. 8 29. Lake Superior, Mich. ..Aug., '80.. 9 30. Philadelphia, Pa.' Feb., '81.. 9 31. Staunton, Va May, '81..10 32. Harrisburg, Pa Oct., '81..10 33. Washington, D. C.? ....Feb., '82..10 34. Denver, Colo Aug., '82..11

Jan 1, 1928

By L. A. Price

With increased stripping ratios and with dwindling ore content, the mining fraternity is increasingly turning to larger and larger equipment for profitable open pit operations. The availability of higher horsepower prime movers and increased-capacity electric transmissions using either wheel-mounted or axle-mounted traction motors makes a reality of single-axle, rear dump trucks having 150 to 250 ton capacity. The size of electric loading shovels is inherently geared to the size of haulage equipment. To work effectively with this new generation of trucks, the Harnischfeger Corporation has introduced its P&H Model 2800 with a capacity of 20 to 25 cu yd and a working weight of nearly 1,500,000 lb. The Model 2800, depicted in Figure 1 loading a 200 ton truck, has many new electric and mechanical features designed to give excellent production and low cost operation. Chief among the new features is the ELECTROTORQUE control system. Electrotorque is a completely static, solid state electronic system supplying controlled power both to the armatures and to the fields of the d-c shovel drive motors. It eliminates many major electrical rotating machines and their attendant maintenance. The system was developed jointly by ASEA of Sweden and Harnischfeger Corp.

Jan 1, 1970

By Arthur F. Taggart

TO all Mineral Dressers, but particularly to those in the Coal and Industrial Minerals Divisions: Ted Counselman, retiring after two years at the helm of the Milling Committee, pointed with pride to the continued growth of that committee, and sang the swan song "Why ain't we a Division of Mineral Dressing?" Our genial Secretary pointed out, handily, that, you see, the way the Institute is divided there are several blocks running across this way here, and one running all the way down here, and another running part way down here, and they all cut across each other like this, and anyway the miners want to be a Division now, so why not you Mineral Dressers be good and not upset the big Institute organizational chart? And anyway again, Divisions have vested interests, and a Division of Mineral Dressing would take something away from Coal and something from Industrial Minerals, and any good institutional man can see that a Division would never give anything up. It was all quite confusing, and apparently not too convincing, because then the Milling Committee went ahead and voted unanimously it is a good idea, let's see what the other fellows think about it as well.

Jan 1, 1944

CONTENTS PAGE Simons, Theodore.-Basic Principles of Gravity Concentration-A Mathematical Study : :.. 1 Taggart, Arthur F. and Gaudin, A. M.-Surface Tension and Adsorption Phenomena in Flotation 11 Hersam, Ernest A.-Factors Controlling the Capacity of Rock Crushers 12 Shaw, S. F.-The Ore Deposits of Sierra Mojada, Coahuila, Mexico 12 Wilson, Philip D.-The British Columbia Batholith and Related Ore Deposits 26 Greensfelder, N. S.-Shot-firing by Electricity 27 Mitke, Chas. A.-Metal Mine Ventilation in the Southwest 28 Foley, F. B. and Howell, S. P.-Neumann Bands as Evidence of Action of Explosives upon Metals 30 Schwartz, H. A., Payne, H. R., Gorton, A. F., and Austin, M. M.-Conditions of Stable Equilibrium in Iron-carbon Alloys 30

Jan 12, 1922