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By AIME AIME

DESPITE the meetings and discussions on over- production the situation still continues to grow worse instead of better. The demand for oil has dropped to 2,700,000 bbl. per day. On the other hand domestic production has risen to 2,700,000 bbl. with prospects of further increases, and if imports and natural gas-gasoline be added to this the current supply is about 3,100,000 bbl. per day. Though during the summer and early fall the demand may exceed this figure for a few months the prospects are that 'the average demand during 1929 will be at least 200,000 bbl. per day less than the present current supply, meaning additions to stocks over the year of about 75,000,000 bbl.

Jan 1, 1929

By William Vietti

WEST TEXAS and New Mexico has been overshadowed by the develop-ment in East Texas to such an extent that the area has been placed on a settled production basis by most of the operators. Considerable develop-ment work on both proven and unproven acreage remains to be carried on, but the incentive, a ready and profitable market, has been lacking. The main characteristics of the fields in this area are so well known that they are not described again in this paper, which thus resolves itself into a statistical review of the more important production features of the area. Proration has been in effect during the year and has been rigorously applied with the full cooperation of all producers. Proration in West Texas and New Mexico is based in the more pro-ductive fields on a potential and acreage distrbution of the allowance to the individual wells or acreage units. Potentials are determined generally by a short production test of from 1 to 4 hr.; and the hourly rate is multiplied by 24 to obtain the 24-hr. production or rated potential of the separate wells. The potential values thus set up have been questioned by many production men who are not willing to concede that the instantaneous (hourly) capacity of a well to produce is its potential capacity for a day with all other wells in the pool producing at their capacity. However, the potential of a well determined as above remains its chief rating as a measure of the permeability in place and as an indication of the possible reserve feeding that well. , The acreage factor has made it unnecessary to overdevelop properties in order to obtain an allowance proportionate to neighbors who are willing to drill an excessive number of wells on a piece of acreage in the hopes of a quick drainage and a corresponding profit. Proration has resulted in an orderly development of many of the pools in this area on the base as out-lined above, resulting in more reasonable spacing of wells and the more even withdrawal of oil and the ensuing expectation of high recoveries.

Jan 1, 1933

By W. G. Sinclair

The wartime momentum of exploration continued throughout the year 1945 despite the end of hostilities in mid-August. The table below illustrates drilling activity in the various categories: Completed wells. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401 Wildcats.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 Wildcat discoveries, oil.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Wildcat discoveries, gas-condensate.. . . . . . . 4 Development wells.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .297

Jan 1, 1946

By M. A. Hunter

IN the present state of public affairs, the reviewer turns from his traditional role of recording the progress made in research during the year and views the whole situation in which he finds himself in direct relation to the immediate needs of the nation. The slow progress of research year by year fades into comparative insignificance. The sum total of that research in all the years which have past becomes of importance only in direct relation to the extent to which we have translated or can immediately translate it into in¬dustrial production. For in a wartime economy immediacy is of paramount importance. The outcome of the war is being determined by our ability to pro¬duce and fabricate the metals and alloys which we require for its prosecution. Aside from iron and steel which lie outside the limits of this review, the most important of the nonferrous metals now needed in wartime production are aluminum, magnesium, nickel, chromium, and manganese. Some remarks on their production and fabrication follow.

Jan 1, 1942

By John S. Crandall

The mineral garnet, while ordinarily considered a semiprecious gem stone or a second-grade industrial gem, has also proved itself in the field of industrial abrasives. Its use is well known as a sand-paper grain, and as a sandblasting sand its qualities are rapidly becoming recognized in more and more industries. Production of garnet as an abrasive is confined chiefly to two areas in the United States, North Creek, N. Y., where the Barton Mines Corp. operates, and Emerald Creek, Benewah County, Idaho, where the Garnet Mines, Inc., and the Idaho Garnet Abrasive Co. with mills at Fernwood, Idaho, operate. This paper is confined to a discussion of production and marketing of garnet sand by Idaho Garnet Abrasive Co.

Jan 5, 1950

By John S. Crandall

Occurrence: small crystals in alluvial sands from the eroding Belt Series mica schists. Flowsheet: dragline, trommel screen, jigs, drier, crusher, screens. Value: ground, $2.50 per cu yd, garnet sand gross $60. per ton. Costs: production and sales $48. per ton. Uses: blasting sand in aircraft plants, monumental works, foundries. Efficiency comparison: superior to silica sand. Future: possibilities only touched upon, research continuing.

Jan 1, 1950

By P. C. Hodges

WHILE there is very little romance connected with the operation of a stone quarry, yet to those who have participated in the growth and development of a business that has been a pioneer in its field and that FIG. 1.-LOCATION OF PROPERTY OF MARBLE CLIFF QUARRIES COMPANY. has been in continual operation two-thirds of a century there is bound to be a background of experience, which if properly capitalized, brings progress as well as satisfaction in its accomplishment.

Jan 1, 1936

By Max Y. Seaton

THE scope of this paper will be limited to finished materials that contain a large preponderance (around 80 per cent or more) of magnesium oxide. The large and commercially important production of refractory dolomite and modified dolomites is not discussed here, and the production of magnesium basic carbonate for use as a heat insulator is barely mentioned. The discussion is confined mainly to magnesias produced in comparatively great quantity by direct processing of naturally occurring raw materials and hence excludes secondary or highly purified products such as pharmaceutical products or U.S.P. light and heavy calcined magnesias of commerce. NOMENCLATURE The nomenclature of the magnesia products that will be discussed is somewhat confusing, in that it is customary in the trade to designate as "calcined magnesite" the materials that result from the calcining of magnesite to temperatures that remove the contained carbon dioxide. The finished product, therefore, is not magnesite at all but simply a more or less pure magnesium oxide or magnesia. Furthermore, partly for statistical and partly for commercial reasons, it has been customary, during recent years, to classify as "calcined magnesite" products that result from the heat-treatment of magnesium hydroxide precipitated from magnesium-containing brines; products that, obviously, have no relationship whatever to magnesite. In the listing of magnesia-containing materials, tonnages of which are regularly reported by the Bureau of Mines, reports ordinarily are made under two headings: "caustic calcined" magnesite, in which all of the varieties of products treated at relatively low temperatures are lumped; and "dead-burned" magnesite, in which are included both high-purity and low-purity, and particularly both high-iron and low-iron, materials that have been so heat-treated that the magnesium oxide occurs predominantly as crystalline periclase-materials used almost entirely for refractory purposes. In 1940 the apparent domestic consumption of "caustic calcined" magnesite was approximately 17,000 tons, about 95 per cent of which was produced in this country. The apparent consumption of "dead-burned" magnesite was approximately 172,000 tons, some 82 per cent of which was domestically produced. In both total quantity and percentage of material produced within the United States, these figures are record highs for many years past. UTILIZATION As indicated by these figures, the major tonnage outlet for magnesia is the refractories industry, in which magnesia is employed principally in three ways: (I) as dead-burned grain magnesite for the construction and maintenance of the hearths or bottoms of basic open-hearth furnaces; (2) in the form of refractory magnesite bricks and shapes; and (3) as a chemical

Jan 1, 1942

By Max Y. Seaton

THE scope of this paper will be limited to finished materials that contain a large preponderance (around 80 per cent or more) of magnesium oxide. The large and commercially important production of refractory dolomite and modified dolomites is not discussed here, and the production of magnesium basic carbonate for use as a heat insulator is barely mentioned. The discussion is confined mainly to magnesias produced in comparatively great quantity by direct processing of naturally occurring raw materials and hence excludes secondary or highly purified products such as pharmaceutical products or U.S.P. light and heavy calcined magnesias of commerce. NOMENCLATURE The nomenclature of the magnesia products that will be discussed is somewhat confusing, in that it is customary in the trade to designate as "calcined magnesite" the materials that result from the calcining of magnesite to temperatures that remove the contained carbon dioxide. The finished product, therefore, is not magnesite at all but simply a more or less pure magnesium oxide or magnesia. Furthermore, partly for statistical and partly for commercial reasons, it has been customary, during recent years, to classify as "calcined magnesite" products that result from the heat-treatment of magnesium hydroxide precipitated from magnesium-containing brines; products that, obviously, have no relationship whatever to magnesite. In the listing of magnesia-containing materials, tonnages of which are regularly reported by the Bureau of Mines, reports ordinarily are made under two headings: "caustic calcined" magnesite, in which all of the varieties of products treated at relatively low temperatures are lumped; and "dead-burned" magnesite, in which are included both high-purity and low-purity, and particularly both high-iron and low-iron, materials that have been so heat-treated that the magnesium oxide occurs predominantly as crystalline periclase-materials used almost entirely for refractory purposes. In 1940 the apparent domestic consumption of "caustic calcined" magnesite was approximately 17,000 tons, about 95 per cent of which was produced in this country. The apparent consumption of "dead-burned" magnesite was approximately 172,000 tons, some 82 per cent of which was domestically produced. In both total quantity and percentage of material produced within the United States, these figures are record highs for many years past. UTILIZATION As indicated by these figures, the major tonnage outlet for magnesia is the refractories industry, in which magnesia is employed principally in three ways: (I) as dead-burned grain magnesite for the construction and maintenance of the hearths or bottoms of basic open-hearth furnaces; (2) in the form of refractory magnesite bricks and shapes; and (3) as a chemical

Jan 1, 1942

By George Ashley

IT has been said that the Pittsburgh bed is the most valuable single mineral deposit yet known to man. The figures in Table 1 are presented in substantiation of that claim. TABLE 1.-Pittsburgh Coal Bed to Dec. 31, 1934 Estimated Recov- State Thousands of ( Value erable Reserves Tons Mined (1935), Thousands of Tons Pennsylvania 3,144,000 $4,922,000 7,500,000 Ohio 493,391 843,699 3,000,000 West Virginia 650,000 1,027,000 5,500,000 Maryland 183,224 254,681 20,000 Totals 4,470,615 $7,047,380 16,020,000 PRODUCTION AND VALUE In order that the figures of Table 1 may have any weight, a statement must be made to show how they were arrived at. Because, to the writer's knowledge, no accurate separate figures ever have been kept of the production and value of the Pittsburgh coal bed, the states will be considered separately.

Jan 1, 1936

By N. A. Ziegler

IN every research it is desirable to eliminate as many variables as possible and to leave only a few to be investigated one at a time. Metallurgical problems are no exception. Some of the variables that are difficult to control are the size, the distribution, and the orientation of the grains in a metallic test piece. It is therefore very desirable to obtain isolated metallic grains (single crystals, as they are commonly called) large enough to enable one to study their mechanical and physical properties. The present investigation is a part of magnetic research work on iron and iron alloys, undertaken to obtain, if possible, the magnetic properties of pure iron (Fe). This paper will deal primarily with the preparation of single crystals of iron and their mechanical properties, while another paper, by T. D. Yensen, now in preparation, will deal specifically with their magnetic properties. The work with "single crystals" is attracting more attention every year among the investigators in metallurgy. Van Liempt1 gives an interesting summary of the work done and the different methods used in the preparation of metallic single crystals. Briefly stated, the four principal methods used are the following: 1. The cooling of a liquid metal in such a way that the crystallization would start at one point only, causing the entire liquid to solidify as one crystalline unit. This method can be successfully applied to the majority of the metals that do not have any allotropic transformations in the solid state. It has been used and described by a number of investigators,2 but it has never been successfully applied to iron on account of allotropic transformations.

Jan 1, 1930

By D. O. Noel, E. B. Gebert, J. D. Shaw

IT. is, of course, expected that manufacture of the various metal powders should involve numerous methods adapted to the specific characteristics of the metals themselves. Several methods for powdering a particular metal may be available, but the physical characteristics of the powder as produced by the several methods may be quite different. In the final analysis, the application of the metal powder dictates the physical properties that the metal powder must possess, and this, to a very large extent, will determine which of several possible methods of. manufacture is adopted. Sometimes powder of the same metal is produced by more than one method, each powder having specific characteristics .that make it particularly suitable for its application. For purposes of classification, the various methods of powdering metals can be grouped as follows: 1. Machining. 2. Milling (by ball mills, stamps, attrition mills, etc.). 3. Shotting (pouring molten metal into water, air, etc.). 4. Granulation (by stirring molten metal while solidifying). 5. Atomizing (disintegrating by steam, compressed air, etc.). 6. Condensation of metal vapor. 7. Reduction of oxide powders. 8. Chemical precipitation. 9. Electrolytic deposition. 10. Sintering (for producing alloy powders). 11. Formation of an alloy followed by dissolving or otherwise removing one of the alloying constituents. MACHINING Turnings, cuttings, filings, etc., are, of course, produced as by-products in machine work of various kinds, and find certain applications as metal powders. For example, iron powder so produced is used extensively as a reducing or precipitating agent and as a constituent in certain hard-finish cements.

Jan 1, 1938

By D. O. Noel

IT is, of course, expected that manufacture of the various metal powders should involve numerous methods adapted to the specific characteristics of the metals themselves. Several methods for powdering a particular metal may be available, but the physical characteristics of the powder as produced by the several methods may be quite different. In the final analysis, the application of the metal powder dictates the physical properties that the metal powder must possess, and this, to a very large extent, will determine which of several possible methods of manufacture is adopted. Sometimes powder of the same metal is produced by more than one method, each powder having specific characteristics that make it particularly suitable for its application. For purposes of classification, the various methods of powdering metals can be grouped as follows: 1. Machining. 2. Milling (by ball mills, stamps, attrition mills, etc.). 3. Shotting (pouring molten metal into water, air, etc.). 4. Granulation (by stirring molten metal while solidifying). 5. Atomizing (disintegrating by steam, compressed air, etc.). 6. Condensation of metal vapor. 7. Reduction of oxide powders. 8. Chemical precipitation. 9. Electrolytic deposition. 10. Sintering (for producing alloy powders). 11. Formation of an alloy followed by dissolving or otherwise remov-ing one of the alloying constituents.

Jan 1, 1938

By J. D. Price, G. V. Woody

MANY producers of by-product coke have spent considerable time and given considerable thought to the use of a substitute for low-volatile coal as an admixture with high-volatile coking coal for charging high-temperature by-product coke ovens. Generally speaking, there are two principal reasons for this, one being occasioned by the lack, in certain localities, of low-volatile coal delivered at a cost sufficiently low to permit its use, and another being the desirability of finding a substitute product with a delivered cost lower than the cost of the low-volatile coal. It was for the first of these reasons that the Colorado Fuel and Iron Corporation was particularly interested in this subject. This paper deals with the experimental work and the results obtained by that company in producing and using low-temperature char. OVERCOMING DEFECTS IN COKE FROM COLORADO COALS Colorado coking coals are all of the high-volatile type and were all laid down during he Cretaceous period, which makes them something like 80 million or so years younger, geologically, than eastern coals. They behave, when coked alone, something like the Pittsburgh-seam coals. They make a very brittle, highly cross-fractured, fingery coke of fair shatter value but quite low in resistance to abrasion. Mixed with a low-volatile coking coal such as Pocahontas or certain Oklahoma coals, they make a coke that is equal to virtually any of the eastern cokes. The inferior quality of Colorado coke has long been recognized, and a considerable amount of time, effort and money has been spent upon investigations of means for improving its physical properties. While it has been found that some improvement in quality of coke can be secured by the adjustment and control of such variables as pulverization, moisture content, oven temperature and bulk density of charge, and through the addition of certain inert materials such as pulverized coke breeze, pitch, high-volatile noncoking or semicoking coal, the benefits so gained have been comparatively small. There are no low or medium-volatile coking coals available within a reasonable freight-cost distance. Therefore a substitute for low-volatile coal was developed through low-temperature carbonization-or, more correctly speaking, through the partial devolatilization-of high-volatile coals. The blending of this lower volatile char with the high-volatile coking coal distinctly improves the quality of coke made from Colorado coal. There is nothing especially new about this idea. In 1908 a Japanese patent was taken out by Kotaro Shimomura, whose claim was: The method of making a nonfingery coke out of bituminous coals, without using natural coals of low-volatile matter; according to which a certain coal is heated at a temperature between about 300°C. and about 600°C. so as to leave about 15 to 25 per cent volatile matter in the coal; this coal is mixed with the

Jan 1, 1944

By W. J., Kroll

MOST people believe that rare metals are always, scarce in nature, expensive to make, and therefore useless despite some miraculous properties which might make them a cure-all. There are' some metals, which are quite frequent in nature, such as zirconium, which are called rare only because our present methods for making them are elaborate, thus forcing the manufacturer to sell them at a high price. There are also truly rare metals, such as gallium, which do not occur frequently in ores, but are easily reducible from their oxides. In these cases the price of the concentration operation is the decisive factor. The distribution of the elements in the earth's crust is no indication as to the availability of a metal; the concentration operation is the critical factor. Concentration is frequently obtained in the course of metallurgical operations for the extraction of other metals, and the rare metal may be enriched in by-products, flue dusts, mother liquors or precipitates from electrolyte purification as are indium, thallium, selenium, and tellurium. A periodic table of the rare elements may serve as a basis for discussion of their properties and to establish a program. (Table 1.)

Jan 1, 1946

By John P. Ashby

Mine production blasting is a process of destruction of rock masses in order that ore may be extracted. Many open pit operations are faced with the apparently conflicting requirements of providing large quantities of fragmented rock for the processing plant and of minimizing the damage inflicted upon the surrounding pit slopes. A reasonable compromise between these two conflicting demands may often be found by means of simple engineering of production blasts. Many operations tend to rely too heavily upon traditional wall control techniques to alleviate a problem already created by the production blasts. Various production trends including use of larger blastholes and patterns have tended to aggravate the situation. These practices only serve to emphasize the need for engineered improvements. Central to blasting engineering is the process of systematic trial and evaluation. Changes to the blasting system should be made singly, starting with the simplest. This paper discusses simple changes involving drill pattern control, effective use of blastholes and explosives, adequate delaying including use of down-the-hole sequential techniques, effective utilization of free faces, and avoidance of "choked" situations. By directing explosive effort where it is needed, such changes generally result in a significant improvement of slope conditions and of production blasting cost and performance.

Jan 1, 1983

By Arthur Notman

THE COMMITTEE on Production Control of the Institute has accomplished little or nothing tangible during the last year. For this the chairman must accept responsibility and whatever praise or blame goes with it. However, we have all had plenty of opportunity to observe the results obtained by various producing groups in their attempts to regulate production to meet demand dur¬ing the last few years. It would be putting it mildly to say that these have not been such as to inspire confidence in the methods pursued. The present plight of the wheat, cotton, coffee and sugar growers; the oil, copper, lead, zinc and tin producers, to name a few of the unfortunates, suggests a common cause perhaps beyond their control. There is a growing tendency to question as outmoded the theories of laissez faire economics, with its laws of competition, supply and demand, with price as the automatic regulator. The position is maintained that something new should be substituted because these laws no longer work. Many solutions are offered, ranging in the world at large from the planned economy of Russia, with the profit element removed, to the military controlled economy of Fascism, and in our own country from voluntary curtailment to martial law. But one hardly feels driven by any irresistible logic to put his finger on any one of these proposals, and to say this is the one in which I believe. On turning to one's neighbors, one is still more confused by the realization that this intellectual uncertainty is wide-spread. Isolation or cooperation, protection or free trade, the gold standard, bimetallism or managed currencies, de¬flation or inflation, all have their proponents in whose eyes one or the other of these slogans will afford the panacea for all our ills.

Jan 1, 1933

By Leonard Logan

Production control in the petroleum industry may be discussed under three general heads: engineering, legal, and economic. Though the problems that fall under the respective heads of engineering, law, and economics are separate, they are dependent and interrelated. The present study will deal with the economic phases of production control and only incidentally with the legal phases as they affect the economics of the problem. No one of these forms of control is more important than the others. The engineers have performed their service well, and although there are many problems of engineering control yet to be solved, they are not pressing. Legal control is a problem for the legislatures and the courts to solve. The petroleum industry is such a comparatively young industry and the legal problems are of such recent origin that the courts have not yet been called on to settle all the issues and the legislatures still have before them bills concerned with the regulation of the industry. Economic control of production in the petroleum industry is a highly desirable goal but it has not yet been completely achieved. Since the first commercial well was drilled in 1859, there have been recurring periods of overproduction. (Over- production will be used here to describe a condition wherein so much crude oil is available that a satisfactory and reasonable price is not received for the product.) The production of oil in 1859 approximated only 2000 barrels. In the following year production jumped to 500,000 barrels, thus bringing into

Jan 1, 1932

By P. B. Butler

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

Jan 4, 1928

By O. E. Kiessling

THIS announcement of the topics relating to production control, which the Committee hopes to have discussed at the February meeting, supplements the preliminary announcement published in the November number of MINING AND METALLURGY. In the previous article, the writer indicated the kaleide-scopic nature of the questions involved in obtaining better coordination in industry, and that, as a matter of practical expediency, the discussion in February would be limited to the more obvious difficulties in industry which need attention and to those questions which the Committee thinks would be of greatest interest to members of the Institute. But while practical considerations necessitate limiting the program, free discussion of all phases of the subject is urged by 'the Committee. In a preliminary consideration of the production control problem, there loom up two questions which have to be faced: (1) First, there is the question of the extra industrial capacity necessary to meet demand during the ordinary fluctuations of business, commonly characterized as `the "business cycle." Anyone who tries to formulate a program pertaining to productive capacity must decide whether he wishes to discuss the control of business cycles. While this question may eventually lend itself to treatment, the Committee does not feel that it can be considered at present with much profit. (2) The second question arises from the existence of over-stimulated capacity above and beyond peak demands in boom times. Discussion of this topic, it is felt, would be most fruitful. How to prevent capacity from being over-stimulated to an extent beyond any hope of possible demand is a

Jan 1, 1929