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THE Nominating Committee appointed at the Division meeting in October and consisting of Frank A. Herald, A. W. Peake, C. R. McCollom, Joseph Jensen, H. W. Camp, C. P. Watson, F. Julius Fohs, George Otis Smith, J. B. Umpleby, J. M. Lovejoy and A. W. Ambrose, have presented the following ticket for the year 1929: Chairman, Joseph B. Umpleby; associate chairman, A. C. Rubel; secretary-treasurer, R. Van A. Mills; vice-chairman for Economics, Warren A.. Sinshein~er; vice-chairman for Engineering Education, H. C. George; vice-chairman for Engineering Research, Harry H. Hill; vice-chairman for Production, C. P. Watson;vice-chairman for Refinery Engineering, A. D. David. For Production Engineering Charles V. Millikan. is named vicechairman, with ,Charles E. Beecher, Glenn D. Robertson and W. W. Scott as associate vice-chairmen. The Executive Committee named is to consist of Joseph B. Umpleby, chairman with A. W. Ambrose, Charles E. Beecher, A. D. David, Glenn D. Robertson, H. C. George, Harry H. Hill, John M. Lovejoy, Charles V. Millikan, R. Van A. Mills, Earl Oliver, A. W. Peake, A. C. Rubel, W. W. Scott, Warren A. Sinsheimer and .C. P. Watson, members. Ballots will be mailed to members of the Division.

Jan 1, 1928

By PERCY E. BARBOUR

TWO YEARS after its organization, the Institute issued its first volume of TRANSACTIONS, covering activities that began in May, 1871, and continued through February, 1873. The preface of this first volume reads: The present volume contains the rules of the Institute, a list of members and associates, an abstract of the proceedings of the-first two years, and a number of papers selected from those proceedings. There is, therefore, nothing new in it. The papers have all been published, according to the custom of the Institute, in the Engineering and Mining Journal, and many of them have been copied into other periodicals. They are republished here, solely to enable members and associates to preserve them in convenient form. Various considerations have determined the selection of papers for this purpose. Some have been omitted at the request of the authors who, having modified the views expressed in them, naturally deprecated a republication of those views. Others have been omitted, in order not to devote too large a proportion of space to single topics, or single branches of mining or metal¬lurgy, in view of the fact that the membership of the Institute extends throughout the whole country, and represents numerous departments of these industries. Some, on the other hand, have been chosen, although not laying claim to special originality, because they contained information of importance, not easily accessible elsewhere, the presentation of which, in a form convenient for reference, was generally desired.

Jan 1, 1921

By John A. Mathews

It is twenty years since the writer made his first molybdenum steels and others were making them commercially five years earlier but the prevailing opinion seems to be that molybdenum steels are new; from time to time the daily press speaks of important discoveries in Europe and intimates that American steel makers have much to learn in regard to alloy steels. The earlier experiments were largely confined to the use of relatively high percentages of molybdenum in tool steels and permanent magnet steels. Recent developments deal with the types of alloy structural steels used for airplane, automobile, and other engineering requirements; in these, the molybdenum content is usually less than 1 per cent. The earlier types generally have been unsuccessful commercially, but the newer types of steels are becoming of increasing importance. The war showed our dependence on foreign sources for alloying metals; molybdenum alone is widely distributed in the United States and seemingly abundant. Many deposits are not now of commercial interest, owing to location and relatively small amount of ore available, but other deposits are being developed and a stable source of supply seems well assured. In tool and magnet steels, it was early found that 1 part of molybdenum was equivalent to from 2 to 2.5 parts of tungsten. The permanent magnet steels investigated by Madame Curie,' in 1898, contained from 3.36 to 4.05 per cent. molybdenum; in 1902, Dr. E. L. French and the writer thoroughly tested steels containing from 2.0 to 4.0 per cent. These steels gave satisfactory tests for permanence, but were low in residual density and much more sensitive to hardening than the corresponding tungsten products. We discontinued work with them, therefore, and have no advice that such steels have been used commercially here or abroad. Prior to the development of the Taylor-White process and the modern high-speed steels, air-hardening steels were in general use. These were

Jan 1, 1922

By John A. Mathews

It is twenty years since the writer made his first molybdenum steels and others were making them commercially five years earlier but the prevailing opinion seems to be that molybdenum steels are new; from time to time the daily press speaks of important discoveries in Europe and intimates that American steel makers have much to learn in regard to alloy steels. The earlier experiments were largely confined to the use of relatively high percentages of molybdenum in tool steels and permanent magnet steels. Recent developments deal with the types of alloy structural steels used for airplane, automobile, and other engineering requirements; in these, the molybdenum content is usually less than 1 per cent. The earlier types generally have been unsuccessful commercially, but the newer types of steels are becoming of increasing importance. The war showed our dependence on foreign sources for alloying metals; molybdenum alone is widely distributed in the United States and seemingly abundant. Many deposits are not now of commercial interest, owing to location and relatively small amount of ore available, but other deposits are being developed and a stable source of supply seems well assured. In tool and magnet steels, it was early found that 1 part of molybdenum was equivalent to from 2 to 2.5 parts of tungsten. The permanent magnet steels investigated by Madame Curie,' in 1898, contained from 3.36 to 4.05 per cent. molybdenum; in 1902, Dr. E. L. French and the writer thoroughly tested steels containing from 2.0 to 4.0 per cent. These steels gave satisfactory tests for permanence, but were low in residual density and much more sensitive to hardening than the corresponding tungsten products. We discontinued work with them, therefore, and have no advice that such steels have been used commercially here or abroad. Prior to the development of the Taylor-White process and the modern high-speed steels, air-hardening steels were in general use. These were

Jan 1, 1922

By Joseph M. Dawson

Although there was a very great increase in drilling activity along the fault line of south Texas during 1937 as compared with the previous three or four years, and although seven new fields were discovered, it cannot be said that any major development of importance took place. There were slightly over 550 completions during 1937, of which nearly 350 were oil wells as compared with some 275 the preceding year, of which 169 were oil wells. This increase in drilling activity was occasioned almost entirely by the greater interest in and development of Austin chalk production, principally in Caldwell, Guadalupe and Bastrop Counties. Seven fields were found, of which a brief description is given in Table 3. None has as yet assumed anything of major importance, and it is doubtful whether any will be classified as major discoveries through further development. Two were producing from the Edwards limestone, one from serpentine and the other four from the Austin chalk; the latter may be classified as extremely erratic in nature. The major discouraging feature of the year was the rise and subsequent fall of interest and importance of Austin chalk production. Many new operators came into this district to drill and produce Austin chalk oil toward the first of the year, but in the latter months the production decline from this formation was so rapid and the production so erratic that drilling operations fell off materially and interest largely abated. This was particularly true of the Branyon field in Caldwell County, and the same statement is applicable to the Pearsall field, Frio County. The latter field, covering some 5000 acres and owned and controlled entirely by the Amerada and Rycade, had early completions from the Austin chalk as high as 22,000 bbl. per day. The decline was extremely rapid and the maintained production from 17 wells is only around 700 bbl. per day after a total recovery of less than one-half million barrels. Present estimates of recoverable oil from Chalk vary from 2000 to 5000 bbl. per acre. A new process for the completion of producing wells from the Edwards limestone, particularly applicable to old producing areas, was developed, in that the penetration of the Edwards lime in drilled wells is now only 1 or 2 ft. as compared to between 15 and 75 ft. in wells drilled several years ago. Many new wells have been drilled in old Edwards lime producing

Jan 1, 1938

By H. W. Morse

MANY of our largest copper deposits contain both sulfide and oxidized copper minerals. The large porphyry mines, with a total copper content of from 1.3 to 2.0 per cent., send to their mills ore with an oxide content of from 0.2 to 0.4 per cent. While the recoveries of the sulfide minerals are considered satisfactory, using modern flotation practice, the recovery of the oxi- dized portion of the copper is small; better recoveries of oxidized copper were made before flotation methods were adopted. Beside the ores containing copper mainly as sulfide, with a small amount of oxidized copper,, many of the large porphyry mines have oxide orebodies, in which the propor-tion of non-sulfide minerals is so high that 2 present methods of treatment are ineffi-cient. In some of the well-known ore-bodies in the Miami-Inspiration district the copper occurs about equally in sulfide and oxidized forms; and the mixing of minerals is complete throughout the ore-body. There is no possibility of mining the sulfides and the oxides selectively. At the New Cornelia mine, however, the oxide, and sulfide ores are sharply separated, per-haps by an ancient water level, so that the oxide ore may be mined and treated in a plant built for that purpose, and the under-lying sulfide ore may be left for treatment in another plant. If copper is to be made from an ore having a total content of 1.5 per cent., it must be concentrated or removed from the ore by some. hydrometallurgical method. Flotation is generally successful for the sulfide minerals and flotation after filming with sulfide seems to work in many cases on the pure carbonate minerals. Callow has given an extensive report on the results of "sulfidizing" flotation on the ores of the. Magma mine.1 Where such ?a 'method can be applied, it ?may be, the best

Jan 9, 1922

By G. S. Hume

Production of petroleum and natural gas increased in Canada in 1939 principally because of new wells in Ontario and Alberta. Turner Valley The Turner Valley field, Alberta, yielded 7,456,000 bbl. of petroleum in 1939 in comparison with 6,703,548 bbl. in 1938, an increase of 11 per cent. Turner Valley now supplies 96 per cent of all petroleum produced in Canada (Table 1). The Turner Valley field (Table 2) has reached a position where it call supply much larger volumes of petroleum than the Prairie market is capable of consuming. The allowable production is under the jurisdiction of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Conservation Board of Alberta and the daily rate is set from time to time as warranted by the demand. During June the allowable reached a maximum of 27,000 bbl. a day. This, however, was a temporary situation due in part to the completion of a new British American Oil Co. refinery in Calgary capable of processing 5000 bbl. a day and with a storage capacity of about 100,000 bbl. The maximum consumption was reached during the harvest season with

Jan 1, 1940

By G. S. Hume

Production of petroleum and natural gas increased in Canada in 1939 principally because of new wells in Ontario and Alberta. Turner Valley The Turner Valley field, Alberta, yielded 7,456,000 bbl. of petroleum in 1939 in comparison with 6,703,548 bbl. in 1938, an increase of 11 per cent. Turner Valley now supplies 96 per cent of all petroleum produced in Canada (Table 1). The Turner Valley field (Table 2) has reached a position where it call supply much larger volumes of petroleum than the Prairie market is capable of consuming. The allowable production is under the jurisdiction of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Conservation Board of Alberta and the daily rate is set from time to time as warranted by the demand. During June the allowable reached a maximum of 27,000 bbl. a day. This, however, was a temporary situation due in part to the completion of a new British American Oil Co. refinery in Calgary capable of processing 5000 bbl. a day and with a storage capacity of about 100,000 bbl. The maximum consumption was reached during the harvest season with

Jan 1, 1940

By F. H. Deily, L. W. Ledgerwood, J. E. Eckel

A new method for drilling the earth's formations has undergone extensive laboratory and shallow earth drilling experimentation. This method, pellet impact drilling, uses the energy of a large mass of high velocity steel spheres to break and crush the rock. Pellets are confined to a region close to the hole bottom. Motive fluid for transporting and recycling the pellets is supplied by a modified jet pump. The pellet drilling method has inherent advantages over conventional rotary drilling. First, only a nominal amount of weight need be applied to the hole bottom. Second, only a very small amount of torque is required for bit rotation. Third, means are available for continual replacement of the cutter medium. The experimental laboratory work and analytical procedures necessary for the design of a pellet drill bit are described. In the laboratory program approximately half the effort was devoted to the development of a better understanding of the physical process, and half to the empirical testing of new bit configurations. Factors such as pellet size and velocity, jet pump characteristics and modifications, and power distribution are discussed. The design and construction of a pellet impact bit for drilling a 9 in. hole with 1 1/4 in. steel pellets are described. Drilling performance in representative rocks, hydraulic operating characteristics, and metallurgical problems are discussed. INTRODUCTION This paper discusses an attempt to reduce drilling costs through the development of a drilling method basically different from rotary drilling. Publications on drilling research indicate that the major effort on the part of manufacturers and operators has been confined to research in rotary, or rotary-percussion drilling. This applied drilling research has produced significant gains in drilling rates and bit life, but thus far it has failed to achieve any major decrease in general drilling costs. From recent statistics released by Drilling Contractors, it can be shown that the total cost of drilling an "average" well in 1953 was about 2 1/4 times the corresponding cost in 1935. Analysis of the costs will show that they are not due to inefficient field operations; they are due instead to both an inflated economy and greater "average" well depths. Diligent work by the industry has reduced the backlog of potential economic improvements in rotary drilling to a group of rather marginal prospects. Increasing depths and poorer quality reservoirs at these depths continue to make the drilling cost problem more acute. Hence, the aim of the work reported here was to develop a new drilling method not limited by the inherent characteristics of rotary drilling and thus capable of attaining further significant reductions in drilling costs. The effort devoted to research on this proposed new drilling method was of considerable magnitude and represented .in excess of 37 man-years of research. The affiliates of Standard Oil Co. (N. I.) sponsored this development program which was conducted by the Drilling Methods Section of the Carter Research Laboratory in Tulsa, Okla. The purpose of this paper is to

Jan 1, 1957

Large equipment for quarrying and for the various stages of crushing and grinding are the trend for new and existing operations. Included are large size haulage units, fast drilling equipment, impact crushers and large mills capable of high tonnage rates for metallic and nonmetallic minerals. In grinding, large-size mills continue as the choice in industries where grinding constitutes a major portion of the processing. Typical is a 10 x 34 ft two-compartment mill in closed circuit with an 18-ft diam air separator for cement. Other cement mill sizes are in the order of 12 x 36 ft, 2500 hp; 10 x 37 ft ball and rod (wet), 1400 hp; 13 x 36 ft, 3000 hp; 13 x 40 ft (wet), 3000 hp. Several installations of combination ball and rod mills have been made, and one of the largest is 12 x 45 ft. In connection with the wet grinding of raw materials, the DSM 270-degree screen has been installed in several cement plants with the intention of producing a material finer than 50 mesh. In ore processing, large autogenous mills (121/2 x 20 ft) are being installed.

Jan 2, 1964

The Wheeler Condenser & Engineering Co., of Carteret, N. J., is now building a line of horizontal and vertical shaft centrifugal pumps for general services, as well as for condenser work.. This company has been building centrifugal pumps for over 20 years, most of them being used, however, in connection with condensers. The new line of pumps is suited for all services. A small motor-driven unit for tank or stand pipe operation is shown in Fig. 1. Referring to the sectional illustration (Fig. 2), it will be seen that this pump conforms to the most recent advances in centrifugal pump construction, having a two-part divided casing, with the suction and discharge nozzles in the lower half. The impeller is of the closed double-suction type, protected by labyrinth wearing rings. The shaft is protected from the water by bronze sleeves, which screw on to the shaft and extend clear through into the bearing bracket boxes. Bearings are of the ring-oiled type, and in the outboard bracket, is a ring-oiled thrust bearing, which is a refinement not usually found in double-suction

Jan 4, 1916

By J. M. Vetter, W. F. Bowman

The Gulf Coast area of Texas and Louisiana produced a total of 47,070,650 bbl. of oil during 1928, a decrease of 7,401,173 bbl. from the previous year. Of this amount Texas produced 39,353,950 bbl., or a decrease of 9,689,296 bbl. from the 1927 output. The Louisiana Gulf Coast produced 7,716,700 bbl., which is an increase of 2,288,123 bbl. over 1927. The decrease in the Texas Coastal area is due principally to the decline at Spindletop. Production at the beginning of the year in this field averaged 53,400 bbl. daily. At the end it had declined to 35,850 bbl. The increase in Louisiana was due to development in new fields at Kelso Bayou (East Hackberry), Sulphur, Sweet Lake, Bayou Boullion and Sorrento. This production was maintained by the drilling of 984 wells. Of this number 736 were located in Texas and 248 in Louisiana. Of the 984 wells drilled, 571 were reported as producers. Distribution of the various completions is listed in the accompanying tables compiled by Oil Weekly. New Developments New developments of particular importance in Texas were the finding of a 5000-bbl. well in formations of Cook Mountain age in the Clay Creek field located in northern Washington County by the Sun Oil Co. ; the discovery of oil at Dewalt in Fort Bend County by the Humble Oil & Refining Co.; the development of commercial production at Raccoon Bend in Austin County by the same company; and the finding of oil in formations of Oligocene age in the Refugio gas field of Refugio County. The most important development in Louisiana was the finding of oil at Sorrento, east of the Mississippi River, by the Gulf Production Co. The importance connected with these finds is not so great in that they opened up new fields, but in the new territories which they open as possibly productive of oil. Eastern Louisiana has been looked upon with considerable doubt on account of the theory which has prevailed among most geologists that the nature of the formations was not such as to produce oil. The actual finding of oil in that area upsets this theory and

Jan 1, 1929

AT the meeting of the Board of Directors on Jan. 28, 1927, the tentative budget of this Institute for next year was discussed, and in connection with the evident necessity for a larger income to meet increasing demands for service, the advisability of in- creasing the dues of members, was brought up. W. Spen- cer Hutchinson advocated an upward revision of the dues "believing it necessary that the Institute have a larger income, in order that it may carry on necessary work and render adequate service to its membership." Since this is a matter that directly affects every member, .President Taylor was directed to appoint a committee, which he did, consisting of George D. Barron, W. H. Bassett, and R. H. Sweetser, with T. T. Read as secre- tary, to bring in a tentative outline of the main factors in the problem for discussion at the annual meeting, on Feb. 15, and to prepare, after they have had the benefit of the discussion at that meeting, a report for the board. The amount of the annual dues is fixed by the con- stitution and can only be changed by proposing an amendment to the constitution. This amendment would have to be submitted to the members by letter ballot at the time of the election of officers for 1928, so that no change can be made in the dues for 1927 in any case. WHY THE INSTITUTE NEEDS MONEY At the annual meeting past-president Reynders, as chairman of the executive committee made the follow-ing report, which since it admirably sets forth the rea-sons why an increase in the dues has been suggested, is included here. "The report of the president has covered the situation so fully that little is left for me to say. However, a word in regard to the functions of the executive com-mittee may not be out of place.

Jan 3, 1927

By AIME AIME

THE fall meeting of the Petroleum Division, held at Tulsa, Okla., on Oct. 11 to 14, devoted two days to technical sessions and two to field excursions. A representative attendance of 250 to 300 engineers and operating officials engaged in oil production marked the sessions and paid close attention throughout to a notable series of highly technical papers. Restricted as the program was to consideration of production problems only, the time proved too short for discussion or even the presentation of the 20 papers submitted. Much informing and pertinent discussion none the less took place, and the sentiment was general to the effect that the meeting was one of the best ever held by the Division. The meetings were held in the auditorium of the Municipal building and local arrangements were well looked after by the Mid-Continent Section of the Institute and the Oil and Gas Association. The combination of the three organizations served to bring together engineers and operators most usefully. F. Julius Fohs, chairman of the Division, presided at the sessions on Monday. Tuesday morning John M. Lovejoy of the local section took over this responsibility in the absence of T. E. Swigart, who was detained in California. The afternoon session was presided over by A. G. Heggam of the Oil and Gas Association and the Tuesday evening banquet by W. C. Franklin of the same organization.

Jan 1, 1926

By C. G. Dunn

With respect to theories of recrystalliza-tion in metals plastically deformed. it has been said that the present status of this subject is far from satisfactory.1 It may also be said that before any mechanism of recrystallization for metals and alloys can be set forth in a satisfactory manner, there must be made available considerable data on orientation changes that occur during the deformation and recrystallization processes. Although extensive data have been published on recrystallization in single crystals and in poly-crystalline specimens, more results of a type that can be classified according to simple orientation changes would be desirable in this complex field. It might even be said that before classifications are made according to types of orientation changes, it may be possible to classify a considerable amount of data into certain kinds of orientation states if groups of common or nearly common orientation occur. Methods for computing the probability of occurrence for various types of groups have been published2 and it has been pointed out in particular that it should be possible to analyze orientation data for high-order twin relationships between old and new grains even when agreement is not at all exact. In this connection, work on recrystallization in silicon ferrite reported in a paper concerned with complex groups of annealing twins3 indicated that some data were consistent with primary nucleation OCcurring according to a second-order or a third-order twin transformation. However, further work in this latter direction was definitely needed. It is, therefore, the purpose of the present paper to report data and analyses for primary nucleation in silicon ferrite following small deformations that have been carried Out at the Pittsfield Works' Laboratory of the General Electric Co. Analyses have been made with the aid of standard groups of twins that are reported elsewhere.4 PReparation oF Specimens and Experimental Procedure The material used in the present investigation was taken from the same heat of steel as that .used in a prior report.3 The finished strip in both cases was made by the Allegheny-Ludlum Steel Corporation according to methods that produce a high degree of preferred crystal orientation. Samples with large grains had the following composition: 3.45 per cent Si, 0.003 C, 0.008 P, 0.020 S, 0,075 Mn, 0.03I A1 and 0.072 Cu. Thickness of specimens was 0.012 inches. Plastic deformation was produced by cold-rolling the samples on a mill with 8-in. diameter rolls, the plane of the sample in each case coinciding with an XY plane (the plane of projection for the stereo-graphic plots) and the elongation occurring in the X direction. In general, elongations were held to about 3 or 4 per cent.

Jan 1, 1945

By J. E. Tobey, David R. Mitchell, J. H. Kerrick

DETAILED knowledge of purchase specifications established by coal consumers is essential to the successful design and operation of a coal-preparation plant. ANTHRACITE Specifications should be considered by both the consumer and the producer as guide posts outlining a certain path for both to follow. Plants differ, therefore specifications must differ to meet the varied requirements. Specifications are not of themselves a "cure all" or an assurance of complete satisfaction in fuel utilization. Specifications should not be regarded as a license to engage in an orgy of buying any and all coals that may happen to fall within their limits. This would lead to the indiscriminate mixing of coals which may vary in their burning characteristics. Different coals of equal grade tend to be individualistic in their burning characteristics. Rather, specifications should be used to help simplify coal selection, to reduce the actual number of coals used over a given period; in other words, to have a stabilizing influence on coal or customer turnover. In the final analysis, the use of too many coals per year in a plant is costly to both the consumer and the producer. Too many sources usually result in higher operating and maintenance costs for the consumer and higher sales costs for the producer. Finally, the statement included in the report accompanying the com¬prehensive Coal Selection Charts prepared by the Coal Committee of the National Association of Purchasing Agents, and released in 1938, is significant. This Committee worked diligently for a period of 15 years seeking to find a scientific and reliable method for selecting coals. The two following paragraphs are quoted from its report: More important is the fact that no ready-made classification or set of specifications can possibly replace the judgment and resourcefulness of an experienced combustion engineer or fuel technologist, nor the usual need for full scale plant tests under the exact conditions of use before a final decision is made ...

Jan 1, 1943

By Heinrich 0. Hofman

A T THE meeting of the Board of Directors on June 24, Prof. Heinrich O. Hofman was elected an honorary member of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. Professor Hofman is best known to the world at large for his publications, and in this respect he is to this generation what Schnabel was to the previous one. The first edition of Professor Hofman's "Metallurgy of Lead and Desilverization of Base Bullion"; was published in 1893; the fifth edition in 1898. In 1913, he published his work on "General Metallurgy;" this was followed by "Metallurgy of Copper" in 1914, and a revised and enlarged edition of the "Metallurgy of Lead" in 1918. "Metallurgy of Zinc and Cadmium" is now in press. He also published, through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "An Outline of the Metallurgy of Iron and Steel" for students' use. Since the founding of "Mineral Industry" in 1892, he has been continuously the annual contributor on the metallurgy of lead, and all Institute members know that his contributions to the TRANSACTIONS have been liberal in the extreme. It is through this medium that the results of the extensive research work, which he has always carried on in connection with his work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have been published. Of the greatest importance are his papers dealing with the formation temperatures of slags, but many other metallurgical subjects have been covered.

Jan 1, 1921

By Richard Ageton

SALT bodies in the form of rolls, horses (sometimes called horsebacks), folds, wants and pinches1 have been encountered while driving entries and mining out rooms during the development of the potash mines in New Mexico. Superficially these sporadic salt occurrences appear to be much alike, but closer examination reveals individual characteristics, and after four years of observation it seems possible to divide them into three general groups that may tentatively be called "depositional," "erosional," and "structural." The data collected are not yet sufficient to permit forecasts of their probable location, so that the annoyance of having to mine salt instead of potash could be avoided or lessened. However, the information so far available appears to throw some light on the occurrence of the sylvinite2 bed now being mined, and it is as a progress report that the writer presents the results of his observations. The mines of the United States Potash Co. and the Potash Company of America are about 20 miles northeast of Carlsbad, in Eddy County, N. M. They are on the southwestern flank of the Permian salt basin, which underlies western Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, south-central Nebraska, southeastern Colorado and eastern New Mexico. The cuttings from many oil wells and the cores from the potash tests drilled in this basin indicate that this salt series approached its greatest thick-ness (about 4000 ft.) in the southeastern part of New Mexico and the adjoining portions of Texas, and that the most advanced stages of

Jan 1, 1936

By Richard V. Ageton

Salt bodies in the form of rolls, horses (sometimes called horsebacks), folds, wants and pinches1 have been encountered while driving entries and mining out rooms during the development of the potash mines in New Mexico. Superficially these sporadic salt occurrences appear to be much alike, but closer examination reveals individual characteristics, and after four years of observation it seems possible to divide them into three general groups that may tentatively be called "depositional," "erosional," and "structural." The data collected are not yet sufficient to permit forecasts of their probable location, so that the annoyance of having to mine salt instead of potash could be avoided or lessened. However, the information so far available appears to throw some light on the occurrence of the sylvite2 bed now being mined, and it is as a progress report that the writer presents the results of his observations. The mines of the United States Potash Co. and the Potash Company of America are about 20 miles northeast of Carlsbad, in Eddy County, N. M. They are on the southwestern flank of the Permian salt basin, which underlies western Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, south-central Nebraska, southeastern Colorado and eastern New Mexico. The cuttings from many oil wells and the cores from the potash tests drilled in this basin indicate that this salt series approached its greatest thickness (about 4000 ft.) in the southeastern part of New Mexico and the adjoining portions of Texas, and that the most advanced stages of

Jan 1, 1938

By Richard V. Ageton

Salt bodies in the form of rolls, horses (sometimes called horsebacks), folds, wants and pinches1 have been encountered while driving entries and mining out rooms during the development of the potash mines in New Mexico. Superficially these sporadic salt occurrences appear to be much alike, but closer examination reveals individual characteristics, and after four years of observation it seems possible to divide them into three general groups that may tentatively be called "depositional," "erosional," and "structural." The data collected are not yet sufficient to permit forecasts of their probable location, so that the annoyance of having to mine salt instead of potash could be avoided or lessened. However, the information so far available appears to throw some light on the occurrence of the sylvite2 bed now being mined, and it is as a progress report that the writer presents the results of his observations. The mines of the United States Potash Co. and the Potash Company of America are about 20 miles northeast of Carlsbad, in Eddy County, N. M. They are on the southwestern flank of the Permian salt basin, which underlies western Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, south-central Nebraska, southeastern Colorado and eastern New Mexico. The cuttings from many oil wells and the cores from the potash tests drilled in this basin indicate that this salt series approached its greatest thickness (about 4000 ft.) in the southeastern part of New Mexico and the adjoining portions of Texas, and that the most advanced stages of

Jan 1, 1938