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By E. DeGolyer

THE petroleum production of the world for 1924 again passed the billion-barrel mark, as it did in 1923. A preliminary estimate of production is 1,016,000,000 bbl., a decrease of 1,100,000 bbl., or less than 1 per cent. from the 1,017,100,000 bbl. produced in 1923, the year of greatest production. FIG. 1.-TOTAL WORLD AND UNITED STATES PRODUCTION. Production in the United States decreased 18,500,000 bbl., the. first decrease in yearly production since 1906. Mexican production decreased almost 10,000,000 bbl. Russia, Persia, Roumania, Venezuela, and Peru increased their production by an amount almost great enough to offset the decline in the United States and Mexico. The decline in the production in the United States and Mexico was considerably less than anticipated by leading geologists, economists, and statisticians; nor did the increase in consumption entirely meet the expectations of estimators. Early in the year, the statistical department of one of the most important oil companies forecast a draft on stocks, from an excess of demand over supply, of about 80,000,000 bbl. Instead of decreasing our stocks, they were increased by about 33,000,000 barrels.

Jan 3, 1925

By R. V. Whetsel, V. R. Garfias

THE present study is intended as a preliminary statistical survey of the world's production of petroleum substitutes. The information presented is admittedly deficient. It is believed, however, that the increasing importance of these substitutes, particularly with Europe at war, justifies its presentation at this time, if for no other [ ] reason than to encourage enlightened pertinent discussion. The world's production in 1939 of petroleum substitutes-of which approximately 97 per cent are direct substitutes for motor fuels-is tentatively estimated at 108,000,000 bbl., or equivalent to the combined output of crude oil in 1939 of Rumania, Mexico and Colombia. With few exceptions, these figures of production represent also actual figures of consumption. The United States, owing mainly to its output of natural gasoline, leads all countries in the production of these products, with about 53 per cent of the total. In European countries, particularly Germany, the imminence of war in 1939 forced an increase in production and improvement of methods of manufacturing motor fuels, largely from coal, with the result that this country produced in that year over 20,000,000 bbl. of substitutes. Since the beginning of hostilities, substitutes have offered more and more the means of meeting the unfavorable balance between supply and demand in European [ ] countries; the increase in production of these products being at least in part offset by the systematic bombing of synthetic plants and oil storage. The source materials and the resulting substitutes are listed in Table I. The following are the approximate gross heat equivalents of some substitutes to barrels of gasoline:

Jan 1, 1941

By Robert Glass Cleland

THE OUTBREAK of World War II found Phelps Dodge, thanks to both foresight and good fortune, in a position to increase production of its mines and factories to meet the insatiable military and domestic needs of the times, far beyond all previous records. With the timely completion of the expansion program at Morenci, the company's copper output rose to approximately 447 million pounds in 1942 and to over 478 mil- lion pounds the next year, compared to some 300 million pounds in 1939. To meet the civil and military needs for fabricated cop- per products, the Phelps Dodge Copper Products Corporation carried out an expansion program comparable in size to that of the Phelps Dodge mining operations. It built new plants, enlarged and reorganized those already in operation, multiplied the number of technical experts on its staff, adopted new methods and new machines for the new prod-

Jan 1, 1952

By A. H. Bell

DEEPEST hole in the earth, and deepest producing oil well in the world-such is well No. K.C.L. A-2, of the Continental. Oil Co., completed on April 12 in the San Joaquin valley about four miles west of Wasco, Calif. It penetrated the earth's crust to a depth of 15,004 ft.- almost three miles-a depth that exceeds by over 2200 ft. that of the previous record holder in western Texas. It is now producing oil from sands at a depth from 13,092 to 13,- 175 ft., which is about 1500 ft. deeper than the record formerly achieved in Louisiana. Continental's new well was bottomed in what is possibly Domengine-Avenal Eocene sand, and is producing from the Middle Miocene equivalent to the Rio Bravo sand.

Jan 1, 1938

By R. W. Vander Laan

Conneaut has a long and illustrious history as a major Great Lakes port for coal and iron ore. The first dock was built in 1892 for unloading iron ore from the Mesabi Range for shipment to the Pittsburgh steel mills via the Shenango & Lake Erie Railroad, later to become the Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad. The Pittsburgh & Conneaut Dock Company was incorporated in 1893. The world's first Hulett automatic ore unloader was constructed at Conneaut in 1899. Steam operated, it was the model for the giant electric Huletts used today, named after its inventor, George Hulett, who was a Conneaut resident.

Jan 3, 1974

Following closely Marcona Corp.'s announcement of its new Marconaflo process for transporting mineral slurries by ship (see pp. 96-97, Sept. 1969 [ ]), Midland-Ross Corp. (M-R) now heralds its metallized iron pellet process which supplements Oregon Steel Mills1 (Oregon Steel) new Portland, Ore., plant. Harry J. Bolwell, president of M-R describes the company's M-R Pellet as "the most exciting advance in steelmaking in a decade, one which will profoundly affect the industry." In fact, other knowledgeable industry spokesmen believe that with these developments the mini-steel plant era is now here and that this technical development along with the Marconaflo process will revolutionize iron ore shipments and steelmaking. The M-R president predicts that electric furnaces can account for 20% of the annual U.S. steel production by 1975, compared with 14% at the present time because of these developments.

Jan 12, 1969

By AIME AIME

ON Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 17, a large and interested audience gathered in the auditorium of the Engineering Societies building to take part in the gold supply symposium that had been arranged for by the Mining Geology Committee. Waldemar Lindgren presided over the gathering and after brief introductory remarks on the international situation as regards lead, silver and gold, called on John Wellington Finch to present an oral abstract of the paper, "Sources and Trends in Gold Production," by R. J. Grant, director of the Mint, and. J. B. Knaebel. This ' paper reviewed the gold production of the world, by countries, since 1845, from the statistical viewpoint, leaving to the later speakers discussion of the statistics.

Jan 1, 1931

By Karl V. Lindell

THE Jeffrey mine of the Canadian Johns-Manville Co., Asbestos, Que. has operated for a number of years, supplying the parent company, Johns-Manville, raw material for asbestos products. The mine is situated in the 70-mile-long serpentine belt running from Asbestos, Que. on the west to East Broughton on the east. This district is the most important producing area in the world of quality spinning-fiber asbestos, with 11 operating mines supplying 70 pct of the world's needs. The Jeffrey mine, located 90 miles from Montreal and approximately 35 miles southwest of Thetford, accounts for 50 pct of the Canadian asbestos output. Production from the Canadian serpentine belt is the chrysotile asbestos, which is considered the best available for spinning. Consumers in the United States prefer the clean, fine fibers of the Canadian chrysotile of the type produced by the Jeffrey mine. Mining In 1881, when the mine was first opened, all work, including drilling, was done by hand. The deposit, located on a hillside, was first worked as a sidehill cut by hand drilling 15-ft holes and blasting with black powder. The fiber was chiselled from the broken rock. Hand derricks, later powered by horses, were used to raise the rock as the pit deepened. Eventually, the pit became so deep that derricks were, by necessity, replaced by aerial tramways. In the late 1930's, further deepening of the open pit, with the resulting constriction of the pit bottom brought about the need for altering the mining system then in use. The high ratio of overburden to be handled to mill ore mined and the value of surface structures, not company property, that would be destroyed in expanding the area of the pit, definitely indicated vertical rather than horizontal expansion would have to be used. One exception to this was that a small area on company property to north and east of the pit could be opened up. The mining problem then resolved itself into two phases; make the small lateral expansion and as rapidly as possible choose a mining method that would expand the mine vertically. Several methods for vertical expansion were studied and rejected. Methods considered included shrinkage stoping, block caving, glory holing, and various modifications of open workings. Block caving was finally accepted as the most suitable method of underground development. Cost factors and production were important factors in the decision, also, the asbestos mines in the Thetford area were already having success with this method. Original plans provided for the lateral expansion of the open mine where possible and beginning the underground operation. This program was based on the open pit being worked out in 1954, with the underground development and production gradually increasing until the open mine was depleted. In 1949, the plan was changed to allow underground development to progress at maximum so that underground output would be 550 tons per hr by 1951. Any deficit in ore would be mined from the open pit. This change permitted extending the life of the open pit through 1964 and in this time would make available a large quantity of readily attained ore. Block Caving at The Jeffrey Mine Plans for the underground operation were formulated on a 12,000-ton-per-day basis, and the adaptability of block caving methods to high production presented a desirable situation. As shown in the main-haulage plan, a continuous loop was laid out for smooth operation of the underground railroad from the loading points to the underground crusher. A feature encountered at the Jeffrey mine, as well as other asbestos mines using caving methods, is the large size of caved material, requiring that ore be crushed before hoisting.

Jan 1, 1952

The world's largest steam-driven mine hoist, built by Nordberg Manufacturing Co. a half century ago, has become a major tourist attraction in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The hoist, designed by company founder Bruno V. Nordberg, is located in the Quincy Mine Number Two, just north of Hancock. Nordberg began construction of the mammoth machine before World War I, but delayed completion until after the war. The hoist became operational in 1920 and continued running until the mine was shut down in 1931.

Jan 9, 1968

By AIME AIME

ONE test is worth a thousand expert opinions, say the engineers of the John A. Roebling's Sons Co. of Trenton, N. J. Confronted with the job of building the cables for the new Hudson River Bridge between Fort Lee and upper Manhattan, the Roebling organization, in spite of its long and varied experience in building cables for suspension bridges of various sizes, recognized that old yardsticks would be of little value in estimating safety factors for the immense span across the Hudson.

Jan 1, 1929

By AIME AIME

NAPOLEON'S dictum that an Army travels on its stomach has not changed in this present war, but the things an Army's stomach calls for would be more than strange to Napoleon. Today one of the main articles of diet for the mechanized army is oil and gasoline, and the chief and most efficient source of 'apply overland is the pipe line. It was a flexible 4-in. pipe line that supplied the voracious appetite of tanks, trucks, jeeps, and planes across the North African desert. and it is the 1800-mile pipe line from Calcutta to Kunming, Yunnan Province in China, the longest in the world, that supplied oil and 100-octane gas for the trucks, tanks, Jeeps, and planes fighting on the Assam-Burma-China front in recent months. Completion of this approximately 1800-mile pipe line to China over rivers that had never been bridged, over hill that towered 9000 ft., and over swamps

Jan 1, 1945

By J. L. Workman

The Putnam Coal Mine, at design capacity, will be the third largest underground bituminous coal mine in the world and will feature the world's longest single flight belt conveyor. Construction is now in process; initial mining will commence in early 1969 and design capacity will be reached in 1971. The Putman Coal Mine reserves are located in south-central West Virginia and contain approximately 27,000 acres of prime Pittsburgh No. 8 coal; reserves are sufficient to support a 3.5 million tpy operation for over 30 years. The mine portal area is located some six miles inland from the Kanawha River. The river loading facility is located approximately 156 miles by way of river from the market.

Jan 1, 1969

By Fredrick C. Kruger

Introduction This surprisingly little-known group of minerals, the nonmetallics, so-called for their lack of metallic luster, is the largest group of the mineral kingdom, and cinstitutes perhaps 75 percent of all mineral species. For the most part, these minerals are compounds of the common acids, oxides, hydroxides, and two elements, carbon and sulfur. The list of the non- metallic minerals, therefore, is very long. It includes the borates, carbonates, chlorides, fluorides, nitrates, phosphates, silicates, sulfates, and less commonly, arsenates, chromates, molybdates, suliides, tungstates, and vanadates, the latter groups, and many of the oxides, being sought principally for their metal content. Those nonmetallics used commercially are generally called the industrial minerals, although in addition this term also includes a considerable group of rocks. The list of industrial minerals and rocks is continually growing as new uses are found, and it now numbers over 300 commodities. The industrial minerals industry has developed since about 1920. There- fore, the development has been fast, and it has been more or less parallel with the development of the art of minerals beneficiation. General Discussion of the Group This group is so heterogeneous that it has defied logical, or widely accepted, classification, whether by origin, composition, or end use, and perhaps for this reason the industrial minerals generally have received short shrift in both teaching and research. Except for those involved with asbestos, cement, fertilizers, gypsum, salt, sand and gravel, few large companies have deigned to enter the field, and consequently most industrial minerals have been developed for the most part by the small operators or entrepreneurs. Yet surprisingly, except for one war year, the nonmetallics have always surpassed the metals in value and tonnage (Fig. 1). One main characteristic that most of the nonmetallics have in common is direct sensitivity to labor and transportation. In other words they are characterized by large bulk and low-unit value, and hence have what might be termed a "place value".

Jan 1, 1971

By Hugh Marriott

MANGANESE and its ores have been recently dealt with in comprehensive papers to the Iron and Steel Institute by Sir Robert Hadfield, and in a series of papers read before the A. I. M. E. at the Cleveland meeting. I have taken the opportunity of adding this mineral, to my records of the "World's Mineral Production and Consumption," as recently pub-lished in the Economist ?. The tables bring out the following significant facts: The world's production has increased by 10 per cent since 1913. India's production has increased by 3 per cent since 1.913, the supply from this source now being 31.1 per cent of the world's output. Russia is now producing at about half its pre-war rate and yields 19 per cent of the world's production. West Africa supplies 12.5 per cent of the world's total output. Brazil's present output is 2.5 times that of the pre-war period, being 11.3 per cent of the world's output.

Jan 9, 1927

Optimism over the continued growth of coal ex- ports received a significant shot in the arm September 18 at Norfolk, Va., when huge, new ship coal-loading facilities of the Norfolk & Western Railway were formally dedicated before a large audience of American and foreign dignitaries. Guest of Honor at the occasion was Christian A. Herter, Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, who, in a speech, stated, "The prospects for the expansion of our coal exports are excellent. The competitive pricing and high quality of our coals, whether for the production of coke for steel mills or for the generation of electric power, have won the respect of consumers everywhere in the world. Last year, the United States coal industry exported over 40 million net tons. . . . There are excellent reasons to believe that by 1970 we shall be exporting at double this rate."

Jan 10, 1963

By B. T. Wykoff

This paper describes an important function of mining in Southeast Missouri. The practice is a necessary procedure to prevent disintegration of the pillars. Although the technique is peculiar to this district, it might have application in other mines using room and pillar method.

Jan 8, 1950

By James Aston

A PROPER consideration of this subject is not confined to the technical channels of production and metallurgy. It concerns an industry, and should cover economic aspects which are of material importance in any program of development. The discussion may logically be treated under three subdivisions, as follows: (1) manufacture, (2) characteristics related to quality of material; (3) adaptability and exploitation of product. MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT IRON The manufacture of wrought iron is the most ancient art of the ferrous metal industry. The eighty years or less of existence of processes identified with our modern "Age of Steel" is a relatively brief interval compared with the several thousand years associated with the production of wrought iron by man. From the primitive early methods of production, manufacture for many centuries followed the line of direct reduction. There were developments as experience was gained through the years; but man's needs for a strong, ductile, forgeable product were met by reducing the ore to metallic iron in a single-stage operation. Following the development several centuries ago of what has become our modern blast-furnace operation, manufacture of wrought iron was gradually transformed into a two-stage method of first producing cast iron and then refining this to the desired degree of forgeability; the forerunner in principle of today's scheme of manufacture of steel. The product retained the essential characteristics of highly refined base metal with iron-silicate slag incorporation, which were associated with the material resulting from direct reduction methods. Cort's invention of the puddling process in 1784 is a landmark in wrought-iron manufacture. It consisted essentially in adapting a coal-fired reverberatory furnace to the refining operation; thus lifting the industry out of the slough of

Jan 1, 1935

By James Aston

A PROPER consideration of this subject is not confined to the technical channels of production and metallurgy. It concerns an industry, and should cover economic aspects which are of material importance in any program of development. The discussion may logically be treated under three subdivisions, as follows: (1) manufacture, (2) characteristics related to quality of material; (3) adaptability and exploitation of product. MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT IRON The manufacture of wrought iron is the most ancient art of the ferrous metal industry. The eighty years or less of existence of processes identi-fied with our modern "Age of Steel" is a relatively brief interval com-pared with the several thousand years associated with the production of wrought iron by man. From the primitive early methods of production, manufacture for many centuries followed the line of direct reduction. There were developments as experience was gained through the years; but man's needs for a strong, ductile, forgeable product were met by reducing the ore to metallic iron in a single-stage operation. Following the development several centuries ago of what has become our modern blast-furnace operation, manufacture of wrought iron was gradually transformed into a two-stage method of first producing cast iron and then refining this to the desired degree of forgeability; the fore-runner in principle of today's scheme of manufacture of steel. The product retained the essential characteristics of highly refined base metal with iron-silicate slag incorporation, which were associated with the material resulting from direct reduction methods. Cort's invention of the puddling process in 1784 is a landmark in wrought-iron manufacture. It consisted essentially in adapting a coal-fired reverberatory furnace to the refining operation; thus lifting the industry out of the slough of

Jan 1, 1935

By C. S. Trewin

ZINC, in its wrought form, is produced commercially in rolled strip, sheet, wire, rod and tubing. Wire has been made periodically, but due to the fact that slight drafts are necessary, the cost of production is greater than for the more common non-ferrous metals which are made into wire. Notwithstanding the cost, zinc wire has certain special uses for which it is particularly adaptable. Rod has been made both by rolling and extrusion; the product, however, has not indicated great commercial value. Tubing has been made from strip from time to time by forming a strip around a mandrel and either electrically or gas-welding a longitudinal joint. Recently a tube manufacturer has succeeded in making a fair quantity of this material. Its commercial adaptability is still to be determined but anyone who desires it can obtain quantities of the smaller sizes. Inasmuch as strip and sheet are commercially the most important, this paper will be devoted to these products. In the broader sense, zinc is not alloyed. That is, there are no combinations comparable to the various copper, aluminum and nickel alloys. It has been recognized for some time that the lead and cadmium occurring with commercial zinc have some effect on its properties and such alloys as may be said to exist are those made from zincs containing varying amounts of lead and cadmium with a relatively low iron content. The foreign rolled zinc will analyze higher in lead than the domestic grades. A representative foreign analysis will run 1.1 per cent. lead, 0.07 per cent. cadmium and 0.02 per cent. iron. The American grades vary from zinc approximating high grade and analyzing 0.08 per cent. lead, 0.002 per cent. cadmium and 0.015 per cent. iron, to the lower grades in which the lead will vary from 0.3 to 1.0 per cent., cadmium from 0.10 to 0.5 per cent. and the iron in the neighborhood of 0.02 percent. ROLLED ZINC Rolled zinc is produced in both the strip (or ribbon) form in which the product is rolled from a single bar in one continuous direction, or sheet in

Jan 1, 1928

By C. S. Trewin

ZINC, in its wrought form, is produced commercially in rolled strip, sheet, wire, rod and tubing. Wire has been made periodically, but due to the fact that slight drafts are necessary, the cost of production is greater than for the more common non-ferrous metals which are made into wire. Notwithstanding the cost, zinc wire has certain special uses for which it is particularly adaptable. Rod has been made both by rolling and extrusion, the product, however, has not indicated great commercial value. Tubing has been made from strip from time to time by forming a strip around a mandrel and either electrically or gas-welding a longitudinal joint. Recently a tube manufacturer has succeeded in making a fair quantity of this material. Its commercial adaptability is still to be determined but anyone who desires it can obtain quantities of the smaller sizes. Inasmuch as strip and sheet are commercially the most important, this paper will be devoted to these products. In the broader sense, zinc is not alloyed. That is, there are no combinations comparable to the various copper, aluminum and nickel alloys. It has been recognized,, for some time, that the lead and cadmium occurring with commercial zinc have some effect on its properties and such alloys as may be said to exist are those made from zincs containing varying amounts of lead and cadmium with a relatively low iron content. The foreign rolled zinc will analyze higher in lead than the domestic grades. A representative foreign analysis will run 1.1 per cent. lead, 0.07 per cent. cadmium and 0.02 per cent. iron. The American grades vary from zinc approximating high grade. and analyzing 0.08 per cent. lead, 0.002 per cent. cadmium and 0.015 per cent. iron, to the lower grades in which the lead will vary from 0.3 to 1.0 per cent., cadmium from 0.10 to 0.5 per cent. and the iron in the neighborhood of 0.02 percent.

Jan 1, 1927