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By AIME AIME

IT is unlikely that any oil field has ever threatened the future course of the oil industry as does Kettleman today. It seems that nature has striven to outdo herself in combining in this field every possible factor conducive to a tremendous production of the petroleum product in greatest demand-gasoline. This field already has 13,700 acres of proved land and an oil zone of known thickness of 1400 ft. It has wells yielding several thousand barrels of oil of virtually motor fuel grade, together with millions of cubic feet of gas at almost unheard of pressures. The field would have been the. answer to an oil man's prayer in times of under-supply, but now it is the oil man's nightmare, for drilled in -the manner of most other fields and without regard to available markets for oil and gas, the greatest physical and economic losses in the his¬tory of the oil industry will result.

Jan 1, 1930

By H. M. Wolflin

SOMEWHAT more than a year ago the writer collected some extensive notes on metal-mine fires and a paper on metal-mine fire prevention and fighting, a summary of these notes, was hastily pre-pared, with the assistance of G. Chester Brown, chief mining engineer, Industrial Accident Commission for the National Safety Council meeting. This summary, which is admittedly incomplete, is submitted in the hope that it will evoke some discussion that may result in a reduction in metal-mine fire hazard along the line. To accomplish such a reduction does not require the application of complicated scien-tific data. The use of just a little care, a small amount of thoughtfulness and a bit of common sense will work wonders. UNDERGROUND FIRE FIGHTING There may be some interest in a short list of con-clusions of a rather general nature that were reached in connection with some recent mine-fire fighting opera-tions. No effort has been made to cover the field; the items have been jotted down loosely, and very hastily, in the order in which they occurred to the writer. Originality is claimed for, only a few of them. 1. Temperature readings and analyses of mine-air samples, systematically taken, are invaluable aids to effective metal-mine fire fighting and recovery opera-tions. The analysis of the return-air samples fre-quently gives a surprisingly accurate indication of conditions existing underground. 2. Employees must be thoroughly trained in the use, of mine rescue apparatus, because a relatively slight difference in the amount of training makes a vast difference in the amount of work they can per-form under oxygen. In general, slender, wiry men make better apparatus men than those of heavy, more muscular physique, although there are frequent excep-tions to any such general statement. 3: Surprisingly high temperatures, up to 165° F. or 170° F. pan be endured for short periods by wearers of mine rescue apparatus if the air is dry, but lower temperatures, 135° to 140° F. are almost unbearable if the air is very moist.

Jan 2, 1922

By F. K. Pence

THE reduction of the firing of clay wares to a science has been one of the most difficult problems of modern ceramic engineering. The number of factors involved in the treatment of these wares has been such a complicated composite of the chemical and the physical properties that, according to the old practice, results depended rather on the art of the operator than on any scientific data available. The combined influence of the chemical and physical properties of clay minerals renders it difficult to apply the data obtained in one operation to the forecasting of details to be applied in another. In maturing clay-ware bodies by the application of heat, the chemical reactions involved are, in general, incomplete. The object frequently is to secure a certain physical quality, as density, color, or strength, rather than any particular chemical composition or development: This is more generally true of the so-called crude clay products. In the case of certain more high-grade wares, as the porcelains, it is necessary to reach the temperature required to bring about a certain molecular development or crystalline structure; but even here, time and temperature are at work and must be considered jointly. The conditions attending the firing of clay wares has led to the use of certain devices in the measurement of the progress of the firing process whereby the influence of the various burning factors on the clay composition under fire is indicated. In the simplest application of this practice, samples of the ware itself are so placed as to be drawn for observation at various intervals during the burn. Although the appearance is affected by the quick cooling treatment, by experience, this practice is successfully used, particularly in the brick industry. The settle of the setting of brick, as measured from the top of the kiln may also serve as a guide in the firing operation. Another example is found in the stoneware industry, where the practice of arranging test pieces made of the same composition

Jan 9, 1919

By R. N. Lambert

This chapter discusses the evolution of high-speed shaft sinking in the South African goldfields. Whether we are talking of an additional shaft at an existing mine or the opening of a new mine, the increasing depth of the ore-bearing reef and the unremitting inflation of costs have provided the compelling incentive to shorten the time taken to sink a shaft and start earning revenue. The high costs of sinking a modern shaft system in South Africa are indicated by the recent example of a deep-level mine in the Orange Free State where the cost was nearly $22!42 million. This was for a single large shaft of 33 ft 6 in. diam (in all cases, shaft diameters refer to the finished diameter of the shaft, e.g., inside the concrete) and 7600 ft deep with a prestressed concrete brattice wall dividing the shaft into upcast and downcast compartments. Higher costs and the consequent demand for increased tonnages, deeper shafts with higher rock temperatures, which necessitate highly sophisticaled ventilation and refrigeration requirements, have all accentuated the importance of time in a shaft-sinking operation. Rectangular shafts with their simple design and comparatively reasonable sinking speeds remained popular for many years until greater mining depths combined with a host of the other allied problems inevitably led to changes in shaft design. Circular shafts appeared to offer many advantages, particularly when considering ventilation, strength, mechanization, and sinking through bad ground and heavily watered zones. However, these advantages were largely offset by the slow rate of advance necessitated by the need to stop sinking in order to line the shaft. The development of the curb ring which enabled lining to take place above the bottom of the shaft and the use of multideck stages allowing sinking and lining to be carried out concurrently resulted in a major break- through. Rectangular shafts, which are still popular elsewhere, have been superseded in South Africa by circular shafts which are almost without exception the only shafts sunk in our goldfields today.

Jan 1, 1970

By W. C. Winegard, J. R. Carruthers, A. Plumtree, L. R. Morris

The unidirectional solidification of dendrites containing central twin planes was studied in A1-Ti alloys. Once nucleated, the twinned dendrites are a Twore ejficient form for solute redistribution and therefore grow in preference to the normal columnar dendvites. Comparison of these twinned dendrites to adjacent colunmar dendrites by means of decanting experinzents and electron-probe rnicvoarmlysis indicates that these special dendrites grow with less undercooling than normal dendrites. These findings are further supported by the effect of forced convection on the dendrite morphologies. COMMERCIAL semicontinuous cast ingots of most aluminum alloys frequently exhibit large grains which appear to be composed of hundreds of parallel, continuous, thin lamellae. This structure has been termed "basaltic",' "fiederkristall", or, commonly, "feathery grain". The lamellae are 'about 100 p thick, several inches long, and each lamella contains a central (111) coherent twin boundary. The feathery grain has been reported to have a (112) direction2 and a (110) direction4 in the twin plane parallel to the casting direction, in contrast with the usual columnar structure where a (100) direction predominates. Aust et uZ.~ proposed that the twin boundaries were growth twins nucleated by stacking faults on the octahedral planes. chalmers6 has suggested that feathery grain may grow by a re-entrant edge mechanism, as proposed by wagner7 for twinned dendritic growth in germanium. Cahn et ~1.~ have concluded that the occurrence of feathery grain is evidence of some form of lateral layer growth rather than the atomically continuous growth normally observed in metals. The postulates by Chalmers and Cahn would seem to be contradicted by the work of Nakao~"' who showed that feathery grain only occurs when growth rates are high and the aluminum contains some solute. Specifically, Nakao found that in order to obtain feathery grain, in small castings solidified unidirec-tionally upward, the rate of growth must be above 2.4 cm per min and a critical solute concentration must be present. Below this solute concentration the grain structure was totally columnar. The critical solute concentration was found to be approximately: 0.04 wt pct Ti, 2 wt pct Cu or Mg, and 8 wt pct Zn. As pointed out by Chalmers it is not obvious why a twin-plane re-entrant edge mechanism would occur in aluminum which is thought to have a diffuse solid-liquid interface. The present experiments were undertaken to determine the growth mechanisms in- volved and to study the solute segregation in more detail. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES Alloys ranging in composition from 0.05 to 0.23 wt pct Ti* were prepared from 99.9 pct pure Ti and 99.993 pct pure Al. Two-hundred-gram samples of A1-Ti binary alloys were solidified unidirectionally and vertically upward from a water-cooled copper base, in a heated insulated mold. The 1-in.-diam, 6-in.-length mold was made of Marinite (manufactured by Johns-Manville Co.). The mold was attached to a 24-in. pivoted arm such that by dropping a weight the mold was rotated 180 deg, throwing the liquid metal from the solid. In this way, the solid-liquid interface was revealed by decanting. A sketch of the decanting mold is shown in Fig. 1. The alloy was poured into the mold at temperatures ranging from 680" to 750°C, partially solidified by water cooling from the base, and decanted after a measured time interval. Growth rates for each metal-pouring temperature were calculated from solidification-time vs length solidified curves. Temperature gradients in the melt were measured using four No. 34 gage thermocouples which protruded into the mold cavity. Grain orientations were determined by X-ray diffraction using Laue back-reflection techniques. Grain substructures were examined metallographically, using polarized light, by applying a thin epitaxial anodic film to polished sections after the method of Hone and pearson." Titanium micro segregation was measured by electron-probe microanalysis using a NORELCO AMR/~ with a mica crystal and proportional-flow counter. Several of the cast samples exhibited feathery and columnar dendrites growing in the same direction and

Jan 1, 1967

By J. D. Sullivan, Chester R. Austin, J. L. Nunes

IT is characteristic of most shales and surface clays that a bloated or vesicular structure is produced by burning to a sufficiently high temperature, usually about 150° to 200°F. above the normal maturing temperature used when making common brick of the same material. Early investigators recognized this phenomenon and attributed it to the release or expansion of gases in the vitrified piece. A number of theories have been advanced on the source of the gas and the manner in which it is evolved, but none has been proved conclusively. T. E. Jackson's1 early theory that bloating was due to oxygen evolved by ferric oxide in forming ferrous oxide or ferrous silicate was never substantiated by experimental work. Orton2 thought this explanation unlikely, as all clays should bloat at the same temperature, if this were true. He found that clays bloated in the range from 1100° to 1706°C. Also, many clays containing iron did not bloat at all, but fused. Orton also stated that oxidation of different types of carbon was a source of gas during burning of clay and should be expelled before vitrification was reached. Seger3 said that he had dissolved ferric oxide in glass with no apparent evolution of gas. Matson4 came to the conclusion that ferruginous days burned to vitrification in an oxidizing atmosphere did not have the iron in a ferrous form. According to Wilson,5 the gases responsible for bloating might be entrapped air, water, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxygen, and hydrocarbons. He spoke of two causes of bloating: (I) incomplete oxidation below the vitrification temperature, and (2) decomposition of compounds and evolution of gases above the vitrification temperature. Decomposition of calcium sulphate was given as the principal example of the latter. Bleininger and Montgomery6 stated that if any time after vitrification began the evolution of gaseous matter was rapid enough so that pressure was produced within the day, bloating was certain to take place, and a vesicular structure would be formed. They recognized that initial structure, rate of heating, kiln atmosphere, and many other variables affected bloating. Work done by the Emergency Fleet Corporation7 indicated that clays suitable for bloating should be high in compounds of metallic oxides, carbon, sulphur, sodium, potassium, or other equivalent compounds, which either act as a flux or give off gas. Orton2 studied the chemical status of the carbon, iron, and sulphur in clays during various stages of burning, using a Huron shale that bloated under oxidizing or reducing conditions. He found that only a small amount of sulphur remained in the clay and that it could be detected only by dissolving the clay in hydrofluoric acid; i.e., the sulphur was in combination with the silica. Orton said that this sulphur was probably in the form of iron sulphide dissolved in the glass phase. The iron sulphide was not broken down by heating, but was dissolved in the basic slag or glass,

Jan 1, 1942

By Charles L. Elliot

Worldwide manpower utilization reached a new high at 10,482 professional man-months and expenditures increased to $19.9 million for mining geophysical activity during 1965. This is up from 9323 man-months and $14.5 million in 1964. Worldwide geophysical activity measured in percent distribution of the total manpower utilization and expenditures is presented in the accompanying Figs. 1 and 2. In terms of the total manpower utilization, ground surveys accounted for 61%, airborne surveys 18%, and mining geophysical research activity 21%. For expenditures, the breakdown was ground surveys, 49%; airborne surveys, 3901o; and research, 12%. Industry was responsible in general for 74% of the manpower utilization and 80% of the expenditures. Manpower costs in 1965 averaged $1900 per professional man-month.

Jan 11, 1966

By Frank J. Anderson

IN the cement region of the Lehigh Valley, a difference of 2 to 3 pct in CaCO3 can make or break a new quarry development, and experience of the Dragon Cement Co. has shown that values of calcium carbonate, as reported from churn drill samples, have been increased as much as 6 pct on the average when the same area was diamond drilled. This calcium carbonate increase consequently lowered the values for silica, iron, and alumina, and made these sections much more attractive. Since 1950, the Dragon Cement Co. Inc. has been engaged in extensive diamond drilling in the local limestone of the Northampton, Pa., region, known as the Jacksonburg formation, and in the Lebanon, Pa., region in the Annville limestone, both of Ordovician age.

Jan 12, 1954

By Chingyuan Y. Li, C. Y. Hsieh

REALIZING that aluminum will have a great role to play in the coming industrialization of China, Chinese geologists have long been looking about for some aluminum deposits. The possible sources appear to be alunite, the alumina-rich shales, and the bauxite deposits. The locations of deposits are shown in Fig. I. ALUNITE Our attention was first directed to the alunite deposits along the southeastern coast of China. Table I summarizes the reserves now believed to exist in that region. [ ] Other alunite deposits have been found in Kiangpei, Szechuan province; Channing, Liuyang and Hsanshan, Hunnan province; Tsingchow and Chowyuan, Shantung province. No reserve figures are available. HIGH-ALUMINA SHALE Shale high enough in aluminum to serve as a source of that metal has been found in northeastern China (Table 2). [ ] In Manchuria, the Manchuria Light Metals Co., at Antung and Fushun, operating under Japanese control, has been the only active producer of aluminum. It is not known, however, whether the company uses local raw materials or imports ore from elsewhere.* SHANTUNG BAUXITE Bauxite was first recognized in China at Paoshan, Shantung province. Although the reserve is reported to be large (estimated at 271 million tons), the high content of insoluble residue (Si02) and mineral composition (diaspore) are dis-

Jan 1, 1946

By Mark Malamphy

DURING colonial times, Brazil was famous for the richness of her alluvial gold deposits. Paul Ferrand has estimated that the gold produced during the period from 1700 to 1820 was the equivalent of some 64 million pounds sterling. Since that time, most of the more prolific alluvial deposits have been exhausted. A few gold mines are still func-tioning, notably the Morro Velho mine, which is one of the deepest mines in the world. Today, the gold production of Brazil is insignificant when compared with world figures, but there are still many gold-bearing regions and it is probable that in at least some of them profitable returns would result from an exploitation program taking advantage of all the most modern innovations in gold mining and ore treatment on a large scale. In order to demonstrate the value of some of these abandoned pros-pects and stir up interest in increasing the national gold production, the government has stimulated research. Experimental plants have been and are being established in various places, and tests on large quantities of ores are being carried out on a semicommercial basis. The Geological Survey of the State of Minas Geraes is very active in this line and the Federal Institution is also showing an increased interest in the matter.

Jan 1, 1934

By J. R. Sturgul, J. C. Wynn

Computers and computer applications in geophysics are fairly recent innovations. The area of data handling is one that has found many immediate applications. Initially, the use of computers involved in almost all cases, a batch-input arrangement requiring a trip to the local computer center, a wait and another trip. Even though the computer worked at incredible speeds, the time-delays, in case an error in the input data developed, often could be several days. Use of computers in mining exploration by medium-sized or small-sized companies and contractors has been almost non-existent beyond simple data reduction work. The principle J. R. Sturgul, SME member, and J. C. Wynn, both affiliated with the Dept. of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, presented this paper at the Eleventh International Symposium on Computer Applications in the Minerals Industry, reasons appear to be the time factor and the inconvenience of the frequent trips involved. With the advent of time sharing systems, whereby a company need only have access to a terminal, the main objections can be overcome. An Apparent Solution An apparent solution to the time and distance inconveniences which would permit more extensive use of computers in geophysical exploration, is to buy or lease/purchase a medium-sized computer and install it in or near one's office. This is a formidable proposition in terms of cost and programming time on both respects, but several mining companies of larger size have already gone this route. In most cases, the computers have been expensive devices with a limited memory or core size. For routine data handling this memory size is not restrictive; however, for many geophysical applications such as three-dimensional modeling this can be critical.

Jan 10, 1973

By K. D. Eigenbrod

A case history is presented of a landslide that occurred adjacent to a highway in the valley of the North Saskatchewan River, about 12 miles upstream of Edmonton, Alberta. The slide took place in the late fall of 1965 following excavations associated with highway improvements that deepened the slope and cut it back to 20º. The slide occurred in the Upper Cretaceous Edmonton Formation. Till covers the bedrock at the location. The bedrock consists of interbedded mudstone, claystone, and sandstone with layers of bentonite and coal. The field investigation consisted of a series of pits at the toe of the slide and seven boreholes around it. Undisturbed samples were taken with a Pitcher Sampler and piezometers were installed at various depths in the section. The slide had taken place on a horizontal bentonitic clay layer and it crossed softened mudstone in the back slope. Three piezometric levels were detected but no water pressures were found along the horizontal portion of the slip surface because it was in contact with a free-draining coal layer. Borehole evidence revealed that the bentonitic clay layer was sheared in place beyond the confines of the slide zone. Although this slide was a first-time occurrence, it was part of a much larger slide block that moved presumably when the valley was being formed. Laboratory tests were carried out to determine the shear strength parameters of the bentonitic clay and the back slope material. These parameters together with the observed water pressure distribution in the slide area gave a factor of safety of 1.01 in a non-circular limiting equilibrium analysis. The case history is particularly instructive in indicating the care that must be taken to obtain representative information for stability analysis when geological and groundwater conditions are non-uniform. The origin of the sheared clay is discussed.

Jan 1, 1972

By M. M. Neale

The pottery department has been aptly described as the "heart of the zinc plant," md every operator of a horizontal-retort plant is acquainted with the fact that good retort practice is the keystone of the smelting process. Since retorts and condensers are clay products, it is obvious that improvements in other branches of the ceramic industry should be observed for possible adoption in the pottery process for zinc smelting. Deaeration of clay bodies is one of the improvements that have become fully, established in many brick and pottery plants. Our investigation of a number of these installations always yielded the same answer—improved practice. Improvement in workability, elimination of laminations, less porosity, greater wet and dry strength, were among the claims put forth for this process. All of these features are exceedingly desirable characteristics in the manufacture of a zinc retort. A preliminary test, which involved truck transportation of deaired slugs over a relatively long distance, did show the value of many of these characteristics in forming the retort. Results from the standpoint of , longer retort life in the smelting furnace were not outstanding. The idea lay dormant for several years but was revived again in 1940, when it was decided to make whatever changes were necessary in the equipment for pottery manufacture to fully demonstrate the process. A number of the manu- facturers of machinery for clay work were asked to submit proposals, and the plan finally adopted was extremely simple and economical. Machine FOR DeaeRRATING Selection of the ''Straight-line'' principle for conversion of the "Wettengel" pug mill to a ''vacuum-extrusion" machine preserved some usable parts of the original equipment, such as the drive mechanism, and main shaft. The converted machine consists of a feed hopper, a compression and shredding zone, a vacuum chamber, and an extrusion barrel, as shown in Fig. I. In operation the clay mix travels from the feed hopper into the compression zone, where it is compressed and finally forced around the tapered cone into the vacuum chamber. As it enters this chamber the clay body is shredded into thin plates, for exFosure to the vacuum. The shredder consists of a hub mounted on the main shaft, to which are bolted segmental sections, each of which carries shredder knives. The compression zone and extrusion barrel function as seals for the vacuum chamber and the shredded clay mix is agitated thoroughly during its exposure to the vacuum. A vacuum pump, equipped with a 3-hp. motor, is attached to this chamber, and maintains 25 to 26 in. vacuum during operation of the mill. Changes in Practice Prior to the adoption of the deaeration process, our standard pottery practice called for double mixing in the combination 7

Jan 1, 1944

By Alec M. Crowell, Thomas D. Bailey

Although natural gas was first discovered in Northwest Arkansas in 1887, . near Fort Smith, Sebastian County, the literature contains very little information on the region, which is separated distinctly from the oil area of Southern Arkansas. For that reason this brief and concise report is a summary of developments from discovery to the present time. Northwest Arkansas produced 5,736,-ooo,ooo cu. ft. of natural gas during 1942, the trend of production having been generally upward over the past five years, as is shown in Fig. I. Since 1904 a reserve of 237 billion cubic feet of natural gas has been discovered in Northwest Arkansas, of which approximately 162 billion cubic feet have been expended, leaving a reserve of approximately 75 billion cubic feet available as of Jan. 1, 1943. A prolific new field discovered in Pope County Oct. 23, 1942, will add to the reserve of the region materially. Per well reserves, over-all, are unusually high because of the practice of multiple completion. As yet no commercial deposits of oil have been discovered in Northwest Arkansas. but the gas deposits have proved of immense value industrially, principally in the processing of zinc ore mined in the local area as well as that imported from distant states. With the war, new interest in the exploitation of the metallic ores of the region lends new significance to the gas reserves tabulated herein. Geological Discussion The region covered in this report comprises the Arkansas Valley from Pope County weslward to the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line as shown in Fig. 2. This valley is a westward trending structural trough with sharp-topped ridges and mesa-like mountains rising above the valley's undulating surface. It is bounded on the north by the Ozark Highlands and on the south by the Ouachita Mountains. The sedimentary beds of the Arkansas Valley are composed mainly of noniossil-iferous shales and sandstones. The rocks contain a high content of carbonaceous material and many coal beds are found in the region. The Gxed carbon ratios (ratio of fixed carbon to volatile combustible matter of surface coals) are very high and average about 80 per cent over the region covered in this report. Little or no calcareous material is present. Rocks of the Arkansas Valley are sharply folded, and igneous intrusive rocks cut the sedimentary beds at a few places. The Arkansas Geological Survey' made a detailed reconnaissance survey of the Arkansas Valley province in 1927, the purpose being to delineate the major structural features (Fig. 3) and to point out the possibilities of discovering addi. tional gas deposits. More than fifty anticlines were mapped as a result of this survey. The information gained by this

Jan 1, 1943

By Thomas D. Bailey, Alec M. Crowell

Although natural gas was first discovered in Northwest Arkansas in 1887, . near Fort Smith, Sebastian County, the literature contains very little information on the region, which is separated distinctly from the oil area of Southern Arkansas. For that reason this brief and concise report is a summary of developments from discovery to the present time. Northwest Arkansas produced 5,736,-ooo,ooo cu. ft. of natural gas during 1942, the trend of production having been generally upward over the past five years, as is shown in Fig. I. Since 1904 a reserve of 237 billion cubic feet of natural gas has been discovered in Northwest Arkansas, of which approximately 162 billion cubic feet have been expended, leaving a reserve of approximately 75 billion cubic feet available as of Jan. 1, 1943. A prolific new field discovered in Pope County Oct. 23, 1942, will add to the reserve of the region materially. Per well reserves, over-all, are unusually high because of the practice of multiple completion. As yet no commercial deposits of oil have been discovered in Northwest Arkansas. but the gas deposits have proved of immense value industrially, principally in the processing of zinc ore mined in the local area as well as that imported from distant states. With the war, new interest in the exploitation of the metallic ores of the region lends new significance to the gas reserves tabulated herein. Geological Discussion The region covered in this report comprises the Arkansas Valley from Pope County weslward to the Arkansas-Oklahoma state line as shown in Fig. 2. This valley is a westward trending structural trough with sharp-topped ridges and mesa-like mountains rising above the valley's undulating surface. It is bounded on the north by the Ozark Highlands and on the south by the Ouachita Mountains. The sedimentary beds of the Arkansas Valley are composed mainly of noniossil-iferous shales and sandstones. The rocks contain a high content of carbonaceous material and many coal beds are found in the region. The Gxed carbon ratios (ratio of fixed carbon to volatile combustible matter of surface coals) are very high and average about 80 per cent over the region covered in this report. Little or no calcareous material is present. Rocks of the Arkansas Valley are sharply folded, and igneous intrusive rocks cut the sedimentary beds at a few places. The Arkansas Geological Survey' made a detailed reconnaissance survey of the Arkansas Valley province in 1927, the purpose being to delineate the major structural features (Fig. 3) and to point out the possibilities of discovering addi. tional gas deposits. More than fifty anticlines were mapped as a result of this survey. The information gained by this

Jan 1, 1943

By B. B. Zavoico

During 1936 the Russian oil industry made very satisfactory progress and, while not all difficulties of organization have been ironed out, the country is now assured of a supply of petroleum products in sufficient quantities and of quality demanded by modern motor equipment. The year 1937 promises to better by a wide margin the good showing of 1936. The statistics given in this paper for the first time take into consideration the varying gravities of crude oils of the several Russian oil fields instead of using a flat conversion factor of 7 bbl. per metric ton. It was found from the detailed study that the generally used average conversion factor should be increased from 7 to 7.25 bbl. per metric ton, the figure varying, of course, with the gravity of oil in the individual fields. Crude-oil production during 1936 is estimated at 201,500,000 bbl. as compared with 182,970,000 bbl. produced in 1935, an increase of 9.4 per cent. The greatest increase was again recorded in the Baku district, which increased its production by 10.9 per cent, from 141,257,000 bbl. in 1935 to 158,300,000 in 1936. Grozny district maintained its production at a level of about 23,000,000 bbl., but its old fields continued to decline and production was sustained by the development of newer fields. A great advance was made in drilling speeds and the total footage in 1936 reached 6,694,200 ft. as compared with 4,926,600 ft. drilled in 1935, an increase of 26.4 per cent. In older deep fields, producers were being completed at over 8000 ft.—a great depth for Russian drillers but two years ago. Several major discoveries were made in 1936. Northeast Caucasus.—Izberbash, east from Grozny and on the Caspian Sea, was the outstanding discovery, the initial production of the discovery well being around 3000 bbl. per day from about 5000 ft. The importance of the field is due to the large area of the structure, half of which, however, is under the sea, and also to its strategic location on the shores of the Caspian and near a trunk pipe line to the Grozny refining center. An active development program is being pursued in Izberbash and its 1937 production quota is set at 7,500,000 bbl. Achi-Su field, near Izberbash, also discovered during 1936, while not as prolific as Izberbash, is thought to cover a very large area and the small

Jan 1, 1937

Lieutenant Gorman was born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1888, and after preliminary education at Ottawa University and the Ottawa Collegiate Institute, he graduated from McGill University in 1913, as a mining engineer. After graduation, Mr. Gorman spent several months in a tour of Europe. The year 1909 was occupied at one of the Canadian graphite mines, and the summer of 1911 he spent with the Granby Mining, Smelting & Power Co., Ltd. At the time of his admission to the Institute, in 1914, he was sampler with the Dome mines at South Porcupine, Ontario. His next engagement was at the Creighton mine, Ontario, but in 1916 he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and went to England. A letter written by Major Ritchie, commanding the Second Tunnelling Company, to Lieut. Gorman's mother, contains the following words. Tommy was lulled at our headquarters by a nine-inch shell which struck the officers' quarters. The Hun had been shelling a small village close to the camp with a long-range gun and a shot fell into our camp. Tom was killed instantly by the concussion. He mas buried this morning with Military Honours in the military cemetery close to our camp. Tommy was an efficient officer and a good soldier and his loss is very keenly felt by the officers and men of this unit. Lieutenant William Hague William Hague, First Lieutenant Co. F, 116th Regiment of Engineers, and a member of the Institute since 1906, died of pneumonia in France, on Jan. 1, 1918. Lieutenant Hague was born in Orange, N. J., Mar. 31, 1882, the son of the late James D. Hague, a distinguished mining engineer and a life member of the Institute, and Mary Ward (Foote) Hague, of Guilford, Conn. He attended Milton Academy, Milton, Mass., and was graduated from Harvard in the class of 1904. He was a nephew of the late Arnold Hague, of the United States Geological Survey. Seven years ago he married Elizabeth Stone, of Milton, who with their son, James D. Hague, six years old, survives him. Lieutenant Hague's mining career began immediately after his graduation from Harvard, when he went to Bisbee, Ariz., to be a surveyor's helper in the mines of the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Co. In 1905, he became an instrument man, being engaged on the construction work of the Copper Queen smelting plant at Douglas, Ariz. In the latter part of the same year he was transferred to the geological depart-

Jan 1, 1920

By J. W. King

URANIUM ore was first discovered in the Edge-mont district of the southern Black Hills in the summer of 1951. The discovery was not made known for some time, but after the news leaked out prospecting became intense, and several hundred claims were staked in the spring of 1952. The Hot Springs Sub Office of the Atomic Energy Commission was established at that time and airborne radiometric surveys were commenced by the Government and by private companies. During the succeeding summer another important discovery was made by private airborne surveys in the northern Black Hills, and the area favorable for uranium ore was expanded many times. Between that summer of 1952 and the present, many individuals and groups have explored, developed, and exploited their claims until now uranium ore is produced in significant quantities and substantial reserves have been developed. The Black Hills portion of the geologic map of the U. S. issued by the U. S. Geological Survey is shown in Fig. 1. Sedimentary formations are exposed as a series of cuestas and hogbacks in a roughly annular pattern with the older sediments resting on the pre-Cambrian core, which is exposed in the eastern and southern portions of the dome. The South Dakota-Wyoming state line bisects the area from north to south. The Cheyenne River crosses the southern tip of the Black Hills and the Little Missouri bounds them roughly on the north. Headquarters of the AEC in the Black Hills is the Sub Office at Hot Springs, S. D. An ore buying station is located in Edgemont, 28 miles to the southwest, where a mill is presently under construction. The area of original uranium ore discovery and of principal activity in the southern Hills is a few miles north of Edgemont. Several areas of anomalous radioactivity have been noted between Dewey, S. D., and Newcastle, Wyo. A limited amount of ore has come from the Dewey area and private exploration is active there. The Carlile deposit, largest producing mine in the northern Black Hills to date, lies northwest of the Belle Fourche River near the western extremity of the Hills. Two of the larger known orebodies of the area are located near the Little Missouri River where a small window exposes the favorable strati-graphic horizon of the Fall River sandstone. Small production has recently come from Barlow Canyon, near Devils Tower, Wyo., Fig. 2, and numerous areas of anomalous radioactivity are known in the vicinity. Three producing deposits and scattered radioactivity are found along the state line east of Aladdin, Wyo. Several areas of weakly anomalous radio-

Jan 1, 1957

By Branko Ladanyi

In reviewing the current issues in rock mechanics, the author puts an' emphasis on problems related with the needs of extrapolation in scale and time, and of establishing proper conceptual models, especially in connection with the most recent large-scale and long-term projects such as underground disposal of nuclear waste. In such projects, where valid case histories will not be available for many years to come, the observational method can only be successful if combined with a proper framework approach, such as general rock mass classification systems and behavioral models.

Jan 1, 1982

By P. E. Hopkins

Introduction and History IN speaking of the economic geology of southeastern Ontario, W. G. Miller and C. W. Knight' say that "there occurs in southeastern Ontario a variety of minerals and rocks of economic value, probably as great as in any district of like size on the North American continent. Some of these deposits, including marble and trap, are inexhaustible. Others, including talc and iron pyrites, have proved to be of considerable economic importance. From time to time, during the last 50 years, the following minerals and rocks have been mined or quarried with varying success: gold, iron pyrites, zinc blende, copper pyrites, galena, mispickel, magnetite, hematite, talc, actinolite, mica, marble, ophicalcite, feldspar; fluorite, apatite, corundum, graphite and sodalite. All of the economic materials, with the exception of fluorite, appear to be of pre-Cambrian age. The fluorite veins penetrate the Ordovician, Black River, limestone." Accompanying that report was an article by the writer on the Queensboro Pyrite Area which includes one of the two working pyrite properties in southeastern Ontario. In the present paper will be given a brief description' of all the known pyrite deposits in the area which may at some time possess an economic value, with fuller descriptions of the two working mines-The Canadian Sulphur Ore Co.'s mine near Queensboro, and the Nichols Chemical Co.'s property at Sulphide. The earliest mining of iron pyrites in Ontario was done in 1868 on the Billings property near Brockville. The mines were closed down in 1879 under the assumption that they were exhausted. Many other

Jan 8, 1916