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By L. Bombardieri, H. F. Mills

Iron King mine, producing gold-silver-lead-zinc-ore, is 10 miles east of Prescott, Ariz. At present the 1806 level is being developed. The echelon pat tern of ore deposit continues at depth but is less pronounced, and the orebody is now more or less continuous over 2600 ft of strike length, with widths 5 ft to as high as 26 ft where overlapping of lenses occurs in one section of the mine. Better continuity of ore at depth has encouraged systematic mining and improved plant facilities to offset higher operating costs. With favorable persistence of ore at depth, the three-compartment No. 6 hoisting shaft appeared inadequate to handle increased tonnage from greater depths, and in 1952, a four-compartment steel and concrete shaft was started. This is now at a depth of 1906 ft, and shaft pockets and loading cartridges are being installed on the 1806 level. Ore from the new shaft, hoisted in 5 ½ -ton Jeto bottom dump skips, is dumped into a 500-ton shaft bin, from which it is fed to a 16x30-in. gyratory crusher and conveyed 415 ft through an undersurface concrete gallery to the secondary crusher and conveying system supplying the 900-ton mill. Lead, zinc, and pyrite concentrates are floated, and the flotation tailings are cyanided after desliming. Waste from the new shaft is dumped into a 250-ton surge bin, fed from this bin to a 24-in. conveyor, and discharged into the glory hole above the block cave. The new shaft is served by a double-drum 400-hp hoist used for ore and waste; the No. 6 shaft conveys men and material.

Jul 1, 1956

By J. B. Clemmer, W. L. Lennemann, J. B. Rosenbaum

Security restrictions on processing uranium raw materials to yellow cake were lifted in August 1955, coincidental with the Geneva Conference on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. Numerous reports and technical papers on uranium extraction and recovery methods have appeared since that time, and it is doubtful that another review of past and current practices would add much to the technical literature. Development of some promising procedures was arrested, perhaps temporarily, by mechanical handling problems or peculiarities in the chemistry of uranium and associated elements. Some methods have been incompletely evaluated and still others that tested well in the laboratory and pilot plant are dormant because of competition from other processes, or because of their restricted applicability to particular ore types that have not reached quantity production. In view of the vast number of new ideas and procedures that have been advanced, considered, and tested, it would be futile to attempt a comprehensive survey in this article. Only a cross section of the field, based on random sampling, can be provided here. The authors have chosen, therefore, to discuss some innovations that may provide a clue to uranium ore processing techniques of the future. An effort has been made to select unpublicized new metallurgical techniques or interesting applications of established principles and procedures. With the two exceptions noted later, all the research to be described has been sponsored by the AEC. Physical Beneficiation: Individuals and firms engaged in mining and processing uranium ores, and in related research activities, have often had considerable experience in ore dressing. As might be expected, therefore, a prodigious amount of work has been done on physical beneficiation testing of uranium ores, particularly in efforts to concentrate subgrade materials. Although some success has been attained on specific ores by gravity concentration and flotation, ratios of concentration have generally been low and there has been difficulty in making a throwaway tailing.

Jan 9, 1957

By C. N. Garman

Homestake-New Mexico Partners operate a 750-tpd carbonate leach uranium concentrate mill near Grants, N.M. The highly mineralized water available as process water leaves much to be desired. The 628 ppm as CaCO 3 makes the use of raw water very troublesome in pipes and on filter cloths. However, the residual sodium carbonate in the final filter cake going to tails makes an ideal softening agent. To take advantage of this fact, all makeup water used in the mill is first used as tailing slurry dilution water and comes to the mill from the tailings pond. The 5-acre tailings pond serves as a thickener and 100 to 150 gpm of nearly clear solution is decanted to a pump to be returned to the mill. Since this tailings water has small quantities of uranium in the solution an ion exchange scavenger unit was installed to remove as much uranium as possible. The ion exchange raffinate is then used as final filter wash ahead of the tailings slurrying step. In spite of the large settling area this return water is not clean enough for ion exchange feed. The solids present are very fine and composed of approximately 15 pct (by weight) burnable carbonaceous material common to the sandstone uranium ores in the area, 40 pct SiOz plus 45 pct CaC03. Laboratory work showed that this material responds very well to flotation. Before deciding to use flotation, various clarifying systems such as pressure leaf filters, sand filters, and continuous vacuum pre-coat filters, were considered. Each of these could have solved the problem but with much more operating labor, more reagents and greater installation costs than the flotation step. About 100 to 150 gpm of fouled water is fed to two 66-in. Fagergren cells, in series. Reagents used at the beginning were Arquad 2HT75 and Arquad C50, at the rate of about 1% lb per 8-hr shift, or about 0.0053 lb each per ton of ore. This did not completely remove the solids but does an acceptable job. Approximately 75 pct of the slimes are a size that can be caught on a 41-Whatman Paper are removed. Removal of these slimes also allows much better settling of the coarse nonfloatable material. Advantage is also taken of this fact in a small settling tank ahead of precipitation. Removal of this amount of the slimes makes the ion t:xchange feasible. PREGNANT SOLUTION CIRCUIT The carbonate? leach-caustic precipitation method of uranium concertration does not provide for any process purification step ahead of precipitation. Therefore, any fine solids getting into the pregnant solution through the filter cloth show up in the final concentrate. This, of course, lowers the grade, and, at times, the slimy nature of these very fine solids rendered final filtration of the concentrate difficult if not impossible At Homestake-New Mexico Partners a 75-ft thickener was available for gravity clarification of 100 to 120 gpm of this pregnant solution. However this did not sufficiently remove the slimes. Laboratory investigation of the whole range of flocculants that were suggested by literature, salesmen, and friends failed to turn up anything of consequence. A continuous vacuum pre-coat filter would do the job and was investigated. The capital cost and the operating labor and materials made this a last chance choice. Following work done in the metallurgical laboratory on the tailings return water, it was found that some changes in the reagent strengths and combinations made a very definite decrease in the solids in the pregnant solution. Concentrate grade improved about 5 pct anti the final product after drying had an appreciably greater bulk density. Compared to a cost of about 2.2e per ton for pre-coat filter opelation for cleaning just one circuit, flotation costs less than 1.0 per ton of ore for cleaning two circuits. While a pre-coat filter would do a more thorough job, the flotation does all that is required for either circuit. Gravity causes the froth produced to run back into the leach circuit. This does not appear to result in a build-up of objectionable slime. No extra manpower is required; the operators in the separate areas can observe the operation of the cells and mix the small quantities of reagents as needed. Normally the 66-in. Fagergren cell requires 15 hp per cell, but this very dilute slurry needs only 10 hp for both cells. Originally, a combination of the two Arquads mentioned previously served as frothers and promoters. As further testing

Jan 1, 1962

By Edna A. Dancy, Ronald L. Pastorek, Gerhard J. Derge

In an earlier study1 in this laboratory, it was found that there is a minimum in the specific conductance of Ni-S melts in the region of the stoichiometric composition, Ni3S2. This and similar observations on other sulfide1 and telluride2 systems suggest that short-range order exists in the molten phase for several hundred degrees above the melting point, and a qualitative energy-band model has been proposed, with intrinsic semiconduction at the stoichiometric composition and degenerate electron and hole conduction at metal- and tellurium-rich compositions. This suggestion has been substantiated for the telluride systems by Seebeck coefficient measurements which showed a change in sign from negative on the metal-rich side to positive on the tellurium-rich side. In the present investigation, in order to substantiate still further the proposed model, Seebeck coefficient determinations have been extended to the Ni-S system over a composition range in the vicinity of Ni3S2. The experimental method was essentially the same as that used for the telluride systems, with minor modifications on cells for high sulfur melts to permit the use of tungsten wires and W— W-Re th~rmocouples instead of the chrome1 or alumel wires and chromel-alumel thermocouples originally used. Chrome1 and alumel both deteriorate very rapidly in atmospheres containing sulfur. The Ni-S alloys were prepared as described in the conductivity paper. Initially, a portion of the solidified melt was analyzed at the end of a run, but after this was found to be inaccurate because of segregation during cooling, the whole sample was analyzed. The nickel content, only, was determined, the sulfur content being obtained by difference. The results are summarized graphically in Fig. 1, and clearly show a change in the sign of the Seebeck coefficient in the region of the stoichiometric composition. This change of sign near Ni3S2, coupled with the minimum in the conductivity, is suggestive of an intrinsic semiconductor at the stoichiometric composition, with degenerate electron and hole conduction on either side of this composition, in keeping with the proposed model. The negative temperature coefficient of conductivity, normally indicative of metallic conduction, is not inconsistent with this model. In the completely degenerate region it would be expected, while in the vicinity of Ni3S2 the suggestion originally made by Argyriades, Derge, and pound3 for the Fe-S system can probably be applied. They proposed that the forbidden gap between the valence band and the conduction band is small, and that the increase in the number of the conducting species with increase in temperature is not large enough to compensate for the loss of mobility through thermal scattering. The research was sponsored by the Office of Naval Research under Contract NONR-760(22) Project NR 039-081. 'E. A. Dancy and G. J. Derge: Trans. Met. Soc. Aime, 1963, vol. 227, pp. 1034-38. 'E. A. Dancy: Trans. Vet. soc. AIME. 1964, vol. 233, pp. 270-77. 'D. Argyriades, G. Derge, and G. M. Pound: Trans. Met. Soc. . 1959, vol. 215, pp. 909-12.

Jan 1, 1965

By J. B. Mackintosh

THE quantitative determination of copper, by means of electro-deposition, offers so many advantages, that it is to be preferred, when properly executed, to all other methods for ease and accuracy. The object of the present paper is to give the results of a number of experiments made during the past few months, and to indicate some sources of error, which must be avoided in order to attain the necessary accuracy. In 1867, C. Luckow, in competition for a prize offered by the directors of the Mansfield Copper Works, submitted the following

Jan 1, 1882

By P. Pietrokowsky, T. E. Tietz, J. E. Dorn

The amount of solid solution hardening in aluminum alloys was found to be dictated by two factors: the lattice strain, and the change in the mean number of free electrons per atom of the solid solution. To obtain this correlation it was necessary to assume that aluminum contributes two electrons per atom to the metallic bond. WHEN the modern scientific method of analysis was first being formulated, Francis Bacon recorded in his "Essays" (circa 1600) that "an alloy . . . will make the purer but softer metal capable of longer life." During the intervening centuries voluminous data have been reported which demonstrate that the additions of alloying elements do in fact increase the hardness and strength of the pure metals. Nevertheless, the significant details of this problem on the unique effect of each element toward enhancing the mechanical properties of alloys only recently have been subjected to systematic scientific scrutiny. The major objective of this investigation is to determine how minor additions of alloying elements affect the plastic properties of polycrystalline aluminum alloys. By means of such studies it is hoped to provide not only data on the solution strengthening of aluminum alloys, but also a body of facts which will supplement the knowledge already available on the factors responsible for solution hardening in general. A review1"10 and analysis1' of the existing data on the effect of solute elements on the plastic properties of solid solutions reveal that our current knowledge on solid solution hardening is somewhat meager, inconsistent, and inconclusive. Many of the inconsistencies are undoubtedly attributable to the influence of unsuspected factors, such as purity; or uncontrolled factors, such as grain size, on the plastic properties of alloys. Nevertheless the following conclusions might be tentatively accepted: 1. Addition of solute elements invariably increases the yield strength, tensile strength, and hardness of the host element. 2. The rate of strain hardening, in general, increases with the concentration of the alloying element. 3. The strengthening effect in ternary alloys is the sum of the individual strengthening effects of the two solute elements as measured in their binary alloys. 4. The lattice strain is one factor that affects the strengthening of the alloy but it is not the only factor. 5. A second factor might be the difference in valence between the solute and solvent metals. All of the available evidence is in complete agreement with the first conclusion; the remaining conclusions, however, are not in agreement with all of the published data, but, in each case, the major weight of the existing evidence favors these deductions. Additional investigations will be required before most of these tentative conclusions can be accepted without reservation. In the following report an extensive investigation of the plastic properties of binary aluminum alloys is described. This work was undertaken in an attempt to shed more light on the general problem of solid solution hardening. Materials for Test: Aluminum was selected as the solvent metal for the present investigation on the effect of solute elements on the plastic properties of alloys. This choice was made for several reasons: (1) There appears to be little fundamental data in the published literature on the effect of solute elements on the properties of high-purity aluminum alloys. In view of the ever increasing economic importance of aluminum, such data would be of basic interest to the metallurgists concerned with the development of new aluminum alloys. (2) Aluminum is thought to be only partially ionized in the metallic state1' and consequently it might provide more complex relationships of the mechanical properties with the concentrations of the solute elements than more simple fully ionized solvents would reveal. (3) The data on aluminum alloys will provide a broader basis for correlations between the mechanical properties of metals in general and the concentration and atomic properties of the solute elements than is now available. Some complications, however, attend the selection of aluminum: The solubility of the various elements in the alpha aluminum phase are quite restricted, and not always well known. Consequently, only dilute solid solutions are available for study. This, however, may be somewhat advantageous because the dilute solution laws presumably are simpler than those applying to concentrated solutions. In addition, strain-hardened pure aluminum is known to recover at atmospheric temperatures. Very likely its alloys exhibit slower recovery rates. Thus, the secondary factor of effect of alloying elements on recovery might complicate the data. Such compli-

Jan 1, 1951

By C. M. Young

This is an attempt to bring together some of the knowledge of the coal-forming conditions obtaining during the Pennsylvanian period in the Western Interior Coal Province, to sketch briefly the present extent and character of the coals produced, and to show the beginning of correlation of beds over wide areas. Coals of later age than the Pennsylvanian are not included and, for reasons that will appear later, little attempt is made to cover the districts of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas, and northern Texas is omitted entirely. Geological Conditions The conditions that made possible the formation of large coal beds in the United States were most favorable in the Pennsylvanian period, formerly known as the Upper Carboniferous. The geological conditions can be determined from the records, but not the reasons for them. Preceding the Pennsylvanian was the Mississippian, formerly known as the lower Carboniferous and still later as the sub-Carboniferous. During this time, large bodies of limestone were deposited and at the close of the Mississippian they were warped upward and for a long period were eroded. Then there began a period of subsidence, more or less interrupted at times, during which the Pennsylvanian strata were deposited (see table on next page). These consist of sandstones, limestones and shales, with occasional coal beds. At the beginning of the Pennsylvanian there was subsidence, which allowed the sea to extend over the eroded Mississippian surface to the north and east. It passed over eastern and central Texas, a large part of Oklahoma, with a projection into Arkansas, over Kansas and part of Nebraska, all the northern and western part of Missouri, a large part of Iowa except a strip in the north, most of Illinois, practically all of Kentucky, northern Tennessee, most of Indiana, all of the eastern part of Ohio, practically all of West Virginia, western Maryland, the west end of Virginia, and a large part of Pennsylvania. The Ozarks were already up and separated the main body of this sea, which covered the northern

Jan 1, 1936

By C. M. Young

This is an attempt to bring together some of the knowledge of the coal-forming conditions obtaining during the Pennsylvanian period in the Western Interior Coal Province, to sketch briefly the present extent and character of the coals produced, and to show the beginning of correlation of beds over wide areas. Coals of later age than the Pennsylvanian are not included and, for reasons that will appear later, little attempt is made to cover the districts of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas, and northern Texas is omitted entirely. Geological Conditions The conditions that made possible the formation of large coal beds in the United States were most favorable in the Pennsylvanian period, formerly known as the Upper Carboniferous. The geological conditions can be determined from the records, but not the reasons for them. Preceding the Pennsylvanian was the Mississippian, formerly known as the lower Carboniferous and still later as the sub-Carboniferous. During this time, large bodies of limestone were deposited and at the close of the Mississippian they were warped upward and for a long period were eroded. Then there began a period of subsidence, more or less interrupted at times, during which the Pennsylvanian strata were deposited (see table on next page). These consist of sandstones, limestones and shales, with occasional coal beds. At the beginning of the Pennsylvanian there was subsidence, which allowed the sea to extend over the eroded Mississippian surface to the north and east. It passed over eastern and central Texas, a large part of Oklahoma, with a projection into Arkansas, over Kansas and part of Nebraska, all the northern and western part of Missouri, a large part of Iowa except a strip in the north, most of Illinois, practically all of Kentucky, northern Tennessee, most of Indiana, all of the eastern part of Ohio, practically all of West Virginia, western Maryland, the west end of Virginia, and a large part of Pennsylvania. The Ozarks were already up and separated the main body of this sea, which covered the northern

Jan 1, 1936

J. W. Tomlison—It seems probable that the author's conclusion, that the conductivity of the slags decreases with increasing content of FeO, is erroneous due to the method of plotting the data. Thus, the results of other workers2,3,13,15 show that the conductivity of molten oxide slags increase with increasing temperature, indicating that the trend of the curve shown by the authors is due to the fact that the data for the slags containing relatively small amounts of FeO are at higher temperatures than those for the slags containing relatively large amounts of this oxide. In this connection the work of Wejnarth2 may be mentioned in which in an investigation of a series of iron silicate slags, the conductivity was found to increase with increasing content of FeO; the fact that the author's slags contained TiO2 probably does not affect the issue since it has been shown15,16 that, at least as far as conductivity is concerned, this oxide behaves essentially the same as silica and that mixtures of the oxide with silica have a very low conductivity of the order of 10-4 mhos at 1750°C. In connection with the experimental technique it may be noted that bubbles of carbon monoxide would probably be produced at the surface of the graphite electrodes in contact with the melts thus rendering the accuracy of the measurements somewhat open to question. J. L. Wyatt (author's reply)—Dr. Tomlinson makes reference to works by Martin and Derge, which indicate that slag systems containing no TiO2 are characterized by an increase in conductivity with an increase in temperature. Further, I have cited his examples, which indicate a drastic increase with small temperature change. The results of Dr. Derge's work have no bearing whatsoever on the results of this paper, since the slags under study here contained up to 70 pct TiO2 One cannot generalize on slag systems as a whole on the basis of any one family, for there are definite compounds of ionic nature formed in each system, and the ionic mobilization of these is something that cannot be determined without actual experimentation. Dr. Tomlinson makes reference to an unpublished work which, he claims, shows that titanium dioxide behaves the same as silica in regard to conductivity. Since I have not had 'an opportunity to see the paper I cannot make any comments, but unless the same slag system was studied there can be no specific comparison of results. If the decrease in conductivity of the slag was due entirely to temperature phenomena, as Dr. Tomlinson indicates, then one is without an explanation of the values shown in the paper for slags containing from 10 to 20 pct FeO. I cannot agree that the deviation in findings was appreciably related to temperature change; further, I believe this point was completely covered in the paper. References 13 Endell and Hellbrügge: Glasstech. Ber. (1942) 20, 277. 14 Bockris, Kitchener, Ignatowicz and Tomlinson: Faraday Society. Discussion (1948) 4, 265. 15 Tomlinson: Thesis, London 1949. 10 Bockris, Kitchener, Ignatowicz, and Tomlinson: Unpublished work.

Jan 1, 1951

By R. V. Whetsel, V. R. Gargias, J. W. Ristori

WoRld consumption of petroleum and its substitutes in 1941, the amount of which obviously is largely conjectural, is estimated at 2,066,653,000 bbl. This is 48,689,000 bbl. more than the previous year and is an all-time high. Except for the United States, this figure does not include consumption for military purposes. Consumption in the United States also reached an all-time high during 1941, totaling 1,492,000,000 bbl., or 158,230,000 bbl. more than the previous peak year of 1940. On the other hand, it is estimated that civil consumption in countries outside of the United States decreased 109,541,ooo bbl. as compared with the previous year. Demand for military purposes and/or additions to stocks in countries outside of the United States is estimated at 304,507,000 bbl. during 1941, compared with 209,635,000 bbl. in 1940. This increase was due largely to blitzkrieg warfare on several fronts. especially Russia; entailing large expenditures of petroleum by both sides because of the immense area covered by the fighting forces, the long supply lines necessary and the intensity of the fighting. It is interesting to note in this connection that Axis-controlled countries, excluding Japan, had an estimated production of approximately 89,000,000 bbl. of petroleum and its substitutes in 1941. The peacetime consumption of these countries in 1938, for example, was about 183,000,000 bbl. It is believed that the minimum to which civil consumption could possibly be re-duced in wartime is 20 per cent of that of peacetime, which would call for a minimum consumption of 37,000,000 bbl. in these countries in 1941 for civil purposes. This

Jan 1, 1942

By V. R. Gargias, J. W. Ristori, R. V. Whetsel

WoRld consumption of petroleum and its substitutes in 1941, the amount of which obviously is largely conjectural, is estimated at 2,066,653,000 bbl. This is 48,689,000 bbl. more than the previous year and is an all-time high. Except for the United States, this figure does not include consumption for military purposes. Consumption in the United States also reached an all-time high during 1941, totaling 1,492,000,000 bbl., or 158,230,000 bbl. more than the previous peak year of 1940. On the other hand, it is estimated that civil consumption in countries outside of the United States decreased 109,541,ooo bbl. as compared with the previous year. Demand for military purposes and/or additions to stocks in countries outside of the United States is estimated at 304,507,000 bbl. during 1941, compared with 209,635,000 bbl. in 1940. This increase was due largely to blitzkrieg warfare on several fronts. especially Russia; entailing large expenditures of petroleum by both sides because of the immense area covered by the fighting forces, the long supply lines necessary and the intensity of the fighting. It is interesting to note in this connection that Axis-controlled countries, excluding Japan, had an estimated production of approximately 89,000,000 bbl. of petroleum and its substitutes in 1941. The peacetime consumption of these countries in 1938, for example, was about 183,000,000 bbl. It is believed that the minimum to which civil consumption could possibly be re-duced in wartime is 20 per cent of that of peacetime, which would call for a minimum consumption of 37,000,000 bbl. in these countries in 1941 for civil purposes. This

Jan 1, 1942

By Jennings S. Cox

The following notes, prepared in 1908, as the result of a personal examination and extensive explorations under my direction in 1906, have been revised and greatly augmented after two subsequent visits and further explorations in 1910. The hard iron-ores of the south coast of Oriente Province, in the island of Cuba, have been known for many years, in fact one mine has been in operation for more than 20 years; but it is only within the past four years that the large mantle-deposits of brown ores of the north coast have attracted serious attention. A. C, Spencer' has described these ores in a paper, entitled Three Deposits of Iron Ore in Cuba, which refers to the Mayari, Moa, and Cubitas deposits. C. M. Weld,2 in a scholarly paper, The Residual Brown Iron-Ores of Cuba, has discussed the character and possible genesis of these deposits with particular reference to the Moa field, calling attention also to the Taco and Navas fields in addition to those described by Spencer. Descriptive articles with reference to the Mayari field, and a few words about the Moa deposit, have also appeared3 It is the purpose of the present paper to give some account of the exploration of the Moa deposit arid to call attention to its commercial importance. Location. The Moa district is situated on the north coast of the Province of Oriente, which is the most easterly province of the

Jan 1, 1912

By Christer Danielsson, Sven Ivarsson

In 1951 the first ton of iron was shipped from West Africa; ten years later the total export exceeded 4 million tons, and an optimistic forecast for 1970 indicates a production capacity of something around 40 to 50 million tons. The quality of the ore varies from normal hematitic concentrates, through naturally enriched hematitic direct shipping ores with comparatively high content of ore fines, to dense, hard, rich lump ores of magmatic character. West Africa is largely composed of folded Pre-cambrian rocks trending generally northeast to southwest. They are exposed over about one third of West Africa and are part of the vast continental plateau which has an average elevation of about 1300 ft in this area.

Jan 3, 1963

The production of Rumania for 1937 amounted to 54.142.600 bbl., which is a decrease of 10.319.636 bbl., or 15.9 per cent over that of 1936. In all. 1.300.000 ft. were drilled during the year— an increase of 220.000 ft. over 1936.

Jan 1, 1938

By H. M. Morse

Mississippi, during the year 1941, experienced the greatest diversity of oil activity since the beginning of oil interest in the state—core tests for exploration, core tests for sulphur, continued drilling at Tinsley for production, and wildcatting, which brought to light two new oil fields and two new salt domes. There were 45 wildcat wells drilled in 1941, which showed greater results and findings geologically than the 85 drilled in 1940. Tinsley Oil Field (Yazoo County).—The Tinsley oil field, with its boundaries fairly well defined now, is 8 miles long and 3 miles wide at its widest point. During the past year 213 producing wells were completed, which brought the total number of producers in the field by the end of 1941 to 325 wells. Seven producing sands have been logged, with a total average thickness of 30 ft. of oil sand. The producing formations are the Selma, Eutaw and Tuscaloosa. The average total depth of the wells is 5012 ft. The average gravity of the oil is 35.4°. Production for 1941 was approximately 15,500,000 bbl. of oil. Vaughan-Pickens Oil Field (Yazoo County).—At the end of 1941 only three wells were Producing in this field, the fourth having been abandoned. The total production for the field for the year was approximately 250,000 bbl. of oil. The producing sand is the Wilburn, in the Eutaw formation. Cary Field (Sharkey County).—The British American Oil Producing Co. completed, on Sept. I, 1941, its F. B. Houston No. A-I well, sec. 23, T. 11 N., R. 7 W. It is

Jan 1, 1942

By H. M. Morse

Mississippi, during the year 1941, experienced the greatest diversity of oil activity since the beginning of oil interest in the state—core tests for exploration, core tests for sulphur, continued drilling at Tinsley for production, and wildcatting, which brought to light two new oil fields and two new salt domes. There were 45 wildcat wells drilled in 1941, which showed greater results and findings geologically than the 85 drilled in 1940. Tinsley Oil Field (Yazoo County).—The Tinsley oil field, with its boundaries fairly well defined now, is 8 miles long and 3 miles wide at its widest point. During the past year 213 producing wells were completed, which brought the total number of producers in the field by the end of 1941 to 325 wells. Seven producing sands have been logged, with a total average thickness of 30 ft. of oil sand. The producing formations are the Selma, Eutaw and Tuscaloosa. The average total depth of the wells is 5012 ft. The average gravity of the oil is 35.4°. Production for 1941 was approximately 15,500,000 bbl. of oil. Vaughan-Pickens Oil Field (Yazoo County).—At the end of 1941 only three wells were Producing in this field, the fourth having been abandoned. The total production for the field for the year was approximately 250,000 bbl. of oil. The producing sand is the Wilburn, in the Eutaw formation. Cary Field (Sharkey County).—The British American Oil Producing Co. completed, on Sept. I, 1941, its F. B. Houston No. A-I well, sec. 23, T. 11 N., R. 7 W. It is

Jan 1, 1942

THE man who forgot to mail the letters his wife gave him was for once justified at Tulsa, for envelopes, scratch paper and tablecloths were all in demand and through the two days of the meeting of the Petroleum Division, pencils were busy everywhere sketching out diagrams, drawing curves, figuring, or just taking notes. Those attending took the serious papers seriously, and discussion was wide-ranging but pointed. Despite the highly technical character of the papers presented, the chairmen had never to call for discussion; it was only necessary to say the paper was open for it. Both days the meetings lasted until after five in the afternoon, and it was enthusiastically voted to advance the meeting hour on Friday, in order to give more time. In all, ten papers, abstracts of which appeared in MINING AND METALLURGY for October, and copies of all but two of which were available in print, were presented in the two days, and no more could have been handled to advantage in that time. All but one of these dealt with problems of production engineering. That, the opening paper, was a general review of demand, supply and price in 1928, by Campbell Osborn, in which he argued for the price control of production and showed how the economic conditions determined development. J. Elmer Thomas presented a carefully prepared review of the same data, but came to somewhat different conclusions as to trend, and J. E. Pogue pointed out that in recent years it has been the manufacturing rather than the producing industries that have been notably profitable. These and other discussions were too long to be reported here, but will be printed in full later.

Jan 1, 1928

EDUCATION for the mineral industry was at first a single comprehensive curriculum, but it was early recognized that the main basis of mining is physics, while that of metallurgy is chemistry. The first school to offer curricula leading to degrees in mineral industry education in the United States (1853) had separate ones in mining and metallurgy. The Columbia School of Mines (the fist really successful one) had only a single curriculum when it opened in 1864, but within a few years had so reorganized its work that it offered curricula in mining, metallurgy, geology, chemistry, and civil engineering. Interest in the metallurgy or geology curricula was slight at fist, and for the next 30 years the great majority of Columbia students took the mining curriculum, probably partly because it contained nearly as much geology as the geology curriculum, practically all the metallurgy, and most of the chemistry, and partly because of the degree awarded for it. Other schools kept their mining curricula equally broad, and as late as 1900-1910 men were graduating as mining engineers who were practically as well prepared to make geology or metallurgy their life work as they were for mining. Gradually, however, the subject matter of mining geology and metallurgy became so enriched through research and development that separate curricula in them became worth while; their progressive development is the subject of another chapter. Mining curricula also began to be somewhat diversified, and schools in areas where coal mining was of outstanding importance began to offer options in coal mining, the earlier curricula having been chiefly aimed at metal mining. The petroleum industry began its meteoric rise about the same time as mineral instruction in this country, but little more of applied science attended its birth than had attended such ancient practical arts as copper and iron

Jan 1, 1941

By J. Hunter

DuXing 1942, Louisiana attained the rank of fourth among the great oil-producing states of this country. Its present prominent position is the result of an orderly and systematic program of exploitation with emphasis on conservation. Even before the functioning of M-68, the Federal spacing order, development and production in Louisiana were regulated by various acts of legislation, the most recent of which and by far the most effective is Act 157 of 1940. Under the authority of this act, it has been possible for the Department of Conservation to hold many public hearings and thereby to secure data and evidence regarding the feasibility of issuing rules and regulations for development of various oil and gas fields in the state. As a result of information compiled at such public hearings, many orders have been issued by the Commissioner of Conservation that have in most cases provided reasonable solutions to the problems that arise in the exploitation and development of fields in this state. Probably one of the most effective powers granted the Commissioner of Conservation in the state of Louisiana has been the authority to provide for fieldwide unitiza-tion and pooling of condensate fields. This has led to the erection of huge cycling plants in Louisiana, which permit the most efficient recovery of the liquid content of the reservoirs, and further conserve most of the gas reserve that undoubtedly will be of considerable future value. Many months have passed since various orders of the Department of Conservation were put into effect, and all are accomplishing their purpose; namely, the elimination of waste. Although the effectiveness of these orders provides considerable satisfaction to the members of the Department of Conservation, it is also a tribute to the members of the oil and gas industry in Louisiana, who, in addition to providing carefully prepared technical data, have also given unstinting cooperation and have thereby enabled the Department to cope intelligently with the many problems. Production On Dec. 31, 1942, oil and/or gas was being produced in 50 parishes, or 78 per cent of all the parishes in the state. Thirty-three of the parishes produced oil and gas, 12 produced oil, and 5 produced solely gas. This is indeed an enviable record for any state. However, it is reasonable to assume that eventually all parishes in the state of Louisiana will be productive. From a geological viewpoint, there is no apparent reason to assume otherwise—a point that a11 operators seeking oil and gas production in this state may well bear in mind. Twenty new fields were found during 1942—a rate of discovery that does not compare favorably with the 30 new fields found during 1941. The record of discoveries in Louisiana during 1942 is further disappointing when it is realized that 8 of the 20 new fields discovered were gas fields. During this period of war emergency, there are, of course, many

Jan 1, 1943

By J. Hunter

DuXing 1942, Louisiana attained the rank of fourth among the great oil-producing states of this country. Its present prominent position is the result of an orderly and systematic program of exploitation with emphasis on conservation. Even before the functioning of M-68, the Federal spacing order, development and production in Louisiana were regulated by various acts of legislation, the most recent of which and by far the most effective is Act 157 of 1940. Under the authority of this act, it has been possible for the Department of Conservation to hold many public hearings and thereby to secure data and evidence regarding the feasibility of issuing rules and regulations for development of various oil and gas fields in the state. As a result of information compiled at such public hearings, many orders have been issued by the Commissioner of Conservation that have in most cases provided reasonable solutions to the problems that arise in the exploitation and development of fields in this state. Probably one of the most effective powers granted the Commissioner of Conservation in the state of Louisiana has been the authority to provide for fieldwide unitiza-tion and pooling of condensate fields. This has led to the erection of huge cycling plants in Louisiana, which permit the most efficient recovery of the liquid content of the reservoirs, and further conserve most of the gas reserve that undoubtedly will be of considerable future value. Many months have passed since various orders of the Department of Conservation were put into effect, and all are accomplishing their purpose; namely, the elimination of waste. Although the effectiveness of these orders provides considerable satisfaction to the members of the Department of Conservation, it is also a tribute to the members of the oil and gas industry in Louisiana, who, in addition to providing carefully prepared technical data, have also given unstinting cooperation and have thereby enabled the Department to cope intelligently with the many problems. Production On Dec. 31, 1942, oil and/or gas was being produced in 50 parishes, or 78 per cent of all the parishes in the state. Thirty-three of the parishes produced oil and gas, 12 produced oil, and 5 produced solely gas. This is indeed an enviable record for any state. However, it is reasonable to assume that eventually all parishes in the state of Louisiana will be productive. From a geological viewpoint, there is no apparent reason to assume otherwise—a point that a11 operators seeking oil and gas production in this state may well bear in mind. Twenty new fields were found during 1942—a rate of discovery that does not compare favorably with the 30 new fields found during 1941. The record of discoveries in Louisiana during 1942 is further disappointing when it is realized that 8 of the 20 new fields discovered were gas fields. During this period of war emergency, there are, of course, many

Jan 1, 1943